Double Trouble in Iowa Read online

  "Fred always comes around when you make Danish on Thursday nights. That doesn't take any psychic abilities," Ramona said.

  As we started to walk out the door, I remembered some more questions I'd forgotten to ask. "You know that investigation into that man that I'm not doing. Wink. Wink." Sometimes I had to be more literal than subtle. "Have you heard anything about Lori's connections to Inez?"

  "In all the excitement, we forgot to fill you in. There are two brothers, Leo and JR, who dated her off and on for a while. From what we heard, that didn't end well," Dolly said.

  "What do you mean by not ending well?"

  "It seems like they both were dating her, but neither brother knew about the other, and it turned into a major row between them. They're still not talking. Although the interesting part is JR now lives in Winterset," Ramona said.

  "They're probably on the bottom of the list as it sounds like they're madder at each other than Lori, but we'll keep them in mind."

  "And a guy named Charlie who claims to know Lori but seems like a real dud. I think he made up the story about dating Lori to give himself a life," Viola added. "And technically speaking, JR and Leo are half-brothers, not that I'm sure it makes a difference."

  * * *

  An hour and numerous conversations about the investigation we weren't doing later, we were at Iowa City. I had encouraged them to keep their nunchucks at home since we hadn't watched those YouTube videos yet, and they reluctantly agreed.

  Yes, I was suspicious.

  "Let's start with the psychic artist. Who knows what information she might have from the spirit world. Every time it's different," Alice said.

  "That's because you don't remember," Ramona said.

  Alice laughed. "That's true, too."

  "But it's a good place to start. She might have some vibes she can share with us. We'll have this whole case settled before Nate can get mad at us. She might have an idea about Lori, too. We could accidentally happen to mention it when she reads our tarot cards or whatever she does," Ramona said.

  "She's our secret weapon. How about if I give her a call and see if she's around?" Dolly asked.

  "That will work perfectly, don't you think, Izzy?" Viola asked.

  Zora kind of gave me the creeps, but I was willing to indulge their ideas, at least for a bit, until they teetered on the edge of crazy. Hopefully, that wouldn't happen anytime soon. We needed to fly under the radar.

  Dolly made the call, and as luck would have it, Zora was available. I couldn't catch a break these days. This always happened when I went with the Qs in investigative mode. It was my cross to bear, I supposed, but at least they kept things lively and unpredictable. And the tiniest bit scary, as well, sometimes.

  Never having been to Zora's artist studio, I didn't know what to expect. As soon as we walked inside, the aroma of incense permeated the air, and candles burned through the cavernous space. She had an altar set up with purple and white cloth and red votive candles. Any moment I expected somebody's head to spin around like in the Exorcist.

  "Welcome, ladies. I had such an enchanting time visiting with you all at the art gallery a couple of months ago. Your auras are so strong and welcoming. It's a pleasure to have you come visit." She then honed in on me like a laser beam. The last couple of times we'd met, she talked about trouble for me—like in somebody wanting me dead. So it was understandable that I feared being around her. The way her eyes grew wide then narrowed gave me an inkling of what she might predict.

  "There's trouble all around you." She took my hand and turned it to examine my palm. "Two men. Friends or lovers, you can't decide. But this might be a time to run and hide." I knew she'd talk in rhymes, but it didn't make me feel better. As she examined my hand, she sucked in a deep shuddering breath. That couldn't be a good thing, even if I didn't believe in all that nonsense. I wasn't stupid either. I was the one with a target on my back not that long ago.

  Alice came up and scrunched her eyes toward Zora. "What do you see in her future? And can you tell me if Clyde's going to come by tonight? I'd like to know so I could cook up something special."

  I closed my eyes and winced. Clearly my lectures on boundaries weren't having any effect.

  Zora didn't pay any attention to her question, instead focused her attention on me. I wanted her to let go of my fingers, but she'd clamped on like a vise. I also didn't want to seem like a wuss, but she was creeping me out. All. The. Time.

  "Beware of the dark-haired man who makes promises he can't keep. He's into this way too deep."

  I wanted to scream, "stop it with the rhyming," but resisted. She had to be talking about Joseph, but considering both my father and Gabe also fit that description, I should keep an open mind. I wanted her to stop, while at the same time wanted her to continue.

  Was I supposed to say thank you, light one of her weird candles, and give her a sacrificial offering like a dead chicken or something? I didn't know the protocol for these kinds of things.

  "This is some good stuff," Ramona added. "Why can't you read us like her?"

  "Her aura is very open to my spirit guide." Zora still held my fingers, and I desperately wanted her to let go.

  Wait. What did she say? I one hundred percent did not want her spirit guide interfering in my aura, or whatever she called it. He/she had no business in my aura. OMG, I was so losing it, dissing some fictitious spirit guide for messing with my fictitious aura.

  Somehow, I managed to gently extricate my fingers from hers, despite the fact she was holding on for dear life. I knew nothing about premonitions, but she'd told me I was in trouble once before, and she happened to have been right. I wasn't about to second-guess this mystery man who spelled trouble for me. Because he had blond hair, Nate was exempt from her revelation—which seemed odd. We'd gone from frenemies to kind of sort of friends. Well, at least I liked his daughter Emily a whole bunch. And he was okay when he wasn't looking at me like I was guilty of something. In fact, he was downright nice when he told me to back off the Gus investigation. Or maybe he was trying to get me to trust him, and then, bam, he'd set a trap for me. Or maybe I was overthinking the whole darn thing, and I needed to chill.

  Zora's constant stare made me think I might turn into a werewolf any moment. Okay, that was a little over the top, but this whole thing felt surreal as well as spooky.

  I finally found the courage to speak, which was unusual for me since normally I talked nonstop during times of stress. "We're looking for somebody who may be in trouble." Or maybe a murderer, depending on a person's perspective. "He came to see me the other evening…and then kind of disappeared."

  "He's in trouble. I can see that."

  She didn't really need to be psychic to make that call since I'd already mentioned he'd disappeared. I let her words hang in the air while the ladies shouted out suggestions.

  "Do you think he's dead?" Alice asked.

  "Or is he the killer?" Ramona asked.

  "Has he gone underground? I saw that once in a movie. He dressed up like a bum and was hiding in plain sight. Do you think we should walk the streets and see if he's undercover?" Dolly asked.

  "He'll reveal himself soon." She blew out a candle as if it was an exclamation mark to her statement.

  Goose bumps broke down my arms. "When you say reveal, what exactly do you mean?" Okay, I'll admit, I was curious enough to ask the question that had been trailing around my brain. I didn't want him to pop up somewhere and scare me half to death. I needed to be prepared, especially now that I was living alone.

  "That's all I can see."

  "Do you think we'll need some nunchucks? Because we're all armed as of now, but we do need a little practice," Alice asked.

  Zora didn't respond, only raised her eyebrows and glanced from them to me. I shrugged, not quite knowing what to say. The ladies might be considered an acquired taste to certain people.

  "Where do you think we should look for him?" I asked.

  "He'll find you."

  I did not lik
e the sound of that. The ladies, on the other hand, seemed to be brimming with excitement at the possibility. Where it all would lead, I had no idea. But any way I looked at it, I had a feeling I wasn't going to like it.

  "Maybe we should ask about Gus, too, as long as we're here? She might be able to tell us if he did it or not," Alice said.

  "Ahh…I sense a presence around you."

  "Is it a guilty presence or an innocent one?" Ramona asked. "It would be nice to know if he murdered Lori or not, although we've been forbidden to work on the case."

  "You'll get some direction on that soon," Zora answered.

  If I wasn't creeped out before, I sure was now. This day wasn't a feel-good for me. It had to get better from here on. One could only hope.

  "Yeah, well, we'd better get going. It's getting close to lunch, and we have to hit the Qs favorite diner in Iowa City." I was making that part up but knew the lure of a diner was something the Qs couldn't pass up. It wasn't so much for the food, but more for the tantalizing aroma of gossip in the air.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  "Does everyone have nunchucks in their purse?" Ramona asked.

  "I thought we agreed not to bring them?" They didn't know the Qs well in Iowa City, and I didn't want to think about any potential repercussions, especially involving the police.

  "I didn't hear that," Alice said, but the sparkle in her eye told me otherwise.

  "That's because you didn't want to. You don't listen," Dolly scolded like the schoolteacher she used to be.

  "That's what Clyde says too. I think I have selective hearing loss. That's not always a bad thing."

  "All I'm asking is that nobody pulls out their nunchucks unless absolutely necessary." I stopped and held up my hands. "And I decide when it's necessary. And I'm sure we won't need them going to see Jefferson."

  Viola tugged on my arm and whispered, "You know we have them for fun. Nobody in this group would ever think of using them."

  I smiled and nodded. I suspected that might be true of Viola but wasn't one-hundred-percent positive about the rest of the group. They took their role as master sleuths seriously.

  "Jefferson," I called as we walked inside his studio. As a fellow artist, he and I became fast friends when we met at the Gilded Lily Celebration put on by City Center Gallery last fall. Both he and his husband, Mason, had become part of our sleuthing team as well.

  His place was as I expected—a little zany and over the top—just like him. The walls were splashed with colors of vibrant purple and yellow interspersed with magenta here and there. He wore a white shirt and pants that were splattered with paint, while his feet were bare. Sunlight filtered through the windows, reminding me that I had my own paintings to get done. Once things settled down, I could concentrate on that instead of murder and mayhem. First, I needed to find Joseph before someone else did.

  "Love your space." I kissed him on the centimeter of skin that wasn't covered in paint.

  "The creative genius is at work today. What are you ladies up to?" Last time I'd seen him, his signature mohawk was a vibrant purple shade. This time it had a neon green cast to it.

  "We're looking for her ex-husband. We think he might be dead, but Izzy thinks he's just laying low." Leave it to Alice to fill in the blanks in her usual pessimistic manner.

  Jefferson blinked a couple of times. "And you thought I would know where he was hiding because…" He suppressed a smile.

  "We were kind of grasping at straws and thought you might be able to suggest someplace where somebody might go if they wanted to fly under the radar. I sent him to Iowa City for a hotel room when he wanted to stay the night at my place. But Nate checked the hotel registries, and his name doesn't pop up on any of the databases."

  "So that's how it is." Jefferson smirked. "You're looking for a place someone might hide if they don't want to be found?"

  "Exactly."

  "And we got kicked off the investigation we really wanted to tackle because the police detective in Winterset thinks we're wimps and can't handle it," Alice said.

  "Your worry about Joseph is somewhat temporary until a better offer comes along. Is that what you're saying?" Jefferson asked.

  "Exactly," Ramona cheered. "We don't really give a rip about Joseph, but keeping our head in the investigative game keeps us fresh."

  "If a person's looking to hide out, I've got a couple of ideas. First off, there are seven colleges within a twenty or so mile radius of Iowa City, and there's always something going on and always places to hide out and avoid classes or parents. Of course, I expect he'd stand out because he'd be a lot older," Jefferson said.

  "How about dive bars or hotels? Got any ideas?" Dolly asked.

  "There are some hotels that don't have official registration practices either. I can give you some ideas, but I think it would be rather fun to come along with you gals and explore, don't you think?" Jefferson added as he yanked off his shirt, wiped off excess paint on his face and arms, and slipped into a T-shirt. "Besides, my inspiration is waning today. But I have a feeling a bit of time with you ladies, and that will all turn around. Let's head to Ratskellers first," he added.

  "I like the sound of that," Alice said.

  Before we could get out the door, my phone rang. The caller ID registered as blocked, but I was curious enough to answer anyway, despite that voice inside my head cautioning me not to. "Hello."

  "This is Gus. I need your help." His shaky voice wavered in and out while traffic sounds peppered the background.

  "Where are you?"

  "I can't say. I don't want you to get in trouble for withholding evidence about a fugitive, but I need you to check out Hell's Tavern and talk to a guy by the name of Buddy. He'll help you get to the truth about what happened to Lori."

  My stomach dropped. I promised Nate, but geez, how could I dismiss a plea like that? "O…okay." I was in such big trouble. "Where can I reach you?"

  "You can't. I ditched my phone the other day in case they're tracking it. I'm going to text you the address to Hell's Tavern, but it doesn't open until five. Just try to help me with getting the information before it's too late. Detective Chaz hates me because of his sister, but she misinterpreted what happened between us."

  This sounded bad and was getting worse by the minute. I held up my finger to stop the chatter. "You just want me to talk to Buddy? What do I do with the information after that? You don't think Detective Chaz already talked to him?"

  "Chaz doesn't know that Buddy has the information. Besides, Buddy won't talk to the law without assurances that he won't get charged with something, and that will never happen. You need to make sure Buddy's intel is solid and then find a lawyer that will protect his rights."

  Juggling two investigations at once seemed like a recipe for disaster. But somehow I nodded before mumbling, "I'll do what I can." As I disconnected, I felt five pairs of eyes on me.

  Alice cleared her throat. "So what gives?"

  I shook my head. "Gus wants me to go see a guy named Buddy at a place called Hell's Tavern." How do I get myself into these things? Normal people did not have these kinds of problems.

  "I never heard of it, but it sure does sound like a place I've got to see." Ramona said.

  Jefferson shook his head and smiled. He seemed to be enjoying the banter way too much from my way of thinking. He was supposed to be my ally, my support, not throw me under the bus at the whim of the Qs.

  "I need to go alone to avoid stirring up trouble. A crowd of five strangers invading the place will set off the radar of somebody for sure. Besides, I promised Nate I wouldn't dig into the thing with Gus. Why don't you ladies concentrate on Joseph?" The Joseph thing would be far less threatening, and yes, I was throwing something at them with the hopes they'd bite.

  "We don't want to. Let's face it, Joseph is boring," Alice said. "We want the good stuff, not some kind of measly oh-I'm-so-scared-of-the-boogie-man Joseph drama. I'm not surprised you divorced him. The guy is a wuss."

  "And let's not forget
the Hell's Tavern thing is pretty intriguing," Dolly said.

  "I haven't decided if I'm going or not." I had to put up a fight although I knew I'd lose.

  "Well, if you're not, we are. We'll find this Buddy guy and get him to talk," Ramona said.

  "No problem," Alice added. "As long as we get to use our nunchucks."

  This could get out of control very quickly unless I brought some sense of sanity to the equation. I had no choice but to dive in. Hello, my name is martyr. How easily I capitulated.

  "Gus said the place doesn't open until five. So as long as we're in Iowa City, we might as well look for Joseph to make sure he's okay." I threw that out there and hoped they'd agree.

  "If we're still going to Hells Tavern to talk to Buddy, I'm good," Ramona said.

  Jefferson linked arms with me. "Come on, girl, let's blow this popsicle stand and go undercover. We've got a lame ex-husband to find."

  I tried to get into the spirit of things, but Gus's phone call kept interfering with my focus. I couldn't get past the idea I'd missed something during our frenetic conversation. Or maybe it was just the concept of going to a place called Hell's Tavern that had become lodged into my mind. It didn't sound like a place I'd want to visit, even for a short bit of time.

  Was I trying to prove something by embarking on this crusade to help Gus? Maybe I liked the validation that would come about from being right once again. Truth was, I'd been horribly misjudged after the fallout from my divorce—being called everything from a lush to a gold digger. Coming to the aid of somebody who'd also been misjudged somehow made me feel vindicated.

  We sloshed through the dive bars one by one without luck. By the time we got to the fourth bar, I was more than ready to call it a day as we had a full night ahead of us, but the ladies seemed anxious to explore yet one more before we headed to our next destination. I wasn't sure where they got their energy, but there was more of that energy stuff in eightysomethings than in thirtysomethings.

  "This is it, ladies. After this, I've got nothing."

  The place was dark and gloomy. Young people hung around the periphery or chatted on bar stools. Nobody looked overly drunk, and nobody seemed to be paying any attention to the group of senior citizens that had just filtered in. Or maybe they hoped we'd go away if they ignored us. I didn't mean to break their bubble, but that was pretty much impossible.