Murder on the Hoof: A Mystery (Colleen McCabe Series) (12 page)

Marvin was clearly having a hard time with the loss of his wife. It was difficult to get too upset with him about his behavior. Anger was, after all, one of the stages of the grieving process. She heard the door open and ducked out of sight.

“I’ll pay for the glass,” she heard Marvin say.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sam said. “Go home, have a drink, maybe go visit family.”

Marvin shuffled to his pickup and drove away.

“I’ll go clean up the mess,” Rita said, and Colleen heard the door close.

Suddenly, Sparky appeared from the road, tail wagging. He spotted Colleen and came running.

“Hey there, Sparky,” Sam said as the dog approached. “Whatcha doing here?”

Damn. There was no way of hiding now. Best to step from behind the house and make her presence known. “Hey, Sam,” she said. Sparky joined her. “Bad dog,” Colleen whispered, but she rubbed his chest with concern. It wasn’t like him to abandon his post.

“Well, hello,” Sam said with surprise.

She thought about trying to make up an excuse for why she was lurking about his property but figured the truth was actually what made the most sense. “I was at Fawn’s place and heard arguing. Is everything okay?”

“How much did you hear?”

“Bits and pieces. I saw Marvin leave.”

“Poor guy,” Sam said. “I can’t imagine what he must be going through. I’d hate to think of what life would be like without Rita.”

“I heard you say Doris wasn’t having an affair. Was that true?”

“Doris is gone. I really didn’t see the point in hurting Marvin.”

“So she
was
having an affair?”

“Just a feeling I got.”

“Why’d Marvin think she was seeing you?”

“He’s accusing anyone who has ever looked at Doris. Trust me; I can barely keep up with one woman”—he gestured inside—“let alone two.”

She smiled. “Who else did Marvin accuse?”

“Doc Wales, Nellie’s nephew. Hell, he even accused Myrtle. Can you imagine?”

Colleen’s brows rose in surprise. Seems Marvin was including men and women in his search. She wondered if there was anything to it or if it was merely the irrational suspicions of a grieving husband. Suddenly, Hayley rounded the corner, barefoot, her shoes in hand.

“Oh, thank goodness I found you,” she said, making her way to them. Sparky trotted to her and accompanied her the rest of the way.

“Did something happen?” Colleen asked, noting the actress’s unusually frazzled appearance and flushed cheeks.

“After Fawn’s reading … the danger warning … and then you weren’t there, so I—” Hayley struggled to catch her breath.

“Slow down,” Colleen said, interrupting her.

Sam looked on with surprised interest. Great, another fan, she thought. Better get the introductions over with so I can find out what’s going on. “Hayley Thorpe, Sam Riddle.”

Hayley brushed back a loose tendril and collected herself. “Lovely to meet you.”

“You, too, ma’am,” he said, unfazed by Hayley’s celebrity status.

Could it be? Was there actually a person who didn’t know who Hayley Thorpe was? “Hayley’s in town to shoot the movie,” Colleen said. “You know … the soap actress.”

“Hate to admit, but I never really watched soaps. Welcome anyway,” Sam said with a slight nod. “If there’s nothing further, I’ll leave you two ladies to talk. I got a little mess to help Rita with. Nice to meet you, miss.”

“You, too,” Hayley said with a smile.

Sam disappeared inside to clean up the aftermath of his fight with Marvin. Colleen liked him better and better.

“So what happened?” she asked, and walked away toward the road. As much as she wanted to learn what Hayley had to say, she found it difficult to look her in the eye now that she knew about her relationship with Bill. It would be easier to talk to her while on the move. Sparky followed and sniffed the side of the road for the scent of a rabbit, duck, or horse.

Hayley caught up to her and Sparky. “After you left, Fawn insisted on reading my—”

“Aura?” Colleen asked.

“No. Cards.”

“Cards?”

“Tarot cards.”

“Of course, she reads tarot cards,” Colleen muttered.

Hayley touched her arm to stop her and lowered her voice. “I hate to be disagreeable, but maybe she shouldn’t … at least not if she’s going to deliver that type of news.”

“Which was?”

Suddenly, the Currituck County sheriff’s pickup truck appeared from around the bend. Colleen silently groaned. Bill … the very person she didn’t need to see right now. The vehicle rumbled down the hill and slid to a stop in front of them. She and Hayley shielded their eyes as the dust swirled around them and then cleared. Bill exited, took a step toward them, stopped abruptly, and then stole a look back. Nowhere to run now, mister, Colleen thought. After a moment, he took a deep breath and made his way slowly to them.

An awkward silence followed. Colleen studied his face to try to decipher what was on his mind, but she wasn’t able to see behind his sunglasses. She was certainly glad she was wearing her shades; otherwise, her feelings toward him would have been obvious.

The tension between the fire chief and sheriff was not lost on Hayley. “I’m glad Fawn was able to reach you, Billy,” she said, breaking the silence.

“Yes, well,” he said, and rubbed his bicep, a nervous habit. “Fawn said something about Colleen having gone missing. Apparently, a false alarm.”

“Apparently,” Colleen said.

“So,” he said, wiping sweat from his brow. “You two have met.”

Colleen folded her arms. “We have indeed.”

“On the first day I arrived, as a matter of fact. Right before I met you at your office,” Hayley added. “She was allowing me to shadow her today as research for my film role.”

“So you’ve been together all morning.” He shifted his weight.

“Yep,” Colleen said.

“And what brought you out to Carova?”

“I promised I’d swing through while their chief was out of town. Hayley wasn’t feeling well, so we stopped at Chip’s place.”

“I’m afraid the terrain of these back roads through the dunes is too much for me,” Hayley said. “Remember how carsick I’d get, Billy?”

“You took her through the dunes?”

“Is there another way?” Hayley asked, looking from Bill to Colleen.

Colleen averted her eyes.

“Most people drive the beach, where it’s flat,” he said in an accusatory tone.

Bill and Hayley eyed Colleen. The emotions swirling inside Colleen were a mix of anger, heartbreak, and now panic, but she tried to appear calm and disinterested.

“So why, exactly, did I get a call that you were missing?” he asked.

“We couldn’t find her after Fawn did my reading,” Hayley volunteered. “Turns out she was here,” she said, and gestured to Sam’s house.

He studied the house. Uh-oh.

“What were you doing at Sam and Rita’s place?”

“Something I’d prefer to speak with you about in private.” She turned to Hayley and added, “No offense.”

“None taken. I’ve had my fill of research for one day.”

Had the actress made a snarky remark? If so, it would be the first time Colleen had seen her be anything other than gracious. Not that she could blame her. She knew she’d been rude.

“Could you give me a ride back to my house?” Hayley asked Bill.

“Of course.”

“I’ll leave you to it, then. Sparky,” Colleen said, and quickly walked away. The last thing she wanted to be was a third wheel. She lengthened her stride as she marched toward Fawn’s house, wanting to put as much distance between them and her as fast as possible. She heard footsteps behind her and picked up her pace, but Bill finally caught up.

“Hey,” he said when she kept walking.

She closed her eyes, sighed, and stopped.

He came around to face her. “You okay?” he asked with genuine concern.

She felt her eyes begin to tear. Damn it, you’d better not cry, she told herself. Not in front of him. She squared her shoulders. “I’m fine.”

He took off his sunglasses and studied her face. “We need to talk.”

“About what?”

“Rich’s murder, or at least the circumstances surrounding it. I’ve learned some things. You obviously have, too.”

Oh, I’ve learned some things, she thought, not inclined to share anything with him. Then she remembered a promise she had made to Bill after Max Cascio’s arrest. She had agreed to consult with him about any investigation that was beyond the scope of her job as fire chief, and the reason she had acquiesced was because it was the safe thing to do.

“You can call me later,” she said, and took off toward her SUV with Sparky at her side.

She took her time driving back to the station, preferring the back roads through the dunes to the beach highway, which Bill was taking with Hayley. She rolled down the windows. The salty sea air would help clear her head and the breeze would keep Sparky from feeling sick. She made a decision not to focus on Bill and Hayley anymore. That was a personal matter that, one way or the other, would resolve itself.

She turned her attention to the deaths of Doris Jenkins and Rich Bailey. Were they connected? She hadn’t thought so. But now that she had learned of Marvin’s suspicions, she wasn’t so sure. It seemed likely that if Doris had been having an affair, it would have been with one of the members of the theater group. Her husband certainly believed that, and, as her father had once famously told her when asked why people always had affairs with work colleagues, it’s hard to have an affair with someone you’ve never met. In her experience, where there was smoke, there was fire. No, if Marvin thought Doris had been seeing someone, then there had to be a reason.

This new piece of information threw suspicion on the cause of Doris’s death. Had she died of natural causes, as Colleen had originally suspected, or of something more sinister? Could Marvin have killed her out of jealousy? If so, how? He hadn’t been anywhere near the beach when Doris died. She had a feeling a talk with Marvin was in her future, but she wasn’t looking forward to it. From everything she had seen and heard, Marvin was a man on the edge.

Then there was Rich. Was his death in some way related to Doris’s? Could the same person have killed both members of the theater company? And was that the person who’d broken into and ransacked Rich’s house? And what had that person been looking for? Whatever it was, she suspected that the person hadn’t found it … or at least not all of it. Then she recalled the bizarre photographs of ears she and Bill had seen hanging on Rich’s wall. What was that all about? Was Bill correct in thinking Rich had had an ear fetish? She didn’t know what an ear fetishist would be like, but she didn’t think Rich had seemed like one. Then again, you could never tell about a person.

Which brought her to Bill. Despite her pledge to put him out of her mind, she found her thoughts drifting to the news that he had once been engaged. She could understand why he hadn’t told her about that. She hadn’t told him about her breakup with her college sweetheart. But once he learned that his ex was coming to Corolla, he should have told her he knew Hayley. He had had plenty of opportunities. They had known Hayley was coming to town with the film crew for weeks. She wondered who had ended the relationship and why, but she knew there was little chance of discovering those details. They were, quite simply, none of her business. The only way she was going to learn any information about his past with Hayley was if the information was volunteered. After her behavior today, she found that extremely unlikely. It did seem, however, that he might have answers to some of the questions she had about Doris’s death and Rich’s and that she’d learn those later when they had a chance to talk.

Colleen drove out of the four-wheel-drive community and back onto paved road. Sparky barked with delight as they picked up speed and the wind whipped his ears back. They headed toward the station. It was time to focus on work; murder and Bill would have to wait.

Chapter 10

“Let no man’s ghost
ever come back and say his training failed him,” Colleen said to her men, who were sweating in the sun on the back lot of the firehouse. “Those words are posted at the National Fire Academy and I’ve never forgotten them.”

The men squinted at her through sweat as they gulped down bottles of water. She had been working them hard and now was giving them a short break to stay hydrated. Sparky was content viewing the entire scene from a pit he had dug in the sandy shade. She eyed Bobby. His cheeks were flushed red and he was holding his side.

“You okay, Bobby?” she asked.

“Just a stitch,” he said.

“Or a few too many doughnuts,” Chip said.

“Maybe he’s training to be a cop,” Kenny teased.

The men chuckled. She had to admit that Bobby still needed to lose some weight, but he was giving it his all, and she didn’t want him to get discouraged.

“Maybe Bobby could cut back on the doughnuts,” she said to Chip, and raised a brow to Bobby. “But he’s training like his life depends on it. Are you?”

“Aw, come on,” Chip said. “You know I train hard. Look at me.” He punched his rock-hard abdomen for emphasis.

“Training isn’t just about what’s there,” she said, pointing to his toned stomach. “It’s also about what’s in here.” She tapped a finger on his forehead.

“Chief’s got you there,” Jimmy said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Chip said.

She assessed the group. They looked sufficiently recovered from their drills. “So,” she said, stretching her quads. “Everyone ready for the run?”

The men groaned.

“Hey,” she said. “You know more firefighters—”

“—die from heart attacks than from smoke inhalation,” the men said in unison, finishing her sentence.

“Okay, then,” she said. “Give me three miles.”

The men groaned again.

“Fine. It’s hot. Let’s make it two.” The men cheered. Given the heat, she had already decided on the lesser distance, but by initially assigning them three miles and then cutting back to two, the men felt like they were getting off easy. “All right. Let’s go. And make me proud.”

One by one, the men took off jogging in pairs north on Whalehead Drive. Sparky raised his head. “Stay,” she said, wanting him to rest in the shade. She took off after the group and caught up to Bobby, who was chugging along at the back of the pack.