Yolks on You Box Set

Chapter 8-3

After Kiko pulled into the grassy lot that served as extended parking for the Pickle, he took out his phone to text Dom, setting it aside again as he noticed the man approaching, cardboard box in his grasp. A plate of deviled eggs was balanced on top of it. He set the box in the back of the truck and then opened the door, sliding into the seat with his plate of eggs.

“I was under the impression you’d let me pick you up?” said Kiko as Dom shut the door.

“I’ll fall for it one of these nights.”

“I had my hopes set on tonight,” said Kiko. Dom paused fractionally, and then their eyes were meeting. He’d leaned closer to buckle his seat belt, and for a moment Kiko was certain they’d end up kissing again. He even leaned forward slightly, but Dom was backing up, smiling.

“Here where anyone can see? Here, I snagged you a few eggs so you wouldn’t have to miss out. There’s chipotle, avocado bacon, buffalo, three different kinds of regular…”

“I’ll have them when I get back to Yolks on You, thanks,” said Kiko, backing out of the grass.

“Chad doing all right?”

“Yeah,” said Kiko. “He’s enjoying the painkillers. The amount of shrapnel they pulled out of him…” He shook his head.

“You saw it?” asked Dom, then when Kiko nodded, “Shouldn’t that be evidence?”

“I thought so, too, but I guess not for investigations in Mount Angus.”

Dom laughed.

“Wow. They really do need our help solving things.”

Kiko scowled at that. He really didn’t think meddling was wise. Unfortunately, the more he indulged Dom in it, the more he found himself interested. The culprit was very likely someone he knew, and he wanted to find out who.

“You said you were thinking about the explosive?”

“Yeah,” said Kiko, turning onto the road into town. “I think it was in one of the eggs. Once it went off, the eggs themselves turned into weapons—there were toys in some of the ones for the Grand Hunt, not to mention the plastic shells themselves can cut deep. Chad had a lot of plastic embedded in him.” He paused and swallowed, trying not to think about projectiles piercing into flesh in a mere instant. “He also had bits of metal in him.”

“Part of the bomb?” asked Dom.

“That, or some of the eggs were stuffed with metal scraps for maximum damage.”

Dom let out a low whistle.

“Someone really wanted to hurt people.”

“Or kill them. That first one took out a cow,” said Kiko. Dom frowned.

“Why not set it off on Buddy Miller, then?” he asked. “Unless he was the one who planted the explosive…”

Kiko shook his head, pulled into the back of Yolks on You.

“It could have been something that went off after a certain amount of time, or more likely after it was moved. That would make more sense. Buddy places the egg wreath around Buddy Angus, which triggers the explosion. Chad was moving the boxes when it happened the second time.”

Kiko sat staring at the back of his store after he’d turned the engine off, trying to settle his stomach. He felt vulnerable suddenly, unable to figure out who would be doing this. No one he knew would want to kill anyone, he was sure. But perhaps he just didn’t know the people in Mount Angus as well as he thought he did.

“Well, you did better than I did,” said Dom, passing Kiko the plate of deviled eggs. “You’re actually connecting dots. I only heard more gossip about Dill.”

“Makes sense,” said Kiko, taking an egg. “His wife just left a few months ago. That’s the freshest thing, apart from these explosions.” He paused to bite into the egg. “Thanks, by the way.”