Small-Town Face-Off

by Tyler Anne Snell

  “I guess you don’t have time to tell me what all is going on?” Claire jumped in. “And why this Beck person seems to be killing everyone he meets?”

  This time it was Mara who stiffened. Billy didn’t miss it. His frown deepened.

  “I don’t want you to leave this house,” he ordered. “Two deputies are already on the way, including Dante Mills. They’ll be watching the front and back of the house and will check up on you every half hour.” He looked to his mother. “Mom, I can’t make you do anything, but I would really appreciate it if you stayed here. If Mara wouldn’t mind, she can go over what’s happening with you, as long as you don’t tell anyone else. Not even Betty Mills, okay?”

  Claire sat up straighter, if that was possible, but she nodded, her short bob of hair bouncing at the movement.

  Billy walked over and kissed the top of Alexa’s head. He hesitated before leaving the room. Mara knew then that Billy Reed was already 100 percent in love with his daughter. Leaving now would be impossible. Even if Billy didn’t want Mara to stay.

  She sighed. There were bigger issues to contend with.

  For instance, Claire was staring daggers at her.

  “He’s scared someone will hurt you two,” Claire guessed. “Why?”

  Mara looked at Alexa and felt fear clamp around her heart.

  “Because now I’m the only person we know of to have direct contact with Beck, who is still alive.”

  * * *

  CLAIRE WAS A LOT like her son. Or perhaps it was the other way around. The older woman listened patiently as Mara told her everything that had happened, starting with Beck visiting her house. One detail Mara didn’t include, however, was her past relationship with Billy. And that Alexa was his daughter.

  “So, this Beck man wants you alive because he needs you,” Claire said when Mara finished. “At least that’s a silver lining, considering he seems to have a friend keen on killing.”

  Mara couldn’t help but agree.

  “As sad as it is to admit, yes, there’s that.”

  Claire drained the rest of her coffee from the cup and looked at the toddler across the table from her. Alexa crunched on her Cheerios and became transfixed by a cartoon about pigs Mara had playing on her smartphone. While watching television wasn’t exactly a tradition at their house, sometimes it was the only way for Mara to distract the girl.

  “So, you came back to town to tell Billy, since he was in charge of the case against your father and is now the sheriff,” Claire spelled out. Mara nodded. “And I’m guessing you also told him that Alexa is his daughter.”

  Mara froze, coffee cup hanging in midair.

  “Excuse me?” she said, trying to recover.

  Claire actually smirked.

  “Any mother worth her salt is going to figure out when she’s looking at her grandchild, especially when the little girl has the exact same eyes as her son,” she started. “Not to mention, you don’t strike me as the type of woman to let your daughter—and you for that matter—sleep in a bed with a stranger. Am I right?”

  Mara didn’t know what to say, so she answered in a roundabout way.

  “I was the one who helped Billy build the case against my father when he first took it over. During that time we...became close,” Mara admitted. She paused, trying to figure out what she wanted to say next but found the words weren’t coming.

  Claire’s smirk softened into a small smile. She held up a hand in a stopping motion.

  “Listen, my husband was a very private man and I know Billy has picked up that trait,” she began. “I’ve learned a thing or two about respecting his decisions. Because, in the end, he usually has a good reason for everything he does. I’m going to extend that courtesy to you, too, because my son doesn’t pick his company lightly. So, I’m going to assume you are a good woman. And a strong one at that, considering what you must have gone through with your father,” Claire continued. “But, you coming back here lets me know that at one point you left. And while my son can keep a secret, I know he wouldn’t keep one about having a daughter from me for too long.” Claire reached over and took one of Mara’s hands in hers. “I won’t ask you why you didn’t tell him about her until now, but I don’t want you to sit here and deny that Alexa’s my granddaughter, okay?”

  Mara, despite the decision she and Billy had made to wait to tell Claire, gave a small nod, unable to look away from the woman. As if she was caught in a trance. Claire squeezed her hand before dropping it. She leaned back in her chair. She still wore a pleasant, warm smile.

  “Now, if I wasn’t sure you loved my son, I wouldn’t be this nice,” Claire tacked on. It was a startling statement that instantly got a reaction.

  “Love your son? But I—” Mara started, heat rushing up her neck. This time she was interrupted by Claire’s laughter.

  “Don’t you try to deny it,” she said, wagging her finger good-naturedly. “The girl’s name is proof enough you loved my son—once, anyway. And, if I had to guess, proof that you always intended to tell him about her.” She shrugged. “At least, that’s my feelings on it.”

  Mara felt the heat in her cheeks intensify. But this time she too smiled.

  “Her name?” Mara asked, though she knew it was pointless. Claire Reed seemed to pick up on things quickly. Much more so than her son. She would have been a phenomenal sheriff.

  “Alexa, after Alexander. Which is my late husband’s name and one of Billy’s favorite people in the entire world.” Claire’s smile widened. “You named her after her grandfather, didn’t you?”

  Mara couldn’t help it. She laughed out loud.

  “Do you know that Billy hasn’t even mentioned that yet?” Mara knew it was no use denying the connection between them all. “I thought it would be one of the first things he asked me about but, no, he hasn’t said a word!”

  “Well, my Billy might be a lot of good things,” Claire said. “But, bless him, that boy can sometimes be just plain oblivious to what’s right in front of him, too.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “How in the world did she slip away without anyone noticing?”

  Billy looked over at Detective Matt Walker in the driver’s seat. They’d spent the morning talking to officers and witnesses to the fire, trying to figure out what had really happened. So far, no one knew anything other than that Jessica had been there one moment and then, the next, she was gone.

  “Incompetence on the officers’ behalf?” the detective asked. “The fire wasn’t bad enough to require all of their attention, especially since the fire department was a few doors down, and yet they still managed to lose someone in their custody.”

  Billy wanted to say no, because everyone he had met that morning had seemed, well, competent.

  “A suspect was killed, not only in custody at our department but inside of it,” Billy pointed out. “Whoever is behind this, whether it’s Beck or his friend, they seem to have a skill for avoiding detection.”

  “The hotel being a good example of that,” Matt said.

  Billy nodded. He hadn’t gotten the chance to tell Mara yet, but the hotel room where Caleb had said he’d met Beck had been searched.

  Thoroughly.

  They’d found nothing. Just a cash payment for six days, starting the week before, under John Smith, of all names. The hotel manager and staff had been told to call if there were any more check-ins or sightings of Beck. Discreetly.

  “I should have brought more coffee,” Billy finally said, massaging the bridge of his nose. “This case is giving me one of those headaches that feels like it will never go away. I’ve lived in Riker County my entire life and you’ve been here for years. How is it that two people who’ve never been here are navigating our home turf so well?”

  “Beck’s friend could be a local.”

  It was a thought
that Billy had already discussed with Suzy. And one he hated to entertain. Though just because his love for his town and the area surrounding it was great, that didn’t mean everyone else saw Riker County with the same fondness.

  “If Bryan’s so-called stash is in fact real then knowing where it is would help clear everything up, or at least give us a better chance at stopping this guy,” Matt continued. “We could use it to bait Beck and end this mess.”

  Billy sat up straighter. But then he thought about Mara and her body against his, and how much he would hate it if something happened to her or to Alexa.

  They’d have to use Mara for any baiting plan to work. That’s why Billy hadn’t put much stock in that plan yet. He didn’t want her to be in any more danger. They’d just have to figure out a way to pull it off with Mara and Alexa out of harm’s way.

  Finally, Billy balled his fist.

  “I need to talk to Bryan Copeland,” he admitted. “That’s what I need to do. Get him to tell me where the hell this stash is if it’s real.”

  “You think he’d tell you anything, though?” Matt asked. “Considering you’re one of the reasons he’s in prison?”

  Billy shrugged.

  “I’ll just have to be persuasive.”

  “You think he’d tell Mara?” Matt ventured with notable caution in his tone. While Billy hadn’t told the man about his relationship with Mara, he knew Matt was a good detective. Billy hoped no one else suspected a personal connection between him and Mara. Because, if they did, that meant Beck could possibly know, too. If it hadn’t been for the storm the night Mara had shown up, he could have followed her straight to his house.

  Just the thought made Billy even more anxious. His phone ringing with the caller ID for Mara didn’t help.

  “Reed,” he answered.

  “Billy, it’s Mara.”

  “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, we’re fine,” she said quickly. Then her voice dropped to a whisper. “Billy, do you think you could come pick me up?”

  Her tone made him hesitate. He cast a quick look at Matt, wondering if he should also be quiet.

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  There was movement on the other side of phone. A door shut.

  “I think I know where Dad’s stash is.”

  * * *

  “A MAN NAMED Calvin Jackson was a very unhappy man in the state of Washington who, almost a decade ago, decided to use a local high school’s basement as his own personal meth lab,” Mara said from her spot at the table. Billy stood at its head while Matt and Suzy were across from her. All eyes were focused as she spoke. “No one would have probably caught him had the lab not exploded—taking Calvin with it—because no one expects a meth lab to be underneath Honors English.

  “That’s what my father said after we saw it on the news,” she continued. “He said if you ever want to hide, you do it not in the last place someone would look, but the last place someone would even associate whatever you are doing with. He said Calvin Jackson had the right idea, just not the right approach.” Mara let out a quick breath. “I should have realized then and there that something was off about him, but you know. I just didn’t.”

  Billy fought the urge to put his hand over hers. They might have shared a lot in the last twenty-four hours, but since Mara had called they had fallen into a more professional rhythm. Plus, Mara had left right when Billy had thought things between them were going great two years ago. Maybe chalking up their night together as a one-time nod to their past—and their lack of control when the other was around—would give them a chance at sharing a civil future. One where they could be friends.

  One where she wouldn’t leave and take their daughter with her.

  The thought of never seeing Mara or Alexa again made Billy almost physically uncomfortable.

  “So when Mom got out my high school yearbook from the attic, it reminded you of that,” Billy guessed. He didn’t miss the smile in her voice or the fact that she didn’t deny his mother had done just that.

  “Yes, it did.”

  Hiding a stash of money and drugs in a high school had seemed a far-fetched notion until Billy had remembered the school had been completely renovated almost three years ago after a series of storms that had taken their toll.

  And that Bryan Copeland had been at the ribbon cutting when the addition had been unveiled.

  Mara had remembered that detail because she said she’d been tickled to see her dad on the news, even if he had been in the background. It was the best lead they’d had so far. Even if that didn’t automatically mean the stash was hidden somewhere on the grounds.

  “But where could he have hidden it without anyone noticing?” Matt asked after Mara was done.

  “Well, as far as I know, there’s no basement,” Billy said, trying to recall the layout. “Then again, I’ve been told it doesn’t look like it did during my high school days. I haven’t been there in years. If Bryan was going to try to sincerely hide it where no one but him could reach it, he could have used the construction as a way to do just that. And it meets the timeline of when the investigation started to get going. He could have used the storm as an opportunity to make his own personal fallback plan.”

  Suzy nodded in agreement and then cringed.

  “So I guess this means we’re going back to high school?”

  Billy cracked a quick grin.

  “I guess it does.”

  After several calls made by all three members of his team, Billy went back to standing at the head of the table. This time with a plan.

  “Here’s the deal,” Billy said to the group. “Matt, I want you to keep your attention on finding Beck and his helper or helpers. Because at the end of the day, even if we do find the stash, that doesn’t mean our problems with them are over. Work the local angle. If someone we know is feeding this Beck information, we need to plug that hole quick. Talk to the local PD again. See if they have anything to help us.”

  “Got it,” Matt said. “I think I might already have a good spot to start looking.”

  “Good.” Billy looked at Suzy. “Suzy, I want you to come with us, because three sets of eyes are better than two.”

  Suzy crossed her hands over her chest.

  “And?” she asked.

  Billy let out a long breath.

  “And I hate dealing with Robert by myself,” he admitted.

  “Robert?” Mara asked.

  Suzy was quick to answer.

  “The principal. He’s something of a chatterbox.”

  “Which wouldn’t be bad if he wasn’t always talking about nonsense,” Matt added.

  “But we need him unless we want to wait for a warrant, which might leak to the public what exactly it is we’re looking for,” Billy pointed out. “Plus, if we’re going to search the high school for a cache of drugs and blood money it only feels right that the principal is at least on the premises.”

  * * *

  CARPENTER HIGH DIDN’T look like the school Billy remembered.

  Its once-stained, shabby and seen-better-days structure was cleaner, brighter and nearly pristine.

  One of the last places anyone would look for a stash of drugs and blood money.

  Billy followed Suzy into the staff parking lot, where a man was standing next to an old Mazda.

  “Is that Robert?” Mara asked from the passenger’s seat.

  Billy nodded.

  “And we’re going to let Suzy distract him while we conduct our own search,” he said. “Because I can stand a lot of things, but there are some people on this earth I believe were put here just to test our patience.”

  Mara laughed and soon they were standing across from Robert. He was a short man with a crown of dark hair that had a shiny bald spot in the middle. His gut used to extend past the b
elt and dress khakis that he habitually wore, but he was much slimmer than he had been the last time Billy saw him.

  “New diet,” he said, looking straight at Billy. He patted his stomach. “Mama said I wasn’t getting any younger and told me it was now or never to take control of my life. Health included.” He sent a wayward wink to Mara at Billy’s side. “She really just wants me to settle down and give her some grandbabies. I said one thing at a time, Ma!”

  Mara gave a polite little laugh.

  Suzy cleared her throat. “We’re kind of in a hurry, Robert,” she said, taking a step forward so that his attention stuck to her. “You understand what we’re here to do? And why only you can help us, right?”

  Robert, feeling the weight of importance on his shoulders, puffed out his chest and straightened his back. His playful smile turned into a determined crease.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He made a grand gesture and swept his arm toward the front entrance. “I’m ready when you are.”

  Billy could tell Suzy was holding back an eye roll, just as he could tell Mara was trying not to laugh, but soon the four of them were heading up the walkway.

  “Did you really tell him what we were looking for?” Mara whispered when Robert got out his keys. Since it was a Saturday, he’d promised no one else would be inside during the day.

  “That we had reason to believe that harmful substances could have been hidden on the premises and we’d like to take a cursory look on the down low before causing a panic.”

  “And he just agreed to that?”

  Billy shrugged. “He’d rather be sure before he subjects his school to good ole small-town scrutiny.”

  “I can’t blame him there,” Mara conceded.

  Robert opened the door and they all stepped into the lobby. Like the outside, the inside looked much nicer than the school Billy had attended. Still, he inhaled and couldn’t help but feel a twinge of nostalgia. The urge to tell the story about a fifteen-year-old Suzy giving Kasey Donaldson a black eye for saying she shouldn’t be allowed to play capture the flag because she was a girl was almost too great to resist. Especially when Billy realized the principal’s office was still straight ahead, next to the stairs that led to the second floor. He’d watched Suzy do several marches into that office with her chin held high.