by Rose Pressey
*
I’d left the store after helping my parents restock a couple shelves when Ty called.
“I’ve got a little bit of information for you,” he said.
“Oh yeah, what’s that?” I pulled over to the side of the road.
“This guy has been arrested before. Just misdemeanor stuff. Disorderly conduct. He’s not from Belle Grove. He seems to be a real troublemaker though. It’s probably only a matter of time before he does something worse,” Ty said.
“That doesn’t help explain why he would be in Belle Grove, but I appreciate that you looked into it.”
“Not a problem. I’ll keep an eye on him,” Ty said.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chloe feels helpless
I decided I needed to call Gina. I wasn’t sure what she could help with, but it was better than going at this alone. After a few rings I was almost ready to hang up.
“Any news?” I asked when she picked up the phone.
“I’m not sure, but I need to talk with you. There’s something I need to tell you,” she said around a sigh.
“How about meeting me in twenty minutes?”
She agreed to meet me at the diner where I’d just been with Grant and I hung up the phone. There were other restaurants in Belle Grove and I’d hoped she would have suggested one, but this would give me a chance to speak with Anna Louise again.
I grabbed my purse and jumped in the car. Before I headed over for the diner I needed to pick up a few things. This was the same little drug store that I had shopped at as a teenager. When my parents needed anything they would send me here. I’d picked up my mother’s medicine here before she died. It was impossible to escape memories in this town. Sometimes that was a good thing and sometimes it was very bad. This was one of the bad ones. After grabbing a few necessities, I made my way back to the diner parking lot.
Traffic was heavy around the diner and I wondered if they were having a special on their hamburgers. But when I neared, many police cars were in the diner’s parking lot. What was going on? I pulled up to the curb down the way and headed back toward the diner. There was even police tape blocking off the parking lot. This didn’t look good. Maybe there had been a robbery. There hadn’t been a lot of crime in Belle Grove, but now I was beginning to wonder what was happening to this small town.
When I walked up to the parking lot entrance I realized that there was no way I was getting in there. The odd thing was that there was a lot of movement around Gina’s car. My stomach twisted and for a moment I wondered if something had happened to her. I needed to stop thinking of such terrible scenarios. Everything would be fine. What could possibly have happened? There were some people standing nearby and I walked over to them.
“Do you know what happened?” I asked.
The woman looked at me with a sad expression. “Someone was murdered, but we don’t know who yet.”
Now my stomach really took a dive. Murdered? At the diner parking lot? In Belle Grove? This was crazy.
“Chloe.” The man’s voice came from behind me.
I knew who it was before I turned around. When I spun around Grant was behind me. His expression made my stomach turn.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He shook his head. “It’s Gina. She’s been murdered.”
It was as if someone had knocked me to the ground. “What happened?” I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. “Are you sure?” I asked, hoping that he was wrong.
“Yes, I spoke with my brother. She was in her car.” His voice was somber.
“Someone murdered her in her car? In the parking lot?” I asked, still in a daze.
He frowned. “Yes, she was still in her car.”
I shook my head. “I was supposed to meet her here.” I knew it wasn’t my fault, but maybe if I hadn’t asked her to meet me this wouldn’t have happened. “I shouldn’t have asked her to meet me,” I whispered.
He shook his head. “Don’t even say that.”
I looked out over the parking lot, still stunned by what he’d told me. When was the last time anyone had been murdered in Belle Grove?
“Who would do this to her?” I asked.
I didn’t expect that he’d have an answer, but I had to ask.
“It was a waitress who worked at the diner. She wasn’t working this morning when we were there.”
I stared at him for a moment. “Do you know the name?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Her name is Anna Louise.”
My eyes widened. “She dated the inspector. She and Gina didn’t like each other.”
“What makes you say that?” he asked.
“Gina told me when we ate here together.” Apparently, Gina had been right when she said she didn’t like her.
“The waitress says it was self-defense,” Grant said.
My mouth dropped. “You can’t be serious. I didn’t know Gina well, but I can’t imagine she would have ever done anything to that woman. Anna Louise was hostile toward Gina the day we saw her.”
“Do you know why they didn’t like each other?” he asked
“I guess they had words before.”
“I’m sure that’s something the police will be able to find out,” he said.
“I hope they get to the bottom of this soon,” I said. What would my uncle do when he found out? I had to find him and let him know. “I just don’t believe that Anna Louise would have killed her in self-defense.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “It is hard to believe. Gina was so quiet and she seemed easy-going.”
“Where is the waitress now?” I asked.
He motioned with a tilt of his head. “They arrested her already.”
I stared across the parking lot. “Is Gina still there?”
He looked down for a moment and then nodded. “Yes.”
I couldn’t believe what had happened. This had totally changed everything.
Grant looked at me and said, “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nodded. “Yes, I’ll be fine. Gina wanted to tell me something.” I stared out at the parking lot. “That was why we were meeting here.”
Grant touched my arm and spun me around to face him. “Hey, you didn’t know this was going to happen.”
I nodded. “But what did she want to tell me? I’ll never know now. Did it have something to do with my uncle?” I frowned.
“We’ll find him.”
I wanted to believe him, but with each passing day it seemed more and more unlikely. I had wanted to know why Grant wanted to help me, but right now, I didn’t care. I was just glad he wanted to.
I had to find out what Gina had wanted to tell me. It couldn’t be a coincidence that she was murdered right before telling me something. There had to be something with the fact that she had something to tell me and then she was dead. Would anyone know what Gina had wanted to tell me or had she kept it a secret? I realized that I knew less about Gina than I’d thought I did. I didn’t even know if she had any family. Maybe she had friends she had confided in. Someone had to know something.
What did I know about this waitress? Not a lot of anything. But I would try to find out all that I could. There was one thing I knew about her and that was that she’d dated the inspector. Maybe I needed to pay him a little visit. Grant wouldn’t like that, but he didn’t even have to know. It would be my secret. Sure, Porter gave me the creeps, but I had no other option. I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. What kind of niece would I be if I didn’t keep trying to find my uncle?
And now I had to find out about his girlfriend. There had to be a connection between the inspector and the waitress. And he probably knew why she had killed Gina.
This was becoming more of a tangled web with each passing minute. I would go visit Porter Brennan as soon as I got away from here. Plus, I wanted to leave before they took Gina away. I just couldn’t stand to see that.
The crowd had grown even larger now. This would be a lot of gossip for Belle G
rove. It would be the talk all over town and rightfully so.
“Are you okay?” Grant asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.
I glanced over at him. “Yes, I’m okay.”
“You looked like you zoned out there for a while,” he said.
“I guess I just have a lot to think about.”
“What are you doing now?” he asked.
“I have a few things I need to do,” I said. I hoped he couldn’t figure out what I was up to.
“You know the police might want to talk with you since you were meeting her here.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s okay. They know where to find me.”
He touched my arm again. “Is it okay if I walk you to your car?”
I knew I should have said no, but I found myself nodding instead. “Sure.”
We started off down the sidewalk and walked in silence. What was there to say? This was a strange moment.
“So you’re not going to tell me where you’re headed now?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I just have some things to do.”
“You’re not going to get yourself into trouble, are you?”
I stopped beside my car. “What makes you say that?”
His gaze ran up and down my body. “It’s just a feeling.”
“Of course not,” I said, trying a little smile.
I opened the car door and didn’t give him a chance to kiss me this time. Although I wanted his lips on mine. I could tell myself that I didn’t, but it would be a lie. Why was I fighting it?
Now that Gina was gone I felt completely lost. I didn’t know which way to turn. I had to pull myself together. This was no time to fall apart. As I looked in my rear-view mirror, I watched Grant walk away. I wondered if he felt my eyes on him. Part of me wanted to call out to him and ask him to come with me.
Porter Brennan’s office was in front of me. I stared up at the two-story building. When I’d looked up the information, it said the inspector’s office was on the first floor. Wouldn’t he be surprised to see me? Confronting him was a crazy idea and I knew that, but it was something I felt I had to do. Would he be able to look me in the eyes and tell me he didn’t have anything to do with the fact that my uncle had vanished. I would step right into his office and demand an answer.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I pushed forward and through the main door of the old brick building. A hallway stretched out in front of me and another hallway on the left. There was a closed door on the right marked do not enter. I figured the names would be listed on the doors, so finding his office would be easy. My heart pulsed quickly as I walked down the hallway in front of me. Looking from side to side, I checked each door. Some had names and others didn’t. When I reached the end of the hallway, I still hadn’t located his office.
Turning around, I hurried back down the hallway and turned to my right. I hoped that I hadn’t read the wrong address. I wouldn’t give up hope just yet, not until I’d checked every door down the other hallway. Again I looked at each door as I made my way down. When I’d almost reached the end, I spotted the building inspector words on the door. My stomach flipped. Now I really would have to confront him. I’d never been good with confrontation, but sometimes you had to do things you didn’t enjoy. Now I had to hope that Porter was actually in there.
I positioned my fist next to the door, ready to knock. Before I actually did it, I stopped. I was having second thoughts. After the way Porter had acted at the bar, he didn’t seem like the friendliest guy in town. Now I was going right into his spider web. But I could handle myself, right? If he was a jerk, I would just leave. Actually, I knew he would be a jerk, but how big of a jerk was the question. Not wasting another minute, I pounded on the door.
“Yeah,” he said in a clipped town.
That must have been my signal that it was okay to enter. I hadn’t expected for Porter to be any friendlier than that. When I pushed the door open, he looked up from his paperwork.
His eyes narrowed when he spotted me. “What are you doing here?”
Was that any way to greet someone? My uneasiness grew instantly.
“I came to ask you some questions about my uncle Taylor Beaumont.” I figured there was no sense in beating around the bush. I’d just get right to the point. The more he glared at me though, the more I was reconsidering my decision to come to his office.
“I doubt that I can help you any,” he said, looking down at his paperwork.
I stepped closer to his desk until I was finally standing right in front of it. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and stared at him. He still hadn’t bothered to glance up at me again. He was trying to pretend that I was insignificant, but I wouldn’t allow him to intimidate me with that game.
“I think you can help me.”
That comment still didn’t make him pay any attention to me. He was such an arrogant jerk.
“What I want to know is if you have any idea where my uncle is,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Why in the hell would I know where he is?” His stare was now fixed on me.
Porter’s anger had increased in a split second. I sensed that he didn’t like my topic of discussion.
“Do my questions make you uncomfortable?” I asked.
Waves of rage shot off of him. “Nothing makes me uncomfortable,” he snapped.
Sweat was breaking out on my forehead, but I wouldn’t let him stop me. I didn’t take my eyes off him. Of course he didn’t stop staring at me either.
Porter shoved the paperwork to the side and pushed to his feet. His stare followed me as he slowly made his way around his desk.
I swallowed hard and said, “Don’t think that you can intimidate me because it won’t work.”
My words probably didn’t sound all that confident. But I’d given it my best shot. Within a second, Porter was standing in front of me. I stepped back, putting more distance between us. He just moved forward though, closing the gap. I had to stand my ground in spite of the fact that he looked like he wanted to punch me in the face.
I didn’t doubt for two seconds that he wouldn’t hit a woman. Now that I thought about it more, it was probably best if I didn’t stand my ground and if I just got the heck out of there. Before I had a chance to turn around and leave, Porter reached out and shoved me. I stumbled backward, unable to right myself. I fell onto the leather chair behind me. Now Porter stood over me, hovering like a spider ready to pounce on a fly. I’d been right; I had walked right into his spider web.
I placed my hands on his chest and shoved, but he pushed me back onto the chair. Porter leaned down, placing his hands on my arms. His grip was like a vise. He had me pinned down and I didn’t know how I would get out of this situation. Porter had more strength that me. The only advantage I had right now was that I could probably get my knee positioned right between his legs. One good kick would bring him to his knees.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Grant didn’t want to lose Chloe again
After a few steps, I turned around to watch Chloe drive away. I hated seeing her so upset and it was even worse knowing that there was nothing I could do to help her. All I could do was keep trying to find her uncle. If in fact he’d left on his own, then he had no idea how this had affected her. With each passing day the chances of something bad happening to him increased. Eventually he would have to show up or leave a trace. The odds were in our favor, at least I hoped they were in our favor.
A strange feeling poked at me as if I was missing something. That feeling also told me that Chloe was up to something. Would she get herself into trouble? I hoped not. I couldn’t stand the thought of something bad happening to her. I wouldn’t let that happen. Not as long as she was in Belle Grove. If she was near me then I would do my best to protect her. This situation had just turned deadly and I didn’t want Chloe to meet the same fate as Gina. Chloe might be in over her head with this one. Hell, I might be in over my head too.
I turned around and walked back to talk with my brot
her. The crowd had already thinned out. It looked cut-and-dry, but maybe something new had turned up. It was suspicious that this had happened to Gina right when the uncle had disappeared. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a connection. But how in the hell would I find that connection? No one ever wanted to talk around here. Although as much as they wanted to keep secrets, the secrets always came out in the end. It was human nature to talk and share stories.
My brother spotted me and walked over. “Hey, what’s going on?” he asked.
I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked around. “Not much. Anything new?”
He shook his head. “No, not yet.”
“Listen, I thought I’d tell you first that the reason Gina was here was to meet Chloe. I doubt it means anything, but I just thought I’d let you know.”
He looked at me for a moment, but didn’t make any wise comments about Chloe. “Why were they meeting? Just for lunch? It sounds like there’s more to the story.”
I nodded. “There’s a little more to the story, yes. Chloe said that Gina had something she wanted to tell her. Of course Chloe didn’t have a chance to find out because Gina was killed.”
He nodded and cast a sideways glance at me. “Now that is more to the story. I’ll look into it. We’re questioning the waitress now. If she knows anything we should find out. Thanks for letting me know.” He patted me on the back.
I smiled. “Yeah, you’ll let me know what you find out.”
He nodded. I watched as he joined the other officers, then turned around toward my truck. It was time for me to get out of there.
I headed out of town toward my office. I wasn’t sure what I would do there. But it would give me a chance to clear my thoughts. It was typical of me though. Going in to work on my day off. I really had no other life other than my work. That needed to change. But how would I change that? It was something I would have to figure out. Of course visions of Chloe’s sweet face popped into my head when I thought of making that change. I wondered what she would say about that. She probably wouldn’t like it much.
