Salem smiled. “I love your cooking. It just seemed so quiet with only the three of us at the table. The house feels different now that Callie and Randi are gone.”
Krista nodded. “We’ll get used to it. I would have brought our son downstairs for supper, but he was sleeping.”
“I’m glad this is over, Krista. I guess things worked out for all of us except Melissa.”
“Daddy told me Melissa was in the process of leaving him. I’m glad we got her killer, but my father deserves someone who will treat him better. I can tell he’s a lot happier with Missy.”
“Bo told me she’s twenty-six years old.”
Krista laughed. “I can’t believe you have a problem with the age difference.”
Salem shrugged. “She just seems a little old for him. I was hoping Bo would go for a college student.”
Krista leaned over and punched him on the arm.
“What’s everyone doing tonight?” Salem asked.
“Daddy and Missy are checking out the new band at the Channel Marker. Callie and Helen Cook are joining them.”
Salem nodded. “I’m glad Bo and Callie have found someone. Anderson told me he and Randi have been spending their evenings planning their move into the new house. They’re hoping to be in by the end of June. Jay and Erin are going to move into the trailer so the campground can have an additional cabin available to rent.”
Krista got up from her chair and walked over to the window. The lake shimmered in the moonlight. It was the first day of February, and the snow was finally melting. Spring was on the way. “Why did he do it, Salem? Does anybody know? Did Bruce say anything?”
“Now that’s an interesting story. Dodd said Bruce was planning to close the motel, but continue to live there alone. It was his home. He couldn’t bring himself to leave, but he was sick of sharing the place with prostitutes, drug dealers, and the other low life types who rented his rooms. That’s why he killed Melissa and Donna. Arthur Stack was a gay man who probably rented a room there with his boyfriend, so Bruce had to kill him, too. I’m guessing the two victims in North Carolina had recently stayed at the motel, and Bruce used the information from the registration cards they completed to track them down.”
“What about the Bible verses? What was that about?”
Salem shrugged. “I think part of it was misdirection designed to cast suspicion on people like Davis Lord. I’m sure Bruce also used the verses to justify his actions.”
Krista turned away from the window and returned to the table. “I don’t understand how Bruce expected to make a living if he closed the motel. I also can’t figure out how he got connected with Grace Hanes in the first place.”
“Are you sure you want to know?” Salem asked.
Krista nodded.
“Bo was right about Missy being in danger. She was next on Patterson’s list. After that, Bruce was going to kill his dad. Boyd Patterson had a two-million-dollar life insurance policy naming Bruce as the beneficiary. I imagine he wanted his son to have the chance to start a new life after his death. All Bruce wanted to do was collect the money, close the motel, and live like a hermit.”
“How did he meet Grace Hanes?”
Salem drank some water and thought for a moment.
“That’s another interesting story. Boyd Patterson and Barbara Hanes were friends. Bruce met Grace when he was visiting his dad and she was with her mother. I think they both recognized something in each other. Bruce was the one supplying Grace with cocaine he bought from Finn Watson. Grace had told him Melissa and Hal Morris were sleeping together, so he got the idea to have Grace sell the coke to Hal. Patterson figured Hal would give the coke to Melissa. He was hoping she would die from an overdose because she had come close to doing just that a month ago when Bo found her unconscious in the bathroom.”
“The only problem was she didn’t die,” Krista said.
“So, he paid Grace a thousand dollars to sneak into Melissa’s room and smother her to death. When that didn’t work, Bruce paid her another five grand for the murder in the woods. Remember, that was Grace’s day off, and she was visiting her mother next door in the assisted living building. She saw Melissa standing out front with her suitcase as she was leaving. Grace parked her car, put on the ski mask, and circled into the woods. Then it was just a matter of remaining concealed until Melissa got close enough for her to attack. The fact that Hal Morris discovered Melissa’s body was a stroke of luck that helped lead the investigation in the wrong direction.”
Krista shook her head in amazement. “I would have bet on Hal Morris as the killer. What’s going to happen to Hanes?”
“Dodd said she’ll probably do fifteen years. Grace cut a deal and gave up Jack Fowler. There is physical evidence Fowler injected Barbara Hanes with lethal drugs. Grace Hanes also had a tape of a conversation with Fowler. He essentially admitted killing Grace’s mother. God only knows why. He’ll probably plead insanity.”
Krista looked at him. “We were way off-base, weren’t we?”
Salem nodded. “Yes, we were, all of us except Bo. He was on the right trail all along. The candy wrapper near the old boathouse was Patterson’s. That helped Bo remember who had bought the typewriter. Your dad solved the case, Krista. He’s a hero.”
Krista finished her water and deposited it in the recycling bin. “What about Hal Morris?”
“The FBI doesn’t have enough to charge him. He doesn’t have cocaine in his possession, and the snuff film Anderson found was determined to be a simulation. The girls in the film and in the pictures on Morris’s wall were all eighteen and nineteen years old. They were posed and made up to look younger. The Bureau is watching him. Morris is sick. It’s just a matter of time before films and pictures aren’t enough, and they catch him with a fourteen-year-old.”
Salem finished his water and walked into the kitchen. “What do you want to do tonight?”
Krista shrugged. “The children are asleep, and we have the whole house to ourselves.”
Salem took her hand and led her upstairs to their bedroom. They undressed each other in silence.
“There’s a storm coming in tonight,” Salem said. “We’ll have freezing rain and wind coming off the lake by morning. How would you like to visit the boathouse?”
Krista laughed. “I would love to visit the boathouse tomorrow morning. Maybe you’d better save your strength tonight.”
Salem pushed his wife down on the bed and buried his face in her long hair. His hands roamed over her body. He kissed her lips and then pressed his mouth to her ear. “I’m just warming up,” he whispered.
Epilogue
“Congratulations, Anderson,” Salem said. “Thank God you’re finally married. Maybe now I can stop worrying about you.”
Anderson grinned. “I thought I was going to faint. How do people endure large weddings?”
The afternoon sun slanted through the trees and warmed the faces of the two men sitting on the back porch. Everyone else was out on the lawn, mingling and laughing.
“You’re going to have to go out there soon and cut the cake,” Salem said. “Try to act civilized. Remember what I taught you.”
Anderson laughed. “I’ll try, but no guarantees.”
“How do you like the house?”
“Man, it’s amazing. We’re furnishing it a little bit at a time. Randi’s got a good eye for stuff like that.”
Salem got to his feet. “Let’s go eat some cake. Before I forget, here’s something to help with the house.”
Anderson took the check and stared at it. “This is for twenty thousand dollars.”
Salem nodded. “I expect you to buy your own sweet tarts from now on.”
Anderson nodded, tried to speak, and shook his head. He tried a second time and failed.
Salem put his hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “Come on. Your bride’s waiting.”
They crossed the room and nearly collided with Monday as she burst through the door.
“Uncle Anderson, a
re you and Randi going on a honeymoon?”
“Yes, we are, sweetie.”
“That’s like a vacation, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
“That’s what I thought. I asked Randi if she wanted to play a game of Monopoly for her honeymoon.”
Anderson smiled. “What did she say?”
“She said she would love to play because it was one of her favorite things to do on a honeymoon.”
“I do believe you picked the right girl,” Salem said.
Anderson took Monday’s hand and walked over to the game closet. “You set up the board. Randi and I will be back as soon as we can.”
He headed for the door and caught a glimpse of Randi drinking punch and laughing as she talked to Callie and her new girlfriend, Helen Cook. The most important person in his life was waiting for him. Anderson turned and looked at Monday.
“Tell Henry I’m going to beat him this time for sure.”
Randi looked up and waved as Anderson opened the door. A lump stuck in his throat as he waved back at Randi Lane Anderson. The world was perfect. John Anderson shut the door behind him and hurried down the steps to his bride.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ronald Paxton
Ronald Paxton is the author of eight novels and over forty short stories. His short fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net awards. He and his wife live in Conway, South Carolina.
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