“She can’t help,” I whispered as I finally met his eyes. A shiver wracked through me. “She’s dead.”
“Who’s dead?” Pringle chirruped from the front of the camper, bringing me back to the present moment. I craned my head and spotted him in the driver’s seat where he stood gripping the steering wheel in his tiny hands, pretending to steer through traffic.
“Get back here,” I demanded. “Those windows aren’t tinted. Anyone could see you.”
Thankfully, and rather uncharacteristically, he didn’t argue. Which I was grateful for because I just didn’t have the energy for it. It also told me I needed to be suspicious of the mischievous procyonid. But I also didn’t have the energy to deal with the questions if another camper spotted him. Maine wasn’t one of those crazy states where you could have a pet raccoon. We weren’t like Delaware.
Pringle hopped down and then scampered over and hopped onto the couch.“Could, but didn’t. Now what’s your twenty, Mama Bear? I’m getting shutter trouble over here. Someone’s dead? Who? Do we need to pull stakes and put the hammer down before this place is crawling with Smokies? Or do we have another case on our hands?”
I sank down into the booth seat, propped my elbows on the table, and cradled my head in my hands. Pringle was exhausting at the best of times. Right now, though, it was like he was speaking another language.
“Sorry,” Charles said as he slid onto the seat beside me and whispered, “He’s been listening to the CB radio. Are you sure she’s dead?”
“Positive.”
“Do you need me to call the police or did you do that already?”
I shook my head and sighed.“I didn’t have to. One of the other campers already did.”
“Hey, that’s good, right?” Leave it to my lawyer boyfriend to remain calm and logical, no matter the circumstance. I appreciated that about him, but right now I needed him to understand.
“No, it’s not good at all. She called the police on me.” My voice cracked at that last part. “She thinks I’m the one who killed her.”
“Well, that’s ridiculous. You haven’t been out of my sight long enough to murder someone. Besides, who’s to say she was even murdered?”
I lifted my head and stared at Charles with wide eyes.“I say she was murdered, Charles. Most likely with a poison pie. At least that’s where the evidence is pointing.”
His face fell and voice softened.“Oh, no. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“You’d think I’d be used to it by now with all the bodies I’ve managed to stumble upon lately.”
“Well, I love you because you haven’t gotten used to it.” He kissed me on the forehead. “But you do seem to have some kind of gift for stumbling across bodies.”
“Yeah, too bad I can’t return it,” I quipped. I went to drop my head back into my hands, but a blur of movement caught my eye.
Octo-Cat appeared bleary-eyed in the doorway to the bedroom.“Why so much noise? Some of us are trying to keep up with our beauty sleep. And aren’t you all supposed to be out on a picnic?”
Pringle at least had the good sense to look embarrassed about the part he’d played in ruining this day. “10-44, good buddy. Smoke those brakes, it’s a long story. And it ends with a Windy City rollover on our shoulder.” When he was met with a sea of blank looks, Pringle brushed his face and added, “We’ve got dead body next door.”
Octo-Cat reared back and hissed.“Angela! This is supposed to be a vacation. Heaven knows I’ve needed it. You’re a lot to put up with even on your best days, I’ll have you know. You can’t just go around uncovering dead bodies while I’m trying to enjoy a long-overdue nap.”
I groaned.“I didn’t uncover the body on purpose, and I also never invited you to tag along. So no more complaints. I’m having a hard enough time dealing as it is.”
Charles rubbed my back in big, sweeping circles.“Are they giving you a hard time?” he asked.
“They always give me a hard time,” I moaned. This time we didn’t even have sweet Paisley around to help keep spirits high. No, I was stuck with sassy and sassier.
“We should probably head out,” Charles murmured. “When the police get here, they’ll want to talk to you.” He got up and moved back toward the kitchen, grabbing for the pan with the grilled cheese. Even off the heat for the length of time we’d been talking, one side was practically charcoal. He shook his head, then opened up one of the cabinets and took out a box. “You must be starving by now. Take this.”
He handed me a Clif bar, and even though I had been famished not even ten minutes back, my appetite had now disappeared entirely.
“Thanks,” I muttered anyway as I forced myself to stand.
“There are some folding chairs stashed in the cargo hold. I’ll grab those and then meet you outside. And Angie?”
He waited for me to meet his eyes before continuing,“It’s going to be all right.”
All right, yeah. Everything would be fine.
It had to be, right?
I certainly hadn’t murdered the campground manager. In fact, I didn’t know a thing about her except that she could be a bit lax with the rules.
Still, I’d been under suspicion before. And for a lot less, too.
Now I couldn’t dismiss the nagging feeling that things would get a lot worse be-fore they got any better.
Chapter Ten
“Let’s get this convoy moving! Wait for me,” Pringle shouted right before I closed the door to the RV.
Of course, I had to go back in to explain why I would not be waiting for him.“You have to stay inside,” I said, hoping that would be enough.
He squinted his eyes and spoke in a husky voice not at all befitting of him.“But what if I have to pay the water bill?”
I blinked down at him in utter bewilderment.“What are you even talking about?”
“You know.” The raccoon dropped his voice to a whisper. “The bathroom?”
“You’re smart enough to use the toilet, aren’t you?” I challenged with a smirk. “Either that or you can wait for dark and then sneak out to do your business then.”
His shoulders slumped and he dropped down onto all fours.“Are you really going to make me hide out in this crummy camper the whole weekend?”
I glared down the bridge of my nose at him.“Yes, I really am. I would never have willingly brought you on this trip, but you took that choice away from me when you forced your way on board. The way I see it, you have no one to blame but yourself.”
“Well, I am coming with you,” Octo-Cat called from the kitchenette counter.
I glanced over and found him cleaning his face and paws after presumably licking all the butter off the unfinished side of the grilled cheese sandwiches.
“What? Why do you want to come?” I asked.
“Mostly because ‘The Bandit’ wants to but can’t.” The cat lifted his head and grinned at the raccoon. “But also because I’m your partner, and it sounds like we might have an investigation on our paws. I plan on claiming my share of our payment, so I might as well take on some of the work, too,” he added, licking his chops with glee.
“Fair enough,” I said, not bothering to tell him there wouldn’t be any payment for this particular case.
“Not fair at all!” Pringle cried, throwing his body up against the door so we wouldn’t exit without him.
Goodness gracious! Why did it feel like I was trying to deal with a couple of ornery toddlers here?
I shook my finger at him.“Listen up, good buddy. If I catch your big-rig raccoon butt outside of this camper even once, I’m demolishing your tree house, cancelling your cable TV, and throwing out the Nerf guns, too. Got it?”
He gulped hard.“N-n-not Carla. You wouldn’t.” Yes, the silly trash panda loved his Nerf gun so much, he’d named the darn thing.
I narrowed my gaze.“Care to try me? You know, I also think I heard Nan talking about a beagle at the shelter that needed a new home. Maybe you’d like a new play-mate?”