Chapter 12

 

 

Abby might be trying to do her job, but so was I, and I wouldn’t discuss this with her any longer.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me now, I have to go.” I stepped around Abby just a bit.

She wrapped her hand around my arm. “Hold on just a second.”

“I’m not talking to you. I know my rights.” I eased my arm away from her as I glared at her. “I don’t think we have anything else to discuss. I’ve done nothing wrong. You have absolutely no reason to hold me here.”

Her face turned a bit red. But mine felt that way too so I wasn’t going to back down. I knew I was right. I turned around and hurried for the car, hoping that she wouldn’t follow me or try to grab me again. What? Was she going to put me in handcuffs too? Drag me down to the police station? She had absolutely no justification for that.

When I reached the car, I looked back over my shoulder. Abby still stood by the building. Her stare was fixed on me like a laser. I knew she was angry, but I was mad too. I opened the car door, slid in, and locked the doors just in case she decided to come over. The last thing I needed was for her to open the car door and drag me out. I stuffed the key into the ignition and started the car. So far, she hadn’t made a move, which was a bit creepy. I slipped the car into drive and pulled away. She was still standing there watching me. At least now I was away from there.

I released a deep breath of relief as I traveled down the road. Now I was headed for the neighbor’s house. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t speak to me and maybe she would call the cops. But it was the only option I could think of at the moment. I certainly hoped to come up with a better idea because this probably wouldn’t lead to anything good.

Was I actually headed to the home of a possible killer? After all, she’d been in the area for both murders. I should ask Brigette if she thought the neighbor had any way of getting into the house and potentially murdering Luke. What would be the motive for the murders? I supposed I still needed to connect them together in order to find a motive.

This case was proving to be tougher than I had ever imagined. I pulled up in front of the house and cut the engine. I stared at the houses for a moment, wondering if this was what I really wanted to do. I had to make my move, so I mustered all my courage and opened the car door. I thought back to Abby and wondered if she would follow me here. She would call Jake. I really hoped that I didn’t get arrested for all of this. I had no explanation to give them as to why I was here. Though it was pretty obvious.

I got out of the car and headed toward the house, looking over toward Brigette’s and wondering if she was there. Maybe I could take a quick visit to her place as well. I stopped in front of the houses, looking to the left and to the right. Which one should I try first? Since the neighbor probably wouldn’t talk anyway, I’d go there first. Brigette might be more open to talking to me, but not if she realized that I had been working for her husband. She’d only speak to me if she thought I would help her get off on the charges.

Nevertheless, I pushed my legs forward, moving toward the neighbor’s house. I was prepared to run if I had to and I definitely didn’t want to go inside. I would just talk to her right there on the front doorstep. My nerves made me shaky as I stood in front of the door. Peeking inside would be a bad idea too after what happened. So I would just knock on the door and take my chances. I pushed the doorbell, but nothing happened. Oh, great, it didn’t work. Now I had to knock and hope that she heard me. I had a weak handshake and my door-knocking ability was even worse. I tried anyway, hoping she heard.

“What should we do if she doesn’t answer?” Dorothy asked behind me.

Naturally this startled me, and I screamed, almost falling off the front doorstep.

“What are you doing here, Dorothy?”

“I knew you’d come here so I decided to help you out. You don’t need to do these things alone. That’s what assistants are for.” Dorothy shifted her large straw pocketbook from one arm to the other.

“Is that what assistants are for? I thought they were for knitting me crochet smartphone holders and shoving peppermint candies in my mouth,” I said.

Dorothy narrowed her eyes. “Such sassiness. Did you have enough coffee this morning?”

“Never mind that. We can’t argue on this woman’s doorstep. She’s probably listening now,” I whispered.

“We could take a little look-see in the windows.” Dorothy wiggled her eyebrows.

“I definitely don’t think we need to look in the windows,” I said.

Dorothy stared at me.

I pushed my shoulders back. “No, really, we shouldn’t do that. It’s just crazy and it won’t solve any of our problems.”

Dorothy continued to stare at me.

“What good would it do?” I asked.

“We can find out if she’s really in there.” Dorothy quirked an eyebrow.

“If she sees us she’ll call the police,” I said.

“Or you might see something suspicious,” Dorothy said in a singsong voice.

“All right, one little peek around the side of the house.” I pinched my index finger and thumb together to indicate how much. “I’m not going to the back of the house.”

Unfortunately, she wasn’t coming to the door. I didn’t know if she wasn’t home or she was just avoiding us. The longer we waited in front of the door the more nervous I became, thinking that Jake would show up. Or even worse, Abby would come. What if the whole SWAT team appeared because the neighbor had called them and told them a murderer was on her front porch?

Dorothy held her hands up. “Oh, come on, Maggie, you know you want to.”

“Of course I want to, but I’m trying to stay out of trouble. And you’re not helping at all,” I said.

“I didn’t say do anything like breaking in, just take a look around.”

“All right, we have to hurry up,” I said, motioning.

When I reached for Dorothy’s arm to help her she pushed me away. “I’m not ready for a walker yet.”

“That step is steep. I was just trying to help.”

“If I need help I’ll let you know,” she said. “Besides, you’re the one who almost fell.”

Dorothy and I headed around the side of the house. The entire time I prayed that the neighbor wouldn’t see us. When we reached the first window Dorothy and I stopped. The blinds were open, which meant that if the woman was inside she could definitely see us.

Maybe it was a good idea if we got out of here. Before anything bad had a chance to happen, I moved forward, but noticed a black car pull into the driveway. It looked as if it was too late for us to get away. Had they sent the undercover police after me? I froze on the spot, unsure of what to do next. If I ran, I would definitely look guilty, but if I stayed, I would be arrested.

Two men got out of the car. They wore matching black suits and dark sunglasses. Was it the Men in Black? This wasn’t an episode of X-Files. My legs shook and I felt it difficult to breathe. I didn’t know if they were watching us because of the sunglasses. I assumed they were considering they were headed right for us. The slam of car doors echoed through the hot sticky air. Their footsteps sounded as the men walked along the stone paved path toward the house.

I tried to remain calm and not completely crumble right there on the spot. They stopped and peered around but didn’t remove the sunglasses. I really wished they’d take those things off so that I could read their expressions. Dorothy and I waited around the side of the house watching what we could only assume were police officers.

“What do we do now?” Dorothy whispered.

“I’m pretty sure we should hide, but I don’t know where,” I said.

“Why don’t we just stand here and not stare at them? Maybe they’ll go away.”

That was probably a good idea because I didn’t want to go in the backyard for fear of the unknown. There was no telling what was back there. The homeowner could have a big dog and that was the last thing I needed. Dorothy and I pressed our bodies up against the brick of the house and waited. My breathing was heavy and my heart rate up. Maybe they’d already seen us and knew where to find us.

Silence lingered for a while. I held my breath waiting for the men to appear around the side of the house. Instead we heard knocking at the door. Momentarily I released a deep breath. But when the woman didn’t answer the door I knew it would be over. They’d come around here and find us. The men waited. I was surprised they weren’t talking. A piercing ring sliced through the silence. It came from right beside me. Dorothy fumbled for her phone.

“Dorothy, when will you learn to turn that thing on silent?” I whispered.

“I can’t always feel it in my purse when it’s on silent.”

She had the ringer on full blast so that she could hear it. Now I knew for sure the men would come looking for us. All we could do was wait and hope they hadn’t heard it or run for our lives. Who was I kidding? There was no way they hadn’t heard that ring. Everyone had probably heard it, including the neighbors around us.

“How fast can you move?” I asked.

“Well, my hips have been pretty good today,” she whispered.

Actually, I knew she could move pretty fast. Just as fast as me. I needed to work on yoga or something to stretch out my muscles. Dorothy did her yoga almost every day at the at the retirement village community center. If I mentioned yoga she’d want me to join her just as I’d joined her for the bingo games.

“All right, here’s what we’re going to do,” I said. “We’ll jump in the car and take off. We’re not going to show them anything.”

I hoped the men weren’t listening to us talk about making plans to flee the scene. Surely that would land us in jail. Jake wouldn’t want to get me out either. He might just toss up his hands and say that he gave up. I supposed I could see where he would be frustrated with me, but again, I was only doing my job.