Hitches, Hideouts, & Homicides Read online

  “I’m fine.” I pushed my long, curly, brown hair out of my face and reached out to take his hand.

  “You sure don’t look like Mae West or even resemble her.” He used his other hand to motion around my hair. “You got brown hair, and it’s all wiry and stuff.”

  “I’m not sure if you’re trying to compliment me or insult me, but I choose to keep my mouth shut while you’ve got that gun in your hand.” My eyes focused on the gun.

  “Call Hank,” Betts told me to call my boyfriend, who just so happens to be a detective with the Normal Sheriff’s Department.

  “Hank Sharp?” Jay used the tip of his gun to push up the edge of his hat. “I’ve known Hank since he was an itty-bitty boy. He can’t do nothing here.”

  We all jerked around at the sound of footsteps coming from the direction where the other person had run. Surely, the person hadn’t come back. Jay drew his shotgun back to his shoulder and stared down the barrel.

  “Geez, Lee.” Jay put the shotgun down. “You about had a hole put through you.”

  “What on earth is going on?” Lee asked.

  I didn’t recognize the older man. He had a long goatee but was bald as could be on top. He wore a pair of overalls and work boots. “You better get those glasses checked because you can’t see a thing if you didn’t know it was me.”

  “I recognized you just fine when you walked in here. I just had to scare off one of them free loaders. You know them kind that come around here strumming their guitars and smoking that weed.”

  I couldn’t help but smile, listening to the other man’s thick accent.

  “Enough of this chatty business.” Coke looked nervous and clearly wanted us off the subject. “Jay, get into the kitchen, and I’ll get you cleaned up.” She gestured to the blood that had dripped on the marble floor of the courtyard where Jay was standing. “You two can start by cleaning this mess up. And you—" Coke pointed to Lee. “You go on down to the stables and wait for him. In fact, you can help him pack up.”

  Coke jerked Jay by the sleeve and dragged him off to the right side of the courtyard and into a door with a red caboose on it.

  “Ladies,” Lee nodded, turning back to where he’d come from.

  Betts and I stood there in silence, both of us still a smidgen stunned at what took place.

  “I’m going to need more coffee,” I joked after I heard a car door slam and drive off since I figured Lee was heading to the stables like Coke had told him.

  “Caboose Diner. Cute.” Betts shrugged and picked a spray bottle out of her cleaning bucket.

  “That’s all you have to say?” I gave her a wry look. “I mean Jay was just shooting at someone. He has a gash in his head.”

  “I told you to call Hank, and you just stood there, so I’m guessing we let those two handle it.” She nodded toward the diner where we could see Coke and Jay having a knock-down drag-out fight of their own.

  TWO

  Betts took the rooms on the right side of the courtyard, and I took the rooms on the left side to clean. The rooms were pretty much decorated all the same and in a unique fashion. The three globe-shaped pole lights that had been used in the old train station had been rebuilt and were now used as the lighting in the rooms.

  The rooms were big enough for a queen bed along with a dresser and desk as well as an en suite sitting room. The tubs were claw footed, and the sinks were pedestals with hardware to match the era in which the train station had been used.

  After I read the inscribed gold plates with the station history Coke had made and screwed into the wall, I glanced out one of the two windows out at the national park. My thoughts had me wondering how safe it was for a train to go in and out of the mountainous area of the park before I noticed Jay in the ring, whistling a horse to go in and out of barrels with what appeared to be a child sitting on top.

  I watched in awe as he circled the lasso on the sideline while he gave directions to the rider. It was fascinating to see such a majestic creature, the horse, perform such tricks with the single flick of the rider’s heel or a gentle tug on the reins.

  I’d never been around horses. They intimidated me. I was sure I could probably blame it on Mary Elizabeth always telling me at the local county fair: “Don’t walk behind that horse. It’ll throw a buck and hit you in the face.” That image of my face having a hoofprint on it for the rest of my life was not an image I ever wanted to dwell on. So I made sure I steered clear of any horse. If that wasn’t enough to put the fear of a horse in me, I had no idea what was.

  All the rooms on my side of the courtyard appeared to have been thoroughly cleaned, down to the bed skirt that was tugged with no wrinkles left to pull out.

  Like we told Coke we would do, I ran the dust rag over the baseboards and the tops of the furniture, ran the vacuum, and re-bleached the entire bathroom.

  Coke had put a mason jar of fresh sunflowers and fillers on each bedside table, and I made sure to fill them with water before I finished cleaning. They’d still be nice and perky for the guests arriving later today or even tomorrow before the hoedown she was hosting for the grand opening.

  Betts was finishing up the last room on her side as I put my cleaning supplies in the back of the van.

  “I’m going to go watch Jay work with one of his clients at the stables.” I peeked my head in the guest room and told Betts, “Yell for me when you’re ready to go.”

  She waved the feather duster at me to go on.

  The sun was dipping in and out of the low-lying clouds. Long gone were the stars and moon. Off in the distance, the clouds were a little darker and were pushing toward us. I pulled out my cell and checked the weather. The app showed partly cloudy and lightning bolts with rain drops later in the day.

  There were men unloading bales of hay and bourbon barrels from the back end of a flatbed. They hauled them into the barn located right behind the motel where Coke had designated the location for the hoedown. The barn doors were open, inviting me to take a gander around the place. I kept out of the way of the workers who were placing all the tables around the perimeter and putting the empty bourbon barrels in the middle of the barn to use as bar top tables. The inside of the barn had been brought back to life, but I could tell the integrity of the place was left.

  In back of the barn there was a dance floor and a stage. There were already microphone stands and big speakers in place. A big American flag hung from the rafters at the far end of the barn. Red and white buffalo-checked tablecloths were lain over the long banquet tables. Fold out chairs were placed on each side of them. There was plenty of seating, which made me believe Coke was expecting a big crowd.

  Each table had a mason jar in the middle, where I was sure Coke was going to put flowers in them like she’d done in all the rooms. Coke was sparing no expense, and it made my heart soar to think of the pride she’d taken in the old train station like I’d done with the run-down campground.

  The sound of whistling followed up by some hooting and hollering from outside the barn caught my attention and put me back in the frame of mind of why I was back here: to watch Jay in action with that horse.

  The stable wasn’t too far from the barn but a good enough distance away that I couldn’t smell the natural scent of the horses and what they left in their stalls. When I walked into the barn, there were at least five stables on each side with a horse sticking its head out of the bars. All their big brown eyes stared at me, making me a bit uncomfortable.

  The doors at the far end of the barn were open, and I could see Jay out there with the rider I’d seen from the guest room window. Images of a horse kicking me in the face forced me to rethink my way to the ring where I wanted to watch Jay give the lesson, so I headed back out of the barn and walked around instead of going through.

  “Can I help you?” Lee asked.

  “I don’t think we were formally introduced earlier this morning.” I put my hand out. He took it, and I gave him a solid handshake. “I’m Mae West. I own Happy Trails Campground
.”

  “I recognize you from the newspaper and how you received the key to the city a few months back.” He looked me over. “What are you doing out here with Betts?”

  “Betts owns a little cleaning side hustle, and I was helping her. Coke hired her.” I didn’t get into the particulars. It wasn’t necessary. “Is Jay okay?” I tapped my forehead, referring to Jay’s forehead where the bandage was.

  “He’s a tough old coot.” Lee lifted his chin. “He’ll be fine.”

  Jay had moved to the opposite side of us near another horse that was tied up. The horse nudged Jay, and Jay nudged back in a playful way. He even took something out of his pocket and let the horse nibble on it. It was a beautiful spotted horse. Not like the others that were brown.

  “Do you know what the problem was this morning?” I asked and put my foot up on the bottom rung of the fence. I followed Lee’s example and leaned my elbows on the top rung, leaning in. I wanted to know if the guy was really causing trouble by staying the night in the barn because Jay went to a lot of trouble to chase the guy and shoot at him. Though he did say to Coke that if he didn’t take care of it while he was there, she’d have to.

  “I’m sure you get unwanted hikers at your campground,” he said but kept his eyes on what was going on in the ring with the horse. “No different anywhere else in Normal. We get it all the time at my barn.”

  I’m sure there were some unwanted campers, but I was of the mindset that if they needed some shelter for a night or were just passing through and weren’t bothering anyone, it didn’t bother me. I decided to change the subject.

  “Is that your granddaughter?” I asked about the young rider on the horse and why Lee was here watching.

  “Granddaughter?” He laughed. “Mae West, you sure do ask a lot of questions.”

  “Just being friendly. I have a few minutes to kill and decided to come back here and take a look at what Jay did for a living.” It was probably my time to go.

  “Nope.” His one-word answer came out of his mouth with force.

  “Nope, what?” I asked.

  “Not my granddaughter. She’s a potential client.” He nodded toward the kid who had on a helmet, a short-sleeved brown shirt, a light pair of riding pants, and brown boots.

  “Isn’t that Jay’s client?” I didn’t follow him, but he did have my curiosity up.

  “Jay is going to be out of commission until he can get all his equipment moved. Parents have spent a lot of money entertaining their kids in summer fair contests. They can’t wait for Jay to decide what he’s doing and let any time pass.” He slid his glance toward me and smiled. “That’s not how it works around here, darling. Besides, Sarah is on track to win a lot of competitions that come with many rewards for the trainer. Her parents need to make a move fast and not rely on Jay.”

  “Why didn’t he start making plans after Coke had bought the place?” I wondered and watched Sarah take off her riding helmet when Jay walked over to her and gave her some instructions. Immediately, I recognized her from when I’d done a little substitute teaching at the Normal High School.

  “You obviously don’t know Coke’s relationship with Jay. They have never seen eye to eye on things. I wouldn’t doubt if she bought the place just to stick it to him.” There was a bit of a distasteful tone in his voice that caught my attention. Almost as if he were jealous of Jay and the talent Sarah appeared to have. “Coke told him about three weeks ago, and all the rentals have been taken up by others who want to get in on the summer fairs like I told you.”

  I guess he saw the confusion on my face because he continued, “Kentucky has a lot of county fairs that have horse competitions. All kinds of them.” He rotated his wrists but kept his forearms on the wood rung. “The winner qualifies for national competitions over the rest of the summer months. But you have to start somewhere. Some parents hire big name trainers from around the United States. They rent them a stable and pay for a place to live.”

  “That seems a little much.” I snickered but stopped when he looked at me as serious as could be.

  Betts yelled for me. I turned around. She was standing at the side of the motel, waving me to come back.

  “There’s big money in it and scholarships for the kids.” He used his hands to push off the rails. “I’m guessing you’ve got to be somewhere?”

  “Back to the campground.” I smiled and shoved off. “Good luck.”

  “Yeah.” He looked down at me. “Nice to meet you, Mae West.”

  After I’d walked toward the motel a short distance away from the stable, I glanced over my shoulder to get one more look at the lesson Jay was giving. Jay held the reins of the horse he was petting, but Sarah and her horse were no longer in the ring.

  Lee was still there. And by the intense look on Jay’s face as he approached Lee, I could tell something was brewing between them. When Lee coughed up a big spit ball and winged it toward Jay’s feet, I knew something had brewed.

  THREE

  “What were they fighting about?” Dottie Swaggert took a long drag off her cigarette and blew smoke rings in the air. Her red hair was knotted up in several pink foam curlers.

  We met up after a long day of work and gathered around one of the firepits at Happy Trails. “I have no idea. That’s why I was telling you about it.” I grabbed one of the sticks Henry Bryan, the Happy Trails Campground handyman, had made for making s’mores and pushed a couple of marshmallows on it. “Lee told me how Coke and Jay never saw eye to eye.” I scooted to the edge of the camping chair and extended the stick over the flame.

  “Coke never said a word about it the rest of the day?” Dottie asked.

  “Not a word.” Carefully, I twirled the stick around the flames so the marshmallows wouldn’t catch fire. “Then again, I wasn’t really around her. After I tidied up the rooms, which were already cleaned, I went to the stables to watch Jay.”

  “Did you overhear anything they were saying?” she asked, taking another puff and a real interest in what I was telling her.

  Not that I really put too much thought into it, but when she’d asked me about my cleaning gig, I had simply told her the story. Then again, Dottie loved to gossip.

  “We couldn’t hear them. But he didn’t get his head cleaned up from her.” I took the marshmallows out of the fire and looked at it before putting it back into the flames to get a little browner. “He slammed the door on his way out and stomped back to the stables.”

  “You? You didn’t ask any questions?” She asked as if she were surprised. “As nosy as you are.” She made a good observation of me.

  “Dottie, I didn’t go to the stables until after I finished my job.” The marshmallows looked so good that I didn’t bother making a s’more. I pulled them off and stuck them in my mouth. “I can’t wait for you to see what Coke has done with the train station. It’s amazing.” My words were muffled with a mouthful of deliciousness.

  “That’s so weird.” Abby Fawn spoke up from the other side of the campfire. She was sitting across from me and next to Betts.

  “I told Mae it was none of our business.” Betts had an expression of disapproval. “We were there to do a job and get out.”

  “Still, I found it interesting how Lee was quick to tell me about Coke and Jay’s relationship when I don’t even know him.” I left out how I’d poked him with questions until he gave in.

  I looked around at the Laundry Club gals that had become my best friends and confidantes over the past year and a half since my life took a turn, sticking me right back in the middle of Kentucky, a state where I’d ran from as soon as I’d turned eighteen. Here I was again. Back in the very state I never wanted to live in. This time, I was happy.

  The Laundry Club included me, Betts Hager, Abby Fawn, Queenie French, and Dottie Swaggert. Dawn Gentry was an honorary member, but she and Mary Elizabeth, my adoptive mother, were busy with the Milkery. The Milkery was a working farm with a garden, cows, chickens, goats, and a couple rooms they rented as a bed and breakfast
. Queenie wasn’t here tonight. She was dancing in the undercroft of the Normal Baptist Church where she taught Jazzercise.

  “You know me by now.” I reached over and grabbed a couple pieces of chocolate from the TV tray we’d taken out of my RV to put the graham crackers, bag of marshmallows, and chocolate bars on. “The agreement between Coke and Jay was weird, and I’m curious.”

  “You sure are.” Hank Sharp had snuck up behind me and leaned down to give me a kiss on my cheek. Chester, his dog, darted in front of me and hopped in my lap.

  I swear Chester thought Hank was the foster dad and I was the real mom. He always wanted to be with me and Fifi.

  “Hey you.” I couldn’t stop the big smile growing on my face. I put Chester on the ground and stood up. I snapped off two pieces of chocolate bar and gave Hank half. “You’re home early.”

  Hank usually worked a couple twelve hour shifts at the sheriff’s department during our busy summer months. Tourists flocked to our little town, especially spring through fall when it was perfect weather to do all the outdoorsy activities the national park had to offer.

  People loved to be in nature during the warmer weather not only for the awesome hiking trails but for the beautiful foliage Kentucky had to offer. I loved when a photographer from the National Park Magazine would feature us. Sometimes when people are around so much beauty, they forget how lucky they really are.

  “I am home early. All the hikers and campers are being good this season.” He pulled up a chair between me and the Laundry Club gals. “What did you think about the new motel?”

  “Don’t get her started,” Betts warned and eased back into her chair, taking a swig of sweet tea from a mason jar. “I told her to call you.”

  “It was nothing.” I stuck two more marshmallows on the stick even though I really didn’t want them. It was only because I didn’t want to look at Hank after I told him what happened. “There was a hiker that’s been using Coke’s stables for a place to stay while he hiked around the national park. Jay had already run him off once, and he was just running him off again.” I put the stick above the flames. “It certainly didn’t warrant a call to the cops.”