Page 16 of A Dead End Fourth of July (Tiger’s Eye Mysteries #14)

Tess

Thursday morning

"Now, aren't you embarrassed about the way you freaked out yesterday?" I poured a second cup of coffee and added some cream and sugar.

Jack, uncharacteristically grumpy, muttered something about the McKees that didn't sound good. He'd raced into the shop yesterday afternoon like his tiger tail was on fire, eyes wild, steam coming out of his ears, and ready to take on any number of trespassers.

I'd almost hated to tell him everybody had gone home. It was five o'clock, and I was closing up for the day. He was so adorable charging to the rescue.

But I'd been perfectly capable of rescuing myself.

After I'd filled him in, I'd headed home. He drove to Judd's Pizza to get dinner, and we spent a wonderfully relaxing evening eating, reading, and watching old movies on TV. But he'd never apologized for acting like I was a damsel in distress.

As of this morning, he still hadn't.

"It's not freaking out when someone who is as much of a trouble magnet as Cletus McKee is involved." He flipped the eggs he was frying. Six for him. Two for me.

I sliced homemade bread and waited.

"Okay. I'm sorry. I know you can take care of yourself, Mrs. Shepherd," he finally said in a teasing voice that made me smile.

"It sounds so much better when you call me that than when Oscar did. I'm still not sure if I'm changing my name, though. I've been a Callahan for so long."

Jack slid eggs onto plates and handed me mine, then kissed me. "You should call yourself whatever you want, as long as you promise to be mine."

Somehow, eggs had never tasted this good before.

"Maybe Callahan-Shepherd."

He just grinned and tucked into breakfast. Besides the eggs, he'd cooked ham slices and bacon.

Tigers need protein.

"So, what's up today? I feel like maybe I should hang out in my office. Just in case any fresh crises barge their way into your shop."

"You should do what you need to do to find Katherine."

"They call her Katie."

I felt a brief pang. "My mom was Kate."

"I know, honey."

"All the more reason to find her." I finished my eggs and toast, shared a piece of bacon with Lou, and made quick work of the cleanup since Jack cooked. When I went to brush my teeth, Jack followed me into our bedroom and leaned against the bathroom doorframe.

"You know, I can brush my teeth on my own. I doubt Cletus is hiding in the shower."

"Hilarious." His green eyes were serious, though. "It bothers me that I don't know why he came back to town. The Dead End fireworks contract can't be enough money to make all this animosity he's facing worth it."

I snapped off the bathroom light and walked out into the bedroom to change my PJs for jeans and a Dead End Pawn cotton jersey, dodging his long-armed grabs for me as I did.

"I wonder if his real reason … don't even try it, Buster.

I have to get to work. I wonder if his real reason for coming here had something to do with that ring.

Jack, you should have seen it. It had to be worth a fortune.

Maybe as much as a quarter million dollars to a collector.

If he got it in some underhanded way and thought I'd be an easy mark for some quick cash … what kind of trouble can he be in?"

"The money kind," Jack said grimly.

We drove separately to work in case he needed to go out searching for Katie at some point. I needed to get a lot done, because the next day was the Fourth, and I planned to close the shop to attend the Fourth Festival downtown and enjoy the day with my family.

While Eleanor and I rang up sales and wrote up pawns, Jack worked steadily in his office on contacting any of his old network he could reach to find out if they knew anything about Katherine Sampson or the mysterious Joe.

That's why he was close at hand when the two thugs showed up at the shop.

We had a lull, so Eleanor took off to take Oscar and Bill out to the park for a picnic lunch.

A few minutes later, when I was contemplating lunch myself, the door slammed open with unusual force.

I glanced up, already irritated, because I'd had to replace that glass before because of overly enthusiastic door openers.

And after the zucchini incident.

Not tourists. Not with those bulging muscles stretching the seams of their matching dark suits with metallic threads embroidered around the lapels. It was way too hot for those outfits on the third of July in Florida. Nobody went out sightseeing dressed like that.

Very, very quietly, I said, "Jack."

Just his name.

I knew he'd hear me because of his Superior Tiger Hearing and the cocktail party effect, which is the brain's ability to focus on one particular sound— usually a person's name—even in a noisy room.

Jack and I had talked about, and even experimented with, using this method of communication in sticky situations.

So, I wasn't surprised when I heard the whirring sound of the camera on the wall behind me as it tilted downward. He'd watch, and then he'd bust through the door like a superhero if the situation warranted it.

From the looks of these two, the situation might soon warrant it.

They both had pale, doughy skin, like people who never went outdoors. They also had similarly shaped brown eyes and large, hooked noses. Brothers, maybe, or cousins.

"Can I help you?" I smiled brightly, which I think confused them. "We're having a special on taxidermied ferrets this week."

The taller one sneered, but the shorter one actually looked interested.

"Hey, Gus. Get a load of that! I bet my kids would—"

"No names," Gus hissed.

The short one rolled his eyes. "Right. Like she's going to track us down from the name Gus. You know how many people are probably named Gus?"

"Gus is actually a relatively uncommon name in the U.S.," I helpfully pointed out. "It's usually short for Augustus, which is more usual to see in Europe."

Yeah, pawnshop folks and trivia. I mentally smacked myself on the forehead.

"Great," Gus said, narrowing his dark eyes. "Listen. It's not even my real name, so don't worry about it. We're here to talk to you, Tess Callahan."

"Tess Callahan-Shepherd," I snapped back, not realizing until I heard myself speak that I'd decided on the name issue.

"Shepherd? She married the guy?" The Not-Gus guy suddenly went even paler, if possible.

"Whatever. He ain't here. Listen, girly. Our boss wants to talk to you. We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way."

I groaned. "No, you did not actually say that out loud. Am I going to sleep with the fishes?"

Gus narrowed his eyes, but the short guy just looked confused.

"What fishes?"

The door to Jack's office swung open, and my dangerous husband, flat-eyed and lethal, strode into the shop. "I'd like to hear about this hard way/easy way choice, myself," he said, his voice pure ice.

The short guy backed up, raising his hands as if he were surrendering. "Hey. Hey, man. We've got no beef with you. Our boss just wants a word with your missus. Tell 'em, Gus."

Gus spared a disgusted glance for his partner but then returned all of his attention to Jack. "Never mind the choices. We're just extending an invitation for a friendly visit to New York. For your … wife."

"I don't have time to go to New York," I told him, no longer even pretending to be cheerful. "Why don't you tell your boss to call me? Or, better yet, send me an email through the website."

"I'll tell him that," Gus said. "We'll be on our way."

"Who exactly is your boss?" Jack asked, moving to block their path to the door. "Someone I know?"

"He doesn't know you," the short guy offered eagerly. "This isn't about you at all."

"We'll be leaving now," the tall one said. "We don't want trouble."

"Too late," Jack told him. "What is your boss's name?"

"Jack," I called out. "Let them go."

He stared at them for several long seconds, but then he swung out of the way and gestured toward the door.

The short guy ran out without looking back, but Gus paused in the doorway. "Tell Carlos Gonzalez that Mikhail is moving into this territory. Might be time for him to take a permanent vacation. For his health."

Then he took off after his companion. I caught Jack at the door before he could follow them. "Please. Let it go. We've got enough going on now. Let's give Susan their license plate number and a description, plus the camera footage. When Carlos gets back tomorrow, we'll fill him in."

"He's coming back tomorrow?"

I nodded. "He emailed me."

Jack put his hands on my waist and pulled me close. "A lesser man might feel insecure or threatened when an elegant, fashion-plate vampire keeps in such close touch with his wife."

"Jack!"

He kissed me. "But not me, Tess Callahan-Shepherd."

"Let's call Susan."

The sheriff wasn't thrilled with this new development. On the bright side, though, she asked me to hold a fireworks ferret for her.

"Granny heard about them and wants one," she said resignedly. "I am going to blame you when she moves into the assisted-living home, and I have to shovel through seven tons of kitsch."

I laughed. "You can only blame me for six tons of it, at most. And I'll give you the law-enforcement discount on the ferret."

"You have a law-enforcement discount?"

"I do now."