When they parked outside of Connor Cassidy’s small office, Sherri pointed out a beat up older car in the parking space next to theirs. She didn’t recognize it.
Carol shook her head. “That hunk of junk has sure seen better days.”
Sherri and Carol approached the office door, and Sherri opened it.
“Excuse me, I’m in a meeting.” Connor stood up from his desk. The man across from him turned to look at Sherri.
“Ben.” Sherri glared at him. “I should have known.”
“Known what?” Ben glared back at her. “This is a private meeting.”
“So, did Connor hire you to kill your father, or did you just do it on your own, Ben?”
Ben stood up from his chair and locked eyes with her. “Watch your mouth.”
“Back off, Ben.” Carol pushed her way into the room in front of Sherri, in so far she was standing next to the desk and Ben’s chair. In the tiny office the four people were practically on top of each other.
“This is unreal. I’m calling the police right now.” Connor picked up the phone and started dialing. Sherri knew she only had minutes to get a confession.
As Conner Cassidy spoke to the police, Sherri made her case. “Ben, we know you were involved. You wanted the buyout, didn’t you? You wanted your dad to sell but he wouldn’t. Did Connor here offer to pad the deal if you took out your father? That made it convenient, didn’t it? You were finally able to get revenge for all of the abuse he put you through to boot.”
“I would never kill my father. You’re nuts.” Ben’s eyes brimmed with tears, and he shook his head.
Carol piped up and swept her hand toward the real estate agent. “But here you are, having a cozy meeting with the man who tried to steal your father’s farm.”
“I’m here to get it back!” Ben’s eyes flashed as his eyes darted from Carol to Sherri. “Because my father was a fool and lost the only thing of value he ever owned.”
Seconds later sirens rang out as tires squealed into the parking lot. Sherri turned in time to see Michael Franks as he stepped up to the door.
“Sherri, Carol.” He nodded to both of the women. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“Ask them to leave?” Connor fumed. “I want them arrested, right this second!”
The deputy chuckled. “That’s not going to happen. Sherri, if you’ll just come with me. Carol.” He gestured to the door.
Carol and Sherri exchanged a look before they filed out of the office.
Once outside, Sherri reached for Carol’s arm. “Wait. Let’s listen.” With the door wide open, they could hear the men talking plain as day.
Connor Cassidy addressed the police officer. “This is ridiculous. They interrupted a private meeting. They should be arrested.”
“Interrupting a meeting isn’t a criminal offense, sir. If you have any hope of getting the community on your side, it would be best not to alienate Sherri and Carol.”
“What? Are they queens around here?” Connor slammed his hand on the desk. “I want a restraining order.”
“Okay, okay. Calm down. If that’s what you really want, I'll handle the paperwork, but I’d advise you to let this go. Look, they left now, didn’t they?”
Sherri wasn’t able to hear Connor’s response, but a few seconds later, Michael’s boots clomped down the wooden steps of the real estate office. Sherri hurried to catch up with him and met his stride despite her sore toe. She’d hoped it would be better today but it still hurt like the dickens.
“You’re not really going to give him a restraining order, are you, Michael?” Sherri frowned as he took advantage of his long legs and walked past her toward his patrol car.
“That’s up to you, Sherri. And up to a judge, not me. But I think it would be best if you stayed away from the community meeting tonight. Understand?”
Sherri pursed her lips but simply nodded. She didn’t want to put Michael in a bad position. “Fine. You do what you need to do.”
Back in the car, Carol looked over at her. “That was close. What if we get arrested?”
“We didn’t, and we won’t.” As she started the pickup truck, Sherri caught sight of a figure at the corner of the building. She couldn’t quite make him out, but she did recognize the old truck in the parking lot. It belonged to Wyatt.
“What is he doing here?” She watched Wyatt lurking in the shadows as she backed out of the parking spot. Then he disappeared around the corner of the building. Sherri drove in silence as she began to piece things together.
“Carol, we need to get a look inside Wyatt’s house.”
“Wyatt’s? Why?”
“I want to find out what was going on with his finances.”
“From the amount of scrap metal he’s collecting, I'd guess they aren’t great.”
“I need to know for sure.”
“I thought you said we weren’t going to get arrested?”
“We're going to try not to. But we need to go now, while we know he’s not home.”
When they neared Wyatt’s place, Sherri pulled over and parked behind some trees near a neighboring farm. A good distance from Wyatt’s house. She knew if they parked in his short driveway, her truck would stick out like a sore thumb.
She and Carol trekked down the road toward Wyatt’s farm, thankful that at this hour no other farmers were passing this stretch of road. Once on his property, they crept up to the back door. As she suspected, it wasn’t locked. Lots of people in and around Paradise and Round Bottom didn’t bother to lock their back doors. She turned the knob and it opened. Her senses were assaulted. A scent, or more accurately, a stench, greeted them: a mixture of tobacco, stale beer, and old trash.
“Yuck. Housekeeping is not Wyatt’s strong suit.”
Carol took a step inside and when she lifted a foot from the sticky floor, it made a slurping sound. “What exactly are we looking for?”
“Here. This.” Sherri picked up a stack of mail piled on the kitchen table. She sorted through the envelopes. “It looks like all of these bills are late.” She held out several envelopes stamped Overdue or Past Due.
“And look at this.” Carol pointed to a card on the refrigerator. “From our pal Connor Cassidy.”
“Interesting.” She set the envelopes down. “So Wyatt had been talking with Connor. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Connor hired Wyatt to do the deed.”
“Maybe. But we need to get out of here, Sherri. I hear a truck.”
Sherri’s heart raced and she grabbed Carol's hand. “You’re right. Wyatt’s the type to shoot first and ask questions later.”
Carol added, “Or not at all.”
As they raced out the back door, Wyatt’s truck rumbled down the short driveway toward the house. Sherri and Carol started toward the woods to make their way back to get Sherri’s truck, but Sherri paused when she heard Wyatt talking on his cell phone as he walked to his house. She looked at Carol and held up a finger to her lips.
“I’m real sorry about your dad, Ben. He was a man with a lot of problems. But he’s probably better off now. Just try to move on. Connor’s offering you a good deal. I’d take it if I were you.”
The conversation cut off as he went into the house. “That’s surprising.” Sherri frowned. “I’d never have expected to hear that from Wyatt.”
“It sounded like he was encouraging Ben to sell to Connor. I would think Wyatt would be fighting Connor, just like Hank was.”
“Yeah, me too.” Sherri shivered when she ran straight into a cobweb. She brushed it away and thought a moment before she said, “Pick out something nice to wear tonight, Carol. We’ve got a meeting to go to.”
“But Michael said – “
Sherri waved a hand in front of her body. “Shoot, I used to babysit for little Mikey Franks. He doesn't tell me what to do.” Sherri started toward the truck.
“What about Ralph?”
“Yeah, Ralph doesn’t either. He’s in bed with a bad man, and it’s my job to get him out of it.”