Page 57 of The Last One to Let You Down

“Did you know he took my Dr Pepper out of the fridge? The one with a sticky note with my name very clearly written on it?”

“What a prick.”

“Right?” Aaron laughed bitterly. “He took the drink and left the sticky note.”

The keypad beeped again, and Miss Edie came swishing in with her giant purse. Her face lit up when she saw them, and she gushed, “Ah, my babies are here! Hi, babies!”

“Hey, Miss Edie.” Tom waved a gloved hand. “I’ll come give you a hug in a minute.”

“Oh, you’re fine, baby,” Edie said, giving Aaron a big hug. “I’ll just hug on this one here. Hi, baby! Aw, what’s wrong? You and that silly girl of yours fighting again?”

“No, we’re fine,” Aaron replied. “We got some state agent guy here, questioning all of us.”

“Oh!” Edie’s eyes widened, and she set her purse up on the counter. “That’s exciting! What’s going on?”

“Someone’s been breaking into people’s houses while they’re out at funerals,” Tom explained, peeling off and tossing his gloves into the biohazard trash.

“Oh, that’s awful, baby!” Edie gasped, taking out her brushes and combs to start fixing Mrs. Poole’s hair. “Who would want to go and do something like that?”

“This agent seems to think that someone here at the funeral home is responsible.”

“There’s already been seven robberies,” Aaron added. “Can you believe it? Seven.”

“They’re burglaries, baby,” Edie corrected, running a comb through Mrs. Poole’s bangs and teasing them up. “Not robberies.”

Aaron gave Tom a very pointed look, clearing his throat purposefully as he asked, “Oh? There’s a difference, Miss Edie?”

“Burglary is when you break into a house to steal stuff,” Edie said. “Robbery is when you take it from another person using force.”

“Like a bank?” Aaron pressed, wagging his eyebrows over at Tom.

“Yeah, exactly, baby!” Edie exclaimed cheerfully.

Tom could see exactly where this was going and derailed Aaron’s crazy train by saying, “Whatever you call it, I hope just they catch the guy.”

“Me, too, babies. I still can’t believe it.” Edie huffed. “Forgive me, Lord, but I hope they stub their big toe, and the nail falls slam off.”

Tom was pretty sure that was Edie’s cruelest threat, giving her a side hug as he said, “Ah, I swear you’re the sweetest lady in the whole world, Edie.”

“Aww, thank you, baby. You’re sweet, too.”

“Hey! I’m sweet, too!” Aaron said. “Just in case anyone was wondering.”

“Aw, yes, you are, baby. All my boys at the funeral home are so very sweet.”

Tom felt his phone vibrate, pulling it out from his pocket to find he had a new text from Cypress. He couldn’t wait to see what it said, biting his lip anxiously as he read it:

Meet me in the men’s room up front

Right now

Tom’s pulse was thumping a mile a minute as he headed to the men’s bathroom in the front of the funeral home. This one was reserved for families and their guests, and employees were discouraged from using it.

If anyone asked, Tom was going to claim Earl had clogged the toilet in the back.

He waved at Miss Wheel at the front desk as he crossed into the lobby. Luckily, she was on the phone and didn’t pay him any mind. He made a beeline for the bathroom, pushing the door open and stepping inside.

There were three stalls including a handicapped toilet, and Cypress was leaning against the sink. He smiled when he saw Tom and said, “Wasn’t sure if you could come.”