by K C Hart
He holstered his gun and put his knee between Tripp’s shoulder blades then wrestled his arms behind him and cuffed him with some difficulty. If Tripp had not fallen, there would have been a shootout right there in the bedroom. He rolled Tripp over, stepped back and pulled the pistol back out of his holster, pointing it at the prisoner. Tripp decided to be still.
“Mrs. Tellman, get over there by your bed please.” Todd’s voice was shaking.
“I will son, just as soon as I go to the bathroom.” The little woman exited the room and shut the bathroom door behind her.
Todd called an ambulance for the sheriff who was in the foyer bleeding from a gunshot wound to the shoulder. He insisted he was fine, but he hadn’t been able to follow Tripp out of the room. Todd also called the station and told them to send help. Finally, he sat down across from the recliner and concentrated on holding the gun steady as he aimed it toward Tripp, in spite of his shaking hands.
“In here,” Todd said, hearing a vehicle drive up the driveway, assuming it was someone from the station since he didn’t hear ambulance sirens.
Miles Brown slid the glass door open and stepped through the curtains. He looked at his son on the floor and the young deputy sitting in the chair holding the pistol. He staggered across the room and sat on the bed. He had obviously been drinking.
“Mr. Brown don’t give me no trouble now,” Todd said without taking his eyes off Tripp. “The sheriff is in the next room and more help is on the way.”
Mr. Brown looked from Tripp to Todd as he spoke. “I’ve caused enough trouble already.” He ran his hands through his hair, just like his son had done earlier. “I never should’ve listened to Jenny. It was her idea to marry Evelyn.”
“Who’s Jenny?” Todd glanced at Mr. Brown out of the corner of his eye.
“My other wife,” the older man sobbed. “It was her idea to marry Evelyn. Evelyn was rich. We were starving to death and going to have to give up our baby to the welfare people. Jenny said marry her and all our problems would be solved.”
Tripp looked at his father with a new hate forming in his eyes. “I should’ve just killed you instead of that ignorant cleaning girl. I would’ve enjoyed that.”
“I didn’t have a choice son.” Mr. Brown looked at Tripp with pleading eyes. “I needed money to start up the car business. All I knew how to do was talk to people. That’s all I’ve ever been good at. If Jenna hadn’t decided to come over here and get greedy everything would still be okay.”
“Okay? Okay?” Tripp screamed. “You had another family, another child all these years that we never knew about, and you think it’s okay?”
Todd stood up. “Now just calm down Tripp.” He looked at Mr. Brown. “Maybe you should just be quiet until I can get you to the station.”
“I need you to understand Tripp.” Miles leaned forward and put his head in his hands, ignoring Todd, his speech slurred. “I was at MSU on a football scholarship when I met Jenny. We started dating, and the next thing I knew she was pregnant, and I was married. Back then things were different. When the school found out about it, they kicked me off the team and I lost my scholarship.”
Mrs. Tellman stepped out of the bathroom while Miles continued to talk. “Why Evelyn? Why my daughter? There had to be other girls there with money. Why did you choose her?” She leaned heavily on her cane, somehow looking ten years older than she had just an hour before.
“I didn’t seek her out Mom,” Miles said, looking at Mrs. Tellman, tears flowing from his bloodshot eyes. “I was working at the gas station changing oil. She showed up with a few of her sorority sisters and started flirting with me. I ignored her, Mom, I really did, but she just kept coming back.”
“Did you tell her you were married, Miles?” Mrs. Tellman’s voice took on the tone of judge. “Did you tell her you were a father?”
“Well, no…I didn’t. I was ashamed.” Miles looked from his mother-in-law back to his son. He had forgotten that Todd was in the room. “She was so happy, not a care in the world. She was finishing up her second year and was the homecoming queen. I just couldn’t believe she wanted to spend time with me.”
“You should have told her Dad. You should have given her the choice of walking away.” Tripp’s voice had changed from rage to disgust. “She killed your daughter. You made Mom a murderer.”
“I never meant for her to find out. Jenny died last year of breast cancer. I guess Jessa got to going through her mother’s things and found letters I had written to her mother from this address over the years. When she showed up here demanding money, I didn’t know what else to do.”
“How long has my daughter known about this other life of yours,” Mrs. Tellman asked.
“I told her right after Jessa moved in with us,” Miles answered. “At first I thought everything was going to work out. Evelyn was mad, but she said what was done was done. If Jessa would have been satisfied with the money maybe it would have been okay.”
Mrs. Tellman could not believe all of this had been going on right under her nose for over a year. She thought Evelyn couldn’t sneeze without asking her for a tissue. She had no right to call Tripp ignorant. She had no right at all. “What do you mean satisfied with the money,” she asked. “What was she wanting?”
“She wanted to tell everybody that I was her father. She wanted to become an heir to everything here,” Miles mumbled, staring at the floor as he spoke.
“Over my dead body,” Tripp yelled, his face bright red with rage.
The sounds of sirens coming up the driveway brought the discussion to a close. The ambulance crew came through the back with a stretcher and continued to the foyer to check on Sheriff Reid. They were followed by a couple of state troopers who loaded Tripp in their car to transport to the station.
“Mr. Brown, you’re going to have to come on down to the station with me and tell all of this again,” Todd said to the old man who was sitting quietly on the bed staring at the floor. Mrs. Tellman had returned to her recliner and had not spoken again. Todd walked over and squatted down beside her chair. “Can I call somebody to come and be with you tonight? I don’t feel like we should leave you here alone.”
Mrs. Tellman patted the young deputy’s hand. “No, son. That won’t be necessary. I think I have been alone for a long time now and just didn’t know it.”
Todd felt sorry for the spunky little woman. She seemed to be giving up. “Is there anything you want me to tell your daughter or grandson?”
“No.” She paused and looked up into Todd’s face. “Wait, yes, there is. Tell them I’m sorry.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“No more ice cream ever?” John asked, eyes stretched wide.
“Nope, no more ice cream ever.” Katy bit her tongue to keep from laughing.
“Woman, you have lost your mind,” John exclaimed, half in jest, but half in earnest.
“Well okay, maybe not ever,” Katy said, fighting back a grin, “but it will not be every night after supper. Those days are over John Cross.”
John grinned and sat down on the edge of his recliner. Katy’s foot was in a ‘boot’ to help stabilize the break so it would heal properly. “I know we need to get in shape,” he said, leaning over and fluffing the pillow under her foot as he spoke, “but can’t we at least wait on all of these drastic changes until you can walk again. My body’s gonna go into shock if I give up rocky road cold turkey.”
“Okay, how about this? Ice cream only on the weekends. That’s a good way to start.”
“I guess I’ll take what I can get.” He flopped his head back against the chair and sighed.
“Just think how grateful you’ll be next time you get your cholesterol checked,” Katy said, reaching over to pat his hand.
“Anybody home?” Todd called as he walked into the living room followed by Misty and Mike.
“Just us old folks,” Katy answered. “Yaw take a seat.”
“So how is the patient,” Todd asked, sitting down across from Katy.
“I’m much, much better now that we’re home.” Katy smiled and looked at John. “He just said I couldn’t drive or put weight on my foot didn’t he John? I should be able to sit down and play the guitar without any trouble.”
“Technically,” John said, raising one eyebrow, “I guess you can do that as long as somebody can drive you and help with the guitar. You can’t tote it while you’re on crutches.” He grinned. “You might want to think twice about going in that nursing home all crippled up. They might try to keep you and do a little therapy.”
“Misty, I’ll be at the nursing home now even if I have to call a taxi. Don’t you worry.” She smiled across to John as she spoke, and he winked back.
“Todd, have you gotten any time off to go home and sleep?” Mike asked. “I hear the jail’s a pretty crowded place nowadays.”
“Just a little,” Todd answered. We’re rotating twelve-hour shifts until the bigwigs can decide what to do with everybody.”
“Are they going to hire some more help?” John asked. “Since somebody has to stay there around the clock with the prisoners, I would think they would have to. Even if it’s temporary.”
Todd nodded. “Yes sir. They’ve already started the process.”
“So, you have Evelyn in one cell and Tripp in the other.” Katy counted them off on her fingers. “Who else is down there?”
“Well, we let the coach go home yesterday after we got a statement from Tripp. I tell you what, it was plumb crazy around there for a while.” Todd paused and looked at the group. “For a while, we had Evelyn and Tripp each in a cell, Coach Finch cuffed and sitting in the corner, Mr. Brown sitting in another corner whining about his hangover and three separate lawyers parading in and out like they owned the place.”
“My word,” Katy exclaimed. “I didn’t realize the station was big enough to hold all of those people.”
“That’s the whole problem, Aunt Katy. It’s not. But the Sheriff was at the hospital getting his shoulder taken care of so I just kind of stuck people where I could until I got it figured out.”
“Is the sheriff okay?” Misty asked.
“He is. He came in this morning for just a minute and laid down a few rules for everybody to
follow. He went home after a couple of hours, but we can call him, and he’ll come back.” It’s a lot more organized and calmer now.”
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready for a good long run of calm and boring,” Misty said.
Mike slapped his wife on the knee and started to stand. “Speaking of calm and boring, it’s about time for us to go. I have to get back to work.”
“Wait just a second honey,” Misty said refusing to stand. “While I have Todd and Katy here as a captive audience, I want to find out a few things.”
“Alright,” Mike grinned and sat back down, “dig a little dirt real quick before we leave.”
“So Todd,” Misty said, as she poked her husband in the ribs, “I know that Evelyn Brown killed Jessa Williams because she didn’t want to share the Brown business and everything with the child of the first wife…right?”
“That’s right,” Todd nodded. “I think she just couldn’t handle the embarrassment of being hoodwinked by a bigamist husband all these years. But the reason she’s giving is about the money.”
“Okay, that figures. I would just die if that happened to me too.” Misty paused and looked at Mike with a raised eyebrow. “If you have any deep dark secrets, just ship me off to a tropical island somewhere and let me live in ignorance,” she said, mirth dripping from her words.
“I think you’re pretty much stuck in Mississippi,” Mike answered.
“The thing I’m wondering,” Misty continued, “is did Evelyn kill Laney Finch too?”
“No mam,” Todd answered. “She and Tripp set up a meeting with her to get the marriage license and pictures and stuff from Mile’s first marriage. Laney told them they were in her truck and to show her the money first. Evelyn went nuts and tried to do her in, but Tripp did the choking.” He shook his head in disgust. “It made me kind of sick listening to them squabble about who did what. Tripp whined about his momma making him kill Laney and Evelyn kept screaming at him like she really was crazy. Anyway, when they checked the truck out and didn’t find the papers, they drove it down to the logging road and into the pond.”
“And they’ve been looking for those papers ever since,” Katy chimed in.
“Why did Evelyn think you had them, and who does have them?” Misty asked.
“I think she thought I had them because I found both bodies and was asking her mother questions all of the time.” Katy stopped and sighed. “If Evelyn had found out that Amanda Carson had the papers hid at her house, ain’t no telling what would’ve happened to that poor family.”
“Thank the Lord it’s over now,” John said.
“Amen,” Todd and Mike said in unison.
Mike stood to go again, but Misty touched his hand before she stood. “Just one more question.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “One more.”
“Are you going to be able to come to rehearsal Tuesday night?” Misty talked faster as she got excited about her plan. “Since you can’t drive, the girls and I were thinking that we could just come here and bring the practice to you.”
“I haven’t thought about it,” Katy said, glancing at John who was looking at her with half a scowl on his face. “The doctor said I couldn’t drive and to take it easy until I see him next Friday, but I think I could play my guitar sitting in the chair with my foot propped up.”
“Great,” Misty exclaimed finally standing up to leave. “I’ll set it up.”
John continued to scowl at his wife. “I don’t think that’s what the doctor had in mind by taking it easy.” He grabbed the library books from the coffee table and laid them in her lap as he stood to walk everyone out. “We’ll talk about this later.”
Katy grinned as she picked up the books. She knew John would give in. Besides, it would be good to get her mind off things like murder and mayhem. Reading and playing the guitar would be just what the doctor ordered. She picked up the books and read the covers.
“Now, which one to read first, Mrs. Marple or Father Brown.”
Thank you for reading Moonlight, Murder, and Small-Town Secrets! Keep reading for a peek at K.C.’s next book in the Skeeterville series, Music, Murder, and Small-Town Romance.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this book, please consider leaving an Amazon review. It’s such a big help.
Coming Soon
Music, Murder, and Small-Town Romance
Skeeterville Murder Mysteries Book Two
By K.C. Hart
Chapter One
Katy and Misty scooted over in the booth to let Heather and Vickie slide in. Sarah dragged a chair from a nearby table to the end of the booth and completed the party. The Burger Barn was packed like always on a Saturday afternoon.
Katy turned up the volume on her phone and hushed the other members of The Moonlighters “Alright, listen up. I’ve got it on Ninety-eight point four and he’s fixing to announce the winners of the contest.”
For the past six years several local businesses had hosted The Battle of the Bands at the Skeeterville school auditorium. The money raised from this event was used to make improvements to the elementary school playground equipment. The community called in names of local performers into the radio station all month long. The top four bands with the most votes would get to participate in the big show.
“I called and voted for Tubby and the Tubs every day last week,” Sarah said.
Misty raised her pointer finger to her lips to silence the younger woman as the announcer spoke. The ladies all leaned in toward the cell phone as Rob Clay, the voice around town, began to speak.
“The
time is finally here to reveal which four local groups will get to participate in the sixth annual Battle of the Bands, brought to you by Brown Motor Company, Clay House Music, Friend’s Pharmacy and a host of our other fine local businesses. As you all know, the voting closed on Thursday and the votes are finally tallied up. The four bands with the highest number of votes will be participating in what is sure to be the biggest event of the year for Skeeterville. Don’t go anywhere. We will count down the winners right after this brief message from the fine folks at Brown Motor Company.”
Misty rolled her eyes as the announcer drug out his speech. Katy grinned at her friend from across the booth. “The man knows how to talk, that’s for sure,” she said, watching Misty continue to make faces at her phone. “You act like you don’t like Rob Clay very much,”
“Have you ever met the man?” Misty asked. “He’s about as full of himself as a puffed-up rooster in the hen house.”
“I don’t know him all that well,” Katy said, “but I’ve met him at his store when I’ve gone in for guitar strings and picks and stuff. He seemed nice enough.”
Misty bugged her eyes out and younger ladies laughed. “Mrs. Katy,” Vickie exclaimed, “you’re one of the most naïve grown women I’ve ever met.” Sarah and Heather bobbed their heads up and down in agreement.
“Okay girls leave Katy alone,” Misty said, looking across the booth and grinning. “Girl, Rob Clay is the biggest womanizing flirt in this town. He’s fooled around with every woman that he could draw into his little spray-tanned, spikey-haired trap.”
