Jed Had to Die(23)
“Hello, Mrs. Godfrey, and yes, this is Payton. And your dog almost attacked me and then peed on my leg,” I tell her in the nicest voice possible and without any swearing.
I should get a medal.
“Bo Jangles wouldn’t attack anyone! I’m sure he only lifted his leg on you because you frightened my poor baby. He’s been outside all morning sitting at the fence and barking over at Emma Jo’s yard. My eyesight isn’t what it used to be, but I can see something out there in the grass,” she informs me.
With my pounding headache, the phone call from my mother, and taking a trip down drunk memory lane with Emma Jo, I didn’t notice the barking coming from outside. Now that I do, it’s all I can hear and it’s worse than knives to the brain. Much worse. It’s high-pitched and yappy, and even from outside in the next yard, it’s loud and annoying.
Pulling the phone away from my mouth when Emma Jo asks me in a whisper what’s going on, I quickly explain to her in a hushed voice about the psychotic dog and Mrs. Godfrey’s claim that he’s barking at something in her backyard. Emma Jo shakes her head and leaves the room, heading down the hall to one of the rooms that face the backyard.
“I already called Sheriff Hudson about it because Bo Jangles is so upset, and I need to get him to calm down and come inside to take a nap. It looks like a deer or some other kind of large animal back there. I saw Mayor Jackson’s car in the driveway last night so I know he’s home early from that meeting of his. Tell him to go outside and see what it is. He’s always so nice and helpful, and Bo Jangles loves him. Bo Jangles would never lift his leg on him,” Starla retorts in a snotty voice.
“Mayor Jackson actually isn’t home right now, but don’t worry Mrs. Godfrey, I’ll go outside and see what it is that Bo Jangles is barking at. You can call Sheriff Hudson back and tell him we don’t need him,” I snap angrily, counting to ten in my head before I let a whole string of curse words loose. “Thanks for calling and have a wonderful day!”
I quickly hang up the phone, cutting Starla off mid-sentence, knowing that it will only be a matter of minutes before my mother hears about how rude I was to her.
“That woman is just as annoying as she was when we were in high school. I don’t know how you can handle living next door to her,” I complain to Emma Jo when I hear her walk back into the room.
“Payton, it’s…” Emma Jo whispers, her voice cracking with emotion as she trails off.
I turn around to see her eyes wide and unblinking and her mouth dropped open in shock. As I start to walk toward her, there’s a knock at the door.
“Don’t move, I’ll get it. I’m sure it’s Mrs. Godfrey, coming over here to sick her dog on me for hanging up on her,” I try to joke as I move toward the door, getting a little bit worried about how pale Emma Jo’s face is right now.
Turning the deadbolt, I open the door to find Leo standing on the front porch. I want to slam the door in his face, but my eyes zero in on the coffee cup in his hand and my mouth starts to water.
“I left to go get some coffee for you since I know Emma Jo doesn’t drink it, when I got a call from the station that Mrs. Godfrey phoned in with a complaint. I can’t leave you alone for ten hours without you causing problems,” he sighs, handing me the cup of coffee.
I take a sip to get my brain in working order before I reply, but sadly, it tastes like the bottom of someone’s shoe and does nothing for my brain activity.
“Sorry, I know it’s not Liquid Crack, but it’s the best I could do without driving into Louisville,” Leo adds with a smile.
He’s trying to make a peace offering and butter me up after what went down last night, but I’m not falling for that shit. I don’t care if he DID come back here after he had a laughing good time with Jed, probably yucking it up about silly little women, parking his car across the street to keep an eye on the house. I don’t care if he called Emma Jo when he came back to tell her he planned on staying there all night, just to make sure Jed didn’t come back to the house and that he’d explain everything in the morning. He’s a lying liar-face, and I am not about to let how good he looks in a uniform mess with my head. Or his dimples. Or his bright blue eyes. Or how nice it was that he went out and got me coffee even though it tastes like what Bo Jangles pee smelled like.
“Um, Sheriff, you’re gonna want to come to the backyard….”
I lean to the side to look around Leo and find another man in uniform standing at the bottom of the steps with a worried look on his face. He’s about the same height as Leo and looks around the same age, with a cute face, short brown hair and a lean build, unlike Leo’s in-your-face-I-can-squash-you-like-a-bug-muscular one.