Death of a Country Fried Redneck

Chapter 35

Hayley was exhausted by the time she left the police station. Sergio dispatched Donnie and Earl to drive to Bangor and pick up Carrie at her grandmother’s house. It was only a matter of time before word spread around town that Carrie Weston was actually the one responsible for the death of Wade Springer’s roadie.

The sun was already going down, and Hayley had to race home to get ready for Wade’s concert.

But there was something important she had to do first.

She had to talk to Gemma.

Hayley didn’t want her hearing about Carrie on Facebook or Twitter or any of the other social media sites she and her friends used to chat and keep abreast of all the latest gossip.

Hayley knew in her heart Carrie had to have killed Mickey Pritchett in self-defense. She saw firsthand the kind of guy Mickey Pritchett was. And there wasn’t a mean bone in Carrie’s body as far as she could see.

But she also knew Gemma would take the news about her close friend hard. And she wanted to break it to her gently.

When Hayley walked through the back door of the house, she could hear the TV blasting in the living room.

It was music from the movie Hairspray.

Gemma’s favorite movie of all time.

It was the song “Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now.” And Hayley had to stop and smile. How appropriate.

She spent half her time worrying about Gemma. The other half, she spent worrying about Dustin.

But with Gemma’s blossoming romance with Reid, Hayley had been particularly concerned about her daughter growing up so fast. So maybe this was a sign from the universe to let go just a little bit and recognize her daughter as the young woman she was becoming, capable of making smart decisions.

Yeah, right.

Like that was going to happen.

Maybe when Gemma was thirty-five, Hayley would stop worrying.

What if this was just part of being a mother and she would worry no matter how old her kids were?

That was just too much to think about.

Hayley rounded the corner into the living room and was not surprised to see Gemma nestled on the couch, her head on Reid’s broad shoulder, watching the movie.

“Hi, Mrs. Powell,” Reid said in an upbeat, chipper tone.

“Hello, Reid,” Hayley said, trying not to sigh with disappointment that Gemma had a boy in the house without her permission.

Gemma held up a half-full bowl of popcorn. “We have snacks. Want to watch with us? Your favorite part is coming up—John Travolta in drag dancing with Christopher Walken.”

Hayley smiled. “That’s your uncle Randy’s favorite part. I’m all about Queen Latifah singing ‘Big, Blonde and Beautiful’ because, inside, I’ve always thought of myself as all those things even though I’m not blonde or beautiful, but I’m certainly big!”

Reid chuckled.

Hayley cleared her throat. “Reid, I was wondering if I could talk to Gemma alone.”

“Sure, Mrs. Powell,” Reid said, stretching and making a move to stand up.

Gemma grabbed his sweater and pulled him back down. “Mom, please, anything you say to me you can say in front of Reid.”

“It’s about Carrie,” Hayley said.

Gemma gasped and jumped off the couch. “What? Has something happened to her?”

“Reid, would you mind taking Leroy out for a walk around the block? He’s been cooped up inside all day and I’m sure he needs to do his business. There are plastic bags—”

“Mom!” Gemma interrupted. “Reid is Carrie’s friend, too. I’m sure he’ll want to know what’s going on.”

“Okay,” Hayley said, putting an arm around her daughter. “She wasn’t totally truthful with me when I went to talk to her about the night of Mickey Pritchett’s murder. She said when she left Mickey, he was still alive. But it turns out she stole her father’s gun and shot him. Now, I’m sure he must have tried to attack her, and so obviously if it was self-defense there’s a chance . . .”

“Mom, there’s no way Carrie shot that guy.”

“It turns out her father’s gun is the same one that was used to kill Mickey. But Ned Weston was nowhere near the scene of the murder and Carrie was the only one who had access to it, and we already know she was being propositioned by Mickey. All the pieces fit.”

“But I know for a fact that when she left Mickey he was still alive.”

“How?”

Gemma glanced at Reid and swallowed before locking eyes with her mother. “Because I was with her.”

“Gemma, why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“I didn’t want you to freak out and ground me or punish me by saying I couldn’t spend time with Reid.”

Reid’s eyes were downcast and he was probably wishing he had accepted Hayley’s request to take Leroy for a walk and clean up after him right about now.

Gemma sat back down next to Reid and put a hand on his knee. “Carrie called me that night to say she was going over to the hotel to tell Mickey to go to hell. She was never going to sleep with him. Under any circumstances. I begged her not to go. I knew Mickey might not take no for an answer. So I borrowed your car and raced over there to make sure she was all right. I know, I didn’t ask or leave a note. I’m sorry. I was just so worried about Carrie.”

“That’s okay. Go on,” Hayley said.

“I got there just in time to see Carrie running out of the hotel. That greaseball Mickey was right behind her still trying to paw her and talk to her. I waved her into the car and we took off leaving him in the dust. Then we dropped the car off here at our house and walked back to her place where I spent the night. Her father wasn’t home.”

“Yes. I know where Ned was that night.”

“Carrie never said anything to you about me being there because she didn’t want to get me into trouble,” Gemma said. “She didn’t have a gun, Mom. Carrie gets freaked out by guns. And she never left my side again the whole night so there was no way she could’ve doubled back and shot Mickey and driven him to Albert Meadow.”

Reid took Gemma’s hand, which was resting on his knee, and squeezed it. “Gemma, are you just saying this to cover for Carrie? I know you’d do anything for her. She’s your best friend.”

Hayley was surprised Reid was saying what she was thinking.

Gemma arched her back, indignant. “Of course not. I wouldn’t do something like that. Carrie is innocent. And she shouldn’t go to jail for something she didn’t do.”

Hayley believed her. She nodded. “You two get back to your movie. I’m going upstairs to get ready for Wade’s concert.”

Hayley’s head was swimming.

She was frustrated to be back at square one.

What was she missing?

There had to be someone who was slipping under the radar.

Someone she hadn’t even considered.

But who?