Small Town Secrets

by Allie Harrison

  At the far end was a large chest freezer, the lid open.

  Mac’s two colleagues, friends with whom Mac had sifted through debris searching for clues on more than one occasion, stood nearby. “Liam, Sam?”

  “Mac. Chief. Mr. McLane,” both agents greeted Mac, his dad, and the present chief. “We’ve called the crime unit, but we wanted you to see this first.”

  Mac’s footsteps on the concrete floor were loud. His dad and Daniels were right behind him.

  He didn’t have to get too close to the freezer to see the body inside. It was frozen and nicely preserved. So he also didn’t have to get close to examine it in order to identify it, either. Although the wonder of how he got folded so nicely in that small compartment did pass through Mac’s thoughts.

  Before he could speak, Robert let his own thoughts out. “Randy Gresden. I guess he didn’t go to Florida or California, after all.”

  “I’ll have to tell Tony he can stop hunting for him,” Mac said.

  “Unbelievable,” Daniels whispered.

  Mac thought of Lizzy and looked from Liam to Sam. “Where’s Kathleen Gresden now?”

  “I don’t know,” Sam replied. “When she saw she couldn’t stop the search of her house by giving us sex, she picked up her keys and left.”

  Mac met his dad’s gaze. “Where would she go?” Then Daniels’ words echoed through his thoughts. Kathleen would do whatever was necessary to keep her boys safe from anyone she thought would cause them pain.

  “Kathleen Gresden probably blames Lizzy for Stan going to County. I need to get back to the bakery and check on her.”

  And he should have returned her call, too.

  Mac’s heart felt as if weights were tied to it and it was being dragged beneath the surface of a vast, turbulent ocean. In less than two seconds, he had his phone in his hand to speed dial her number. Then he knew his heart was drowning when she didn’t answer, and the call went to her voice mail.

  Chapter Twenty

  The quiet was nerve-wracking.

  The empty bakery carried an eerie feel that made the hair on Lizzy’s arms stand up.

  Lizzy refilled her cup of coffee and sucked in a deep breath. “The last thing I need is to control the customers. I’ve been alone in here before. This shouldn’t bother me.”

  In the wake of revealing Stan’s true Jekyll and Hyde personality, every little noise made her jump.

  She speed dialed Mac, but all she got was a sweet, female computer voice asking her to leave a message. “Damn.” Next, she dialed Tony. “Are you almost done?” she asked when he answered with a, “Hey…”

  She forced her voice to stay light even though she felt far from it.

  “Soon. I think. Now that I’ve found the definite problem with the high school computer network. I wish these damned kids would stop trying to hack around to get past the blocked porn sites. Are you okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “Did you have a big crowd for lunch?”

  “Yes, quite a few, but it cleared out a half hour ago. Now, it’s really quiet in here, almost too quiet.”

  “Who was in? Anyone in particular?”

  She gave him the idle chit-chat he needed. Obviously she needed it, too, because it felt good to talk. She recognized his tactic to keep the conversation easy and mindless. A few of her classmates who had congregated there for brunch to talk about last minute details regarding the reunion were gone now, too. Even the reading area was empty. Some had asked about her cheek. Most others had been polite and said nothing, just pretended it was another day. There had, however, been a great deal of whispering going on in her shop. As if she couldn’t hear it. She knew everyone was whispering about her. Or about Stan. Or about her and Stan. She almost felt like she was back walking the halls of the high school.

  She ignored it and did her job.

  She told him about the mysterious meeting between Mac, his father, and Chief Daniels. They could only assume the meeting was about Stan. Although why she wouldn’t be included, considering she was the one who’d had a knife against her face and now had to wear a stitch in her cheek, she had no idea. Neither did Tony, who promised to be finished shortly.

  When she finally hung up, she felt better.

  She wished Mac would get back. She wished Tony was back, too. Just how long did it take to fix the high school network problem?

  Lizzy drew in a deep breath and relaxed. She was safe. Stan was still in the county lock-up where he belonged. Needing to stay busy, she picked up a tray of dirty coffee mugs and carried them into the kitchen. As she put the tray on the counter next to the dishwasher, she heard the sounds of muffled voices and laughter from out on the walk, and she glanced at the clock on the wall. It was time for her usual high school student customers. Where had the afternoon gone?

  She started lining the dirty coffee mugs into the dishwasher. Yes, work in her bakery was just what she needed. Maybe now was the time to add something new, like a cozy electric fireplace.

  The bells over the front door jingled with the arrival of a customer, probably a group of girls needing some caffeine.

  “Be right there!” she called out from the kitchen as she wondered vaguely why she didn’t hear any of the usual girl chatter or laughter and finished with the mugs. She had plenty. She didn’t need to take the time now to run the dishwasher.

  Her heart skipped when she returned to the main room to find Kathleen Gresden sitting on one of the stools at the counter. “Kathleen?”

  Stan’s mother was pointedly ignoring her as she read the colorful chalkboard menu that graced the entire wall behind where Lizzy stood. “Hi,” she said lightly.

  Considering the bright—although probably fake and forced—smile on her lips, one would think she didn’t know her son was in jail.

  “Hi…”

  “I’ll have—” Kathleen paused, still considering her options. “—a pumpkin spice latte and a piece of your famous apple pie. I hear it’s the best, even better than my own. But I won’t take it personally. Oh, and give me one—no, make it two—of those special twisted donuts you’re so known for.”

  It took a heartbeat or two before Lizzy could get the message to her brain to decipher latte, pie, and donuts. “Okay.”

  Everything was only a few steps away. A plate, the tray of donuts inside the display case, the pie in the covered cake plate, a mug. Working the bakery was so automatic. She’d served these items countless times. This time, her legs felt as though each one weighed a hundred pounds.

  She put the plate of donuts on the counter in front of her sole customer. She used her father’s big knife to then cut a piece of pie.

  “Oh, cut me an extra big piece,” Kathleen said.

  Lizzy did and carefully placed the knife on the counter instead of back on the pie plate. Then she slid the plate with a huge slice of pie over the counter next to the donuts. While trying to breathe calmly and appear normal, she made the cup of coffee, never fully turning her back to the counter. She made the coffee an extra-large size even though no size had been specified.

  She closed her eyes briefly while she envisioned finding it necessary to toss the hot liquid into Kathleen’s face in a way to defend herself. She sure as hell hoped it didn’t come to that. She hoped she didn’t need any defensive action, but it was always good to have a plan.

  “Mmmm, your pie is delicious, just like Elliot said.”

  Lizzy watched her chew a big bite before stuffing a second into her mouth. “What do you want, Kathleen?”

  “Now what kind of question is that for a customer?” Kathleen shrugged as if she didn’t understand the question. “I’m just here for pie…and donuts…and coffee. Just like all the other customers.” She looked around innocently. “Oh, but wait, I think I’m the only one. Business must not be very good today.”

  Business was just fine, Lizzy bit her tongue to keep from blurting out. And she couldn’t for the life of her understand why the place was empty. Usually about this time, her dining ar
ea filled up with high school kids as they got off school. And she’d certainly feel better if she wasn’t alone with the mother of the man who had threatened to cut off her face. She glanced at the door.

  Her heart felt like it dropped to her stomach when she saw the Open sign was turned to Closed and the door was locked. Obviously the woman across the counter who was woofing down pie had done that. “Kathleen…”

  The counter was between them, and Lizzy wanted to keep it that way no matter how much she considered trying to be normal and marching over to turn the sign back.

  “I never took you for being a slut.”

  “What?”

  “I mean, you understand…of course, you do. That I would do anything—whatever is necessary—to keep my boys on a straight and narrow and safe path.”

  Lizzy said nothing. What did anything necessary consist of?

  “I just never thought you were like some of those other slutty girls.”

  “I’m not a slut.”

  Kathleen took a sip of her coffee. And made a face, disgust in her expression. “I really like your pie, but not so much your coffee. It has too much of something, maybe too much cinnamon. I should probably keep to cappuccino. It’s hard to tell under all that sugar. I wanted to talk to you about that. You know too much sugar is so bad for Stan. It makes him do…” She paused, rolled her eyes, and shook her head. “Crazy things. And it interferes with his medication. I’m sure you understand.”

  Oh, she understood all right. Firsthand, and she had the fingerprints on her throat hidden under another scarf to prove it.

  Kathleen grinned. “You know, if there was one thing I learned from my husband, it was that men are unpredictable. Wouldn’t you agree?” She stuffed another big bite of pie into her mouth and chewed. Once she swallowed, she droned on, sounding as if she might be trying to lecture her little kids in class. “I really didn’t get angry, and it didn’t bother me at all that Stan likes your pie better than mine. Especially when I noticed he was spending a lot of time here with you. First, it was just skipping breakfast. Then, it was not needing a lunch made. After that, he started being late for supper. Obviously, he was feeling something for you. It’s been a long time since he showed interest in another woman. I mean Kelly Mattis really sent him for a loop, screwing everyone in town, trying to extort money from him because he had a little difficulty, you know—getting it up. I mean, what man doesn’t?” She chuckled bitterly. “Now that I think about it, Randy never had difficulty.”

  A shiver slid up Lizzy’s back.

  “Hell, that bastard could hit me once and be ready to fuck one of the horses in Stapleton’s pasture. That, of course, is old news. Back to Stan. After Kelly got what she deserved, there was that girl at college that he kept seeing. Not that he took any classes there. No, he lied to me and told me he needed to visit your brother. As it happened, she was just another slut who didn’t understand my boy. And again, his mommy had to step in and fix things.”

  She took a large drink of coffee. Then kind of stuck out her tongue. “Yep, no more of that nasty stuff. Can I get a cappuccino?”

  Lizzy ignored the request and stared at her customer.

  Kathleen sighed and continued as though there’d been no interruption. “Do you have any idea how tired I am? All I ever do is work to fix things. I mean, I feel like I spent the boys’ entire childhoods on the phone with either a principal or a teacher. ‘Elliot pushed another child off the slide. Stan isn’t doing his homework, and his leaf collection is two days late.’ ” She spoke in a mocking voice, imitating a teacher. “Hell, I didn’t even know he needed a leaf collection then.”

  She let out a loud huff. Her voice was so calm; she could have been discussing the beautiful fall weather. “Anyway, getting back to now. After that slut was out of the picture, I was afraid Stan would never be interested in another woman again.”

  Lizzy said nothing, just stared, terror filling her to the point she couldn’t breathe, her guard up so high the hair on the back of her neck was standing. Pieces began to fall into place, horrid, frightening pieces. Where the hell was Mac when she needed him? Her phone played a familiar tune, indicating an incoming call.

  “Don’t even think about answering that,” Kathleen said lightly. Once the song of Lizzy’s phone stopped, she went on, “I suppose something in your apple pie struck Stan’s heart. And I thought okay, Lizzy comes from a better family. Maybe she’ll be good enough for my boy. Then, like all the others, you failed to understand him. It’s a shame, too, because I really like you, Lizzy. And you have made this place into the most wonderful, inviting bakery-slash-coffee shop. Everyone loves coming in here, including me.”

  Thoughts of how to escape were flashing through Lizzy’s mind. There was the back door, but it required a key to open the deadbolt. Would she be quick enough to get it open?

  There was the front door. Could she get around the counter and to the door fast enough? What about the front windows? Dare she attempt crashing through?

  There were the stairs leading up to her apartment, but her sliding barn door was locked and also required a key because Lizzy was always afraid someone might venture up there unnoticed.

  She needed time.

  She needed to outfox an evident fox, someone cunning with the obvious ability to kill and get away with it for a decade. Working to keep her hands from shaking, she grabbed a clean mug before filling it with coffee.

  “What are you doing?” Kathleen asked.

  “Just allowing myself a cup of coffee. I always treat myself after a day working in the bakery.”

  Again, Kathleen read over the wall-covered chalkboard menu. “What’s your favorite flavor?”

  “I like to keep things simple. My favorite is a coffee just called Donut Shop.”

  “Oh, how funny,” Kathleen said, although there wasn’t an ounce of laughter in her voice.

  “So…Kelly was trying to get money from Stan?” Now that was something she’d never heard about. It was no secret, however, that Kelly seemed to want to sample every guy around.

  “A hundred dollars. She said he had to give her a hundred dollars, or she was going to tell everyone at school how he couldn’t…you know. Then she happened to see him, just like you apparently did. He had something—I don’t remember now what it was—maybe one of the neighbor’s puppies in our garage. And her price went to five hundred. I found him crying like a little baby, and he told me everything. I told him to tell Kelly—in person, no texting, no phone, no record—to meet him after the dance in the tunnel. I knew no one would go there. I didn’t even figure she’d be found for a while, considering the fact no one ever had the guts to go in there. I guess the idea of being given five hundred dollars kept any fear of the place at bay for her. She marched right in, wearing the ugliest, stupid high heels I’ve ever seen. I’d been hiding in the tunnel in the dark for two hours. I was cold and tired and hungry. I saw her drive up with Daniels. The way his car was shaking, I knew she was giving him a good time. I even considered sneaking closer, taking a picture of the two of them with my phone, and giving her a taste of her own blackmail medicine. Considering how she was obviously screwing everyone in pants, I figured it probably wouldn’t be enough to stop her. I also figured she wouldn’t stop after five hundred—even if I did have it to give to her, which I didn’t. Frank…Chief Daniels—of course, he wasn’t chief back then—sat in his car for the longest time, even after she was dead. And I always had the impression he didn’t know she even headed into the tunnel. I finally got tired of waiting for him to leave, and I decided to go out the other end, which would have been a longer trek home, but who cared? And there was a pickup truck parked out there.” She grinned an evil grin. “I didn’t even know it was you and Chief McLane’s boy until weeks later. Luckily, when I ran the other way, out the other tunnel entrance, Frank was gone.”

  Lizzy put the cup of coffee on the counter so she didn’t spill it on herself, given the fact she could no longer keep herself from shaking. She
didn’t, however, let go of the handle. Aside from words and the pie knife a few feet away, it was the only apparent weapon within reach.

  Other puzzle pieces clicked into place for Lizzy. “Weren’t you in the hospital around that same time?”

  Kathleen threw her head back, shaking out her blond mane. “I almost forgot that part. Randy was usually careful to keep things hidden, to hit me so no one else would know. That time, he broke a couple ribs and managed to puncture a lung.” Kathleen glanced up as if she could see the memory on the ceiling. “Chief McLane visited me in the hospital, wanted me to press charges. He told me with all the hospital records and the fact I had two sons at home, he could probably put Randy away for a year.”

  “But you didn’t.” Lizzy remembered.

  “You’re damned right I didn’t. Randy was like a slippery snake. He would never have gone to jail, not for more than a day or maybe a week at most. He would have managed to slither out from under any charges. He probably would have killed me. In the end, it didn’t matter. He decided to disappear on his own. I got out of the hospital only to come home and find he’d packed up and left with nothing more than a stupid note that said he was sorry for all the pain he’d caused. I figured Chief McLane must have said something that finally got through to him. I don’t think I slept for weeks, worrying that if I did, I’d wake up to find him sitting at the kitchen table, demanding to know where his pancakes were. Then I worried about what to do with the shop, but Stan was a natural there. He always had been. It was the one good thing Stan’s father had done for him—teaching him that trade. Stan was always good with machines. The poor kid could hardly write a decent paragraph, but he could make jewelry in shops class. I even tried to send the cops into a direction of the boys in high school as being Kelly’s killer by putting a bracelet on her. I knew all the shops classes made the same bracelet. Stan had given me one and told me not to feel bad if any other moms were wearing the same thing. I never heard of anything coming of that evidence. Maybe one of the many she’d screwed had already given her a bracelet.”