Never Con A Con Man (An Arizona High Country Mystery Book 1)

by Suzanne Floyd

  Take over the town? I thought. Who was that guy? My best guess was he worked for the corporation wanting to open a store in Pine Mountain. It seemed a coincidence that someone from that corporation would show up so soon after Max’s murder when he was trying to stop them.

  Seeing me standing in the hallway, Beth Ann hurried over to me. “Can you imagine Wally making such a spectacle of himself right here in the bank!” Her face was flush with excitement, belying her disgusted tone.

  “That’s always been Wally’s way.” I shrugged. I wasn’t going to add to her gossip. “I have to get to work. I’ll talk to you later.” I hurried out before she could stop me.

  Driving the short distance to the library, I mulled over what I’d learned from Fred. It wasn’t much. The most interesting item was that Fred and Jane had some sort of relationship. But what kind? How well did he know her? They were closer in age than Jane and Jim were. Was that their only connection? He was certainly nervous about something. I decided to look him up on Facebook and other social media the first chance I got.

  If he was like so many of the young people who frequent the library, he would be on several different sites. They never took into consideration that what you put on the internet today is there forever. Even the apps that are supposed to delete a message after a certain length of time can still be found much later, sometimes with unthought-of consequences.

  Linda was busy helping a student when I arrived at the library. Her lips were compressed in a thin line when she looked at me. I didn’t know if she was upset that I was late, or something had happened with a student. If she had something to say, it would have to wait until we were alone.

  Watching a table of teenagers, their thumbs moved rapidly over the small keyboards on their phones. Were they looking something up, or chatting on one of the social apps they used? Spelling and communication skills were being rapidly destroyed by texts and social media. I worried about this generation coming up on adulthood. How were they going to manage without any social skills when they got out in the real world?

  After locking up for the day, I stopped at Linda’s desk. “I’m sorry I was late this morning. I hope it wasn’t too busy.”

  “That woman came in looking for you. When I told her you weren’t here, she gave me the third degree, wanting to know where you were. I felt like telling her it was none of her business, but I held my tongue.” Jealousy was getting the better of her.

  “That woman?” I could guess who she was talking about.

  “Yes, Jane Cox. She had that precious baby with her. She wanted you to babysit again.”

  “Oh.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. I should put a stop to this, but I felt sorry for Hannah. Left in Jane’s care, she was neglected at best, and abused at worst.

  “She uses you as her personal babysitter even though you work, and she doesn’t. I don’t know why Jim ever married her.” I wasn’t going to touch that topic. “I noticed she didn’t attend the meeting last night either,” Linda continued to rant. “She should have been there to support her husband.”

  “I guess she didn’t have a babysitter since I went to the meeting.” I meant it as a joke, but she took it seriously.

  “Well, there are plenty of teenagers in this town,” she huffed. “She could hire one of them for a few hours. Hannah would be better cared for by a teenager than by her own mother.”

  She drew in a deep breath letting it out slowly. “I’m sorry, Holly. I shouldn’t be saying things like that about Jim’s wife, but,” she shook her head. Stray strands of hair that had come out of the clip fell over her eyes. “I just had to get that off my chest.” She absentmindedly brushed at her hair. “I feel so sorry for him. He just lost his only brother, and his wife doesn’t even care. She barely made it back to town in time for the funeral.”

  Drawing another calming breath, she continued on a new subject. “How is Drake coming with the investigation? It has to be hard for him to investigate his uncle’s murder.”

  I gave her my standard answer on that subject. “Drake doesn’t talk to me about the case. That wouldn’t be very professional.” If he knew I’d been asking questions at the bank, he would be upset with me. Since I hadn’t asked about the missing funds, I wasn’t sure what he would think I had done wrong.

  My cell phone vibrated where it was clipped at my waist. Checking caller ID, I sighed, turning away from Linda. “Hello, Jane. What can I do for you?” I heard Linda’s sniff of disgust.

  “I was wondering if you could come over tonight. Jim has to work late at the store, again,” she emphasized, “and I get so lonely out here all by myself.” I was surprised by her request. This was her first attempt to be friends. Unless she wanted me to watch Hannah she hadn’t wanted much to do with me.

  “I’m sorry Jane, but I have plans with some friends.” I’d piled up enough lies in one day to last a lifetime. I was glad I had an excuse, and didn’t have to tell another one to get out of going out to the ranch.

  June had called earlier about getting together for dinner with Jill. After witnessing that kiss between Drake and me the night before, I knew what they wanted to talk about. I’d have to be careful not to tell any lies over dinner.

  “Oh. I guess we can make it another time.” She sounded disappointed. Maybe I’d misjudged her, but something told me I hadn’t. “I was hoping you could give me some advice about Jim. He’s been so distracted lately. He won’t accept the fact that Max was a crook, and now he’s dead.”

  I bristled at her assumption that he was guilty. “Max was his brother. It’s understandable that Jim would be upset. And we don’t know that Max took the money.”

  “Oh, I know, but that’s what it looks like. Anyway, that’s not why I called. I just needed someone to talk to. Jim is always so busy with the store and town business. Now he’s worried about that big store wanting to build here. He says it will ruin his business.”

  “If a big box store opens up in town, it will ruin a lot of small businesses.”

  “But it will be good for the town in so many ways. There’s only that one grocery store in town.”

  “And that store will close along with Jim’s store and several others if a big store moves in. What will happen to all those families?”

  “But that might be a good thing.”

  “Excuse me? You think ruining the livelihood of all those families would be a good thing?”

  “Well, maybe not for everyone, but I think it would be good for us.”

  “How could that be good for you?”

  “The store’s going to go somewhere, why not Pine Mountain?” She didn’t answer my question directly. “People are going to shop where they get the best prices.” She gave a heavy sigh. “Look, that isn’t why I called, I just thought you could come out to the ranch, and we could talk. I don’t know what to do. Jim is taking all of this personally.”

  “How else is he supposed to take it? His brother was accused of embezzlement, and then was murdered. To me that means someone else took the money, and tried to frame Max. Now his livelihood is threatened. This is very personal.” She was only thinking of herself in all of this, and didn’t consider how it was affecting Jim or the rest of the town.

  “Who would try to frame him?” Her voice quivered slightly.

  “Look Jane. I really need to go. Like I said, I’m meeting friends, and I still have some work to do here at the library.” Talking to her was like talking to a brick wall. She only heard what she wanted to hear.

  “Oh, I thought you took the day off. That horrible woman said you weren’t there when I came in this morning.” She gave a weary sigh. “She’s always so rude to me when I come in to see you. I don’t know why she hates me.” I could tell her she only came in to leave Hannah with me, but kept silent on that matter.

  “I had some personal business to take care of first thing this morning. I’ve been playing catch up the rest of the day.” My conscience pricked at me for the little white lie. As usual, Linda had kept thi
ngs running smoothly while I was gone. I hoped God would forgive me once again.

  Linda had tidied up the desk, and was working on the shelves when I was finally able to get away from Jane. It felt like she was up to something. She’d never shown any interest in being friends before today. Why the sudden desire now? Did this have anything to do with my visit to the bank, and my talk with Fred?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Okay, let’s have it.” We had just been seated in the diner, and June was ready to start her interrogation. She had been patient long enough. “What happened after I saw the two of you in the parking lot?”

  “Nothing happened.” I hoped my face wasn’t as red as it felt.

  “You know perfectly well what she’s talking about,” Jill said, elbowing me in the ribs. “She caught you and Drake making out in the parking lot after the meeting last night. So give. What’s going on with you two?”

  “Nothing is going on. It was just a kiss.”

  “Don’t try to pass it off as a brotherly kiss,” June said. “That was an intense moment.” They were tag teaming me.

  “Nothing happened. I went home and…”

  “And what?” they asked in unison.

  “And Bill was sitting on my porch when I got there. He just about gave me a heart attack.”

  “Bill, as in Bill Cox?” June hooted. “Was Drake with you?”

  “No, of course not. I don’t know where he went after I left, but I assume he went home. His home,” I added. “What difference does it make anyway?”

  June swiped at her forehead as though wiping sweat off. “Shoo. That would have been something if he’d been with you. Those two have been at each other’s throats since high school. They got in one hell of a fight in the school parking lot right after you left town.”

  “What? You never told me. What were they fighting about?”

  June smirked. “You, of course.” They both laughed, but I noticed a slight chill from Jill. I always suspected she had a crush on Bill, but it never went anywhere because he had a crush on me. She had never said anything about it during my earlier visits either. There were a lot of people keeping quiet about their feelings in this town. Maybe it was time to open up.

  “Why would they fight about me?”

  “Bill blamed Drake for you leaving. He said Drake drove you away.”

  I stared at them like they’d each grown another head. “That’s nuts. I was fifteen. I had no say in the matter. No one drove me away. Mom and Jim got a divorce. That certainly wasn’t Drake’s fault. She just got tired of being married. You know how she was, how she is.”

  “Well, Bill didn’t see it that way,” June said. “He blamed Drake. He said if Drake hadn’t teased you all the time your mom wouldn’t have taken you and Tim away. I’m not sure he even cared about any of the other steps, just you and Tim.” When Mom and Jim got married, she brought me and two of my half-brothers with her. Of course, when she left, they did too.

  June shrugged. “Both of them were crazy about you, but you only had eyes for Drake. It looks like that hasn’t changed any.” She snickered. “That always drove Bill nuts. I think it still does.”

  After the way Bill acted the night before, I thought she was probably right. Was that why he didn’t come to town very often? Was he avoiding Drake, not crowds? Mom’s marriage to Jim lasted longer than any of her previous marriages. Because of that, I had always been close to Jim. That hadn’t changed because of the divorce. During the ten years since Mom and Jim were divorced, I had been to visit several times before moving back to Pine Mountain.

  While Drake was in the Air Force, Bill was around when I came to visit. Not so much since I’ve been back. If June and Jill were to be believed, Drake is the cause of that.

  “Oh, brother. Why do they have to act like little boys?” I sighed.

  “It’s my turn now. Do either of you have a love life we can dissect tonight?” I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest. They both had had serious relationships in college that had died a slow death when they moved home. It’s hard to move to a small town from the big city. Jobs are less plentiful, and less exciting. Like me, they were both single.

  “Maybe if you’d cut Bill loose, someone else would have a chance with him,” was June’s cryptic comeback.

  “Someone we know?” I asked. From the blush creeping up Jill’s face I could guess who she was talking about. “So that’s the way the wind blows.” I chuckled.

  I gave Jill a pointed look. “Maybe Bill would act differently if he knew how someone else felt about him.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Riiight,” I drew out the word. “I think it’s time for you to fess up and tell him how you feel.” Her face was beet red. I turned to her twin. “What about you? Any love interest I should know about?”

  June looked at her sister, and they both shrugged. “Okay, we’ll let you off the hook for tonight. But you’ve been in love with Drake since you were ten. Isn’t it time to do something about it?”

  “I will if you will.” I looked at Jill again.

  She sighed. “Maybe.”

  I looked at June. “Anyone you’d like to tell me about?” I wasn’t going to let her off the hook.

  “Nope.” The blush creeping over her cheeks told me otherwise. “I think we’ve chewed that topic ‘til it got hard,” she said before I could press the matter. I guess they didn’t want to talk about their love lives, just mine. “What’s up with Jane,” she continued. “She spends as much time in Phoenix as she does here.”

  “Phoenix? What are you talking about? She just got back from visiting her mother in Denver.”

  “No,” June shook her head. “I saw her in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago. She was with some guy, and they looked pretty chummy.”

  “When was that?”

  She was silent for a minute, figuring back in time. “I guess it was about two weeks ago. What difference does it make? Who’s the guy she was with?”

  “That’s a good question. Maybe I’ll ask her sometime.” It sounded like she might be having an affair.

  “What’s going on with the case?” They were through with that subject as well.

  I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Drake doesn’t discuss the case with me. He’s made a point of telling me several times to stay out of things.”

  Jill giggled. “See, he’s still got a thing for you.”

  “What thing?” I asked. “I’m not sure ‘a thing’ is something I want with a man.”

  “You know what I mean. He’s still head over heels about you.”

  “If you think that’s what it means when he says to stay out of his case, you’re wrong. He even threatened to arrest me if I tried to mess with his case.”

  “He’d arrest you?” That wasn’t what they expected me to say. But they weren’t ready to drop that subject. “Well, if that’s what it took to keep you safe from a murderer, I guess that makes sense.”

  It was late when I pulled into my driveway. Once again I’d forgotten to turn on the yard light when I left that morning. I put a motion sensor light on my mental shopping list. I surveyed the porch and side of the house for any shifting shadows. I’d had enough surprise visitors recently. I didn’t want another one.

  When all looked calm, I opened the car door, moving quickly to the house. Another item I needed on my shopping list was a dead bolt lock for both doors. If a credit card could bypass the current lock, it was time to upgrade.

  It took a while before I could settle down and fall asleep. Were they right about Drake? Was he in love with me? My heart raced at the thought. He was the reason all men fell short in my mind. They simply didn’t measure up. I wasn’t sure he felt the same about me though. I finally fell into a restless sleep. When I woke up the following morning, I was as tired as I’d been when I went to bed. I was grateful it was Sunday. I didn’t have to go to work.

  Drake was standing outside the church when I arrived. My steps faltered s
lightly, but I managed to keep walking. “Good morning.” His dark gaze swept over me, causing my heart to skip a beat. If he was in love with me as June and Jill said, why doesn’t he come out and tell me, instead of playing games? “Rough night out with the girls?” He cocked one eyebrow.

  “Are you keeping track of me?”

  “I’m the chief of police. I have to have eyes and ears everywhere in case things get rowdy.” He chuckled.

  “So you have people spying on me.” It was more of an accusation than a question.

  “No, just making sure you don’t get into trouble. If I remember correctly, the three of you managed to get into mischief when you were younger. Those two you were with last night still do, every now and then. I wouldn’t be much of a police chief if I didn’t keep an eye on the trouble makers.”

  Their assertion that he was in love with me still sent shivers up my spine. What was I supposed to do? I decided to play it cool. “Whatever. Are you coming inside, or did you come here to check up on me?”

  “Oh, I’m coming in.” As he reached for the door, his phone buzzed on his hip, stopping him. “Um, hold on a minute.”

  “Don’t you know you’re supposed to leave your cell phone at home when you come to church? The least you could do is turn it to vibrate.”

  Ignoring me, he pulled his phone off the clip on his belt. “Yeah, Cox here. What’s up?” Turning away from me, he was all business. “Where? I’ll be there in five.” Replacing his phone, he turned back to me. “I have to go, Holly. Go inside, Dad’s already here with Hannah.”

  “Just Hannah? What about Jane?”

  “He didn’t say. I really have to go. I’m sorry.”

  “What’s going on, Drake? What happened?” I put my hand on his arm, hoping he’d stop long enough to tell me what happened.

  “Police business, now go.” He was impatient to leave, but he didn’t want to go until I went inside. Dipping his head, he surprised me by placing a quick kiss on my lips. He pulled the door open, giving me a gentle shove inside. “I’ll see you later.”