Confer, Lorelei - Deadly Revenge (BookStrand Publishing Romance)

by Lorelei Confer

  “I guess you’ll be staying here in Hickoryville then?” Tory asked directly of Dave.

  “That depends,” he answered with a smile.

  “Depends on what?” Tory couldn’t help but ask.

  “Whether or not you stay.”

  Tory smiled, feeling warm and fuzzy under his gaze. But then the pressure began to build and the warm, fuzzy feeling receded. She realized her actions would result in his reactions, and she didn’t want to be responsible for his career.

  “Dave, I, I like you a lot, but I can’t advise you on what to do when I don’t know what I’m doing myself yet. I think we both need more time. I’m only here for a few months, remember?”

  “I know. I don’t want to put any more pressure on you than you already have. We can continue to get to know each other.”

  “How about dinner at my house tomorrow night? I’ll cook,” Tory asked.

  “I think that sounds wonderful, Tory.”

  She nodded.

  * * * *

  Later that day, Matt Wilson whistled as he got into his car and left his house. He made his way to meet with his latest mistress, a young woman he met at the local office supply store. She was married, but what the hell, so was he for now, technically anyway. They immediately hit it off and she soon let him know when her husband was working late so they could set up another rendezvous.

  Very early the next morning, Matt again whistled as he left Patty’s house, preoccupied with his recent conquest.

  * * * *

  The occupant of the black car parked a block down the street, donned with dark glasses, slouched down in the front seat, making notes, went unnoticed.

  Chapter 24

  Tory dragged herself to work the next day. She’d been working more hours than she had originally anticipated since Mrs. Braedden’s due date was approaching quickly and she had to be on total bed rest. Mid-morning Tory answered the phone at the office. It was a new client, Larry Walker, and he was interested in looking at one of the new office buildings still in the midst of construction. His company was growing and he needed a larger facility.

  She arranged to meet him later at the job site but first she would need to prepare an estimate for any custom and necessary build-outs he might like to suit his specific needs.

  She arrived early and waited in the car until her client arrived and they walked toward the building together.

  “Hi, Mr. Walker, right?” Tory asked as she held out a hand to shake.

  “Yes, but please call me Larry. It’s nice to meet you and put a face with a voice on the telephone,” he answered as he shook her hand.

  “Same here,” Tory said as she unlocked the door to the large warehouse community building. Larry held the single glass window industrial door for her as they entered the warehouse area.

  They walked around the unfinished inside perimeter of the sizeable empty warehouse in the back. Tory took pictures from every angle and noted measurements for review later if Mr. Walker decided he wanted any build-out done. Then they turned to the office spaces in the front of the building—Tory snapping pictures as Larry opened the door to one of the offices. At first Tory couldn’t see what she was looking at through the camera lens but snapped a few pictures anyway. When she heard Larry gasp, she dropped the camera which was caught by the strap around her neck. She covered her mouth and screamed bloody murder.

  * * * *

  “Oh my god! Oh my god! Not again?” Tory fell to her knees, staring at the young woman hanging by her neck, her head at a bizarre angle, her blank eyes bulging, the tissue around her eyes discolored. A rope was secured to an exposed rafter, wrapped around her neck. A chair sat nearby but not close enough for the victim to have stood on. She was dressed in a simple summer dress and sandals.

  Larry rushed over to the hanging young woman. He checked for a pulse on her ankle but realized they were too late. She was already dead. Rigor mortis had already set in.

  Larry waited patiently nearby while Tory placed the call to 911 on her cell phone.

  “Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?”

  “We found a girl hanging from the rafters. She’s dead.”

  “What is your location?”

  Tory gave out the address of the building.

  “We have officers in the area and someone will be arriving shortly. Can you stay on the line with me?”

  “Sure, I’m on my cell phone.”

  “Can you leave the building?”

  “Yes, yes of course,” Tory answered as she headed to the outside door and motioned for Mr. Walker to follow. When they reached the outside steps, Tory heard the sirens nearby.

  “Officers will be arriving shortly, so we can hang up now,” the 911 operator informed Tory.

  “Okay, good-bye,” Tory answered bleakly.

  Officers arrived quickly and were securing the area when Tory and Larry made their way to the safety and security of their cars. Tory’s body trembled all over. She couldn’t get the vision of the hanging girl out of her mind. It was as if it was frozen in time, and every time she closed her eyes she saw it.

  The police were scattered from one end of the large warehouse to the office area. Two murders in one week and I happen to find them both? Can it truly be coincidental?

  Chief Carr arrived on the scene and ordered everyone out of the building until a forensics team arrived as well as the funeral director.

  Forensics arrived next with the mortician shortly after. An approximate time of death—about 4:00 a.m.—was declared, pending autopsy results. Larry was questioned by a detective and provided a solid alibi for himself.

  Trevor Braedden was called to the scene because of his ownership status of the building. He was questioned for a considerable long time, about two hours. His alibi was secure.

  “Hi, Victoria,” Chief Carr said when he arrived on the scene. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this, don’t we?”

  “I would love to. I’m not sure how many more scares like this I can take. I’m becoming a nervous wreck.”

  “You know I have to ask you some questions. We need to do it while it’s still fresh in your mind.”

  “I understand.”

  “Did you know the victim?”

  “No, I didn’t really look at her that well. Michael, I’ve only been here a couple weeks and I haven’t gotten to know or meet very many people.”

  “Have you seen her before?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Tory answered with quivering lips.

  “Who else knew you were coming here this morning?”

  “Only Trevor knew, no one else.”

  “Did the victim ever come into the office?”

  “I came here to meet a client, Larry Walker, who called to look at business property,” Tory said.

  “How well do you know your client, Larry Walker?”

  “I only spoke with him once on the phone and met him for the first time here to show him the property.”

  “Were you ever here before today?” Chief Carr asked Tory.

  “No. I had to print out the paperwork on this place to be able to answer any questions about square footage and such.” She held up the papers to show him.

  “So did you hear any noise out of the ordinary while you were here? See any strange cars or people, anything at all?”

  “No. Mr. Walker and I walked around the inside of the warehouse first and then into the business offices. I was taking pictures and didn’t see her at first but that’s when we saw”—she swallowed hard—“that’s when we saw her, the victim.”

  “Okay, Victoria, I think that’s enough for now. If I have any further questions I’ll get back to you. Can you stick around for an hour or so?”

  “Sure, I’ll be waiting in my car.” She turned away and walked to her nearby parked car, her body trembling.

  * * * *

  Chief Carr watched the medical team remove the body from the rafter, place it in a body bag, then onto a gurney. The undertaker determined a first good esti
mate of time of death, without an autopsy and further tests, was around four this morning. He would know more, such as exact cause and time of death, once they had her at the funeral home. He would do an autopsy and be able to do more extensive tests.

  Michael now had one more question.

  * * * *

  Victoria sat in her car, her head in her trembling hands, trying to wrap her head around everything that had happened to her since she first came to Hickoryville. She couldn’t believe it. What had she done to deserve this agony? Did I piss someone off? Say the wrong thing? What? She couldn’t imagine in her wildest dreams what she may have done. She leaned her head against the steering wheel and cried her heart out.

  That’s how Dave found her.

  * * * *

  “Tory, sweetheart. It’s okay. It’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything,” Dave said as he pulled her out of the car and gave her a hug. She hugged him back, always so glad to see him.

  “But, Dave, why me? Why are the bodies in places where I go?” She drew away from him to look into his face.

  “I don’t know, sweetheart, but I sure as hell am going to find out. In the meantime, we have to take one day at a time.” He hugged her again.

  Dave heard Chief Carr approaching and pulled away from Tory.

  * * * *

  Chief Carr walked with a tired step. He sighed deeply. What was happening to his town? Two murders in as many weeks and Victoria finding both coincidentally and both on Braedden Properties? Not to mention her being run off the road just outside of town, shot at while out horseback riding, and her house being ransacked. Something was going on and he intended to get to the bottom of it. And soon.

  He approached her car in the parking lot with just one more question to ask.

  “Victoria, Dave.” He nodded at them. “I have just one more question for both of you and then you can go home.”

  “Yes?” Tory asked while Dave searched Chief Carr’s eyes for any sign of suspicion.

  “Where were you at four o’clock this morning?” Michael asked Tory.

  “I was at home in bed.”

  “Excuse me for having to ask,” Chief Carr said as he looked back and forth between Tory and Dave, “but were you alone?”

  Tory was mortified. Then she realized her answer would not eliminate her as a suspect. “I was alone. You don’t think I had anything to do with this, do you?”

  “Of course not, Tory, he’s just doing his job,” Dave said as he pulled her to him.

  “Dave, where were you at four o’clock this morning?” Chief Carr asked, looking point blank at Dave.

  “At my parent’s house, asleep on the pull-out sofa bed. I have the bruises and back ache to prove it, too,” Dave answered with a smile to relieve the tension as he rubbed his back.

  “I’m just doing my job. I don’t think you or Dave had anything to do with this. But someone did. We’re looking at another murder, Dave. Anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime, I’ll call in the state boys for assistance. You can stop by my office later and we can compare notes,” Michael said as he began to turn away. “Victoria, one more thing. Be careful, okay?”

  * * * *

  So Tory was home alone, was she? But for how long?

  Chapter 25

  Tory couldn’t concentrate. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the faces of the dead. She was frightened to answer the phone, scared it would ring and be someone wanting to meet her to look at an apartment or other property, and feared that her next appointment meant finding another body.

  Not to mention being shot at and run off the road. Someone was trying to tell her something, and she wished they would just send her a note or call her directly and tell her to get out of town if that was what the message was supposed to be. No more killings. No more bodies.

  She decided to take the rest of the day off and visit with her mother and sister. The first thing she saw when she arrived at her mother’s was the big wooden door with the etched oval glass. She relaxed right away. Her refuge was at hand.

  * * * *

  Tory spent the remainder of the day with her mother and sister. They managed to talk about everything and everyone except the murder victims. She talked about riding again to get herself back on a horse and also about the B&B and how everything seemed to be running very smoothly. Her mother seemed very happy with her hands full of guests and meals to prepare for them.

  She left her mother’s early to go grocery shopping and get home in time to prepare dinner for Dave. As she drove her car to the grocery store, her thoughts of him made her hot and she smiled. What would my life be like with him in it all the time? She squirmed in her seat. The heat rushed to her face when she thought about the way he kissed her at the apartment and how he talked to her so bluntly about how he felt and what he wanted to do to her. She longed to be that uninhibited, too.

  Arriving home and after setting the table with candles and dinnerware, she prepared the salad. She had just cut the first slice of a tomato when the phone rang. She rushed to wipe her hands and answer it, but there was no one on the other end of the line. She went back to her task of salad preparation when the phone rang again. This time she was able to pick it up on time.

  “I know why you’re here and you won’t get away with it. I won’t let you,” said the disguised man’s voice on the other end.

  Tory was about to respond when she heard a click and then a dial tone. The son of a bitch had already hung up the phone.

  What could he possibly mean? He knows why I’m here. I’m here to help my mother, who and why could anybody have anything against that?

  She finished the salad, put it in the fridge, and took out the steaks. She placed them in the marinating container and added the necessary ingredients on top. She put the lid on and placed the container back in the fridge. Dinner was already well on its way.

  She took extra time than usual fussing with her hair, wetting it and spraying it into place. She also took extra care in choosing a dress she thought Dave would like, finally settling on a sleeveless sundress with a square neckline in soft shades of pink. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, happy with the look she’d created. She ran her fingers through her hair one more time and the doorbell rang.

  * * * *

  Dave looked forward to dinner with Tory. They had so much to talk about, so much to learn about each other. He always strived for punctuality and checked his watch. Good! Right on time. He even remembered to bring a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine. He wanted this evening to be perfect.

  He parked his SUV truck next to Tory’s car, checked his hair and face in the mirror one more time, and got out of the car. Her door was just a few steps away from where he parked, but he was nervous as hell. It was like his first high school date all over again, and he hoped she liked him. He stood tall and straight as he rang the bell.

  Tory answered the door and took his breath away. She had on an adorable sundress, showing just enough skin to make a man want to caress it and then look for more.

  “Hello, beautiful. You look gorgeous. These are for you,” he said, handing her the flowers, “and this is for dinner. I thought it would go great with the steaks.” He handed her the bottle of white wine and he wiped his sweaty palms on his light khaki pants and straightened some invisible wrinkles out of his white linen shirt.

  “Thank you, Dave, the flowers are beautiful. Come on in and get comfortable. I’ll just put these in water and be right with you.” She turned and headed toward the kitchen.

  Dave came in to the combined living room dining room and saw the candlelit table set for two. His chest constricted at the thought of just the two of them having an intimate dinner together.

  “I put the flowers in water and stuck the wine in the fridge just to chill it a little.”

  “Perfect. You do have a grill, right?” he asked to fill the space of silence.

  “Of course, it came with the place. It’s gas, and to tell you the tru
th, I know nothing about it, so I hope you do.”

  “I can handle it.”

  “Great, please have a seat. The steaks can marinate a little longer.” She took a seat on one end of the couch and turned toward the other end, her legs drawn up underneath her.

  Dave took a seat facing her on the other end of the short couch. “So, how was the rest of your day?”

  “It was fine after I talked to my mother and Sue. For some reason they always make me feel better, more grounded.”

  “I worry about you. I wish I could help you feel safe and secure.” He caressed her hand that lay across the back of the sofa.

  “Oh, Dave, don’t get me wrong. You do make me feel safe. That’s why I call you first after the police. I don’t know who else I would turn to if you weren’t here.” She smiled.

  He leaned in and kissed her hand. “That makes me feel good.” He continued kissing her hand. He kissed all the way up her arm, her shoulder, her neck until he reached her mouth. He gave her a light butterfly kiss—his lips barely touching hers. Then he deepened the kiss. When she opened her mouth for him, their tongues tangled together. His arms went around her and he pulled her closer to him. Her arms went around his neck as she clung to him.

  The pre-heat buzzer from the oven brought them both back to reality. The dinner rolls were ready to go in. Both of them broke apart quickly.

  Tory put the dinner rolls into the oven while Dave started the grill. She handed him the marinated steaks and the utensil to use with them. Dave grilled the steaks while Tory tossed the salad. Once they were both seated at the table, Tory sipped her wine, the candlelight reflecting off her glass as she touched it to her lips.

  “So, how is your steak?”

  “Done to perfection.” Tory cut another piece of steak and quickly put it in her mouth.