by Jessica Beck
“You seem pretty nonchalant about it,” Autumn said as we neared the cottage.
“It’s not the first time it’s happened to me,” I admitted. “Besides, it just tells me that we struck a nerve with someone today.”
“Any idea who?” she asked.
“No.”
“Then what good does it do us?” The woman looked as though she was ready to start crying at the prospect of being stalked by a killer, which, when I thought about it, was a pretty reasonable reaction to that particular situation. Had I been digging into murder too long if the fact that we’d scared someone made me happy?
“We push harder,” I said. “How do you deal with a bully? You walk up and punch him in the nose. It’s the only language they understand.”
She stopped and frowned at me, and then a few tears started to track down her cheeks. “This is getting out of hand. Maybe we should just quit and let the police handle this.”
“Is that what you really want, to live the rest of your life with this hanging over your head? What if they never find the killer? There will be nowhere for you to turn. You need to put on your big-girl pants and help me figure out what really happened to Cecile.”
Autumn managed to stop crying before it broke out in full force, and after a moment, she looked at me curiously and asked, “Have you really punched someone in the nose?”
“As a matter of fact, in sixth grade I hit Billy Klingman for pushing Harry Vicker down in the playground, but I was speaking metaphorically.”
“You’ve really changed since college, haven’t you?” she asked me.
“What do you mean? I hope I have. Haven’t we all?”
“I just mean that the old Suzanne would never go looking for trouble, at least not like this,” she said softly.
“Well, the old Suzanne hadn’t seen the things that the current one has. I won’t apologize for trying to keep you from being charged with murder. If that means that I have to ruffle a few feathers in the process, then so be it.”
Autumn took a step back. “Hey, take it easy. I wasn’t criticizing you.”
“Really? It sure sounded that way to me.” I was on edge because of the investigation, but there was more to it than that. Being with Autumn again made me revert to a more combative stage in my life where if I saw someone doing something out of character, I wouldn’t hesitate to call them on it. Age, and maybe a little wisdom, had taught me to be a little more judicious with my criticisms, but apparently being with Autumn again was bringing some of the old black-and-white Suzanne back, instead of the woman who saw a great many shades of gray. It made me act a little harsher with her than I should have, but I couldn’t seem to help myself.
“I wasn’t, honestly. It’s just that sometimes you act exactly like the girl I remember, and other times you’re someone completely different.”
“I don’t deny it,” I said. After a long pause, I added, “You know, I’m not the only one who’s changed.”
“Are you talking about me?” Autumn asked, a hint of pain in her question.
“Let’s not go there,” I said as I started back. “We have enough trouble on our hands without adding anything to it.”
She put a hand on my shoulder. “No, I want to know.”
“Okay, if you’re sure,” I said after taking a deep breath. “What happened to you? The old Autumn would never do anything halfway like moving out but not divorcing her husband. You clearly care for the man, and I know some bad things have been happening to you and around you lately, but when did you get so timid?” They were hard words, but they’d needed to be said. Something had to snap her out of her fearfulness, and if I could shake her up, I would. Replacing the sting in my voice with gentleness, I added, “I know it’s been rough on you, but this is not the time to falter or second-guess what we’re doing. We’ve got a killer worried about us, so we need to push all of our suspects harder, no matter what the consequences might be.”
“Even if it ruins what little chance I have to be happy?” she asked me.
“If it’s meant to be, you have to believe that it will all work out in the end,” I answered.
“What would you do if you were in my shoes?”
“Exactly what we’re doing,” I said as I started walking again. We were at the side of the cottage now where the bedroom windows were when something in the brush caught my eye.
When I stopped suddenly, Autumn asked, “Is something wrong?”
I knelt down and pulled away some of the pine needles that had been carefully piled up around the object that had caught my eye.
It was a small wireless speaker from the look of it.
Apparently the voices I’d heard the night before had been real enough.
It looked as though someone was trying to convince both of us that we were going crazy.
Chapter 21
AUTUMN STARTED TO SAY something when I put my fingers on her lips gently. After motioning her away from the electronic device, I waited until I was pretty sure we were far enough away that if there was a microphone attached, it wouldn’t be able to pick up our conversation. Still, it might pay us to whisper, so I said softly, “You can talk now, but softly.”
“Why would anyone do this?” she whispered.
“It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? They want you to think that you’re losing your mind,” I answered in kind. “They made a mistake, though. They tried to get to me, too, and I’m not in nearly the fragile state you’re in.”
“I’m not fragile,” she said harshly. “I’m just as tough as you remember.”
It was good to see the fire back in her. Maybe my scolding had acted as a wake-up call for her. After all, she was in the fight of her life, and she needed every ounce of that old spirit she could resurrect. “It’s good to have you back,” I said with a grin.
“You know what? It’s good to be back. Should we get that thing and smash it into a million pieces?”
“As tempting as that sounds, I’ve got a different idea.”
“I’m listening,” she said.
“Okay, here’s what we do. We go back inside and pretend that we never found that thing in the first place. In an hour when it’s dark, we pretend to go to bed, but then we sneak out the back and see who comes to retrieve it.”
“What makes you think they’ll come back for it?” she asked me.
“They did last night. I’m positive that I searched that spot this morning, and it wasn’t there. We might not have seen it tonight, but I think we startled whoever left it before they could hide it properly. That’s going to be their downfall.”
“We need a weapon, then,” she said. “I might be able to find something better than a frying pan.”
“Don’t discount the value of one of those,” I said.
“Don’t forget that I have pepper spray, too. Would that help?”
“It couldn’t hurt,” I admitted. “Okay, are you ready to start acting normal?”
“It’s probably going to be a stretch, but if you can do it, I’m pretty sure that I can, too.” She was grinning as she said it, and I was happy that there was no residual anger left over from our earlier spat. We’d been that way in college too, being able to argue one second and be best friends again the next. I valued that quality in her, and now that I had the spirited woman I knew back with me, I started feeling better about the odds of us finding the killer and somehow managing to get out of this alive.
“How about a snack?” she asked me as we returned to the cottage.
“Sounds good,” I said. After grabbing one of Autumn’s heavier cast iron pans, I conducted a quick search of the place, the pan ready to strike at the slightest provocation. I hadn’t really been expecting anyone to be lurking in a closet or under a bed, but I knew that we’d both feel better if we were sure that we were alone.
“Are we good?” Autumn asked as I rejoined her in the kitchen. She was making a pan of triple chocolate brownies, our favorite treat when we’d roomed together so many years before.
“We’re all set,” I said. “How long before the goodies come out?”
“We have another sixteen minutes,” she said.
“Perfect. I have just enough time to call Jake.”
“Give him my love,” she said as she started cleaning up the kitchen.
“You bet,” I answered with a grin.
“Hey, sweetie. How was your day?” I asked when he picked up.
“The truth is, you were right.”
“Not that I don’t love hearing it, but about what exactly?”
“I pushed myself too hard today, and right now I’m as sore as an old coot,” he admitted with a hint of laughter in his voice. “I guess that’s appropriate when I think about it, because that’s actually what I’ve become.”
“I don’t agree with your premise, sir. How’s George managing?”
“Somehow he has more stamina than I do, and the man’s got at least twenty years on me,” Jake protested. “It’s just not fair.”
“Are you making any more progress?” I asked, happy to talk about anything but murder.
“We’re managing. How’s it going with you?”
It was time to let the real world back in. After giving him a recap of our activities since Autumn had found her mother-in-law’s body, I heard Jake snort when I got to the part where Chief Seaborne had tried to intimidate me into quitting. I’d left out the part where Adam had grabbed me, and I’d most likely take that bit to the grave with me. I was still afraid of how Jake would react to the news that someone had manhandled me. If I was lucky, I wouldn’t bruise, so he’d never have to know what had happened.
“She had to be out of her mind to try to bully you of all people into backing down,” Jake said.
“I’m sure she thought it was worth a shot. I kind of insulted her,” I admitted, not proud of my earlier behavior.
“In what way?” he asked calmly.
“She called me the donut detective, and I retaliated by implying that she wasn’t up to solving a jaywalking case, let alone a murder.”
“Okay,” he said.
“I had to defend my honor. You should have heard the way she said ‘donut detective’ to me.”
“I don’t know. I kind of like the ring it has to it,” Jake said softly. I could tell he was trying not to laugh, which cooled my anger some as I remembered the experience. “How did you leave things with her?”
“I think she kind of admired me for standing up to her. I’m pretty sure there aren’t many people around here willing to risk her wrath.”
“Most likely not,” he admitted. “You’re not going to give up, are you?”
“What do you think?” I asked him.
“I retract the question,” he said. “My offer still stands, if you want me.”
I hadn’t gotten to the part about finding the speaker or our plans to set out to trap whoever was trying to rattle us. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to share everything with my husband, but why worry him before there was anything else to report? If I knew my husband, his current state of exhaustion wouldn’t matter if he thought I might be in real danger, and I couldn’t risk having him drive nearly a hundred miles in his condition. “Thanks, but for the moment, we’ve got things covered. Autumn and I cleared the air between us, and everything’s fine right now.”
“She’s under a great deal of stress at the moment, Suzanne,” Jake reminded me softly. “Cut her some slack.”
“I have,” I said.
“I’m not criticizing you; you know that, right?” he asked, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
“Of course I know it,” I answered. “I’m the first to admit that sometimes I need you to keep me in check.”
“Hah. I never signed up for that job, and I wouldn’t take it if you held a gun to my head. You, my dear sweet wife, are a force of nature, and I know it better than anyone.”
I heard the timer go off in the kitchen. “The brownies are ready,” I said. “I’ve got to go.”
“You’re having brownies?” he asked, his voice dripping with envy.
“Triple chocolate,” I admitted. “I’d offer to save you one, but we both know that would be an empty promise.”
“At least have a bite for me,” he said.
“You bet.”
“Love you. Be careful.”
“Right back at you,” I said as we finished our call. I began to wonder the moment I put my phone away if I should have told him everything after all, but I knew that I couldn’t bring myself to allow him to risk his life driving that far when he was exhausted, especially for what might turn out to be a false alarm.
It was a bad situation all the way around, but in the end, I believed that I’d made the best choice given a bad set of options.
“What do we do now?” Autumn whispered to me. Did she think the cottage had been bugged? I hadn’t really considered it, but I suddenly realized that it might be at that.
Lowering my own voice as I turned on the water in the kitchen sink to a full blast, I said, “Get ready for bed, but as soon as you turn out your light, change back into jeans and a T-shirt and we’ll meet back here. No lights, okay?”
“Okay,” she said softly. “Do we really have to change into pjs first?” she asked me.
“If you had blinds, no, but since this place doesn’t, we have to go through the motions.”
“Got it,” she said with a nod. “Don’t forget your cast iron skillet.”
“Or your pepper spray,” I told her.
We went through the motions of going to bed as though someone might be watching us, and after calling out good night to Autumn, I changed into my jammies and turned off my light. In an instant I began to change back, and soon I was dressed and in the kitchen. I nearly stumbled into a chair, but I caught myself just in time. Autumn joined me a few moments later, and after putting on our jackets, we quietly crept out the back door. It squeaked slightly, and I grimaced. Had we just given ourselves away? I stood there in the darkness listening all around us for any sign that we’d been detected, but there was nothing but the usual sounds of the night. Motioning for Autumn to go ahead of me, I was happy there was a sliver of moonlight coming through the trees. It was enough to allow us to see what we were doing but not bright enough to show anyone who might be out there that we were about to join them.
“What now?” Autumn whispered after I’d slowly closed the back door of the cottage. Fortunately it didn’t make a sound as I did so.
“Now we wait,” I said.
“Do we just stand here?” she asked me.
“No. Let’s grab the rocking chairs from the front porch and move them over into the trees where we can watch that speaker.”
Autumn nodded in agreement, and after we’d positioned the chairs, we settled into watch. I was glad that both chairs had light blankets thrown over their backs. Though it was still on the edge of summer, the nights in the mountains were getting chilly. We sat in silence, but nothing happened for what felt like hours. I risked checking my watch under the blanket and was startled to find that we’d only been outside for forty-two minutes! This was going to feel like a lifetime.
“If you want to nod off for a bit, I’ll keep lookout,” Autumn said. “You’ve got to be beat.”
“I am, but I don’t want to leave you to watch all by yourself.”
“Suzanne, it’s way past your bedtime. By the time you’re ready to wake up at your usual time, I’ll be ready to sleep.”
I wanted to argue with her, but I wasn’t sure how long I was going to last. “Okay, but promise that you’ll wake me up at the first sign of anything out of the ordinary, whether it seems important to you or not.”
“I promise,” she said.
I hadn’t expected to fall asleep so quickly, or even at all, but my internal clock wouldn’t let me force myself to stay awake. In college, I’d been able to pull all-nighters to study without consequence, but I was a long way from those days now. I fell asleep almost instantly and didn’t wake b
ack up until 2:30, my usual time on a workday.
“Thanks for the nap, Autumn.” I waited a moment and then asked, “Autumn? Are you awake?”
There wasn’t a sound from her except heavy breathing.
It appeared that our late-night vigil had failed after all.
Chapter 22
“I’M SO SORRY I FELL asleep,” she said softly yet again.
“Don’t keep beating yourself up about it,” I answered. I took my phone from my pocket and opened up the flashlight app.
“Should you be doing that?” she asked me as I stood and moved to where the speaker had been haphazardly placed.
“I have a feeling it doesn’t matter anymore.” I used the light from my phone to check out the spot where we’d seen the speaker earlier.
Just as I suspected, it was gone.
In a normal voice, I said, “Well, at least we tried.”
“Suzanne, I’m curious about something. Why didn’t we hear any voices tonight?”
I thought about it a moment before answering her. “Since whoever put it here didn’t have time to conceal it properly, maybe they were worried we’d investigate and see what they’d been up to. Then again, it could have been set to cut off if anyone was close by.”
“Can they do that?” she asked me.
“I honestly have no idea.”
“I can’t believe how stupid I was, falling asleep like that,” she chided herself.
“We were both exhausted,” I said. “At least whoever came back to get it didn’t see us.”
“Why do you say that?”
“We’re both still alive,” I said somberly. “Come on, let’s put the chairs back up on the porch and try to get a little more sleep.”
She stopped in her tracks. “Do you really think that if the killer had spotted us, we’d be dead right now?”
“I don’t know,” I said, “but it’s a possibility we have to consider, if in fact the same person who killed Cecile set that speaker up.”
“Do you honestly think there’s two of them?” she asked me incredulously.
“Whoever has been trying to make you think you’re losing your mind might not be the same person who killed your mother-in-law.”
