Page 29 of Code Violation

The vise around Forrest’s lungs loosened ever so slightly.

TWELVE

Forrest – Friday Afternoon

“What?” Forrest snapped into the receiver.

“Get your ass into town. Chief Dear is making an announcement in half an hour,” Magnus said. “He says it will be quick, which is good because he’s messing up my afternoon rush.”

What afternoon rush? Forrest almost asked. But for once in his life, he held his tongue. Then recalled what Nero had done with his tongue last night. He wanted more, which could be a problem. He’d let future Forrest solve it; right now he needed to get to the Steam Donkey.

“They found Ned’s killer already?” he asked, tossing the book he’d been staring at—but not reading—to the floor. Instead, he’d been rehashing what had happened last night with Nero. Over My Dead Body landed face down, the block letters NERO WOLFE staring back at him. Yeah, he was a sucker.

It was a damn good thing he’d switched his truck to biodiesel. He’d be bankrupt driving to and from town every time he turned around. Fuck anyone who didn’t like the smell of french fries.

“No. The DNA results are back from the bones Jayden Harlow found back in the fall and the ones Nick and Martin found up on Crook’s Trail in January, so Dear’s calling a town meeting. I guess he’s doing his best to make sure that us common folk have the correct information.”

Magnus liked Chief Dear, so something else must have been bothering him. Maybe he and Rufus had argued.

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He probably needed to find clean clothes to put on.

Fuck that. This was Cooper Springs, not New York city.

Racing to his bedroom, he glanced around and then pulled a pair of jeans out of the clothes hamper. He rummaged in his top dresser drawer and came up with a clean t-shirt decorated with an illustration of a T-Rex with grabby arms declaring Now I am Unstoppable across the front. After slipping his bare feet into a pair of ratty Vans, Forrest searched around the living room for the keys to his truck, only to find them right where he’d left them—hidden between the cushions of the couch.

It took a record twelve minutes for him to drive to the pub. When he arrived, Forrest swore loudly and colorfully. The parking lot was full.

Since everyone who could make it was already parked and heading inside, the closest spot he could see was at the resort. Impatiently huffing, Forrest gunned the truck further down the highway and pulled into the resort’s lot, pretending he didn’t see the Residents and Overnight Guests Only sign. Martin and Nick would know why he’d parked there.

After he locked up his vehicle, Forrest shivered and jammed his hands into his pockets while he waited for a couple of cars and an RV to drive by. As he started to cross, he thought he heard someone call out his name, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t want to miss what Chief Dear had to say. Besides, he told himself, it also could have been his imagination.

The Steam Donkey was packed with Cooper Springs citizens. After looking around, Forrest contented himself with sliding into an open spot against the back wall.

“Cooper,” Dante Castone greeted him as they crowded in elbow to elbow.

“Castone. I suppose you know what Chief Dear is going to say?”

“Actually, Andre’s pretty careful about what he shares with me. He just told me I might want to be here. I knew something was going on, though, because he got an early phone call and left right afterward. At first, I thought it was about what happened yesterday, but he assured me this is totally separate.”

Fuck, Ned had been dead over twenty-four hours already.

“Ah,” was the only thing Forrest could think of to say. He hadn’t forgotten, of course. In fact, he’d been awake most of the night thinking about it and what he probably needed to share with Nero.

Nero, who he’d very nearly almost practically fucked. For the first time in his adult life, he hadn’t felt an immediate need to leave. The mattress had pushed him out. The bed was too small for the both of them, and Nero had claimed he needed to get some sleep if they were going to be sleuthing today.

Across the room, Chief Dear stepped up onto the low dais where, very occasionally, the Steam Donkey hosted open mic nights and, even more rarely, talented musicians. Knowing Xavier, he was probably already working on bringing actual bands to Cooper Springs too. Critter and Mags, the two permanent staff forest service officers, stood off to one side. They’d helped to retrieve the remains last fall and in January. Forrest knew they felt a certain responsibility toward them.

Dear tapped the microphone. “Is this thing working?”

“Yes,” Dante said, smirking while a few other people also chimed in.

The mic squealed. Forrest made a note to tell Xavier he needed to upgrade the sound system if he was serious about bringing music in. The crowd hushed and Forrest snickered at Mags smacking Critter when he didn’t immediately stop talking to someone Forrest couldn’t see.

“Good.” Dear nodded. “I’m sure there will be questions, but if you could hold them until I finish, that would be much appreciated. And even then, I will only answer what I can, which isn’t a lot.”

The door near Forrest opened to admit a few more people, one of whom was Nero. Nero caught Forrest’s glance and winked but turned the other direction, squeezing in next to Tim Dennis and Xavier, who’d stationed themselves by the window. Forrest hadn’t seen them when he’d arrived. Xavier waggled his fingers in Forrest’s direction.

Winked at him?

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