Death Come Quickly Read Free Page B

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. It wasn’t that they didn’t love each other. It was the question of whether two cops in the family might be one cop too many. They finally solved it with a coin toss, and Blackie retired from his sheriff’s job—gracefully, because he’s that kind of guy. A cop’s cop. Everybody likes Blackie, although some still aren’t too sure about Sheila.
    â€œAsk you whether there were any witnesses to Karen Prior’s mugging,” I said. “Last night. In the parking lot at the mall.”
    Pecan Springs isn’t a big town, but we’re on the I-35 corridor, with Austin forty miles to the north and San Antonio the same distance to the south. The spillover of big-city crime seems to accelerate steadily, as does the drug traffic coming up from Mexico. We don’t have that many muggings, but I wasn’t sure that the chief would know which case I was talking about. She did.
    â€œNo witnesses,” Sheila replied, “although a couple of women came along after it happened and called 9-1-1. No surveillance cameras in that part of the lot, either.”
    â€œWhat part of the lot?” I asked.
    â€œShe was parked on the east side, where the employees park.”
    â€œThat’s odd,” I said. “The employees’ lot? Why would she park that far away from—”
    At that moment, Khat woke up and jumped down from the windowsill where he had been taking his afternoon nap and began to rub against Sheila’s trouser leg, rumbling a deep-throated purr. Khat’s full name—Khat K’o Kung—was bestowed upon him by Ruby, who is a great fan of Koko, the talented sleuth of the Cat Who mysteries. Like many Siamese, Khat is arrogant, conceited, and obnoxiously imperial, a cat who is easy to admire but hard to love. Khat, on the other hand, absolutely adores Sheila. When she drops in, he forgets that he is Top Cat, drops his dignity, and behaves like a smitten kitten.
    â€œHow
is
Karen?” Ruby put in anxiously. “I just talked to her daughter on the phone, but I’m not sure I got the whole story.”
    â€œShe’s on life support,” Sheila replied, bending over to pick up Khat. “The prognosis isn’t very good, I’m sorry to say.” She rubbed her cheek against his tawny fur, looking from Ruby to me. “Prior is a friend of yours, I take it.”
    â€œYes,” I said emphatically, and Ruby added, “Her daughter is one of my astrology students.”
    Ruby teaches classes in astrology and divination. If that sounds a bit weird—well, that’s Ruby Wilcox. A little bit weird, but splendidly so. Today, she was wearing a gauzy orange-and-brown paisley-print Indian-style tunic, orange leggings, and funky orange suede open-toed clogs with three-inch heels. (It’s a good thing she’s not afraid of heights, since she’s already over six feet tall.) Of course, her customers and students don’t consider her weird—after all, Ruby’s Crystal Cave is a New Age shop, the only one in Pecan Springs. If its proprietor wasn’t a little, um, unusual, they would be disappointed.
    â€œI hope you get the creep who attacked her.” I spoke fervently. “Any leads?”
    â€œNot yet.” Sheila put Khat down on the floor. “We’ll do everything we can, of course, but these random muggings are tough. Our best bet is the Crime Hot Line, probably. Prior’s ex-husband has already offered a sizable reward, so we’re hoping for a tip.”
    â€œEx-husband,” Ruby mused. “I don’t think I know him.”
    â€œNate Prior,” I said. “He lives in Austin, works at the Texas Health Department. He and Karen are still on friendly terms.”
    Sheila nodded. “The daughter called him early this morning, and he immediately offered to put up the reward. He says he’ll go higher if that helps.”
    I began sorting the credit card slips by the size