Two days passed while Brandy and Theo cased Oliver’s house and I tried not to levitate out of my skin. Sitting by and waiting for things to happen wasn’t my strong suit. If there was a problem, I took care of it. I didn’t like relying on others, but in this case, I had no choice.
Trevor asked a lot of questions, which put even more strain on me, as well as our relationship. Knowing that his girlfriend and her family were currently involved in illegal activity wouldn’t bode well for his future as the new Sheriff of Heywood. Well, that was my plan, anyway. He hadn’t fully committed to the idea, but I sure had. Mallory had gone one step too far by implicating Jacob in Ava’s murder. She was going down.
Daisy was on her best behavior, even when we dropped off Mustard at her new home. I promised the dogs we’d be by soon to play, but Daisy was still sad. She curled up on the bed and howled, “Musty! My pretty Musty! I miss you, my warm and cozy friend! I’ll never forget our playtimes!”
If you asked me, it was a bit over the top. A drama queen to her core. She went on for hours. The hours turned into days, and I was about ready to find her a new home as well.
On the other hand, I was quite relieved Mustard had such a great family and I hoped she’d learn to like 80s music. Annabelle played nothing else.
In an effort to work off my nervous energy, my house became spotless.
Yet, nothing could’ve prepared me for the knock on my door Saturday night as I was vacuuming the living room for the second time. I opened it to find Brandy.
“Let’s do this,” she said, smiling.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It’s time for you and me to head over to the Ledger home and look for the evidence that’s going to nail Oliver.”
I furrowed my brow. “I thought you and Dad were taking care of that.”
“Theo’s watching the Ledgers. Turns out they play poker at one of the casinos he likes.” She pulled out her phone and pointed to it. “Your father will call me if they leave.”
“And what about Oliver?” I asked.
“I just returned from the house. He’s gone. Now, hustle it up before anyone goes back.”
“I… I didn’t think I would be involved in the breaking and entering,” I stammered.
“Sorry, Gina.” She sighed. “I can’t go in on my own. Your dad’s busy. Your brother is with your son. I need you and you need me, so let’s call it some much needed mother / daughter time.”
I snorted and shook my head. “I think the definition of mother / daughter time is shopping and pedicures, not burglary.”
“It’s only burglary if you take something. Now, grab your keys, lock up your house, and let’s go.”
I did as instructed, finding it weird that after all these years, Brandy was telling me what to do, as if I were a child.
Not going to lie, that grated on me. However, I had to save my own son, so I bit my lip and went along with her directions.
We pulled up in front of the darkened Ledger house. My heart thundered while I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. “I’m going to park on the next block,” Brandy said. “We’ll walk in.”
After parking around the block, she turned to me. “We’re out for a walk. Don’t run, unless there’s a dog or bear behind you.”
“You aren’t supposed to run from bears,” I said.
“Then stay behind and get eaten, Gina.” She threw her hands up. “Let’s go. Act casual.”
We exited the car and I stuffed my hands into my sweatshirt pocket, trailing after Brandy as we strolled down the street. I felt as if I were under a spotlight and sirens were blaring from my sneakers with each step I took.
When we arrived at the house, we walked up the camera-free side of the driveway and through the back gate. Before shutting it, I glanced over my shoulder. No nosey neighbors peeking through their curtains. Everything was dark and quiet.
I followed her around the back of the house where she handed me a pair of gloves and slipped on her own. “No fingerprints,” she whispered, then fished out a pocket knife and quickly cut the camera wire she and Theo had discussed earlier.
“That should take care of the system,” she said. “Even if they have cameras inside, which I doubt they do, it’s been disabled.”
We walked over to the sliding glass door while I stuffed my hands into the gloves. “Are you going to break it?” I whispered. “That will be loud!”
“Of course not.” She pulled out a flathead screwdriver from her pocket and crouched down. After setting the flathead under the door, she pressed her palm up under the handle. In one swift motion, she pushed against the handle as well as on the screwdriver. The door popped upward and open with ease. I held my breath while waiting for sirens to blare. Nothing but quiet.
And a tabby cat who greeted us with a meow.
“If you ever live in a house with a sliding glass door, always put a stick in the tracks. If the Ledgers had one, we wouldn’t have been able to get in.” She stood to her full height and smiled. “Let’s go.”
I followed her inside, gently shut the door behind me and gave the cat a quick rub under the chin. I trailed her through the kitchen and living room. The streetlights gave us just enough glare for us to make our way without falling over furniture. Walking down the hallway, I felt like dozens of strangers were watching me from all the family photos lining the walls. In the dark, it was a little creepy.
Finding Oliver’s room was easy. I was familiar with the smell of a room where a young man had been hanging out all day—a light scent of body odor mixed with cologne.
“I’ll take the desk,” Brandy said. “You look at the computer and inside the closet.”
After grabbing the laptop, I sat down on the bed and opened it, but I didn’t get far. A password was required and I had no idea of what to use. I gently shut the lid and set it aside.
Glancing around the room, I decided to check the closet.
Not too many clothes—mainly coats and sweaters. Since it was springtime, I assumed Oliver stored his winter clothing at his parents’ house when not using it at the school. That’s what Jacob did.
I opened a few boxes to find baby pictures and old clothing that looked to be much too small for him. His mom probably didn’t have the heart to toss or donate them, as well as no room to hang anymore pictures.
A light illuminated the room and I turned to find Brandy with a flashlight in her mouth while she flipped through pages of paper. “I don’t know what to do,” I whispered.
She pulled the flashlight out from between her lips and shined it in my eyes. “Check the dresser drawers. Under the bed. If he’s got evidence here, he’s most likely hidden it.”
Every little sound set fire to my nerves and I shook with worry that we’d be caught as I rifled through Oliver’s dresser drawers. Not much to be found. A couple of condoms. Some dollar bills. Socks. T-shirts. Sweaters. As I felt around each drawer, I found nothing helpful. The cat watched us from the doorway. As our gazes met, he meowed, his tail swishing back and forth.
“Do you know a girl named Nina?” Brandy whispered.
I shook my head and turned around to find her standing by the window with a single piece of paper. “No. Why?”
Brandy shook her head. “Our boy, Oliver, seems to have tried to strangle her.”
“What?!” I hissed. I stood behind her and looked over her shoulder.
Dear Oliver,
I don’t know why I’m writing this to you instead of going to the police. I guess your threats worked. I won’t go to the police, but I will if you ever hurt another girl again.
I was lucky to fight you off when you wrapped that belt around my neck. Really? That’s how you treat a girl after she breaks up with you? You’re such a loser, you’ll always be alone. Always.
I hope you die in a fire. Watch your back, bud. I may make that happen.
Nina
“There’s no date on it,” Brandy whispered.
I snapped a quick picture, then said, “Put it back.”
The golden boy, Oliver, seemed to have a horrible tarnish beneath his shiny surface. I sat on the bed, unable to believe that a woman had lived through someone trying to strangle her, but she hadn’t gone to the police. Perhaps if she had, Ava would still be alive.
Relief washed through me. Once I turned the authorities onto the evidence they’d find in this home, Jacob would be free.
Brandy came and sat down next to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Unlike me, you’re a good mom, Gina. We should get out of here.”
Tears welled in my eyes as I turned to her. “Why didn’t you ever let us know you were alive?”
She shrugged. “At first it was to protect you, but then I thought you’d be better off without me.”
When my father had been the big drug kingpin in Northern Arizona, there’d been a turf war during which my mother’s life had been threatened. She’d left to protect herself and her family. We’d never heard from her again.
I recalled all the nights I laid in bed, wishing for her presence. A simple hug, a squeeze of the hand, a kiss on the forehead. Something to let me know everything would be okay.
“You were wrong,” I whispered. “We needed you.”
“I understand that now,” she said. “I wish I had then.”
With a nod, I stood. I hated messy relationships and tended to avoid them. The conversation with Brandy wasn’t any different.
“Let’s go,” Brandy urged. She rose from the bed and headed out of the bedroom. I took once last glance around.
The bed.
I hadn’t checked under the bed.
After dropping to my knees, I lifted the comforter.
And there, I found a pair of white shoes with yellow shoelaces. As I snapped a picture of them the smell made my eyes water. Daisy hadn’t been lying when she said the odor resembled something dead. With a smile, I stood and followed my mother.
She came to a halt in the hallway, then quickly turned back toward me. After she pushed me into Oliver’s bedroom, we hid behind the door. Just then, I heard footsteps coming and I shut my eyes, hoping we’d make it out of the house without being shot or having the police called.
I glanced over at Brandy. She stood with the baseball bat raised above her shoulders. Where in the world had she picked it up? I hadn’t noticed one anywhere in the bedroom, but she had.
The lights went on, and a second later, Brandy jumped from behind the door and smashed the baseball bat over someone’s head.
“Let’s go,” she ordered, dropping the bat. I came out from behind the door to see Oliver lying face down on the carpet. I couldn’t seem to move. I’d wanted him to go to prison if he’d killed Ava, which by all the evidence we’d found, he had. I hadn’t wanted his brains knocked around.
Brandy disappeared down the hallway while I leaned over to check for a pulse. He groaned as my fingers found the steady beat in his throat. With a sigh of relief, I stood and hurried from the room to find my mother.
I discovered her in the master bedroom taking some jewelry and cash.
“What are you doing?” I hissed. “We agreed you wouldn’t take anything!”
“We have to make it look like he walked in on a burglary,” she replied calmly.
“Why can’t we just leave?” I glanced over my shoulder, praying Oliver didn’t wake.
She sighed and shook her head. “Gina, if we don’t take things, then Oliver will be able to say the evidence was planted when the police find it. We need to make it look like the two aren’t related. Now, please, go grab that laptop on the dresser over there. Leave Oliver’s though, just in case there’s damning evidence on it.”
I did as instructed, my mind whirling with attempts to reconcile that what we were doing was for the greater goal: making sure Oliver went to prison for murder.
Moments later, Brandy motioned me to follow her out of the house. As we hurried down the street, I decided to wait a day or two to tell Trevor about the evidence in the Ledger home. The break-in couldn’t correspond with its discovery, and I imagined Oliver wouldn’t think about moving or destroying any of it. Brandy may have hit him hard enough to warrant a hospital stay. I took some deep breaths as we drove home. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking and my stomach felt as if I’d eaten rocks for dinner.
But we had our killer, and now I was ready to move on to my next project of getting Trevor elected as sheriff.
Mallory was done.