A Fresh Kill

by Eryn Scott

  Paul pulled out into traffic, but kept facing forward.

  “Vivian wouldn’t talk?”

  “She didn’t need to. I got a call from McKay and went to the station instead.”

  Leaning closer, Hadley felt her heartbeat rise in anticipation.

  Paul glanced over at her. “You’re not going to like it.”

  Hadley felt her face pull into a similar scowl as the one her brother was still sporting.

  “Vivian’s cleared.”

  “She’s what?”

  “There’s no surveillance in the lot at Fenton Park, but once I convinced McKay Vivian was a viable suspect, he had me go around collecting any and all footage from southern Main Street. Well, I mean, it was basically the grocery store and Louise in the knitting shop who had any cameras. The guys at the station looked through for evidence and Louise’s camera managed to catch Vivian pulling up, getting out, fighting with Charlie, and then getting back into her car until Suze approached and she split. Charlie came to her, so she was never out of view of the camera. She didn’t kill Charlie.”

  As she processed the information, Hadley kept opening her mouth, thinking she had something to say, but then she would change her mind and snap it shut again. She felt like a fish after the third time, so she pressed her lips together.

  Paul sighed. “Which means we’re back at square Leo. Unless you learned something from the kid just now.”

  She scrunched her forehead. Stuart hadn’t told her anything she didn’t already know—well, other than accusing an innocent person, apparently.

  Finding her voice, Hadley said, “Nope. Nothing. Looks like Leo’s the only square left.” She squinted. “Except Vivian’s husband.”

  Paul shook his head. “McKay questioned him. He’s adamant he didn’t have any idea about Charlie and denied his wife being involved with anyone else.”

  Slumping back into her seat, Hadley said, “What happens next, then?”

  “McKay is filing for an arrest warrant right now. It’ll probably take a day or so, and then he’ll go pick up Leo. With the warrant, we can search his house and shop.”

  The scenery flew by as Paul took the winding forest road away from Cascade Ridge and into the valley. Hadley didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what to do anymore. When there were multiple suspects, she was able to convince herself it wasn’t the local florist. But now…

  Frustrated, she focused on the beautiful flowers in her lap. Flowers were uncomplicated, just wonderfully colorful and fragrant. She leaned forward and smelled a particularly gorgeous rose. One of the lavender fronds tickled her nose in the process. She let out a huge sneeze.

  “Bless you,” Paul said.

  She sneezed again.

  He chuckled.

  And again. “Oooff.” She groaned, holding her hand up to her nose.

  “There are tissues in the glovebox,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road.

  Jostling the flowers so they were in between the two of them, Hadley opened the compartment in front of her, grabbing a tissue from the box inside. But before she could pull her hand out and close the glovebox, she noticed something else inside.

  One of Suze’s painted hair sticks.

  Hadley blinked at it for a moment, brain seeming to slog through the reality of what it meant. Since when did Suze ride in Paul’s car enough to warrant leaving hair sticks in here? They were all over her house and art studio, but she didn’t even leave them in the Jam Van, and she rode in that all the time with Hadley. That meant Suze had spent a considerable amount of time in Paul’s car…

  The image of Stuart emptying out a handful of his girlfriend’s stuff from his pockets came to mind.

  Pulling her hand back, her eyes shot over to Paul to see if he’d noticed what she’d found, but he was still looking ahead.

  Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh! Paul and Suze? Paul and Suze!

  Hadley’s thoughts bounced erratically between elation and disbelief. She’d wanted this to happen for so long. Their odd behavior over the past few weeks had been a sign that something was going on. She knew they were keeping someth—

  Wait. They’d been keeping it from her. Why?

  She slammed the glovebox closed, suddenly feeling awkward as if she’d walked in on a secret.

  “Whoa,” Paul said. “Easy there. This is my favorite truck, you know?”

  “Sorry.” Hadley knew her voice was tight and awkward.

  He glanced over at her. “Everything okay?”

  “Sure. Everything okay with you?” She watched him closely. “With this case taking up all of your time, we haven’t been able to chat much. Is there anything you need to chat about?”

  Paul chuckled at her, obviously mistaking her discomfort for silliness. “I’m not the one whose ex came back to town recently. Is there anything you need to chat about?” he asked, turning her questions back on her.

  Avoidance. Why would he keep this from her?

  Dejected, she let herself sink back into the seat. “I’m fine.”

  “Yeah, you sound super great.” He shook his head. “Well, you know where to find me when you’re ready to talk.”

  He elbowed her playfully, but it just made Hadley want to cry. She looked out the window. The twins rode the rest of the way back into Stoneybrook in silence.

  “Can you drop me at the kitchen?” she asked as soon as downtown came into view.

  “But you don’t have your bike with you. How will you get home?” he asked, coming to a stop next to her lavender-and-white awning.

  “I’ll walk. I think it sounds nice today.” She kissed her hand and planted it on his cheek then gathered her flowers from the back before he had a chance to argue. “Thanks for letting me come along.”

  Paul waved as he pulled away. She pushed her shoulders back. “Time to let this case go. The law has it under control, and I’ve got enough to worry about.”

  Hadley decided, in one exhaled breath, it was past time to call Deborah and put in an offer on Leo’s house. She’d been holding off, trying to figure out if there was anywhere else she could find more money to add to her bid. But a day’s worth of thinking and she was still coming up empty. She would just have to make the offer she could, hope Luke’s wasn’t too much higher than hers, and leave it up to Leo.

  If he wasn’t already in jail.

  Her stomach churned at the thought. Shaking her head, she went inside the jam kitchen, pulling out her phone. Deborah picked up on the second ring.

  “Hadley, I was going to call you today if I didn’t hear from you. I was surprised I didn’t hear from you right after I showed you the house.” She chuckled.

  “Yeah, sorry. I was trying to think of any way I might be able to up my offer.”

  “Oh, because Luke’s interested? I’m so sorry about that. I had no idea he would want that place at all since it doesn’t meet half of his look-fors. I feel terrible.”

  Hadley said, “Don’t worry about it. I just don’t know how I’ll be able to compete with him. He’s got to have a substantial downpayment with that company of his getting so big.”

  “I would expect nothing less.” Deborah sighed. “I told him I wouldn’t represent him, that he’d have to find someone else to put his bid in since I had specifically showed the property to you. I wouldn’t feel right otherwise.”

  “Thanks, Deborah.”

  “That doesn’t mean he won’t be able to find someone else. Though, I will say he hasn’t put an offer in yet, so that’s hopeful.”

  Hadley ran her thumbnail across the surface of her nails even though there wasn’t a hint of polish left to chip off. “I guess. Or he’s just waiting until the last second.”

  “Right…”

  They sat in silence for a moment.

  Deborah broke it, saying, “Well, let me know when you want to come in, and I’ll write up an offer for you to sign.”

  She listed a few times that worked for her. Hadley made an appointment to drop by that afternoon. Before Hadley could
put her phone away after the call with Deborah, a text from Suze came through. It was just a coffee cup emoji. She bit her lip and sent back a thumbs-up. Maybe Paul wouldn’t talk to her about them but Suze would come clean. Right?

  Moments later, she was waiting in front of the jam kitchen, basking in the shade of one of the maple trees dotted along Main Street. Suze came walking toward her, a conspiratorial glint in her eye.

  “What’s that for?” Hadley asked, hope rising in her heart. She’d been right. Suze couldn’t keep something this big from her.

  Suze smiled and said, “I know something you don’t know.”

  Hadley stiffened. “Are you sure?”

  Arching an eyebrow, Suze cocked her head. “Pretty sure.”

  “Does it have to do with Paul?”

  Suze shook her head. “No, not the case.” She grabbed Hadley’s arm. “Oh, unless… did you find out who did it yet?”

  “Actually, we’re further away from finding the killer than ever, it feels.” She sighed.

  As they walked to the coffee shop, Hadley filled Suze in on Paul taking her to Cascade Ridge with him, and how Vivian had been taken off the suspect list after the video footage had come through.

  “Darn. So we’re back to Leo?” she asked as they pulled open the creaky wooden door to the coffee shop.

  Hadley nodded sadly, then remembered that Suze was about to tell her a secret. “Wait… What were you going to tell me earlier? What was the secret?”

  Suze’s mouth hung open, and she looked forward in line. “Uh, well actually…” She pointed discreetly behind Hadley. “That’s it.”

  Hadley turned around and spotted Tyler standing at the front of the line, ordering a coffee. She was about to remind Suze she’d already seen Tyler and that he wasn’t a secret when the man finished ordering and turned around to wait on the other end of the counter.

  His whole cheek was red, swollen, and a bruise was beginning to spread upward toward his left eye. He also had a pretty nasty cut on his lip.

  He noticed Hadley through his slightly squinted vision, and his face softened. She raced forward as he dipped his head and took a step toward her. They met in the middle.

  “What happened?” she asked, ignoring the fact that people were staring. It looked as if most of the people inside the coffee shop were tourists, not locals.

  Tyler’s tongue wet his lips, stopping at the cut along the right corner. He winced. “Nothing I wouldn’t repeat to stick up for you.”

  “Me?” Hadley’s cheeks heated up as she realized how loudly she’d said that. Quieter, she asked. “What do I have to do with this?” She gestured to his face as she felt Suze sidle up next to her.

  “It was crazy.” Tyler shook his head. “I was talking to Luke when he mentioned the two of you were interested in the same property. I told him he needed to back off and let you have it. Out of the blue, the man went crazy and punched me.” Tyler mimed a quick left, right combination of punches. “He stomped off. I haven’t seen him since.” Hadley’s ex shrugged.

  She glanced over at Suze to confirm that this was the story she’d heard. Suze nodded.

  So it wasn’t about her and Paul at all.

  “That doesn’t make any sense.” Hadley wrinkled her brow. “Why would Luke attack you?”

  Tyler scoffed. “He’s been acting weird as all get out for about a year now. I feel like I don’t even know the man anymore.”

  Just the opposite of my experience, Hadley thought, feeling like she’d only just started to recognize the boy she’d grown up with, in the past few months. Nails free of polish, Hadley picked at her cuticles as she thought.

  Tyler’s hand settled on her arm. She looked up to meet the serious gaze he had trained on her.

  “I hope you know I would do anything for you, Had.” He winked at her with his nonswollen eye.

  Hadley pressed her lips together. When she’d first found out about the truth behind all of Tyler’s “business trips,” she’d spent a long time reflecting on why she hadn’t caught on. It was then that she fully realized she couldn’t read him like she could the other people in her life.

  No, the problem wasn’t her inability to tell if he was lying, it was the fact that maybe he always was lying—had been for a long time.

  So when he told her he would do anything for her, no swooning ensued. In fact, she was more likely to add to the scratches on his face than she was to fall into his arms. But she also didn’t want to cause a scene.

  She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry you two got in a fight. It wasn’t necessary for you to stand up for me. I can do it for myself.” When her lids fluttered back open, Tyler was looking down at her, disapprovingly.

  “Tyler, your Americano is ready,” Wendy called from behind the counter.

  Hadley silently thanked the woman. They took the opportunity while Tyler’s back was turned to step into line once more. After what Hadley said, he didn’t stop to talk as he walked out the front door.

  Relief blossomed into a great sigh once he was gone.

  Suze whistled. “Luke and Tyler fighting over you. Crazy, huh?”

  Hadley’s mouth twisted into a frown. “They weren’t fighting over me… they were just fighting, and I happened to be minimally attached to the subject matter that started said fight.”

  Her best friend shook her head as they stepped up to order. “Whatever you want to tell yourself, Had.”

  Suze’s words lodged themselves into Hadley’s chest, making each breath tight and uncomfortable. Was she losing her touch? Suze hadn’t come clean about sneaking around with Paul, after all. And Leo seemed like the most likely suspect despite her feelings otherwise.

  Maybe she didn’t know anyone as well as she thought she did anymore.

  23

  Being around all of the boxes at her house was beginning to stress Hadley out—especially since she still hadn’t heard back from Deborah about her offer, and she couldn’t stop thinking about the huge secret her so-called best friends were keeping from her—so she decided to spend a day in the jam kitchen. She shut her brain off and worked from muscle memory, making some more of her peach chutney. If she’d just run out of her supply from last summer, other people were bound to as well.

  Her soul felt on the mend by the time she took the Jam Van to the post office to drop off some online orders for shipping. The sky was blue and cloudless. Maybe she would even get some gardening done after dinner.

  Driving past the pharmacy, however, Hadley remembered she had just finished off her last bottle of sunscreen. She pulled over and headed inside to pick up some more. Her mother had always stressed the use of the stuff after Uncle Harold had a few patches of skin cancer removed.

  The crisp, conditioned air of the pharmacy spilled out at Hadley as she pulled open the glass front door. She knew just where to go for the sunscreen, so she made a beeline for the aisle, knowing she was easily distracted by all of the other beauty products and trinkets they carried up front.

  Her fingers brushed along the plastic containers of sunscreen until she found her favorite brand.

  “Why do I need two?” Nadine, a mother of four was asking Hazel Smith at the prescription window. “This is just a precaution, right? I’m not going to have to stick this in Michael’s leg, am I?”

  It wasn’t as if Hadley was one to listen in, especially not around people’s medications, but Nadine and Hazel were both speaking just below a yell.

  “Oh, totally a precaution, dear. More EpiPens get tossed because they’ve run through their expiration date than they do for being used. But they do recommend you carry two or more with you; put one in your purse and one in the house. That way you’re prepared wherever, especially with a nut allergy like Michael’s got. It’s more likely he’ll be triggered outside your home than inside.” Hazel patted Nadine’s hand. “And when school starts up again, you’ll want to leave one there too.”

  Hadley remembered hearing about Nadine’s youngest having a scare at school when he shared
a peanut butter sandwich with a classmate and couldn’t breathe afterward. They must’ve found out he was allergic.

  Just as she was about to leave, Hazel called out, “Why, if it isn’t Stoneybrook’s own Helen of Troy. Men fighting in the streets over that pretty face.”

  Cheeks burning with embarrassment, Hadley cringed and turned toward Hazel to set her straight. “Actually,” she said with a forced smile, “it was about real estate, not me. And I’d appreciate if you’d spread that as quickly as you can.”

  Hazel propped a hand on one hip. Even Nadine gave Hadley a pointed glare soaked in skepticism.

  “If that’s what two men look like fighting over a house, I’d hate to see what they might do to each other over a woman,” Hazel said.

  Hadley blushed and hustled up to the register and purchased her sunscreen. But as she stepped outside into the summer sunshine, her embarrassment had turned to frustration. She’d been skipping through life thinking she knew people so well, thinking she knew what to expect from people she’d known her whole life. The last few days had proved how wrong she was to think that.

  And if she couldn’t even trust Suze and Paul, who was to say Leo wasn’t also lying?

  Hopping into the Jam Van, Hadley drove to Valley Wildflowers, fueled by anger and disappointment. For the first time since Charlie’s death, Leo stood behind the counter instead of Jessie when she entered the shop.

  Hadley gritted her teeth, working to hold on to the courage she’d found in her anger.

  “Good afternoon, Miss James.” Leo’s kind face scrunched into a grin.

  Hadley pushed her shoulders back and walked forward.

  “I hear you’re interested in the rental property,” Leo added in her silence.

  “I am.” She stopped, softening for a moment before catching herself. “I know you’re going to have many offers on the place, though, so I’m trying not to get my hopes up.”

  “That house holds so many happy memories for me.” He smiled, his eyes reflecting his nostalgia. “I’d rather see it go to someone who’s going to love it just as much as I did than make a mint off it. Though your Tyler might argue that I should answer that differently.”