Haunted Fixer-Upper, The (12 page)

When I stepped out of the c
abin, Reed’s uncle was just pulling up in his new shiny red truck. I splashed through a couple puddles and climbed into the truck. My shoes would probably leave his new truck filthy. At least when the other one had broken down he finally gave up the ghost and bought a new one.

I buckled my seatbelt and glanced over
, but he didn’t speak. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes as we sped down the road. What did I say to a man whose son was being questioned for murder? Other than I knew his son was innocent. There was no way Reed could have done something like this. Soon the police would realize that and let him go. This nightmare would be over and I never wanted to think of it again.

Raindrops patted against the windshield and the wipers swooshed in a steady
rhythm. As we hurried down the road toward the police station, I had to admit I felt a little hopeless. What could I do to help Reed? Anxiety gnawed at my insides. I shifted on the seat, unable to find a comfortable spot. We passed only a couple of cars. The streets were abandoned at that time of night. Lou tapped his fingers rapidly against the steering wheel.

Lou finally broke the silence.
“Reed talked to the police right after he found Gordon’s body, right?” He glanced over at me.

I pushed a stray stand of hair behind my ear.
“Yeah, he told them everything he knew. From what I hear, there are plenty of people in town who would have wanted Gordon dead. Reed isn’t one of them though.”

“W
ell, he is the easy target because he found the body. They are a bunch of jackasses.”

“If you don’
t mind me asking, who did you call?”

“I called my friend. He’s a lawyer. I should’
ve called him earlier today when I first found out about this.”

The police station was on the edge of town, the opposite direction from Lou’s house and the plantation. Lou slowed down as he pulled into the parking lot. Thank goodness because the last thing I needed was for him to be arrested.
The stone building was small, but seemed cold and gloomy. I supposed that had a little something to do with the bars on the windows and the barbed wire around the fenced-in areas.

The visitor parking lot was virtually empty, so Lou pulled into a spot right up in front of the station. The lot
to our left held a sea of blue-and-white marked police cars. The rain had begun to slack off and was now just a drizzle. I didn’t waste time hopping out, beating Lou to the entrance. I pushed the button and waited for someone to buzz us in.

Lou and I entered through the heavy steel doors and stopped in the lobby to ask for Reed.

“Someone will be with you in a minute,” the female officer said, pointing toward the metal chairs in the corner of the space.

A few men on the bad side of the law stood behind a glass window staring at us. Talk about awkward. I didn’t want Reed to end up on that side of the glass.
Lou and I sat in chairs next to each other, as if cuddled together for protection. I shifted from side to side, but finding a comfortable position was impossible. I checked my watch more times than I could remember, but after thirty minutes no one had come out to offer any help or information about Reed. Where was he and what were they doing to him?

A couple minutes past and then a tall man in jeans and a white polo shirt walked through the door.

Lou stood up and shook the man’s hand. “Alabama, this is Joe Adkerson.”

“Nice to meet you.”
He nodded at me. “Come on. Let’s get him out.”

Lou followed Joe over to the policewoman who was still behind the counter. She had ignored us for the past thirty minutes and I doubted she’d offer any help to Lou or Joe now.
I needed fresh air. This whole mess was making me on the verge of hyperventilating and having a panic attack.

I stepped out onto the sidewalk and stared around at the empty parking lot. How had I gotten myself into this situation?

The sound of clothing shuffling caught my attention. I whipped my attention to my right. I hadn’t expected to see Reed’s cousin Melody standing there.

Chapter Fifteen

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

Melody pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
“My stupid husband got into a bar fight. They’re letting him out now, but I think they should just keep him in there for a while. He has such a temper.”

“I’m sorry. That’s unfortunate.” I had no idea what else I was supposed to say.

She took a draw from her cigarette, then said, “If you ask me, Gordon got what he had coming. He was rude and mean and it’s no wonder no one liked him.” She stared at me as if waiting for me to agree with her.

This certainly seemed like a drastic change in personality from the way she’d acted when we’d first learned of Gordon’s death.
Plus she’d said this out of the blue. We hadn’t even discussed Gordon. He might have been those things, but that was no reason to wish death on the man. I didn’t argue this fact with Melody. It looked as if I’d be on the losing end of that conversation. By the look in her eyes and the tightened jaw, I knew her mind was set. She had her opinion of Gordon and nothing I did or said would change that. But I couldn’t help but wonder why she detested him so much all of a sudden.

I looked
around to see if Melody’s husband was coming. I wanted plenty of time to question her without interruption. Not that she’d give me a truthful answer, but I had to try.

“You didn’t mention these things about Gordon before. Why are you telling me now?”

She shrugged and blew a ring of smoke from her mouth. “He owed my husband money and refused to pay up.”

“
Is that right? Apparently, he owed a lot of people money.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest. In spite of the warm temperature, the rain had left my clothing damp and I had to fight off a chill.

She snorted.
“What can I say? He was just an all-around terrible person.”

“You worked for him for a while. Was he a bad boss?” I asked.

“I really don’t want to talk about it.”

She was the one who had started the topic. Now she acted as if I’d invaded her privacy. I’d have to ask Reed more questions about his strange cousin. She’d seemed so normal at the reunion. What had changed?

“Have the police talked to you about what happened? Did you express to them your feelings?” I fixed my gaze on her to watch her reaction.

She narrowed her eyes and glared at me.
“What are you saying?”

I stepped back a couple feet
. My back was up against the stone wall of the building. “I just thought if you had information about someone who might have been upset with Gordon that the police would have spoken with you.”

“
So you’re saying that I’m a suspect because he owed my husband money? Next you’ll say that my husband murdered him.” Her words were laced with venom.

W
ell, if the shoe fit. I didn’t say that though. She was already mad at me as it was. I didn’t think she’d be inviting me to anymore family reunions.

She stepped forward a couple steps and placed her hands on her hips.
“Just because we didn’t like him doesn’t mean we murdered the man.”

I held my hands up.
“I didn’t say that and I’m sorry if you thought I implied such.”

I was not getting off to a good start with Reed’s family.
Melody stared for a second longer, then spun around in a huff and stomped off. Well, that hadn’t ended well.

With my hand on the police station door,
a voice captured my attention.

“
There’s a little more to the story than that,” the male voice said from over my shoulder.

I spun around so fast that I almost toppled to the ground. A tall man with
cropped black hair and small charcoal-colored eyes stood in front of me. His hands were stuck in his front pockets and his white T-shirt had small rips in the front. The clothing was either old or he’d been in a fight. We locked stares and my stomach did a little flip. The dark circles under his eyes made him look haunted, as if an eerie and menacing spirit followed his every step.

“
Excuse me?” I squeaked out.

“I said that wasn’t the only reason she didn’t like Gordon Millerton.”

I wasn’t sure if I needed to scream for the police. What if they didn’t come quickly enough and I needed to run? It was a good thing I’d worn my sneakers. But this guy had long legs and he could probably run a heck of a lot faster than me. Why hadn’t I brought my pepper spray? Wouldn’t the police notice if I was being attacked on their front step? I had to admit I was fascinated by his statement though. What did he mean? There was only one way to find out. I couldn’t run away. I had to stay and listen to what he had to say.

“
Who are you?” I asked, looking him up and down.

“
I’m Melody’s husband, Doug.” He looked me straight in the eyes.

Why hadn’t he said something before she left? Maybe he wanted me alone so he could kill me.
Would he kill me right there on the sidewalk in front of the police station? There was a streetlight overhead and the police could likely see us. Surely he’d rather commit a crime under the cover of darkness. That was when my mind started imagining him dragging me off into the alley. I was prepared to start running in ten seconds.

Why was I being so paranoid? He had no reason to harm me.
Melody said he had a temper, but I’d done nothing to him. Sure, I’d had words with his wife, but still…

“
You see, Melody didn’t give you the real reason why she’s upset with him.” He crossed his arms in front of his large chest.

I swallowed hard.
“What is the real reason?” I asked, almost afraid of what his answer would be.

His gaze didn’t leave mine as he said,
“They were having an affair.”

Well, that statement smacked me over the head. I
definitely hadn’t expected that. Wouldn’t that make this man a prime suspect though? The murdered man was sleeping with his wife. With all this dirty laundry, why in the world would they question Reed? There were plenty of other people who had reasons to kill Gordon.

“Was what she said about Gordon
owing you money true?” I glanced over my shoulder to see if anyone was around.

We were all alone.
Just my luck. Where had Melody run off to?

Doug
nodded. “Yeah, that part was true, but it wasn’t the main reason she was mad at him. You see, she doesn’t know that I know about her little dalliance. But I knew, believe you me, I knew about them.”

“
If she was having an affair, then why would she be mad at him?” I asked.

He stared at m
e for a second, then said, “Because he was through with her. He broke it off and that made her irate.”

That had to make Doug
livid too. I refused to believe he wasn’t angry that his wife was cheating on him. Unless he just didn’t love her.

“
How did you know all this?” I pressed.

He looked at his watch.
“I’d hired a private investigator to follow them. I had suspected something had been going on for a long time. The investigator got pictures of them together.”

“
I’m sorry,” I said softly.

He shrugged
and looked down at his sneakers. “I was angry at first, but now I realize it isn’t worth me being upset over. She isn’t worth it.”

The look on his face didn’t remind me of someone who wasn’t upset. Something told me that he hadn’t moved past her indiscretion.

“Did you tell the police about their affair?” I asked.

His eyes widened.
“Hell no, why would I do that?”

“
Why would you tell me?” I asked.

He frowned.
“I just get tired of her lies, that’s all.”

Melody stomp
ed toward us and I knew it was time for me to get out of there. I didn’t want to be involved in their fight.

“Listen,
I have to go,” I said.

Without responding h
e spun around and rushed off toward Melody.

That
whole encounter had been bizarre. I still didn’t know why he’d told me any of this information. He’d looked like he was still extremely pissed off at her even though he claimed otherwise. Didn’t he realize that I would now tell the police what I’d learned? I had to. I’d do whatever it took to get the police to realize that Reed had nothing to do with the murder.

I
buzzed to be let in the station again and hurried through the door when the female officer opened it for me. She remained expressionless as she walked back to her post behind the glass wall. The metal chairs in the lobby were empty. Reed’s uncle and the lawyer were nowhere in sight. As soon as I found Lou and Mr. Ackerson I’d tell them what I’d learned. But would the police take anything I said seriously?

The officer who’d brought Reed into the station stood in the corner of the room, pouring coffee into his mug.
Sweat beaded on my forehead and I realized I was holding my breath. I swallowed hard, pushed my shoulders back, and made my way across the room to where he stood.