Heart of Gold

by B. J Daniels

  Greg nodded. “She told you that she worked for me there. I suppose you think it’s silly that I hoped to keep our relationship before coming here a secret. I should have known better than to think Amanda could keep anything to herself. I thought my employees wouldn’t be comfortable with me bringing my girlfriend in as office manager. But that’s exactly what I did. Foolish on my part in so many ways.”

  “No, that wasn’t my question actually. Amanda mentioned that you hired a headhunter to see if I was interested in coming to work for you rather than contacting me directly.”

  He took a drink, licked his full lips and then smiled at her. “Dear Amanda.” He shook his head as if amused. “I did. I hired someone to find me the best and the brightest. I believe that’s the way it’s done in business nowadays. I had seen your work and wondered if you’d be interested. But I hired everyone through the service—not just you.”

  “So I wasn’t the only one?”

  Greg laughed. “Is that what she told you? But if that’s what she believes, it could explain her animosity toward you from the beginning. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right.” Charlie felt a wave of relief wash over her. It hadn’t just been her. “I can handle Amanda.”

  He chuckled. “I wish I could.”

  Charlie downed the rest of her wine and looked pointedly at her phone. “I didn’t realize it was so late.”

  Greg sighed, clearly disappointed. “Yes, you have Tara’s shower. After that you probably have a date.”

  She didn’t, but she said nothing as she got to her feet, feeling as if she’d dodged a bullet.

  “We’ll have to take this up some other time.”

  She hoped not. “We can talk anytime. You know where to find me Monday through Friday.” She chuckled. A joke, but maybe he got the subtle message.

  “This isn’t something we can talk about at work. Don’t worry. I had something else I wanted to tell you but it can hold. For now.”

  Was it as ominous as it sounded? Whatever Greg had wanted to tell her, she’d derailed him—at least for now. She just hoped he didn’t want to take her into his confidence and go so far as ask her if she thought he should marry Amanda. That was the last place she wanted to be with her boss.

  Fortunately she’d turned the conversation and was now going to make her exit. She didn’t want her boss discussing his love life with her. She’d just have to be sure she never gave him another opportunity.

  “Have a nice evening,” he said and seemed to settle in as he ordered another drink.

  “You, too. Thank you for the wine.” Charlie walked out, telling herself she couldn’t let this happen again. She would keep her distance from Amanda and Greg and their problems. She already knew too much as it was.

  * * *

  WHEN CHARLIE CAME through the door, Shep had barely reached the apartment ahead of her. He’d seen her leaving the bar and had taken a shortcut, moving fast so he’d be there when she arrived.

  He hoped she would tell him about meeting her boss at the bar. Not that it had anything to do with him—except for the fact that he needed to believe that she was being honest with him about everything else. Not that she owed him anything.

  But if she would hide a relationship with her boss, then how could he trust she was telling him the truth about Lindy and the rest?

  “Hi,” she said, looking exhausted. “Sorry I had to cut you off so quickly on the phone earlier. It was one of those kinds of days.”

  “Not sure I know what those kinds of days are,” he said.

  She slipped out of her boots before she said, “Just busy and odd. I forgot all about my best friend’s baby shower.” She shook her head, clearly disappointed in herself. “Tara. I don’t think I’ve told you about her. She and I are desk-mates. I wouldn’t be able to survive the place without her. I also forgot her present, so now I’m running late, but I decided I couldn’t go without my gift.” She started for her bedroom and stopped. “I’m sorry, earlier, you said you had good news?”

  “It can wait.”

  “No, tell me as long as it’s quick.”

  He nodded, realizing she wasn’t going to tell him about her and Greg at the bar. He quickly related what Paul Wagner had told him. He’d been excited earlier, now not so much.

  Charlie took the news without much enthusiasm either. “So Lindy had a key and let herself in the back door.”

  “Which proves that you weren’t responsible. She was never truly locked out of the house. She could have come in at any time, and she did. She was still alive at that point and able to stay in the house where it was safe, but apparently she chose to go back out.”

  Charlie shook her head. “She went back out to replace the key and was attacked. Shep, you’re splitting hairs. It always comes back to the fact that I locked her out. She was out there screaming and carrying on and attracted a killer. If she hadn’t been locked out...”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “You weren’t responsible. I don’t know how many times I have to say that. I thought you’d be more excited about the news. I’m sorry. So tell me about your afternoon. You sounded busy even before you remembered the shower.”

  Charlie went into her bedroom and came back out with a wrapped present. “I really don’t feel like getting into it. Do you mind? I don’t have time right now anyway. The good news is that I didn’t see Lindy and I’m assuming you didn’t find anything new on my doorstep?”

  “No.” He now wished he’d said something about stopping by her office, seeing her with Daniel, seeing her go into the bar and her boss coming in after her. He’d waited out in the snow until she came out. Alone. When he’d seen that she was headed toward the apartment, he’d beat her home.

  Shep told himself that she probably felt it was none of his business. It wasn’t, since it had nothing to do with Lindy or the past or the stalking. He reminded himself that he was only here to solve this problem for her and then it would be time for him to get back to his own life.

  He watched Charlie pull on her boots to head out to her party. Then he walked to the door, pulled on his own coat and followed her, afraid of what other secrets Charlie might be keeping from him.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  AFTER HE SAW Charlie safely to the restaurant where the shower was being held, Shep tracked down the boy Lindy had argued with at school all those years ago.

  Austin Fletcher worked as a car salesman on the west end of town. He didn’t look all that different from his senior photo in the yearbook from fifteen years ago.

  He’d been a big boy. He was now a large man, thickly built with a head of blond hair, intense blue eyes and a cleft chin.

  While striking, his looks were just short of handsome. When he saw Shep looking at a used truck in the lot, he came over to give him a toothy smile and a strong handshake.

  “This is a nice one. I know the guy who owned it. Can’t go wrong with this truck, but I do have some rebates right now. I can put you in a new one if you’re interested.”

  “I want to ask you about Lindy Parker.”

  It took Fletch—that was how he’d introduced himself—a couple of moments to change gears. “Who?”

  “Lindy Parker, the girl who was murdered your senior year in high school.”

  “That had to be—”

  “Fifteen years ago,” Shep said, helping him with the math. “I heard you had a crush on her.”

  Fletch let out a nervous laugh. “I don’t know where you heard that but...” He shook his head, seeming at a loss for words.

  “But you knew her.”

  “Sure. We went to the same school.”

  “Her sister remembers the two of you arguing.”

  “Her sister?” Fletch said, frowning. “That dark-haired girl?”

  “Charlie. She said you grabbed Lindy’s arm and the two of you had words. What was tha
t about?”

  Fletch looked around as if wanting desperately to escape. “Are you serious? That was so long ago. You expect me to remember?”

  “Did you see Lindy outside of school?”

  The man blinked. “What did her sister say?”

  “How about you tell me the truth?”

  Fletch shifted on his feet. “Are you some kind of cop?”

  “I teach middle school math, but I’m a friend of Charlie’s. I’m just looking for answers. Anything you say is between the two of us. I’m trying to get a handle on what Lindy was like and why someone wanted her dead.”

  “I thought some vagrant passing through town killed her?”

  “So what was Lindy like?” Shep asked. And waited.

  Fletch shook his head again and looked toward the Bridger Mountains. They were white with glistening snow in the fading twilight. “She was different.”

  Shep continued to wait as patiently as he could. The car salesman had a gift of gab when he was trying to make a deal. Otherwise, it was as if he thought he had to pay for every word he uttered.

  “She was a...challenge,” Fletch said, avoiding his gaze.

  “A challenge you won?”

  It took Fletch a moment before he shifted to look back at Shep. “We met a few times after school down by the creek, but not much happened. She was a tease. The more she thought you wanted her, the more she held back.”

  “That sounds like a motive for murder.”

  Fletch took a step back. “Not me. I wasn’t even in town the night she died.”

  “You can prove that?”

  “I can. I was at an away game. I threw the winning pass that night. It’s funny. I was actually thinking about her on the way back on the bus. I wondered if that pass would get me anywhere with her. The bus got a flat and we didn’t get back into town until like three in the morning. I heard about her murder the next day.”

  “Who do you think killed her?” Shep asked, disappointed.

  “If not a vagrant?” Fletch scratched his head. “I guess someone she messed with like she did me. Someone who was tired of putting up with it.”

  “There were others she led on?”

  Fletch laughed. “Lindy didn’t just tempt boys. She liked to make our male teachers squirm. She was ruthless, especially with the teachers closer to her age.”

  “What teachers?”

  * * *

  THE MOMENT CHARLIE walked in the door of the restaurant where the shower was being held, her friend snagged her and drew her aside.

  “Where have you been?” Tara demanded. “Amanda is in a really bad mood. I thought she might stab herself with one of the cake-cutting knives.”

  “Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. Is everyone already here?”

  “Not to worry. We still have a few stragglers and Amanda didn’t like the way they arranged the tables so she’s making everyone move them. How did things go with Daniel?”

  “Not well,” Charlie said, hearing Amanda barking out orders in the other room. “I... Never mind, today is about you and your baby shower.”

  Tara rolled her eyes. “I was hoping you would tell me that Greg wasn’t going through with the marriage and that’s why she’s moping. I could use a day brightener.”

  “Why would you think Greg would share that with me?”

  “Because I heard from Connie that he left the building after you did with Daniel.” Connie was an artist who sat closest to the exit.

  Charlie felt a headache forming at the back of her skull. She and Daniel had just been outside talking for a minute... Greg must have been watching. Then he’d followed her to the bar.

  “He’s taken quite an interest in you,” Tara said.

  Charlie groaned. Was that what the drink in the bar had been all about? She wanted to sink into the floor. “Did Amanda know he followed me outside?”

  “Apparently she tried to tag along, but he waved her back.”

  Mystery solved, Charlie thought. “She thinks I want Greg.”

  Tara’s eyes widened in alarm. “Why would you want Greg? You already have two men you don’t know what to do with.”

  Just then Amanda saw them and headed their way.

  “Watch your back,” Tara whispered.

  “I’m doing this for you,” Charlie whispered back. “You and that baby.”

  The shower was actually fun. Tara got a lot of great baby gifts and seemed to enjoy herself. Amanda got drunk and became more morose, sitting in the corner by herself.

  So, all in all, Charlie chalked up the party as a success. But she wasn’t pushing her luck. Once things started breaking up, she grabbed Tara, told her goodbye and hightailed it for the door. She was determined to avoid Amanda at all costs.

  What had Greg been thinking, coming after her, following her to the bar? She couldn’t care less about his intentions. Was he trying to get her killed?

  * * *

  THERE WAS STILL TIME before the baby shower would probably end, so Shep decided to talk to one of the teachers Fletch had told him about. Larry “Mac” McCormick taught English at the high school. Like Shep, he was out on Christmas break and easy to find. He lived in a cottage-style house on Cooper Park not far from Montana State University.

  Mac answered the door on the second knock. He was holding a Christmas cookie in his free hand and was half turned, still talking to a child. Behind him came a cacophony of young voices, a roar broken only by a woman’s holler.

  Mac laughed at whatever was going on in the kitchen as he held the door open and turned to Shep. “Sorry, we’re making Christmas cookies.”

  The woman, whom Shep could not see, called that she was making cookies and that her husband was eating them.

  “What kind of rule is it that you have to decorate at least six before you get to eat one?” the teacher asked him.

  “Very unfair,” Shep said.

  “Exactly.” The man seemed to take him in just as Shep was doing the same. Mac was a nice-looking man of about forty with a great smile and two deep dimples.

  “This is probably not a good time,” Shep said. “But I need to ask you about Lindy Parker. She was—”

  “I remember Lindy,” Mac said and turned back toward to the kitchen to tell his wife they would be in his office and would be back soon. With that, he stepped out onto the porch with Shep. “It’s around the side.”

  They followed a shoveled path around to a small building. Mac opened the door and entered what was partly an office, but mostly a man cave complete with recliners and a huge flat screen TV that took up one wall. A very small desk and chair had been pushed to a corner.

  “Why do you want to know about Lindy?” Mac asked. “Did you know her?”

  “I’m friends with her sister.”

  “Charlie.” Mac smiled. “Smart girl. Not that Lindy wasn’t.” He dropped into one of the recliners and waited for Shep to join him. “You’re looking into her murder?”

  “I am. What can you tell me about her?”

  “Typical seventeen-year-old. Smart, but lazy when it came to doing schoolwork. Troubled.” Mac shrugged. “I see enough of them that I can spot it.”

  “Troubled how?”

  “Just going by what I saw, I’d say it had to do with her mother. I only met her once, new marriage, new husband, new town. Lindy didn’t adapt well to change.”

  Shep found it interesting how Mac had sized up the situation. As a teacher, Shep often saw troubled kids. Usually meeting the parents answered any questions he had.

  “I heard she might have led on boys in her class.”

  Mac nodded. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

  “Did she come on to you?”

  The man laughed. “I teach high school English. There are a lot of raging hormones out there. Lindy was just learning to use her sexuality. I’m not susc
eptible to teenage charm. But I would imagine she drove boys her age crazy.”

  “Was Fletcher in your class?”

  Mac nodded. “Was he one of them?”

  “You never saw him and Lindy together?”

  “Fletch had his choice of high school girls, but I guess I can see him going after Lindy. I would imagine she didn’t give him the time of day so he might have liked the challenge. Poor fool.”

  “So you really weren’t one of the poor fools?”

  Mac could have taken the question badly, but he didn’t. He smiled. “I was twenty-five, green, scared, right out of college and not sure I could do this. I was terrified of all of them, especially the girls. High school age students can be tough on you.”

  Shep chuckled to himself, thinking that middle school students could be as well.

  “But I found I loved teaching and that the students were as scared as I was. There are always those students you can’t reach. But the ones you can? The ones whose eyes light up when they start finding meaning in the written word? They make it all worthwhile.”

  “Lindy?”

  “Unfortunately, she wasn’t one of them. She pretended not to get it for attention. It wasn’t that she wasn’t smart. She just didn’t care.”

  “She didn’t come on to you.”

  Mac laughed. “Of course she did. But even if I hadn’t been newly married and her teacher, I wasn’t interested. Lindy was trouble. I felt sorry for her, but there wasn’t much I could do to help her.”

  Shep rose from his chair. “Thanks for your time.”

  “Thank you for stopping by. I really suck at frosting Christmas cookies so you saved me.” Mac grinned. “You should have at least one cookie before you take off. You said you’re a friend of Charlie’s,” he said as he got to his feet. “She was one of my better students.”

  “She’s doing okay.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. If you’re going to see her, take her a cookie, too.” Mac led the way to the back door where he had his wife wrap up a couple of giant cookies.