Page 71 of A Rose of Steel
“I’m not,” I said. “I’m just trying to stop a riot, keeping all the Rodney Kings of the world safe.” I heard the door open and glanced that way. “And here comes Rhett.”
Rhett came in the door smiling. He knew about Auntie’s shenanigans, although he swore he’d never known her to do anything harebrained. This time he’d have to admit that she was over the top. But if he was really in the middle of an undercover investigation, and she’d blown his cover now with her accusations, I wouldn’t expect him to be so happy about it.
“Where’s Hailey?” Auntie said, wanting every member of her perceived Delta Force to be ready and present. “She’ll probably want to take part in this.”
“I got this,” Rhett said. “Hi Romaine,” he said, looking over at me.
I waved at him.
“How about if you take this youth group into another room,” he spoke to me with that stupid smile of his, “while I talk to Babet and her captives.”
“Happily,” I said. Anything to get away from Crazy-Lady-Zanne.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I led the way for the group into the day room. I felt as if I should be giving them milk and a piece of fruit, leading armchair exercises, or something with them.
“Did those guys kill Bumper?” one of the seniors asked, she was sporting blue-dyed, fresh perm locks.
“I don’t know,” I said. “That’s for the sheriff to find out.”
“I thought the FBI was going to work on it?” Miriam Colter said.
I glanced back toward the front room and saw Rhett having a calm conversation with Auntie Zanne, Coach Buddy and Shane. I’d have to ask him what secret he had to get Auntie to unruffle.
I didn’t know if Rhett was FBI, and if he were, if anyone was supposed to know it, I formed my answer with that in mind. “Bumper’s murder,” I said to the group, “from the information I know right now, is a local matter.”
“What do you know?” a particularly unhappy-looking senior asked. She kept her eyes on Auntie and was breathing heavily. I didn’t know if it was because she was upset about what was going on in the other room, or because she had trouble breathing due to a medical condition.
“She knows because she’s a doctor,” Chester said.
“You’re a doctor?” Unhappy Senior said, nothing in her tone or words said she believed that. Her eyes stayed on Auntie Zanne.
I moved to stand in her line of view. I didn’t want whatever was happening in the other room to incite her ire any further. “I am a doctor. A medical examiner just like Doc Westin was.”
“Are you going to be our doctor now?” the only other gentleman in the group asked. He wore his plaid pants high up on his waist, securing them with a belt that was pulled past its last notch and a yellow golf shirt tucked in tight.
“No,” I said and smiled. “I don’t think so.”
“Because we need one,” Fanny-Pack-Lady said. “Someone to take Doc Westin’s place and help us.”
“I took his place in the JOY Club,” Chester said. “Since they were short one member. You know, after the Doc passed.”
“You couldn’t take his place,” the Unhappy Senior said. “He was one of a kind. He was good to us. Took care of us.”
“He didn’t take all that good care of us.” I looked at the speaker. It was Miriam Colter. I probably needed to speak to her. She’d been upfront at the wedding, and possibly told Auntie Zanne, although she conveniently couldn’t remember, that she saw Chase pick up the inhaler Bumper had when he collapsed.
But now probably wasn’t the best time. Plus, I was surprised at her words against Doc Westin and wanted to find out the difference the two of them had.
“Mrs. Colter,” I said, “you’re upset with Doc Westin?”
“Upset doesn’t even start to describe what I am with that man,” she said, I remembered that shaky voice from the stand-down earlier.
“What happened between the two of you?” I asked.
“He told me he was going to take care of a matter for me and he didn’t.”
“He died,” another senior said, she was wearing a colorful muumuu. Her face and arms thick and rosy. “He would have taken care of it, but he couldn’t.”
