A Midsummer Night's Murder

by Colleen Helme

  She woofed you again, then held my gaze expectantly. I could hardly believe we were having a conversation. Before I could answer, Josh chimed in. “She can sleep in my room. Huh girl? Does that sound good?” He patted her on the head and Pepper hurried to his side. Licking his hand, she let out a snuffle that I knew meant yes.

  “Well, I’m glad that’s settled,” I said. “I’ll get the blanket.”

  Once Pepper was settled and the kids had gone to bed, I told Chris everything I’d found out, including my little foray into gang territory. He didn’t like that I’d done that, but since I’d also discovered that Scorpion was the person most likely responsible for Molly’s death, he couldn’t exactly complain.

  “You and Ramos, huh?”

  “Yeah, so I was perfectly safe.” I decided to emphasize that part, instead of the part about being with Ramos. “He’s going to follow up on the phone number and find the guy. Maybe by tomorrow we’ll have the real killer in custody and Angel will be free. Wouldn’t that be great?”

  “Yeah.” He didn’t like me spending too much time with Ramos, then he hoped Ramos knew he shouldn’t kill the guy. That would ruin everything. What would we do then?

  “He’s not going to kill him,” I said. “He knows we need Scorpion alive. Anyway…how are things going with Ethan? Did you leave him on the case?”

  “Yes. I’m planning to go over the files that he brought back from Strickland’s office tomorrow morning with him. Oddly, he said there wasn’t much in the files that would help our case, and he wanted me to push for a plea bargain.”

  “That sounds like he’s following Strickland’s orders, just like he wanted him to.”

  “I know, but don’t be too hard on Ethan. I want to see the report. On paper, it might look like the best option for Angel so, until I see it, I’m not going to think the worst of Ethan.”

  I thought that was pretty generous of him. “Fine, but just remember that Ethan isn’t on your side, and don’t overlook the possibility that he’ll hide something from you to achieve his purposes.

  “I won’t.” He didn’t like thinking that Ethan was a bad guy, and he wished I was more understanding.

  “Would it help if I stopped by tomorrow, just to make sure?”

  His lips turned down. He didn’t like me thinking that he couldn’t do his job without my help.

  “I never said that. But you have to admit that my mind-reading skills could certainly come in handy right now.”

  “Yes, that’s true. But why don’t I call you if I need you?”

  “Okay, fine. I want to talk to Molly’s neighbor, so I’ll do that first. If I find out anything you need to know, I’ll stop by the office.”

  “Sounds good,” he said, thinking that was a good compromise.

  I couldn’t argue with that, so I changed the subject. “Hey, what do you think about the dog? Our kids sure like her.”

  “Yeah.” His gaze caught mine, and his brows drew together. “It almost looked like you understood her. Could you read her mind?”

  I snorted. “Well, not at first. I mostly picked up emotions. But when I got home and she barked, I heard a couple of one-syllable words. Isn’t that nuts?”

  “Like what?” he asked.

  “Play, and you. She understood sleep too, and she wanted to sleep with me, but after Josh offered, she was happy to be with him. She’s a real sweetie.”

  “So you heard actual words?”

  “Yeah. When I got home, she jumped on me and barked “play.” Crazy huh?”

  “No kidding.” He wondered if I could understand all animals, and thought how cool that might be. Maybe I could become the next ‘dog-whisperer’ or animal psychologist, and make lots of money on videos about how to understand your dog. I could have my own TV show. He thought those guys probably raked in a lot of money. Maybe I could even write a book about it, and become a bestselling author?

  “Chris…stop. I have enough on my plate.”

  “Uh, right.” He jerked his thoughts back to me, realizing that he’d gone a little over-board with the speaking-to-animals part.

  “That’s okay. I still love you anyway.”

  He chuckled and pulled me into his arms. “That’s good, because I’m not going away, even if it’s hard to live with someone who’s always reading my mind.”

  My mouth dropped open. “Are you complaining?”

  He shrugged. “I guess so. But at least I said that out loud, right? Normally you’d just hear it in my mind.”

  “That’s true.”

  “Yeah…and then you’d feel bad, and we might end up having an argument. At least I’m learning that I might as well just say those kinds of things, since you’d hear it anyway.” Then he smiled. “But there are still some things I don’t need to say out loud.”

  His lips caught mine in a sweet kiss. Then he trailed kisses down my jaw and neck to that ticklish spot behind my ear. I picked up how much he loved me, and how he planned to follow through on those thoughts. My heart quickened with desire.

  “Oh baby, oh baby.”

  ***

  I called Dimples the next morning. I hadn’t heard from Ramos yet, so I wasn’t sure if he’d contacted Scorpion or not. Until then, I might as well talk to the neighbor, and Dimples could help me with that.

  “Hello?” he answered.

  “Hey there, it’s Shelby. Have you heard anything new about Angel’s case?”

  “No. But that’s because the case is closed. With Angel’s arrest, no one’s investigating further. What about you?”

  “Uh…no…not really.” That wasn’t exactly a lie, right? “But I thought maybe we could talk to the neighbor. Maybe he saw more than he said, and I can pick it up from his mind. What do you say?”

  “Sure. I’ll have to look up his contact information first. He’s probably at work. Hang on.”

  I waited while he brought up the file on his computer. “Okay. I’ve got it. His name is Hunter Smith, and I have his phone number right here. Let me set it up, and I’ll call you back.”

  “Sounds good.”

  It didn’t take long for Dimples to return my call. “Okay,” he began. “We can see him in an hour at his office. Apparently he runs a bunch of Payday Loan offices in the city, but his headquarters aren’t too far from your place. Do you want to meet me there?”

  “Sure.”

  He gave me the address and added, “And when we’re done, you can tell me what more you found out about the gang, and if it’s tied to the case.”

  “Uh…the gang? I’m not…I mean…” I tried to deny it, but I’d protested too much to sound like I was telling the truth.

  “Yes?”

  “Okay, fine. I’ll tell you what I know. Just don’t ask me how I know it.”

  “Shelby…”

  “Bye.”

  Luckily, it wasn’t too hard to find the building where Hunter Smith worked. I got there a little early, but decided to wait in the parking lot until Dimples arrived. After he pulled up, I slipped my honorary police ID badge over my head, and followed him inside.

  His office was located on the second floor of the three-story building. The sign on the door said, “Fast Money, Payday Loans.” Dimples pushed the door open and we entered a small office. Several chairs lined one side of the wall with a reception desk at the end of the room.

  A young woman sat at the desk, filing her nails. She glanced up as we came inside and sent us a smile. “Welcome to Fast Money. How can I help you?”

  “I’m Detective Harris, and this is Shelby Nichols. We’re here to see Hunter Smith.”

  “Oh right. Just a moment.” She moved to the only other door in the office and knocked, then pushed it open, and poked her head inside. “Hunter, the police are here.”

  I heard a low voice telling her to send us in. She nodded, then pulled the door wide for us. “He’ll see you now.” She was thinking that it made her just a little nervous to have the police there, even though the business was legitimate.

&n
bsp; Still, after working for a payday loan company, she felt a little dirty, mostly because the interest rates on these loans seemed criminal. And it seemed that the poor people who got sucked into them could never get out again.

  We entered the office to find a clean-shaven, forty-something man, with short dark hair and brown eyes. He wore square-shaped glasses and was average height, around five-eight or nine. He seemed a little on the hefty side, but I couldn’t tell if it was muscle or fat.

  He smiled and stood, offering us both a hand to shake, but he was thinking that he didn’t have a lot of time to talk, and he hoped we’d be brief. “Please sit down. I gave my statement to the police on the night of the murder. Is there something I missed?”

  “No,” Dimples answered. “We just wanted to find out if you remembered anything else from that night that would help us.”

  Hunter’s brows drew together. “I thought you had the guy who killed her in custody.” He’d read about it just this morning in the paper. Angel Molina was the main suspect, so why were we there?

  “We just want to make sure we have the right guy,” I said. “Can you tell us what you witnessed that night?”

  “Uh…I heard them arguing outside on their back patio late that evening. It’s not far from my bedroom window and, with it open, it was easy to hear their raised voices.”

  “What were they arguing about?” I asked.

  Hunter shrugged. “From what I could tell it was about money, and maybe something she did at work, but I couldn’t hear all of it.” He was thinking that he’d heard enough to know it was big, especially after she asked Angel to leave.

  “How long have you lived there?”

  “I just moved in a couple of months ago,” he answered, wondering what that had to do with it.

  “Did you know them well?” I asked.

  Hunter was thinking that he’d only spoken to Molly a few times, mostly over the fence. But Angel was a different story. He’d never met the guy, but he’d heard plenty about him. “I talked to them a few times over the fence. But just to say hello and stuff like that. I never spent any time with them. So, the answer is no.”

  “Did you know them before you moved in?”

  Hadn’t he just answered that question? What was I trying to get him to say? “No. I never met them before.” He hadn’t met them, but he certainly knew who they were. It was the whole reason he’d moved in next door.

  What did he mean by that?

  “So you did know them?” I asked, hoping to clarify his thoughts with his words.

  “I never said that.” Hunter’s eyes narrowed. What was going on with me?

  “Uh…right. I’m sorry. I was just a little confused. Let’s move on. What time did you hear the gunshots and call the police?”

  “It was just after two a.m. I know because the first shot woke me up, and I glanced at the clock. Right after that, I heard the second shot. Like I said, my bedroom window faces their kitchen, and my window was open. I called the police right away.”

  “Did you see or hear anything after that?” Dimples asked, thinking that if his window was so close, he could have seen the killer leaving in his car.

  “No. The kitchen blinds were shut. There may have been a light, but I don’t remember.”

  “What about Angel’s car? Did you see it leave?” I asked, continuing Dimples’s train of thought.

  He shrugged. “The garage is on the other side of the house, so I didn’t see him leave.”

  “Any other sounds? Like a car driving away?” Dimples had read over the copy of the police report with Hunter’s statement, and everything he told us matched, but something didn’t make sense. Why hadn’t he heard more? There couldn’t have been that many cars driving down the street so early in the morning.

  “I don’t remember,” Hunter said. “The shots spooked me, and I panicked. I didn’t know if I’d heard right, and I was trying to decide what to do. After I called the police, I waited on my front porch until they got there. After that, one of them came over to talk to me. That’s when I heard that Molly was dead.”

  “That must have been a shock,” I said.

  He nodded, but the vision in his brain was of Molly lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. Did he just imagine that, or did he really go inside and take a look? Then I caught that he thought the smell was the worst part, and my breath hitched. Did that mean he was the killer?

  “Yeah,” he answered. “I never would have thought someone could be murdered right next door to me.” He glanced up, taking in my pale face and widened eyes. He thought I looked at him with distaste…or was it horror? Now why would I do that?

  “Anyway,” he continued. “I have an appointment I need to get to, so I’m out of time. If you have more questions, you have my number.”

  He stood, signaling that he was done with us. He was thinking that he only had fifteen minutes before his scheduled meeting with the mysterious caller. He wondered who the new distributor was, and why Rod had given the guy his number.

  Rod had never done that before, and it made him suspicious. Since he couldn’t trust Rod, it might be time to take him out. He’d served his purpose. The boys should follow his lead now, especially if Rod were to die.

  Controlled rage filled his chest. He’d lost a fair amount of the gang thanks to Angel. It had set him back for months, maybe even years. But now with Angel in jail, and Molly dead, at least that shouldn’t happen anymore.

  I swallowed, and my stomach clenched. It was him. He was the killer. And it sounded like he was meeting with Ramos. That meant he was also Scorpion. I wasn’t sure what to do. Since we had no proof, I couldn’t have Dimples arrest him. But I should probably warn Ramos that Scorpion had killed Molly, and planned to kill Rod.

  Dimples glanced at me with concern. What was going on? Why hadn’t I said anything? Was I done? What was wrong?

  I took a deep breath and stood, urging Dimples to his feet. I pasted a fake smile on my face, knowing we were far from done, but there was nothing I could do about it now. “Thanks for your time. We’ll be in touch.”

  He reached out to shake my hand. I didn’t want to touch him, but I couldn’t exactly refuse. I gave his hand a quick shake. Even more quickly, I pulled my hand away. I hoped he hadn’t noticed my revulsion, and I barely managed to keep from wiping my hand on my pants.

  After Dimples shook his hand, we hurried out the door. As we rode the elevator to the first floor, I let out a huge sigh of relief to be away from such a cold-blooded killer. Dimples wisely waited until we were out of the building before confronting me.

  “What was that all about?”

  I tugged on his arm to lead him away from the building. “He’s the killer.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. It’s him.” I glanced around to make sure no one could overhear us, and continued walking until we stood beneath a tree at the corner of the building. The morning sun made it too hot to sit in our cars, and I needed to tell him everything quickly, so I could call Ramos and warn him.

  Before I could begin, Dimples’s cell phone rang. After checking the caller ID he said, “Sorry, but I’ve got to take this.” He stepped away to talk, and I let out a sigh. Deciding there was no time to lose, I put my call through to Ramos.

  “Babe, what’s up?” he asked.

  “I know who Scorpion is,” I blurted. “His name is Hunter Smith, and he killed Molly May.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I just met with him. He’s the neighbor who called the police. He masterminded the whole thing. I think he’s got some revenge issues with Angel and the gang. He also runs a payday loan outfit called Fast Money. I picked up that he’s meeting with you in a few minutes, so I wanted to make sure you knew. He’s planning to kill Rod at some point, so be careful, all right?”

  “Uh…sure.”

  “And…try not to kill him. I need him alive to take the rap for Molly’s murder.”

  He chuckled. “Okay…I’ll try, but I think yo
u and I need to talk. After I meet with him, I’ll call you.”

  “Sounds good.”

  We disconnected and I glanced up to find Dimples standing behind me with no phone in sight. Surprised, I jerked with guilt. “Did you hear all that?”

  His eyes narrowed and he dipped his head, so I hurried to explain.

  “Uh…that was my informant with the gang.” Since Dimples wouldn’t approve, I wasn’t about to tell him it was Ramos.

  His mouth drew into a frown. Why was I trying to fool him? He knew my informant was Ramos, so I might as well just say it.

  “Oh…you do? Well, I guess I should have said so, but it’s hard when I know you don’t like him.”

  He let out a big sigh. “Shelby, he’s a hit-man for a mob-boss. Of course I don’t like him.”

  “See,” I said. “That’s my point.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I’d rather know what you’re up to, even if it’s with him, than to be left in the dark. So tell me everything.”

  “Uh…I don’t know if that’s wise. I mean…you’re a cop. I don’t want to get you in trouble. How about I tell you the parts that pertain to the murder investigation, and we go from there?”

  He raked a hand through his hair, thinking that I drove him nuts. “Sure, fine. Go ahead.”

  I explained everything I’d heard in Hunter’s mind, including the part that he went by Scorpion and was linked to the West Fifty-three gang.

  “So,” Dimples began. “This guy, Hunter, or we should say, Scorpion, killed Molly and framed Angel, all because he didn’t like that Angel had left the gang?”

  “I think so. And since Molly had helped several gang members start new lives away from the gang, she was a perfect target. He even moved in next door to Molly just a few months ago, so it was definitely part of his plan.”

  “But how come Angel didn’t recognize him?”

  “Because the gang only knew Hunter as Scorpion, and he only met with the gang leader, and not the guys. Well…until recently. He partnered with the leader…”

  “You mean Rod?” Dimples asked, remembering my conversation with Ramos.

  “Uh…yeah. Anyway, he partnered with Rod, but now he’s planning to kill Rod and take over.”