A Catered Mother's Day by Isis Crawford Page A

already told you, Mr. Simmons, she’s used to people and Juno’s husband wouldn’t take her.”
    â€œThat doesn’t mean you had to,” Sean pointed out.
    â€œLibby wanted me to, and really, I kinda like her. It’s like having a dog, only better, because she’s smarter. So what’s going on? Why did you call me?” Marvin asked, getting back to the important stuff.
    Sean stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “I’ll tell you what’s going on,” he sputtered. “Your girlfriend and her sister have about as much sense as a turnip. I should have gone with them. If I had, none of this would have happened.”
    â€œNone of what would have happened?” Marvin said, trying not to yell.
    â€œIn a moment,” Sean told him.
    Marvin clenched his teeth and reminded himself there was no point in arguing. He got out to help Sean into the car, but before he got to him Sean waved him off.
    â€œI can manage by myself, thank you very much,” Sean snarled.
    Marvin took a step back. “Sorry,” he said, putting his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
    Sean got in the Kia and slammed the door shut. Hilda oinked a hello, which Sean ignored. “At least she doesn’t have to sit in the front seat,” Sean complained when Marvin got in.
    â€œShe thinks she does,” Marvin replied, closing his door.
    â€œRidiculous,” Sean muttered. “She’s a pig.”
    â€œShe thinks she’s a person.”
    â€œYou’re crazy too.”
    Marvin ignored the comment and asked where they were going instead. He’d learned that, in general, a good rule of thumb was not to pick a fight with your future father-in-law if possible, especially when said father-in-law was furious.
    â€œThe Riverview Motel,” Sean snapped.
    Marvin put the Kia in drive and they took off. Sean nodded, lit a cigarette, opened his window, threw the match out of it, and stared at the passing scenery as he smoked his cigarette. Smoking calmed him down. That’s one of the things he liked about it.
    â€œIs Libby okay?” Marvin asked after a moment of silence.
    â€œDepends on how you define okay .”
    â€œIs she hurt?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œIs Bernie hurt?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThen what’s going on?”
    â€œThey’re being held for obstruction of justice,” Sean said.
    â€œYou’re kidding.”
    Sean glared at him. “Do I look like I’m kidding, Marvin ?”
    Marvin shrunk back in his seat. “No.”
    Sean took another drag of his cigarette and thought about how he was going to handle the situation and what a pain in the ass his daughters were.
    â€œSo what happened?” Marvin finally worked up the courage to ask.
    Sean took another puff of his cigarette and turned to him. “You want to know what happened? I’ll tell you what happened. Evidently, Bernie’s friend Ellen concocted a phony ransom note ordering her husband to go to the Riverview with money or his wife would die. Naturally, Bruce called the cops and when they got there they found an unidentified white male Caucasian on the bed in the motel room and Ellen outside the motel getting ready to drive away.
    â€œThe police were questioning her, when a short while later Libby and Bernie arrived on the scene, and the police took them into custody as well. Any other questions?”
    Marvin shook his head.
    â€œGood,” Sean said. “Drive.”
    So Marvin concentrated on the road and on keeping Hilda from sitting on his lap. She’d grown quite a bit bigger in the time since he’d gotten her and he was a little bit nervous about how large she was going to get, even though she was a mini Vietnamese potbellied pig and those weren’t supposed to get very big.
    Traffic was light to nonexistent and it took Marvin a little less than fifteen minutes to drive down to the Riverview Motel. This time Sean didn’t