by Peggy Staggs
“Relax. Sit down on this trunk.” His voice took on a calm, hypnotic quality. “Take a deep breath and try again. Relax your hands.”
Jane complied.
“Don’t say anything.” He waited a few seconds. “Take slow, even breaths.”
Her breathing settled into a rhythmic pattern.
“That’s right. Good.”
We waited.
“Think about where you were and what you were doing.”
Jane nodded.
“Now the sound—”
Her eyes popped open. “They came down the hall by room four.” She stopped. “Your room.”
“There’s nothing in my room. Only a few clothes.” Everything else was still in my car.
Jack’s radio crackled. “Sheriff, I found something out back.”
He scowled straight at me. “Stay here. If you come after me, I’ll shoot you. Got it?”
“Got it.” I nodded. “Stay here.”
He left us.
Of course, we didn’t stay there, we went down to the kitchen. Jane set a few cat treats on the floor. “Want some tea? I do. I don’t like someone coming and going uninvited. People shouldn’t be breaking into other people’s homes.” She turned the gas on under a kettle, then pulled two cups from the cupboard. “I think we need a big dog.” She stopped and considered at the cats. “Has to be one that likes cats. They were here first.” She took the top off a ceramic jar. “What would you like? I’ve got some fancy orange tea from that new Starbucks up in Mullen, or some regular herb tea.”
“Orange sounds nice.”
She handed me the cup, the aroma of orange and spice filled my senses. “Hmm. This reminds me of a warm spring evening when the orange blossoms are in bloom. Thank you.” I took a sip. “If the footsteps were near my room, how do we account for the light in the attic?”
“Knock, knock.” Mr. Tyson stood in the doorway. “What’re the police here for?”
“We had someone in the attic,” Jane said. “The sheriff chased them away.”
He nodded. “I see.”
I knew he was going to leave. Our only paying guest, the one I’d assured the mayor we had. “I hope it doesn’t change things,” I said.
“Nah. I grew up in the inner city.” He lifted his jacket to display a holstered gun. “Never leave home without Mr. Remington.”
“Jack know you have that?” Jane asked.
“I have a concealed permit right here.” He reached for his wallet.
She turned to me. “What do you think, Dear?” Her mouth pinched into an expression of discomfort at the sound of Dear. Good, that didn’t work for me at all. We were going to have to settle on something. But, dear wasn’t going to be it.
“You aren’t going to kick me out are you?”
“No. I don’t want you bothered by any of this.”
“Want some tea?” Jane asked.
“That would be nice, thanks.”
“Are you sure you want to stay?” I asked.
“It won’t bother me. I’ll put a chair under the knob.” He accepted a cup from Jane.
After another sip of tea Jane said, “Needs cookies. Tea always needs cookies.” She got up and went to a large ceramic jar, removed a good dozen cookies and brought them back. “This plate was my mother’s. I always use it when there’s something to ponder.” She took a cookie.
So did we.
We were all standing around the counter in the kitchen when Jack came in.
Jane poured another cup of tea and handed it to him. “Cookies?” She pointed to the plate.
Jack helped himself. “This is going to be like last night.” He pulled his keys from his pocket and handed them to me. “You’re rooms still ready.”
“I—we have a guest tonight. Mr. Tyson, this is Sheriff Trace.” I didn’t take his keys.
The two men shook hands.
“He’s staying in the room down-stairs,” Jane said.
“I’ve called in the CSU unit. We won’t be down there. We’ll try not to bother you.”
“Okay with me, if the ladies don’t mind.”
“You’re more than welcome to stay,” I said. I didn’t want to lose five paying customers. “No charge for tonight.”
“That’s very nice.” Mr. Tyson got up, took another cookie and said, “If no one cares I’m going to my room. I’ve got a ton of paper work to do.” He raised his cup. “If you have a little more tea. I’d be a happy man.”
Jane filled his cup.
“I’ll bring it up in the morning.” He said good night and left.
“I’ll tell the guys to be quiet down here,” Jack said.
“He’s at the far side. He won’t hear a thing,” Jane said. “Besides, as early as it is you should be gone before sunrise.”
“We should.” Jack took another cookie.
“Now that I think about it.” Jane filled her cup. “I know I heard someone in the attic, I didn’t remember the one in room four until Jack made me. What could they want?”
“Great question,” Jack said.
“I’ve been thinking with Sis’s help.” The Sis sounded uncomfortable. She cleared her throat as if she felt the same. “I say they weren’t together. If they were why didn’t they leave together? One didn’t know the other was here.”
I smiled into my tea. I liked Jane.
“It’s possible. More likely, they split up to search. The second one could have slipped out after I chased the first one through the kitchen.”
“What did you find outside?” I asked.
“I want you two to be extra careful.” Jack held up a gun in a plastic bag.
“Well, I don’t like that, at all.” Jane wrapped her hands around her cup. She scowled at Jack. “I want to know what you’re going to do about it, Jack Trace? There are two helpless women here depending on you.”
He smiled. “First, I don’t see any helpless women. Second, I’m going to check the registration on this gun. Then we’ll see. I’m sending a man by every hour.”
Headlights swept across the windows. “CSU’s here.” Jack downed the last of his tea, took another cookie and left.
A few minutes later, he came back in. “I want you to go get some sleep,” he said to me.
“Thanks, mom.”
“If you feel half as bad as you look—”
“Excuse me? Half as bad as I look?”
“What I mean is you look—”
“Yeah, well I heard you the first time.” Actually, I figured my appearance was just this side of homeless. My sweater was ripped and unraveling, my elbow was skinned, and my dress was filthy. I examined the dirt smudge. “My dress is torn.” The rip went from the hem to my upper-thigh. “This is one of my favorites.”
“Lois is waiting for you.” He held out his keys again.
“I’m sure you think that’s going to make everything better.” It did, but I wasn’t going to let him know. “Fine. I’ll go. I’ve got to get into the U-Haul first.”
“Can I help?” he asked.
I glanced over at Jane, she was watching us as if we were a movie. “What?” I snapped.
“You two,” was all she said.
I went to grab my purse and realized I’d lost it in the collision with the bad guy. “Great. My bag is outside. Probably filled with dirt.”
“Come on. We’ll go find it, then get whatever you want out of the U-Haul.”
“My running shoes,” I informed him. “I’m going running in the morning.”
“You’re a runner?”
“I am.”
“How far do you usually run?”
Was this a test?
He opened the kitchen door for me.
“I try to get in five miles three times a week.”
He smiled. “6:30 sound okay?”
All I wanted was a nice relaxing run...alone. “I’d hate to interrupt your routine or slow you down.”
“It’s no problem. I’ve been wanting someone to run with.”
He was
n’t going to let me out of this easily. “I haven’t been running for a couple of weeks, I’d slow you down.”
“I can adjust.”
Seriously?
“Besides, I’ve seen you walk. I wouldn’t want you to break a leg.”
Fine. What could it hurt? “Okay.” I was too tired to argue.
“Good, 6:30.”
“I’ll be ready. First I’ve got to find my purse.” It would be nice to have someone to run with. It’s just a run.
“Sheriff,” a man stood at the bottom of the steps. “We found this out by the front steps.” He held up my purse in a plastic bag.
“My bag.” I reached out to take it from him. “Thank you.” He didn’t let go.
“Is it okay, Sheriff?”
“You can give it to her, Oliver.”
He let it go and left.
“I’ve got to get my shoes.” It didn’t take long to get my things.
Like before, Jack’s house was all lit up. I was too grumpy to concede he was being very nice. Lois met me at the door. “Have you been fed?” I asked. “Of course, that master of yours didn’t tell me. He’s terrible.” I searched the kitchen for a dog dish. I didn’t see one there or in the pantry. “I guess we better call him.” I pulled out my phone as it rang.
“Doc, I need you back here.” He hung up.
Chapter Eleven
I pulled up behind my U-Haul and hurried into the house.
I found Jane and Jack in the kitchen pretty much where I’d left them.
“Sorry to call you back,” Jack said. “We found Ralph’s truck.” He stopped.
“Where was it?”
Jack ran his fingers through his short brown hair. “It’s out behind the house.”
“The house?”
“The old schoolmaster’s house. Ralph lived out there,” Jane said. “Till he moved into the storage room upstairs.”
“I don’t understand.” I fixed my gaze on the two of them.
“There’s a problem,” Jack said.
“Will someone tell me something?”
“It’s Ralph’s truck.”
Seriously? “I got that part.”
“It isn’t so much the truck as it is what’s in it.” Jack glanced at Jane.
He had three seconds, then I was going to strangle him. “What’s in it?” I was impressed at how calm I sounded.
“A body,” Jane said.
“What? No.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “Who is it?”
“The guy with the new clothes,” Jack said.
“That’s impossible.” I stared at him.
“There’s more. Money. Lots of money.”
“Are you saying my Dad was a thief? He wasn’t. He had all the money he needed.”
“And even if he didn’t he had honor.” Jane joined me. “Not likely to go killing people or stealing money. And that’s a fact.”
“I know. Better than you about his honor.” Jack turned and walked out of the room. He stopped at the backdoor. “You coming?”
Jane shrugged. “We’ve got to stand up for Ralph.”
We wound around the old stables to a grove of trees. Jack turned on his flashlight. To my amazement there was a house sheltered in a stand of evergreens. A wash of light silhouetted it.
Two vehicles had their headlights trained on the third one, Dad’s Ford. Two men stood by the tailgate.
Jack nodded to one of his men. The deputy pulled back the man’s shirt.
I peered over the side of the truck. “I’m no gun expert, but a large caliber bullet made that hole.”
“I am, and that had to be a .50 cal. Ralph didn’t have one.”
The deputy let the shirt fall back into place.
Dad had several guns, but I had no idea what they all were. Evidently, Jack did.
“I told you, Ralph didn’t go ‘round shooting people,” Jane said. “You should know that Jack Trace.”
“Aunt Jane, Ralph didn’t kill this guy.” Jack pointed to the body. “He’s still warm.”
The question remained, “Why was it so important I be here?” Not that I didn’t want to know about this, I did. But the way Jack had made it sound on the phone I thought it was something big. Not that a dead guy in the back of Dad’s truck wasn’t a big deal...still, I wasn’t sure what I could do.
“It’s this.” Jack held up a wallet. “He was retired military. Chief Master Sergeant Tully Hayes. Know him?”
“No,” I said.
“Then there’s this.” Jack opened the cab door and pulled out a duffle bag. “It’s troubling.” He unzipped it.
“Where did it come from?” I asked.
Jane peeked into the bag. “If I’d known he had that kind of money I wouldn’t have paid the electric bill this week.”
“There has to be.” I reached out and moved a few of the bundles aside. “There has to be a hundred-thousand dollars or more in there.”
“The problem here is, what was a retired Chief Master Sergeant doing with all this cash?”
“It should come in handy,” Jane said.
We turned to her.
“I’m saying, the town could use it.”
“Who couldn’t,” Kenny wedged in beside me.
“It doesn’t make any sense.” I said. “When they killed the Sergeant, why didn’t they take the cash?”
“It was hidden behind the seat. I was hoping Ralph said something to you.” Jack zipped the bag closed. “Could it have been Ralph’s?”
“Dad made some good investments. I have no idea how much he was worth.” I looked from the bag to Jack then Jane. “He’d never carry that much cash.”
“I’m going to put this in the safe at the office. It’s too much of a temptation.” Jack tightened his grip on the satchel.
“Don’t the CSU guys have to take prints?” Jane asked.
“I had them taken while we were waiting for the Doc.” He started back toward the B&B. “You coming? I for one want to see what all is in here.”
I pulled out my phone and called Uncle Bill. “I know someone who may know about the Sergeant.”
“How’s my favorite niece?”
He wasn’t really my uncle. He was an only child and didn’t have any nieces or nephews so he drafted Cole and me. “I’m hanging in there, Uncle Bill. I’m going to put you on speaker. You know Jane, do you know Jack Trace?”
“Janie, my girl, how the hell are you?”
“Bill, you’re still a bad boy.” She giggled.
I looked at her with new eyes. Jack smiled knowingly. Bad boy, I mouthed.
He nodded.
“Kid, what’s going on?”
“Bill, we’ve got a situation here.”
“Uncle Bill, do you know a man by the name of Chief Master Sergeant Tully Hayes?”
“Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. He was Ralph’s Sergeant at his last base. If you wanted something Tully was your man. Just don’t ask how he got it. He retired and became a private detective. I always thought it suited him.”
“Thanks, Uncle Bill.”
“You’re welcome, Pumpkin. Kid? You still there? You’re quiet. What’ve you found out?”
“Nothing new since we talked. I’d like to know more about this Tully.”
“I’d like that too. We’ll deal with it tomorrow. Good night all.”
I pushed end. “You know Uncle Bill?” Who was this guy?
Jane said, “I’ve got to go see to those cats in the B&B.” She left us.
Uncle Bill had called him Kid. He only gave nicknames to people he consider close friends. No, family.
We walked back through the wooded area in silence. Before we got to the gate between the B&B and the house I took hold of Jack’s arm, pulling him to a stop. “You seem to know everyone I know. At least the two most important men in my life. Why haven’t I ever met you before?”
The shadowy stillness of the overgrown thicket surrounded us. Dry leaves blew around our feet. The only light came from the trucks behind the
house. The glow swirled through the pines casting modeled shadows around us. We were alone.
“Doc.” He faced me in the inky light. “I...not now. Later.” He turned to leave.
I held fast to his sleeve. My worn out brain struggled to put together a coherent sentence and failed. Finally I said, “Uncle Bill doesn’t hand out nicknames to anyone.”
“I’ve known them for a long time.”
“Whoa. That didn’t answer my question.”
“Not tonight. You need some sleep. I need to find the piece of garbage responsible for all this death.”
“Jack—” All of a sudden he was too close.
I let go if his arm.
»§«
Jack put the duffle on the counter. “I haven’t seen this much cash in a long time,” he said as he pulled the bundle of hundreds out and laid it on the counter.
Jane came over and sat down. “Can I touch it?” she asked.
“Why not? CSU already went through it.”
Jane picked up the bundle and fanned it, letting the air wash her face. “These are all new.”
“What do we have here?” Jack pulled an envelope from the bottom of the bag. “Kenny must have missed this.” He turned it over. “Odd.”
“You going to make us guess or are you going to open it?” I asked.
He held it up to the light. “Open it.” He tore off the end and let the contents slide out. He opened the sheet of paper. “What is this?” He handed the list of names and numbers to me. “Do you know any of these names?”
One name on the list popped out. I pointed to it. “That’s one of my mother’s friends. The numbers look like credit card numbers.” I gave it back to him. “Where would a retired Sergeant get a list of credit card numbers and all that money?” I asked.
“I’m going to run a background check on him.”
“I need to get my hair done.” In vain Jane smoothed some unruly curls. “I need to look my best...” She stopped. “For Friday.”
“Right.” Jack had a broad smile on his face. “No other reason?”
“Of course not.” She tried to appear innocent. “What other reason could there possibly be?”
“Uncle Bill,” I said.
“Will you look at the time?” She checked her bare wrist. “I need to get to bed if I’m going to get everything done tomorrow.” She left us.
