Stitch X For Murder by ACF Bookens

Author:ACF Bookens
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Andi Cumbo-Floyd

9

I don’t know what I expected – a quick confession, a brash denial, blows between the two suspects – but instead, Ace and Homer just nodded when Santiago mentioned poison and said something to the effect of “how terrible” and “that’s too bad.” To say they underreacted would be, well, an understatement.

But given that my dad almost always underreacted to nearly everything, I wasn’t as surprised as I might have been. It seemed to be a facet of the personalities of some rural men to take anything in stride, at least in a public setting. My dad had been known to fly off the handle and punch a wall or two in his younger years, but only rarely, and only ever in the privacy of his own home.

Now, it seemed like Ace and Homer had received the same stoic training my dad had received, some sort of lesson about acting strong and tough no matter what, I imagined. In this case, though, it looked far more like acting or downright lying than it did some macho nonsense.

“Either of you know what might have happened?” Santiago asked.

The two men stared at the sheriff and then looked at each other. “I think he suspects one of us,” Ace said.

“Seems he does,” Homer added. “Sorry, Sheriff, you’re barking up the wrong old trees here.” He stood and stretched before picking up his two beer cans. “I best be off, though. Need to feed the cat before she climbs the roof and gets onto my bed through my window again.”

I stared at my dad’s best friend and then glanced over at my dad, who had a very puzzled expression on his face. But when he didn’t say anything, I didn’t either.

“Well, if either of you think of anything,” Santiago said as he rose to his feet, “you’ll call me, right?”

“Sure thing, Sheriff,” Ace said as he stood, too. “And I’ll be down tomorrow to give my statement on that other matter.”

Homer glanced at the older man but didn’t say anything. “See you at lunch tomorrow, Sheriff.”

I glanced over at Santiago, who kept his gaze leveled on the two men as they walked across the yard. “Looking forward to it.”

Once the men were in their cars and pulling out, I turned to Santiago. “What was that?”

“That? That was two men with a pact,” Dad said.

“A pact?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

“Just trust me, Pais. Those men made a promise to each other this afternoon, and they aren’t going to break that promise if they can help it.” Dad dragged himself to his feet. “I’ll help any way I can, Santi, but that’s a mighty hard stone wall you’re facing.”

“I can be a bit of a jackhammer when I need to be, Lee. Don’t you worry.” He shook Dad’s hand and then sat down again beside me on the porch floor. “This all just got a lot more complicated.”

I sighed and leaned my shoulder against his. “When doesn’t it get more complicated?”

“When you die,” Saul said and followed my dad inside.

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