Buried Bones (Widow's Island Novella)

by Melinda Leigh

  “Drop the purse. Extend your hands out to the sides.” Tessa rushed in and kicked the gun a few feet away.

  Cyndi let her purse fall to the ground. Then she raised her hands on either side of her body, forming the shape of a T.

  Tessa spun her around and cuffed her hands behind her back. “You’re under arrest.” She patted down her pockets and moved the purse a few feet away. Then she picked up the gun and unloaded it.

  Logan stepped out from behind the booth. Chad followed him. A man ran from a shop and took the tourist in his arms. “Shhh. It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

  Bruce’s voice sounded from Tessa’s radio. She tapped the mic and gave him a quick update. “The shooter has been apprehended. But I could use help at the scene and with witness statements.”

  “On my way,” Bruce said. “ETA five minutes.”

  Tessa pointed at Chad. “I’ll need you to give a statement at the sheriff’s station.”

  “Sure.” Chad wiped his palms on his thighs. His face was dead white. Logan should have felt bad for him, but he didn’t.

  “Did you really fool around with your wife’s niece?” Logan asked him.

  Chad flushed, two bright spots of color popping onto his pasty face. He studied his boat shoes. “Yeah.”

  Disgust filled Logan.

  Tessa turned to Logan. “Would you search him for weapons?”

  Logan nodded and moved in. He patted Chad’s pockets and found nothing but a wallet. “You want me to cuff him?”

  “Hey, I didn’t do anything!” Chad protested.

  “No,” Tessa said, her voice heavy with regret. “But keep an eye on him.”

  “Of course.” Logan knew Chad had been defending himself, but he still wanted to arrest him. If only being a dick were a crime . . .

  Chad crossed his arms and leaned on his booth, his face set in an angry scowl. “I want to press charges.”

  “I’ll take your statement in a minute.” Tessa marched Cyndi to the SUV and locked her in the back. The fight had gone out of Chad’s ex. She slumped in the seat, looking defeated.

  Bruce arrived and began taking witness statements. Logan herded Chad behind Tessa’s SUV. Tessa joined them, then removed her notepad from her pocket. “Okay, Chad. When did Cyndi arrive?”

  “About five minutes before you.” Chad crossed his arms and spread his feet in a defiant stance. “She was already losing her damned mind.”

  “Because you slept with her niece?” Logan asked.

  Chad shrugged. “She’s an adult.”

  Logan wanted to punch him.

  Tessa gave Logan a look. “How many of your female employees have you had sexual relations with, Chad?”

  “I don’t know exactly,” Chad evaded. “A few.”

  Tessa stepped closer, getting in Chad’s face. “Did you make advances on Aurora?”

  “No.” Chad’s eyes flickered left.

  Liar.

  “She was pretty,” Tessa said.

  Chad shrugged. “She only worked for me for a couple of days.”

  “Right,” Logan said. “She came all the way to Widow’s Island and rented a cottage for the whole summer to work for you. Then she just disappeared, and you didn’t even think to check on her?”

  “It’s not my job to play babysitter.” Chad sniffed.

  “It’s called being a decent human being,” Logan said. “You should try it sometime.”

  Chad flushed but said nothing.

  “Is it possible you hit on her, and she turned you down?” Tessa asked. “Maybe you didn’t like that.”

  “No!” Chad spat. “That’s not what happened.”

  But Logan could see it all too clearly. “You have a nasty temper, Chad. Does it make you mad when women say no? Is that why you killed her? Maybe you didn’t even mean to kill her. You just lost it.”

  Chad straightened. “Hold on. Fuck. I didn’t kill anyone. I like younger women. That’s not a crime.” He blew out a breath. “But I would never kill anyone.”

  “You grabbed Cyndi by the throat,” Logan pointed out.

  Chad met their gazes one at a time. “She was hitting me with a broomstick. What was I supposed to do? Let her? She’s nuts. She shot at me in public. You saw it all.”

  Tessa leaned closer. “Did I mention that Aurora was strangled?”

  Chad’s face went whiter. He opened his mouth, then closed it with a resolute snap of his jaw. “I’m not answering any more questions about Aurora without a lawyer. Are you going to take my statement so I can press charges against Cyndi? It’s my turn to file a restraining order.” His face turned smug.

  Tessa lifted her pen over her notepad. “Tell me what happened today.”

  Chad’s statement matched what Logan and Tessa had witnessed when they’d arrived on scene. Tessa took notes, then shoved her notepad back into her pocket. “I’ll type this up. Stop by the station tomorrow to sign the official statement.”

  Chad gave her a curt nod and walked away.

  “Do you think he killed Aurora?” Logan asked Tessa.

  “I don’t know,” Tessa said. “We don’t have enough evidence to think anything, but he’s at the top of my list. He has a history of making sexual advances on the girls who work for him. He has a temper, and we saw him grab his ex by the throat.”

  Tessa and Logan climbed into the SUV, and she drove to the station, where she cuffed Cyndi to the chair next to the desk. Logan didn’t think she was still a threat, but then again, he hadn’t expected her to pull a gun and start shooting at Chad either.

  He leaned against the wall and watched as Tessa bagged the gun as evidence and locked it in the cabinet. Then she went through the purse and lined up its contents on the desk. A wallet, makeup, sanitary supplies. Nothing out of the ordinary. No more weapons. She set the purse aside and stared at Cyndi. She recited her Miranda rights, then began the interrogation with collecting Cyndi’s personal information. The woman responded in a flat, dead voice.

  Then Tessa got down to business. “Why did you bring a loaded weapon to the marina today?”

  Cyndi sniffed. A tear rolled down her cheek as she repeated her accusation. “When we were married, he cheated with the girls he hired. But I never thought he’d stoop low enough to sleep with my sister’s kid.”

  Logan pictured Chad’s fingers around Cyndi’s throat. “Did Chad ever try to choke you before?”

  Cyndi glanced up at him and shook her head. “No.”

  “Did he physically abuse you when you were married?” Tessa asked.

  “No,” Cyndi said. “He never hit me, but there were a few times I thought he was going to. He yelled a lot.”

  Logan wondered which of them had the shortest fuse: Cyndi or Chad?

  Tessa pulled out a photo of Aurora and showed it to Cyndi. “Do you know her?”

  Cyndi shook her head. “No.”

  “She worked for Chad.” Tessa watched Cyndi’s face. “Now she’s dead.”

  Cyndi’s head snapped up. “What?”

  The surprise on her face seemed genuine.

  “She was murdered,” Tessa said.

  Cyndi’s mouth gaped. She seemed at a loss for words.

  “Did you kill her?” Tessa asked.

  “God. No. I would never . . .” She stopped, as if realizing that she had indeed taken a loaded weapon to the marina to shoot her ex. “I’ve never seen her before.” Cyndi glanced at the photo. “She’s about the same age as my niece.”

  “Do you have a permit to carry a gun?” Tessa sat down and tapped the keyboard to wake her computer.

  Cyndi shook her head.

  Tessa typed, then paused. “Where did you get it?”

  Cyndi studied her shoes. “I took it from my parents’ house this morning. I don’t know why.” She paused, her head tilting. “I’ve never been that angry in my life. All the cheating was one thing, but using my niece like that.” She inhaled a shaky breath. “She’s the closest thing I have to a daughter.”

  Tessa lowered her
voice. “Did you want to kill Chad?”

  “I don’t know what I wanted to do.” Cyndi looked confused. “I couldn’t think at all. I don’t even remember driving to the harbor.”

  Tessa leaned back. Then she picked up the phone, called the sheriff’s office on the mainland, and requested transport.

  Logan asked Cyndi, “How often do you see Chad?”

  “I avoid him as much as possible.” Cyndi’s tone went bitter.

  “He said you wanted him to leave Widow’s Island,” Logan said.

  “Yeah. I thought if I could get him away from all the girls, we could save our marriage. But that was just dumb.” Cyndi blinked away a tear. “I’m sure he would have cheated on the mainland too.”

  Logan agreed but kept that to himself. “Now that you’re divorced, why haven’t you moved away?”

  “I’m trying.” Cyndi blew a hair off her face. “I want to go to Seattle, but I haven’t found a job that pays enough. It’s really expensive there.”

  Logan couldn’t argue. “Maybe you should try somewhere else. It might be healthier for you to live far away from Chad.”

  “Maybe I will.” Cyndi raised her chin and turned to Tessa. “Am I going to jail?”

  “That will be up to the judge,” Tessa said.

  “I wasn’t thinking straight today,” Cyndi said.

  Of that, Logan had no doubt. “You could have killed Deputy Black, me, or Chad today, not to mention all the other innocent people at the marina.”

  “I’ve called for a deputy from the mainland,” Tessa said. “You will be transported to the jail, processed, and charged with illegally possessing a firearm, brandishing a firearm in public, firing a gun at your ex-husband, attempted murder, and reckless endangerment. It will be up to the prosecutor to decide which of those charges ultimately stick.”

  “Oh, my god. I’m going to jail. I need a lawyer,” Cyndi sputtered, panic lacing her voice, as if the reality of her situation was just now beginning to seep in. She went quiet, staring at the wall while they waited.

  Tessa typed reports. It was nearly dinnertime before the deputy from the mainland arrived to transport Cyndi to jail. Logan watched the woman being led away. “Do you think she’s strong enough to have manually strangled a young, healthy woman?”

  “Maybe,” Tessa said. “We know she’s jealous, impulsive, and violent, but carrying a dead body to the dump site on Crone Mountain took some strength.”

  “I can’t see Cyndi managing that on her own. A dead body is heavy.”

  Tessa lifted a shoulder. “What if she killed Aurora in a rage like the one she exhibited today? She was out of her mind. Then she could have asked someone to help her dispose of the body.”

  Logan couldn’t argue with that. “It’s possible.”

  “Or she could have killed Aurora on the mountain. Maybe met her there or forced her to walk there. She did have a gun.”

  “This is true. We need more information.” Logan checked his watch. “It’s almost dinnertime.”

  “I know.” Tessa frowned.

  Logan knew she struggled with balancing her family responsibilities and her job. “I know you hate walking away from the case, but it will still be here tomorrow.”

  “You’re right.”

  The door opened, and a young blond man stepped inside. At six-two, Logan was tall, but this guy stood nearly a head above him. He had to duck coming through the doorway.

  “Can I help you?” Tessa asked.

  “My name is Dean Stewart,” the young man said. “I used to go out with Aurora Franklin.”

  7

  Tessa assessed the young man. He was about twenty, very tall and lean, with the lanky build of an athlete. He dressed like he’d grown up with money, in khaki slacks and a salmon-colored polo shirt with a little whale logo on the chest. She could picture him on a yacht or playing tennis and golf at a country club. Dean’s blue eyes were red rimmed and swollen, as if he’d been crying. His shoulders slumped, and he looked generally miserable.

  Pity gathered in Tessa’s chest. “Sit down.” She gestured toward the chair next to her desk.

  Dean eased into the chair as if his bones hurt. Then he burst into tears and covered his face with his hands.

  Logan went to the sink and filled a cup with water. He thrust it into Dean’s hands with a sympathetic “Here.”

  Dean straightened, swiped his sleeve across his face, and accepted the cup. He whispered “Thanks” in a rough voice.

  Tessa let him calm down for a few minutes. “I assume you know about Aurora?”

  “I just heard about it in the coffee shop in town.” Dean drew in a shaky breath. For a few seconds, he looked like he was going to break down again. But he pulled himself together. “I can’t believe she’s dead.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Tessa said. “What brought you to Widow’s Island?”

  “I came to Widow’s to talk to Aurora. We had a fight.” His shoulders lifted and dropped with a huge breath. “Right before she left for the island.” He paused to study his thumbnail. “She wouldn’t return my texts or calls. I figured if I showed up, she couldn’t avoid me.”

  “What did you fight about?” Tessa asked.

  “I was too pushy,” Dean said. “She kept saying she preferred to take things slow, but I didn’t listen.” He paused.

  Tessa wondered if he recognized the irony of stalking a girl with whom he’d been too aggressive, but she kept quiet and waited out the beats of silence.

  Dean picked at a fingernail. “I called her too much and wanted to see her too often. She said she needed some space.” A tear leaked from his eyes. He blinked it away. “I gave her a week; then I called her. She didn’t answer. I figured she wasn’t ready to talk to me yet. But when I tried again last week, and I still didn’t get an answer, I got worried and decided to take the ferry over and make sure she was okay.” He sobbed, then covered his mouth with a fist. Dropping his hand into his lap, he said, “I guess my instincts were right. She wasn’t okay.”

  “How did you meet Aurora?” Tessa asked.

  “We were in the same acting class,” Dean said.

  “What’s your major?” Tessa wanted him to relax just a little. The kid was wound tight.

  He held his drink in both hands. “I’m prelaw.”

  “But you took an acting class?” Tessa retook her seat behind the desk.

  He drank some water. “It met a gen ed requirement. Plus, I thought it might be useful if I decide to go into trial law.” He made a face. “My father is a corporate attorney, but courtroom law sounds more interesting to me.”

  “Do you play sports at school?” Tessa asked.

  He set down the cup on the corner of her desk. “I’m on the tennis and rowing teams.”

  Of course you are.

  “What about Aurora?”

  “She didn’t play sports.” His expression turned pained. “She was a theater geek.” He used the word geek affectionately. His mouth turned up at the corner in a bittersweet half smile, as if he had found that part of her amusing.

  Tessa continued. “Do you know anyone who wanted to hurt Aurora? Anyone she’d fought with recently?”

  “Besides me?” Dean’s snort was sad rather than defensive. “No. I can’t believe I’ll never see her again.”

  Logan jumped in with a question, no doubt hoping to derail another breakdown. “How long did you date her?”

  “About a month.” He sniffed, a wet, raw sound. “I know that’s not much time, but I never felt that way about a girl before. She was special.”

  “Let me make sure I have this straight,” Logan said. “You dated Aurora for a month. She broke up with you and refused to return your calls. So you came to Widow’s Island to speak to her in person.”

  Dean nodded. “Now I know she didn’t hate me. She was dead.” He burst into tears again.

  Tessa tried to get more information out of him, but he couldn’t stop crying long enough to speak. “Do you have somewhere to st
ay tonight? Or did you plan on going home?”

  He wiped an eye. “I got a room at the Harbor View Inn.”

  That confirmed Tessa’s assumption about his income level. The inn was the priciest accommodation on the island. Most college kids booked cheaper digs, like the Seaside Cottage Resort.

  “Have you even been to Widow’s before?” Logan asked.

  Dean shook his head and squeaked out a breathy “No.”

  “When do you plan to leave?” Tessa asked.

  “Tomorrow, I guess.” Dean’s brow furrowed. “There’s no reason to stay now.”

  “We might have additional questions.” Tessa took his contact information. Unlike TV cops, she had no authority to keep him on the island. A person was either under arrest or they weren’t.

  Dean stood. “I’ll do whatever I can to help you find Aurora’s”—he hiccupped—“killer.” More tears followed his proclamation.

  Logan herded him to the exit. After the door closed, he frowned. “He’s driving a BMW.” He read off the license plate number, and Tessa wrote it down.

  “I don’t like him,” Logan said.

  “I can’t put my finger on what feels wrong.” Tessa tapped her chin.

  Logan waved a hand at the empty chair. “His reactions seemed over the top.”

  “You think he was acting?” Tessa started running Dean through various law enforcement databases.

  “I think it’s possible. He could have taken that acting class because he’s good at it.” Logan dropped into the chair. “I could be wrong. Maybe he’s just emotional.”

  Tessa scanned her computer screen. “No outstanding warrants. No criminal record. His driving record is clean. The BMW is registered to fifty-five-year-old Lawrence Stewart, who shares the same address as Dean.”

  “Probably his father.” Logan rubbed his palms together. “Where are those financial and phone records?”

  Tessa divvied them up. While Logan began reviewing Aurora’s cell phone, credit card, and bank records, Tessa applied for the necessary warrants to obtain personal information for everyone on their suspect list. Some cell providers cooperated with police. Others made her jump through extra hoops. Banks were more rigid and regulated.