Death of a Country Fried Redneck

by Lee Hollis

  It was spotless. Lisa was definitely good at her job.

  At first glance, there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Mickey’s belongings had obviously been removed.

  She poked her head in the bathroom.

  Nothing.

  She opened the cabinets.

  Drawers.

  Still nothing.

  She then sat on the bed, frustrated. The police, the cleaning staff, even other guests had all been in this room since Mickey’s murder. What was she hoping to find?

  Hayley stood up, looked around once more, decided there was nothing else to find, and started for the door. Suddenly her cell phone chirped, startling her, and she dropped the set of keys Lisa had given her.

  She answered the phone. “Hello?”

  “Hayley, it’s me, Lisa. Some guests have just checked in and are on their way up in the elevator with the bellboy. You have to get out of there!”

  “I’m leaving right now!”

  Hayley stuffed her phone in the pocket of the apron and bent down to retrieve the keys. That’s when she noticed something under the bed.

  A glint.

  Like a small flash.

  She got down on her belly and reached under the bed, patting the carpet with her hand.

  What was that?

  She was about to pull her hand out when she touched something small and hard. She picked it up with her fingers and looked at it.

  A diamond. It was an earring.

  Hayley’s heart nearly stopped.

  A diamond earring.

  And she recognized it.

  The earring belonged to Liddy. Liddy had been in Mickey Pritchett’s hotel room.

  Chapter 20

  Hayley’s head was spinning as she raced out of the hotel room and back to the office. Everyone had already left for the day. She scooped up the phone and tried calling Liddy several times on her cell but she wasn’t picking up. She knew if Liddy was showing a lot of properties today, she would undoubtedly stop by Randy’s bar to decompress when she was finished.

  Hayley finished up her work at the paper, checked on the kids to make sure they would be home for dinner, and then drove over to Drinks Like A Fish, where, as expected, Liddy sat on a stool at the bar, nursing a gin and tonic and chatting with Randy, who was refilling a snack bowl with trail mix.

  Liddy lit up and smiled when she spotted Hayley walking toward her. “Hey there, how was your day? Mine was a nightmare. Do you know how challenging it is selling a foreclosed property in desperate need of some tender loving care? I just don’t have the energy to make it presentable to buyers. I’ve slashed the price four times already.”

  “We need to talk,” Hayley said.

  “Sure, sweetie, what’s on your mind?”

  “Somewhere private.”

  “Hayley, the only one here is Randy and I have no secrets from him.”

  “Okay. We need to talk about Mickey Pritchett.”

  Randy’s ears perked up behind the bar.

  Liddy’s face went ashen and she grabbed her purse, which was sitting on top of the bar. “Randy, we’ll be outside.”

  Randy shot Hayley a look: What the hell was going on?

  Hayley gave him a thin smile and followed Liddy, who was now shaking as she scurried across the wooden floor, her heels clicking, and out the back door into the alley. Hayley was right behind her.

  Outside, Liddy spun around to face Hayley, and put on the most innocent face she could muster. “Now, who do you want to talk about again? Mickey who?”

  “Mickey Pritchett. The recent murder victim. You do know who I am talking about, don’t you?”

  “Yes, Hayley, I have a computer with Internet access and I occasionally read the paper. I know who he is.”

  “How well do you know him?”

  “Well, just what I heard from you. That he was a drunk and a mess and Wade fired him the night he was shot and killed.”

  “Don’t lie to me, Liddy. You’re my best friend. I expect better.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Hayley reached into her pocket and pulled out the earring. She dangled it in front of Liddy’s face. Liddy’s eyes popped open in surprise.

  “You found it!”

  She grabbed the earring from Hayley, and caressed it lovingly.

  “Yes, I found it,” Hayley said evenly. “In Mickey Pritchett’s hotel room.”

  “Oh,” Liddy said, staring at the sparkling diamond as if in a trance.

  “What was it doing there, Liddy? What were you doing there?”

  “Maybe he stole it. He could’ve been stalking me around town. I drive a Mercedes, after all, and maybe I left the door unlocked when I went into the Big Apple to get some coffee or something, and he grabbed it.”

  “He stole one earring. From your car. And hid it underneath his bed.”

  “Well, it doesn’t sound so plausible when you say it like that.”

  “You know what I think? You come here for a drink almost every night after work. Mickey had been coming here, too, until Randy kicked him out. I think the two of you met and hooked up and while you were having sex, your earring fell off and into his bed and when the housekeeper came the next morning to change the sheets, it somehow slipped through the space between the mattress and the headboard and onto the rug underneath the bed. Am I getting warm here?”

  “What do you think I am, some kind of slut, Hayley? I would never do something that sordid. Mickey Pritchett? He’s a drunken redneck!”

  “That’s why you were so anxious for me to find out about Stacy Jo. You were terrified I was going to discover your secret and so you were desperate to send me off into another direction.”

  “I’m not that calculating!”

  “Then look me in the eye and tell me I’m wrong.”

  “I don’t have to prove anything to you.”

  “Tell me, Liddy. And I’ll forget the whole thing. Because we’ve been friends too long and I trust you.”

  Liddy stared at Hayley, her eyes brimming with tears. And then she started crying. “I can’t lie to you. I just can’t. You’re my best friend.”

  “So I’m right.”

  “Yes. I was having a rough day. I was feeling bloated and miserable and I had two houses fall out of escrow and I had too many cocktails and Mickey turned on the charm and I just fell for it. I didn’t realize what an ass he was until it was all over and he asked me to leave because he was tired and I had to endure a walk of shame through the hotel lobby to my car. If I could do it all over again, I never would have gone back to the room with him.”

  Hayley hugged Liddy, who was sobbing. “Please don’t judge me, Hayley.”

  “No one’s judging you.”

  “But the town will if anyone finds out. I can’t get a reputation for being the town skank. If people find out I slept with Mickey, it could affect my business.”

  “You should be more concerned about being a murder suspect.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Liddy, you had a relationship with the victim.”

  “Oh, please, it was a one-night stand, not a relationship.”

  “But you were intimate with him, and you were in his hotel room, and at the very least, I’m sure Sergio will want to question you.”

  “No! No one can know I was ever there. Please, Hayley, you have to support me on this. It will ruin me if this gets out.”

  Hayley was torn. On the one hand, she didn’t want to be the reason Liddy became the talk of the town. But, on the other hand, she didn’t want Sergio getting mad at her for withholding vital information pertinent to the case.

  Suddenly she sniffed the air. “Do you smell something?”

  Liddy wiped away her tears. “No.”

  “It smells like smoke,” Hayley said, and turned around. There was a green Dumpster a few feet away from them. Hayley spotted a waft of smoke floating up from behind it.

  “Is there a fire?” Liddy asked, clutching Hayley’s sh
irt.

  “No. It’s cigarette smoke. Who’s there? Come out here right now.”

  There was a long pause.

  And then Bruce Linney walked out from behind the Dumpster, a lit cigarette between his fingers.

  “Omigod, Hayley, Bruce was having a drink at the bar before you arrived. I thought he left, but . . .”

  “Just came outside for a quick smoke,” Bruce said, his eyes darting back and forth between Hayley and Liddy.

  “How much did you hear?” Hayley asked.

  “Pretty much all of it.”

  Liddy threw her hands to her mouth and gasped. “Oh, Hayley, talk to him. He can’t print anything I said.”

  “Bruce, please . . . ,” Hayley pleaded. But she knew it was hopeless. There was no way Bruce would ever ignore a bombshell like this.

  “Sorry, Liddy. But I have to do my job,” Bruce said, flicking the cigarette to the pavement and crushing it with the heel of his shoe.

  He walked back inside with a smile on his face and Liddy fell into Hayley’s arms, weeping.

  Chapter 21

  Hayley spent the next hour comforting Liddy, and assuring her that this would all eventually blow over, and people would quickly forget about her sordid association with the now-famous, boorish, and dead country fried redneck. And it wasn’t as if everyone who read Bruce’s articles didn’t have their own embarrassing secrets and scandals. No one in town had the right to judge.

  Liddy was already on the phone calling her lawyer to sue Bruce for libel, but Hayley gently dissuaded her, and convinced her to at least wait until the story actually came out in the paper.

  After making Liddy promise to call Sergio in the morning and come clean about her connection to Mickey Pritchett, she waited until Liddy climbed behind the wheel of her Mercedes and roared off down the street before Hayley got in her Subaru wagon and drove home.

  When she pulled into the driveway, Hayley instantly sensed something was wrong.

  It was already dark outside and all the lights in the house were off. The kids hadn’t come home yet, but the back door was wide open.

  Hayley got out of her car and looked around. She had this strange, eerie feeling someone was watching her. She hurried inside and snapped on some lights in the kitchen.

  Then it struck her what was wrong.

  No Leroy.

  Her spoiled little boy always greeted her at the door, running around in circles, begging for a treat. But tonight he was nowhere to be seen.

  “Leroy, here boy!” Hayley called.

  Nothing.

  Maybe she accidentally shut him in her bedroom when she left for work this morning. She could only imagine the destruction he would cause to the bottom underwear drawer she’d left open.

  She clomped up the stairs and switched on the upstairs light in the hallway, but her bedroom door was open. As were the doors to the kids’ rooms.

  So much for that theory.

  Hayley ran back down the stairs and felt her phone buzzing in her back pocket. She pulled it out and checked the screen.

  A text from Gemma.

  She was uptown having ice cream with Reid and Carrie. Where was Dustin? She checked her watch.

  His curfew wasn’t for another twenty minutes. And he always breezed in at the last possible second.

  Hayley went back outside.

  “Leroy!”

  Still nothing.

  Hayley noticed a few lights on in some neighbors’ houses but otherwise it was completely dark up and down the street. A wind kicked up and some orange and yellow fall leaves rustled past her feet. Just beyond her house was a thicket of trees swaying in the night breeze.

  Where the hell did Leroy go?

  He never strayed far from the house even when he spotted a wayward squirrel and chased after it. He always came back panting, his little pink tongue hanging out of his mouth.

  Hayley suddenly heard something.

  A whimpering.

  Was it a dog?

  Was it Leroy?

  She listened intently.

  Yes, it sounded like a dog in trouble.

  Maybe bitten by something or in distress.

  Hayley ran toward the woods, straining to pinpoint where the whimpering was coming from and frantically calling for Leroy.

  She was now several hundred yards from the house, pushing her way through thick tree branches, still calling for Leroy.

  She stopped and stood very still, trying to listen. Then she heard a sharp muzzled yelp, like a dog trying to call out but unable to, as if someone was forcibly keeping his mouth closed.

  Hayley called out again. “Leroy! Where are you?”

  She spun around, scanning the whole area, but the woods were pitch-black and she could hardly see anything.

  Suddenly she heard more leaves rustling.

  Something was running at her fast.

  Maybe a deer?

  No, it wasn’t big enough to be a deer.

  And, then, as it got closer, she saw a white flash.

  And teeth.

  A pronounced underbite.

  It was Leroy!

  Panting. His pink tongue flapping up and down.

  He leaped off the ground and into Hayley’s waiting arms. She squeezed him to her chest as he excitedly licked her face.

  “How on earth did you get way out here?” Hayley asked, half expecting her smart little pup to answer her.

  A voice from behind startled her. “You really should talk to your kids about keeping the back door to your house locked.”

  Hayley spun around.

  It was dark, but she recognized him right away.

  It was Jesse DeSoto.

  “What are you doing out here, Jesse?”

  “Just taking a walk. Found your dog wandering around lost. You really should be more careful. He’s a small little thing. A pack of coyotes could have snatched him up for their dinner.”

  “How did you know my back door was unlocked? Did you go into my house and take him?”

  “I would never do that because entering someone’s house without permission is against the law, and I’m out on bail, and doing something like that would send me right back behind bars.”

  “So you didn’t steal my dog in order to lure me out here into the woods?”

  “That sounds so creepy. You must watch a lot of TV crime shows about serial killers and shit like that.”

  Jesse DeSoto took a step toward Hayley.

  She slowly backed away.

  “Am I really that scary?”

  Hayley wasn’t about to answer him and give the kid that kind of power.

  But Jesse saw she was shaking.

  So was Leroy.

  “Good. I’m glad I scare you. Because maybe you’ll take what I say seriously.”

  “And what is that, Jesse?”

  “Don’t testify against me in court.”

  “Is that what this is all about? You stole a car and drove it into a tree. The case against you doesn’t exactly hinge on my testimony, or my daughter’s testimony.”

  “Yeah, but my lawyer says if you don’t testify, we can maybe cut a deal and I can get off with a fine and some lame-shit community service. But if you do, it’s just going to make me look bad and I could be sent to prison and I am not gonna let that happen.”

  “I’m sorry, Jesse. I can’t help you. I saw you steal that car.”

  “And so did your daughter. Maybe I should go talk to her.”

  Leroy growled.

  Hayley gently petted his curly white fur and shushed him before raising her eyes to meet Jesse’s.

  “Come anywhere near my daughter, and I will kill you myself, and save the state the cost of your trial.”

  Jesse opened his mouth and laughed, disgusting Hayley with his stained, crooked teeth.

  Didn’t his mother believe in dentists?

  Then he caught the look on Hayley’s face—the determination, the anger—and suddenly her threat didn’t seem so far-fetched.

  His smile fad
ed.

  But Jesse kept up his bravado.

  “I’d like to see you try,” he said, a crack in his voice.

  And he ran off into the night.

  Hayley watched him disappear into the trees. She clutched Leroy, who was snuggling into her chest, exhausted from his ordeal. Hayley knew deep down that Jesse was just full of empty threats. He was a messed-up kid who was in a lot of trouble and probably panicking over the fact that he was facing serious jail time.

  Still, he had entered her house and taken her dog. She should call Sergio and report him and maybe get him thrown back in jail until the trial.

  But she had no proof.

  And going after Jesse would just exascerbate the situation.

  But warning Gemma to stick close to her friends was her utmost priority. There was no way she wanted her daughter in close proximity to any danger.

  Just the thought of it made her shudder.

  Chapter 22

  Three nights later was Wade Springer’s first charity concert. When Hayley showed up at the Criterion Theatre, Billy Ray escorted her to a trailer parked out back, which served as Wade’s makeshift dressing room. It was bigger than the whole first floor of Hayley’s house. Framed gold records of Wade’s singles adorned the wall. A Country Music Association award that Hayley at first assumed was a lamp sat on a side table. The furniture was plush and cushiony, the bar was fully stocked, and there was an entire buffet of assorted cheeses and finger foods set up off to the side.

  Wade sat on the couch in a pair of crisp, dark blue jeans and a black shirt open enough to show off hints of his curly chest hair. His cowboy hat rested next to him and he was strumming his guitar.

  After Billy Ray had ushered her inside, he then stepped back out, closing the door behind him.

  Wade looked up and smiled.

  “Hey there, stranger,” he said. “Haven’t seen you around much lately.”

  “It’s been a crazy couple of days,” Hayley said. “I hope you’ve been getting your meals on time.”

  “Oh, yeah, and they’re so mouth-wateringly delicious, I just may have to kidnap you when I’m done here and whisk you away with me.”

  Hayley’s heart fluttered.

  He looked so handsome, and the scent of his cologne wafted over to her and made her nose tingle.

  “So what’s been keeping you so busy?” Wade asked.