Truth is in the Darkness (Paynes Creek Thriller Book 2)

by Heather Sunseri

  “Winn?” Coop said. “As in your—”

  “Fiancé,” Winn declared. He held out his hand to Coop. “Winn Garrison.”

  “Ex-fiancé,” I corrected.

  Coop shook Winn’s hand, but his cold stare didn’t waver. “Cooper Adams. And I believe Lil asked you a question.”

  Winn shifted his gaze back to me. “I came into town last night. I tried calling, but you didn’t answer. Then I ran into Linda at the bar next to the motel.”

  Linda hadn’t stopped grinning since she arrived. “Winn and I got to talkin’,” she said, “and he mentioned he was here looking for his girlfriend. Blah, blah, blah, small town and all. Lo and behold, I figured out he was looking for my Calla Lily. Honey, I can’t believe you didn’t tell your own mama that you’d gotten engaged!”

  I glared at Linda, then at Winn. “What the hell is she talking about, Winn? Did you tell her that?”

  “Not exactly.” Winn glanced uncomfortably toward Coop. “Look, I’m sorry to just show up, but after your phone call yesterday, I went by your apartment and got your mail like you asked.”

  “Okaaaay,” I said, dragging out the word. I had called Winn to tell him I had decided to take a different approach to resurrecting my publishing career, and he had insisted it would be best to hash it all out in person. But that didn’t explain why he was here now. He wasn’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow at the earliest.

  “You received more fan mail,” Winn hurriedly explained. “And I thought it would be best to deliver it in person, given the trouble you’ve seen here.”

  “Where is it?” I asked.

  “It’s back at my motel room. But I think you should hand it straight over to the police.”

  “Why didn’t you do that?” Coop asked. “In New York?”

  “Honestly, I probably should have. But the only thing on my mind was to get here and make sure Lily was safe.”

  “Awww,” Linda said, crossing her arms across her chest. “Look how well my daughter is being taken care of. Warms a mother’s heart to see two handsome men taking care of my Lily. Especially with all the excitement going on. What are all those cops doing over there anyway?” She pointed toward the second entrance to the property, where several police cars were now parked, along with what appeared to be a news van. Tricia Hood’s murder wouldn’t be kept quiet for long.

  I tried to keep my anger under control. “Thank you for showing Winn where to find me, Linda, but we’ll take it from here. You can go do whatever it is you’re in Paynes Creek to do.” I yanked Winn inside and basically shooed my mother away. As I directed Winn back toward the kitchen, I heard my mom complaining to Coop, but I blocked her out.

  “I really am sorry to show up like this,” Winn said.

  “And I’m sorry I didn’t answer my phone.”

  He looked past me toward the door. “I can see that you were busy.” His eyes found mine, and I shifted under their scrutiny. “So that’s the infamous Cooper Adams. It didn’t take long for the two of you to get cozy.”

  “It’s not like that,” I said quickly. Well, it wasn’t exactly like that.

  Mercifully, he let it drop. “What’s with all the police?”

  “Someone was murdered last night.”

  “What? Right there?” He turned, took two steps, then spun around again. “You’re telling me there’s been a murder in Cooper’s back yard, and you thought it was a good idea to sleep with him as… what, a safety precaution?”

  I rotated my shoulders back and was about to lay into him when Coop entered the kitchen and did it for me. “Look, Mr. Garrison, it’s already been a long morning, and I don’t need an assault charge on my record on top of a murder investigation on my property, so I’m going to give you one opportunity to tell me why I shouldn’t throw you out of my house and put you on the first plane back to New York.”

  I held up a hand. “Coop, it’s okay.”

  “It’s not okay,” Coop barked.

  “He’s right,” Winn said. “I shouldn’t have said that to you. It’s your business. I apologize.”

  I smiled at him, then looked at Coop. “I can accept that apology. How about you? Are we all good?”

  Coop nodded, but he looked like the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders.

  “Good,” I said. “Then I’m going to ride with Winn to his motel and see what my stalker sent me.”

  “I’ll drive you,” Coop said. “I want to see this mail myself.” His eyes drilled into mine, then he cast a suspicious gaze at Winn.

  “You don’t order me, remember? You have work to do. I’ll be fine with Winn.”

  He frowned uncertainly, then thought about it for several beats. “Fine,” he said finally. “But don’t touch anything without gloves on. I’ll meet you there with evidence bags as soon as I’ve checked in with Chief Robinson and made sure I’m not being investigated for murder.”

  “Did I miss something?” Winn said.

  “I’ll explain on the way.”

  Twenty-Three

  Coop

  “You’re late,” Chief Robinson said from behind his desk, barely even glancing up from his computer screen. “You think it’s a good idea to show up to work late on a day that you’re a person of interest in a murder investigation?”

  I wanted to defend myself, but instead I simply bit my tongue. “No, sir. It’s not smart for me to be late to work under any circumstances.”

  He looked up. Studied me. “Relax, Adams. I spoke with Sheriff Daniels. We both know you had nothing to do with that girl being killed. We’re also shorthanded in both Paynes Creek and the county, which means there’s no way we’re taking a detective of your skill and background off the case. Speaking of which, you given any thought to my job offer?”

  “Yes, sir. I’m giving it very careful consideration.”

  “Good. For now, I’m detailing you to the sheriff’s office to help with the murder investigation. Daniels has taken the lead since the murder took place outside city limits. He’s expecting you at the crime scene within the hour.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

  I turned and was almost to the door when Chief Robinson spoke again. “And Adams, the sheriff told me he thinks this murder may be connected to what’s been happening out at the Kaufman place. I have to say I feel the same way, and I expect you do too. If you feel the Thomas girl is in danger, put an officer on her. I might be new to Paynes Creek, but people talk, and I know she’s important to you. You’ll be no help to Sheriff Daniels if you’re worrying about her all the time.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  I called Sheriff Daniels as I left the station and explained that Lil’s ex-boyfriend had shown up at my house after he left that morning with additional information about Lil’s stalker.

  I was instructed to collect what Winn had brought from New York before going to the scene of Tricia Hood’s murder.

  I pulled into the parking lot of the Paynes Creek Motel just before ten a.m., and Officer Briscoe parked his patrol car right beside me. He would be shadowing Lil for the day. Whether she liked it or not.

  Lil had texted me the number of Winn’s motel room, and I walked down the row to door number seven. I couldn’t get the image of how Winn had gazed at Lil that morning out of my head. It was clear that he cared deeply for her. Was probably in love with her. She had told me that things were over between them, but Winn didn’t look like a man who would easily walk away from a woman like Lil. And I couldn’t help but wonder how easy it would be for her to go back to him.

  I lifted my hand and was about to knock when a woman’s voice stopped me.

  “You sure you want to do that?”

  Linda Thomas had stepped out of a neighboring door, cradling an ice bucket in one arm and holding a vape pen to her mouth with the opposite hand. The grin on her face told me she was enjoying every bit of the trouble she’d stirred up.

  “They haven’t seen each other in several days…” she continued. She lifted a s
houlder and smirked.

  Ignoring her, I knocked on the door, a little louder than I had originally intended. But the thought of Lil and Winn together…

  The door opened, and Winn ushered me in. Lil was standing on the far side of the room staring down at the bed. Spread out before her were pages of one of her children’s books.

  “Lil?” I said. “What is it?”

  When she didn’t respond, I stepped closer and studied the pages. They had been vandalized. The eyes of some of the animals were cut out, and a red substance had been smeared over several illustrations.

  I turned to Lil. “It’s okay, Lil. I’ll take over from here. Have you touched any of the pages?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Good. The fewer fingerprints, the better. We’ll have to separate Winn’s fingerprints from others as it is.”

  I noticed her hands trembling, and then she tucked them under her arms as if to still them. For the first time since I’d entered the room, she looked at me. “Why, Coop? Why are they doing this to me?”

  “I’m going to do everything I can to figure that out.” Even though Winn was in the room, I pulled her to me. Now wasn’t the time to care that this man was after the same thing I was. What was important was keeping Lil safe.

  Winn spoke behind me. “What specifically are you doing?” he asked. I noted the challenge in his voice.

  I released Lil and turned to face him. “Actually, I’m concentrating on the people who knew Lil came back home.”

  His eyes widened. “You don’t think I—”

  “I’m going to need to know your whereabouts since Lil left New York. You said you arrived in Paynes Creek last night, is that correct?”

  He crossed his arms, and his shoulders stiffened. “Yes. I flew in on the last flight into Lexington.”

  “And you were in New York prior to that? Every other night this past week?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Can anyone vouch for that?”

  “Seriously?” Winn asked.

  Lil placed a hand on my arm. “Coop,” she said in a low, calm voice. “Winn is not the one doing this.”

  I turned to her and tried to match her calmness. “We can’t be certain of anything, Lil. Only a few people even knew you were coming here, which means everyone on that list has to be considered a suspect. Everyone. That includes your cousins, Winn, even Barb.” Of course, we both knew I didn’t think her grandmother or her cousins had anything to do with this.

  “It’s not Winn,” she said firmly.

  By the look in her eyes, it was clear to me that she cared for Winn—and that she thought I was being a testosterone-charged asshole.

  “Fine.” I let out a sigh, frustrated with my own behavior, then eyed Winn. “I’ll still need someone to vouch for your whereabouts every night this past week. Just to officially clear your name, of course.”

  “Of course.” Winn mirrored my frustration.

  “Good. And Lil, there’s an officer outside. Officer Briscoe. He’ll be going wherever you go.” Lil opened her mouth to protest, but I held up a hand. “Don’t bother arguing, because it’ll do you no good. Until the perpetrator is caught, an officer will be tailing you whenever possible, unless you’re with me.”

  Lil sighed. “Fine. Does that mean I’m free to go about my day, Officer? Winn and I need to discuss a plan of action for creating a new pen name.” She turned to Winn. “I spoke to Jake, and he agreed to help draft legal documents for a new publishing company.”

  “You’re still going to go through with that?”

  “I already told you I was.”

  Winn held up his hands in surrender. “Okay. Then let’s discuss the details.”

  “I’m going to come up with a new legal name to write under, and try to save my writing career. I can protect my creative rights to everything I create going forward inside this new company. And it will be a bonus to operate all signings and any online presence under this new name. I’ll have to write something different, of course. The publisher already made it clear that they didn’t want to continue my current children’s book series. So those books will probably fade into oblivion once the publisher stops putting any advertising behind them. And they’ll never hand those rights back over to me.”

  “Bastards. You don’t need them,” Winn said. “You can write anything you want. With your talent and new branding, we’ll build an entirely new career for you if that’s what you want.”

  I shifted uncomfortably. Winn seemed quick to take Lil’s side. “I understand your desire to create a new company and a new pen name,” I said. “But is that all you’re talking about? What do you mean when you say ‘operate’ under a new name?”

  “It’s mainly about resurrecting my career, but if I can run my career under this new name, maybe I can also use the new name to make it more difficult for this psycho to find me.”

  Was she really going to go through with this? Change her name and run from some stalker? “How will that solve anything?” I asked. “It’s not like you can erase your name from existence in a town like Paynes Creek.”

  She looked down at her hands, then up at me. “No, but it’s easy to disappear and work under a new identity in New York City. I can take my trouble back to New York and away from here, then hide under this new name.” She shrugged. She clearly hadn’t thought this completely through.

  I straightened. It was as if she’d stuck a fist straight into my chest and twisted it until I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want her running back to New York. Not yet.

  But she was right. She could disappear in New York… until the stalker found her again.

  And he would find her, unless I found him first.

  I arrived at the murder scene just as the Hopewell County medical examiner was leaving. The victim’s vehicle was parked to the right of the barn, just under the tree I’d loved since I was a teenager. I’d climbed it as a young boy, but more importantly, it had borne witness to so many special moments between Lil and me, including our conversation only days before. I had a bad feeling that the murderer choosing that particular spot wasn’t random.

  Holding the clear bags with the altered pages of Lil’s book, I approached Sheriff Daniels.

  “Coop,” he said in greeting.

  “Sheriff. What do we know?” I decided not to hassle him over how he’d treated Lil and me that morning.

  He shook his head. “Not much. I spoke with Bryn and Barrett at the coffee house this morning. Bryn couldn’t tell me a lot. Barrett was the last person to see our victim when she ran out of the coffee house angry just before closing yesterday evening.”

  “Any chance this Barrett knows more?”

  “Doubtful, but we’ll want to talk to them again. And anyone else that might have known Hood.”

  “What else?” I asked. “Has the medical examiner said anything?”

  “The ME’s initial thoughts are that the victim was not killed instantly by the knife wounds. She bled out slowly over the course of several hours.”

  Sick son of a bitch, I thought. “And the knives? Definitely a match to the one in the rabbit?”

  “Appears so. We’ll have to confirm it, but those knives are awful unique.” He nodded to my hand. “What you got there?”

  I held up the evidence bags. “Mail that Lil received at her New York apartment.”

  “Recently?”

  “Since she’s been here. Her ex-fiancé, Winn Garrison, delivered it this morning.”

  “Ex, huh?” he said, taking the bags from me. “What are your thoughts on him, besides the obvious? Should we be looking into him?”

  “At this point, I’m not sure anyone gets a pass. But my first impression of Garrison? I think he cares for Lil.”

  The truth was, I believed Lil was right: Winn wasn’t stalking her—because he didn’t need to. She already trusted him. But I’d made mistakes in the past, and I wouldn’t allow myself to make mistakes this time. Which meant Winn would remain on the suspect
list for now.

  Sheriff Daniels was looking through the pages, which I’d bagged individually. “What is this?” he asked, examining something sketched in red. “A lion?”

  “A wolf, I think.”

  “Oh, I see. Vicious teeth. And this?” He held up another of the bags.

  “I think it’s a lamb.”

  “Wolf and a lamb,” he said. “Biblical?”

  I shrugged. “Or one of Aesop’s fables. And it matches what Lil said about her stalker wanting her to change her characters from a fox and a rabbit to a wolf and a lamb.”

  He handed the bags back to me. “Well, get them cataloged.”

  “Will do.”

  “Coop?”

  “Sir?”

  “I’m sorry about this morning. I’m afraid I’m starting to get a little edgy. After having a serial killer in our midst last year, I guess I just don’t want to admit that we might have someone just as violent here in Paynes Creek once again.”

  “It’s okay, sir. I can hardly blame you.”

  “Sir,” a female officer yelled. Her head poked up from the passenger side of the car.

  “Whatcha got?” the sheriff asked, walking toward her. I followed.

  “A cell phone.” She held it up between two fingers of her gloved right hand. “Found it trapped between the passenger seat and the door.”

  The sheriff motioned to me. “Get the commonwealth’s attorney involved and see if you can obtain a warrant to open up that phone.”

  “Yes, sir. Will do.”

  Twenty-Four

  Lil

  Bryn and I were wrapping stemware in Grammy’s dining room. The minute the news of Tricia’s death got around—which didn’t take long—Bryn had closed the coffee house for the day so that she and her employees could grieve Tricia’s loss. I didn’t know if she planned to open up again tomorrow, and I suspected Bryn didn’t know either. She and Tricia hadn’t been friends, or even close, but they’d worked together almost every day for nearly a year, so I knew this was hard for her. I figured packing up at Grammy’s was her way of keeping her mind off things.