Thrill Squeaker

by Christy Barritt

  “I’m warning you—you need to stay back and keep your hands to yourself.”

  She smirked and raised her finger to jab me again. Something came over me and I sprang to life. I grabbed her arm before she reached me and twisted it until she yelped.

  “What are you doing? Are you crazy? Help! She’s assaulting me.”

  Footsteps sounded behind me, along with voices. That didn’t stop me. I still held onto her arm.

  “Gabby! What are you doing?” Riley slipped through the gate and put a hand on my shoulder.

  “I kindly asked her to keep her hands to herself and she refused.” I didn’t take my gaze from Debby.

  “Gabby . . .” Riley’s voice tapered off in a soft half-warning, half-plea.

  Finally, I let go of her arm. She jerked away, sneering at me. “That’s what I thought.”

  At her diva-like words, I started to lunge at her, but Riley grabbed me. “What exactly is going on here?” Riley said.

  “This is Scotty Stephen’s daughter-in-law, wife of Junior,” I said introducing them through gritted teeth. I shook off my anger like a boxer in the ring.

  “I told you not to call him—” Debby started toward me, but Riley stopped her with an outstretched hand.

  “Ladies, please calm down. What are the two of you even talking about?” He looked back and forth between the two of us and finally stopped on Debby. “You came here for a reason, I assume?”

  He was acting like the mediator I always knew he was. And his question was great. Why had she come? Just to tell me to back off? Seemed like an awful lot of effort for nothing really.

  “I’m here to set the record straight.” She planted a foot and did her little head wiggle again.

  “Set the record straight on what?” Riley continued.

  Anger flashed in her eyes. “About my husband. He ain’t got nothing to do with what’s going on here.”

  “What was he doing here a couple of nights ago then?” I asked, more than happy to have the upper hand here.

  A moment of confusion wafted across her pert features. “He wasn’t.”

  “We have a witness who places him here.”

  She stepped back and did the head wobble again. “He was with me.”

  “Sure he was.” Condescension rolled through my voice. It wasn’t my best moment. Queen’s “Time to Shine” began playing in head.

  “He was.”

  “His car was spotted.”

  “That’s because his dad—” She stopped herself mid-sentence, but I knew what she was about to say: his dad had borrowed it.

  “We know Scotty Stephens is back in town but pretending not to be. That only makes him and your husband look more guilty than they already did.” I watched her reaction carefully. “Is that right?”

  Something flashed through her eyes—guilt, probably. She knew she’d been caught. “That’s ridiculous. Of course, I wasn’t going to say that. Don’t be stupid.”

  “So you think your father-in-law is guilty.” I nodded slowly, confidently. Maybe—just maybe—I was playing head games with her. Could you blame me?

  She visibly bristled again. “I never said that.”

  “You implied it.”

  She leered again. “I did not.”

  “Did too.” I leaned closer.

  “Ladies!” Riley stepped between us and raised his hands like a referee.

  Yes, maybe this was getting out of hand. This woman was bringing out the worst in me. Forgive me, Lord.

  “She started it,” Debby muttered, crossing her arms.

  I started to retort, but then realized just how immature it would sound. I bit down instead.

  I needed to catch this woman in a lie. People, when emotional, could act in irrational ways. That was what I was counting on now. I had to strike while the iron was hot. “If your husband is innocent, then maybe you could tell me this: Why else would your father-in-law be driving your husband’s car?”

  “He can’t risk driving his right now, of course.”

  “Why not?”

  “That’s a secret.”

  I nodded, realizing good and well that she hadn’t realized her slipup. That was okay. But she’d just admitted that Scotty Stephens was back in this area. Now the question was: why?

  “Why is he so fascinated with this property?” Would I be able to get the golden egg twice? I doubted it. I was pushing my luck. But that was okay. As long as I was pushing, I was doing something. “I don’t get it. There’s a sentimental reason he likes this land, isn’t there?”

  “You’ve obviously never met him. He’s not the sentimental type. He’s the type who likes money. Lots and lots of money.”

  “I didn’t realize retirement villages were that profitable,” Riley said.

  Debby snorted. “Retirement village? What are you talking about?”

  “Certainly the land isn’t worth the millions he’s offered.”

  She pulled her lips back like we were morons. “This land certainly is worth millions. There’s a load of coal down there by Mythical Falls. But the only way to retrieve it is through strip mining.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  “I ’d say we have a new number one suspect,” I muttered to Riley once Debby had left. Riley led me to the pavilion area and encouraged me to cool off before going to talk to Marion. His words were wise.

  “It appears this area is ripe for suspects,” Riley said, leaning forward with his arms on his knees and taking a sip of water. His sky blue T-shirt was stained, his jeans had a hole in the knee, and his five o’clock shadow had turned into a thin beard. He’d never looked more handsome, I realized.

  I pulled out my phone, deciding I’d just wasted entirely too much time on that woman. I had planned on heading into town, but I needed to take a moment to cool off first. “Speaking of which, I need to call Marion. Excuse me a minute.”

  I dialed her number, and she answered on the first ring. Her voice sounded fraught with anxiety, cracking with every other word.

  “Gabby?” she whispered, as if she couldn’t believe I would call her.

  For a moment I feared that she might hang up. “I just heard. Are you okay?”

  She paused a moment before answering. I wondered if she was crying and trying to collect herself. My heart panged with compassion. “For now. Duke explained everything to Chief Abel. There are no charges against him—yet.”

  “How did his print get there? Did he tell you?”

  “He said he almost tripped on the costume when he was looking for Bigfoot. He picked it up to see what it was. He must have left a print when he did that. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “I’m going to figure out what’s going on here, Marion. In fact, I have a new suspect.”

  “Whatever you do, be careful. This is all getting crazy—and that means a lot coming from a medical examiner.”

  As I hung up, I saw Clarice walking over with a huge box in her hands.

  “You’ll never believe what I found today in the old management office.” She plopped the box onto a picnic table.

  “The old management office?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, it’s over by Pharaoh’s Tomb area. Nate decided he wanted to fix it up. Like, maybe it could be my office one day if I ever decided to come work here.” She shrugged and blushed. “Anyway, the plumbers are out to fix up the bathroom there. It was disgusting. While they were working, I started going through some boxes. I found photo albums. Lots and lots of photo albums from when this place first opened. I found Nate’s picture, along with his dad’s and uncle’s. Can you believe it?”

  I leaned over as she pulled out one of the albums. “That sounds pretty interesting.”

  “Yeah, I told Nate we should do something with them—set up a display somewhere or something. I’m still trying to think it through. But maybe we could even blow some of them up and have posters made that we display around the park.”

  “I think that’s a great idea. In some ways, it would even up the cr
eep factor because it shows how the place used to be normal and now it’s a shell of what it once was,” I said. I flipped through the photos and saw images of the place as it used to be.

  Mythical Falls looked like the all-American theme park. Most of the photos had blue skies overhead, people with smiles on their faces, kids holding balloons and with their faces painted. The photos stood in stark contrast to how the place looked today.

  “There are even some from when Kiss played here.” Clarice handed me some loose photos. “Check these out.”

  Riley leaned over me, and my heart quickened at his nearness. I kept going, though, forcing myself to remain focused. Sure enough, there on the Pavilion stage was Kiss. The crowds looked like they extended from the stage seating area all the way back through the Bermuda Triangle.

  I kept flipping through the pictures and saw other acts. There appeared to have been animal trainers, dancers, a family trapeze act, and a magician, among others. This place really had been hopping at one time.

  I glanced around now. Sure, time had diminished its greatness, but over the past week, so much had been renovated. Would it ever return to its former state? No. But it might even turn into something better. Different but better.

  A thought caught me, and I sucked in a breath. Maybe more than this theme park had been restored this week. Maybe being here was the proof I needed that restoration could happen. I desperately needed to be restored. I thought once I had Riley back in my life that would happen. But restoration couldn’t always come from outside sources. Restoration had to start from the inside.

  Maybe that was the lesson I was supposed to learn while I was here this week, because certainly there were lessons I needed to learn in every situation. The world was my classroom, and my learning curve could be awfully steep sometimes.

  I continued to look at the faces in the pictures. I paused by a few. Why did some of the people look familiar? The world really wasn’t that small, was it? Was Henry among these faces? Was the killer somewhere in here?

  If I had weeks and weeks or months and months, for that matter, maybe I could figure it out. But I didn’t have that long to pour through these and do the research that I would need.

  I couldn’t help but think the answers were right here, though.

  I straightened. “You know what? Suddenly I’m starving. Anyone want to go to Yuck Yuck’s tonight?”

  Of course, I had ulterior motives. I was going to find some answers, once and for all.

  * * *

  I was about to leave for Yuck Yuck’s when the front door to the cabin suddenly burst open and Chad half-limped, half-stormed inside, his eyes full of fire. He’d gone into town for supplies earlier, and something must have gone terribly wrong.

  I braced myself for what was about to come.

  “Where’s Nate?” he demanded, his hands on his hips and his shoulders tight.

  Clarice started to point to a bedroom when that very door opened and Nate stepped out, a look of confusion on his face. “I’m here. What’s going on, man?”

  Chad thundered toward him, swinging papers in his hands. “What kind of game are you playing?”

  Nate raised his hands and stepped back. “Dude, what are you talking about? I’m not playing any game—”

  “Cut the garbage, Nate. I just went to the bank. There’s no money in your account. There’s no money to pay us, Nate.”

  Nate’s face paled. “No, something’s wrong. I’ll go with you myself—”

  “Stop lying, Nate. You’re broke, aren’t you? You never had any money to pay us.”

  My stomach dropped. Chad had been counting on this paycheck. Was his theory correct? Had his friend Nate duped him?

  “Nate?” Clarice asked, her voice fragile and on the cusp of devastation.

  As she said his name, Nate’s shoulders drooped, and I knew Chad had spoken the truth.

  I stole a quick glance at Riley, and his expression mirrored mine. This wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all.

  “You’re right.” Nate sagged against the wall. “I’m broke. I don’t have the money to do this. I ran out.”

  Chad’s eyes widened until the whites all around his irises were visible. “I trusted you! Normally, I take payment up front but, since you were my friend, I decided to take a chance. I put all this junk on my own credit card, knowing you’d pay me back. I have bills to pay!”

  Nate stepped closer, his voice low and desperate, even as his shoulders slumped. “I’m going to make all the money back, man. You’ve got to believe me.”

  Chad’s hands flew in the air. I’d never seen him so angry. “You don’t know anything! You’re hoping you’ll make all the money back. Just when exactly were you planning on telling me all of this? I’m set to leave here in a few days. Were you going to drop it on me before that?”

  Nate’s gaze dipped. “I hadn’t thought it through.”

  “Nate, how could you do this?” Clarice’s voice was lined with hurt and disappointment. She’d had the man up on a pedestal and had been envisioning her future here. She didn’t even have to tell me—I could see it in her eyes.

  Her disappointment seemed to especially deflate him. “I don’t know what to say. I was desperate. Desperate.”

  “I’d say so.” I wasn’t going to get involved, but how could I not? He’d scammed me too. “First you hired someone to pretend to be Bigfoot. You told the press I was like Sherlock Holmes to get additional attention. Now, come to find out, you were plotting this all along. You had no intention of paying us.”

  “No, I did!” He sprang to life, his eyes pleading with each of us. “As soon as I made the money back, it was yours. All yours.”

  “I heard you took money from investors. What happened to it?” Chad asked. “Did you blow through it with your top-of-the-line bathrooms and kitchens?”

  “I had to use it to pay the taxes on this place. Some things I paid for myself: the windows and the dumpsters.” He frowned and scratched his beard. “I used it for stuff I knew I couldn’t convince you to buy.”

  Chad shook his head and began pacing. I felt sorry for him—I really did. Betrayal by a friend was the worst kind.

  “Do you even realize how much money I’ve put on my card?” Chad rubbed his forehead. It was classic Distress 101. “Do you even realize that I have to pay my employees, that they’re counting on me? Do you even realize that I have a wife and a baby at home—that I have my own bills coming in? I’m still paying for the hospital stay for when Reef was born. My health insurance premiums went up. Sierra’s going to need a new car soon. Do you think you’re the only one who has financial troubles?”

  How could Nate have done this to his friend? Didn’t he realize that we all had our struggles? That we all needed money to get by?

  “I trusted you,” Chad continued. “I came out here to help you, as a friend. I gave you a discounted rate. I’ve worked around the clock, been away from my family, and I’ve gone above and beyond everything you’ve asked me to do. And this is how you treat me?”

  “Chad—” Nate started.

  “No, I’m not finished. You’ve always been irresponsible. I just never thought you’d take it this far. I was wrong. I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt for entirely too long. If you think I’m going to let this slide, you’re wrong. In fact, the whole reason you asked me out here was so you could use our friendship to your advantage. Isn’t that right? There were plenty of local contractors you could have hired, and I made the mistake of feeling honored.”

  When Nate didn’t respond for a moment, it became obvious that Chad had hit the proverbial nail on the head.

  “Wait, Chad!” Nate finally said. “I’ll make this up to you.”

  Chad narrowed his eyes. “Like you made it up to me when you stole my girlfriend back when we were rafting guides? Like you made it up to me when you crashed my car and totaled it that one summer? Like you made it up to me when you always conveniently left your wallet at home when we went out?”

&n
bsp; “I’ve grown up since then.” Even Nate didn’t sound convinced of his words.

  “Obviously, you haven’t. I’m done.” Chad started toward the door.

  “No, really, Chad! I’ll fix this.”

  Chad paused. “How?”

  “I have investors—”

  “They’ll be taking you to court soon.”

  “I’m going to make serious money through this park.”

  “That’s speculation,” Chad said. He stormed out the door, letting it slam behind him loudly enough that we all flinched.

  The rest of us stared at each other a moment.

  “I’ll talk to him,” I murmured.

  I had to make sure he was okay. Because with his level of stress lately, this just might have the power to break him.

  * * *

  I found Chad pacing Main Street, and I had images of an Old West showdown taking place here between Chad and Nate. My bets were on Chad.

  “Hey,” I called. I walked toward him slowly, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “Are you okay?”

  He stopped pacing long enough to rake a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe Nate would do this.”

  “I can’t believe it either. He’s your friend, and friends aren’t supposed to betray each other.”

  He sagged against one of the pillars outside the arcade. “What am I going to do, Gabby? I’ve charged almost thirteen thousand on my credit card, Gabby. Thirteen thousand.”

  I flinched at the amount. It seemed so unlike Chad. Then again—he’d trusted his friend. “Wow. That is a lot. You could take him to court . . . I know that’s not ideal. But, then again, neither is what Nate did to you.”

  He closed his eyes. “I can’t pay you. I can’t even pay my bills.”

  “Sierra’s still on maternity leave. She has some money coming in.”

  “Yeah, but there are hospital bills. And diapers. Do you have any idea how much diapers cost? And we’re using cloth!”

  It sounded like marriage and fatherhood had overwhelmed him. Was Chad another casualty of commitment? Was life full of more sunshine without the lifelong responsibility of marriage and family?