Page 60 of Chosen Path
“I’ll meet you there.”
“What happened to directing traffic?” Bodhi asked.
She looked at her watch and swore softly. “I’ll tell Perth to find someone to replace me. If Nikolas was murdered, it would be nice to get enough to justify an autopsy before they bury him and we have to dig him back up. From what I hear, disinterment involves a lot of paperwork. That oughta motivate him. There’s nothing Perth hates more than paperwork.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY
Kimberly left Ron with instructions to drop off the casserole and muffins at the church and then meet her at Pratt’s for the viewing. As an officer of the village council, whenever the deceased had no living relatives in town, she felt it was her duty to be there before any of the community members arrived to pay their respects. Today, she left for Pratt’s particularly early because she was hoping to have a private word with Greg.
It was a mild spring day for Scandia Bluff—mild being a relative concept. The temperature hovered in the low forties, but the forecast didn’t call for precipitation. That was about as good as it got in early April. So she decided to leave the car for Ron and walk. In part, for the exercise, and, in part, because Ron’s balance wasn’t what it once was. She had a vision of him tripping and falling. With his arms full of her potluck contributions, he’d be unable to catch himself. He could break a hip. And that could be a death sentence.
With that thought in mind, she slowed her pace and walked with extra caution. After two blocks, she felt quite warm. So warm, in fact, that she removed her cozy knit hat and stuffed it in her coat pocket.
The street was quiet, unusually quiet for this time of morning. She reasoned most folks were home getting ready for the funeral. The library had closed for the day out of respect for Nikolas, as had Sheilia’s salon and Mike’s barber shop. Doctor Hart’s Medical Office was technically open—for emergencies only. And it would have to be one heck of an emergency, Kimberly thought, to bring someone to the doctor’s office. She’d spread the word to the members of the council after her little run-in with Doctor King: no appointments with Doctor Hart until further notice. She did make an exception for true emergencies, but she expected people to cancel their routine visits. Doctor Hart needed to be taught a lesson.
She spotted Frank on the other side of the street and called his name. “Frank, you-hoo!”
He waved back. “Hi, Kimberly.” He turned toward the post office.
“Frank, wait a minute. I have a question for you.”
He paused by the mailbox just outside the main doors. For the life of her, Kimberly didn’t understand why there was a mailbox right outside the actual post office. She trotted to the corner and waited until Scandia Bluff’s lone red light changed to green before crossing.
“What’s up?” he asked as she joined him on the sidewalk.
“Will you keep an eye out for a package for me?”
“Sure thing, Kimberly. When are you expecting it?”
“Any day now. But it’s not addressed to me. It’ll actually be addressed to Corrine, bless her soul. But it’s for council business, and it needs to be refrigerated, so if you could just bring it directly to me when you get it, that would be so helpful.”
Frank stuck a finger under his collar and gave his neck a vigorous scratch. “Is it coming from a place called RxPost?”
“Yes, that’s it!” She looked at him expectantly. “Do you have it now?”
“See, here’s the thing. Interfering with someone’s mail is a federal offense.”
“She’s dead, Frank.”
“Yeah, I know. But—”
“Did you not catch the part where I said the contents of the package are for village council business? How could it be interfering with someone’s mail when I’m the ultimate intended recipient?” she reasoned with him.
“I see what you’re saying there, and I agree it’s at least a gray area. And I’d be happy to talk to the postmaster and get approval to reroute it to you from now on. Only, I already gave this particular package to somebody else.” Frank said this last part in a very soft voice, as if that might lessen the impact of the news.
It did not.
“Who? When? Why?” She could hear her voice going up another octave with each rapid-fire question, but she was unable to stop herself.
To his credit, Frank faced her without cringing and answered her without hemming and hawing. “I gave it to Doctor King yesterday when he was at Corrine’s house because I could see that the package contained medication—or at least it said it did. And like you said, there’s a big label right on the envelope that says it needs to be refrigerated. So I figured it was safe to give it to him to deliver to Doctor Hart. After all, she prescribed whatever was in there. I mean, that was my thought process.”
She stared at him. She could feel the vein in her forehead pulsating. Ron called it the early warning system, but it wasn’t so much of a warning as a detonator. Over the years, she’d tried various calming techniques. But the truth was, once the blood started to throb in that vein, it was just a matter of time before she lost her temper.
Still, she gave it a go. “I see,” she managed to force out through gritted teeth.
“If I’d known it was something for the council, I’d have brought it straight to you. You know that right?”
With a start, she realized he wasafraidof her. Frank was actually wide-eyed with fear as he eyed her forehead.
