by V. M. Burns
“Mom, are you up?”
“Come in.” I put my cell phone back down on the nightstand.
David stuck his head inside. He had a sheepish grin on his face and a black poodle on his chest. “Don’t tell me you’re waiting up.”
“To be completely honest, I forgot you were out, dear. How is Madison? Is she still shaky?”
David came in and sat on the bed. “She’s better. I think the party helped. Thanks for inviting her.”
“Of course. She’s a nice girl.”
He petted Aggie, but his mind seemed miles away. Eventually, he looked up. “Nice. Yeah, she is nice.” He stroked Aggie.
I got the impression he wanted to say more, so I waited.
He sat for several moments.
“Was there something you wanted to say?”
“Hmm…no.” He put Aggie down. “No, I just wondered what you thought of her, that’s all.”
“I don’t really know her, but she’s very pretty and she has nice manners.” I shrugged. “I’ve really only known her a couple of days, so I don’t have much to base an opinion on.”
He nodded. “I guess when it boils down to it, I’ve only known her a couple of days too. Although it feels like we’ve known each other a lot longer.”
“Well, you’ve spent a lot more time with her than I have.” I patted his leg. “I do like her. I just don’t know her, that’s all.”
“Well, I’ll have to see what I can do about that.” He headed for the door.
“I hope that means I’m going to see a lot more of you.”
He smiled and blew me a kiss.
My brain had started to land on an idea, but it was gone now. I knew enough to realize that forcing it wouldn’t help, so I gave up and went to sleep. This time I was successful—I wrestled the elusive Sandman to the ground and snatched several hours of sleep.
Sunday, I awoke to the smell of coffee. I got up and picked up a still-snoozing Aggie. She wasn’t thrilled with being awakened, but I wouldn’t be thrilled when I came out of the shower if she’d left me a few surprises either. So I went to the back and put her outside.
David was sitting at the dining room table sending text messages. His brow was furrowed, and his lips were set in a straight line.
We grunted greetings while I brewed a cup of coffee. By the time the coffee finished, I opened the back door and let Aggie in.
I drank the coffee on my way to my room. I showered, dressed, and got ready for mass.
I waved to David and walked out to the car.
Mass in Chattanooga was much the same as mass in Indiana, although the people in the South were definitely a lot friendlier, less inhibited, and noisier than those in the North. One woman in particular seemed to lack the inhibitions that plagued a lot of Roman Catholics. Instead of the conservative, pious attitude that could be taken as snooty, she was very free in her worship. She raised her hands during the service. She swayed when singing and often yelled “Amen” or “Praise the Lord” when the priest was speaking. Her face radiated with a joy that made me smile at her enthusiasm. One of the other members must have noticed me glancing in her direction and shared that the woman had been Pentecostal but converted to Catholicism when she got married, as though that explained everything. I merely smiled and nodded as though I understood.
When I got home, David was dressed but still sat in the same spot at the table. I changed out of my Sunday clothes and joined him in the kitchen.
He stared into space. After a few moments, he must have made a decision. He sat up, leaned forward, and looked at me. “Mom, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
His tone was so serious that immediately my heart rate increased. I took several deep breaths and braced myself. “Okay, sure.”
“It’s about Madison.”
It had been quite some time since he’d talked to me about girls, but considering he’d only known her for a few days, I couldn’t imagine anything too serious and allowed myself to relax. “What about her?”
“There’s something…in her past…that well, I don’t even know if I should be telling you this. I mean you wouldn’t tell Joe or Red, right?”
I frowned. “That depends. I mean, if she was involved in something illegal…”
He shook his head. “No, she’s not…I mean, not anymore…I mean.”
I clasped his hands. “David, just tell me what it is.”
He nodded. “She’s really smart.” He smiled. “She’s a computer nerd.”
“Okay.” I paused. “That’s not a crime.”
“Not unless you get into hacking information.”
My eyes got big, and after a few seconds, I realized my mouth was open and closed it. “You’re telling me Madison is a computer hacker.”
“Not anymore. She was a hacker, but she told me she hasn’t done any hacking in years.”
I nodded slowly. “Well, that’s good. What did she hack?”
He took a deep breath. “The way I understand it, there are basically three types of hackers. White Hat, Black Hat, and Gray Hat. White Hat Hackers are hired by companies to identify gaps in security. They break into systems with permission. They aren’t trying to use the information for their own personal gain.”
I nodded. “Okay. So, I assume the Black Hat Hackers are the bad guys who break into systems to get information without permission and they use the information for their personal gain.”
He nodded.
“So, what do the Gray Hat Hackers do?”
“They break into systems, without permission, but they aren’t trying to use the information they find for their own personal gain. Usually, they notify the company they infiltrated about the breach and may be hired to fix it…for a fee.”
“What type of hacker is Madison?”
“Gray Hat.” He glanced at me and quickly added, “But she doesn’t do that anymore.”
“I take it she got caught?”
He nodded. “She was young, and the judge gave her probation and community service. That’s how she got into dogs. Her community service work was with a no-kill animal shelter.”
“So, how did she end up at Pet Haven?”
“She needed a paying job.” He looked up. “She still volunteers at the shelter.”
I patted his hand. “That’s great, but why are you telling me this?”
“She was worried you or Red would find out and might think that because she has a record…”
I nodded. “We might think she might be guilty of other crimes like murder?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I don’t think she murdered Keri Lynn or Heather, and I stand by my initial assessment.”
He looked puzzled.
“She seems like a nice girl.”
He beamed. “She is nice.” He got serious. “She says she can tap in to Dallas and Keri Lynn’s systems if you want her to…if it would help.”
I took a minute to think, but then shook my head. “No. I don’t want to encourage her to break the law. Although I suppose asking her to get Heather’s address is straddling the fence between Black Hat and White Hat.” I paused.
He smiled and reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “She got that in less than five minutes.”
I opened the paper. There was an address, which I assumed was Heather’s. I glanced at David.
“She said there was no emergency contact listed.”
“Please thank her for me, but no more hacking.”
He reached across and kissed me on the cheek. “I’m starving. What’s for lunch?”
Chapter 15
The remainder of Sunday was uneventful. David and I had lunch and then I took him to the airport, where he reserved a rental car. I suspected he wanted wheels of his own so he and Madison could spend time together, and that was perfectly
okay with me. Afterward, he left to spend the day with Madison, while Aggie and I explored our new neighborhood. There wasn’t much to explore from my standpoint, but Aggie took her sweet time sniffing and marking along the way. I took the opportunity during the walk to try to get things ordered in my mind. I felt confident Dallas Simpson was guilty. However, I couldn’t figure out why. Eventually, I gave up trying and decided to allow my mind to wander where it would as I enjoyed the walk with Aggie.
When we got home, Red called and offered to cook dinner. I loved dating a man who enjoyed cooking. Although I would need to exercise more if I continued to eat his delicious Southern cuisine.
On the menu tonight was meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and turnip greens. I’ll admit, prior to coming to Tennessee, I had never tried turnip greens. Now I was addicted to them. We sat on the deck afterward and enjoyed the weather.
“What time did Joe leave this morning?”
Red sipped his wine. “Five. He wanted to get home and rest before it got late.”
“I hope Turbo is recovered from his massage.”
He smiled. “He certainly slept well. That dog snored so loud I could hear him in my bedroom.”
I chuckled. “He works hard and deserved a break. I hope it won’t prevent him from doing his police work.”
“I’m sure he’ll be back to work first thing tomorrow.”
We sat in a companionable silence for several minutes.
Red broke the silence. “Did you get your sleuths on the right track?”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on. I know what you were up to last night.” He worked to hide a smile. “You haven’t given up on this.”
I should have known I couldn’t hide what I was doing from a trained investigator. “I haven’t given up. I know what I saw.”
“And no amount of evidence will convince you that maybe you were mistaken?”
I shook my head. “What evidence?”
Red pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “I shouldn’t be showing this to you.” He glanced at me but continued to swipe his cell phone. Eventually, he pulled up what he was looking for and pressed Play.
On the screen was a grainy image of a gas station in black and white. A tall, thin woman got out of her car, swiped her credit card, and filled her tank. When she was done, she went inside and purchased a Diet Coke. Even though the image wasn’t the highest quality and I had only met her once, I knew the woman in the image was Keri Lynn Simpson.
When the video was done, Red stared in my eyes. “Well?”
“It’s her. That’s Keri Lynn.”
He nodded. “So are you ready to let this drop?”
I shook my head. “I know it doesn’t make any sense. I’m not sure how he did it, but I know what I saw.”
He sighed and shook his head. “What will it take to convince you?”
I thought about it. What would it take to convince me I didn’t see Keri Lynn murdered? “Medical records, DNA.”
He shook his head. “Your friend in the coroner’s office is working on that. In the meantime, let’s not talk about DNA or evidence or anything else connected to Keri Lynn or Pet Haven.”
We spent the remainder of the afternoon talking about the house. Once the loan was final and I could close on the house, I had big plans for remodeling the master bathroom and the kitchen. Money permitting, I planned to also screen in a section of the back deck. Since moving to the South, I had become enamored with screened-in porches. The weather was so mild, I would be able to use the porch year-round, even when the winters were normal temperatures instead of the unseasonably warm weather we were having now.
Later, when Red left and I was home alone, I pondered what he’d said. Could I have been wrong? The video didn’t lie. It was definitely Keri Lynn at that gas station. Unless the murder was staged, I don’t know how I could be mistaken. I forced myself to remember and relive what I’d seen a week prior. Was it only one week since I saw a human being lose her life? I didn’t want to face the truth of what I’d seen, but I had to. So I braced myself both mentally and physically. I wasn’t sure why hanging on to the edge of the mattress helped, but for some reason, it did. I took a deep breath and allowed my mind to wander. Just when the mental image popped into my mind, my cell phone rang.
I looked at the picture.
It was Stephanie. “Hi, Mom. You busy?”
“Hello, dear. Not especially.”
We chatted for several moments about nothing, but then she came to the heart of the matter. “I wanted to let you know Joe made it back to Lighthouse Dunes safely.”
I was glad for the update.
Before she got off the phone, she said, “I was fiddling around on the computer, and I ran across something odd about that woman you saw murdered.”
I sat up in bed. She had my full attention now.
“It’s not anything sinister, just odd. So when her first husband died, there was an investigation into the death, because he had taken out a big life insurance policy about six months before he died.”
“How big?”
“One million dollars.”
I whistled. “That’s big. Did the insurance company pay? Did they think there was something wrong?”
Stephanie laughed. “Mom, don’t get excited. The insurance company filed for an investigation into the death.” She must have sensed I was preparing to interrupt because she hurried on. “It’s common for an insurance company to investigate if a large insurance policy is taken out and then the person dies. However, the result of the investigation was that it was a tragic accident. Keri Lynn was three hours away at the time of the crash, and there was no evidence of foul play.”
“Oh.” I sighed.
Stephanie chuckled. “Only you would be disappointed that someone wasn’t actually murdered. I just thought it was strange.”
We agreed it was strange, but neither of us could come up with a good reason why it mattered. So we chatted a bit longer before we got off the phone. I pondered the insurance angle, but considering Keri Lynn had been more than three hours away and the cause of death was natural causes, I didn’t see how this factored in. However, I made a mental note to ask B.J. about it.
Monday, I struggled to get back into the swing of getting up and going to work, but I forced myself. I got up and dressed and let Aggie out to take care of her business. I was glad she would be home with David and wouldn’t have to be crated while I was out. So, once she came inside, I opened the guest bedroom door wide enough for her to slip through and quickly closed it. I waited until I heard David grumbling and then hurried off.
Linda Kay’s office door was open, and I could hear snatches of conversation as I approached. When I got to the executive director’s door, I stuck my head inside. “What’s going on?”
“I’m trying to convince Jacob we don’t need him and he needs to go home.” Linda Kay rolled her scooter to the large conference table that took up one side of her vast office.
Jacob sat at the table, which was set with coffee, tea, china, and a box from Da Vinci’s. “And I’ve been trying to convince Mrs. Weyman that I’m perfectly capable of returning to work.” Jacob poured a cup of coffee into a china cup and took a sip.
“Are those scones?” I sniffed the air like a rabbit.
Jacob smiled. “These aren’t just any ol’ scones, these are Da Vinci’s famous lemon scones with vanilla lemon glaze.” He glanced at me over his teacup. “And they’re still warm. You better hurry.”
“Let me put my purse away.” I hurried next door to my office, which was smaller than Linda Kay’s but still as grand. Jacob must have arrived very early because my door was unlocked and the blinds were open just the way I liked. There was also a crystal vase of flowers on my desk, which were my favorites, Asiatic lilies. I took a quick sniff and then hurried next door.
I sat down an
d took a bite of a warm lemon scone and allowed the vanilla lemon glaze to melt in my mouth. I worked hard to keep a moan from escaping; at least I thought I did. However, when I opened my eyes, both Linda Kay and Jacob were looking at me.
“Do you need a moment alone with that?” Jacob joked.
Linda Kay laughed, but I didn’t really care.
We ate in silence for several moments.
After my second scone, and I think my third cup of coffee, I turned to Jacob. “You must have gotten here pretty early to have done all of this.” I spread my hands out to encompass the entire table. “And thank you for the flowers.”
Linda Kay ate the crumbs from a raspberry chocolate tart. “Yes, thank you for the flowers.”
I glanced at her desk and saw she also had a vase of flowers, although hers were yellow roses in a blue and white Chinese vase. If I remembered correctly, it was a Ming Dynasty vase from Linda Kay’s personal collection, which was worth a small fortune. However, she believed items were to be used as the artist intended rather than to be placed behind glass and merely admired. Unusual attitude for someone who worked at a museum, but it was one of the things I loved about her.
“You’re both very welcome.” Jacob held up a hand. “Before you both start in on me again”—he reached inside his breast pocket and flourished a small piece of paper, which he passed over to Linda Kay—“a note from my doctor saying I am able to return to work.”
Linda Kay opened the note and read. When she was finished, she folded the note and held it up. “How do I know this isn’t a forgery?” Her lips twitched.
Jacob feigned shock. “Moi? I can’t believe you think I’d do something so…low and common as to forge a doctor’s note. I’m hurt that you believe me capable of deceiving you…after all these years.” He sniffed and took a napkin and dabbed at his eyes.
“It’s because of all of our years together that I know what you’re capable of.” She turned to me. “Lilly?”
“I might not have worked with you for years, but I firmly believe you capable of not only forging your doctor’s signature but, after visiting you at your mother’s house, I feel pretty confident—”
