by Jenna Harte
“I believe you.” I hoped my voice conveyed the truth of my feeling. “And I guess I should apologize too.”
He shook his head. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about.”
“I do. The truth is I hated seeing you and Becca this morning. I wanted to scratch her eyes out and punch you in the face.”
AJ grinned.
“Except, I didn’t want to be that jealous crazy woman. I didn’t want to believe what I saw. But then you went to put your shirt on, and it highlighted how close you’d been to her. Closer to her than me.”
“No, that’s not true Sophie.”
I gave him a look that said I didn’t believe him.
He blew out a breath. “Did she and I ever . . .” He didn’t say the words, but I understood that he was referring to intimacy. “Yes. But I wouldn’t say she and I were closer. I cared about her. I love you Sophie.” He took my hand, and the combination of his words and touch had the last bit of my resistance melting away.
“I thought maybe there were still feelings between you two, especially when you got mad at me. I thought maybe your guilt—”
“I did have guilt. Not because anything happened. I felt guilt about my bad judgment in letting her stay.”
“There’s one more thing I need to say to you.”
He inhaled a breath as if he was shoring up his nerve.
“Ready?”
He nodded.
“I love you too.”
It took a moment for my words to register. When they did, his eyes softened, and his smile spread as wide as I’d ever seen it. Then he pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry, Sophie.”
“I know. Me too. I should have expressed my true feelings. We need to do that.”
“Absolutely.” Then he kissed me, and it was glorious, filling all the emptiness I’d felt during the day.
He pulled back. “For the record, anytime you want me to walk around without my shirt . . . or without anything else, I’m happy to do so.”
I laughed.
“Except here, because I promised your aunt there wouldn’t be any hanky panky.”
AJ told me he loved me and his willingness to deal with Aunt Rose proved it. Up until now, AJ was like most people in town, avoiding Aunt Rose if possible. I was important enough that he’d come here and even played cards with her. He’d stayed for dinner, and earned extra brownie points from Rose when he took her plate and said he’d do the dishes. Turned out Aunt Rose was mush around AJ too.
Later, as she watched one of her game shows, AJ and I returned to the love seat on the porch.
“I don’t know what all the fuss is about with your aunt. She’s perfectly pleasant to me.”
I pursed my lips. “Tell me that after she calls you on your nonsense.”
“I never do nonsense.” He grinned at me.
I just shook my head.
“Did your thing this afternoon go okay?” He took my hand.
“I don’t know.”
“I take it your visit to Vivie was at Randy’s request.”
“Yes. I’m pretty sure I didn’t do anything that made it better for him. When I was leaving, she and Tracy were getting ready to burn the mattress.”
AJ arched a brow.
“Randy had his mistress over while Vivie was in jail.”
“Ah.” He gave a nod as if that made perfect sense.
“I don’t understand them. While I’m there, she’s railing on Randy’s cheatin’ ways, and in the next sentence is telling me how good Junior Junior is in the sack.”
AJ laughed. “Junior Junior always did have a way with the women.”
I turned to look at him. “You know about Junior Junior?”
He nodded. “Sure. I used to work for Masons, remember? That’s how I ended up working at your house. Your parents used them for their landscaping.”
I smiled at the sweet memories of AJ working around my house and how I always made sure to be there when he did.
“It was a big help to me that your dad hired me on for more work. I was able to pay for school and help my family.” He squeezed my hand. It was a reminder that my father had some redeeming qualities.
Then a thought occurred to me. “You weren’t like Junior Junior, were you?”
“What do you mean?” He acted innocent, but I could tell he was feigning that he didn’t know what I was talking about.
I smirked. “Entertaining lonely housewives.”
A dreamy expression crossed his handsome face. “There was one woman who I used to entertain.”
Jealousy flared hot even though his antics were over ten years ago, and I’d had no hold on him then.
“Or maybe she entertained me.” He smiled at me. “She used to tell me stories.”
He was talking about me. The green monster melted, replaced by that soft gooey sensation of love.
I rested my head on his shoulder. “You must have thought I was annoying.”
“No. I liked you. You never talked down to me. There were moments I thought maybe you had a crush on me.”
Heat flared on my cheeks.
“I nearly tested that theory when you were a senior.”
I jerked up straight and stared at him. “No? Really?”
“I told you that before.”
I bit my lower lip, not sure I wanted to know the answer to the question ripe in my mind. “Why didn’t you?”
“For one, you were only seventeen and I was twenty. Two, I was from the Hollow—”
I gave him a light whap on the arm. “You know I don’t care about that.”
“Other people would. And three, there was the fact that I was going into the military while you were going to college.”
That I could accept. I snuggled closer to him. “Things turned out okay.”
“I think so.”
“So, you don’t feel like you missed out on sowing your oats like Junior Junior.”
“No. I’m surprised he’s still at it. Or is he just back at it?”
“I don’t know. Vivie says he was in love with Marla, my friend that was murdered.”
“Oh God, Sophie, I’d forgotten about that. And here I was being an insensitive ass.”
“It’s alright.” I turned to look up him. “Do you think Junior Junior is the murdering type?”
AJ studied me for a moment. “You’re not sleuthing, are you? Because that didn’t go well last time.”
“What do you mean? I helped stop a murderer and drug dealer.” I was actually pretty proud of that.
“And you nearly got killed in the process.” He tugged on one of my curls.
That was true. I occasionally had nightmares about it. “No. I’m just curious. It’s a strange case. Marla didn’t get out much. She didn’t know a lot of people here. Who would want to kill her?”
“Maybe it was someone from her past.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “I think it must be her husband, but no one has ever seen him.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean no one has ever seen him. Marla said he was out of town a lot, but even her neighbors never actually saw him. What sort of marriage it is that he’s never home?”
“Maybe he doesn’t exist.”
“What?”
AJ shrugged. “Maybe she made him up.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
I couldn’t imagine that, and yet, it made as much sense as anything else.
“Are you sure Vivie didn’t do it?” AJ asked.
I laughed. “Am I sure? No. But I can’t imagine it. She says Junior Junior was in love with Marla and she acted like she accepted it.”
AJ scoffed. “I don’t think that was love.”
“Vivie said it was different with Marla. She said he wanted to d
o things right with her.” I frowned. “If she was married, why would he bother?”
“Marriage didn’t stop him before.”
“I don’t understand that either.”
“What?”
“Cheating.”
AJ stiffened. Considering the ordeal we’d been through that day, it probably wasn’t wise to bring it up again, but infidelity baffled me. If people didn’t love their partner enough to be faithful, perhaps they shouldn’t be together.
“Why are Vivie and Randy still together? Neither of them is faithful.”
“Don’t they have kids?”
“Yes, but it can’t be good for them that their parents don’t much like each other.”
“I don’t know.” AJ took my other hand, holding both of mine in his. His features grew serious. “You have to know I’d never cheat. I’ve never cheated.”
“Good to know.”
After AJ left later that evening, I entered the house, wondering if and what Aunt Rose might have to say about him. For as long as I could remember, Aunt Rose had the same attitude about people from the Hollow as most of the town did. Tonight, however, she didn’t treat AJ like pond scum. Sure, she was her same contrary self, but there wasn’t the hint of disdain I would have expected. Heck, she invited him for dinner. And he’d accepted. If that wasn’t love, I didn’t know what was.
Aunt Rose sat in her chair watching an episode of Deadly Women. I decided not to bother her, and she apparently had nothing to say to me, as she kept her eyes glued to the television. While my day ended well, I was exhausted from the emotional roller coaster, and decided to retire to my room. I changed into my PJs and got ready for bed. As I settled under the sheets, my phone pinged that I had a text.
Goodnight Warrior Princess
I’m sure my grin was goofy as I texted back.
Goodnight flyboy
Chapter Eleven
The next day I went to church with Aunt Rose. I think she hoped attending services would cleanse the taint of the Booty Burgo from me.
Later, AJ texted, inviting me to lunch, which we had as a picnic alongside the lake. It was such a lovely afternoon that I hated to leave, but I had my last shift of the week at the Booty Burgo. Randy wasn’t there, thank goodness. I wondered if that was a sign that he and Vivie had made up. Or maybe they were out mattress shopping. Whatever the reason, Sunday night at the Booty Burgo was uneventful.
Mondays and Tuesdays were my day off. I usually spent those days preparing for my library programs, and if AJ was home, we’d get together. On this particular Monday, AJ didn’t have a repo, but he said he had to do some research work for his boss Gordo, so we made plans to get together for a picnic on the lake later in the evening.
I spent the morning jotting down ideas for October’s monster theme at the library, and then finished planning for this week’s program on Awilda, a Scandinavian Pirate princess.
After that, I culled my coupons and spent some time studying the savings apps on my phone to figure out how and when to use them. Some offered coupons while others were rebate programs in which I had to take a picture of my receipt and submit it to earn points towards a rebate. Working on my coupons made me think of Marla and her tragic end. Who would have done such a thing? I couldn’t believe anyone in Jefferson Grove would kill a nice quiet woman in such a brutal way.
Maybe it wasn’t someone from Jefferson Grove. AJ suggested it was someone from her past. Had she moved here to hide from someone?
Or was it possible that a stranger killed her? Maybe it was robbery gone bad. Except, what robber wouldn’t steal anything of value from her home? That brought me back to her husband. Had he ever returned to town? Did he know what had happened to Marla?
I considered calling Lani to see if there was anything she could share about the case, but then I remembered AJ’s warning about not getting involved. I pushed that aside because my curiosity was piqued. Plus, what if the town was in danger? What if this was a random murder done by some crazed killer? It happened if the crime documentaries on IDTV were to be believed. The residents of Jefferson Grove could be in danger.
I picked up my phone to call Lani, and then reconsidered because she was at work and I didn’t want to jeopardize her job, especially by asking her for information she was likely not allowed to share. Instead, I decided to drive out to Monticello Heights to see if Mr. Naylor had finally come home.
As I drove up to the gatehouse guarding the elite residence of Monticello Heights, I ran through my head options for what I could say that would gain me entrance into the private community.
“Here to see Mrs. Danner again?” the guard asked.
That hadn’t been my concocted excuse, but I’d use it. “Yes.”
The gate opened. “Have a blessed day.”
I waved as I drove forward.
I parked on the street outside Marla’s house. I got out of the car and started up the walk. I could see the police tape on the door, a sure sign that Mr. Naylor hadn’t been home. I stopped to consider my next step. Surely, they’d let him in his own home. Then again, it was messy. Maybe he was staying at a hotel. I didn’t think I could live in a home that had blood splatter all over the living room.
Deciding there was nothing to see or learn there, I turned to leave when I heard a woman scream from the back of Marla’s home. Instinct had me hurrying to the side of the house and then back.
Common sense warned me to be careful. Normally I might not consider something evil related to a scream. In the rural area of a Virginia, a scream could mean spiders or snakes, falling off a ladder, or something that could be bad, but not necessarily sinister. However, just a few days ago, a brutal murder took place in this house. A scream out back could mean the murderer had returned.
I stopped near the backside of the house and peeked around the corner toward where I thought the scream had come from. Vivie stood at the edge of Marla’s garden with horror in her eyes and a shovel in her hand. At her feet, a body lay.
I came around the corner.
Vivie’s gaze jerked to me. “Oh God, Sophie. It’s Junior Junior.”
“What’d you do?” I moved toward Vivie, but not too close. After all, it appeared that she wacked Junior Junior with a shovel.
Her eyes showed confusion. “What?”
I nodded toward the shovel. “What did you do?”
She looked down at her hand. She dropped the shovel as if it burned her. Then her gaze returned to mine. “It wasn’t me. I found him like this.”
I knew I should check on Junior Junior. Perhaps he was just knocked out, although the blood and dent in the side of his head suggested a serious injury. I kicked the shovel away from Vivie. There was no way I was going to bend down with my back to her with the shovel in easy reach.
I bent my knees and used my fingers to search for a pulse on Junior Junior’s wrist, just like I saw in the movies. I couldn’t feel anything. Or maybe I did. I was shaking a bit and couldn’t be sure. I didn’t want to touch his neck as it was covered in blood. I noticed a faint lift in his chest, as if he’d taken a breath. I stood, pulled out my phone to call 9-1-1.
“What are you doing?” Vivie’s voice quivered.
“I’m calling for help.”
“Is he . . . is he dead?”
“I don’t think so.” The dispatcher picked up my call on the second ring. I told her my emergency and she gave me instructions on what to watch for and what to do.
“Who would do this?” Vivie’s eyes turned sad as she looked down on Junior Junior.
“I don’t know.” I studied her for a moment trying to decide if she was a great actress or if she was really upset and sad about her sometimes lover. “It can’t be a coincidence.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean Marla was killed in this house, and now Junior Junior, who you say loved her, has been attacke
d too.”
It took a moment for Vivie to register what I said. Then the ramifications followed. “I didn’t do this.”
“I didn’t say you did. But . . . Vivie . . . you touched the shovel.”
“What?”
“If he was hit with the shovel . . . you touched the shovel.”
The fear, terror returned to her eyes. In the distance, sirens sounded. She stepped back and for a minute I thought she was going to run. To be honest, that would have been my instinct too.
“Sophie, you have to believe me, I didn’t hurt him. The shovel was on him and I picked it up.”
“I believe you.” It was the truth even though I had no rational reason to trust her. The sirens sounded out front along with a screech that suggested help had arrived. “I should let the paramedics know where we are.” I had told the dispatcher we were out back, but it couldn’t hurt to make sure they knew where to look. Junior Junior didn’t look good and every second had to count.
“What’s going on?” Ellie Tappen appeared on her back porch.
“Something happened to Junior Junior Mason,” I answered as I headed toward the back corner of Marla’s house. Before I got there, two sheriff’s deputies rounded the side of the house.
“I called for medical help.”
“Because of an assault,” Deputy Lafferty, Lani’s husband said. “We need to check the area. The paramedics are right behind us.”
I looked toward the road where a red rescue vehicle and an ambulance pulled in. The deputies searched the area, telling me, Vivie and Ellie to stay where we were. When they were done with their check of the area, they motioned for the paramedics to help Junior Junior.
“Over here.” I pointed to where Junior Junior lay at the base of Marla’s tomato plants.
“Stand back,” The female paramedic said to Ellie who was moving toward us.
“Vivie.”
She was transfixed on Junior Junior and I wondered if she was in shock. “Vivie. Come over here. Let’s get out of the way.” I put my hand on her forearm and gently guided her away from the body and toward Ellie.
“Goodness gracious, who’d do such a thing to poor Junior Junior?” Ellie watched the paramedics from the side of her yard.