When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,68
“it latches on to people and falls off ’em like fleas on a hound dog.” She lifted her hands. “Now, it’s not a problem if it’s trapped, as long as I know what I’m dealin’ with.”
“Well,” Tex said with a drawl. “What do you need to know?”
“I need to know how many houses that dead electrician worked on in this neighborhood.”
His eyes widened slightly. “Well…”
“It’s really important.” The bridge of her nose pinched. “What would you say? Five? Six?”
He grimaced. “That sounds about right.”
“Which houses did he work on?” she asked. “The feng shui makes a difference.”
“Feng shui?”
She turned to me in horror. “Beth Ann, I don’t think he used feng shui in his design.”
My brow shot up. “Well now, that changes everything.”
I turned as though I was about to walk back to the truck.
“Well now, hold on there,” he said, his hands patting the air. “I never said that. I was just clarifyin’ you meant feng shui and not…fink shy.”
“Oh,” Neely Kate said with interest in her eyes. “I’ve never heard of fink shy, and I like to fancy myself an expert on the existential, isn’t that right, Beth Ann?”
I nodded, unsure what Neely Kate was up to, but I was willing to play along. “That’s right, Nancy. I keep tellin’ you to get business cards.” I held up my hands as though I was framing a view. “Nancy Ellis, Expert of the Existential.” I gave him a questioning look. “We’ve never heard of fink shy.”
Creases appeared on Tex’s forehead and it was apparent he was trying to come up with an answer.
Neely Kate must have decided to go easy on him, because she waved her hand. “Must be one of those west-by-north-south philosophies. In any case, if I’m going to shake off that dead electrician’s chi, I’m gonna need to know more about him.” She dug a pink sparkly notebook out of her purse and held her pink puffball pen at the ready. “How tall was he?”
Tex gave her a look that suggested she’d lost her mind.
“It’s important for the Gollum,” she said.
“The what?”
She waved him off with a look of irritation. “Never you mind about that. But on a side note, how good’s the mud around here?”
He shook his head in confusion.
“His height, Tex,” Neely Kate said impatiently. “What’s his height?”
“I don’t know, I guess he was around five-ten.”
“Weight?”
“Uh… 180?”
“Hair color?”
“Brown. What’s that have do to with his chi?”
“It has everything to do with his chi. Was he married?”
“I don’t know…”
“Kids?”
“No?”
I still wondered where she was going with this. We could have likely gotten some of this information from Facebook.
“Was he into dark magic?” she asked with a serious expression.
“I don’t think so.”
“What about gamblin’?”
“I barely knew the guy,” Tex said. “I had him work on one of my houses until I caught him fudging on his invoice, so I never hired him again.”
“But other builders still used him?” I asked.
“Well, yeah. He had a special deal with some of ’em,” he said. “I think it might have been something under the table.”
“Like what?” Neely Kate asked. “Drugs? Animal sacrifices?”
“Animal sacrifices?” he asked in confusion.
“Did he work with anyone? A partner or a boss?” I asked. “We could ask them.”
“No, he was an independent contractor, but word has it he had some dealin’s with a guy south of town.”
“What’s his name?” Neely Kate asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Think, Tex,” Neely Kate insisted. “We have to get this right.”
“Maybe it was Carbunkle?” he said in a questioning tone.
“Carmichael?” I asked, my stomach dropping.
He pointed his finger at me. “That’s it.”
“Well, okay then,” Neely Kate said, closing her notebook and inserting her pen into the spiral binding. “I think we’ve got enough to get started on that Gollum. Thank you for your time, Mr. Tex. We’ll be in touch.” Then she grabbed my arm and practically dragged me to the truck.
“What about that tour?” Tex called after us.
“We’ll check back once the Gollum is finished,” Neely Kate called back over her shoulder.
Once we were inside, I started the truck and pulled away from the curb, while Neely Kate gave Tex a friendly wave goodbye.
“You do know that Tex can easily find out who we are, don’t you?” I asked. “RBW Landscaping is clearly written on the side of the truck.”
“It won’t matter,” she said, her fake smile dropping. “We’ve gotten everything we need from Tex.”
She was right. Mark Erickson had been working for Denny Carmichael, which meant everything had gotten ten times more dangerous.