“I admit that it’s not looking all that promising right now, but you know how these investigations go sometimes. We have to have a lot of different conversations before we hear something that leads us to the truth.”
“And we haven’t heard anything yet,” she said.
“Not that we know of. Maybe Frank will lead us down another path.”
“Or maybe he’ll be just another dead end,” Grace said softly.
“Maybe so, but if he is, we’ll just keep digging. It’s what we do, remember?”
“Right now, that’s pretty hard to forget,” she said.
We had just pulled up in front of Frank and Lisa Grambling’s house when Grace’s cellphone rang. She checked the caller ID and she said, “I’ve got to take this. It might be a while, Suzanne. Do you want to drive around the block a few times while I talk to my boss?”
“No, you go ahead and take care of business. I’ll handle Frank by myself.”
“Are you sure you don’t need me by your side?” she asked.
“I’ll be fine. Besides, you’ll be within shouting range if I need you.”
“Okay,” she said, and then she turned to her cellphone. “Hello. No, that’s fine. I can talk.”
I left her deep in conversation with her boss as I walked up to the house. That was one thing I didn’t have to worry about running the donut shop. I was the boss at Donut Hearts, and no one else could ever tell me what to do. That was the upside, and the downside, too. As the owner and boss, everything ended up on my doorstep, success and failure alike. There was no one else, and in the end, that was the way I preferred it.
I was happy to see that Frank answered the door himself. “Do you have a second?” I asked him.
“What about? My wife’s at the grocery store, and I don’t want any donuts.”
“That works out just fine, because I don’t have any,” I said.
“Then why are you here?”
“Jude Williams,” I said. “I understand that he sold you some fake gold.”
“What business is that of yours?” he asked as he stepped outside, getting closer to me than I really would have liked.
“We’re trying to find his killer,” I said, taking half a step back.
“And you think that’s me?” he asked as he stepped even closer. I could smell the onions on his warm breath, and more than a hint of bourbon. “I’m going to tell you this one more time, and then I’m going to do something. If you don’t leave me and my wife alone, you’re going to be sorrier than you ever could imagine.”
“Is that a threat?” I asked as I decided to stand my ground. I wasn’t about to let him bully me if I could help it.
“It sure is,” he said, and he took a thick forefinger and pushed me. Ordinarily it wouldn’t have been enough to bother me, but he’d caught me off guard, and I stumbled backwards a little.
“Don’t you dare touch me,” I said, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks.
“Then stay away from me and my family,” he said, “or I’ll do a lot worse than shove you. You don’t want to see that, Suzanne.”
He was back inside before I could manage a reply. Having his hand on me, even just his finger, had been unsettling to me, and I felt violated. Bullies pushed. I knew that, but I didn’t have to like it. If Frank Grambling had been the one who’d killed Jude Williams, I was going to make sure that he paid for it.
Grace was just hanging up as I came back to the Jeep. After she said her good-byes, she asked me, “Finished already?”
There must have been something in my face that made her alarmed. “Suzanne, what happened?”
“You didn’t see it?” I asked.
“No, I was busy talking. Sorry. What did he do?”
“It was nothing,” I said, trying to convince myself that it was true.
“Don’t lie to me,” Grace answered severely.
“He pushed me, okay? It wasn’t a big shove; just enough to let me know that he could do a whole lot more damage if he put his mind to it. It shook me up a little, I won’t lie to you.” Almost as an afterthought, I added, “He threatened me, too; us, as a matter of fact. He said if we don’t stop grilling him and his wife, he was going to make us both sorry.”
Grace started to get out of the Jeep when I grabbed her arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“He’s not going to get away with that,” she said. “At least not if you let go of my arm.”
“Grace, it’s nothing, and besides, it’s already over. Let’s just get out of here, okay?”