Dead For Good Book 1

by Stacy Claflin

They stared each other down.

  He stepped closer, his pulse spiking. “Do you think I did something to our neighbor?”

  “Why was there blood behind your ear that night?”

  “I already told you. A guy cut himself at the convention.”

  “And it got behind your ear?”

  “Yes. Some people are total idiots. And you’d be surprised how many of them show up at knife shows. They should require an IQ test with entry.”

  She frowned.

  “You don’t believe me?”

  He opened his mouth to repeat the lie, but Luna bounced into the room. “Dinner ready?”

  “Yes.” Faye gave her a sweet smile. “Can you get your brother and sister, please?”

  “Okay, Mommy.” She skipped into the hall.

  “Will you set the table?” Faye asked him, buzzing about the room, not giving him an opportunity to continue the conversation.

  A few minutes later, everyone sat, filling their plates. Hadley barely put anything on hers. Must’ve been on another one of her diets. Zeke piled on enough for the both of them. Faye ate, avoiding Brad’s gaze.

  All because of Allison’s visit. Who knew what drivel she’d been feeding Faye? Poisoning her against him?

  Brad sighed, his appetite waning before he took his first bite.

  “Did anyone see the ads for the new 80s show starting soon?” Zeke grinned. “It looks like a cross between Jaws and Breakfast Club. Gonna be totally awesome.”

  “Can I watch it?” Luna asked.

  “Not if it’s like Jaws,” Faye said.

  She pouted.

  “Sounds lame, anyway.” Hadley rolled her eyes dramatically at Zeke.

  Brad turned to her. “Be nice to your brother.”

  Hadley slammed her palm on the table. “You’re always siding with him!”

  “You need to relax.”

  “Relax?” Her face flushed. “Are you kidding me? He’s an 80s-obsessed nerd that everyone makes fun of. You should be encouraging him to do things to fit in.”

  Zeke glared at her. “You’re just worried I’ll embarrass you.”

  “Worried? You already humiliated me. Do you know what it’s like being your sister?”

  “Thankfully, no.” He inhaled his corn.

  “Kids,” Brad warned.

  “This is ridiculous! I’m done.” Hadley rose and snatched her plate so quickly that her roast nearly rolled off. She turned to Brad, her face reddening. “And I’m totally sick of you!”

  “You need to watch your tone.”

  “You’re clueless!” She put her plate back down and stormed away.

  Brad leaped up.

  Faye stopped him. “Let her calm down.”

  Zeke piled more roast on his plate. “Don’t take it personally, Dad. She’s been pissy ever since the weekend. I can’t even look at her without her insulting me.”

  “I’ll talk to her.”

  “Or,” Faye said, “we should try listening to her.”

  “Listening? She—”

  “There’s that echo again.”

  Brad gritted his teeth. “As long as she’s living under our roof, she needs to follow our rules.”

  “Something is obviously upsetting her. She’ll be more likely to open up if we aren’t heavy-handed.”

  “She’s right.” Luna nodded enthusiastically. “Girls just want to be heard.”

  Brad and Faye exchanged a curious glance.

  A few minutes later, Zeke gathered the dishes. “I’m washing all the dishes. You guys go listen to Hadley.”

  Luna went back to her cartoons while Brad and Faye headed upstairs.

  “I’m really worried about her,” she said, stopping them with a whisper in front of Hadley’s room.

  “It’s called being a teenager. We gave our parents the same snark, remember?”

  Faye didn’t look convinced.

  “You don’t remember?”

  “I do, but this is so unlike her — to be that rude to you and Zeke. Something is obviously bothering her.”

  “Probably boy troubles.”

  She wrung her hands. “But she hasn’t talked about a boyfriend.”

  “Because she would tell us everything, right?”

  “She has always kept me in the loop. You freak out about boys, so she doesn’t tell you anything anymore.”

  “That was one time, and the kid was nothing but trouble.”

  “One time is all it takes.”

  He’d had enough. “Why don’t you listen to what she has to say. I always get everything wrong.”

  “That isn’t what I said!”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  “Would you stop making this about you and focus on our daughter? She needs us.”

  “About me? Is that what you think I’m doing?”

  “I know that’s what you’re doing.”

  “Okay, then. You listen to Hadley. I need to talk to Kurt.”

  Her brows drew together. “You didn’t speak with him at work?”

  “He’s ghosting me, despite knowing the police keep questioning me.”

  “Can’t we find our own lawyer? Why do we need his?”

  Brad drew in a deep breath, considered his wording. “He has access to the best attorneys, and we won’t have to pay full price for their services.”

  “Makes sense, but a decent lawyer is better than none, which is all we have right—”

  “I know. That’s why I need to get a hold of him.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Let’s divide and conquer. I’ll find out what’s bothering Hadley, and you call Kurt.”

  Finally, they were on the same page.

  But the look in her eyes told him that she had more to say and maybe even wanted to say it.

  Brad would have to deal with that later.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Faye kissed Luna. “Five more minutes, then you have to get up.”

  “Thanks, Mommy.” She rolled over, pulled the blanket over her head.

  Faye smiled, remembering when Hadley had been that young. Ten years felt like a few minutes. If only there was a way to slow time and keep them little forever.

  She pushed the nostalgia away and went into the hall. The shower started in the main bathroom. That meant either Hadley or Zeke. Probably Hadley, but given how mopey and closed off she’d been the last few days, she could be the one still in bed.

  Faye gave a light knock on Hadley’s door, waited, then pushed it open. The room was dim, and the bed already made. Some of her heaviness lifted. Maybe Hadley was pushing past whatever she was going through. Might be hormones. That made a lot of sense, given the timeframe.

  She started to close the door but stopped at the sight of a midnight blue sweatshirt draped over her daughter’s chair. Duke’s company logo was embroidered across the front.

  He’d worn the same shirt when getting his haircut a few times.

  What was Hadley doing with it?

  Had he loaned it to her? It was like she’d told the other stylists, he was the type of guy to give someone the shirt off his back. Maybe Hadley had been cold, and he’d given that to her.

  But they lived next door. If Hadley needed a sweater, she could’ve come inside to grab something of her own.

  Faye stumbled across the room and picked up the sweatshirt with shaking hands.

  It smelled like cologne. Really, it smelled like Duke. Every time he sat in her salon chair, she got a whiff of his signature scent.

  Her mind raced, desperately wanting to think of a scenario where the things she was thinking weren’t entirely crazy.

  She came up blank.

  The shower stopped.

  Faye hurried out of the room, barely remembering to pull Luna from bed. On her way to her bedroom, she knocked on Zeke’s door.

  “I’m up!”

  “Just checking.” She wasn’t sure the words ever left her mouth.

  Brad was gelling his hair in their room. Two gazes met in the mirror. “You okay?”
>
  Faye shook her head. “You’ll never believe what I just saw in Hadley’s room.”

  “Another wolf spider?”

  “Duke’s sweatshirt.”

  “His sweatshirt?” Brad repeated. “You sure?”

  “It has his company logo.”

  “Do you know how many people he’s gotten to sell that MLM in this neighborhood?” Brad shook his head. “More than half the families at that party are in on it.”

  “But it smells like cologne.”

  Brad turned back to the mirror and studied his hair. “Probably some kid from school. Did you ask her about it?”

  “She’s in the shower.”

  “I’m sure it’s no big deal.”

  “It smells like his cologne!”

  He whipped around, his eyebrows furrowed. “And how do you know that?”

  “He wore a lot of it. A unique scent. Made me think of our trip to Hawaii.”

  “In other words, it was flowery.”

  “Like the ocean. But that isn’t the point. I’m worried about our daughter, Brad.”

  “Because she’s seeing some kid who smells like the ocean? Sure, I can talk to her about finding a manlier boyfriend.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “So am I. But Hadley would never be involved with a guy like Duke.”

  “And what kind of a guy is that?”

  “Besides being much too old for her, Duke was a predator.”

  “Predator?”

  Brad nodded. “How else does someone become one of the highest-ranked sellers in an MLM company? Ninety percent of people who join those schemes never advance.”

  “Ninety percent?”

  “Now, who has the echo? I made that number up, but you know what I’m saying. How many have you tried? There was the makeup one, the vitamins, the oils, the candles—”

  “Point taken.” She scowled at him.

  “I’ll ask her about the shirt at breakfast. She’ll say it belongs to some kid from the play. Watch.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Of course I am.” Brad brightened, apparently struck by an idea. “There’s an angle the detective might want to take. Someone could be pissed that Duke promised them the world, and they got stuck with a garage full of protein shakes. There’s motive.”

  “To kill?”

  “If somebody lost money, you’d better believe it.”

  “Maybe. But that still doesn’t explain the shirt in Hadley’s room smelling like Duke’s cologne.”

  Brad crossed his arms. “What I want to know is why you’re so convinced it’s his. How close were you to him?”

  “Not very.”

  “You sound defensive. Should I be worried?” His mouth formed a straight line.

  “No!” Her stomach twisted, knowing he wouldn’t be much happier learning that it hadn’t been just one emergency haircut, that Duke had been one of her regulars. “It’s expensive and stands out. That’s all. He was a kid. Twenty-five or something? I could be his mom.”

  “An attractive mom. I wouldn’t put it past him to—”

  “I’ve heard enough. There was never anything between me and him. Ever.” She glanced at the wall clock. “If I don’t get to the kitchen, we’re all going without breakfast this morning.”

  She called for the kids to hurry as she headed for the stairs. Scrambled eggs this morning. She liked sending everyone off with a robust meal in their bellies, so they wouldn’t have to deal with being hungry all morning. She’d been left to fend for herself as a kid too often and refused to let her kids live like that.

  The things Brad said ran through her mind as she whisked the eggs and poured them into the hot nonstick pan. Could Duke have gone after Hadley romantically? She was a beautiful young woman. Many a teenage boy had given himself whiplash while trying to get a second look at her. So had college guys. Duke hadn’t been much older than a college graduate.

  It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

  But Duke? There wasn’t a nicer guy around. He wouldn’t prey on a teenager.

  Or would he?

  No. That would have been nuts. He couldn’t have been bold enough to sit in Faye’s chair every other week if he was seeing her daughter.

  Unless he was trying to distract her, to make her think better of him than he was.

  He could have been playing her.

  Her stomach churned acid.

  Black smoke flew up from the eggs.

  She pulled the pan away from the burner and stirred, shaking at the thought of her neighbor being a child predator. He was no kid. At twenty-five, he was a man.

  And his sweatshirt was in her daughter’s room. There was no question it was his. No high schooler would wear that expensive cologne. Or the shirt. Kids would make fun of any of their peers involved in an MLM.

  She picked the burned bits out of the eggs, her mind racing. What if Duke had made an advance on Hadley? She could’ve fought back. Threatened to turn him in. How would he have responded? If he turned around and threatened her back, how might Hadley have reacted?

  Her blood ran cold.

  What if her daughter killed him to keep him from harassing her — or worse?

  That would be a motive.

  Those detectives could be looking at the wrong member of the Morris family.

  She needed to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. But how could she get her daughter to open up about something so serious?

  The kids trickled down for breakfast, and Faye handed them each a plate. She made light conversation about homework and after-school activities, but she watched Hadley pick at her food. She’d used heavy makeup under her eyes — to hide the dark circles, no doubt. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot, cast down at the table. No teasing her brother this morning.

  Something was definitely off.

  Did Duke hurt Hadley? Had she been forced to kill him?

  Faye had to ask. Look for nonverbal signs which would speak louder than her words.

  This wasn’t a conversation she could have with Zeke and Luna present.

  But it also couldn’t wait.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Brad sat with his eggs at the quiet table. Hadley pushed her food around her plate while Zeke ate like he was starving. Faye paced the room, glancing at their eldest every three seconds.

  After a few bites, Brad cleared his throat and looked at Hadley. “Did you join an MLM and not tell us?”

  “What?”

  “That hoodie in your room.”

  Her face paled. “It’s not like that.”

  “What, then?”

  “It … It’s my boyfriend’s.”

  He scratched his chin. “Since when do you have a boyfriend?”

  “Ugh, really?”

  “I’m serious.”

  Faye inched closer to the table, her hands wringing together.

  Hadley looked at her. “Mom, help me out.”

  “I’m not sure who your boyfriend is, either.”

  “Maverick. Ring any bells?”

  Brad tried to remember. It sounded vaguely familiar. “From your play?”

  She shook her head. “You were reading my private texts.”

  “Are you talking about the texts that showed up on your screen when you left your phone in the middle of the living room?”

  “Yes.” She glared at him. “Those were private.”

  “Not when we pay for the phone.”

  “As I explained to you then, Maverick is my boyfriend. I have to get to school before I’m late.” She hurried out of the room without another word.

  Brad exchanged a concerned glance with Faye.

  Zeke scooted back. “You’re seriously going to let her get away with not putting her plate away two meals in a row? If I start acting like her, can I do that, too?”

  Brad gave him a warning glance.

  “Fine.” Zeke tossed his plate into the sink with more force than necessary and stomped up the stairs.

  “Why’s ev
eryone in a bad mood?” Luna asked.

  “Because they’re teenagers.” Brad rose and put his dishes away.

  Faye caught up with him as he was heading to his office. “Do you believe Hadley?”

  “About Derrick?”

  “Maverick.”

  “Whatever. It’s such a pretentious name. But it’s just like I told you — she’s seeing some kid from school. And I apparently already knew about him. I suppose you’re going to tell me I’m parent of the year.”

  “I’m worried about her.” Faye grabbed his arm.

  “Teenage girls are moody. I’d be worried if she wasn’t being difficult.”

  “What if she’s hiding something?”

  Brad glanced at his watch. “Like what?”

  “That sweatshirt is Duke’s.” She looked around and lowered her voice. “What if something happened, and she killed him?”

  The words felt like a punch to the throat. “What?”

  “Think about it.”

  “She told us the shirt doesn’t belong to Duke.”

  “And you believe her?”

  “It’s Maverick’s sweatshirt. Why would she have Duke’s when she has a boyfriend?”

  Faye’s eyes narrowed. “She’s lying about Maverick. If Duke hurt her—”

  “I’d have killed him myself.” Anger surged through him.

  “Don’t say that around anyone else!”

  “Obviously. You’re making too much of the shirt. Our little girl wouldn’t get involved with that loser. I made it clear that I didn’t want any of us talking to him.”

  “And teenagers are so good following parental direction.”

  Brad took several measured breaths. The thought of Duke even looking at his daughter was enough to boil his blood. The thought of that man-child’s hands on her made him want to put his fist through a wall. Or Duke’s face, but it was too late for that.

  Faye pressed her palms on his chest. “What if she killed him?”

  “She’s no killer.”

  And he knew killers. His little girl didn’t have it in her. She was feisty, but that was as far as it went.

  Tears shone in Faye’s eyes. “If he was pressuring her—”

  “She wouldn’t have his shirt hanging on her chair! Think about it: Hadley would have burned the damned thing if she’d killed him.”

  Faye stepped back. “You do have a point.”