My sister was also staring at Gary, while smiling a predatory grin. My sister is two years older than I am, but other than her blue eyes, we look like twins. When she had given Gary the once over, she turned her gaze on me and smiled.
“Welcome home, Blue, and who’s the hunk?” Jenny said.
I ignored her and gave my mama a hug. Although coming home was always stressful, I loved my mama to death and suddenly realized how much I had missed her.
“Hey, Mama, how you been?”
She smiled at me as she caressed my cheek. “I’ve been good, girl, but look at how skinny you are. Well, I’ll fix that; I’ll put five pounds on you before you leave.” And then she looked at Gary. “This must be Gary; he’s a little old for you, ain’t he? How old are you, mister?”
Gary didn’t even blink. “I’m forty.”
“Forty? Well hell, that’s pushin’ the envelope, but you are a sexy devil, I’ll give you that.”
“Are you flirting with me, ma’am?”
“Am I…?” Mama said, and then she laughed. “No, son, I’m too old for that nonsense. Hell, if I want a man I just tell him so.”
Gary smiled. “A plainspoken woman, I like that.”
“How do you feel about my daughter?”
“I like her a great deal.”
“In the sack or out of it?”
“Both,” Gary said, without the trace of a blush, although I could feel my cheeks redden.
“Well, you treat her good out of the sack and she’ll treat you good in it; we Steele women know how to take care of a man.”
Jenny sidled up against Gary then.
“All us Steele women know how to treat a man right. Hi, I’m Jenny.”
“It’s nice to meet both of you ladies, but why don’t we go inside? I don’t know about Blue, but I could use a drink of water.”
“Or something stronger,” I mumbled.
Just as we reached the top of the porch steps, a car traveled up the long driveway and came to a sliding halt beside Gary’s truck. It was the sheriff’s car, behind it, followed a patrol car.
County Sheriff Matt Walker had been sheriff for as long as I could remember, although he was only in his early fifties. He had taken the job over from his father, Joe Walker, who had died from cancer. Joe Walker had been a legend in these parts, and even had a street in town named after him.
Matt Walker was a tall, thin man with a no-nonsense face and short blond hair turning gray. After exiting his cruiser, he came over to us, with one of the deputies following behind. The other deputy, a boy I grew up with named Billy Joe Tently, looked about the property.
The sheriff tipped his hat at my mother. “Howdy, Maggie,” Next, he spotted me and broke out in a smile. “Well I’ll be, little Blue, how you doin’ there, girl?”
I walked over and kissed him on the cheek.
“I’m fine, Sheriff, and it’s good to see you again, but hey, what brings you out here?”
Sheriff Matt ducked his head and sighed.
“I’m sorry to say it’s official business,” he said, and stared at Jenny. “Miss Steele, do you know a man by the name of Thomas Hayes?”
Jenny grinned. “Tommy? Yes, he’s my boyfriend.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Last night, we had dinner in Garland and… then we went back to his place.”
“And what time did you leave?”
Jenny’s eyes looked up, as she thought about it.
“I guess it was around two a.m.”
Mama snorted. “Two a.m.? The boy’s got more stamina than I would have given him credit for.”
Jenny frowned at her.
“We fell asleep while watching a movie, Mama. Sheriff, what’s this about?”
“I’m sorry to tell you this, Jenny, but Tommy Hayes is dead.”
Jenny shook her head violently. “What?”
“Yes, he was stabbed through the heart; the coroner places the time of death at around two a.m.”
“Tommy, dead? Wait… you think I killed him?”
“I don’t think anything yet,” Sheriff Matt said.
Billy Joe called over from the side of the barn; he was standing beside Jenny’s car, an old green Chevy Impala.
“We got a bloody knife here on the passenger seat, Sheriff.”
“What knife?” Jenny said. “There’s no knife in my car.”
The sheriff’s phone beeped and he checked it. After giving it a perturbed look, he held it up so that we could all look at it. Billy Joe must have taken a photo of the car and sent it to him. The picture showed the inside of Jenny’s car, lying on the passenger seat was a knife that looked like a switchblade; it was covered in blood.
The sheriff called over to his deputy.
“Billy Joe, stay with the car while we head back to town. I’m going to see about getting a warrant. I want everything by the book on this one, and oh yeah, stop sending me stuff on the damn phone. There’s nothing wrong with my legs, I could have just walked over there and looked in. Miss Jenny, I need you to come to the station with me so we can talk, and uh, you might want to have a lawyer handy.”
I spoke to him. “There’s more, isn’t there, Sheriff? I can tell by the look on your face.”
“We have witnesses, Blue, and that’s all I’m gonna say for now.”
Gary stepped forward.
“Hello, Sheriff, my name is Gary Dent. I’m Blue’s boyfriend and now… I guess I’m also Jenny’s attorney.”
“All right, then why don’t you follow us back into town. Jenny, you’ll be riding with me.”
The other deputy took out a set of handcuffs and Jenny blanched. The sheriff raised a hand and spoke up.
“Put those cuffs away, Bob, there’s no need for them, right, Jenny?”
“Yes,” Jenny said, as she looked like she might cry at any moment.
Sheriff Matt offered his arm and then he escorted Jenny to his car.
With Mama sitting in the back seat of Gary’s pickup, we followed the police cars out to the highway.
“Mr. Gary?” Mama said.
Gary looked at her in the rear-view mirror.
“Yes ma’am?”
“Guilty or not, you get my girl free, you hear me?”
“Guilty or not, yes ma’am.”
“Well, all right then,” Mama said, and off we went to the police station.
Chapter 8
According to Mama, Jenny had been dating Tommy Hayes for over six months, a record for my sister.
Tommy had been a reporter, based out of Dallas, and as far as Mama knew, he never had a problem with anyone.
When we arrived at the local police station, Gary followed the sheriff and Jenny into an interrogation room.
The police station was in a massive old building that also housed the courthouse and licensing bureaus. Despite its gray stone exterior, the inside was modern, thanks to a renovation three years earlier.
Mama and I sat for hours on a wooden bench while sipping on vending machine coffee. After what seemed like forever, Gary walked over and sat beside us.
“They’re booking her on suspicion of murder, chiefly because of the knife found in her car. DNA results on the blood aren’t in yet of course, but the blood type matches the victim, Tommy Hayes.”
“What’s Jenny’s story?” I said.
“She says he was fine when she left him. Tommy walked her out to her car and she drove off. She has no idea how the knife got into her car, and oh, they searched the house and removed all of Jenny’s clothes, plus her car. She’ll be arraigned in the morning. If they find any more evidence, they may up the charge to murder.”
“Mama,” I said. “Does Jenny ever lock her car?”
“No, there’s no need, and you’re thinking that somebody planted that knife, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Jenny wouldn’t kill anybody, and if she did, she’d be smart enough to get rid of the murder weapon.”
“That’s what I think too,” said a voice fro
m the doorway. We all looked up to see Sheriff Matt enter the room.
Mama walked over to him.
“If you think my girl is innocent, then why are you keeping her here?”
“Maggie, I have to go where the evidence takes me, despite how I feel.”
“Sheriff,” I said. “You said there were witnesses, who are they?”
“It’s Doc Monroe and Emma Cole.”
Mama hung her head. “Oh, Lordy.”
“What am I missing?” Gary said. “I take it that Doc Monroe is a doctor of some kind, but who is Emma Cole?”
I answered him.
“Doc Monroe isn’t a doctor, he’s the doctor. He’s about eighty, highly respected, and he must have delivered nearly every baby in this town, including the three of us.”
“And Emma Cole?”
“She’s the mayor, and her late husband’s family founded the town.”
Gary sighed. “I suppose they’d have no reason to lie.”
“Doc said he saw Jenny and Tommy fighting,” the sheriff said. “Doc said it was loud enough to wake him up. His house is directly across from the Martin place; Tommy rents the apartment over the Martin’s garage.”
“What about the Martins?” I said. “If a fight were loud enough to wake Doc, then it would have woken them up too, what do they say?”
“No one was home, they’re on vacation.”
“And Emma Cole, what’s her story? Why would the mayor be up at two a.m.?”
“Emma suffers from insomnia. When she can’t sleep, she goes out for a drive. She says she saw Jenny at a stop light by the convenience store on Main Street. Emma said that Jenny had blood on her face and wouldn’t look at her. When the light changed, Jenny sped off.”
“What’s Jenny say about all this?” I said.
“She denies everything, says there was never a fight, no knife and no blood, says she doesn’t know why Doc and the mayor would say what they’re saying.”
Mama shook her head slightly.
“None of this makes sense.”
“Well, it could,” Sheriff Matt said.
Mama stared at him. “How’s that?”
“Maybe, just maybe Jenny suffered a break of some kind, a mental break. If she murdered Tommy in a fit of rage or jealousy, she may have blocked it from her mind.”
“That’s crazy!” Mama shouted.
“Crazier than Doc and the mayor making up stories to frame her? Why would they lie, Maggie?” the sheriff said.
“I don’t know,” Mama said quietly.
I didn’t know either, but if they were lying, I was going to find out why.
Chapter 9
Mama and I were allowed to visit with Jenny in a small, windowless room. I was surprised to see her dressed in what looked like a set of orange hospital scrubs, but then I realized that they would have taken her clothes for processing.
Jenny sent us a weak smile as we settled across from her at a gray metal table.
“I didn’t do it,” she said.
“Tell us what you remember about last night,” I said. “Did anything out of the ordinary happen? Was Tommy worried about anything, maybe afraid of something?”
“No, actually, he was in a very good mood. He said the story he was working on was about to break open.”
“What story?”
“I don’t know, but Tommy wasn’t a crime reporter or anything, he wrote for the Lifestyle section, plus the occasional human interest story.”
“That doesn’t sound like an area where a story could ‘break open’; maybe he was working on something more serious.”
Jenny began to cry and Mama reached over and held her hand.
“What is it, baby?”
“Tommy, I was falling in love with him, Mama. Goddamn whoever killed him; I hope they rot in hell.”
“First, we have to figure out who that is,” I said. “What do you remember about your ride home?”
“It was quiet; I didn’t see another car until I reached the highway. I don’t know why Doc would say Tommy and I fought, and the mayor, she was nowhere in sight, but why would they lie? I don’t understand why they would lie about me.”
I stared at Jenny.
“Hey, Jen, think hard before you answer me, but are you certain that you remember the ride home?”
Jenny screwed up her face in thought.
“Yes, I remember Tommy kissing me goodbye. I remember sitting at that damn long light on Maple Street, and then heading up the ramp and merging onto the high—”
“Maple Street? You took Maple Street home, not Main Street?”
“Yeah, I know it’s a little longer drive, but it puts you up farther along the highway, why?”
“The mayor claims she saw you on Main Street, not Maple.”
“Well then she’s definitely lying. Even if I somehow missed seeing her, she couldn’t have seen me on Main Street; I was never there.”
“I need to go have a talk with Doc and the mayor,” I said.
Billy Joe Tently stuck his head in the room. He was a muscular man of average height with a toothy grin. He was the youngest of seven brothers and his father had been my math teacher in high school. One thing about growing up in a small town is that you know just about everyone’s history.
“Time’s up, ladies, but you’ll be able to see her again in the morning.”
I smiled. “Okay Billy Joe, but just give us a second, huh?”
He smiled back, “Sure thing, Blue; I’ll be right down the hall.” and then he took out his phone and fiddled with it.
After Billy Joe left, I spoke to Jenny.
“Hey, big sis, we’re gonna get you out of here, you got that?”
“How?”
I stood up. “Don’t you worry about how, just believe me when I say it’s gonna get done.”
Jenny and Mama stared up at me with their mouths open.
“What?”
Mama grinned. “Damn girl, for just a second there, it sounded like your daddy was talkin’”
Gary and I got to Doc’s house just as the last patient of the day was leaving. Doc was semi-retired, but still saw the occasional patient; usually they were old friends of his.
As I rang the doorbell, a new BMW parked at the curb, it was Mayor Cole. Emma Cole had to be nearing eighty, but thanks to plastic surgery, she could pass for sixty. She left the car and walked over to us.
“Blue, dear, I heard you were back in town, I’m so sorry that it had to be under such horrible circumstances.”
“Hello, Mayor, are you certain that it was my sister you saw last night?”
Her face darkened. “I don’t want to talk about that; it’s a police matter.”
“Police matter? Mayor, this is my sister’s future we’re talking about.”
The door opened and Doc Monroe stood there staring at us.
“Come on in, Emma, and Blue, I have nothing to say to you, like Emma said, it’s police business.”
“Doc, what the hell is going on; why won’t you talk to me?”
The mayor brushed by me and entered the house, then, she swiveled about and pointed a finger at me.
“Leave Blue, or we’ll call the sheriff and he’ll make you leave.”
And then the door shut in my face.
Gary looked at me and grinned.
“I see it’s true what they say about small town folk being friendly.”
“It’s not funny. The mayor’s always been a bit of a cold fish, but Doc? Doc Monroe is one of the friendliest people I know.”
“Not anymore,” Gary said. “And I’ll tell you something else.”
“What?”
“He wasn’t just rude, he looked scared.”
We left Doc’s and drove into Dallas.
After a short wait, Gary and I spoke to Ray Kurtz. Kurtz was Tommy Hayes’ editor. We talked with him in a small break area behind the newsroom. The clickety-click of numerous people typing at once, even on modern keyboards, still carried into the room.
; “I’m just sick about Tommy, Miss Steele, but I have no idea what story he could have been working on. Tommy worked the Lifestyle section mainly, with now and then, a human interest story.”
“What sort of human interest stories?”
“Oh, you know, like when a lost child is found safe, or a bum on skid row inherits a fortune, stuff like that. I believe the last story he did was about a guy celebrating his 100th birthday at the nursing home.” Kurtz suddenly looked thoughtful. “You know, come to think of it, Tommy did tell me that something interesting happened at the home that day. When I asked him what it was, he told me that he’d get back to me after he checked some things out.”
“How long ago was this?”
“Two days ago, the name of the nursing home is Avalon Health; it’s over on Burgoyne Avenue.”
We grabbed a quick bite at a diner, while on our way over to the home.
While Gary checked in with his office, I gave my best friend, Becca, a call.
“Wow Blue, that doesn’t sound like Doc at all.”
“I know, I think he’s afraid of something, or somebody.”
“Well girl, you tell Jenny that I said to hang in there, the truth will come out eventually.”
“Oh, it’ll come out all right, even if I have to drag it out by its tail.”
Becca laughed, then asked me a question.
“How’s Gary getting along with your mama?”
“Great, she didn’t faze him in the least.”
“I think you’ve got a good one there, Blue, you know?”
I leaned away from the table and lowered my voice.
“Yeah, I know, but, it’s still early, I mean we’ve only been together for a few weeks.”
“If it counts any, I vote you keep him.”
“It counts, and I’ll keep that in mind.”
The administrator of the nursing home was a middle-aged woman with her hair in a severe bun. She was a good-looking woman, but her demeanor told you that she was one tough cookie. At first, she seemed reluctant to let us talk with the staff, but after Gary poured on the charm, she was ready to give us a tour.
Blue Steele Box Set Page 4
