27
Tess
Things went to heck in a handbasket after that. Aunt Ruby called for order, but everybody ignored her.
Andy, who'd been standing against the wall beside the stage during the meeting, tried to calm things down. He yelled to be heard over the uproar. "Mr. Jenkins isnota suspect."
"Why not?" Somebody yelled back. "Because he's your buddy? Maybe we need better police in town!"
"Yeah," shouted the woman who'd started the fracas. "You and theconvenientlyabsent sheriff clearly can't handle it."
So much for her being one of Susan's cousins. Loyalty was important in the Gonzalez family. Not to mention, nobody in their family would be stupid enough to criticize Susan in a public forum when her brotherCarlos, the scary vampire,would be sure to hear about it.
Susan was a public servant, and she was calm under pressure, so she'd undoubtedly handle any criticism with aplomb. But people who knew Carlos didnottalk crap about his family.
"Oh, boy," I muttered.
After that, it was a free-for-all. Everybody was shouting at everybody else. After a few more futile attempts to call for order, Aunt Ruby threw her hands in the air and marched off to meet Uncle Mike, who strode out from backstage.
Andy blew a whistle, long and loud, and then he and the temporary deputy, Underhill, each took a side of the room and started trying to herd people out. When Andy caught sight of Jack, Lucky, and me, he gestured to us in a pretty clear call for help.
Jack sighed, but stood. "Since they outnumber the deputies four hundred to two, I guess we should pitch in. I'll take the far side, and you take this side, Lucky."
"I'll take the middle," I decided.
Jack's eyes widened in alarm, but then he grinned. "Tess, you're brilliant. Nobody can get people out of here faster than you can."
And that's what we did.
I leaned forward and asked Mrs. Hamilton and her friend to wait a moment, because I didn't want them to get trampled in the crush of people, and then I followed Jack out to the center aisle. While he moved across the rows of seats to the far side of the room, I put a big smile on my face, held out my hands, and raised my voice.
"Hey, everybody! Happy holidays! The mayor and deputies want us to move along, so how about we head for the doors? Time to go home and wrap presents, right?"
The people nearest me turned to glance my way, a few of them scowling, but mouths dropped open and feet started moving when they saw me walk toward them with my hands outstretched.
I was counting on my assumption that nobody in the history of Christmas hadeverasked Santa to tell them how they were going to die.
Word spread, and I'm proud to say that my technique worked even better to break up the crowd than the sight of armed deputies, an ex-special forces soldier, or a tiger shifter. People grumbled and complained when they saw Jack, Lucky, Andy, or Deputy Underhill coming.
But peoplemovedwhen they saw me approach—even people who liked me but were probably afraid that I'd accidentally jostle them in the crowd.
Within minutes, the auditorium was empty, and we were standing outside in the cold, clear December night. It had to be down in the mid-thirties, and the light jacket I'd worn was not keeping me warm in the slightest. I shivered but waited, because Andy was making his way over to us while the temporary deputy kept the crowd moving away from the building and out toward, hopefully, their cars and homes.
"Thanks, guys. I appreciate it," Andy said.
"No problem, but it would be a good idea if you spread the word that Rooster has an alibi," Jack said. "That turned ugly pretty fast."
Andy threw his hands in the air. "I did! Put it on the town text alert just before the meeting. I guess nobody had time to read it."
"Or they read it and just wanted to cause trouble," I said. "I know personally, or at least can recognize the faces of almost everybody in town, and it seemed to me like there were more strangers than I'd expect to see at a town hall meeting."
"Yeah, Tess, but it's Christmas," Lucky said, shoving his hands in his pockets and hunching his shoulders against the cold. "Lots of people have extended family in town for the holidays."
"Of course," I said, feeling foolish. "I hadn't thought of that."
Jack caught me shivering and put an arm around me to pull me close, and I snuggled into him. When shifters were in human form, their body temperatures ran a few degrees higher than the normal 98.6. Jack radiated heat like a furnace, which was wonderful.
"I have news," Andy said, looking too steamed over the meeting chaos to be affected by the cold. "You can hear this too, Lucky, but it's part of the official police investigation, so keep it to yourself, okay?"
