CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Miner drove into Doyle Organics as Eddie left the warehouse after the morning rush. Eddie stuck his pencil between the band of his baseball cap and ear and walked to meet him.
“Hey, Miner. You looking for Starling? He’s back in the warehouse trying to interview the Mexicans.”
“Hey, Eddie.” The police cruiser’s door clunked shut. “Chief probably should’ve sent Malik out here.”
“Probably.”
“Got a minute?”
“Sure.” Eddie jerked his head toward the office. “Come on. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee.”
“No, thanks. I’m gonna float away if I have any more coffee.”
Eddie held the door open for Miner, walked around Matt’s desk, and threw the clipboard on it. He paused. “Man. Déjà vu.” He looked up at Miner and forced the memory of Matt out of his mind. “I gotta get a damn chair. Matt never sat down.”
Eddie motioned for Miner to sit and leaned against the credenza wedged behind the desk.
“Understand you were with Matt and Amy Saturday night.”
“With a lot of other people out at their lake lot.”
“Anything interesting happen?”
“Lots of interesting things happened. Care to be more specific?”
“Anyone threaten to kill Matt and Amy? Maybe wave a 9 mm around for good measure?”
“No,” Eddie said with a laugh.
“You took Ellie to the bonfire, right?”
Eddie lifted an eyebrow. “So I’m not the first person you’ve talked to.”
“No.”
He shrugged. “Yeah. Ellie went with me.”
“Leave with you?”
“Of course.”
“What time?”
“Midnight? Twelve thirty?” Eddie said.
“After?”
Eddie paused. Anyone at the bonfire could have told Miner he went with Ellie. If Miner questioned Ellie, did she cover for him like he asked?
“We went to her place.”
“Which one?”
“Lake house.”
“What time did you leave?”
“Early morning. I dropped her at home so she could get ready for church.”
Miner nodded. “Where’d you sleep?”
Eddie laughed. “That’s awfully personal.”
Miner waited. Eddie narrowed his eyes. If Miner was testing his alibi against what Ellie said, she sure as hell wouldn’t say Eddie slept in her bed. “I slept on the couch.”
“You didn’t go home?”
“No. I ran into Dallas for the day. To see a friend. I thought Jack and Julie might want the house to themselves for a little longer. Ethan spent the night at Troy’s.”
Miner nodded. “When did you hear about Matt and Amy?”
“Last night, at the book store.”
“You didn’t hear during the day? It’s all the town could talk about.”
“I was in Dallas.”
Miner nodded again. “Nobody texted you? Called you?”
“My phone was dead, and I didn’t bother to recharge it. Sometimes I like being out of touch, you know?”
“Not very convenient when there’s a murder, though.”
Eddie crossed his arms. “Surely you don’t like me for their murders.”
“More than some, less than others. Tell me about the fight Saturday night.”
“I didn’t see all of it. I’d gone into the woods to take care of some business.”
“With Michelle?”
Eddie jerked his attention back to the officer. “Yeah.”
Miner narrowed his eyes. Eddie could tell the more Miner talked to him, the less Miner liked him. Cops never liked him. If he only knew.
“Did Chris see you walk out of the woods?”
Eddie furrowed his brows. “I don’t know. He had his hands full.”
“So, he didn’t see you and Michelle come out of the woods together?”
“Ah. You wonder if he’s jealous.”
“Or if he knows Michelle’s cheating on him.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m not the first.”
Miner bobbed his head from side to side, not committing to a yes or no.
“I don’t know if he saw, or if he knows or if he cares. Michelle and I don’t talk about Chris. What could this possibly have to do with the murders?”
“Probably nothing.” Miner stood and went to the door. “Thanks for your time.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
When they were outside, Miner said, “By the way, I’m going to need the name and number of who you were with Sunday.”
“Why?”
“To check your alibi.”
Eddie laughed. “For during the day?”
“Your brother expects me to be thorough.” Miner coughed and spit on the ground. “Sorry. You driving Abe’s truck these days?”
“Yeah, we traded.”
“Straight up?”
Eddie nodded.
“You got fleeced, son.”
“I don’t think so.”
Miner clicked his tongue on his teeth and pulled a notebook and pen from his front pocket. He clicked the pen and waited with it poised over a blank page.
Eddie debated what name and number to give him. There were so many choices. Fuck it. “Tony Hunt. 972-555-5208.”
Miner clicked the pen, closed the notebook, put them back in his pocket, and patted it. “Thanks.”
Eddie watched Miner turn his car around in the gravel yard and pull out onto the road. When he was out of sight, Eddie turned on his heel and walked to the main office, head down.
Eddie asked the receptionist, “She in?”
The woman, eyes watery and red nosed, nodded. “Upstairs.”
He took the stairs two at a time and walked into Joe Doyle’s office without knocking. Michelle sat behind her father’s desk, her feet propped up on the corner, her face remarkably composed and free of signs of grief. “Father Dobson, I’ll have to call you back,” she said, hanging up the phone.
Her eyes traveled from Eddie’s head to his toes and back. “What do you want?”
“I want to know what I’ll get for lying to the police for you.”
She dropped her feet to the floor, stood, and walked around the desk. “I’d say an obstruction of justice charge and jail time. But, since your brother is the chief, I’ll say nothing.”
She stopped inches from him. Her eyes moved to the baseball cap on his head. She pulled the pencil out and said, “Take that fucking cap off. It reminds me of my husband.”
Eddie took the hat off and tossed it on the desk, his eyes never leaving hers.
“Where’ve you been?” she asked.
“Miss me?”
Michelle ran her hands through Eddie’s hair to the nape of his neck. She rubbed his neck with her thumbs. “I needed you yesterday.”
“To run an errand? Maybe knock someone else off?”
She seemed genuinely hurt by the comment. “No. I needed you. To help me forget.”
Eddie knew manipulating people was second nature to Michelle. As was using sex to get what she wanted and to control others. Still, there was a vulnerability to her Eddie hadn’t seen before. Against his better judgment, Eddie leaned forward, cupped Michelle’s face, and kissed her.
They’d kissed before, passionately, hungrily, even angrily, but never like this. Her lips were soft and gentle beneath his, her tongue moved languidly around his mouth, her hands cradled the back of his head, and massaged it gently. When Eddie pulled away, his confusion at the kiss was mirrored in her expression. They stared at each other for a long moment, each trying to regain their breath and composure.
He pulled Michelle to him and kissed her hungrily, working on the buttons of her blouse as he did. When she reached for his belt, he pulled away. Her face was flushed, her lips swollen, her expression confused.
“Today, it’s all about you,” he said.
She arched her eyebrows and smiled slowly, almost sweetly.
Eddie pushed the papers, blotter, and pen holder off the desk and on to the floor and lay Michelle back on Joe’s desk.
“You are, by far, the best hire Matt ever made.” Michelle stood and smoothed her skirt down. “So, who interviewed you? Miner?”
“Yeah.”
She cleared her throat and lifted her chin, regaining her professionalism. “Good.”
“It’s not good. He’s damn astute, Michelle. Don’t underestimate him.”
She laughed. “I’m not. I’m going to buy him off. Pollard gave him hush money for years. I’ve let Miner swing in the breeze for a while, to squash any flash of conscience he might have had when your brother came into town. Teresa’s probably screaming in pain by now. He’ll be easy enough to get in line. Where did you tell him you were Sunday morning?”
“With Ellie.”
Michelle’s eyebrows shot up. “Is she backing you up?”
“For now.”
“Well, I’ll be Goddamned. Little Miss Honesty is lying for her lover.”
“We aren’t lovers.”
“Then why would she lie for you?”
Eddie stared at Michelle and remained silent. He was tired of lying to everyone about everything.
“That’s what I thought. Where were you yesterday? I tried to call you all day.”
“Taking care of your problem, like you wanted.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere there’s not cell service.”
“Where’s Kyle? He’s not returning my calls.”
“Kyle went to visit a long-lost relative.”
“Goddamn him! I didn’t tell him he could do that. Who did he go visit?”
“His father.”
“Jesse Grant’s dead.” Michelle stilled. “You killed Kyle?”
“I was taking care of Muldoon when Grant shot at me. Lucky for me he’s a shit shot. I’m not. Did you tell him to kill me?”
Her head jerked back. “Of course not! Why would you ask that?” Her voice went up an octave at the end of the question.
“Why else send him with me?”
“So you could prove to Kyle once and for all you’re on our side.”
“I didn’t realize Kyle Grant was in charge.”
“Kyle Grant kept my hands clean. I guess you’ve promoted yourself to that job.” She narrowed her eyes. “Has Jack connected DI to the drug organization?”
Eddie paused. “No.”
She studied him before nodding. “But he will.”
“Yeah. Jack’s a good cop. He’ll catch you eventually.”
Michelle smirked. “We’ll see about that.” She patted him on the shoulder and tried to move past him. “I need to get back to work and so do you.”
Eddie stopped her. “We’ve got another problem.”
Michelle inhaled. “What?”
“Brian Grant.”
She laughed. “How is he our problem? I’d imagine he’s your brother’s number one suspect after Saturday night.”
“He may be, I don’t know. But I do know he was here after and heard you threaten Matt.”
“I didn’t threaten Matt.”
Eddie laughed. “Yeah, you did.”
Michelle gripped the edge of the desk until her knuckles were white. “What does he think he heard? No, better question, why was he here?”
“He saw Matt pull in and wanted to apologize.”
Michelle dropped her head to her hand, sighed and rubbed her temple. Eddie continued. “He didn’t see anything, but he heard enough to know about the operation, or at least have an idea about it. He’s easy to shut up. Give him a job.” Michelle dropped her hand and stared up at Eddie. “Apparently they’re hard up for money. Give him a job with your metal building business.”
“How do you know this?”
“What?”
“How do you know Brian was here?”
“I saw him last night at the Book Bank.”
“Brian at a bookstore? Try again.”
“He was picking up Paige.” Eddie mentally crossed his fingers he wouldn’t be caught in these lies. The last thing he needed was for Michelle to read more into Eddie’s protection of Susan than was there. “Want me to make the offer?”
Michelle pushed him away and sat down behind the desk. She picked up the phone. “No. I’ll do it.” Eddie pressed the disconnect button. “What?” She was pissed now.
“Chris saw us come out of the woods.”
“So?”
“He doesn’t care about us?”
“Seriously, Eddie? With all the other shit I have to do, like plan Matt and Amy’s funeral, whether Chris cares I’m sucking your dick or not is down pretty far on the give a shit list. Okay? Besides, Chris knows he’s got a good deal.” She batted Eddie’s hand off the phone. Michelle dialed and swiveled the chair around to stare at the back wall. “Brother Dobson, hi. It’s Michelle. Sorry for the interruption. What time can I meet you at the funeral home?”
Eddie left and almost ran into the wide-eyed receptionist standing outside the door. “We made a little bit of a mess in there.” He winked at her and the woman dropped the papers she was holding.