A Murder In Milburn , Book 1: Death At A Diner

by McGovern, Nancy

  Grief found so many ways to stab her. Nora was in her own room again. She saw Raquel’s bright yellow high heels lying in one corner of the room and picked them up. She hadn’t noticed them since she kicked them off that horrible night, Tuesday night. It was just the day before yesterday. Incredible how the world seemed to have shattered and reconfigured itself since then.

  They’d never gone out on a double date together, Nora realized. Funny. She’d always been single in this town, and Raquel had never visited her outside of it.

  Nora lay back on the bed, covering her eyes with her hands. She must have dozed off for a few hours before she felt his presence in the room and jolted awake.

  Harvey was sitting on the bed, his back turned against her.

  *****

  Chapter 14

  “Are you a vampire, secretly?” Nora asked, lifting herself up on her elbows. She had fallen asleep without one, but now a blanket had magically appeared on top of her. She hugged it closer. Harvey had a jacket in his hand. His jacket, the red and white varsity letterman jacket he’d worn on their date, and then draped over her shoulders after the crash.

  “Want it back?” she asked.

  He turned around, and she stopped her questions.

  “You didn’t call all day,” he said.

  “Neither did you.”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t know what to say to you.”

  “Try ‘Hi’ next time,” Nora said.

  “Nora.” He got up, dropping the jacket on the floor, and Nora stood up too. He looked ravaged. His face was creased with worry, and his stubble was almost a beard now, three days unshaven. His hair tickled and waved around the collar of his denim shirt.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “I…” He held her hand, then shook his head and bowed it. “I’m sorry,” he said. “For everything.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she said, drawing him to her. “Harvey, what happened? What is it?”

  “What if it was my fault?” he asked. “What if… Would you ever forgive me?”

  “You didn’t kill her,” she said. “You were with me all along. Harvey. If there’s one person in this town I absolutely know didn’t do it, it’s you. But if you know something – anything – you need to tell me about it.”

  He shook his head. “No,” he said. “I can’t risk it.”

  “Trust in me,” she said.

  He raised his head and stroked her cheek, then embraced her again. They stood like that, Nora with her eyes wide, patting his back as he shivered against her.

  “I’m a coward,” he said to her. “Can you understand that? I’m a weak coward, and I don’t want to be anymore.”

  “You’re not a coward,” she said, a little heated. “Harvey, I’ve been in an accident with you, and you were calm and quick-witted through it. You shouldn’t talk like that about yourself.”

  “I was robbed earlier that day,” Harvey said. “Did anyone tell you that?”

  “I know. Sean was here when he got the call about the robbery,” she said. “He was saying something even when we had the accident. Something about a… Santiago?” She scrunched her face, trying to remember.

  “Santino,” Harvey said. “Marco Santino.”

  “Well, what about him?” she asked.

  “He’s a rich man,” Harvey said. “Rich like you couldn’t imagine. He’s worth maybe triple what this entire town earns.”

  “Money really doesn’t impress me as much as you think it does,” Nora said. “So what if he’s rich?”

  Harvey hesitated, then shook his head, and said with a heavy voice. “Nora. I can’t do this. I can’t see you anymore.”

  “But why?” She clutched at him as he pulled away. “Harvey, please,don’t do this.”

  “I have to,” he said, and his eyes were alight. “I told you, I’m a coward. I thought I could handle it, but Marco…” He took a deep breath. “All right. I need to calm down. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve never been like this.”

  “So why are you like this?”

  “Because… because you’re making me care about you,” he said fiercely. “When I didn’t care, I could take on the world, and never worry about a thing. Now I feel like I’ve got something to lose.” He clutched the back of her head, drew her closer to him. “Nora, I know that I probably seem crazy to you, but I’ve started feeling… well…” He bit his lips. “You’ve been on my mind,” he said eventually. “In a way no one else has before. You’re always on my mind.”

  “But why do you think you were responsible for Raquel’s murder?” she asked. “What happened between yesterday and today?”

  “Marco came to see me,” Harvey said. “He said some things…” His voice trailed off. “He knows you were in the car with me the day we crashed. The night of the murder. He asked me how you were.” Harvey’s fist clenched in her hair, and Nora winced. His blue eyes were storm and lightning now. “He knows I care. About you. Somehow, he knows.”

  “We’ve just had one date. He must be mad to think you care,” Nora said. “Besides, how was Raquel involved?”

  But her words had made Harvey pause and think. His brows furrowed together, and his lip stuck out slightly. Nora longed to nip at it.

  “You’re right,” Harvey said, half to himself. “Why would he think that I cared? We’d spoken only once before. I’ve dated plenty of women. Logically, he shouldn’t think I care about you.”

  “So…”

  “So he must know,” Harvey said, his voice sounding delighted. His face, so cloudy, now cleared, as if a lamp had been lit behind his skin. “He’s tailing me. He must know that I came here before. Maybe he even had a bug on me.”

  Nora opened her mouth to speak.

  “Shh.” Harvey put a finger on her lips. Moody man, Nora thought, one moment so intense, the next as cold as the winter wind.

  Moving gracefully as a dancer on stage, Harvey shut the lights in her room, one by one. When all but one light was shut, he walked next to her, and with one hand, pulled her to him. Embracing her, putting his lips to her neck, he pulled the cord on the last light, the small lamp by her bed.

  In the darkness, she felt his lips on her ear, and shivered, all thoughts blocked out of her head.

  So when he whispered, “They’re watching us,” her addled mind could not decipher the words or their meaning.

  “Harvey-”

  “Quiet.” He drew her to the window, and squatted down, pulling her down too. “Just look,” he said.

  Nora’s window overlooked a road. Trees obscured most of the view, but patches of the road and the streetlight were visible even now. For fifteen minutes, the two of them squatted there, by the window. Nora was half wondering if Harvey had had a nervous breakdown of some sort, and mentally figuring out a gentle way to ask him to see a doctor.

  Then, in the darkness, a parked car lit up with the fluorescent white of a mobile phone screen. In the darkness, Nora saw a man flick his finger and scroll down the phone. She saw another hand reach and grab the phone, covering the light immediately.

  From across the street, in a parked car, two men were watching them.

  “Who are they?” Nora whispered.

  “Santino’s men,” Harvey said. There was sweat on his brow, but as he swept a hand through his hair, he looked as unconcerned as a man watching the world go by from under a tree. Drawing Nora closer, he looked deep into her eyes and said, his voice still soft, “Do you understand why I have to leave you? I’ve dug myself into a pit and I can’t bear the thought of dragging you into it.”

  “If these men were responsible for Raquel’s death, then I’m going to make sure they pay.” Nora’s voice was steel. “You know something, Harvey. You’re going to tell me what it is that you know. What did Marco say to you?”

  “I promise you, Raquel wasn’t involved,” Harvey said. “This is all just between Marco and me.” But there was a hint – the tiniest sliver – of doubt on his face.

  “Do you expe
ct me to believe that?” Nora said, rage slamming out of her. “Raquel worked at your accountant’s office. Your car accident and Raquel’s death happened probably within minutes of each other. Santino’s men follow you around. Do you seriously expect me to believe this has nothing to do with--”

  “Yes.” Harvey’s voice remained mild. “Yes. I know you have no reason to believe me, but I wish you’d believe me still.”

  “Tell me what you know, Harvey,” Nora said, her voice becoming softer. “Even if you think it’s not connected to Raquel, it might be. Tell me everything you know, and we’ll tell Sean together. ”

  “You’re fond of the Sheriff, aren’t you?” Harvey’s voice was still mild, still unaffected. “You think that he’s the kind of man who’ll solve all your problems for you.” He stretched out the word all, his voice almost mocking.

  Nora’s anger, which had been a mix of roiling flame and ice, now became an arctic gale. “Sean is the sheriff. Of course he’s a capable man. There’s no question of--”

  “What are your feelings anyway?” Harvey asked. “You’ve known him all your life and had a crush on him for half of it, so I heard.”

  “Harvey, stop!” Nora said. “Stop trying to distract me with your ridiculous questions and tell me what business you have with Marco.”

  He only held her hand and looked deep into her eyes. “I wish I could,” he said, “but I’m too afraid of the consequences. I’d risk…” he swallowed, and spoke with some difficulty. “I’m willing to risk your eternal enmity if it will mean you are protected.”

  “Harvey--”

  He caught her again, and this time, he kissed her with a force that reminded her of all the intensity hidden behind his cool mask. Before she could recover, he was engulfed in the darkness.

  *****

  Chapter 15

  It frustrated Nora no end that even though she’d fought to keep him there, Harvey had slipped off without a word, leaving her to spend a sleepless night wondering about it all. She had already spent more than an hour in the kitchen the next morning when a very excited Maynard greeted her with yips and a wagging tail. Mrs. Mullally shuffled to the kitchen too, her silver curls forming a slight halo over her head.

  “It’s only 6am,” Mrs. Mullally said. “You’re up early today.”

  Truth was, she hadn’t slept at all. Nora only smiled and said, “What flavor would your taste buds like for breakfast, Mrs. Mullally? Sweet or salty?”

  “Oh, dear, anything you’ll make me will be good enough.”

  On the counter, Nora had pounded and pulled a piece of dough into a series of intricate knots. She brushed a mixture of egg, herbs and cheese on top, and popped it into the oven.

  “Twenty minutes and it should be done,” she told Mrs. Mullally, who was making a pot of ginger tea on the stove.

  Maynard jumped up, his little paws resting on the knob of a drawer, and tilted his head one way and another.

  “Look at that, he wants to be your assistant,” Mrs. Mullally chuckled. “We should get him a little chef hat too.”

  Nora smiled down at the dog and felt the knots inside her loosen. Since Raquel’s death, the world seemed to have darkened around her, but Mrs. Mullally’s endless loving presence and the energetic licks of the dog were a spot of pure honeyed sunlight in the dark.

  There was a knock on the door, and then the sound of a man scraping his boots against the mat. Nora opened it, and Sean took his hat off. He nodded at her, but his face was grim.

  “Sean. This is a surprise. Come in. Have some breakfast,” Nora said. “I’ve made some--”

  “No time, I’m afraid,” Sean said. “I’ve come here to talk to Harvey.”

  “He’s…” taken aback, Nora stuttered a little. “He isn’t her,e Sean.”

  “I’m speaking to you as a friend, Nora. There’s only trouble for you if you lie to me. I’ve had a tip that he’s here.”

  “Sit, please,” Nora said, taking his arm and slowly pulling him towards the kitchen. “We do need to talk.”

  Mrs. Mullally, on seeing Sean’s face, kept her tea down and immediately took the puppy out for a walk. Sean settled on the island counter, and Nora had a stab of grief as she remembered the last time he’d sat here, that happy day when she and Raquel had received their diner uniforms.

  “I know he was here last night and hasn’t left,” Sean said. “My deputy followed him.”

  “Your deputy!” Nora exclaimed. “There were two men watching the house last night, but they were Santino’s men.”

  Sean’s lips tightened. “Is that right?”

  The distrust on Sean’s face pained her. Resolved to make it vanish, Nora spent the next five minutes telling him everything. Sean listened, his face moving from distrust to interest, to excitement.

  “We’ll catch him soon,” Sean said happily. “He’s running scared, and he’s bound to make a mistake.”

  “I don’t understand,” Nora said.

  “It’s a long story, I suppose,” Sean said. “I’ve been after Harvey and Santino for two years now.”

  The timer pinged, and Nora rose automatically to take the bread out. Sean inhaled, and smacked his lips. “You know, I’m a little hungry.”

  “Sean--”

  “I’d be willing to exchange a story for some of that bread,” he said. “What’s in it?

  “Spicy sausage, basil, tomato and cheese.” Nora broke off one of the knots, and a string of cheese stretched out as she plated it. She handed him the plate and stayed by the stove, making coffee.

  He took a bite, gave a sigh of satisfaction and began his story.

  “Harvey came out of nowhere,” Sean said. “About eight years ago. That was two years after you left town, I suppose. So you have no clue what he’s like.”

  “I suppose not, other than what he’s told me about himself,” she said.

  “A pack of lies calculated to make you pity him, I’m sure,” Sean scoffed. “The man’s an out and out fraud. I don’t know what he was doing before he came here, but right after, he tried to con an old man into signing his property away.”

  The rancher that Harvey had mentioned to her, Nora thought. The man he’d claimed was his father.

  “The old man was smarter than Harvey, but Harvey stuck around in town as if he had something to prove,” Sean said. “Two years, he worked odd jobs, and suddenly, he somehow found the money to begin flipping houses. Five years later, he’d made a meteoric rise and become the owner of a real estate agency that’s spread in three cities around Wyoming. Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it? A hardworking man, getting ahead on his own? The American dream.”

  Nora nodded. “It sounds like he was sharp and hardworking.”

  “I’ll agree with you there,” Sean said. “I don’t like the man much, but any fool can see he’s sharp and he works hard. What I don’t like, though, is whose money he works hard with. A man named Santino.”

  “Santino,” Nora said. “That name keeps popping up.”

  “Santino makes his money from an underground gambling ring,” Sean said. “I know for a fact that he gave Harvey money for his first business venture. Problem is, it was a small amount, Santino could prove it was all legal, and I couldn’t touch either of them.” He paused to chew up the last of the bread and drain the coffee.

  “Go on,” Nora said. “Another piece?”

  “No, this was stuffed, and now I’m stuffed.” He smiled. “Anyway, the one link between Harvey and Santino was a man named Donald. He was Harvey’s partner initially. Five years ago, he vanished. I half suspected something had happened to him. An accident of some sorts.”

  “Didn’t you put in a missing person’s report?” Nora asked.

  “Harvey slipped out of my fingers again,” Sean said. “He showed me an email from Donald, saying that he was bored of Wyoming, and was going to go find his fortune in another state. Harvey had been renting Donald a place to stay, so there was no landlord I could follow up with. No family either. I couldn’t do anything
.”

  “So now?”

  “So now, suddenly, Raquel’s died, Santino’s getting aggressive and Harvey’s vanished,” Sean said.

  “Vanished?”

  “He hasn’t left a note behind the way Donald did, but Ashley says he’s been gone since yesterday afternoon. You’re the only one who’s met him. I’ve got my instincts, Nora, and they tell me I’m close to catching him.”

  “You think…” Nora’s throat seemed to close around her words. “You think he was responsible for Raquel’s…”

  “The official line is still that a vagrant did it,” Sean said, his sheriff’s mask coming on again. “But of course, we haven’t ruled out the theory that it was someone she knew.”

  “It can’t be Harvey,” Nora said. “He was with me, remember? The night we had the accident.”

  “A perfect alibi.” The sheriff said. “He has you, Raquel’s closest friend, as a witness. He has the paramedics as witnesses. He has me as a witness even. No way that he was near the diner when Raquel…” He paused, to observe Nora’s face, which was slowly crumbling.

  “…when Raquel was murdered,” Nora said.

  “Right,” Sean said. “Except.”

  “Except what?”

  “Except. Sometimes, the man who pulls a trigger isn’t necessarily the murderer. Sometimes, it can be the man who’s ordered the trigger pulled.”

  “You’re saying Harvey had a hit on her, then planned his alibi?” Nora said.

  “His car had an accident because someone had set a nail strip on the road,” the Sheriff said. “No one knew he was going to use that road, did they? So how did they set the trap?” He pushed his cup aside and looked at Nora.

  “Sean… you’re… this is all too fantastic,” Nora said putting a hand to her forehead.

  “Is it?” Sean’s voice was hard. “Or has he seduced you into believing his innocence?”

  “I can believe he’s broken the law for his business,” Nora said. “I might even believe he isn’t all that he says he is. But I cannot believe he’s a murderer. I would have known. I just… his eyes didn’t lie, Sean.”