Mrs. Fix It Mysteries (5 Cozy Mystery Books Collection)

by Belle Knudson

  “Lunch?”

  “No. I think we need to spend a little less time together. Some in this town think we are an item. We aren’t. I can’t look like I’m cheating on my husband.”

  “Cheating on a man who hasn’t contacted you in five years?”

  “That’s irrelevant.”

  “Speaking of that man. I found his passport in the box of stuff you gave me. The stuff from his office,” Scott said.

  “Oh? His current one?”

  “Well, it expired last year, so it was current when he disappeared,” Scott said. He pulled something out of a drawer in his desk. “It has some interesting stamps in it.”

  “Is this why you asked me if he traveled?”

  “Yes. He couldn’t have gotten out of the country without this.”

  “So he must be in the United States,” Kate said.

  That didn’t narrow down his location by much, but at least he might be more easily found. If he could be found at all.

  “Yes.”

  He pushed the passport across his desk in her direction. Part of her had given up ever knowing what happened to Greg. That part wanted to just push the document back. Would it really shed any light on his disappearance?

  Before she could make a decision on what to do, her hand snaked out and grabbed the passport. She opened it to the first page. There he was. The man she’d fallen in love with. The man she’d had children with.

  She turned the pages, one after the other before she put it down. The passport spoke of a life that she’d known nothing about.

  “As far as I knew, all of his conferences were in the United States. He was never gone more than a week or so. He’d never said he was going anywhere else.”

  Scott frowned. “I’m sorry, Kate. I’m thinking that Greg was not exactly the person you thought he was.”

  “I figured that out the year after he left. I guess I didn’t know the extent of his deception until this moment. I bet those stamps coincide with the times I thought he was speaking at a conference.”

  “I would bet. I’m sorry, Kate. Is there anything I can do?”

  He was so sweet. She was going to cry. She wanted to do that alone. In this moment, she knew for sure that she would probably never see Greg again. She had to grieve for him. She had to be angry at him.

  But not in front of Scott. He’d comfort her. He’d be sweet, but it would also be another way for him to shoehorn his way into her life. She had to grieve for her loss first.

  “No, there isn’t. Thanks for the information.”

  She rose.

  “Kate? Should you be alone?”

  “Yes, I’d like to be alone.”

  She left him and went out the back door into the sunshine. Across the lot was a park, the kind with swings and laughing children. No one was there right now, so Kate traversed the grass to sit at a picnic table.

  The tears came quickly and then were gone. She wouldn’t have thought that she had any more of them to cry for Greg. She’d been doing it for five years now.

  She was sure now that Greg hadn’t been Greg. He was someone else. At least part of the time. Or had it been all of the time? How much of their life together had been a lie?

  The only parts she knew were true were her kids. No one could take them away from her. Even if they never saw Greg again, Jason and Jared were hers.

  She sniffed, wiped her tears away then vowed not to cry for the man ever again.

  ***

  Despite her new resolve, Kate wanted to talk to Carly. She would listen to her and be sympathetic. She could help Carly with her orders while they talked.

  The shop was empty when Kate arrived. As if Carly had radar, she pulled Kate into the backroom and gave her a hug.

  “You’ve been crying,” Carly said.

  She wanted to share with Carly, but her friend may be tired of talking about Greg. She’d been hearing about him ever since he left. “Scott is looking into Greg’s disappearance.”

  Carly stepped away from her. She grabbed a vase and began to arrange flowers. “Don’t you think it’s time to let him go? He isn’t coming back, Kate. I think you’ve been on your own long enough. Shouldn’t you be allowed to get on with your life by now?”

  “I owe it to my kids to find out what happened.”

  “What if you never find out? You’ll be older and alone because the kids will be living their own lives. Scott is so into you. I wish a man was that into me,” Carly said.

  She put two roses into the vase then surrounded it by baby’s breath. On the outside she put daisies and a red flower that Kate couldn’t identify. What she did know about flowers was from being friends with Carly for so long.

  “I can’t explain it, Carly. He was my husband. I made a vow to Greg.”

  “He can’t be keeping his vows since he isn’t here.”

  Carly had a point, but it went back to how Kate felt about her vows. She’d made them and planned to only make them once. Greg might have had other ideas, but until she knew what had happened, she found it hard to move on in her love life.

  “I have to do what is right for me.”

  “So why is this all suddenly bothering you again? It’s been ages since you’ve talked about Greg.”

  Kate pursed her lips. “Let me get some coffee.” She poured some into a cup then returned to a stool by where Carly was working. Now she was putting together flowers in a basket, probably for Dudley’s funeral.

  “I gave Scott a box of Greg’s stuff that had been taken out of his office at the college. I’ve never looked in it. Scott found his passport.”

  “Oh?”

  “I didn’t know it was in there,” Kate said.

  She had no idea if she would have ever looked in the box. She guessed that eventually she would have.

  “And what did Scott find?”

  “He showed me the passport. It had a lot of stamps from countries in the Middle East.”

  “Didn’t he specialize in Middle Eastern studies?”

  “Yes, but he never told me he went over there. As far as I knew, he was speaking at conferences. He was never gone for more than a week. I had no reason to think he was lying.”

  “And now you do.” Carly squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry, honey.”

  “You never trusted him, did you?”

  Carly frowned. “I tried, Kate. He was your husband. He never did anything or said anything he shouldn’t have, but to me there was a bad vibe about him. As if he were always hiding something.”

  “Even with the evidence of his passport and your saying that, I still don’t feel as if I ever felt that. I took everything he said at face value. It makes me wonder if he ever loved me.”

  “Oh, Kate, I think he did. That’s why I put up with him and that vibe. I knew he loved you. Whatever else he was, don’t doubt that. He loved those boys of yours, too.”

  Right now, Kate couldn’t be so sure. If he loved them, he wouldn’t have left. He would be there with her now. How could he just walk out? Kate didn’t think she would ever understand, even if Greg walked in the shop that minute and tried to explain.

  She couldn’t imagine leaving behind her boys. No way. She’d miss them too much. They were fourteen when Greg left. That’s a tough age for boys—puberty and high school all at the same time.

  She was mad at Greg. She hadn’t wanted to be, but she was. Even now, many years later, she was still angry with him.

  “So what now?”

  Kate rubbed a hand down her face. “I don’t know. I’m not saying anything to the boys until I know for sure what happened to Greg.”

  “That would be best. There is no need for them to think badly of him until you know for sure he had a choice to stay.”

  “You think he didn’t have a choice?”

  “My take on his passport stamps is that he was involved in something that you knew nothing about. He didn’t tell you because it was dangerous. Something for the government, probably.”

  “He was a mild-mannered profes
sor.”

  He’d been a beta male, which was increasingly obvious now that Scott was around. Scott was all alpha. King of the hill. Leader of the pack. That he’d applied and been hired for the job of chief of police was no surprise. She wondered why it had taken him so long to be in a leadership position.

  “I’m thinking that was not true, Kate. I know this is going to take some time to wrap your head around, but just because he lied to you doesn’t mean that was he was doing was nefarious. He might have been serving his country.”

  Kate hadn’t looked at it that way. He might be a hero, just not to her right now. “You always have a different way of looking at things.”

  Carly shrugged. “I heard Jessica was released.”

  “Good. She did have an alibi.”

  “I heard that Dudley was doing some odd things with the bids on projects lately.”

  “Where did you hear that?”

  “Dean Wentworth was in earlier. He was getting flowers for Jessica. He told me that he’d heard that Dudley picked who he wanted, but Dean had put in his bid anyway.”

  “I heard that from Dean also. He and Jessica are each other’s alibis. I hope they aren’t lying for each other. What if one of them killed Dudley?”

  Carly shook her head as she put the finishing touches on a wreath for the viewing that night. “Jessica had just filed for divorce.”

  Kate didn’t know that, but she wasn’t surprised that Jessica hadn’t shared that with her. Now she didn’t need a divorce. If she’d filed, then there was no reason for Dean or Jessica to have killed Dudley.

  That left Kate with no suspects. She would have to begin from scratch. She’d have to look into what Dudley had been involved in. It must have something to do with his business dealings. He could have crossed the wrong person. Especially if he was choosing the contractors he wanted instead of picking the lowest bid. Sometimes a contract for a municipality could make or break a struggling company.

  She’d have to think about what contracts had been awarded lately and who had been in the running for them. Assuming the rumors of Dudley’s favoritism were true, he would have had to have kept the town council in the dark.

  Chapter Six

  Kate was still at Carly’s shop when she received a call from Jessica.

  “Hello”

  “It’s Jessica Stuart. I need you to come over. I have a pile of little jobs for you to do,” she said.

  “Okay. I can come over now.”

  “Good. I’ll be here.” Kate turned to Carly. “I have to go. Jessica has some jobs for me.”

  She hugged her friend. She always felt better after talking to Carly. Always.

  “You feel better?”

  “Yes, I do. Thanks.”

  Carly smiled and waved as her friend left. Kate might actually be able to afford to fix many things on her truck if Jessica had that many jobs for her to do. The poor old thing could use new tires and an oil change. As handy as she was, Kate hated working on cars, so she didn’t unless she absolutely had to.

  Only Jessica’s car was in her driveway when Kate arrived at her house. She figured Dean must be preparing for his renovation of the community center. She couldn’t imagine the amount of planning that job would take. That’s why she did small jobs and nothing that required more than a few days’ time.

  Kate parked her truck on the street. She knocked on Jessica’s door and she quickly answered.

  “I’m glad you were able to come over. I sent the family out grocery shopping. They are hovering, but they don’t seem to understand that I’m okay with Dudley’s death. I’m sad, but I didn’t love him, nor did he love me.”

  Jessica led her into the kitchen.

  “What did you have in mind for me to do?”

  “I actually have a list. Dean and I went through the house on his lunch hour.”

  It seemed Jessica wasn’t letting anything get in her way of being with Dean.

  “A list?”

  “Yes. I want to put the house on the market. This is too big for me, alone,” Jessica said.

  “So you have some odd jobs that need to get done before you can do that?”

  “Yes, exactly.”

  “Where will you live?”

  “With Dean until we build a much less tacky house.” Jessica shuddered.

  She had been the one with good taste, as Kate had suspected. Dudley had liked things colorful and gaudy.

  “Let’s go around the house. Can I have the list to make notes on? Then I can give you an estimate,” Kate said.

  She enjoyed the idea that she would have steady work. She liked Jessica and she liked Dean, too.

  “So why isn’t Dean doing this stuff?”

  “He’s busy with the community center renovation, and he said he’d rather pay you to do it and not have to repair things when he came home from work.”

  “Will you be living here while I do the repairs?”

  “Probably not. As soon as Dudley is buried, I’m going to move in with Dean. “

  “You don’t think people will talk?”

  Jessica shrugged. “They might, but I don’t care. I finally have someone who thinks I’m smart and listens to me.”

  “That sounds good.”

  The two women spent an hour going through the house. When they were done, Jessica poured coffee for them and put out a plate of cookies. By then, Kate’s stomach was empty so she didn’t mind helping herself to a few.

  Dinner would have to be healthy if this was lunch. She didn’t want to outgrow her overalls.

  “Have you heard anything new about Dudley’s case?”

  “No, just that he was Tasered and had a heart attack.”

  “Did you know he had a weak heart?”

  “No, he kept those things from me,” Jessica said.

  She understood how disheartening that was. It made Kate wonder about all that Greg had kept from her.

  “Could it be something to do with his trucking company?”

  “It might. As mayor, he was only there part time. He didn’t really have that much power.”

  Kate suspected that Dudley took more than was his share if the rumors were true. “Have you been through the books at the company?”

  “No, but I have a private accountant auditing them. You’re welcome to talk to him if you think it will help you figure out who killed him.”

  “If you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all. As much as Dudley and I had our differences, I don’t want his murderer to get away.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate the help.” Kate licked her lips then broached a more sensitive subject. “There are rumors that Dudley played favorites in giving out contracts. That he didn’t always take the lowest bidder.”

  Jessica put down her coffee mug. “I’ve heard that also. When I confronted Dudley, which is what we were arguing about when he left that morning, he insisted that he didn’t do that. I have no proof of what he did. You might have to talk to the other council members. They might have a better idea of what the exact complaints had been.”

  She could talk to Larry Stadt. He had been the fire chief, but now had taken over his father’s hardware store after Clark had been taken away on murder charges. Larry used to be interested Kate but had been scarce since his father had threatened her for investigating Jackie’s death.

  She didn’t blame Larry for anything. He wasn’t his father’s keeper. Though it wasn’t surprising that Larry would feel guilty, he was that kind of man.

  “Good idea.”

  “Let me get the card for the accountant.”

  “You already hired him?”

  “I had him on retainer because I’d already filed for divorce from Dudley. I didn’t want him to be able to hide any assets from me.”

  Dudley had underestimated his wife. She’d probably been underestimated her whole life. She was smart and savvy. Knowing what she knew now, Kate wondered why Jessica had ever married Dudley.

  “Can I e-mail you the estimate? It might take me a
day or two. I need to figure out supplies,” Kate said.

  “Of course. I’m in a hurry, but I understand that you want to do this properly,” Jessica said.

  “Yes, I do,” Kate said.

  That’s one of the things her father had taught her. Never do bad job. Ever. People remembered those things. Kate had no doubt that he’d been right.

  Though Jessica’s list was long, none of the jobs were too much for her to handle. Kate would have steady work for several weeks.

  ***

  With the check cashed for fixing the window, Kate was now able to get an oil change on her truck. She drove it over to Bob’s Garage to see if he could fit her in.

  No one was at the desk when she entered the lobby. The place was from a bygone era when the customer could come into the bay to see what the mechanic had been doing on his or her car. There wasn’t the separation as in modern facilities.

  Kate sat down to wait. A television blared at one end of the waiting room. Kate wasn’t interested in whatever was on. It was just a bunch of women talking over each other. She never understood that, but she’d never been part of a group of women like that. She’d mostly been a loner in high school until she caught the eye of the star quarterback. The cheerleaders hadn’t been happy with her since they had all wanted to date Scott.

  Her social popularity plummeted even further when she and Scott were first seen together. He didn’t care what others thought, but there were days of teasing when she wanted to break up with him just to get relief from it.

  She shuddered at the memory of high school. Her sons had been athletic, and so they’d had an easier time in those four years than she’d had. Greg had been a runner. They must have inherited their athletic prowess from him.

  Kate heard voices and then Beth Chance, a reporter with the Rock Ridge Sentinel, appeared in the doorway to the bay. Oh crap. She’d want to talk to Kate, who had been able to avoid the woman for days.

  Beth’s face lit up, indicating to Kate that this would be an inquisition. Lucky her.

  Bob, whose name was on the building, was right behind Beth. “Give me about fifteen minutes then I can give you an estimate.”

  He looked at Kate. “What can I do for you?”

  “Oil change, but I can wait until you are done with your estimate.”