Walking on Her Grave (Rogue River Novella, Book 4)

by Leigh, Melinda

  Faye answered his knock.

  “Seth.” She opened the door wide. “Zane stopped earlier to give me an update on the fire. Are you all right?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He followed her down a short hallway to the kitchen. The slab of granite on the center island was big enough to park a car on. The kitchen opened into a great room. Floor-to-ceiling windows framed a breathtaking view of the Rogue.

  “What can I do for you this evening?” Tonight’s cardigan was pink, and she clutched the edges as if she were freezing. Her color would have made chalk look dark.

  “Are you feeling okay?”

  “I’m not dead yet.”

  “I’m actually here to see Katelyn. Is she home?”

  “No. I’m sorry. She went to the store.” Faye checked the time on her watch. “But I expect her any minute. You’re welcome to wait. Can I get you some coffee?”

  “I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

  “No trouble at all. I just made a fresh pot.”

  “Okay, then.”

  “When Zane stopped, he said he thought those two men squatting on the old campground had been Walt’s partners.”

  “That’s one theory.” Seth evaded the question. There was no point in speculating. Katelyn might have kept her recent liaison with Mike secret to avoid scandal, and Seth was not going to round out his evening by giving an old lady a heart attack.

  “Sit down, please.” Faye waved toward a sofa facing the picture window. She bustled around the kitchen, filling a tiny pitcher with cream.

  Seth faced the river, a ribbon of darkness in the fading twilight. “The water looks calm from here.”

  “It’s deceptive. This segment is particularly dangerous.” Faye set a tray on a glass coffee table.

  “I learned that today.” Seth drank his coffee black, but the brew was unusually strong, like Faye. He added some cream.

  “Yes. I know.” She sat and rested her folded hands on her lap. “I’m sorry about what happened. I so wanted to make a go of the new resort, but everything got out of control.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Seth drank his coffee.

  “I should have known what was going on under my nose.” Faye stared out the window. “Getting old is a bitch.”

  Seth laughed. A light appeared outside the window. Floating. Flying. It burst into a kaleidoscope, colors circling. Zooming in and out. What the hell? He rubbed his eyes. The lights circled his head like a cartoon concussion. What next, a little bird?

  “How do you feel, Seth?”

  He turned to Faye. Her face melted and reformed. Oh. Shit. She’d drugged him.

  “You didn’t really think Katelyn was smart enough to pull all this off, did you?” Faye tsked.

  Seth lurched to his feet. The wood floor rolled under him.

  Faye took his arm and steered him toward the front door. “Let’s get you to your car. Maybe you’ll get lucky. But I doubt it. You’re stronger than Bill was. I gave you a bigger dose. Just in case, though, it would be better if your car was pulled from the river tomorrow with you in it.”

  Seth tried to pull away from her. But his visual field undulated. He yanked his arm away but swayed like a drunk. Water pelted Seth’s face. It sizzled on his skin like acid. He smacked at the burning drops with his hands. His pulse quickened, the beats thudding like bongos in his chest.

  No. No. No. He couldn’t let this happen. He put his hands on his knees, shoved a finger down his throat, and vomited all over Faye’s hardwood.

  She jumped backward. “Well, now, that was just disgusting. I didn’t expect you to give me a hard time. My hired hands are dead. I’ll have quite a time getting your body out of the house on my own. I suppose, if push comes to shove, I could use the hand truck in the garage.” She waved a hand. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’d really like to take care of this tonight. I don’t have much time.” She smiled at him, giant lips spreading to reveal fangs. Huge vampire fangs ready to piece his jugular. “You have even less. It’s a shame. You’re a nice young man. But, like Bill, just a little too smart. That’s why you have to die.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Where’s Daddy?”

  Pacing the kitchen of her mother’s house, Carly smiled at her daughter. “I’m sure he’ll be along. Why don’t you go check on those kittens?”

  “Okay, Mama.” Brianna disappeared into the laundry room.

  Damn Seth. He promised.

  She chewed a worried fingernail. This didn’t feel right. The “old” Seth wouldn’t have thought much about not showing up. But she hadn’t expected this. Not tonight. Not after everything that had happened in the last few months.

  Carly picked up her cell and dialed Seth again. And left yet another message. She texted her sister Stevie. All the Solitude cops had been busy with the forest fire and major crime scene at the campground. Stevie called her right back. “What do you mean you can’t find Seth?”

  “He said he was coming right over. That was an hour ago.”

  “Maybe he stopped somewhere.”

  “No, he promised he’d be here for Brianna,” Carly insisted.

  “Carly . . .” Stevie’s voice rang with doubt.

  “I know he used to do this all the time, but I just have this feeling that something is wrong.”

  “Oh no. Not you.” Stevie groaned.

  “It’s not like that. This is based on the fact that I talked to him an hour ago.”

  “Gotta go. I’ll ask around. Let me know if he shows up.” Stevie ended the call.

  Carly paced. A minute later her phone rang. Stevie.

  “Zane said Seth left him a message that he was taking Katelyn O’Rourke to the sheriff’s office for questioning. Apparently she lied in a statement,” Stevie said. “You might try his office in Hannon.”

  “Thanks.” Carly tried to summon some anger. Seth wasn’t answering her calls because he was with Katelyn O’Rourke. But this didn’t make sense. She couldn’t believe he hadn’t called to let her know.

  She dialed numbers and queued her way to a live person within the sheriff’s department. As a county employee with CPS, she knew many of the police staff, including the detective sergeant on duty, who informed her that Seth was not in the building. He hadn’t brought anyone in for questioning.

  Wait. She knew of one way to find him. His cell phone.

  Carly ducked into the family room. Brianna and Patsy were feeding kittens.

  “I’m going to run over to Seth’s,” Carly said.

  Her mother gave her a look. Carly smiled back. “I’ll call you.”

  Patsy shook her head. “How about I go with you instead.” It wasn’t a question. “I’ll just get your brother Bruce up here to help with these kittens.” Calling for Bruce, she walked out of the room.

  Brianna cradled her kitten. “Bring Daddy back with you, Mommy.”

  “That’s the plan.” Carly jogged out to her Jeep.

  Two minutes later, her mother climbed into the passenger seat. “Where are we going?”

  “Seth’s house. I can find his cell phone with his computer.”

  Carly exceeded the speed limit all the way into town and to the house. Thank God Seth had never changed the locks. Inside she went to his desk, booted up his laptop, and opened his “find my phone” application. A map appeared on the screen. Carly located the blinking green dot and zoomed in. He was at the river?

  “Where is he?” Patsy asked.

  “Katelyn O’Rourke’s house.” Carly explained about Stevie’s call.

  Disappointment flooded Carly. Seth was interviewing Katelyn. He’d just decided to do it at her house rather than drag her to the sheriff’s office. He had blown her and Brianna off for work without a second thought. But doubt nagged at Carly. After all they’d been through, would he really do that?

  “That doesn’t sound like Seth,” Patsy said. “This feels all wrong.”

  “I know.” Carly c
losed the computer. “Would you mind driving out to the O’Rourke place?”

  “Not at all,” Patsy said.

  They left the house, and Carly drove toward the river. Seth wouldn’t forget her or Brianna, not after all the work he’d put in trying to get her back. Something was wrong. Maybe he’d been hurt worse than he’d admitted this afternoon. She scanned the sides of the road as she drove. Her father had been found in his vehicle on the roadside. It would be like Seth to get ill and try to drive himself to the hospital. But they arrived at the O’Rourke place without passing a single car.

  Carly drove up to the big glass house. They got out of her Jeep and walked up the front steps. Lights blazed inside. At the front door, Carly peered in the sidelight. Seth was lying in the foyer next to a puddle of vomit. Faye was trying to drag him across the wood.

  Carly opened the door and dropped to her knees next to Seth.

  He blinked up at her. “Is that you?”

  “I’m here.”

  “Poisoned. Drug.” He breathed. “Threw most of it up.”

  “You’re going to be all right.” Carly checked his pulse. It slammed erratically against her fingertips.

  Her mom leaned over her shoulder. “Ambulance is on the way.”

  In the corner of her eye, Carly saw Faye sink onto a kitchen stool. “You poisoned my father, didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t have much of a choice. He always knew what was going on in his town. He was asking all the right questions. It was only a matter of time before he figured it all out.” Faye pressed a hand to her chest. “When I had the heart attack, I knew I had to take action. I couldn’t let O’Rourke Properties fail. It’s the O’Rourke family legacy. Walt and I devised the whole operation together. He hired those two thugs and put them to work. They weren’t supposed to sell the product in Solitude. But you really can’t trust that sort of man.” Faye’s words grew softer as she wheezed. “I learned that the hard way.” Panting, she slumped back against the back of the stool.

  “Nitroglycerin tablets. In her purse.” Seth’s soft words slurred.

  “There it is.” Patsy grabbed a square black purse from the granite counter. She found a bottle of small pills in the front pocket. Opening it, she dumped out a pill and shoved it under Faye’s tongue. “There is no way I’m letting you take the easy way out. You killed my husband, and I’ll see you pay for it.”

  Unconcerned with Faye’s fate, Carly checked Seth’s pulse again. Still beating. His eyes fluttered. She tapped his cheek. “Stay with me, Seth.”

  “Always.”

  “We have to stop meeting this way.”

  Seth sat up in his hospital bed, exhausted but ever thrilled to see his wife. Now that the drug had worn off and he wasn’t stoned out of his mind, he wanted to go home. But the doctor insisted on keeping him overnight for observation.

  Carly perched on the edge of his bed and took his hand. “Faye is in ICU. Zane can’t ask her any questions yet.”

  “That’s okay,” Seth said. “Before you showed up, Faye talked plenty. O’Rourke Properties was already close to bankruptcy last year. She sold every asset she had to finance the construction project. But costs ran over. Walt came up with the idea of making drugs for extra cash. It paid well, but it got out of hand fast.”

  “I can’t believe it. If she had money, why was she skimping on cheap materials, and who set the resort on fire?” Carly asked.

  “Drugs are profitable, but the costs ran higher than Walt or Faye expected. Apparently bribery gets expensive, and their cash flow was already falling short. That’s why the O’Rourkes were letting their contractors go and claiming their work was inferior to avoid paying them. Faye and Walt also didn’t expect the rivalry with the gang from the coast. Drug dealing was more complicated than they anticipated.”

  “So who set the resort on fire?”

  “Faye ordered her men to do it. She was hoping the insurance money would tide her over. Plus, they’d skimped and used cheap construction materials. That’s why the resort had failed so many inspections. Faye thought a nice raging fire would destroy the evidence. With the insurance money, they could have started again.”

  “Did Katelyn know?”

  Seth shook his head. Dizziness came and went. “Katelyn slept with Mike to get him to pass inspections, but that was the extent of her involvement. Everything else was all Faye. She was the one who bribed Roy to look the other way. She knew about his gambling problem and loaned him some money. Once he was in debt to her, she had him by the short hairs. Then, after that boy overdosed back in May, Roy told her that was it. He was going to confess everything. So Faye had her men kill him the same way they killed Mike.”

  Seth yawned. Though the drug had mostly worn off, he could feel the beginning of an epic hangover starting in the back of his head.

  “Why don’t you get some sleep?” Carly tugged his blanket over his chest, then moved to the chair next to the bed.

  He slid down on the pillow. “You’re not going home?”

  “Not just yet.” She was there when he fell asleep, and she was still there every time he opened his eyes during the night.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  TWO DAYS LATER

  Carly lit the last Roman candle and watched it burst in the sky. Bright colors reflected off her father’s granite headstone. “We miss you, Dad.”

  Next to her, Stevie sighed. “At least we know who killed him. It’s finally over.”

  “You can finally enjoy that small-town life you came home for,” Carly said.

  “I quit the LAPD and moved home for some peace and quiet, not a string of murders.”

  Small Town Rule #10: If you couldn’t wait to leave your small town, as soon as you did, you realized it had been the best place to grow up.

  “Doesn’t seem like any of it was real. Things like that shouldn’t be able to touch Solitude.”

  “Drugs are ugly, and there’s no avoiding them these days, not even here,” Stevie said. “It’s sad that one of our own brought that ugliness here. Faye’s family was such a huge part of Solitude’s heritage.”

  Carly sighed and started cleaning up their father’s gravesite. She held up their father’s homemade fireworks launcher. “Dad left us the best legacy.”

  “The perfect heirloom for the daughters of a police chief with a weakness for illegal pyrotechnics.”

  Carly laughed. “Illegal or not, he did love his fireworks.”

  “We’ll be back with more on New Year’s Eve,” Stevie said. “I have no intention of stopping his favorite tradition.”

  “Me either,” Carly agreed. “Would you mind if I brought Brianna next time?”

  Stevie wiped a tear from her cheek. “Of course not. Dad would love it.”

  The cemetery sat on a hill. Below, the Rogue River flowed, inky black in the darkness. The overcast sky threatened to dump rain on them at any moment. But Carly didn’t mind. The cold front was a welcome reprieve from the grueling heat of this summer.

  “Was Brianna upset that the parade was rained out this morning?”

  “Seth told her she could keep the kittens. Nothing could make her sad.”

  “He’s really come around,” Stevie said. “Dad would be happy. He always liked Seth.”

  “I know.”

  Headlights passed over the grass. Wet blades glimmered.

  “Who is that?” Carly asked.

  Stevie put her hands on her hips. “Looks like Zane’s vehicle.”

  Another car pulled in next to him. Squinting, Carly zipped her backpack. “That’s Seth.”

  “Good thing we’re finished.”

  They watched Zane and Seth cross the grass.

  “We were filling out paperwork when we got a call about illegal fireworks use at the cemetery.” Zane shined his flashlight in Stevie’s eyes. “We have enough to deal with right now. I don’t need late-night calls involving one of my own officers.”

  Seth propped his hands
on his hips. “Like the paperwork this case has generated wasn’t painful enough.”

  “What fireworks?” Carly gave them an exaggerated shrug.

  Stevie kicked the backpack behind Dad’s headstone. “We haven’t seen any fireworks.”

  Zane laughed, softening the lines of exhaustion around his eyes. “Are you done?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Stevie said in a haughty voice. “We were just here having a conversation, minding our own business.”

  “What’s in the backpack?” Seth asked.

  “Flowers,” Carly said.

  “Your flowers smell like gunpowder.” Zane reached for Stevie’s hand. “We better get out of here before somebody calls a cop.”

  Stevie gave Carly a quick hug and left with Zane, hand in hand. Carly sighed. Her sister deserved a good man.

  She turned to Seth, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was shining his flashlight on her father’s gravestone. She stepped up beside him, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

  Grief swelled in her heart. “I miss him so much.”

  “Me too.” He rubbed her arm. He moved his beam to the second half of the double headstone.

  PATSY TAYLOR 1959–

  “I hate that she put her name on the tombstone.” Carly shivered. “It’s so morbid.”

  “I know exactly how your mom feels.” Seth turned her to face him. He lifted her chin with a finger. “You are everything to me. You are more than my wife. You’re my best friend, Carly. I want to be with you until they put me in my grave.”

  After nearly seeing him die, Carly couldn’t bear the thought. “Please don’t say that.”

  She pulled away, walking across the damp grass to the edge of the cemetery. The clouds parted, and a beam of moonlight shimmered on the bubbling surface of the Rogue River. Without that river, she and Seth would both be dead.

  He stepped up beside her. “I mean it. There is nothing in the world I wouldn’t do to get you back.”

  “What about marriage counseling?”

  “When and where?” His gaze didn’t falter. “I’ll be there.”