He grinned. "Tess, I said I'd give you diamonds. I made no promises about listening to yousing."
He was lucky I couldn't swat him.
His laughter followed him off the porch. When he started singingThere's No Business Like Show Business,I shut the door. Firmly.
Jack was laughing, too, and I could feel my lips quirking. It was true my singing was so bad it usually made my cat go hide under the bed, but a girl could still dream.
Speaking of Lou … I went to retrieve her from the closet in the spare room, where she usually went when too much company overwhelmed her. And then I snuggled with both of the cats in my life until we fell asleep, feeling content and happy with the entire world, despite evil corporations and petty criminals and insults about my singing.
When my phone kept buzzing and buzzing at eight the next morning, I reached for it to toss it across the room. Sunday was my only day to sleep in, and I planned to take full advantage of it.
But I caught the word "Santa" out of the corner of my eye and reluctantly pulled the phone closer to read the text that was so important somebody had to keep bothering me.
"Oh, no!" I felt tears rolling down my face before I even realized I'd started crying. "Not Rooster!"
Jack was wide awake in an instant. "What? What about Rooster?"
"He's dead!" I held out my phone in a shaking hand so Jack could read the text.
Somebody killed Santa!
16
Tess
We threw on clothes, and then I quickly fed Lou and grabbed a bunch of tissues, scanning my phone for any other news, but there wasn't any yet. Lauren had sent the murder text, but she didn't answer me when I called. We hopped in Jack's truck to go downtown, and I put Aunt Ruby on speakerphone.
"Tess?"
"What is going on?" My breath hitched. "Who would do that to poor Rooster? He was one of the nicest—"
"Not Rooster, honey."
Jack and I exchanged glances. "What? Lauren texted me that somebody killed him. How could she make that mistake? I mean—"
"Not that Santa, Tess. Somebody killed Darryl Peterson, and he was wearing his Santa suit. When Harold and Emeril got to the store this morning, they found him. His … body."
Aunt Ruby took a shaky breath. "I have to go. Mike and I are on the way downtown to drop Shelley off and then we'll be there. Andy's already at the site, but he may call Jack to help. I guess the temporary deputy quit yesterday after somebody stole her car right out of the jail's parking lot. What is this town coming to?"
I heard Uncle Mike say something in the background that I couldn't make out, and then Aunt Ruby said a quick goodbye and hung up before I could tell her we were on our way.
"Jack, what did Uncle Mike say?"
A muscle clenched in his jaw, but he answered me. "He said the same thing Ruby just said. 'What is this town coming to?' And I've got to say, I'm feeling that way, too. If this is an escalation from the crimes that have been happening, that's a big jump. From graffiti to thefts to murder? Doesn't track."
"On the other hand," I said slowly, "Darryl has been making a lot of people mad this week. Not that I think Rooster or Judd—"
"Or even Harold," Jack reminded me.
"Or even Harold—especially Harold; they're family—would kill him over a few arguments."
"And shouting matches. And fistfights."
I blew out a breath. "Right now, I just feel like a horrible person, because my first reaction was to be relieved it's not Rooster."
"You're not horrible, you're just human. Rooster has been your friend for a long time."
I looked down and realized I'd dressed in such a hurry I had on jeans, a sweater with a hole in one sleeve, and two different-colored socks with my sneakers. I'd forgotten my jacket, too, and it was probably only fifty degrees outside. Parka weather, for native Floridians.
