Rock Around the Corpse

by Lizbeth Lipperman

  Maddy grabbed the notebook and stared at it for a second. “It looks like some kind of accounts receivable thing, but it’s too dark to make out exactly what’s written here.” She shoved the book into her upper pocket. “You’re right. We need to get back to the spa soon or we may never find our way. We can read this together after we get something into our stomachs.”

  “Good. I’m starving.” Vince stood and began to gather some of the larger pieces of furniture remnants and metal, along with a few big pieces of half-burned lumber. Placing them gently over Naomi’s body, he made sure that if a critter did decide to come around and investigate, he’d have to work hard to get to the body, and hopefully would think it wasn’t worth the effort.

  “The best option is to wait until the police arrive tomorrow night so that they can call in a team of rescue workers to carry Naomi’s body out of the woods. They’ll have the right equipment to do that.”

  Maddy nodded and made a sign of the cross over the make-shift burial site. “Rest in peace, Naomi Peterson.”

  After helping Maddy stand up, Vince took one last look around the clearing, unable to shake the feeling that Wharton was out there watching their every move. If they had another couple of hours of daylight left, they might have been able to find him.

  But tomorrow was another day. With police helicopters and all-terrain vehicles searching, Wharton wouldn’t stay hidden for long.

  *****

  Colton Winslow waited outside the radiology department at Vineyard Regional Hospital, terrified about what the doctors would tell him. He’d been given one job this weekend and that was to take care of his niece while her mother was on a much-needed-three-day, spa adventure with his wife and their other two sisters.

  One lousy job.

  And he’d blown it big time. He cursed himself for taking his eyes off Gracie and Jessie for two minutes while he snuck into the house to grab the burgers for the grill. Two minutes was all it had taken for Jessie to trip over something up there in the tree house and fall five feet to the ground. He could still hear Gracie screaming for him, still feel his heart pounding when he’d run from the house and seen Jessie on the ground, not moving.

  He’d raced to her side, fully expecting to find her unconscious with a head injury—or worse—and had been relieved to see her trying to stand when he’d reached her.

  “Don’t be mad, Uncle Colt,” she’d said. Although her eyes had been filled with pain, all she’d worried about was that she’d done something wrong.

  “Sweetheart, no way I’m mad at you. It was an accident.” He’d made her lie back on the ground just in case there was a spinal injury while Gracie called 911. That’s when he’d noticed the odd angle of her left wrist and prayed that a fractured wrist would be the extent of her injuries.

  In less than ten minutes, the ambulance had arrived. After the EMT’s had assessed her condition, put a back board underneath her, a cervical collar around her neck, and a blow-up splint on her left wrist, they’d loaded her into the ambulance and sped off to the hospital. He’d been impressed that they could do all that is such a short time and still get Jessie to giggle at something the younger of the two men had said. The ER physician had taken one look at her and sent her immediately for CT scans of her wrist, spine, and brain.

  “Dad, is Jessie going to be all right?” Gracie asked, yanking him out of his thoughts and bringing him back to the present.

  He dabbed at the tears running down his daughter’s cheeks with the edge of his T-shirt. “I hope so, honey. We’ll just have to wait and see what the doctor has to say.”

  He glanced down at his watch, hoping his daughter didn’t see how nervous he really was. It had already been over an hour, and no one had come out to tell him anything. He tried to remain calm, but his imagination was running wild.

  Wrapping his arm around Gracie, he pulled her closer, more as a comfort to him than for her. Maddy had left him in charge, and the three of them had been having so much fun since the Garcia sisters had left for Oklahoma. He’d even been feeling a little cocky that he was doing such a great job. He saw it as a personal pat on the back that Jessie had only mentioned Maddy once in the nearly two days she’d been with them, and that was only to say that she hoped her mother was having a blast.

  Apparently, she’d noticed how stressed-out Maddy had been during the past two weeks with all the overtime. With Flanagan in San Antonio visiting his kids, they’d already been shorthanded when Tom Rogers had come down with some kind of virus that had landed him in the hospital for a week and left him too weak to come to work for another ten days. Everyone had been pulling double shifts, and Maddy had been no exception. It must have been really hard on her to come home after a sixteen hour shift and then have to deal with a budding teenager by herself. No wonder she’d been stressed to the limit.

  He pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number, but just like the last five times he’d tried, it went directly to voicemail. No one answered the satellite phone, either. Thank God, Maddy had been smart enough to give him notarized medical clearance to authorize any emergency treatment for Jessie.

  Man, he wished Lainey was here with him. She was so levelheaded and would know how to comfort both Jessie and Gracie.

  Hell, he wished all the Garcia girls were with him right now. Kate would be in the CT room with her niece and could keep them updated, and Deena would help keep Maddy calm. Lainey’s sisters—and Lainey herself—could be such pains, especially when they decided to go all Angela Lansbury on him and try their hand at amateur sleuthing. But he tolerated their interference in his investigations because he loved them all like the sisters he’d never had, and if he were being truthful, he’d have to admit that even though they’d damn near gotten themselves killed a time or two, they’d been especially helpful in a few of his cases.

  Of course, he’d rather fall into a den of rattlesnakes then to admit that to them.

  “Sheriff Winslow?”

  He looked up at the female doctor who had somehow snuck up on him, trying to read her face. He was usually pretty good at that, especially during interrogations. But the tall, middle-aged Dr. Remington— according to the embroidered name tag on her lab coat—was not giving him any hints.

  Then she smiled, and he felt his shoulders relax a bit

  “Jessie has a fracture of her left wrist that will probably need surgery to align the two ends together. I’ve put her in a temporary half-cast to immobilize the arm until some of the swelling goes down.” She handed him a business card. “Dr. Owens is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and has already been updated on Jessie’s case. Have her mother call him on Monday to set up an appointment for Tuesday. By then he’ll have copies of all the films, and he’ll be able to tell you if she’ll need hardware to repair the wrist or if he can just reduce it under sedation and put her in a real cast.”

  “Are there any other injuries?” He held his breath waiting for the answer.

  The woman smiled. “Jessie was very fortunate. Most kids who fall from a tree house have some kind of head trauma and usually a concussion. Jessie took the full brunt of the fall on her wrist. Her head and spine are negative.”

  Colt allowed the breath he’d been holding to escape and followed it up with a long relieved one. “Thank you so much, Dr. Remington.” He reached down and kissed Gracie, who had finally quit crying.

  “I’ve given her something for the pain and will send her home with a prescription for more. Don’t hesitate to give it every six hours for the first forty-eight whether she needs it or not, and make sure she takes it with food. Any questions?”

  “And you’re absolutely positive she shouldn’t spend a night or two in the hospital?” He was already getting nervous about taking her home and being the only one there with her. Funny how he had no problem facing hardened criminals but was terrified of being alone with one twelve-year old girl with a broken wrist.

  The doctor smiled. “I am. I understand your concern since she’s your niece, but I can
assure you kids are very resilient. Jessie will do fine. When did you say her mother was coming home?”

  “Late tomorrow afternoon.” The apprehension returned with a vengeance. Maddy was going to kill him.

  “You’ll do great until she gets home. I suspect Jessie will sleep a lot with the pain pills.” She offered her outstretched hand, and he shook it. “Take care of that little girl, Sheriff.”

  “I will. Thanks.”

  He stared down the hall long after she was gone, thinking about how upset Maddy would be when she found out that her daughter had a broken bone. He dialed her number once again but hung up when he was directed straight to voicemail.

  “Dammit, Maddy. Pick up the freakin’ phone.”

  *****

  Deena, Lainey, and Kate headed to the dining room to grab a quick bite and afterwards, spend some time nosing around while they waited for Maddy and Vince to return.

  As soon as they walked into the room, Deena knew that supper plans had changed. A couple of long tables had been set up at the front of the room, and the two chefs were standing behind them.

  “What’s up?” Kate asked. “Thought we were having filet mignon with Paulina’s special sauce tonight.”

  Deena shrugged. “No idea, but something is definitely going on. There goes Haley to the front with the microphone.”

  The girls sat down at the table closest to the exit so that Maddy and Vince could join them without causing too much of a distraction. Tessa plopped down beside Kate. Trying to keep the secret about Wharton being on the run had been futile, and word had spread quickly. How could you miss the curious looks they were getting from all the other guests? But none of them seemed fearful, causing Deena to wonder if they were putting on a show or if they were a little more relaxed now that the suspected killer was no longer in house.

  “Friends, could everyone please sit down so I can make a few announcements?” Haley asked over the chatter. When the guests did as instructed, she continued, “You’ve all probably heard that Gary Wharton is missing and that he might be the man who killed Brent Kershaw.”

  “Do we know that for sure?” Annie Elliott asked from her wheelchair. “A few hours ago you thought your designer was the one who’d killed him.”

  Don’t let her get under your skin, Deena, Tessa said. We all know she’s a charlatan here at the spa for financial gains. I’m sure she’s broke and looking to cash in. Hell, she’s probably gone back to having sex with old Theo over there just because she has no money to buy batteries anymore.

  Deena bit her lip to hide the grin at the thought of Annie Elliott and a vibrator. Fortunately, Haley began speaking again before she gave in to a comeback of her own.

  “Annie, we all know there’s no way Deena could have killed anyone. And for your information, the people running the investigation have concluded that both she and Brent were drugged. Let’s not be so harsh on her since she was a victim herself.”

  Deena heard Annie tsk. “I’m not surprised that she’s no longer being considered as the killer, knowing that her own sister is running the investigation.”

  “That’s enough,” Haley admonished her. “Right now Maddy and Vince are in the woods looking for Wharton. I’m sure they’ll bring him back here and keep him under surveillance until we can get him to tell us where the satellite phones are. Then we can call the Oklahoma State Troopers.” She paused to give Annie a semi-fake smile.

  Guess she suddenly remembered that the Elliotts are possible investors, Tessa whispered. Wouldn’t be a smart move to piss them off before the check is written. Little does Haley know there will probably never be a check or at least one that doesn’t bounce like one of those freakin’ little balls you get out of the gumball machines.

  “Anyway,” Haley continued into the mic, “the chefs and I made a decision not to go forward with the extravagant dinner that was planned tonight in case…” Her voice trailed off, but everyone in the room knew she was about to say “in case something else happens.”

  “Great way to calm the crowd,” Lainey deadpanned. “Remind them that the killings may not be over.”

  “So Sergio and Paulina have whipped up a couple of trays of rigatoni with garlic bread and a salad instead,” she continued. “We’ll serve it buffet style, so grab a plate from your table and form a line, and we can get started.”

  “Yes,” Kate exclaimed. “I’ll take Italian over fancy food any day of the week. And rigs just happen to be one of my favorites.” She stood and prompted her sisters to do the same. “Hurry up! I’m hungry.”

  As they walked to the front, Deena noticed that Naomi Patterson was nowhere to be found and hoped the reason was because she’d made it back from her walk and decided to skip dinner. The thought of her being out in the woods in the dark was too terrifying to think about.

  While everyone was eating, the two chefs and Haley made their way around the room, stopping to chat with each of the guests for a few minutes. When they got to where the Garcia sisters were sitting, Kate immediately complemented Sergio and Paulina on the rigatoni.

  “Wish I could take credit for that, but the accolades go to Sergio’s grandmother,” Paulina said in a thick Hispanic accent. “If you’re really nice to him, he might give you the secret to his sauce.” She patted Sergio on the back. “I only made the salad and the dessert.”

  “The salad dressing is scrumptious,” Lainey said. “I love the strawberry flavor mixed with the balsamic vinegar.”

  “I’d be happy to give you that recipe,” Paulina said with a smile. “It came all the way from Denmark.”

  “Denmark? Since it had a little bite to it, I figured it was from South America or some other place where spicy salsa is a staple in every dish,” Deena said.

  Paulina flushed. “It does, in a roundabout way. My mother spent several months in Copenhagen and got the recipe at the school where she taught.” She took a deep breath and smiled. “Of course, she added real habanero peppers to spice it up.”

  “I knew it,” Deena said, clapping her hands. “And yes, we’d love the recipe.” She glanced toward Tessa who was staring intensely at Paulina. Deena knew that look—knew her sister reserved it for people she wanted nothing to do with.

  Just then the dining room door opened and Maddy and Vince walked in. As soon as they spotted the sisters, they rushed over, both still with wet hair from the shower.

  “Did you find Wharton?” Deena asked before they could even sit down.

  Maddy shook her head. “No, but we had to give up the search because it was getting dark and we didn’t want to take a chance of getting stranded in the woods overnight.”

  Vince pulled over a chair from another table and sat down beside Deena. A whiff of citrus tickled her nose as he leaned closer to her. “Unfortunately, we do have some bad news, though.”

  Deena closed her eyes. “Is it about Naomi Peterson?”

  He nodded. “I'm sorry. We found her body about five or six miles west of here at the site of what looks to be a burned-out log cabin.”

  “A cabin? Whose?” Kate asked

  “We have no idea, but it looks like there may have been some kind of explosion, and it burned to the ground.” Maddy reached down, grabbed a rigatoni noodle from Deena’s plate, and shoved it into her mouth. “Oh my, that’s good. Vince and I are hungry enough to eat a moose.”

  “Wonder what Naomi was doing at the cabin,” Deena mused. “Do you think she got lost and just ended up there?”

  Maddy swallowed the pasta then continued. “Hard to tell, but we found her right in the middle of the debris.”

  “Any idea how Naomi died?” Lainey asked, stopping halfway to her mouth with a huge bite of rigatoni to wait for the answer.

  Paulina, who had standing next to Sergio at the next table kibitzing with the Masons turned around. “Naomi Peterson is dead? Did Wharton kill her, too?”

  Vince answered for Maddy who had just taken another bite of Deena’s food. “We can’t talk about it now, but as soon as we piece
it together, we’ll let you all know.” He made eye contact with Maddy before lowering his voice to answer Lainey’s question. “It’s possible, but we think she may have tripped and hit her head. Unfortunately, it was already getting late, and there was no way we could bring her body back here in the dark.”

  “Oh Lord! I’ve been worried about her all day. Why in the world would she walk that far into the woods, knowing how dangerous that can be?” Deena asked, saying a quick prayer for the woman.

  “No clue, although we think she may have lived out there at one time,” Maddy responded almost in a whisper, glancing toward the table with the Mason’s before crouching down next to Deena. When she was completely out of sight of Sergio, Paulina and Olivia Mason, who was now overtly leaning her chair toward the sisters to hear the conversation, she pulled the half burned notebook from inside her jacket. “We found this underneath her.”

  Everyone moved in for a better look. “What is it?” Kate finally asked.

  “We’ll know after we read through it. We also found a Polaroid tucked underneath her and think it could be a picture of her as a preteen with her younger brother and father.”

  “So what do you think you’ll find in there?” Deena asked, pointing to the notebook.

  “Who knows?” Maddy eyed the food table in the front. “After we fill our tummies, we’ll go through it and see if it contains anything useful.” She shoved it back into her jacket and headed for the front with Vince right behind her.

  “What if the book has something to do with Brent’s murder?” Lainey asked. “I can’t wait to get a look at it.”

  Deena thought about that for a moment. “I seriously doubt it. My guess is that maybe Naomi had lived out there at one time or another and simply wanted to have a look at the old place for nostalgic reasons, or she just stumbled onto the area.” But even as the words left her mouth, she couldn’t wait to get a look at the book in case it held clues that might clear up a few unanswered questions.