Page 65 of Grave Danger

Zellmer turned to the man. “Is that true, Mr. Wolek?”

The name sounded familiar to Demetrius, but he couldn’t place it. His heart was pounding and his adrenaline still up from the altercation.

“He bashed my brother’s head in with a rock!” Wolek shouted, spittle spraying from his lips as tears filled his eyes. “A fucking rock!”

It all became startlingly and awfully clear. This was the brother of the mechanic who had attacked Demetrius in the alley behind their office. The man Cody had killed. Or stopped, since, technically, the man had already been dead. No matter the details, all this man knew was his brother was dead by Cody’s hand, and he wanted revenge.

“He killed Phil!” he said, jabbing a finger at Cody.

Deputy Zellmer looked at them, thumbs hooked in his gun belt, and Demetrius could see their reflections in the lenses of his sunglasses. Zellmer gave a single nod. “Yeah. That tends to happen a lot to the people around them.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Cody’s appetite had fled after being sucker punched on Main Street. Margie had put some ice in a towel for him, but he’d felt like an idiot holding it against his jaw as they all sat in the middle of the diner at a long run of pushed together tables. Even the meatloaf, his favorite, hadn’t tempted his appetite to return, and he left a good portion on his plate, pushing it around a bit to make it look like he’d eaten at least some of it.

He’d been feeling guilty about bashing Phil Wolek in the head with a rock, but he’d been able to tell himself it had been the right thing to do to save Demmy. And that had worked until he’d come face to face with the grief he’d caused Phil’s family. Technically, he knew he hadn’t been the root cause of their grief. That honor went to whatever trash-rooting zombie had bitten good ol’ Phil. But the Woleks didn’t know or understand that part of it, and so it all came back around to him.

Lucia hadn’t been available, too busy chasing down Dottie in the Widow’s stolen Cadillac. Or, rather, Cody’s stolen Cadillac. Either way, they’d had to deal with Deputy Zellmer, who also blamed Cody for the death of a family member. So, yeah, not a lot of sympathy to be found there. In the end, Cody hadn’t wanted to press charges, and Zellmer had offered to escort Mr. Wolek back to his vehicle.

“Hey.” Demmy nudged Cody’s knee and ducked his head to catch his eye. “You hanging in there?”

Cody managed a smile and sat back. “Yeah. I’m okay. Just a weird day.”

“No word from Lucia about your car?” Jugs asked.

“Nope. Dottie’s probably halfway back to Florida already.” Cody shook his head. “Those Monroe sisters and their driving skills.”

“Or lack of,” Agatha added, and everyone chuckled.

“Well, it’s been a long day,” Amelia said as she balled up her paper napkin and dropped it in the center of her plate. She looked right at Cody. “How about we give you boys a ride home, and you can go on with your afternoon?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Cody said, having totally forgotten they didn’t have a vehicle available.

Vicki Downing approached their table. She was a pretty blond who had waitressed at the diner for years, and was one of the few women in town Cody hadn’t dated before he and Demmy had gotten together. She took his plate and put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze and a smile.

“Not everyone in town blames you,” Vicki said quietly.

Cody smiled back. “Thanks, Vic.”

“I’m going to assume you don’t want this boxed up since you mashed the hell out of it.”

“Yeah, no thanks.”

Vicki distributed the bills to everyone, and credit or debit cards were handed over. When she returned with the cards and signing slips, she had a fistful of pens that she distributed, then cleared away the dishes.

Cody watched Demmy add a generous tip and sign his name in the familiar flowing scribble. Demmy’s signature had changed over the years, just like they had themselves, and a warm, comforting feeling fluttered to life in the shadows behind his heart. With all the pain and grief that surrounded them, he still felt lucky to have come to his senses and married Demmy.

As if feeling Cody’s gaze on him, Demmy looked over and smiled. “What do you want to do today?”

“Not sure. Any critters needing to be caught?”

Demmy shook his head. “No. I left today open since I knew we’d be at the funeral and probably not feel like climbing around a dusty attic or mucky crawlspace afterward. We’ve got a completely open day.”

“Yeah? I like the sound of that.” Cody put a hand on the back of Demmy’s neck and delivered a gentle squeeze.

The scraping of chairs against the tile floor broke the mood, and Demmy smiled at Cody’s slightly irritated expression.

“Oh, crap,” Zenona said. “I forgot that Lucia was my ride, and she’s off chasing down Dottie.”