Free Murder & Mayhem in Goose Pimple Junction by Amy Metz

what develops. He ain’t got nuthin’. Chances are, he’ll let it drop.”
    “ Ain’t gonna change the fact that he squealed on me. You give ‘im more time, and he may squeal on you, too,” Lynch said, pointing his finger at Sore Thumb.
     
     
     
    [  June 2010  ]
     
    Tess got out of bed, stepped on the Louisville Slugger that had slipped out of her hand the night before, kicked it back under her bed, and limped to the shower. When she finished dressing, she headed to the kitchen but stopped dead in her tracks two steps out in the hall.
    Footprints.
    She looked closer at the hardwood floor. The prints weren’t muddy, but looked as if whoever they belonged to had walked through something wet, making their shoes just damp enough to leave a faint imprint on the floor. Tess was sure they had not been there when she went to bed.
    She remembered leaving her own shoes by the back door the night before. And the footprints were obviously much bigger than her size seven feet. Heart pounding, she ran back to her bedroom where she pulled the bat from underneath her bed. Then she started back down the hall, ready to hit a homer if someone stepped into her strike zone. She tracked the shoes to the kitchen and back up the steps in the middle of the house. The prints led down the upstairs hall and into each bedroom.
    Tess peeked into each room but saw nothing out of place. In her mind she could hear Jack asking her to promise to call him or Chief Price if anything else ever happened. She grabbed her cell phone and took it outside, calling the police department and sitting down on the porch to wait for them.
    Ten minutes later, John Ed was standing in her den. “You mean that’s all the ev’dence you have? Shoe prints ? Wudda you want me ta do? Put out an APB for ever’body in town who wears a size ten?”
    “ Chief, someone’s been in my house! I can assure you I’m not making this up.”
    “ That ain’t somethin’ I can hang my hat on, missy.”
    “ Why don’t you quit patronizin’ the lady and start tryin’ to figure out why somebody keeps breakin’ into her house, John Ed?” Jack’s voice came through the front screen door. He opened it and let himself in.
    “ You ain’t got no dawg in this fight,” John Ed said, glaring at Jack. “Or do you?” He turned to Tess and then back to Jack with a suggestive expression.
    “ One . . . “ Jack ticked off points on his fingers, “ . . . it’s my business because this lady’s a friend of mine. And two . . . “ Jack said exaggerating his southern accent, “I don’t ‘preshade your innuendoes!”
    “ Aw, Jack, don’t go gittin’ yer knickers all in a bunch. She had a hissy fit with a tail on it. I was only tryin’ to calm her down, that’s all.”
    “ Well wouldn’t you have a hissy fit if someone kept breakin’ into your house?”
    “ And just how did you know that’s what the call was for this mornin’?” Chief Price asked, looking suspiciously at Jack.
    “ You know you can’t keep anything quiet in this town, John Ed. Now quit arguin’ and take the woman seriously. What are you gonna do about this?”
    Too nervous to just stand around, and wanting something to do, Tess went into the kitchen to make some tea while the men continued to argue. The thought that someone had been in her house while she was sleeping sent shivers down her spine, made her sick to her stomach, and she could feel the hair on her arms standing on end. The men continued to argue in low voices, but she couldn’t hear what was said. She no longer cared. It was obvious the chief thought she was just a hysterical female.
    She filled the teakettle with water and put it on the stove. She wasn’t hungry but thought maybe eating something would calm her roiling stomach. While waiting for the kettle to boil, she absent-mindedly grabbed a box of Banana Nut Cheerios out of the cabinet and stood over the sink, eating from the box.
    “ Are you okay?” Jack stood leaning against