by Jenn Cowan
“Not even Mrs. Bain?”
I chew on my lip because Lana seemed pretty upset about her husband’s passing and to pay someone to steal the autopsy seems unlikely. “I think it’s safe to take Lana off the list for now.”
Cat nods. “Who do you think killed Lindy and Dr. Bain?”
I sigh. “I try to stay objective until I have all the facts. I don’t want to assume anything as to sway me from following the evidence.”
“There is no evidence though. It sounds like all of the evidence was in the autopsy report.”
“True, but we have leads… motives even.”
“But the evidence is crucial, right?”
“It helps, but a confession is better,” I say, winking at her.
“Here, we are,” Margo chimes, entering the room with a tray of steaming hot mugs of hot chocolate. “Help yourselves. I need to go change out of my church dress and get baby Gabriel ready. I won’t be long.” She waves before heading up the stairs.
The front door opens as I reach for a cup of cocoa.
“Margo, are you home? I have the cake. Wanna see it?” Raphael calls up the stairs. He shuts the door and fumbles with the cake box before righting it. He’s dressed in all black again and his hair’s a styled mess, if that makes any sense. He turns and sees us. “Oh, Autumn. Josh. Cat. You’re early. The party isn’t for another couple of hours.”
I stand and walk over to him. “I know. I’m actually here to see you.”
He studies me for a moment then nods toward the kitchen. “Let me just set this down and then we can chat while I prepare the goodie bags.”
“Goodie bags? I thought this was basically an adult party,” I inquire as I follow him into the kitchen.
He laughs as he sets the cake down on the island. “It is. The goodie bags have goodies for adults. Tiny bottles of wine, spa products, chocolates, and a couple of other little surprises. I don’t want to spoil it for you.” He winks at me then grabs some bags from a box on the table and begins to fill them with products. “Now, you must be here to talk about Lindy. Any new developments on her case?”
“A few. Did you hear about Dr. Bain?”
Raphael nods. “It’s just awful. What was he doing at the office after hours?”
“I’m thinking he went to confront the killer.”
Raphael pauses for a moment. “The killer? Dr. Puckett is not a killer, now Dr. Thatcher could be. That man is pure evil. I can’t wait to find the information Lindy had on him. Then I can show Dr. Puckett what an awful man he is and hopefully have enough evidence for Travis to arrest him.”
“Lindy had information about Dr. Thatcher?”
“Lindy had information on practically everyone in town. Even you, missy.”
I frown. “What could she possibly have on me?”
Raphael smirks. “Lindy always wanted to be one step ahead of everyone. Having dirt on people in town gave her the advantage. That woman had some control issues and always wanted to be holding all the cards.”
“What did she have on me?”
He shrugs then lowers his voice, “The last I knew it wasn’t much. Just proof that you’re still in love with Travis.”
I scowl. “No, I’m not.” I hold up my left hand to flash him my ring. “I’m happily married to my best friend.”
“Yet, you still spend an awful lot of time with your ex-boyfriend and have his daughter working for you.”
I roll my eyes. “If people would stop killing people then I wouldn’t have to spend time with my ex-boyfriend and as for Cat, she’s been a godsend in helping us around the office. Lindy was obviously grasping at straws to have something on me.”
“Or she saw what everyone else sees.”
“Which is?”
“You chose the safer man because you’re afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“Giving your heart away to someone who may break it… again. Josh will never break your heart. He’ll never leave you. Never hurt you. Travis was the love of your life yet he made a mistake and has been trying to make it up to you ever since. You just didn’t want to risk having your heart broken again so you convinced yourself you loved Josh.”
I open my mouth to protest, but he holds up a hand.
“You may love Josh. Heck, he’s a great catch, but he’s not the love of your life. You gave your heart away a long time ago, Autumn and I don’t think you’ve ever really gotten it back.”
My jaw drops and my heart aches.
Raphael pats my hand. “I’m not saying any of this to try and upset you, sweetie. Lindy saw things, visions, if you will. They always came true. She never saw you and Josh together as anything more than friends. She was shocked when you married him. Told me it would be short lived. It was always you and Travis. You and Josh will also never have a baby together, but you and Travis will.”
I jerk back and feel my face getting hot. “I would never divorce Josh. Never leave him.”
“No, but he’ll leave you.”
I gasp. “He would never do that.”
“Not by choice.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“I’ve already said too much. Just spend every second appreciating that man out there. You never know how much time you’ll have left with him.”
Tears well up in my eyes. “Are you saying something is going to happen to him? Is he going to di…”
“Autumn? Are you alright?” Josh walks over to me and rubs my back. When he sees the tears in my eyes, he glares at Raphael. “What’s going on? What did you say to her?”
“Only the truth. Sometimes it’s not always good to hear it, but it needs to be said.”
I swallow down the lump in my throat then stand and fling my arms around Josh’s neck. I breathe in his mint and tea tree scent as he rubs circles on my back. My face is hot and I feel like I might pass out. “I need some air.”
Josh puts a protective arm around my shoulder and leads me out the front door. “Babe, what’s wrong? What did Raphael say to make you so upset?”
I plop down in one of the wicker chairs on the porch and try to wrap my head around everything Raphael just told me. There’s no way Josh is going to die. The thought makes me nauseous and my heart feels like it’s being squeezed inside my chest. I’ve heard about Lindy’s ‘visions’ over the years and how accurate they were, but she has to be wrong. Nothing’s going to happen to Josh. It can’t. I won’t let it. I’ll protect him. Keep him safe. He can’t leave me and we’re going to have a baby together. Raphael said all of that to throw me off his trail. To upset me and distract me from the case. That’s all this is. Raphael trying to get me to focus on Josh and not him. I narrow my eyes, get up and stomp back into the house with Josh on my heels.
“Autumn, talk to me. What’s going on?”
I spin around to face him. “Raphael’s trying to mess with my head and I’m not falling for it.” I lift up on my toes and crash my lips into Josh’s. I kiss him with every ounce of my soul. Lindy’s wrong. I love Josh. He may not be my first love, but he’s definitely going to be my last.
“Wow, what was that for? Not that I’m complaining,” Josh says, breathing hard.
“I love you.”
He smiles. “I love you too.” Then his expression turns serious. “What did Raphael say to you in there?”
“Nothing that holds any truth. It was a ruse to throw me.”
“Hmm. So, what now?”
“Now, I go back in there and interrogate him.” I spin on my heels and stomp into the kitchen only to find it empty. “Raphael?”
“He said he had to run a quick errand,” Margo says, coming down the back steps into the kitchen wearing jeans and a blue sweater with her hair pulled up in a messy bun. Baby Gabriel is on her hip, playing with the pearls around her neck. He’s dressed in a white onesie that says, ‘It’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to’.
“An errand? We were out front and didn’t even see him leave.”
“He took my SUV, p
robably left down the alley in the back. He said, he needed to grab something from the office.”
“If you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go change then we’ll be back for the party.”
“Oh, alright. Did you get the answers you were looking for?”
“No, but I will.” I wave to her and head to the living room to collect Cat. I find her dozing on the sofa and smile. “Hey, sweetie. It’s time to go.”
She yawns and nods then lets me guide her out of the house. When she gets in the back seat, she dozes off again.
“Someone’s sleepy,” Josh says, putting the Jeep in gear. “Where to?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well I know we’re not going home to change so where are we going?”
I smirk because Josh knows me better than anyone. “To Lindy’s office. I have a feeling we’re going to get some of the answers we’re looking for there.”
14
“There’s Margo’s crossover.” I point out the window as we pull into the parking lot. “Whose white sedan?”
“Doesn’t Dr. Puckett drive one?”
“I think so, but what’s he doing here on a Sunday?”
“Charting?”
“I highly doubt it,” I say, pushing open the door and stepping out into the cold.
“Autumn, wait,” Josh calls out to me before I shut the door. “What are we going to do about Cat? It’s too cold to leave her in the car and I don’t want you going inside alone.”
I purse my lips and contemplate what we should do. “I have my taser. I’ll be fine. You stay with Cat.”
Josh shakes his head. “No, Autumn. It’s too dangerous. One of those men or even both of them could be in on the murders. You can’t go in there alone.”
Tires crunch behind me and Travis’s SUV pulls up next to us. He gets out and stands next to me. “What’s going on?”
I quickly fill him in on what happened at Margo’s, which wasn’t much and I purposely leave out Lindy’s “vision” then gesture to a sleeping Cat in the backseat. “We were debating what to do since she’s sleeping. Josh doesn’t want me going inside by myself and it might not be safe for her.”
He smiles at his daughter then says, “True. Josh, would you mind taking Cat to Autumn’s? Her mom was baking cookies and wondered if Cat would like to help her. I think she’s trying to keep Mrs. Bain’s mind off things and Cat’s good at distracting people.”
Josh’s jaw clenches and his hand tightens on the steering wheel. “Sure. I’ll drop her off then come back to get you for the party,” he says to me.
I open my mouth to reply, but Travis cuts me off. “Actually, I would feel better if you stayed at Autumn’s. Her dad is a big guy, but it might be better to have two men around watching over Mrs. Bain. I’m not exactly sure who we’re dealing with and with Cat being there too, it’d ease my mind. You don’t mind, do you?”
Josh’s blue eyes flicker from me to Travis then he nods and puts the Jeep in gear. “Do you still want me to go to the party with you?” he mumbles to me.
“Of course. Once we’re done here, I’ll have Travis drop me off so I can change then we’ll go together and just bring Cat with us.”
Travis clears his throat like he’s going to veto the idea, but I don’t give him a chance.
“Love you, babe. See you in a bit.” I blow Josh a kiss and shut the door then take off toward the building.
“Hey, wait up!” Travis calls after me, jogging up to my side. “What was all that about?”
“Could you have been any ruder to Josh?” I face him as I hear the Jeep take off down the street.
“What? How was I rude?” Travis asks, looking perplexed.
“Really?” I put my hands on my hips and glare up at him. “You don’t think asking him to take Cat home and then stay there while you look after his wife wasn’t rude?”
“Um, no.” Travis furrows his brow. “I’m a detective. This a murder case. It only makes sense for me to come with you. It’s my job. Josh knows that. Plus, you said it wasn’t safe for Cat to be here if the killer’s inside and I agree. I need someone I can trust to look after the most precious person in my life. I wasn’t trying to be rude, I was trying keep my daughter, Mrs. Bain and you safe.” He mimics my stance and we end up in a stare down.
“My my, don’t you two look cozy?” Raphael coons from the building. “Looks like Lindy’s vision was right.”
“What vision? What’s he talking about, Autumn?” Travis drops his arms and looks back and forth between me and Raphael.
“Nothing. We all know Lindy’s visions were a little crazy,” I mutter.
“Um, no they weren’t. She had a vision of me getting injured and ending my football career. That was three months before it happened. Word around town is they all have come true. At least the ones she’s shared with people. Who knows about the ones she kept to herself.”
“She wrote them all down in her journals. It should make for some enjoyable reading,” Raphael says, handing Travis a box. “I took the liberty of boxing them up for you. Maybe you can find out who her lover was and who killed her in one of those.”
“What are you doing back here?” I demand, eyeing Raphael suspiciously before glancing at the box in Travis’s hands. I have to get my hands on those journals. There’s no way I can let Travis read them or Josh for that matter. It’ll crush him, even if it’s a bunch of hocus pocus nonsense Lindy wrote down to try and stir the pot in Daysville. He’ll never believe I truly love him if he sees those. I’ll have to find the one with the entry about me and Travis and me and Josh and burn it. Even if it means going to jail for destroying evidence. I don’t care. My marriage is more important than anything to me and nothing is going to happen to Josh, I’m sure of it. It can’t.
“Autumn.” Raphael snaps his fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Autumn. Where’d you go?” He lifts an eyebrow as if he to say he knows what I’m thinking about.
“Um, nowhere. Just a little tired. Where were we? Oh, right, why did you leave Margo’s house?”
He points to the truck. “Margo decided her son needed a bouncy castle so I came to grab it and the blower. It’s a big one and wouldn’t fit in my sports car. I didn’t grab the party van because I’d already set up before going out to grab the cake.”
“Did you make any other stops on the way to get the cake? Like the church for instance?”
Raphael laughs. “Like I would ever be caught dead at church. No, I left Lindy’s, brought the van back and went straight to Scott’s bakery to grab the cake. Why?”
“Mrs. Bain, the coroner’s wife… the deceased coroner, was mugged in the church parking lot this morning.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “And you think I mugged her? What reason would I have to mug a widow?”
“She had Lindy’s autopsy report in her bag. An extra copy since the one at the morgue went up in flames last night before it was logged into the computer.”
“Autumn, your sleuthing senses are way off. I didn’t kill Lindy. I didn’t kill the coroner and I certainly didn’t mug his wife. I’ve been working around the clock trying to tie up loose ends and ensure all of the events Lindy had booked go off without a hitch.”
“So, you were here late last night?” Travis cuts in.
“I pulled an all-nighter. Surviving on loads of lattes at the moment.” Raphael stifles a yawn.
“The coroner was murdered right behind that dumpster.” Travis points to the green dumpster with crime scene tape around it.”
“I know. The police talked to me last night. I didn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary.”
“Nothing?”
He shakes his head. “I put in my ear buds and knocked out a ton of work that was stacking up. Now, if there’s nothing else, I have to go. Margo will have my head if I’m late.”
Travis motions for him to leave.
“Bye lovers,” he coos before sliding into Margo’s SUV and peeling out of the parking lot.
“
What’s he talking about?” Travis questions me.
I roll my eyes. “Nothing.”
“What was Lindy’s vision about?”
“Nothing.”
“Autumn.”
“Travis.”
He smirks. “Lindy saw something about us, didn’t she?”
“It’s not important.”
“Because of Josh?”
“Of course, because of Josh. I’m married, Travis.” I hold up my hand and flash my ring for the second time today.
He hangs his head and mutters something I can’t make out before heading to his SUV to put the box of journals in his trunk.
I wait for him to put them securely away then start for the building.
“Where are you going?” He calls out from behind me.
I turn and point to the only vehicle beside Travis’s in the parking lot. “Dr. Puckett is here for some reason. It’s Sunday. What’s he doing here?”
“An emergency?”
“Maybe.” I tug on the door. “Let’s go find out.”
Travis jogs up to me and hits the button for the elevator. When it dings and opens, we come face to face with Dr. Puckett himself. He’s wearing a gray jogging suit with his brown hair parted down the middle. “Autumn. Travis. What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you actually,” I say, stepping to the side so he can get out of the elevator. “What brings you in on a Sunday?”
“Oh, you know, just catching up on some charting before Margo’s son’s birthday party.”
“Were you here last night by chance.”
Dr. Puckett frowns. “No. Saturday’s date night. We went to Pete’s then to the new bowling alley.”
“All night?”
Travis elbows me in the ribs.
I hold back a yelp. I know I’m pushing my luck with my questions, but two people are dead and so far, everything points to someone at this office.
“We were at the bowling alley until ten then went home and went to bed.”
“Was your wife with you all night?”
He furrows his brows. “What’s this about, Autumn? Why are you asking about mine and my wife’s whereabouts? Does this have anything to do with Lindy and Dr. Bain’s deaths?”
