I’d gone through all but one of the surveillance cases Kate had passed my way and decided to see if she had a few more. I hadn’t started the surveillance on Harry Manilow because I hadn’t had a chance to get back to Savannah, and I still had John Hyatt and Fanny Kimble on the backburner, though unofficially since I’d kind of promised Kate I’d drop the case.
I had to keep working because I still needed the money for my house just in case Veronica got saline poisoning and couldn’t follow up on her threat to buy it out from under me. As far as the other threats went, Nick assured me the police would be driving by to check on me, so I felt relatively safe there would be someone nearby if I ran into trouble.
Before I reached the phone, I noticed the blinking red light on my machine. I had six missed calls. I hit the voicemail button and munched on pretzels while I waited.
“This is Mark Mathers at Whiskey Bayou Bank and Trust. I’m the Vice-President for Mortgage Operations. I need you to call me back regarding your loan for the property at 522 Hutton Street.”
He hung up and I took a drink of Coke. I remembered hearing the phone ring several times the day before and winced in regret as I’d shrugged off the calls as unimportant. But at least the bank was calling me. Maybe things were going to work out after all. The next message started and I ate another pretzel.
“This is Mark Mathers again at Whiskey Bayou Bank and Trust. I still haven’t heard back from you regarding your loan application. I’m sorry to inform you that we’ve decided to opt out of our contract with you concerning the property on Hutton Street. Another buyer has met the full requirements for purchasing at this time, and as it states in your contract we have the option of going with a more qualified buyer. Your initial down payment has been deposited back into your account. Please contact me if you have any questions.”
The pretzels in my mouth suddenly took on the consistency of sawdust, so I took another drink to clear the taste. The pretzels turned to paste in my mouth and I started to cry, big heaving sobs that would eventually give me hiccups and swollen eyes.
“Well, so much for everything working out,” I said, hiccupping as I tried to hold back a fresh batch of tears. “Stupid contract. Stupid bank.”
I dropped down to the floor in a little ball and cried my heart out. Maybe if I were lucky some poor sap would find me dead on the floor after I’d choked to death from a wad of pretzel dough stuck in my throat. I’d be the Mama Cass of Whiskey Bayou, except without the soundtrack.
Everything I’d been working for all this time was for nothing. I’d degraded myself in front of strangers and stumbled over dead bodies in the pursuit of my dreams, but it all came down to nothing. It was a devastating realization. And pathetic.
The wet plop on my forehead that had nothing to do with tears was the last straw. I looked up at the ceiling from my position on the floor and saw the new water spot and moisture gathering at its center.
I was going to do something drastic. I knew this because I had the same feeling in my gut now as I did the morning I answered the ad in the paper for The Foxy Lady. I was going to find somewhere better to live than that stupid house on Hutton Street.
I grabbed my bag and didn’t bother with an umbrella or galoshes. I waded out to the parking lot and shook my fist at the sky, as the heavens seemed to open and pour more water onto Whiskey Bayou. The water was halfway up my tires and I wondered not for the first time why I couldn’t have been more practical and gotten a Jeep or a monster truck to navigate washed out country roads.
“I don’t get this wet in the shower,” I mumbled. I searched in my bag for my keys, but couldn’t find them. It was then I realized Nick had somehow found out where I’d left my car the night before and brought it to me. I opened the door and saw the keys on the floorboard along with a note.
Interesting friends you have. She asked if I would be willing to sleep with you—Nick
I could only assume the friend he was talking about was Rose Marie, since she was the person who’d confiscated my keys. I tried to look at her comment to Nick in a positive light. Rose Marie probably wanted me to be happy and wasn’t thinking she’d made me look pathetic and desperate. I wasn’t going to worry about it. I had a new purpose in life.
I climbed into the car and took off my shoes, tossing them in the floorboard on the passenger side. I breathed a sigh of relief as the Z started with no problem and I rammed it into reverse. I looked behind me and pressed the gas pedal, slogging my way out of the parking lot and towards downtown Whiskey Bayou. Visibility was almost zero and I was fortunate there were no other cars on the road as I sped down Main Street with rage boiling in my blood. It seemed I had a little pent up resentment from the bank’s phone call after all.
I noticed something on the side of the road and slowed down a little. I was pretty sure it was some kind of large animal, but I couldn’t see well enough to be sure. The only thing I did know was that it wasn’t in good shape. I was trying to decide if I should stop and try to squeeze it into the Z or call animal control when it ran into the street right in front of me.
I slammed on the brakes and the Z hydroplaned, turning at an odd angle as it skated along the street. It was everything I could do to maintain control of the wheel. The car hit something solid and my teeth smacked together and my head jerked back and hit the headrest as impact was made.
“Oh, God,” I said. The front of my car steamed and the hood was slightly buckled. Whatever I’d hit had been big enough to do major damage. I was crying as I got out of the car, positive I was going to see Lassie under my tires.
Instead I saw a pair of Kenneth Cole shoes peeking out from under the car a la Wicked Witch of the East. Spots danced in front of my eyes until I thought I’d gone blind with shock.
I knew those shoes.
I’d bought them for an anniversary present less than a year before.
“So I guess you know why you couldn’t get in touch with Greg,” I told Nick less than half an hour later.
After flattening Greg, I’d run screaming back to the car to grab my cell phone and call 911, and then I’d promptly thrown up in the gutter on the side of the street. Nick found me huddled on the sidewalk in the pouring rain, rocking myself back and forth and crying. I was on the edge of hysterical leaning toward straitjacket crazy. Nick had taken one look at my chattering teeth and shoved my head between my knees before wrapping me in a blanket and putting me in the back of a squad car.
It’s not everyday a woman gets to run over her cheating ex-fiancé, but I have to say the reality isn’t nearly as exciting as the scenarios I’d made up in my mind.
An officer I’d never seen before got into the back of the car with me and took out a tiny notebook. “Ms. Holmes?” the officer said. “I’m Officer Ruiz. I need to ask you a few questions.”
I turned to Officer Ruiz and nodded my head. My movements felt sluggish and I wasn’t sure I was capable of speaking at all.
“Do you recognize the victim?” Ruiz asked.
“Y-- es,” I stammered. “His name is Greg Nelson. He lives here in Whiskey Bayou.”
“I see,” Ruiz said. “Tell me what happened from the moment you saw him.”
“I was just driving.” I looked past Ruiz’s face and out the window so I didn’t have to face his scrutiny. “I thought it was a dog running down the sidewalk, and I wondered why it would be out in this weather and not looking for some place dry to take shelter. Then all of a sudden it ran right out in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. And it wasn’t a dog after all,” I sobbed.
“Take your time Ms. Holmes,” Ruiz said, handing me a small packet of tissues. “You said you thought the victim was an animal. Can you think of something specific that made you think that?”
I thought for a minute and tried to replay the scene in my mind. “I guess it was the way he was hunched over toward the ground. And he wasn’t exactly running. It was more of a fast shuffle. I remember thinking the animal was hurt because of the way i
t was moving.”
“Did you see which direction he was running from?”
“I could barely see anything at all. I was almost right on him by the time he was visible. It looked like he was heading into town, same as I was, but then he just turned and ran right out in front of me.”
“Did he look confused or disoriented?”
“I can’t say. I never saw his face. I’d still thought he was a dog even after I hit him. I didn’t realize who he was until after I got out.”
“Did you have a personal relationship with the victim?” Ruiz asked.
The question and tone of voice caught my attention and I looked Ruiz in the eyes. The calculating look was there and I could practically see the wheels turning in his brain. “Yes,” I answered. “He was my fiancé up until just a few months ago.”
Ruiz grunted, closed his notepad and left me in the back of the squad car alone.
Nick stayed out of the questioning officer’s way because he had a conflict of interest, meaning he didn’t think it was right for him to question a woman in an official capacity when he was trying to get her into bed. After Ruiz asked his questions, Nick bundled me into his truck and drove back to my apartment.
I knew he had work to do, but I needed the human contact, and I was terrified the moment I got alone I would lose something of myself that only Nick was able to fulfill. There had been too much death. A person could only take so much before breaking, and Nick was my anchor.
I’d hardly said a word since Greg’s body had been zipped in one of those black bags and carted away to the medical examiner’s office. What sent me into shocked silence was the tow truck that had pulled up and taken my Z away. They told me my car was an item of suspicion in the investigation and they would have to impound it for the time being.
Nick had been staring at me like he was afraid I was going to shave my head and take up Russian roulette. It was creeping me out. I took a sip of the hot toddy he’d forced on me, and it calmed me down immensely. “Why would Greg do that?” I asked. “Just run out in front of a car that way?”
“I don’t know, but Greg’s involvement in this mess has been suspicious from the beginning. Maybe he decided it was easiest to end it all.”
“Maybe, but it’s just hard to believe. Something wasn’t right about the whole scene. I can’t believe he’d deliberately do something like that.”
“People do things they normally wouldn’t when faced with prison terms.”
“So you think it was Greg who killed Mr. Butler?”
“No, I know Greg didn’t kill Mr. Butler. But he wasn’t completely innocent either.”
“If you know Greg didn’t kill Mr. Butler, then that means you must know who did,” I said surprised. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why aren’t you arresting them? Get off your ass and get to it. I don’t need a babysitter if that’s what’s holding you back.”
“I’m waiting for is the proof before I can make an arrest. The bad guys always make a mistake, Addison, and that’s what I’m waiting for.”
“Well, who is it?”
“I can’t talk about it. This is a small town, and I don’t want to give him the opportunity to make my job harder.”
“Are you saying you think I’m going to take the information you give me and run around telling everybody who the killer is?” I asked. Blood rushed to my ears and I could only hear the sound of my heart beating in anger. “What kind of person do you think I am?”
“A civilian,” Nick said patiently. “This is my investigation and you’re already too involved. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Your investigation,” I said, understanding. “I’m right in the middle of this mess and you don’t want to involve me in your investigation. You’re threatened because if you tell me what your suspicions are I might catch the murderer before you do. It’s because he and I have some sort of twisted connection.”
“You’re out of your mind. You think you’re Magnum P.I. since you started working for Kate, but you have no clue how dangerous the situation you’re in is. I’ll handle this, Addison. I don’t want you interfering. I want your word.”
“I don’t think so. These are people from my town that are being targeted, and I feel like it’s my fault. Their deaths are weighing me down until I feel like I’m going to suffocate. This isn’t about you doing your job. It’s about your protective instincts as a man. I’m just as capable of drawing the killer out as you are. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
We were both standing at this point, tension and anger radiating off both of us in waves.
“If you know something or are planning some harebrained idea you need to tell me. I’m the investigating officer on this case and you do not want to be charged with obstruction. You are a high school history teacher. Do you see how there’s one of us that needs to be kept in the loop, and it isn’t you?”
“What a horrible thing to say. I’ve helped you with this investigation from the beginning. You came to me asking for help. I have as big a stake in it as anyone. Bigger as far as I’m concerned.”
“I’ve got plainclothes officers in place doing round the clock surveillance. You snooping around and stirring up trouble is not going to help me.” His voice had increased in volume the longer he talked.
“You’re yelling at me,” I said, surprised.
“I’m not yelling. I never yell,” he said doing just that.
“I bet I can find out who the killer is before you. What do you say to that?”
“You’re turning this into a competition?”
“If you want to be crass about it, then yes.”
“I can’t believe this. Why couldn’t I have found a nice girl somewhere who just wanted to make a nice quiet life with me and keep me warm at night?”
“Nobody could make a nice quiet life with you. You’re completely unreasonable. As far as keeping you warm at night, it sounds like you’re wasting your time with me. What you need is a lapdog.”
Nick growled low in his throat and for a second I feared I’d pushed him too far. “What does the winner of this farce get?” Nick finally asked.
“Ohmigod,” I said and burst into tears. “I can’t believe I’m arguing with you like this is some stupid competition after I just killed Greg.” Nick wrapped his arms around me. “I’m s…s…sorry. I c…c…can’t h…h…help it.” I snuffled and snorted and soaked his shirt while he held me tight and let me cry it out.
“It was an accident, Addison. And from the looks of him, it seems like somebody did a number on him before he ran in front of your car. From what you said in your statement it looks like Greg was definitely running away from something. We’ll find out for sure once we get the ME’s report back.”
I cried harder. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “You’ve had a lot to deal with over the last two weeks. I’d be worried about you if you weren’t having this kind of reaction.”
Greg’s death had hit me harder than I’d thought. He’d been out of my life for months and I’d only wished bad things on him. It looked like my wishes had come true, and guilt was eating at me from the inside out.
I wiped my eyes on a towel he gave me and backed away. “Thanks,” I said mortally embarrassed. This was not a good way to start a relationship—extreme adrenaline rushes followed by bouts of lust followed by the bizarre, the surreal and finally the desolate.
“I’ve got some things to do to follow up on the case, so I need to take off for a few hours.” He ran his fingers through his hair in a frustrated gesture. “I’ve got two dead bodies that are somehow linked and a third I have a sinking feeling about. Something about Greg doesn’t sit right with my gut. The first victim was stabbed multiple times with a damned pocketknife and the second was killed with a freaking .22. The ME is putting a rush on Greg’s autopsy, so I’ll have a report before the end of the day. I’ll call you as soon as I know anything conclusive.
“Oh, well, you probably need to get started,” I said even more depressed.
“I called your mom earlier. She’s going to come over and stay with you until I can get back. I don’t want you to be alone right now.”
“You called my mom?” The tension headache from the day’s events came back in full force.
“Of course I called your mom. You can’t stay here by yourself, and I can’t spare an officer to guard you full time. I need every man I’ve got on duty.”
“But my mother? Couldn’t you have called Kate? Haven’t I been through enough for one day?”
Nick rolled his eyes. “You’re overreacting. Don’t forget we’re having dinner tonight. And don’t argue with me about it. You need to get away from here for a little while and wind down. And I need it, too. It’s no wonder you’re upset. I would be too if I lived in this pile of rubble.”
“You’ll regret bringing my mother into this. Just wait until she starts interrogating you. My mom has a tendency to leave people a little rattled. Or maybe the word I’m looking for is confused.”
“Why, because she asked me if I was single and if I liked children? Or maybe because she wanted to know my medical history and asked point blank if I’d ever had an STD.”
I groaned and ducked my head. If I wasn’t the reason Nick should be running for the hills then surely my mother was.
“I especially liked it when she asked if I was only looking to ‘dally’ with you,” he said grinning.
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her I wanted to get you naked as soon as possible and then she invited me to Sunday dinner. We’re supposed to bring a dessert by the way.”
Nick smiled over his shoulder at my open-mouthed expression before shutting the door behind him. I was not ready to bring Nick home to eat dinner with my family. Nobody had bothered to ask me if my intentions were honorable. I was having some pretty naughty thoughts about “dallying” myself.
Whiskey Rebellion (Romantic Mystery/Comedy) Book 1 (Addison Holmes Mysteries) Page 18