Ghostly Distress (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 9)

by Lily Harper Hart

  Molly shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just curious why Jared didn’t propose.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” Zander said, chuckling. “I honestly think the thought never crossed his mind because he was too focused on the house. Now that it’s been brought up, though, I’m pretty sure that’s all he’s going to be thinking about.”

  Harper’s mouth dropped open. “That’s what you wanted all along, isn’t it? You wanted someone to ask Jared why he didn’t propose. You would’ve done it yourself, but you knew he would ignore the question if it came from you.”

  Zander adopted an innocent expression. “I have no idea what you mean. I thought you wanted to go out to the barn to put Ezra Standish to bed before dark. Wasn’t that the plan? Isn’t that why we stopped here for equipment?”

  “Oh, don’t do that.” Harper made an admonishing sound in the back of her throat as she wagged her finger. “I know exactly what you’re doing and I don’t like it. At all. I mean … even a little.”

  “That’s rich coming from you given how you were instructing Molly to manipulate Eric to get what she wants.”

  “That’s different,” Harper protested. “That was about training him to put the toilet seat down – which is something all men should automatically do, by the way – and not about trying to trick a man into proposing when he’s not ready.”

  “Who said anything about tricking him?” Zander was affronted. “I want him to be fully cognizant of his actions when he does it. Oh, and mark my words, Harp, he’s going to do it a lot sooner now because it’s in his brain and he won’t be able to shake it.”

  Harper openly gaped. “You think he’s going to propose?”

  “I think Christmas and Valentine’s Day are right around the corner and Jason opened his big, fat mouth at the exact right time. Sure, Jason asked for different reasons than me – he’s hopeful he still has a shot – but the outcome was the same. You’re going to end up with a husband out of this. You’re welcome.”

  It took everything Harper had not to launch herself across the desk so she could wrap her hands around Zander’s neck. “We should probably be going.” She was terse, her tone cold. “We have things to do.”

  “That’s what I said five minutes ago.”

  “While we’re doing those things, we’re going to have a really long talk.”

  Zander heaved out a sigh. “Fine. If we’re going to talk, though, we’re going to put multiple things on the table. I want to talk about the color pink for your kitchen, for example. If we’re going to talk, we’re going to talk about all of it.”

  “Fine,” Harper gritted out.

  “Great.” Zander brightened considerably. “Do you want to stop for pumpkin lattes on the way?”

  “Of course. We’re not animals.”

  MARK CROWLEY WAS OBVIOUSLY caught off guard when he showed Jared and Mel into his office. He wasn’t expecting an interruption – in fact had strictly forbidden his secretary from bothering him – and was mildly agitated (to say the least) when she timidly knocked on his door. After explaining exactly who was there, though, Mark had no choice but to allow the two men into his office.

  “This is a nice surprise,” Mark drawled. “I can’t remember the last time I got to spend more than five minutes in the same week with members of Whisper Cove’s finest.”

  “Cut the crap, Mark,” Mel chided. “We don’t need you to blow sunshine up our behinds. We’re well aware you’re not happy to see us.”

  “Whew!” Mark mockingly swiped at his brow. “I’m glad that’s out in the open.” He rolled his eyes as he sat. “What are you guys doing here? I assume it has something to do with Maggie, although for the life of me I can’t figure out what because I’ve told you everything I know.”

  “And we believed you at the time,” Jared supplied. “Unfortunately for you, a few things have come up over the course of our investigation and now we have more questions.”

  “And what might those questions be?”

  “For starters, did you have a romantic relationship with Maggie?”

  Whatever he was expecting, that wasn’t it. Mark was either genuinely flabbergasted or one of the best actors Jared had ever crossed paths with.

  “Did you just ask if I was … you know, doing stuff … with Maggie?” Mark swallowed hard. “I can’t believe you actually asked me that.”

  “Well, believe it.” Mel was firm. “The girl had a certain reputation and you came up in regard to her plans for this bank so we have to ask.”

  Mark wrinkled his brow. “I don’t know what that means.”

  “Then let us break it down for you,” Jared suggested. “Maggie was after money. She didn’t care who she had to date to get it.”

  “I believe I’m the one who told you that.”

  “Not the only one. A lot of other people told us the same. She was jumping from man to man in an effort to find someone to fund a lifestyle she could enjoy. She didn’t care about looks or pedigree. She only cared about money, and that includes going after married men.”

  “I’m a married man,” Mark reminded them. “I have a wife and two children. How can you possibly think that I would have a relationship with Maggie? The entire thing is … ludicrous.”

  There was something about the way Mark reacted to the accusation that set Jared’s teeth on edge. He couldn’t decide if he believed the man – and he was leaning toward a resounding “no” on that front – but there was nothing to indicate he was lying either. Everything felt more unsettled than nefarious.

  “Ludicrous, huh?” Jared exchanged a quick look with Mel. “What would you say if I told you that Maggie was openly plotting with several younger men to find a way into the bank vault?”

  “What?”

  Jared nodded. “She was. She talked to at least two people we’ve questioned and she was trying to come up with a way to break into the vault so she could steal. One of those plans included seducing you.”

  Mark’s face turned red as he fidgeted with his tie, loosening it so he could breathe. “That is ridiculous. I would say I don’t believe you.”

  “It’s true, though,” Mel said. “Maggie was openly talking with two guys and trying to get them to help her steal from the bank. I don’t believe she stumbled across a plan that would work, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t going to give it the old college try.

  “The thing is, the second plan involved you in a way that makes me curious whether she at least tried to implement it,” he continued. “The plan was to seduce you, make you trust her, then drug you one night after sex. Once that task was complete, she was going to steal the vault key and take her accomplice to the location so they could load up.”

  Mark grew redder. “But that makes no sense. It never would’ve worked. She would need more than the key to put that plan into action.”

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the plan would’ve worked,” Mel noted. “I don’t think Maggie was smart enough to make it work. I think she had a dream she couldn’t see past. That dream was being rich and buying whatever she wanted without having to work for it. That doesn’t mean she wasn’t plotting.”

  “But … no.” Mark vehemently shook his head. “She would need more than the vault key. You need two vault keys. Two people have to put their keys in at the same time to get it to open. The system was designed that way.”

  “Okay, so who else has vault keys?”

  “Five people here have keys. Other than me, three of them are women. I don’t see how Maggie thought she would be able to get her hands on two keys.”

  “Did everyone here know you needed two keys?”

  “Well … .” Mark broke off as he tilted his head to the side. “I don’t know. The vault is on the basement floor and the tellers aren’t allowed to go down there. We usually have the day’s money upstairs and divided into boxes by the time the tellers arrive. Those boxes are kept in a separate, much smaller vault.” He appeared lost in thought. “You only need on
e key to open that vault. Not much money is kept there, though.”

  “Maggie might not have realized that,” Jared said. “She might have thought you kept everything in the smaller vault. I’m starting to get the feeling she wasn’t the sharpest key on the ring.”

  “I guess.” Mark scratched his chin. “Who was she working with to accomplish this?”

  “Two men who didn’t really want to rob the bank,” Mel replied. “They basically enjoyed flirting with Maggie – maybe more, who knows – and they put up with her bank robbing tall tales to keep the relationships going. I don’t get the feeling that either of them were actually willing to risk robbing the bank.”

  “So, what does that have to do with Maggie’s murder?”

  “We don’t know.” Jared opted for telling the truth. “It could have nothing to do with it. The thing is, I can tell something is up with you. I don’t know what that something is, but you’re very obviously hiding something from us. We can’t help unless you tell us.”

  “Is that true, Mark?” Mel prodded. “Are you hiding something from us?”

  “I’m hiding something … different,” Mark replied, resigned. “It’s not that I was hiding something from you as much as I simply didn’t want anyone to know. It puts my marriage at risk.”

  “You slept with Maggie, didn’t you?” Jared made a tsking sound and shook his head. “You let her seduce you and now you feel like an idiot because of it.”

  “I didn’t let her seduce me,” Mark shot back. “I don’t like that word, by the way. It’s a stupid word and makes me sound weak when I wasn’t weak.”

  “So how would you describe it?”

  “It’s not what you think.” Mark was adamant. “Also, I didn’t have sex with Maggie. I know you think I did, but I didn’t. I’m not that stupid.”

  Jared scratched at an invisible itch on the side of his nose, legitimately baffled. “If you didn’t have sex with Maggie, what’s the problem?”

  “I did have sex with Heather Bancroft.” Mark was sheepish as he shifted on his chair. “I don’t really want to admit this, for the record, but I don’t see where I have a choice. Heather and Maggie were roommates. If Maggie had a plan, odds are Heather was probably in on the plan.”

  “Definitely.”

  This time when Mel and Jared exchanged looks they were less sure of what they were about to uncover.

  “You’d better tell us about it,” Mel said. “We can’t figure this out if you hold anything back.”

  “I’m going to tell you,” Mark promised. “I just … can we keep it from my wife? I don’t want to lose my marriage over this. I was an idiot thinking a young girl who looked like that really wanted me, but I don’t want to lose my marriage for being stupid.”

  “I don’t know that we can promise that, but we’ll do our absolute best,” Mel said. “I don’t see why your wife would need to find out, but I can’t see all the answers right now. We need a picture and you seem to be the only one who can paint it for us.”

  “Then I guess I’d better start painting.” Mark heaved out a long-suffering sigh. “It all started when Heather and I were working late about a month ago. I thought she was being flirty but … I’m starting to think it was something else.”

  Jared leaned back in his chair to listen to the tale. The story kept getting more and more convoluted and yet they had no idea which player was masquerading as a killer. They needed answers, and they needed them fast. Jared was sure that something else would happen if they didn’t find out the truth sooner rather than later.

  19

  Nineteen

  Harper was in the mood to fight when she landed at the barn, but Zander was too cagey to be manipulated into a screaming match when he sensed he wasn’t in a position to win.

  “I’ll handle the perimeter.” Zander was pragmatic when he wanted to be. “That way you’ll be able to prod Ezra Standish across the line without risking someone coming inside and interrupting you.”

  Harper narrowed her eyes. “I know what you’re doing.”

  “I’m being a good friend.”

  “I know what you’re really doing.” Harper extended a warning finger. “We’re going to talk about this later.”

  “Talk about what?” Zander feigned innocence. “I have no idea what you’re going on about.”

  Harper was at her limit. “I don’t want you pressuring Jared. He’s not ready for marriage. If you push him … .” Harper trailed off, uncertain.

  For the first time since the conversation started, Zander realized there were a bevy of emotions fueling her besides simple agitation with his busybody nature. “What do you think is going to happen?” Zander was serious. “Do you think that Jared is suddenly going to cut ties with you simply because I mess with him?”

  “Of course not.”

  Harper’s answer was a little too hurried for Zander’s liking.

  “No, you do.” Zander made a clucking sound with his tongue. “You think I could chase away Jared.”

  “I do not.” Harper’s temper fired. “I know Jared isn’t that way.”

  “But?”

  “But … .” Harper didn’t have an answer and that frustrated her more than anything. “Just stop giving him grief. He doesn’t deserve it. We’re both excited about moving in together. I don’t want anything to ruin our plans.”

  Zander’s expression was hard to read as he took a long moment to look over the woman who had been his best friend for so long he couldn’t remember a time in his life where she didn’t claim a prominent role. “I’m not going to ruin this for you.” He was serious. “That’s the last thing I want. I mean … absolute last thing. I know you love him. More importantly, I know he loves you. He’s not going to run.”

  “I don’t believe he’s going to run.” Harper meant it. “I don’t want you forcing him into proposing before he’s ready either. He would do it simply because he thought it would make me happy, and that’s not what I want.”

  Zander widened his eyes. “What do you want?”

  “I want it to happen when it’s supposed to happen. Jared will know when that is. There’s no reason to hurry it. We’re happy. We’re having a good time. We don’t need to rush it.”

  “I never said you did.”

  “No, but you’re trying to manipulate Jared into proposing long before he’s ready and I don’t like that in the least.” Harper was firm. “Leave him be. I love him the way he is and want him to do things on his own timetable.

  “I love you, too, but you have a tendency to push to get your own way,” she continued. “That is not what I want. You need to step back and give him some breathing room. I’m not kidding.”

  Zander considered pushing the matter further but ultimately changed his mind. Harper’s distress at the idea of forcing a timetable that Jared wasn’t ready for was interesting – something he would have to give a lot of thought to later – but she was obviously serious and the last thing he wanted was to rain on her parade. “I won’t push him.”

  “Thank you.” Harper moved to climb out of his truck. “Now, let’s get our stuff and get this over with. We have another tour tonight and then that’s it. The rest of the Halloween season will belong to us … including the big town costume party, which I’m really looking forward to attending with Jared this year.”

  “Then let’s get this done.” Zander was all business. “I’ll run the perimeter and leave you to handle the ghost. If you need me go ahead and call.”

  “I’m sure I can handle this one alone.”

  “I’m sure you can, too. Still … I’m supposed to be your backup. That’s my job.”

  Harper took them both by surprise when she rolled to the balls of her feet and planted a kiss on Zander’s cheek. “You’re good at your job … at least most of the time.”

  “All of the time,” Zander corrected. “I’m a freaking maestro when it comes to being your backup.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Harper said the words, but they were la
cking in fortitude. “Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

  “Sure.” Zander bobbed his head agreeably. “After that, we’re going to talk about what great backup I am even though you don’t seem to believe it.”

  Harper rolled her eyes. “I should’ve seen that coming.”

  “You definitely should have.”

  HEATHER WAS A BASKET OF nerves when Mel and Jared drew her away from her window and into a small meeting room off the bank’s main lobby. The look on her face reflected abject fear and Jared was sure she would crack relatively quickly.

  “I don’t understand why you want to talk to me.” Heather wrung her hands together as she sat across the table and studied Jared and Mel’s serious faces. “I haven’t done anything.”

  “I’m kind of curious why you assume that we believe you have done something,” Mel said gently. “What would lead you to believe that?”

  Heather made an exasperated face. “Well, you insisted on taking me from my window even though my shift isn’t done yet. That’s a dead giveaway.”

  “Kind of,” Mel agreed. “Of course, we are investigating the death of your roommate and we might simply have some follow-up questions for you. Did you consider that?”

  Heather shook her head so hard the flaxen tresses flew from one side to the other. “No. You think I’ve done something. I haven’t, though.”

  “Why don’t you let us be the judge of that?” Jared suggested, shifting on the chair so he could get more comfortable. “We need to know when Maggie enlisted you to join her cause to rob the bank.”

  Before pulling Heather away from her post, Mel and Jared agreed the best way to question her was to pretend they already knew the answers. That was the tack Jared took now.

  Heather’s face turned sheet white. “What?”

  “You heard me.” Jared was calm. “We need to know when Maggie enlisted you to help with her plan and how far you guys actually plotted. We also want to know whether or not you fought because we’re trying to ascertain if you had anything to do with Maggie’s death.

  Heather was dumbfounded. “You think I killed Maggie?”