Clues of the Heart: Baytown Boys Series

by Maryann Jordan

  Stepping up to Beth, they had barely greeted her before she bit out, “I see Carrie brought her parents to Walter’s funeral. And, of course, Ed is all over her.”

  Katelyn fought to keep her mouth from hanging open, but was unable to keep her eyes from darting over to the side where Carrie stood with the couple that had been sitting with her.

  “We just wanted to offer our condolences,” Gareth began, but Beth interrupted.

  “I mean, it’s bad enough that he hired her to begin with…I wonder if William will keep her around.” Sniffing, she barely glanced at Gareth or Katelyn before walking away, muttering to herself.

  Turning to where Carrie and her parents had been standing, both Katelyn and Gareth looked around briefly before seeing that the trio was already in the parking lot, getting into a car.

  “Damn,” they murmured under their breath at the same time.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “So, who do you think killed him?”

  Katelyn rolled her eyes at Jillian sitting on the swing in the back yard, one leg tucked underneath her and the other used to push the swing along with her toes on the ground. “Your fiancé is one of the police officers…you tell me what Grant thinks.”

  Huffing, Jillian complained, “He doesn’t tell me enough! I get more information sitting in the pub and listening to everyone guess.”

  Tori popped another mini blueberry muffin in her mouth and nodded. “Yep, Mitch is the same. That’s why we thought you could tell us more.”

  Belle leaned forward a bit in her seat, quiet but ever alert. Jade sipped her mimosa, her eyes pinned on Katelyn’s.

  “You know, this is a weird way to spend a Saturday morning,” Katelyn stated, throwing her arms up to her side. “Talking about a murder.”

  “I can’t imagine being the golfer who found him,” Jade said.

  Unable to stifle a snort, Tori said quickly, “I’m sorry! I’m not laughing about Walter, but I was just thinking about Roger Thorpe. Mitch said he was literally purple in the face at the thought of having to cancel the golf tournament.”

  “I know that’s an expensive event to have to reschedule or just cancel, but Grant said that Roger was more worried about his azaleas getting whacked by a golfer to begin with,” Jillian added. “And I can’t imagine what Silas, the town manager, is doing! He hates the idea of any blight on the town and with the cancellation of the tournament, he’ll be in a blaming game with Roger.”

  Sighing, Tori said, “Well, I know Silas and the mayor always come flying in to see Mitch whenever something goes wrong in the town. They’ll be demanding the case be solved immediately!”

  “At least tell us what you know about the will,” Jillian begged Katelyn, planting both feet on the ground as she brought the swing to a halt, almost sloshing Jade’s mimosa out of the glass. Shooting her an apologetic smile, she turned back to Katelyn. “Well?”

  Katelyn’s face scrunched as she said, “They had no children, so I suppose everything goes to Eleanor.”

  “Yes, but what if it doesn’t? I mean, he was murdered…maybe by a jealous lover or an enraged lover’s boyfriend or husband.”

  Katelyn started to refute Jillian’s imaginings, but had to admit, she thought the same things herself. Someone killed Walter…someone had a reason to want him dead. Maybe Jillian’s wild speculations were not so wild.

  “And that’s all I’ve got right now.”

  Gareth sat with Mitch and Colt, as well as the other officers of the Baytown Police Department, Burt, Sam, Grant, and Ginny, having just delivered all his investigative information. “Katelyn and I informally talked with the Berry employees at the funeral, except for Carrie. I was frustrated because she was the one I wanted to speak to since finding out Walter was paying for some of her college costs.”

  “You said she was there with her parents. Do you think they know?” Grant asked.

  Shrugging his shoulders, Gareth replied, “I don’t know. I was going to go to William first to see if he knew anything since it’s not too uncommon for employers to assist with educational costs.”

  “Do that,” Mitch said, looking up from the report. “We’ve got to finish processing the body recovery scene and work to determine where his body came from.” Glancing at Grant and Burt, he said, “I’ll have you two continue to work the golf course scene. Sam, you and Ginny check to see what the body might have been transported in and from where. I’ll be talking to Eleanor again, but with the town’s needs still in place, I’ll have Gareth and Katelyn investigate as well and report to me.”

  Colt added, “I’ll go with Mitch when he talks to Eleanor. I want to introduce myself to her and, since they live in the county, I’ll have my deputies do a preliminary search of the property.”

  As the group prepared to finish, Gareth looked down at his phone and said, “Just one more thing. Katelyn just sent me a text. It appears Eleanor has asked her to accompany her to the lawyer’s office and they’d like me to go as well.”

  Mitch nodded as he stood. “Sounds good. Keep us up on what you learn.”

  Gareth swung by the office and watched as Katelyn flipped over the CLOSED sign and locked the front door as he rounded the front of his SUV to open her door. She smiled as he offered his hand and stepped up into the vehicle.

  He had barely made it into the driver’s seat when she peppered him with questions. “What do you think the lawyer wants to talk to her about? Do you think he changed his will? Do you think Eleanor’s going to have a surprise?”

  “Babe, slow down,” he chuckled, pulling out onto the road heading out of town. “Remember, when investigating, use your imagination but don’t get ahead of yourself. Take the information that comes in and look at it from all points of view.”

  Leaning back, she huffed, “I know, I know. It’s just so hard…I hate this for Eleanor.”

  Reaching over, he placed his hand on her thigh, palm up in invitation. She responded immediately, linking her fingers with his.

  “You’ve got to be careful. I know you really like Eleanor, but you’re getting personal with a client and that can be difficult when we have to deliver bad news.”

  “Can she possibly get worse news than her husband being killed?”

  Shaking his head, he replied, “Probably not but, then, we have no idea where this investigation will take us. There could be more bad news on the way.”

  With that heavy statement hanging between them, they drove the rest of the way in silence.

  Bushy eyebrows peered over his glasses at the assembly before him. Settling on Eleanor, the attorney, Mr. Bashor, cleared his throat.

  “Mrs. Berry, I want to offer my condolences on the passing of your husband. His will hasn’t changed since the two of you came to see me years ago.”

  Katelyn glanced sideways at Eleanor whose face was pale, but serene. The only expression of nerves was her clutching the leather straps of her purse in her lap.

  “Walter’s will was very simple. He set aside a small trust to be used for his mother’s care and the trust is to be administered by my office. He left a nominal amount to his brother, as well as one-time monetary gifts to three of his favorite charities. The rest of his estate is left, in its entirety, to his wife, Eleanor, since there are no children.”

  Eleanor nodded, a sigh heaving from her chest. “Thank you, Mr. Bashor. I appreciate all that you’ve done. Is there anything else I need to do?”

  “No, no, my dear. My office will handle everything and we’ll be in touch.”

  With that, they shook hands and Gareth walked Eleanor and Katelyn out to the parking lot. “Did that go better than you were afraid of?” Katelyn asked.

  Eleanor blushed as she replied, “It was a lot of fuss over nothing, wasn’t it? Walter and I made our wills out years ago and never changed them.” Sighing heavily again, she said, “Everything just seems so hard now…so many decisions to make…I don’t know where to turn.”

  “My unsolicited advice,” Gareth began, “is to not make
any major plans right away. Take time to let things settle and, when you feel stronger, then you can make decisions.”

  She nodded her agreement as she approached her car. “Would you two like to come to the house? I have more food than I know what to do with since so many people brought things over after the funeral. And…” she hesitated, her gaze on her shoes before lifting her head, her eyes pleading. “The police are back at the house, going over all of Walter’s things to try to see if they can find what he might have been doing or who he might have been with. I’d really like the company.”

  A quick shared glance between Katelyn and Gareth had them agreeing to follow her there and soon the three were ensconced in Eleanor’s den overlooking the back yard. Gareth excused himself to go out and talk to the detectives.

  “What all were they looking at?” Katelyn asked, her eyes following Gareth as he walked outside.

  “They asked if he kept any journals, diaries, appointment books, address books…that kind of thing. As far as I know, he had all his important dates and information on his phone and I haven’t seen that since he left on Friday morning.

  “You know Gareth and I shared about the woman at the hotel…” Katelyn’s voice trailed off in embarrassment.

  “I know,” Eleanor nodded sadly, her chin quivering. “I know it’s horrible of me, but Katelyn…I’m so mad at him! And I can’t talk about it with anyone else because I don’t want just anyone to know that he was having an affair and must have been with the other woman when he was killed.” She sniffed before leaning over to grab a tissue from the ever-present boxes around the room. “I keep wondering if that had something to do with it…a jealous lover…or an angry lover’s husband. God, my mind just keeps rolling to all sorts of notions.”

  Leaning her head back on the sofa, Eleanor added, “But then I lay in bed and think, if he were just here, I could yell and scream and then make him love me again.”

  “I think your feelings are completely understandable, Eleanor,” Katelyn said, torn between wanting to comfort the grieving woman and trying to keep an eye on the yard where Gareth and a few detectives were moving around. Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, “Did you and Walter ever go boating, or canoeing, or kayaking?”

  Letting out an inelegant snort, Eleanor replied, “No, neither of us did, which seems crazy considering we live out here. At first Walter wanted to get into boating, but it was never something I cared about doing. I get motion sickness on the water and he had fair skin that burned easily.” Her gaze drifted to the window but her eyes were unseeing of the activity in the yard as her face took on a wistful expression. “We drove out here one evening and had dinner at The Sunset Restaurant and watched the sun set over the bay. We were newly married and it was magical. We looked at each other and just knew we wanted to live where we could see that sunset every day.” Lifting her shoulders in a slight shrug, she added, “So we bought this place and we spent many evenings sitting out on the beach with a glass of wine. I thought we were happy.”

  Patting her arm, Katelyn remained quiet, knowing Eleanor needed to talk out her memories. Just then, Gareth walked back inside and said, “Eleanor, the detectives will be leaving soon.” Giving Katelyn a pointed look, he said, “And I need to get back to town for a meeting tonight.”

  Standing, Eleanor hugged them both, thanking them for coming before walking them to the door. Once outside, Katelyn waited until they were in his vehicle before asking, “Did you find out anything?”

  “So far, they’ve found no evidence of Walter being killed in his house, yard, or their dunes—”

  “Wait…what?” Katelyn jerked her head around to face him. “What do you mean? If he was killed there, Eleanor would have seen or heard something!”

  Gareth met her incredulous stare with a patient one of his own. “Katelyn,” he said softly before sighing.

  Shaking her head, she said, “No, no. How can you even think that Eleanor had anything to do with his death?”

  “I didn’t say I thought she did. But the police have to check every angle. More often than not, a family member is involved when someone is killed, so the police have to check.” He reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “But, like I said, there’s no evidence in the house or yard.”

  Her lips pinched together, she said, “It’s bad enough she’s lost her husband and has to deal with the fact that he cheated, but to be treated like a murderer—”

  “Look at me,” his voice carried authority and she turned back to him. “No one’s treating her like a murderer, Katelyn. But the police have to do their job. And, once she’s cleared, they will start focusing on other places he could have been murdered.”

  Sighing heavily, she nodded. “You’re right.” They drove in silence for several minutes, passing rural farms on their way back to Baytown. “This is harder than I thought.”

  “What is, babe?”

  “Becoming involved in a case,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

  With another hand squeeze, he said, “Most of the time, this kind of investigation doesn’t happen. I’ve never been involved in a murder before. The majority of PIs just follow people or do a lot of computer searches. This…” he met her sigh, “is different.” Looking at her again as they pulled up in front of her pub, he added, “I’m glad you came to work for me, Katelyn.”

  Her lips curved into a slight smile as she leaned across the console, “Me too. Working for you has given me a purpose. An excitement about getting up each morning and going to work.”

  Their lips met, a soft kiss, just a taste before pulling back. Grinning, she said, “And being with you also gives me an excitement about what happens at the end of the day.”

  Chuckling, he met her lips again. This time, his hand cupped the back of her head as he angled her mouth, taking the kiss deeper, wetter, hotter. His tongue swept inside, plundering as she met him stroke for stroke. His cock pressed against his zipper, an uncomfortable reminder of where they were and what he had to do. Reluctantly pulling back, he let out a deep breath, his forehead touching hers. “I hate this, but I do have to go. I promised Mitch I would get some records ready about the American Legion youth teams before our meeting tonight.”

  Nodding, she said, “I’ve got to work this afternoon on the pub books.” She waited as he alighted from the driver’s seat and jogged around to her side. Taking his hand as he assisted her out, she raised up on her tiptoes to kiss him once more. “I’ll see you tonight?”

  “Absolutely,” he replied with one last kiss.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Mitch, as commander of the local chapter of the American Legion, rapped the gavel on the podium. Brogan, the Sergeant-at-Arms, closed the doors of the meeting room, located in the basement of the Baytown Community Center. With another three raps of the gavel, the members stood as Mitch called out, “The Color Bearer will advance the Colors.” Jason, standing in the back with Brogan, marched forward, the American flagpole in his hands, and set it in the floor stand.

  “The Chaplain will offer prayer.” The Presbyterian minister, a member of the American Legion, stood and prayed as the group bowed their heads in unison.

  The POW/MIA Empty Chair Ceremony followed. A chair was designated as a symbol of the thousands of American POW/MIAs still unaccounted for from all wars and conflicts involving the United States of America. The POW/MIA flag was placed on the Empty Chair.

  The eclectic assembly included men, plus a few women, ages running from about twenty-five to almost ninety. At the moment, there was unity as all faces turned toward the Empty Chair, a haunted expression on many of them.

  After the Pledge of Allegiance and the Preamble to the American Legion Constitution, the gavel was rapped once more to indicate that everyone could take a seat.

  After the secretary’s and treasure’s reports, Mitch called on Gareth to report on the statistics of the youth baseball teams they created. Walking up to the podium, Gareth nodded to the assembly.
“So far, we’ve had the teams up and running for several months now, and the response from the community has been overwhelming. We have almost fifty children, ranging in age from five to seventeen, who come out almost every weekend. We now have the support of the community and the parents. Many of the parents cannot afford to give financial assistance, but they offer what they can and have participated in some fundraising. Our budget was just reported on from the treasurer’s report, but we’re always interested in any businesses in the area who would like to assist.”

  He took several questions from some of the members and with the vote to continue the program, he moved back to his seat, a grin on his face. Lance, a new resident living on the outside of town, sat stoically on one side. Gareth knew very little about him, but from what he heard, that was exactly what Lance wanted—peace and privacy. Aiden, his ever-present smile firmly in place, sat on the other side. Behind him sat Callan, one of the original Baytown Boys. He was still in the Coast Guard but luckily served at the small station in the Baytown harbor with his CG buddies, all of who had joined the American Legion. Jason, Grant, Zac, Aiden, and Brogan sat on the other side of Ginny, and Gareth noticed Brogan had managed to sit next to her. Grinning, he wondered when the big guy was going to finally ask her out…if ever.

  Bringing his attention back to the meeting, another committee member was discussing the American Legion Auxiliary.

  “They’ve done great work so far in the few meetings they’ve had and their fundraisers are going well. They wanted me to let you know that they are working on the Cavalcade of Memories and if you have any articles or items you would like them to display, please get them to Katelyn MacFarlane.”

  At Katelyn’s name, Gareth’s heart jumped. Reaching up, he rubbed his chest, unconsciously trying to ease the tight feeling. Glancing to the side, he saw Aiden grinning at him and he smirked, knowing he was caught.

  Mitch nodded toward another member, Bill, who made his way up front. Standing for a moment, his hands gripping the podium, he appeared to gather his thoughts and his strength. Swallowing deeply, staring down, he began. “I know Ms. Ginny Spencer talked a while ago about the counseling that’s offered here locally for former military. Figured I didn’t need it. I was doin’ good. But I recently got word that a buddy of mine—we got out about the same time and he headed home to Oklahoma—well, he killed himself last week.” His shoulders shook and Mitch stepped up to place his hand on Bill’s shoulder, providing steady support.