Ax to Grind Read online

  “He’s a cutie.” My smile spread across my face.

  “Yes, he is.” She bent down and patted Duke even more.

  “Not Duke.” I hesitated, wondering if I should even broach the subject. “Ben.” And it was out there just like that.

  Jolee straightened up and put her fists on her hips.

  “You have lost your mind.” She huffed. “He is a thorn in my side, Kenni Lowry.”

  “He’s a cute thorn and he’s single and you are going to be thirty soon,” I teased.

  “Now you just sound like your mama.” Jolee fidgeted. “Come on, let’s go beat these old henny-hens.”

  The interesting thing was that Jolee didn’t protest too much, so I had an inkling she’d thought about the idea of her and Ben too. But I kept my mouth shut the rest of the night. At least until we went up against Ruby Smith and Stella.

  “You getting excited about tomorrow?” Ruby asked and offered the Euchre deck to me to cut.

  “I’m not cutting my luck.” I knocked on the top of the stack. “Yes, I am excited for Duke.” I reached down next to me and patted my trusty hound dog.

  She offered the cut again and again I declined.

  Around here we were a tad bit superstitious about a few things, and cutting the deck while playing Euchre was one of them.

  “But I hear you’ve come into a bit of luck.” I looked at Ruby to see her reaction.

  It was Stella’s reaction that threw me. She yanked her forearms off the table and placed them in her lap.

  Most of the time when I interacted with people, I observed their body language. It was a job habit that’d spilled over into my personal life as well.

  “What are you asking me, Kenni Lowry?” Ruby fluffed the edges of her spiky red hair nervously with her fingertips before she picked up the deck and started to deal out five cards each to the four of us.

  Stella suddenly became interested and grabbed the edge of her chair and scooted the legs closer to the table, leaning in.

  Jolee’s eyes shifted between Ruby and me.

  “I guess you’ll have a lot of business at the store with all the people coming in to bid on the estate sale.” I was creative with my wording to get to the heart of the matter. It was all in how you opened the door to the conversation with these women. If you seemed genuinely interested, they’d talk all day.

  “I was out visiting Hattie Hankle at the Inn and that place was hopping.” I drew my five cards in and arranged them according to suit. “And Darby told me that the old Stone place was going up for sale. I was shocked. I hadn’t heard that Beryle had passed.”

  “We got the call about a week ago at the church office for Pastor to go to the Stone Estate.” Stella’s elbows rested on the table. Her hands held the fanned cards in front of her face, her eyes glancing over the top of them. She shifted them across the table to look at Ruby. “When he came back, he told me about the quickie memorial for Beryle Stone on the property.”

  Since Toots wasn’t there to stop Stella’s loose lips, we might hear some real gossip.

  “I might as well give you a bite, because y’all are fishing.” Ruby threw her cards down on the table. “Beryle and I were third cousins once removed. I know it’s distant, but she ain’t got no more family. Now that she’s dead, they came looking for next of kin, and guess who?”

  Stella eased back in her chair, taking in every bobble, quip, or sigh that escaped Ruby. I was sure she was taking notes for future gossip circles.

  “I don’t think there’s much out there. Hell,” Ruby tapped her finger on the table, “that place of hers is all run down and almost falling in on itself. What do I want with it? Nothing.” Her chin tucked to her chest. “According to Wally Lamb she’d had it all planned out. I’m just doing my part to follow through. After all, we might be distant relatives, but we are family. You know as well as I do that family sticks together. Good times or bad.” She shook her head. “No gossip here.”

  “She was the biggest celebrity out of Cottonwood,” Stella said. “Naturally there’s going to be gossip. And the money that goes with being a famous person.”

  “And I bet she got royalties or something from all those books.” Jolee shrugged.

  “I done signed all the paperwork for any royalties or money from the sale of anything of Beryle’s; it’s going to a charity that she’s been giving to for a while now. Wally Lamb already drew the papers up for me and signed them.” Ruby spat. “I didn’t even know about it until after she was cremated.”

  We all drew back in shock. Rarely was anyone from Cottonwood cremated. It was almost an afterlife sin not to be buried in the Cottonwood Cemetery right on Main Street.

  “Oh, shut up.” Ruby flung her wrinkly hand at us. “That was her wish, not mine. Besides, could you imagine if she were to be buried here? These people are going nuts over a few junky things in a rundown house, not even the fresh body of the woman. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.” She pointed at Stella. “So when you go gossiping about this, you tell them you heard it straight from my mouth.”

  “Well, I never.” Stella threw her cards down on the table and jumped up, knocking her chair to the ground before she stormed out of Tibbie’s house.

  “I guess we heard it from the horse’s mouth.” Poppa did a little giddy-up and neighed like a horse behind Ruby.

  I tried the best I could not to laugh, but it was too hard to keep it in.

  “What is wrong with you?” Jolee shushed me, only making me laugh more.

  “Not a thing.” I leaned back in my chair.

  My belly was full and the night was still young. And this was the way Euchre usually ended—with one player yelling at another.

  Chapter Four

  “Good morning, Betty,” I greeted Betty Murphy the next day when Duke and I walked into the sheriff’s office, located on Main Street in the back room of Cowboy’s Catfish restaurant.

  It seemed a bit unusual to most people outside of our tiny town to have a one-celled sheriff’s department in the back of a food joint, but it worked quite well for us with our small bit of crime up until recently.

  “Well, look at him.” Betty popped up out of her chair and drew her hands up to her mouth. “Doesn’t he look distinguished?”

  “Yes, he does.” I looked down at Duke and the bow tie I’d strapped around his neck. “It took me all morning and nearly knocking over a pot of coffee to get him to keep that thing on.”

  “You have to look good for your close-up, Duke.” Betty reached into the treat jar on her desk and walked over to give him one. “Are you excited?”

  “I am,” I said. “Duke couldn’t care less.”

  Duke’s medal ceremony for saving my life was this morning. The whole town was going to come out for the presentation, followed by a reception put on by the Sweet Adelines in the basement of the Cottonwood Baptist Church.

  “You look good.” Betty’s head tilted side to side, taking a good look at my face. “Well-rested even. A little pink in the cheeks.”

  “You know,” I smiled, “I do feel good. There hasn’t been any crime. I’m getting to bed on time, actually eating a little better, and I do have on a little makeup.”

  Normally, I threw my clothes on, brushed my teeth, and pulled my hair into a ponytail. I figured I better put on a little makeup since I was going to be standing in front of everyone at the ceremony.

  I failed to mention to Betty that I was eating better because Finn and I went out to eat a lot and I generally ordered something good for me since he was a healthy eater.

  Speaking of Finn…

  “Are you ready?” He came through the door between Cowboy’s Catfish and the sheriff’s department holding two cups of coffee. He had on a pair of blue jeans, out of his normal khakis, and a new brown sheriff’s shirt neatly tucked in, with his gun holstered around his waist. “Here you g
o. Betty didn’t want one.”

  He held it out to me and I took it, trying not to look into his big brown eyes. I grabbed a couple of dog treats off of his desk that he kept there for Duke and stuck them in my pocket. Duke was going to need them during the ceremony.

  “There is a lot of attention being thrown at the dead author,” he said and walked over to his desk, but not without petting Duke first. I certainly didn’t seem to have the same effect on him as he had on me. “Did that woman come in here yet?”

  “What woman?” I asked, taking a sip of coffee.

  “A woman named Cecily called earlier asking to speak with the sheriff about some extra protection for the Stone estate sale.” Betty picked up her glasses off of her desk and put them on. She read off a sticky note, “She says she believes that someone is going to cause some trouble for the sale and wanted to make sure the sale and items in the home were safe.”

  “Has she seen the home?” I chuckled and took another sip.

  Stella had mentioned extra security for the sale. Was it a coincidence that she knew Cecily was going to request this? What did Stella know? Obviously more than she let on at Euchre.

  “I told her that it wasn’t in the best condition, but she insisted that she was going to come down here and talk to the sheriff.” Betty held the sticky note out and I walked over to get it.

  “Cecily Hoover,” I read the name, looking at the out-of-town area code and number. “I’ll call her back after the festivities. From what I understand, Ruby Smith is in charge of the estate, so I’ll ask her about this Cecily.”

  “Sounds good.” Finn shuffled through a few of the papers on his desk. “Since it’s quiet around here, I’m sure I can go over and help out. So feel free to offer my assistance.”

  “Thanks, Finn.” It was nice to have a deputy who liked to help.

  When Lonnie was deputy, I had a hard time getting him to go anywhere, and now he wanted to run against me. I grabbed a couple of Vote For Lowry pins off of my desk. I pinned one on my shirt and bent down, pinning one on Duke’s bow-tie.

  “You ready?” I rubbed his head and he got up. He loved going for rides. I looked around at Betty and Finn. “I guess I’ll see y’all over there?” I asked.

  Both nodded their heads.

  “Good luck, Duke.” Betty patted his head on our way out the door.

  I’d parked the Wagoneer in the alley behind the office. Duke was all too eager to jump in, only Poppa was sitting in the passenger seat. Duke jumped in the back, wagging his tail at Poppa. I’d always heard that animals and children were sensitive to spirits. Now I knew it. Duke loved being around ghost Poppa just as much as he had loved being around the living Poppa.

  “Well? Anything going on?” Poppa asked, probably wondering about any new crime, since that seemed to be the only time he was around.

  “Not a thing.” I shook my head and pulled out of the spot, heading down the alley and taking a left on Walnut Street and stopping at the stoplight.

  The weather had taken a chilly dip overnight and left a gray sky, which wasn’t going to dampen my mood.

  “Betty did say that a woman from the Stone estate had called about more security, which was something Stella mentioned.” I took a left on Main Street once the light turned green.

  “Security? Did she say why? It’s not like they had something worth stealing. They had money, but they were really simple people from what I remember,” Poppa said.

  I slid an eye at Poppa. “If you aren’t doing anything, maybe you can go out to the Stone estate and look around for me. See what’s going on.”

  “What am I looking for?” he asked.

  “I’m not really sure. Something that would warrant someone watching the house,” I suggested. “Just let me know what I’m going to find before I get there so I’m prepared.”

  “All right,” Poppa agreed. “I’ll head out there after the ceremony.”

  There were some people milling around Main Street, window shopping in some of the boutique shops’ display windows, especially Ruby’s Antiques. They had to be out-of-towners here about the Stone estate because I didn’t recognize any of them, and I pretty much knew everyone in Cottonwood.

  I nodded and waved while they stared at Duke and his floppy ears hanging out the back window of the old Jeep.

  After I’d taken a left on E. Oak Street, I found a parking spot right in front of the Rock Fence Park, named after the dry stone rock fence that was built around the park.

  All over Kentucky, these walls were built in the 1700s. For some reason they’d always been called the Slave Walls of Kentucky, when in reality they were built by Irish-immigrant stone masons. Regardless, I’d always admired the hard work of someone who had laid the stones freehand with no mortar. It was now a Commonwealth of Kentucky law that you couldn’t remove or harm a dry stoned wall.

  But the law didn’t prohibit Mama from standing on one. She was teetering on top with a megaphone in her hand and screaming, “Vote Kenni Lowry for re-election!” She had my poor old daddy handing out buttons to anyone who dared give him eye contact.

  Jolee didn’t let the opportunity pass her by either. She was parked on Second Street selling food out of On The Run.

  “Mama, get down from there,” I urged her. “This is a respectable ceremony for Duke. We can campaign later.” Mama kept yelling as if she didn’t see Duke and me standing on the sidewalk underneath her.

  “Daddy.” My eyes grew and my jaw clenched.

  “You think I can do anything with her?” He shook his head and shoved a Vote For Lowry pin in someone’s hand when they walked by.

  “That’s my girl.” Poppa beamed with pride, standing on the jagged wall next to Mom. If he was living, I was sure as shinola he’d fall off and break a hip.

  “At least you could’ve worn a pair of nice pants.” Distaste for my sheriff’s uniform was apparent in the tone in Mama’s voice. “At least let Finn Vincent see you in something girly.” Her nose twitched. “Well, I’m glad you decided to wear a little makeup.”

  My eyes lowered and for a moment I thought I’d threaten to arrest her. Only what she was doing wasn’t grounds for a charge. I let out a deep sigh and patted my leg for Duke to follow.

  I put the sound of Mama’s amplified voice in the back of my head and walked up to the stage where the summer concert series was held. It was all decorated with red, white, and blue balloons, an enlarged photo of Duke that I’d given them, and a podium. Behind the podium there were four folding chairs.

  Mayor Ryland and City Clerk Doolittle Bowman stood next to the stage, going over the ceremony. When they saw me, Doolittle waved Duke and me over.

  “Now,” she looked down her long nose at me and then at Duke, “I’m going to say a few words before I introduce the Mayor, who will then say a few words before he gives Duke the honorary medal.”

  “Sounds good.” I nodded.

  When we turned back around, almost all of the folding chairs were already filled. It was so nice seeing all the citizens of Cottonwood come out and support not only Duke, but the sheriff’s department.

  “The seats are for me, the mayor, you, and Officer Vincent,” Doolittle pointed out. “You and Duke can sit at the end so he’ll have room.”

  I nodded again. Off in the distance, Finn and Betty were making their way through the crowd that was getting larger by the minute. Betty just shoved her way through, while poor Finn was stopped by every woman in the county. They all had big grins planted on their faces and goo-goo eyes. I couldn’t blame them. The likes of him wasn’t around these parts—that was why Mama was so desperate to hook Finn and me up.

  “Are you Sheriff Lowry?” A woman, with her hair pulled back in a low ponytail wearing a black skirt suit that practically hung off her shoulders and a pair of brown-rimmed glasses, stared at me.

  “Yes. I’m the sheriff.” I smiled to t
ry and break the serious look on her face.

  “I’m Cecily Hoover. I left a message with Betty Murphy for you to call me.” She used the pad of her forefinger to push the glasses up on the bridge of her nose. “We need to talk about the security for the Stone estate.”

  “Betty did give me the message, but I had to be here first.” I glanced over her shoulder and noticed everyone had taken their places on the stage, including Duke, who was next to Finn. “Do you mind if we talk about this after the ceremony?”

  “Actually, it’ll only take a few minutes.” She blinked rapidly. “I need to make sure someone stays at the house twenty-four seven until the auction. The secret manuscript will be sought after, and I’m afraid it might be stolen.”

  “Stolen?” I asked. “A book?”

  “Hello, Sheriff.” Paige and Lonnie Lemar walked past us. Both of them looked at Cecily and me.

  “Good morning,” I said, finding it odd that Lonnie wanted to come to a ceremony where my dog was getting an award.

  Cecily cleared her throat.

  “I’m sorry. About the book,” I encouraged her to continue.

  “It’s not just any book,” she whispered, shifting her eyes side to side. “It’s a tell-all that probably shouldn’t see the light of day.”

  “A tell-all about people around here?” I questioned and she slowly nodded.

  “Yes.” There was a mysterious tone to her voice.

  “Exactly who are you?” I asked.

  “I’m Cecily Hoover, Beryle’s assistant. Was her assistant.” Her eyes watered. She swallowed hard. She sucked in a deep breath to get her emotions under control and said, “The book?”

  “Why don’t you go get it then?” I asked what seemed like a logical question and a reasonable way to solve the issue.

  “I don’t know where it is.” Her eyebrows arched above her glasses.

  “If you don’t know, then how are people supposed to buy it?” I asked.

  “I don’t think anyone should buy it since the publisher technically owns it. This way the estate won’t have to pay back the advance, and the money can go to the charities.” Her lids covered half of her eyes.