Chapter 19

 

 

A short time later, I turned onto the right street and looked for the house number. At least Jake was no longer following me. I still wondered what he was up to. It looked as if this house would be located at the end of the street. After counting down I arrived at three twenty-five. The house was a two-story white stucco. There was no car in the driveway. However, there was a car parked along the curb in front of the house. I recognized the car right away. I couldn’t believe what I saw. What was he doing here?

Jake was already there. So he was coming to the same place. Who had called him? It couldn’t have been Henry’s sister Angela. She’d been the one who called me. Since we were on the phone at the same time, it couldn’t have been her.

Jake was getting out of his car when I pulled up behind him. Our eyes met and he had a devilish grin on his face. How had he gotten here so quickly? Obviously he knew a shortcut. After all, I had only been in town for a short time. He thought he was so slick. I wasn’t going to let him go to the door without me.

I hurried out from behind the steering wheel and around to the driveway. I quickened my steps, practically running to catch up with him.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I could ask the same of you,” he said as he walked up the path toward the front door.

“You know that I got the phone call too. See, I have skills.” I placed my hands on my hips.

“This is an official police investigation.”

“I am investigating too. Are you asking me to leave?”

He glanced over at me. “This could be dangerous.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I can handle myself.”

Jake had just placed a foot on the first step on his way to the front door when the shots pierced through the air. He grabbed me and shoved me behind a nearby bush, as if he was tossing a beach ball into the water. Next, he was back there with me. He pulled out his gun and I followed along, grabbing mine from its holder. Our eyes met and I was shocked at how cool and collected he seemed. We had no idea if the person firing the gun was still around and if they would shoot again once we came out from behind our hiding spot. Jake motioned, indicating that he was going to peek out.

He’d barely looked up when more gunfire rang out. He fired back. I couldn’t just sit behind this bush and do nothing. I had to return fire. I peeked up and fired at the man behind the car. I was almost sure that was Kevan Willoughby. He was clearly aiming for us. Thank goodness no one else was around to be caught in the crossfire. This man wanted us dead and I had no idea why. I didn’t recognize him. Then again, he had a scarf over the lower portion of his face. I knew he was trying to conceal his identity. What did he think he was, a cowboy? All that was missing was the hat. Jake and I didn’t speak as we fired our guns at this man. Bullets whizzed past our heads. 

My heart thumped hard in my chest. The gunshots stopped. Jake inched out again and then took off running. When I looked out from behind the bush I saw the gunman running away too. He was holding his arm. It looked as if he’d been hit. Jake was chasing him and I didn’t know what to do. Should I call for police? I thought about chasing after the guy too, but I wondered if that would really do any good. I had always been a slow runner. I decided to stay put and call for backup instead.  

I placed the call, hoping that I had made the right decision. Now what would I do? I eased out from behind the shrub. I looked around to see if I could locate a car this guy might have driven. Did he have an accomplice? I figured if that was the case they would have fired already. The front door was open. I supposed I could go inside and have a look around. Obviously the person we’d been tipped off about wasn’t inside the house. Or if they were they didn’t want to come outside because of the gunfight.  

I had to do something to keep my mind off Jake. Where had he gone? What if the guy shot at him and his aim was better this time? I didn’t even want to think about Jake being hurt… or even worse. To keep my mind occupied I decided to see if anyone was really home. After all, the person had wanted to speak with us. I eased up the front porch and to the door. When I knocked on the door it came open. That was strange.

“Hello?” I called out.

No one answered. I inched inside the house. The place looked as if someone had been there recently. There was a laundry basket full of clothing on the sofa, as if someone had been planning to fold the clothing. 

I peeked inside the kitchen. There was an open bottle of water on the table and dirty dishes in the sink. I decided to check out the bedrooms. It felt really weird looking through someone’s house, but it wasn’t the first time that I’d done it. I made my way down the hallway. The door at the end of the hallway was open. Sunshine streamed from the window into the room. When I reached the door I paused. I didn’t want to just walk in on someone. What if they were sleeping and then woke up with a stranger in their room? Though I couldn’t imagine anyone sleeping though the gunshots right outside their window.

I eased forward and peeked inside the room. A body was on the bed. Unfortunately, I knew right away that the person wasn’t just taking an afternoon nap. I recognized the man as Brett McGraw. Kevan Willoughby had killed him? So they knew each other?

I had no idea what to do now. Where were the police? I needed to check on Brett. Maybe he was still alive. Maybe he needed CPR? Yes, I definitely needed to check on him. I hoped the murderer wasn’t still in the house. I suspected Kevan had been the one who had killed him. I couldn’t believe I was at another murder scene. I didn’t want to be involved in any of this. It wasn’t like I couldn’t be involved though. Now I was in the middle of it.  

I scanned the area to make sure no one was in the room. Next I moved over to the bed.  His eyes were open and it appeared as if he’d been shot.

“Brett?” I called out.

There was no answer. I checked for a pulse, but there was none. I pulled out my phone to dial 911.

“I need help. Someone’s been shot,” I said as soon as the woman answered.

This was the second call in less than a couple minutes.

“The police are on the way,” she said.

The emergency dispatcher had barely finished the sentence when the sirens sounded outside the house. Thank goodness I wouldn’t be alone now.   I rushed over to the window and saw the cars pull up outside. I wasn’t sure what to do? Should I run outside? Where was Jake? Was he okay? I hoped the police were looking for him too. I moved back toward the door. Should I go outside and meet the cops there? As I hurried by I noticed the top of the dresser. Right away I spotted the gold necklace. It had a heart pendant on a gold chain. I recognized it. I stopped close or a better look. Yes, that was the necklace I’d seen Skye wearing in the photo I’d seen of her. 

“Police, put your hands up.”

I lifted my hands over my head. Did they think I had killed him? Now I was really starting to panic.

“Maggie, what happened?” Jake appeared in the doorway.

The police rushed over to check on the victim. Jake dashed through the door and over to me.

“I came into the house while you were gone. I discovered him like that.” My voice shook.

Jake looked over at the body on the bed.

“Did you find Kevan?” I asked.

“No, he got away. We’ll get him though.”

One of the officers came over to speak with me, but Jake motioned for them to go away.   

Jake took me by the arm. “Let’s get you out of here.”

“I could use some air.” As we headed for the door I stopped. “Wait. Don’t forget to check out the necklace on the dresser. I’m sure it was Skye’s. She was wearing it in the photo I have of her. The photo from when she went missing. That’s means she’d been wearing it the night she was murdered.”

Jake looked over at the dresser. He motioned at a cop nearby. “Can you bag that?”

At least Jake was taking me seriously.

“Did you find anything else?” he asked with a grin.

“I didn’t look through anything, “I said, holding my hands up. “The necklace just popped out at me.”

Though I wish I’d had a chance. It would have been weird to do that with a dead body on the bed.

Jake crossed his arms and raised a worried eyebrow.

I held my hand up. “I promise.” 

Jake and I walked outside. “You’re lucky no one else was in there,” he said. “It could have been dangerous.”

“You’re lucky that Kevan didn’t hit you with a bullet. And you’re even luckier that there were no other men waiting for you when you chased after him.”

Jake studied my face for a moment before a bright smile slid across his face. “Touché.”

At least I had proven my point.

“Thanks for looking into the necklace,” I said. “You’ll let me know what you find?”

Jake leaned against the police car. “I’ll make sure to let you know.”

Hmm. He didn’t say when he would let me know. He could mean he’d let me know a year from now. Now I needed to find Kevan. Jake would say that was too dangerous. Maybe ‘danger’should be my middle name.