Detective Battle was waiting for me when Mel and I got home. The dark clouds that rolled in overhead were an ominous sign of the weather to come. There were a lot of ominous signs happening these days, and I prayed they weren’t a foreshadowing of what was to come. The detective propped his large frame against the door and crossed his arms. He didn’t appear to be in any hurry to leave, and this made us both nervous.
“God. Do you think Bea set us up? Maybe she called the police the second we got out of the car.” She glanced in the back seat, where Charles’s computer bag sat.
My stomach swam with nerves, but I refused to show my emotions. “No.” I swallowed. “No. Why would she do that?” Lord, please don’t let her have set us up. “You heard her. She seemed sincere at wanting the person responsible to pay.” I said this out loud to convince myself as much as Melanie. I usually felt more confident in my discernment. Now, with everything going on with my mother and finding out about LJ’s involvement in my own attack, plus the confirmation that he’d been in close proximity when someone murdered his father, my head was all over the place.
“Okay. Yeah, you’re right. Bea even told us about her rotten brother and what he did to you. Do you want me to hang around a bit? Be backup?” She glanced at her watch. I could tell she was already running late for work.
“No. I’ve got it. We’ll sync up after your shift.”
Mel smiled. “We have day one of pub crawl tonight. You still want to go? Probably not, right?”
I’d completely forgotten. The town’s kick-off night started this evening and would continue the rest of this week, and the finale would be an all-day event on Saturday.
“I don’t think so.” I could see the detective staring in our direction out of my peripheral vision.
“I understand. I don’t feel much like it either. I’ll come by after work.” We hugged, parted, and I watched Mel trudge to her car before I slung the computer bag over my shoulder, along with my purse. If this was some kind of sting, I didn’t want Mel anywhere near it.
I began climbing up to my stoop as casually as I could manage—just a gal going inside with her bags. Everything is fine.
“Interesting morning,” the detective said by way of a greeting, and he pushed off the door.
“Can I help you?” I hit the key fob. The car beeped a couple of times in succession. I turned back to the detective.
“I hope so.” He didn’t move from my door as I closed the distance between us. “Geraldo Morales woke up.”
“That’s good.” I waited for him to elaborate. “I was beginning to think that wouldn’t ever happen. Where’s Quinn? I thought he was the liaison?”
“He’s busy. And is it?”
“Is what?” I raised my brows.
“Good that he woke up.”
I squinted at him. “Listen, Detective, I’ve had a long and disturbing morning.” No point denying what happened today at the courthouse, not to mention at the Richardson house. I scratched my head. “And I still have a lot of work ahead of me before I can call it quits for the day. If we could speed this little tap dancing act along, I’d be appreciative.”
“Your mother didn’t check in with you before her performance in the courtroom?” He had a little smirk going on, and his audacity gave me precisely the grit I needed at this moment.
I pursed my lips and raised my brows as high as I possibly could. I’d seen that look from my mother an infinite number of times when I behaved childishly.
“Okay, okay. I get it. It’s too soon to joke just yet.” His smirk disappeared. “Morales gave us the name of the person who paid him to attack you.” He studied me for several beats, and my patience waned.
I shifted my bag higher on my shoulder as the weight of the bag began to dig into my clavicle. “LJ Richardson?”
He cocked his head to one side. “No.”
Huh? “Okay, well, whoever it is, arrest them. Or did you come here to tell me that you’ve already arrested them?”
“Well, that’s where it gets interesting.” Again he watched me.
“Okay. And?” I huffed. My God, all these games!
“He said you paid him. He claims you told him exactly where’d you’d be and at what time.”
I blinked a couple of times. “Come again?”
“You hired Morales to attack you.”
I let out a harsh laugh. “For the love of God.” I glanced briefly heavenward. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You came over here to tell me that the man who attacked me in broad daylight, in front of countless witnesses, blames me? Wow. So, you’re wasting both of our time.”
He rolled his shoulders back and stared down his nose at me. “No, ma’am. He swears by it. Some guy came into the bar representing you. And later he received a call from the man with the exact location.”
LJ called him. “And you checked phone records then?”
“We have. So far, it turns out to be a burner they used.”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “Useless people. You’d have to be out of your mind to believe some cockeyed story like that.” My free hand went to my hip, and I could feel my blood about to boil. Today had been a day from hell, and I barely had control over myself. “Why in the world would I want to be tasered by some lowlife?” My face heated. “Have you seen the video footage, Detective? It’s flipping humiliating!”
“People do crazy things all the time.”
“Yeah, like accuse someone of hiring their attacker.” I tossed my hair back and blew out a deep breath.
“Or harbor murderers in their homes.”
Ah, the real reason why he’s here. He probably flew directly over here after leaving the courthouse, and lay in wait to pounce. I should have gone to the office. I certainly wasn’t ready to go to my parents’ house yet. If I couldn’t control my temper with this guy, I would fail miserably with Mother.
I decided to evade. “Okay. What do you need from me to rule this asinine theory out?”
“Your bank records. Morales said you sent a man with a thousand dollars in cash and promised another thousand after he attacked you. He also said you were looking for a murder for hire for fifty thousand. A week prior.”
“Oh, that’s rich. For the Leonard Richardson hit. I see. In a misguided effort to help my poor friend get out of her marriage, you think I paid someone to kill her husband.” I held up a finger. “No, wait. A murder that took place in my parents’ house without care for their safety or mental well-being.” I rolled my eyes in the same fashion Beatrice had. “If you want to look at my bank records and see that I did not draw out the money, nor would I have the funds to pay fifty thousand for a hitman, I’ll grant you access. I have nothing to hide. Where do I sign?”
“I appreciate your cooperation. I’ll have someone get in touch with you if it comes to that.”
Oh please. “Sure. Excuse me.” I motioned to my front door.
He stepped aside and started down the stoop. I struggled with my keys, ready to unlock the door.
“One more thing,” he called from behind me.
Sighing, I turned around and faced him.
“Your mother isn’t hurting for money, and she has a keen interest in Harper Richardson.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve already charged Harper for the crime. She was arraigned an hour ago. Now, because my mother extended a helping hand to her, you want to go after her as well?”
“I’ll go after anyone and everyone involved in the murder. I go where the case takes me.”
I sighed, giving him what I hoped looked like a bored expression. “Got ya. I guess I expected more from a detective of your caliber. Brad tells me that you are tough but always search for the truth and almost always get your man. I usually agree with Brad’s assessments. But,” I said, shaking my head, “I’ll admit I’m struggling with the theory that my mother decided to risk her reputation and her family by having me attacked after she hired someone to murder Harper’s husband. Makes real good sense, Detective. You must be proud.” I turned back around and shoved the key into the lock, opening the door.
“Did Mrs. Richardson say how long she and her stepson have been sleeping together? Is that why you thought LJ was the one who hired Morales?”
A slow smile spread across my lips as I turned again and began to laugh. “You’re not stupid, are you? Harper didn’t give me specifics of her affair. And I don’t have anything solid to suspect LJ, so call it a hunch.”
He inclined his head. “Okay. Harper did tell you about her affair with LJ Richardson?”
I nodded. “Yes. After Leonard’s murder, she did. Before that night in the hospital, I hadn’t a clue.” Not a real clue anyway.
“Your friend Amelia said Harper told her of trouble.” He kept his face relaxed.
“Okay.” I sighed.
“You seemed surprised when the defense fired your firm this morning.”
I inhaled, put my heavy bags right inside the door, and turned back around. “Yes. Mainly because I’d just discovered a key piece of evidence for the defense.”
He lifted a hand as if to say “And?” When I didn’t respond, he said, “Because of this so-called evidence you produced and your mother’s declaration in the courtroom, you were so surprised you were off the case?”
“Yes. I never said my dismissal had anything to do with my mother. Though, it’s no secret that she’s never approved of my career path and could use her influence in this case if she chose. That still doesn’t make her the monster you paint her as. The way I see it, it makes her just like a ton of other mothers in this town.”
“Must be rough.”
I’d had enough. “Okay, Detective. I’m going in now. Get back to me when you find out who wanted to assault me in public.”
“Not my case.” He turned around and strolled toward the gray Lincoln Town car. “You are quite a surprise.”
“Why, because I’m not stupid either?” I didn’t wait for a response. I went inside, shutting the door behind me. I rested my back against it and took several deep breaths, allowing the bags to slide down my arm and rest on the floor. I wiped my palms on my slacks. My hands were shaking a bit now.
My phone buzzed in my bag, and I bent down to retrieve it. Still feeling a bit weak, I decided to sit on the floor. “Hey, Brad.”
“Hey. Wow. I just caught the news.” I could hear car noises.
“Yeah. It’s been a day. Detective Battle was just here adding to it. The Spider guy woke up and is claiming I hired him to attack me.” I fingered the zipper on the black computer bag.
“They won’t buy that. It won’t take anything to find evidence against that theory.”
“I know. I think the detective is more interested in LJ than me, and maybe my mother. I hadn’t quite worked that out yet. And Brad, something crazy is going on with her.”
“Like?”
I took a deep breath and stared at my popcorn ceiling. I’d always planned to have it redone. “I’m still processing.”
“Okay. Well, I’m about to give you more to process.”
“Go on.” I really needed to dust my ceiling. “The fresh bodies? The Janes?” I tried to show interest in the new dumping ground cases. Soon, once I wrapped my head around what I was currently dealing with, I’d be ready to dive into the recent cases with renewed vigor. Now, I’d have to scrounge up what I could manage.
“No. A buddy of mine happens to be working a case about a quarter mile from the usual dumping ground site. We were discussing our cases over a cup of coffee, and something about his murders clicked.”
“Okay.” My tone sounded weary even to my own ears. I usually eagerly listened to all the shop talk. I just didn’t have the bandwidth right now.
“The deceased woman had identification on her. It seems Phyllis Johnson is no longer with us. She, along with an unidentified male, were found in her Ford Focus at the bottom of a pond. There were both shot in the head. Execution style.” My face tingled as he continued setting the scene. “They probably would have stayed there if the county hadn’t deemed the pond runoff waste from the power plant and had it drained.”
“My God.” My fingers went to my parted lips. “Are the local police planning on notifying Harper?”
“I think they’re going to have the coroner go over dental records to be sure of identification before notification.” I heard his turn signal.
Time to woman up! I had cases to solve.
“Right. Of course. Have to dot the ‘i’s’ and cross the ‘t’s.’”
“You sound frazzled. Take a deep breath. Focus on one task at a time. Babe, you are stronger than you know.”
God, he was so good for me. “I hear you.” I rose off the floor and hefted the bag over to the breakfast table. Harper already had more to deal with than I had. No more feeling sorry for myself. There was absolutely nothing I could do to bring her aunt back, but I could do everything in my power to help her. If I found enough evidence, what could Mr. Jenkins do? Turn me away and not use it? Not a chance. Especially if I went through my mother, who had an invested interest in helping her new prodigy. I decided not to focus on her having me fired. I shoved it to the back of my mind for another time. One thing at a time. There might be something on Charles’s computer to help Harper and me both. Perhaps LJ went on record, and I could use it against him. Because right now he was my sole focus. I would not let him ruin Harper.
“Two deep breaths, and then tell me how you are?”
In through the nose and out through the mouth. “Okay. I’ve got my big girl panties pulled up, and I’m determined to unearth everything. It’s time for truth.”
“That’s my girl.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“Are you still planning to kick off the pub crawl tonight, or is that a no-go after the day you’ve had? Because if you need me, I can be back into Sweet Mountain if I check out of the hotel now and bypass the station. I’ll have to leave first thing in the morning, though.”
I had built my life by being my own hero. I wouldn’t stop that now by asking him to reroute his life for me. When he worked on big cases, we’d go long stretches without seeing each other, in the same way he understood if I was busy with work.
“Don’t. I’m going to work.” I went over to the coffeepot and started it up. “We’ll see each other on Saturday for the all-day crawl, as we planned.”
“You’re sure?”
I glanced over at the bag sitting on the table. “Definitely.”
We said our goodbyes, and I checked the clock. I unzipped the bag. I hadn’t told Brad about the stolen computer. He didn’t need to be bloodied by my decisions. To me, the risk was not only worth it but advantageous. I’d take my chances.