Ruby Blaylock
Lullabies & Lies
First published by Ruby Blaylock in 2017
Copyright © Ruby Blaylock, 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
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Contents
A Terrible Discovery
Two Victims, One Body
Preparing for Something
Bessie and the Baby
Calm After Chaos
A Grieving Man
Guests and Suspects
Meeting the Marshalls
An Unexpected Visitor
A Surprise Proposal
Rory’s Invitation
Waking Up in Unexpected Places
An Interest in the Child
Unexpected Assistance and Angry Arrivals
Lunch, Loss, and Lost Opportunities
Secret Desires
Too Close For Comfort
Uncomfortable Truths
Marlena’s Moods
Delbert Drops By
What the Storm Brought In
Odd Behaviors
An Uncomfortable Gathering
Accusations and Revelations
More Questions Than Answers
Hunches and Suspects
Spying on the Guests
Showdowns and Confessions
No More Secrets, No More Lies
Other Books by Ruby Blaylock
1
A Terrible Discovery
Annie Richards hoisted the last of her shopping bags into the back of her beat up pickup truck. Thank you so much for helping me with this, Rory, she said as she shifted the shopping to make room for more bags. I dread grocery runs—I’d much rather go shopping for furniture. Annie snapped a mesh net in place to keep the bags from shifting and sliding around in the bed of the truck. She tried to order as many things for her business as she could from online retailers, but the tiny town of Coopersville, South Carolina had yet to establish a delivery service for groceries.
Rory grinned at her. I know you’ll use any excuse to get me alone, he joked. Besides, I needed to stop by the hardware store anyway. I noticed a loose shingle up on the roof and I want to make sure she’s waterproof before we get anymore rain. Rory Jenkins was the official handyman and Annie’s semi-official boyfriend. They had been skirting around their relationship for the past year, but their bond went back much further than that.
And I like these little errand runs with you, Annie, he told her.
If Annie was honest, she liked them too. Lately she and Rory had been finding more and more excuses to spend time together. They hadn’t planned on falling back into their relationship, but it hadn’t taken long for it to happen. Being with Rory felt like putting on a pair of favorite shoes. It made Annie feel so comfortable and content, she didn’t think she’d ever take them off.
Despite the fact that she’d left Coopersville—and Rory—behind more than two decades earlier, and despite her disastrous marriage and Rory’s own dark past, she now found herself exactly where she knew she should be. Living at Rosewood Place, the beautiful old plantation house-turned-inn, had turned her life completely upside down in a very good way.
You wanna go get something to eat? she asked, pushing her chestnut hair back out of her eyes.
I thought your mama was cooking, Rory replied slowly. She won’t be too pleased with us if we aren’t there to eat it all up.
Annie pondered this for a moment. For the first time in months, the inn was free of guests. She hadn’t planned it this way, but when a weekend appeared on her calendar with no bookings, Bessie and Rory had suggested that they simply leave the entire week free. They needed a vacation, Bessie had argued when Annie suggested that they shouldn’t turn away guests. But she knew that her mother was right—the entire family could use a few days off now that the busiest part of the season was done.
I’m sure that whatever we don’t eat will still get eaten. Devon’s got friends coming over this weekend, remember? I’m sure you know how much teenage boys can eat.
Rory grinned. I should know. I used to be one, remember? He ran a hand across his own short-cropped dark hair. His blue eyes twinkled as he waggled his eyebrows. But she’s cooking chicken and dumplings, he pleaded through a grin.
Annie laughed. Okay, fine, have it your way. I’ll check out that new Italian place some other time.
Rory feigned surprise. There’s a new Italian place? Well, goodness me, I’m sure we wouldn’t want to go there, especially not for, say, dinner on Thursday evening around seven. He smiled and winked at Annie. I’ve already made the reservations, but if you don’t want to go, I can take your mom, he joked.
Annie punched him playfully on the arm. You rascal! Of course, I’d love to go to dinner with you, on Thursday or any day, she added. I guess we’d better hurry on home then. If Mama’s making dumplings, you know Emmett’s bound to be stopping by.
Emmett Barnes was the Chief of Police of Coopersville. He had long passed retirement age, but even in his mid-seventies, he was physically fit, sharp as a blade, and one of the most hardworking men Annie had ever met in her life. He was also dating her mother, which meant that Annie got to hear about all of the nefarious deeds and unseemly events that took place in town. Of course, since she’d owned Rosewood Place, Annie had personally been involved with solving many of those dastardly crimes herself.
Annie had never thought of herself as a detective, but she had a curiosity and a determination that just seemed to be the perfect fit for an amateur sleuth. She never considered herself to be any sort of crimefighter, though if she was pressed, she’d gladly admit that she loved solving mysteries and, like the Chief, had a terribly strong
sense of fairness. Truth be told. Annie often wondered why she happened to be in the right place at the wrong time, but, so far, she’d always managed to find her way out of the sticky situations.
Life after forty in her small hometown had been anything but boring, and Annie found herself stopping to count her blessings more and more often these days.
Wonder if he’ll be making any announcements any time soon, Rory mused. Annie gave him a puzzled look. About his retirement, he clarified. Delbert seems to think this is the year Emmett’s going to finally retire for real.
Delbert Plemmons was a young police officer who reminded Annie of Barney Fife from the Andy Griffith Show. He was young, fairly clueless, and he was sometimes overly enthusiastic about his job. However, he was also a sweet young guy who doted on Annie from a respectful distance, so she tolerated him a little better than Rory did.
I don’t think Delbert knows what he’s talking about, Annie sighed. Emmett will probably work until the day he dies. He just doesn’t know how to stop being a policeman. She could see why Emmett kept busy. He liked knowing everything that happened in the small town and staying active in the community seemed to keep him young. Annie hoped that when he did eventually retire, he would find a way to keep himself busy. She’d seen too many people his age and her mother’s age simply stop living once they retired. For too many people, their jobs were so wrapped around their identity that they simply didn’t know what to do when they weren’t working anymore.
She started to say something else, but Rory’s attention had drifted to a large, cream-colored Cadillac that had turned onto the street where Annie’s car was parked. It was shiny, expensive, and completely out of place in the small town. The wi
ndows were tinted so darkly that Annie couldn’t even tell if the driver was a man or a woman. As the car rolled past them, Rory let out a low whistle.
Now that is a nice car, he announced.
Annie patted the side of her truck just above a dent near the rear bumper. But this is a reliable truck. I’ll stick with old and reliable over new and mysterious, she added with a grin.
Whoever was driving wasn’t from around here, Rory added. I think those were Atlanta plates on the back of that car.
Maybe it was a movie star scoping out Coopersville for their next big blockbuster, Annie teased him.
Maybe they’ll want to use Rosewood Place as their setting, he replied, playing along.
Maybe we’d better get this food home before my ice cream melts, Annie retorted.
Here, let me drive, Rory suggested. You can put your feet up on the dashboard and dream about all that money Hollywood’s going to send you when they make their movie.
Annie laughed out loud and tossed him the keys. Deal.
They swapped places and Annie settled into the passenger seat while Rory put the truck into reverse. He had just eased his foot off the break when Annie saw a large black motorcycle speeding into view in the wing mirror above her door.
Rory, wait! She put her hand reflexively on Rory’s arm, but he had already pushed the brake hard.
What the heck? What an idiot! Rory put the truck back into park and leaned his head out the window, presumably to yell at the driver of the motorcycle, but they were already way up the road and quickly becoming a small black speck on the horizon.
Oh, my goodness—I thought they were going to hit us, Annie confided. They’d come close to the truck, too close. Annie could have reached out of her window and touched the driver if she’d wanted to. Despite their close proximity, Annie still had no idea who the driver was or even whether they were male or female. A full-coverage helmet and black leather protected the bike’s rider, though Annie wondered how much protection they would have offered if Rory hadn’t been so quick to react.
Rory carefully put the truck back into gear and pulled out of the parking spot along the side of the curb. Without incident, they were soon on their way, headed in the same direction as the bike. The traffic light up the road held them up for a minute, but then they were on their way out of town and back into the pleasant stretch of country back roads that would take them home.
It was late September and Mother Nature was showing off. The trees lining either side of the road had erupted into a flaming sea of fiery oranges, deep reds, and golden yellows. Soon they would fall and wither to a damp brown sea of nothingness, but for the moment, Annie couldn’t help but think that the majestic trees knew exactly
how stunning they really were.
The road curved up ahead and Rory slowed the truck since it was impossible to see around the curve. Annie was glad that he did. As the truck rounded the bend, a car came into view. It appeared to be the same Cadillac that she’d seen earlier in town, but something was wrong. The cream-colored car was pulled over on the opposite side of the road, just off to the side of the road. It was parked haphazardly, as though the driver had lost control or had been forced off to that side.
Annie didn’t have to ask Rory to stop the truck. He pulled their vehicle to a stop on a relatively smooth patch of ground beside the little country lane. Annie was relieved that the shoulder of the road on their side was level and grassy. A quick glance at the area where the Cadillac had come to a stop showed her a row of thorny bushes, lots of large rocks, and a much less welcoming terrain.
Do you think they had an accident? she asked. Do you think the driver’s okay?
Rory was already unbuckling his seatbelt. I don’t know. I’ll go and take a look. We might need to call a tow truck.
Or an ambulance, Annie thought, though she kept this to herself. She removed her own seatbelt and followed Rory across the road to the car.
Hello? The sound of her voice was small in the autumn breeze. Are you okay?
There’s nobody in the driver’s seat, Rory informed her as he rounded the car, coming to a stop beside the driver’s door.
Annie could see the cord of a cell phone charger hanging limply out of the door, but no phone was attached. Maybe they got out to try and make a call? she suggested. Her eyes wandered towards the scrubby trees that lined the property a little further back from the road. Her pulse quickened when they landed on what looked to be the contents of a woman’s handbag scattered on the ground.
A tube of lipstick, a pack of gum, several gas station receipts, and other mundane detritus littered the ground in a trail leading away from the car. A creeping dread filled Annie as she realized that she was looking at the signs of a struggle, maybe a roadside robbery.
I don’t like the look of this, Rory told her. Stay right here while I go look back behind those trees. I think there’s a little stream back there a ways—maybe the driver went down there for some reason.
Annie couldn’t think of a single reason why an out-of-state driver would pull over on the wrong side of the road, empty her purse on the ground (she was sure it was a woman, unless the lipstick’s owner was a wealthy male with a penchant for looking pretty), and run off into the woods just to go sight-seeing.
She watched anxiously as Rory disappeared into the trees. She caught glimpses of him when he passed under breaks in the canopy of the treeline. The sun streamed down on him, creating the surreal illusion that his head was floating amongst the scrubby trees all on its own.
Annie turned to the car. She knew that she probably shouldn’t touch anything in it, but she wanted to see if there was anything that might possibly help her figure out what had happened to its driver. Peering in from the driver’s open door, she could see an empty fast food wrapper and one of those extra-large fast food cups. It had lipstick on the end of the straw, which strengthened her conviction that the driver was a woman. The windows were tinted such a dark color that she couldn’t see into the back seat without opening a door.
She hesitated. What if the driver had just come down with a terrible case of upset stomach and had to run into the woods to take care of business? She was certain that if this was the case, the car’s owner would be pretty annoyed with her for snooping around in the car.
A sound like the crying of an animal made her pause. It was faint at first, but as she listened for a moment, it grew louder. It appeared to be coming from the inside of the car.
Annie glanced around but Rory was still investigating in the woods. The crying sound grew louder and more insistent. Annie’s heartbeat quickened as she realized that she recognized the source. Without further hesitation, she grabbed the rear door handle of the car and yanked it open.
Annie, we’re going to need to call Emmett. Rory’s voice barely registered with her. Did you hear me?
Rory had appeared behind her but Annie didn’t see or hear him for a long moment. Instead, she was fixated by what was in the back seat of the expensive-looking car.
Whoa. Rory stopped in his tracks when he saw what she was staring at.
I found a baby, Annie whispered breathlessly to Rory.
I found a body, he replied before taking Annie’s phone from her and dialing Emmett’s number.
2
Two Victims, One Body
Emmett came to the crime scene with what amounted to a small army of people, many more than Annie had ever seen investigating a crime. Investigators busied themselves trying to preserve any evidence before the wind or rumored rain could move in and destroy it. They photographed and catalogued, asked Annie and Rory more questions than they could possibly answer, and buzzed around the Cadillac like insects inspecting a potential meal.
Uniformed police officers coordinated the scene, while a handful of people in plainclothes worked with Emmett, trying to determine the best course of action for dealing with the lone survivor in what appeared to be either a tragic accident or a terrible murder.
Did you see anything
at all unusual before you found the car? Emmett twisted his bushy handlebar mustache as he listened to Annie’s reply. Annie thought he looked a little tired and more than a touch snappy today. His usually jovial personality was gone, replaced by something more serious and professional.
Well, we did see this car, the Cadillac, earlier, she told him. But apart from the fact that we noticed it had an out of state license plate, I can’t say that we thought it was too unusual. She shuddered. I had no idea it was even a woman driving the car, or that she had a baby in the back seat, she added. That poor baby—Emmett, what’s going to happen to it?
Emmett sniffed. We’re trying to confirm the identity of the body first. Can’t go assuming that the dead woman is even the baby’s mother, not just yet. Once we figure out who she is, we’ll find a next of kin so we can place the baby permanently. For now, I’ve got a call in to social services to get a foster caregiver in place. It’s a little girl, by the way, he added.
First Responders determined that when they checked her over in the ambulance. She seems to be around five or six months old. They’ll take her to the County Hospital, but I’ve requested that we be able to pick a foster parent here in town, at least until we can find out if there’s a next of kin. Emmett frowned. I’d just feel better knowing who’s going to be taking care of that sweet little baby. Poor thing has to be scared to death.
Annie felt her heart break just a little. She couldn’t imagine what the poor little baby was going through. And if the dead woman was the mother…it made her shudder to think about it. What would her own son, Devon, had done if Annie had died when he was a baby? He wouldn’t even remember her. It hurt her heart to think that this innocent baby wouldn’t even remember her own mother when she grew up.
Do you know how the woman died? Annie asked. I mean, does it look—
Suspicious? Emmett interrupted her. Off the record, yes. It looks very suspicious. I mean, the woman appears to have hit her head on a rock and drowned in the little stream down there, but something tells me it wasn’t an accident.
Annie recalled the trail of personal items leading into the woods. Do you think she was robbed?
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