by Kira Chase
As she was turning around, she noticed the woman she’d seen the first night they’d driven to the neighborhood. She was at a table with a group of women. She craned her neck, but didn’t see Brenda. The woman noticed her and smiled. Frankie nodded and watched as the woman rose and hurried over to her.
“You’re the woman from the other night looking for the Burrows’. Did you ever catch up with them?” Her words were slurred and she smelled like cheap whiskey and cigarettes.
Frankie looked into the woman’s glassy eyes as the woman swayed, then balanced herself by grabbing onto the back of a chair. “Is she here?”
“Yeah, she’s with me and our friends. She went to the bathroom.” She giggled. “I hope it’s not like last night. Clyde was so drunk my husband and my friend’s husband had to practically carry him home.”
“I didn’t get the impression from your husband that you two were close friends with them.”
The woman swept her hair from her brow. Frankie noted that the sleeve of her sweater was torn. Her too-tight jeans did nothing to enhance her much too thin body. Frankie gritted her teeth. It was obvious that the woman would rather spend her money here instead of on food and clothing.
“Nobody likes Clyde, but we all love Brenda. We tolerate him because of her.” She made a face. “He gives me the creeps.”
“Does Brenda drink as much as Clyde?”
“No. She’s a teetotaler.” She giggled again, then clamped her hand over her mouth for a second. “Don’t tell her I said that.”
“I won’t. Well, it was nice talking to you.”
“Yeah,” the woman mumbled as she staggered back to her table.
Chapter 10
Frankie finished the last of her wings. “I have to admit, those were pretty good.”
“Delicious,” Selma said, wiping her mouth on a paper napkin.
Johanna took her time savoring every mouth-watering bite. “You two eat too fast,” she teased as they eyed the three wings left on her plate.
“You eat too slow,” Frankie teased back.
“I relish every bite.” She pushed the plate away from her. “I’m stuffed. There’s three left so don’t you two fight over the last one.”
Selma laughed as she took one then pushed the plate in front of Frankie.
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” she said before biting into the wing.
“Hopefully Clyde is good and drunk by now. Any clue how we can entice Brenda over here?” Johanna asked.
Frankie had filled them in on her conversation with the woman and the fact that Clyde was shooting pool. “I thought you and Mom could casually walk by their table. When you spot Brenda, you can strike up a conversation and try to convince her to talk in private with you. I’ll stay here and see what I can find out about the Burrows’ from the waitress. She must know something about them if they come in here quite a bit.”
“Isn’t it odd that this place is so different from the neighborhood?” Johanna frowned.
“I was thinking the same thing. I might just ask the waitress about that, too. It seems out of place.”
Selma wiped her hands. “I’m ready if you are, Johanna.” She pulled herself to her feet.
“We’ll make like we’re going to the ladies’ room and if no one from the table recognizes us, then you can act surprised when you see Brenda.” Johanna rose and then casually led the way through the maze of tables.
The band was on another break and the jukebox was once again blaring. The mood in the tavern was loud and celebratory. Johanna wondered how many of these patrons had children waiting at home for them. How many were blowing the rent money or grocery money for a few hours of drunken pleasure? How many were spending money that could have bought a gift for their children? How many of them would wake up Christmas morning hoping that Santa had left them something and then hide the pain when they realized he hadn’t? When they neared Brenda’s table, she slowed to a crawl. She spotted Brenda sitting between two loud women. Her face showed little emotion. Johanna wondered what she was thinking.
She nudged Selma. As they walked past the table, Selma suddenly stopped. “Hello, Brenda,” she said cheerfully. “I thought I recognized you.”
All eyes turned to Johanna and Selma. Brenda’s eyes focused on them for a few seconds then registered recognition. She flashed a tight nervous smile. Her eyes flitted timidly as Selma squeezed between the table and an adjoining one until she was standing next to Brenda Burrows.
Brenda did not attempt to move, but looked up at Selma expectantly.
Selma bent down. “Can we talk privately for a few minutes?”
She turned her head toward the pool room. “I…I don’t know,” she stammered. “Clyde doesn’t like me talking to strangers. If he catches me—” She didn’t finish the sentence, but sighed as she twisted her hands together.
“It’ll just take a minute.” She looked around the table at the four women seated there. “You girls won’t tell Clyde now, will you?”
Johanna almost laughed. They were all so drunk she doubted if they’d even know Brenda had gone.
The women looked at Selma as though they were mute. Finally one of them spoke. “Nah, we don’t talk to him anyway.” She giggled as she patted Brenda’s arm. “Go talk to that nice lady.” She squinted. “Oh, you two talked to me and my husband the other night. I ran into the other woman who was with you a little while ago.” She craned her neck to look around the room. “She must’ve gone home.”
Johanna nodded at the woman before turning her attention to Brenda. She looked like a frightened rabbit. “I promise you that your husband won’t find out that you talked to us.”
Brenda hesitated then stood. “I remember you, too,” she said.
“We just want to talk to you for a few minutes,” Johanna said softly. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private around here?”
“There’s a hallway near the restrooms.”
“Good,” Selma replied. “You lead the way.”
* * * *
Frankie waited until the waitress returned to the table to pick up their dishes to question her. As the woman piled up the plates, Frankie watched her as she carefully phrased her questions.
“We were surprised when we walked in here,” she began. “It’s nothing like we expected. No offense intended.”
“None taken.” She sighed. “I know what you mean. Most people passing through say the same thing. My uncle owns the place. Him and my dad grew up in this neighborhood.” She wrinkled her nose. “Fortunately, the neighborhood wasn’t as bad then. When my uncle came into a lot of money, he bought this place and fixed it up. He said he wanted the neighborhood to have a decent place the people could get away to. We tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t budge.”
“Isn’t he afraid of being robbed?”
“Now that’s the funny thing.” She stopped what she was doing. “Nobody has ever robbed him. I remember a couple of years back somebody came in who wasn’t one of the regulars and started giving the bartender a hard time. Well you should have seen the men spring into action. They literally kicked the stranger’s ass all the way into the next county.” She threw her head back and laughed. “None of the regulars have ever given any of us who work here any trouble.”
“What about Clyde Burrows?”
She shook her bleached blonde head. “Now he’s a rough one, but not in here. The boys straightened him out mighty quick the first night he came in.” She lowered her voice. “Personally I can’t stand him or the way he treats his wife. She never touches a drop, but he makes up for the both of them.”
“Don’t you find it odd that he and his wife are in a bar right after his son is found murdered?” Frankie watched the anger burn in her eyes.
“Yes, I do. Brenda didn’t want to come, but he forced her to. I swear he won’t go anywhere without her. It’s like he’s afraid to be without her or afraid to leave her alone.” She shook her head again. “‘I’ve got to get back to work.”
* * * *
Johanna looked down the narrow dimly lit hallway. A couple was making out a few feet from them. She watched Selma’s eyes narrow disgustedly as she noticed them.
“Is this okay?” Brenda asked nervously.
Johanna nodded. “Again I want to tell you how sorry I am about your son.”
Brenda’s eyes glistened and she swiped at them with the sleeve of her red sweater. Her blue jeans were faded and well worn. But she was clean and Johanna caught a whiff of some cheap dime store perfume. “Thank you,” she mumbled.
“Do the police have any suspects yet?”
“No.” She swallowed hard. “I doubt they ever will.”
“Do you need anything?” Selma asked sympathetically.
She took a shuddering breath. “I’d better get back if Clyde finds out—”
“What will he do, Brenda?” Selma stared at her. “Hit you?”
The color drained from her face. “He would never—”
Selma continued to look into Brenda’s eyes. “Yes, he would, Brenda. We saw him. Have you forgotten?”
“What do you want from me?” she cried as tears streamed down her pale cheeks. “My son is dead!”
Selma gathered her in her arms. “I know,” she soothed. “You deserve better than what you’re getting, dear. Let me help you.”
“I can’t,” she sobbed. “Clyde would kill me.”
“Why?”
She released herself from Selma’s embrace. “I…he just would.”
“Why do you stay with him?” Johanna asked. “You can make a new life for yourself, Brenda. Don’t you want something better than this neighborhood?”
“Cody planned to get out. He was planning to go to a trade school. He’s…” She drew another shuddering breath. “He was a whiz when it came to fixing cars. He had dreams of someday opening up his own shop. He wanted out of this neighborhood so bad and I knew he could do it. He was a good kid, but now—” She covered her face with her hands then slid to the floor.
Selma and Johanna quickly squatted down on either side of her.
“Who are you people?” Brenda choked. “What do you really want from me?”
“We’re people who care about you, Brenda. We want to help you.” Selma said. “Won’t you let us?”
She sniffed. “I have nothing now that Cody is gone. He’s all I lived for.”
“You can have a brighter future, Brenda,” Selma said. “No, you’ll never forget your son and no, you’ll always feel his loss, but you have to go on. You can make his dream come true. You can get out of this neighborhood and make something worthwhile of the rest of your life. Do it for him.”
Johanna was torn as she listened to the woman’s heart-wrenching sobs. Maybe she’d judged her wrong. No, she’d been in this business long enough to know that many times murderers put on the greatest performances. Still she wasn’t one hundred percent convinced that Brenda Burrows had nothing to do with her son’s death no matter how well she played the part of the grieving mother. At the least, she knew who his killer was and Johanna was determined to somehow drag that information out of her.
“I can’t…I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“You can leave your husband,” Selma said firmly. “That’s the first step.”
“I couldn’t do that to Clyde.” Her lips trembled. “He’s the only person who would give me the time of day when I became pregnant.”
“He’s not Cody’s father?”
She shook her head. “No. I got pregnant when I was in college by a boy I was certain I’d be spending the rest of my life with. We dated for awhile and when I became pregnant, he left me.”
“What did your parents say?”
She drew a deep breath. “They wanted nothing to do with me when I told them I was keeping the baby. If I wanted to stay, I had to get an abortion. I could never do that. Cody was born out of love.” Her eyes glistened. “At least it was love on my part.”
“Did you ever try contacting Cody’s father after he was born?”
“Yes.” She began to cry anew. “Shortly after Cody was born. He’d had a change of heart. We were going to run away and go somewhere nobody knew us. The last thing he ever said to me was that he loved me.” She sniffed. “I waited, but he never came for us. I tried contacting him, but his phone was disconnected.”
“What happened before that…when you told your parents?” Johanna asked.
“My parents kicked me out. I tried to call Eric, but every time one of his parents answered. He must have told them I was pregnant because they were unfriendly and warned me not to call again.” She sniffed. “Cody knew that Clyde wasn’t his real father. I lied and told Cody that his father had been killed while in the military. I couldn’t tell him the truth.”
“How did you meet Clyde?” Selma asked gently.
“I was trying to find a job. Clyde was a bouncer at a strip club. He told me I was too fat because of the baby and no one would hire me. But he gave me a place to live and promised to take good care of me and the baby.”
“And you’ve been with him ever since,” Selma said.
She nodded. “As the years went by I gave up hope for myself, but not for Cody. Cody was a good boy. He got in some trouble, but it was because Clyde made him—” Her voice trailed off.
“Made him do what?” Johanna demanded.
Brenda pulled herself to her feet and shook her head. “I’ve got to get back.”
Before Selma or Johanna could say another word, she was gone.
Chapter 11
On the drive home the women compared notes. Johanna carefully maneuvered the car down the icy road leading to the turnoff to their road. She was deep in thought and didn’t realize that Frankie had asked her a question.
“Earth to Johanna,” Frankie teased.
“Oh, sorry. What did you say?”
“Mom and I both agree that Brenda Burrows doesn’t know who murdered her son.”
Johanna sighed deeply. “I disagree. She’s hiding something and it’s tearing her apart. She knows who killed her son, but she’s afraid of the consequences if she tells us.”
Frankie frowned. “Why would she be afraid? His killer would be behind bars.”
“Maybe the killer has an accomplice.”
“So, you’re sticking with your original theory that Brenda Burrows is involved.” Frankie eyed her as she punched in the numbers for the gate remote.
She nodded. “I believe that she truly loved her son, but I think she either killed him or knows who did and nothing will change my mind.”
“Well, we can go back and forth on this forever, but unless we have proof of anything, George will handle it.”
Selma cleared her throat. “Since Brenda admitted that her husband isn’t Cody’s father, I think he did it. After all, look how he spoke of that poor boy…calling him such horrible names.” She swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Well, we can be certain of one thing,” Johanna said. “If Clyde’s drinking like this every night he’s not breaking into any houses. I’ll give George a call in the morning and ask him if the string of robberies has slowed.” She frowned. “Maybe he’s not even the one robbing the houses.”
“If we’re lucky George will fill us in on the investigation.” Frankie lifted an eyebrow.
“I got the impression that Brenda would have said much more if we hadn’t been at the tavern,” Selma said. “Didn’t you, Johanna?”
“Yes. I’m surprised that she confided in us the circumstances surrounding her involvement with Clyde and the fact that he wasn’t Cody’s father.” She hesitated.
“That certainly explains his emotional detachment from the boy,” Frankie said. She glanced at Johanna. “Okay, what’s going on in that head of yours?”
She shook her head. “Nothing, but it does seem odd that she w
ould tell two strangers such intimate details of her life. It doesn’t add up. Unless—” A wide grin broke over her face.
“Unless what?”
She glanced at her partner. “Unless she’s smarter than we’re giving her credit for.”
“Okay, now you’ve lost me.” She turned toward the backseat. “This is always how we operate, Mom. Pay close attention.”
Selma nodded vigorously. “I’m just amazed listening to you two. This is better than any old made for TV movie. Wait’ll I get back home and tell the girls I was part of an investigation.”
“So…” Frankie said, turning back around in her seat. “Tell me your theory.”
“Just think about this.” She glanced at Frankie. “If we believe everything she tells us then that takes the heat off her.”
“It doesn’t make sense. If we were still cops I might think it’s possible, but she doesn’t know we’re private investigators. Nah, I’m not buying it.”
“I’m not asking you to. I’m just stating an opinion.”
Frankie’s eyes narrowed. “What is it about Brenda Burrows that you don’t trust?”
“I don’t know, but there’s something about her that just doesn’t sit right with me.”
“I was just getting ready to ask her how Clyde treated the boy when she abruptly left.” Selma lifted an eyebrow. “If Cody was involved with the robberies I’m sure he was forced into it. From what Brenda said he had big plans for his life. I’d bet my own life that part of those plans included getting his mother away from Clyde.”
Frankie nodded. “It makes sense, Mom.”
Johanna parked the car in the garage. As they walked to the house and let themselves inside, her mind was formulating all the details of tonight. Something was missing. And Brenda Burrows knew what that was. Johanna was determined to get the truth out of her one way or another.
* * * *
Frankie stretched her body. “Ah, this bed sure feels good.” She stifled a yawn. “I didn’t realize how tired I am.” She turned her head and looked at Johanna who lay staring up at the ceiling. “But I’m never too tired for this,” she teased as she moved her hand under the covers and rested it on Johanna’s inner thigh.
