Page 2 of Peak Suspicion
“So you’re not a new volunteer. Did you just drop in for the free food?” His tone was teasing. He had a distracting dimple at the right side of his mouth. And the attitude of a practiced flirt. That was okay. She could play this game, too.
“Well, I am a teacher,” she said. “We can’t afford to turn down a free meal.” She popped a pepper strip into her mouth and chewed.
“Are you here with someone else?” He looked around them.
She was about to confess her real reason for being here when a woman’s voice rose above the other conversation around them. “I can’t believe someone would do this!”
She and Carter glanced over at a cluster of volunteers around a couple. A woman with curly auburn hair was visibly upset, the dark-haired man beside her watching with a worried expression. She waved a sheet of paper. “If this is someone’s idea of a joke they have a mean sense of humor,” she said.
“Uh-oh.” Carter set aside his cup. He started toward the couple and Mira followed. “What’s up with Deni and Ryan?” he asked another man on the edge of the crowd. Mira did a double take. The man Carter spoke to looked enough like Carter to be his twin.
The man must have read Mira’s confusion. “I’m Dalton Ames,” he said. “You can think of me as the better-looking twin.”
“You wish.” Carter punched Dalton’s shoulder.
“We’re not doing anything wrong.” The man beside the woman—Ryan?—put his arm around her. “Whoever wrote this can’t do anything to us.”
“Apparently, someone sent Ryan and Deni a letter complaining about the work they’re doing on the house they bought near Owl Lake,” Dalton said, keeping his voice low.
“What does the letter say, exactly?” a man with a thick mop of blond hair asked.
Deni handed over the note. “Read it out loud, Caleb,” Ryan said.
“‘Don’t think you can break the law and go unpunished,’” Caleb read.
Mira gasped, and fumbled to keep from dropping her plate of food.
“What is it?” Carter reached out to rescue the tipping plate.
She held up a hand and leaned forward to hear the rest as Caleb continued reading. “‘The mess in your front yard violateshalf a dozen ordinances. You have a legal requirement to clean up your property or there will be consequences.’” Caleb looked up. “Those last four word are in bold italics.”
“Have any of your neighbors complained?” a young woman with dark hair almost to her waist asked.
“No,” Ryan said. “They’ve all been great. They know we’re remodeling.”
“They’re glad we’re fixing up the place,” Deni said. “No one has lived there in two years, and the renters who were there before that really trashed it.” She shook her head. “And it’s not that bad. There’s some materials stacked up—neatly. And a construction dumpster. Not exactly an eyesore.”
“Another teacher at school got a note like that,” Mira said.
Everyone turned to look at her and she suddenly felt too warm. “Who are you?” someone asked.
“I’m Mira Veronica,” she said. “I’m the new Spanish teacher at Eagle Mountain schools.”
“I invited Mira here tonight.” Sheri moved in beside her. “You say someone else got a note like the one Deni and Ryan received? Who was it?”
“I’d rather not say,” Mira said. What if someone else got upset over Shayla’s fourth cat? “But her note was similar to this one. Someone left it on her car this afternoon. It started the same way, with that line about lawbreakers not going unpunished.”
“Is she remodeling her house?” Ryan asked.
“No. This note was complaining about her having too many pets.”
“How many pets does she have?” Caleb asked.
“Four cats. And a dog,” Mira said. “I guess that’s one over the limit.”
“I don’t think anyone enforces that ordinance unless someone complains, or the animals are neglected.” A woman with short dark hair reached down to pat the black poodle by herside. The dog wore a blue vest—apparently it was a member of search and rescue also.
“Sounds like someone has too much time on their hands and is trying to stir up trouble.” An older man with graying hair and goatee spoke. “Probably best to ignore them.”
