As we watched, Johnny stuck the spoon in his back pocket. He cupped Wynonna’s chin in one hand, and with the other, tenderly wiped what must have been her tears. Her arms went around his waist. She pulled him close. They kissed.
Even in the dim light, I saw Marty’s blue eyes widen. She breathed, “No way!’’
Judging by the enthusiasm of their kiss, I don’t think Johnny was offering Wynonna simple human comfort. Plus, she’d lowered her hands and was now busy massaging his rear end.
“Yes, Marty,’’ Maddie whispered. “Way.’’
“I still think we should have said something to them.’’ Maddie spoke between brush strokes, through a mouthful of toothpaste.
I handed her the bottled water we were sharing as we prepared to turn in.
“What were we supposed to say, Maddie? ‘Excuse us, we’re over here peeping at y’all, and we just wondered if you’d clue us in. What in the Sam Hill is up with you two?’ That’s not the best way to go about getting information,’’ I said.
The three of us had stood there in shock, watching Wynonna and Johnny. Then, suddenly, Audrey’s voice rang out, calling his name. He jumped away from Wynonna like she was hot grease. She slipped away into the night.
Now, at our tent, Maddie swished and spit into her camping cup.
“But, Mace,’’ Marty said, “we could have acted like we just stumbled upon them at the food trailer and were really shocked.’’
“That wouldn’t have been acting,’’ Maddie said, patting her mouth dry.
“I just don’t think it was the best time to confront either one of them with questions,’’ I said. “I wanted to ponder on it a bit, try and figure out what was going on. You know how our cousin Henry always says he never asks a question in court he doesn’t already know the answer to? Well, I think it’s the same when you’re investigating. I want to do some snooping first before we show them our hand.’’
“So now you’re a big investigator. Detective Mace Bauer.’’ Maddie tossed her toothpaste water out the tent’s flap.
I shook my head. “No. But I try to find ways to get information without making folks so mad they’d never tell me anything. Unlike some people I could mention.’’
“Is that a shot?’’ Maddie slapped the water bottle back into my outstretched palm.
I shrugged. “If the mule-wagon sized shoe fits . . .’’
“Cut it out, you two.’’ Marty wound her wool scarf around her neck and up her chin. “We need to stick together. Tomorrow’s the parade in Fort Pierce and the big barbecue afterwards. We’ll have plenty of time to nose around and find out what’s what.’’
We were all quiet for a bit. Pulling off jeans and boots. Unzipping sleeping bags. Getting ear plugs ready to deaden the rumble of Maddie’s snoring.
“I just feel sorry for Audrey,’’ Marty finally said, her voice wool-muffled. “She really seemed to care for Johnny, and not just as her boss.’’
“Well, what did we really see between Wynonna and him?’’ I asked. “Maybe he was just trying to comfort his old friend’s widow, and she caught him off guard.’’
“Donftinkzo.’’ Marty’s voice came from beneath the sleeping bag she’d pulled over her face.
“What?’’ Maddie and I both said.
Marty peeked out to enunciate. “I don’t think so. Johnny looked like a willing participant.’’ She shivered. “Aren’t you two cold? It feels like the walk-in freezer at the Speckled Perch in here. My nose is a frozen fish filet.’’
I leaned down and breathed some warm air on Marty’s nose. “Better?’’
“Yes, thanks.’’ She sniffed. “And now I’ll go to sleep dreaming of butterscotch pie.’’
I took the hint, brushed my teeth, and zipped myself into the cocoon of my loaner sleeping bag. Marty was right. It had gotten chilly. Now, Maddie’s crowded tent didn’t seem so bad. Even so, it wasn’t nearly as cold as the socks-on-my-hands night my tent was shredded.
My mind raced. Sleep seemed impossible. Disjointed thoughts and images galloped through my brain. Lawton’s body, the chili cup, and Wynonna. Wynonna with Trey. Now, Johnny and Wynonna. I’d been half-kidding when I proposed that she was addicted to sex. But maybe she was. Had she also had a thing going with old Doc Abel?
I thought of Doc, whistling in the woods. Then an image of him collapsed in the clearing, a bullet in his gut, pushed into my head. I saw Mama, lying still and broken in the dirt. Austin’s whip snapped at Val, and I stared head-on at a semi-truck. Marty stood, paralyzed with fear, as a rattlesnake prepared to strike. Trey and me. Carlos and Belle. Belle at peace with her camera.
I heard Marty sleeping beside me, her breath soft and even. No snores from Maddie yet.
“Pssst,’’ I whispered. “You awake, Sister?’’
She twisted in her sleeping bag toward me. “I feel like a sausage stuffed in a nylon casing, and this ground is like granite. Of course I’m awake,’’ Maddie grumbled.
“What do you think will happen tomorrow?’’
“I imagine we’ll get through the day. Then we’ll return our horses and the three of us will squeeze into my car and we’ll head home.’’
Maddie’s tone was practical; matter-of-fact. I didn’t buy it.
“So you don’t think anything bad will happen?’’
She was quiet for a long time.
“I pray it won’t, Mace,’’ she finally said. “Now, try to get some sleep, Sister. We’ve got an early morning to make Fort Pierce.’’
I lay there, awake, until Maddie dozed off and began to snore. She started quiet, and then got going loud enough to shake the stakes in the ground. She was definitely Mama’s daughter.
I fumbled in the corner for my boots. That’s where I’d stashed my ear plugs so I could find them easily in the dark. I plucked out my watch: seven minutes past one.
The night was still, aside from Maddie’s snores. The air in the tent felt close, stinking of mildew and horse hair. I peered at Marty’s face. She looked peaceful, untroubled. I hoped she was dreaming of butterscotch pie. Maddie’s mouth was creased in a frown. I wondered if she was worried about the parade, or just scolding some eighth-grader in her dream.
Every so often, voices crackled in the distance over police radios. Sheriff Roberts’ deputies still combed the camp, looking for the weapon used to shoot Doc. I planned to speak to the sheriff before we left, tell him what I knew about Lawton’s widow and her various liaisons. Trey should have had enough time by then to confess to Belle about his wicked ways with their stepmother.
Surely, given everything that had happened since Lawton died, there’d now be an autopsy to prove what killed him. It may not have been the chili in the cup we’d found, but I was certain it wasn’t a heart attack. And I was at least halfway certain Wynonna was involved.
I shifted, trying to get comfortable. Maddie was right about the ground. Had it been that hard when we were kids? Hoots of laughter drifted over from somebody’s camp. I wondered who was still up, and what was so damn funny. A dog howled. A whip cracked.
I looked at my watch again. One twenty-three. Jeez. Give the cow whip a rest.
As if in answer, the loud pop came again. Funny how much it sounded like a gunshot.