Death by Intermission

by Alexis Morgan

Then he arched an eyebrow in what he probably thought was a sexy come-hither look. All he succeeded in doing was setting off another fit of the giggles. She finally managed to choke out, “I’d love to provide escort. I wouldn’t want you to get lost between my house and yours.”

  Abby patted her furry friend on the head. “Zeke, you wait here and keep an eye on things for us.”

  Tripp grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the door. “Quick, I think I hear your mother headed this way.”

  In a flash, they were out the door and dashing toward the deep shadows that even the porch light wouldn’t touch. Tripp led her farther into the trees at the back of the yard. No doubt they were both too old to be acting like a pair of teenagers trying to escape parental scrutiny long enough to enjoy a few minutes of privacy. Too bad.

  When they were tucked behind the trunk of an enormous cedar tree, Tripp wrapped her in his arms and rested his forehead against hers. For the longest time, the only things she could hear were the sounds of both of them breathing and the noisy frogs in the nearby wetlands. She could’ve stayed there for hours, soaking up the peace offered by the cool night air.

  Finally, Tripp moved back just far enough to give himself room to use the crook of his finger to tip her face up toward his. “Want to mess around?”

  She couldn’t resist teasing him a little. “Well, I don’t know. I’ll probably get grounded when Mom realizes what we were up to.”

  He glanced in the direction of the house. “Probably.”

  This time, she was the one who reached out to cup his cheek with her hand. “Will it be worth it?”

  Soldier that he was, he accepted the challenge. “I’ll make sure of it.”

  And he did.

  Her head was still swimming when the sound of the back door opening and closing was followed by the sound of one large mastiff bounding across the yard in search of his people. When he found them, he jumped up on each of them in turn, clearly happy to have won the short game of hide-and-seek.

  Accepting their defeat, they each patted Zeke on the head. Tripp took charge of the situation. “Good boy, you won fair and square. Let’s head for my place, and I’ll reward your impressive cleverness with a couple of those treats your mom doesn’t know I have.”

  With that, Zeke was off and running. He circled back a couple of times to herd them along faster. The brief respite had been great, even if the real world couldn’t be ignored for long. Not when Owen was on the verge of being charged with murder, a killer was still on the loose, and Jada might still be in danger.

  With those happy thoughts, she followed Tripp into his house.

  CHAPTER 21

  By the time Abby dragged herself downstairs the next morning, Tripp was already gone, his blanket and pillow neatly folded on the end of the couch. She was disappointed, but he probably had an early class. When she reached the kitchen, there was a note propped against the coffeemaker from her mom saying she was meeting Owen for breakfast at the diner and would be back later.

  She was already sitting down and eating her oatmeal before Jada wandered in with her scrapbook. Darn, she’d forgotten Jada had wanted to show her something yesterday. She hadn’t said what it was, but Abby suspected she might want her opinion on whether it was something she should share with Gage.

  After setting the book down on the table, Jada asked, “Have you got a minute?”

  “Sure.” Abby ate another bite of her oatmeal. “Why don’t you grab a cup of coffee and then show me what you wanted me to look at?”

  A few seconds later, Jada sat down at the table, sipping her coffee and silently thumbing through the pages while Abby finished her breakfast. After refreshing her own cup of coffee, she waited patiently for Jada to start talking.

  It didn’t take long. “My mom was always cutting out newspaper articles and printing things from websites to put in scrapbooks. You know, pictures from when I played soccer as a little kid and stuff like that. When she died, Dad took over where she left off. I think it was a way of keeping her in our lives.”

  Where was she going with this? It seemed highly unlikely that Jada’s childhood achievements had anything to do with the current situation. Rather than hurry her, though, Abby gave her all the time she needed. With her father’s recent death, everything in that scrapbook no doubt stirred up a lot of memories that were good but might still hurt.

  Jada turned several pages before stopping. “Anyway, Mom also collected stuff about my dad. Maybe it’s a small town thing, but the local newspaper makes a big deal of it if someone opens a new business or gets an award of some kind. Dad used to get customer service awards every year from his company, and The Clarion always sent a reporter to photograph him holding up his latest plaque. Mom was really proud of his accomplishments. So was I.”

  She stared down at the page and traced her father’s smile with a shaky fingertip. “I always thought those plaques would someday have both of our names on them.”

  The pain of lost dreams was clear in Jada’s voice, and Abby hated that for her. “I’m sure your parents would’ve loved that.”

  Jada slowly slid the scrapbook over in front of Abby, who wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say. “Your father was a nice-looking man, Jada. You have his eyes.”

  “And Mom’s coloring, but that’s not what I wanted to show you.” She pointed not at her father but at the wall behind him. “That’s the picture that was stolen.”

  Then she flipped a few more pages. “On Veterans Day one year, the newspaper did a feature article about various people in town who’d served in the military. The reporter took this shot of Dad holding the picture. This copy is too small to pick out many details. I was thinking if that reporter still has the JPEG in his files, maybe we could get an enlargement made. You know, to help Chief Logan figure out why someone would want to steal it.”

  And with luck, maybe it would be clear enough that Jada would have a readable copy of the original. “That’s great thinking, Jada. Do you want to contact Gage, or would you like me to call him for you?”

  It was no surprise when Jada immediately said, “If you wouldn’t mind . . .”

  “Not a problem.”

  As she dialed Gage’s number, someone knocked at the front door. Who could that be? She went days without anyone stopping by, especially unannounced. Zeke sounded the alarm, barking as he charged down the hall toward the door. Abby followed in his wake, leaving a message for Gage when the call finally went to his voice mail.

  Erring on the side of caution, she peeked out the side window. As soon as she recognized the man on her porch, she called back down the hall, “Jada, I think this is for you.”

  She opened the door to greet their unexpected—not to mention uninvited—guest. Before she could say anything, he shifted to look past her shoulder. “Is Jada here?”

  Well, that was rather abrupt. No greeting, no explanation of why he was there or how he knew he’d find her at Abby’s in the first place. “Will, isn’t it?”

  He frowned and nodded. “Yeah, Will Swahn, Ms. McCree. As I told you, I’m Jada’s godfather. I’ve been worried about her.”

  “I’m sorry about that. Did you try calling her? I’m sure she’s had her phone turned on.”

  “I left messages on the landline. She might not have gotten them if she hasn’t been home, and I didn’t have her cell number.”

  That was logical, and she couldn’t remember if Jada had checked for messages while they’d been at her house yesterday. Still, something about his excuse bothered her. By that point, Jada had joined her at the door. She looked more curious than welcoming. “Uncle Will, how did you find me?”

  Good question. Abby couldn’t wait to hear his answer. He looked calmer now that he’d seen Jada for himself. Maybe his nervous tension really did stem from his concern for his goddaughter. Looking all kinds of earnest, he hastened to explain, “I stopped by the house yesterday afternoon to check on you. The woman across the street told me about the burglary, but she didn’t kn
ow where you’d gone. When I went back to your house again just now, a different neighbor wanted to know what I was doing looking in the windows. When I explained who I was and why I was there, he said you were with Ms. McCree and gave me this address.”

  Maybe that was all true, but it seemed pretty convenient. “Which neighbor was that? I didn’t realize I knew anyone who lived in that neighborhood other than Jada.”

  Will frowned. “To be honest, I didn’t quite catch his name, but he said he knew who you were from some committee you’d been on here in town. Something to do with the veterans, I think.”

  Again, possible, but still too vague for Abby’s comfort. Finally, rather than continue the conversation in the doorway, she stepped back. “Why don’t you come in, Mr. Swahn? I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about.”

  Then she smiled at Jada. “I’ll fetch us all some coffee and cookies. Would you be more comfortable in the dining room or the living room?”

  “The dining room would be great.”

  On her way back with the promised refreshments, Abby could hear the murmur of Mr. Swahn talking, but he abruptly went silent when she walked into the room. She had no idea what their conversation had been about, but Jada didn’t look happy. After setting the tray on the table, she asked, “Is everything okay?”

  Before Jada could answer, Abby’s phone rang. She checked the screen. “Sorry, I have to take this. It’s the police chief. Go ahead and serve yourselves.”

  She stepped out into the hall to answer the call. “Hi, Gage. Thanks for calling me back so quickly. Jada found a picture of the picture that was taken.”

  Realizing how confusing that sounded, she backed up and explained about the scrapbook. “Anyway, we weren’t sure if it would help, but we can drop it by if you want to take a look.”

  She waited while he checked his schedule for the day. “Okay, I can be there within the hour, but I don’t know about Jada. Let me check with her so I can let you know one way or the other.”

  Ducking her head back into the dining room, she smiled at both Jada and her godfather. “Sorry to interrupt, but Chief Logan would like to see us right away. Will that interfere with your plans?”

  Jada nodded. “Yeah, I have a class.”

  Back out in the hall, Abby relayed the information to Gage. “I’ll bring the scrapbook myself. And I can’t believe I’m about to say this, we may need to call in Reilly Molitor.”

  Gage was well aware that she and the reporter from The Clarion had a pretty rocky relationship. They’d gotten off to a bad start back when he’d showed up on her doorstep asking questions shortly after she and Tripp had discovered a dead body buried in the backyard. The man had only been doing his job, but since then her automatic response whenever she saw him was to duck and cover.

  On the other hand, she’d rather deal with Reilly herself than throw Jada in his path. “Gage Logan, laughing at me might just cost you the cookies I was going to bring down to the station. I’ll let you explain to your people why they’re not going to enjoy some fresh gingersnaps with their coffee.”

  He immediately apologized, but she wasn’t buying it. “Nice try, mister. On that note, I’m going to hang up and let you ponder the error of your ways.”

  The fact that he was still chuckling as he hung up actually left her smiling. He knew full well she’d never punish his deputies for his bad behavior. Stepping back into the dining room, she found Jada and Will sitting in silence. Maybe she was misreading their body language, but it seemed clear to her that Jada wasn’t particularly comfortable around the man.

  “Gage said it’s okay if I come by myself. If he needs any additional information from you, I’ll let you know.”

  Jada fidgeted in her seat. “I really appreciate that, Abby. Are you sure that it’s not too much of an imposition?”

  “I actually have books to drop off at the library, which is right next to the police station. I also need to stop by the mayor’s office. Her assistant wants to talk to me about continuing the movie-in-the-park program next year.”

  Not that Abby was interested in heading up another committee for the city, which is why she suspected Connie wanted her to stop by in person. The woman had a talent for getting people to volunteer, and Abby wasn’t the only one who had fallen prey to the woman’s crafty ways. No matter how many times she had walked into the mayor’s office chanting “Just say no!” under her breath, she walked back out newly appointed to yet another committee and feeling grateful for the honor that Connie had bestowed upon her.

  It was only later, after she got home and the glow wore off, that she realized she’d been had—again. But that was a problem for later. Right now she had more pressing matters. Her temporary roommate was staring at her with more than a hint of panic in her eyes. Jada clearly wanted help in getting rid of their guest.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Swahn, but Jada and I both have places we need to be this morning. At least you know she’s fine, and we’re watching out for her.”

  Rather than do the reasonable thing and accept that his presence was no longer required, he remained seated and gave Jada a curious look. “So what’s in the scrapbook that the police need to see?”

  Abby wasn’t sure they should tell him, but Jada took the decision out of her hands. “There was a picture stolen from the house the night of the break-in, and Chief Logan wanted to know what it looked like. You’ve seen it, I’m sure. It hung on the wall at the insurance office—the one of Dad and the guys he served with.”

  Her face brightened up. “In fact, I was going ask if you happened to have a copy of it so I could have a duplicate made.”

  His reaction to the loss of the picture was just like everyone else’s. “That’s what was stolen? Why would anyone want that?”

  Then, without giving Jada a chance to respond, he answered her question. “I’m sorry, but I never had a copy of the picture.”

  Jada’s hopeful expression faded just as quickly as it had appeared. “That’s all right. I knew it was a long shot.”

  After a quick look at the clock, she reached for her laptop and closed it in preparation for making her escape. “Oops, gotta go or I’ll be late. It was nice seeing you.”

  Abby hoped the man would take the hint, but he remained firmly seated. He kept his gaze on Jada as if that alone would stop her from leaving, as he said, “I’m sorry, Ms. McCree, I don’t mean to be rude, but I would appreciate a moment alone with Jada before I leave. I have some questions for her on matters that are, to be blunt about it, none of your business. I’m sure you’ll understand that she would appreciate the opportunity to answer them in private.”

  Zeke, who had been quietly sitting beside Jada, his head in her lap, abandoned his post to stand at attention next to Abby. He studied Will Swahn with none of his usual warmth. She rested her hand on his shoulders, ready to grab his collar if necessary.

  The object of his interest swallowed hard. “That’s some dog you have there, Ms. McCree. I might be wrong, but he’s not looking very friendly.”

  What could she say to that? Normally Zeke was a teddy bear, but he wasn’t acting that way right now. Will Swahn hadn’t made any aggressive moves that warranted the dog’s odd behavior, but she trusted him more than she did a man she barely knew. Regardless, she wrapped her fingers around Zeke’s collar.

  “He hasn’t had his walk today, and that makes him antsy. Since Jada needs to leave for class, and the chief of police is expecting me, I’m afraid I’ll have to see you out now, Mr. Swahn.”

  Jada quickly gathered up the books she’d left on the table while doing her homework and stuffed them into her backpack. Realizing his chance to talk to her privately had just slipped out of his hands, Will reluctantly picked up his keys off the table and stood. “Jada, we still need to talk. Call me so we can set up a time to meet.”

  Jada unplugged her laptop and jammed it into the outside pocket on her pack. “Sorry you were worried about me, Uncle Will. I’ve really gotta get going if I don’t want to
be late.”

  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Jada bolted from the room. Abby was pretty sure she wasn’t the only one who noticed Jada hadn’t promised to make that call. She half expected the man to go after her, but after glancing at Zeke, Will seemed to think better of the idea. That didn’t mean he’d let the matter drop anytime soon.

  Abby led him the short distance to the front door, still keeping her hand on Zeke. “Thank you for . . .”

  She didn’t get a chance to finish because Will was already out the door and down the steps. It was just as well. There was no real reason for her to thank the man. She closed the door and locked it. Even then, she waited and watched out the window until she saw him drive away.

  “Is he gone?”

  “Yep, he left.” Abby walked down the hall to where Jada stood in the kitchen door. “I’m guessing you aren’t particularly close to your godfather.”

  “He was my dad’s friend, but they didn’t spend a lot of time together the past few years. I’m not sure why they grew apart. He came to Dad’s memorial service, but I didn’t talk to him very long. I did my best to speak to everyone who came, but I was barely holding it together. Most of that day was a blur to me, and this is the first time I’ve heard from him since then.”

  Abby was probably wrong, but there’d been something off about him showing up so unexpectedly. As he’d pointed out, whatever he wanted to talk to Jada about wasn’t really Abby’s business. Regardless, she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. “He seemed pretty determined to find you. Was he just worried about you or did he want something in particular?”

  “He asked about a book he said Dad borrowed and never returned. If he did, Dad never mentioned it. Uncle Will wants to come over and look for it himself.”

  Considering how intense he’d acted, that book must have special meaning to him. She couldn’t point fingers, though. She had an entire bookcase full of books she’d owned since grade school. “Does he live close by?”

  Jada frowned. “I’m not sure. Dad mentioned that Uncle Will and his wife had separated. I’m not sure which one of them moved out of their house.”