Snuffed Out - Tim Myers [23]
I’d seen a set of wire cutters among the tools on the back of the truck, so I walked back to it and grabbed them while Sanora was still working inside.
Rashly, I clipped the wire where it left the motor. I wanted a closer look at the insulation to see what I could find.
As I put the cutters back down, I heard a voice behind me, full of cold steel.
“Harrison? What are you doing?”
Chapter 6
I tried to discreetly coil the cord as I turned to face Sanora.
“I dropped my watch when we loaded the truck,” I said. I tucked the cord in the back of my shirt as I turned to face her. Thank goodness I’d worn a bulky top that morning, due more to the chill in the air than any thoughts of hiding things.
“What’s wrong with your back?”
So I hadn’t been all that slick in my movement. “I must have gotten into some poison ivy. It’s been itching like crazy. Is that another box for the truck?”
She nodded, and I added, “Let me do that for you.” I took it from her and placed it near where the power cord would have been. She might or might not notice it once she got to the dump. I was hoping she wouldn’t, but if she did and asked me about it, I’d say I thought it had been gone when we’d moved the wheel. Let her think the sheriff took it. At least it had been coiled up and tied into a neat oval.
“Thanks again,” she said as I walked away, hoping she didn’t spot the extra bulge in my rugby shirt.
“No problem.”
I walked past Heather’s store and saw a large handmade sign in the window. In hard black letters, it said, moving sale, and I felt my heart flutter in my throat. So it looked like she was following up on her threat to leave.
Not if I could help it. I didn’t have all that many friends in Micah’s Ridge, and I was in no mood to lose a single one of them. I wasn’t going to let Heather go that easily.
I stashed the cord in my office, but not before examining it a little closer. I’d expected the edges to be frayed more around the cuts, but it looked cleaner than it should have. Maybe Pearly or Markum could take a look at it later. For now, I was glad it was in my office and not on the way to the dump.
I’d just tucked it behind a few boxes in the corner when I heard the front door open. Eve called out her greeting, and I said, “Be there in a minute.”
I joined her by the cash register, fully expecting her to light into me, too, as soon as she found out about Sanora. I had two choices; wait till she heard about it on her own, or just get it over with. I chose the latter. I never have been one to be able to wait for the other shoe to drop.
“Eve, there’s something you should know.”
“About Sanora? I think it’s a wonderful idea.”
“You’re not mad?” I asked.
“Harrison, you know I loved Belle like a sister, but she was too hard on Sanora. Gertie Braun was as likely as not to have tucked that cash in a book and forgotten it the next second. I tried to tell Belle that, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”
“Heather’s threatening to move now,” I said glumly.
“She’s upset, that’s natural, but I don’t think she’ll go, Harrison. She’s happy here.”
“Well, she was before all this happened. I’d hate to lose her.”
Eve said, “Worried about replacing another tenant, or is there something deeper there?”
“I just hate the idea of losing a friend,” I said, admitting nothing more.
“As do I. Take heart, things will work out for the best. I believe that with all my heart.”
“I hope you’re right.”
It was a slow morning out front, and I needed to get ready for my next candlemaking lesson with Mrs. Jorgenson. She’d gotten the knack for dipping from the start, and if I knew my star student, she was practicing at home like mad on the basic techniques. I had to have something really special for her, and some research had given me a great idea. Eve had been my teacher from the beginning, and she was a pro at the basic