Kyle got into his sedan and drove away. Part of me wanted to follow him, but I decided against it. Instead, I set my sights on the boutique, determined to get some answers from Lyndy.
Chapter Thirty
After having a lengthy conversation with Lyndy Walsh, I drove over to the police station. David made quick work of a donut as I relayed all the events of my morning with him. Once David had been completely brought up to speed on the most recent developments, we headed over to Treasure County Penitentiary to chase down a lead. David and I briefly spoke with one of the inmates then made our way over to Treasure Cove High School.
Kyle Lipinski was carrying baseball equipment out to the school’s baseball diamond as we arrived. He appeared to be equal parts surprised and annoyed to see us.
“What are you doing here?” Kyle asked.
“Mr. Lipinski, you have a lot of explaining to do,” David said.
Kyle’s forehead wrinkled. “What are you talking about? I already answered your questions.”
“We have some more,” David said.
“Why are you wasting my time? I have nothing else to say to you,” Kyle replied.
I folded my arms. “I’m afraid that’s not going to cut it. Especially after I saw you arguing with Lyndy Walsh this morning.”
“I think you might have mistaken me for someone else,” Kyle said.
“Oh yeah? Well, it’s hard to mistake this.” I pulled out my phone and loaded the photo that I had taken of Kyle and Lyndy arguing.
A fire came to Kyle’s eyes. “Wait a minute. Were you following me?”
“Not quite. But trust me, that’s the least of your worries at the moment,” I said. “Now back to your argument with Lyndy.”
Kyle became exasperated. “It wasn’t an argument.”
“Fine. A heated discussion. But it doesn’t matter how you choose to phrase it. You can’t deny that you two weren’t on the best of terms,” I said.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Kyle replied.
“Kyle, don’t lie to me. I talked to Lyndy. She told me what you were arguing about,” I said.
“Look. I don’t know what she told you—”
I cut him off. “That you paid her off to falsify your alibi.”
Kyle scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I already told you not to lie to me.”
“I’m not lying,” Kyle said.
I played a recording from my phone.
On the recording, Lyndy spoke loud and clear. “Kyle offered me a thousand dollars to confirm his alibi for the time of your sister’s murder.”
My voice was next on the recording. “But Kyle wasn’t actually with you at the bistro on the morning that my sister disappeared, was he?”
Lyndy responded. “No. I don’t know where he was, but he definitely wasn’t at the bistro with me.”
I turned the recording off.
A look of outrage came to Kyle’s face. “I don’t know why she told you that.”
“The threat of jail time has a way of scaring people into telling the truth,” I said.
Kyle scrunched his nose. “Jail time?”
David spoke up. “It’s a crime to lie to a police detective. Which is exactly what she did by confirming your phony alibi yesterday.”
“But she was having a hard time living with that lie,” I said. “Of course, you knew that already. That’s why you went to the bridal boutique this morning. To pressure her not to back out of your deal. Your scare tactics didn’t work, though. Lyndy was more than happy to tell me the truth this morning to keep herself out of jail.”
“Which just happens to be exactly where you’re headed,” David replied.
Panic came to Kyle’s voice. “You’ve got this all wrong.”
“I’m afraid not. You see, there’s only one reason you’d pay your ex-girlfriend a thousand dollars to lie about your alibi. Because you were scared about the truth coming out. You were desperate to keep us from finding out where you really were the morning of my sister’s murder. But we know,” I said.
Kyle went into full denial mode. “No, you don’t. You’re just speculating.”
“I wish I was, but the fact is that you killed my sister,” I said.
Kyle scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Kyle, drop the act. I know you murdered Jessica,” I said.
Kyle threw his arms out. “Why would I do that?”
“Because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” I said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kyle replied.
“That’s funny. Because Tyler Stillwater seems to remember things quite well,” I said.
Kyle shrugged. “What does Tyler have to do with anything?”
“Tyler is a great example of why you should never be friends with a drug dealer,” I said.
“Especially one who is behind bars and has nothing to lose,” David added.
“Wait a minute. What did Tyler tell you?” Kyle asked.
“It’s safe to say that we had a very interesting conversation with Mr. Stillwater at Treasure County Penitentiary. He had quite a number of things to say about you, which I took the liberty of recording,” David replied.
“You can’t listen anything that guy says,” Kyle replied.
“Why not?” David asked.
“He’s a criminal,” Kyle said.
“That’s true. But since he is already in jail and won’t be getting out anytime soon, he had no reason to lie to us,” David replied.
David was going to play the recording from Tyler, but I couldn’t resist speaking up.
“Do you know what Tyler told us?” I asked. “That one night he was selling you drugs in the alleyway behind the restaurant when Jessica exited the back door of the bistro with a bag of trash to toss into the dumpster. When she spotted you, Tyler, and the drugs, Jessica quickly darted back into the bistro, but by then, she had already seen too much.”
Kyle lowered his head and got really quiet.
“Didn’t she?” I asked.
Kyle still didn’t respond.
I kept pressuring him. “Didn’t she?”
Kyle purposefully avoided eye contact.
“Come on, Kyle. Admit it. You killed my sister,” I snapped.
Finally, Kyle was unable to hold his emotions in any longer. “Killing her wasn’t part of the plan.”
“What was the plan, then? To intimidate her into not talking? Maybe to buy her silence?” I asked.
“You don’t understand. My future was at stake,” Kyle said.
“Right. Baseball. You were a big local star back then. You thought you’d even play professionally one day. But that wasn’t going to happen if your manager found out about your drug habit. You’d be thrown off the team. No baseball scout would touch you. Right?” I said.
“I begged Jessica to stay silent,” Kyle said. “I even tried to pay her off, hoping that some hush money would be enough keep her from telling anyone about what she had seen.”
“But she refused to be bought off, didn’t she?” I asked.
Kyle reluctantly nodded.
“Of course. Because she had integrity, unlike you,” I said.
Kyle narrowed his eyes. “She was a fool.”
“And you’re a monster,” I snapped. “You killed my sister. And for what? Because you thought you’d be some big baseball star.”
“I didn’t want to kill her. It didn’t have to be this way. But she was so stubborn. She told me that either I went to my manager and came clean about my drug use, or she would go and tell him,” Kyle said.
I shook my head in disgust. “So instead of coming clean, you killed her.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Kyle replied.
“That’s where you’re wrong. You always have a choice,” I said.
“You don’t understand. She was going to ruin my future,” Kyle replied.
“You don’t get it, do you?” I asked. “You ruined your
own future by doing drugs in the first place. And the craziest part is, after killing her to keep your baseball career alive, you ended up having a freak knee injury a few months later.”
Kyle groaned. “I had no way of knowing that injury was going to happen. Besides, it was too late to change anything, then. Jessica was already dead.”
“You say that you had no way of knowing that an injury was going to occur, but the universe knew what you had done. As far as I’m concerned, that injury of yours was karma. Just like how you are going to spend the rest of your life behind bars. I hope you rot in jail after what you did to my sister,” I said.
Chapter Thirty-One
David dragged Kyle away and loaded him into the back of his squad car. My boyfriend then walked back over to me to check how I was doing.
By then, I had managed to settle my breathing somewhat. Although, the same could not be said for my brain. My mind racing out of control.
I remained completely silent as I stared out into the distance. Vocalizing my thoughts proved quite difficult. At the moment, my tongue was hopelessly twisted.
David grew concerned as the seconds ticked by without my saying a word.
“Are you going to be all right?” he asked.
I didn’t immediately reply. Instead, a wave of emotions washed over me, resulting in me letting out the biggest sigh of my life. “It’s finally over.”
He pulled me in and gave me a hug. “I know. It must be a huge relief.”
My eyes were as wide as saucers. “I can barely describe how I’m feeling right now.”
“Take your time,” David replied. “There’s no rush. You actually don’t need to say a word if you don’t want to.”
As I began to get my bearings back, my thoughts started spilling out of me. “It’s just so much to take in. I mean, eleven years, I have waited for answers. And now I have them. I finally know the truth.”
“I just wish that the truth wasn’t so sad.”
“So do I. Unfortunately, I can’t change what happened. No one can. But at least now maybe I can start living in the present instead of being so haunted by the past.”
“I hope so.”
“I’m going to do my best.”
“That’s all anyone can do,” David said.
I groaned. “Actually, some of the people in this town seem to be behaving at their worst. That’s the problem.”
David exhaled. “I know it’s not going to bring your sister back, but I hope you can take some comfort in the fact that Kyle is going to get what’s coming to him. He is going spend the rest of his life in prison for what he did.”
I nodded. “There’s something to be said for closure.”
“Not just any closure. I think it’s pretty fitting that your sister’s killer was brought to justice because of your sleuthing,” David said.
As I gazed into David’s eyes, I became quiet and reflective again. When I didn’t respond for a few seconds, David spoke up.
“What are you thinking right now?” he asked.
I smiled at David and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. “I just want to say thank you.”
His forehead wrinkled. “What are you thanking me for? You were the one who figured out who the killer was.”
“No. I meant, thank you for being there for me through all of this. For being so supportive. For being such a rock.”
“Of course. I love you.”
“I’m so glad that you’re in my life.”
“Trust me. I’m just as lucky to have you,” he said. “Although, I can’t help but wonder why you’re bringing this up now.”
“Simple. When you lose someone who is close to you, it makes you appreciate the loved ones you still have even more,” I replied.
David held me tight. “I just want you to know that you’ll always have me. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Amen to that,” I replied.
Chapter Thirty-Two
A big group hug awaited me as I shared the news of Kyle’s arrest with my mother, stepfather, and grandmother. As expected, there was plenty of relief to go around. My family asked me a number of questions about the case, which I gladly answered for them.
With their curiosity satisfied, the conversation ended up taking a turn. A sense of nostalgia took hold. Instead of focusing on how Jessica had died, the discussion centered on how she had lived.
A wistful look came to my mother’s eyes. “A customer came into the shop this morning with this big hearty laugh. It reminded me so much of Jessica,” Elizabeth said. “Jess had the kind of laugh that always brought a smile to my face.”
“It wasn’t just her laugh that got me. She had such a wacky sense of humor,” I said.
My grandmother spoke up. “I have no complaints,” Betsy replied. “She always laughed at my jokes.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Even your bad ones.”
Betsy waggled her pointer finger back and forth at Elizabeth. “Take that back. I don’t have any bad jokes.”
“I beg to differ,” Elizabeth said.
“Some of my jokes just haven’t found the right audience yet,” Betsy replied.
My stepfather remained serious. “Jessica was always a great audience. She would always genuinely listen to everything you said instead of just waiting for her turn to talk,” Luke said.
“Speaking of, is it my turn to talk again?” Betsy joked.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
“Oh, come on. I thought that was a pretty good joke,” Betsy said.
“I think it’s safe to say that your joke hasn’t found the right audience yet,” Elizabeth replied.
“Jessica would have laughed at that one,” Betsy said. “She didn’t like it when things got too serious.”
“She certainly didn’t. Jessica preferred to keep things light,” I replied.
“I don’t blame her. The world can get pretty dark sometimes,” Elizabeth said.
“Yet she always found a way to see the bright side in everything,” Luke replied.
“I always admired that about her. She managed to be a glass-half-full kind of woman in a glass-half-empty kind of world,” I said.
“That’s because she believed the best in people,” Betsy replied.
Elizabeth began to get choked up. “She deserved so much better than what happened to her.”
Betsy put her hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “I know. I always used to believe that she was meant to do great things.”
“I think she was,” I said. “If she was still alive right now, I bet she’d be changing people’s lives.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Luke replied.
Elizabeth took a deep breath. “I miss her so much.”
“We all do,” Betsy said.
“As much as I miss her, I just keep telling myself this. Even though she’s gone, she’ll always live on in our memories,” I replied.
Elizabeth nodded. “You’re right. And what great memories they are.”
Epilogue
There was a lot of grieving left to do, but before I could truly start to heal, I knew there was something else that had to happen. I paid a visit to Treasure Cove Cemetery and stood at the site of my sister’s grave.
There was so much that I wanted to say, but the words did not come easy. Even so, I had to find the strength to dig deep into my soul. This was more than just paying my last respects. It was about getting things off of my chest that I had been holding onto for years.
Finding a way to untie my tongue proved to be a tall order, but when I finally did, I poured my heart out.
“Jessica, I would give anything to get you back,” I said. “To have you right here with me again. I miss you so much. Some days I don't know how I’m going to carry on. Or how I’m even going to get out of bed in the morning.”
As my emotions swelled, my heart started beating faster and faster. I took a moment to try to calm my breathing. Once I had steadied my pulse a little, I continued.
“At the same time, I know that you aren
’t coming back. It breaks my heart every time I think about what happened to you. But I know now that you are in a better place. Where no one can hurt you.”
I looked up at the sky.
My eyes began to water up, but I was determined to choke back the tears. I needed to finish my thoughts.
“With your killer behind bars, maybe now you can rest in peace.”
It got harder to keep the tears from streaming down my face.
Instinctively, I clutched the heart-shaped locket that my sister had once given me. “A part of you will always be with me.”
Once again, I had to take some deep breaths to calm myself down. I was narrowly able to keep myself from crying.
“I just want you to know that I love you so much. Life truly isn’t the same without you.”
I tried my best, but there was no stopping the tears now.
“Good-bye.”
I took one last look at Jessica’s grave then walked away. As I headed back to my car, a new reality emerged. I had spent the last eleven years trying to unearth the mysteries of the past. Now I was staring down an uncertain future. But while I didn’t know what life had in store for me next, I knew one thing for certain.
Jessica wouldn’t want me to spend the rest of my life feeling bad for her. She would want me to make people’s lives better. To live my life to the fullest. And that was exactly what I intended to do.
The End.
Halloween Candy with a Side of Murder
Chapter One
“I had nothing to do with that fire,” Todd Conway said.
The heavily tattooed twenty-seven-year-old was defiant as he stood in the doorway of his apartment. But while his mouth said one thing, his blue eyes told a different story.
I stared hard at Todd’s round face and spotted a layer of panic beneath his blustery anger. He was trying his best to conceal his true feelings, but I saw right through his act.
Daley Buzz Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 67