Coughing & Donuts: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery (6 page)

“What a cute little dog! What's his name?” Brandi asked. She didn't look at all like a woman in mourning. I found it odd that she was working, but figured like most people she needed the money.

“This is Barney.” I said, putting Barney down on the ground. I hadn't thought to grab his leash, but I wasn't too worried that he'd suddenly get a burst of energy and take off on me.

“He's so little. My kids just love dogs, but they still haven't figured out how to make themselves take the dog out on a walk or feed him. Heck, I still have trouble getting them to wake up for school and they are practically adults now.” Brandi smiled at us again.

Diana jumped right into why we were there. “We are so sorry for your loss. We just have a few questions for you about your...”

“My jerk of an ex-husband?” Brandi sighed, moving away from the other waitresses nearby. “For me, it's not a huge loss. I don't mean to be rude, but he was no saint and throwing him out didn't change any of that. I'm sad for my kids. He was their father, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm just thankful that I won't have to put up with his nonsense anymore. I mean really. We've been divorced since my kids were toddlers and now they're teenagers and suddenly he gives a crap about me and what I do. I don't think so.” Brandi didn't mince words.

Diana took that as an invitation to ask more questions. Brandi didn't stop her. She never bothered to ask us who we were or why we were concerned about him or her. I found that to be incredibly odd, but Diana just kept pressing forward.

“Do you know if he had any problems with anyone? Did he have enemies that you know of?” Diana scared me. She was actually pretty good at asking questions. I was impressed.

“No one liked him, except Lou, of course, but Lou is just as much of a loser as he is. Those two were like twins. They could read each others thoughts and finish each others sentences. It was weird, but they had been in the academy together and worked in the same precinct back in Chicago.” Brandi explained.

“Why did you guys move here?” I asked, trying my shot at interrogation for a change.

“We didn't. I did. I'd always heard about this town being a hideaway for the wealthy and I thought I'd get a foot in the door and maybe make my dream of being a personal assistant to a star come true.” She answered.

Dream big, why don't you
, I thought. Diana must have been thinking the same thing, because she shook her head slightly for a second after Brandi answered.

“Anyway, when I threw Mike out, I packed up my kids and moved. I got this job right away and things were good for years.” Brandi said, pulling a cigarette out from behind her ear. “Do you mind if I smoke?”

I was about to protest, but Diana answered her before I could start my lecture on the dangers of smoking.

“Go ahead. You probably need a smoke right now.” Diana said.

Who was this child? What did she know about smoking?

“Did it get bad at some point?” I asked.

Brandi blew smoke out of her mouth as she spoke. “Sure did and fast too. One day, I'm just living my life, dating this great guy. He had a good job and lived here in town, then, all of a sudden, we're walking out of this little dive bar and there's Mike is standing outside by the car. I wanted to kill him.”

Diana and I cringed at her words. Could she have killed him? Were we face-to-face with a murderer?

“He just showed up?” Diana asked.

“Sure did. To make it worse, he never left. I spent half my life running from that man and it didn't matter where I went, he found me. Word of advice, don't marry a cop, ladies.” She grabbed her bleached blonde hair and pulled it back into a high ponytail.

I didn't know Mike, but if I had to choose a type for him, she would be the poster child.

Diana and I had discussed everything we'd like to ask, but at this point, neither of us knew what to say. She'd given us more information than I'd anticipated.

Brandi was feeling particularly chatty or maybe that was just her nature, but she kept talking. “He bought a house two blocks from my old townhouse. His partner in crime moved to town a few months later and buys every business in town, including this place. After a while, I just gave up. There was no sense running anymore. I had a job. It paid well. I just had a new boss. Good thing, he's lazy as all get out, because I only see him on payday. His wife runs the businesses. Well, technically, she's not his wife either, but you know how that goes. Sometimes they are together. Other times they are throwing the other one out.”

“Lou's married?” I didn't hide my surprise very well.

“Like I said, they are sort of married. I think she divorced him, but they still kind of live together off and on.” Brandi spoke like I understood that nonsense. I could never... I mean, never live with my ex-husband again. Not that he was mean or anything. I just liked having my space and he was comfortable living his life. We attended some family functions together and spoke to each other all the time, but living together again was completely out of the question.

Brandi checked her watch, suddenly remembering she was supposed to pick one of her kids up. “Did you get all you needed? I have to go pick my daughter up from her boyfriend's house.”

I looked at Diana. She agreed.

“Yes, thanks for your time.” I said. “And, again, sorry for your loss.”

She grinned and walked away, leaving us standing with our mouths gaping open. What did we get ourselves into?

Suddenly, she turned around and said, “Oh, the lady with the Chow Chow. They had beef.”

I had no idea what she was talking about.
Beef?

Diana cleared her throat. “Phoebe the Chow Chow?”

Brandi nodded, lighting another cigarette. “Yeah, her name is Alma Dresda. I don't know what was going on with them, but she sure did hang out around him a lot. I think he was just trying to make me jealous, but, baby, look at me. She's a good fifty pounds heavier than me and about ten inches shorter, so not a threat.”

“Interesting people in this town, Mom.” Diana quipped.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” I answered, bending down to lift my sleeping dog off the sidewalk.

*

“Well, at least, she got out there and dated. You can't fault her for that.” Diana poured milk into her cereal.

“I didn't need to date. I had you and that's all that mattered.” I answered, waiting for my much-needed morning coffee to brew.

“Speaking of what you need, have you called Sheriff Wagner back yet?” She grinned at me.

In the three months since I'd seen Charlie Wagner, he and I had spoken a couple of times a week. In my opinion, it was no big deal, but everyone else around me saw it as something far bigger than it was.

I gave her the same speech I'd given her dozens of times over the last few months. “We worked together for one day. That's it. Remember, he thought I was a suspect to begin with, so I can't very well date him. How would that look? Besides, we live one thousand miles apart.”

Diana took a drink of her orange juice. “So?”

“So, no.” I poured myself a cup of coffee. “I'll call him later.”

She clapped her hands. “Yay! Mom's got a boyfriend!”

I shook my head. “No, I don't.”

“Okay, Mom. You can keep telling yourself that, but a man doesn't call you that often because he wants to be friends. Does he know you almost got yourself arrested again?” Diana asked.

“I've never been arrested and he knows a little, not everything.” I answered, hoping she didn't see the heat rise in my face.

“You're blushing. That's so cute.” She jumped up and hugged me, kissing me on the cheek. “Mom's got a boyfriend.”

I needed to change the subject. “After you're dressed and ready, let's go see if we can find this Alma lady.”

My phone rang just then. It was the hospital.

“Hello?” I answered.

Rollie cleared his throat. “Hello, Mercedes. I just wanted to let you know that when you come in tonight, you and Amy will be assigned to the females on the ward and Rose will handle the police holds and the males.”

Why was he calling me to tell me that?

“Is this you vouching for me again?” I asked.

“You can thank Karen for that. This is the plan. Do you think you could stick to it for a change?” He wasn't kidding.

“Yes, definitely. Is Eli being held there?” I hadn't heard anything about him since he'd been arrested.

Rollie sighed. “Mercy, leave it alone.”

“Okay, will do. Thanks for the heads up and I'm really sorry about all of this.” I said quickly.

Rollie mumbled under his breath, then hung up.

“Everything alright?” Diana asked.

“I have no idea.” I answered. “Let's go find this woman before something else happens.”

I'd told myself to leave and leave quickly. It was going to do no good to lollygag. I just hoped that Gertrude – my car – would cooperate with me on this rainy Saturday morning. I figured, with it being Easter weekend, I probably wouldn't have to contend with the same police officers that I'd encountered over the last few days. Lou Benetto had to take a day off sometime.

Boy, was I wrong. I'd just barely stepped out the door when Lou pulled up in his squad car.

“How was your night?” He asked, flashing a sinister smile at me.

“Fine.” I answered, unsure of what he was getting at. Nothing had happened overnight. I stayed clear of the police holds. I remained close to Amy all night long. We dealt with the female patients only and didn't have one problem.

“So, you didn't kill anyone's spouse?” He sneered.

Ah, that's where he was going with this.

I stood my ground. He wasn't going to intimidate me with the information he thought he had. “I've never killed anyone. Maybe, you should be more worried about people who help their friends stalk their ex-wives.”

His cheeks reddened and I knew it wasn't because he was embarrassed that I knew that information.

He stared at me, the veins in his neck bulging out. I held my breath as I waited for him to respond, but after a full minute – I counted the seconds – he laughed. “Get in.” He opened the passenger side door.

I asked, “In front?” Why that was my first concern, I had no idea, but for some reason, it felt pretty important.

“Yes, in front.” He answered.

“No offense, but I'm not entirely comfortable with that. I'm sure you can understand my trepidation.” No way was I getting in his squad car unless I was under arrest and, as far as I could tell, I wasn't under arrest.

“Fine.” He stepped out, slamming his car door behind him. “Why are you making this so difficult? I just want to talk to you.”

I took a step back, to make sure we'd be in clear view of security cameras. I'm not sure that would help, but it was something to latch onto at this point.

“I'm not going to hurt you. Now stop acting like that.”

I still didn't trust him and, quite frankly, I'm not sure I ever would, not after what Brandi had told me about him.

“It's raining.” If he wasn't going to let me go based on fear, then, I thought the weather would be a nice, safe alternative.

He ignored my remark. “I figured you had something to do with that. Some of the girls were telling me that Brandi was answering a bunch of questions about Mike.”

“We didn't ask her much. She just started talking.” I said.

He smiled. “Yeah, that sounds like her alright. Do you mind telling me what you thought you'd accomplish? She just lost the love of her life.”

Were we talking about the same woman?
The way Brandi spoke about Mike didn't read true love to me.

Lou noticed the look on my face and added, “Brandi doesn't know what's good for her. She's a bit dramatic. By the way, Mike wasn't stalking her. That's not what that was and, as far as I'm concerned, she never heard of this place until my ex mentioned it years ago.”

“Oh, well, that's not how she sees it.” I answered.

“I suppose if you're incredibly self-centered and narcissistic, you wouldn't see any reasonable explanation for much.” He said, leaning up against the side of the building. I could see his tension in his body release a little as he continued talking about his friend's life with Brandi.

“I told him when he met her that she was going to be the death of him.” He stopped, realizing what he'd just said. “Brandi was a perfume girl in a department store. She was cute. Really good looking, but not worth all the hassle. Mike, though, he couldn't stay away from her. He bought so much cologne, he had to give it away to homeless guys on the street. It was just a way to stay close to Brandi.”

“Sounds expensive.” I said.

“He was always out of money. We'd get paid and he'd be broke the next day. The thing is, even after they got married, that never changed. Brandi thought he was rich. By her standards, he was. She was a girl from the south side and he was a guy from the suburbs. His Polish family was in no way prepared for the likes of her. You should have seen their faces when the blonde bombshell walked in their house, with fake nails, fake eyelashes, fake hair, and fake boobs.”

I could only imagine. I had to laugh. I would have paid money to have seen that.

“Well, it seems like they figured it out. She said they had kids.” I said.

He put his head back. “The kids. They aren't kids anymore. River is sixteen. Moe is fourteen and Falcon is thirteen.”

I nearly choked on my tongue. “Are those their names or nicknames?”

“Nope, that's what she named them.” He laughed. “Mike about threw a fit over the name Moe, but she liked it and it fits her now.”

“Moe is a girl?” I thought I hadn't heard him right.

“Moe is a girl. River is a boy and Falcon is the baby girl.” He said.

“Their last name is Slowicki?” I felt sorry for them. Those names were so unusual.

“Don't get me started. Brandi's last name was Never Miss A Shot, so the kid's last name is hyphenated.” He paused to let me put the whole last name together.

“Their last name is Never Miss A Shot – Slowicki?” Now, I'd heard it all.

After I recovered from that stunning revelation, Lou walked back to his car. “Looks like I'm not the only one digging into someone's past.”

I grinned. “I guess not.”

He climbed into his car and drove off. I had no idea what just transpired.
Did we agree to disagree or were we still going to butt heads until this case was solved?

*

I slept for ten hours before my stomach started grumbling. Before I opened my eyes, I could smell one of my all-time favorite meals cooking – Italian sausage lasagna.

“You're awake.” Diana peeked in the door. “Are you hungry yet?”

I was starving. I couldn't get up fast enough. It would have been easier, if I'd remembered that Barney was with me, but my brain hadn't yet caught up with my body and I tripped right over his sleeping body.

When I stayed on the ground a little longer than necessary, Diana felt pity on me and stopped laughing long enough to help me, saying, “Don't wake Barney up.”

“Oh, thanks, worry about the dog, not my broken hip or anything.” To think, I raised this child and the dog had only been in our lives a few months. Go figure!

After I took a quick shower to wake myself up, Diana and I sat down to eat dinner.

“This is delicious!” I said, as I helped myself to a second serving.

“Do you think it's boyfriend quality?” Diana asked.

I almost choked. “What? Boyfriend? Are you seeing someone?”

Diana rolled her eyes. “Not me, Mom. You. Do you think that the sheriff likes lasagna?”

She wasn't going to let up. She really wanted me to admit that I liked Charlie. That wasn't going to happen. Of course I liked him, but not in the way she was hoping I did. At least, I didn't think so.

“Why are you so interested in me dating? What's going on?” I asked.

She smiled and walked out of the room. “I'll be right back.”

Okay. What was that about?

She came back, carrying my cell phone in her hand. “Call him. He's called you three times today.”

I concentrated on my food.

“Mom?”

I took another bite.

She placed the phone in front of me. She'd hit 'call' on the phone already.

Charlie answered on the first ring. “Wagner here.”

“Hello.” I said with Diana coaxing me to speak. To her, I said, “I don't need you to tell me what to say.”

Charlie laughed, “What's going on there?”

“Nothing.” I answered quickly, moving away from Diana.

“You know, there's a lot of people watching what's happening over there. Are you okay?” He asked.

“I'm doing okay, I guess. I still have a job.” I answered.

Charlie asked the million dollar question. “Are they still treating you like a suspect?”

I laughed nervously. “I'm not sure.”

“You're not sure or you're not telling me?” Sometimes I forgot that Charlie was a sheriff. He could tell when I wasn't being entirely truthful, but I didn't see the sense in stirring things up further.

“With Diana and Barney here things are feeling a lot better. I think I have a regular private eye staying with me.” I said loud enough for her to hear.

Charlie's tone changed. “Now, both of  you think you can investigate this? That's it, I'm going to California. Mercy, you can't run around like you are in charge. Murder is serious business and this cop – what's his name? Well, he doesn't sound like the kind of guy you want to make your enemy.”

“No. You don't need to come to California.” I protested.

Diana came running from the bedroom. “Yes, come to California. Mom's gone rogue.”

What was she trying to do to me? Charlie and I were just friends. The last thing I needed in my life was someone else to have to worry about. I had my daughter, my friends, and my patients. What else did I need?

“Ignore her, please.” I said, while Diana proceeded to raise her voice, just to get a rise out of me.

Charlie laughed it off and changed the subject, thankfully. “Now, I don't know how to get you to understand this, but interfering with an active investigation is a crime. Everywhere. You don't know what you're up against and neither one of you has any business questioning witnesses or family members.”

A part of me did feel a tad bit guilty about taking matters into my own hands, but it was pretty obvious that no one else was going to look elsewhere for a guilty party.

“We haven't done anything wrong. We never really got a chance to ask the guard's ex-wife any questions. She just started talking and talking.” I explained.

“Ex-wives are real good for that. I know.” Charlie groaned. He'd been divorced for over twenty years and had two adult children. He never really spoke about that too much, but then again, he was a man and they weren't exactly known for being open books.

“Hey, no ex-wife bashing. I happen to be the ideal ex-wife.” I said without realizing how ridiculous that sounded.

“Do you hear yourself when you speak, Mercy? You might want to check your hearing aids.” Charlie laughed.

“Anyway, I'm not worried about Lou. I don't have anything to hide.” I said.

“He's who you should be worrying about. He called me yesterday asking questions about you. I didn't tell him much, but I don't think it mattered. If he was any good, he would have already done his homework and probably had all the information right in front of him.” Charlie said as my blood began to boil.

“He called you?” I asked, surprised. “You were the one who told him about Nebraska?”

“I did no such thing.” Charlie protested. “Remember, I live in a small town. It wouldn't be too hard to figure out what happened and when.”

We spoke for a few minutes more, comparing notes about what I'd learned about Mike and what Lou had said to me, while Charlie got me up to date with what he'd been asked to divulge about me.