by Misty Simon
“Where are you?”
I looked around and told him, “At the foot of the stairs at home.”
“Well, I want you to be careful. We just found Audra’s car, and Burton wanted me to check in with you. See? He doesn’t think you’re annoying, and he wants you safe.”
Right.
“What about the car makes him think I’m not safe?” I sat down on the bottom step and rested my feet for a moment. This could take two minutes or all day, depending on what kind of mood Matt was in.
“Not you in particular, but he’s concerned because whoever did this is still out there and could be getting nervous about being found out. The whole thing was wiped down meticulously. It was parked at Caleb’s apartment complex, in the back, on the other side of a Dumpster, where we might not have seen it, except that a woman called to report it because her son cracked the windshield and she didn’t want to get into trouble with the owner.”
“What does ‘wiped down’ mean?”
“There isn’t a single print anywhere, and no fibers, no dust, no lint, nothing at all. It’s like someone set off a Roomba in there and let it run for hours.”
“Again with the hiding and the Dumpster. It’s just weird that whoever is doing this seems to be drawn to the big metal cans. That and keeps doing everything he or she can to make sure any evidence is never found.”
“Yeah, you’re preaching to the choir. Burton’s fed up to his eyebrows. Every time we think we have a lead, it disintegrates like it’s on fire.”
“Do you think it’s the boyfriend again?”
He sighed, and I felt his pain and frustration. “No, we think someone is trying to set it up to look like the boyfriend is guilty. We found an ex that lives in the same complex, and we are bringing him in for questioning.” I heard his teeth snap together. “Don’t tell Burton I told you that. I don’t want to get into trouble for bringing you in.”
But now my curiosity was piqued again. “I thought Audra was single when she first moved here. She said she met Caleb, and they hit it right off. In her words, she was so glad that she wasn’t tied to anyone, because that way she could do anything she wanted.”
“She might have been single at that point, but she originally moved here with a boyfriend, who paid all the bills, until she got the job with that commercial cleaning company. Then she dropped him like a hot potato. My information is that he was not exactly happy. As it turns out, her ex and Caleb live in the same apartment complex. She and Caleb always met at her house, just in case they came across the boyfriend in the parking lot. That must have been awkward to have your ex and your current boyfriend in the same apartment complex.”
“Well, at least that was thoughtful of her.”
“Ha! Not her. Caleb,” Matt said. “She wanted to come over as often as possible, and he just always made sure that they went to her house.”
“Trying to make the ex-boyfriend jealous?” Man, I wished I had my laptop with me. This was someone else to look into, if I could get Matt to give me the guy’s name.
In the end, he wouldn’t, but I still wanted it. Surely someone would know. Maybe Caleb would tell Letty. I’d have to call Letty to see if she could get him to give her the guy’s name, which she then could give to me. It was a brilliant plan, and one I was about to execute when my phone rang again.
Lo and behold, it was Letty.
“Hello, my favorite lady. How’s it going over there?”
“We’re getting things moved around and out onto the sunroom, but, man, this is grueling work.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come over and help? I feel terrible that I’m not doing anything at the moment. I was going to go dig up any dirt on the players in this wonky murder but I think I need to find Burton, instead. Other than that I’m open.”
“You can come over if you want and haul furniture. Actually, we might want to ask your brother Dylan and Max to come move some of the bigger stuff, if that’s okay with you. We’re strong, but some of this stuff is gigantic and old. I don’t get how they moved this kind of furniture around when they just had a horse and buggy.”
“Me, neither, though I’ve never thought about that. Maybe it was like the people who built Stonehenge. A lot of back-breaking work.”
She snickered, and that was much better than the exhausted sound of her voice at first.
“So what can I do for you? And then I have a favor to ask,” I said, still sitting on the steps. At some point in the near future, I could just imagine my mom coming in and wanting to know why I was there and not with Max. She’d ask if we had had a fight and what I had done wrong. I was not going to borrow trouble, though, so I tuned back in to Letty.
“I thought Bethany would be back by now, but I haven’t seen her. Any chance she’s called you?”
“Weird. No, I haven’t heard from her. I would have thought she would have reported to you at the house. I left her a voice mail about the change of plans.”
“Yeah, I did, too, but she doesn’t seem to be answering her phone, and it goes right to voice mail, then says the voice mail is full.”
“That’s not good.” Of course my brain started whirling through the possibilities. Was she hurt? Had she gotten stuck on vacation without a charger? Had she had a run-in with Audra when she was at the house that first night, taking pictures, and forgone her vacation and come back to kill the woman?
That last one seemed far-fetched, but at this point anything was possible.
“Have you checked with her boyfriend?” I asked.
“I don’t know his name or his number.”
“We should have a contact on her employment sheet. I can go run to get that, and I’ll call you back once I have something. Speaking of boyfriends, though, Matt just called to tell me they found Audra’s car at her boyfriend’s apartment complex, and that her ex also lived there. I never heard of an ex. Do you think Caleb might know his name? He might bear looking into.”
“Concerned citizen, huh?”
“The most concerned.”
She chuckled. “I’ll call him, and when you call back with Bethany’s info, I’ll give you the name.”
“Deal.”
When I rose from the stairs, I was just in time, because I heard my mother rummaging around in the kitchen and singing to herself. I did not need her to come out right now, unless she had snickerdoodles in her hand. Most likely, she was making them now. It would be fine enough to see her later, just not at this moment, when I was on a mission.
I rushed back up the stairs and surprised Peanut and Max by bursting through the door. Mr. Fleefers, being his usual self, barely glanced my way.
“Hey, everybody! Sorry to buzz in and out, but I need an employee folder.”
“Did you leave, then come back?” Max asked from his place at the table. I really needed to think about getting some kind of desk for him. I just had no idea where I might put it in this small studio apartment without cluttering up the tiny space.
As I rummaged through my box of files—I really should get a cabinet for them too—I finally came up with Bethany’s information. I didn’t have a lot of employee folders, just the four, but I had also been putting receipts in this box, too. I had a feeling Max was not going to be pleased with my organizational skills when it came time to do taxes.
Max stopped me on my way out the door. “Do you have to run right now? I just need a few seconds of your time.”
“Of course.” I put the paperwork down on the table and joined him, sitting in the chair next to his.
He turned the computer toward me and used a pen to tap the screen. “I hit on a few things for Audra. She actually has a rap sheet for stealing and the misuse of company funds.”
Chapter Fourteen
“You have got to be kidding me. I really thought she was a great person, and now that’s two different things I’ve heard that don’t jive with the picture she painted of herself. Plus, Burton said she was clean.”
“Not everyone is as transparent
as you are, Tallie.”
“Well, they should be. Just let those warts hang out so I can see them. But how did she get the job at the commercial place if she has a record of misuse of company funds?” That was incredibly puzzling. I hadn’t held a job for which I had had to fill out an application in a long time, but even I knew a record of misusing company funds would be a black mark on an application for employment.
“I’ll have to do some more digging. Maybe she was able to convince them that she was a changed person, so it wasn’t an issue any longer. Maybe the court sealed the record. It doesn’t show when the misuse of funds happened, only that it did. I’ll look into it more.”
“I told Letty that I need to find Burton, and I also planned to make the rounds and try to dig up some dirt on Mrs. Petrovski and other people, but I think I’ll go help Letty instead and talk with her. The thing is that we have another potentially serious matter on our hands. Apparently, we’ve lost contact with Bethany, who should have been back to work by now.”
“I’ve been told to take another break today from the job, so I’ll be here if you need me. Good luck out there.” He flipped me a salute.
“Good luck in here,” I said, doing the same thing.
After hustling back out the door, I got into my car and called Letty. My phone battery was going to be dead soon, given how much I was using this thing, and I hadn’t even gotten to Burton yet.
“Jason Huntington,” I said when she answered.
“Yeah, that’s the boyfriend’s name. How did you get it before I did? I thought you didn’t know who to ask, and that’s why you had me ask Caleb.”
“Wait, are you saying Audra’s ex-boyfriend is Jason Huntington?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that what you’re saying?”
“No.” I drew out the word, my mind pinging all over the place. “I’m saying that Jason Huntington is Bethany’s boyfriend and contact person.”
“Strange coincidence?” she asked, her skepticism coming through the phone loud and clear.
I shared the same feeling. “I don’t think so, but let’s call him to check things out. I’ll get back to you soon. I was going to come over and join you at the house, but I think, as a concerned citizen, I need to get this information to Burton.”
She snorted. “Good luck with that.”
“Yeah, thanks.” We hung up, and I sat there for a minute. So Jason was Audra’s ex and Bethany’s future. How had those two women felt about the way their lives had overlapped? More information kept coming in that suggested that Audra was not at all the person I had thought she was, so was it safe to say that she might have hated Bethany for being with her ex? If Audra had tried to rub her relationship with Caleb in her ex’s nose by seeking to parade around with Caleb at the two men’s apartment complex, then it wasn’t hard to imagine that Audra might not like her ex’s new woman, who might drive her ex to distraction and lessen her jealousy.
Bethany was a sweet kid. I knew that for sure, especially since Letty liked her, and I trusted Letty implicitly. Besides, I’d already run a background check on her, so unless she was super good at hiding things, she did not have a rap sheet. But if Audra had caught her out at the mansion, taking pictures, and had taunted her enough, would Bethany have killed her to shut her up?
Did I have a murderer on my payroll?
Before I got too far ahead of myself, I reviewed the facts and put together a mental checklist of what to say when I spoke with Burton. I would speculate. I would not hypothesize, unless he asked me to.
But I did know that Burton should be at the station. I rang over there and got Yolanda, Letty’s friend who was filling in for Suzy. After some small talk, I asked for Burton and was patched right through. That was quite different from Suzy’s normal efforts of protecting Burton from the likes of people like me.
“What now, Tallie?”
“As a concerned citizen, I’d like to share some information with you.”
He sighed but then told me to hold on while he got a pen.
I spilled it all out for him, letting him know that I appreciated the call about the car and his concern for my safety.
“I shouldn’t ever worry. You’d probably survive a massive nuclear war, like a cockroach.”
“Grouchy, are we?” I didn’t take offense, since I knew he had a lot going on right now.
“Overworked is what we are, and it’s not getting any better. I have got to figure this thing out, and you keep handing me tidbits that I should be able to get myself. It’s appreciated, believe me, but it’s also frustrating.”
“Do you want me to stop?” Not that I would, but I felt it was appropriate to at least show him some courtesy by asking.
“No, don’t stop, or this might become a cold case, but please be careful out there. I don’t need someone to find you dead.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
After the call was over, my phone chimed at me. Dad texting. Honestly, what had we done before without this level of communication? When I was little, I had to be at home if I was expecting a phone call, or I could listen to any phone messages when I got home. Cell phones and being available twenty-four/seven could get old, but in instances like this, they were very much appreciated.
But it was my dad texting, so this could be great or not so great. He hadn’t yet given me the lecture about staying out of things, so I kept thinking that this was going to happen at any moment and thus was on edge with anticipation.
But it was a text asking me if I could work a funeral and keep someone out of the room while my dad tried to do his job.
I texted back, asking if I had time to change my clothes. He responded that he would make the time. I could not come in jeans.
Fine then.
When I buzzed up into the apartment for the second time in an hour, I caught Peanut off guard, but no one else.
“Hi again!” I announced.
“I heard you on the stairs,” Max said.
“Oh.” I snickered. “If my dad didn’t need me right now, I bet I’d hear a lecture on my elephant-sounding tendencies.”
“No doubt. What is it this time?”
“We appear to have someone who is causing trouble downstairs, and my dad wants me to keep an eye on him. I have to get dressed quick and get back downstairs.”
“You’re a busy lady, while I’m just hanging out here, doing research and eating your mother’s snickerdoodles.”
“Snickerdoodles? Where are they? Tell me now!”
He pointed at a plate on the counter, and I ran over to it and grabbed a cookie. After shoving the snickerdoodle in my mouth and thoroughly enjoying the cinnamon and sugar greatness, I turned back to him. “Speaking of research . . .” I dug into my closet, thankful I’d done laundry yesterday, so most of my work clothes were clean and ready for the funeral home. “I need you to look up a Jason Huntington.” I rattled off the address and the few things I knew about him. I also handed over the folder with Bethany’s employment info.
“Sure thing,” he said as I whisked into the bathroom, where I threw on my clean clothes and ran a brush through my hair. I didn’t know whom I was going to be handling downstairs, but I figured it didn’t matter. My dad trusted me to do this, and so it would be fine. I could do this. I would do this, and it was good that I had the time.
After hauling tail back out of the bathroom, I gave Max yet one more kiss and pulled the door closed behind me. I took my time getting down the stairs, though, since even though he might need me, my dad might also lecture me if I really made an entrance while sounding like a herd of cattle.
I was at the bottom of the stairs and tucking in the bottom of my shirt when my mom found me.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here. Daddy’s about to blow a gasket. I hate to see him like that. Please be nice and do all you can to keep this guy out of his hair.”
Who was this person? Had I been too quick to think I’d be able to handle the situation to my father’s standards? Before I could start second-guessi
ng myself, I patted her hand, told her it would be fine, and strutted my way out to the front foyer to deal with whatever my dad had for me.
Unfortunately, I came face-to-face with Preston Prescott and almost immediately turned back around.
“Tallie, thanks so much for coming down.” Bud Graver gripped my upper arm when I was in mid-turn, and swiveled me right back in front of one of my biggest nightmares. “If you could answer Mr. Prescott’s questions, I’m sure it would be a great help, while I handle the funeral next door.”
I cleared my throat and squelched my urge to yell and smiled. “Of course, Dad. We’ll talk later.” I gave him the evil eye, but he either missed it or it didn’t affect him, as his smile did not change. He walked away then, leaving me with a nemesis I hadn’t had to interact with on a steady basis for years. Now I couldn’t seem to get rid of him.
“I don’t want you,” Preston said instead of hello.
I had better manners. “It’s nice to see you again.” Even though you are the one who tried to ruin my chances of cleaning your aunt’s house, you jerk. Fortunately, that was said only in my head.
“It is not, and you know it. I have some questions only your father can answer, if he’d just take a moment to help me.”
“While I’m sure he’d like to do that, we have a funeral going on. Can I show you into the office? I’ll get us some coffee, and then we can talk. Anything you need to ask, I can probably answer.”
He gave me a skeptical look. I didn’t blame him for that one. I didn’t know much about how things ran around here, but I’d try. And he wouldn’t know if I gave the wrong answer, anyway.
I held my hand out in front of me to show him the direction of the office. My mother stepped out of the kitchen at that moment, and I asked her for coffee for two. She had a horrible look on her face until Preston turned, and then she was all smiles.
“Of course, of course. Would you like some cookies too?”
What I wouldn’t give for another snickerdoodle. “Yes, please. We’ll be in the office.”
“Coming right up.”
“Hopefully, your mother is a better hostess than you used to be,” Preston muttered.
