The Cakes of Wrath (17 page)

I thought about Edie and the baby, and wondered how long it would take people to find out that Edie had no idea who her baby daddy was. When they did, which was inevitable, what would Edie say, and how would it affect morale at Zydeco?

It was nearly ten when I heard someone calling me. I looked up from shoveling weeds and dried brush into garbage bags to see Pearl Lee hurrying toward me in a pencil skirt that barely reached the tops of her knees and a white silk blouse unbuttoned to reveal a startling amount of cleavage. An expanse of long and surprisingly shapely legs ended in a pair of expensive-looking pumps. Call me cynical, but I was beginning to suspect that she had no intention of actually participating in the neighborhood cleanup effort.

I brushed a lock of hair from my forehead and felt gritty dirt smearing beneath my hand as I did. I looked like I'd been rolling in the mud. She looked ready for the catwalk. It wasn't easy to assume the upper hand under those circumstances, but I did my best.

“You're late,” I pointed out as Pearl Lee gingerly sidestepped a pile of dirt on the sidewalk. “You were supposed to be here at eight.”

She lifted her chin and looked down her nose. “That's an ungodly hour for anyone to be awake. I didn't think you were serious.”

I leaned on the shovel handle and gave her a hard look. “I suppose you didn't think I was serious about helping with the work either.”

Pearl Lee glanced around in horror. “Honey, this isn't work for a lady. This is the kind of thing a lady hires someone else to do for her. You ought to get out of those clothes, take a shower, and make yourself presentable.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Not a chance. I'm committed. I gave my word, and I'm staying. You gave your word that you'd help out today. Or did you forget about that?” I turned back to the pile of weeds waiting for me to bag them up. “Obviously you're not here to lend a hand, so why don't you head back to Zydeco? I'll call Ox and have him find something for you to do.”

Pearl Lee noticed a speck of dirt on the toe of her shoe and bent down to brush it away. “There's no need to do that. I have lunch plans with Scotty at noon. There's hardly enough time for me to get anything done.”

“There's plenty of time,” I said. “And since you're just getting to work now, you won't actually get a lunch break until after two.”

Pearl Lee gaped at me for a moment before apparently remembering that a lady doesn't stare at someone with her mouth hanging open. She snapped it shut and lifted her nose so she could look down at me over it. “That's out of the question. I simply cannot change my plans on such short notice.”

“Maybe you should make an exception,” I said. “It's just as difficult for me to adjust the staff's schedule to accommodate your social life.”

“Oh, please, Rita. Don't be silly. You don't need me there and none of those people would even notice if I never came back.”

I refused to concede the point just because she was right. “Miss Frankie expects me to keep you busy,” I reminded her, “and that's what I plan to do. If you won't look out for yourself, maybe the family is right to give someone else the job.”

She looked up from her inspection of a fingernail. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that there's something weird going on around here. A young woman might have been murdered, and there could be a killer on the loose. It's hard to know who to trust, and I think you should be careful who you spend time with.”

Pearl Lee flapped a hand at me, her eyes narrowed. “I can trust Scotty.”

“How can you say that? You don't really know the first thing about him. I don't even know him all that well. I'm just saying that maybe you should be careful, that's all.”

Pearl Lee adjusted the strap of her handbag on the crook of her arm. “That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Why, Scotty is the kindest, sweetest man there is. Gentle. Devoted. And he's just devastated about what happened to Destiny.”

“You only met him a few days ago,” I pointed out reasonably. “You might not know everything there is to know.”

“And you don't know him at all. You just said so. I don't want to seem rude, baby, but at least I've spent some time with the man. And I
know
a good one when I see one.”

According to Miss Frankie, Pearl Lee's less-than-stellar judgment in men was the cause of her current distress, but I didn't point that out. Frankly, I was tired of arguing. “Fine,” I said. “Forget I said anything. Would you mind handing me one of those garbage bags from the sidewalk behind you?”

Pearl Lee glanced at the bags and shook her head. “I would, but I don't want to ruin my manicure.”

Seriously? I did some rather pointed looking of my own, beginning with the dirt stains on my knees and moving up to the new hole in the thigh of my jeans. “I know this isn't the most appealing job around, but I really could use your help. I
am
paying you to work for me, you know.”

“Oh, please. Let's not start lying to each other. You and I both know that Frances Mae is putting up the money to keep me tied up here. You don't want me here any more than I want to be here. So let's just call a thing a thing, shall we? I'll stop by and make an appearance every morning and I'll be back in the afternoon before Miss Frankie arrives to collect me. In the meantime, you do what you do, and I'll keep myself busy. What Frances Mae doesn't know won't hurt her.”

It was a tempting offer. I'd known Pearl Lee just seventy-two hours and already I wanted to pay for her return trip to Florida. But there was one major obstacle standing in my way. “It will never work,” I said, grabbing the garbage bag for myself. “Miss Frankie will figure out what you're doing, and when she does, there'll be hell to pay.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much? If Frances Mae figures out that I'm not spending my days as her paid lackey, I'll deal with her.
Really
, Rita. You need to lighten up.” And with that, Pearl Lee pivoted on her three-inch heels and minced off down the street, leaving me, literally, holding the bag.

I'd made the mistake of working all morning without sunscreen and I was already paying the price. My face and arms felt like they were on fire and I could feel a massive headache coming on. When Aquanettia came by just after noon to check on our team's progress and release us for lunch, I threw down my shovel without a second thought. I had planned to head over to Zydeco to make sure the staff was on schedule with the golf course cake, but all the physical labor, combined with the mouthwatering scents that had been coming from the smoker at Rubio's Ribs all morning, had worked up an appetite I couldn't ignore.

Rib lovers are split down the middle when it comes to the virtues of dry rub versus those of a good barbecue sauce. Rubio Santiago happens to be a dry rub man. I've been trying for months to tease the ingredients for his secret combination of spices out of him, but so far he's not telling. I can taste coriander, cayenne, and garlic, and I'd bet my Albuquerque roots that he uses chunks of mesquite to create flavor. Beyond that, I'm stumped.

I almost changed my mind about eating at Rubio's when I saw Aquanettia pacing back and forth in front of a very long line of hungry alliance members, all waiting for a plate of Rubio's magic. She checked her watch and sighed impatiently, as if the whole lunch experience was taking too long for her. Frankly, her hands-on approach to running the cleanup was starting to suffocate me.

Two things kept me from turning around on the spot. One, Felix Blackwater and the ever-faithful Lorena came inside a few minutes after me and I wanted to see what he could tell me about the accident and Destiny; and two, did I mention the aromas that had been taunting me all morning?

Felix was red-faced and sweating. Lorena's round cheeks were smudged with dirt and her short blond hair stood on end. Both of them looked ready to pass out. I hoped they weren't too exhausted to answer a few questions.

I wanted to talk with Felix and Lorena, but I didn't want to look like I was stalking them, so I stepped out of line and pulled out my cell phone, so I could let a few people move in front of me.

All around me voices rose and fell as members of the alliance discussed their lunch orders, talked about their morning's work, or complained about Aquanettia's leadership style. I smiled and nodded and responded appropriately whenever someone talked to me, but I kept one eye on Felix and Lorena the whole time and silently urged the line to move a little faster.

After what felt like forever, they caught up with me and I pretended to finish what I was doing with my phone. I slid back into line and we spent a few minutes exchanging greetings and chatting about the weather.

The conversation hadn't presented any chances for a smooth segue into the subject of murder, but I wanted to keep them talking, so I asked, “How did your morning go? Did you get a lot done?”

Felix, whose face was beginning to regain its natural color, wiped his brow with a sleeve. “Our group has done a great job. We've almost finished with the section Aquanettia assigned us. How'd y'all do?”

I made the mistake of brushing my sunburned arm against the wall and regretted it immediately. “We only made it about halfway. We ran into a patch of grass that took a while to clear out.”

Felix nodded knowingly. “I suppose we got lucky. We should be completely finished in an hour or two. I've been thinking that maybe I should lend Moose's group a hand when we're done so he can go home. Poor man shouldn't be out here chopping down weeds so soon after his wife's death.”

“I was surprised that he showed up, myself,” I agreed. “I thought he might skip today.”

“You and me both,” Lorena said with a tick of her tongue against her teeth. “Can you believe what's been going on around here lately? First, that van almost ran you over. And then Destiny dying like that. It's just too, too much.”

“I guess Moose feels the need to keep busy,” I said, “and who can blame him? I didn't see Scotty, though. I guess he's not helping out?” I knew he wasn't. He was meeting Pearl Lee for lunch, but it was a way to keep them talking so I could find out what they knew.

Lorena's face puckered. “No. He's got plans of some kind. Don't ask me what, though. I couldn't tell you.” It wasn't what she said, but the way she said it. Disapproval dripped from every word.

I wasn't too happy about it either, but only because Pearl Lee wouldn't back off.

Felix gave the collar of his T-shirt a twitch and looked around to see if anyone had overheard us. “Now Lorena, let's not speak ill of our neighbors.”

“I'm not speaking ill,” Lorena said, scowling so deeply half a dozen chins formed under her round face. “I feel just awful for poor Moose, that's all. And now Scotty's turning out to be just as unreliable as she was. I guess the acorn really doesn't fall far from the tree.”

“Lorena!”

“Oh, I'm sorry, but if you ask me, Destiny put Moose through quite enough over the past couple of years. Just when he thought she was finally getting her act together, this happens.”

“Lorena,
please
,” Felix hissed. “Somebody might hear you. You make it sound like she purposely got herself killed.”

Lorena rolled her eyes, but she did drop her voice a few decibels when she spoke again. “I'm not saying that she died on purpose. I'm sure it was a horrible accident. But if you play with fire long enough, eventually you're going to get burned. I really only meant that she wasn't known for making the best choices. And that's not news. Everybody knows that.”

Destiny's reputation wasn't what concerned me. The line inched forward and I tried to steer the conversation in a slightly different direction. “Moose told me that you were the one who told him Destiny was on drugs again,” I said to Felix. “That must have been difficult for him to hear.”

Felix gave me a look I couldn't read. “I suppose it was. He never has liked hearing the truth about her.”

“Well, yeah, but who does like being confronted with an unwelcome truth? How did you find out she was using again?”

Felix tugged at his shirt again. “It was no big deal. It should have been obvious to anyone who was paying attention. She came into the market one day in a real mess. Her eyes were dilated and she could hardly form a complete sentence, just like she used to be before she went to rehab. Moose was working his ass off, holding down the fort, while she did whatever she felt like doing.”

I had to believe him. I'd seen her in exactly the same condition. “So you felt sorry for Moose? That's why you told him?”

“Of course I did. Wouldn't you?”

The line moved again and we all moved with it. I caught sight of my red-hot face in the mirror and winced at how sunburned it was. “So was it just once that you saw her high?”

Lorena shook her head and answered for him. “If it had been, Felix wouldn't have said anything. We both saw her slipping back into that old life and we felt we had to speak up.”

We were close enough to the dining room now to see members of the wait staff walking by with plates of ribs, which made it difficult to stay completely focused on the conversation.

“I told Felix he had to tell Moose. It wouldn't be fair to just keep our mouths shut. Not when we saw the things she was doing.”

I glanced back at her in surprise. “Like what?”

Felix put a hand on Lorena's arm. “I don't think we should speculate aloud. We don't
know
that anything was going on.”

Lorena shook off his hand impatiently. “You might not want to believe it, but I sure do. A woman can always tell.” She turned to me for backup. “Isn't that right, Rita?”

“That depends,” I said. “What are we talking about?”

“Lorena!” Felix snapped. “Not here.”

She gave her boss a resentful look and flicked her gaze toward Aquanettia. “Ask her.”

I decided to go out on a limb and take a guess. “Does it have something to do with Isaiah and Keon? I know that Aquanettia had some issues with Destiny over them.”

“Issues?” Lorena laughed through her nose. “I guess you could say that. Destiny was lucky those boys aren't any younger.”

“Lorena, really.” Felix wedged himself between us and glared at me. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Rita. Repeating gossip where anyone can hear you. Destiny might have been a bad seed, but Moose still has to do business in this neighborhood. He still has to work with the people here. That's why I told him about the drugs. She was ruining the shop's reputation, and if
that
story gets out, it will ruin more than that.”

Felix seemed genuinely concerned about Moose, but since Lorena was in a chatty mood, I pushed a little harder. “Did you actually see her doing anything inappropriate?”

“Everything she did was inappropriate,” Felix said. “Now let the matter drop.”

“Is that why you tried to have Destiny removed from the alliance? To protect Moose?”

“I tried to have her removed for the reasons I stated at the meeting. She never even bothered to come to any of the meetings. You know that. Everybody knows it.”

“But Edgar said she was ill,” I reminded him.

“Edgar,” Lorena said with another soft snort of derision. “The man of a thousand excuses. Sick? Yes. By her own choice. Nobody forced her to pollute her body that way.”

“She had no business voting on matters that would affect the rest of us,” Felix said. “We're talking about my livelihood—and yours. Did you really want someone like her having a say? Running for office?”

I looked around at that restaurant full of neighbors and wondered if I'd been on the wrong track all this time. Had one of these laughing, sweating, and chattering people killed Destiny to permanently remove her name from the ballot? None of them looked like a cold-blooded killer, but everybody knows that looks can be deceiving.

We'd finally reached the head of the line and I turned my attention to the all-important selection of side dishes. Rubio allowed three sides with each entrée, but with a dozen to choose from, the decision wasn't always easy. Corn on the cob (fresh, not frozen) and hush puppies (deep-fried nuggets of cornbread so named because Confederate soldiers used to toss them to the dogs to keep them quiet) made the cut almost immediately. Choosing between Rubio's macaroni salad (a tangy mayo dressing over macaroni cooked al dente, cubes of sharp cheddar, and fresh peas) and collard greens (cooked in butter and pork fat) proved to be tougher.

Before I could make my final pick, the door flew open so hard it hit the wall and bounced off again. Windows rattled and every conversation in the line behind us ground to a screeching halt. Scotty Justus loomed in the doorway, his chest heaving, his eyes wild. He glanced around, but it only took a moment to find who he was looking for.

“You!” he shouted, pointing at someone behind me. “Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?”

Everyone swiveled to look, including me. That's when I realized that he wasn't aiming that finger at someone else. I put a hand on my chest and squeaked, “Me?” just to be sure.

“I want to talk to you. Outside. Now.”

Right that minute it wasn't hard to picture him trying to run down his own daughter in a murderous rage. The last thing I wanted to do was go anywhere with him, especially alone. But I was also determined to figure out what really happened to Destiny. If Scotty was going to open up to me, he probably wouldn't do it in public. And since the police weren't likely to even try getting information from him, I had to take a risk.

Still, I was reluctant to leave the relative safety of Rubio's as I followed Scotty out the door. For a laid-back beer-guzzling Parrothead, he sure had a head of steam worked up. Even his ponytail looked angry.

The minute we hit the sidewalk, I decided to go on the offensive. I didn't want him to think he could just waltz into a room and call me out, expecting me to come running. Which, of course, I had. But I thought it was important to establish ground rules going forward.

“What's this all about?” I demanded. “And how dare you shout at me like that?”

Scotty put both hands on his hips and leaned in close. “You're lucky I didn't drag you out of there. You told Pearl Lee that I killed Destiny? Are you insane?”

Wait a minute! What? “I never said you killed her,” I assured him. “I said it's possible that
someone
killed her. Because it seems a little too convenient that somebody tried to hit her with a van and then she died of an overdose not even two days later.”

His eyes narrowed but he looked more confused than angry now. “What are you talking about? Destiny was nowhere near that van.”

“I don't think the driver knew that. I think that whoever it was mistook me for her.”

“That's insane.”

“Is it? What if I'm right? She was going to rat out her dealer . . . probably. What if someone killed her to keep her quiet? Because I think there was someone with her at the Chopper Shop on Wednesday morning. Someone she knew. Someone she'd sit and have coffee with.”