Escape to Sampson's Quarry (A Sampson's Quarry Mystery - Book Two)

by Sophie Tucker

  Bri laughed nervously. "It's nothing. Just telemarketers."

  "I think it's more than that," Lucas said sounding angry.

  Reese turned to Brie and asked, "Is that why you were so panicked at the post office the other night?"

  Before Bri could answer, her brother asked, "What happened at the post office?"

  "Your sister didn’t tell you?" Reese asked him.

  "No, not a word," Lucas replied and swore under his breath, whether it was because she had been upset at the post office or because she had not mentioned it, Reese was not sure.

  They were all looking at Bri. She moved around the chairs to sit on the couch. "It's nothing really. I was preoccupied while picking up my mail. I heard a strange noise and got spooked in the post office. Detective Reese happened to be there and helped calm me down before I came home."

  Reese watched Bri’s brother and knew that he was not any more convinced than Reese was. Lucas seemed to be biting his tongue and Reese decided to follow his lead. He would let it go for the time being.

  The moment was broken when the doorbell rang, followed by several swift and sharp knocks on the door. Bri stiffened where she sat on the couch. She looked as though she wanted to say something when the person on the other side of the door called out, "China Palace."

  Haley laughed nervously, moving around Lucas to start toward the door.. "It must be dinner."

  "Oh," Reese said and stood up. “I should be going.”

  Haley stopped and asked, "Would you like to join us for dinner? I ordered more than enough food."

  "No, I do not want to intrude," Reese said already, taking a step toward the door.

  "No, you wouldn't be. Please stay," Bri told him. "There will be mountains of leftovers if you don’t."

  "Well, in that case then, yes. That would be nice." He smiled at Bri. "Thank you."

  Lucas and Haley set two large bags down on the table.

  “I’ll go grab another plate,” Bri said. “Reese, would you like something to drink? Are you on duty? We have beer, water, soda…”

  “Water’s fine,” he told her from the doorway, hoping he had not startled her. “I am not on duty but I have to drive home.”

  “Is it far?” Bri asked, handing him a bottle of water.

  Reese shrugged. “It’s not too far, fifteen minutes or so away. I have to drive through the center of town though so that always slows things down.”

  Bri carried the extra plate and utensils into the other room, saying over her shoulder, “I will make sure to remind Nancy that you stopped in the office.”

  “Oh, Reese, are you moving?” Haley was opening all of the to go containers. “I hope not out of Sampson’s Quarry.”

  He chuckled. “No, I am actually looking to buy a house here.” It had started out as a quick explanation so that he could check in with Bri, but it seemed like the more he talked about it the better it actually sounded. “I have lived here for about a year now, and I think maybe it’s time to look for something more permanent.”

  “That’s great,” Haley said and held up a container. “Sesame chicken?”

  “Thanks,” Reese said and took the container. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was, but thinking back, he had somehow forgotten to eat lunch.

  “I am starting to think that I’ll need to ask your boss for help,” Lucas said.

  “With the camp? I thought you had something lined up in Fairview.” Bri sat down on the floor next to the empty chair. “You were on the phone for hours last week.”

  Lucas snorted and shook his head. “It fell through. My realtor told the buyer about my project and the seller pulled out. He told everyone in Fairview that the property was going to be overrun with criminals.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous.” Bri said, setting her plate on the table.

  “Would this be a bad time to ask what we are talking about?” Reese had tried to follow the conversation without asking questions.

  “No, not at all,” Lucas said. “I want to open a camp for underprivileged children. Somewhere fun where they can learn how to fish, camp, and other outdoor activities.”

  Reese didn’t know what he had expected but Lucas’s answer had surprised him. He recovered quickly saying, “That’s great.”

  “I am not sure it will ever really happen though, since I can’t seem to find a piece of property for the camp.”

  “Have you looked here in Sampson’s Quarry?” Reese was running through the different areas outside of town.

  Lucas frowned. “No, I really hadn’t thought of it.

  “You should. There’s an abandoned tree farm on the north end of town. It might be perfect for what you want. I am pretty sure it goes all the way back to Buckley Lake.”

  “If you want, I can ask Nancy about the property,” Bri offered.

  “Yeah, it sounds like it would be perfect. I was planning on staying in Fairview, but I might have to rethink it.” He looked apologetically at Haley who smiled encouragingly back.

  Seeing the exchange, Reese turned to ask, “Haley, when will you be returning to Fairview?”

  “I don’t know actually. I quit my job before coming to visit Bri. I have been looking for jobs, but I haven’t found anything but some office jobs.”

  “You’re a photographer, right?” he asked, remembering what had been listed on the original report, as well as the photos she had taken of the suspect and his car.

  “Yes. I worked at a small portrait studio in Fairview,” she told him.

  “You should go talk to Doug Crandall. He has a photo studio off the town square. His assistant got married about two months ago and moved back east somewhere. I don’t think he’s hired anyone yet.”

  Haley sat there for a moment. She looked at Lucas who smiled at her and she said, “I might as well.”

  “If you decide to move to Sampson’s Quarry, you can live here with me,” Bri said with a laugh. “You said the guest room was bigger than your bedroom in Fairview.”

  “Honestly, it’s nearly as big as my entire apartment,” Haley started to laugh.

  She was acting as though it was no big deal, but Reese could tell that Bri was overjoyed at the thought of her brother and her best friend moving to Sampson’s Quarry.

  5

  Bri had already checked the appointment book twice and made sure that Nancy's phone line was clear before she got up from her desk. The door to Nancy's office was already open, but Bri stopped in the doorway and knocked lightly on the door.

  Nancy looked up from her computer screen. "Bri, hi. Do you have a question?"

  "If you have a minute, I would like to talk to you about a few things.”

  “Sure.” Nancy leaned back in her high-backed office chair. “What have you got for me?”

  “Well, the first thing is a potential home buyer that stopped by a couple of days ago. It's Detective Reese from the Sampson’s Quarry Police Department."

  “Detective Reese, I don't think I've met him before," Nancy said, motioning for Bri to sit down in one of the chairs opposite her desk.

  "He is very nice. I have met him a couple times, as he has stopped by to talk to my brother and my friend, Haley, about the car accident and the disappearance of the Hamilton woman."

  "Right, that was so crazy."

  Bri nodded. "I know, it really was. Detective Reese has been very nice and understanding throughout the whole thing."

  "That's fantastic."

  “He stopped by the office the other day inquiring about buying a house. I had left the information on your desk. I guess he's only lived here about a year, but he is ready to look for a house.”

  Nancy chuckled. “I am not surprised. Sampson’s Quarry tends to grow on people pretty quickly.”

  "It really does,” Bri agreed. “Ironically, that exactly relates to my second topic. My brother, Lucas, has actually been looking for some property to start a camp for underprivileged children. He was looking at property back in Fairview, but he has had some issues with his real es
tate agent.”

  “That is unfortunate. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Bri smiled, appreciative that Nancy was nice and so quick to offer to help. “Yes, Detective Reese said that there was an abandoned tree farm north of Sampson’s Quarry that might be perfect for a camp."

  "He must be talking about the old Anderson Farm.” She tapped her pen on the desk while she thought. "As far as I know, it's still on the market. It has a lot of acreage; it would be perfect for a camp."

  "That’s great news,” Bri said, starting to stand up. “I will get their information to you as soon as possible."

  "No, don't do that."

  Bri sank back down into the chair, more than a little confused. "No?"

  "No," Nancy said with a smile. "I think you should do the preliminary search for both of them."

  "Me?" Bri asked, not quite sure she had heard Nancy correctly.

  "I have been wanting to give you some more responsibilities, and I think this would be a good start. You have been doing a great job here. I know that you are already familiar with the listings and doing preliminary searches. You want to try it?"

  "Yes! Absolutely." Bri said suddenly excited, bolstered by Nancy’s praise.

  "I have to admit I was a little apprehensive when I hired you because you would be so new to Sampson’s Quarry. I was afraid that you wouldn’t like it here and you would leave. I was a little concerned, that even if you did stay, that you wouldn’t know the town well enough to help our clients.”

  It was a bit sobering hearing that Nancy had almost passed on hiring her. "Of course, it makes a lot of sense."

  “It was your enthusiasm for striking out and learning new things that made me want to hire you.”

  Bri could not hide her relief. "Thank you so much for taking a chance on me."

  "Thank you so much for your hard work. Don't think I haven't noticed you studying the map on the wall or the old map books in the bottom drawer of your desk. Not only have I noticed, but I totally appreciate you doing your best to make Redmond Realty as successful as possible."

  "You are welcome and thank you. I really like it here in Sampson’s Quarry and, honestly, this is the best job I have ever had. I love that I get to assist you in helping people find their new homes. That's really important."

  It was the truth too. Bri had really enjoyed her time living in Sampson’s Quarry. It made her feel guilty and sad, though. As much as she wanted to stay, she still worried that she might have to move again and possibly soon. Sitting up a little straighter, Bri made a promise to herself that she would stop thinking about it. She had things to do right now and she would deal with problems if and when they appeared.

  "Bri, I have a proposition for you." Nancy leaned forward, her elbows on the desk.

  "A proposition?" Bri repeated.

  "If you are willing and agreeable, I would like to sponsor you for classes to become a real estate agent. If you are ready, of course; if you want to wait the offer will still stand."

  Bri was thankful that she was still sitting down. She was shocked and excited and so unbelievably pleased that she could barely speak, "Yes, I would I would love to take classes for my real estate agent certification.”

  Nancy stood up. "Great. I will look into the classes and we'll get together to see how to work your schedule so you can do both." Nancy extended her hand to shake Bri’s.

  "Thank you so much." Bri turned to leave but stopped to say, "I won't let you down."

  "I never thought you would."

  As Bri walked back to her desk, she marveled at the sudden change in her attitude. Maybe she would have to fight harder to keep what she wanted. It was clearer now, more than ever, that she wanted to stay in Sampson’s Quarry.

  "What did you find out about the Hamilton case?" Danvers asked while squinting at his computer screen.

  "Both Ms. Gardner and Mr. Caldwell identified the vehicle, based on the photos showing the passenger side of the vehicle. Mr. Caldwell even commented that he wanted to see photos of the other side of the vehicle, predicting that it would have damage along the side."

  Danvers chuckled. "He was definitely right about that. Of course, the silver car was in much better shape than that black one that we found at the bottom of the ravine."

  By the time Reese had gotten to the scene, the vehicle had been hauled away, but he had seen the photos of the mangled metal both in the ravine and after it had been pulled up to the road. "Absolutely. I still don't know how Owens walked away from that one."

  “I guess it must've been all of that training he had in the service. What was it, the Marines?" Danvers asked, still hunched over his computer keyboard.

  "Yes, it was the Marines. After his time in the service, he spent time as a bodyguard and then working as head of security for Mr. Hamilton."

  "And Ms. Gardner, how is she doing? Has she recovered from her injuries?"

  Reese set down his coffee cup and said, "Yes, she and Mr. Caldwell even talked about having gone hiking, so she appears to be completely recovered."

  Reese began thinking about Bri and her nervousness. Not to mention her brother's concern about the phone calls.

  "Hey, Danvers, has anyone reported issues with hang-up calls recently?" Periodically, nervous teenagers or practical jokers would make a rash of phone calls. This did not really read like that, but it made sense for Reese to ask.

  Danvers looked over at him, frowning. "Hang-up calls? No, why do you ask?"

  "When I was over talking to Ms. Gardner, the phone rang and it was clearly a hang-up call. Mr. Caldwell mentioned that his sister had been receiving quite a few of them."

  Danvers’s eyes narrowed. "That doesn’t sound good."

  “That was my thought as well. Ms. Caldwell seems to think that we are worrying over nothing." Reese did not like it one bit, but until Bri was ready to talk about it, he was at a loss as to how to handle it.

  "You could put a trace on her phone and find out real quick." Danvers reminded him.

  Reese nodded. The thought had occurred to him as well, but he felt that he should be careful not to overstep the situation with Bri. He had to admit to himself that he liked her much more than just professionally, and he did not want to do anything that would compromise that. "I think I will try to get some more information first."

  "Hey, whatever works." Danvers went back to his typing. "Keep me posted, man."

  "Will do," Reese said, picking up a folder. He had just begun to read the report when his phone rang. With a sigh, he put the paper down and answered his phone. "Reese."

  "Hi, hello, uhmm… Detective Reese. This is Bri Caldwell calling from Redmond Realty."

  Reese smiled at her nervousness. "Hello, Bri. How are you today?"

  "Great! Thanks for asking. How are you?"

  "So far, so good. What can I do for you?"

  "I am calling to follow up with our conversation about finding a house for you. I spoke with Nancy, and if it is acceptable to you, I can get the preliminary search started for possible houses."

  When Bri paused, Reese didn't hesitate to say, "I am perfectly agreeable with going forward with you. Not a problem."

  "Great." He could hear paper shuffling in the background. "When would be a good time for you to meet?"

  "I have tomorrow off. Will that work for you?"

  "Absolutely. I have some appointments open in the afternoon. How about four o’clock?"

  "Sounds great." To Reese's utter surprise, he heard himself suggest, "Why don't we meet at Barney's Coffee Shop?"

  "Oh, that should be fine," Bri said hesitantly.

  "I just thought it would be a good place since it's between your office and the station." Reese shook his head, disgusted at himself. It did not matter that it was close to the station, he admonished himself. He had just told her he was not working tomorrow.

  "No. It's a great idea. We'll have much more room to look at listings and different ideas."

  "Great," Reese said, wishing he would just
shut up.

  "Okay, great," she started, but her voice trailed off, probably also noticing they had said the word great approximately five thousand times in the last five minutes. "I will see you tomorrow at 4:00 at Barney’s Coffee Shop."

  "Yes, see you then," Reese said and then ended the call.

  Reese sat at his desk for a moment. "What are you smiling at?" Danvers asked.

  "Mind your own business," he said good-naturedly.

  Danvers shook his head. "Minding my own business never got me anywhere."

  "Well, butting into my business isn’t going to get you anywhere either." Reese said, laughing to himself.

  Reese was thinking about Bri and how she seemed like two different people at times. In the realty office and on the phone, she was slightly nervous but confident at the same time. Conversely, at the post office and at her home last night, she was skittish and frightened. He had seen that kind of behavior before, mostly with victims of domestic violence, but without knowing her whole story, he did not know what to think. What he did know was that he did not want to do anything that would upset her or scare her off. He was resigned to the fact that he would need to take his time to find out what was going on. It meant that he would need to spend more time with Bri, and Reese couldn’t really complain about that.

  6

  "Bri, I am heading out to meet with some clients. I'll probably be driving them around Glen Hills. They still aren't sure what neighborhood they want, but given their budget, I'm thinking they'll like that area." Nancy said as she came out of her office and stopped in front of Bri’s desk.

  "There are some beautiful homes there.” Bri had been researching the different neighborhoods of Sampson’s Quarry all day. Glen Hills was a rather exclusive area, and the houses there came with fairly high price tags. “Good luck. Hopefully, we won’t get any more rain."

  "I hope not. Today will be difficult enough without adding rain to it. I know you have your meeting with Detective Reese coming up soon. Go ahead and lock up the office for the day and you can just go home after the meeting is over."

  Bri nodded. "Okay, thank you."