Works of Darkness (Matt Foley/Sara Bradford series Book 1)

by V. B. Tenery

  Three cases. Sara’s name involved in each of them. Penny Pryor’s death, Josh Bradford’s murder, and the explosion in the Global Distribution Center. She could be criminally culpable in one of the cases, but not all three. A child could not have been responsible for the Pryor girl’s disappearance, and Sara wouldn’t expose herself to a bomb she had planted.

  Instinct told him the three cases were connected. He’d learned to trust his intuition. A God-thing that had never failed him.

  Removing Sara as a suspect gave him a different perspective. What if she was the catalyst? The victim—the link that tied it all together? She had seen the killer, even if she couldn’t identify him. Did the killer know that? Was he trying to kill Sara before she remembered who he was?

  Josh Bradford’s death didn’t fit the scenario. No obvious reason for his murder. The evidence pointed to an accident caused by a drunk driver who’d fled the scene, but Matt wasn’t ready to close that chapter yet.

  The two detectives walked in, snapping him back into the moment.

  Hunter poured a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter. Davis settled comfortably in one of the chairs. “We hit a blind alley on the sleeping bag Mrs. Bradford found. No one has seen it since she placed it in the basement. We’ve run background checks on everyone involved with the old retreat at the time Penny Pryor disappeared. We located the church treasurer. She remembered Robert Cook. Gave us the name of his drinking buddy in those days. We’re interviewing him this afternoon.”

  Davis leaned back, a pleased look on his face. “This is the same Robert Cook who died in the last few days after years of alcoholism.”

  “Looks like you guys have everything covered. Just FYI, Cook owned the car involved in the hit-and-run that killed Joshua Bradford. And before Bradford was run down he interviewed the old man.”

  “The woman who found the sleeping bag, any relation to that Josh Bradford?” Davis asked.

  “She’s his widow.”

  “Is it possible one perp is responsible for both deaths?” Hunter asked.

  Matt stood to leave and then turned back. “Too early to say for certain. But it’s always been my opinion there are no coincidences in police work.”

  Forest Hills Mobile Home Park

  Hunter glanced over at Davis. “Exactly what do you expect to find out from Casey Bosworth?”

  “According to the church secretary, back in the day, this guy was Robert Cook’s best buddy.” He switched off the engine and opened the car door. “I hope he can fill in the gaps in what we don’t know about Cook...better known as a fishing expedition.”

  The mobile home park was a rarity compared to others in Twin Falls. Lots were well tended with live oak trees shading the property. Individual homes had skirts around the foundations, and steps with handrails that led to the entrance, and attached carports.

  The Bosworth’s doublewide was no exception.

  Davis led the way to the front door and knocked. A woman he assumed to be Bosworth’s wife answered. She pointed them to a back sundeck where a stout balding man, in Bermuda shorts and a loud Hawaiian shirt, grilled hamburgers.

  The older man flipped a burger with practiced ease. “What can I do for you fellows?” He nodded towards the grill. “You’re just in time for lunch or a glass of iced tea.”

  Davis fought the temptation to say yes. Instead, he flashed his badge and introduced himself and Hunter. “Thanks for the invitation, but no. We have a few questions about a former friend of yours, Robert Cook.”

  The man waved them to a couple of seats at a table shaded by a green and white striped umbrella. “Sure, ask away. Haven’t seen him in years, though, so there’s not much I can tell you. Saw his obit in the newspaper. Can’t say it surprised me.”

  Davis admired the man’s handiwork with the spatula. “You knew Cook when he worked as groundskeeper at the Baptist retreat?”

  Bosworth removed the burgers from the grill. He placed the platter on the table and sat across from them. “We used to hang out together, before I quit the sauce. Bob always drank like he had a hollow leg. After I quit the bar scene, we drifted away from each other.” He nodded toward the house. “I had to quit or lose my wife. I’d already been divorced twice. Didn’t want to go through that again.”

  He held up a glass of ice tea. “This is what I drink these days. I heard his nephew Lance brought the booze to Bob after he lost his driver’s license. I think Lance hoped Bob would drink himself to death. Lance was Bob’s only kin. His place didn’t look like much last time I was there, but property values have increased, big time. Folks looking to move to the country.”

  Hunter removed his notebook from his pocket. “How is it that a maintenance man could afford to quit work and buy his own place?”

  “All I can tell you is that one day Bob showed up at the bar in a new pickup and said he’d quit his job. He bought drinks for everyone that night. I asked him if he’d won the lottery. He just smiled. Never would say where his sudden wealth came from.”

  Davis shook Bosworth’s hand. “Thanks for your time. We won’t keep you from your lunch any longer.”

  “No problem. I hope what little bit I knew will help,” Bosworth said.

  Back in the car, Hunter waited until he’d closed the car door before he spoke. “Sounds like blackmail.”

  “Yep. This means we move him from suspect to eyewitness. Cook knew the killer. Bosworth substantiated what Cook’s bank statements revealed.”

  Matt Foley’s Home

  Matt showered, dressed, and switched on the local news as he loaded the Keurig for his first caffeine fix of the day. The newscaster’s announcement made him pause. The legend at the bottom of the screen read, breaking news.

  “An unnamed source inside the Twin Falls Police Department has named long time Twin Falls resident, Robert Cook, as the prime suspect in the murder of Governor Ferrell’s niece. The source claims that Cook is responsible for the twenty-five-year-old kidnapping and murder of Penny Pryor whose body was discovered last week on the Bay Harbor development site.”

  The screen flashed a picture from Cook’s driver’s license, followed by an aerial view of the construction site.

  The report continued.

  “Cook had been employed as a groundskeeper at the retreat, formerly located on the property. We’ll keep you updated as this story develops.”

  The newscast had Terry Hall’s name all over it.

  Matt reached for the phone and punched in Doug Anderson’s number. He answered with, “I heard it a few minutes ago.”

  Matt couldn’t quell the anger in his voice. “Doug, I’m beyond livid. You know as well as I do the story came from Terrance Hall. This is the reason I didn’t want him in the loop. The story is premature and it’s a distraction we don’t need.”

  “Calm down, Matt. I’ll handle it.”

  “Calm down! I promised the governor I would keep him informed. Now he gets this in the news. There’s no proof Cook was responsible. Now, I have to tell Ferrell this is a bunch of BS and it leaked from my department.”

  “I said I’ll take care of it, Matt,” Doug said. “It won’t happen again. That’s a promise.”

  Matt slammed down the phone and tried to pace off the rage that surged through his system. He took five deep breaths before his blood pressure returned to normal. Bad information was out there. He couldn’t erase it. All he could do was damage control.

  He picked up the phone again to contact Blain Stanton.

  CHAPTER 24

  Twin Falls Police Station

  A crowd of reporters waited in front of the station when Matt arrived. He drove to the back entrance. Wading through the media hounds yelling questions would do no good. He couldn’t call out Terrance Hall for putting out bad, or at best, incomplete information.

  He found Hunter and Davis waiting outside his office.

  “Where’d that news story come from?” Davis asked.

  “You don’t want to know.” Matt unlocked the door and
waved them inside.

  Davis took a seat then leaned forward with a grin. “It looks like the news media got it wrong...again. We spoke to Cook’s buddy yesterday. Cook came into some big bucks right after Penny Pryor disappeared. He bought land, a truck and built a house on the property. Quite a status change for a guy making minimum wage. It also tells us that whoever the killer is, he or she has some serious money.”

  “He was blackmailing the killer,” Matt said. It was a statement not a question.

  Davis nodded. “That’s my guess. The timing is too coincidental.”

  “You checked out his bank statements?” Matt asked.

  “We’re ahead of you, Boss,” Davis said. “We went through about six years of statements Cook had stuffed into a drawer in his home. He had steady cash deposits of three thousand dollars a month, plus his social security check. My guess is one big payoff with monthly installments.”

  Matt sat on the corner of his desk. “Bank records from all the suspects to see who pulled that kind of money on a monthly basis might solve this case.”

  Hunter growled, “And to do that, we’ll have to get warrants. Don’t think we have grounds for that.”

  “I know, but if you guys come up with an easier solution, go for it.”

  “We’ll try to get a warrant on the top two suspects and pray for a judge who isn’t big on the right to privacy,” Davis said.

  Hunter stood and pushed back his chair. “I love to go through other people’s financial records. Lets me see how the affluent half lives.”

  After the detectives left his office, Matt picked up the phone and brought Doug up to speed.

  Sara Bradford’s Home

  Sara spent the first hour of Thursday morning on the phone with Pastor Davidson, arranging enrollment for Danny and Poppy in the church school. She’d found their inoculation records and birth certificates when she brought clothes from the Campbell home. Now, she needed to buy school uniforms before tomorrow. A top priority on her to-do list.

  School would help to keep their minds off the loss of their family, at least for a little while. Nothing could erase that pain, but getting into a routine would be a start towards putting their lives back together. When she’d disconnected from the pastor, the phone rang.

  “You free for lunch?” Jane Haskell’s cheery voice greeted her.

  “I’m free, and I’d love to. I need to do some shopping in town. How about The Tea Shoppe on the square?”

  “Sounds great. See you at 11:30.” Her secretary’s voice hinted this wouldn’t be just a social luncheon.

  The Tea Shoppe

  Sara pulled into a spot in front of the whitewashed brick building that housed The Tea Shoppe. Laura Ashley window treatments and table settings catered to female clientele. She could never imagine a man in this feminine environment.

  Jane breezed through the doorway looking like a ray of autumn sunlight in a red A-line dress, topped with a fall-hued scarf. “Hey, Sara, I wasn’t sure you were here. Didn’t see your car.”

  “I’m in the blue sedan, two cars down from you.”

  “Why would you trade your dream car for that?”

  Before Sara could reply, the waitress approached.

  Sara scanned the menu. “Bring us the sandwich assortment.” She glanced at Jane, who nodded. “And Earl Grey for me.”

  “And add a few scones and lemon tea cakes,” Jane added.

  When the server had gone, Jane turned to Sara. “Now, tell me about your car.”

  She couldn’t give Jane the facts about the lake incident, at least for now. It still frightened her to think about it. “It’s out of commission for a while.” She hadn’t lied, exactly. It was out of commission. Permanently. “So, how are things at work after the explosion?”

  “Everyone’s still a little shook up, but the place seems to run like a well-oiled machine. The old ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’ spirit prevailed. Roger had the minions bring in a crew to get the place in order. I heard the battery exploded, and you were almost killed.”

  Sara shrugged. “As you can see, I’m fine. The police are still looking into the explosion.” She’d become a master at evading the truth.

  Jane sat, wide-eyed. “I worried about you until Don told me the hospital released you. There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. I heard what happened with Roger. When I saw the boxes in your office, I knew the rumor was true.”

  Sara fought the urge to let her mouth drop open. “How could you know that? Is the executive suite bugged?”

  “There are no secrets at Global.” Jane chuckled. “You should know that by now.”

  The conversation was interrupted when their lunch arrived. After the waitress left, Sara stared across the table at Jane. “Well, I know it now. Please, keep this to yourself. I don’t want my people to become upset. I’ll be in Monday to tell them about the job change. At least, I hope Roger will allow me to do that.”

  Her secretary’s eyes took on an excited twinkle. “Sara, I have information that will guarantee you walk away from Global with a golden parachute.”

  Sara patted her hand. “Don’t worry about me, Jane. If I’m terminated, I’m sure they’ll give me a severance package of some kind. Besides, I won’t have to worry for a while. I haven’t touched Josh’s life insurance money.”

  Jane shook her head. “Be quiet for a minute. Listen to what I have to tell you. A few months ago, I attended a party with the personnel director, who was quite...” Jane hesitated, “Drunk to put it bluntly. She let slip that Global could be in a lot of trouble with EEOC if they ever checked her records. It seems there is some disparity in the salaries between men and women. So yesterday, I hacked into the payroll records.”

  Sara almost spewed tea from her nose. “You did what...how?”

  Jane munched a bite of her sandwich and held her hand up. “Don’t get your tidy-whities in a bunch. My dad sold software for a living. I cut my teeth on a keyboard. I felt justified after the way Roger treated you.”

  “Jane, you can’t―”

  “I can, and I did, girlfriend. Now let me finish. You know Chance Cummings came in as an intern the same time you did.”

  Sara nodded, afraid to hear what would follow.

  Jane lowered her voice. “What you don’t know, is that they brought Chance on board for ten thousand more per year than your starting salary. The gap between his and your pay range has grown larger, even though you have more people and more responsibility. Why? Because he’s male and one of Roger’s chosen few. You can sue for enough to keep you in champagne and Chanel for a very long time.”

  The tea in Sara’s mouth turned bitter. She held up a finger. “You risked your job to help me, which I appreciate. But I would never file a discrimination suit against Global. I don’t approve of what they did. However, I agreed to work for the sum Global offered me. The firm gave me a fair wage. I can’t complain now because they offered someone else more who happened to be male.”

  Jane rolled her eyes. “Girlfriend, you need a keeper. When you find another job, you need to hire me. Somebody has to keep this little lamb from being sheared.”

  Sara sunk back against the chair. “I guess it’s a deal. Somebody has to keep you out of jail for hacking into confidential records.”

  Collin Creek Mall

  When Sara left the Tea Shoppe, she picked up Poppy and Danny for a shopping trip to buy their school uniforms. Excited chatter and questions about the uniforms filled the car on the way to the mall. Sara experienced the same thrill with the new responsibilities of motherhood. The winter uniforms were adorable, with a green, gray and purple plaid skirt, white sweater, and green blazer for Poppy. Dark gray slacks, white turtleneck sweater and green blazer for Danny. Sewing the school emblem on the jackets would be a new skill, but Beatrice was handy with a needle. She would help.

  Sara left the store with four large bags and the two children in tow when her cell phone rang. Maneuvering the bags as she fished out the ph
one, she guided the kids to a nearby seating lounge.

  The caller ID reflected the name of the church secretary. “Sara, you remember the sleeping bag the detectives wanted? We found it.”

  “When? Where?” She glanced around to make sure the kids were close.

  “Today. Someone had returned it to the sales tables upstairs where one of the workers bought it for her son. She’s returning it here in about an hour.”

  “That’s wonderful news. Tell her to bring it to you. Please hold on to it until I can contact the detectives. They’ll be happy to hear it turned up.”

  After such a long time, she wasn’t sure how meaningful the sleeping bag would be, but if it could help the police find Penny’s killer, so be it. There could have been thousands sold in sport shops across the country.

  After returning the phone back to her handbag, she gathered the shopping bags and headed to the exit.

  “Sara, it’s the chief!” Danny shouted as he dashed to meet Matt Foley headed in their direction.

  He picked up the boy and joined them.

  “What are you doing here? Are you following me?”

  He responded with a raised eyebrow. “Hardly. I don’t have time to act as personal bodyguard. One of the department stores had a shoplifting complaint. I was close and took the call. A fourteen-year-old girl. The kid’s first offense, and the store manager agreed to let me give her a warning. Since she’s so young, I didn’t want her to get a record.”

  He grinned. “I’ll probably live to regret it. Why are you here?”

  “School uniforms for my new charges. They start tomorrow.”

  His being here would save her a call. “The church found the missing sleeping bag. The church secretary is holding on to it. Would you let Detective Davis know?”

  “I’ll do better than that. I’ll pick it up on my way back to the station. You headed home?”