by Beth Byers
“Good thing you have all-wheel drive,” Zee muttered.
“Good thing I drove,” I said with a smirk.
“So,” Zee said, “How was the honeymoon?” Her tone was wicked enough I knew she intended to embarrass me.
I just glanced at her and shook my head. I think I’d expected the house to be scary because of the road and the last times we’d ended up on this side of Highway 101 facing off with creepy cabins, stolen dogs, and killers. The house was, however, adorable. It was one of those little log cabins things that came out of a kit or something like that. It had a big old porch, rose bushes, and a little picket fence around a yard where the whole set up looked like it had grown out of the woods. The cars in front of it were all nice, and the big dogs that ran up to our car had glossy coats and bright eyes.
I let Zee open the door first in case the dogs were mean and grinned at her when she realized what I was doing.
“Get out of the car, wimp.”
“Just because I love dogs doesn’t mean I don’t know some are mean.”
Zee rolled her eyes at me and approached the porch. The front door of the house opened, however, and a woman came out. She had tight white curls, grandma slacks that were turned up at the ankle. She wore the kind of shoes that were intended for ‘support’ but were as cute as they could be with their thick soles and heavy leather.
“I’m Zee,” Zee said, “This is my friend, Rose. And you’re Carol.”
She nodded and then said, “I suppose you’re here about Jordy? I was expecting the police.”
“They’ll be here sooner or later,” Zee said, “When was the last time you saw your nephew?”
Carol considered for a minute and then answered though I could tell she debated not answering it. “Jordy was a foul piece of work. I didn’t miss him when he left the Oregon Coast, and I’m not sorry to hear he died. The only thing surprising about his murder is that it didn’t happen years ago.”
I glanced at Zee who seemed a little shocked at that statement. This was his aunt. I’d have thought she’d at least pretend to care, but despite her heathy dogs and adorable house, her eyes were cold.
“That being said,” Carol asserted, “I haven’t seen my nephew since I called the police on him and my son fighting in my front yard. Jordy took off when the cops showed, my boy had a broken nose and wrist from the fight, and it took me three years to pay off his hospital bill.”
“You didn’t know he’d come back to Silver Falls?”
“I haven’t seen or talked to him since that night,” Carol said. “If he showed up here, I’d have called the police and had him taken in for trespassing.” She glanced aside and rubbed the back of her neck. “You two aren’t the police, and I’m not going to play-act with you anymore. Get on out of here.”
“Is your son here?” Zee asked ignoring the order.
Carol however raised her brows at us and went back inside her house.
“Should we knock again?”
Zee shook her head and then said, “This is a nice place. Better than I’d have thought from what people said about this family.”
I nodded, scratched the ears of the two massive dogs, and then walked back to my car.
“When I asked around about Carol and Phyllis,” Zee continued after she’d gotten into the car, “They were waitresses at a little place in Lincoln City. They raised their kids in hovels. How did Carol get such a nice place?”
“The lottery? Maybe her son got a job and helped her out? Maybe… I don’t know.”
“I’ll see what I can find out,” Zee said. “She probably just married someone with a real job. Everything is suspicious on days like these.”
I messaged Simon what we’d found out and then Zee said, “You know…Aaron Welsh has been around here longer than any other cop. He might remember Jordy and Mitchell and the crap they were up to.”
“And he won’t set Simon’s protectiveness off.”
“Also, he’s more scared of me than Carver, so Aaron won’t cave to Carver’s disapproval.”
Zee messaged Aaron to meet us at the coffee shop once the diner was closed, and I drove down the beat up track and back into civilization. Carol’s place really was the back of beyond. You really would have had to know her place was up there to even visit. It was, in a lot of ways, like my and Simon’s place.
Chapter 11
Aaron Welsh was the kind of cop with the calm expression that said he’d seen it all. I’d always thought that was funny given we lived in Silver Falls. Then I realized what I’d seen since living here and I decided to shut my mouth. He was nearing retirement and his gray mustache framed a mouth that was frowning at Zee and I.
“What’s all this now?”
Zee shook her head at him and rose, crossing to the counter of the coffee shop and ordering him the froo-frooist coffee I had ever seen. When she placed it in front of him with a piece of coffee cake, his frown faded and he full-on grinned at her.
“You have until this is gone,” Aaron told us. “I don’t approve of the way you two get involved in police cases. It couldn’t be the case of a missing bicycle could it? Always the most dangerous thing possible. And as though the sun doesn’t rise and set with you two for Carver and Sy. Those are good men you’ve got. You shouldn’t be torturing them.”
“I’m trying harder,” I told him. “Not that you can tell. But as for Zee and Carver…I mean…he knew what he was getting into.”
Aaron laughed at that and then rolled his eyes at Zee’s mean snort. “Look, I don't get it, either. Like Rose said, Carver knew what he was getting into with you and did it anyway, so I guess the stuff you do is his problem.”
“Nothing about being loved by me is a problem,” Zee said with a mean sniff.
Aaron rolled his eyes again, and I had to wonder if he spent a lot of time with a pre-teen grandchild. I kept my thoughts to my self and said, “So, Jordy…you knew him back in the day.”
“I did,” Aaron said in a way that made you wonder if he’d answer questions despite his sugar overload.
“Zee and I have no intention of trying to burst into a criminal’s house. We just want to understand what made him tick.”
Aaron’s disbelieving look told me he didn’t buy my statement. What he didn’t get was that I didn’t really ever intend to get wrapped up in these things.
“Look, I know it doesn’t seem like it, but it’s one thing to talk to some grandma aged aunt of the victim or Shane and Addy. I promise, anything that leads to someone who seems dangerous we’ll just tell Simon and Carver.”
“She’s being serious,” Zee said. “I find it kind of funny.”
“That whole statement just shows how wrong you are,” Aaron said. “What are you thinking about this case? Break it down for me.”
“It’s been a long time since Jordy was here,” I started. “He came into town with the purpose of trying to blackmail Addison and Geoff and Hank and Jane about those kids. I was thinking that if you put someone’s kids at risk, it will bring a killer out of them. I haven’t met Geoff yet but Addison is pretty squirrelly.”
Aaron leaned back and then he asked, “And what about Mitchell and Carol Oaks? Or Hilary and her boyfriend, Davey?”
“Hilary seems like she’s a normal person with a normal job.”
Aaron’s mouth twisted a little and he eyed me and Zee. Then he said, “Hilary was a good kid in a bad situation. I’ll give you that. Her dad was an out and out dirty criminal who’d have sold her on the side of the road for a few bucks.”
My stomach rolled.
“Thankfully her mom was pretty crazy and protected her. More than once with a gun and a broken beer bottle, but she did it.”
I gagged a little and then shook my head. “I just don’t….”
“Understand?” Aaron asked. “Women who are in those kind of situations are in survival mode. They’ve been worn down. They’ve been through stuff you can’t possibly understand. So you can’t judge them based off of your protective a
nd privileged life. You probably had the ideal childhood?”
I nodded.
Aaron glanced at Zee and then said, “You aren’t normal, so we won’t even go there with you.”
She winked at him, ignoring his dig. Zee didn’t mind the digs that she thought were true. They rolled off her like compliments.
“You can’t judge Hilary like you might just yourself. She was a who lived her life in terror. That changes the way her brain functions. Then you add in that it’s her normal, and she doesn’t know how to feel safe. That doesn’t feel natural to her. You add in that the only love she’s ever known has been a little scary, and she clings to the good times, trying to get through the bad with faith that her guy can change. You get someone like that—add in abuse and survival mode, and it’s an act of courage beyond belief when they leave. It’s not ok to judge someone who stays with an abuser or goes back.”
This seemed to be a bit of a passion subject for Aaron because he said, “Even women who’ve never been abused a day in their lives can get worn down and be afraid to leave after they get pulled in by the wrong guy. They’re right to be afraid. Murders of women are generally caused by those who are supposed to love them. The biggest risk to both of you in your lives for violence is Carver and Simon.”
Zee’s brows rose and then she said, “You’re right. We’re lucky that the worst Carver will do to me is drink a beer and sleep on the couch because he’s irritated. Simon…well…when it comes to Rose—he doesn’t even seem to have much of an angry switch. If she infuriated him he’d probably grill her a steak and tell her he was upset and then go for a walk, doing something nice on the walk.”
Aaron glanced at me and then said, “Simon is happier with you, I’ll say that. Way more than he ever was with Roberta. Thinks the way you mess with his food is kind of funny. Thinks the way you get sucked in by every pair of dog eyes is adorable. Thinks the way you love feeding people is charming. Truthfully, he’s got it so bad for you, I’m not sure he even notices flaws.”
I blushed so hard, I was pretty sure I was splotchy with red from my face to my toes.
“You’re a lucky woman,” Aaron said. “Hilary wasn’t lucky in her dad, and she’s not all that lucky in her boyfriend. Davey seems to have cleaned up a bit since I knew him back in the Jordy and Mitchell days. I wouldn’t have held my breath at him ever getting a real job. Not sure I believe it even now.”
“So Hilary?”
“Her boyfriend is one of those lingerers you can’t quite shake. He isn’t abusive, but he’s barely a partner that’s for sure.”
Zee and I glanced at each other and then back at Aaron. Neither of us would have guessed that the boyfriend had even known Mitchell and Jordy. “The boyfriend was friends with Jordy?”
“He was Jordy’s shadow. Jordy’s little mini-me. He wanted to be just like that fool. And don’t be confused at Carol. Jordy and Hillary got the protective mom who did what she could to keep her kids safe. Carol is a dragon who might have eaten her own young.”
I hadn’t gotten that from talking to her. Maybe I should have? She didn’t answer questions about her kid, but she also really attacked Jordy. If I had a sibling how would I feel about that sibling’s kid? Or maybe…I couldn’t even imagine talking like that about Jane’s kids. I wasn’t especially close to them since by the time I’d moved to Silver Falls they were old enough to not be interested in their Mom’s friends.
“I can see you think one of those parents killed Jordy. But I can’t see that myself,” Aaron said. “You’re thinking like upstanding citizens who’d do just about anything to protect your kid. The reality of it is, though, most upstanding citizens don’t do anything to protect their kid.”
Zee started to protest and he held up his hand.
“I don’t mean that in a bad way. You’d throw yourself in front of a bear for your kid, you’d fight off an intruder, but…cold blooded murder? Nah. You’d just hire a lawyer. Your Hank and Jane didn’t kill for their son. Because they don’t have to. It’s not a real motive when the kid hadn’t even met Jordy. He wasn’t in immediate danger. Hank might have beat the snot out of Jordy. But murder? I can’t see it.”
I started at Aaron my mind racing ahead.
“Now you take a criminal. Someone like say, Mitchell or Davey or Jordy, and you put a dispute between them. Well a criminal just might have killed before. It’s easier the second time. A criminal can’t call the cops or a lawyer and work things out that way. They’re the type of people who blackmail each other, steal from each other, hold grudges, take the chance for revenge. Jordy came into town trying to get money out of Jane and Addy for those kids? Well you can be damn sure if he was willing to do that or his kids—he’d do the same if he knew stuff about his old criminal compatriots. Especially if he wasn’t at the risk of jail time.”
The coffee shop clerk came and cleared away the table next to us and we all quieted down for a second before Zee asked, “What about Addy and Geoff?”
“Addy was a kid who dated a criminal and used drugs. She never did much herself. She might have stolen cash from her mom, but she didn’t do anything else. Geoff moved here after he got clean. He’d never done anything since he lived in Silver Falls. Those two really did get and stay clean. But you can be sure Simon and Carver pulled his record. Whatever Geoff might have done in the past though, Jordy wouldn’t have known about that.”
“Criminals can’t just hire a lawyer like Jane and Hank,” I repeated, thinking maybe we were on the entirely wrong track.
“Here’s how I see it,” Aaron said. “You two think like upstanding citizens, so you’re focused on the kids. Well Hank and Jane don’t have enough of a motive despite not having an alibi. Addy doesn’t have the gumption to murder. She’d have cried and begged not stabbed someone in the back. Geoff might have done that—he loves those little girls. He’s a maybe. I don’t know if he has an alibi though. Shane might have stabbed Jordy to protect the little girls, but she’d probably take out a loan or sell a kidney to hire a lawyer first.”
Zee glanced at me and then back at Aaron.
“You have to have a feel for a crime. Stabbing someone like that. Well…Shane and Geoff are my biggest maybes. If the kids were in danger, but Shane wouldn’t have had the weapon. She’s not the kind of girl that carries a knife in her purse. And Geoff? He’d have had to know Jordy was around and be driven far enough by whatever Jordy said to do it. Geoff might have a rough past, but he’s a good guy.”
I glanced at Zee and back to Aaron, feeling like I was being schooled. Here was yet another reason why Jane needed the police looking, not me and Zee.
“So then what do we have left? In my opinion? It’s whoever else Jordy was going to blackmail who’d been up to no good.”
Zee snarled, “So maybe Geoff if he was really worried? Or some unnamed criminal?”
Aaron nodded and said, “Yup. That’s my two cents. Thanks for the coffee and cake ladies. I have to pick up my granddaughter from cheer practice.”
Chapter 12
I dropped Zee off at her car and decided to stop into the grocery store to get a few things. Az had stocked our fridge, but he’d bought the things he’d buy and missed out on some of our regular purchases. We needed turkey not just pastrami and we needed yogurt and almond milk and I couldn’t live a full and happy life without a few pints of gourmet ice cream.
I messaged Simon my plans, grocery shopped, and then decided to send pictures of the parrots to a few possible adopters of them. I lingered in the store, while I shot out pictures to everyone I could think of. Someone would be happy with the sweet things. They were smart, had been well-loved, and weren’t crazy like that cockatoo. Hopefully a bird lover would come out of the woodwork and take care of these babies for me.
I was leaving the store about a half hour later when I saw Carol and someone who was around Jordy and Addison’s age. I stared at them and then shrugged and crossed to Carol where she was loading the back of her car with groceries.
/> “Mitchell?”
I hadn’t ever expected to meet someone who was scary in Silver Falls. Maybe it was the tattoos on his neck, but living in Portland and Gresham had taught me that tattoos didn’t mean all much. He was, however, the guy I had seen fighting with Jordy that first day.
“Who’re you?”
I swallowed and then glanced at Carol who was smirking.
“I’m a friend of Hilary’s,” I lied.
He grunted and then said, “I have things to do. Let’s go.”
“Things that led to your mom having such a nice house?”
He turned slowly, eyes narrowing.
“What do you do, I wonder?”
He stepped forward, sort of hulking up over me. How did he make himself bigger? I took a little step back and Carol smirked.
“It’s interesting that your cousin died. I bet he knew what you were up to and why your mom went from having a crappy little trailer to her adorable house. What have you been up to upgrade the house like that? Do you even have a job?”
“You need to get out of here,” Mitchell said, flexing his hands. “Before I teach you a lesson.”
I raised up my hands and backed off. “Don’t worry. If I can figure it out, the police can too. When you and your mom go to jail for murdering your cousin, we’ll take good care of your dogs at The 2nd Chance Adoption Center even if you killed your cousin on our property.”
I moved off quickly before he could attack me right there in the grocery store parking lot and then I messaged Simon. It had all been wild guesses, mostly because Mitchell had been scaring me. I was an idiot. If they had been the killers and I hadn’t been so in the open, I’d have been in real danger. I didn’t know if they’d killed their cousin but my suspicions regarding Geoff and Addy had been lessened by what Aaron Welsh said. There was a lot of value in years of police experience. It was what I had been trying to tell Jane. What did I know about lifelong criminals? Not a darned thing.