by Laura Scott
Dad? The kid looked young, barely eighteen, but then again, it could be that Abe had either waited to have children or was on his second marriage.
“No, I just have a few questions. What’s your name?”
“Ian Crowley.”
“I’m Deputy Waldorf.” She smiled to keep him off balance. “I understand your dad drives a black Dodge Ram truck?”
Ian preened. “I drive it more than he does.”
“Really? Were you driving it last night maybe around nine o’clock?”
Ian frowned and shook his head. “Not that early, I worked until ten, then used the truck to drive to my buddy’s house. We watched a movie until midnight, then crashed. Why do the cops want to know about Dad’s truck?”
She thought it was interesting that Ian drove the vehicle more than his dad. “It’s not a big deal, I’m investigating an accident off Highway ZZ. Is your dad around? I’d still like to talk to him.”
Ian glanced over his shoulder and shouted, “Dad? There’s a deputy here to see you.”
A man in his late sixties came shuffling out of the back room. He was tall, yet hunched over, looking older than she knew him to be, if he was roughly the same age as Justin McNally.
“What did Ian do now?” Abe asked in a cranky tone.
“Let’s go into your office, shall we?” Trina didn’t want all the tourists hearing their conversation. “I promise this won’t take long.”
“Whatever.”
She followed Abe back to the office area but remained standing even as he sank heavily into a chair.
“Did you drive your truck last night?”
“Huh?” Abe looked truly confused. “Ian took it to his friend’s house.”
“What time was that?”
Abe scratched his chin. “We didn’t finish up until late, Saturdays are big nights for us. Maybe ten or ten thirty.”
Their stories matched, but she couldn’t quite take him off her list. “Thanks, that’s helpful. Now I need to know who was on the boat with you and Justin McNally the night Lucy died.”
The abrupt change in subject clearly caught him off guard. “I didn’t hit Lucy, and whoever said that is lying through his rotten teeth!”
“Who was with you?” she repeated.
This time he didn’t jump to answer but narrowed his gaze suspiciously. “Why do you care? Happened more than fifty years ago.”
She was prepared for this response. “You do realize there is no statute of limitations on murder.”
“Murder!” Now the old man shot to his feet. “I didn’t hit her!”
“Who else was on the boat that night?”
“Did your uncle Ricky put you up to this? What, you found some diary of his or something?”
Ricky? She frowned. “Uncle Ricky was on the boat?”
“Not Ricky, but his older brother, Samuel. There were four of us. Samuel Delrosa, Benny Maynard, Justin McNally, and me.” Abe dropped back down in the chair as if suddenly exhausted. “Heard Samuel died a long time ago, and Justin is gone now, too. Only me and Benny are left. And we don’t talk.”
Trina wasn’t sure what to say. Hearing that her uncle Sam was one of them knocked her for a loop. Why hadn’t George told her that himself? Why keep it a secret? It didn’t make any sense.
Yet Abe was right. If there were only two men left from the night Lucy had died, it would be impossible to bring the real culprit to justice.
Abe and Benny could easily blame one of the two dead men, either Sam or Justin, of doing the deed. And there would be no way to prove otherwise.
This line of questioning had proven to be a dead end.
10
Jeremy really didn’t want to drive Jake to the airport, the trip to Kalamazoo and back would take up a big chunk of his entire morning. But family was family.
He thought about Trina’s observations from last night. The family had always joked about Jake’s itchy feet, their brother’s need to move from one place to the next. At first their parents had been concerned about Jake’s ability to support himself, but that worry proved to be misplaced. Jake’s knack for making money on his so-called projects had soon become legendary. Their eldest brother had more money than he could ever spend.
Maybe because he didn’t own things, like a house, a car, or other assets. But he did travel all over the world, which cost money.
That wasn’t the way Jeremy wanted to live, but Jake seemed happy enough. Although, Trina’s idea of how Jake was keeping himself removed from the rest of the family wouldn’t leave him alone.
Because of the wedding, there was no breakfast offered on Sunday morning at the B&B. The entire B&B was booked with family, and Jemma informed them if they wanted something to eat, they could help themselves to whatever was in the kitchen or go elsewhere.
Jeremy couldn’t blame her, she shouldn’t have to get up early the morning after her wedding to cook for the family. He’d gotten up early and had gone to Daisy’s Diner for breakfast, knowing Jake would want to leave by ten thirty at the latest.
Seated at the counter, he nursed a cup of coffee while waiting for his eggs cooked over easy with hash browns, toast, and bacon. A quick glance around the diner reaffirmed it hadn’t changed much over the years, except for the patrons.
At first, he didn’t recognize anyone other than Daisy herself. But then an older man using a cane, a deep scowl etched on his features, accompanied by equally cranky but younger woman came in.
Daisy greeted him by name. “Hi, Leon, would you and Mary like a booth?”
“That’s what we always get, isn’t it?”
If Daisy was put off by Leon’s crabby demeanor, she didn’t let it show. “Give Ashley a moment to clear the table and we’ll get you seated.”
Jeremy thought about what he now knew about Leon Tate and the death of his younger sister, Lucy. He could understand that losing Lucy so young had changed Leon, but the fact that the man was still so ornery all these years later convinced him that Leon had decided long ago to use the tragedy as an excuse. Which reminded him, he still needed to dig up Lucy’s autopsy report. With everything that had been going on with the personal attacks against Trina, he’d completely forgotten about it.
The Clark County Courthouse wasn’t open on Sunday, so he’d need to wait until the following morning. He was scheduled to work on Monday, night shift, but he’d arranged for another hospitalist to cover him. He didn’t take over his new responsibilities as being in charge of the hospitalists until the following week.
Being here in McNally Bay and spending time with Trina was giving him second thoughts about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He was a doctor and knew he still wanted to help people, but taking care of medical patients in a hospital setting didn’t give him the same satisfaction as being a trauma surgeon. Frankly, he wasn’t sure his promotion would give him what he was looking for either.
“Two over easy, hash browns, toast, and bacon.” Daisy set a heaping plate of food in front of him. “More coffee?”
“Please.”
She filled his cup, then moved on to the next customer. He dug in to his meal, glancing over his shoulder at Leon Tate and Mary who were seated across from each other at a booth. Leon chose that moment to glare at him, and Jeremy knew that Leon had easily recognized him as a McNally.
He waved at Leon, enjoying how the older man’s face went beet red, then turned back to his breakfast.
“You ditched me, mate.”
He turned to find Jake sliding into the seat beside him. “I was hungry. Your flight isn’t until early afternoon. We have plenty of time to get you to the airport.”
Jake grunted and peered at the breakfast menu. Instantly Daisy came over to offer a cup of coffee. Jake held up a hand to stop her. “Do you have tea?”
“Tea?” Daisy and Jeremy asked in unison.
Jake rolled his eyes. “Tea is huge in Europe and Ireland. What can I say? I’ve gotten used to it.”
“Of course, I have tea,�
� Daisy said quickly. “Coming right up.”
Jeremy took a long sip of his coffee. “Jemma likes tea.”
Jake shook his head. “You need to get out more. Half the world likes tea.”
He couldn’t argue that, so he took another bite of his hash browns. The food was decent, not as good as Jemma’s but not terrible.
“How did you get into town?” Jeremy asked after his brother had ordered his food. Daisy provided him with hot water and a variety of tea bags to choose from.
“Jazz’s truck.”
“Really? I didn’t think you still had a driver’s license.”
“It’s expired.” He smirked. “Don’t tell your girlfriend.”
Jeremy sighed with exasperation. “Trina isn’t my girlfriend.”
“Then why did you get so jealous when you saw us together?”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t mind seeing her on a personal level.” Jeremy shrugged. “Just that she’s not my girlfriend. At least, not yet.”
Jake shook his head and took a sip of his tea, which was almost as dark as his coffee. “You must be losing your touch.”
Maybe he was, but Trina wasn’t impressed with his career or much else about him. Remembering the heat of their kiss down by the lakeshore, he consoled himself with the fact that she wasn’t completely immune to him.
Yet she’d been the one to pull away. And since then had kept him at arm’s length.
Jake’s meal arrived, and they ate in silence for several long moments. Jeremy finished first and sipped his third cup of coffee, before asking, “Why do you hate it here?”
His brother froze for a split second, then continued eating. “I don’t.”
“Trina thinks you’re purposefully avoiding the family.”
“Trina should mind her own business.”
The fact that Jake didn’t outright deny the allegation made him realize that Trina’s assumption had been dead-on. “We were close once, Jake, until our careers took us in different directions.”
“I know.”
The brevity of Jake’s response annoyed him, but he tried to keep his feelings to himself. “I’m here if you want to talk about what happened in Ireland, between you and Bree.”
“I don’t.” Jake continued eating, and he knew that was that.
Jeremy dug out his wallet and put enough money on the counter to pay for both meals, including a generous tip. “I’ll meet you back at the B and B, okay? We’ll leave for the airport when you’re ready.”
“Thanks.”
The trip back didn’t take long, but when Jeremy pulled into the driveway, he was surprised to see a strange car parked in the lot. Even more curious, there was a rental company sticker in the lower left corner of the rear window.
Trina? Had she already gotten a rental car? He hurried inside, expecting to find her waiting for him, but stopped short when he caught a glimpse of a slender woman with long naturally curly dark hair sitting across from Jazz in the great room.
“Oh, uh, hi.” He hoped his disappointment didn’t show. He glanced at his sister, wondering if the woman was a potential guest.
“Hey, Jeremy, where’s Jake?” Jazz asked.
“At Daisy’s. Why?”
Jazz stood and waved a hand at the woman. “This is Brianna Murphy; she’s flown in from Ireland to see Jake.”
Ah. The memory clicked into place. She looked different wearing casual jeans, a dark green T-shirt, and her hair long and loose compared to how she’d been dressed up at Jazz and Dalton’s wedding. “Oh yes. Nice to meet you. Is Jake expecting you?”
Brianna grimaced. “Not exactly, I wanted to surprise him.”
He nodded, secretly amused at the predicament Jake had gotten himself into. “Oh, believe me, I’m sure he’ll be surprised.”
“I’ll get you settled in the rose room,” Jazz offered. “No doubt Jake will be home soon.”
“Thanks a mil.” Brianna’s Irish accent was cute, and she eagerly followed Jazz upstairs.
Jeremy strode through the dining area and headed outside. No reason for him to drive Jake to the airport now. His older brother wasn’t going anywhere, and if he insisted, Jeremy planned to have Brianna take him.
He couldn’t wait to see the expression on Jake’s face when he discovered Brianna had flown to the states to see him. So much for things not working out.
Five going on six months in Ireland. Jeremy wondered if Jake was secretly panicking as he realized his wandering days might be coming to an end.
Trina didn’t have a lot of time to think about her conversation with Abe Crowley because the calls began rolling in. First there was a report of a shoplifter from Templeton’s Grocery store, where Carla Templeton, now McNally, was the owner and manager. Two twelve-year-olds had stuffed candy bars in the pockets of their baggy shorts, unaware that Carla had hidden cameras installed just for this purpose.
The youths were from Gurney, Illinois. Trina was able to get ahold of their parents who agreed to pay the fine, along with returning the stolen property.
Her next call was a fight down at the Bombay Pub, which was rather unusual since it was only noon and normally the drinkers didn’t start fighting until well after midnight. But this tussle was between a couple who were fighting over which one of them had to pay their lunch tab. Crazy, but she knew that it took all kinds.
The calls continued, one after the other. Doug Carbine took his turn responding to calls as well. The activity was more intense than they normally experienced on a Sunday, including a drunk driver call at one in the afternoon.
Trina had purposefully taken that one, in case the perp was high on crystal meth rather than drunk. Another meth collar might lead to the location of the trailer, but this time, the young female driver was actually drunk not high.
After booking her for both underage drinking and driving while intoxicated, she headed back out on patrol. Her phone rang, and she recognized Jeremy’s number.
Because she was driving, she didn’t answer. Sheriff Donnelly was a stickler for following the rules. If the call wasn’t likely to be an emergency, she would wait until she was stopped to respond.
She headed down Main Street, then pulled over to park near the grocery store. Looking at her phone, she noticed Jeremy left a message, asking again if she’d consider going out for dinner, suggesting they try Gino’s to see if it was as good as they remembered.
She listened to his message twice, enjoying the deep timbre of his voice. The smart thing to do would be to decline his invite. Jeremy was heading back to Lansing the following morning, why postpone the inevitable? Sure, he might make an effort to keep in touch, but long-distance relationships never worked.
Especially with Jeremy. Wasn’t his friendship with Steve proof of that?
Yet, she wanted to go. She liked spending time with him. He not only understood her need to eliminate the meth labs but supported her mission.
And his steamy hot kiss had left her longing for more.
She stared down at her phone for so long it startled her by ringing again.
Jeremy.
This time she answered. “Hello?”
“Trina, it’s Jeremy.”
She was glad he wasn’t there to see her shiver. “Hi, I just picked up your message.”
“Great. I forgot to remind you that any time you get off work is fine with me.”
She smiled. “Funny, I don’t remember agreeing to have dinner.”
There was a brief pause, before he replied, “Why wouldn’t you? Unless you have other plans?”
He sounded uncertain, and she told herself she was making a big deal out of nothing. This was just a meal, nothing more. “No other plans, and Gino’s sounds good. I’ll let you know when I get off shift.”
“Great! I’ll see you later, then.”
“Later,” she agreed. Her radio squawked, making her sigh. “I have to go.”
“Take care of yourself.”
“I will.” She disconnected from the call and reached fo
r her radio. “Unit five, responding, over.”
“There’s a reported disturbance at the Pine Cone Campground,” the dispatcher informed her. “At campsite thirty-eight.”
“Unit five responding.” Trina clicked off the radio and pulled out into the slow-moving traffic on Main Street. The campground was often a source of arguments and other domestic abuse. It was also the location where Garth had shot the man who’d kidnapped Jemma’s son, Trey, in order to save their lives.
And more recently, where she’d been assaulted.
The ride down Highway ZZ seemed to take forever. She turned into the campground and began driving through the sites sporting tents and pop-up campers, searching for thirty-eight.
The loud shouts reached her before she saw the sign. Hearing the disturbance made her reach for the radio. “This is unit five requesting backup at the Pine Cone.”
“Ten-four,” the dispatcher replied.
Trina pulled off the narrow road and parked in front of site thirty-six. She got out of her car and followed the shouting.
A middle-aged man sporting a beer belly and a woman wearing shorts and T-shirt that appeared a size too small were screaming at each other over a campfire. Trina reached for her taser as she approached, hoping neither one of them ended up near the fire.
“Hey, knock it off!” She had to raise her voice to be heard over their screaming. Amazingly, they stopped shouting long enough to look at her. “What’s going on here?”
“He’s lazy, that’s what’s going on,” the woman shrieked.
“Stop nagging,” the man bellowed.
“Both of you shut up!” Trina was fast losing patience with them. “You can either calm down, or I’ll arrest you both for disorderly conduct.”
“You can’t do that,” the guy said with a sneer. “We got rights.”
“Yeah, the right to remain silent.” Trina reached for her taser, in case she needed it to control him. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney.” She continued reciting the Miranda warning as she closed in on the older guy. She sensed that he was the instigator, although clearly the woman was holding her own.