Crime Times Two

by Julie Howard

  Meredith glared at the woman, daring her to give Jamie encouragement.

  “Raising goats is not for sissies.” Honey said, her tone light. She studied Meredith’s face and unsnapped her coat, tugging it off. “You look all in, dear. How’d the final test go?”

  She shrugged. “I stopped to get gas on my way here.” They stared at each other and understanding dawned in Honey’s face. Jonathan glanced from one to the other, puzzled.

  “I’m not a sissy,” her daughter chimed in. “Mom, I’m not a sissy.”

  “You certainly aren’t,” Jonathan answered.

  Meredith stood, her voice firm. She faced the other woman and ticked off her orders on the fingers of one hand. “No goats. No bulldozers. No posters. No more.”

  Exhaustion swept through her body. Between taking the final, confronting Brooke, dealing with impassible roads and a stuck car, sparring with Curtis over Brooke’s possible guilt, and now this latest stunt from Honey…today had been one impossibly long day. “Get your things, Jamie.”

  She strode down the hall to wake Atticus. It was time to go home, whatever it looked like.

  ****

  Jonathan walked them to the car, carrying Atticus, his long legs lifting easily through the snow. Darkness swallowed the valley although it wasn’t yet five o’clock. The porch light danced eerie shadows across the yard.

  “We built a snowman in our house.” Jamie’s voice was full of pride and glee, as she hopped behind the long-legged man to land in each of his footprints. “Want to come see him?”

  Jonathan gave the young girl a dimpled smile. “You betcha. Another time though.”

  Jamie climbed into the backseat and helped Atticus snap into the car seat. Jonathan stood by the driver side door, his hand on the handle, keeping it from closing. He leaned down, his expression earnest. “This is weird, but I thought I’d just say it anyway.”

  Meredith cringed inside, worried he was going to invite her out on a date. She recalled Curtis’s warning about the man collecting baby mamas around the valley. He lowered his voice. “I have a message from Caro. From Twin Lakes.”

  This was the last thing she expected him to say. “What?”

  “She was here to see me this morning. Drove her snowmobile all the way down the hill.” A cold wind gusted into the compartment of the car. “She babysat me as a kid. I used to have quite a thing for her. It was years and years ago, but you never get over those things, you know? Actually, we had a moment or two about seven, maybe eight years back. Wasn’t all I thought it’d be.”

  “I’m freezing,” Meredith said, a violent chill going through her.

  His tone turned businesslike. “Right. She wants you to leave Brooke alone. That’s all. I’m only passing the message along. I’m just the messenger, always the go-between around here.” He paused and glanced back at the snug house where smoke rose from the chimney. Jonathan leaned closer, so oppressively she shrank from him. He was practically in the car now, his mouth near her shoulder. “You get people riled up in this community, divide them into sides. Like what happened in the spring, you know.”

  She couldn’t believe he would talk about Brian in front of Jamie. “We need to go. It’s getting cold in here.”

  Jonathan ignored her. “I have something to say to you. It’s about time you hear this.”

  Meredith glanced over at Honey’s house and was startled to see a movement at the window. Was Honey watching them? Her skin prickled with nerves. She twisted in her seat. “Hang on a minute, kiddos. I’ll be right back.”

  He retreated a step as she climbed out of the car. She slammed the door behind her, furious and uneasy. Why couldn’t everyone put Brian’s murder behind them, as she was trying to do? Regardless of the circumstances, people must know this was a painful subject. “Say whatever it is you have to say.”

  She was sure he would accuse her of Brian’s murder. The entire county already judged her and found her guilty, despite the evidence. As friendly as he’d been at the start, Jonathan was no different. People in Hay City were hateful, just plain hateful. She wasn’t prepared for his next words.

  “Gemma came to me first. I’m the town notary and she wanted me to notarize documents signing her house over to Brian. This was before you made an appearance, before Gemma knew she was pregnant.” His demeanor was changed, no longer looming. Instead, his shoulders slumped and the corners of his mouth turned down. “One wrist was sprained and there were bruises up her arm.”

  She stood frozen, not feeling the biting wind kicking up around them. Instead, the memory of Brian’s hands around her neck flashed through her mind.

  “We all saw the guy come around from time to time. He’d come in town and Gemma would have some kind of ‘accident.’ He’d disappear and she’d be okay again. Everyone knew what was going on. Then the guy shows up with a wife…you…and two kids in tow. We don’t like that kind of thing around here.”

  Everyone knew right from the start, she thought. Everyone but me. “It’s not your business,” she whispered, her voice hoarse and trembling.

  “But it was,” he said. “I was the messenger then too.” He nodded toward the house. “I let Honey know about the house; somebody needed to know. Then Gemma gets pregnant and starts talking about marrying this brute. Honey asked me to talk with Shorty, about how he could gain redemption for his sins. She knows how to push people’s buttons. I think she just wanted Shorty to scare Brian off, though she wasn’t too upset afterward, the way everything turned out.”

  Meredith was stunned. “You…and Honey…You did this.”

  He shook his head vehemently. “Shorty did it. I never said to kill Brian. Honey never did either. Shorty picked up the gun. He made the decision. He pulled the trigger. I’ve thought long and hard about the whole situation. My conscience is clean.”

  The world spun around. In a daze, she glanced at the car toward her children, Atticus calm in his car seat in back and Jamie now in the front seat pretending to drive. Her gaze traveled across the drive to Honey’s cozy house, now fully lit in the darkness. Her intuition about the woman was right. She shivered violently.

  “Why are you telling me this? Why now?”

  His jaw tightened and he jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “There’s justice and then there’s country justice. Kind of the old saying, ‘What goes around, comes around.’ Up in Twin Lakes? It’ll settle out. It’s none of your business.”

  “You think it’s murder, too?” The accusation popped out of her mouth before she could stop it.

  His expression went blank, and he didn’t answer.

  “What do you know?” she asked.

  “I never said murder.” He strode away, toward the house and called over his shoulder. “I just said this is none of your business.”

  Meredith recalled Brooke’s reference to Jamie, anger rising again in her chest. “As much as yours,” she called out.

  What if her daughter was in danger? All the children at the school were in danger. She gave a furious look toward Honey’s house. These people exacted their own brand of justice on her husband. Whatever their intention, the result was the same. Brian was dead. And Honey…she was at the center.

  She turned and yanked open the car door. Jamie took one look at her face and scrambled into the back next to Atticus. Meredith gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles were white all the way home. Brooke, Caro, Honey, Jonathan…all guilty in her mind. They were guilty of something, she just didn’t know what.

  Jonathan’s words echoed in her mind: There’s justice and then there’s country justice.

  Chapter Nineteen

  It wasn’t as though Honey pulled the trigger that killed Brian. It could be argued that Honey was the trigger by her interference.

  Unsure of what to do, Meredith wrestled with these two separate ideas. No one asked or coerced Shorty to kill Brian. Hadn’t she complained to Honey about her marriage and how she felt trapped? Her complaints were nothing but a cry for help and Ho
ney stepped in. Then, a series of events, tangled up in one another and led to her husband's brutal end. If she were honest, life was better without him.

  I’m as bad as them. I’d be a hypocrite to say otherwise.

  These thoughts delayed her immediate impulse to rush to Curtis with fresh accusations about people in his county. There was also the possibility he’d only say she was meddling once again, jumping at shadows and believing the worst in the people around her. It was easier to keep her mind a blank and block the emotions threatening to overwhelm her. This is how people have mental breakdowns, she thought. Maybe I’m already in the middle of one and don’t know it, she considered.

  And then there was Jacob. There was something wrong in Twin Lakes. Even Jonathan hinted at it with his cryptic remark that country justice would settle things out. Caro knew something too and wanted to keep outsiders away.

  Meredith focused on the present, feeding herself and her kids, taking Jamie to the bus stop and working her shift at the hardware store. She reminded herself Brooke wasn’t at school to threaten her daughter, while on leave for mourning. With her class over, she didn’t need Honey to watch Atticus. The house couldn’t be repaired until the spring and there was money enough to get them through the next few months. There was no reason she couldn’t ignore all her problems. For now. Avoidance was a successful strategy for her in the past, most of the time.

  The bus was late arriving at the store parking lot a few days after Jonathan’s confession, just late enough that Meredith was starting to worry. Winter swept through the valley this last week of school before the holidays and roads were treacherous. Sliding off the road near Twin Lakes eroded her confidence about her own winter driving skills. She decided Jamie was safer in a big vehicle driven by a well-trained professional who was used to driving on county roads under all conditions.

  Three other cars lined up next to her vehicle; other parents also waiting for their children to arrive. She recognized none of them and returned her attention to the road where the bus would eventually appear. She was startled when her passenger door swung open and a woman climbed in next to her, a heavy scent of laundry soap filling the car as she closed the door.

  “Hey there. I’ve been wanting to meet you forever.” The woman flashed an enormous smile, teeth slightly crooked in her mouth.

  “Um, hi.”

  She introduced herself as though Meredith should have already known who she was. “I’m Stacey. Jonathan’s sis. I work at the city office, if you can call what I do work. And you’re Meredith—the Meredith everyone talks about ’round here. You might as well be famous.”

  Stacey spoke in a rush, her voice breathy and eyes wide, scanning Meredith from head to toe. She turned in her seat where Atticus in his car seat stared back at her. “And this must be Atticus, Jamie’s little brother. Hi-ya little fella.” She scooted back around. “We should get together for coffee. I’m free pretty much most of the time.”

  Meredith gaped at her. Long, manicured nails were a direct contrast to her bowl haircut. She topped her sweatpants with a sequined bomber jacket. The only makeup she wore was a beauty mark at the side of her mouth. From head to toe, she was a mismatch, a woman still seeking her own definition.

  She didn’t want anything to do with Jonathan’s sister, yet another Hay City person to be wary of. She worked up an excuse. “I…I work part-time…”

  “…at the hardware store.” Stacey interrupted, finishing the sentence. “I know. Doesn’t matter. We’ll get together in the morning, when Jamie’s in school. But make it after eleven; I’m a late sleeper. Can’t help myself, I’ve always been a night owl.”

  Meredith glanced down the road, her brow furrowed. The invitation was nice on the surface; in any other situation, it would be good to expand her circle of friends. Especially since Honey was crossed off her list. Right now, though, she was worried about her daughter. She wondered if the woman had a cell phone to call the school about the missing bus.

  “I’m a working girl too. City clerk. You already know all about me, I’m sure. My little brother…” Stacey gave a strange giggle. “…I call him little even though he’s a giant…he’s always happy to fill in for me. No big deal. I’m picking up Rio today. We help each other out. What else is family for?”

  Meredith barely heard the woman’s chatter, her worry rising as the minutes ticked by. “Do you think something happened to the bus? Should we call the school? They’re late by forty-five minutes, almost an hour now.”

  Stacey waved her hand in dismissal and chatted on like a woman starved for conversation. “Oh, the bus’ll show up. You can come by my place if you want. Though I should warn you, I’m not the most finicky housekeeper. My dad lives with me, too, but he mostly stays in his room watching porn now he has a pension from the mine. Whatever. I don’t care, as long as he keeps the volume down. We live in the house that looks like a barn, back behind the coroner’s office.”

  A rectangular yellow shadow appeared on the horizon, moving slowly toward them. Her heart leaped. “There it is,” she said in relief.

  The other woman glanced toward the road with disinterest and then raised her eyebrows. “So. Tomorrow then? Jonathan can fill in for me at work.”

  Finally, anxiety over Jamie’s bus quieted, she made a quick decision. “Sure. Okay,” she agreed. It seemed easier to get out of work at the hardware store than to say no to this woman.

  Stacey heaved a sigh and opened the car door. “Thank God. This town is dead. I want to hear all about California. I’m going there someday, soon as I get some money saved and…”

  The car door slammed shut mid-sentence and the woman climbed into her car, one nearly as old and decrepit as Meredith’s. The bus rumbled into the parking lot and its door whooshed open. A moment later, her daughter was next to her, full of chatter about school and the holiday party planned in the classroom. Meredith barely heard her, her mind on Stacey. The woman was a study in contrasts and appeared to be sincere in her wish to be friends. And a friendly chat would be a nice distraction from her own melancholy musings. Did the woman know about her brother’s ideas about country justice? As Meredith pulled out of the parking lot, she realized there was only one way to find out.

  Anyway, the next day also marked another milestone in her life. I’ll be twenty-five.

  ****

  “Happy birthday, I guess.” Deli boy slouched against the case of cold cuts, a bottle of window cleaner in one hand and a dirty rag in the other. His tone was devoid of good wishes.

  She stopped in her tracks. She didn’t intend to buy any of her usual turkey and ham on this shopping trip. This was just a quick stop to pick up a coffee cake or donuts on the way to Stacey’s house, not wanting to show up empty-handed. It was too bad the baked goods were next to the deli counter.

  “How did you know?”

  “Giant Jonathan. You just missed him. You guys together now?”

  “Not likely.” The last thing she wanted was to be linked with the man. Not before their last conversation and certainly not now. Not ever. But how would Jonathan know today was her birthday?

  Deli boy squirted the cleaner at his case and over spray landed on the roast chicken inside. “Probably good. You have enough kids already.”

  She glared at him.

  “So, what are you?” he continued, wiping the glass in bored circles. “Like thirty, thirty-five?”

  Suspicious he was trying to provoke a response, it needed to be corrected before he started rumors she was pushing forty. Besides, her vanity was tweaked. “Twenty-five.”

  His mouth dropped open. “Really? You have a lot of wrinkles.”

  She gritted her teeth and shoved the cart past him. It wasn’t true; deli boy would say anything to get under her skin. For some reason, he’d made her his special target. Twenty-five wasn’t old. Neither was thirty-five, not exactly, but she’d rather not be mistaken for a thirty-something just yet. What if someone mistakes me for Atticus’s grandmother instead of his mother?r />
  She swerved her cart into the cosmetics aisle and browsed moisturizers. Aloe, glycerin, silicone and…she peered closer to make sure she was reading this right…even urea. Urine?

  Deli boy was at her shoulder, a smug expression on his face as he eyed the shelves. “Need help?”

  “Not from you. Thanks.” She turned to go, furious he caught her out, seeking ways to smooth her wrinkles.

  “Wait.”

  “What?”

  His egg-shaped Adam’s apple twitched under a skinny neck. “You’re selling baby rabbits? Any left?”

  Meredith considered whether there could be any land mines connected to his question and decided it was safe to answer. “A few.”

  “I wouldn’t mind having one.”

  That morning before heading to the bus stop, they frantically searched for the nearly-month-old rabbits, loosed from the cage by Jamie. The juveniles were hopping fuzz-balls with large almond-eyes and soft ears laid back on their shoulders. Once freed, they scattered throughout the trailer, crawling under the bed, behind the refrigerator and in a crevice by the stove. Meredith grabbed a broom and poked and scooted them into Jamie’s hands. Once again, they’d made it just in time for the bus, honking to keep it from leaving her kindergartner behind.

  “They’ll be ready to go by New Year’s,” she said, then considering whom she was talking to, added, “Payment in advance.”

  His face was eager and boyish. “Fifteen dollars, right?”

  She nodded and he fumbled under his apron for his wallet, and plucked out three five-dollar bills, limp and strangely damp.

  “You aren’t going to do anything…weird…with it, are you?” Her daughter would never forgive her if someone ate one of Grendel’s offspring.

  He looked at her with disgust. “I’m not a monster.” Deli boy stomped away, toward his counter. “Why would you say that?”

  She tucked the moist bills into her coat pocket. One down, she thought. Four to go.

  ****

  Stacey started talking the moment she opened the door. She snatched the bag of cookies from Meredith’s hand and waved her and Atticus inside. “Rio is so excited about getting one of Jamie’s rabbits. He talked about it all yesterday. I guess Jonathan said yes. Rio’s mom is less than excited, but she’ll come around. Come on in.”