The house was…nice. It had a long porch and several windows. The roof was a little odd as it had painted strips of pale pink and white, but it blended with the light paint on the rest of the house, and the landscaping was lovely. There was a huge flower bed along and around the side of the house. It was full of plants and flowers, and there were two medium sized trees in the yard. The house was certainly the best one in the neighborhood.
And I hated it.
Hated was probably too strong a word. How can someone hate a house? But it wasn’t my dream home. Of course, my dream home had been sold out from under me when I wasn’t looking. That house, a small Cape Cod style home, had gone on the market in late February and sold two days later. It was located in the same area as my current apartment. The house faced our city park, and homes in that area were seldom up for sale. I’d called Tracy the minute I saw it was available. She contacted the other agent who already had another offer. The house had been sold before I could even look at it, and I was heartbroken.
After that, I had put the search for a new home temporarily on hold. I’d planned to wait a couple of weeks before looking again, but with everything that happened at work and with Griggs, those two weeks turned into a month. I had kept an eye on the Cape Cod home. The For Sale sign came down, but no one moved in. I was hoping the sale would fall through, and I would be able to sweep in and claim it. After six weeks, I finally came to the conclusion the house was lost to me.
When Tracy called to ask if I was ever going to start looking again, I said yes. Now I was searching for another dream home, and I could already tell this one wasn’t it.
My phone rang, startling me out of my musings. Looking at the screen, I suppressed a sigh. Tracy was determined to get me into a home as soon as possible. Her aggressiveness worried me.
“Hi, Tracy.”
“Leah, I’m on my way. There was an accident on the freeway. I’m still in the backup but almost to the next exit. I should be there in about ten minutes.”
“Okay.”
“Leah,” she said. “I know you had your heart set on the house on Park Lane, but this one’s a steal. It’s in great shape. The owner is desperate to sell. It’s close to your work, and it’s lower than your budget.”
All good things. All the things I had hoped to find.
“I know. It looks nice.”
“Take a look around. Go into the backyard. It’s a good size. Harry will love it.”
I glanced at the dog sitting in the passenger seat of my car. Harry was a light brown color and had a lot of fur, hence his name. I didn’t name him. Oliva’s eight-year-old son did. Eric liked the play on words so my hairy dog became Harry.
“I’ll look around, but there’s someone else here.”
“Who?” Tracy asked sharply.
“I don’t know. There’s a pickup parked in front of the house, and someone’s sitting inside.”
“Hmm. No one else is showing the house today. I checked.”
“Well, maybe they’re waiting for someone across the street or something.”
Tracy agreed and hung up, vowing to meet me as soon as she could. I got out of my four-month-old car. In December, I’d been run off the road by Candace the first time she tried to kill me. It was after she killed Isabel, but before she killed Anthony Thorpe. It was several days later before she tried to strangle me. She was now in jail and headed for institutional treatment, and I had a new car. It sounds funny, but it wasn’t.
My last car had been an awful bright fuchsia but reliable. The odd color had made it almost impossible for the dealer to sell so I had taken the great deal that was offered. It had been a good car and completely paid off, but after the wreck, I received a check from the insurance company and decided to purchase a new car. I splurged. This one was a normal shade of gray, but it was flashier and faster than my last car. It had a 6-cylinder engine. I didn’t know what that meant. Cars weren’t my thing, but Gabe had been excited about it and assured me it would have a little get-up-and-go.
Harry jumped out after me and danced around a little. He’s still a young dog and big. The vet estimated he was about two and thought he was a mixture of collie, sheepdog, and some other large breed. He had a lot of energy but had turned out to be a great pet. Loyal and protective. He generally went to work with me each day. Harry stayed in the back room and was babied by all my employees and some of my customers. I was able to spend my breaks with him and take him for walks during the day. On the same day I acquired Harry, I had found a sick cat. Pandora moved in and now ruled our home. Taking Harry to work with me gave her a break from the overeager dog. It worked well for all of us.
As we headed toward the house, I glanced at the pickup. The woman inside didn’t move. I could tell it was a woman by her hair and the shape of her face. She appeared to be asleep. Shrugging, I led Harry up the sidewalk to the porch. The porch was big enough for a couple of chairs. I could picture myself sitting outside on a cool spring or fall evening reading a book or watching the birds in the trees.
The neighborhood was an older one. Most of the houses were in poor shape, but the area was near a major street and housing was at a premium in Reed Hill. If a developer was smart, they would buy the houses and renovate them. It wouldn’t take much for the neighborhood to become the newest hot spot. If I could get in before everyone else, I would have equity in my home far quicker than normal.
As we walked toward the back, I started to get a little excited. It was obvious the house was in good shape. The porch was smooth and even. I didn’t see any cracks in the siding or foundation. The house had been recently painted, and the air conditioning unit was large and clean. A wooden fence that looked new surrounded the backyard.
I opened the gate to the backyard, and Harry rushed in. I let the leash go and watched as he raced around. As Tracy had said, it was a good size. There was plenty of room for the dog to roam, and there was a small porch at the back door. I walked around the yard for a few minutes inspecting the fence before peering through the windows. I couldn’t see much so I called for Harry and returned to the front of the house.
Tracy still hadn’t arrived so I sat on the top step of the porch. Harry sniffed around the bushes a few minutes before settling down next to me. A car sped by revving its engine. There were two young men inside. One of them shot me the finger as they passed. I frowned and rolled my eyes. It wasn’t pleasant, but I had my Glock in my purse, and it was daylight. I could defend myself if they decided to challenge me. I wasn’t worried. The car continued down the road and turned the corner. Other than that, the neighborhood was quiet. I could hear a dog barking a few houses away, but there was no one outside.
I looked at the house across the street. The grass was overgrown, and there were several cars parked in the driveway. The house next to it had almost no grass, and one of the windows was boarded up. I was starting to lose the little bit of excitement I had when looking at the house. It was nice and in good shape, but the area was a little scary.
I needed to ask someone impartial about the neighborhood. Tracy was a new agent, and I had been stringing her along for a while. I had a feeling she was going to push me into a home to get me off her books. I didn’t want to live somewhere that wasn’t safe.
Glancing at the pickup again, I wondered if the woman would know anything. If she was waiting for someone who lived in the area, she might be familiar with the residents. She still hadn’t moved, and I was getting a little worried. It was a warm spring day, and I was surprised she was sitting in the cab with the windows up and the engine turned off.
Before I could decide whether to approach her, my phone rang. Thinking it was Tracy, I answered without checking. I was surprised to hear Griggs on the line.
“Good morning,” he said when I answered.
“Hi,” I replied with a smile. “Please don’t tell me you can’t make lunch.”
“Are you kidding me?” he said, humor lining his voice. “I think I’d get run out of town if I canceled on you again.”
“Oh, I doubt that.”
“You weren’t at the council meeting or at the gym.”
“What do you mean?”
“Gabe made a very pointed comment at the city council meeting the other night about not showing for our double date.”
As one of the leading employers in town, Gabe sat on the city council. He had been instrumental in hiring Griggs as our police chief, and he and Griggs had become friends. Gabe, Olivia, Griggs, and I had planned to meet at the movies on Saturday. It was one of the times Griggs had to cancel. Gabe understood this. He was simply giving Griggs a hard time.
“He had to know you couldn’t help it,” I said.
“Sure. As a council member and city leader, he understands and supports my dedication to the job. But as your friend, he’s not happy.”
I could still hear the humor in Griggs’s voice so I didn’t apologize for Gabe’s behavior. My friends could be protective.
“Of course, Cantono wasn’t as understanding.”
“Marcus?”
“Yes. Marcus. When I saw him at the gym this morning, he asked how our date went. He wasn’t pleased when I told him I had to cancel. I think he might’ve threatened my life.”
I laughed. Marcus and Griggs had gotten off on the wrong foot. Griggs being law enforcement and Marcus being part of a law-breaking family hadn’t helped. They now seemed to have reached an understanding. Not exactly friends, but no longer enemies.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean it,” I said. “You must’ve gotten to the gym early.”
“Yeah. I got a decent night’s sleep as it was quiet at the station. No domestic calls, no accidents, and especially no murders. I had to sleep on the couch in my office, but I wasn’t disturbed. I think that may be what pissed off Cantono. He didn’t look like he had slept at all.”
“That’s odd. I saw him at the store yesterday. He didn’t mention any late plans. Just going to Bella’s to help out. Maybe he didn’t sleep well and went to the gym early to wear himself out so he could sleep tonight.”
“Maybe. He certainly looked tired, but enough about him. What are you doing?”
“I’m sitting on the porch of a house waiting for my real estate agent to arrive so she can show it to me. Do you know anything about an accident on the freeway?”
There was a short pause. “We heard about it, but it’s being handled by the state troopers. They didn’t ask for any assistance so it can’t be that bad.”
“Probably a fender-bender that backed up traffic. Tracy said she was almost to the exit. Hopefully, she’ll be here soon.”
Another pause. “You’re looking for a house?”
He sounded surprised. It had been my plan to purchase a house for years. I had been saving for a down payment that would allow me to have a reasonable monthly mortgage. We had paid off all our business loans, and the store was doing well. Buying a house had been such a big part of my life for a while now that I didn’t realize until that moment I had never mentioned it to Griggs. In some ways, it felt like we’d been dating forever, but in reality, we still barely knew each other. I took a few minutes to tell him about my plans.
“I just bought a house myself,” he said. “I thought I could show it to you today.”
“I’d love to see it.”
“Great. I’ll meet you at the store around one.”
I agreed, and we said goodbye. I was starting to get worried about Tracy. The ten minutes had stretched to thirty, and she still wasn’t anywhere in sight. I looked up and down the street. There was no traffic. Cars were parked along the curbs, but nothing was moving. It was a little eerie.
The woman in the pickup still hadn’t moved. I rose from the porch and walked toward her. The pickup was old, but it was in decent shape. It looked like something from the fifties or sixties with a smaller cab and bed. The closer I got, the more concerned I became. She was so still. A knot formed in my stomach as I edged nearer.
The woman appeared to be asleep, head back against the headrest, eyes closed, but I knew she wasn’t asleep. I stared through the windshield and saw the bruising around her neck so very reminiscent of my own. Unfortunately, the tie lying on the seat next to her was familiar too.
Tracy pulled up behind my car as I was calling 911. It was too late for the woman inside, but I knew a crime scene when I saw one. The one thought that kept running through my head was what was Marcus’s tie doing on the seat of a dead woman’s pickup?