The Sounds of Home

by Greenwood Muir, Diane

  "I don't worry. I know you're cool. You don't do anything you don't want to do. You're a big girl and can make your own decisions. But see, this is why I don't want to hurry and be all grown up. I don't want to have kids until I've done things. When I finally have babies, I want to throw my life into them like you have with us."

  "Good. You do your life and make it as big as you want," Polly said. "And don't you let some man tell you that you can't."

  "Andrew?" Rebecca asked, confused. "He'd never tell me that I can't do something. You know that's why he wants to be a writer, right?"

  "What?"

  "He says that all he needs is a laptop and his brain to be a writer. We can live wherever I want to live. He'll write stories and I can be anything I want to be. Why would you say that?"

  Tears came back into Polly's eyes. Now she wanted to hug Andrew's neck. "I heard about someone who is brilliant and has this amazing degree. She's sitting on her butt doing nothing with it because her husband doesn't want to leave Iowa."

  "That's just dumb. I'll bet that she'll make a ton more money than him. Am I right?"

  "Probably, but that isn't it. She’s willing to sacrifice for him and he isn't willing to do that for her. It infuriates me."

  "Maybe you don't know the whole story," Rebecca said quietly.

  "Maybe." She reached over and squeezed Rebecca's knee. "I love you, sweet girl. You are so good for me."

  "Why, because I tell you that you're boring?"

  "I'm not boring. Stop that."

  "You are a little boring. When's the last time you and the ladies had a crazy night out?"

  Polly shook her head. "It's been too long."

  "And you don't go eat pizza as much on Sunday nights and I'll bet you don't hang out at the coffee shop now that you're back at Sycamore House."

  "Yeah, but people can find me at the office. So that's better."

  Rebecca nodded as Polly took the entrance onto Highway 30. She was speeding up as Rebecca pointed to a car that had pulled off to the side. "She doesn't look happy."

  Polly slowed and pulled in behind the blue BMW with Story County license plates. A blond woman was pacing back and forth, talking on her phone.

  "If you ever have to pull over," she said to Rebecca, "stay in the car until help arrives. What she’s doing isn’t safe. I don't know what’s up, but I'm going to find out." She wasn't about to tell Rebecca that this was the same woman who had been walking around the unfinished house in their neighborhood, but she did pat her pocket to make sure her phone was where it belonged.

  Checking traffic, Polly got out of the Suburban and walked up to the car. She waited as the woman spoke to someone on her phone.

  "Yeah?" the woman asked, looking up. She gave no indication that she recognized Polly.

  "Do you need help?"

  Holding her phone out, the woman frowned. "I'm trying to get some. My back tire is flat. Do you know how to change a tire?"

  "I've changed tires in my day," Polly said, "but I'd rather not do it out here on the highway. Have you found someone to come help?"

  "Not yet." The woman shook her head and walked around to the front of her car, swiping at her phone. "Damn it," she said. "Where is everyone?"

  Polly looked down at the tire and then ran her fingers across a hole in the panel over it. She stepped to the back of the car and found yet another hole in the trunk. She gulped and walked back to her Suburban, taking her phone out. "I'm calling my husband," she said. "He's not far from here."

  "Why would you do that?" the lady asked.

  "It's not safe out here. When did your tire go flat?"

  "It happened back there before the overpass. At least that's when I think it happened."

  Polly looked back at the Highway 17 overpass they'd just driven across. Quite a lot of traffic passed back and forth. To the south was a cornfield. Someone could have been hidden in there, she supposed. To the north was an open lot in front of a cement facility. She shut the door to the Suburban and held her phone in her hands.

  "What's going on?" Rebecca asked. "What were you looking at on her car?"

  "I can't be sure." Polly took a long, deep breath, then made the call.

  "Oh, please, no," Aaron Merritt said. "You just left us."

  "No body, but Aaron, there's a woman out here on Highway 30, just past the Highway 17 overpass going toward Ames. She has a flat tire."

  "You wouldn't call me for a flat tire."

  "I think someone shot at her. There are two other holes in her car. And it's a fairly new BMW. Not something that should have holes in it. Oh, and I saw the same woman wandering around Brad Anderson's unfinished house this morning."

  Rebecca gasped.

  "How long has she been there?"

  "I don't know. We just got here."

  "Polly Giller, for the love of all that's holy, will you get out of there? If there's an active shooter, you're in danger!"

  "I've been here for a few minutes. Nothing's happened yet."

  "Lucky you. Lucky me. Get the hell out of there."

  "But what about the woman? What if the shooter kills her? You know I’d have to come back to find the body."

  Deep, heavy breaths came from the other end of the call.

  "Take her with you if you have to, but get the hell out of there right now. Do you hear me? I don't want any argument from you. Go."

  "Yes, sir."

  Polly turned the Suburban back on and after a car went past, pulled out and around front to where the woman had been talking on the phone. She rolled the window in the back down and said, "Get in the car."

  "Why?" the woman asked.

  "Just get in. I'll tell you when we're moving. Get in now!"

  The woman looked at her. "Let me get my purse."

  "No. Get in the car!" Polly yelled. "Just do it."

  The woman was in such shock, she opened the door behind Rebecca and climbed in. She hadn't gotten buckled in before Polly checked traffic, pulled out, and raced down the highway.

  "What are you doing?" the woman asked. "Are you kidnapping me?"

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Even as Polly sped away from the woman’s car, she knew how ridiculous the situation had to seem.

  "Who are you?" the woman gasped out. "Why have you kidnapped me?"

  Polly chuckled. "No kidnapping. My name is Polly Giller. This is my daughter, Rebecca."

  "You're the one …" the woman said, then closed her mouth. "Why am I here?"

  "Did you see two fresh holes in the back of your car?"

  "No, what do you mean? Holes in the car? I’m in so much trouble."

  "If your car weren't so new, I wouldn't have assumed anything, but they look like bullet holes."

  "She wouldn't."

  Polly pressed a steering wheel button and said, "Call Aaron." She'd finally figured out the whole hands-free thing this summer.

  "Polly, where are you?" Aaron said in lieu of answering.

  "Driving west on Highway 30. Where are you?"

  "We're at the car. You're right, those are bullet holes."

  "Who is that?" the woman asked.

  "Sheriff Aaron Merritt. And who are you?"

  Rebecca couldn't help herself and let loose with a laugh. "This is weird," she whispered.

  "My name is Jane Anderson. Brad was my brother."

  "Did you hear a popping sound before you realized your tire had gone flat?" Aaron asked. "And can you tell me where it might have happened?"

  Jane sat forward. "It was before I got to the overpass. I figured I ran over something and it popped my tire. It took me a while to slow down and with all the traffic, I had to keep going farther than I should have. I've probably ruined the rim."

  "That's the least of your problems," Aaron said. "Polly, we have people on the scene. Can I ask you to turn around and take Ms. Anderson back to my office?"

  "Why?" Jane asked. Then she shook her head. "Never mind. I understand."

  "I can do that," Polly said.

&n
bsp; "Take the back way into town if you don't mind. If you see someone strange following you, call me right away."

  "I've been checking, Aaron. No one is following me."

  "Just keep watch. Deputy Hudson will be waiting for you."

  "Got it."

  "Polly, I don't know how you get yourself into these things."

  "Practice makes perfect."

  He laughed. "I'm glad you have a sense of humor about it."

  She pressed the button and ended the call. "You're Brad Anderson's sister? What were you doing at the house this morning?"

  "Why do you care?"

  Polly nodded as she turned off onto a gravel road. She drove a half mile and turned around in a driveway, then headed back north. It took a few minutes for a hole to open up in traffic and when it did, she sped up and drove across the four lanes of traffic. "I understand why you ask that. I was the one who found Brad's body."

  "I know and it’s very weird that I’m in your car."

  "You have no idea," Rebecca said under her breath.

  "There are a lot of rumors about Brad and his mistress," Polly said.

  Jane blew out a breath. "Whatever. He wasn't having an affair. It's just like that witch wife of his to accuse him of that."

  "She's not the injured party?"

  "Not in the least. Brad was no saint, but he certainly wasn't the bad guy in that relationship. She and that harpy of a mother ran him ragged. He was nothing more than a servant."

  "Did he gamble?" Polly asked.

  "Wouldn't you if you lived with women like that?"

  "I've met Elaine. She's a very nice woman."

  "Oh, if that's what she wants you to believe about her, but she's got a mean and nasty side. You know there was a rumor that she killed her husband. Poisoned him and no one knew it. He was this really nice man, then he retired. The day he wrote his will was the final nail in his coffin. He left everything to her and Lillybeth. She started looking for the easiest way to kill him without it looking like murder."

  "That sounds far-fetched."

  "While it looked like a heart attack, he'd never had any signs of heart disease. But she had money, so it just went away."

  "What were you looking for at the house this morning?"

  "Brad told me that if he died, I'd find proof that Lillybeth had murdered him. He said he was putting it behind a concrete block in the basement. I have the map to find it, but you showed up and I didn't know if you were from Lillybeth, coming to take it away from me."

  "You have a map."

  "Yeah. He called me about a week before he was killed and told me that he'd cut out a concrete block and stuck the proof inside, just in case I ever needed it."

  "Did he tell you what kind of proof?"

  "Well, did you know there was someone living at the building she owned downtown? Like, trapped there because Lillybeth wouldn't let them leave. It's some old guy who was a kind of genius printer from way back. She brought him in to print money. Can you even believe that? She wants to print money in this day and age. Like the whole world isn't looking for counterfeits. But Brad said she had another contact that was taking the bills out of the country. You know her father owned a shipping company. He had trucks moving all across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. He also shipped overseas. All she needed to do was get the supply chain moving. I don't know how she kept her name off it, though. Brad said that two of her shipments were intercepted in LA last spring before they got on a boat."

  "This sounds so far-fetched."

  "I know. I couldn't believe it when he told me. He's got the name of the old guy who was printing for her. He's from somewhere out east. Like Ohio or something. She was going through her father's money so fast, they were in deep trouble. She made Brad sell some heirlooms because she didn't want to get her hands dirty. Those receipts are supposed to be with the documents he had. He also kept some of the hundred-dollar bills that were printed wrong or something. Test prints, I guess. A few weeks ago, she heard that the Secret Service was going to start sniffing around here, so she moved the old guy out. She told Brad to come over and clean things up because she was selling everything and they were moving out of the state."

  "Who killed your brother? It wasn't her. She has an alibi for the night he was killed."

  "Yeah, whatever. She hired someone. Lillybeth Borden has connections. See, the thing of it is, she got away with a lot because she and her mother relied on her father's good reputation and the fact that they lived an upscale, nice normal life in the middle of Iowa. No one would ever look at them as criminals. They tried to keep it all at a distance, too. Brad says she has a bunch of shell companies in place. That list is supposed to be in with the rest of the documents."

  "That isn't proof that she killed him," Polly said. "Just that she was involved in illegal activity."

  Jane sighed. "I know, but she set Brad up to look like he's the one who did it all. Her hands are clean. He arranged everything for the man to stay in the newspaper office. He brought in food. He's the one who cleared the guy out. She had him sell the family heirlooms and ten to one, she has video of him gambling at one of the casinos around here. She took him off all the family accounts last spring. He couldn't figure out if that was because she didn't want him to see what she was doing or what. He even said that her mother was hitting on some old guy that had a business in town so she could talk about Brad, just in case they needed a witness."

  "Mr. Gardner?" Rebecca asked. "That's horrible."

  Jane took in a breath. "And the thing is, you probably don't even believe me. They have a lot of money and a lifetime of knowing how to lie to get their way."

  "You drive a pretty nice car," Polly said.

  "It belongs to my boss. I'm borrowing it while she's in Hawaii on vacation. Mine broke down the day after I found out that Brad had been killed. She told me to just use hers while she was gone. After my paycheck comes in on Friday, I can afford to get mine fixed. My boss isn’t going to believe this. I have her car for a week and someone shoots holes in it. I can't believe that witch was trying to kill me."

  "They aimed at the back of the car," Polly said. "I believe if they wanted to kill you, bullet holes would have peppered the side of the vehicle. But if that isn't your car, how did they know it was you?"

  "I've been driving it for a while. And I went over to see Lillybeth, trying to get some of Brad's things. Would you believe she won't let me have anything? He had my dad's pocket watch and he gave her my mom's engagement ring. I know I'll never get that ring, but I'd really like to have Dad's watch. It's about all we have left …" She hitched a breath. "It's about all I have left. I have nothing left. Nothing."

  Polly wanted to believe what this woman was telling her, but it seemed so absurd. On the other hand, it made sense. The Secret Service had swooped into Bellingwood awfully fast when they got the call.

  It was interesting to hear the same things that Simon told her this morning, but from a different perspective. He was going to be devastated when he discovered he had been a patsy for a plot like this. Unless of course, Jane's words were all lies and Elaine had been telling him the truth.

  She had no idea who to believe. She pulled into the parking lot behind the sheriff's offices and blew out a breath. How in the world did she keep ending up here?

  "You should just get a job here," Rebecca said.

  Polly looked over at her. "Hush, you. I'm calling Tab to tell her we're here. We're kind of running out of day. Can I take you to lunch in Ames another time?"

  "Are you kidding?" Rebecca asked. "This has been the most fun I've had all year."

  "I'm sorry I interrupted your day," Jane said. "You shouldn't have stopped."

  Rebecca turned to look at her. "You have no idea who you're talking to. Polly couldn't have driven past you if she wanted to. She's drawn to people who need help. The rest of us have learned to go along for the ride because it's always going to be interesting."

  Polly put the phone to her ear and waited for
Tab to answer.

  "Hi, Polly. Do you have a delivery for me?"

  "We're in the parking lot."

  "So, victim or criminal. What do you think? Just say the number one or two."

  "One."

  "You're pretty sure?"

  "Nope, but kinda."

  "She's been talking to you the whole way here, hasn't she. You've got the whole story?"

  "And more. I was going to call you later this afternoon. I can still do that, but I need to get back to Bellingwood before my kids are out of school. And I have to feed Rebecca."

  "She's not in school?"

  "No, she messed her ankle up on Monday."

  "Bad sprain?"

  "I think so. Are you coming?"

  "At the door. We'll be right there. Patience, woman. Patience."

  Polly looked up and waved as Tab and another deputy exited the building. "Jane, Deputy Hudson is a friend of mine. If you tell her your story and you're honest, she'll help you. If you lie to her, she'll know and that will be it."

  "Do you believe me?"

  "I think so," Polly said. "Just tell her what you told me. Give her the map to the proof that your brother hid. She's good and honest and will make sure that you are kept safe."

  "I'd rather give it to you. I think I trust you."

  "If you trust me, trust the deputy. She's one of my closest friends."

  "I don't know anyone else who has friends in law enforcement."

  Rebecca just shook her head.

  The side door of the Suburban opened and Tab smiled in at Polly. "How in the world did you get her in the car? Aaron said he told you to get out of there."

  Rebecca craned her neck. "She used her mom voice. No one disobeys when Polly does that. No one."

  "No kidding," Jane said. "It was like my feet were moving before my brain kicked in. Then I was in and she was driving off."

  Polly shrugged. "Gotta use the talents you've been given."

  "Deputy Drake will take you inside," Tab said. "I'll be right there. Interview Room Two."

  The young man took Jane's arm and led her away while Tab climbed into the seat she'd just been occupying. She took out her notebook and said, "What do I need to know?"

  "She says there is proof hidden in the house beside us that Henry was building. She has a map as to how to get it. Tab, Henry and I caught her walking around there this morning. She snuck off and drove away before I could talk to her. That's why I stopped on the highway. I recognized the car. Also, I went to see Simon Gardner this morning. You're going to want to speak with him. He has information from Elaine Borden, the mother-in-law of Brad Anderson."