Down Home and Deadly (27 page)

The ringing of my cell phone jerked me to attention.

“Hello?”

“Jenna?” Debbie’s voice could’ve scorched my ear. “Forget about me singing at your wedding.” She spat the words at me.

“Why?” I replied guardedly. But she talked right over me.

“I’ve spent the last hour at the police station. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Well, it’s not. Being accused of murder is not a joke at all. I knew this would happen. But nooo. You had to take it into your own hands. Well, from now on, just butt out of my life.”

I bit back the reminder that she’d asked me to take the phone to John and talk to him on her behalf. And that I’d done exactly that. “Debbie, calm down. Did John actually accuse you of murder? That doesn’t sound right.”

“John didn’t come right out and accuse me of murder.” She was a little less agitated but still touchy. “But I could tell he was suspicious. He really gave me the third degree.”

“Well, he would have to question you. After all,” I pointed out in a reasonable tone
,
“
y
ou withheld a valuable piece of evidence.” She began sputtering, but I continued, “He isn’t still suspicious of you, is he? I mean, he didn’t threaten to lock you up or warn you not to leave town, did he?”

“No,” she said quietly
,
as if my words were finally soaking in. “And he did say he wouldn’t tell Lisa unless he has to. So that’s a plus.”

“See? Doing the right thing is good.” I reminded myself of Pollyanna.

A muted growl from the other end of the phone
warned
me to tread lightly. “And think of it this way
: Y
ou won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“That’s true.” She was almost back to normal. “Tell Carly I’ll be in for the evening shift.” She hung up without saying good
-
bye, but I was thankful to get through that conversation with a whole ear. I went to the kitchen to give Carly an update. We had the break room to ourselves, so I told her all about Debbie’s irate phone call.

“Well, it’s best for Debbie to get it out in the open. I’m sorry if she hurt your feelings
”—s
he smiled at me
—“
but you were right. And getting your ears blistered is a small price to see that the right thing is done.”

*****

I turned off the water. Was that my phone ringing?
I hoped it wasn’t an emergency
,
because whoever it was would have to wait until I dried, dressed
,
and towel-dried my hair.

Finally, wrapped in my robe, I checked my voice messages. “Miss Stafford, this is Lawrence Hall.” It took me a second to realize it was Larry. That cleared up the mystery of which name he went by. “Bob Pryor asked me to call you and tell you that Lisa’s been taken into custody.” He left his number in case I need
ed
more information then ended the message.

I glanced at the clock hanging by the front door. It was only
8:30
. I considered my options. Dry my hair and go on to bed. Toss and turn all night wondering what happened to Lisa. Or go down to the police station and offer moral support and comfort to Bob and Wilma.
Not to mention hav
e
a little talk with John.

An easy decision.

I quickly dressed, combed out my hair
,
and stuck it up in a messy bun. By a
quarter
’
til nine
, I pulled in front of the station and headed in.

“I’d like to see the
c
hief, please,” I said to the desk sergeant.

“I’m sorry, ma’am
;
he’s in a meeting at the moment.”

“Will you tell him that Jenna Stafford is waiting out here to see him?” I smiled at him. “I just need to talk to him for a minute.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” He leaned toward me. “He told me not to interrupt him.”

“Well, I’ll just sit out here and wait if you don’t mind.” I turned to sit in one of the chairs near the desk.

“If you’d like, there’s a waiting area just down the hall on your left.” He pointed. “There are some people in there already, but the chairs are a little more comfortable.”

“Thanks. I’ll go down there. Will you be sure Chief Conner gets my message?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll tell him as soon as he comes out.”

Bob and Wilma were huddled together in the corner when I walked in. They wore identical shell-shocked expressions.

Bob stood and came toward me. “Jenna, thanks so much for coming. We’ve hired an attorney
,
but he has to drive in from
Little Rock
.”

I gave him a one-armed hug. “I’m so sorry.”

He returned my hug, but as soon as he released me, he began pacing. “He said for Lisa not to answer any questions, but I don’t know what she’s saying in there. They wouldn’t let us go in with her.”

“I’m sure her lawyer will be in soon.” I bent down and gave Wilma a hug. “He’ll get this straightened out.”
I sat down next to her.

“Bob, stop pacing.” Wilma leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

“Jenna, you’ve been around this kind of thing. Can you think of anything else we can do?” Bob sat back down in the chair on the other side of Wilma.

“You just need to stay strong.” I wished I had a better answer for them.

“You know, you spend your life protecting your child
,
and then something out of the blue like this happens.” Tears rolled from Wilma’s closed eyes and made tracks down her cheeks. “It makes you wonder
.
 
.
 
.
 
.
” Her voice trailed off. I held my breath while I waited for her to say something more. Or for Bob to answer her.

When no one said anything, I patted Wilma on the back. “Why don’t I go and get us something to drink from the vending machine?” I left them to their painful memories and headed out the door. “I’ll be right back.”

I walked down the hall to the outer office where I had seen the vending machines. A uniformed sleeve brushed my arm
,
and I looked up into Seth’s smiling eyes.

“Hey,
Nancy
Drew. What are you doing here?”

“
Larry
called me.” I stuck some bills into the machine and hit the button for water.

“Lisa is in there with John right now. I feel sorry for her folks, but we’ve got enough on that girl to put her away for life now that we have the motive.”

*****

*****

What goes around, comes around
.

I stared at Seth. Now they had a motive. Which I had handed to them on a silver platter.
Lisa was frighteningly self-centered
,
and if she had known her boyfriend and her best friend were cheating on her, well, murder wasn’t so far
-
fetched. But I was convinced she had no idea. I just had to convince John.

“I don’t think she did it, Seth.” I hit the button again and watched another bottle fall out.

His eyebrows drew together. “She had motive, the weapon belonged to her and had her fingerprints on it, his blood was on a towel found in her car, and her alibi won’t hold water.” He ticked each item off on his fingers. “And now she’s lawyering up. You just don’t want to believe it because of her parents.”

“I don’t want to believe it because she didn’t do it, Seth. Is there any way I can talk to John?” I clutched the three bottles of water to my chest.

“As soon as her lawyer gets here
,
he’ll probably want to talk to her alone. When he does, John will come out.” He’d no sooner said that than the front door burst open and a distinguished-looking, black-haired man in a three-piece suit pushed open the double glass doors and rushed up to the desk.
“And I think he just arrived.” Seth said the last words in a whisper.

After the desk sergeant showed the attorney to the room where Lisa waited, I dropped off the water to Bob and Wilma then hurried back into the hallway so I could catch John as he came out of the interrogation room.

I touched his arm when he stepped out the door. “John, could I have a minute?”

“You, again? You’re just like a bad penny.” It didn’t sound like a joke when he said it. “You have exactly”
—h
e looked at his watch
—“
five minutes. That’s it.” He motioned me into his office. “And I’m only giving you that because you came through with the motive.”

“This is all wrong. Lisa didn’t kill J.D.” I pushed the door shut. “She had no idea he was cheating on her. So she had no motive.”

“Jenna, just go on home and let me do my job.” Déjà vu all over again. Hadn’t he said those exact words when he brought my nephew, Zac
,
in for questioning in an earlier murder case? And look how wrong he’d been then.

“I’m not trying to keep you from doing your job
.
I’m just trying to keep you from looking like a fool.” I resisted the urge to stomp my foot for emphasis. “I’m telling you, she had no reason to kill him. I’ve talked to her about it.”

“Riiight.” He drew out the word and shook his head. “And you think she’d just confess to you if she did it?” He looked at his watch. “I guess Bob has convinced you that she’s being framed?”

“I believe she is being framed. If she’d used her gun, she’d have taken it back home with her and gotten rid of it. And why would she put a bloody towel under her seat?”

He flinched.

“Everybody knows about that. I heard it at the diner.”

He nodded. “Small towns.”

“And like I said, she didn’t know about Debbie and J.D.
,
so you don’t have motive.”

He tapped his watch
as if
maybe it
had
stopped. “Look
,
I feel sorry for her parents just like you do, but I can’t let a murderer go free because I feel sorry for her family.”

“You’re making a mistake if you charge her with murder.”

“And you’re making a mistake if you continue to try to tell me how to do my job.” His voice rose. “But, for your information, I haven’t officially charged her. Yet.” Another glance at his watch. “Your time is up.”

Bob and Wilma were still sitting exactly as they
had been
when I first walked in. The only difference was the unopened bottle of water each held.

I sank into the empty chair beside Wilma and put my arm around her but could find no comforting words. The two of them were silent as the grave. I cleared my throat. “Did Lisa give them her alibi?” I hated to pry
,
but both John and Seth had mentioned that it wouldn’t hold up.

“Yes.” Bob closed his mouth on that one word. Okay, this was weird. He had been so forthcoming before
.
N
ow suddenly he clammed up?

“And the police didn’t believe her?” I was fishing for information.

“They believed her. They just said she had time to drive by and shoot J.D. first.” He looked down at the floor. “Thanks so much for coming by
,
Jenna. Lisa’s lawyer is here now
,
and I guess there’s nothing you can do.” He looked at Wilma. “Except take Wilma home for me.”

She shook her head. “I’m staying with you.”

“No, honey, go on home. You’ll need to get some rest so you can help us tomorrow.” He gently took her hand and helped her to her feet. “Please go home. I don’t want to have to worry about both my girls.”

Still clutching her water, Wilma kissed him on the cheek. “Okay. But call me if you know anything. No matter what time it is.”

*****

After I walked Wilma in and was pulling out of her driveway, my phone rang. I flipped it open. “Hello?”

“Jen?” Carly’s voice trembled.

“What’s wrong?”

She laughed. “Nothing.”

“Nothing? You sound like you’ve been crying.”

“Happy tears this time.”

“Oh?” I slapped the steering wheel with one hand. “Spill it,
S
ister
.”

“Elliott asked me to marry him. And I said yes!”

“Carly, that’s fantastic.” I forced myself not to ask any questions about the Travis situation. If they’d worked it out, that’s what mattered.

“Jenna, he took me out to eat
,
and after dessert he got down on one knee.” She laughed again. “You should see the ring. It’s perfect!”

Tears pricked at my eyes. “I can’t wait to see it.”