Killing the Secret

by Donna Welch Jones

  “I’ll go right there.” Lexie’s heart pounded in her chest. Sweat formed on her forehead and she leaned over the kitchen sink to splash water on her face. She told herself to pull it together. Abbey’s all right. It’s just a freak coincidence.

  Quickly, she put on her uniform then pulled her hair into a ponytail. Twenty minutes later, she was at the King farm.

  The pole light illuminated Gary, Megan, and Abbey’s parents standing in the front yard. Gary met her halfway. Fear sent tremors through his body. Eruptions forced his right eye to twitch. His nostrils flared and his mouth twisted as he talked about his missing wife.

  “You know she thought she was in danger. You didn’t believe her. Now she’s disappeared.”

  “I didn’t investigate because there wasn’t any sense to her fear. We shouldn’t assume the worst. Maybe she’s okay.”

  “Maybe? Maybe I have a wife? Maybe my children still have a mother?!”

  Lexie ignored his outburst. “Did she say where she was going last night?”

  “She told me to watch Nicky and Travis because she was going to meet a friend,” Megan stuttered. “It was a woman’s voice on the phone.”

  “Did she say who? Where?”

  “No. She acted like she was in a big hurry. I was watching television. I should’ve found out where she was going. We’d know where to look for her if I’d asked.” Megan’s small body shook.

  “It’s not your fault honey.” The Grandmother’s arms encircled Megan. “She should’ve told you where she was going.”

  “Who have you phoned?”

  “Everyone,” Abbey’s dad interjected. “No one has seen her since she left here at eight last night.”

  “I’ll get a search team together. We’ll start in secluded areas. Give me the color of her vehicle and the—” The buzzing of her cell phone interrupted her words.

  “Lexie,” Tye’s voice was grave. “We got a call from Wilbur Langley. He found a woman’s body in the woods.”

  The suffocating pressure originated in Lexie’s chest then crept into her head. Moisture formed on her body as terror gripped her entire being.

  “I went to the scene,” Tye stammered. “Abbey is dead.”

  “I’ll be right there.” Lexie’s skin turned so pale it blended perfectly with the scar on her face.

  Gary caught her gaze and sank to the ground. “Oh, God, no. Not my Abbey.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she whimpered, then stumbled toward her car.

  Lexie pressed her hand against the patrol car as she walked around to get to the driver’s side. The door handle provided her support as she crouched down to vomit. Wiping her soiled mouth with her sleeve, she crawled into the seat and started the engine.

  Glancing at her rearview mirror, she saw Gary, Megan, and the Grandparents holding each other. The cries of Abbey’s mother pierced through the car windows.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lexie was suspended in disbelief. It was so wrong, so cruel. It couldn’t be true. She arrived at the site without any awareness of how. Clay and Tye were taping off a large area around a petite body.

  Tye approached her as she got out of the car. He wore his blank man-face. His facade didn’t let emotion show in his voice or actions. His eyes, however, weren’t conveying any light from within.

  “We got some major shit here,” he said as he stomped. “The rain soaked everything. We got nothing but a strangled woman.”

  He didn’t even say Abbey’s name. Better to pretend she wasn’t his friend since kindergarten. Maybe I should make believe, too. But Lexie didn’t have enough imagination to convince herself that she didn’t cause Abbey’s death.

  They walked toward Abbey’s body. Lexie didn’t allow herself to think about anything other than the murder investigation. If she did, she’d fall into an emotional dungeon. There it would be dark and she’d be alone, which sounded appealing. If she went there, however, she’d never find a way out.

  “She wasn’t killed here,” Lexie concluded as she pulled on her gloves.

  “What?” Clay sounded confused.

  “There’s a drag path across the dirt. Look at her shirt and the back of her jeans. They’re encrusted with damp dirt and rock. Someone carried her here on a four-wheeler, dumped her, then drug her to this open area.”

  Clay rubbed his forehead. “I can’t imagine why the killer moved the body.”

  “Probably didn’t want us to gather evidence at the actual scene,” Lexie answered.

  “We’ve combed the entire area,” Tye reported. “There’s no sign of her car.” He still couldn’t say her name.

  “I followed the four-wheeler tracks toward the creek.” Clay pointed as if she could actually see the area he was talking about. “They ended where the dirt meets the rocks on the riverbank. Whoever it was, stayed on the rocks to get where they were going.”

  “You and Tye go back to where the tracks ended. Go in opposite directions and see if you can find where the tracks pick up. He can’t have stayed on the bank forever.”

  “You think he drove the thing in the water?”

  “That’s a possibility,” Lexie answered. “Take those two flashlights in my car so you’ll get better visibility.”

  Lexie knelt next to the body and visually searched for any clues. Abbey’s hair and clothes were soaked. Lexie took samples from under Abbey’s fingernails and in her mouth. She removed particles, hairs, and anything else from the body that the murderer might have left. Photos of the body were taken from every angle. She also made prints of the four-wheeler tracks. The culprit smoothed over areas in the dirt where his shoeprints must have been.

  Clay and Tye returned an hour later. “Nothing either way,” Tye reported in a monotone.

  “As far as I’m concerned, he must have pushed the thing into the water.” Clay suppressed a yawn.

  “We’ll get some divers to check the lake tomorrow,” Lexie responded.

  After four hours of initial investigation, the body with all the evidence was transported to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation in Tulsa by a couple of highway patrol officers.

  “First thing in the morning, Tye, call in some divers. Also, ask Red to fly you over the entire lake area to look for Abbey’s car,” Lexie directed.

  “I need you two to go home and get some rest. There’s a lot to do tomorrow. Clay, take care of our regular duties while Tye and I concentrate on this.”

  “Yes.” Clay’s feet drug as he walked toward his patrol car.

  “Are you going to rest, Sis?”

  “No, I have to warn the others.”

  “I can help,” Tye’s voice was uncharacteristically gentle.

  “No. It’s my duty.”

  He reached over and squeezed her arm.

  She drove down the dark road behind his truck. The choking guilt inside her would soon have to be revealed to Beth, Jamie, and Loretta.

  It was five in the morning when Lexie knocked loudly on Beth’s door. Beth’s husband, Darren, appeared shirtless behind the screen. His chest was heaving and the few hairs on it were moist.

  “For God’s sake, why are you scaring us to death?”

  Lexie’s eyes and Darren’s were at the same level. “I need to talk to you and Beth.”

  Beth walked up behind Darren. Her hands wrenched in front of her as she stood staring at Lexie. “Come in,” she finally said.

  “Your life is in danger, Beth. Someone is murdering members of your old basketball team.”

  “That’s what Abbey thought but she said that you didn’t believe her.”

  “I was wrong.”

  “Why did you change your mind?”

  Lexie blurted, “Abbey was murdered last night.”

  Beth’s body moved in slow motion toward the floor. Darren’s arms interrupted her downward descent. He gently picked her up and laid her on the sofa.

  Lexie ran to the kitchen for a damp towel.

  Darren wiped the end of the cloth across Beth’s forehead and down h
er cheeks as Lexie watched. After a couple of minutes, Beth opened her eyes.

  “It can’t be true,” she whispered.

  “I’m sorry.” Lexie knew she was going to have to say those same powerless words over and over.

  “Abbey is the best person I know,” Beth whimpered. “No one would have reason to hurt her.”

  “But someone did.” Lexie felt the gentleness drain from her body as the tough investigator took over. “Who’d want to murder members of your old team?”

  “No one. We were just kids.”

  “Who got angry at you? Who was jealous? What happened that made someone want all of you dead?!” Lexie fired the questions at the pallid woman lying listlessly on the sofa.

  Darren intervened. “She said she didn’t know. Can’t you see she’s in shock?”

  Realizing she needed to move on, Lexie turned suddenly toward the door. “Don’t let her out of your sight,” she ordered over her shoulder. The screen door banged in her wake.

  Fifteen minutes later, Lexie formed her hands into fists and attacked Jamie’s front door. After five minutes and no answer, she moved to the back of the house and resumed her pounding.

  Moisture formed on her body and her hands shook. Maybe the killer got to Jamie. She pulled out her gun and aimed the handle toward the window on the door.

  “STOP! What the hell are you doing?” Jamie screeched as she pulled the door open.

  “I’m trying to find out if you’re dead or alive.” Lexie’s voice was tense with irritation and fear.

  “I’m alive!” Jamie shouted in her face. “I thought someone was going to kill me. You scared the crap out of me.”

  “Someone does want to murder you.”

  “What?”

  “Abbey was right. Someone is killing your team members. She was murdered tonight.

  “Abbey? Murdered?”

  “Yes.”

  Jamie’s voice was filled with venom as she spouted, “You have a strange way of breaking the news!”

  “I don’t have time to be tactful. You need to know you’re in danger.”

  “Now I know, so you can leave.”

  “First, I need you to tell me, who’d want to do this? What did you girls do to make someone want you all dead?”

  “What did we do?” Jamie clenched her fists at her sides. “So you think we were a team of demons who generated enough hate that we provoked someone to murder all of us?”

  “I’m not blaming any of you. I just have to figure out why this is happening. Who would do this?”

  There wasn’t anyone, and as I said earlier, you can leave now.”

  Jamie followed her to the back door. Lexie turned to ask another question just as the door slammed behind her. She watched as a crack appeared in the window and curved upward.

  Back in the patrol car, Lexie headed toward Loretta’s house on the other side of town. The front door was open. Lexie held the door ajar and called, “Loretta?”

  “I’m here,” she answered. Loretta sat on her blue velvet sofa. She wore a perfectly coordinated gown, robe, and house shoes of pink satin. Her blonde hair was tied back with a pink ribbon. Her husband apparently didn’t want to join them.

  “You know?” Lexie asked.

  “Yes. Jamie phoned to warn me that Psycho-Sheriff was coming to break down my door.”

  “Who do you think wants to murder you and your friends?” Lexie questioned.

  “We didn’t do anything to die for. There were plenty of girls jealous of Heather and me. We were the two prettiest girls in the school. People were irritated by Terri’s caustic remarks. Jamie wanted to be the boss of everything. The other two, Beth and Abbey, were always so damn goody-goody. Hardly a group to bring out the killer instinct—especially twenty years later.”

  “Yet something has. One of you must know something even if you don’t realize it. You’ve got to think this through.”

  “I already told you I don’t know anyone who’d want to kill us. It’s your duty to figure this out, Sheriff. If you’d listened to Abbey, she wouldn’t be cold and dead.” Loretta’s lips turned up slightly at the corners and she looked at Lexie with an unblinking stare.

  Lexie stood to leave. “You need to be with someone at all times to be safe.” Lexie forced some authority into her words and demeanor. “The next one may be you.”

  “Thanks for the reassurance, Sheriff.”

  Lexie locked the door on the way out. She drove her vehicle toward the lake. Perhaps in the light of morning she’d find something that would lead to Abbey’s killer.

  She didn’t feel sleepy. Her body was in hyper vigilance and her brain played the previous hours over and over. It was like a horror movie without an end and she was the evil monster.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Delia rose to her feet when Tye walked into the sheriff’s office. “Where’s Lexie?” she asked.

  “Don’t know. Haven’t seen her since we investigated the murder site early this morning. I thought she’d be here,” answered Tye.

  “No, I haven’t seen her. She isn’t answering her cell phone or her radio. Clay hasn’t seen her either. He said that Lexie was taking Abbey’s death real hard. Is that right?”

  “Yes,” Tye nodded. “Any calls about the murder?”

  “At least nine—all of them angry with Lexie. One said she didn’t have any business being sheriff. Another guy shouted that she was the cause of Abbey’s death. One woman said she hoped Lexie came to the same end. I’m afraid one of those lunatics will hurt her. She shouldn’t be runnin’ around by herself.” Delia patted her white cotton hanky under each eye.

  Tye put his arm around her shoulder. “You forget. Our girl has a gun and she can blow a cap off a bottle. I know that because she ruined a lot of my beer perfecting her shot.”

  Delia added her subdued laugh to Tye’s loud one.

  “Anyone call with any tips on who might have killed Abbey?”

  Delia shook her head and said, “Nothing to help, only hate.”

  Tye glanced at his sister’s cracked leather chair and headed out the door.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Somewhere there is a forest that doesn’t have the faces of sad children in the trees and the wind doesn’t moan. Somewhere there is a lake full of raindrops—not tears. Somewhere there is a mother alive instead of outlined on the ground where her dead body fell.

  Lexie had returned to the murder scene. Sad thoughts whirled around her head as she resolved to resign as sheriff. She’d pack everything she owned in her truck. She’d drive to somewhere and never come back.

  “Slacking off Sheriff Wolfe?” Tye called as he walked across the grass towards her.

  “Just studying the crime scene.”

  “Well, you should have it memorized by now. Let’s go get something to eat.”

  “No, thanks. I’m not hungry.”

  “You planning on staying in these woods the rest of your life?”

  “Only for a day or two,” Lexie said. “Then I’ll move on.”

  Tye scowled. “That means…what?”

  “I can’t stay in Diffee. They all hate me. Even if they don’t tell me with words, their eyes show me. Everyone blames me for Abbey’s death and they’re right. I ignored her fears and she ended up dead.”

  “I’ve never heard of being able to kill someone by ignoring them,” Tye scoffed.

  “This isn’t the time to be a smartass. I had a chance to save her and I didn’t.”

  “How could you have saved someone who didn’t have the sense to stay out of the woods after dark, even though she thought her life was in danger?”

  “She obviously trusted the person who phoned her. Abbey wasn’t stupid.”

  “The last thing she ever did was stupid,” Tye countered.

  “I’m sure you’re trying to make me feel better in your own crude way, but putting down Abbey doesn’t help me feel less guilty.”

  “The only one who should feel bad is the one who killed her and we’re g
oing to get him.”

  “I’m not going to get anyone. I’m finished here.” Lexie’s eyes focused on the spot where Abbey was found.

  “Like hell you are little sister. You got me into this deputy business because you convinced me we had to find Dad’s killer. So now we have two murderers to catch and we don’t have time for a pity party.”

  “I can’t bear to face them.”

  “You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever known. You’ll manage tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Abbey’s funeral.”

  “No, I can’t,” Lexie’s voice quivered.

  “We have to be there to pay our last respects,” Tye said with certainty. “Not to mention the need to see if someone suspicious shows up.”

  “Shush.” Lexie’s finger touched her lips and her right hand pointed west.

  Tye flattened his ear to the ground. “Someone, or something, is coming this way,” he whispered.

  Lexie formed her hands into a stirrup and helped boost Tye into an oak tree. He reached down and pulled her up into the branches. All those trees they climbed as children were proving to be good experience. They were still looking for bad guys or wild animals. Unfortunately they weren’t pretending anymore.

  They were so still that a sparrow sat on a branch within a foot of Lexie’s hand. Its little head cocked to the left, then to the right. Two voices got louder as seconds passed. Lexie felt as calm as the bird looked. Whoever was coming couldn’t be as bad as what she was already facing.

  Now that she knew the visitors were human, she slipped down leaving Tye camouflaged in the leaves. She knelt behind a boulder. The rough surface pressed against her skin. The voices continued to come closer. Their sounds mingled with the rustling of the leaves and the chirping of the birds.

  Her glance scanned the area then rested on a white streak just visible through a cluster of trees. The patrol car might clue the visitors to their presence.

  She crawled from her hideout and got a glimpse of two men a few yards in front of her.

  “What the hell is on the other side of those trees?” Wilbur pointed as he spoke.