Page 22 of A Dead End Fourth of July (Tiger’s Eye Mysteries #14)

Jack

"That's okay. He's my brother," Susan said, and the poor doctor just looked more confused.

I was surprised Dr. Snow knew Carlos was a vampire, though.

There was no outward sign, since he wasn't flashing his fangs or anything, that any plain-vanilla human would have picked up on.

For those of us with any supernatural abilities, though, vampires had a certain shadowy aura that floated around them like a barely visible hint of smoke.

Our potential town doctor wasn't an ordinary human.

I could tell by the thoughtful way Tess was looking at the doctor that she'd reached the same conclusion. Susan and Andy would have, too.

"You throw a party when I'm not here?" Carlos said, flashing that smile Tess thought was so charming.

He was the male version of his sister. Long, wavy dark hair where hers was now cut short.

He had a secret and overly mysterious job, multiple dangerous enemies, and he'd inadvertently put Tess in danger once, for which he and I weren't quite square yet.

On the flip side, he was a loyal friend but a deadly adversary, and Tess was one of his favorite people.

So, I knew he'd fight as hard to protect her as I would.

Carlos inhaled a long breath. "And why do I smell a dead body?"

"A dead McKee," Tess told him, her face drawn and unhappy.

Carlos raised an eyebrow. "Not Bubba?"

"No, Cletus," Susan said. "Did you just get back into town? We have things to discuss when I'm done here."

Carlos nodded and glanced at me and Tess. "Yes. We do."

"Murder is Dead End's idea of a party?" Dr. Snow asked, her voice faint. "I think I need to sit down."

She wobbled a little, and Carlos reached out to offer a steadying hand, but she visibly recoiled.

Carlos's eyes cooled, and he gave her a bland smile. "I was talking about the Fourth Festival, of course. I don't believe we've met."

"No, but I've met … people like you," she said, her eyes flashing defiance. "Vampires."

Oh, boy.

Tess bristled. "Hey. Doc. We don't judge people by what flavor their magic is in Dead End. And I especially don't want to hear you being rude to my friend."

The doctor's eyes widened, and Lauren, who'd been uncharacteristically quiet, held up a hand.

"How about we all calm down and deal with the situation in front of us?

I'm going to get a chair for Abby to sit on, since Susan wants her to stand by until the coroner gets here.

Tess, Carlos, I'm sure Dr. Snow didn't mean to be insulting.

She had a difficult encounter with vampires in the past. Susan, Andy, Lizzie, I'm sure you have important police work to do, so why don't you get on with it? "

We all gaped at her, and she smirked.

"You don't think I'm just a pretty face and a superior sandwich maker, do you?"

The doctor took Lauren's hand and squeezed it. "You definitely have a pretty face," she murmured.

Susan shoved her hair back from her face.

"Okay. Not going to argue with any of that.

Mike, Mayor, thank you for your assistance, but this is a police matter.

Why don't you head home and get some rest?

I'll do my job here and contact you first thing in the morning, or sooner, if we get any answers tonight. "

Aunt Ruby nodded. "You're right. The mayor's job isn't to interfere with yours. Tess, Jack, do you want to come home with us?"

Tess hugged her aunt. "I love you, but we're okay. We'll talk to you in the morning, too."

After they left, I took Tess's hand and pulled her a few paces away. "You should go home, too. I think I need to help Susan and Andy."

"I'm not going anywhere without you."

I sighed. Then I hugged her.

Then I sighed again and gestured to Susan to join us.

The sheriff was busy with a phone call, but then she walked over. "What's up?"

"I can't believe I'm asking this, but do you need any help?"

"Now that you mention it, I could use a hand," Susan told us. "I have to stay here and wait for the coroner to get the body and the crime scene unit to process the scene. While I'm waiting, I'll interview the witnesses who stuck around."

"Lizzie and Andy?" Tess asked.

"They need to go round up Bubba, Lola, and all the rest of the McKees, or at least the ones who were in that fight in your shop."

"So, that leaves me to track down Skeeter Hatfield," I said.

"Us. That leaves us to track down Skeeter Hatfield," Tess said. "And I have an idea about where he might be."

"The Swamp Rat?" Susan asked.

"The Swamp Rat."

It was a bar outside of Dead End that lurked at the edge of the swamp, on the other side of the water from the Airboat Commandos. It sometimes featured live music and often featured bar fights between the truly drunk or truly desperate.

Not Tess's favorite place, but before Molly got famous, her band played there sometimes, so I knew she was familiar with it.

"Skeeter?"

"He likes to hang out there and play pool and complain about his life," Tess said glumly. "Great. A dead body and a trip to the Rat. What could be better?"

Turned out, almost anything could be better.

Skeeter saw us coming and started swinging. He wasn't that big, but he was a fighter. And when the drunk buffoons at the Rat saw that, some genius yelled, "Bar fight!"

In seconds, furniture and fists started flying, and band members crouched in front of their equipment to protect it.

"They should get chicken wire like in Roadhouse," Tess said, ducking behind me when a bottle flew toward us.

"You should go back to the truck. Please."

"But—"

"This is crowded and rowdy. Do you really want to see a bunch of people's deaths just because they drunkenly crash into you?"

"Good point. I'll be in the truck."

I shielded her until we got back outside, and then I walked her across the empty parking lot to the truck.

"You didn't have to do that. Go get Skeeter."

I raised her hand and rubbed her wedding ring with my thumb. "This says I did have to do it. I'll be back in a minute or two."

"In one piece, please," she called after me before closing the truck door and hitting the door locks.

After Tess was safe, it was a piece of cake to wade into the fray, grab Skeeter by the back of his shirt, and carry him, still kicking and punching, out the door.

Surprisingly, none of the other patrons seemed to be the least bit concerned with who I was, what I was doing, or why I was taking Skeeter.

"Not a lot of friends in there," I observed once we were in the quiet of the parking lot.

"You have no right!" he shouted. "No right!"

"Did you kill Cleetus McKee?"

All the fight went out of him, and he hung limply in my grasp, his eyes huge. "What? No! Of course not. I've been here all night! Somebody shot Cletus?"

I stopped walking and put him down to stand on his own feet. "How did you know he got shot? I never said that."

Skeeter rolled his eyes, completely unconcerned with my brilliant deductive powers. "This is Florida. Every other person has a gun. How else would he get killed?"

"Your boozy breath might kill me," I muttered. "Okay, in the back seat. And if you don't behave, I'll tie you up and throw you in the back of the truck for the drive to the sheriff's office."

Miracle of miracles, he mostly kept his mouth shut, other than muttering dire threats beneath his breath. We dropped him off, told Andy Skeeter was his problem now, and started for home to get some sleep after the long, awful, exhausting day.

And we made it almost all the way to the dirt road that led from the main road to Carlos and Tess's houses before Tess's phone rang.

"I don't want to answer it," she said dully. "I'm too tired for any more of this."

But she answered and put it on speaker.

"Hey, Susan. What's up?"

"I'm sorry about this," Susan said. "But can you come back downtown?"

"What now?" Tess asked indignantly. "We found Skeeter for you and hauled him in."

"Yeah, thanks for that. But I've got Bubba McKee here, and he wants to confess."

"No!" Tess gave me a shocked look. "I can't believe Bubba would shoot anyone, not even Cletus."

"Yeah. The thing is, he says he'll only talk to you."