Murder for a Rainy Day (Pecan Bayou Book 6)

by Teresa Trent

  The rain started to sprinkle on the waiting herd. Not wanting to get soaked, I went out the gate and slid into the car. After calling Aunt Maggie, I started the motor and pushed the air conditioning knob up to high. As I glanced up at the house I began to feel so sorry for Connor Holman. He was killed in his own home. His ex-wife never had a kind word for him, and had already moved on to another man.

  Like so many people, Holman wanted his little place in the country. Maybe it was a place reflective of his own childhood, or maybe it was a place from his dreams. His paintings inside showed so many scenes of simple country life. If I had known about his work, I might have bought something. It was such a shame his talent and creativity were now bleeding out in a dark red puddle.

  Where was Connor’s family? Sasha never mentioned anything about parents being in town. I was so lucky to have family members both older and younger than myself to lean on. Family always chases away the bumps in the night, the forks in the road and the demons of loneliness. Connor was all by himself. I was too late for him in life, but I could help him out in death.

  I had spent the better part of this week trying to catch our local thief and now wanted to help him. Maybe I was getting drunk on the mommy Kool-Aid the hormones in my body were producing. Connor was not my child, but he was somebody’s. Somebody held him and loved him the way I longed to hold my own child.

  I extended the passenger seat back and rested as I waited for Aunt Maggie. It was amazing just last week the sky above was blue and warm. I thought about all those years ago when hurricanes would blow in off the Gulf of Mexico with no warning. Those were before the days of Doppler radar and hurricane hunters. I relaxed in the seat and found myself drifting.

  "Hello Miss Happy Hinter." I was standing in the old Pecan Bayou Gazette building, before the fire destroyed it. Standing in front of me was Eula Jean Smith, the victim of the Gazette fire.

  "Hi Eula Jean," I answered.

  "I wanted to thank you. You solved my murder when people barely knew I was missing. That's what happens when you're an old lady. You get forgotten."

  "That's not true. Ruby asked about you."

  "Yes. Ruby is good one. Still, though, I had a way of getting left out. I loved filing for Rocky. Such a handsome man. Can't believe he's still single."

  "Don't you mean single again?"

  "Yes. I suppose you're right."

  "I made trouble, you know. That's what lead to my death. Don't make the same mistake."

  "Is that your message?"

  "What makes you think that?"

  "Because each person in my dream is dead and has and brings some cryptic message for me."

  Eula Jean walked to the filing cabinet and pulled out a drawer. "Eula Jean? What is your message?" Eula Jean began humming a creepy little tune as she sorted files.

  "I think that's where you will get into trouble."

  "What trouble?"

  "Being left behind."

  "Okay, I'll come over there." I started walking towards Eula Jean.

  "You need to learn to stay with the action. That's why it took you so long to figure out it was me in the fire. You miss the most important details. You’re running out of second chances."

  "Betsy?" Maggie was now sitting in the car next to me. "You must've fallen asleep. I knew this was a bad idea. Come on now, I'll take you back home. It's just awful what happened in there. You’ve pushed yourself too far. Let's just keep take care of you and baby and get you into bed."

  As I opened the passenger door of Maggie’s ancient station wagon, the car radio was blaring in the background.

  Residents of coastal areas should plan to hunker down or evacuate before the storm hits. Residents of central Texas should also have storm supplies at the ready. Once the storm hits land, it can turn into some nasty thunderstorms and tornadoes headed for our region. For that reason Mayor Obermeyer strongly suggests residents move to the storm shelter in Nolan Ryan Middle School. Evacuees from the Houston area and other Gulf Coast communities will be directed to the high school gym. Please make your plans now, and be prepared for this weather system.

  "Here they come. The people from the big bad city," Maggie said.

  "I like city people," Danny said.

  "Yeah, well wait until they find out we only have one movie theater that only shows one movie at a time," Aunt Maggie joked, her eyes never leaving the road.

  "I like city people," Danny said. "My doctor is in the city."

  "I like city people, too." I agreed with Danny. I had married one after all. I turned my cell phone off when we went into Connor Holman’s house, but as I pulled it out of my purse, I saw I had missed a call from Leo. I put in his number.

  "Sorry. I was a little busy," I explained.

  "Is it the baby?",

  "No. I went with my dad somewhere."

  "Where?"

  "Um. That’s not important right now. I know you have a lot going on over there."

  "Where, Betsy?" When I didn’t answer him right away he repeated his question.

  "Where?"

  "To arrest Connor Holman," I confessed.

  "You what? I thought we discussed this. Just tell me the man went peaceably, and there was no danger to our baby. "

  "Uh. Yeah. You cold say he was pretty peaceable."

  "Thank goodness."

  I couldn’t believe I had just gotten away with that one.

  "And by the way, I decided to stay with Aunt Maggie, at least for tonight."

  "Sounds good to me. I’ll come by later. You’ll have everything you need there and I’ll have…"

  "Someone to keep an eye on me?"

  "That too. The storm is coming, Betsy, and the idea of you being with Maggie and Danny is a great one." The radio in the background began to echo his forecast.

  The storm is moving at about 75 miles per hour. It’s expected to make landfall on Galveston Island by early Thursday. From there it is predicted to move towards our area. As the storm lessens over land, there is still a chance of heavy thunderstorms, winds and tornadoes.

  "Betsy, are you in a car?" Leo continued. "I hear the radio."

  "Oh yes. Aunt Maggie and Danny picked me up from Connor Holman’s house. My dad didn’t want me in there with the crime scene."

  "You mean he had those animals in his house?"

  He would not be very happy to know I had just found another body. When we got married I sort of promised Leo I would slow down discovering dead people.

  "Betsy? Are you still there?" Leo asked.

  "Connor Holman was dead when we got there," I blurted out.

  "Good grief. Are you telling me you and your dad found him?"

  "Yes. But we didn’t know he would be dead. You see, I convinced Dad to let me go along to arrest Holman because I got this threatening phone call and we needed to hear his voice so I could identify him."

  "That’s it. Go home. Do what every other person in Pecan Bayou is doing right now. Get ready for the storm. Oh yeah, and get ready to have our baby. You have plenty to do now, and you certainly don’t need to have a ride along with Officer Judd."

  He was right. I knew he was right.

  "I’ll do that. I promise. I’m done. Totally done."

  "I'm just glad you're okay. Thank goodness your father was with you this time."

  That was it? That was all I was going to get for being nine months pregnant and stumbling onto a crime scene? Something was up.

  "So Betsy, you remember me telling you about the guy I met when we flew into the hurricane? The storm chaser?"

  The plot thickens. "Yes…" I said warily.

  "You're not going to believe this, but he invited me to ride along and chase storms that trigger off of Ezra with him. Isn’t that great?"

  "And you said no, right? For a minute there I thought you were going to tell me that you planned to be driving around chasing after tornadoes and putting yourself in further danger."

  "Well it's not like I'm going to fall out of a plane or anything. Storm
chasers almost never get injured. They can see what's coming from miles away."

  "And they have the uncontrollable urge to get as close as they can to shoot YouTube videos," I added.

  "These guys are pros Betsy. They all have families just like me, and they’re not going to put their own lives in danger. These storm chasers have been doing this for years. Actually it's pretty safe." If I could only believe that.

  "So, what are you trying to say, Leo?"

  "I have this idea that maybe I could just ride along with Nate for a couple of hours during the storm. Not the whole storm, but just a couple of hours. What do you think?"

  He did not want to know what I thought. I wanted to be supportive of him. This was Leo's passion, aside from me, of course. How could I stop him from pursuing something as exciting is this? Then there was that little issue of my own jumping into danger catching thieves and stalking cheating real estate agents while pregnant. What’s good for the goose…

  "Just for a couple of hours?" I asked.

  "That's all. I promise."

  "Fine. But you had better be here when our baby makes his or her appearance into the world."

  "Wouldn't miss it," he said, trying to reassure me.

  "I spoke to Zach and Tyler and the camp is preparing for the storm. I also spoke to my mother, and she volunteered to go pick them up."

  That was the best news I'd heard all day. I was beginning to like Leo's mother, Gwyn, more and more. I hadn't thought of asking her to pick up the boys at camp. "That is wonderful. Thank your mother for me. Better yet, I think I’ll do it myself when I see her in person."

  "And Betsy?"

  "Yes?"

  "You know I love you, don't you?"

  "Yes. We’re two of a kind, you and me."

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  "Leo wants to storm chase, " I announced in the car.

  "I can't believe you agreed to that," Aunt Maggie said.

  "Me either. Say, could you do me a favor before we go home?"

  "What do you need?"

  "Some chocolate pecan pie."

  "In this rain? You know, after all this time, I should have predicted a stop at Benny’s."

  "I like pie," Danny said.

  "Better get two pieces," Aunt Maggie said.

  Danny smiled. "Two big pieces."

  We pulled into Benny’s Barbecue, and I attempted to dash in between rain drops.

  "I won't be a minute, " I shouted back to Maggie in the car. I stepped into Benny's where Sasha was wiping down a table and placing dishes into a plastic dish tub. She didn’t even attempt to be nice as she glared at me from across the restaurant. Benny put two big pieces of pie into a container and then into a bag.

  "Could I speak with Sasha? She’s been so… helpful. I just wanted to thank her."

  "Sure." He eyed me suspiciously. He had been in the kitchen and within hearing distance earlier.

  Sasha narrowed her eyes at me as Benny went into the back, leaving us alone.

  "I wish I could say it’s nice to see you Betsy, but that would be a lie. My mother told me never to lie."

  "Has anyone called you?" I asked.

  "No. Did you tell Baxter’s wife about us? You’re unbelievable, you know that?"

  "No. I didn’t tell anyone about you." Okay, that was technically wrong. She didn’t need to know I talked about her affair with not only Rocky, but my father, Aunt Maggie and Ruby.

  "I would never tell his wife," I added.

  She slammed the dish tub on the counter. "Then what? I’m kind of busy here. Benny wants every surface scrubbed before we shut down for the storm."

  "When was the last time you saw Connor?"

  "I don’t know. Is he lost or something? Did he wander off in a field of cows somewhere?"

  I hesitated a moment. Even if she were divorcing him, there had been love there once. Maybe I should wait for the police to inform her.

  "What?" Sasha continued, becoming more irritated. "You have me listening now, but hurry up, will you?"

  "No. Maybe I’d better let the police tell you. I shouldn’t have said anything. Forget I mentioned it."

  "What? Is he okay?" I looked to the floor because I could no longer look her in the eye.

  She plopped down into a booth. "You know, of all the people in Pecan Bayou, I probably hate you the most, but if something has happened to Connor, I would rather hear about it from you than from some cop."

  I squeezed into the booth across from her and reached out and took one of her hands. First, confusion, then fear registered on her face.

  "He was murdered."

  She pulled away from me, the back of her head bumping up against the booth.

  "Murdered? You must be wrong. Not Connor. Who would murder Connor? Are you sure?"

  "Yes. I'm sure."

  "What happened?"

  "We don't know yet. The police are over there now. It looks like somebody attacked him." She reached for a paper napkin to catch tears that were now forming.

  I went on. "You said Digby had a temper. Do you think he could've done something like this?"

  Her mascara began to run down her face as her eyes widened at my implication.

  "What is it with you? Why are you always trying to tear down Baxter? He would never do anything like this. How dare you. It’s bad enough you just told me somebody killed my husband, uh…ex-husband, but then you have to go and say my " She searched for a suitable name for her entanglement with Digby, "… boyfriend… might be the murderer?"

  "I'm sorry, but you have to admit that he has a motive. If I came to this conclusion, the police are going to come to it, too. You may as well prepare yourself for it."

  "You’ve got a lot of nerve."

  "So you’ve been here at work all afternoon?" I asked.

  "Most of it. We were pretty busy… Oh my God. You're seeing if I have an alibi. You need to leave now. I don't want to talk to you anymore. If you need pie, go buy some of that frozen stuff down at the supermarket."

  As I climbed back into Maggie’s station wagon, I began to feel the familiar tightening of a Braxton Hicks contraction. I took a deep breath as the painless contraction worked its way through me.

  Maggie put her hand on my shoulder and leaned towards me. "Is that labor?"

  "Are you going to have the baby?" Danny asked.

  "No, Danny, it's just the Braxton Hicks contractions again."

  "Tell Mr. Braxton you can’t have contractions for him. You're having contractions for us."

  "I'll be sure to tell him." I smiled.

  "That's it," Maggie said. "Let’s get you home before we have anything else happen. I have to get the hurricane supplies ready, and we need to pack a bag if we end up at the shelter."

  A feeling of dread came over me. The idea of having a baby in a storm shelter was terrifying.

  "Maybe I should just check into the hospital."

  "Are you having the baby?" Danny asked again.

  "No. I'm not having the baby," I snapped. Danny bit his lip and started blinking rapidly.

  "I’m sorry. I was just thinking the hospital might be the best place in case I go into labor."

  "I'm all for that," Maggie said. "Why don't you call your doctor?"

  I pulled out my phone and dialed my obstetrician, Dr. Randall.

  Her receptionist answered the phone. "Betsy, I hate to tell you this, but Dr. Randall had to go down to Houston to help evacuate her elderly mother. We don't expect her back for several days. I guess it's quite an operation to move her out of her assisted living center."

  "So you’re saying that if I start having contractions in the next twenty-four hours, my obstetrician will not be here?"

  "But we hardly could've predicted any of this. We are trying to track down another doctor or possibly a midwife who can pitch in if something happens. It's not the end of the world. Living in a small town you should know doctors can be over-scheduled. Besides, you’re the Happy Hinter. You must have some sort of tips on hand for delivering babie
s?" She laughed, trying to lighten the moment.

  These were not the words of reassurance a woman about to deliver wanted to hear. The idea of having this baby with anybody else was frightening.

  "So maybe checking myself into the hospital is not a solution?" I said.

  "It probably is a good idea. They have backup generators if you should go into labor."

  "Do they have midwives at the hospital?"

  "They just might!" she exclaimed, as if it were the first time she had considered the possibility. I know she was trying to make me feel better, but the fact she couldn't commit to having a midwife at the hospital was unnerving.

  "Great. I’ll think about checking myself in."

  "Couldn't hurt!" Her voice was way too chipper. She wasn't the one who was facing childbirth in the worst of all possible circumstances. What if there was some sort of complication with the baby? Or me? It was a scary thought.

  "Darn it," Aunt Maggie said as I hung up the phone.

  "What?"

  "We need bottled water."

  "Can’t we just get some at the shelter?"

  "We could, but there’s still a possibility we’ll be at home without power and water."

  I yawned. "Okay. Let’s run by the grocery store and pick some up."

  "Thanks. I know you’re tired and I promise we’ll go home right after we pick up a case."

  When we entered the store, it looked like a department store toy department the day after Christmas. Shelves were bare, and the few remaining cases of bottled water were now pushed to the front.

  Jeff Ellis, Birdie’s new boyfriend, put a case into his basket and was about to pick up the last one when Aunt Maggie stepped up.

  "Do you need both? We forgot to pick up water."

  "Actually, I do. Birdie might need it at the diner," he said, and then his glance fell on me.

  "Aren’t you the cop’s daughter?"

  "Yes. I was there the other night when the soup-can chicken was stolen."