Death by Auction

by Alexis Morgan

  Tripp didn’t argue, but he didn’t release his hold on her until he checked one last time to see if the bleeding had stopped. As soon as he did, she dug a small bandage out of the drawer and tore off the wrapper. She was still working on it when the timer on the oven started dinging.

  Tripp reached past her to get the hot pads. After removing the trays from the oven, he set them on the cooling racks she’d already set out on the table. He drew a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “Gosh, those smell good.”

  Then he grinned at Zeke, who had lumbered to his feet and joined him by the table. “Don’t worry, boy. I know Abby only makes paw print cookies for you.”

  He helped himself to a cold drink out of the refrigerator and then sat down in his usual seat at the table. Zeke immediately laid his head in Tripp’s lap, who took the hint and started petting him. When they were both settled, Abby asked, “So what brings you over here today?”

  “Nothing special.” Then he shook his head. “Okay, that’s not true. I was wondering how your investigation was going.”

  That was unexpected. Well, on the other hand, maybe not. Normally he would fight with Gage to be the first in line to warn her off getting involved at all. Clearly he was willing to make an exception this time since his ex-wife topped the suspect list. He probably wanted her name cleared before their big night at the veterans dance next week. It would be hard to enjoy himself if his date was behind bars.

  “To be honest, I’ve got a bunch of information and no idea what any of it means.”

  She stopped talking long enough to sift the flour and other dry ingredients into a bowl before adding it to the creamed butter and sugar. Once she had the mixer chugging along again, she tried to organize what she knew into some semblance of order.

  “I talked to that Mrs. Alstead at the store where she works. She was taken aback a bit that I knew she’d been Bryce’s teacher, until I told her I’d learned it from the mayor. I also told her I was trying to thank everyone personally who had supported the auction, which again is true. By that point, she was more relaxed.”

  She opened the bags of chocolate chips and dumped them into the batter along with the walnuts, holding back a few of the chips to share with Tripp. “Anyway, that lasted right up until I brought up Bryce Cadigan’s death. She also saw him with Valerie, by the way. She thought Valerie was trying to embarrass Bryce in public, which didn’t exactly jive with what I saw. I mentioned I’d only just met him but assumed she’d known him far better since he’d been one of her students.”

  Abby shut off the mixer to scrape the bowl. “She claimed his entire class was special only because that was her first year of teaching. Well, and that all teachers are pleased when a student achieves success. She claimed to have been happy that he’d found time to talk to her.”

  Tripp popped a couple of the chips into his mouth. “I take it you didn’t believe her.”

  “Maybe I misread the body language when they were talking, but I swear he enjoyed crowding her like he did. When I brought up Denny Moller, she sounded more sincere when she said he was one of her best students. She said it was a real shame he’d lost his chance at a football scholarship because of an injury his junior year. Before I could press her for more details, she had to respond to a customer service request. I think she was only too glad to have an excuse to get away from me by that point.”

  Rather than working at the counter, she carried the bowl over to the table and started scooping the dough onto another pair of cookie sheets. As she worked, she continued talking. “I did some poking around online to learn what I could about the years where both Bryce and Denny played football here in town. I’d like your take on what happened if you wouldn’t mind reading through the stack of articles I printed out.”

  Her sneaky tenant used his lightning-fast reflexes to grab one of the balls of dough off the cookie sheet. She tried to smack his hand, but it was already too late. “No more of that or you won’t get any of the cookies after they’re baked.”

  Tripp didn’t look the least bit worried as he staged another attack. “I like the dough as much as I like the cookies. At least I know I’ll get my fair share this way.”

  Like she hadn’t been keeping him supplied with cookies and other treats on a regular basis. “I might need them as a bribe for Gage if things go south.”

  Because they usually did.

  She managed to fill the trays despite Tripp’s continuing efforts to eat more of the dough. When the first batch was in the oven, she fetched the folder of articles and handed it to him. “I’m going to clean up the dishes while you read.”

  It didn’t take long to pack up the treats she’d made for Zeke and stick them in the freezer. Well, except for the couple she gave him to eat. Then she quickly washed the newly empty trays and refilled them with the chocolate chip dough. When the oven timer buzzed, she removed the finished cookies and replaced them with the new trays.

  By the time she’d finished cleaning up, Tripp was almost to the bottom of the stack of articles. Judging by his frown, something about what he’d read bothered him a great deal. She waited until he finished the last one before speaking.

  “What’s wrong? What did you see?”

  Tripp’s eyes looked troubled when he stuck the stack of papers back in the folder and finally met her gaze. “It’s actually what I didn’t see. This all happened long before people worried so much about protecting a patient’s right to privacy. The only thing they mention is that Denny was hurt. No details about what kind of injury it was or even how it actually happened. Later on, it does say he had multiple surgeries to fix it, and he wouldn’t be playing football again.”

  Then he yanked the papers out again and shuffled through them until he found the one he was looking for. He scanned down the page, following the words with his forefinger. “It also mentions an investigation of some kind. Why would they need to investigate an injury if it was just an unfortunate accident?”

  “Both of those things bothered me, too, but I thought maybe I was reading too much into the situation. You know, wanting there to be someone who had a good reason to kill Bryce. Well, besides Valerie, of course.”

  Tripp’s temper immediately flared hot. “Considering she’d never met the man, she didn’t have a reason to kill Bryce.”

  The stubborn man continued to believe every word Valerie said. Rather than respond to that, she asked him, “Did she ever tell you what the problem was that she wanted your help with?”

  “I did ask her, but she said it didn’t matter now.”

  “And why is that? Could it be because the problem died with Bryce?”

  Tripp’s hand came down on the table hard enough to rattle the cooling cookie trays. “Abby, for the last time, she doesn’t have it in her to kill someone any more than you do.”

  Responding to his temper with her own would accomplish nothing. “But what if she was trying to protect someone else? Could Bryce have presented a threat to someone she cared about, like maybe her younger sister?”

  That stopped him cold. “I don’t know. Maybe. The two of them were always really close. Even more so after their parents died. Back then, Becca was still in high school. She lived with a family friend so she could stay and graduate. Val and I had just gotten married and were living in base housing. The two of them were on the phone for hours every week. It nearly killed Val to be so far from her sister, but she couldn’t afford to walk away from her classes at the college, either.”

  He stared into the distance or maybe into his past. Whatever he was looking at didn’t make him happy. “She would’ve done anything to protect Becca. There’s no reason to think that’s ever changed.”

  Abby hated seeing Tripp hurt that much. “That doesn’t mean she did this. It just means we have to work harder to figure out who did.”

  He slowly nodded. “Where do we go from here?”

  “We still don’t have a good feel for what kind of man Bryce Cadigan was. You know more of the guys around
town. Do you think any of them might have gone to school with him?”

  After a minute’s thought, he nodded. “I know Spence Lang grew up here in Snowberry Creek.”

  “I’ve met him a couple of times. He served with Leif and Nick.”

  “Yeah, that’s the guy. I’m not sure how close in age he would be to Bryce, though. It could be their paths never crossed at all.”

  “Well, at least it’s a starting point. When do you think we can talk to him?”

  “I might have to do this on my own, but I’ll let you know. Maybe I can get him and the other two to meet me at that bar we passed the other night. If their wives decide to come, you can tag along, too.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “I’ll go make some calls and get back to you.”

  She quickly transferred a few cookies to a plastic bag and handed it to him. “Take these with you. It sounds like hungry work.”

  “I thought you needed these as a bribe.”

  “I can always make more.”

  He headed for the door, but stopped to look back at her. “For the first time I can see how you got sucked into investigating on your own, Abs. I still think it’s dangerous, but at least now I understand.”

  Then he was gone.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tripp pulled into the parking lot in front of the cinder block building they’d driven past the other night on their way to Gary’s Drive-In. The only indication that the place was actually a bar was the blinking neon light by the front door that simply said BEER. She was pretty sure she’d never before set foot in a place like this one and wasn’t sure she’d have the courage to now if Tripp wasn’t right there beside her.

  She glanced in his direction. “Do you come here often? And does this place even have a name?”

  He smiled as he parked the truck and turned off the engine. “I don’t know what the owner calls it, but we always just refer to it as Beer because of the sign. I occasionally meet Gage and a couple of the guys from the veterans group here to play pool and knock back a few of our favorite microbrews. You might not believe it by the looks of the place, but the burgers here rival those Gary sells at his drive-in, and the onion rings are even better.”

  If that was true, then the evening was already looking up. Abby slid down to the ground from the truck cab and landed with a bit of a jolt. Sometimes she forgot how much higher his truck rode than her sedan did. Tripp waited for her by the tailgate. “Anything I should know about proper etiquette before we go in?”

  His laughter rang out across the parking lot. “You know, I’m not sure the word etiquette and Beer have ever been used in the same sentence before. As long as you don’t get too rowdy or cheat at pool, you should be fine. I know it’s sometimes hard for you to stay out of trouble, but at least try. Gage gets testy when he gets called out here to break up fights.”

  She punched him on the arm. “I do not cause trouble or cheat.”

  Tripp smirked as they started toward the door. “If you say so.”

  Even if he was teasing, she felt obligated to defend herself. “Seriously, I don’t go looking for trouble, Mr. Blackston.”

  “Maybe not, but it does seem to find you, anyway.” He frowned a little as they walked past a row of motorcycles. “If something does happen, stick to me like a tick, and we’ll head for the nearest exit. Got that?”

  Okay, maybe insisting on coming with Tripp wasn’t the smartest idea she’d ever had. “Would you feel better if I waited in the truck?”

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and shepherded her toward the entrance. “No, it’ll be fine. Besides, nothing like an occasional bar fight to add spice to life.”

  She was pretty sure he was teasing her again, but there was an odd gleam in his dark eyes that made her think he was mentally reliving some past moments of bar-brawling glory. Before she could decide if she wanted to ask for details, they’d reached the door and stepped inside. The combination of loud music and people doing their best to talk over it resulted in a blast of noise that almost sent her into full retreat.

  Tripp either didn’t notice or didn’t care. He hesitated long enough to look around and then dove straight into the crowd, dragging her along in his wake. She held on to his hand like a lifeline until he came to an abrupt halt. When he tugged her out from behind him, she was relieved to spot at least one familiar face. He leaned down close to make himself heard over the surrounding noise. “I’m going to get a beer. What would you like?”

  “Whatever you’re having will be fine.”

  After he walked away, she turned her attention to Zoe, who waited nearby. “I’m so glad to see you. It’s nice that you guys could come tonight on such short notice.”

  The other woman smiled. “Leif and I were only too happy to come. We could both use a night out. Follow me over to the back corner. Leif, Nick, and Spence have staked out a couple of the pool tables for the night. Nick’s wife, Callie, is protecting the stools we dragged over there so we’d have a place to sit as the guys practice the manly art of billiards. Spence’s wife is running late, but she should be here any minute now.”

  A few seconds later, the two of them were ensconced on their stools watching Nick and Leif duke it out while Spence offered unwanted and definitely unappreciated advice from the sidelines. Nick finally threatened to skewer him with a cue if he didn’t shut up and leave them alone. Luckily, Tripp was back with the beers. He and Spence picked up cues and launched into their own game at the next table.

  Zoe and Callie took turns rooting for their husbands, applauding great shots and booing when the opposing team scored. It was hard not to be a bit jealous of the two couples. Not only were the pairs both happily married, but their friendships were obviously set in stone. Rather than dwell on not really being part of a couple, Abby swiveled on her stool to face the other table more directly as Tripp and Spence started their second game.

  Tripp had just sunk his third ball when she spotted Spence’s wife wending her way through the crowd. Abby waved to get Melanie’s attention and then pointed at the empty stool beside her. Spence stepped away from the table to kiss his wife before once again putting on his game face.

  Then Spence smiled at Abby. “I don’t know whose idea it was to do this, but God bless them. We’ve been doing inventory at the factory, and I’m ready to take a breather.”

  She grinned back at him. “Glad you could make it. From the sound of things, it’s been one of those weeks for most of us.”

  When he returned to his game, Melanie asked, “Are you doing okay, Abby? The night of the auction had to have been a tough one for you. From what Spence told me, it was definitely a night of surprises for both you and Tripp.”

  It was hard not to sigh. She’d give anything to move past that evening and everything that had happened since. “Yeah, it was rough. I just hate that the success of the evening was overshadowed by the tragedy at the end. The fact that the police haven’t yet made an arrest just keeps my nerves all stirred up.”

  “I bet it does. I’d say not to worry, but that’s easier said than done. Still, I’m sure Gage Logan will get it all sorted out eventually.” Melanie paused to clap her hands when Spence made his shot. “We’ve heard Tripp’s ex-wife made Gage’s short list of possible suspects. Do you know if the police are looking at other possibilities?”

  Abby sipped her beer. “Not for sure, but I hope so. That’s one of the reasons Tripp wanted to meet with all of you tonight. We were wondering if any of you went to the local high school at the same time as Bryce Cadigan and Denny Moller.”

  Melanie had been watching her husband try to make a tough bank shot, but she immediately turned to face Abby more directly. “Actually, Spence, Callie, and I all did. Nick and Leif moved here from out of state, so it’s doubtful they would know anything helpful. Zoe was a few years ahead of us, so she wouldn’t have had classes with either of them. What did you want to know?”

  How much should Abby share? Deciding it wasn’t worth da
ncing around the issue, she settled for the blunt truth. “Tripp’s ex-wife is stuck here in Snowberry Creek until things get settled, so we wonder who else might have had it in for Bryce. When I saw him talking to Denny at the auction, things looked a bit tense between them. It probably didn’t mean anything, but it’s hard to know if that’s true. I know they were on the football team together until their junior year.”

  “Spence might remember if anything happened, since he was on the team, too.” Melanie wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t exactly run with their crowd. I was the typical shy and geeky good student, so I never hung out with the popular kids.”

  It was hard to picture Melanie as being anything other than the confident woman she seemed to be, but high school had been a long time ago for all of them. Abby had changed a lot since that time, too.

  “What about Spence? Was he one of the popular kids?”

  Melanie laughed and shook her head. “He was the bad boy your mother warned you about, so good looking and wild. Gosh, I had such a crush on him back then.”

  And still did from what Abby could see. For now, there was one other person she was curious about.

  “Did either of you have Mrs. Alstead for English? She would’ve been known as Miss De Witt back then.”

  Melanie was already nodding. “I did. As I recall, a lot of the guys had kind of a crush on her. It was her first year of teaching, so she wasn’t much older than the seniors.”

  Wow, Abby would’ve guessed the woman was a decade or even more older than that. “Really? She looks a lot older to me.”

  “She does now, but not back then. In fact, I seem to remember that she’d graduated from both high school and college early, so she was barely twenty when she got the job. She took a year off right after our senior year, maybe to finish her graduate work or something.”

  Okay, that was interesting. Mrs. Alstead hadn’t mentioned that fact. Of course, why would she? It had all happened a long time ago.

  Meanwhile, Melanie waved at her husband to get his attention when he stepped away from the pool table to let Tripp take his turn. He held up a hand to acknowledge her but stayed where he was until Tripp took the shot. When the last ball on the table dropped into the pocket, Spence muttered something under his breath and reached for his wallet. Tripp grinned as he accepted the twenty Spence slapped down on his hand, and headed straight for the bar.