Hidden Talents

certainty.
    “This is wonderful,” Serenity said happily. “We're off and running.”
    “The next step,” Caleb said, “is for everyone in town who wants to be a part of this venture to bring his or her product in for product evaluation. We'll choose what will go into the first catalog and then we'll see about label designs.”
    “I can't wait to get to work,” Serenity said eagerly. “I'll be with you just as soon as I've finished with George.”
    Caleb looked at her. “George?”
    “The whole-grain sales rep in my office.”
    “Right. George.” Caleb picked up a package of bean soup mix. “Take your time.”
    Serenity ducked back inside her office. The others exchanged glances.
    Blade cleared his throat. “If Serenity says you're okay, Ventress, then I reckon you must be okay.”
    “I appreciate that, Blade. I'm glad we had this little chat.”
    “Sort of cleared the air, don't you think?” Blade moved closer and lowered his voice. “I know everyone thinks I'm paranoid, but that don't mean I'm crazy, you know.”
    “Thanks for clearing up the distinction between the two for me. I was a little worried there for a while.”
    “I had a reason for figurin' you might be bad news,” Blade said out of the corner of his mouth. “Heard a car that night.”
    Caleb wondered if he had missed an important conversational cue. “A car?”
    “Pullin' out of Asterley's drive.” Blade swept the grocery aisle with a quick glance, apparently checking for enemies lurking in the granola barrel. “Shortly after midnight. Couldn't identify it on account of the fog.”
    “I see.” Caleb eyed the big man in silence for a few seconds. “Mind if I ask what you were doing near Asterley's house the night he died?”
    “Just regular recon.” Blade looked down at the bottle of vinegar in his hand but he didn't appear to see it. He had the air of a man who is looking at something far away or very deep inside himself. “Got to tighten up security when the visibility's bad. That's when they're most likely to launch the first assault.”
    “I see.”
    “Reckon I'd better be on my way. Got things to do.” Blade set the jar of vinegar back on the shelf. “You really think this vinegar of mine will sell in Serenity's catalog if it has my name on it?”
    “Like hotcakes.”
    “Yeah, well, okay. I could use the money. See you around.” Blade strode down the aisle and let himself out the front door.
    George the sales rep sauntered out of Serenity's office at that moment. It was clear that he was a new man. His shoulders were squared and there was a definite spring in his step. He caught Caleb's eye and gave him a thumbs-up sign.
    “Piece of cake,” he said in a conspiratorial aside as he walked past Caleb. “You just gotta know how to handle her. Good luck with your tofu pitch.”
    “Thanks.” Caleb watched George disappear through the front door. Then he turned to look at Serenity, who was lounging in the doorway of her office. He remembered the way she had leaped to his defense when Blade had turned obnoxious a few minutes earlier.
    “I hear you're a piece of cake, partner,” Caleb said.
    “Depends on what you're selling.” Serenity grinned. “Partner.”

6

    D ID B LADE HAVE A PARTICULAR REASON FOR PINPOINT ing you as the advance man for the invasion he's expecting or was he just being his usual suspicious self?” Serenity asked later that evening.
    Caleb frowned absently but did not look up from the papers he had spread out on Serenity's living room table. “He said something about having heard a car drive away from Asterley's cabin the night Asterley fell down the stairs.”
    “Hmmm.” Serenity thought about that briefly and then dismissed the problem. “That would have been Jessie, most likely.”
    “You said she was Asterley's significant other?”
    “Occasional significant other. I thought I smelled stale pipe tobacco in Ambrose's cabin that day when I found him. Jessie smokes a pipe. As I recall, there were also two empty coffee mugs on the table.”
    Caleb made a note on the edge of one of the papers. “When we talked to her this morning at Asterley's cabin, she didn't say anything about having been with Asterley the night he died.”
    Serenity watched Caleb with envious fascination. She didn't know many people who could do two things successfully at the same time. But he obviously had no problem concentrating simultaneously on both his business notes and the topic of Jessie.
    “We