by Jody Holford
“Things are good. Quieter now than they were a few days ago. We’ve got several empty rooms. Hibernation season,” he joked.
Molly leaned her arms on the counter. “Speaking of rooms, would you be able to ring Brad Templeton and Herman Besbrewer’s rooms? I’d like to speak to them if they’re around.”
Kip’s fingers flew over the keyboard. “I can call up to Mr. Besbrewer’s room, but Mr. Templeton checked out this morning.”
Interesting. The police must have cleared him. He definitely wasn’t the strongest suspect in her mind, but it still bothered her that he’d been there, probably confronting Jethro. And Herman had followed after him. There was more of a story there. Looks like you aren’t getting Brad’s side of it, though.
“Okay. Just Herman’s then.”
Kip called up to the room and told him who was there. “He says he’ll be down in a minute.”
To the right of the front desk was a seating area. Molly pointed to it. “I’ll wait over there.”
Kip nodded and flipped his magazine open again. Pulling out her phone while she waited, Molly texted Sam to see if he wanted to meet up later.
“Molly?” Herman bent at the waist to get himself in her line of sight, then sat across from her.
“Hi, Herman. Thanks for coming down.”
He shrugged. Dressed in track pants and a baggy sweater, he looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. His hair was messy, and there were several days of growth on his face.
“Nothing else to do. God, I’ll be happy when they let me go home. I’m losing money every day I’m here.”
Trying to offer an empathetic smile, she tucked her phone away. “I’m sorry it’s taking so long. Have you spoken to the police?”
He leaned back in the floral-patterned chair. “Repeatedly. They’ve combed through my finances, my personal life, my business. I don’t get why it’s so hard for them to understand that with Jet dead, I stand no chance of getting my money back.”
“Would you mind if I asked a few questions about that money?”
Wariness clouded his features, but he gestured to go ahead.
“Do you know why Jethro wanted to borrow it?”
Shaking his head, he stared at a spot behind Molly, perhaps thinking about the exchange. “No. Said it was for something personal. He didn’t want it tied up in his business. We’d been friends a long time. He’s helped me more than once. Didn’t think it’d be a big deal. I mean, the guy has…sorry, had more in liquid cash than I have in assets. Who could have foreseen this?”
“But you argued, right? Fought physically?”
A scowl replaced his wariness. “I’ve been over this with the police. We did. It happens. We were both angry, but I needed to get away from him. I didn’t want to use my contingency plan, but I’m going to have to. Shame, though.”
Molly sat forward. “What plan is that?”
Herman smiled. “I might not have the money Jethro did, but I have some, and I’m no idiot. Guess what he used as collateral for the loan?”
Thinking for a moment, she sorted through what Jet could exchange for not paying the loan. Something that wouldn’t impact Candice or Brian, who clearly didn’t support the side deal that he’d made.
Her jaw dropped. “His car?”
“Yup. And if the cops ever wrap this up, I’ll be chatting with Brian and Candice about collecting what’s owed to me.”
Looking down at his shoes for a moment, he crossed his hands in front of him. “That’s what got Jet so upset. I told him to get me my cash in the next week or I’d go to Brian and tell him about the deal. Brian would have made sure he didn’t renege.”
“You have no idea why he’d want the money?”
He leaned forward. “None. Does this have something to do with the arrest made today? I saw online they’d arrested Amber and that reporter guy. Were they in on it together?”
It wasn’t a bad question. Were they? “I’m not sure. I don’t have any further details beyond what we reported.”
“Well, since they’ve got someone to point the finger at, they should let me go.”
“I’m sure Detective Beatty will contact you as soon as he can.”
Molly started to stand, but stopped herself. “How well do you know Candice Harkaw?”
“They were a package deal forever, her and Jet. She was on the road with him every time. Part of that was because she knew he was a cheater, but I think she really enjoyed it. As much or more than Jet did. She loves cars. Loves people.”
“Did she love Jet?”
His smile was sad. “Funny how some guys spend their lives looking for love, wishing for it, willing to do anything for it. And guys like Jet? They take it for granted, and it seems the more they do, the more they’re wanted. One of life’s sad truths.”
She hated the sadness in his voice. He stood and smiled down at her.
“Nothing to do with you, but I’m hoping this will be the last time I see you. I think I’ll go pack my bags in hopes of being given the green light to get out of this place.”
As he walked away, she called out. “Brad left already?”
Herman tucked his hands in his pockets. “He’s a grumpy one, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly. I’m glad they let him go.”
He walked back to the elevator, and Molly waved goodbye to Kip. She knew no more than she had before. And it was driving her a little crazy. She wondered how wrong it would be to suggest a dinner with Chris and Sarah tonight, then felt bad for even thinking it. She wouldn’t use their friendship to her advantage, and Chris was no more likely to open up while they were hanging out than he was at the station.
Climbing into her Jeep, she decided that was her next stop. The town of Britton Bay had the right to know if a killer had been caught. And if she’d posted bail.
Chapter Twenty-One
Two things happened the next day, and Molly didn’t know which story to go after. Early the next morning, Detective Chris Beatty confirmed, through the Britton Bay Bulletin, that Amber Harkaw and Edward McLaren were released on conditional bail when her lawyer had arrived at the police station.
Shortly after she had posted the information on their website and social media channels, Brian phoned her cell.
“Hi. You okay?” she asked.
She assumed he was calling because Amber had been released and he wanted more information. Maybe something that he could share with Candice to make her feel better. Molly still wasn’t convinced of Candice’s innocence, so maybe she was panicking that Amber had been set free and Brian was trying to allay her worries.
“I’m not,” Brian said. “I should phone the police. I know I should. But I love her, Molly. I know you know that.”
Her eyes widened, and surprise stole her breath for a second before she flailed her hand around, grabbing Jill’s attention. Jill hurried over to where she was sitting at the layout table and leaned in close.
“I do know you love her, Brian. I can see it. But covering for her isn’t the answer. Especially if she’s done something illegal.” Her heart beat heavily.
“I know. But we were going to be together. How could I turn her in when it was finally our time? Now she’s run off. She turned her back on me, so now I have no choice but to tell the truth. She did it, Molly. She killed Jet. She couldn’t stand that he’d married Amber.”
Jill gasped, but the sound was covered by Brian’s sob. “I don’t want to see her come to harm. I don’t know what to do. She went on the run. Wouldn’t tell me where she was going…” he trailed off, and she could hear his muffled crying. Her heart ached.
“Brian, we need to call the police.”
There was no response. Molly pictured him hunched over, crying. He’d lost his best friend and the woman he loved, after trying to cover for her. The line went dead.
“Oh my God,” Jill said.
&n
bsp; Alan came out of his office. “What’s going on?”
They caught him up to speed as Molly shoved her phone in her back pocket and grabbed her purse, rooting around for her keys.
“Where are you going?” Alan asked.
“Call Chris and tell him what Brian said. I need to go see him. He’s so fragile. I wouldn’t put it past him to…” She didn’t even want to finish the thought.
“Suicide?” Jill whispered.
“You heard the line go dead. He’s alone in the world. More now than ever.”
“You shouldn’t be walking into that, Molly. I’ll come with you,” Jill said.
“I’ll go with you,” Alan said, his tone commanding.
“No. I have a rapport with him. Too many people might overwhelm him and push him toward the ledge rather than pull him back from it. I’ll head there now. Jill, you get hold of Chris and keep things updated. If you can get a license number for whatever Candice is driving, flood social media with it. Alan, you go get Sam at work. Take him up to the RV park. Brian cares about him, so maybe he’ll listen to Sam if me being there doesn’t work. Or maybe he isn’t trying to hurt himself, and having Sam there will just be a comfort. Either way, I need to go talk to him. See for myself that he’s okay.”
She didn’t wait for a response. Taking off through the back door, she got in her Jeep and took the alley road down to the end, grateful she knew a shortcut to the RV park.
* * * *
Molly pulled up to the site and released a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Brian was sitting at the firepit, elbows resting on his knees, head in his hands. He looked up when she turned off her Jeep and got out.
“I was so worried you were going to do something you couldn’t take back,” she said as she approached him.
He didn’t get up, just let his head fall back into his hands. She took the seat beside him.
“I shouldn’t have let her go, Molly.”
Putting a hand on his arm, she squeezed. “Brian, you did what you had to. There was nothing else you could do.”
Turning his head to the side, he stared at her through bloodshot eyes. “That’s the truth. There was nothing else I could do.” He took a shuddery breath, and she was about to tell him that the police had been called and he didn’t need to bear that burden anymore. But he continued. “I’ve loved her since we were kids. She was my girlfriend for about a week when we were fifteen. Bet you didn’t know that. Then she meets Jet, and it’s all over. She fell for him even though he jerked her around for years. I’d have treated her right. He treated her like dirt on the bottom of his most-hated pair of shoes, and still she loved him.”
He shook his head, stood up.
“Brian,” Molly said.
As he turned to look at her, anger and sadness fought to dominate his expression. “She used to tell me about their problems. Unload all of his garbage on me. I’d tell her, leave him. Send him packing. But she couldn’t. Wouldn’t. So I did the only thing I could. Loved her anyway. I was there for her every chance I could be. I stopped trying to turn her against him. Because the truth was, I think if she had actually up and left him, she would have said goodbye to me as well.”
Brian paced back and forth in front of Jethro’s RV, and Molly tried to think of a way to reach him. To explain that loving someone didn’t mean you got to control their decisions. He couldn’t change Candice’s decisions by loving her more.
“I couldn’t stand it, Molly,” Brian whispered, leaning against the side of the fancy RV.
“Loving someone who doesn’t feel the same is never easy, Brian.” She knew that. And now that she had Sam and knew the difference between mutual love and unrequited feelings, she could truly empathize with him.
She stood and went to him, standing in front of him. Maybe Sam would be better able to help him understand that he couldn’t change Candice’s path. Hopefully he’d get there soon.
He shook his head. “Even with him gone, she wouldn’t choose me. Oh, she loved me, she said. But only as a friend.” He waved a hand in disgust and pushed away from the RV. “I didn’t need another goddamn friend, and I’d waited thirty years for that piece of trash to have his turn.” He pointed viciously at his chest, stabbing it with his index finger. “It was my turn. Our turn. My turn to show her what her life could have been like. What it felt like to be truly loved. Now, both of us, we got nothing. Not each other, not Jet, nothing.”
Tears welled in her eyes at the agony in his voice. She started to reach out to him, offer a hug, but he opened the door to the RV, held it for her.
“You’re probably frozen. Listening to an old man lament his stupidity.”
Molly walked to the steps, but paused and looked him in the eyes. “Believing in someone isn’t stupid, Brian. Especially when it’s someone you love.”
He smiled at her with that same grandfatherly affection he had shown the first night. “I think you’re right. Everyone needs someone to believe in them. But it’s foolish, don’t you think, to see only what you want to see?”
Stepping up into the RV, she started to tell him it was no more foolish than it was stupid, but she didn’t. Even as her eyes fell on the pair of gloves sitting on the kitchen counter, right where she’d done the original interview, it didn’t fully register that something was off.
Molly felt Brian behind her, heard the click of the RV’s door. Her attention had been naturally drawn to the left because of the wide-open space. Plus, she recognized the gloves from the night of the dance. She’d watched him pull them on. She wasn’t sure why them being there in Jet’s RV seemed odd, but a noise to the right of her pulled her attention.
Almost as if she were in slow motion, she turned her head, ignoring the bubbling panic churning in her chest. Something was very off. The driver and passenger seat were blocked from view by a pair of long curtains. Another strange sound and a fluttering of the curtains made the nerves in her chest spread like a fire, consuming her. She kept turning, looked at Brian.
“I’m sorry, dear. I really, truly am.”
Molly tried to push him, to reach the lock or the handle on the door. He grabbed her effortlessly, gripping her biceps as if they were nothing more than straws.
“Now don’t do that. I don’t want to hurt you. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. Just stay calm, and everything will be okay.”
She blinked rapidly, and her throat went dry. “Where’s Candy?”
Another noise, this one garbled and stranger than the last. Brian held Molly with one hand wrapped around her arm, tight enough that it would leave a mark, and dragged her to the curtain, whipping one side open. There, in the passenger chair, sat Candy. She was bound and gagged, squirming to get the ropes on her hands undone. Her eyes went wide with panic, and Brian reached out, smoothed a hand over her forehead.
“Shh, darlin’. It’s going to be okay,” he crooned.
Arm throbbing, Molly took advantage of his distracted state and kicked out, knocking him right in the knee, hard. He swore, buckled, but didn’t release his grasp one bit. When he steadied himself, he glared at her and slapped her across the face. Shock stung worse than the feel of his palm.
“I didn’t want to do that. Both of you, spitfires.” He said it as though he was mad but also partially impressed.
From the corner of her eye, Molly saw Candy try to plant her feet. They made eye contact, and Molly did her best to communicate that they could work together. Just as the other woman was about to stand, maybe even launch herself at Brian, he pulled a gun from behind him.
“Neither of you wants to go this way. So you’re both going to get those stupid ideas out of your heads, and we’re going to do this civilly.”
Tears burned Molly’s eyes, and a headache crept up her neck, landing at the base of her head. Candy moaned quietly.
“At least ungag her,” Molly said.
Br
ian looked at her and shook his head. “She won’t shut up if I do. Won’t let me make her understand my side of it. Now, I’m going to take my hand off you, but you do anything, I’m going to shoot Candy, and it’s going to be your fault. You’re a nice girl, Molly. Sadly, you wouldn’t be here, be this involved, if you weren’t. So I know you don’t want to be the reason Candy dies, do you?”
Molly shook her head. When he released her, she stood still. She could bide her time. He obviously had a plan. He reached down and grabbed Candy’s arm, yanked her up.
“Now Candy here wouldn’t care if I shot you. So I’m not going to threaten her with that. She’s not as kindhearted as you, dear. But Candice knows I’ll shoot her somewhere painful if she does anything she shouldn’t. Don’t you, darlin’?”
Candice shot him a razor-sharp glare, but nodded.
Brian smiled. “There we go. Look at us getting along. Let’s go have a seat.”
He gestured to the couches with a tip of the gun. Not sure what to do just yet, Molly walked to the spot where Jethro had sat the night of the interview. Glancing at the gloves, she saw the blood staining them. Oh God. When she turned to sit, she saw that the oven was open. And turned on. Heat emanated, filling that small area of the RV. Oh God.
“You cleaned your fingerprints with the gloves.” She sat down, her stomach clenching.
Brian pushed Candice into the seat beside Molly. “I did. Would have thrown the gloves out, but I always found it hard to part with anything Candy gave me. I thought I could get the blood out.”
He stared at them a moment, then shook his head, like he was clearing his thoughts. Before he sat, he pulled a ring of keys from his pocket and pressed a button. Though it was whisper quiet, Molly knew he’d started the RV. He smiled at her indulgently, almost proudly. He looked at the stove, then back at her.
“You are a clever girl. Candy isn’t as smart. Oh, she’s good with numbers, but putting the figurative two and two together was never easy for her. That’s how Jet was able to cheat on her from day one.”