Chapter Twelve.

"So I hear a call on the scanner. There's a fire in a dumpster on Jones, and two people are stuck inside." Jose took off his sungla.s.ses.

A fire truck, an ambulance, and three squad cars lined the alley on Jones. A dozen or so onlookers gathered nearby. The smell of burnt wood hung in the air.

"Weird, huh?" I grimaced as I stood next to Annie Mae near the ambulance. A half dozen police milled about.

The fire truck pulled away.

"What's even stranger is that, right away, not only did I know those two people were female, I also knew their names." Jose took a deep breath then exhaled.

"You must be psychic." Annie Mae nudged me in the arm.

"No." Jose scratched his head. "I knew that two of my friends were getting in way over their heads. I'm not even going to ask why you were in there."

"Good idea." Annie Mae nodded.

Jose put his arms in the air.

"Do you know what caused the fire?" I asked Jose.

"They found a burning cigarette b.u.t.t around the dumpster." Jose twisted his mouth. "Another could have been thrown in and set the wood chips on fire."

"See?" Annie Mae stood, arms akimbo. "Smoking is hazardous. It almost killed us."

"Thankfully, it didn't." I looked down at my leg where EMS had cleaned and bandaged the sc.r.a.pe.

"Did someone purposefully set us on fire?" Annie Mae asked Jose.

"I hope not," I added.

Jose said, "I'm not trying to throw shade on you, but what a fool thing..."

Annie Mae interrupted. "Throw what on us?"

"I meant that I'm not trying to chastise you about what you all are doing." Jose's radio attached to his shoulder buzzed. He waved at one of the officers. "Gotta go. I'm glad you're okay. Stay out of trouble."

I gave Jose thumbs-up before he left.

"Cat, I'll be right back. I see a former a.s.sociate over there. I'm going to say hi and tell her about all the excitement I've had." Annie Mae strode over to a gray-haired lady in the crowd.

I glanced down at my phone. I had several missed calls and texts. Andrew, my mom, Teddy. Timmy, my sister-in-law, and Bezu. Savannah was a small town. I knew everyone would find out about Annie Mae and me and the dumpster. One by one, I called them back, a.s.suring them that I was okay while downplaying the whole incident so no one worried.

By the time I completed the last call, Annie Mae was back at my side holding a chandelier. "I don't want to forget this."

"At least you got something nice. This day wasn't a total disaster." My shoulders slumped.

"Cheer up. I had fun." Annie Mae patted my arm.

"I wanted to find a killer. And now we're empty-handed." I plodded down the sidewalk.

"Not me." Annie Mae walked alongside me. "We did find out that Bert's a lying adulterer."

"But where does that get us? Not closer to anything."

As we turned the corner and approached my SUV, I noticed writing on the windshield.

"What's on your windshield?" Annie Mae jogged to my car. Her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s bounced up and down, and the metal on the chandelier clanged as she took each step.

I ran to the front of my SUV. The words, written in pink lipstick, said, "Back off Bert."

Annie Mae leaned on my SUV, pointing at the message. "Holy smokes. Is that a threat?"

"I'm not sure. But if it is, then maybe the same person who wrote this also just tried to incinerate us in the dumpster." I locked eyes with Annie Mae.

"See? Today wasn't a total disaster. We must've stirred up a hornet's nest, and now the killer is after us."

"And how is this good?"

"It means we are closer to solving your dad's and Lucy's deaths."

"Or getting killed."

"Let's stay positive, okay?" Annie Mae shrugged her shoulders.

"Right."

My head spun with the implications of someone after us. My husband and mom couldn't know about this or they'd never forgive me for putting myself in danger. For that matter, I wanted to run the other way, too.

I loved my kids and family and couldn't imagine what would happen to them if something happened to me. On the other hand, I felt just as strongly about continuing the investigation and getting the killer off the streets.

I was torn.

Continue or run away?

Chapter Thirteen.

Annie Mae leaned on my SUV's hood. She took a finger and touched the bottom of the letter B. "It's written in lipstick."

"Pink lipstick." A bell went off in my head. "Could it be the same used on the note found next to Lucy's body?"

Clouds rolled in. A crack of thunder sounded. The humid air smelled earthy and sweet.

Annie Mae took out her phone and began to snap pictures of the windshield.

I fobbed my doors open. "What are you doing?"

"Taking pictures, just in case in rains." Annie Mae pointed up. "It's getting dark."

"Good idea. But I think it'll take more than rain to get that off."

"Should we call Jose?" Annie Mae opened the pa.s.senger door.

"I will." I got in the driver's side and hit speed dial nine.

Jose answered. "Are you stuck in another dumpster?"

"Ha. No." I said to Annie Mae, "He wanted to know if we were stuck in another dumpster."

"Funny." Annie Mae buckled up.

I said back in the phone, "So, listen, Jose. Somebody vandalized my SUV."

"Oh?" Jose asked.

"Someone wrote *Back off Bert' on my windshield."

"Back off, like a threat?"

"That's what I'm thinking."

"With what?" Jose asked.

"Pink lipstick." I said.

"Lipstick? So you can wash it off, right? It's not permanent."

"No." I added, "Annie Mae took pictures of it, too, just in case."

"Nothing else is wrong with your vehicle?"

"No. I'm sure the message referred to Lucy's husband."

"I guessed that, too." Jose asked, "Do you need a police report?"

"Should I get one?"

"If you need it for an insurance claim."

"No. But I do want proof about the message written on my windshield. And for someone to take a sample of the lipstick. Just in case it proves useful later on."

"An officer will be there shortly. Sit tight." Jose clicked off.

Five minutes later, a squad car pulled up.

A skinny, fresh-faced officer walked over to us. "Hey, are you the dynamic duo that was in the burning dumpster?"

"We're celebrities." Annie Mae grinned ear to ear.

Ten minutes later, the officer finished the report, took the sample of the lipstick, and left.

I struggled to see in the window through the lettering. "What a mess."

"We have to get something to wash that off." Annie Mae rummaged in her purse. "My makeup remover pads may help. I may have some tissue, too."

"Look in the backseat. I have a box of baby wipes."

"You still carry them around? The girls have been out of diapers for years."

"Yes, but they still get sticky fingers, and there are always spills to clean."

After using a box of baby wipes, my windshield was clean, and we were on our way.

"What do you think that message meant?" Annie Mae asked.

"I've been thinking about that. It was missing punctuation, so I'm not too sure. Did it mean to read *Back off' then a period then *Bert'? Meaning Bert signed the message? Or did it mean leave Bert alone, and someone else wrote it?" I asked.

"Like his mistress?" Annie Mae said.

"I think we need to visit Bert and Susie."

"Since they're a couple, maybe they'll be together, and we'll get two lovebirds with one stone."

"That would be nice."

I drove the few blocks over to Bert's house and parked in front.

"Let's play detectives." Annie Mae unbuckled and got out.

As soon as I climbed out, it began to sprinkle. It smelled of wet soil and earthworms.

Annie Mae held her purse over her head. "I'm getting wet."

"Run between the raindrops." I always said that to the kids, too, when they complained about getting rained on.