“You two are ridiculous,” Gertie said. “Fortune usually has two guns strapped somewhere on her body. She probably takes one into the shower, and don’t ever make the mistake of waking her from a dead sleep. You might get capped before she even opens her eyes.” She looked at Ida Belle. “And you, with your Dale Earnhardt death machines. Who the heck needs an SUV that goes two hundred miles per hour?”
“I’m okay with fast things,” I said. “Mostly. I mean, I’ve pretty much thought I would die several times with Ida Belle behind the wheel, but then I’m certain we would have all died several times if we hadn’t been in something fast. So I’m still going with fast is worth the risk.”
“Really?” Gertie said. “Even when the latest speed acquisition might have put a man in the ICU?”
It was a sucky point, but a point nonetheless.
We were all somber when I parked in front of the hospital and we entered the ICU. Ida Belle went directly to the nurse’s desk and inquired about Hot Rod. The nurse stared at her for a moment with a “why do you want to know” look, then her expression shifted and she relaxed.
“You’re Miss Ida Belle,” she said. “You probably don’t remember me—Shonda. Grandma Cline always spoke highly of your cough syrup.”
“Good Lord,” Ida Belle said. “Shonda. I haven’t seen you since you were a little bitty thing. And now you’re all grown up and working at the hospital. That’s just great.”
“Is that Mrs. Cline of the skunkin-purse fame?” I asked. I couldn’t help myself. I usually can’t.
Shonda laughed. “That story never gets old. When Horace died, Grandma Cline refused to get another cat. I think Horace probably made her pay for what happened to him.”
Gertie nodded. “Cats have a way of reminding all of us that they tolerate us only because of our opposable thumbs that open cans of goodness.”
“So true,” Shonda said. “I would love a puppy, but with the hours I work, it wouldn’t be fair to either of us. I settled for a neglected cactus. I’m not doing so well with that, either.”
She tapped on her computer screen, then shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t let you in to see Hot Rod, and even if you got through the doors, there’s a cop sitting outside his room. He won’t let anyone in except the medical staff.”
Ida Belle nodded. “I figured that might be the case, but it didn’t feel right sitting home and not checking.”
“Of course not,” Shonda said.
“Can you tell us anything about his condition?” I asked. “We don’t want to get you in trouble, but we’ve been hoping for a bit of good news.”
Shonda frowned. “He’s in critical condition. It’s really touch-and-go right now. I’m fairly new to this, but some of the older nurses said cases like his are fifty-fifty. I’m sorry I don’t have anything better for you.”
“Fifty-fifty is still better than the alternative,” Gertie said.
Ida Belle pulled some bills out of her pocket and stuck her hand out, passing them to Shonda as they shook. Shonda uncurled her hand and looked at the bills, somewhat confused.
“For taking care of Hot Rod,” Ida Belle said. “If there’s anything I can do, please call. Hot Rod was a good man. He doesn’t have any family here to look after him, so the least I can do is fill in.”
Shonda’s expression cleared in understanding and she nodded. “Of course, Miss Ida Belle. If I think of anything or if his condition changes, I’ll let you know. Thank you ladies for stopping by. It’s really nice to know that some things about Sinful haven’t changed.”
If she only knew.
Chapter Seven
It was late afternoon before Carter swung by my house. Even though it was still hot as heck, I’d gone into the backyard for some hammock sleeping and book reading. My cat, Merlin, who seemed to enjoy the heat, was sunning next to a rosebush. I was in between naps when Carter came around the side of the house and into the backyard, and I waved.
He gave the chopped hedges a hard look as he crossed the lawn, and I held in a smile. He might care for me, but he still didn’t trust me. A normal woman might be offended, but I just thought it made him smart. Not that I couldn’t be trusted at all. It was more like I couldn’t be trusted about certain things—like not getting involved when a friend might be in danger.
“You might want to hire someone next time,” he said, and pointed at the bushes.
“I know,” I said. “Gertie offered to do it all, but I wanted to learn, and there’s that whole other thing of letting Gertie loose with giant scissors.”
“Smart,” he said, and sat in the lawn chair that I keep near the hammock, mostly for Carter to sit in.
“So I hear that while I was doing a hatchet job on my bushes, someone set off a bomb at Hot Rod’s shop.” I figured if I got the facts wrong, he might make an attempt to correct me. “And for some reason you thought I might be involved?”
I had to give him credit. At least he appeared a bit apologetic.
“Sorry,” he said. “It’s sort of a trigger response given the company you keep, and then there’s that whole history thing.”
“So who blew up the shop?” I said, hoping that if he felt bad, I could take advantage of it.
“It wasn’t the shop. It was in the woods surrounding the shop.”
“Was it a still?” I figured given that a lot of Sinful residents made their own brew, it was the logical thing to ask.
“No. I’m not sure what it was, to be honest. Left a big hole in the ground and blew up some bushes.”
“Kids?” It might not sound like a reasonable guess in other places, but Sinful was special.
“Could be,” Carter said, proving my point. “There’s a lot of highway construction going on. Someone could have snagged some dynamite for their own fun.”
“Isn’t it all supposed to be locked up and inventoried?”
“Of course. You say that like it changes reality.”
I smiled. “Sorry. For a minute, I forgot I was in Sinful. So was anyone hurt?”
“Indirectly.” Carter looked off at the bayou, and I could tell he was trying not to smile.
“Oh no!” I said, sitting up in the hammock. “You can’t sit there with your lips quivering and not tell me what happened. It didn’t have anything to do with the crime, so spill.”
“Well, technically, the explosion is a crime of its own.”
“Seriously. That’s how you’re going to play it?”
“Okay, fine. A deputy from a neighboring jurisdiction had called offering to help if I needed it. The sheriff’s department likes to avoid involving the state police if we can help it, so I took him up on the offer and had him watching the shop. Sheriff Lee was there, but I figured he needed backup.”
“Meaning someone to keep him awake.”
“That and to make sure he didn’t die on the job. I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going to happen. He’s going to die on that horse, go into rigor, and no one is going to notice for days.”
“I can see that.”
“Well, anyway, it didn’t happen today. What happened is that Sheriff Lee heard a noise in the woods and headed that direction to investigate. When he got close, the explosion happened. I don’t know how much you know about horses, but even when they’re a thousand years old and partially deaf, they don’t mix with loud things.”