Tears welled up again in her swollen eyes and poured down her mascara-streaked face. Way to go, Trixie.
I got up and walked Sueleigh to the door. “I’ll try to think of something. Leave your number with me, and I’ll contact you as soon as I have any new information.” She handed me her business card: Sueleigh Dalton, Beauty Consultant for Creative Cosmetics. Why was I not surprised?
It was late afternoon by the time we went to eat lunch at one of the little sandwich shops. The crowd was thinning out. Most of the tourists had headed home, tomorrow a workday. The vendors were pulling up stakes and getting their materials together, moving slowly, weary and ready to close up shop.
“Trix.” Dee Dee shook my arm, “Your turn to order!” I looked up at the waitress. She impatiently flicked her pencil against her pad, waiting on me. I didn’t have much of an appetite, but I had to eat something.
“Give me the same thing she ordered,” I said as I pointed to Dee Dee.
“Okey, dokey,” the waitress said. “That’ll be two corned beef with sauerkraut.” She turned and hurried away.
I hate corned beef with sauerkraut. “Wait, Miss!” I shouted to get her attention.
She whirled around and put her hands on her hips.
“Just give me a chicken salad sandwich,” I sheepishly shrugged, knowing my distraction was starting to get the better of me.
Between bites, we discussed Sueleigh’s dilemma. Nana wanted to help her; Dee Dee was wary. I couldn’t blame her. I’d be, too, if I were in her sneakers.
Would I hurt Dee Dee if I helped Frank Dalton? Could I possibly help both of them at the same time if another killer was on the loose? And if that were the case, would I be putting all three of us in danger?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Exhausted from a trying day, we turned in early. If the ghosts of the old miners could talk, they would have definitely been complaining about the three women who could out-snore a man any ole day.
I slept fitfully, my sleep haunted by dreams. Sometime during the night, I sat up, wide-awake. An idea popped into my mind like someone had opened my head and planted it there: I believed the murder of Donnie Haygood somehow tied in to the murder of John Tatum. I tossed and turned the rest of the night as I waited with anticipation for morning.
I thought it was still night when I heard Nana and Dee Dee talking. I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.
“Hey. Thought you’d never wake up,” Dee Dee said.
Nana chimed in, “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. I’m glad you’ve decided to join the world of the living.”
“Good morning, Nana,” I managed to reply between yawns.
“Where do we start digging?” Nana asked.
“Digging for what, Nana?” I asked in return.
“Don’t play coy with me, Missy. You know what I’m talking about. Where do we begin to look for John’s real killer so we can get poor Mr. Dalton out of jail?” Nana failed to mention that “poor Mr. Dalton” had gotten in jail by blackmailing Tatum.
“I’m still thinking. Why don’t you and Dee Dee go and get us some doughnuts and coffee for breakfast? I’ll get cleaned up while you’re gone.”
“Why don’t we wait on you while you get ready?” Dee Dee asked. “Then we can all go together.”
When Nana turned her back towards us I winked at Dee Dee, started rubbing my eye, and pointed at Nana.
“Trixie, have you got something in your eye? It looks like you can’t keep it open,” Dee Dee said.
“Yes, I think I do. Why don’t you come in the bathroom and help me get it out?” We squeezed in the bathroom and I shut the door.
“Let me see,” Dee Dee said. She was an inch from my face, pulling down my lower lid. “Hold still, if you want my help.”
“I don’t have anything in my eye except my eyeball. I was trying to get your attention,” I hissed. “I need you to keep Nana busy this morning while I go over to the courthouse and look up some information. I have a hunch, but I don’t want to say anything until I find out for sure.”
Thirty minutes later, Dee Dee pushed Nana out the door to set out on their mission of taking more photographs.
I grabbed the phone and called Sueleigh to meet me at the courthouse. I dressed, threw on my sweater, grabbed my bag and hurried out the door.
The Gold Rush Days over, Dahlonega now resembled a ghost town. Hardly anyone wandered around the square. I took my car to the courthouse; it was just too far to walk with my aching knee.
I was in the deed room when Sueleigh finally arrived in a whirlwind of turned heads. A lone clerk stood behind the counter. Tables and chairs occupied the front of the room. Several people sat around the tables.
“Hi. I’m Trixie Montgomery and this is Sueleigh—”
“I know who she is. How can I help you?” The clerk’s nostrils flared with distaste. In small towns, gossip spreads like weeds in a garden, and Dahlonega apparently was no different.
We acquired the material we needed and started the task of finding dirt on the real killer. Within an hour we hit pay dirt!
I made copies of the information and stuffed a stack of pages in my bag. Excitement welled within me and my heart raced at a fair clip. I couldn’t wait to share my news back at the inn. Sueleigh and I were halfway down the courthouse steps when my phone rang.
“Trix, you’ve got to come as quick as possible. Something’s wrong with Nana.” Dee Dee sounded upset.
“What’s wrong? Do I need to call 911?”
Sueleigh sidled up closer to hear the conversation.
“No! I mean, I don’t think so. She, ah just got short-winded walking back to the room and wants you to come as soon as you can. She looks a little pale.”
“I’m leaving now. I should be there in a few minutes.” I punched the cell phone off and frowned.
I was worried about Nana, but something still didn’t add up. Nana was fine this morning, and most of the time she had more energy than me and Dee Dee combined.
“Who’s sick?” Sueleigh asked.
I filled her in.
“I have a friend who’s an EMT. I can call him. It’s the least I can do for you.”
“I think we’ll be okay,” I said, although I wasn’t sure. Something wasn’t right. “Thank you though.”
Her frown indicated she didn’t believe me. I didn’t believe me either, but I wasn’t sure why. I thanked her for her help, and hurried back to the inn.
As I fumbled with the key, I listened for voices, but heard nothing. “Dee Dee? Nana?” I pushed the door open. A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me inside. The door shut behind me with a solid thud.
“Well, lookie who’s here. Little Ms. Butt-in-sky.”
I turned around to see who Leroy was talking about. Then it dawned on me. I was Little Ms. Butt-in-sky.
I heard Dee Dee’s whimpering before I saw her. “I’m so sorry, Trix. He made me do it. He had a gun and said he’d shoot Nana if I didn’t call you.”
“And I take everything back I said about him being a nice, young man,” Nana said, glaring daggers at Leroy. If they had been real, Leroy would have be a dead man. Nana and Dee Dee were sitting on one of the beds, their hands and feet bound by duct tape. Bad enough my best friend was trussed up like this, but an elderly woman?
“Nana, are you okay?”
“Of course I’m okay, but if I get my hands on that scallywag, he’ll wish he’d never been born. I—”
Leroy pointed the gun at Nana. “Shut up, old woman. You’re annoying me. I think you’ll be the first to go.”