Hidden Deception: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  “Mrs. Nichols, this is Dan Headman. I just wanted you to know that there’s a contractor coming to the house in the next half hour to look at the foundation. Do you want to meet him there?”

  “Um… I guess.”

  “I think it’s a good idea to hear what he has to say. It will help you know if you still want the house.”

  “Okay,” I agreed. But it was hard to think straight.

  “Good. See you then.”

  We disconnected, and I put my phone away. After a couple of deep breaths, I backed out of my parking space and drove to the exit. Swallowing my panic, I poured all of my concentration into watching the road and driving safely to the house, since I was still so shaken up.

  By the time I got there, I’d calmed down, but I couldn’t help the worry that froze my blood. I didn’t think Uncle Joey would involve the police, and I picked up that he sure didn’t want me there. So what was he going to do with the body? More important, who was Yuri, and why had he killed Zack? I hadn’t been there long enough to pick up any details, except for the double-crossing part.

  It served to remind me of something I’d tried to forget all too often. That Uncle Joey was a mob-boss, and he did things that were illegal and dangerous. He wanted to kill the person responsible for Zack’s death, even declaring an all-out war on him, which didn’t bode well for me. In fact, I should probably stay as far away from Uncle Joey as I could.

  Chapter 4

  I got out of the car and realized I was the first one to arrive. The house looked just the same, but right now, I wasn’t real anxious to go around to the back and hear a crying child, so I stayed put. The next-door neighbor came out of her house to get her mail and noticed me standing there. She smiled and waved.

  “Are you looking at the house?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “It’s a nice place.”

  “Yeah, it is. But I think something’s wrong with the foundation.”

  “Really? That’s too bad.”

  She seemed interested in talking, and I thought now might be a good time to ask her about the people who’d lived there before. Moving closer to her porch, I asked, “Have you lived here long?”

  “Yes. Raised my family here. My oldest two are married and gone, and the youngest is away at college.”

  “Nice. So what can you tell me about the house? My realtor said it had a big renovation about ten years ago.”

  “That’s right,” she agreed. “They pretty much gutted the place and made it over. It didn’t used to have a second story, or those turrets. It was a huge change, but I thought it turned out great. The people that made all the renovations didn’t live there long, though. Which kind of surprised me, but maybe they spent too much money and couldn’t afford it? Anyway, it’s gone through three or four more owners since. The last owners added that porch all the way around the front.”

  “Yeah, I love that part.”

  “It’s really nice,” she agreed.

  “Do you know why the last family moved?”

  She let out a sigh, wondering if she should tell me the truth. I seemed like a nice person, but she didn’t want to scare me off, especially when it was just gossip. On the other hand, she’d want to know if there was something about the place that wasn’t quite right. “A little, but I don’t know if it’s true, so I hate to say anything.”

  “I understand, but I’d really like to know. A house is a big investment, so I’d like to find out everything I can about it in order to make the best decision.”

  “Right,” she agreed, thinking it was her duty to tell me what she could. “The thing is, none of the owners have stayed more than two or three years, which doesn’t make sense to me at all. Especially the last family. They were such a cute couple with three darling, little girls. They loved this house, so when they told me they were moving, I was shocked. One day I asked her why she would pick up and leave her dream home. She finally broke down and told me.”

  She swallowed and wondered how I’d take it, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She leaned closer to me and lowered her voice. “She said that every time it rained, she thought she could hear a child crying. Her husband couldn’t hear it, so she thought it was her imagination, until her three-year-old asked her why the little girl kept crying, and would she please help her.”

  We stared at each other for a moment before the woman shook her head. “You must think I’m crazy. Or that I made it up, but I would never do something like that. I’ve never heard it myself, so I don’t know if it’s true or not.” She shrugged, but she didn’t doubt for a moment that her neighbor believed it.

  “Thanks for telling me. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but I appreciate it.”

  “Sure,” she said, relieved that I didn’t tell her she was off her rocker. She hadn’t even told her husband about it, but there was just something about me that inspired confidence. All at once, she wondered if she’d done the right thing, since I’d probably make a great neighbor… and maybe even be a good friend.

  Just then, a truck pulled in front of the house with a construction logo on the door. “Oh, there’s the man I’ve been waiting for. Hey, thanks again. I’ll let you know what I decide.”

  She nodded, and I turned toward the house. Another car pulled up, and my realtor got out, sending me a friendly wave. We met at the steps to the front porch, where he gave the contractor a more detailed explanation of what we’d found.

  The man grabbed a shovel from the back of his truck, and we all headed to the side of the house. He got right to work and moved some of the dirt away from the foundation, digging down at least a foot. He repeated this exercise two more times by the shrubbery along the wall, then he came back over to us.

  “I think some of the foundation needs to be replaced,” he began. “We’ll have to use a backhoe to dig a trench, but I won’t know the extent of the replacement until I get into it.”

  “Do you know what caused the damage?” Dan asked. “Is there a leak somewhere in the pipes?”

  “It must be something like that. I’ll know better once I get it dug up. Then I can give you a better idea about what’s going on, and you can decide where to go from there. I actually have a crew nearby, so I could send the backhoe over tomorrow morning.”

  “That would be great,” Dan said. “I’ve cleared this with the seller, so it’s no problem on their end.”

  “Could you let me know when you start?” I asked. “I’d like to see what you dig up.” I didn’t want them to miss any human remains, since I was pretty sure they wouldn’t be looking for them.

  The contractor shrugged. “Uh… why don’t you just plan on eight in the morning? I’ll send him over first thing. Then I can work up a bid. But I probably won’t be able to start on it until the week after next.”

  “That’s fine,” I agreed, then I turned to Dan. “Will you be here, too?”

  He shrugged. “I can if you want.”

  “Okay, great. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” I left them there and hurried to my car. I knew Dan didn’t want to come, and he couldn’t understand why I wanted to be there, either. But if we were going to dig up a dead body, I didn’t want to be there alone, and the backhoe guy didn’t count. I felt a little bit guilty about that, but not enough to let him off the hook.

  That reminded me that I’d already seen one dead body today, and I got a little sick to my stomach. Of course, it was only the arm, so I didn’t know if it counted, but it seemed enough for me.

  I checked my watch, realizing that it was earlier than normal for me to head home. In fact, I had an hour before my kids got there, which was just enough time for a relaxing bath.

  That’s when I remembered I needed to talk to Josh’s biology teacher. I’d called the school first thing this morning and found out her open time was from one-forty to two-twenty-five, and it was nearly two o’clock now.

  After the day I’d had, I really didn’t want to go, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Uncle Joey might need me,
and I’d better take care of this while I could. Plus, I didn’t know what tomorrow morning would bring with the backhoe guy, either.

  On that ominous note, I headed toward the school and pulled into the visitor parking lot.

  This school was lots more laid back than Miguel’s, but I still had to go into the office for a hall pass and then find the teacher’s classroom. Of course it was upstairs and, by the time I got there, I only had about ten minutes to chat.

  Mrs. Bartholomew wasn’t too happy to see me. The office had warned her that I was coming, but she didn’t like having her one free class time interrupted. It was bad enough that she had to take all the tests and assignments home to grade, forcing her to work half the night, but this was her planning time, and she wasn’t quite finished.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” I said, not wanting to get on her bad side right off the bat. “I promise this will only take a minute.”

  She smiled and nodded, but she didn’t believe me. I was probably one of those parents who made excuses for her kid’s lack of effort, and then wanted to blame the teacher for not doing her job. It was always someone else’s fault with some parents, and she was sick and tired of it.

  Uh-oh. That sure put me in a tight spot. “As you know, we took Josh out of school for an impromptu trip to Paris, and he’s concerned about his grade. I was just wondering if he could do some kind of extra-credit work to make up for it.”

  She shook her head, thinking that she’d always wanted to go to Paris, but couldn’t afford it, while some kid who probably didn’t even appreciate it got to go on a whim. How unfair was that?

  “That’s nice he got to go,” she began. “But that doesn’t excuse the fact that he missed nearly a week of school. I have a certain outline for the class which I sent out at the beginning of the school year. It clearly states that missing school is only acceptable when caused by sickness or a family emergency. I don’t think a trip to Paris qualifies, do you?”

  Before I could say a word, she continued. “Therefore, I’m not inclined to accept extra-credit or late work. I don’t think you understand that children need to learn that there are consequences for their actions. These are their formative years, and if they don’t learn it now, how will they become productive members of society?”

  I took a breath to answer that question, but she kept right on speaking. “This is an important lesson to learn, and if a child’s grade suffers, then maybe it will make a difference, and they’ll come to see the worth of sacrifice and hard work. I hope that answers your question. I will not accept extra-credit in his case, so I believe we’re done here, unless there’s something else?”

  I understood how overworked she was, but her attitude struck a nerve with me, especially since she wouldn’t even let me explain. She could certainly learn a thing or two about circumstances herself. Not everything in life was as black and white as she wanted to make it.

  “Yes, actually there is,” I said. “I was in Paris at the request of our government. Because of my involvement in stopping a terrorist organization, our government, along with the government of France, offered to bring my family to Paris while I finished up my assignment. If they didn’t have a problem with it, then why do you?”

  Her mouth dropped open in shock. No one had ever spoken to her like that before. Usually her speech worked like a charm and shut people up. The fact that she was already overburdened with work to grade, and papers to read, was the real reason she didn’t want to have to correct one more paper. How could I really be a government agent anyway? Was I telling the truth or just pulling her leg to make her give in?

  “I’m telling the truth,” I said, then took a breath to calm down. Having an argument wouldn’t help me now, and I needed to get on her good side. “But I also know you’re overworked and underpaid. Teachers just don’t get the recognition or appreciation for all they do, and I’m sure you do a wonderful job.

  “I’m also sure you have lots of papers to correct, but since you didn’t have to correct his while he was gone, I’d hope that one extra-credit report wouldn’t be too much of a burden. Besides, doing all the extra-credit homework for most of Josh’s classes is certainly teaching him a lesson about consequences. I think it’s a great way to build his character. What do you say?”

  She didn’t think there was a lot she could say without looking like a total jerk, but I was right about making him do so much catch-up work. It would probably teach Josh, and me, a lesson, since now I’d have to make sure he did it. Just for good measure, she’d make this assignment a little harder as well, since that kept her in the driver’s seat.

  “All right,” she agreed. “I see what you mean. So we’ll do it this way. Since he missed the chapters on human body structure, functions, and systems, have him write a minimum of five to a maximum ten-page report about that.”

  “Okay.” I quickly wrote down the assignment, since I knew I’d forget it before I walked out the door. “Human body structure, functions, and…”

  “Systems. Have him turn it in by Friday, please? That way I can read it over the weekend.” She didn’t add while everyone else is having a day off like she was thinking, but it was certainly in her tone.

  “Great. I’ll let him know. Thanks.” I hurried out the door before she changed her mind, even though at this point, I wasn’t sure I’d done Josh a favor. He might think this was lots worse than going from an A minus to a B minus. Oh well. Too late for that. Now I had to make sure he got this paper done, or it was my neck on the line, and I’d be one of those parents.

  I made it to my car and arrived home about fifteen minutes before the kids got out of school. That gave me fifteen minutes to unwind, which I knew wasn’t going to happen, but at least I could grab a diet soda and kick off my shoes.

  After filling up a glass with crushed ice and pouring a cold can, I got the tickets to the musical out of my purse and put them on the fridge where I wouldn’t lose them, then marked it on my calendar as well. That taken care of, I opened the door to my deck and took a seat on my deck swing.

  Signs of spring surrounded me, with buds on the trees and the lemon-yellow daffodils waving happily in the breeze. The sun peeked from behind the clouds, blanketing the yard in bright light. The mid-fifty-degree temperature left a chill in the air, but also carried the scent of hyacinths and apple blossoms.

  Gazing at the yard I’d spent so many hours working in, a wave of nostalgia washed over me. Did I really want to leave this place? We had so many happy memories here. And moving could be such a pain. Just thinking about all the junk in the garage rafters filled me with dread. On the other hand, it would be nice to get rid of that stuff and start over. Plus, taking a bath in that new master bathroom would be totally worth it.

  Too bad the house was haunted, and I didn’t know if I could live there. And now I had my eight o’clock appointment to look forward to first thing in the morning. My heart sank just thinking about what we might discover. I knew something bad had happened there. And whether we bought the house or not, I hoped I could figure out what it was, so that poor child could find some rest.

  My kids walked in a few minutes later.

  As usual, Josh was starving, so I waited to tell him the ‘good’ news until after he’d eaten a snack. I put the best spin on it that I could, but Josh wasn’t too thrilled.

  “Are you freakin’ kidding me?” he asked. “A ten-page report? That sucks! How am I going to have time to do that along with everything else?”

  “Wait. She said five to ten pages, not ten pages. I’m sure a six-page report would be just fine.”

  “You don’t know her like I do. If she says a maximum of ten pages, that’s how much she expects… at least if you want a good grade.”

  “Wow. Then she’s really a glutton for punishment, because that’s more work for her too.”

  Josh didn’t see the irony of that statement. In fact, he could care less about how much work it was for his teacher, and he thought her main goal in life was to inflict
pain and punishment on her students. With a sigh, he hung his head in defeat. “I guess I’d better get started.”

  As he left for his room, he was thinking he should have just taken the B minus. Now he couldn’t hang out with his friends, or do anything he wanted, until this stupid report was done. Along with all of his other missed assignments. He’d never have a free minute. This sucked! Life was so unfair.

  Savannah watched him go, grateful she wasn’t in Josh’s shoes. She sat down next to me and chatted about her day. Her popularity at school hadn’t waned yet, and she was enjoying every minute of it. Especially the attention she got from some of the boys.

  I just smiled and decided not to stick my nose in and ruin her moment, mostly because she thought I was pretty great, and I kind of liked the fact that she looked up to me. She even helped me fix dinner, which wasn’t too hard since we were having chicken fajitas.

  Chris timed it perfectly, getting home right before dinner. After setting his briefcase down, he joined us in the kitchen and gave me a hug. It felt so good, after the day I’d had, that I held him a little longer than normal. Because of that, his internal alarms rang out loud and clear that something bad had happened to me.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, wondering what trouble I was in now.

  “I’m not in… I’m great.” I shook my head. “Josh isn’t too happy, though.” I explained what was going on with Josh’s teacher, and that was enough to deflect Chris’ concern about me for the moment. We had a nice dinner together as a family, and even Josh’s grumbling couldn’t stop me from enjoying it.

  It wasn’t until later, when we were alone and climbing into bed, that I could tell Chris about my day. I snuggled next to him and began in chronological order to keep things straight, starting with Dimples and the homicide case I was helping him solve, along with the fact that Dimples wanted Chris’ help.

  “The victim’s name is Lincoln Montgomery. He’s a lawyer who actually used to work for your firm. Apparently, he was dismissed over six months ago. But here’s the weird part, he’d kept it a secret from his wife. In fact, his wife thought he was still working with your firm.”