“Sounds good,” I said as I circled around the desk and walked over to assist Samantha Green with some research on starting a small business.
After I helped Samantha pull a stack of journals and books and set her up at one of the reading tables, I rejoined Sunny at the circulation desk. Despite the absence of any other patrons, Sunny and I waited until Dawn Larson arrived to take over the desk before we headed to the break room for lunch. We never liked to leave the circulation desk without coverage. That was a poor service model, no matter how few people were using the library at any given time.
No one was using the children’s room, which was adjacent to the break room, but I left the door ajar in case someone needed our assistance. While we ate lunch, I brought Sunny up-to-date about my encounter with Ethan as well as my subsequent meeting with Charles.
“That’s why you’re talking with Brad this afternoon?” Sunny asked as she toyed with her package of peanut butter crackers.
“Exactly. Richard and I thought that he needed to know about the hat as well as Charles’s claim about Lacey being involved in the hit-and-run.” I crumbled a few potato chips into my napkin. “I’ve considered confronting Charles again, even though Richard really doesn’t think it’s wise.”
Sunny frowned. “Neither do I.”
“I don’t know. The more I think about it, the more I wish I could ask him a few questions before I go to the authorities. I’d like to give him a chance to come clean before I inform on him, just for the sake of our former relationship. But I doubt there’s time. I think I’d better get ahead of Charles making any statements about Lacey to the sheriff’s office.”
“Makes sense,” Sunny said, looking over my shoulder. “Hello?”
“What?” I turned my head toward the break room door. “Was someone there?”
“I don’t know. I thought I saw a shadow.”
I leapt to my feet and dashed to the door, just in time to catch a figure running through the children’s room and into the hall that led to the back door.
“I’m going after them,” I called out. “Keep an eye on things, okay?”
I didn’t wait to hear Sunny’s reply. The back door slammed as I reached the far side of the children’s room. Just as I ran into the hall, Samantha stepped in front of me and asked another question.
“Sorry,” I said as I attempted to slide around her. “I can’t help you right now. Go ask Sunny. I think she’s still in the break room.”
“But you know what I’m looking for …”
“I really need to go.” I slipped past Samantha and made a beeline for the back door.
The shadowy figure had to have been one of Mona’s students. I reached the parking lot in time to see Trish grab something from Chris’s hands as he stood in the doorway of the archives.
“Hey, wait!” I shouted, but Trish jumped into Chris’s car and took off, tires spewing gravel.
I ran over to meet a bewildered Chris. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” he said, rubbing his shaved scalp. “Trish was shrieking like a banshee, demanding to borrow my car for some emergency.”
“Oh crap.” I grabbed his arm to steady myself. “Did she say where she was going?”
“No. Just said to wait here and she’d return the car when she was done.”
“This isn’t good, this isn’t good,” I muttered to myself.
“Do you know what’s going on?” Chris asked. “Trish went inside to find a restroom, then flew out here like she’d seen a ghost or something.”
“I have no idea,” I lied. I didn’t want to embroil Chris and Hope any deeper than they already were, and if Hope, or even Ethan, had been involved in Mona’s death, I didn’t want to tip them off either. It was possible that Trish was going to drive straight to the hospital to tell Lacey’s parents what she’d overheard, or even confront Charles over his affair with Lacey. Neither of which was a situation I thought would be improved by the presence of any of the other students. Especially if any of them had a guilty conscience. “Why don’t you guys come back into the library to wait? I’ll even find you a ride if you want.”
“No, that’s fine. I think maybe we’ll walk down the street and grab some lunch at the diner. Please let Trish know where we are if she comes back looking for us.”
“Of course,” I said as Hope appeared at Chris’s shoulder. “Look, you guys go on ahead. I’ll just close up the archives behind you.”
I considered my options as I fiddled with the lock on the archives door and concluded that I should probably tell Brad about this turn of events as soon as possible. I couldn’t wait until our late-afternoon appointment. If Trish had heard what I’d told Sunny about Charles carrying on a relationship with Lacey and Lacey’s likely involvement in the hit-and-run, she might feel that she finally had something she could use to strike back at the man who’d falsely accused her of cheating. Which meant she was probably headed for the hospital.
I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Brad’s number but reached only a recorded message. That was no good—I didn’t think I could explain the situation in a voice message or text. I could talk to another deputy, but while I believed it prudent to head off any confrontation between Trish and Arnold Jacobs, I also felt the situation required an even-tempered response from someone like Brad. In my experience, few other deputies displayed his wisdom and common sense in sticky situations.
I needed to drive straight to the sheriff’s office, explain to Brad what had happened, and ask him to look for Trish. Unfortunately, Aunt Lydia had needed the car earlier in the day, so I’d walked to work. But when I’d called earlier to make sure I’d have access to our shared vehicle around three thirty, she’d assured me that she’d be back by one, so I decided to hurry home on foot and hope that the car was available.
Dashing back inside the library, I ran into the workroom and grabbed my purse, waving aside Sunny’s demands for an explanation.
“I need to take the rest of the afternoon off,” I told her as I bolted past her. “I’ll explain later.”
I raced home at a jog and had just reached our house when I noticed a vehicle idling in the neighbor’s driveway across the street. The car sped out onto the road and pulled up alongside me. After the car came to a stop, Trish jumped out of the front seat and circled around the hood before I could do anything but gape at her in astonishment.
“Please get in,” she said.
“What? Why?” I managed to squeak out.
“I need you to drive me to Charles Bartos’s house. I was going to just head straight to his house, and even got halfway there, but then I realized he didn’t know me and might not even allow me in the door. So I changed my mind and drove over here to wait for you. I figured he might talk to me if I brought you along.” As Trish looked me over, I noticed her right hand stuffed into her jacket, and a lump in the pocket that appeared to be more than fingers.
Not another gun … “Are you threatening me?”
“If I have to. I hope I don’t.” Trish pulled back her hand, revealing the butt of a revolver. “I do know how to use this.”
“I suppose so. I did see a photo of you in your skeet shooting club.”
“You researched me? Guess I should be flattered.” Trish slid the gun back into her pocket. “I have a concealed carry permit, by the way, as does Chris. This is actually his gun. I knew he kept it locked up in the car when he went into places like the library or archives, and I decided to take advantage of that fact in order to convince you to accompany me.”
“You may have a legitimate right to carry a gun, but threatening me still isn’t legal,” I said as I walked around to the driver’s side door.
I wasn’t convinced that Trish would actually shoot me, but I didn’t see the need to take that chance. If all she wanted was to talk to Charles, there was no real danger. Unless she wanted to do more than talk … I slid my fingers into my purse and felt around for my cell phone as I climbed into the car.
“H
and over the phone,” Trish pulled out the gun and pointed it at me as she settled in the passenger’s seat.
I reluctantly passed her my cell before buckling up and turning the keys that still dangled from the ignition. “What do you want with Charles? I doubt he’ll tell you much.”
“I bet he will if I threaten you.”
“I don’t know if I’d place that wager.” I turned the car around at the end of the paved road and headed back into town. “Charles is all about Charles. If he has to throw me under the bus to protect himself, he will.”
“We’ll see.” Trish kept the gun leveled on me as she used her other hand to buckle up.
“I don’t see why you want to talk with him so desperately, anyway,” I said as I drove through town. “I know you overheard me talking with Sunny about Charles and Lacey, but I have to tell you that I don’t entirely trust his account of the accident.”
“Neither do I,” Trish said, in such a grim tone that I gave her a side-eyed glance. She was so tense that she almost appeared to vibrate.
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel as I turned onto the road that led up to Charles’s mountain retreat. “Did you know that Charles and Lacey were an item? I only ask because Mona apparently did. At least, she told me she had some dirt on Charles, and now I think that’s what it must have been.”
“No, I didn’t know anything about that,” Trish said. “Not until I overheard you mention it.”
“Then why this need to talk to Charles?”
I caught Trish’s grimace out of the corner of my eye. “Because he has it all wrong.”
Thinking about the conversation I’d had with Richard, I shot her a quick glance. “You think Charles was the one who hit Marlis, not Lacey? Because I’ve considered that possibility as well—that Marlis was wearing a hat Lacey had left at their place and that’s how the knitted cap ended up in the ditch.”
“I expect you’re on the right track there,” Trish said. “But I know for a fact that it wasn’t Charles, or even Lacey, who hit that woman.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I did,” Trish said.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I fought my urge to slam on the brakes. “You were the driver?”
“Yes.” A quick side glance revealed Trish’s quivering lips, although her hand holding the gun didn’t waver. “It was an accident, of course. I was thinking about something else, and the light was still dim. I never expected anyone to be out jogging so early, especially in the cold.”
“But if it was an accident, why not call for help? It’s still tragic, but you wouldn’t have gotten into so much trouble. Now …”
“I know. Now I’ll be up for jail time.” Trish exhaled a deep sigh. “I just lost my mind for a while. Of course, I stopped when I felt the impact. But I saw the jogger’s knitted cap sail off her head before she fell, and when I actually looked at the hat in the ditch …”
“You thought it was Lacey?” Truth dawned as I lifted one hand from the wheel and flexed my cramped fingers.
“Yes. She was lying facedown, and there was all that blonde hair, and the hat, so I thought I’d hit Lacey Jacobs. I didn’t approach the body close enough to see otherwise, just jumped back into my car and drove off. I didn’t even know for sure that the person I’d hit was dead, but I knew that since I’d come up on them from behind, they couldn’t identify me or my car, so I just bolted.” Trish’s voice shook slightly on the final word, and she cleared her throat before continuing. “I was in shock, but I admit there was also this voice in my head, telling me it was fate. Or karma. Honestly, for a short period of time, I felt that justice had been served. Anyway, I didn’t call 911. I just drove back to my apartment, parked in a spot away from view, and ran in and grabbed up enough stuff for a weekend away. Then I immediately drove to my hometown, where I have a friend from high school whose family owns a junkyard. He always wanted to date me, so I figured I could sweet-talk him into getting rid of the car, no questions asked.”
“And you did?”
“I did. I said I didn’t want my parents to know I’d wrecked the car, that I planned to just tell them I’d sold it. Then I begged him to do me this one favor. He agreed. He even had a crusher at the yard, so the car is now nothing more than a cube of metal.” Trish leaned back against her seat. “Of course, I came to my senses eventually, but by then it was too late to do anything but keep up the pretense.”
I clutched the wheel with both hands. “But when you heard who it was, that must’ve been a shock.”
“That was the worst. Not that I ultimately felt right about hitting Lacey, despite what her father had done to me, but when I found out it wasn’t even her …” Trish’s voice trailed off.
I flexed my hands, one at a time. If I could keep her talking, maybe I could convince her that a confrontation with Charles was not a smart idea. “Why did Professor Jacobs accuse you of being part of that cheating scandal? Did you rebuff his unwelcome advances or something?”
“No, nothing like that. He didn’t like me from the get-go because I challenged him too many times.” Trish adjusted her grip on the revolver before continuing. “And then I called him on his bullying. There was this one student in my class that he constantly ridiculed. I could tell that she had learning difficulties. Well, it was more like she suffered from social anxiety, I guess. Anyway, it was clear to me that she was prone to panic attacks. My mom has that problem, so I can recognize the signs. Anyway, Jacobs just kept after the girl, even when she was hyperventilating, and I called him on it. I even reported it to the dean. That really set him off, so I guess when he got a chance to get back at me …”
“He took it.”
“Yes, and almost ruined my educational career. I was lucky to get into Clarion after all that mess, even though I was exonerated. But Clarion isn’t exactly the same caliber as my previous university, which does impact my future prospects. I’ve never forgiven Jacobs for that.”
“Or Lacey, it seems.”
“Which wasn’t right. I know that now. But I was so angry …” Trish sighed. “I admit that for a brief period of time, I lost my head and simply figured that hurting Lacey, no matter how accidentally, would be my best revenge against her father.”
“So now what—you want to confess your part in the hit-and-run to Charles or something?”
“Yes. I want to tell him the truth.” Trish straightened and shot me a sharp glance. “Before I turn myself in.”
“But why drag me along?”
“Like I said before—because he doesn’t know who I am, and I wasn’t sure he’d even open the door to me. But I knew he’d ask me in if I brought you along.”
“I see.” I turned onto the mountain road that led to Charles’s house. “But why now? You could’ve talked to him weeks ago.”
“Weeks ago he wasn’t planning to tell the authorities that story about Lacey. I was afraid he’d soon spill all his suppositions, which are obviously untrue.”
“He told me he wouldn’t say anything while she was still unconscious.”
“Not sure I believe that. I mean, we don’t know how long she’ll remain in the coma, or whether she’ll have any brain damage when she wakes up. I doubt that Mr. Bartos will wait forever to share his theory. Not when he thinks it could close the case.”
I looked over at Trish, whose face was pale and crumpled as paper. “You actually want to protect her?”
“I do. I know it sounds strange, but I don’t want that false theory to get out and hit the news. I don’t want anyone to think, even for a moment, that Lacey struck Marlis Dupre and drove away.”
“But that would all be cleared up when you confessed to the hit-and-run, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, but I know from experience that once people hear about someone being accused of wrongdoing, they remember that story long after the person’s exonerated.”
I took a deep breath. “That’s what happened to you when you were accused of cheating.”
“And cleared. But while the media was quick to blast out my name when I was accused, they weren’t so diligent when I was exonerated. In fact, it went from headline news to some tiny little mentions. A lot of people never knew that I’d been cleared of suspicion. All they heard or read about was the accusation. That’s why I had to leave the university, and that’s why”—Trish looked me over before sliding the gun back into her pocket—“I don’t want Lacey to be accused of something she didn’t do. Despite not really being her friend, I didn’t want that smear on her name, especially when she has no way to defend herself.”
We’d reached Charles’s property. I turned into his driveway and parked in front of the house. “You really want to do this?”
“Yes, I do.” Trish unbuckled and turned to face me. “Will you come with me?”
“To protect you? I think the revolver’s a better option, although I wouldn’t suggest threatening Charles on top of everything else.”
“No, as a witness. I want the authorities to know that I confessed to Mr. Bartos before I turned myself in. Not that it will make much difference, but it’s something I want them to know.”
“All right, I’ll accompany you. But keep that gun in your pocket.”
“I will,” Trish said as she exited the vehicle. “Just so you know—I wouldn’t have used it on you.”
I climbed out, leaving my purse in the car, and followed her to the porch. “You should’ve just told me the truth in the beginning.”
Trish’s thin lips twitched. “I wasn’t sure you’d agree, and I knew you were talking to Chief Deputy Tucker this afternoon. Yeah, I overheard that as well.”
“Well, despite not approving of being abducted at gunpoint, I promise I won’t press charges over this. I figure you’re in enough trouble as it is.”
“Thanks.” Trish stared at her feet as I banged the acorn knocker against the wooden door.
“Amy, how nice to see you again,” Charles said as he cracked the door. Opening it wider, he spied Trish, and his expression shifted from pleased to confused. “But who’s this?”
Past Due for Murder Page 20