Fireworks in Paradise

by Kathi Daley

  “I did. I do.”

  “But he hasn’t come over one time since we’ve been back. He used to come over all the time.”

  I paused to consider my answer. I could sense how important it would be. “Uncle Hunter has been busy. We all have. I’m sure he’ll visit when things slow down a bit.” Actually, I wasn’t sure of that at all, but I hoped that was what would happen. “And I bet you’d still see Deputy Dylan if he hadn’t moved away. Kyle loves us—all of us—and while I don’t know for sure how things will turn out, I know neither of us would want anything to stop him from being part of our lives.”

  “Just because you don’t want something to happen doesn’t mean it won’t,” Gracie reasoned.

  I took a slow breath. “That’s true. All I can do is promise you that Uncle Kyle and I love each other and we love you, and there’s nothing that could happen that would stop us from loving you girls. You asked me if I was going to marry Kyle and I told you it was too soon to know for sure, but I can see a future where that could happen. Someday, after we have a chance to get used to being a couple.”

  “Would we still live with you?” Gracie asked. I remembered she’d asked a similar question on Gull Island, but that was when my having a boyfriend was only theoretical.

  “Yes. Absolutely. You and me and Ashley are a family. Nothing can change that.”

  “If you married Uncle Kyle, would he move in here with us?”

  Probably not, but I didn’t want Gracie to worry about things that may never happen. I glanced at Ashley, who was now sitting quietly with a look of contemplation on her face. I was sort of surprised she wasn’t making comments she knew would make the situation worse. Egging her sister on was a very Ashley thing to do.

  “How about if we wait and talk about this if Kyle and I make the decision to get married. I do promise that, whatever happens, the three of us will live together until you get older and move out on your own.”

  “I’m never moving away from you,” Gracie insisted.

  I hugged her. “As much as I wish that were true, I think your opinion of living with your older sister will change over time. But until it does, I promise I’ll always be here for you, and I have a feeling Uncle Kyle will be as well.”

  Gracie wiped a tear from her cheek. “Okay.”

  I glanced at Ashley. “Are you okay too?”

  She shrugged. “Whatever.”

  I wasn’t sure I’d convinced either Ashley or Gracie that Kyle would be in our lives no matter what. I wasn’t even sure I’d convinced myself. But I did realize I had more lives than just my own to consider as Kyle and I moved forward. Maybe slowing things down would be a good idea. Maybe I needed to give the girls time to adjust to all the changes in our lives. At the very least, perhaps I should sit down with Kyle to fill him in so he knew what Gracie, and possibly Ashley, were thinking.

  Chapter 18

  Tuesday, July 4

  “Here come the dancing bears,” Gracie screeched from atop Kyle’s shoulders, where she’d managed to finagle an elevated view of the Fourth of July parade. “I like the one with the ballerina dress the best.”

  “My favorite is the bear with the honeypot on his head,” Kyle said. “I think it’s funny the way he stumbles around and acts like he can’t see where he’s going.”

  “Personally, I like the mama bear with the wagon full of baby bears wearing nothing but diapers,” Jenna informed us. “Makes me think of my own baby bears running around in diapers.”

  “Mom,” Kristi whined.

  “Tj says stuff like that all the time and we aren’t even her babies,” Ashley consoled her friend. “If she’s this mushy now, I can’t imagine how bad she’s going to be when she has her own babies to fuss over.”

  I couldn’t help but glance at Kyle, who simply winked. The middle of a parade surrounded by family wasn’t the time to start having thoughts about babies or, even worse, the making of babies, but minds tended to go where they chose and I found myself blushing. Jenna glanced at me with a little smile on her face that let me know she knew exactly what I was thinking.

  “Oh, look, here comes the high school band,” I quickly changed the subject.

  “Can I join the band when I get to high school?” Ashley asked.

  “I suppose, if you want to learn to play an instrument.”

  “Can I get one?”

  “Absolutely. I think learning a musical instrument is a wonderful idea. Maybe the flute?”

  “I want to play the drums.”

  It figured she’d want to play the noisiest of all the instruments. I smiled despite the fact I was already getting a headache in anticipation of the hours of practice time she was likely to put in. When I was about Ashley’s age I’d wanted to play the drums as well, but somehow my dad had convinced me it would be a better idea to learn to play the piano. He’d made a good argument, but I never did get into the piano and quit after only a few lessons. I didn’t want to use my power as an adult to sway Ashley from her interests, so I supposed if she really wanted to play the drums I’d have to buy earplugs for everyone.

  While I was enjoying spending the day with my sisters and friends, my mind was still partially on our investigation. When I spotted Martha Wilson across the street chatting with Harriet Kramer, I made my excuses and walked in that direction. Even if I didn’t plan to ask her to allow me to take a look at her son’s room until another day, it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. I could at least make an appointment with her now.

  “Martha, Harriet,” I greeted. “I’m so happy to have run into you.”

  “You needed something?” Harriet asked.

  “Actually, I wanted to ask Martha if she’d mind if I stopped by tomorrow or the next day. I have a few more questions, if you have the time.”

  “I’m afraid I’m leaving early in the morning to visit my sister. I’m still having a hard time dealing with Harold’s death, and I thought some time away would be good for me. I’m on my way to the hairdresser now, but I’ll be home later this afternoon if you’d like to stop by then.”

  “I would like that very much. Say around three?”

  “Three is fine.”

  After chatting with the women a few more minutes, I jogged back across the street to where Kyle and the others were waiting.

  “Was she willing to speak with us?” Kyle asked.

  “Yes, but it has to be today. She’s leaving early tomorrow morning to visit her sister. I told her we’d be by at three.”

  Kyle grimaced.

  “That’s a bad time?”

  “I was going to wait to tell you this, but I made an appointment for three.”

  I shrugged. “That’s okay. I can go alone.” I turned to Jenna. “As long as Jenna doesn’t mind watching the girls for an hour or so.”

  “I don’t mind at all,” Jenna confirmed.

  Jenna was a wonderful friend who was always willing to help when I needed her. I owed her at least a thousand hours of babysitting in kind, although she’d never once brought it up.

  “There’ll be a food court over in the park if you want to come and have lunch with us before your meetings,” Jenna offered.

  “I’m starving. A good old-fashioned chili dog sounds perfect,” I said. “Kyle will need to run me out to the resort to pick up Grandpa’s truck, but we should have plenty of time to eat first.”

  “We really do need to see about getting you a new car,” Kyle commented.

  I wanted to remind him that I could take care of getting my own car, but instead I just smiled and said I would welcome his help with the task as soon as we could find a day to head down to Reno to visit the car lots. I fully intended to both select and pay for my own car, but it wouldn’t kill me to be nice to the man who’d watched the entire parade with an eight-year-old sitting on his shoulders. Gracie was eating up his extra attention, her
somber mood of the previous evening completely gone.

  “Who are you meeting?” I asked him after we’d arrived at the park and the four girls had gone off to play on the swings while we waited for our food.

  “Bristow’s administrative assistant. I knew Bristow was out of town until after the holiday, but I used my town council connections to get in touch with his assistant. I figure if Bristow is our man he’s not going to tell us anything anyway, but the assistant might be willing to talk for a price. I called him and it turned out he was open to a conversation, especially when I let him know I was willing to pay for information. I was going to tell you about the meeting when I had the chance. I agreed, at his insistence, to go alone.”

  “That’s fine; it turned out just as well. Maybe the assistant will have the information we need to put this mystery to bed.”

  Martha had made lemonade again, which she served on the patio as soon as I arrived. I felt bad that I had to question the poor woman again; she was taking Judge Harper’s death really hard. I could understand that. Not only had she lost a man she’d cared enough about to become intimate with, she’d lost a friend she shared her evenings playing cards and dining with as well.

  “How can I help you?” Martha asked when we’d both taken our seats.

  “I’ve come across some interesting files that Judge Harper was looking into when he died.”

  “Recent files?”

  “More like recent notes on older cases. One of the ones he was working on related to a murder that occurred eight years ago in this very neighborhood.”

  A look of recognition crossed Martha’s face. “You must mean Jennifer Reinhold. Such a tragedy. Jennifer’s own husband killed her and buried her behind the house. I remember thinking at the time that there could be no bigger betrayal than to be murdered by the man you vowed to love for eternity.”

  “Yes, it really was a tragedy. The reason I’m here now is because I ran into Sam at the resort yesterday, and he told me about his photography hobby. He mentioned he kept most of his old photos here at your house, and I was hoping you’d let me look at them.”

  Surprise showed on Martha’s face. “Why ever would you want to look at Sam’s photos? I thought you believed me when I told you he wouldn’t have killed Harold.”

  “I do believe you,” I assured her. “The thing is, reading the judge’s file piqued my curiosity. I knew a woman died in this neighborhood, and I knew Sam recorded all sorts of ordinary moments in photographs. I was hoping he might have photographs of the neighborhood at the time of the murder that could contain clues.”

  Martha took a moment before answering. “Have you asked Sam about looking at his photos?”

  “No,” I admitted. “We did chat about them yesterday, but it didn’t occur to me that his photos could provide new insight and evidence until later. I was going to call to ask his permission, but because you’re going away in the morning…”

  Martha hesitated again. “I can call him to ask if it would be all right. Do you think that woman’s murder had anything to do with what happened to Harold?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “It might. I figured there was no harm in following up on an idea.”

  Martha got up. “Let me just call Sam. If it’s all right with him, it’s all right with me.”

  I knew there was a huge risk Sam would say it definitely wasn’t okay for me to look through his boxes, but I didn’t have a choice. When Mrs. Wilson returned to the patio she informed me that Sam hadn’t answered his phone, but she’d thought it over and realized he most likely wouldn’t mind if it would help us track down Harold’s killer.

  She showed me to his room, which was filled from floor to ceiling with boxes, then headed back into another room to answer the phone. I just hoped the call wasn’t from Sam, insisting I wasn’t to be permitted to look at his photos.

  At first it seemed as if there were way too many boxes to make a search for a specific time period possible, but after I opened a few of them and sorted through the photos on the top, I could see the boxes had been stacked in a loose chronological order. All I needed to do was figure out which area of the room contained boxes from about eight years ago. Because the boxes weren’t labeled, I’d need to depend on my recognition of something in one of the photos inside that would indicate a year.

  It was both fun and creepy to search through the boxes. Sam really was a talented photographer and he seemed to have captured everything on film. Many of his photos seemed to be of inconsequential items that most people would never think to photograph, which I supposed could be explained by his own use of the term “obsession.” There were also quite a few photographs that were disturbing in nature. Not only did I come across the roadkill photos, which were incredibly gross, but there were also other photos of dead subjects such as a dead squirrel, a woman lying in a coffin, and a car accident that I was certain no one had survived. The man seemed to have a fascination with every aspect of life including the good, the bad, and the downright disturbing.

  After the fiftieth photo of a dead animal or terrible accident, I was seriously beginning to consider dropping the whole thing when I came across a box that contained photos of some people standing in front of a house I was sure was the one the Reinholds had lived in. There were eight people in one photo. I didn’t know most of them, but I did recognize Steven and Jennifer Reinhold from their photos in Judge Harper’s file. Could the woman standing next to Jennifer be her sister, Kendra?

  The photo was enough to convince me to continue to look through that box. I picked up the next batch of photos and was sorting through them when I heard the doorbell ring. I could hear Martha speaking to someone—a man—but I doubted Sam would ring the bell at his own mother’s home, so I continued my search. It wasn’t until I was near the bottom of the box that I found a photo that was much more than I’d been looking for.

  I placed my hand to my mouth to stifle the scream I could feel building up. I needed to call Roy, and I needed to call him immediately. But not from there. I put the photo in my pocket and returned the box to the place I’d found it. I left the room and moved through the house, approaching the room just inside the patio, where Mrs. Wilson was speaking with the man. I was still pretty sure it wasn’t Sam, but I wasn’t certain, so I slipped closer until I could more clearly make out their conversation. I let out a slow breath when I realized it was a deliveryman; Mrs. Wilson had invited him for a glass of lemonade. Based on the familiar way they were chatting, I was willing to bet the man had stopped in for a drink on more than one occasion.

  “Are you finished, dear?” Mrs. Wilson asked.

  “I am, thank you. I need to go meet my family, but I do appreciate the opportunity to enjoy your son’s art. Have a nice time visiting your sister.”

  “I’m looking forward to the trip.”

  “I’ll see you when you get back.”

  I wasn’t sure why I felt nervous when the man followed me through the house, but I did. I supposed it could be the damning piece of evidence I had in my pocket. I made it outside and slipped into Grandpa’s truck, sighing in relief when I saw the man drive away. I decided to wait to call Roy until I’d left the gated community and returned to the highway. Once I felt comfortable that I had put enough distance between myself and Martha’s house, I’d pull over and call the detective, who would be very interested in the fact that Sam Wilson had a photograph of Jennifer Reinhold’s bloody body in the shallow grave before she was covered.

  “Roy, it’s Tj.”

  “Tj, I’m glad you called. I was just about to let you know that Kate solved the case.”

  “She did?”

  “Her interviews of the people who attended the town council meeting finally paid off. She found an eyewitness who saw Sam Wilson crawling around under Judge Harper’s car that night. It looks like he did intend to send him a warning to back off from seeing his mother.
I think he had no idea how it would end up, but I’m sure he’ll be found guilty of manslaughter despite his intention. Kate is on her way over to his place to arrest him right now.”

  “Alone?”

  “Yeah. I’m tied up with a four-car pileup I need to get back to. I’ll…”

  “Roy?” I said.

  I looked at my phone. The battery was totally dead. I searched around in the glove box for a charger, but Grandpa didn’t have one. I could go back to Mrs. Wilson’s and call Roy back. I hated for the news that her son had killed both Jennifer Reinhold and Judge Harper to be broken to her in quite this way, but Mrs. Wilson’s house was the closest one I could think of, and Kate had no idea how dangerous Sam really was. I wanted to get her a message before she confronted him, and I didn’t want to take the time to drive into town.

  I made a quick decision and turned the truck around, heading back toward Mrs. Wilson’s. As I was nearing the security gate, I saw a car pass through that looked a lot like Sam’s. If he wasn’t at his apartment, Kate wasn’t in danger, so I thought perhaps I should drive to town and phone Roy from there. I was about to do just that when the voice in my head told me to check things out at the house to be certain I really had seen Sam on his way there. I drove through the gate and continued slowly to the house I’d just left.

  If Sam was there, I didn’t want him to see me, so I drove past the house and circled around. His car was definitely in front of Mrs. Wilson’s house. If Sam was here instead of home, Kate most likely wasn’t in imminent danger. I pulled over to check my phone one more time. It was still dead. I was about to pull away and head back into town when I heard what sounded like a gunshot. I didn’t stop to think. I opened my car door and ran as fast as I could toward the house. Surely Sam wouldn’t kill his own mother.

  Once I arrived at the house, I had the presence of mind to look through the open window. Martha Wilson was standing in the living room, crying and begging Sam to stop what he was doing. Sam was standing in the middle of the room holding a gun. It was then I saw Kate kneeling on the floor. Her shoulder was bleeding, but she was conscious. Sam was screaming for his mother to pack a bag, but she seemed frozen in place. It took me a minute to understand what I was seeing. Kate went to Sam’s apartment to arrest him. Maybe he’d been leaving to head over to his mother’s and she’d followed him. Or maybe she’d decided to come to speak to Martha for some reason before arresting Sam. For the first time since I’d arrived, I noticed the sheriff’s department vehicle off to the side of the house.