The Fred Vickery Mystery Series: Books 1-3 (Fred Vickery Mysteries)

by Sherry Lewis

  Did he know about Nancy’s pregnancy? Fred squelched that thought immediately. Of course not. He couldn’t. Her parents didn’t even know. “I think she’s all right.”

  Kelley looked almost relieved.

  “You were pretty good friends with Adam and Nancy?”

  Kelley studied his fingernails. “Well, I don’t know— I haven’t seen them since I moved. But maybe you could tell her I asked about her when you see her again.”

  “I’d be glad to. Does she know where to find you?”

  He looked away casually. “I’ve got a room at the Columbine Inn just outside of Granby.”

  Fred smiled. Nancy could use all the friends she could get right now. “I’ll pass that on to her.”

  Kelley’s face relaxed and his eyes lightened considerably. “Thank you.”

  “No problem.” Fred tucked his hands into his pockets. “How long will you be in town?”

  “I don’t really know. I uh— I came up here on business, and I guess I’ll stay until I’ve taken care of everything.” He broke off at the sound of a vehicle slowing on the highway and his face tightened noticeably. “Listen, I’m late for an appointment. Be sure to give Nancy my best.”

  Curious at what made Kelley freeze up like that, Fred looked over his shoulder. Enos’s pickup truck bounced across the parking lot toward him, and Fred’s heart sank. Just like a blasted bad penny.

  Enos pulled his truck so close he almost hit Fred’s bumper, then hopped out of the cab. “Well, well, well,” he said. “Look who’s here.”

  Kelley pulled the nozzle from his gas tank and stared at Fred with open curiosity.

  Fred didn’t even bother trying to smile. He’d seen Enos in this mood before.

  Enos strolled a little closer. “I just tried to call you.”

  “I wasn’t home.”

  “I figured that out.” Enos smiled, but his eyes didn’t look especially friendly. “I heard a vicious rumor today. I kind of hoped you’d set my mind to rest.”

  “I can try,” Fred said. “What did you hear?”

  Enos adjusted his hat, hitched his pants up, and nodded to Kelley as the young man slid behind the wheel of his car. “Well, now, it’s kind of silly, really. Deputy Alpers claimed he saw someone up at EnviroSampl who matched your description.”

  Fred didn’t bother to deny it.

  “Naturally, I didn’t believe it,” Enos said.

  “Naturally.”

  Enos frowned at the highway. “You and I have been friends a long time, Fred. You know how I feel about civilians poking around in police business, and we are in the middle of a murder investigation—”

  “I know that.”

  “So I know you wouldn’t go nosing around the murder scene.”

  “Of course I wouldn’t,” Fred said with a tight smile. “Especially since you’ve got everything under control.”

  Enos pulled a pack of gum from his shirt pocket and folded a piece into his mouth. “That’s what I thought.”

  “So, do you know who did it yet?”

  Enos flushed ever so slightly.

  “What kind of physical evidence do you have? Have you found the murder weapon?”

  “You know I can’t discuss the case with you.”

  “You don’t still suspect Nancy, do you?”

  Enos glanced away while the cowboy revved his engine and drove off.

  Fred tried not to panic. “You don’t suspect Porter?”

  Enos’s jaw tightened.

  “You do, don’t you? What about the other suspects?”

  Enos readjusted his hat. “You’re pushing it, Fred.”

  Of course he was. He intended to push. Somebody had to. “Listen, Enos. I know Mitch Hancock’s lying. And Charlotte Isaacson’s not telling everything she knows—”

  Enos made a noise like a low growl.

  “And Philip Aagard—I’ve heard things have gone downhill ever since he took over at EnviroSampl. Have you checked him out?”

  Enos’s scowl deepened. “You’ve been busy, haven’t you?”

  Damn right, he had. “Tell me what Roy Dennington’s doing in town. Why he’s hanging around EnviroSampl.”

  “You’re barking up the wrong tree, Fred.”

  “Horsefeathers. Have you checked out their stories? Do you even know where to find Dennington?”

  “As a matter of fact, I have and I do. Dennington’s staying at the Columbine. And yes, I’ve talked to him, too.”

  Fred hadn’t expected that answer. It took a little of the wind out of his sails. “You’ve talked to all of them?”

  “Of course I have.”

  “And?”

  “And nothing.”

  “Don’t be stubborn. What did they say?”

  Enos pulled his hat off and turned it in his hands. A bad sign.

  “What is it you don’t want me to know?” Fred asked.

  Enos looked away and stared at the tops of the aspen trees behind the One-Stop. “It’s not good, Fred. Mitch Hancock swears Nancy was at EnviroSampl about midnight, and that she had another argument with Adam while she was there.”

  TWELVE

  In the wake of Enos’s news, Fred felt as if his old friend had had gut-punched him. Hard. He tried to drag in a steadying breath but his lungs weren’t working right. Nancy at EnviroSampl the night Adam was shot? He didn’t want to believe it.

  He grasped at the only straw he could see. “What was Mitch doing there at that time of night?”

  “Said he forgot his house keys and had to go back. When he got there, Nancy’s car was outside and he heard her arguing with Adam, so he went in through the back, got his keys, and left.”

  Fred tried to keep his hands steady and to force down his rising panic. “And you believe him?”

  “I have no reason not to believe him,” Enos said.

  “I suppose so,” Fred said, “although he could just be trying to cover his own tracks.” He shrugged, as if by refusing to take Enos seriously, he could take the power out of his words. “And even if he’s telling the truth and Nancy was there, that doesn’t mean she killed her husband.”

  Enos massaged his face with his open palm. He looked incredibly weary which almost made Fred feel sorry for him. “You don’t know how much I want to believe that,” Enos said. “But I have to investigate every lead. And I have to deal with the facts.”

  “The facts?” Fred snapped. “You’re not dealing with facts. The fact is, Nancy didn’t kill Adam. Somebody else did.”

  Enos kept shaking his head. “Don’t do this, Fred.”

  “Do what? Try to make you see reason?”

  “I have to do my job.”

  “What’s that? Arrest an innocent woman?” Fred lowered his voice and added, “A pregnant woman?”

  Enos’s head stopped moving. “Nancy’s pregnant?” he asked in a voice to match Fred’s.

  Fred nodded once. “Yes she is.”

  “You’re sure about that?”

  “Absolutely positive.”

  Enos glanced away, and when he looked back his face was shadowed with sadness. “Ah, hell. Poor Adam. Did he know?”

  Fred nodded. “Yes, he did. But not many others do. You, me, Doc and Nancy—and Pete Scott’s wife. As far as I know, that’s it.”

  Enos struggled with himself for several seconds before his shoulders drooped and he said, “All right. Look. The evidence against Nancy is building and it’s pretty strong, but I’ll hold off bringing her in as long as I can.”

  It wasn’t much of a concession, but it was something. Fred tried to smile. “Thank you, son.”

  Enos held up a hand. “Pregnant or not, I’ll arrest her if she did it.”

  “I understand that, but she didn’t do it.”

  “You’d better hope she didn’t,” Enos said, turning on his heel and heading back toward his truck.

  Fred watched him go. He lifted his hand in a half-hearted wave as Enos backed up and sped away. And he waited for a long moment before he took the h
ose out of his tank and paid Glen Jefferson for his gas.

  All the while Enos’s parting words echoed through his mind. You’d better hope. Well, he did hope. But hoping wouldn’t get him anywhere. He’d have to do a sight more than that if he wanted to keep Nancy out of jail.

  When Fred pulled into his driveway a few minutes later and found Margaret’s Chevy parked there, he felt absolutely no surprise. He just hoped she wouldn’t try to keep Nancy from talking to him about Adam and his death.

  He made it only halfway to the garage before Margaret burst from the house and raced toward him. He could see her mouth moving, and he figured she was demanding to know where he’d been.

  Her anger didn’t surprise him any more than her presence. But he didn’t have the energy to deal with it, so he waved at her and pulled into the garage.

  She followed the car inside and parked herself just outside his car door with her hands on her hips. She waited until he’d rolled down his window before she started in. “Where in the hell have you been?”

  Fred pushed open his car door and climbed out. “I had a couple of errands to run.” He leaned toward her, intending to kiss her cheek.

  She pulled away and glared at him. “What kind of errands?”

  He gave up on the kiss and stepped around her so he could get inside the house. “A bit of this and that. Nothing special. Where’s Nancy?”

  Margaret nodded toward the back door. “Inside.” Fred started walking and Margaret followed him, tugging on his sleeve. “You’re doing it again, aren’t you?”

  “Doing what?” He asked, infuriating her with his feigned innocence. He pulled open the back door and waited while she stepped through.

  She stopped just inside and confronted him again. “You’re poking around where you don’t belong. Admit it—you’ve been gone all morning, but you didn’t go to the Bluebird and you haven’t been to Lacey’s. And rumor has it you were nosing around the scene of Adam’s murder.”

  He didn’t want to argue, so he snagged up the coffeepot and dumped the morning’s cold coffee into the sink. He needed a cup.

  Margaret was obviously spoiling for a fight. “Where have you been?” she demanded again.

  “Sounds to me like you have an idea already.” He rinsed the pot and filled it with cold water. “Where did you say Nancy is?”

  “She’s lying down. Why?”

  “How’s she doing?”

  Margaret’s eyes softened a little. “It’s hard to tell. She acts numb.”

  “Well, that’s normal, I suppose. The mind’s way of protecting itself from the grief.” Fumbling with a stack of coffee filters, he finally managed to peel one from the rest. “Where’s Douglas?”

  The minute he asked, Fred knew he’d made a big mistake.

  Margaret’s eyes glinted again and her mouth puckered. “Who knows? He took off as soon as I got here.” She shot Fred an exasperated look. “He takes after his father.”

  Not true. Douglas usually disappeared to avoid responsibility while Fred’s heightened sense of it drove him to action. He measured grounds into the filter and shoved it into place. “Maybe he had a job interview.” They could always hope.

  “Maybe he didn’t.”

  “Maybe he had to take Alison for therapy.”

  Margaret rolled her eyes. “And maybe he got bored and went to the Copper Penny to play pool.”

  “Now, Margaret—”

  As if he’d reached for her, she backed away a couple of steps. “So, where have you been? You left early this morning, and I’ll bet you never even gave Nancy a second thought—you just figured I’d be here with her.”

  Her words found their mark but, as usual, she’d misunderstood his intentions. “That’s not true,” he assured her. “I’ve thought of nothing but Nancy all day. And you didn’t have to stay.”

  She pushed at the air between them. “Nancy needed somebody with her, and it obviously wasn’t going to be you.” She stuck a lock of hair behind her ear and paced a few steps. “Look, Dad, I might have stayed, anyway. But I don’t appreciate you just assuming I’ll take care of things while you race around getting yourself into trouble.”

  “I’m not getting myself into trouble, and I never asked you to stay here and take care of anything for me.”

  “Nancy’s going through hell. She shouldn’t be left alone.”

  He sank down onto a chair while the coffee perked. “Maybe you’re right.”

  She dropped to the chair beside his and her eyes brightened at what she obviously saw as his imminent submission. “Good. So you won’t leave her alone anymore?”

  “I won’t leave her alone.”

  “And you’ll stop poking around where you have no business?”

  He should have expected her to sneak that one in. “I’m not poking around where I have no business.”

  She shook her head as if she could keep his words from landing on her. “Don’t give me that. I know exactly what you’re doing.”

  “What am I doing?”

  “Sticking your nose into the murder. Again.”

  “I’m not sticking my nose anywhere.”

  “Do you have any idea how angry Enos is with you?”

  Fred knew. He didn’t comment.

  Margaret leaned back in her chair and smirked. “So, what excuse are you giving yourself for getting involved this time?”

  He scowled at her. “I don’t have to make up excuses for doing what needs to be done.”

  She snorted in a most unladylike manner.

  “Tell me, young lady, what do you want? For Nancy to wind up in jail?”

  She sighed as if he’d asked an incredibly stupid question. “You know I don’t. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

  “It is going to happen,” Fred said, exasperated. “I just came from talking to Enos, and he’s about ready to arrest her.”

  Margaret’s face paled and she shook her head in denial. “No.”

  “Yes.”

  Margaret started to say something but before she could, the kitchen door creaked open and Nancy looked into the room. Margaret snapped her lips together and tried to smile.

  But the effort was wasted on Nancy. She looked tired, worn, hollow-eyed and pinched. Pushing open the door the rest of the way, she came into the kitchen. “I thought I heard you in here, Uncle Fred.”

  Fred surrendered his chair to her and patted her shoulder as she sat. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

  She shoved the fingers of both hands into her hair and held her head. “Horrible. I feel like I’m living in a nightmare.”

  Fred knew the feeling too well. “You’re not alone. You know that, don’t you?”

  Nancy glanced up, her lips trembling. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “That’s what family’s for.” He patted her shoulder again and crossed the room to pour the coffee.

  Nancy tilted her head back and slid down in her chair. “I’d like to sleep all day, but I suppose I ought to pick up my car. The police are finished with it and I hate to leave it at Adam’s office any longer.”

  Margaret nodded eagerly and started to her feet. “I’ll take you.”

  But Fred didn’t want Margaret to take her. He wanted time alone with Nancy. Time to talk. Time to ask questions. He lowered his cup and tried to put on his most sincere expression. “Sweetheart, you’ve been here all morning. The kids will be worried, and Webb’ll be wondering where you are. No sense looking for trouble, that’s what I say. You go on home—I’ll take Nancy.”

  Margaret’s eyes flew to the wall clock and she registered the time with a little frown, but she still looked hesitant. “Maybe you’re right.”

  “No ‘maybe’ about it. Go on home. You can stop in again tomorrow if you want.”

  “Please don’t cause trouble at home because of me,” Nancy pleaded.

  “All right,” Margaret said, but she dragged the words out as if she had to test every letter. She shot a look at him. “Why are you so
anxious to get rid of me, Dad?”

  “Rid of you?” Fred turned to Nancy for support. “See what I put up with around here? Not five minutes ago, she was telling me that her family needed her. So I try to do something nice, and look what it gets me.”

  Nancy almost smiled at Margaret. “You’ve been wonderful, but please don’t ignore your family. I’ll be fine.”

  Fred figured that would get Margaret out the door, but she still hesitated. “He’s up to something.” When Fred pushed the air out of his mouth in a burst, she pointed an accusing finger in his face. “See? I knew it. What are you doing, Dad?”

  “I’m not doing anything but trying to help you. It’s not my fault your husband hasn’t figured out how to make his own lunch, for Pete’s sake.”

  Margaret flushed. “Don’t start on that.”

  “Fine,” he huffed. “Go home.”

  She snatched up her purse and keys from the back of the table and pressed a kiss to Nancy’s cheek. “Watch him. He can’t be trusted.”

  Nancy nodded and looked serious. “I’ll be careful.”

  “And you—” Margaret pointed at him again, then thought better of it and yanked open the back door. “You’d better not do anything that makes Enos call me.”

  Seemed to Fred, she should be grateful to him for the chance to talk with Enos once in a while, but he didn’t point that out.

  Nancy watched Margaret slam the door behind her, then turned to Fred with a curious expression. “You two seem a lot different than you used to.”

  Fred slurped a mouthful of coffee and gestured toward the door with his cup. “Well, we have been. Ever since Margaret decided I need a mother.”

  Nancy smiled and her eyes looked more alive than he’d seen them yet.

  “I ran into a friend of yours today,” he said.

  “Really? Who?”

  “Some young fellow by the name of Kelley Yarnell.”

  Did he imagine it, or did her expression freeze? “Kelley? Where did you see him?”

  “Over at the One-Stop. But listen, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about—”

  “What was he doing?”

  “Putting gas in his car. He said to tell you he’s thinking of you. But I wanted to talk to you about something Enos said—”