by H L Bur
“And Rose said today was their last shipment for a while, so it makes sense that Rhodes wanted to push the construction start date back another day.”
“Well,” the chief said. “I need to get APBs out on Elias Rhodes, Joseph Roberson, and Clifton Roberson aka Clifton Clay, if you three will excuse me.”
He excused himself as Beverly came up to us. “I can’t believe it’s over. I’m so grateful for you two helping to solve this mystery and finding justice for my Sofie.” She smiled sadly at us.
“Gigi?” I inquired quietly.
“I think she’s waiting for you both at home.”
I nodded in understanding. “How did you two?”
“I think that’s for another time, dear,” she interrupted.
“Sam!” I suddenly remembered that Beverly was supposed to be at the bookstore with Sam.
“She assured me she was fine…and a nice looking young boy came in to help her.”
“What?” Kyle hollered. “If you ladies will excuse me, I have something I need to look into.” He turned to hightail it out of there, but then paused. “Do any of you need a ride home? I just have to make a quick pit stop at your bookstore.”
We all laughed. Beverly had her own car here parked out in the main dirt lot, but Quinn and I both accepted a ride. It would be perfect timing to close up the store and head home. We still had a lot to talk about and a lot to ask Gigi.
At that moment, Fletcher and several officers came hauling Rose and Jake out of the sawmill and led them toward the police cruisers.
Fletcher came up to let me know he’d be here for quite some time while forensics did their sweep, but asked if he could stop by the house later on. I told him that I’d be expecting him.
Quinn walked right up to Rose and the officers escorting her into the back of their cruiser. “I need to know…how involved was Brent in all this?”
“Brent? Brent who? The realtor? That little peon wouldn’t know a snake if one slithered across his path and bit him.”
“Ma’am I need you to step away from the perpetrator,” one of the officers said stonily.
Quinn retreated and came back to join us as we headed for Kyle’s truck, although she looked relieved at Rose’s remarks.
We climbed in and I gave her hand a quick squeeze. She rested her head on my shoulder briefly before turning her attention to Kyle.
“Now don’t be too hard on her. She’s almost sixteen years old and with her brain, personality, and looks, she is bound to have a line of suitors around the block,” she teased him.
“That’s what I’m worried about.” Kyle shook his head as we pulled out of the dirt parking lot, leaving the sawmill behind us.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ξ
I woke up early the next morning. My mind immediately flew to the sawmill, the Roberson family, and Sofie. Poor Sofie. She would’ve been a great journalist, but paid the ultimate price for digging too deep. My heart broke for her and her family, especially Beverly since I had gotten to know her. Despite my persistent thoughts, I felt a sense of calm that had been lacking ever since this whole mess started. I still had a ton of questions that I hoped would get answered over the next couple of days.
Fletcher hadn’t made it over the night before. He texted late saying he was still tied up at the police station. I was anxious to hear if Rose had given any more details about the drug operation, Rhodes’s involvement, and Brent’s involvement. I could tell that Quinn was officially over Brent, but I knew that it still unsettled her to think he was mixed up in this whole thing. The fact that Rose had barely known who he was did give us some hope that he wasn’t in as deep as we once had thought.
I laid there for a few more minutes before finally deciding to get out of bed for the day. I pulled on my favorite black leggings with my favorite sports bra and a loose fitting tank and donned my favorite running shoes. It was time to get back to exercising and eating healthy. I made my way downstairs, following the smell of freshly brewing coffee to the kitchen. Quinn was already sitting at the kitchen table with her mug in front of her.
“Good morning,” I greeted her as I went to pour myself a cup.
“Hey! How are you feeling this morning?” she asked.
I considered her question a moment before answering. “Good, actually…and you?”
“Much better. I finally got ahold of Brent last night after you went to bed.”
“You’re kidding! What did he have to say?”
“Basically he said that it started as a simple realtor gig. Rhodes had hired him under the pretense of finding a large lot of land to build a house on for Joy and her fiancé. Brent said he presented multiple pieces of land to Rhodes, but Rhodes kept pushing him towards the sawmill property. Rhodes wanted Brent to dig up every little bit of public knowledge on the piece of land, which is why Brent was trying to get ahold of the manuscript in the first place.”
“Okay, well that does make sense. Obviously Rhodes would want to know all the ins and outs of the sawmill and the surrounding lands in order for the drug operation to run as smoothly as possible.”
“Yeah, and not to mention he would want to see what public knowledge of the sawmill property was out there to figure out how far he needed to go to keep people away from the land.”
“Good point…it wouldn’t do for the general public to be wandering out there where someone might come across their operation.”
“Right. So anyway, Brent was working with Rhodes and Jacob Roberson on this and initially didn’t know anything about Rose or the drug smuggling operation.”
“But what about the night we were out there and Jacob was telling him that he had to clean up his mess and get rid of it? That definitely made it sound like Brent was in on this.”
“Brent said that he had eventually overheard Elias and Jacob talking about the drug operation and when they realized he knew, they had given him the option of working with them or being killed,” she said stone-faced.
“Wow, some option.”
“Yeah, he didn’t have a choice. Apparently, when he had come into the bookstore, he noticed the copy of the sawmill manuscript sticking out of my bag. He apologized, but I guess he had mentioned this to Jacob and that’s what they were talking about that night. Jacob was trying to get him to get us out of the picture.”
“And that’s the night our store was broken into.”
“Yep…again, he did apologize and said he would pay for any damages, but he felt like he had no other choice but to try to get the copy that we made and also scare us away from becoming involved in the investigation.”
“Oh yeah, makes perfect sense…or he could’ve gone straight to the police with his inside information,” I said sarcastically. “So does that mean he’s the one that broke into our house the other night?”
“Yup.” She shook her head in disappointment. “He was still trying to scare us off. But I honestly think he did the best he could. When the chief brought him in for questioning, Brent did tell him what he knew. They decided the best approach was for Brent to continue working with them and to act like everything was ‘normal’, but he took it upon himself to leave those threatening notes.”
“I can’t imagine how terrifying that must have been, especially after they had already threatened his life. But I’d still like to think there was a better way to deter us than vandalism and inflicting fear.”
“Agreed. He said he was positive Rhodes and Jake were on to him and that’s why he was so frantic when he came looking for me at the store yesterday.”
“Makes sense.” I sipped my coffee and we sat there in silence for a moment.
“Good morning,” Gigi sang out from the living room.
We both looked at her in alarm.
“Is everything all right?” I asked hesitantly.
“I would say so. We took down a group of drug-smuggling murderers. I’d say that’s all right in my book,” she said cheerily.
“No offense, Gigi, but I’m not used t
o seeing you so…happy. To be honest, it’s a little frightening.”
“What do you mean? I’m always happy.” She came over and sat around the kitchen table with us.
Quinn and I glanced at each other and both shrugged our shoulders at the same time, then all three of us started laughing uncontrollably. Tears were streaming from my eyes by the time I collected myself.
“Woo! I tell you, I don’t think I’ve laughed like that in awhile,” I confessed.
“Me either,” Quinn and Gigi both said in unison.
“Gigi, in all sincerity, thank you for your help yesterday. There’s one thing that’s bothering me, though. I still can’t figure out who set that tripwire up! Rose acted like she had no idea about it. Maybe it was Brent, but why?”
“Oh, that was me,” Gigi said matter-of-factly. “I was mad at you for blocking my view of the TV.”
“Wow, that is the rudest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” I glared at her. “But, in the spirit of closure, if you hadn’t been there yesterday, I think you probably would’ve been ushering the two of us to the other side, if you know what I mean.”
“What makes you think you two would get to cross over?”
“What? Would you make us stick around to keep you company?” I asked.
“Ha! I don’t think you’ll be allowed company where you’re going.”
“Grandma! That is a horrible thing to say.”
“Don’t look at me, my hands are tied.”
“Grandma, are you honestly trying to say that Cady and I would go to hell if we died right now? We’re not even bad!” Quinn raised her voice with indignation.
Gigi shrugged her shoulders. “Well you might want to check your attitudes then and maybe try to find Jesus while you’re at it.” And with that, she vanished, off to do whatever tormenting she did to others while she wasn’t here to pester us.
“I swear, she is the worst! We have got to do something about her,” Quinn huffed.
“Maybe now that we aren’t sniffing out murderers, we can start researching the séance/exorcism route again,” I suggested.
“Oh good idea. I actually ordered a book on that a couple days ago. It should be in today!” she said excitedly.
I laughed and took one last sip of my coffee. “Okay, I’m going for a jog and then we can get ready to head into the store.”
“Perfect! It feels good to be back on our normal routine…oh and Cady, try not to find any dead bodies, okay?”
“Tell me about it,” I set off out the front door and headed down the driveway. The air had turned cooler this week and the sky was overcast. The autumn leaves were now out in full force and I couldn’t help but smile. Fall was my favorite time of year and I couldn’t wait for sweaters, pumpkins, and trick-or-treaters.
I ran my usual route out to Littlefield Park and along the jogging trail that wound through the woods. My lungs burned with the exertion, but I savored every moment of it. I felt more alive than I had in a long time. I slowed as I passed the spot where just last week I had found Sofie’s body. There were several crosses, bouquets of flowers, stuffed animals, and balloons set back in the woods where she was found. I loved that this town could come together during a time like this and show a great sense of community. I planned on talking to the city’s planning commission. I wanted to head the development of a memorial for Sofie in this very spot. I was going to draw up some plans later today: a clearing with a nice bench, a garden, and maybe a water feature with a plaque commemorating Sofie and her love of ‘Up North’ Michigan. It would be a place people could come to sit, think, and enjoy nature. I planned on having Kyle take the lead on the construction. All I had to do was get it approved. I knew that Chief Kowalski would back me on this and after all, his sister was the head of the city planning commission, so I knew I had it in the bag.
Thirty minutes later, I had made it back home and had taken a quick shower. I threw my hair up into a messy bun and slid on some stretchy jeans and an oversized sweater. I pulled on my favorite fall boots and met Quinn in the kitchen.
“I’ll drive,” I said as I grabbed my keys off the key hook.
“Perfect!”
We headed downtown and parked in front of the store.
“Uh-oh!” I said.
“Shit,” Quinn agreed.
We had pulled up behind a blue SUV. One that happened to belong to my mother. Out hopped my mother from the driver’s seat and Aunt Liddy from the passenger seat. They both came around to the sidewalk and stood menacingly in front of my car, each with their hands on their hips.
“Oh boy, here we go.” We slid out of my car and met their wrath with as much dignity as we could muster.
“You two have some explaining to do!” Aunt Liddy scolded.
“How could you two be so reckless? Didn’t I raise you better than this?” my mother sounded hurt. I knew it was just her ploy to get me to feel guilty.
“Mom, we’re fine!”
“You’re fine?” she shrieked.
“From the sounds of it you two almost got yourselves killed,” Aunt Liddy huffed furiously.
“Now get inside the bookstore and we are going to have a nice long chat, Missy.”
“Mom, it’s our store! You can’t scold us on our own property.” I made this rule up on the spot, but it seemed only fair.
“I am your mother and I can scold you wherever and whenever I see fit, do you understand me?”
I rolled my eyes and moved passed her to unlock the bookstore.
“Now, we’ve already contacted the Straits Area Alarm Company and they will be out at the house this afternoon to install your new security system.”
I turned to Quinn. “Is it too late to go back to being held hostage at gunpoint?”
“Ha, I wish.” She rolled her eyes in agreement.
Not two minutes after we walked into the store the front door chime went off and there stood my dad and Jean, both of them with hands on hips as well, looking all but impressed.
“Not you two, too,” I pleaded. “What is this, some sort of weird intervention?”
My dad crossed over to me and pulled me into a tight hug. “I’m just glad you’re okay, girl…but, I would like an explanation as to why you two thought it would be a good idea to insert yourselves directly into a murder investigation without so much as breathing a word of it to your mother or me.”
After about an hour of explaining to them what happened and in between several gasps, shrieks, and worried expressions, the story of our investigation was out in the open.
“Before you guys say anything else, Quinn and I are grown women and we are able to take care of ourselves. We were as careful as we could have been and we were in constant contact with Chief Kowalski and Detective Collins.”
“Yeah and from what I understand, they were both threatening to arrest you in order to keep you out of it,” Jean crossed her arms.
Touché, I thought. She was good, I had to give it to her.
After much convincing, our parents finally left the bookstore. I promised my dad and Jean I would come out after work one night this week and my mom and Aunt Liddy felt better when we gave them permission to meet the alarm guys at our house to oversee the installation.
A few customers trickled in and out over the next few hours. Right before lunchtime, Quinn’s shipment arrived. She tore the box open and dug through it, pulling out a copy of How to Exorcise Your Demons: A Practical Guide to Hauntings, Ghosts, and Poltergeists triumphantly. She dove in while I ordered us a couple sandwiches from deli.
Henri was curled up in the bay window, purring contentedly. The door chime went off. I looked up and was thrilled to see Beverly walk in with Birdie on a leash.
“How are you?” I walked over to her and pulled her into a hug.
She returned the hug and then held me at arms length, squeezing my shoulders. “I’m good.” She beamed tearfully. “I’m good,” she repeated.
“Come sit at the counter.” I waved her to follow me.
I called the deli up and added one more sandwich to our order and we all sat around the counter chatting.
Birdie sniffed out Henri easily and was trying to jump up into the bay window to be with her new friend. Henri was raised up on her haunches hissing and trying to repeatedly claw Birdie in the face. Good thing her front paws were declawed or poor Birdie would be in trouble.
“Best friends,” I joked.
Our sandwiches arrived and we enjoyed them in the café.
When we had finished eating, an idea suddenly struck me. “Beverly, would you like a part time job here?”
“Really?” she asked in astonishment.
I glanced at Quinn, who nodded. “We’ve been doing really well lately and with all of the classes we offer, we are expecting to stay busy throughout the winter. Sam helps out after school and sometimes on the weekends, but we could use someone during the day.”
“Absolutely! Count me in.” She grinned.
I smiled back at her.
My phone went off and I went and grabbed it from the counter. It was Fletcher.
“Hey, Cade,” his deep voice resounded through the phone.
“Hey, Fletch. How’s it going?”
“Good. Listen, I’m sorry I didn’t make it over last night, we just got so busy unraveling the details of this case.”
“Well I can definitely understand that,” I remarked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Truthfully, not much.” I could hear the fatigue in his voice. “Rose turned on the rest of the family in hopes of a plea deal, and now I’m working on tracking down Joseph and Clifton.” He sighed heavily.
“Good luck,” I told him.
He thanked me and we said our goodbyes. He promised to catch me up on all the details later. When I hung up the phone, I relayed the news to Quinn and Beverly.
“Ha! Good luck finding a prosecutor that will let her off that easily,” Quinn declared.
“I actually feel bad for Joy,” I said.
“I know, me too. But, not too bad,” Quinn admitted.
