Claws For Concern

In the bedroom I kicked off my shoes, removed my belt, and stretched out on the bed. I intended to sleep no more than half an hour.

I fell asleep so quickly I never even knew when Diesel got onto the bed with me. I woke to the sound of knocking on the halfway open bedroom door.

“Charlie, it’s after six, and dinner is ready,” Stewart said.

I sat up on the side of the bed. “Thanks for waking me up. I didn’t mean to sleep this long. Is it really after six?” Beside me, Diesel meowed.

Stewart laughed. “Yes, it is. I came by earlier, and you were seriously sawing some logs. I didn’t know you snored like that.”

“Must have been Diesel you heard,” I said. “He snores.” The cat warbled and chirped as if to contradict me.

“Not even Diesel could snore that loud. Y’all come on down.” Stewart disappeared from the doorway, and a moment later I heard him going rapidly down the stairs.

I went into the bathroom and washed my face. That helped make me more alert. Making my way downstairs, I detected the scent of fried chicken as I descended. I quickened my pace. I would never tell Azalea this, but Stewart’s fried chicken was even better than hers.

Haskell, in civilian clothes, had already taken his place at the table. Diesel and Dante had their eyes on Stewart who was plating the chicken. There was a bowl of steaming rice, another of cream gravy, and a plateful of biscuits on the table. A glass of ice tea had been set at each place.

“Tonight I wanted good old Southern comfort food.” Stewart set the fried chicken on the table and took his seat. “I didn’t think either of you would mind.”

“Never.” Haskell grinned. “This is my all-time favorite meal.”

Stewart batted his eyelashes at Haskell. “I know.”

“I could never say no to a meal like this,” I said. “My waistline is proof of that.”

We began passing and trading the food, the cat and the dog watching every move. They both loved fried chicken and knew that they would get bites from Stewart. Haskell had been known to slip them each the occasional morsel as well. I needed to watch to be sure Diesel didn’t overeat and pay for it later.

Conversation lagged as we ate. I had to remind myself to eat slowly and not shovel the food in the way I sometimes did with a meal like this. Watching Dante and Diesel gobble down chicken without taking much time to chew served as a reminder.

After several minutes of steady eating, Stewart spoke. “I told Haskell about your plans for tomorrow, Charlie. He has something he wants to tell you.”

Haskell put his fork down and had a sip of tea. “Yeah, I reckon Pemberton knows this already, but if he hasn’t told you, I thought you should hear it from me. It’s about the sheriff over there in Tullahoma.”

I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what Haskell was about to share. “What about him?” I asked.

“Name’s Elmer Lee Johnson,” Haskell replied. “He’s mostly a by-the-book kinda guy, and he’s not going to be too happy with you and Pemberton nosing around.”

“When you say not too happy, are you talking about Kanesha’s kind of not too happy or something worse?” Chief Deputy Berry had been reluctant in the beginning to trust or even tolerate me. She had never threatened me, not seriously, anyway. Would this sheriff take things further if we got in his way?

“I don’t think he’d arrest you,” Haskell said. “Unless you really step over the line, but I don’t think you’ll do that. I guess he’s more like Kanesha that way. At least, that’s what my buddy on the force there has told me.”

“Thanks for the warning,” I said. “Jack told me that he and his wife have had some experience with murder cases there, so I suppose they must have had to deal with Sheriff Johnson. Jack hasn’t said anything about him that I recall.”

“Then maybe it won’t be a problem,” Haskell said. “I just thought I should tell you what I know.”

“I appreciate it,” I said. “I don’t plan on doing anything rash, and Jack strikes me as pretty level-headed.”

“That’s good,” Stewart said. “It would be so embarrassing to have to call Sean to bail you out of jail.” He laughed.

“Yes, it would be,” I replied, repressing a shudder. Sean would not mince words with me, either. I felt a paw on my thigh and looked down into a winsome expression, that of a cat in need of chicken. I pinched off a bit of the breast I was eating and gave it to Diesel.

Stewart changed the subject, telling us about the latest scandal in the chemistry department at Athena College. One of his colleagues had earned a reputation for the number and abbreviated length of his dalliances with women on campus and in the town. I listened but my mind soon focused on another subject—tomorrow’s activities.