“How about coming to my place? I can stop at the market and pick up a couple of steaks to bar-b-que.” It would give me a chance to find out if he’d learned anything more about Max’s murder.
Following me through the store, Drake placed a six pack of beer in the cart next to my bottle of wine. I’d gone in for steaks and ended up with a shopping cart full. “My treat,” he said, pulling his wallet out before I could stop him.
My face got red when June, the cashier, chuckled. “Let’s get together sometime,” she said, a broad smile on her face. “Jill and I would love getting together for a girls’ night out.” The twins had teased me about my schoolgirl crush on Drake when I’d lived her before. It looked like she was going to start in again now.
Over the years our communications were mostly e-mail, Facebook and the yearly Christmas cards. When I came to visit we made a point of getting together. After moving back, we had renewed our friendship as though the intervening years hadn’t happened.
“You didn’t need to pay for everything,” I said once we were outside. “I offered to cook.” I didn’t want a simple dinner to turn into something more like a date.
“I know, but I’m glad you asked. We haven’t spent much time together in the last week.” His eyes clouded over. The murder was still very real to him.
CHAPTER FIVE
Max’s funeral turned into a fist fight. Most of the people attending came to support Jim, not out of love for Max. Jim had just stood up to give the eulogy when the door of the church slammed open.
“Don’t go sayin’ anything good about that bastard.” A gasp swept through the congregation at his curse. “He deserves to rot in Hell for what he’s done to me and to this town.” Wally was drunk. It always came back to Max stealing his girlfriend in high school. Anything else Max did came second.
“Enough of that kind of talk, Wally.” Pastor Ned walked down the aisle towards him. “This is the house of God. You need to leave.”
Jim brushed past the pastor, his fist connecting with Wally’s jaw. He staggered backward several steps then rushed at Jim with his head down like a bull ready to charge. Drake and Bill, along with several others pulled the two men apart. “That’s enough. You’re both under arrest.” Drake’s loud voice boomed in the suddenly quiet room.
“Why are you arresting me?” Wally slurred. “He attacked me first.”
“You can’t arrest me. I’m your father.” Jim spoke over Wally’s objections.
The muscles in Drake’s jaw worked as he fought to control his temper. “You’re both coming with me,” he managed to ground out.
“I gotta go to work.” Wally wobbled while several men gripped his arms to keep him from falling down.
“But this is my brother’s funeral,” Jim objected.
“You both should have thought of those things sooner.” With Bill’s help, he dragged Jim and Wally out of the church.
For several long moments there was complete silence in the church. Jane stood up, marching down the aisle after Drake. “I’ve never been so humiliated in my life. He’s going to pay for this.” She didn’t say who was going to pay.
“Folks, please take your seats,” Pastor Ned tried to regain control of the situation. “Let us pray.” There was a lot of shuffling around as everyone tried to take their seats and remember why we were there.
“Lord, please take charge of this situation we find ourselves in today. I pray that Max is now resting in your arms. Bless and bring comfort to his family. In Your name, Amen. This concludes the service. The family asked me to issue an invitation to a reception in the basement. Go in peace.”
This wasn’t how a funeral was supposed to go, but it was what we were left with. No one, least of all the family, felt like attending a reception luncheon, but we dutifully made our way downstairs.
“I’m so sorry this happened on today of all days.” Jill Davidson gave me a hug. “My dad said Max and Wally never got along even as young boys. Wally blames Max for every bad thing that ever happened to him.”
“I know.” I nodded. “It looks like he’s going to start blaming Jim now.” I didn’t know what else to say.
Jane had disappeared, whether she went to the jail after Jim, or she went home, or somewhere else, was anyone’s guess. One thing I was sure of, she hadn’t picked up Hannah from the church nursery. She left that up to me.
Holding Hannah now, I looked around the large room. People were standing in small groups or sitting at the tables picking at the food from the buffet. This funeral would be talked about for years.
“Has Drake said anything to you about who took the money and who…” It wasn’t necessary for her to finish her sentence. I knew what she was talking about.
I shook my head. “Drake doesn’t keep me informed about the case, and I’m trying to steer clear.”
“You aren’t doing a very good job of that,” she chuckled. “The whole town knows you were buying groceries together the other day. Want to tell me what that was about?”
“It wasn’t what it looked like.” I’d forgotten how small towns loved to gossip. It was the one thing I hadn’t missed when I moved away.
“It looked like you were fixing dinner for him.” She gave me a teasing smile.
“Okay, so it was what it looked like. But it’s not what you’re hinting at. Jane dropped Hannah off at the library when she got home from her trip. Drake came over to check on her. After Jim took Hannah, I invited Drake over for dinner. I was hoping to find out if he’d learned anything new.”
“And how did the dinner go?” She cocked her head to one side, giving me a knowing smile.
“The food was fine, the information sharing,” I shrugged, “not so much. Drake is very one-sided when it comes to sharing information about an investigation.” I sighed. “The bank has to know something. There has to be some record of where the money went, and who authorized the transfer.”
Silence fell in the room when Jim walked in, followed closely by his sons. “I want to apologize for what happened today,” he began. “I let my temper overrule common sense.” His face was red with embarrassment. He went around the room thanking people for coming.
“Where’s Jane?” Drake looked around, taking Hannah out of my arms.
“I take it she didn’t follow you to the jail?” He shook his head. “Well then, I don’t know where she is,” I sighed. “She didn’t pick up Hannah when she left.”
“Call me later.” Jill winked at me, a teasing smile playing around her full lips.
“What was that about?” Drake frowned at me.
“Nothing, she just wanted me to call her later.” I shrugged off his question.
“Where’s Jane?” Jim echoed Drake’s question when he and Bill joined us. He looked around for his wife.
“Um, she went home?” My voice rose at the end, turning my words into a question.
“Of course she did. And she forgot all about Hannah.” He looked bone-weary.
“Dad,” Drake and Bill spoke at the same time.
“Not now, boys. I’ve had enough for one day.” Taking Hannah from Drake, he left the reception hall.
“When’s he going to wise up and dump that broad?” Bill spoke quietly. “She doesn’t care about him or Hannah.” This was the one subject they agreed on.
“That’s something he’s going to have to decide for himself,” I sighed. “It’s not up to us to make that decision for him.” Although I want to, I added silently.
“Did you really arrest them?” I looked at Drake.
“I couldn’t arrest Wally for drunk and disorderly, and let Dad off on assault,” he heaved a sigh. “I gave them both a warning, and let them go. I’m not sure Wally will even remember the incident when he sobers up.”
“I hope he doesn’t go to work like that. He could hurt himself or someone else.”
“I sent him home with one of my officers,” he said. “As drunk as he was, he’d crash into a tree.”
This was the first time I’d seen Bill since the
day he came to my place after Max died. I wanted to ask if he’d found anything in the forest to suggest Max had been staying there. I knew Drake wouldn’t approve of either of us interfering, so that would have to wait.
The three of us made the rounds, thanking everyone for coming, and left as quickly as possible. It had been a long week for all of us. It wasn’t going to get any better for Drake until the killer was found, and the money returned.
Unless irrefutable evidence was presented, I wouldn’t believe Max had stolen the money. It was my theory that the embezzler killed him to keep him from talking. Max said he knew who did it. Why didn’t he tell Drake? Or me, I thought. He’d come to me, so why not tell me? I wished he had told me more the night he came to see me. I still didn’t know what he expected me to do. I didn’t know what trail I was supposed to follow.
~~~
“How did this happen?” she whispered. “I didn’t sign up for this. It was supposed to be easy. No one was supposed to get hurt. We were going to get the money and disappear.”
“I know, but things changed.”
“How? Why?”
“Um, it’s gotten a little more complicated.” He paced away from her.
“What are you talking about?”
“Max wasn’t as dumb as we thought.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She glared at him. “I want out. Now.”
“Soon, I promise.” His voice trembled slightly, putting the lie to his words.
~~~
Drake’s SUV was parked outside Jim’s hardware store when I drove through town the next morning. Instead of going directly to the library, I made a detour. I wanted to know if Drake had made any progress on the case. The bank wasn’t being very helpful. Jim opened the store early every morning, but they were alone when I walked in.
They were in the middle of a serious conversation, and ignored me. “I’m sorry, Dad,” Drake said, drawing a deep breath before he continued. “Max was the only one authorized to make transfers.” He was still trying to make sense of things.
“No, that’s not right.” I frowned at Drake.
He gave me a sad smile. “I’m sorry, Holly. I know what Max told you, and you don’t want to believe he would do something like that. But he was the one with the authority to transfer money, especially that large of sum.” He turned back to his dad. “The bank is trying to locate where the money was transferred to, but they aren’t making much headway.”
“You don’t understand,” I interrupted again.
Drake shot me a glare that was meant to shut me up. It didn’t work. “Just listen to me for a change. There had to be a backup in case Max got sick or was on vacation. Someone else in his office had to have the authority to transfer funds. Transferring large sums of money would probably require two people authorizing the transfer. At least that’s the way it is with most large corporations. I don’t think the town would be so lax as to have only one signer. Who was the second signer?”
“I already told you I spoke with Jack Johnston. He’s the one who alerted us about the missing money.”
“I’m betting he also had the authority to transfer funds,” I argued.
Drake’s sigh was weary. “If he embezzled the funds, why did he stay in town while Max disappeared? You’re grasping at straws, Holly. They won’t hold up.”
“That may be so,” I said defiantly, “But there had to be someone else authorized to transfer funds. It doesn’t seem that people at the bank are being very cooperative.”
”Stay out of it, Holly,” he growled. Without another word, he stomped out of the store.
It would be interesting to know how Jack Johnston had felt when Jim hired Max instead of him as treasurer. Did he have an ax to grind? It might be worth checking into, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it. Putting that thought aside, I turned back to Jim.
“I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“I know. I don’t know what to believe. Max had always played a little loose with the rules, but I really thought he had changed when he came home this last time. I just don’t want to believe he would do something like this.”
“I don’t think he did.” Kissing his cheek, I went out to my car.
~~~
Two days after Max’s funeral, Jim called another town meeting in the high school auditorium. His face was haggard, and it looked like he’d lost ten pounds since this began.
“First, I want to thank everyone for the condolences expressed after Max was…” He didn’t finish that thought. Clearing his throat, he began again. “I wanted to keep everyone informed as much as possible.” Drake was on the stage with him. I had my fingers crossed that he wasn’t going to give up on the investigation.
“The bank is still trying to trace the money,” Jim went on, answering one of my questions.
“You’re damn brother stole it,” Wally shouted.
“Sit down and shut up, Wally, or I will haul your ass to jail.” Drake’s harsh growl surprised Wally into silence. At least for a little while.
“As I said, the bank is still working on this,” Jim continued as though there hadn’t been any interruption. “It’s taking time to discover who was involved.” It shouldn’t take this long to discover where the money had been transferred to, I thought. Drake didn’t want to listen to me though.
“It doesn’t take a mental giant to figure it out,” Wally mumbled loud enough for people to hear. “Max screwed the town just like he screwed me years ago.”
Jim placed his hand on Drake’s arm when he moved towards the steps. “Don’t, son.” He drew a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “There is another matter that needs to be discussed.”
“What else did Max do to hurt this town?” Wally didn’t know when to let it go.
Drake didn’t let his dad stop him this time. Walking down the steps, he made his way through the crowd. Before he reached the row where Wally was trying to hide, he scrambled over the people beside him, running out of the hall. People laughed, until Jim pounded the gavel on the table.
“Settle down, folks. We have business to discuss here.” Again he drew a deep breath. “It seems that a big box store has been trying to gain ground here in town. They’ve been working behind the scenes, and it has just come to my attention. That would wipe out several stores, and could destroy our downtown area. I’m not sure that’s something we should consider.”
“Can’t we all sign a petition to stop them?” Bud Walker stood up. Bud and his wife Arlene owned the only grocery store in town. “I couldn’t compete with the prices of one of those stores. It would put me out of business.”
“That will be the concern that all the store owners in town will have,” Jim said. “The town council is working to put a stop to their plans.”
“Is it a done deal?” Someone else shouted the question.
“As I said, I didn’t learn about this until today. That’s why the hastily called meeting. Before Max…died,” Jim faltered before he got control of his emotions, and was able to continue. “He was working on stopping the store from moving forward with their plans. It’s going to take time, but I’m confident that once the corporate offices learn that the town doesn’t want them here, they will rethink their plans.”
“Is that why he was killed?” The buzz went around the room. Once again Jim pounded the gavel to regain order.
“We’re looking at every angle,” was Drake’s only comment.
“I’ll bet Max was behind the deal to begin with,” Wally shouted from the back of the room. He quickly ducked back out again before Drake could do anything.
I didn’t want to believe a big corporation would have Max killed because he was trying to stop them from building a store in town. What, if anything, did this have to do with the missing money?
Fear that our way of life was about to be destroyed was written on the faces of everyone as they filed out of the auditorium a short time later. Drake had said very little during the meeting. Apparently he was there t
o maintain order, and make sure Wally didn’t start another fight with Jim.
“What about that big store?” I asked softly as I walked out with Drake. “Would they really kill someone trying to stop them from building here?”
“The town council is working to figure out how deep the corporation has managed to worm their way into things around here.” His sigh caused a cloud to form in front of his face in the cold night air.
Switching topics, I continued to press. “Who were they working with to get the proper authorization?” When he remained stubbornly silent, I asked another question. “Why hasn’t the bank been more cooperative? Someone should be able to tell you where the money was transferred to. It’s been more than a week now. Who authorized the transfer? Someone has to know something. I think they’re trying to cover their own backsides.” Drake let me rant without commenting.
Leaning against the door of my car, he watched me with hooded eyes. When I finally wound down, I sighed. “If you aren’t going to tell me anything, please move so I can open the door. I want to go home. It’s too cold to stand around out here.” After living in Phoenix while I went to college, my blood had thinned. Seventy degrees was cold to me, and the temperature was a lot colder than seventy at the moment.
His dark gaze was trained on me, but he remained silent. It was a technique police used to get a suspect talking. I didn’t know what he suspected me of, though. I finally clicked the key fob to unlock my door. “I’m cold, so I’m going home. Good night.” He still didn’t move.
“Drake, please move. I’m cold. I want to go home.” Before I knew what he was going to do, he pulled me against his hard chest, wrapping me in his warm embrace. He rested his chin on top of my head. “Wh…what are you doing?” My heart was pounding in unison with his.
“You said you were cold. I thought I’d warm you up.” I felt him shrug, but he didn’t release me.
“Not out here where everyone can see us.” My voice squeaked.
“So what if they do?”
“So tongues will be wagging by morning. You know what they’re going to say.”
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