lot of damage, intentionally and unintentionally.”
“This is a small town. How many skeletons can there be around here?”
Given my family tree, I didn’t answer that question. Thankfully, Maddie brought our food. “Here you go. A cheeseburger and fries for Lizzie, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn for you.”
“This looks great, Maddie,” Jake smiled. “I have a feeling I’m going to have to start working out again, or I’m going to gain a lot of weight from eating your cooking.”
This time, she definitely blushed as she walked away. We ate in silence for a few minutes. The lunch crowd started to filter in, and I saw several curious glances in our direction. I hoped no one would come over to talk to us. And then Gladys walked in.
So much for hoping.
She made a beeline for our table. “You have a lot of nerve, Elizabeth Crenshaw, coming back in here after the spectacle you made of yourself this morning.”
“I was only speaking the truth, Gladys, and I meant every word of it.”
She looked at Jake. “And who is this?”
“Jacob Mathias, ma’am,” he said, standing up and shaking her hand. “Dale hired me to help Lizzie at the newspaper.”
“She doesn’t need help, young man,” she retorted. “She needs to be at home, taking care of her boyfriend and her dog, not working day and night for a business that isn’t even hers.”
“From what I’ve been told, she has been a great source of strength for her co-workers, considering their editor has left for an undetermined reason.”
“Ha, I’ll give you a reason,” she said, pointing at me. “It’s her crazy aunt.”
“That’s enough, Gladys,” I hissed. “We are having a business meeting here.”
Jake ignored me. “Her crazy aunt?”
“You mean you haven’t heard? Her aunt is a murderer.”
Lord help me, I did the only thing I could think to do: I picked up both glasses of tea, poured them on Gladys’ head, grabbed my purse, and left.
Chapter Seven
I went to the store after that. I figured I was going to be hiding out at home for a while in order to avoid all the looks and questions I was going to get, so I stocked up, loaded the groceries in the car, and headed home. Normally, I would be driving my mini Cooper, but Mother had borrowed it a few weeks ago and had yet to return it. I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to get it back.
My house was on a street near the outskirts of town. There weren’t a lot of houses out there, but plenty of trees. A couple of blocks from my house, I noticed a black Dodge Ram truck parked next to the curb. As I got closer, I saw someone tied to a tree not far from the truck. I parked behind the truck and ran over to the person. It was Hopkins. He had a gag in his mouth, and he was furiously shaking his head. I pulled the gag out of his mouth, and he coughed a few times. “Get…out…of here,” he finally gasped.
“I’m not about to leave you tied to a tree, Hopkins,” I said, scooting around to the other side of the tree trunk.
“I’m ordering you to leave, Crenshaw,” he said.
“Who died and made you my boss?” I retorted as I began working on the knots.
“You don’t understand. I’m trying to save your…”
His sentence was cut off by a loud explosion that sent me flying backwards. I bounced off a couple of tree trunks before landing on the ground. My back and head hurt, and my right arm was hanging funny.
Rolling over to my left side, I ignored the wave of nausea and used my good arm to push myself to my knees. I crawled over to Hopkins, who was unconscious. He had a deep cut on his forehead, and there was a piece of metal sticking out of his arm. I looked over at the truck, which was a burning, twisted hunk of junk now. Glancing to my left, I saw Mother’s car was also toast.
My phone was in my car, so I checked Hopkins’ pockets, found his, and called Owen. “Hey, Hopkins, can I call you back? I’ve just received a report about an explosion I