Moonlight, Murder, and Small Town Secrets

by K C Hart

  “Come on in Katy,” the woman said, a smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. “It’s crazy around here so just part through the toys and have a seat.”

  Katy stepped into the trailer that, despite Amanda’s description, was extremely clean with only a pile of brightly colored mega blocks piled in front of the entertainment center which took up an entire wall. “I’m sorry to just drop in unannounced like this, but when I heard,” Katy paused to look down at the young boy who was keenly listening to what the women were saying. “When I heard about what was going on, I decided to come over and see what I could do to help.” She placed the three plastic bags of groceries on the couch beside her as she sat down. “I brought some stuff for sandwiches and some snacks for the boys.”

  “That was mighty thoughtful of you. You’re just like your momma, always helping out.” She looked down at the little boy who was watching them intently. “Grey, take those bags to the kitchen for me sweetie.”

  “Ice cream sandwiches are in one of the bags that will need to go in your freezer, Grey,” Katy said, handing the two heavier bags to the older boy. She passed the third bag to the six-year-old who had reappeared quietly behind his big brother.

  Both boys squealed in unison and looked at their grandmother. “You can each have one and go in the back yard to eat it.” She smiled and tousled the hair of the older grandson who was standing within her reach. “Now be careful and don’t let the dog take them from you.”

  Both boys took the bags to the kitchen and soon disappeared out the back door. Amanda sat the toddler on the floor and he immediately busied himself with the mega blocks.

  “I guess you heard that Laney didn’t come home yesterday.” Amanda sighed, sitting on the love seat across from Katy. “I’m sure it’s probably all over Skeeterville by now.”

  “I found out just a while ago. I came over to see if you needed some help with the boys or if I can help in any other way.”

  “Oh, the boys are fine. They stay over here as much as they stay home, so that isn’t anything out of the ordinary for them. Laney works at that daycare through the week and then cleans houses on the weekends. I practically raise them anyway.” Amanda reached across to an end table and grabbed a tissue from the half-empty box. “I’m trying not to cry in front of the boys, but Grey knows something’s up. Laney’s never just taken off and not told anybody where she was going.”

  Katy watched, trying to think of a tactful way to approach her suspicions about Laney’s marriage. “Has anything unusual happened lately that might have caused her to act this way?”

  “Something happened, it’s not that unusual, but it happened.” Amanda blew her nose and wiped her eyes. “Her and Jake are always, and I mean always, fighting. He has a roaming eye and Laney caught him stepping out on her about two years ago. She left him for a couple of months. He talked her into taking him back and that’s how they ended up with little Gunner, bless his sweet little heart. Laney thought another baby would solve their problems.”

  Katy got up from the couch and stepped over to the love seat and sat down. “It’s so hard to watch our kids go through things that hurt them.” She put her arms around Amanda and gave her a hug.

  “And it’s even harder to watch them just keep making the same mistakes over and over again,” Amanda said.

  “Is Jake cheating again? Is that why you think Laney’s left?”

  “About three weeks ago, she came over here fit to be tied. She’d found a credit card statement with a purchase for that ridiculously expensive perfume that Jake buys her. The only problem was, he had given her a bottle a couple of months ago, on her birthday. She searched their house and couldn’t find this second bottle, so she began to get suspicious.”

  “I’ve smelled her perfume. It’s very nice.”

  “I guess it’s alright, but I wish I’d never heard of it. If they’d quit trying to live above their means Laney wouldn’t have to work six and seven days a week.” Amanda looked down at her hands to the tissue that she had shredded to pieces. “I’m making a mess.”

  Katy took the tissue from the distressed woman’s hands and placed it in the wastebasket by the chair. “Amanda, you don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”

  “No, I need to talk to somebody over the age of eight who is basically sane.” Amanda wiped a strand of hair away from her tired eyes and let out a sigh. “Anyway, when she couldn’t find the perfume, she searched Jake’s truck and found another cell phone. It was full of pictures and text messages from that woman that got killed last week. You know the one, she worked at the auto place.”

  “Yeah, I know the one.”

  “She confronted Jake and he’s been fooling around with that woman for over four months.”

  “Amanda I’m so sorry. I know Laney must’ve been crushed.”

  “She was. She was just about crazy for the next couple of weeks and then that girl ended up dead.” Amanda looked at Katy and a sob caught in her throat. “Oh Katy, I feel so guilty for even thinking this, but at first I thought that Laney might have been the one that killed that woman.”

  Katy patted her hand and waited while she grabbed another tissue. “But she didn’t kill her, did she?”

  “No, she was home with the kids. Grey told me that their daddy had been gone that night and his momma let all three of the boys sleep in the bed with her.” Amanda pulled her hand through her hair and then fell back on the love seat defeated. “I feel terrible about suspecting my own child that way, but I feel even worse because I’m glad that she doesn’t have to worry about that other woman anymore. I didn’t want the woman dead, but since she is, at least she can’t wreck my daughter’s family. I’m a terrible person.”

  Katy took both of Amanda’s hands in hers. “You’re not a terrible person. You’re just trying to cope in a hard situation.”

  “You think so? Do you really think so?”

  “Yes, I really do. You must be stressed to the hilt.”

  “Oh, Katy I am. And now Laney is just gone. It’s so funny. After that woman was dead she calmed down and seemed alright, but then yesterday morning she came over here all worked up again, saying that Jake was spineless and that she was going to take care of things so that she wouldn’t have to deal with this again.”

  “What do you think she meant?”

  “I thought she had finally decided to leave him for good. I still think maybe that’s what she meant, but I just don’t believe that she would run off and leave her children without telling anybody where she’s going.”

  “Do you think she possibly went out of town to see a lawyer and had a wreck or something?”

  “I don’t know, but something just ain’t right and Jake is about as useless as a tit on a bore hog.”

  Katy stood up from the love seat. “Let me fix you some tea, or Coke, or water, or something Amanda. What do you want?”

  “There’s bottled water in the frig. Get us both one if you don’t mind.”

  “Now tell me, what can I do to help you,” Katy asked as she returned with the water. “Can I wash dishes, or take the boys with me for a little while and give you a break, or fix your supper? Just tell me and I’ll do it.”

  “You’re too sweet.” Amanda reached down to the floor and scooped up the baby who was drooling contentedly on a bright yellow mega block. “I need to keep the boys with me. They keep me busy and I must keep my head on straight while they’re around, so I’m better off with them here. Johnnie will be in from offshore on Sunday, so if I can just hang on until then I’ll be fine.”

  “Well can I pray with you?”

  “Oh Katy, would you? That would help me more than anything.”

  Katy sat by the woman and they both bowed their heads together. Amanda hugged the child to her chest finding comfort in his closeness as well as the words of Katy’s prayer. Katy prayed for peace for Amanda and her family. She prayed for a safe and quick return of Laney and that she could work out her problems with Jake so that their fa
mily could heal. When she was finished, she visited a while longer and listened as Amanda bragged about her only three grandsons.

  Jake had left school early, after the police came by to question him, and brought the older two children over for Amanda to care of. Katy didn’t know where he was now but had decided to not ask. Amanda had too much to deal with right now. She didn’t need to be reminded of her wayward son-in-law.

  Katy left Amanda’s house around three. When she got home, she added a few more details to her clue book. Laney had an alibi and didn’t kill Jessa, but what about Jake? Amanda said he had not been home with his family. Something else had stirred up Laney yesterday causing her to leave town or at least not go home. Laney and Coach Finch were apparently in financial distress with Laney working two jobs.

  Katy wrote everything down and closed her notebook. She had a lot to do before she could get ready for the party at Misty’s house and she was running way behind.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Katy’s worries of having a hard time getting Emma Robinson to tell what she knew about Jessa Williams and her friends had been a very ignorant assumption. She and Emma were the first two to arrive at Misty’s house. Emma was quickly transforming the formal dining room into a home spa area to expound on the wonders of her beauty enhancement products. After Misty’s introduction, Emma immediately dominated the conversation. Luckily, she wanted to talk about the murder herself and was more than willing to share all her facts along with a slew of theories about what had happened. Thankfully the girl couldn’t keep her thoughts to herself. All Katy had to do was act interested and Emma talked nonstop.

  “Mrs. Katy, you found poor Jessa’s body?” Emma’s Barbie doll eyes stretched wide with animation. “I would have just died myself if that would’ve been me looking under that ole hay trailer and seeing a corpse and all. Did it just freak you out?”

  “No,” Katy smiled politely, “not exactly. It was unsettling though.”

  “Well, I should say so. And you know, we saw her just the night before right at that very spot.” Emma waved her perfectly manicured hand in the air. “Poor little ole Todd had to come and ask Tubby for an alibi since they found those cigarettes behind the shed or somewhere around there. Thank the good Lord Tubby could clear his name or that would have looked bad. Poor sweet Tubby. He couldn’t kill a mosquito, but we don’t blame Todd for doing his job. Heaven knows somebody’s got to figure out what’s going on.”

  “So, you don’t think Joe Phobs killed Jessa?” Katy asked.

  “Oh, no mam. He left the stage area that night before we did and when we came home, we could hear Hank Jr just a blaring from his trailer.” She squatted down and grabbed a bundle of pamphlets from her tote box then stood back up. “We have to drive right past his place to get to ours, and I feel pretty sure he was in there drinking. Every time he drinks, he plays Hank so loud that everybody around there wants to come over and throttle him. Tubby stopped by and beat on his door and told him to turn it down before somebody called the cops.”

  “Did you and Tubby see him in his trailer that night?”

  “No,” Emma said slowly, tapping her fake nail against her cheek. She glanced around the table and then reached back in her bag for more supplies. “No, not exactly. Tubby just beat on the door and yelled at him and the music got turned down. If his neighbor hadn’t still been in the nursing home, she would’ve done called the cops. That’s what happened last time.”

  This woman was amazing. She had covered Misty’s glossy oak dining table with a black satin cloth and placed little mirrors around for each woman, along with disposable makeup brushes and trays to use during the party. She talked about the events of the past week at lightning-fast speed, barely slowing down long enough to take a breath while simultaneously preparing Misty’s dining table for her event. Katy wondered if Emma could do that thing where you pat your head while rubbing circles on your belly at the same time. She could probably talk while doing just about anything, from the looks of things.

  “Did Tubby tell Todd about stopping by Joe’s trailer?” Katy looked around the table trying to sound casual. “I mean, while he was there giving his alibi.”

  “You know, I don’t know,” Emma answered. “I’ll ask him and find out.”

  “If he didn’t, he probably should huh?” Katy looked across the table and made eye contact with Emma.

  “It wouldn’t hurt I guess.” Emma fiddled with the collar of her silk blouse. “Joe needs all the help he can get to establish his own alibi right now. I’ll talk to Tubby tonight and find out.” She blew out a deep sigh. “Poor Joe. That Jessa was just using him from the start, and he never even knew it. Some guys are just too good looking for their own good.”

  “Oh really?” Katy sat down at one of the make-up stations and watched as Emma continued to set up her staging area for the presentation.

  “Yes mam. Everybody knows the only reason that Jessa was seeing him was to make Marissa mad. Jessa didn’t care about Joe at all.”

  “No, I didn’t know that.” Katy glanced behind Emma at Misty who was silently doing a little victory dance. She quickly cut her eyes back to Emma. “Did Marissa and Joe have a history?”

  “Well no mam, not really. Marissa was sweet on Joe during high school. Then when she and her old man got that divorce a couple of years ago, she started trying to get to know Joe again. She invited him to all The Wildcats practices and was always looking for places to bump into him. If he would’ve given her even an ounce of encouragement, she would’ve been stuck on his arm like a seed tick. But he just never saw her as nothing but a friend.”

  “And you think that Jessa was seeing Joe to aggravate Marissa?” Katy kept her eyes focused on Emma as she spoke, not daring to look up at Misty again.

  “Everybody thought that, not just me. You see Mrs. Katy, before Jessa moved here Marissa started The Wildcats and would have these band practices every Saturday night out at her pawpaw’s barn. It was kind of like a little party. We would go out and sit around and listen to them play. We would talk and just hang out and have a good ole time. But then Jessa showed up and things changed. At first, she was all sugary sweet to Marissa. She even started booking The Wildcats some gigs, like at the county fair and Christmas in the Park last year. Marissa thought that was great because she didn’t know how to do any of that stuff. She just liked to get together and sing.”

  “That’s how The Moonlighters are. We just enjoy the music.”

  “Exactly. That’s how it used to be for us too. Anyway, after a while, Marissa found out that Jessa was telling everybody that it was her band and how she was trying to get them rednecks whipped into decent performers and stuff like that. Marissa confronted Jessa about it and Jessa just blew her off. But right after that Jessa started paying attention to Joe and in about a month, she had him wrapped around her finger.”

  “And you think she did it to spite Marissa?”

  “You bet I do,” Emma’s head bobbed up and down. “She was sending her a signal that she would take whatever she wanted from her and there wasn’t nothing Marissa could do about it. It worked too because Marissa just shut up and started letting Jessa do whatever she wanted with the band.”

  “Wow, I bet the practices weren’t quite as fun after that.”

  “No mam they weren’t. Half the time Jessa was fighting with Joe or ordering everybody around and telling us not to get too loud cause we were messing up their practice. All of us that just showed up to listen pretty much quit going.”

  Their conversation ended as the rest of the party started showing up. Hopefully, Katy could get Emma alone again to ask her about Marissa’s scratches and missing fingernail. For now, though, Emma’s focus had completely turned to selling makeup and skincare.

  Katy moved around the table and took a spot between Misty and her sister-in-law Pickle. She felt like a fish out of water between these two women. She had never seen either woman without their hair and make-up being perfect and their clothes looking l
ike something from an Ann Taylor add. The thing that Katy didn’t understand was that they both acted like this was no big deal. They just seemed to naturally get up and make themselves look this way every day before they stepped out of their homes. She, on the other hand, struggled to make sure her top didn’t have a grease stain across her chest and there was no bacon stuck between her teeth. It seemed she was always running for the door desperately trying to reach her destination before she was considered rudely late.

  She couldn’t blame this character flaw on her upbringing. Her mother was born and bred in the south and had taken great pains to teach her the importance of proper grooming and a good appearance. For some reason, it just didn’t stick. She was always clean and fairly neat, that wasn’t the problem. She just never looked put together or finished. She didn’t have that sixth sense that other southern ladies seemed to have about wearing discreet amounts of animal prints only, and never wearing tee shirts as dress clothes. Maybe she could start some kind of support group for women with this character flaw. She glanced around the room at the other partygoers. It didn’t look like any of these ladies would qualify as a member.

  Katy made it through the evening without any complaints. She started to enjoy the party when she stopped comparing herself to the other ladies at the table. As she listened to the comments being made, she soon realized that everyone there seemed to have their own set of insecurities about their looks.

  They cleaned all their makeup off with the cleanser Emma provided on cotton balls, then toned, then applied a serum, then applied a moisturizer and finally a primer.

  “I hate to admit this,” Katy sighed as she rubbed a cotton ball over her face for what seemed like the fiftieth time, “but I never do any of this stuff. I use Dove soap and Jergins lotion on my face and that’s about it.”

  “Now Mrs. Katy don’t brag,” Sarah laughed from across the table as she applied the eye make-up remover to her black-lined lids and lashes. “We all can’t be born with natural good looks. Some of us have to help it along a little.”