I nodded and felt a wave of guilt wash over me all over again. Carter was such an honorable man, and he was trying so hard to be fair even though I knew it was killing him to be.
He turned to walk away and I touched his arm. As he stopped and turned back to look at me, I said, “Be careful. Someone murdered Gail for a reason. I don’t think another would be a big deal to him.”
“Neither do I.”
Chapter 15
I was just about to head upstairs for a shower when my phone rang. It was Ida Belle, and she was in a twist.
“Is Carter gone?” she asked.
“He just left,” I said. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes. Emergency meeting at Gertie’s. That way she doesn’t have to get up. I’ve got to change clothes and I’ll be there in ten.”
She disconnected the call and I looked at my phone and frowned. Ida Belle was always the calm, efficient one, but she was clearly stressed. Whatever was going on, Gertie must not know about it yet since Ida Belle wasn’t over there. Which told me exactly nothing except that something had happened between when Ida Belle took Gertie home and now. Something that had her normally calm demeanor thrown completely off.
I grabbed my keys and headed out. Gertie’s house wasn’t far away, but there was a killer on the loose somewhere in Sinful. I had no idea how long this would take, and wandering around after dark probably wasn’t the best idea. Not right now. Not even for me. Bullets beat martial arts every time.
I had a key to Gertie’s house, but I knocked and yelled my name before opening the door. I was fairly sure Gertie was armed when she showered. No way was she sitting in the recliner, at a disadvantage with her injured ankle, and not armed up to the gills. I stuck my head in and she waved from her chair. I closed the door and locked it behind me.
“I assume you heard from Ida Belle?” I asked.
Gertie nodded. “She called a couple minutes ago. What’s going on?”
“I have no idea. Carter had left my house just a bit before when I got her call to hurry over here. I’m going to grab a soda. Do you need anything to drink?”
“A soda would be great, and don’t think I’m letting that comment about Carter slide just because Ida Belle has her panties in a bunch. I want to know what happened.”
I grabbed three bottles of soda from the refrigerator and headed back into the living room. With any luck, Ida Belle would arrive before Gertie started grilling me. I really didn’t want to have the conversation more than once, so she was going to have to wait until we were all together. And I had a feeling that whatever had upset Ida Belle’s chi was going to take priority over my sadly-interrupted love life.
As I handed Gertie the soda, I heard Ida Belle’s motorcycle pull up in the drive. I went to the door and opened it for her to enter. She pulled off her helmet and I could see the strain on her face. Her hair contained tiny bits of foliage clinging to the strands and she had a couple scratches on her left cheek. I had brought an extra soda for her and passed it to her before taking a seat on the coffee table. Ida Belle sat on the couch and took a big swig of the drink.
I looked over at Gertie, who gave me an anxious glance. “You might as well tell us what’s wrong,” Gertie said. “It’s written all over your face and we already know it’s not good.”
“Got that right,” Ida Belle said.
“Tell us,” I urged.
“After I got Gertie settled, I was feeling restless so I took my motorcycle out for a ride,” Ida Belle said. “I cruised out to the highway, figuring I’d get some wind under my helmet, and that’s when I saw Brandon’s truck pulling off the highway and onto a road that I knew dead-ended in the swamp. I couldn’t imagine what business he had back there, but I knew it wasn’t shrimping. And after that run-in we had with him today and Fortune’s yesterday, I figured I’d follow him and see what he was up to.”
I felt my back tighten. I hadn’t known Peaches for long, but I liked her. If her husband was up to something bad, it would be devastating for her.
“And?” Gertie asked. I could see her fingers digging into the armrest. Her jaw was clenched and I could tell she was already processing the worst possible scenarios just like I was.
“I kept a ways back,” Ida Belle said. “There’s nothing down that road but a couple of falling-down shacks, so I didn’t figure I would lose him. When I got close to the end of the road, I pulled off behind some bushes and left my bike, then cut through the woods so he wouldn’t see me coming.”