The Darkest Hour

by Anina Collins

  I closed the passenger side door and leaned back against the seat exhausted. Michael Thompson’s madness had taken everything out of me. Looking over at Alex as he started the car, I wondered if he’d ever unraveled like that after losing his wife.

  “I feel bad for him. He’s lost everything. That must be devastating, don’t you think?”

  Alex frowned even as he nodded his agreement. “It is devastating. I feel for the guy too, Poppy, but as messed up as he is, I think he’s our murderer. He’s got motive. He thinks Bethany ruined his life and made him lose everything. He’s got means. That knife on the counter looked like a hunting knife and had some kind of dried liquid on it.”

  I finished his rundown of Michael Thompson’s possible guilt, hating what I had to say. “And he had opportunity. He’s got no one in his life and he lives alone, so he could get to Sunset Ridge to kill Bethany without even being missed by a soul.”

  Just saying that made me feel bad for him. That he could drive to Bethany’s, kill her in cold blood, and then come back to his empty house without anyone missing him was possibly the saddest thing after Bethany’s death.

  Alex weaved his fingers through mine and brought my hand to his lips in a kiss. “Cheer up. We might have just solved this case.”

  I forced a smile, knowing it was a good thing that we could now show Derek someone else could have killed Bethany. “I know. I just wish there wasn’t so much misery at every turn in this case.”

  He smiled at my naiveté and kissed my cold knuckles. “It’s a murder case, Poppy. We rarely get anything but misery with them.”

  As we drove down Michael’s suburban street on our way back to Sunset Ridge, I knew he was right. Murder was always miserable. Thankfully, we had each other to chase away the ugliness that came from our cases. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if we didn’t.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The Sunset Ridge police station looked like the place had been abandoned. Nobody sat at their desks in the outer office area, and every office we passed was empty, even Derek’s office. As Alex and I walked to the back of the building hoping to find anyone at all, I wondered if something terrible had happened.

  Again.

  “I know you guys don’t just sit around during your shifts, but shouldn’t someone be here? This feels like the beginning of some zombie movie or something where aliens have taken everyone but the two of us,” I said as we looked around the empty station.

  “Zombies don’t exist, Poppy. I’m sure someone’s here,” Alex said in that way that told me he thought little of my theories.

  We turned the corner and began walking down the hallway to the interrogation and break room. I elbowed him for discounting my zombie idea. “I noticed you didn’t say anything against the alien theory. Does this mean you’re a believer?”

  He stopped walking and turned to face me. Raising his eyebrows as high as they could go onto his forehead, he stared at me like I was an alien. “What’s wrong with you? Did that fifteen minute nap in the car do something to you?”

  “No. I was just trying to lighten up a dark situation. This whole case has been nothing but sadness and misery, like you said, so I was just trying to add a little happiness to it. I also believe in aliens, so it’s not like I’d have to lose my mind to mention them. That’s all.”

  I didn’t mean to sound as defensive as I did, and I saw by the way Alex’s expression softened that he thought my feelings were hurt. “It’s okay, Poppy. Some cases are harder than others. This one’s been tough, and I don’t think I realized how much you’ve been affected by it.”

  He lifted his hands to cradle my face, but I shook my head to stop him. I wasn’t embarrassed by our relationship and had no problem with the rest of the world knowing we were together, but something about one of his fellow officers seeing us get all romantic in the back hallway felt wrong.

  “It’s okay. Let’s see if we can find somebody in the break room. Maybe they’re all gathered in there to share some crappy police station coffee and old vending machine candy.”

  I turned away from him and began walking away when I heard him say very quietly, “Sometime soon you and I are going to have a conversation about how you hide your true feelings behind jokes, Poppy McGuire.”

  That he knew me well enough to see right through the goofing around I used to hide how I really felt unnerved me more than I wanted to admit at that moment. I wasn’t sure I was ready for him to understand me that well yet.

  So I said nothing to that promise of us talking about my defense mechanisms and kept walking toward the break room as he silently walked behind me.

  He caught up just as we got to the room and saw Derek sitting there with none other than Mariah Lewis. Practically her sister’s twin in everything but a few extra pounds she carried around her waist, she sat with her head in her hands sobbing.

  Alex and I stopped at the door, unsure if we should interrupt Derek’s questioning, but as soon as he saw us, he waved us in. “Join us, please. Alex and Poppy, this is Bethany’s sister Mariah.”

  As Bethany’s friend, I felt bad standing there in that interrogation room not knowing much more than her name. I guess I always thought since they were repairing their relationship that I’d get another chance to know her better when she visited again in the future.

  Except now that future was gone, cut down by some maniac I had a feeling I’d just spent a few uneasy minutes with in Ellicott City.

  Mariah looked up at each of us and smiled meekly before drying her eyes. “Your police chief just told me what happened. Who could have done this?”

  We pulled up chairs and sat down away from the table so as not to intrude on what was Derek’s case and questioning as he explained how Mariah had come to be sitting in the interrogation room of the police station.

  “The Pennsylvania State Police found Mariah broken down on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Pittsburgh this morning and brought her here after seeing the APB on her. I’ve been telling her what we know so far about her sister’s case.”

  The mention of Bethany’s murder started her sister crying again, and in between sobs, she asked, “Do either of you know what happened? Who did this?”

  Derek answered her question with one of his own, startling me with how he cut to the heart of the case as he saw it. “Do you recognize this man, Mariah?”

  She looked over at Alex intently, as if she was studying him. My heart slammed into my chest as I waited for her answer, which would go a long way to showing Derek he was wrong about Alex being his best suspect. Narrowing her eyes, she looked him up and down and then again but said nothing.

  Finally, she nodded. “Yes, but I only saw him once on the street. My sister pointed him out. He was wearing a policeman’s uniform that day, though. She said they used to date, but he broke up with her.”

  I didn’t know how Alex kept his face so passive as he listened to the way that final statement came out of Mariah’s mouth so full of anger and disgust. I knew my expression showed how guilty I felt about being the one she likely thought he’d left her sister for.

  Derek continued with his questions. “Mariah, did you hear your sister and Alex fighting the night of her murder?”

  “Yes. They fought outside the apartment.”

  “Did it sound like the fight was violent or that Bethany was in any danger?”

  I had no idea why Derek was working so hard to put ideas into a suspect’s head that Alex had been the killer, but with a gentle touch of his hand on my leg, I got the hint that he didn’t want me challenging Derek on this. Alex smiled at me like he couldn’t have been more sure whatever Derek was doing would help him, so I took a deep breath and kept my mouth shut, as hard as that was.

  Mariah shook her head and screwed her face into an expression that said she thought his description of the fight was way off-base. “Yes, but it wasn’t anything he’d murder her over. They were just fighting because she thought he was playing games with her after he sent the flowers and then acted
like he didn’t really want to see her when he came over after she called.”

  “So nothing other than that fight happened that night? He didn’t come back in the time you were still there at your sister’s apartment?”

  “No. When I left right around eleven, he hadn’t come back. Bethany had pretty much told him never to come back again, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he never did.”

  I felt my body ease with every word she said. She didn’t believe it was Alex either. Now if only Derek would open his eyes and see it too.

  “Why did you end your visit to your sister’s early?” he asked.

  I listened with interest to hear her answer. It felt entirely too coincidental that she left just in time to not be around when her sister was murdered mere feet from the apartment where she’d been staying for weeks.

  “My boyfriend Kenny back in Ohio asked me to come home because he missed me, and since Bethany was in such a bad mood for the past few days, I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. I told her I had to go back and she understood.”

  Interrupting Derek just as he opened his mouth to ask another question, I asked the one that I had to know the answer to. “Why would you leave so late at night? Why not wait until Monday morning?”

  Mariah didn’t seem to be sure if she should answer my question or not. Looking across the table at Derek, she waited for him to tell her to either answer my question or ignore me. After he shot me a nasty look I knew was meant as a warning to not get in the way of his questioning, he nodded his head and smiled.

  “Go ahead. Answer Ms. McGuire’s question. It’s one I’m interested in hearing myself.”

  “Okay. Well, I try to drive only at night. I’m terrified of driving, really, but at night there aren’t as many drivers on the road so it isn’t as bad. That’s why I’d only gotten as far as I did when my car broke down. I stop during the day and rest and then I drive again at night. It takes longer, but I feel safer that way.”

  Looking over at Alex, I saw nothing to say he believed her or not. For me, the answer seemed entirely plausible, if not somewhat bizarre. But then again, I didn’t fear driving so being on the road when other cars were there didn’t bother me. It did make sense that she would have only gotten to western Pennsylvania driving only at night for a couple days, though.

  Derek seemed to believe her too, if the way he was nodding his head was any indication. When he hadn’t resumed his questioning after over a minute, I took the opportunity to ask another question I worried he probably wouldn’t.

  “Why was Bethany in such a bad mood, Mariah? It was the holidays and you two were mending your relationship after all this time. What did she have to be upset about?”

  As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted asking them. Not because it upset Derek because he seemed just as curious as I was to know what was bothering Bethany. No, as soon as I finished speaking, I felt Alex’s stare nearly boring a hole in the side of my face. I’d asked a question that could possibly lead to Mariah pointing the finger at Alex for being the reason why her sister was so unhappy, and that wasn’t a good thing.

  Suddenly, it felt like the whole world had frozen in time, and I turned to see him staring at me not with a look of anger but with a look that said he was hurt by my question. I silently mouthed that I was sorry, but it didn’t change the fact that the question had been asked and now we’d all have to listen to her explain just what was making Bethany so unhappy in the days leading up to her death.

  I just hoped it wasn’t what Alex feared it would be.

  And then Mariah answered, and thankfully, what had been upsetting Bethany had nothing to do with him. “My sister was having a hard time at work with someone. She was worried she was going to be fired. Bethany hated the fact that she’d taken a few well-earned weeks off from work, the first real vacation she’d taken in years, and the newspaper was thinking about hiring some woman behind her back. She thought they waited until she went on vacation to do it and worried it was because they wanted to replace her.”

  Excited to hear it wasn’t the breakup with Alex or anything to do with him, I said, “I met this person Bethany disliked at The Eagle this morning when I was there at Bethany’s office. Her friend Erika told me about the trouble she’d had with her before she left in November. Now she’s back and she’s a real piece of work. Her name is Samantha Cooper.”

  Derek pushed his chair out and stood from the table. “Mariah, give me a few minutes. I’ll be right back in. Do you need anything? Please feel free to help yourself to coffee. I won’t be long.”

  Without a word to Alex or me, he waved his hand for us to follow him out into the hallway. I had a feeling I was going to get a scolding to rival the one I’d gotten from Mrs. Chester, my third grade teacher, when I took it upon myself to liberate the class ferret because I’d seen a show about how all animals should be free the night before and wanted to help Squidly the Third Grade Ferret to freedom. She barked at me for nearly twenty minutes that day after having to run up and down four floors of the school to catch poor Squidly.

  I closed the door behind me and found myself facing not only Derek’s stern look but Alex’s too. Figuring my only way out of trouble was to turn on the sweetness, I smiled my cutest smile and said, “I know what you’re going to say, but I just figured I could help in there since I knew Bethany better than you did.”

  “I have a feeling your partner would have given anything for a muzzle to keep you quiet.”

  I saw Alex look away in disgust, but I didn’t know if it was because of what Derek had said about me needing to be forced quiet or what I’d done in that room. Clearly, cute and sweet wasn’t going to do the job.

  So I’d have to go with Plan B, a frontal attack. I just hoped Alex would forgive me after I was done sparring with Derek.

  “Well, you weren’t exactly getting to the heart of the matter, so I figured I’d do it for you. It all turned out for the good anyway because she said she didn’t think their fight was anything he’d want to murder Bethany over, and anyway, she wasn’t even upset about him. It was all Samantha Cooper, who by the way is the world’s biggest bitch and someone you should definitely be looking into. At the very least she needs to be brought down about ten pegs off her high horse. I mean, for God’s sake, she practically threw me out of Bethany’s office this morning as if I was trespassing or something. Definitely look into her, Derek. She hated Bethany with a passion, I can tell you that.”

  When I finished, I saw both men staring at me like I was one of those aliens I believed in come down to earth. I couldn’t tell if they were interested in what I had to say or something far less complimentary.

  “Are you done?” Derek asked.

  Looking to Alex and seeing he had no intention of helping me out of the scolding I was set to receive, I nodded. “Yeah.”

  “You know, Poppy, if you’d come up for air once in a while, you might find out what I have to say. I’ll look into this Samantha Cooper and find out how badly she wanted that job. If Bethany was in the way of her getting it, that might be a motive for murder.”

  “They had problems before she left in November too,” I reminded him, hoping to be helpful.

  “Got it. Now as for Alex here…”

  I opened my mouth to blast Derek for still believing Alex was a real suspect, but before I could say a word, Alex spoke up for the first time. “You still think I did this? Christ, Derek! I’m not your killer.”

  Derek didn’t frown like he usually did when anyone pointed out his faults but smiled. Patting Alex on the shoulder, he said the words we’d waited so long to hear. “I’ve known you didn’t do it for about an hour. The coroner said your DNA wasn’t found on Bethany at all—no blood, no skin, no semen. Plus, the state police found the car. Something about a clerical mix up.”

  Stunned, Alex turned to look at me with a broad smile and then back at Derek. “So I can work this case officially?”

  “You’ll find your badge sitting on your desk waiting for you
.”

  Barely able to contain my excitement, I forgot where we were and threw my arms around him. “See? I told you he’d come around. This is so great! Now we can move on Michael.”

  Alex released me from the hug as Derek asked, “Who’s Michael?”

  “Nobody yet, but we’re going to look into a lead we have from some letters Poppy found in Bethany’s office this morning. Once we find out anything, I’ll let you know what we know.”

  Derek leveled his gaze on me once more in that way that told me he disapproved of something I’d done. “That Samantha Cooper might be a bitch, but it sounds like you were trespassing. When did you plan on telling me about these letters?”

  I flashed him my sweetest smile again. “When you figured out Alex was innocent.”

  He wanted to read me the riot act about my behavior, but Alex spirited me away with the excuse that we needed to get something to eat and get back to work. We hurried to his office to grab his badge, and as he put it back in its usual place on his belt, I felt happier than I’d felt in days.

  “I knew you didn’t do it. I never doubted you.”

  He looked up at me and I saw disbelief in his dark eyes. “Never? Not even once for a second?”

  I had doubted him, but that had been my jealousy coloring the truth more than anything else. He didn’t need to know I’d been weak for a few minutes that first day.

  “Nope. I’ve been Team Alex all the way since the beginning of this case. But hey, why didn’t you want to tell Derek about Michael? I thought we were going with him being the killer.”

  Not noticing how I’d changed the subject, he motioned for me to close his office door. When we were alone and no one could hear what we were talking about, he said, “I think it’s better for the two of us to investigate Michael and let Derek investigate Samantha. Kill two birds with one stone.”

  “Is that the only reason?”

  He shook his head and twisted his face into a grimace. “The truth is I’m worried Derek won’t do well if he has to deal with the county police, which he would in Ellicott City. They won’t take him seriously because he’s a small town police chief.”