by Misty Simon
Most vehicles would wait for our line of cars to pass, not wanting to get caught in the middle of a funeral procession. Today one car did not, and its tires squealed as the driver got right in front of one of our cars. I shook my head, knowing there was nothing I could do about that and it would just come down on their head. Karma was only a jerk if you were.
After about ten minutes, I pulled up along the curb of the service road at the cemetery and parked the hearse. The pallbearers got out of the two cars behind me with a chorus of slamming doors, and we moved the coffin smoothly out of the rear of the hearse. I didn’t have any other part to play in the burial, so I got back in the hearse. I’d wait until the pastor had begun the burial service before I pulled out of the service road and onto the street to freedom. I’d done my duty for the day. I could soon go back and hang with Max.
Then again, when I checked my phone, I saw that Max had texted that he was going back to work and would see me later. So scratch hanging with Max. Maybe I’d see how the ladies were doing with the cleaning. I needed to do something until I could call Burton and ask what the heck was going on. I could call him now, but I was afraid that would be crossing the concerned-citizen line and going straight into nosey-parker territory, which my cousin Matt had recently accused me of doing.
I turned on the engine, engaged my seat belt, checked the rearview mirror, and had about two seconds to register that something or someone was in the back of the hearse before I felt a very hard jab of a cold metal object to the back of my head.
Chapter Seventeen
I’d never felt the barrel of a gun anywhere on my body. I had certainly never felt one on the back of my head, no matter how many times my ex-husband had threatened to kill me because I irritated him. But even I thought the object was a little too big and a little too cold to be a gun, once my brain started working.
I looked in the rearview mirror and could just make out the shape of a cravat. Not a bow tie, not a tie, not an ascot, but a cravat. Either that or the man behind me was wearing some other kind of neck adornment made of soft material.
“Really, Preston? Is that a freaking can of soda?” Inside I was shaking, because even with a can of soda, he could do some damage, but this was Preston, and as much as he could be a jerk, he was also a cowardly bully. You stood up to him, and he backed down or trounced off.
The cold cylinder was removed from my head with a sloshing noise, which that affirmed my guess that it was indeed a soda can, but he did not refrain from leaning menacingly over the seat.
“Don’t tempt me to hit you with this, Tallie Graver. I’m on the run for my life, and you’re going to help me, or I swear I’ll hurt you and your petty little amateur-sleuthing behind.”
Okay then. “What on earth do you think I can do, and how did you get in here?”
The walkie-talkie on the console squawked, and Preston and I both froze.
“Tallie, you okay in there? I need you to head home. The hearse has to be serviced, and Michael is picking it up in an hour.” Michael was one of the other drivers for Graver’s Funeral Home.
“I have to answer, Preston, or my dad will send someone over here to find out what’s going on.” Then again, maybe I should have let him, and then I could have hauled off and whacked Preston myself before scrambling out of the car. I didn’t know what I’d hit him with, but it was worthwhile consideration.
“Fine. Answer it,” he grumbled. “But no telling about me. I will hurt you.”
I had no doubt about that, since his aunt had said he’d killed Audra and rolled her in the carpet. Now my shaking went to my hands, instead of just staying in my abdomen. Preston noticed.
“Good. We understand each other. Keep that fear, Tallie. You’re going to need it in a moment.”
I picked up the walkie-talkie and depressed the switch. “All’s fine here, Dad. I was just making a call before getting on the road. Wanted to make sure I didn’t break any laws on my way back to the shop.”
“Um, okay. I’ll see you when I get home. Just leave the keys in the hearse when you get there. Michael knows how to find them.”
“Okay. See you. Love you. Bye.” And I let go of the button. I could have screamed for help; I could have yelled something about needing to be saved. But I really thought Preston was not going to hurt me. Then again, I’d also thought I wouldn’t have to endure the customary bad-guy monologue, yet I seemed to be right in the middle of that, after all.
Now I just had to figure out how to thwart him, as I had the others before handing them over to the police.
“Drive,” he said in a low voice that brought the shivers back.
I would survive this. I would, and then I would beat the crap out of this guy for scaring me.
I put the hearse in drive, took the road slowly, and made a full stop at the end of the service road. “Where to?”
“Turn left. We can go to the cemetery up the road, that Lincoln one.”
I knew exactly where he was talking about, but I didn’t want to go. It was secluded, out in the middle of nowhere and on a dead-end road. It had been a place of burial for hundreds of people of color from 1806 until the end of the Civil War. It was a site of great historical significance, and the Vietnam vets in our area had started taking care of it to make sure it was given all the glory and honor it deserved. But since it was a Sunday, it was likely to be deserted. Which might work for Preston, but most certainly not for me.
But the road either way was clear. I had to decide what to do. He might have used a can of soda to threaten me, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have something else to hurt me with if I tried to challenge him and go a different way. I also gave brief consideration to speeding and then slamming on the brakes to throw him off balance, but the hearse didn’t stop that fast.
So I turned to the left and hoped for the best.
It took only about three minutes to get to the cemetery. The area was well cared for and beautiful, but sad. It hadn’t seen any new residents in years, and the headstones showed age but also care. It was beautiful. I just hoped I wasn’t about to become a new resident.
“Move over,” he said from behind me when I pulled to a stop.
This skirt was not exactly the best outfit in which to slide over the console, but I did my best. He scrambled into the front. I had hoped for a second that he would get out the back, open the front door, and get in. I would have locked the doors in a split second, then sped off.
It was not to be, though. I did, however, take a second to grab my cell phone and turn the recorder on as he fell over the front seat and tried to get himself organized in the driver’s seat.
“Okay,” he said breathlessly. He straightened his cravat and then smoothed down his hair.
“What do you want? And why do you think I am going to give it to you when you just hearse-jacked me?”
“You always did get straight to the point, even when you were a vapid airhead.”
“Look, we’re not here to make small talk. You kidnapped me with a can of soda and then made me lie to my father, and I have less than an hour before I have to have this beast back to the funeral home, or I’m going to get in trouble. So what do you want? I highly doubt you wanted to give me something to drink to quench my thirst.” Although, on second thought, I could really use some caffeine right now. “Hand over the can.” I stuck my palm out and waited for him to do what he was going to do.
Surprisingly, he laughed and handed over the soda. No caffeine in it, but it would do in a pinch.
“Now talk,” I said as I cracked open the tab.
He closed his eyes and rested his head back on the seat. I was very tempted to bean him with the Sprite. However, now my curiosity was getting the better of me. I wanted to know what he thought I could do to get him out of answering for a crime that his aunt had turned him in for. I certainly couldn’t hide him, and I couldn’t clear his name if he had done it. I wasn’t going to say I had killed Audra to get him out of trouble. So what did he want?
<
br /> He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at me. “I didn’t do it.”
“That’s what they all say.”
His neck went red, and a vein throbbed in his temple. Okay, maybe I had pushed it too far, too fast.
“I swear to you, I didn’t do it. I don’t know why someone told Burton that I did, but I swear I did not kill Audra, and I need you to help me clear my name.”
“I’ll reference again the hearse-jacking.” Interesting, though, that he didn’t know it was his aunt who had turned him in. I debated whether to tell him or not and decided in the end that it was not info he needed. Plus, I wasn’t going to be the one who was blamed if I told him and he went after her. Better to keep it to myself and see where this went.
“Come on, Tallie. I know that we’ve had our differences.”
I snorted, because differences was a mild word and didn’t speak to all the times he had been rude and to his most recent attempt to get me disqualified for a job that I wanted for my crew.
“Okay, fine. More than differences. I’ve been a jerk, a scoundrel, a bastard, if you want, but right now I swear to you that I am not a murderer. I need help to get the real killer, or he or she will still be out there running around, capable of taking another life and maybe eager to do it again, having gotten away with this one.”
Shoot. Now he was speaking to my curiosity, and I could almost feel myself leaning toward him. It was like when I didn’t want to adopt Peanut, and yet I took her with me. And that had worked out okay, except for when I didn’t have any room to sleep on my own bed, or when she drooled on my clothes a moment before I had to get out the door. But all in all, it had worked out. And I really didn’t want a real murderer to get away.
“Explain to me how you think I can clear your name.”
He sighed and flicked his thigh. “I don’t have a clue. I just know that I didn’t do it. I don’t even know how she was killed. I don’t have an alibi, though, since I had left the house and had just driven around.”
“Why did you need to drive around?” I turned more fully toward him, tucking my feet under my rear end.
“I just had a lot to think about. Aunt Marg is selling all these places, but they need so much work before they can go. This business opportunity isn’t going to be around forever, and the longer I wait, the more I’m going to have to pay.” Tugging on his chin, he groaned. “There’s just so many things that are wrong with this. And I don’t know where to start.”
Neither did I, to be honest. So I shrugged. I was curious, sure, but I didn’t want to be involved with this guy. However, an idea was forming in my head, and it would take some serious maneuvering on my part to see it to fruition.
“Where did you drive?” I asked to keep the conversation rolling.
“I don’t even know. I was just wandering around. Of course, I didn’t see a single person while I was out. I eventually went back to the house.”
“When was that?”
He hesitated, making me wonder why. “That’s not important. Besides, I don’t remember. I just know I did go back there, and then I went home. That I can verify, but other than that, I have time unaccounted for.”
“I can’t do anything with that at the moment, Preston. I mean, you have unaccounted time, and someone has said they know you were the one who killed Audra. Why would they have said that?” I really needed to get out of the car. My legs were cramping, and the skirt was cutting off my circulation. “If I promise not to go anywhere, can we take this outside? I need fresh air to think.”
“You promise not to go anywhere?”
“I do. You don’t have to accept my word for it, but I’m getting out no matter what you say. You want my help, then this is my game now.”
He growled, and I didn’t care. I opened the door before he could hit the automatic locks, then got out and stretched my legs. I took a couple of steps back and forth and was very happy that I had chosen the skirt with the pockets. There was a chance that I wouldn’t catch all the conversation—I knew that—but I had to get out of the car with my phone so I could continue to run the recording app.
He met me around the side, and we sat on the hood of the hearse. I kept my phone in my hand as I put it in a pocket, but I held my hand over it. I didn’t cover the microphone at the bottom and hoped that would be enough to continue catching the conversation.
“So tell me what someone thinks they have on you,” I said.
“I don’t even know.” He shook his head. “There’s nothing they could have, as far as I can tell. I don’t even know why they think it was me at all.”
“But they have enough to make Burton come for you.”
“I overheard two of the men at my gentlemen’s club talking about it when I was in the restroom. Someone started a rumor that the cops should be looking for me, and they were discussing that it wouldn’t surprise them if I’d sunk that low. I waited for them to leave, and then I snuck out the back door. I hid in my house for a little while, then thought I had to get out of town. Leave until the threat died down and they found the right person.”
“I’m pretty sure they stop looking when they find the person they think did it,” I said, looking out over the grounds and into the trees. There was no way I’d be able to make it through the trees and away from him in my heels. Heck, even in tennis shoes, I couldn’t outrun many people. Especially those who were fit and trim, like Preston.
I looked down into my pocket and snuck a peek at my phone, and it was still recording, though nothing useful was actually being said. I did, however, also notice that my hour was slipping away. It was not going to be possible to get back to the funeral home on time if I didn’t get moving soon.
“I’m still not sure what you want me to do, Preston. I can’t clear your name if I have nothing to work with, and quite honestly, I still don’t understand why you think I would do this.”
“Because I’m desperate. I might be a jerk, but you always like to figure these things out. I was going to ask you to look into it before I was accused. I liked Audra. I would never have killed her.”
“How much did you like her?” I thought about my initial gut reaction to the fact that he was the one who had put that ring on her finger. He had denied it before, but with Letty’s info, I could see if he’d be honest with me this time. And I still wanted to know what he had done when he went back to the house after Audra was killed. I had noticed that he’d sidestepped the question altogether.
His eyes glassed up, and he sniffed. “I wanted to marry her, if you really want to know. We’d talked about it. Getting her that job was one of the things she wanted before she would say yes. When Aunt Marg brought you in, Audra was extremely angry and threatened to cut me off altogether. That was why I ruined your room when you were competing for the cleaning job at the mansion. I had to be able to ensure that Audra got that job, or we’d be over.”
“Why would you want to be with someone who would hold that over you and make sure you stayed in line, or they would leave you?”
“Come on,” he said. “Tell me you don’t know what it’s like to stay with someone who you know is wrong for you.”
Touché. “This is not about me and my disastrous marriage to Waldo.”
He chuckled. “Do you know how much it pissed him off that you called him that?”
“Yes, I do, and that’s precisely why I did it.” I was softening toward him. If he’d loved Audra—no matter how much I didn’t understand it—then why would he have killed her? “Look, I have an idea, but you’re probably not going to like it.” I wasn’t going to be able to trick him into anything, and trying would only get me hurt. So far he hadn’t threatened me again. I wanted to keep it that way.
He turned toward me eagerly. “So you’ll clear my name?”
“Well, it’s not going to seem like that when I tell you my idea, but in the end I believe it will get both you and me what we want.” It would take some fast talking on my part in the end, but I was confident I could co
nvince him.
“So what is it?”
Chapter Eighteen
And so, after that fast talking I was confident I could pull off, I found myself at the police station, with the hearse parked around back. I’d called Michael and asked him to give me a half hour more to get the hearse back to the funeral home. He’d said that was fine, since he was finishing up another job, anyway.
I was currently standing at the receptionist’s desk, waiting for Burton to come out of his office. I’d heard him grumble after Yolanda, Letty’s friend, had gleefully announced my name and winked at me.
Finally, Burton came out to the front. I’d asked to be taken back to his office so that we could do this in private, but apparently, he did not think enough of me to give me that courtesy. Whatever.
“What now, Tallie? Some more concerned-citizen information?”
I frowned at him. “I seriously think this would be better done in your office.”
Yolanda frowned and shook her head. I was just going to have to disappoint her. I walked past Burton and headed for his office. He could either follow me or remain standing out in the waiting room, like an idiot.
He chose to follow me. Thankfully.
I sat down in the visitor’s chair in his office and waited for him to come in and close the door. Once he did that, he sat in his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin.
“This had better be good. I have a man to find for murder, if I can just figure out where the heck he is.”
“Is it good that I have Preston out in my hearse, and he’s ready to turn himself in?” I said.
He jumped out of his chair. “You left him out in the car without any supervision? He might be gone by now.”
“I zip-tied him to the bars in the back that keep the coffin in place.”
He laughed. Like an actual real laugh that shook his shoulders. “Why on earth did I even bother to doubt you?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.” I took in the office and looked over the books on his shelves and the penholder on his desk. He had mountains of paperwork next to his flat-screen monitor. He looked like he’d been here for hours, and his shirt was rumpled. If I could help, then maybe he would be able to sleep or at least go home for a little bit.
