Off Season

by B. Allison Miller

  “Mandy, I’ll ask you to keep your voice down, please.” Jed looked around nervously as if he expected to catch someone eavesdropping on our conversation.

  “Jed. Come on. Are my other guests in danger? Do I need to be worried about their safety? Is an angry member of a drug cartel or a sex-trafficking ring going to show up on our doorsteps?”

  Jed cringed. “Look. I don’t know why Crater McMurphy was killed. Honestly, yesterday I got a call from someone higher than my pay grade and I was told to release the investigation to the Bureau. That’s what I know. I am as in the dark as you are.”

  “And you’re okay with that?” I asked in surprise.

  Jed shrugged. I could tell that he was not okay with it. In fact, I was willing to bet that if I opened his laptop computer, I would see evidence that Jed was secretly looking into Crater’s death while he was having his dinner.

  “You know what they say, Mandy, right now I’m like a mushroom. I’m kept in the dark and all they feed me is a bunch of sh...” Jed stopped himself. He was upset. I didn’t blame him. Unless I was missing something, the investigation into Crater McMurphy’s death should fall in Jed’s jurisdiction. For some reason, the feds were keeping him from doing his job.

  “I can tell you that I’m not entirely comfortable with things, Jed. Five guys went into the woods that night, and only four of them are still alive. And the one who died was found on my turf. Do you have any idea why Crater ended up back at the Chalet? He wasn’t even supposed to be there.”

  “No. I don’t know, Mandy.” He ran his hands through his short thick hair, causing it to stand on end like bed head. I imagined that was how his hair looked when he got up every morning. Hmm.

  “Agent Riley has the surveillance footage from the Chalet. She said that Crater returned to the Chalet at half-past midnight.”

  “Good. It sounds like Agent Riley has everything under control. Hopefully, the FBI will make quick work of the case if they have so much information.” I thought I detected a note of annoyance in Jed’s response, but before I could analyze it, Jed looked up at me and continued speaking. “Mandy, I know you like Tate, hell, I like Tate, he’s a pleasant enough guy, but what do you really know about him?”

  “Why?” Surely Jed didn’t think Tate was a viable suspect?

  “Before I got bumped off the case, I did a background check on him.” My eyebrows must have betrayed my shock and anger at Jed’s revelation because he lifted his hand and said, “Don’t worry, I didn’t single Tate out or anything. I was looking into several of the Chalet employees as well as Crater’s buddies—the ones who were traveling with him. By the way, that breaking and entering charge when you were in college? We may need to talk about that someday.” Jed grinned at me, clearly pleased with his discovery about my one and only brush with the law.

  I winced. The breaking and entering charge was dropped, but it wasn’t one of my prouder life moments. The B&E was the result of a misguided joke between me and my dormmates during my junior year of college—it was no big deal, really. We broke into a rival football team’s barn and tried to steal their mascot—a prized mountain goat—without success. We were caught before we could hook the lead rope to the goat’s harness. I guess I should be glad they didn’t try to get us on ‘kidnapping’ charges too (get it? ‘kid’ napping?) I decided to ignore Jed’s attempt at side-tracking me with my record, and I continued to ask him my questions. “And? What did you find out about Tate? You seem to be dying to give me reasons not to trust him.”

  “That’s just it, Mandy, I didn’t find anything on Tate. There hasn’t been so much as a speeding ticket for Tate Svenson in the last decade.” Jed’s face looked concerned.

  “So? Tate is a conscientious guy with a small child to think about. Maybe he doesn’t speed.” I feigned ignorance, after all, ignorance is bliss, right? I was pretty sure I knew where Jed was headed with this conversation, and I didn’t think I liked it.

  “Okay, maybe. Maybe Tate Svenson is the cleanest guy around, but here’s the thing, the rest of those guys—Tony, Mike, Abe—Crater’s travel companions? Their backgrounds came out so clean, you could eat off their records. I mean there was nothing, Mandy. I can maybe see one guy out of those four having a squeaky-clean record, but all four of them? They should probably have trespassing citations for all the illegal base-jumping they’ve done, and yet, there is nothing. In fact, the only one of them who had any kind of background was Crater McMurphy. He had a couple of complaints against him a few years ago. Destruction of property and harassment were the biggies. Add to that their secret military background—something doesn’t smell right.”

  “So, what are you suggesting?” I asked with exasperation. I wished Jed would just get to the point.

  “Someone scrubbed those men’s records,” Jed nodded as if he was already convinced of this.

  “Why would they do that? Who would do that?” I wondered if scrubbing records was even a real thing. I know I’ve seen it in movies and TV shows. Jed was convinced that it happened, and he is a cop, he should know.

  “Those are both good the questions, Mandy.”

  “What did Tate say? Did you get to interview him before Agent Riley took over?”

  “I did. I spoke to all of those guys, and their stories were all pretty much the same except...” Jed stopped speaking.

  “Except what?” I leveled my eyes at Jed’s and waited for an explanation.

  “Tate’s story about the following morning was ... Dammit, Mandy! You’re doing it again. You’re asking me questions that I shouldn’t be answering.” Jed slammed his hands on the table in obvious frustration.

  I leaned in, “I’m asking because I’m worried, Jed. Someone killed Crater McMurphy in the place where I work—my home away from home—and I have the distinct impression that a few of the people I care about are Agent Riley’s prime suspects.”

  “A few people?” Jed shifted in his seat, “Tate, and who else?”

  “Like you, Jed, I cannot discuss it. But I have a feeling that Agent Riley tried to catch me out today. She was trying to intimidate me into saying someone may have been with Crater the night that he was killed.”

  “Of course, someone was with him, Mandy,” Jed lowered his voice to a growling whisper, “the man had his throat slit.”

  I lowered my eyes; I didn’t want to say anything that would implicate Anne Marie or Vanessa. Agent Riley specifically asked whether a massage therapist had access to Crater’s suite. Anne Marie was a massage therapist and she had a past with Crater McMurphy. She also mentioned a boot print—a small one. “Crater wasn’t alone, Jed. Agent Riley implied that he had a guest Friday night.”

  “Wait, you’re suggesting that Agent Riley is looking for a female perp?” Jed’s eyes grew large with understanding.

  I nodded. “When she was checking Crater’s room, she found some evidence that he had a female companion in his room. She found a blood stain in the shape of a boot print. She implied that it came from a woman’s boot.”

  Jed shook his head in surprise. “How did I miss that? And the guy was naked too. Why hadn’t I considered that the suspect might be a woman?” Jed shook his head again as if he was chastising himself. I decided it would be best if I didn’t remind Jed that he had spent as much time in Crater’s suite with his head between his knees as he spent actually looking for clues. This wasn’t the time to embarrass him—especially considering he was speaking openly to me about what he knew. “And he was gagged too,” Jed added. “What do you make of that?”

  “If you’re thinking it was some kind of kinky sex thing gone wrong, Jed, I’m going to have to disagree with you. Sexy time shouldn’t lead to having your throat slit.” I felt my face flush as the words exited my mouth, and I noticed that Jed was blushing too.

  “No, you’re probably right,” he shook his head. “So, she gagged him at some point—probably to keep him quiet—and she slit his throat. But it doesn’t track, Mandy. That guy was huge and strong. No offense to
the fairer gender, but I can’t think of any women who could subdue a guy like Crater long enough to kill him. Hell, I can’t think of many men who could.”

  Ignoring Jed’s ‘fairer gender’ remark, I continued, “Unless Crater was already subdued. Maybe he was asleep?”

  Jed shook his head dismissively. “I think he would’ve awakened and fought if someone pressed a sharp object to his throat.” I watched Jed gulp, and I wondered if the memory of the crime scene was making him feel ill again. Poor guy. I was beginning to feel sorry for him. What was going on with him? How long had he been this way? Something was definitely wrong with my former best friend, and I didn’t think I could ask him what it was. We weren’t close anymore.

  “Yes, you are probably right,” I observed. “He would have awakened if someone was trying to kill him in his sleep. Maybe he was more than just tired. Maybe Crater was drugged? Or tied down?”

  Jed considered my suggestion. “I don’t know. I’d need to see toxicology reports to know if he was drugged. I didn’t see any ligature marks on him, but then again... I’d sure like to get another look at the crime scene or see the autopsy report.”

  “But would you?” I couldn’t help myself. The poor guy does not do well with gore, and I caught myself egging him on again. I bit the inside of my cheek so I would stop harassing him. It was a hard habit to shake.

  Jed ignored my impudent question. “I’m sure that Agent Riley has photos from the crime scene. I wonder if I could get her to share what she knows. She didn’t seem very willing to collaborate on the investigation initially, but she was pretty friendly with me today. We’ve been sharing my office space, and she brought donuts to the station today.”

  My eyebrows rose. I began to wonder if Jed lied to me when he said his relationship with Agent Riley was merely a working relationship. Maybe the agent was Jed’s type after all. “Well, for what it’s worth, I didn’t notice a wedding band on Agent Riley’s finger. Maybe you could ask her out on a date, build her trust, and then she might share what she knows about the case with you.”

  Jed leveled those gray-blue eyes at me. Those things should be illegal. “Are you suggesting that I bamboozle the woman into going out with me so I can get intel from her?”

  I laughed at Jed’s simplistic response. Who uses the word bamboozle? I couldn’t help myself, I had to respond in jest. “Sure, Jed. ‘Bamboozle’ her, wine and dine her, sex her up, whatever,” I shrugged, then I smiled. I knew Jed wouldn’t do it. His morality compass was too strong to use a woman in that way. He’d likely ask Agent Riley to marry him before he would trick her into giving him her case notes. Jed/Wed.

  “You don’t think I will! You don’t think I have the nerve to ask her out.” His mouth curled up on the right side in a playful half-smile. There he was! That was the Jed I remembered. The game was afoot.

  I shrugged again and teased Jed some more. “Or maybe you aren’t Agent Riley’s type. Yeah, she will probably turn you down flat. Maybe I should get Officer Bates to ask her out instead. He’s still single, isn’t he?”

  Jed grumbled something unintelligible before he said, “Not her type, huh? Do you want to make this interesting?” Jed grinned widely, challenging me. Then he leaned forward into my personal space.

  “What do you have in mind?” I also sat forward in my seat so that our noses nearly touched, and I stretched my legs under the table too. I felt my knee collide with Jed’s, and neither of us moved.

  “I’ll ask Agent Riley—Susanne—to go out with me. If she says ‘yes,’ you have to go out to dinner with me next week. Friday night works for me.” I swear Jed’s illegal eyes sparkled like the eyes of an animated character on TV. I could almost hear the ‘Ping!’ sound effect.

  “You aren’t worried that Susanne will get jealous if you ask out both of us?”

  “Not especially. As I said, I’m not interested in Susanne. I just want to get her to share her case notes with me.” Jed wasn’t interested in Agent Riley, and he wanted to go out to dinner with me? Color me surprised.

  “Fine. Ask her out. What happens when I win?” I grinned at him, urging Jed on. He’s a good-looking guy. Agent Riley could definitely do worse than Jed Link, but there was still a chance that the FBI agent would turn him down.

  Jed chuckled. “You mean if Agent Riley says no? That’s not likely to happen. I’m a charming guy when people let me be one.” He winked at me. Well now Jed was just blatantly flirting with me, and I was completely taken aback. He was kind of cute when he flirted. I bit my lower lip and tried to remain cool. What other words rhyme with Jed? Hmm.

  “Fine, if Agent Riley turns you down, and she probably will turn you down, what do I win?” I winked back. Two could play this game.

  “Same odds?” Jed offered. He licked his lower lip, and I felt heat rise to my face. What was happening to me? Clearly, I must be catching a virus. I should see a doctor. Additionally, it sounded very much like Jed wanted to take me out to dinner, maybe wine me and dine me and sex me up. And even more interesting, I was wondering how I could make Agent Riley say ‘yes’ to Jed so that I could lose our bet.

  “Mandy?” I noticed that Jed was sitting back in his seat and he was waiting for my answer. How long had I been lost in my thoughts?

  “No.” I sat back and shook my head. The cowboy hat bobbled a bit so I had to reach up and push it back again. “If I win our bet, you have to go to the movies with me.”

  “Win-win,” Jed took a sip of his water and his gray-blue eyes sparkled again as he stared over his glass toward me. He leaned further back in his seat looking completely self-satisfied. That would not do.

  “You didn’t let me finish, Jed. If I win, you’ll be attending a horror movie double feature with me. The South Street theater is showing ‘The Cabin in the Woods,’ and ‘Vacancy’ as a double. It will be a midnight showing and promises to be extra creepy. You might need to take a valium before the show starts. Let me know when you lose.”

  Jed gulped at the prospect of losing our bet, but then he leaned forward, grinned, and said, “Fine.”

  We shook on our agreement. Jed’s eyes were still sparkling, and my face was still warm. I should probably get a checkup and see what is wrong with me.

  “By the way, I heard that Agent Riley plans to bring Crater McMurphy’s wife to the Chalet tomorrow to let her look at Crater’s suite. What’s that about?”

  Jed grimaced just a bit, “I don’t know, Mandy. I was told the same thing, but I don’t know what Agent Riley is up to.”

  “Then I suggest you should ask Agent Riley out soon—you know—just for information-gathering purposes.” I winked again. Then I rubbed my eye, pretending that there was something stuck there.

  Jed shook his head at me in disbelief but he was smiling. I stood from my seat, and took the cowboy hat from my head, and placed it on Jed’s head, taking extra time to straighten it for him. I stepped back to admire my work.

  “Oh, and I think we should agree to share our case information from now on,” I turned to go.

  Jed grabbed my arm and spun me back towards him, his eyebrows lifted, “You’re investigating?”

  I shrugged and stole another French fry from Jed’s plate before I headed out of the tavern. I felt Jed’s eyes on me as I walked away.

  TEN

  “There is no possession more valuable than a good and faithful friend.” – Socrates

  AFTER I LEFT JED, I headed back to my townhome for the evening. I called Anne Marie and put her on speakerphone as I prepared a rushed dinner. I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch other than a stray fry or two from Jed’s plate at Delilah’s.

  “Hey, Mandy,” Anne Marie answered her phone. She sounded tired.

  “Annie, what’s up?” I spread mayo on a slice of bread and put it in my heated skillet before I dropped a thick slice of cheese and another slice of bread on top. It’s the best way to make a grilled cheese.

  “It’s been a rough day.” Annie sighed.

  “Why? Did something
happen at the spa today?” I kept my eyes on my sandwich so that it didn’t brown too much.

  “No, at the restaurant. That FBI agent took Paolo from work and interviewed him. I guess she was brutal. He came home with a headache, and went straight to bed.”

  “What? What did Agent Riley want with Paolo?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but I have an idea. She interviewed me first. I told her about Crater and what happened six years ago. Agent Riley seemed very interested in hearing about it.”

  I took a deep breath. My friend just confirmed my suspicions. Agent Riley knew all about Annie and Crater even before she spoke with me. Agent Riley had tried to trick me. I was sure of it.

  “I got the distinct impression that Agent Riley already knew about Crater and me when she questioned me, Mandy. You didn’t say anything to her, did you?”

  “No, Annie, of course not. I didn’t tell anyone, not even corporate. I don’t know how Agent Riley would know about that. She seems to be a shrewd investigator.” The agent was sneaky too.

  “I didn’t think you did, but I had to ask. I mean, she’s an intimidating woman. It only took about three seconds for me to break down and admit to Agent Riley what happened with Crater, and that was years ago. The next thing you know, I told her that Paolo and I discussed my indiscretion with Crater. I don’t know what came over me. I almost implicated my husband in Crater McMurphy’s death.”

  “I guess that explains why she interviewed Paolo,” I replied as I flipped my sandwich to brown the other side. I guessed that Agent Riley wanted to know if Paolo was capable of attacking Crater McMurphy in revenge for what he’d done to Annie. But why? The agent told me she thought a woman killed Crater. Why was the agent interested in Annie’s husband? Maybe Agent Riley thought there were two people involved in the thrill-seeker's death. Did the agent think that Paolo and Annie acted together?