Whispering Pines Mysteries Box Set 3

by Shawn McGuire

  “All of that is correct. I was out on a call when they got here, so I’m not sure of the exact time of their arrival. My sister, Rosalyn O’Shea, told me it was around three o’clock.”

  “At what point did you suspect that the woman with Mr. Price was not Camille Gordon?”

  “Early Friday evening, about seven o’clock, the woman who called herself Millie came up to my attic apartment. She seemed to want to talk, so I sat with her, and the further into the conversation we went, the more I started to feel like she wasn’t being truthful with me.”

  “What did you feel she was being untruthful about?”

  I loaded a cracker with a piece of cheese and replied, “I became concerned that Mr. Price may have taken her from the Madison area without her consent.”

  “You felt he had kidnapped her?”

  “That was my concern, yes.”

  “What did you do then?”

  “I called my former captain, Russ Grier, at the Madison Police Department. He and I have a good relationship, so I knew he’d help me. He was out of the building when I initially called around seven forty-five but returned my call at approximately eight thirty. I asked if he had any information on a Camille ‘Millie’ Gordon.”

  “What did you mean by any information?”

  “I wondered if friends or family had reported her missing. That’s when he revealed that Ms. Gordon was in a local hospital recovering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.”

  Atkins jotted notes on his legal pad and then asked, “Do you know who shot her?”

  “Captain Grier indicated the incident occurred in Jonah Price’s apartment in Madison and that Ms. Gordon reported Mr. Price had fired the weapon.”

  “What was your reaction when you heard that?”

  “Honestly, I was shocked.”

  “You dated Mr. Price for a number of years, correct?”

  Beside me, Tripp shifted positions. “I did. For seven years. I thought I knew him pretty well, so when Captain Grier implied that he was responsible, I couldn’t believe it.”

  Atkins held my gaze for a moment. “Do you believe it now?”

  I blew out a breath. “Yes. I know for a fact that he shot Ms. Gordon.”

  “Let’s step back a little. Tell me what happened after you spoke with Captain Grier.”

  “I wanted proof, not just the captain’s statement that the woman in my house wasn’t who she claimed to be. I needed to see the face of the real Camille Gordon.”

  ~~~

  After ending the call with Captain Grier, I opened a browser on my laptop and with shaking hands searched for Camille Gordon of Madison, Wisconsin. Dozens of pictures of her and Jonah together at various city and state events popped up within seconds. The woman on the screen looked somewhat like the woman upstairs, but they were not the same person. They both had dark hair, blue eyes, and round faces. The woman upstairs was taller, though. I’d only seen my Millie in slippers or flat-soled boots, but her head still came even with Jonah’s ears. The woman in the pictures only came to his shoulder, and I assumed she wore heels to events like the ones pictured. Why would Jonah bring this woman here and pass her off as his girlfriend?

  Regardless of the answer to that question, I had my confirmation. There was an imposter in my house. This also meant that the man who held my heart for many years had become a stranger in a relatively short time.

  I needed to make sure Jonah didn’t leave. I also needed to talk to Millie or whatever her name was. For that, I’d need Tripp’s help. My hands shook even harder as I reached for the doorknob. My breathing was shallow, and I felt a little warm. Then my vision narrowed. Before I passed out, I sat in a guest chair, put my head between my knees, and forced myself to take slow, deep breaths.

  Meeka army crawled between my feet and looked up at me. When I didn’t reach for her right away, she pushed her nose against my hand.

  “I’ll be okay, girl. I just need a minute.”

  All of this would be far easier if Reed was here. There was no way he could have gotten here, though, even if I’d called him the moment Jola had summoned me to Unity. I had to handle this on my own. No, not on my own. Tripp, River, and Dad would help me.

  “I can do this.”

  Meeka gave a scolding bark.

  I chuckled. “We can do this.”

  The day I brought Meeka home, Jonah was convinced she was going to bite his ankles. Nothing I said changed his mind. Of course, her habit of sniffing around his feet hadn’t helped. She could help me now by following him around the house. The thought of his ankles getting bitten would keep Jonah off guard or in his room altogether.

  Feeling better, I slowly lifted my head. When that proved to be okay, I sat up straight. When everything remained in focus and level, I decided the threat of me fainting had passed. I found Tripp still in the great room and motioned for him to join me in the office.

  “What’s going on?” He frowned and put the back of his hand to my forehead. “You’re a little pale. Are you okay?”

  “Got a little woozy for a second. Just stress. I’m okay now.”

  “You don’t look okay. Was that your captain on the phone?”

  I repeated everything Captain Grier had told me. “He’s sending a squad up here once the roads are clear. We need to keep Jonah in the house until then. If he suspects I know the truth, he could try to run.”

  “He won’t get far in this weather if he does. What else?”

  “I have to talk to ‘Millie.’ She knows more than she’s saying and was clearly hiding something when we spoke earlier. Maybe it was about the real Camille Gordon getting shot, or it could be something else altogether. Either way, I have to get her alone again and make sure she’s okay.”

  “Jonah won’t like you trying to talk to her alone.”

  I nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. If he gives me too hard of a time, I’ll tell him that I know what he did to the real Millie and hold him in one of the rooms.”

  Tripp smiled. He liked that idea.

  I fought with my own grin. “I don’t think we’ll need to lock him up. Whatever he came here for, he hasn’t gotten it yet.”

  Tripp’s smile faded, and he turned serious again. “Any idea what that thing might be?”

  “Not a clue.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “I don’t want to risk upsetting Rosalyn, Briar, or Morgan, even though the two witches are probably tougher than the rest of us combined.”

  “Your sister is no wimp either.”

  True. Since she and I had a heart to heart about the time she was kidnapped back in high school, she’d become a different person. Confident and determined instead of spoiled and lazy. There was no real reason to keep this from any of them. However, as the saying went, too many cooks spoiled the broth. Three helpers, plus Meeka, was fine. Six might end up tripping over each other and causing more harm than good.

  “Pull Dad and River aside and tell them what’s going on. Until the squad arrives, I want one of us to know Jonah’s whereabouts at all times. Make a plan and take shifts or whatever.”

  “And if he does try to make a break for it?”

  Good question. “Guess I better strap on my Glock.”

  Tripp gave me a look that said, “Really?”

  Keeping the public safe was my first job. I’d do what I had to do.

  Chapter 22

  Deputy Atkins nodded, appreciative of my resourcefulness, I guessed. “You enlisted the help of those already in the house. How much did you tell them?”

  “Tripp knew all the details. He told them about the shooting in Madison and about the car in the garage.” I looked at him next to me. “I trusted that Dad and River wouldn’t say anything to anyone.”

  “Why did you feel that way?” Atkins asked.

  “Because I know them.”

  His expression turned skeptical. “Didn’t you feel you knew Mr. Price as well?”

  Ouch. Fair point, though. “I hadn’t seen Jo
nah in over a year. Mr. Carr lives here, so I see him every day. I trust him enough to give him free reign in my home.” I held up a hand. “Before you say it, no, I haven’t seen much of my father in the past two years, but I’ve spent a good deal of time with him this past month and trust him implicitly as well. On top of him staying here at the B&B with me, we’ve communicated quite a bit via email and video conferencing over the last couple of months. I also believe that if I’m asking people to potentially put themselves in danger, they should understand the situation.”

  That was far more of an explanation than was necessary and probably came across as defensive, but that’s exactly how I felt at the moment. Atkins accepted the answer without further comment. He wasn’t accusing me, Dad, River, or Tripp of anything. Just testing me to see my response. Probably wondering about my mental state as well.

  “All right,” Atkins continued, “you’d enlisted the help of Mr. Bennett, your father, and Mr. Carr. Then what?”

  ~~~

  While Tripp went off to formulate a plan with Dad and River, I went up to the apartment to get my weapon. I hadn’t needed to carry it since . . . when? Christmas? Whispering Pines made it a little more than three weeks without the sheriff needing to get involved with anything. Good, but my goal was for it to be like other sleepy small towns where nothing major happened for months or even years.

  I opened the drawer of my nightstand and found the gun case right where I’d always kept it. I pulled the Glock out and held it in my hand. It felt heavier than normal. Was I really prepared to use this weapon on Jonah?

  Are you confident about what’s going on in your home? Jayne in my head asked.

  “No. I don’t have a clue what’s going on with either him or pretend Millie.”

  Then you need to be prepared for anything. You have nine other people in this house. One of them an unconscious accident victim, one an elderly woman, and one is pregnant.

  “Don’t discount the elderly and pregnant ones. I wouldn’t want to tangle with them.”

  Jayne in my head went quiet. Her point made and received.

  Meeka had followed me upstairs and, after realizing I was talking to the voice in my head and not her, sat on her cushion and watched as I retrieved my waist holster from my dresser drawer and clipped it to the waistband of my jeans. After ensuring that the magazine was full, I inserted it into the Glock and put the Glock into the holster. The whole thing sat at the small of my back and wasn’t obvious, but the baggy sweatshirt I wore made it all but invisible. I needed to be prepared but didn’t need to freak out my houseguests in the process.

  By the time I’d geared up, both Meeka and I were in full cop mode.

  “I’m hoping you don’t have to do anything, girl. Just be alert.”

  She wagged her tail as though understanding every word I said. Sometimes I was sure she did.

  While she went off to patrol the house, I went in search of Millie. At the bottom of the attic stairs, I ran into Briar.

  “Heading to your room for the night?” I asked her and walked her the few yards down the hall to The Treehouse.

  “Funny how doing nothing all day can make you so tired.” Her words were starting to slur. A sure sign she was ready for bed. “Morgan and I appreciate your hospitality more than we can say, but we’ve got tasks waiting for us at home.”

  She had to mean the plants in their gorgeous atrium. Even on the coldest days, that room was warm and cozy. Maybe once everything was cleared up, I’d go hang out there and pretend I was in Hawaii with Tripp and his aunt and uncle.

  “That’s as good a reason as any to head to bed,” I told her. “This storm should have blown over by the time you wake up. Sleep well, Briar.”

  I turned away, and she took hold of my wrist. “I’m not sure what’s going on in this house, but we can feel the tension. Morgan and I are going to enhance those protection spells we cast earlier. Don’t mistake that for us not having faith in you. Whatever this is, we know you’ve got it under control.”

  My eyes suddenly stung. “Do I?”

  She took my hands in her strong, garden-tough ones. “You do. Since arriving in this village, you’ve been tested more than anyone deserves to be, and you’re meeting these tests with the strength of a warrior. I know you’ll be fine in the end.”

  A tear spilled over at that pronouncement. “Thank you, Briar. Your faith in me means a lot.”

  Before letting me go, she added almost prophetically, “Keep your wits about you. This is not the time to let your heart lead the way.”

  Before I could ask what that meant, she gave a little finger wave and disappeared into her room. Considering the man I used to love was wanted on suspicion of shooting his girlfriend, keeping my heart out of the decision-making process seemed like excellent advice.

  I went to The Side room, to the left of Briar’s, and listened outside the door before knocking. Jonah and Millie were both in there. I couldn’t hear their words, but the tone was interesting. She sounded almost businesslike. He seemed a bit more frantic. Time to learn the truth about this woman. I knocked firmly.

  The moment Jonah saw me standing there, his expression went from impatient to confident. “What a nice surprise.”

  “I’m actually here to talk with Millie.”

  He stepped aside and held out an arm. “Come on in.”

  Millie, or whatever her name was, stood across the room by the desk in the corner, her eyes wide and unblinking. She looked afraid, like she was about to be busted for something. What might that be? And it definitely looked like trouble in paradise. Both the queen bed and the bottom bunk bed had been slept in.

  “Alone,” I told Jonah. “She and I were talking earlier and didn’t get to finish. It was a private conversation.”

  Jonah’s slightly smug smile turned stone cold. “I don’t think so.”

  Tripp was right. Because he didn’t want Jonah to talk to me alone, Jonah wasn’t going to let me talk to Millie alone.

  “I wasn’t asking for your permission.” I looked past him at the woman in light-blue flannel lounge pants and a loose cream-colored tunic sweater. “Millie?”

  She shrugged. “Okay. Sure.”

  Jonah grabbed her hand as she walked past. “I need to speak with Jayne for a second. You can wait in the hall.”

  “There’s a reading nook at the top of the stairs,” I suggested.

  She nodded. “I saw it earlier. Looks comfy. I’ll go there.”

  “Have a seat.” Jonah pointed at a lounge chair across the room in the corner diagonal from me. I took the hardback desk chair instead and dragged it over near the door.

  He gave me a tight smile. “Always a cop, aren’t you? Always have to be able to see the whole room or be closest to the exit.”

  I shrugged. “That’s part of my training. As a cop, I should be aware of what’s going on wherever I am. For anyone, it’s always smart to know where the nearest exit is. Sometimes it’s smart to be as close to that exit as possible.”

  He frowned. “Are you afraid of me, Jay?”

  I leaned against the back of the chair. The pressure of the Glock against my lower back comforted me. “Not afraid. Concerned about you would be a better way to say it.”

  He ran a hand through his already mussed hair and laughed. “Concerned? Why would you be concerned about me?”

  I pointed at the same chair across the room, indicating he should sit. He chose the corner of the bed closest to me.

  “Are you finally going to tell me the truth about how you ended up in Whispering Pines?”

  He pulled one leg up and casually rested his foot on his knee. “I already told you—”

  “You told me earlier that you lied. Let’s not backtrack. Besides, I knew you were lying from the start. You’ve lived in Madison your whole life. You know about roads that aren’t on GPS and have driven from Madison to Minneapolis, Madison to Chicago, and Madison to Green Bay dozens of times without directions. I didn’t for one moment believe you intended to
go to Minneapolis but took a wrong turn. Even if you accidentally started toward Green Bay, that’s northeast of Madison. Whispering Pines is north and slightly west.” I paused, letting my scolding soak in. “Now, tell me how you ended up here.”

  I sat back with my hands resting in my lap and waited him out. I could see his lawyer/politician brain churning for the right way to spin this.

  After a minute, he blurted, “I think I hurt someone.”

  Vague, but it was a start. “Who do you think you hurt?”

  Pause. “A friend.”

  This could take a while. “What friend? How did you hurt—” I almost said her. Like holding on to the manner of death because only the killer would have that information, I didn’t want to reveal my knowledge too early. I covered my near mistake lamely with a cough. “What did you do? How did you hurt this person?”

  He hesitated again. This time, for so long I prodded, “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

  He perked up. “That’s why I came here. So you could help me.”

  Like the opportunity to help him was something I’d been sitting around waiting for. “What happened?”

  “We were having a discussion that turned into an argument.” His head dropped forward. “I told you about losing my job and what’s going to happen with the apartment.” I nodded. “I’ve never been this stressed, and I don’t have a clue what I’m going to do. To be honest, I sort of skated through college. You know my grades weren’t that great.”

  He barely passed. But why split hairs? “I remember. Did you skate through on the job at the firm too? Is that why they fired you?”

  He nodded.

  Wish I could say I was surprised. “What does this have to do with the friend and the argument?”

  He refused to look at me as he explained, “This person knew all about my recent . . . failures? Losses? Whatever you want to call them, they knew and pushed and pushed me about it. How had I become such a loser? What was I going to do now? How was this going to look to the political society? Finally, I blew up. And I’m pretty sure I hurt them.”