Fly by Night (A Gracie Andersen Mystery Book 3) Page 9

  The end of the parade came quickly. The commander of the American Legion, Congressman Streeker, Reverend Minders, and a bagpiper, jammed into someone’s classic convertible, brought up the rear.

  After the welcome, Reverend Minders prayed his annual invocation over the proceedings. The Legion commander, Mike O’Connor, introduced the congressman, who droned on about the economy and his innovative solutions to fix the whole mess, with a brief statement about Deer Creek’s fallen heroes tacked onto the closing. Light applause segued to the school band playing “America the Beautiful.” Mike regained control of the microphone, inviting everyone to join the honor guard and band in the cemetery. When the congressman’s attractive aide caught his attention, he nodded, adding that everyone should enjoy the carnival in the park afterward. Rides for the kids were free, which produced a much more enthusiastic response from the crowd. Reverend Minders took the microphone again, closing the whole affair with a gentle benediction for peace. The bagpiper wheezed the pipes into action and played “Amazing Grace.” Shouldering their weapons, the honor guard turned toward the cemetery, marching in place, awaiting a “forward march” from the sergeant. The band followed the small group of men, with the Girls Scouts trailing behind, their hands full of lilacs to place at the graves of veterans long departed.

  Before her mother and Aunt Marlene could corner her about the cemetery, Gracie had melted into the crowd headed for the park. She didn’t dare turn back to look for them. She thought she could feel their laser gazes burning a hole in her back already. She gave the leash a quick tug to get Haley’s flagging attention. The three blocks to the park would do them both good. She was anxious to see what this carnival was all about.

  Chapter 17

  A merry-go-round, two jumping castles, and a couple of other kiddie attractions were just gearing up for the crowd taking advantage of the free rides. Food vendors were already set up. The smell of fried dough, hotdogs, and cotton candy made Gracie’s mouth water. Haley strained at the leash, pulling Gracie toward a stand that was serving Italian sausages, hamburgers, and onion rings. The Masonic Lodge was happily serving up instant heart attacks today. It would sure be a wonderful way to go, she decided, inhaling the enticing aroma of good grease.

  “No way, Haley. Come on now.” Gracie firmly steered the stubborn dog down the row of promotional booths near the small midway.

  She mentally ran through the story she’d worked out for her mother and Aunt Marlene. The visit to Michael’s grave had been very personal and not one she intended to share with anyone, except Jim. She was contemplating leaving the Jim part out. It might give Aunt Marlene ideas. Her aunt had very set opinions about mourning periods, and Gracie’s time had expired a year ago. Gracie pressed her lips together, remembering that particularly awkward conversation with her aunt just before the kennel had opened.

  Haley tugged at the leash again, sniffing along the ground. It looked like the dog was searching for the right spot, which was not in front of the tents they were walking past.

  “Come on, girl. We’re heading for high weeds. Just hold it until we get there.”

  Haley trotted eagerly after her mistress toward the hedgerow of small saplings and bushes bordering a field at the edge of the park. She let Haley meander back toward the activity of the fairway. She stopped to tie her dragging shoelace before re-entering the carnival between the tents.

  Two shadows were having an animated discussion in the festively colored tent that housed N.E.S.T. information. Haley sat correctly on her left, cocking her head from side to side as if she was listening too. Gracie had already seen the piles of giveaways on several tables. They had all sorts of literature about the safety of wind turbines, along with balloons, key chains, and piles of other promotional junk that everybody took home and threw out.

  A female voice rose over the lower-pitched male voice. “I understand your concern, but now that Mr. McQuinn has a valid alibi, it is in our mutual interest to get a bail hearing.”

  “It’s a bit of stretch, don’t you think?” the male voice growled. “I can’t even have a hint of anything that’s questionable stopping this project. Getting a murder suspect out on bail might raise some eyebrows.”

  “You need him out of jail to get this deal done. He won’t be signing a thing sitting in Warsaw. His lawyer will see to that. We’ll do our part and you do yours.” The woman’s voice could vaporize dry ice.

  “Maybe. There’s still the estate angle.”

  “That’s not an option. The widow is not cooperating as we thought she would. She …”

  A group of people drifted past the tent. The conversation stopped abruptly. Gracie could hear the man explaining the benefits of wind power, while offering balloons to the children. The woman exited the tent, quickly entering the black–and-silver tent next door.

  Haley whined expectantly. Gracie released a grateful Haley from sitting. They walked briskly up onto the midway, avoiding the tents and their occupants.

  *****

  The family was staking out tables for lunch. Isabelle and Kevin made an appearance with Isabelle’s son, Greg, and daughter, Anna. Both teenagers looked pained or embarrassed. Maybe both. Their faces lit up when they caught sight of Gracie and Haley.

  “How’s everything?” Gracie asked cheerfully.

  “Better now,” Anna said with a hint of a smile. She was a pretty girl, with long, straight blond hair that reached the middle of her back. “I hate holidays. It’s weird and awkward.” She frowned, clutching her iPhone.

  “I understand completely,” Gracie agreed. “How’s school?”

  Anna shrugged, and her brother spoke up quickly. “Okay. Finals were last week, and I’m home for the summer.”

  “How was your first year of college? I know I was homesick for the first semester,” Gracie said.

  “It’s been a tough year, and I wish I’d been around to support Anna,” Greg began.

  “It’s all right Greg,” Anna replied. “I’m going to private school in Pennsylvania next fall to finish. I can’t stand everybody whispering about what happened with Dad. Mom made me go to counseling with her, which was stupid. Now she has this boyfriend who’s 10 years younger than she is. The counseling didn’t do anything for her.” Anna frowned. Her gaze darted back to her phone.

  “I’m really sorry that both of you have had to go through so much,” Gracie said.

  “I can’t wait until August,” Anna blurted out. “I’ll finally be able to get out of this dump of a town. It’s suffocating here.”

  Before Gracie could respond, the pair hurried toward a coed group that was alternating between texting and talking to each other. She caught sight of Jim’s profile in the crowd moving toward the picnic tables. A wave of her arm managed to catch his attention. The plan was to eat lunch and then go back to work. They wanted to let kennel employees have at least a half-day off. It was also a valid excuse not to stay long. Jim was to initiate the movement from lunch to kennel to let Gracie off the hook with her mother.

  Plates of barbecued chicken, sausage, grease-soaked French fries, onion rings, and burgers made it to the tables. Jim and Gracie managed to squeeze through the milling humanity to where Bob and Theresa Clark were already eating. The other Clarks, Marlene and Beau, along with Isabelle and Kevin, were eating at the table next to them. Theresa kept searching the crowd, probably looking for Tom. He was supposed to be there with Kelly Standish, but they hadn’t even turned up at the parade. Kevin plowed through a heaping plate of chicken and potato salad with hardly any effort. Isabelle picked at hers daintily.

  No comments were made about Gracie’s absence at the cemetery, although her aunt remarked that the headstone and flower arrangement were “very nice.” With any luck, that would be the end of the conversation on the cemetery.

  The hubbub of the crowd grew, and the music blared from the rides, making it hard to carry on a normal conversation. No controversial subjects were broached, much to Gracie’s relief. They all agreed the carnival w
as a great success. Jim finally mentioned they needed to get back to the kennel to allow their employees to enjoy some of the afternoon, after Gracie’s sneaker had reminded him with a quick tap on his shin. Her dad nodded in agreement with Jim.

  “We need to get going too, dear. I’ve got the backyard to mow yet.”

  “Okay. I guess Tom and Kelly aren’t coming,” Theresa said.

  She began picking up empty plates for the trash when Ben Richter strolled past with his wife. Gracie watched them slip into the shade of the Renew Earth tent located three tents away from the N.E.S.T. display. She couldn’t figure out who else from the area was involved with the organization. The organization wasn’t dairy-friendly, and dairy farms were the main employers around Deer Creek. The only local at the protest had been Toby. Everyone else had been people she didn’t recognize. They couldn’t be from Deer Creek, since she knew just about everyone.

  “I think Haley needs a stroll after everyone has slipped her something under the table,” she said, excusing herself.

  The dog must have consumed an entire sausage and the skin off two chicken halves. Theresa had peeled the beautiful crispy skin from each of their barbeques, much to her husband’s disappointment. Gracie just knew her father had made sure Haley got most of it.

  “That poor dog. She puts up with a lot. I know that for a fact,” her father teased, his hazel eyes twinkling.

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be right back.”

  She grinned at her father and nudged Haley’s backside with her foot to wake her. The pair moved with the crowd coming from the cotton candy trailer, taking a quick exit next to the Renew Earth display. Gracie stood out of the flow of foot traffic, watching the activity in the Renew Earth tent. A few locals picked up pamphlets and some of the promotional materials, like the tiny solar flashlight with the logo printed in equally tiny proportions. A woman who appeared to be somewhere in her 30s wore a flowing caftan that fell mid-calf. Her earrings were simple large gold hoops, and she had a small rose tattoo embellishing her ankle. She looked very 1960s. Scanning the small crowd in the tent, Gracie determined that the Richters must have already left. They were nowhere to be seen at the moment, anyway. Without Ben Richter’s pushy presence, Gracie decided to chance it and take a peek at what the mysterious organization had to offer.

  The caftan woman was friendly enough. She introduced herself as Summer and offered brochures on greenhouse gases and water table contamination. Gracie decided to take all the information as some further research for Kim. She casually asked about the history of Renew Earth as she studied the chart showing how many birds were killed each year by wind turbines. The woman’s expression changed in an instant from friendly to reticent.

  “Renew Earth is fairly new, and we’re growing,” she offered with some hesitation.

  “Oh,” Gracie said, looking at one of the brochures. She struggled to keep her tone even. “So, what are your membership numbers?”

  Summer retreated to a chair behind a card table in the rear of the tent, her eyes wary. A salad in a foam container lay open, a black plastic fork stuck in the middle of the greens. An unopened bottle of water sat next to it.

  “I don’t remember right off the top of my head,” she said, taking a drink from the bottle.

  A group of teens crowded noisily into the tent, most likely looking for freebies. Summer quickly got up to greet them, leaving Gracie and Haley standing alone. Turning to leave, Gracie saw Kevin across the midway next to Congressman Streeker’s campaign tent. He and the congressman’s aide were engaged in a lively conversation.

  Chapter 18

  Jim impatiently looked through the milling people for Gracie and Haley. For someone who hated crowds, she sure had enjoyed today’s events, he decided irritably. Her parents had already left, along with her aunt and uncle. He was anxious to get to back to work.

  Cleaning up the remains of his Italian sausage-and-peppers sandwich, he walked over to the trash barrel next to the pretzel stand. He wanted to visit Toby late in the afternoon to see if a bail hearing was possible and if he’d decided to change lawyers. He sat on the edge of the metal picnic table seat. He finally caught sight of Gracie and Haley coming his way. Just as he started to stand, Kevin slid onto the long metal seat next to him. There was no way to avoid a conversation without being exceptionally rude. He mentally crossed his fingers for Gracie and Haley to hurry.

  “Jim. Just the guy I wanted to talk to,” Kevin said, grinning a little too broadly. “I think Isabelle may have stirred up some misunderstanding, and I wanted to straighten it out. You know how women are.”

  Jim decided to give the guy a lot of rope. It might be interesting. Besides, Izzy’s love interest had just been hired as the new commercial lending officer at the bank. Isabelle apparently had a thing for bankers.

  “What misunderstanding is that?” Jim asked.

  “Isabelle spoke out of turn to Gracie the other day. She heard me talking about the problem with the wind farm property leases.”

  “Oh, right. Gracie did mention that. So … what about the leases?”

  Kevin licked his lips, looking anxious. “D. B. promised New Energy and the bank he’d get Tobias to sell the land to him, so that the turbines could be built up there. Of course D. B. couldn’t close the deal. Now he really can’t.” Kevin flexed his hands nervously, clenching and unclenching his fists.

  Jim let the silence become awkward. Kevin stumbled on to get to his point.

  “I’m hoping, as is the bank, that you have some influence to … well …” Kevin chuckled nervously. “To persuade Tobias to sell the property to the bank. We’re prepared to offer him a very fair price.”

  Jim watched a bead of sweat trickle down the side of Kevin’s sunburned face. Fortunately. Gracie and Haley appeared with a bag of fried dough in hand. Haley leaned against Jim’s leg for attention.

  “Gracie, I’ve been looking for you,” Jim said with relief.

  “Jim,” Kevin interrupted. “We really need to talk about this.”

  “Sorry, not right now, Kevin. Real soon, though. I’ll get back to you.”

  Gracie looked at both men, who looked like they’d been sucking on a dill pickle. She was glad to have missed this particular chat. She was sure she’d hear about it anyway.

  “Sorry about being late. I’m ready to go,” she said quickly.

  *****

  Jim met Gracie in the kennel office after they’d finished bed checks. Haley woke from her people-food coma and lapped a generous amount of water from her ceramic bowl. She flopped down at Gracie’s feet, ready to join the nightly debriefing session. Gracie took her sneakers off, sighing with relief. She rubbed her feet over Haley’s shiny back. The dog groaned, her back leg thumping against the tile. Jim laughed and sat down in the recliner. He pulled the long wooden handle to recline. A crack and the sound of breaking wood startled them both. The chair started back and then stopped abruptly. Jim sat dumbfounded, the wooden piece in his hand.

  “Dang! How did that happen?”

  Gracie couldn’t help giggling. “I told you that chair was on its last legs and as you can see, I was right.”

  “Great. Just great! I can fix it though. Shouldn’t be too hard,” he said, bending over the side of the chair to examine the mechanism. “I know what I’ll be working on tomorrow.”

  “You could get a new chair. A leather one would be nice, with massage. How about it?”

  “No way. This chair fits me perfectly. It’s broken in just right,” Jim said firmly. “Don’t get any ideas.”

  “All right. We’ll see if you can actually fix it first,” she teased, knowing as sure as the sun was coming up, the chair would be repaired first thing in the morning. “Forget about the chair right now. Did you hear anything about a bail hearing for Toby?”

  “Funny you should ask. My dad called a few minutes ago and said they had one scheduled for Wednesday. How does that happen on a holiday?”

  “I might have the answer on that,” Gracie said, lean
ing back in her chair and propping her feet on the desk.

  Jim listened to Gracie’s eavesdropping report, his jaw working in agitation. He leaned forward, hands on his knees.

  “I’d like to know what the real deal is on this property. We’ve got this Richter guy who’s working an angle to get it because of his lawsuit. The bank wants it, and obviously the windmill company wants the leases on it. Now you’re telling me there’s actually political interest in it?”

  “That’s what I heard. I don’t know who the chick is that was talking to the windmill guy. Her name, that is. I did recognize her from the parade. She’s the congressman’s aide or something. Whoever she is, she’s pretty sure of herself.”

  “You’re right about that.” Jim ran a hand through his hair. “I need to find out what the sheriff’s department is doing on this investigation. Are they looking into the possibility that the Meadow is why D. B. was shot up there?” He stood and whacked his Yankees cap against his leg. “Toby doesn’t have a clue about what’s really going on. I don’t either, but we need to find out. Are you game to do some more investigating?”

  “Why not,” Gracie answered impetuously.

  D. B.’s murder was creeping her out. No murder weapon had been found, and Lord knew if the killer might try to take someone else out. The hair on the back of her neck prickled.

  Chapter 19

  Roscoe decided it was time to break camp. He hadn’t seen a single UFO since he’d set up a week ago. After the raccoon attack, the charm of the outdoor life had evaporated. The visitors from space had, for some reason, decided on new territory, so he was wasting time and effort. He hadn’t even seen a twinkle of one in Greerson’s Meadow either. The groundbreaking report that would assure his future as an investigative reporter never made it from his notes to a paragraph. His shoulders slumped in defeat and he began packing away the ancient equipment he’d picked up on eBay. It had been a stellar deal, but, unfortunately, of no use in attracting UFOs here. His theory about GPS points had been a disappointing failure.