Teaberry Chase

by R A Wallace

  “I haven’t seen much of Ross lately. Is he out of town again?” Jill walked around the counter and joined Susan on the other side.

  “Yes. He’s been back and forth a lot lately between here and Washington.” Susan nodded toward the addition. “I’m meeting Bev here.”

  Janice appeared from the door leading to the rear storage area of the shop. “Hey, Susan.”

  “I was just telling Susan that I haven’t seen much of Ross,” Jill said.

  “No, I haven’t either.” Janice turned to Susan. “Is everything okay with you two?”

  Susan had been wondering the same thing. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “It’s just that we haven’t seen you together,” Jill said. “Not as much as usual.”

  “If there’s anything you’d like to talk about,” Janice said.

  “We’re here for you,” Jill added.

  The bells on the door rang when Bev entered. “Hi, all.” She looked at each of them. “Did I interrupt something?”

  “Not at all,” Janice said.

  “We hear best wishes are in order.” Jill crossed one arm over her stomach, propped her elbow on top and tapped her chin with an index finger. “Come to think of it, that’s when Ross started disappearing, wasn’t it?”

  “When Bev and Vince decided to get married.” Janice sounded impressed that her sister had deduced it but the smile on her face disappeared when she turned back to Susan. “But I’m sure that can’t be right.”

  Jill pressed her lips together and shook her head in support of Janice’s comment.

  “We’d like some iced tea,” Bev said as she pointed to the addition. “And something with sugar from the display case there.

  Susan smiled sweetly at the twins before following Bev to the other room. They slid into opposite sides of the booth.

  “I hate to say it,” Bev said.

  “I know. They’re right. Ross has been finding reasons to go to Washington a lot ever since you two announced your intentions.” Susan plastered on a smile when Janice appeared with a tray.

  She waved Bev’s concerns away when Janice left them alone. “Enough of me. Tell me about what you have planned.”

  Bev’s eyes lit up. “Nothing fancy. We’re looking at August though.”

  “That soon? I’m impressed.” Susan reached for the muffin in front of her.

  “After all this time, neither one of us can see any reason to put it off.” Bev took a napkin from the dispenser on the table and slid it under her glass of iced tea.

  “I’m certainly not going to disagree with that.”

  “Vince has a lot of commitments with Daryl and Emmet in July.” Bev reached for the other muffin.

  “Singing harmony?” Susan broke another piece from her muffin.

  “We’ll take another trip in the fall, after Mia and Noah have gone back to school.” Bev’s eyes dropped to Susan’s hands.

  Susan looked down at her muffin. She’d shredded it.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Bev asked gently.

  Susan gave her a wry smile. “I don’t really think there is anything to discuss. Ross has been secretive lately, that’s true. But not necessarily in a bad way. He still makes it a point to talk to me a half a dozen different times each day when he’s gone.”

  Understanding dawned in Bev’s eyes. “You mean like when Vince and I were acting all funny not that long ago.”

  “Something like that. Whatever it is, we’re both adults. We’ll figure it out.” Susan picked up her spoon and scooped up some chunks of muffin. “One way or another.”

  Bev reached for her tea. “Then it’s just a matter of waiting to see what he’s been up to.”

  ***

  Megan paused just inside the administrative building to catch her breath before walking down the hall. Several doors down, she paused again and tapped on the open door. Jessilyn finished typing a few more words before turning toward her.

  “Megan, what brings you in? I didn’t forget an appointment, did I?”

  “No. I was hoping to ask you some questions.” She lowered herself into the seat in front of Jessilyn’s desk. “I understand you went to the Chase with your family.”

  Jessilyn’s face lit up. “I did. I told myself it was somewhat of a workday. That, as the town events coordinator, I needed to have a good understanding of what those events were like.”

  Megan grinned. “And you enjoyed it?”

  “We had a blast. The boys were so excited. We had Logan with us too, my neighbor’s son, but I meant all three of them. Seth seemed pretty excited too.” Jessilyn glanced at her computer. “Are you asking because of the town web site? I did take some pictures while I was there.”

  Jessilyn made a face as soon as she said it. “Of course, I didn’t get anyone to sign permission slips so we couldn’t use anything with people in them.”

  “Let me know after you’ve gone through them if any might work.”

  “If you aren’t here about the town web site, does that mean you’re working on a puzzle?” Jessilyn sat back in her seat. “I heard about the death out at the campground.”

  “I was wondering if you saw anything unusual when you were at the Chase?”

  Jessilyn shook her head slowly. “We were too busy having fun to pay much attention.”

  Megan smiled. “Exactly as it should be. Others have mentioned that people approached them about a gambling opportunity.” She watched Jessilyn’s brows go up. “Did anyone speak with you about that?”

  Jessilyn shook her head. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. Did you see Gabe there?”

  “Dan’s brother? No. I did see his parents, but Gabe wasn’t with them at the time.”

  This time, Megan’s brows went up. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned that?

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I think that’s it.” Jerry took one last look at the notes he’d made.

  Erica stood at the murder board with a marker in her hand. “Okay, so we’ve spoken with the people who stayed at the campground on the night of the murder.”

  Jerry leaned back in his chair and laced his hands on his head. “We might want to get the records from Zeke for a longer period before that.”

  She turned to point at him with the marker. “I thought the same thing. Maybe someone saw some tension or something building up.”

  “Might still be some locals in town that would be easy to get to. A lot of the RVs out there seem to be owned by Teaberry residents. They weren’t there the night of the murder but they may have stayed before.”

  She made a face as she turned to set the marker down on the shelf under the board. “Yeah, why is that? I mean, they have a house in this area and then they have an RV within a fairly close distance. It doesn’t make sense.”

  Jerry’s grin was quick. “It’s called relaxing. A nice little getaway place where you can enjoy yourself and leave your problems behind.”

  “Crammed together with a bunch of people you don’t know?” Erica took a few steps away from the murder board as she stared quizzically at Jerry.

  “You get to know them. Some of them, anyway.” He pointed to the murder board. “That’s what we’re counting on now. Some of those folks out there spend most of the summer out there. It’s their home away from home. They get to know their neighbors.”

  “Yeah. I guess.” She didn’t sound convinced. “If you share a shower stall with someone, you get to know them.”

  This time he laughed. “You should try it. You might like it.”

  The look on her face was priceless. “You’ve been camping?”

  “Yeah, more than once. I started going when I was a kid. I liked it every time I went in the past. I’d do it again.” His eyes were drawn to the board. “If anything, you might get to know your neighbors better at a campground.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  He lowered his hands and sat up straighter in his chair. “How often have you sat around a campfire at night swapping
stories with the neighbors at your place?”

  She made a noise of incredulity. “Never.”

  “Exactly. I’ll bet some of these people have.” Jerry stood. “We need to talk to the people that the victim knew best again. For sure, those people would have spent time around a campfire swapping stories.”

  She turned back to the board as she nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll take your word for it. I think we need to hunt down more people who were at the Chase that day.”

  “We also can’t rule out that someone from his past followed him here,” he pointed out.

  “Anyone doing the things this guy is alleged to have done is going to have a slew of shady people in his past.” She smoothed the hair away from her forehead. During the course of the day, some stray tendrils framing her face often escaped the fat braid down her back. “I think we should stop to see Zeke and get some more names of local people who rent camp sites out there. Like you said, they may not have been there on the day Ken Medina was killed, but they may still know something. We can probably get a few more interviews done today before we call it quits.”

  He turned to get his notebook from his desk. “Do you want to meet at the campground tomorrow morning or come in here first.”

  She took one last look at the board. “Let’s hit the campground first thing. We’ll save the victim’s circle of friends for tomorrow morning. We might catch them off guard that way.”

  “They didn’t seem like morning people,” he agreed as he followed her out.

  She led the way out of the building. “You really like spending the night in a little RV crammed into a small spot with a bunch of strangers around you?”

  Jerry nodded as he passed a colleague in the hall. “Who said anything about an RV? When I went with my family as a kid, we used tents.”

  Erica whirled to look at him. Jerry laughed all the way to the patrol car.

  ***

  The front door of the Jammin’T was locked. It was a few minutes after closing time. Megan tapped on the door. Tyler unlocked it for her a moment later. He quickly threw the bolt again as soon as she stepped inside.

  “How is the puzzle coming?” Tyler had a towel over one shoulder.

  She could see Holly in the window on the other side of the kitchen wall. The waitresses were all gone for the day. Many of the chairs were turned upside down and rested on top of the tables. There was a large bucket on wheels with a mop in it.

  “Let’s just say, I’m hoping that Danny tells me something that helps.”

  Tyler nodded to the kitchen. “He’s just finishing up back there.”

  Megan passed through into the kitchen. Holly was scrubbing the large flat-top grill with a pumice stone. It resembled a brick but was black.

  Danny looked up from his large stainless-steel commercial dishwasher. “I wondered when you’d get here.”

  “I don’t want to hold you up. I know you’d like to get home.”

  She saw him flash a rare smile. “Got that right. Is this about what happened at the campground last weekend?”

  “It is. I understand that you were at the Chase?”

  “Sure. It’s right next door to home.” Danny lifted a large tray of dinnerware out of the dishwasher and carried it across the kitchen. The muscles in his tattooed arms bunched with the effort.

  “Do you stay out at the campground?” She could smell hot vinegar and knew that Holly was using it on the grill.

  “All summer and most of the fall. Have for years.” He crossed back over to the dishwasher.

  “Did you know the victim?”

  “Not really. Nodded in passing. Had a couple of conversations with him. All about the same thing.” Danny opened the lid of a smaller dishwasher unit. It was filled with glassware.

  “Yeah?” She watched Holly wipe the grill down. “What was that?”

  “That gambling site.”

  She turned back to Danny. “What about it?”

  “He told me about a web site where I could take my chances on some of the action at the Chase.” Danny lifted a rack of glassware from the dishwasher.

  “Did you check it out?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “You weren’t worried about placing a bet on a web site some guy you didn’t know told you about?”

  “Gabe was with him a couple of times when we talked.”

  “Gabe?” Megan watched Danny set the rack on a counter.

  Danny turned to lift a rack of dishes from the counter next to the dishwasher. “Sure. He swore the site was legit. Said he was the one who developed the site.”

  Megan felt her brows go up as she watched him set the rack down near the other one. Danny turned back to her and began untying his apron. She watched him pull it off and reach into the pocket of his tee shirt for a pack of cigarettes.

  He paused to look at her. “Anything else?”

  She shook her head. “Thanks. I don’t want to hold you up.”

  Holly pulled off her apron and stopped next to Megan as Tyler came into the kitchen pushing the mop bucket. “I’ve heard several people mention gambling lately.”

  “Me too.” Tyler straightened. “They seem pretty excited about it.”

  “Did you check out the web site?” Megan asked. She noticed that Holly looked surprisingly peppy given that her day had been spent behind a grill.

  Tyler gave a wry smile with a quick shake of his head. “Reminds me too much of the olden days.”

  “It would be like playing the games at the carnivals we used to work at,” Holly explained. “Once you’ve run one of those, you understand how a game of chance really works.”

  ***

  LeAnn pulled into the large parking lot at the marina and got out of her car. It had been a while since she’d been out at the lake. She used to love walking the paved trail around it. It was one of the many pastimes that went by the wayside after her marriage to Gabe. A luxury she could no longer afford. It meant taking time away from earning a living.

  There were always too many bills to pay and Gabe rarely sent money to her. It was always the other way around. His calls to her were sporadic. At the beginning, he seemed genuinely interested in how she was doing. Towards the end, he never bothered asking about her. He just wanted to know how much money she could send him as he followed the racing circuit to chase some dream she never understood. A dream that never included her.

  She looked toward the trail head and took a deep breath. She told herself to leave her thoughts behind and just enjoy the moment. As she reached the trail, the hot sun gave way to the shade of the woods that she entered. It was a different kind of quiet here. She let the sounds of nature wash over her. There was the sound of the waves hitting the shore. As she walked, she could just see glimpses of the lake through the trees.

  There were the birds overhead in the trees singing. The breeze ruffled the leaves on the trees. She reached a small bridge crossing a stream that fed into the lake. The water burbled over the stones in the bed of the stream. A little farther there was an opening. Here, she could easily walk to the edge of the lake where she found a park bench. There was no one else around. She decided to sit and stare at the water for a while. It gave her time to think about the end of her marriage. She held onto the hope that the ending might allow her some new beginning. Maybe there was a future with the new someone she had met.

  “Nice view.”

  The voice startled her. She turned to see a familiar face. It took her a moment to match the name.

  “Beau?”

  He nodded to the bench. “Mind if I sit?”

  She smiled noncommittally. It wasn’t her bench.

  He sat at the far side of the bench. “Nice view,” he repeated.

  “It is. I haven’t been here in a while.” She kept her focus on the water. “What brings you out here?”

  “I’m studying my new workplace.”

  She turned to him in surprise. “You’re working here?”

  “In a manner of speaking.” He nodded at t
he water as he crossed his arms. “I decided to try something different.”

  “With the lake?”

  He laughed. “Sure. I like water. I like fishing. I figure there are a lot of people who like both of those things too.”

  She stared at the water again. “You’re going to take people fishing?”

  “Exactly. I’m the new fishing guide in the area.” He waved at the lake. “Not just this lake, of course. There are a lot in the area. I’ll take people out wherever the fish are biting.”

  “Do you have any experience with it?” She sensed his shrug.

  “A guy has to start somewhere. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

  “You’re following a dream?” Visions of her husband flashed through her mind.

  “Exactly.” He seemed pleased that she understood.

  “You aren’t worried that it might be like chasing rainbows?”

  I figure it will be fun. For a while, anyway. I’ll keep doing it while it’s fun.”

  “What if you don’t find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?” she asked.

  He shrugged again. “Then I’ll think of something else.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Erica held a paper coffee cup in one hand and a map of the campground in the other. They’d left the patrol car at the office and opted to walk to the sites first thing Thursday morning. Jerry had gone in one direction. Erica in another. She checked out the RVs as she walked past them. Each site had a fire ring and a picnic table.

  Some of the fire rings still smelled of smoke from the previous night. Some had been rekindled by the campers earlier this morning. Many of the campers were outside and nodded at her as she passed or called out some greeting. Some used generic topics like the weather to start a conversation. It took her much longer to get to the site she was looking for as a result.

  Maybe there was something to what Jerry had said. Maybe it was a much closer community than she had imagined. It gave her hope that they might learn something useful as she stepped up to the RV at the site where Harley was staying. He wasn’t sitting outside like his neighbors. She felt the smile lift her lips as she knocked loudly on the door.