Deadly Summer (Darling Investigations Book 1)

by Denise Grover Swank

  Dixie pulled out her phone and opened her photo app. “We can say you saw him in one of my photos.” She started scrolling and brought up a photo of Ryker next to Dixie in what was obviously a selfie. She was smiling, but she didn’t look like her perky self, while Ryker’s expression suggested he was granting her a huge favor for taking part.

  “Isn’t it gonna look like a huge coincidence if I call Luke after he was just in the morgue?” I asked.

  “That’s why you’re gonna call Cale.”

  I felt better about calling Cale, but I was still overwhelmed by what I’d jumped into. This wasn’t just a lame reality show. This was life and death, and I felt supremely unqualified to have any part of it. “I’m a coward,” I whispered.

  “You’re not a coward, Summer.”

  I sat there for a moment, staring out at the cars in the parking lot. No. Dixie was wrong. I’d been a coward most of my life. I’d let my mother boss me around and put me in those stupid pageants. I’d let her strong-arm me into going to Hollywood. I’d let her get away with stealing all my money to avoid a scandal and a fuss. I could have figured out another way to deal with her than a public court battle. And now here I was back in Sweet Briar because I had eagerly accepted someone else’s solution for fixing everything—money—rather than coming up with one of my own.

  For twenty-nine years, I’d let circumstances rule my life because I was too scared to take charge and navigate. It was time to grab the steering wheel.

  “Do you really think we can do this?” I asked.

  “Figure out who killed them both?” She nodded. “I’ve been watchin’ you when you interview people, Summer. You know what to ask and how to put someone at ease. You’ve got an instinct for this. I think you can.” She grinned. “Maybe you were so good as Isabella Holmes because you’re a natural detective.”

  Which meant maybe I wasn’t a very good actress after all. But that was an issue for another day, because my brain felt like it had just finished a triathlon after a three-day fast. “Don’t sell yourself short. You have a knack for this too.” I gave her a small grin. “Maybe it’s in the Baumgartner blood.”

  A soft smile lifted the corners of her mouth, mirroring mine. “Yeah.”

  Maybe Dixie was looking for a purpose too. I realized that’s what I’d really been looking for—a purpose. I’d just been too stupid to realize it.

  When these two weeks were up, what if I stayed and did this for real?

  It was too soon to be considering something like that, and I sure couldn’t mention it to Dixie and get her hopes up. “We need a plan for tomorrow. It’s gonna be hard doing these side investigations along with the ones Lauren picks out for us.”

  “Yeah. Agreed.” She stood and moved behind my chair. “But right now we’re headin’ back to your room. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

  “I think I just want to go home.”

  “But you’re still hurt. They want to keep you overnight.”

  “Just to make sure I don’t fall into a coma, and the nurse said that wasn’t likely to happen. Maybe you could check on me a couple of times to make sure I’m still breathing.”

  She stopped pushing. “I don’t know, Summer.”

  “You don’t have to check on me. I’ll just set an alarm, and if you hear it goin’ off, maybe check on me then.”

  “Not that!” she protested. “I don’t mind checkin’ on you. I just hate to bring you home if you need to be here.”

  “Look, I’ve been traipsing around the morgue, big as you please. Obviously I can walk. And I asked the nurse about goin’ back to work, and she seemed to think it would be fine if I take it slow and sit a lot.” When she still looked unsure, I said, “Please, Dixie? The thought of sleepin’ in that hospital room, knowing those two guys are under the same roof, gives me the creeps.”

  She put her hand on my shoulder. “Okay. I’ll take you home.”

  Getting the nurse to agree wasn’t easy, but in the end, I told her that it was my decision, not hers. I was taking charge of my life, and this was the first decision made by the new me.

  Dixie found my clothes in the cabinet, and I put them on, already feeling exhausted. I wondered if the nurse was right and I needed to stay and let them watch over me for one more night. But all I had to do was think about the two bodies in the morgue.

  Nope. I was leaving.

  I called Cale on the way home. A half hour wasn’t going to make any difference, and we had no idea who’d be listening in the hospital. But when I placed the call, it went straight to voice mail.

  “He’s probably busy,” Dixie said. “Or sleepin’. If he found Ryker in the middle of the night, he’s been up for hours.”

  “True.” But about two minutes later, my phone rang with a call from Cale’s number.

  “Summer?” he asked, sounding on edge. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” I said. A wave of exhaustion washed over me, and I closed my eyes. “I just found out something that might help you.”

  “Whew. Okay. What?”

  “I was just lookin’ at Dixie’s photos, and she showed me one that had her ex-boyfriend in it. The man who dropped the money was her ex, Ryker, not Ed. Are you sure Ed picked up the money?”

  I knew Ryker was dead, but of course Cale didn’t know that, so I wasn’t surprised when he was quiet for a couple of seconds. Finally, he said, “So I was hoodwinked.”

  His voice was so full of self-recrimination, I almost felt guilty for telling him. “Maybe.”

  He was silent again, then groaned. “Can I ask you a huge favor?”

  “Yeah . . .”

  “Can you keep this to yourself? Luke’s already lookin’ over my shoulder with this murder like I’m a rookie cop, and if he finds out about the money . . .”

  “You’re asking me to lie to Luke?”

  “No, of course not, but it’s not like it would come up in normal conversation, right?” He groaned. “Never mind. I have no right to ask.”

  He was right. It wasn’t likely to come up in casual conversation, not that we’d be having any conversations. “If he flat-out asks, I won’t keep it from him, but otherwise I see no reason to bring it up. It’s not like I’ll be seeing much of him.”

  Cale laughed. “He’s still got a thing for you, Summer. I asked him how he’d feel about me asking you out, and he nearly had a stroke. I wouldn’t put it past him to stand guard outside your hospital room tonight.”

  “Well, he’d be wasting his time because I got an early discharge, and Dixie is takin’ me home.”

  Cale chuckled then turned serious. “Thanks for your call, Summer.”

  “Yeah, no problem.” After I hung up, I relayed everything to Dixie, but she’d figured out most of it already.

  “Should I be worried Cale asked me to keep it from Luke?”

  “Nah, those two are friends, but they are as different as night and day. Cale’s more of a good ol’ boy, while Luke’s more by the book. They clash over it sometimes. And Ed and Ryker did deal in cash, so I can see why he just handed it over, especially if Ed showed up askin’ about it right after you turned it in.”

  We were quiet the rest of the way home, mostly because I kept drifting off to sleep.

  Meemaw was standing at the front door when we got back to the farm. She came out to the porch and stared at me with her eagle eyes.

  When Dixie opened the door, Meemaw called out, “I thought you was supposed to stay overnight.”

  “Since when do Baumgartners do what they’re told?” I answered back. My head was still pounding, and it took plenty of effort to make the response sound sassy.

  She gave a curt nod, and a grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. “About damn time.” Then she turned around and went back into the house.

  What did that mean? Was she saying it was time I stood up for myself? Had she been waiting all this time for me to stand up to her?

  It was a good thing she left, because by the time I got out of the car,
I had serious doubts I would make it to my room. Meemaw had always hated any sort of weakness. I would have lost what little hard-earned respect she’d just given me.

  I’d almost made it to the porch when Teddy came around the side of the house, wiping his hand on a rag. He stopped when he saw us.

  “Summer?” He rushed over when he saw my faltering steps. “You’re supposed to be in the hospital.”

  “The food sucks there.”

  He grinned, and before I knew what he was doing, he scooped me up in his arms and told Dixie to open the door.

  “What are you doin’, Teddy Baumgartner?” I asked, but I wrapped an arm around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. It felt nice to be able to have someone to lean on . . . literally.

  He grinned. “You’re obviously about to pass out and fall on your ass, and I suspect it’s easier to pick you up from a standing position than it would be to scoop you up off the floor.”

  “I’m not gonna pass out.”

  “You’re just usually that pale,” he said as he carried me into the house.

  “Take her up to my room,” Dixie said. “It’s bigger.”

  “Dixie . . .” I wasn’t sure why she wanted me in her room, but I wasn’t about to put her out.

  “You hush now. I’m being lazy. I don’t want to traipse down the stairs to check on you when your alarm doesn’t stop. I’d rather call 911 from the comfort of my own bed.”

  I grinned. That sounded like a Baumgartner explanation.

  I missed being a Baumgartner.

  Teddy got me settled on Dixie’s bed, then looked down at me. “We didn’t just get you back to lose you again,” he said with a thick voice. “Be more careful, little cousin.”

  I grinned. “Little cousin? I’m a year older than you, boy.”

  “And I just carried you up the stairs without losing my breath. Who’s the little cousin now?”

  “Thanks, Teddy.”

  He nodded and left the room.

  “He reminds me so much of Pawpaw,” I murmured.

  “He is a lot like him, isn’t he?” she said, heading for the door. “He’ll do anything and everything he can to make this farm work, even if it means defying Meemaw.” She paused. “I’m gonna get your pajamas . . . and the strawberry pie out of the truck. Your clothes are covered in dirt.”

  “Okay.”

  She turned to walk out, and I heard her call Teddy’s name from behind the partially closed door.

  “Yeah?” he said.

  “What do you know about Ryker lying dead in the Sweet Briar morgue?” she asked in a hushed but accusing tone.

  Teddy was silent.

  “I asked you a question, Teddy!”

  His voice turned hard. “Are you seriously standing there asking me if I killed your ex-boyfriend?”

  “No . . . I don’t know . . .” She sounded far less sure. “But you called me yesterday and warned me to stay away from him.”

  “Maybe I knew he was wrapped up in something shady that was gonna get his ass killed. Did you ever think about that?”

  “If he was, I never saw any sign of it. I told you that.”

  “Then he did a mighty fine job of hiding it from you, Dixie, because he was dirty as a pig in shit.”

  “How do you know that? Are you mixed up in it too? Where’s that extra money coming from?”

  “You don’t need to worry about that. I promised you I’d save the farm, and I meant it.” Then I heard him stomping down the stairs.

  Did Teddy know about the balloon payment on the loan, or was this something new? And was my cousin mixed up in something dirty? I couldn’t believe it, but my head was too groggy for me to think it through, and it felt too heavy to hold up anymore. I lay down on the bed, intending to close my eyes for just a moment.

  I must have dozed off by the time Dixie came back because I woke up with a start. She was calling my name and giving my arm a hard shake. “Oh, my God. Summer!”

  I blinked my eyes open. “I’m not in a coma. I’m sleeping.”

  “You scared me half to death!”

  “Sorry.”

  “I have your pajamas.” She tossed them on the bed. “Do you need help putting them on?”

  My arms and legs felt like they were made from lead, and I was starting to wonder about the wisdom of leaving the hospital, but it was too late to change my mind now. “No.”

  Dixie left the room, and after a bit of a struggle, I managed to get changed. I climbed under the covers and was already dozing again by the time Dixie got into bed beside me.

  “Dixie?” I murmured, sounding drunk to my own ears.

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you think Teddy killed Ryker?”

  I heard her gasp, then felt her hand on my arm. “I didn’t think you’d hear that, and no, I do not think Teddy killed Ryker. I was just . . . tired and frustrated. Teddy doesn’t have it in him to kill someone. Now go to sleep.”

  It was as if her words had cast a spell on me. I was dozing in seconds, then I quickly drifted deeper into sleep.

  The next time I woke up, it was even more abrupt. Dixie had burst out of bed. The clock on her nightstand said it was after midnight. I’d been asleep for several hours.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, sounding groggy.

  She pulled a gun out of her nightstand, and I was instantly awake.

  “Dixie?”

  “You stay here. Someone’s in the house.”

  “Have you called 911?”

  She snorted. “We’ll deal with it.” Then she headed out the door, and I heard Teddy’s voice too.

  I grabbed my phone and called 911 anyway. Like Luke had said, there hadn’t been any murders in town for three years, and now there had been two deaths in twenty-four hours. I wasn’t taking any chances with my cousins and Meemaw.

  “This is 911. What’s your emergency?” the woman asked in a sleepy voice.

  “I’m calling from the Baumgartner farm. Someone broke into the house.”

  “We’ll send someone right away,” she said, sounding more alert. “Is the prowler still there?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, my stomach in knots.

  There was more banging downstairs and then the indistinguishable sound of several rounds from a shotgun.

  “Send someone quick,” I said. “I just heard gunshots.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  After I hung up, I bolted out of bed so fast the room began to spin. I put a hand on the sloped ceiling and waited for it to pass, but the sounds of more banging spurred me into action. I knew I shouldn’t rush into something, especially if bullets were flying, but I couldn’t hide in Dixie’s room like some scared little girl.

  Even if I felt like one.

  I clung to the side of the wall as I descended the steps, hoping the dizziness would fade. I strained to hear any sounds, but the downstairs was oddly silent. As I reached the bottom step, I realized both my cousins had weapons, and I was defenseless. I peeked around the corner into the dining room and saw it was empty. I heard more noises out behind the house, and the sound of a car engine.

  I left the staircase, grabbed a crystal candlestick from Meemaw’s hutch, and entered the kitchen through the swinging door. It was quiet again, but the back door was open. An exterior light was on, and I saw three figures in the shadows near the barn. One of them took off running for Teddy’s pickup truck.

  Distant sirens filled the night air as I slipped out the door.

  “Teddy!” Meemaw shouted. “Don’t go doin’ something foolish!”

  But her words didn’t even slow Teddy down as he climbed inside the truck.

  “Is he goin’ after the people who tried to break in?”

  “Summer!” Dixie shouted. “What are you doin’ out here?”

  “Seein’ what all the commotion’s about. Is he goin’ after them?”

  “Yes.”

  The truck started, and he swung it in a wide circle, driving to the lane between the house and the detached gara
ge.

  I knew going after someone who’d broken into your home with a loaded shotgun was a recipe for trouble, so I ran over to the gravel driveway and stood in the middle as Teddy barreled toward me.

  “Summer!” Dixie screamed.

  Teddy laid on the horn, but I stood my ground, counting on the fact that the guy who’d carried me upstairs so sweetly a few hours ago wasn’t about to mow me down now.

  The sirens were close enough that flashing lights were bouncing off the garage.

  Teddy hit the brakes, and gravel went flying as he skidded to a stop. Only he’d picked up enough speed that he wasn’t going to stop in time to miss me.

  Shit. I was in an unintentional game of chicken with my cousin.

  I darted for the house, reasoning that he’d aim for the garage before damaging our century-old home. Thankfully, I was right—and I barely had time to wonder if I had saved him only to unintentionally injure him when he came to a stop before hitting the cinder-block garage.

  “What the Sam Hill’s goin’ on here?” Luke shouted from behind me.

  Teddy got out of his truck, ignoring the police chief and instead stalking toward me. “What the hell were you doin’, Summer? I could have killed you!” He grabbed his head with both hands and bent over his knees. “Fuck!”

  My heart racing like it was in a hundred-yard dash, I started to move toward him, but Luke blocked my path, lifting a hand to hold me back.

  “What’s goin’ on, Teddy?” Luke barked. “Why did I pull up to find you nearly running down your cousin?”

  He flung a hand out toward me. “She stood in the middle of the drive, blocking the path. I was goin’ after whoever broke in.”

  Luke glanced over his shoulder at me as though waiting for me to disagree or concur.

  “I’ve lost too many family members to tragedy.” My voice cracked. “I wasn’t going to risk losing Teddy too. Who knows what would have happened to him if he’d caught up to them.”

  Luke turned his attention back to Teddy. “She’s right, man. What were you thinkin’?”

  Teddy stood upright, his chest puffing out. “I was thinkin’ that I was protectin’ my family and what’s mine.”