Eggs and Kisses

Chapter 3-3

It was difficult to stifle his laughter, but Dom forced it back down. He just had to not look at anyone—not Chad’s fearful face, not Kiko’s awkward expression, not Gordon’s attempt at a glare. The police chief was thin of frame with greying hair that showed clearly every furrow left behind by his comb. He didn’t look capable of walking around with all the police gear he wore, and it was true he was the slowest officer in Mount Angus, but Dom personally had been saved by his shooting skills, so he didn’t want to be on Gordon’s bad side.

“Sarah seems to have had a parakeet,” said Kiko. Dom was unsurprised he was the first to speak. As if in confirmation, the distressed bird gave a screech. “We were trying to get it back in its cage.”

“Only the cage is broken,” said Dom, holding up the twisted bones of the cage he’d found behind the couch. Whoever had done this, he decided, they must really have hated birds.

Gordon let out a little huff and made his slow way across the room to the bird, whistling softly as he went. Dom watched, shocked, as he extended a forefinger and coaxed the parakeet onto it. The bird let him pet it with a finger.

“How—” began Dom, but Kiko was crossing to him.

“Let’s see if she had a spare cage,” he said, dragging him through to the rest of the house. They found a much smaller, older cage in the closet of the spare bedroom, which hadn’t been completely gone through. When they returned Gordon had actually gotten the parakeet to return a couple chirps to him; Kiko passed over the cage to the police chief, who easily inserted the bird and latched it inside.

“Now, from what I know about these,” said Gordon, then paused, searching for the term.

“It’s a parakeet,” said Kiko.

“Parakeets,” said Gordon, “they don’t like the winter.”

He motioned them outside where they waited while he took a few pictures to document the state of the door, then closed it to keep the heat in. A chill breeze had sprung up now and despite everything Dom longed to just take Kiko back home and get in bed with him. They hadn’t been spending enough time this winter snuggled naked in bed together.

“Right,” said Gordon, taking out his notepad and pen. Dom held back a groan. The cold would gum up his pen and they’d be here all night, waiting for him to spell their names right. “Which one of you found the body this time?”

“Me,” said Chad, raising his hand like he was in school. Gordon squinted at him.

“You’re a lot younger than the other two.”

“Chad’s my employee,” said Kiko. “Chad Heuer.”

“I can do it, boss,” said Chad when Kiko started spelling his name for Gordon. Dom took Kiko’s arm and tugged him closer, trying to give him a look that conveyed he thought Chad was fine. Kiko was overprotective of him, as far as Dom was concerned.

“Start at the beginning,” said Gordon, pen very nearly poised over the pad.

Chad launched into a tale too fast for Gordon to ever take down, and the police chief was already notoriously slow at recording witness statements. Dom tried not to groan aloud.

“So I was, like here to pick up some boxes of stuff for the Heartstival, right. I get in here—I’ve never been here before or anything—and it’s all crunchy in the driveway.”

“Repeat that,” said Gordon, interrupting him, and Chad did so. Gordon scratched his nose. “Goose statue.”

“What?” asked Kiko.

Gordon gestured to the parked cars with his pen without looking. “The ‘crunchy’ items in the driveway. One of those dress ‘em up goose statues.”

Dom glanced at the snowy drive, blinking as he realized Gordon was right. He hadn’t thought him that observant, but Gordon was constantly surprising him. Chad continued again, Gordon stopping him to go look at the body before returning.

“Where are the boxes, son?” he asked. Chad blinked. “You said you were here for…” Gordon trailed off, flipped to Chad’s beginning explanation. “Boxes for the Heartstival. Only boxes in there are old as time.”

“Oh, I,” said Chad, looking down at his feet and scuffing the snow. “I, like, loaded them up already.”

Dom patted Kiko’s arm with his free hand when he felt him stiffen.

“You loaded the boxes.”

“They totally didn’t kill her,” said Chad. “And I thought—”

“Chad,” said Kiko, a warning. Gordon sniffed, rubbed under his nose with a finger.

“Nah, it’s fine,” he said. “I’ll have a look at them and then you can take them. Show me where they are.”

Chad led Gordon over to his car and opened the door.

“He really needs to stop and think,” said Kiko as he watched them interact. Dom squeezed Kiko’s gloved hand.

“It’s fine. From what Chad said, whoever shoved the rug in the barn didn’t even get as far back as the boxes. Gordon knows what he’s doing.”

“Does he?” asked Kiko, reminding Dom of all the other questionable calls the police chief had made in the past. Mount Angus definitely didn’t have the best-trained police force around.

“Well, I’m here,” he said and watched Kiko roll his eyes.

By the time Gordon had walked back over and interviewed them, too, it was getting darker out. Kiko seemed more than ready to get going, and Dom figured he was eager to get back before Katie got too pissed off. They finished up and Gordon gave them permission to leave.

“If you need someone to watch the parakeet…” began Kiko as Gordon was putting away his pen and pad.

“No need,” he said. “I’ll take her home with me.” His expression turned stern. “And I know you boys, you like to get involved with this sort of thing. Stay out of it this time. You both want to live to see your wedding day, right?”

Dom almost agreed, but Kiko was dragging him back to the truck. He shook himself, not sure what he was even thinking. He needed a drink.