Accepted Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 2)

by T. E. Killian

  That was when she decided to face an emotion that had been sneaking up on her on a regular basis since the wedding last Saturday. All of a sudden, she wanted what Grant and Kelly had. That made her sad. Here she was twenty-eight years old and had never had a serious relationship. Spencer didn’t count. He’d just been someone to spend some time with, nothing serious, at least not on her part.

  Then she thought back to last night when Stan had arrived at her house after the attempted break in. He had hugged her! She had to admit that it had felt great. But that was just because she’d been so scared and then relieved to be safe again . . . wasn’t it?

  When she walked in the door at Grant’s house, he and Kelly were standing there waiting for her.

  Grant looked past her to the street where Stan was driving off. “I see you had an escort . . . good.”

  She groaned. “He didn’t give me any choice.”

  She didn’t understand the knowing smile that passed between Grant and Kelly.

  * * *

  As he was pulling away from Grant’s house after following Alison there, Stan saw Grant watching him from the doorway. Good. Grant needed to know that he wasn’t going to back off on protecting Alison just because her big brother was back from his honeymoon.

  When he entered the detective area at the station, Sonia must have been watching for him. As soon as he sat down at his desk, the intercom on his phone buzzed and it was her.

  He didn’t bother answering the intercom, just pushed himself up out of his chair, and headed over to her office. She motioned for him to sit and he did. He knew she had something on her mind, so he decided to wait her out.

  He didn’t have to wait long.

  “Stan, I’ve decided to stay on this case even though Grant’s back. I’ve spent a lot of time on it already, and I want to see it through to the finish.”

  Stan thought about that before he spoke. It would give Grant a chance to see the new Sonia in action. Besides the more of them working on the case full time the quicker they’d catch this guy who was messing with Alison. He wanted her to be able to get her life back to normal.

  “Okay, that sounds good to me.”

  She smiled at him and said, “Good. Now let’s go back over everything we have. We need to check for anything at all that we might have overlooked, or just some new angle to look at.”

  They spent the next hour going over every detail twice. Then they looked at each of the suspects individually as closely as they could with the limited information they had on the three of them.

  When Stan left Sonia’s office, he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. They had nothing to tie any of the three suspects to either of the attacks or to Alison’s house.

  It was time to stop for the day, and Stan was more than ready. It had been a long one. He gathered his things and stuffed them into his backpack that served as his briefcase, as he started to leave.

  When he passed Sonia’s open doorway, she called out to him. “I’d like to meet with you and Grant first thing Monday morning to brief him and to plan our strategy as to where we go from here.”

  “Okay. I’ll tell him.” He waved. “I’m out of here.”

  He decided to cruise past Alison’s house. He wanted to check on the neighbor, Blaine. So far, the guy hadn’t been seen back at his house. Stan was also hoping that he might get a glimpse of one of their other suspects maybe tying them to that particular crime scene.

  He parked in Alison’s driveway then went next door and knocked on Blaine’s door. When there was no sign of activity inside, he went to the house on the other side. A woman came to the door and told him that she hadn’t seen the guy for a couple of days and there weren’t any lights on over there the night before.

  As he was putting the car into gear, a familiar blue Dodge passed by. Stan let it get half a block away before following. The car turned left at the next intersection, and then turned into a driveway three houses down on the left.

  Stan parked his car so that it blocked the driveway and jumped out just as Monroe began walking toward the house.

  “Wilson Monroe?”

  When Monroe turned toward him, Stan held up his wallet badge and said, “Police, I’d like to talk to you for a minute.”

  Monroe stood where he was, forcing Stan to go up the driveway to him.

  “What’s this all about officer?”

  Stan ignored the belligerent look the guy gave him. “I’m Detective Becker with the Sycamore Police Department and I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  Stan looked the guy over as he waited for an answer. He was four or five inches shorter than Stan but weighed at least as much. His dark brown hair looked as if it had been styled and the guy held himself like he owned the world. He was trying to look down his nose at the taller Stan. Even if the guy hadn’t threatened Alison, Stan wouldn’t have liked him. He just had an air about him that made Stan want to punch him. Not good!

  “Well, I’m not sure I want to answer any questions you may have . . . officer.”

  By the way the guy said it, Stan was certain he knew the difference but was calling Stan officer just to irritate him. Two could play at that game. He’d see if he could turn the tables on the guy, if not today, then very soon.

  Monroe continued, “First of all, I resent you accosting me on a public street in front of my friend’s house.”

  Stan smiled as he interrupted him. “Okay. Here’s how it is Mr. Monroe. Either you answer my questions here or we’ll take a ride down to the station and you can answer them there. Either way, you’re going to give me some answers.”

  The look that Monroe gave Stan made him want to punch the guy in the nose that much more. He had seen pure hatred before, enough times to recognize it when he saw it. This guy had to have something against all cops. Stan had to struggle to control his temper.

  After a short time, Monroe’s shrugged his shoulders and said, “What do you want to know?”

  “Okay, that’s more like it.” Stan took out his notebook and pen. “First question. Did you threaten Alison Thompson when she terminated your employment?”

  “No.”

  “Not good enough, I’ll rephrase that question. Did you tell her that she would be sorry?”

  “Yes, but I meant that she’d lose money because she needed me to swing the business sales that she wasn’t getting.”

  Stan knew he was lying, but didn’t call him on it. “Are you staying here now?”

  When Monroe nodded, Stan said, “Whose house is it?”

  “My friend’s.”

  “Does your friend have a name?”

  “Laura Belton.”

  “Where were you last night at about 8:15pm?”

  “Right here . . . with Laura.”

  Again, Stan was sure the guy was lying but couldn’t call him on it right then.

  “Is Ms. Belton at home right now?”

  “No.”

  “What is her phone number?”

  Even as Stan was writing down the number, he was certain that the woman would back up Monroe’s alibi and he’d be no further ahead than before. At least they had an address for Monroe and could keep an eye on him.

  With that, Stan took his time getting back in his car and then drove off slowly, watching Monroe all the while. This time, he headed toward the mountain to Grant’s new house.

  When Grant opened the door, he pulled Stan into a brief, loose hug.

  “Thanks for taking such good care of my little sister while I was gone.” When Stan gave him a strange look he said, “I didn’t get a chance to thank you properly before and besides Alison told me more of the details this afternoon.” He smiled. “Some of it didn’t set too well with her, but she’ll get over it.”

  Both men laughed. They were still standing in the open door, so Grant pulled him inside and said, “Come on in and have a seat.”

  As soon as they were sitting, Kelly appeared in the kitchen doorway with two glasses in her hands. “Iced tea, Stan?”r />
  “That sounds great. Thanks Kelly.”

  She handed a glass to each of them and left the room.

  Stan grinned and shook his head. “You sure lucked out and got a good one, old buddy.”

  Grant just grinned back at him without commenting.

  Stan wasn’t finished. “When we first met her, I was sure she was going to turn out to be one of those spoiled rich girls or at least a snob. But, man was I ever wrong. She’s something special all right.”

  Grant smiled and said, “Yeah, how did I ever get so lucky, huh?”

  Stan turned serious. “I had an interesting afternoon.”

  When Grant’s eyebrows rose, Stan continued, “First, Sonia told me that she wants all three of us to work this case so we can close it as quickly as possible.”

  “If she has changed like you said, that sounds like a good thing.” He grew pensive for a moment. “She sure covered our butts when we went into rescue Kelly and the rest last year.”

  Stan nodded, “Yeah, she sure did. Anyway, she wants us to meet with her first thing Monday morning to get started on what we do next.”

  When Grant nodded, he said, “I went by Alison’s house on the way over here. No one answered the door at Stockton’s house and the neighbor on the other side said she hadn’t seen him or any lights.”

  He picked up his glass and took a drink.

  “Then, just as I was getting ready to leave I saw Monroe’s car go by so I followed him around the corner to his girlfriend’s house. That’s where he’s staying now by the way. Of course he denied everything and is using the girlfriend for an alibi.”

  Just then, Kelly and Alison came into the room. Kelly sat with Grant on the sofa and Alison took an armchair on the other side of the room from Stan. Message received, loud and clear. So, what’s new?

  Alison must have heard some of Stan’s last comment. “Did he cooperate with you?”

  Stan smiled at her. “No, that’s what I was going to tell you next Grant. He wasn’t even going to answer any of my questions until I threatened to take him down to the station.” He thought for a moment. “Not only was he not cooperative, but he looked at me with such hatred that I had a hard time keeping my hands off of him.”

  Alison slapped her knee. “That’s the way he looked at me when he said I’d be sorry. It shocked me because up until then, he was giving me these come on looks. Boy am I glad I turned him down flat.”

  Grant spoke for the first time. “I’m glad you did too Alison. This guy is beginning to sound more and more like our man.”

  After that, the conversation turned to other topics and they all enjoyed a meal together before Stan left to go home.

  Chapter Eight

  Alison woke up Sunday morning glad that she had refused Kelly’s invitation to go to church with her and Grant. Going with Sybil and Sarah last week had been too much. No way was she going to go through that again, for a long time. With that thought though, came the usual ‘sneaky guilt.’ She thought of it as ‘sneaky guilt’ because it always sneaked up on her when she wasn’t expecting it.

  She knew she should be going to church. After all, she had accepted the Lord and been baptized when she was ten. But, lately she just didn’t have time for it. Anyway, church was for old people and little kids. Wasn’t that mostly who was usually there.

  And, on top of all that, she just didn’t do crowds anymore. It was bad enough that she’d have to be with a large group of people at the Newcombs today. She didn’t want to have to be in an even larger crowd at church too.

  Well, enough of those thoughts. She needed to get ready for the big welcome home dinner that Kelly’s grandparents were throwing for the returning newlyweds. Kelly had told Alison that her grandparents also wanted it to serve as the beginning of what they called ‘the merging of the two families.’ She’d have to wait and see if that was going to happen. Probably not. The families were just too far apart, socially and in other ways as well.

  When Alison arrived at the Newcombs, the garage type door that led to a large enclosed parking court was open so she drove in and parked her newest blue Mustang next to Kelly’s red one.

  The huge man who had come from Washington D.C. with Sarah last year and stayed on to be the Newcombs’ new driver was hovering around in the parking court. Leo, she thought his name was. He had been the driver for Sarah’s husband, the general, in the Air Force. Apparently, he had promised Harry that if anything happened to him that Leo would take care of Sarah. So this was his way of staying close to her and fulfilling his promise.

  Gee, the guy sure was big. Grant had told her once that the guy was six feet six inches tall and weighed three hundred pounds. That was big. He gave her the creeps, but not like Blaine did though or even Wilson.

  It looked like everyone had gathered on the large patio before dinner. They were all standing around in two groups with iced tea or soft drinks. The first person she saw was Kelly’s brother, Wayne. Great, just what she needed! The guy must think he’s God’s gift to women. Every time she was around him, he hit on her pretty hard. Well, she’d just have to avoid him, if possible. She didn’t want to make a scene either, because of Kelly.

  The next person she noticed was Stan. Great, more of what she didn’t need. But, when she saw Wayne heading her way, she stepped up next to the closest person to her, even though it just happened to be Stan.

  Stan looked down at her and smiled. She smiled back at him until she saw Wayne change direction and join the group consisting of his grandparents, Sybil, and Sarah. Good!

  That was when she realized that Stan was talking with Grant who had his arm around Kelly. Imagine that!

  “I think we ought to stop in and see Baldwin tomorrow.” Grant said. "He’s the only one you haven’t talked to yet, right?”

  Stan nodded. “Yes, but I’m not sure Sonia will go for it. She’s a little leery about going to him yet, especially at his office. He hasn’t done anything too suspicious yet.”

  “Yeah, I know, but there’s always been something about him that just bothered me. I can’t quite explain it.” He turned to Alison. “Do you know what I mean, Sis?”

  She thought about that for a moment. “Yes, the more I think about my relationship with him, the more I wonder what I ever saw in him. I guess that’s why I could never get close to him.”

  He looked her in the eye. “Do you think he’s capable of doing any of the things that have been going on?”

  She thought about that one for so long that Grant opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her hand and said, “If you would have asked me that question before last Sunday, I would have laughed it off.” She shook her head. “But now, after the way he acted last Sunday, I’m not so sure. He has changed a lot since the last time I saw him last fall.”

  “How?”

  “Well, it’s hard to describe, but first of all, he walked differently. He used to slouch when he walked just like he was still sitting at his desk. Last week, he walked like he was ready to jump or run or something like that.”

  Stan prompted her with, “More confident?”

  That surprised her. “Yes, I guess you could call it that, confident.”

  Grant frowned, “What else?”

  “Okay, I’d have to say that I’d never seen him angry before except that last night when I broke it off with him. But this was even different from that night. His whole body seemed to show his anger. It was like he was shaking on the inside but trying to keep it from showing on the outside. And the looks he was giving me were scary. I know, he was saying nice things to me, but his body wasn’t saying the same thing his mouth was saying. Does that make sense?”

  Grant and Stan both said, “Yes,” at the same time and Grant continued, “It makes perfect sense. We see that all the time in the people we deal with.”

  Stan gave Alison a grateful smile. “I think that may give us enough to sway Sonia into agreeing to let us go see Baldwin.”

  After that, Grant and Stan began discussing what
they wanted to do next, so Kelly stepped over to Alison.

  “I would love it if you would agree to have lunch with me tomorrow. There’s so much I’d like to tell you about our honeymoon, and I’d just like for us to get to know each other a little better. Would you like that?”

  Alison found herself smiling at her new sister-in-law and it felt good. In spite of the dark cloud hanging over her life, Kelly made her feel good.

  “Yes, I’d love to do just that.”

  “Why don’t we meet at La Mexicana at twelve then?” She grinned. “That’s where Grant and I had our first date, and it’s become rather special to me, to us.”

  Alison laughed and said, “Sure, I’ll meet you there.”

  After that, they were called into the formal dining room for dinner. Alison’s next dilemma was about to take place. Where was she going to sit? Better yet, who would be sitting on either side of her?

  * * *

  Stan followed Alison into the large house and down the marble tiled hallway to the formal dining room. He noticed that the beautiful mahogany table was set for ten. He had done a mental count while they were standing around on the patio, but had only counted nine. Who was the tenth person?

  He soon had his answer when the huge retired Air Force sergeant walked into the room with a black suit and tie on. Stan’s first thought was where did the guy find a suit big enough to fit his huge frame? The big guy looked out of place with all the others in the room, even Wayne, who had to be around six feet four inches tall. Leo also looked out of place since he was the only man wearing a suit. Even Mr. Newcomb was wearing dress slacks but with a polo shirt.

  Stan was also somewhat surprised to see that there were place cards folded like little tents with names on them sitting at each place setting. He was happy to see that he was sitting next to Alison. He wasn’t happy at all though when he saw that Wayne was sitting on her other side. Then he remembered that the last time both he and Alison had been here, this had been the seating arrangement then as well. Was someone trying to do a little maneuvering?