Yolks on You Box Set

Chapter 19-1

Chapter 19

Dom slowly made his way back to the truck with his walking stick, relieved. Nothing. Nothing had been suspicious, apart from the time something rattled in an egg and he’d bolted, only to return after it failed to blow and open it to discover a tiny toy car. Relief.

He tossed the stick in the back of the truck and turned, doubly relieved to see Kiko returning from the farthest path of the woods. More cars were pulling up now in a trickle, people Dom recognized as other Mount Angus residents, carrying fold-out tables and chairs. He moved to meet Kiko halfway.

“No bombs?” he asked, relieved again when he realized it meant they hadn’t had to worry the cops anyway. Kiko frowned.

“Not exactly,” he said, and Dom noticed now he was carrying several plastic eggs, attempting to hide them from anyone he passed by. A smile sprang to his face. “Hi, Rich. No rain this year!” He paused as the man moved on and a woman walked past. “Hello, Karen. The bank reading out the raffle results this year?”

“Just like every year,” she said, and Dom noticed her gaze on him. He tried to smile back.

“What’s all this?” he muttered to Kiko, who kept on walking.

“When we get to the truck,” he said. They climbed in and shut the doors, Kiko breathing out. “Sorry about that. Don’t want to alarm anyone.”

“What did you find?” asked Dom. “I got nothing, but…” He watched as plastic eggs spilled out of Kiko’s arms, at least seven. All rattled. “s**t. Are all those…?”

“I think they’re filled with shrapnel and parts,” said Kiko, popping one open and pouring the contents out into his palm. Much of the metal scraps were rusty, all looked deadly at the right velocity.

“Looks like what the girl found at the bottom of the basket,” said Dom. He reached over and picked up an egg, popping it open. “Are they all like this?”

“Yes,” said Kiko. “And I found them all in the same area. Like the intention was to build a larger explosive, and these were to be the additional shrapnel. Didn’t find the other explosive, though.”

“Like the basket again,” said Dom. “I just don’t get it. Why not finish building the bomb? Do you think we scared him away?”

Kiko laughed.

“Oh, yes, we were so fearsome with our orgasm-faces. We were so distracted last night a bear could have trundled through and we’d never even know.”

Dom found himself slightly worried at that.

“You get bears here?”

“Not really this far south. Have to go a little farther into the state for that. Although once about seven years ago one came down nearly to Mount Angus. Sometimes they stray out of their normal territory.”

A knock on the window caused Dom to jump. A figure was outside Kiko’s window, tall, familiar. Dom recognized the glasses, the somewhat-long hair, the moody expression. Kiko rolled down the window.

“Hi, Dill,” he said, the smile back on his face. The kid frowned. “You’re here to help?”

“Yeah, well,” he said, glancing at Dom, his expression indicating he was unimpressed. “I figured with Chad out you’d need an extra pair of hands. The Pickle’s dead this time of day, so I thought I’d come over.”

“Katie told me,” said Kiko. “You said volunteer, but I could give you a ten to sit at one of the prize tables—”

“No,” said Dill suddenly. Dom noticed him looking at the eggs in Kiko’s lap, the bits of metal he still held. “I just remembered, I can’t. Too much homework. Want to keep my grades up.”

He left so quickly that Dom was still looking around, waiting for the kid’s father to appear, when Kiko rolled up the window and began snapping the eggs back together.

“Now that was just weird,” said Dom. Kiko shrugged. “He was acting funny at the deviled egg competition, too. You can’t tell me that wasn’t weird.”

“Suspect him too now?” asked Kiko, tossing the eggs in a plastic bag. “You suspect everyone, Dom. He’s just a troubled kid. Weird because his mother left. According to rumor, she doesn’t even call him. And his father has him work the bar at all hours. Even with that he supposedly gets good grades in school, so I think you can cross him off your list. You’d be weird too in his situation.”

There was something about the way Kiko spoke that made Dom think he had some personal connection to the matter. He didn’t care to press, though. There wasn’t even a point anyway. By this time tomorrow he’d be on the road to Illinois in a car full of grumpy kids and a very pissed off Alec.

“All I’m saying,” he said, “is that he’s acting suspicious. And what better person to not care about the welfare of children than someone who’s also practically a kid? Everyone must treat him like one. I remember that age.”

“No, Dom,” said Kiko, then changed the subject. “I forgot to mention—the explosion drove it from my mind. Buddy Miller’s working with the police. He’s giving away a monetary reward for any information regarding the person who set the bombs. Ten grand.”

“Ten thousand?” asked Dom, shocked.

Kiko forced a smile. “I know, you think this makes him even more suspicious. The truth is, the brewery does really well financially. It’s probably the only place in Mount Angus that could survive on its own. But come on; they’re setting up. We have a prize table to sit at.”

Kiko got out of the truck and Dom followed, turning over Dill in his mind despite Kiko’s urges. That family just didn’t sit right with him.