Page 26 of Bait and Switch (Subtle Deceptions #2)

SIXTEEN

Gabriel

Wednesday afternoon

It was a five-minute drive from Elton’s to the Perkinses’ homestead. Elton spent every mile of it telling Gabe he needed to be on his best behavior. And when he veered right onto an overgrown gravel driveway, he said it one more time just for good measure.

“Fine,” said Gabe, raising his hands in surrender, “I get it. I’ll practice being seen and not heard.”

“She’s … volatile.”

“I never would have guessed,” grumbled Gabe, “considering the way her sons are so calm, cool, and collected.”

Obscured by trees and shrubs at first, the driveway opened up after about five hundred feet to reveal not a single house, but a compound of three. Closest to Gabe and Elton squatted a mid-century single-story home, overseeing the other two structures.

The owners had missed the memo about regular maintenance, not a surprise after the Deliverance -style driveway.

Two older mobile-ish homes had been squeezed in on the back of the property, and they didn’t look like they were in any better condition.

Dingy was the nicest word that came to mind.

One of them had a motorcycle parked out front, and from the parts strewn around it, Gabe figured the bike didn’t run.

Most of the time, Gabe knew better than to judge a book by its cover, but damn, these folks were making it difficult. Very, very, difficult.

“Tell me this is one of those beauty-is-on-the-inside situations.”

Elton stopped his truck next to a shiny white Lexus and set the parking brake.

“Remember what I told you,” he said, giving Gabe a hard stare.

“ Behave, Gabe ,” he parroted. “You’d think I was twelve, not coming up on forty-five. Did Casey get to you when you went to the dentist the other day? Honestly, what have I ever done that indicated I can’t behave myself? When it’s absolutely necessary, I can.”

Elton stared at him again, longer and harder this time. “Just behave. She’s not going to make it easy for either of us.”

It occurred to Gabe as they crossed the lawn toward the front door that he hadn’t asked what their approach would be or how they were going to go from condolences on your son being found shot dead to do you know what the hell is going on around here and why or there’s an epidemic of death and could it have anything to do with the current fuckery .

“Fine, I promise that I’ll follow your lead.”

“See that you do.”

The door opened after the first knock. Gabe figured Kelly must’ve heard them coming and been watching them through the drab curtains that effectively kept any natural light from making its way inside the house.

The woman in front of them was likely in her mid- to late-fifties. The phrase “rode hard and put away wet” came to mind and had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with life in general.

“Elton Cox, what are you doing here?” Her somewhat bleary gaze moved to Gabriel, assessing him in a way he found distinctly uncomfortable. “And who’s your friend?”

Without answering, Elton stepped inside, moving past Kelly Perkins as if she’d invited him in for tea. Gabe followed. When in Rome and all.

“This is a friend of mine, Gabriel Karne.” He gestured Gabe’s direction. “He’s the son of a gal who used to work for me during the summers, back when I was still doing sculpture. Heidi Karne. I don’t know if you ever met her.”

Kelly tapped her bottom lip with her index finger, then shrugged. “The name doesn’t sound familiar, but I was a kid back then. Uh, have a seat. Do you want something to drink?”

Blinking, she looked around the dim living room as if only just realizing two men had essentially barged into her house and the furniture was covered with bulging and overflowing bankers boxes. There were also dozens of smaller boxes stacked around the furniture and against the walls.

“We don’t need anything, thank you. We’re not here to get in your way, I know you’re busy.”

“Well, I need a drink. I don’t know how I’m supposed to keep up with everything when one of my sons was murdered and the other is nowhere to be found. Calvin is just gone, out there somewhere, helpless in the wilderness.”

A lone tear slid down one cheek, but Gabe wasn’t sure if it or the grief were genuine. A literal lifetime as a grifter meant he was uniquely talented at parsing people’s emotions. Something was off about Kelly Perkins. He was also fairly sure that Calvin Perkins was not helpless.

Almost robotically, she turned and walked toward a door at the back of the room.

Elton and Gabe followed her and found themselves in a large kitchen that had gone through an unfortunate remodel in the late eighties.

Whoever’d been the lobbyist for dark faux oak cabinets had to have made a killing on the stuff and deserved to burn in a circle of hell that also had the shag carpet salespeople.

Gabe hated both; they reminded him of all the places he and Heidi had lived in when she was “on a break.”

“All those boxes need to be sent out to my customers, and they’re just sitting there.

” She sucked air in through her nose and released it.

“Every time I go into the living room, they’re still there, just waiting.

Did you know that Dwayne used to help me get them to the post office?

” There was a bottle on the counter. She grabbed it and filled the glass sitting next to it over halfway full.

Raising the tumbler, she mock-toasted them and knocked the amber liquid back, drinking it down without wheezing.

Nothing acted as a deterrent to keep Gabe away from alcohol as well as witnessing another person spiral.

“Why are you here?” she demanded, abruptly switching off the emotional faucet. “It’s not like we’re close, Elton. You didn’t like Dwayne or Calvin. And what did they ever do to you anyway? Just boys having fun, living their lives.”

Elton didn’t appear to be phased by her change in demeanor. Maybe Kelly Perkins was always like this. If so, it could go a long way toward explaining Calvin’s and Dwayne’s takes on life.

“I’m truly sorry about your boy,” Elton said. “No parent should have to bury their child.”

Maybe those were the only words she wanted to hear, Gabe didn’t know. But they worked. It must have been hard having most people not at all sad when your violent, creepy son was murdered in cold blood.

“What do you think about Gabe and me taking those boxes and dropping them off at the post office for you? We’ll go right past it on our way back to my place.”

“You’d do that?” she asked with another sniffle.

“’Course we would.”

Gabe knew that Elton’s offer was sincere. He may not much like the brothers or Kelly Perkins, but he would lend a hand when it was needed. And it was clearly needed.

Tears sprang to Kelly’s eyes again, and this time Gabe thought they were the real thing. There was a roll of paper towels next to the sink, so Gabe grabbed it and tore one off, handing it to Kelly.

“Thank you, kind sir,” she said, dabbing at her cheeks and eyes before using the paper to blow her nose. “This whole thing has been awful. My worst nightmare. Are both my boys dead?” She started to sob. “I-I just don’t know. No one knows. Goddamned Deter Nolan. I’m glad Eli killed him.”

Gabriel wasn’t entirely sure why Elton had dragged him along, especially after being told to behave himself.

Did Kelly Perkins know that he’d been the one to find Dwayne?

And if she didn’t, would learning so be a good thing or a bad thing?

In spite of his natural tendency to butt into pretty much any conversation, Gabe kept his mouth shut.

He entertained himself by wondering what Casey was up to and if they’d located the hikers who hadn’t returned from their trek.

“Kelly,” Elton said softly. Softly enough that he immediately had Gabe’s attention. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” she said around her sodden paper towel.

“Do you know what Dwayne was doing up The Valley when he was killed?”

Her dark, red-rimmed eyes darted to Gabe and back to Elton.

“It’s fine, we both know the boys harvested here and there. Everybody does it, don’t they?”

“Yeah.” She sniffled, leaning her butt against the edge of the counter. “Casey Lundin had no business taking it away from them. About a week ago, both boys sure were fired up that the ranger had stolen everything.”

“So, they came home that morning and then went back to The Valley?”

Gabe knew the brothers had to have at least driven to the gas station on the other side of the isthmus because he’d had that lovely interaction with them there.

“They came home for lunch, they almost always did,” Kelly confirmed.

“They were both madder than hornets. Calvin was yelling all sorts of nonsense and promising he’d get even with Ranger Lundin.

I was glad when Eli called with an errand for them.

He’s such a good uncle, making sure they get extra work when they need it. ”

“What did Eli need?”

“Oh.” She waved a hand dismissively before swiping at her nose again.

Gabe really wanted to hand her another, less damp, paper towel.

“He needed them to do something up at that development of his, Snowcap Estates. They didn’t tell me what it was, they never wanted me to worry. Such good boys.” She sniffled again.

“Snowcap is going to be a beautiful place when it’s all said and done,” Elton said with false enthusiasm. “Eli’s lucky to be a part of the investment team.”

“Our sheriff’s a dark horse, isn’t he? Eli’s been part owner of that land for ages. I think he bought into it back in the nineties. He’s just been waiting for the right time to develop it. Honestly, I thought they’d have built on it by now.”

“Snowcap Estates was owned by an LLC. Trillium, I think?” Elton said casually.

He was good. Very good. Gabe had to give the old man credit where it was deserved.

He’s a keeper, Chance. Smooth like a Chuck Mangione song.

“Oh, it is,” Kelly confirmed. “That’s the main company, although there are others involved.

I don’t know all the details, but like I said, Eli owns more than just some lots at Snowcap Estates.

He’s got some property along Icicle Creek and further south too.

One of the things Calvin and Dwayne do is keep an eye on everything for him.

If somebody trespasses, they run them off or whatever.

” Her odd eyebrows drew together. “I don’t know who all is involved, but I’d bet Emmett Spurring is because if Eli jumps, so does Emmett.

Thinks Eli hung the moon. Calvin got himself arrested a while back, but Emmett smoothed it over before Eli even showed up.

Whatever happened, it was just a misunderstanding. ”

Neither one of them corrected Kelly to the past tense when it came to her younger son. Thank fuck, because Gabe wasn’t sure he could handle her breaking down in tears again if she didn’t have a fresh tissue. He eyed the disaster she clutched in her fist, willing her to throw it away.

“It sounds like both boys have been a great help to you and Eli,” Elton said. “Now, can we be a help to you and take the boxes to the post office for you?” He looked at his watch. “We should get over there. They close soon, I think.”