Harper’s heart jolted at the mention of Quinn’s last name. “I’m out here because the woman who owns the property thinks the scarecrow is possessed.”
The man widened his eyes to comic proportions as he took in the staked figure behind Molly. “She thinks that thing is coming to life and wandering around? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Offended on Betty’s behalf, Harper squared her shoulders and smoothed the front of her T-shirt. “I don’t like your tone. As for Betty, I’ve never known her to be crazy. That means she saw something out here. Why do you think we’re hanging in a barren cornfield the day before Thanksgiving?”
“I thought you were out here looking for the stash.”
“The stash of what?”
“My stash!” The man thumped his chest in frustration as his gaze prowled the ground near the scarecrow. “It was years ago, but it has to be close. I know it. If I could just remember, I would be able to find it and get out of here.”
“Find what?”
“Happily ever after. That’s what I’m looking for, and I’m not leaving until I find it.”
“HERE WE GO.”
Mel furrowed his brow as he gazed at his computer screen.
“What have you got?” Jared asked, turning his eyes to his partner. “Have you got more on Quinn?”
“I’ve got a match for the guy in the grocery store,” Mel replied, contemplative. “It’s ... weird.”
“I’m going to need more than that,” Jared prodded, his patience wearing thin.
“His name is David Harding. He was big news around these parts about six years ago. I can’t believe I forgot his face. It was splashed around every news station in the area for three days because there was a manhunt.”
“There was a manhunt for that guy?” Mel officially had Jared’s attention, so the younger man rolled his desk chair closer to his partner’s work space. “What did he do? Wait ... was he a murderer? I don’t like the idea that he was watching Zander and Harper in the store if that’s the case.”
“Not a murderer,” Mel clarified, shaking his head. “He was a bank robber. He and two other people — a man and a woman — managed to get away with more than a million dollars after an armed robbery at a Comerica branch almost six years ago.”
“He just wandered in with a gun and held them up? That was stupid.”
“He wore a mask.” Mel took on a far-off look that told Jared he was searching his memory. “He wore a mask and threatened to kill everyone in the bank. He didn’t pull the trigger, but the security guard was worried enough about his mental stability that he thought there was a good chance Harding would lose it and start shooting everyone on the premises. Thankfully that didn’t occur, which was a relief, but it was a huge deal at the time because the FBI believed there was an inside man involved in that caper.”
“If Harding was so easily identified, that must’ve meant he was caught relatively quickly.”
“He was. He was taken into custody in St. Clair. He was trying to hide in a cabin by the lake, but it belonged to an uncle and he wasn’t hard to track down. He didn’t have the money on him when it happened, though, which made it difficult to press charges.”
“Wait ... .” Jared held up his hand to slow the story. “How was Harding identified? Security footage?”
“Kind of, but not like you think.” Mel rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to remember the story in the correct order. “All three individuals wore all black, including ski masks. It was obvious one of them was a woman. The other two were men.
“When they fled, they were parked several blocks over,” he continued. “It was a stolen car that they abandoned within twenty minutes of fleeing. Unfortunately for them, Harding took off his mask when they were dumping the car and there happened to be a camera across the road. The other two individuals were never seen on camera, but Harding was identified through a screenshot.”
Jared made a face. “That doesn’t sound smart.”
“He was not the smartest cookie in the box,” Mel confirmed. “He was easy to track down, and the FBI had his face plastered all over the television stations. Technically, we weren’t involved. Still, there was a chance he might be hiding in Whisper Cove, so I coordinated with the local bureau officials. I remember there was even a sighting of Harding, out by the old Miller place. It turned out to be rubbish, though, and he was caught in St. Clair.”
“What about his partners?”
“They were never caught,” Mel replied. “He refused to roll over on them. Was even a little smug in court, if I remember the footage from the television correctly. They couldn’t actually nail him for the robbery in the end because they couldn’t find the money. He got in trouble for stealing the car and that was it. He got sent away for five years.”
“And now he’s out and back,” Jared noted.
“And hanging around Whisper Cove.” Mel’s mind was working fast and furious. “I can’t help but wonder if that’s because he really was in town six years ago and that wasn’t a false sighting.”
“I’m more interested in Judy Lange,” Jared argued. “This guy was at the hospital the night she was killed. To my knowledge, Judy Lange was not in town six years ago.”
“She might make sense as the accomplice, though,” Mel pointed out. “We know a woman was with him. Maybe it was Judy.”
Jared pressed his hand to his forehead as he considered the idea. “How can we prove that she was here at the time of the bank robbery?”
“I think we start with her mother.”
“I can’t think of another place to start,” Jared agreed grimly. “Let’s do it.”
“YOU’RE LOOKING FOR happily ever after?” Harper was convinced the man was crazy ... or maybe a little delusional. She could think of no other reason for his outlandish statement. “Do you want us to leave you alone with the scarecrow so you can find it?”
“Oh, you’re so funny,” the man drawled, rolling his eyes. “The scarecrow isn’t part of the happily ever after. The money is.”
“What money?”
“Um ... the bank robbery money.” He said it in such a manner that Harper felt a bit silly for asking the question. “I hid it here six years ago, but I can’t remember exactly where. They’ve changed some of the landmarks.”
It took Harper what felt like forever to catch up with the conversation. “Wait ... you robbed a bank six years ago and hid the money out here?”
“Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!” He jabbed his finger in the air and did a little dance. “That didn’t take too long. Oh, wait, it took forever. It’s no wonder that people think blondes are stupid. You’re about as dumb as they come.”
Molly, who had been listening with rapt attention, found her voice. “Don’t talk to my friend that way,” she snapped, her tone laden with annoyance. “You don’t even know Harper. She’s one of the smartest people I know.”
“If she was smart, she wouldn’t have allowed Jackson back into her life.”
After the man’s second reference to her former boyfriend, Harper couldn’t refrain from asking the obvious question. “How do you know Quinn?”
“Oh, Quinn and I go way back. We’re the best of friends. I think we’re going to head to the bar later tonight and have drinks while reminiscing about old times and the fact that he screwed me over. Like ... big time.”
Harper struggled to keep her cool. Even though the man didn’t look armed, that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. He’d just owned up to being a bank robber, after all. He was seen heading into the hospital the night Judy Lange died. He could very well be a murderer
“I think we should start from the beginning,” Harper prodded gently. “I desperately want to help you here, but I am having difficulty following the conversation.”
“That’s because you’re blond.”
Harper barely managed to bite back the insult on the tip of her tongue. “Yes, well, perhaps I’ll dye my hair when I get home. I hear brunettes h
ave more fun. Anyway, I need more information if I’m going to help. My understanding is that you robbed a bank. Are you talking about that big Comerica heist six years ago?”
“That would be the one. We got away with a million dollars because they had overflow in the vault. We knew they would because Jackson was working the books for them, and he was the one who figured out there was a big score right under our fingertips. We got away with it and everything ... and then I lost it.”
Harper’s heart gave a jolt at the words. “Are you saying that Quinn robbed the bank with you?” The idea was preposterous. And yet, in the back of her mind, part of Harper believed the charge. The accusation made sense.
“Of course he helped rob the bank,” he shot back. “He was the one who came up with the idea.”
“He did.” Harper felt numb. “Harding. Your name is David Harding, right? I remember from the newscasts back then. I should’ve recognized your face.”
Impressed, Harding puffed out his chest. “That’s me. It’s good to be famous.”
“Yes, well ... it’s good to be a lot of things.” She risked a glance at Molly and found the younger woman watching the scene with unveiled interest ... and a small bit of terror. “How do you and Quinn even know each other?”
“We met when we were in school,” Harding replied, his gaze back on the ground as he searched for ... something. Harper had no idea what he was looking for, but apparently he stole a million dollars from the bank and hid it in a field. That meant he was probably looking for a bag or something. Burying a bag in the middle of nowhere didn’t seem like a good idea to her, but she was hardly in a position to argue with a potentially crazy man. “I was a student at CMU. He was at Northwood. He wanted to have some fun one night and we ended up at the same bar ... it was kind of a friendship for the ages, if you know what I mean.”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“We were opposites but best friends,” Harding explained. “He was the thinker, and I was the doer. It was the perfect partnership.”
Harper felt sick to her stomach. “You guys worked together more than once, didn’t you? You did multiple jobs together.”
“Only one bank job,” Harding clarified. “We bounced around from idea to idea, trying to find a big one to stick. He was intent on breaking into the bigger real estate racket — he had a plan for Whisper Cove, in fact — but it wasn’t easy, and Judy kept screwing up to the point where I thought for sure he was going to kill her if she lost the money we needed one more time.”
Harper’s heart skipped a beat. “Judy Lange?”
“Yeah.”
“You guys worked with Judy Lange?”
“I believe that’s what I said.”
Harper was officially dumbfounded. “I don’t understand.”
“That seems to be the perpetual state for you,” Harding said. “I don’t think it’s important that you understand. What’s important is that we find my money. I need to get out of this stupid town, but I’m not going without my money.”
Harper wanted to press him further, but her mind was working at a fantastic rate. She couldn’t think of the next question. Luckily, Molly didn’t have that problem.
“How did the money end up in this field?” Molly asked. “I mean ... I don’t get it. Why would you rob a bank and then hide the money? Isn’t the point to spend the money?”
“Of course that’s the point.” Harding shot Molly a “well, duh” look and grimaced. “We were under the gun, though. Jackson couldn’t take the money home because he had a girlfriend who might stumble over it — good old Blondie here — and no one trusted Judy with the money. I was supposed to hang onto it until we could all rendezvous and then take off. I heard the cops were closing in, though, because they caught me on a camera. I knew I was in trouble.”
“You knew you were in trouble?” Molly cocked her head. “Oh, I think I get it.” She brightened considerably. “You hid the money because you didn’t want to leave it with Quinn and Judy. You knew they would spend it while you were in prison — and you were pretty sure you were going to prison — so you buried the money in a spot where you could claim it years later and cut them out of the job entirely.”
Harding’s grin was lightning quick and almost charming. “I like you. You’re much smarter than the blonde.”
Molly basked in the compliment. “Oh, well, thank you.”
“Yes, she’s an absolute delight,” Harper interjected, something occurring to her. “If you went to jail, why not cut a deal and roll over on Quinn and Judy? You might have gotten off with zero time behind bars.”
“That’s true, and I considered that.” Harding sobered. “The thing is, I had a million dollars and I was the only one who knew where it was. If I turned in my friends, the cops would’ve made me return the money as part of any deal. I didn’t want that. Besides, they ultimately couldn’t pin the robbery on me, just the car theft.”
“I remember that,” Harper mused. “People were upset but there was nothing they could do.”
“No. I would rather lose five years of my life to prison — which wasn’t really that bad — than lose a million dollars. I decided to bide my time.”
“Right.” Harper’s mind was working a mile a minute. “Were you in touch with Quinn during your prison stay? He couldn’t have been happy about you keeping that money from him.”
“He had a hundred grand. I think that’s what he used when he ran. He might’ve even taken Judy’s hundred grand, because that’s his way. I didn’t expect to see him again. Sure enough, though, he made a big splash coming back at the same time I got out of prison. That can’t possibly be a coincidence.”
“No,” Harper agreed. “Not a coincidence.”
“Definitely not,” Quinn agreed, taking everyone by surprise as he walked into the field and raised a gun. He seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
Harper felt as if she was trapped in quicksand as she tried to grasp what was happening. Harding’s eyes went wide as he reached toward his hip, perhaps searching for a weapon. Molly whimpered and turned on her heel, fleeing into the field. Harper remained rooted to her spot, dumbfounded disbelief washing over her as the man she thought she knew leveled a weapon on his former friend ... and then coldheartedly pulled the trigger without a second thought.
“You’ve had that coming for a long time, David. I’m glad to be the one to deliver it.”
Nineteen
The blood was roaring in Harper’s ears as she tried to make sense of the scene in front of her. Harding hit the ground with a sickening thud, his eyes open and unseeing. It was obvious he was dead.
Quinn didn’t seem bothered by that in the slightest as he turned his full attention to Harper, ignoring the dead man on the ground, and focusing on the woman he briefly shared a life with. “That’s better, huh? He always was an idiot. Now we can talk without him interrupting. There’s nothing I hate more than interruptions.”
Harper tried to form words but came up empty.
“Where did your little friend go?” Quinn narrowed his eyes as he searched the field. “She couldn’t have gone far. Should we look for her?” He held out his hand as if it were the most normal thing in the world, as if he actually expected Harper to take it and go on her merry way with him.
His reaction was enough to loosen Harper’s tongue. “Leave her alone.” Her tone was chilling. “She has nothing to do with this. Leave her be.”
“I don’t think I can really do that, Harper.” Quinn sounded so reasonable, so much like the man she remembered, Harper half expected to bolt to a sitting position in her bed because this was surely nothing more than a bad dream. “She witnessed a murder. Personally, I think it was retribution, but that’s not how she’s going to spin it to the cops ... and I already have enough strikes against me as far as the locals are concerned.”
“Leave her alone,” Harper repeated, fury taking the place of shock as she fought to control her emotions. “She has nothing to do with this.”
/> “If you wanted things to be like that, you should’ve left her out of this.”
“I didn’t realize you would be killing people in a cornfield. I’ll know better next time.”
“I bet you will.” Quinn let loose a wink that made Harper’s blood run cold. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions. I don’t really have time to answer them, though. I need to find the money that David hid out here ... and then I need to be hitting the road. If you’re a good girl, I’ll take you with me.”
“I think I’ll pass.”
“I don’t think I’m going to give you that option.” Quinn was matter-of-fact as he shoved the gun into the waistband of his jeans and leaned over to search David’s body. “I’m going to assume he couldn’t remember where he buried my money and that’s why he’s been in this field every day for the past week. He came straight here after being released from prison. I knew he would.”
Harper wet her dry lips and worked overtime to tamp down her growing panic. “I don’t understand. How did you pull this off? We were together back then. You weren’t a bank robber. I would’ve known.”
“We only robbed one bank.”
“Still ... I would’ve known.”
“Oh, Harper, don’t be too hard on yourself.” Quinn sounded as if he was talking to a young child rather than his former girlfriend. “I worked hard to keep you from knowing what I was up to. Of course, you made it easy. You were always so wrapped up with Zander and your ghosts that you made the perfect cover without even realizing it.
“I mean, who would suspect Quinn Jackson, the young man who had everything going for him?” he continued. “He had a beautiful girlfriend and a great job at the bank. He had no reason to steal. You saw what I wanted you to see. Nothing more.”
Things slipped into place for Harper. “You were the inside man for the bank job. I remember hearing Mel talk about it over dinner one night. He said the Feds assumed there was an inside man.”
“And even after David went to prison they wouldn’t let it go. They were always sniffing around. I have no idea if they suspected me, but I needed to get the heat off. That’s why I decided to fake my own death and get out of this town.”
Ghostly Despair (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 10) Page 18