CHAPTER 11

Peach Cove Sheriff’s Department was a small precinct. It always reminded me of something out of an old seventies police show, with its drab wood-paneled walls and white-tiled flooring. Whenever Eddie needed more seating, he borrowed folding chairs from the Peach Cove Baptist Church.

The phone was ringing off the hook at the front desk. Tonya Wrigley, the office receptionist/secretary, had the phone to her ear. “Could you please hold.” Tonya hit one of the buttons on the phone and adjusted her floral scarf. “Marygene, hon, I’m so sorry to hear about what happened to you.” She glanced around. “I thought Officer Reyes would be with you.”

“Oh, he is. He’s outside handling a dispute between two senior men. They seem to be arguing over a parking space.”

Javy had sworn a blue streak when we pulled into the lot and the two old coots were going at each other. Both their vehicles parked half in the same space.

Tonya rolled her eyes. “That’s Mr. Smith and Mr. Johnson. They’re neighbors and they’re here every other week filing a complaint about something or another. Idiot stuff like Mr. Smith allowing his grass to grow too high or Mr. Johnson letting his dog poop in Mr. Smith’s yard. You’d think they’d let up when real trouble strikes.” She took another call and asked them to hold. “Did you get my flowers?”

“I did. Thanks so much. Things are pretty hectic around here, huh?” I edged closer to the desk.

Tonya shook her thin dishwater-brown hair. “A madhouse. I can’t believe all the tips that are coming in. Folks around here have been watching way too much Netflix. How’s Mr. Wrigley doing? He’s real sensitive. Is he being all protective of you?”

I smiled. Tonya had given the cat her last name when she’d adopted him. Oddly, it fit. “He’s my snuggle buddy. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

The phone started ringing again. “I’m so glad. Listen, I’ve got to take this. The sheriff is waiting for you.” She made a face I couldn’t discern.

“Okay. Thanks.” I made my way to the back of the room around the corner. Eddie met me by the lockers. His face was set to stone, showing no emotion, and that always spelled trouble. “There you are.” He gave me a hug and searched my face. “You feeling okay? No double vision or nausea?”

“I’m okay.” I smiled reassuringly.

He released me and nodded. His brows were drawn together and his face weary. There was a lot of that expression going around lately. “If you’re sure. I’m going to need you to help Betsy. She’s in my office and is a real mess. I’ve called her aunt Vi for her as she requested but got her voice mail.”

“I’m confused here. I thought you wanted me to come down and make a statement.”

He patted his sweaty brow and, now that I took him in fully, he didn’t look well.

“We have more pressing matters at the moment. Regina kicked a hornet’s nest, throwing around accusations within the Myers family, and Betsy publicly threatened her.”

Oh, Betsy.

“Regardless of what Betsy says in anger, Regina knows Betsy would never hurt her family and accusations aren’t proof. What about the biker guy? All signs point to him, in my opinion.”

Eddie sighed. “Regina has other ideas.”

“Ah, ideas that just so happen to not paint her daughter-in-law as a cheater and her son as a moron for being blind to her stepping out on him.”

Eddie raised his wiry eyebrows. “She isn’t a reasonable woman.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Even if Regina Myers is completely delusional and points the finger at Betsy, there’s no body. So?” I raised my hands.

“Cases have been tried without a body before.” Eddie’s phone chirped, and he took a second to check it. His mouth thinned to a grim line. “I’m not even sure this can be ruled as a homicide, per se. We never had a death pronouncement or saw any visible defensive wounds. It was a crowded area and far too many contaminants to make a clear deduction.”

My mind thought back to what Teddy had said. The injection site on her thigh. Betsy certainly didn’t inject her with anything. Alex would never believe otherwise. Would he? I was beginning to second-guess my second guesses.

Perhaps my father needed a reminder of said injection site. Maybe with all the commotion it’d slipped his mind. Not that he didn’t have it recorded somewhere. “Eddie, you—”

His phone chirped for the second time. “Not now, Marygene. I know you’re upset, but I’ve got to go and meet the detective and Alex.” He softened his tone. “Thanks for your help with Betsy.” He rubbed the sweat from his brow.

“No problem.” As I turned to leave, I thought I heard him mumble, “We’ve got to find the poor girl’s body.”

The small twelve-by-fourteen-foot space contained a metal desk, a couple of chairs, one of which Betsy was slumped in, and an old-school filing cabinet off to the side.

She leaped to her feet when I entered, and threw her arms around my neck. “I can’t go to prison. I’d never make it. I’ll have to get one of those awful prison tattoos on my neck and join a gang. Who knows if they even sterilize the needles.” She let out a half-hearted sob. “And you know orange isn’t my color.”

“You’re not going to prison.” I patted her back. “Don’t be silly.”

“Marygene, think! Once they find the body, I might.” She released me and wiped the tears from her blotchy red cheeks. She clenched her fists by her sides. “This is all Aunt Regina’s fault! She’s like the devil whispering into Alex’s ear. She’s a lowlife good-for-nothin’ rat! If we were back in the olden days, the family would turn her inside out for this.” She began to pace in the small confines of the office. “Just because her precious daughter-in-law was a floozie gives her no right to pin this on me!” It wasn’t surprising Betsy had come to the same conclusion I had.

Regina seemed to be more interested in protecting her and her son’s reputations than finding out who hurt Lucy.

I sat on the edge of Eddie’s desk, near two old picture frames holding a picture of a much younger me and a fishing picture of Eddie with his arm around Sam’s shoulders as he held up his catch, both men beaming. The new frame I’d added contained a picture of the three of us out on Sam’s fishing boat last summer. Our golden hair shone in the sunlight, and our tanned faces were creased in similar smiles.

Betsy wiped the tears streaming down her face before she clenched her fist and teeth in a grimace. She rode one wild emotional roller coaster, and I hated to see her dealing with all this. What was even worse, I was forced to add to her load and, in this moment, I loathed Alex’s mother.

“You’re mad and scared, I get it. I can’t believe your aunt would stoop so low to blame her niece for something she knows darn well you didn’t do. It’s monstrous.” I fiddled with the name plate on Eddie’s desk. “I have to tell you something.”

“Oh, sweet baby Moses, what now? They found the body! Why didn’t you tell me first thing?”

I shook my head. “It’s not that. Detective Thornton is on his way here.”

Betsy’s mouth dropped open and her eyes went as round as saucers.

“It gets worse.” I chewed on my bottom lip. “Alex is the one that asked him here.” I explained how I came to this understanding. About Yvonne calling and Mama’s reappearance.

Betsy plopped down hard in one of the chairs. She sat with her hands braced on the arms of the chair, as if waiting for the next bomb to drop and hoping and praying that, this time, she’d not receive any injuries when it went off.

“It’s a lot, I know.” I groped for more meaningful words, but they eluded me.

Betsy whined aloud and scrubbed her face with her hands. “Alex has lost his mind. He must’ve. Myerses don’t turn on each other. It isn’t our way.” When she dropped her hands, her pale face showed her shell shock. Alex’s perceived betrayal cut her to the quick.

I moved to the chair next to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “We’ll figure this out. Alex will come to his senses. He lost his wife and child on his wedding day. As much as we grieve, we have to believe he’ll see you also as a victim. Someone tried to kill us. And whether it was for a diversion or not, the result would have been the same for us.”

“Dead as doornails.” Betsy chewed on the nail of her index finger.

Aunt Vi barged into the office red faced, wearing a pair of coconut-print yoga pants and a yellow tank top. “My poor baby! Don’t you worry your pretty little head about a thing. I got you a killer of a lawyer and we’ll fight this!” Her yellow flip-flops flapped against her heels as she stomped across the small space and gathered Betsy in her arms and clutched her to her bosom.

I fought to free my arm.

“Honey, the world’s gone insane.” She rubbed Betsy’s head and rocked her. “Aunt Vi is here, and I’m not going to sit by and watch blood turn on blood. Regina is poison. Always has been. Always will be. She infected Alex, and now he’s turned against you. She’s never been one of us, not really.” Aunt Vi turned toward me. “Before my brother died, he asked us to always keep an open door to her. To help her financially. And we did, for Alex’s sake. And this is how she repays us. I could scratch that woman’s eyes out. And over my dead body will she receive another dime from us.”

I’d been privy to all of that, but I supposed she needed to explain the situation aloud to make herself feel better. I simply sat there, nodding in agreement and shaking my head in disbelief in tandem. There would be no question I was inexplicably on their side, though I hated the fact there were sides to begin with.

Betsy mumbled something to Aunt Vi. When we couldn’t hear her, she pulled her head back. “I can’t breathe in here.”

Aunt Vi released her. “Sorry.” She adjusted the girls that had spilled out over her tank top. “When God was handing them out, he gave us Myers women an ample portion.”

I couldn’t help the nervous giggle that escaped.

Betsy gasped and began fanning herself as she nodded in agreement.

Voices were overheard outside the door. Alex and Eddie’s were easy to pick out. Alex sounded angry, and Eddie’s tone edged on placating. It was the detective’s baritone grumbles that set our nerves even more on edge.

The three of us shared a long, wary glance and I whispered, “Stay strong. The man is pure evil.”

Betsy nodded and began chewing on her nails again. Aunt Vi jutted out her chin, raring for a fight.

The door began to open and then stopped. We could hear them conversing and it closed again. What? We were prepared. Were they toying with us?

The seconds ticked on. Aunt Vi surprised Betsy and me by huffing and stomping over to swing open the door. The three men halted their heated discussion and turned their attention to Aunt Vi. The detective’s eyes widened at her appearance.

“Well”—Aunt Vi put both hands on her hips—“y’all comin’ in or what?” She strutted with vigor back over to stand beside her niece.

The detective had lost most of his hair since we’d seen him last. Living a hard life took its toll. His beady eyes still held contempt, for our island politics, I surmised. The arrogance in his demeanor taunted me in ways that had my blood on the verge of boiling. After what appeared to be a brief word with Eddie, Alex begrudgingly left, which was for the best. Betsy wouldn’t have done herself any favors if she launched an attack, verbal or otherwise, and she’d been glaring daggers at him before he retreated. Eddie stood to the side as if ready to run interference.

Aunt Vi placed herself protectively in front of Betsy. Her chin jutted out farther than I’d believed capable as she faced the detective. “Who are you and what business do you have on our island?”

“Viola, this is Detective Thornton. He’s here in an official capacity at the request of your nephew. We’re allowing him limited access, out of respect for Alex.”

Aunt Vi’s eyes flamed. “I see. And why would the boy request such a thing?”

“Because, Mrs. Myers—”

“Miss Myers.” Aunt Vi cut Detective Thornton off.

He inclined his head as if that were no surprise.

Rude.

“Miss Myers, your nephew and his wife’s parents are concerned about political interference and the sheriff’s department’s inexperience regarding this type of investigation. I’ve spoken to the attorney general, a personal friend of mine, and he agrees I should oversee the case.”

This is a nightmare come to reality.

Betsy and I exchanged a withering look, and I made my expression harden. We had to stick together to withstand this disastrous storm.

I dragged my gaze from my best friend. “Lucy’s parents are here?” I directed my question to Eddie, but the detective answered.

“They’re on their way.”

“Odd.” I rose, readying myself to launch a defensive strike.

“Why?” Detective Thornton shifted his briefcase from one hand to the other.

“Well, they couldn’t find the time to come to their daughter’s wedding. And from the way she told it, they were estranged. Hardly ever spoke.”

The detective gave nothing away when he stared down his pointy nose at me. “Most parents, estranged or not, care when something happens to their child. From my conversations with Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael, they were unaware of their daughter’s current wedding plans.”

Current? “Huh.”

“Marygene, if you and Viola would kindly wait outside while I have a word with Betsy.” Eddie stepped out of the doorway. “Betsy, you’ll need to stay.”

Betsy glared at the detective standing to Eddie’s left.

“Don’t worry about him. You and I will have a chat. He’s only here to observe at this juncture. Nothing more.”

“No.” Aunt Vi took Betsy’s hand. “She isn’t saying anything until her lawyer is present. Not with this bozo trying to get involved. I’ve watched plenty of programs where folks are railroaded by some crooked cop.” She threw her shoulders back and glared at the detective. “You’re an outsider, and I don’t know you from Adam. And it seems the world has gone mad in a biblical sense. We must be living in the last days scenario with brother turning against brother. For all we know, we’re on the verge of an apocalypse. We’re taking precautions.”

Detective Thornton lowered his chin to make direct eye contact with Aunt Vi. “I assure you, Miss Myers, God nor the Bible isn’t who you or your niece should fear. At the moment, it’s the law.”

“I smell sulfur. Like a demon rising from pit of Hades. Get behind me, Satan!” Aunt Vi rebuked and held up two fingers to resemble a cross at the detective. Betsy leapt to her feet and joined in and gave me an encouraging nod to follow suit.

Oh, here we go. They took my figurative evil comment literally. I shook my head and massaged my temples. When I glanced back up, Betsy’d dropped her hands and sat back down.

Detective Thornton glanced at Eddie with raised brows. It was obvious to the entire room what the loaded question in his eyes was, and under the circumstances, I couldn’t say I blamed him. Not that I would utter the words. I’d be on Aunt Vi’s side till the end.

“Viola, she needs to be questioned by me. Marygene, Deputy Reyes will take your statement now.”

I understood Eddie’s attempt to disarm the situation by reminding Aunt Vi of the fact that he still controlled the department.

“Lawyer, now.” Aunt Vi wouldn’t be moved. “Marygene’s invoking her right to counsel too.”

I would have said something like I didn’t need representation at present, but then Aunt Vi wouldn’t have listened to me anyway.

“Are you sure you want to open that can?” Detective Thornton appeared intrigued. He loved a good confrontation.

“We’re not the ones who opened the Costco-sized can. Y’all did.” Betsy seemed to gain a bit of her strength back. She stood shoulder to shoulder with her aunt.

“If you want to call an attorney, that’s your right,” Eddie said to Betsy. “Keep in mind, though, you aren’t being charged with anything.”

“I’m being slandered, though, Eddie. Folks are pointing the finger at me, and I won’t stand by and be railroaded.”

She and Aunt Vi nodded in unison. Railroaded seemed to be the word of the day.

“All right.” Eddie looked at me expectantly.

Betsy put a vise grip on my arm. “Get you a killer lawyer too.”

“It’s going to be okay.” I gave her a weak smile. “Will you be all right if I go now?”

“Of course she will,” Aunt Vi answered for her. “You go on, little Marygene. We’ve got this.”