The Missing Dough(74)

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Greg’s with me, too. He’s finding a parking space, but he’ll be here in a second.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” I said.

“We were worried about you,” he admitted. “Hey, don’t be mad.”

I couldn’t really be after he admitted that. “Thanks, but I’m afraid the two of you wasted a trip.”

“We don’t mind,” he said as Greg rushed up to join us.

“What did we miss?” Greg asked, nearly out of breath.

“They were just fighting backstage,” Maddy said.

Greg listened to the music for a second. “You’d never know it right now.”

It was true. As I listened to them play, it was clear that they’d found their way again, and it was impossible to tell that there was an ocean of tension between them.

“What do we do? Just hang around and wait for them to finish?” Maddy asked. “I’ve got a hunch that after what we just heard, neither one of them is going to be in any mood to talk to us.”

“We can go back if you want, but it’s just going to be another ten minutes,” I said. “What could it hurt to try?”

“Let’s wait and see what happens,” she said.

“Hey, I’ve seen that before,” Greg said as he pointed to the band’s logo onstage. “I parked behind an old station wagon with a decal of that on the rear window. You don’t think that was Kenny’s car, do you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“He must be doing some gardening. When I peeked in through the back window, I saw a pick and shovel in there.”

“What makes you think he was gardening? Was there anything else in there, like potting soil or lime?” I asked.

“No, just the tools. Why? Do you think it means anything?” Greg asked.

“Whatever it is, I doubt that it’s good news for Samantha. I hate to leave her alone after the show,” Maddy said.

“Do you think he’s going to kill her and then bury the body somewhere?” Josh asked. He had an overactive imagination as a rule, but this time, my thoughts had followed an identical path to his. “We’ve got to do something to stop him before it’s too late.”

“What can we do?” Maddy asked. “We have a pizzeria to run.”

I had a sudden inspiration. “Josh, how would you and Greg like to do a little detective work? You’ll still get paid, but you’d be helping us out a great deal.”

“Name it,” Greg said, and Josh nodded. It wasn’t often that they were able to participate in one of our investigations, especially Josh, but I was going to have to take whatever grief there was about it that Kevin Hurley might dish out later. I needed them right now.

“As soon as they split up, I want Greg to follow Kenny in his car, and, Josh, you can take Maddy’s car and follow Samantha. Don’t be obvious about it, but don’t lose them, either. Can you do that?”

“Sure we can, but there’s just one problem,” Greg said. “How are you two getting back to Timber Ridge?”

“I spotted Jenny Wilkes in the crowd, so we’ll catch a ride back with her.”

“What if she’s not going straight back to Timber Ridge?” Maddy asked.

“Then we’ll find some other way home. We’re a pair of resourceful women. We’ll manage somehow, even if we have to call David or Bob to come pick us up.”

From the stage, I heard Samantha say, “Thanks for coming, and have a nice day. We’re out.”

“Hurry,” I said. “Maddy, do you mind if Josh drives your car?”

“Why should I?” she asked as she handed him her keys. “After all, he’s a certified driving instructor now, right?”

“Right,” Josh said, completely missing the sarcasm in her voice.

“What should we do if there’s trouble?” Greg asked.

“Call the police chief, and don’t interfere unless it’s bad, and I mean really bad. Do you both promise to do your best to stay out of trouble?”

They nodded and then split up. Greg went back to his car, while Josh hung around, waiting for Samantha. As we walked past him to where the audience was just breaking up, Maddy pointed and said, “I’m parked over there.”

“I already spotted it on the way in,” Josh said with a grin.

We couldn’t find Jenny at first, and I wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of calling David or Bob to come get us, but then Maddy spotted her approaching her floral delivery van.

“Jenny, wait up,” we both called out to her as we saw her getting out her keys.