Murder Is No Accident

by A. H. Gabhart

  “We’ll keep that in mind, Nurse. Thank you.” Michael ended the standoff between the women before it escalated. He put his arm around Alex’s waist and turned her away from the nurse. “Come on, Alex. Let’s go see how Reece is doing. Then you can decide what to do.”

  Alex looked up at him. “I just want him to be okay. To be sitting in his easy chair wearing his fishing hat. He and Aunt Adele were always home to me. You know how my parents stayed on the move. Dad was forever chasing after a better team where he could win all the championships.”

  “How are your folks?”

  “Fine. Did I tell you Dad signed on as a coaching assistant with a pro basketball team in Italy? They left a couple of months ago. The best team Dad’s ever coached.” Alex made a face. “He said that every time we moved when I was a kid. The best team ever.”

  “You did move a lot.”

  “That’s why I loved coming to Hidden Springs. A place that didn’t change. When I got to come stay with Uncle Reece and Aunt Adele, that was home. I can’t imagine losing that if something happens to Uncle Reece.” The waver was in her voice again.

  They stopped in front of Reece’s room. The door was closed, but instead of pushing it open, Michael put his hand on Alex’s arm. “You can always come home to me.”

  “Can I?” She stared up at him.

  He could drown in those eyes. “Yes.”

  She smiled and slid her fingers across his cheek. Her touch lit a fire inside him. “Thank you.”

  He thought about going down on one knee right there in the hospital corridor, but she turned away from him and went through the door. The moment was lost. Or perhaps only delayed. He would ask. Before she flew away again.

  12

  Maggie was practically floating on air by the time they got back to the church from the lake. She didn’t know when she’d had so much fun. Even squishing worms on hooks was next to dreamy with Anthony helping her. And when he put his arm around her and his hand over hers to teach her how to cast her line, she thought she might faint. But she didn’t. She didn’t want to miss a second of being that close to him. Anthony beside her had even been enough to make her almost forget about Michael wanting to talk to her. Almost.

  Anthony liked Michael. She liked Michael too. Last Sunday at the youth meeting, she talked to him a lot. She didn’t think about him being a policeman then. Just somebody easy to talk to, even if he was way older than her.

  But today she wanted to hide behind something whenever he looked her way. She kept imagining him saying she was under arrest. For trespassing in Miss Fonda’s house.

  It wasn’t really trespassing. Maggie practiced the words in her head about how Miss Fonda told her it was okay. That she could use the tower room whenever she wanted. But she wasn’t sure he’d believe her.

  At church, Anthony offered to give her a lift home, but Maggie knew better than to show up in a guy’s car without her parents’ okay. They thought she wasn’t old enough to date. Even if she was fifteen. That had never mattered to Maggie until now. She hadn’t met a boy she wanted to go anywhere with. But that had changed.

  A little sigh wanted to escape her lips, but she didn’t let it. She glanced over at Pastor Karen, who was taking her home instead of Anthony. Maggie told her she could walk, but Pastor Karen said it was no trouble to give her a ride.

  Maggie sincerely hoped Pastor Karen wouldn’t want to go in and talk to her dad or something. No telling what he might say. Worse, he might decide Maggie couldn’t go back to youth group. She had to go to youth group. To see Anthony.

  She should have insisted on walking home. But even with her worry about upsetting her father, she was still relieved she didn’t have to walk through the graveyard again today. Not after the spooky feeling that morning.

  “Looks like you got a little sun at the lake.” Pastor Karen smiled over at Maggie.

  “Oh.” Maggie touched her cheeks. They did feel warm, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the sun or thinking about Anthony.

  “Not enough to hurt. It just gives you a pretty blush.”

  “Um, thanks.” For some reason, Maggie felt tongue-tied around Pastor Karen. Like she might look at Maggie and see all the things she wasn’t doing right.

  “I’m glad you went with us today. Anthony told me you’d never been fishing.”

  Maggie’s cheeks got warmer at the mention of Anthony. “No, I hadn’t.”

  “Did you like it? Fishing?”

  “It was okay.” Maggie cringed. That didn’t sound very polite. Like she hadn’t had a good time.

  “Fishing’s not for everybody. I’m not that big a fan myself.” Pastor Karen laughed and gave Maggie a quick glance.

  “I didn’t mean to sound like I didn’t like it. It was great. Thank you for letting me come.” Maybe that would show she did have a few manners.

  “Anytime.” Another smile over at Maggie. Pastor Karen smiled more than anybody Maggie knew. “So what do you like to do? For fun.”

  “Read.” That should be a safe answer.

  “That’s right.” This time Pastor Karen kept her eyes on the road. “Michael said you told him Language Arts was your favorite class. Especially the creative writing section.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  Why had she ever told him that? She never talked about her writing.

  As luck would have it, they were passing right in front of Miss Fonda’s house. Maggie’s heart started beating faster. Not the pleasant heart-pounding feeling when Anthony was teaching her to cast her line, but the worried, in-trouble pounding. She couldn’t keep from staring out the window at the house.

  Pastor Karen slowed down and looked over at the house too. “It is a beautiful old house. Have you ever been inside?”

  Only all the time. The last time on Friday when Mrs. Harper fell down the stairs. Maggie flashed her eyes back toward the road and licked her suddenly too-dry lips. Or maybe they were sunburned.

  She had to say something. Pastor Karen was waiting for an answer. “My mother cleans the house for Miss Fonda. I usually help her.” All true. Every word.

  “Miss Fonda is a dear, isn’t she?”

  “Yes.” Maggie didn’t look back at the house.

  “It’s too bad about Mrs. Harper, though. Such a tragedy.”

  Maggie nodded without saying anything. She barely kept from shuddering as she thought about the dead woman’s eyes.

  Pastor Karen practically stopped the car as she peered up toward the roof. “I love that turret room. Every house should have one of those.”

  “It would look pretty funny on top of our trailer,” Maggie said.

  “Or my little house.” Pastor Karen laughed and stepped on the gas.

  Maggie wanted to look back at the tower room. Her room. But she kept her eyes on the road in front of them.

  Pastor Karen turned down the street to the trailer park. Park. It must mean like parking a car. Here and there a tree shaded a trailer and bright-colored mums bloomed on some of the stoops. But it wasn’t a park. Just a place to live when you didn’t have money enough to live somewhere better.

  For about the tenth time, Maggie wished she’d walked home. It wasn’t raining and she didn’t have any reason to hurry. She’d just have to clean up the kitchen when she got there, with no time to read or sneak away to Miss Fonda’s house. Not that she would dare do that. Not yet.

  She might never get to do that again. Maybe never climb back up into her little hideaway room. She thought about her notebook of stories hidden in the wall, and a funny, lost feeling opened up inside her. She ignored it as she pointed out her driveway to Pastor Karen. She clicked her seatbelt loose and grabbed the door handle before the car came to a complete stop.

  “Thanks for the ride.” She rushed out the words as she climbed out of the car.

  “Sure thing, Maggie.” Pastor Karen leaned across the seat to peer out at her. “See you tomorrow? At church?”

  “Yeah. Okay. Bye.” Maggie shut the car door and ran for the
house. At least her father wasn’t watching from the door or, even worse, sitting on the stoop with a beer. At the door, Maggie turned and waved. Pastor Karen was already backing out of the driveway. Thank goodness.

  Maggie wasn’t exactly ashamed of her father or where they lived. She loved her parents and her little brother, even if he was a pest at times. They were a family. Things were rough right now, but her father hadn’t wanted to get laid off. It wasn’t his fault the factory closed down. Her mother said everything would be better when he got another job. They just had to hold on and try not to get on his nerves right now. Her getting caught trespassing in Miss Fonda’s house would definitely upset him. Michael showing up to talk to her wouldn’t be good either.

  “Hi. I’m home,” she called as she went inside. Their little dog came bounding to greet her, his front feet popping up and down, his tail almost spinning. When she knelt down to pet him, he licked her chin. Then Bertie got serious about sniffing her, probably smelling Michael’s dog. Jasper had followed Anthony around all day. And Anthony had followed her around all day. A smile slid out on her face in spite of her worries.

  Jesse looked around from his spot on the floor in front of the television. “Hi.”

  She hoped he hadn’t been watching television all day. At seven, he was into cartoons. “Did you have lunch?” she asked.

  “Popcorn.”

  Maggie sniffed the air. “Smells like you might have burned it.”

  “Yeah, but we ate it anyway. Except the black ones. Bertie wouldn’t even eat those.” He got up to show her the clump of blackened popcorn in the scorched microwave bag.

  “You have to watch that when it’s popping, Jesse.” Maggie frowned at him. “That stuff can catch on fire, you know.”

  “Dad said it was okay. We didn’t burn down the house.”

  Maggie took the bag and wadded it closed. “Where is Dad?”

  “I don’t know.” Jesse shrugged. “Changing clothes maybe. He said he had somewhere to go when you got home. If you ever got home. I told him I was big enough to stay here by myself.”

  “No, you’re not,” Maggie said flatly. “And I couldn’t come home until Pastor Karen was ready.”

  She glanced at the clock. It was after four. Her mother would be there soon. But the place didn’t look too bad. A newspaper folded open to the want ads. That was a good sign. No beer cans. That was a better sign. She peered toward the kitchen. A few dishes in the sink, but not too messy. She could have it all straightened up fast as anything, throw some clothes in the washer, and have time to jump in the shower.

  Jesse wrinkled his nose. “You smell sort of yucky.”

  “Fish smell like fish. Burnt popcorn smells like burnt popcorn.” She hoped Anthony didn’t think she smelled yucky. But then he probably smelled like worms and fish too. That was okay in the wide-open air at the lake.

  “Did you catch any fish?”

  “A few.”

  Jesse peeked around behind her. “Then where are they?”

  “We threw them back in the lake. The ones I caught were too little to keep anyway.”

  “I wish I could go fishing.” Jesse’s mouth drooped.

  “Maybe you can go with me if I go again.” Maggie tousled his hair. Her parents might let her go fishing with Anthony if they took Jesse along. She could make sandwiches. Have a picnic. How dreamy would that be?

  “So no fish for supper.” Her dad came up the hallway.

  “Sorry I’m later than I said.” She watched his face, expecting a blowup, but he didn’t look mad. He’d shaved, slicked back his hair, and even had on a clean shirt. She didn’t smell any alcohol on him, but maybe her fish smell was stronger.

  “Can’t be helped.” He nearly smiled. “Look, I’ve got to go see a guy about a job. Tell your mother I don’t know for sure when I’ll be back. Might be late. That Sonny Elwood called and wants her to clean the Chandler house. Things probably got messed up when that woman died over there.”

  Maggie nodded. She couldn’t say anything. The thought of going back in the house made chills run up her back, but then she did want to get her notebook. If only she didn’t have to climb up those stairs to get to the tower room. But she would have to help her mother and act like nothing was wrong. She had to stop imagining Mrs. Harper’s ghost peering over her shoulder.

  “Can we go fishing sometime?” Jesse asked their dad.

  “Sure, kid. Sounds like fun. But we’ll bring home what we catch. Have fish for supper.” He picked up the newspaper and was out the door.

  “You think he meant it?” Jesse looked hopeful. “That he’ll take me fishing.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. We better worry more about him getting that job.” She didn’t know where he could be applying for a job on Saturday afternoon, but wherever it was, she hoped he got it. She picked up a couple of dirty glasses and an apple core and headed for the kitchen.

  The phone jangled on the kitchen wall, but her hands were full. “Get that, will you, Jesse?”

  Jesse answered the phone, then held out the receiver toward Maggie. “It’s for you. Some guy.”

  Maggie put the glasses in the sink and wiped her hands on her pants. A guy. Had to be Anthony. A smile turned up her lips as she took the phone. “Hello.”

  “Maggie?”

  “Yes.” It wasn’t Anthony. She didn’t know who it was. “Who is this?”

  “That doesn’t matter. You listen and you listen good. If you know what’s good for you, you will forget whatever you saw at the Chandler house yesterday.”

  Maggie’s heart started racing. “I didn’t see anything.”

  “That’s smart, Maggie. You stay smart like that and nobody will get hurt. Not you. Not your little brother. You understand?”

  “Yes.” She could barely push the word out loud enough to be heard.

  “Remember, Maggie. I’ll be watching.”

  Her hand shook so much she had to try twice to hang up the phone. Jesse had gone back to his cartoons. She was alone in the kitchen. She put her hands flat against the cabinet top to try to stop them from trembling, but the trembles were all through her.

  What was she going to do? She hadn’t seen anything. She’d only heard a voice. She shut her eyes and tried to remember how the voice sounded. Nothing like the man on the phone. It could have been a woman at the house. She wasn’t sure. But she was sure whoever was on the phone was a man, even if he did sound funny. Like how she sounded when she read storybooks to Jesse and made the voices fit the story.

  Only this wasn’t a storybook. This was real. She was in trouble. And she couldn’t tell anyone.

  13

  With Reece being uncharacteristically cantankerous and Alex obviously exhausted but refusing to leave, Michael stayed at the hospital with her. At least that was the reason he said out loud.

  After they got Reece’s solemn promise to stay in bed, they went to the hospital cafeteria. Not exactly a date-night location. Certainly no place to ask someone to share the rest of your life. But at least he could feast his eyes on her.

  “You should have gotten the fish special.” Alex picked at her salad and looked across at the chili and sandwich in front of him.

  “You obviously have no idea how many hooks I worked out of fish mouths today.” Michael smiled. “I’ve seen enough fish for one day.”

  That made her smile. “So the fishing was good?”

  “Reece wouldn’t think so. Mostly little fish, but the kids had fun.”

  “Did you? Have fun?” Alex took a bite and studied him while she chewed.

  “I like being with the kids, but today I was sort of distracted.”

  “By the realtor lady’s demise?” She picked up her coffee cup.

  “Some. But mostly because you were here and I was there.” He bit into his sandwich.

  She sipped her coffee. “I wish I had been there instead of here.”

  “So do I. You could have helped with the fishhooks and the worms.”

  That made her
laugh the way he intended. “Don’t act like you don’t think I could. When we were kids, I could impale a worm on a hook faster than you.”

  “But you didn’t like taking the hooks out of the fish.” He didn’t really remember that, but made a lucky guess.

  “Well, no. The slippery things kept wriggling out of my hands. Besides, it made you feel manly to do it for me.” Her smile settled in her eyes.

  “Michael to the rescue.” He pushed his sandwich aside and reached across the table to capture her hand.

  “Indeed. And here you are, still rescuing people.” Her smile slipped away as she pulled her hand back to take another bite of her salad.

  If she needed rescuing now, would she call him? So many things Michael wanted to ask her. But instead he dipped his spoon into his chili and ate in silence.

  After a couple of minutes, she pushed her half-eaten salad away. “Speaking of your rescues, how’s Anthony?”

  “Doing great. I think he’s in love with a girl named Maggie.”

  She pretended a wounded look. “And I thought he had a crush on me.”

  “That he did, but I guess he’s growing up. Decided to chase a girl he might catch.”

  “And has he caught this girl’s affections?”

  “They appeared to have plenty of fun today with Anthony showing her how to cast her line. She’s a cute girl.” Michael’s smile faded a little.

  “Uh-oh.” Alex raised her eyebrows. “From the look on your face, I’m thinking you’ve found a new rescue project.”

  “Maybe. Somebody was in the house when Geraldine Harper fell yesterday. I think it might have been Maggie.”

  Alex frowned. “Why wouldn’t she tell you if she was there?”

  “I don’t know, but today when I tried to talk to her about it, she stuck her finger on a fishhook to get away from me.”