“Good. If you wore the bikini, I’d have to deal with Carter drooling over you, which would just be gross.”
Val blinked. “What?”
“Never mind. He’s one of the guys who thinks you’re cool. Don’t wear a Princess Leia bikini, Mom. I gotta go. I’ll see you at home.”
“Okay, but tell—” The phone cut off and Val frowned. He’d never actually told her if he’d speak to her if she showed up in a Princess Leia costume. She was going to assume he would.
After all, she was the cool mom.
Ha!
She caught a familiar name being shouted on the television and turned to look.
“Sheriff Sullivan!” A reporter was chasing Sully’s back. “Do you have any more information about the woman whose car went off the road today?”
They must have interrupted the gardening show to cover the accident that had shut down the road. In Glimmer Lake and Bridger City, things like that were huge news.
“She is alive and being transported to Bridger City right now. I don’t have any more information that I can share with you at the moment.” His expression was written with worry. “As you can imagine, we’re still in the process of contacting family, so we’re asking all the media”—he looked directly into the camera—“to please respect that. Even if you get a name, let’s just hold off on reporting anything like that until we can be sure the family of this woman has been notified.”
Val knew that he’d be heading up any accident notification. He took his job personally, and Glimmer Lake was his home.
“Is there any more you can share at this time?”
“I can tell you search and rescue did an incredible job and got the driver to the hospital in Bridger as quickly as they could.” He looked up. “Especially in weather like this, we want to caution all drivers to slow down, be careful, and watch for ice. Even on sunny days, if you hit a shady spot in the road, the results can be tragic.” He nodded at the camera. “Thanks, Kim. I can’t say anything more right now.”
The tapping on the door distracted her. “Val?”
It was Don. The produce delivery had finally arrived.
She waved him toward the back through the window and walked to the back porch to unlock the door. “Hey, Don!”
“Sorry about the time.” The older man immediately began unloading his truck. “Bad scene on the highway.”
“I just saw Sully on the TV.” She reached for each crate and set them on the picnic table. “Did you see who it was?”
“I didn’t see the accident, but I saw the car they pulled out.” Don finished unloading the full crates and reached for the pile of empty plastic lugs Ramon had set out from the previous week. “Some fancy little silver thing. Most likely a tourist. Can’t imagine anyone around here driving a silver convertible in the winter.”
“A silver convertible?” Val felt the blood in her face drain away. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” Don frowned. “One of your friends drive something like that?”
She wasn’t exactly a friend. But Val only knew one flashy silver convertible on the mountain, and it belonged to Savannah Anderson.
Chapter 15
Val drove home without checking the news. She made sure her phone ringer was on high and resisted the urge to call Sully. He would be busy. She was probably wrong. There were probably numerous people with silver cars who could have been heading up to Glimmer Lake.
She walked into the house and heard the news on high volume. “Boys?”
Following the noise led her to the cozy family room where the wood stove had already been lit and both her sons were sitting on the couch, staring wordlessly at the blaring television and the face of none other than Americano Asshole standing in front of the Bridger City hospital.
“My wife”—his brow was furrowed—“is an excellent driver. An experienced driver. She grew up here and isn’t some tourist driving too fast. I expect a full and complete investigation from the police and the sheriff’s department.”
The reporter stuck a microphone even closer to his face. “Mr. Anderson, are you claiming that some kind of foul play was involved in your wife’s accident?”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Anderson’s cold blue eyes looked directly into the camera. “I’m saying that Josh Mason—my former mechanic—has been wanted for weeks by the Bridger PD because he’s a dishonest man who stole money from me. He worked on my car and my wife’s. And now my wife is in the hospital after a mysterious accident. You’re the reporter. You figure it out.”
Oh no. No, no, no, no. Val looked at Jackson and Andy, whose pale faces were frozen in horror and disbelief.
“Change the channel.” Val looked for the remote and saw it in Jackson’s hand.
He wordlessly flipped to the next station.
“Mason, who was moonlighting from his legitimate job at a high-end auto shop here in Bridger City, reportedly stole over ten thousand dollars from the Andersons and has been missing ever since last week. Sources say—”
“Turn it off!” Val reached for the remote and Jackson snatched his hand away. “Jackson, turn—”
“It’s on every channel.” His voice was cold as he stood and flipped through the local news. “Dad’s picture. Dad’s name. These people. The lady in the hospital…”
Each screen was filled with pictures of Savannah Anderson with her angelic blond curls, Allan Anderson looking dashing in front of the ski resort, or Josh.
The news had managed to find the one scary-looking picture of Josh, which happened to be from his driver’s license, but they’d cropped it to look more like a mug shot. He was staring into the camera without a smile, all charm and life stripped away.
Val looked at Andy. His eyes were filled with tears. “Mom, did Dad—?”
“Baby, he would never.” She knelt in front of Andy and took her son’s cheeks between her hands. “He would never do something like this. He would never hurt someone on purpose. That man is full of shit. He’s accusing your father because something else is going on, and I’m going to figure it out.” She forced Andy’s eyes to hers. “Do you believe me?”
Andy’s lip trembled, but he nodded.
“Good. You ignore all this, do you hear me? Ignore it. If someone says something at school, you tell me. Your father would never hurt someone on purpose. Never.”
Her phone was buzzing in her pocket, but she paid it no attention as she reassured her younger son and ignored the stoic expression of the elder. Jackson had turned off the television, but he was glaring at his phone.
She’d just settled Andy into his room with a book and a mug of hot chocolate when she heard the knock at her front door.
“Shit.” Would the local news have tracked her down that fast? Would they want to stare at Josh Mason’s ex-wife and kids?
The knock came again, a bit louder. “Valerie, it’s me!”
It was Sully. Before she could reach the door, Jackson was already there and yanking it open.
Jackson stared straight into Sully’s face. “Did he do it?”
Sully blinked, but to his credit, he didn’t flinch. “You know your dad better than me. What do you think?”
“I think he’s a piece of shit, no matter what Mom says and Andy thinks.” Jackson’s face was red and angry. “And even if he didn’t steal from those people, he was probably fooling around with that chick because she’s totally his type, and now something bad happened to her.”
Val’s heart broke. “Jack—”
“No, Mom. You defend him all the time”—Jackson turned to her, blinking hard—“and you try to paint this nice picture for Andy, but we all know I’m right. He’s a piece of shit. He cheated on you. He cheats on Rachel.” Her son was nearly shaking with rage. “He’s supposed to be an adult and he can’t keep his dick in his pants. And he screws up everything he touches. I don’t care if he did this or not. I don’t want anything to do with him.” Jackson looked between Sully and Val. “Nothing.”
“He’s yo
ur father,” Val said. “I know he’s not a good father, but he’s the only—”
“I don’t give a shit anymore!” Jackson had tears in his eyes. “He fucks everything up, Mom! I want nothing to do with him. Nothing.” Jackson looked at Sully as if daring the man to challenge him.
Sully crossed his arms, looked at Val, then back at Jackson. “You’re on the way to being a grown man,” he said quietly. “You get to choose who you want in your life. That’s part of being an adult.”
“Yeah.” Jackson tugged on his hair and spun around, hardly glancing at Val. “Exactly.” He stomped off to his room, slamming the door behind him.
Val stared at the closed door, wondering how much Andy had heard, wondering what Jackson would say to his softhearted brother, and wondering if she should intervene.
“Leave it,” Sully said. “They’re brothers. They’ll figure it out.”
Val put a hand over her eyes. “He’s so angry.” She could feel the headache starting to pound in her temples.
“He’s angry because someone who should be an adult isn’t acting like one. Kid has a right to be angry.”
Val turned and looked at Sully, her arms crossed in front of her. “Why did you come?”
“To see if you’d heard.” He waved his hat at the hallway. “Question answered.”
“Is Savannah alive?”
“She’s in intensive care right now,” he said. “That’s all I know.”
“He wouldn’t have hurt her. He wouldn’t have done that, Sully.”
Sully took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You know him better than I do.”
Val motioned to the counter that overlooked the kitchen. “Sit. I’ll make some coffee.”
“Thanks. I have to drive back to Bridger tonight.”
“Something was wrong with her car?”
“You know I’m not supposed to tell you anything, right?”
She glanced up after she’d ground the coffee beans. “You know I’m not going to say a word to anyone.”
“Other than Monica and Robin?”
Val shrugged. “Obviously.”
“I don’t know the details—I don’t know enough about cars, to be honest—but someone tampered with the brakes. I got that much in all the technical talk.”
“Who’s doing the investigation? Bridger?”
He shook his head. “Not their jurisdiction. Technically it’s mine, and I called highway patrol. They’re the experts.”
“But now Josh is wanted for questioning about attempted murder? Even though no one has seen him around here or in Bridger for over a week now?”
“Anderson is spewing in front of the news cameras. I have no idea why. He’s saying Josh is around and in hiding. That this is all about revenge for him because Anderson complained about the missing money.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.”
“Hey.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I’m a lowly sheriff. No one listens to me. Unfortunately, even if no one has seen Josh, it doesn’t look good.”
As far as Val was concerned, there was one suspect in Savannah’s case, and it was the man married to her. “No one is looking at the husband?”
“He’s friends with the entire police department, and he’s playing the distraught husband. Of course they’re not. Savannah was heading up to Glimmer Lake. Her husband said something about a book club?”
“They don’t meet tonight,” Val said. “Maybe she was coming up to talk to me. Or see Josh. Maybe she knows where he is.”
“As far as Bridger PD is concerned, Savannah Anderson was a happy wife. They don’t know anything about her and Josh, and I haven’t shared that with them.”
Val poured boiling water into a French press. “Do you think that would make Josh more or less of a suspect?”
“Honestly, I don’t have any idea. I’m with you. I think the husband is dirty.”
A ball of anxiety sat in Val’s chest. This was why Josh was worried about Savannah. It was her husband. “Is anyone looking out for her? Does she have police protection? If he tried to kill her and no one suspects him—”
“I know they have a guard at the hospital, but I don’t know how to warn them about Anderson.”
Val pressed the coffee down. “Tell them about the affair?”
Sully raised his eyebrows. “And how do I know about that exactly? Did Savannah confide in me? A guy she hardly knows?”
Val opened her mouth. Closed it. Hmmm.
“Just… tell them you heard rumors up here. They got into a big fight last week at the coffee shop.”
Sully’s eyes sparked. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. And when Anderson took off, he was driving Savannah’s car. She had to wait for a ride. Maybe say someone overheard them fighting about an affair.”
Sully nodded thoughtfully. “That’s a possibility.”
“I’m afraid for her.” Val brought two mugs out for the coffee. “Someone tried to kill her once. And if it’s who we think it is, he could try again.”
“I know why you’re worried, but staging an accident is a lot different than going after her directly. I don’t think she’s in any danger in the hospital.” Sully reached for the coffee. “I’ll do what I can, but I can’t make any promises. Are you sure you have no idea where Josh is?”
She sighed. “I wish I did.”
“Well, here’s hoping Savannah Anderson pulls through,” he said. “Otherwise ten grand is going to be the least of your ex’s problems.”
* * *
Robin and Monica drove over hours later. Val had ignored most of the calls coming in from concerned family and friends, but they just showed up with wine and cake.
Because they were brilliant.
“I can’t believe he would do this,” Robin said. “Not Josh.”
“He’s not that stupid,” Monica said. “Or that mean. Unfortunately, Bridger PD is not the most open-minded police department. Remember those arson cases that Gil was assigned years ago?”
“Vaguely.”
“It’s when he was doing his stint as the fire investigator and he was assigned to a warehouse in Bridger. He knew it was arson, but the Bridger chief of police knew the owner, so they didn’t do anything about it. It’s a total boys’ club down there.”
Robin cut a piece of cake. “So if Americano Asshole has made friends with them—”
“He could literally commit murder and they’d probably look the other way.”
“I think he tried,” Val said. “Poor Savannah.”
“Can Sully do anything?”
“I don’t know how jurisdiction works in cases like this where she’s in one city but the possible crime happened in another,” Val said. “But he thinks Anderson is involved too. He’s going to try to do something just to get Savannah some protection.”
“Good.” Monica poured three glasses of wine. “This whole situation is crazy. Josh is missing and he’s getting blamed for all this stuff, and we don’t even know if he’s okay.”
“And my boys have gone from worrying about their dad to not being able to decide if he’s a criminal.” Val rubbed her eyes and felt her phone start buzzing again. “And my phone will not shut up!” She reached for it and looked at the screen. “Huh.”
“Who is it?” Robin froze. “Is it Josh?”
“It’s West.” Val touched the number to call him back. “Hey. I didn’t expect to hear from you. Did you see the news?”
“Yeah. You know he was probably banging that lady, right?”
“I know.” She rubbed her temple. “Trust me, I know.”
“He’s a fucking mess, Val. And the police were here. Again. I’m sorry, but you gotta grab Josh’s stuff. I need it out of here.”
Fuuuuuuck. “What am I supposed to do with it?”
“Keep it in your garage. Get a storage unit. Something. But I can’t keep having the police come round here every time something else comes up with that guy. I got three employees with records and one on probation. Every t
ime a cop pulls into the garage, they all freak out. These guys are trying to keep their nose clean. They don’t need the stress, you know?”
She felt the headache building. “Okay. I get it. It’s just… a lot.”
“Just figure it out by the end of the week, okay? I’ll loan you the truck.”
“Yeah, I can do that.” Maybe her mom and dad could keep the toolbox in their garage. She didn’t have room in her own tiny space, and she didn’t want to broach the subject with Jackson at the moment. “I can come down to Bridger tomorrow.”
“I can go with you,” Robin whispered. “I’ll see if Mark can help.”
“We’ll get it taken care of,” Val said. “Sorry about this, West.”
“I wish I could help more, but…”
“I know.” Val hung up the phone. She got it. Josh was her mess to deal with.
Chapter 16
West met Val, Robin, and Mark early the next morning at the garage. “Where’s your cute friend?”
Val took off her sunglasses. “What? We’re not cute enough for you?”
He cracked a smile. “Never gonna complain about seeing your pretty face around the garage. Sorry about this.”
“Stop apologizing,” Val said, taking a long drink of her coffee. “Josh isn’t your problem.”
West sighed. “Yeah, I know. But he shouldn’t be yours either.”
“Whatever.” She put her sunglasses back on. “It is what it is. We’ll take care of it.”
“You have a space to put it?”
Mark raised his hand. “If you have a tow truck we can borrow, it can stay in our garage for a while.”
West nodded. “Just go through it and make sure all his junk is in there. Maybe box up any of the personal stuff. Tape up the drawers for transport. It’s not going a few miles this time, it’s heading up that mountain. You have boxes?”
“We brought some.” She patted his rock-hard shoulder. “Thanks, West.”
Val and Robin followed West around the back of the garage and toward the three storage units on the alley. It was exactly where Robin had seen the ghost when they’d been visiting before. Mark followed them in his truck.
Semi-Psychic Life: Glimmer Lake Book Two Page 13