by Gen Griffin
“What do you think I'm trying to do?” Gracie gestured at the two napkins. “The rental company gave me those two as samples. Those were the only two colors, aside from plain white and a really awful baby girl pink, that they have in stock and ready for us to possibly use. I brought the samples in here to you because I wanted your opinion. This is our wedding, remember?”
“I don't care about napkins or tablecloths, Gracie. Just pick a color.”
“Really, Cal?” Gracie raised her eyebrow at him. “Just pick something?”
“Please,” he said. His attention had been caught by something he'd spotted on his computer screen. “I'm busy, Gracie. Today is Thursday and we leave for our cruise on Sunday morning. I have to get all the books updated and fix the inventory or this place is going to be a disaster by the time we come back.”
“I can't believe you're worried about the shop right now. Your Dad can handle the books. Our wedding is Saturday and half of the things we have to get done aren't done yet.”
“Isn't Momma helping you?” Cal asked.
“Yes. Miss Loretta, Katie and Trish are all helping me, but it's not their wedding. It's our wedding. Sorry for assuming you cared.” Gracie snatched the napkins off his desk and stormed out of the room.
She made it all the way back to her truck before she looked behind her to see if he was chasing after her.
He wasn't.
“Workaholic asshole,” Gracie muttered as she slammed the driver's side door shut hard enough to rattle the entire truck. She made sure to squall the tires across the pavement as she pulled out of the parking lot.
Chapter 4
“Now I've officially seen it all.” Addison Malone leaned against the wrought iron fence that separate the Callahan County Country Club's exclusive swimming pool from the golf course.
“Shut up, Studmuffin.” Katie was sitting Indian style on the edge of the pool. She was wearing a blue and white polka dot bikini that had been one of Addison's favorites a few years back. Her honey-blonde hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail that didn't have the heavily hair-sprayed look of the messy ponytails most of Addison's girlfriends had taken to wearing. An old fishing pole was in her small hands and a pair of dead alligator gar were sitting on the pool deck a few feet to her right.
Addy couldn't help grinning. “You have any idea how hot you are right now?”
“I'm assuming that when you say 'hot' you mean sweaty?” Katie gestured to her exposed skin, where the slightest bit of moisture was visible and entirely unsurprising on a 94 degree late summer afternoon. “Because yes, I'm sweaty. I'd love to take a dip in the pool. Unfortunately, it's full of big fish with bigger teeth.”
Addison walked over to the edge of the pool and peered down into the clear water. Several gar were circling Katie's bait.
“If I had meant sweaty, I'd have said sweaty.” He gestured to his own uniform shirt, which had damp circles under both arms and another wet streak running down the center of his spine. “I tried to call you back, but your phone went straight to voicemail.”
“I have horrible reception out here,” Katie said. “Not that it matters. You're here now and I need you to get the gar out of the swimming pool. Preferably quickly. Your sister's bachelorette party is supposed to start in a little over an hour.”
Addison frowned. “How long has it taken you to catch those two?”
“I don't know. Maybe 30 minutes. I tried to scoop one out of the pool with the pool cleaning net, but they just swam away from me.”
“We might be able to use my big cast net on them,” Addison said after surveying the problem for several minutes. “You willing to help me?”
“Sure. Why not?” Katie stood up and pulled her fishing pole out of the water. She laid the pole down on the nearest table and began scanning the deck chairs. “Where did I put my dress?”
“I don't know. You don't need it.” Addison let his eyes wander down her slender figure, trying not to remind himself that she was Ian's wife. “Its hot out. You don't want to wear layers.”
“Are you kidding me?” Katie shook her head at him. “I'm embarrassed to be seen out in public like this. My boobs went flat immediately after Hannah Mae was born, I have stretch marks on my tummy and my suit fits funny because it's so old and worn out. I needed to buy new one but I didn't have the money. Plus, my tan lines are awful.” She pointed to the white strips of skin on her shoulders and upper thighs.
“Girls are insane.” Addison watched Katie as she slipped her flip-flops onto her bare feet. She'd painted her toenails into tiny watermelons. “You look fine to me.”
“That's only because you've seen me at my worst,” she pointed out as she located the dress she was looking for and pulled it on over her shoulders. It hung a little too loose on her narrow shoulders, as if it were a couple of sizes too big.
“Have you lost weight?” Addy asked her as they walked out into the parking lot and headed towards the shiny new 4-door Dodge 2500.
“Yes. Most of it was in the form of Hannah Mae.” Katie clucked her tongue at him. “You must be getting desperate if you're starting to think I look good. Has your infallible combination of gorgeous looks and meaningless charm finally stopped working on the women of Callahan County?”
“I'm bored with the women of Callahan County,” Addison admitted without thinking about it. He jumped up into the bed of the truck and opened the toolbox. He hadn't had a chance to completely replace all of the equipment that he'd lost when his previous truck had gone into the lake, but he was pretty sure he'd bought a new cast net.
Katie looked at him with obvious surprise in her honey-colored eyes. “You? Bored with women?”
Addison sucked in a deep breath through his teeth and then shrugged. “Maybe a little bit. Bored with dating, anyways. I haven't gone out with anyone other than Makinsley since I got out of the hospital. Getting shot by Trish's crazy ex-husband has kind of made me re-evaluate some of my extracurricular activities.”
Katie's surprise showed in her face. “I'm all for you settling down, it's long overdue, but please do us all a favor and don't settle down with Mak. No one can stand her.”
It was Addy's turn to be surprised. “I'm not going to start playing house with Mak.” He pulled the cast net out of the tool box. It was still packaged in the bucket it had come in.
“I don't know what you see in her,” Katie said. “She's trashy and rude.”
“Mak's fun.” Addy jumped back down out of the bed of his truck. He looked over at Katie, all messy hair and warm smiles. “Besides, the only girl I really want is already taken.”
Katie wrinkled her nose at him. “Since when has knowing a girl already has a boyfriend ever stopped you?”
“Some people's girls are off limits, even for me.” Addison watched her reaction with curiosity. He wondered if she understood what he was trying to say to her. “It would have to be her choice to leave him, no matter how much I love her.”
Katie paused as his words sunk in. He watched her expression change from mildly surprised to outright startled. “You're in love with Trish?”
Addison nearly dropped the cast net on the asphalt. “What?”
Katie put her hands on her hips. “I know you too well. If you really wanted a girl, you wouldn't think twice about breaking her up with her boyfriend, unless her boyfriend was someone you really respected. I can only think of two guys who you wouldn't cross over a girl. One of them is marrying your sister this weekend and the other one is David. You're in love with Trish.”
Addison opened his mouth and then closed it again before he said something he wouldn't be able to take back. Katie apparently took his silence as agreement.
“Gosh, Addison. You're such a mess. I wouldn't have thought Trish was your type. Then again, I definitely wouldn't have pegged her as Breedlove's type either, so I that shows how much I know. Does she know?”
“Know what?”
“Does Trish know you're in love with her?”
“Katie-.”<
br />
“I won't say anything to her,” Katie said quickly. “I just. Wow. I didn't see that coming.”
Me neither, Addison thought. He supposed he could see where she'd drawn the conclusion that he was in love with Trish from, but he wished she hadn't. Trish was a nice girl, but she was almost too nice. Her gentle kindness balanced out David's wild streak. Addison figured he would be bored to tears if he married Trish.
“Katie, what I was trying to say-.”
“I know you asked her out before she met David, but I just figured you were just being you. You always ask all the gorgeous girls out at least once. I didn't realize she was more to you than just another pretty face.” She held up her hand to him. “You're right about not saying anything. Some people really are off limits and I'm glad that you've finally grown up enough to recognize that. Besides, David would kill you if you tried to get between him and Trish.”
“I'm sure he would.” Addison didn't want to be having this conversation, but he had no idea how to put it back on track without screwing things up even worse than he already had. He decided that now was as good of a time as any to change the topic of conversation completely. “We need to get back to the pool and try to get the rest of those gar. We don't have all that long before y'alls guests start showing up.”
“Right. The gar. I'd almost forgotten about them,” Katie said with a small, nervous laugh. “Did I mention that there are also catfish in the hot tub?”
“No, you haven't said a word about catfish in the hot tub,” Addison said. “Are they big enough to eat?”
“Yes.” Katie smiled at him but the expression didn't reach her eyes.
Damn it, Addison thought, I've just made a mess and a half out of this and she still doesn't even know the truth of it. “Want to come back to my place with me and fry those kitties up once we're done here?”
“I'm hosting your sister's bachelorette party,” Katie reminded him. “I can't leave until the party is over. Besides, aren't you supposed to be going out with Cal tonight?”
“Like I said before, I'm getting kind of tired of the go out and hook up scene. Besides, Cal's not any fun to get drunk. He's got a mean streak that comes out once he's half lit.”
“Oh, go on. You'll have a good time. It's not like you to be so sulky.” Katie laced her arm through the crook of his elbow so that they were walking in step together. Her head barely came up to the center of his chest.
“Maybe I'm just finally growing up,” he said as they walked back into the pool area.
“Don't grow up too soon,” Katie told him as he pulled the cast net out of its bucket and prepared to try to scoop up as many gar as he could in one toss. “Being an adult isn't as much fun as it looks.”
Chapter 5
“I'll own this entire department by the time I'm done suing y'all!” Kerry pounded on the walls of the tiny jail cell that occupied the very back of the Callahan County sheriff's department building. There were only two cells and they were so rarely used that the one Kerry had been put into was chock full of cobwebs and spiders with egg sacks. “Addison framed me! Y'all know he did!”
Kerry kicked at the wall and was rewarded by a burst of pain in his foot. “Every minute I'm in here is another million dollars y'all will have to pay me!”
The door between the cell room and the rest of the building opened. Sullivan Briggs walked in with Sheriff Frank Chasson on his heels. The Sheriff's weathered face was red from irritation and he was sweating despite the frigid air that was being blown out of the air conditioning unit.
“Calm down,” the sheriff said.
“Calm down?” Kerry kicked the wall again. “Your nephew framed me!”
“Addison didn't put that head in the trunk of your car.” Frank walked to the very edge of the cell. “The boy might be a bit on the impulsive and immature side, but even Addison ain't dumb enough to hide body parts in another officer's personal vehicle. Besides, he swears he was on call all day today. I checked the dispatch logs to verify he was telling the truth.”
“Who says he planted the skull today?” Kerry demanded. “Do you have any idea how rarely I look in the trunk of my car?”
“Does anyone else have access to your car?” The sheriff countered.
“No,” Kerry snapped even as a sinking feeling started to fill his chest.
“No one?”
Kerry sighed. Only one other person had driven the Audi in the last year. That man had been a murderer. “Curtis Heinstein could have put that head in the trunk of my car before Cal Walker killed him. He held me hostage in my own house. He had access to my car keys and my car.”
“Curtis Heinstein has been dead for two months, son.” Frank didn't look convinced. “You really telling me that you could have been driving around with that head in your trunk for the last two months and not noticed?”
“I don't go in the trunk very often,” Kerry repeated. “The head was under the carpeting where the spare tire is supposed to go. I can't remember the last time I saw the spare tire. I've never used it.”
“Whoever that head belongs to has been dead for less than two months.” Sully spoke for the first time since coming into the cell area. “Do you have any idea how fast a body can decompose in the swamp in the summer?”
“Curtis could have put the head in my trunk.” Kerry shot a pointed look at Sheriff Chasson. “He held me hostage. He took advantage of me. He said he'd ruin my life if I turned him in to the police. Maybe he planted that head in my car so that he could use it against me later on.”
“Or maybe you're the killer,” Sully suggested. “It will be impossible to determine whether or not Curtis Heinstein ever had any contact with the skull. You barfed on it and destroyed any evidence that might have been used to exonerate you.”
“Well, that was convenient for him, wasn't it?” Frank and Sully exchanged a look that Kerry understood all too clearly.
“You guys can't frame me for murder just because you don't like me.”
“We're not framing you for murder,” Frank clarified. “We're investigating you and possibly charging you for murder because you were driving around Possum Creek with someone's head in your trunk. We have 72 hours before we have to charge you or release you.”
“You can't keep me here for three days!”
“Technically, we can.” Sully tapped on the bars of Kerry's cell. “To be honest, this is most likely some kind of a prank. You're not a popular guy. One of the many citizens you've falsely accused or illegally arrested in the past may have decided to return the favor. Regardless of my feelings or suspicions, we've still got to follow the law and investigate this incident with the full resources that have been granted to us as law enforcement officers.”
“This is bullshit.” Kerry was starting to realize that he might very well be spending the next three days living in this tiny box.
“If you're lucky, it won't take more than day or two for Sully to figure out what funeral parlor or graveyard the pranksters stole the skull from,” Frank said. “In the meantime, would you like me to call somebody for you?”
“Who the heck would I call?” Kerry sat down on the edge of the stiff cot with a thud. “I don't have any living family. I don't have any friends. I'd notify my employers, but you guys already know where I am.”
“You could call a lawyer?” Sully suggested, not unkindly.
“Wouldn't do me any good,” Kerry grumbled. “The only lawyer for 50 miles is engaged to my worst enemy. Furthermore, her ex-husband is probably the person who put the skull in my trunk to begin with.”
Sully snorted. He didn't appear to have anything to say to that. Kerry glared at him. “I don't want Addison working on my case.”
“He won't be,” Frank said. “Sully is the one who arrested you and found the head. This is his case.”
“I don't want Addison assisting him.”
“He won't be,” Frank repeated. “I'm not stupid. You and Addy have too much bad blood between you. If you really did kill someone, I
can't risk losing the case because your lawyer was able to prove police bias.”
“I didn't kill anyone,” Kerry said. “Maybe David-.”
“Shut up now.” Frank Chasson held up his hand. “I swear to God, if you say one word about David murdering anyone, I'll shoot you and string you up behind the department by your toes. The law firm that handles the county's official business is settling David's police harassment lawsuit against you out of court for just over $125,000.”
“What?” Kerry jumped up from the cot. “The county is paying him over a hundred grand?”
Frank nodded tiredly. “He had a legitimate case against you, Kerry. He was able to prove that you had accused him of murder on multiple occasions and that you had possibly damaged his reputation by doing so. The attorney was worried that he might get a hell of a lot more than 125K if we didn't settle out of court.”
“He was-.”
“He was innocent,” Frank snapped. “He was innocent. He didn't kill Casey Black.”
“He was covering for Ian. Or Ian is covering for him. One of the two.”
“Ian said that David was never involved in Casey's death. He says that David never knew what happened to Casey.”
“I think he's lying,” Kerry said.
“You're the only one who does,” Frank replied. “Ian told me he confessed because you were ruining David's life with your lies and accusations. He said he couldn't handle watching his cousin take the blame for his actions any longer. I hope you're real proud of yourself, Kerry.”
Kerry took a deep breath but managed to stop himself from replying. Ian's confession was a definite sore spot between himself and Sheriff Chasson. Frank blamed Kerry for driving Ian, who was like a son to the sheriff, to confessing to the cold case. Kerry hadn't exactly been able to enjoy his job in the two months since Ian had revealed that he had accidentally flattened Casey Black with his truck and then hidden her body while in a state of total panic.
The confession would have been more convincing, in Kerry's opinion, if Ian could remember where he'd buried Casey's body. Kerry had argued that the case couldn't officially be closed without the body but the sheriff had overruled his arguments for leaving Casey Black's disappearance an active investigation. Ian had confessed and Trish had brokered a deal for him with the state attorney's office. Casey's death had been declared an unfortunate accident. Ian would never see the inside of a jail cell.