Garvey's Revenge

Chapter 21

David and Danielle were buried in the town cemetery. David's brother decided to have a graveside funeral. Dalton received so much comfort food from the community that he invited everyone to his house for lunch after the service.

Jodi approached Dalton in the kitchen. "Hi," she greeted.

"Hi," he said back. The poor man was still in shock.

"I'm sorry about your brother."

"Thank you."

"You know, they were friends of Jackie and me."

"I do. David told me that he and Danielle had become good friends with the famous Garvey twins."

Jodi flinched at the comment.

Regret fell on Dalton's face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Hell, I don't care what these old crows say about you two. David and Danielle were fond of you and that's all I need to know."

Jodi smiled. "Do you need help cleaning their house out?"

Dalton gave her a faint smile. "No, Jodi. I'm not going to touch that house for a while and I don't want anyone else messing with it either."

Jodi's eyes widened. She wondered what Nick Dalton would find in his brother's home. He would see evidence of their side business. Perhaps David had finally told his brother about it before he died.

"Thank you for coming. Feel free to take some food home with you," Dalton said and walked away.

Jodi wanted to talk to Dalton some more. To see if he would let something slip that would indicate that he knew about David and Danielle's online business, but this was not the time. She decided to make her way to the bathroom. She got to the end of the hall and stopped when she heard two women talking.

It was Mrs. Floyd and Mrs. Fulk. People called them the FUs because they were two old, mean biddies who did nothing but gossip about everyone.

"No, I think you imagined it. You know how polite the sheriff is," Mrs. Fulk said.

"I know, but I'm not stupid or blind. He was flirting with that Garvey girl at Joe's wake," Mrs. Floyd said.

"Maybe, she was flirting with him and he was trying to politely brush her off," Mrs. Fulk said.

"You know, that could have been it. I knew there was a reasonable explanation," Mrs. Floyd stated.

"Of course, there was. A fine gentleman like the sheriff wouldn't look twice at a tart like Jodi Garvey. Not even for a fling," Mrs. Fulk said.

They snickered.

Evil old bitches, Jodi thought. She didn't care if they talked about her, but she hated them for trying to associate Matt with a scandal.

"True. We should protect him. Keep an eye out for him. We wouldn't want his reputation soiled by a misunderstanding. Sheriff Kirby does a good job. He seems so organized," Mrs. Floyd said.

"Yes, he'll find out who killed David and Danielle," Mrs. Fulk said.

You damn right he will, Jodi thought.

"Did you see what Laura was wearing?" Mrs. Fulk asked.

Jodi tiptoed away to let them continue gossiping. If the situation was different, she would have come around that corner and told them that their pussies were dryer than raisins on a hot summer day and walked away.

Jodi's emotions were all over the place. One minute she wanted to cry, the next minute she wanted to tell someone off. The next minute she had the urge to eat everything in Dalton's house. She thought it would be best if she left.

She whispered to Jackie and George that she was leaving and she would see them at home. Jodi got outside and went to her jeep. She started up the engine. Instead of pulling off, she laid her head back on the headrest. She couldn't believe what had happened to David and Danielle. Matt didn't have any clues. Not one hair fiber was found of the killer's. He had picked the back door, that's how he got into David and Danielle's house.

She enjoyed the cool air from the air conditioning. Jodi didn't want to go home, but where else could she go? Her mind was all over the place.

Someone tapped on her window. She looked over. It was Matt. She quickly rolled the window down as the FUs conversation played in her head.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Get away from me," she whispered.

"What?"

"Get away from me," she repeated. "Someone will see. The FUs are suspicious. I wouldn't put it past them if they were looking out the window, now."

Matt rolled his eyes. "No one pays attention to what those two old ladies got to say."

"I can't talk, now," Jodi said, and then she put the car in drive and pulled off.