Cozy Creek

by K M Morgan

  Thicke shrugged. “Why? Because the answer is going to make you look bad?”

  Lindsay shook her head. “No. Because I’m not a fan of wild speculation.”

  “Lindsay, I asked you a very simple question. I just want an answer,” Thicke said.

  “Will I take over Emily’s position? Probably. Did I plan for things to turn out this way? No. It just happened,” Lindsay said.

  Thicke scratched his chin. “If only there was a way of proving that.”

  “I could say the same thing to you,” Lindsay replied. “You can make all the crazy claims that you want, but do you have anything to back them up?”

  “Not at the moment. But things can change in a hurry,” Thicke said.

  “They certainly can,” Lindsay replied. “That said, unless you can provide evidence that I did something wrong, I’m going back to work.”

  Chapter Nine

  While Thicke and Chloe had plenty of suspicions about Lindsay, they didn’t have a shred of evidence against her. Because of that, Thicke elected to let Lindsay return to work.

  Chloe and the detective then walked back to Thicke’s squad car. Unfortunately, they were fresh out of suspects. Chloe always hated this point in an investigation. She was never sure what to do next. After all, she had energy to spare. She just didn’t have any leads. Nor did she have any bright ideas. And she wasn’t alone, either. Detective Thicke seemed to have hit a wall as well.

  Instead of getting more frustrated about their situation, they decided to call it a night. Perhaps a little rest and relaxation would give them some perspective. Some time away from an investigation usually proved to be quite helpful. Even if it just gave the investigators a chance to recharge for the evening.

  The detective dropped Chloe off in front of her house and told her to get some rest. There was no telling what was waiting for them in the morning. Once Thicke had driven away, Chloe headed inside. She fed her pet corgi, gave him some pets, and then opened her back door to let him do his business.

  Chloe then grabbed a frozen meal from her fridge and heated it up in the microwave. She knew it wouldn’t taste nearly as good as heating it up on her stove, but it would save her time and energy. Once her meal was hot, she took a seat on her sofa and turned on the TV.

  Naturally, Emily’s murder was the top story on the local news. Chloe didn’t want to be reminded of the case, though. She wanted to zonk out. And she knew the best way to do that was to turn on some sort of reality show. Thankfully, there was no shortage of those on TV. When she discovered that a wedding-based reality show was currently airing, she began binge-watching it.

  ***

  Before Chloe knew it, two hours had gone by. Instead of watching another episode of the wedding program, Chloe decided that it would probably be best to call it an early night. There was no harm in getting a little extra sleep that evening.

  Just as Chloe headed into her master bathroom to brush her teeth, her phone began to ring. She figured it was her boyfriend calling. Imagine her surprise then when she looked at the caller identification screen on her phone and saw Detective Thicke’s name listed.

  Chloe had no clue what the detective wanted, but it had to be important. Not just because he was calling out of the blue. In addition, Chloe’s stomach began to turn as she picked up the phone. She tried not to panic, but her gut was telling her that the plot was about to thicken.

  “Is everything all right?” Chloe asked.

  “Not at all,” Thicke said.

  “Why? What happened?” Chloe asked.

  “I just received an emergency call.”

  “From who?”

  “You’re not going to believe this, but Michael Hightower.”

  Chloe’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

  “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth,” Thicke said.

  “You’re right. That is difficult to believe,” Chloe said.

  “Anyway, I’m on my way over to Mr. Hightower’s place right now to see what this emergency is.”

  Chloe reached for her purse and her car keys. “I’ll meet you over there.”

  Chapter Ten

  Chloe made some serious tracks over to Michael Hightower’s residence. As she pulled up to Michael’s place, she saw an ambulance and a police squad car parked in front of Hightower’s townhome.

  Chloe parked her car on the side of the road and bolted toward the townhome. That was when she spotted Michael being treated by a pair of EMTs on the front lawn. Meanwhile, Detective Thicke stood in the open doorway of Michael’s home. The detective was staring at Michael’s living room.

  Chloe approached the detective to get an update. Apparently, the EMTs wouldn’t let Thicke speak with Michael until they were done tending to his wounds. While the EMTs bandaged up Michael’s left arm, Thicke called in the forensics team.

  A few minutes later, the EMTs finished working on Michael. The detective then had a few words with the EMTs. Once they were done speaking, it was time for Thicke to get a statement from Michael. Chloe joined the detective and was eager to hear what Michael had to say.

  “The EMTs told me you were cut pretty badly,” Thicke said.

  “I sure was. It hurt like crazy,” Michael said.

  “I’ll bet,” Thicke said.

  “That said, things could have turned out much worse,” Michael said.

  “Speaking of which, what exactly happened here?” Thicke asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Michael said. “Someone tried to kill me.”

  “Wait a minute. Back up. Walk us through everything that happened.”

  “I was just getting ready for bed when I heard a noise coming from the back of my townhome,” Michael said.

  “What sort of noise?” Thicke said.

  “The jiggling of a lock, followed by the sound of a door opening,” Michael said.

  “When you heard the noises, what did you do?”

  “I always leave a baseball bat beside my bed to defend myself in case an intruder enters,” Michael said. “So, I grabbed the bat and walked as quietly as possible from my bedroom to my kitchen.”

  “When you reached your kitchen, what did you see?”

  “There was a mysterious figure standing there, holding a knife.”

  “Can you describe the figure?”

  Michael shook his head. “No.”

  Thicke’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”

  “Not only was it dark in my kitchen, but the figure was dressed in all black. Including a ski mask.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yeah. Whoever it was didn’t want their identity to be discovered.”

  “I guess not,” Thicke said. “What happened next?”

  “When the figure spotted me, they immediately came after me with their knife.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I swung my baseball bat at them.”

  “Did you hit them?”

  Michael shook his head. “No. I missed.”

  “That’s a shame,” Thicke said.

  “You’re telling me,” Michael said. “Especially since the figure managed to slice my arm with their knife.”

  “What happened then?”

  “Even though I had a cut on my arm, I didn’t give up. I wasn’t about to let the figure come at me with that knife again. So, I just began swinging my bat as hard and as fast as I could.”

  “Did you manage to hit the figure?”

  “No. But all my swinging did scare them off. With each swing, they backed up toward the door until they were in the back yard. Once they realized I wouldn’t be an easy kill, I guess they decided to give up on me and run away.”

  “Did you take off after your attacker?”

  Michael scoffed. “Are you kidding? I wasn’t about to run after some maniac. Especially not with a cut on my arm. I closed the door, locked it, and immediately called 9-1-1.”

  Thicke took a moment to process everything that Michael had just told him.

  The detective
then replied, “What an incredible story.”

  “Don’t you mean, terrifying? I’m lucky to be alive.”

  “It sure sounds like it. Although, it’s a shame that you weren’t able to get a good look at your attacker.”

  “Like I said, it was really dark. And they were wearing all black.”

  “Can you at least give me a guess about their height? And what about their build?”

  “They were taller than me, that’s for sure. And strong.”

  “Would you say they were male or female?”

  Michael shrugged. “I couldn’t tell.”

  “How about their voice? Did they say anything?” Thicke asked.

  Michael shook his head. “Not a word.”

  “That seems strange, don’t you think?”

  “No. They clearly didn’t break in to have a conversation with me. They just wanted me dead.”

  “Which brings up an interesting point. Why would someone want to kill you?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t ask them. I was busy trying to fight them off.”

  “If you had to guess, though, why would someone want you dead?” Thicke asked. “Do you have any enemies?”

  “Maybe it has to do with Emily’s murder. I mean, her killer is still on the loose, aren’t they?”

  “Yes. Although, say you are right. Why would Emily’s killer want to attack you as well?”

  “I did badmouth Benjamin Glover earlier. Perhaps word got back to him. And let me tell you, that guy hates me.”

  “Are you suggesting that Mr. Glover might be your attacker?”

  “I wouldn’t rule him out. Especially if it turns out he killed Emily. If it was Benjamin, maybe he came over here to try and shut me up for good.”

  “Perhaps you’re right.”

  “If I were you, I’d go talk to Benjamin.”

  “We will.”

  “Good.”

  “Say it wasn’t him, though. Can you think of anyone else who would want to bring you harm?”

  “No. But then again, I was too busy trying to fight off the attacker to stop and analyze their possible motive.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “I’ll say this, though, whoever is behind this is clearly deranged.”

  “I can’t disagree with that,” Thicke said. “Now, before we head out, is there anything else about the events of this evening that stand out to you?”

  “Just that I’m incredibly lucky to still be alive,” Michael said.

  ***

  As Thicke and Chloe returned to the detective’s squad car, they both had more questions than answers.

  Thicke was first to vent his frustrations. “Is it just me, or did you also get the sense that he didn’t tell us everything he knew about the attack?”

  Chloe nodded. “He definitely knows more than he let on.”

  “I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way.”

  Chloe put her hand on her stomach. “My instincts are telling me there’s much more to this story than there appears to be.”

  Thicke’s nose scrunched as he looked into the distance. “The question is, what information did Michael withhold from us?”

  Chloe bit the corner of her lip. “I’m not sure. But I know that neither of us will give up until we find out.”

  Chapter Eleven

  There were about half a dozen squad cars in the area in search of the mystery attacker. Unfortunately, none of those police deputies were able to turn up any leads.

  Instead of continuing to scour the area, Thicke and Chloe headed over to Benjamin Glover’s place. That was when they discovered something quite interesting. Despite the fact that Michael had strongly implied that Benjamin could have been behind the knife attack, it turned out that Benjamin hadn’t left his house at all that evening. And there were a number of people who could attest to that. In fact, as Thicke and Chloe arrived, Benjamin was in the middle of playing poker with three of his friends.

  Since Benjamin had a rock-solid alibi, it was clear that he wasn’t Michael’s attacker. But who was?

  The more Chloe thought about the knife attack, the more she found herself focusing on Michael Hightower’s answers during their interview. A number of his responses about the attack just didn’t add up in Chloe’s head.

  It wasn’t just her mind that was having trouble piecing together exactly what happened. A very disturbing feeling began to grow in her gut as well. Her instincts kept telling her that the truth of the matter was much different than it appeared to be.

  And while Chloe didn’t have any concrete evidence, she did have a theory about that evening’s attack. In addition, she also had a plan about how to get to the bottom of things.

  ***

  When the detective heard Chloe’s plan, he was a little skeptical. But he was willing to give it a go. Mostly because he didn’t have any better ideas. The first part of the plan entailed Thicke swapping his squad car for an unmarked sedan. Thicke and Chloe then parked down the street from Michael’s townhome.

  Once they were in place, Thicke grabbed his police radio and ordered every squad car to vacate the area. It took a few minutes, but all of Thicke’s deputies followed the detective’s orders.

  At that point, the plan was for Thicke and Chloe to keep watch of Michael’s townhome. While the investigator’s waited for the suspect to make a move, Thicke voiced his concerns to Chloe.

  “Are you sure this plan of yours is going to work?” Thicke asked.

  Chloe bit the corner of her lip. “Right now, I’m not sure about anything. But I have a hunch that this will pay off.”

  “Fair enough,” Thicke said. “After all, if the past has taught me anything, it is not to question your hunches.”

  “Let’s hope that holds true this time as well.”

  ***

  It didn’t take long for the detective to get an answer. Within the next hour, Thicke and Chloe saw movement coming from Michael’s place. Mr. Hightower came out of his townhome carrying a black garbage bag. But instead of putting the bag in his trash can, Michael placed the bag in the backseat of his car.

  Michael then got into the driver’s-seat of his vehicle, pulled out of his driveway, and headed north.

  Thicke and Chloe followed the suspect, but kept just enough distance to avoid being detected.

  Michael ended up driving for about fifteen minutes. At first, Chloe wasn’t sure where Mr. Hightower was headed. But when Michael turned right onto Daffodil Drive, his destination became quite clear. Daffodil Drive was the location of a local landfill.

  Suddenly, it seemed pretty obvious why Michael had loaded a garbage bag into the back of his car and drove it here.

  So, when Michael parked his car and grabbed the garbage bag from the backseat of his vehicle, Thicke and Chloe made their move.

  “Mr. Hightower. What a strange place for you to be driving to in the middle of the night,” Thicke said.

  Michael’s eyes widened. “Detective, were you just following me?”

  Thicke nodded. “Absolutely—”

  “What gives you the right to do that?” Michael snapped.

  “Are you kidding? This is a homicide investigation. And if Chloe and I are correct about what’s in that garbage bag, you’re about to be arrested for murder,” Thicke said.

  Michael sneered. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m not going to jail.”

  “That’s what you say,” Thicke replied.

  Michael reached into the bag and pulled out a knife. Then, as a distraction, he threw the garbage bag at Thicke and Chloe.

  While the bag was in the air, Michael charged at Thicke with his knife.

  But Thicke managed to draw his police pistol before Michael was able to reach him. The detective pointed his gun directly at Michael’s head.

  “Put the knife down,” Thicke demanded.

  Michael didn’t follow the detective’s orders. Instead, he shot Thicke a glare.

  “I said, put the knife down,” Thicke said. “Don’t make
me shoot you. I’ll do it.”

  Michael looked at the detective. The suspect then looked at the knife he was holding. After taking a deep breath, Michael reluctantly dropped the knife.

  “Now turn around and put your hands behind your head,” Thicke demanded.

  Michael gritted his teeth and then began muttering to himself. “Things weren’t supposed to turn out this way.”

  “How were they supposed to turn out?” Chloe asked. “Did you really think you could get away with killing Emily? And that you could throw us off your scent by cutting yourself and pretending someone else was responsible for the attack?”

  “I didn’t want to kill Emily. I just wanted her to forgive me and take me back. But no matter how many times I said I was sorry for cheating on her, she refused to accept my apology.”

  “Can you blame her?”

  “Yes. I made one little mistake.”

  “You mean, this started with a single mistake. You’ve made a lot of bad decisions since then.”

  “Like I said, I never intended to injure Emily. But when she filed for divorce, she seemed determined to make my life a living hell. I wasn’t about to let her get away with that.”

  “So, you killed her?” Chloe said.

  Michael nodded.

  “And how about you cutting yourself? Did you honestly believe that we’d buy your story about some mysterious attacker breaking into your house and trying to kill you?” Chloe asked.

  “I needed some way to deflect the spotlight away from me. Like I told you before, I watch a lot of detective shows. I know that the bitter ex is always the prime suspect.”

  “There’s a good reason for that,” Chloe said. She then looked down at the garbage bag. “Let me guess. There’s a ski mask in here and some black clothes. Am I right?”

  Michael reluctantly nodded.

  Chloe then looked at the knife on the ground. “And that’s the knife you used to kill Emily.”

  Michael lowered his head.