As soon as the words had left his mouth, he knew he’d made a critical error. Saying things without thinking them through was not his style at all. He hadn’t told Dickerson everything he knew about the case out at Laurel Heights. He’d run out of excuses to keep the investigation team from entering the crime scene at Laurel Heights, and it had made him antsy that he hadn’t been able to get there ahead of them.
It was tricky explaining a supernatural cause of death. Shaw had done what he had to do, but it hadn’t left the officer of the law part of him feeling very good. Antonio Constantine’s body had already been moved. Shaw had supervised the removal himself, keeping a close eye on the local coroner and making sure the old man saw only what Shaw wanted him to see.
Dealing with the odd circumstances of Constantine’s death wasn’t his only concern. Before Grayson had left the scene, he had told Shaw that Omar Cooley was probably buried beneath the rocks behind Laurel Heights. When Cooley’s meth lab had blown up, a portion of the vast tunnel and cave network that twisted beneath Laurel Heights and Ashley Ridge had collapsed on top of him, and Cooley had not emerged from the rubble. If Shaw couldn’t get the funding for an earthmover, Cooley might remain beneath a pile of Arkansas rocks for eternity.
Or he might be alive somewhere.
Shaw couldn’t take that chance. He needed to confirm the man was really dead. With Cooley’s demise, the drug traffic should have slowed for a few days at least, but apparently it hadn’t. According to Shaw’s contacts in the DEA, business had continued as usual. If Cooley was dead, then someone had picked up right where he had left off.
Dickerson’s fingers clawed into Shaw’s shoulder and spun him around, almost causing him to twist his ankle and fall down the last couple of steps. He wobbled a little before he grasped the handrail and righted himself.
“I knew there was something you weren’t telling me. Cooley had a lab beneath Laurel Heights, didn’t he? You knew about it before we even went out there? Did Grayson tell you that? What’s going on, Bennett? Are the two of you trying to cover something else up?”
Shaw shook his head and tried hard to consider his next words very carefully. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I intend to find out.” He shrugged off Dickerson’s hand. “Let’s take a look at what’s down here before we draw any conclusions.”
He descended the remaining few steps, and Dickerson pushed past him, sweeping his flashlight around the large space and finally standing in the center of the room. “Somebody’s been here.”
“Obviously.”
“No, I mean today.”
Dickerson was the best at what he did. He would know.
Chapter Four
Courtney wiped her mouth on the paper napkin Sally Grayson had put beside her plate. “That was delicious. Thank you.”
“My pleasure. It’s been awhile since I cooked for someone. Mitchell hardly ever comes over to eat anymore.”
Courtney smiled and nodded toward the casserole pan in the middle of the table. “That’s a lot of food for one person.”
The other woman’s smile faded. “He was going to come over tonight, but he called me and told me he wasn’t gonna make it.”
Courtney wondered if Gray had told his mother about Caroline’s death. “I’m sorry. You must be disappointed.”
Sally shrugged. “Happens. Kids grow up and have their own lives. I’m just glad it didn’t go to waste.”
“If you don’t mind, I think I’m going to get some sleep.”
The words sort of stumbled from her lips. Courtney wasn’t used to being in such polite company. Before Jared had died, she usually waited up until he passed out before she dared fall asleep. It wasn’t until he was unconscious, usually from a meth-induced stupor, that she had felt safe enough to close her eyes.
“Courtney?”
She was halfway out of her chair, anxious to get alone so she could call Josh. “Yeah?”
“You know you can talk to me if you ain’t got no one else.”
Courtney was tempted. Oh, so tempted. What harm could there be in confiding in this woman? “You don’t wanna hear my troubles.”
“Maybe, but the offer stays open.”
It had been a long time since anyone besides Josh had treated her with any amount of consideration. She turned and headed up the stairs toward her temporary room before Sally could detect the tears that had welled in her eyes. When she was in Gray’s old room with the door shut, she slipped the cellphone out of her jeans pocket and punched in Josh’s digits. She was about to give up after five rings when he answered.”
“Josh, it’s me. Courtney.”
“Oh, thank God, you’re still alive.” His response seemed to gush out of him.
Her obvious reply would be to ask him why he was so relieved, but she already knew. “Listen, Josh, I gotta tell you something.”
“No, wait. I have to tell you something first. I know who killed Jared. One of our deputies confessed. Sort of. You don’t have to run. No one is looking at you for his murder anymore. So come out of hiding.”
She’d overheard Lucy’s somewhat confession. No, Lucy hadn’t come right out and said it straight, but her implication had been easy to understand.
Courtney waited a moment. Chewed her bottom lip before blurting the truth. “I was there. I saw what happened.”
“You were there?” His voice vibrated with confusion. “What do you mean? Were you at Victoria House today?”
Yes, she had been there. The memory zoomed into her consciousness. “There’s a peephole in the wall of Victoria Hamilton’s bedroom. I think there must have been a two-way mirror or something over it, so you wouldn’t notice anyone watching.” She drew in a deep breath. “I saw it all.”
Muffled conversation penetrated the plywood wall to her right. Courtney pressed her ear against the wood and then jerked back. Lucy. Her strident voice rose and fell on the other side of the wall, and if Courtney wasn’t mistaken, Josh McCord was there with her.
She had no doubt that Victoria Hamilton’s bedroom was on the other side of the plywood. She pressed her fingertips along the wall, careful to make no noise, searching for anything unusual that might show her how to get into the room, until her fingers traced the outline of a rectangular piece of metal. She dug her nails under the edge and it gave just a little. A sliver of light filtered through the crack. She’d found the smallest of access doors, like the kind in old movies where the bouncer would check to see who wanted entrance into the secret club. She drew in a deep breath and opened the little door wider. Peeking around the edge of the metal, it appeared as if she was seeing into a bedroom through a cloudy glass.
Lucy’s voice rumbled from the other room, yet Courtney could only make out about every third word. She leaned closer to the opening and peered through the haze. On the other side of the wall, Josh McCord was in handcuffs, and Lucy had a gun aimed at him. He seemed amazingly calm under the circumstances. More mumbled conversation and then Lucy moved out of her field of vision. When she came back into view, she no longer held the gun on Josh.
Lucy removed the cuffs, and Josh massaged his wrists.
“Can I ask you something?” His deep voice boomed around the room, penetrating the wooden barrier between them, every syllable distinct, artificially loud as if he was trying to be heard.
Lucy leaned toward him, and Josh wrapped his arms around the woman. Courtney’s still shaky stomach heaved at the sight, and she slapped her hand over her mouth. With Lucy’s back to her, Courtney couldn’t see her expressions, but she could easily see Josh’s face. He had to be pretending his attraction to Lucy. Josh was playing a dangerous game with the woman. No way would he embrace her willingly.
“Did you... Have you done that for me before?” Josh nodded toward something across the room.
Courtney’s eyes darted that direction. She could just make out the form of a woman lying over the edge of a huge bed. Caroline Grayson, no doubt. That had to be Victoria Hamilton’s bed.
> Was Josh suggesting that Lucy had killed for him before? How would Lucy answer that? Courtney strained to hear the conversation.
Lucy’s voice dripped with honey and venom. “Jared should have never beaten you up.”
Jared. Tears welled in Courtney’s eyes. Not for the miserable bastard, but because Lucy had some sick notion that she had killed for Josh. Not only had she killed Caroline for him, but she was implying she’d killed Jared as well. Josh wouldn’t be able to handle that.
“Oh, now, baby, you didn’t have to do that.”
“But I did. Are you pleased?” Lucy certainly sounded pleased with herself.
“He won’t be any trouble to either of us anymore, will he?” Josh’s voice wavered only just the slightest bit.
Lucy laughed and Josh’s face leaned toward her. It looked like… Yeah, he was kissing her neck. Courtney almost laughed out loud at how absurd that was.
“It was no big deal. Besides, he was becoming a problem for me anyway. The operation would have been mine when Cooley died, but Jared got in the way. He was nothing but a mule. Who did he think he was trying to take over things—”
Lucy pushed Josh away and stepped back a few paces. In another heartbeat, she had the gun aimed it at his chest again. “You’re playing me.” The rest of what Lucy said was lost, her voice too low for Courtney to understand her manic rambling.
She studied the odd thing that Lucy had said. Was Omar Cooley dead? Had Lucy killed him too?
Josh raised his hands as if in surrender. “No, I ain’t playing you, darling. Put the gun away. I promise I’m being real with you.” His voice carried much better than Lucy’s.
Lucy mumbled something else and then moved so that Courtney could see her face. Nothing had prepared her for the maniacal glow in Lucy’s eyes. It was so intense it nearly took Courtney’s breath.
If Josh didn’t make a move to get free of Lucy soon, then he would be just as dead as Caroline Grayson, but Josh appeared to be in bad shape. And of course, he would be. It hadn’t been but a couple of nights since Courtney had found him out at her grandmother’s old house. Someone had smacked him around and then left him bloody and in obvious pain. He’d begged her to call Ashley Rivers, which she did, even though she didn’t think calling Ashley was a good idea.
Josh probably couldn’t do much to help himself in his condition, and Courtney was stuck behind the blasted wall without any clue how to get into the room.
Lucy’s muted voice barely penetrated the barrier. “…found my gift to you?”
Josh’s face paled. “That’s sick. You’re sick. You killed Caroline for nothing. She didn’t know who killed Jeremy. She couldn’t tell what she didn’t know.” Josh was speaking as loudly as Lucy was speaking softly.
Was she referring to Fred Haskins’s son? Jeremy had been missing for years.
Lucy shook her head. Her lips moved but Courtney couldn’t make out the words. Confusion creased Lucy’s brow.
Josh spoke again. “I know everyone always assumed I had something to do with his disappearance because I was the last one to see him in town and alive, but I swear I had nothing to do with his death.”
“How do you know he’s dead? His body has never been found.” This time Lucy’s voice boomed.
“Because I know how he died.”
“If you weren’t there and you didn’t do it…” The rest of Lucy’s words were lost, but then she laughed, a blood-chilling cacophony of discordant noise.
Just as the tension in Victoria Hamilton’s bedroom escalated to a crescendo, something or someone caught Josh’s attention. The unmistakable sound of Gray’s voice came from just out of sight. That’s when all hell broke loose. Before it was over, the crack of gunfire shot through the chaos right before a bright red spot appeared in the middle of Lucy’s forehead and Tori Downing was left holding the gun that killed her.
Josh’s voice broke into the memory. “You know…knew Lucy?”
“Of course, I did. She was part of Cooley’s operation.”
A long pause. “You need to tell Shaw Bennett what you saw. He’s with the State Police and—”
“You mean the guy that came in and took over?”
She pulled up her memory of Shaw Bennett. He’d arrived at Victoria House just after Tori had fired the gun. Once the man had entered the room, he hadn’t wasted any time asserting his authority, and to her surprise, Sheriff Halsey had let him. She hadn’t been able to see Bennett from the peephole, but she had been mesmerized by his deep voice and his commanding presence.
“He can protect you.”
No one could protect her. Hardly anyone knew that Fred Haskins controlled Omar Cooley and his entire operation, and Haskins had connections everywhere. Even within the State Police. She was sure of it.
“No, he can’t. I know too much.”
Josh made an exasperated noise.
She shouldn’t have to defend her decision. Not to Josh. That’s why she had called him. He knew better than anyone how distorted justice was in north Arkansas. Josh had been accused of more than his share of crimes he hadn’t committed, and he was in law enforcement.
No. This was her life to lose or to save. No one could help her any longer. “If I go to the cops, I’m dead. Ha…He’ll kill me.” She bit her lip. She’d almost said Haskins’s name out loud. “He has ways of getting to people. Jared…” She wiped a tear from her cheek and glanced toward the door, wondering if Sally had come upstairs and could hear her end of the phone call.
“Do you think you’re telling me something I don’t already know? Gray’s out there right now confronting Haskins.”
Her stomach cramped. She’d eaten too much of the potpie for her insides to take another serious jolt. “Is he crazy?” She tried to keep her voice down, but everything Josh had told her made her panic escalate.
“Yeah, I think he might be. But he’s not my concern right now. You are. Where are you?”
If she told him, he’d be at Sally’s house before she could take another breath. “I’m somewhere safe for tonight, but tomorrow I’m leaving Arkansas, and I don’t have anything except the bike Jared practically stole from Stan Kershaw.”
“Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know how he got his hands on Kershaw’s bike.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Let me come get you.”
She shook her head as she sat on the edge of the bed, even though Josh couldn’t see her non-verbal refusal. He was still trying to be her knight in shining armor.
“At least, let me tell your mother where you are.”
Sadness washed over her. If she left, she’d never see her mother again. “Please tell her I’m alive, and I’ll call her when I’m settled somewhere.”
“Running away won’t solve anything.”
Really? He was telling her that? Josh was an expert on running away from his problems.
“You can help me by leaving me some money.”
“Where?”
“You know that old tree at my grandmother’s house? The one with the hollow knothole where we used to hide stuff when we were kids.”
He sighed. She could imagine the expression on his face, and she was glad she couldn’t actually see it. Josh’s disappointment in her was hard to take.
“I don’t have much. I can only give you a couple of hundred.”
Beggars couldn’t be choosers. “Thanks, Josh. I’ll try to send it back to you when I can.”
“It’s a gift.” A pause. “Meet me at the tree. Tomorrow about four in the afternoon. Okay?”
“No, Josh. Leave it there. I’ll get it when I’m sure you’ve left. I can’t risk letting anyone see us together.”
He laughed. “Courtney, I’m in law enforcement, remember? I think I can handle it.”
She wasn’t sure that he could. “That doesn’t matter, and you know it.” She closed her eyes, trying hard to keep from outright bawling. “Goodbye, Josh.” She punched the off button just as the battery died.
She sni
ffed back strong emotions, feelings of regret and dismay. She was possibly losing him forever, the man who had been her best friend, better than a brother. Jared had never understood their relationship, accusing her of sleeping with Josh. She couldn’t imagine being that way with him.
Jared was an idiot. Correction: Had been an idiot. He was dead. He’d never do anything idiotic again, although she was well aware the things he’d done while he was alive could come back to hurt her. In a weird way, he’d protected her from the consequences of his stupidity while he was still alive. She’d kept his secrets, and he’d kept the other predators in their world away from her. Jealousy was a two-edged sword. But Jared was gone, and Courtney felt more exposed than she had ever been while he was alive.
She wondered what the residents of Hill County would think if she spread the word that Fred Haskins was a murderer. That she’d overheard him tell Jared to get rid of someone. Haskins had spoken so softly she hadn’t heard the victim’s name. Could he have ordered the death of Omar Cooley? If Cooley had been marked, then that would certainly explain why Lucy Kimbrough would fight with Jared for control of Cooley’s operation…before he had died.
A sob shook her. Courtney wanted out. Her world was tangled and dark, and she hated it. More than anything she wanted somewhere she could go where she could live in the light of day and not worry about what moved against her in the shadows. She glanced over her shoulder, wondering if someone was watching her, even though the only thing behind her was the bedroom wall. It shimmered and shifted. Her imagination? Probably. She was tired. What little sleep she’d had the previous night had been fitful.
She stretched out on the bed without changing into the pajamas Sally had found for her. If need be, she had to be ready to run. It didn’t pay to get too comfortable anywhere.
Chapter Five
After they had found the basement, it wasn’t long before Dickerson had discovered a tunnel and Shaw had led them through to the end of it. They stood right outside the door. Whoever had been in the basement had obviously left through the narrow passageway.
Shaw's Landing (Haunted Hearts Series Book 4) Page 4