Murder at the Church: Cottonwood Springs Cozy Mystery Series

by Dianne Harman

  “Don’t even think about it for a minute,” Brigid said. “You have more important things on your mind right now.”

  Maggie turned and smiled at Brigid as she opened the front door. “Holly, we have company,” Maggie said in a loud voice as she entered the small trailer. Brigid looked around, taking everything in. It wasn’t big, but it was clean. The countertops in the nearby kitchen were worn with use and the old floral couch was sagging and covered with quilts. The grey carpet was threadbare, but all of that was superficial. She could tell by how clean the trailer was that it was well taken care of.

  A pretty young blonde girl came down the narrow hall and smiled politely. Her sweet round face had freckles like her mother, but her eyes were large and blue. She was wearing a pair of cut-off jean shorts and a faded rock band shirt.

  “Holly, this is Brigid Barnes. She’s one of Missy’s friends. She gave me a ride home and offered us the rest of the brownies she’d made. I invited her in to have one of them with us.”

  Holly’s eyes lit up when she saw the brownies, and Brigid couldn’t help but smile. There was something about having others enjoy the food she made that always pleased her.

  “Thanks. Those looks amazing,” Holly said. “Want me to get some plates, Mom?”

  “Would you please?” she answered as she set the brownies down on the counter. “I’m afraid we only have water and milk to drink,” Maggie said apologetically.

  “I’d love a glass of milk. Thank you,” Brigid said. She watched as mother and daughter served up three brownies and three glasses of milk. Maggie handed Brigid hers and gestured towards the front room area.

  “Let’s go in there. We can sit and talk for a minute,” Maggie said.

  “Holly, I hear from your mom that you’re a pretty smart young lady,” Brigid said to start the conversation.

  “I mean, I guess so,” Holly said bashfully. “I get some of the highest grades in my class.”

  “That’s something to be proud of,” said Brigid. “I struggled in science and math. They were not my favorite subjects, not by a long shot.”

  They continued to talk about Cottonwood Springs, their favorite desserts, and life as a teenager. Brigid found herself growing fond of the two. There was an inner strength in Holly that must have come from having to take care of herself for so long. On one hand, Brigid felt sorry for the girl for not getting to be a kid while she could, yet on the other hand, she saw how her mother’s illness was the very thing that had led to Holly getting good grades. Rather than making excuses, Holly had learned to just work harder and take responsibility for herself.

  At one point, Holly felt comfortable enough to say, “It doesn’t help living in a trailer park and wearing everyone’s old clothes that they donated to the church. Some girls have seen me at the library when I’m there using the internet, and I know they’re talking about me behind my back.”

  “Don’t worry about those other girls at school,” Brigid told her. “I think each of us had some girl that was the bane of our existence when we were growing up. Ignore them. Just do what you need to do and try not to let any of them get to you.”

  Brigid sensed that Holly was frustrated about her mother’s past. When Holly had talked about having to use the internet at the library, Maggie had grown quiet, silently eating the last of her brownie and looking out the window.

  “Holly, your mom is doing really well now. You should be proud of her. It’s not easy to give up something that’s become a long-time addictive habit.” Brigid noticed that Maggie was listening intently to the conversation.

  “I know, and I am. I can’t help it if I wished she’d done it a little sooner,” Holly said as she turned and gave her mom a half smile.

  “Don’t think a day goes by that I don’t regret it too, baby,” Maggie said, putting her hand on her daughter's knee.

  Brigid watched the two of them, wishing she could help in some way. She knew sometimes all people needed was a glimmer of hope. Brigid said, “I just had a thought. I was planning on going through my closets this weekend and getting rid of some things. I have a ton of clothes that I don’t wear anymore. Would you like to go through the clothes before I donate them to the church and see is if there’s anything that would work for you?” She paused as Holly and Maggie looked at each other.

  “You don’t have to take anything you don’t like,” Brigid continued. “I just really need to get rid of a lot of them. Most of them are from when I was working in Los Angeles, and they’re too good to just throw away.”

  “Sure,” Holly said after a moment. “That’d be great, thanks.” She smiled at Brigid, realizing that she only wanted to help. She didn’t think Brigid looked like she dressed in too mature of a style. Hopefully she could get a few new things, so she could get rid of some of her shirts that had holes in them.

  “Great,” Brigid said enthusiastically. “It’s a win-win for everyone. I probably won’t get to it until Sunday, though. I have a few things going on before then. Would it be okay if I bring them by here?” she asked.

  Holly nodded. “Sure. Usually one of us is here. If not, leave them on the porch. And if you don’t get to it, don’t worry about it.”

  Brigid stood. “No, no. I’ll do it for sure.” She looked at her watch and said, “I’ve stayed here longer than I intended, so you probably need me to get out of your hair.” She picked up her purse and seeing her cell phone in the side pocket made her think of another way she could help.

  “By the way, if it’s raining or bad weather and you have somewhere you need to go, call me.” She pulled a slip of paper and a pen from her purse and wrote her number down. “If I can, I’d be happy to give you a ride.” She handed the piece of paper to Maggie.

  “You don’t have to…,” Maggie began. “You’ve done more than enough already.”

  “No really, it’s fine. My work keeps me in the house all day. It’s nice to have an excuse to get out once in a while.” Brigid smiled. “Enjoy the rest of the brownies.”

  Brigid walked over to the door and let herself out. She climbed into her car and shut the door. Such a bright young woman, Brigid thought. I hope she can find her way. I really would like to help both of them. She started the car and headed home, feeling like she’d just made a couple of new friends.

  She didn’t know that only one of them would live long enough to become a friend.

  CHAPTER 3

  Billy Watkins had started to move past the frustrated and heartbroken stage of his supposed “break-up” with Maggie and was now in the anger stage. He’d texted and called Maggie multiple times a day, all to no avail. He’d tried being sweet and loving at first. Then he’d begged her. Neither approach had worked. She wouldn’t talk to him. It was like she’d flipped a switch.

  One day, she’d been a fun-loving girl who was ready for anything and the next day she wanted to get clean and sober. She’d turned into the type of boring woman they used to make fun of together when they were high. The only time Maggie ever spoke to him now was when they ran into each other at the store or somewhere else in public, and he knew the only reason she said something was because she didn’t have a choice.

  A few times she’d even tried to act like she hadn’t heard him call her name. It was only when he was able to stand in front of her that she acknowledged him, her good manners not allowing her to completely ignore him. Billy couldn’t understand how she could end the relationship so suddenly and change so much in such a short space of time.

  It all started when she decided to give up the life she’d been leading, an existence fueled by drugs and alcohol. It was nothing he wanted to do, and he couldn’t understand why she was suddenly so set on the idea. Now that Mike had gotten busted, it had been almost impossible to find good meth, which is why he’d started going to Denver.

  He knew a few people in Denver who could hook him up for a fair price. With the shortage in the Cottonwood Springs area, it had been very profitable for him. He’d told Maggie that he was making
a lot of money. He knew she’d been worrying about money and was trying hard to make ends meet as a single mom, and now Billy was in a position to help her. That was the irony of the whole thing. He could help her, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with him. It didn’t make sense to him.

  Billy was sitting on the dirty green recliner he loved so much which sat in the corner of his living room. It was where he did his best thinking. Next to it was an old wooden square end table with a cabinet at the bottom where he kept anything that was important.

  All of his greatest ideas were born right in that spot. Of course, it was also where he’d been sitting when Maggie had told him she didn’t want to see him anymore. He knew she was just confused, on a downer, and it wouldn’t be long before she’d come crawling back to him. Billy was sure she still loved him.

  Thinking about Maggie made him realize he couldn’t remember the last time he’d brushed his teeth. He ran his hand across the top of his short, buzzed hair and sighed. Truth be told, as he looked down at his bare chest and dingy cargo shorts, he wasn’t sure when he’d last taken a shower. He promised himself he’d do it later. He needed to take care of a few things first, like work on his car. There was a strange rattle that had been bugging him recently, and he needed to fix it.

  The knock on the door startled him. He jumped, spun around, and silently crept to the window, so that he could peek outside to see who it was. He’d been getting the feeling someone was following him lately, and he was afraid it was the cops. He looked out the window and saw his friend, Samantha. Letting out the breath he didn’t know he had been holding in, he walked over to the door and slid the deadbolt back before turning the knob.

  “Hi, Billy,” she said smiling. Her short curly blonde hair was flying everywhere in the breeze. She wore a loose pair of jeans and a black tank top.

  “Hi, Sam,” he said letting her in. “You scared the heck outta’ me. I thought you were the cops, girl.” Billy sighed and returned to his recliner, flopping down on it. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on.

  “Sorry,” she said as she shut the door. She joined him in the living room and smoothed down the dirty sheet that was draped over the threadbare couch before sitting down on it. “How’s it going?”

  “I’ve gotta’ make a run to Denver today,” he said offhandedly. “My supply’s getting low. I can’t believe how much I’ve been moving now that word’s gotten out. I probably won’t go until later, though. Don’t want to get there too early, you know.” He paused and then said, “Maggie’s still not answering my calls or texts.”

  “That’s too bad,” she said in a less than sympathetic tone of voice. She was secretly glad Maggie had flaked out on Billy. To Sam it meant Billy was now fair game. “What’s her deal?” Every time she heard that Maggie wasn’t answering his calls or texts, a flutter of excitement rose inside her. For months Sam had been hoping she and Billy could develop a serious relationship, but for some reason, he thought Maggie was special enough that he should wait until she came back him. Sam couldn’t understand it.

  “So, what’s going on with you?” he asked, picking up the remote and surfing through the channels. He was still trying to come up with a way to get Maggie to listen to him. After all, he was the same guy he’d been the whole time they’d been together. She was the one who had changed. He didn’t understand why she felt like she needed to break up with him now.

  “I was just bored and thought I’d come over. There’s nothing going on in the trailer park today. I was out for a walk and happened to come by here.”

  “Imagine that,” he said distractedly as he continued to change the channels. He knew how life in the trailer park was and how everyone there gossiped about each other. He didn’t care for Sam very much and the only reason Billy kept her around was because she could tell him what was going on at Maggie’s. He wanted to make sure Maggie wasn’t seeing anyone else. “By the way, did you see Maggie this morning?”

  “No,” Sam said, feeling deflated. She’d thought for a moment he was going to focus on her. “I haven’t seen her since I talked to her at the store a week ago. She sounded crazy, in my opinion. I think something’s wrong with her. Maybe she got abducted by aliens? I dunno’. She said she’s started volunteering at the church.”

  “Seriously?” Billy said as he looked at Sam. He couldn’t believe it. What is happening to my beautiful girl? he thought. The Maggie he knew had never set foot in a church and now she was volunteering in one? He had to find a way to get her back. She wasn’t acting like herself at all. They used to laugh together about people who went to church all the time. He couldn’t believe she’d become one of them, brainwashed by the God squad.

  “Yeah, I guess she’s been helping that Missy chick, you know, the priest’s wife, keep the church clean and stuff like that. It’s almost as if she worships the priest and his wife. You should have heard her going on and on about them. How they spend so much time helping people and they don’t get paid for it. Blah, blah, blah. Honestly, I stopped listening after a little bit, because it was so boring. I don’t even want to clean my house, so why would I want to clean someone else’s? And the church? That place is huge.” She shook her head. “No way, man.”

  “I gotta’ get her back, Sam,” Billy said as he looked at her. “I have to find out what she’s getting over there that she isn’t getting here with me.” He looked around his little apartment and smiled. To him, it was great. He was oblivious to the uncleanliness and the sour odor that prevailed throughout. He lived on his own and didn’t have a day job to worry about. He could sleep when he wanted, eat what he wanted, and do whatever he well pleased. It was beyond him why someone would volunteer for work they didn’t need to do when they could laze around all day doing nothing.

  “She told me she’d found God,” Sam finally said. She spun around on the couch, so she could stretch her legs out. There was no place she felt quite as safe as when she was with Billy. His apartment was like a home away from home.

  “God?” he asked incredulously. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Billy scoffed and then laughed. He never imagined Maggie would become one of those people. He’d always thought she was an atheist, like he was. Billy couldn’t remember a time he’d ever believed in God. To him, God was just an excuse people used because they didn’t have what they wanted while they were on earth, so they thought it would be there for them in heaven. He only believed in the things he could see, and Heaven, Hell, and God were not on his radar.

  “Billy, I didn’t say I agreed with her. I’m just telling you what she said to me. She told me when she helps out and stays clean she feels closer to God, whatever that’s supposed to mean.” Sam leaned her head back and stared at the old ‘70’s style popcorn ceiling. “I can’t imagine it being any better than laying around eating jelly doughnuts.”

  “I can’t believe she’s getting all religious.” The thought of someone turning away from him for comfort and turning to an invisible God enraged Billy. He had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

  He nervously paced back and forth across the thin carpet until the sound of a door shutting outside made him race to the window. Peeking through the blinds he saw it was just the old woman who lived next door. She was lugging in her groceries and pushed the door shut with her hip.

  He turned away from the window and continued to pace around the living room. Billy knew the situation with Maggie was serious. She’d gotten mad at him before, but she was usually over it after a day or two. She’d answer his call or text or even show up on his doorstep, acting as if nothing had happened. He should have known when she asked him to get clean with her that things were about to change. He just didn’t know that he’d be the collateral damage in her transformation.

  Billy remembered the day Maggie had told him she was breaking up with him. She’d come over ranting about Mike Loomis getting thrown in jail and that woman at the B & B getting murdered. He couldn’t remember everything she’d said since he’d been high
as a kite, but he kind of thought she’d said she was afraid of getting busted and losing her kid. She went on about how she couldn’t imagine living without her “baby girl.”

  He didn’t care for the scrawny kid with the saucer eyes, and he was pretty sure the feeling was mutual. She made a habit of disappearing whenever he showed up at Maggie’s place, and if she did stick around, she always made him feel stupid about something he’d said. Billy couldn’t stand it when people acted like they were smarter than him, just because they read books.

  After that Maggie started talking about all the bad things she’d done and how she was afraid she was going to go to Hell when she died. She ranted about the money and other things she’d stolen, so she could buy drugs and alcohol. She was terrified that she’d die and the only thing she’d be remembered for was what a bad person she’d been.

  He’d tried to lighten the mood by telling her he knew a few things she was really good at, but she didn’t think that was very funny. That’s when she’d told Billy she wanted him to get sober with her. He could barely keep a straight face when she’d said it. There was no way that was going to happen. What kind of a drug dealer doesn’t do drugs? Added to that she wanted him to stop drinking beer? No, that was not an option. What else would he do when he was bored?

  She’d stormed out of the apartment that night. Ever since then there had been absolute silence from Maggie. No phone calls. No texts. The more he thought about the way she’d acted, the more convinced he became that there was only one reasonable explanation. Maggie had to be seeing another guy.

  Billy knew he wouldn’t have any peace until he got to the bottom of it. He decided he’d sit outside Maggie’s house, and even follow her if he had to. There was no way he’d let her leave him for another man. He’d done everything he could for her. Billy made the decision that if he couldn’t have Maggie, no one would have Maggie.

  He left Sam sitting on the couch in the living room and went to his bedroom, grabbed some clothes that smelled clean, and headed to the bathroom. While he was in the shower he decided that after he returned from the trip he had to make to Denver, he was going to find Maggie and demand some answers.