Zach wrapped his fingers around the mug of hot coffee Felicia had handed him and looked around the sheriff’s living room. Shauna had gone off to the kitchen with Felicia for some kind of confab while they waited for Burchell to finish his shower. The sheriff was normally in the office by eight, but when Zach called the office this morning, he’d been told the sheriff had taken a vacation day.
The coffee was strong and hot, and he took another sip, then heard footsteps on the stairs. The house shook a bit, and he jumped to his feet. Another mild earthquake.
Sheriff Burchell, his hair still damp and wearing a T-shirt and jeans, came toward him with a frown wrinkling his brow. “Felicia said some kind of earthshaking news had come in. What’s going on? Hold on a second while I grab some coffee.”
Zach pointed to the mug beside an obviously new leather recliner. “Felicia already brought some.”
The sheriff smiled. “She’s a great wife.” He scooped up the mug, then settled on the chair. “So what’s up?”
“It’s about that phone of Jack’s.”
Burchell shrugged. “Not much to go on with those text messages. Yes, the one could have been a threat, but it’s pretty oblique. I ran down the number, and it’s a burner phone with no way to trace it.”
“It’s not the text messages that are the problem.” Zach pulled Jack’s phone from his pocket and started the video, then handed the device to the sheriff. No matter how many times he listened to it, the impact was like an unexpected gut punch.
Burchell watched it in silence, but his brows rose as he listened through to the end. He stilled, then shook his head. “Do you still believe his death was an accident after hearing this? You were there. Did you see anything that might make you doubt it was a simple fall?”
“I’m starting to wonder. I never did understand where that slide of rock and ice came from. There were no other climbers, so it was out of the blue. So yeah, in light of this warning from Jack, I’m not sure what happened that day.” Zach launched into the sequence of events as he remembered them.
The sheriff sipped his coffee, then stared down at the phone with a thoughtful expression. “Any idea what the whole Jupiter reference is about?”
“The only thing I could come up with is the Jupiter Hammerheads. Jack and I know a pitcher with them, but that’s a stretch. I called him this morning and left a message. He was here a few weeks before Jack died. The two of them had coffee, but Jack never mentioned what it was all about. I’m hoping Harry can provide some answers.”
The sheriff pulled out a small notepad and pen. “What’s his last name?”
“Harry Richards.”
Burchell nodded and jotted it down. “I’ll see what I can find out. Did you ask Marilyn if she knew this Richards guy?”
“Marilyn isn’t inclined to tell me much. Maybe you’ll have better luck.”
Burchell nodded again as his wife and Shauna joined them. Shauna carried a plate of cinnamon rolls, and Felicia set a coffeepot on the table in front of Zach.
Zach reached for a cinnamon roll. It was still warm and smelled amazing. “You just whip these up this morning?”
Shauna took a roll and sat beside him. “Felicia had them ready to put in the oven. It’s the anniversary of when she and Everett met.”
Zach couldn’t watch her like he wanted to with her beside him instead of in front of him. He had been unable to keep his eyes off her ever since they got up this morning. Sleep had been elusive last night, and he knew she’d been restless too because he heard her in the kitchen around three. It had been by sheer will alone that he hadn’t gone in to talk to her then.
It was best they weren’t alone together. She was entirely too tempting with her green eyes flashing and those all-too-kissable lips. Not that he’d ever tasted them, but he’d dreamed about it plenty these past few days.
I’m in big trouble.
He forced his attention back to the sheriff, who was talking about possible Jupiter connections. “Yes, we talked about all those. Nothing really seems to fit. If only he’d given us more information before he ended the video.”
The sheriff consulted the phone again. “This was recorded two days before he died.”
Shauna nibbled on her cinnamon roll and nodded. “Which is why we’re here. What if his death is connected to the deaths of Clarence and Lucy? And to the break-in at my house? This thing could go back a whole year.”
“That’s a stretch, Shauna,” the sheriff warned. “If that’s true, why did the killer wait a year to kill them and target you?”
Zach leaned forward and jabbed his finger at the phone. “Listen to it again, Everett. The coroner ruled Jack’s death accidental, so what if the killer thought with Jack dead, he was safe, but then Clarence found out something? And whatever he found out flushed the guy out.”
The sheriff’s lips turned in a skeptical twist. “Lucy too? They were separated. I don’t think they are connected.” He started the video again and let it play through. “But I do think it’s possible someone rolled those rocks down on Jack deliberately. I’ll poke around into the few months leading up to his death and see if anything turns up. I don’t have enough personnel to be handling all these separate investigations, so it’s likely going to take some time. The state is asking lots of questions, which is taking up manpower too. My first priority is to follow the trails around Clarence and Lucy first. Their deaths are the freshest, and I have the best chance of solving them.”
Zach wanted to throw his roll against the wall. “Everett, if they’re all tied together and you have separate teams investigating them, clues are bound to be missed. Connections won’t be made like they should be. Can’t you give your detectives all the information and see where it leads them?”
Shauna set down her coffee. “Please, Sheriff. What could it hurt? There’s something else too.” She told him about talking to Alyssa. “So that ties them together.”
Burchell stared at them for a long moment, then shrugged. “Okay, I’ll make sure my lead detective has all the details, but I think you’re looking in the wrong direction.”
The spicy aroma of seafood curry in Marilyn’s kitchen made Shauna’s mouth water. After talking to the sheriff, she’d gone directly to fly a client to Vancouver, and lunch hadn’t been on her agenda today. It was already nearly four, and her empty stomach clenched painfully. She sat at the breakfast bar, then listened to the distant sound of Alex’s game from his bedroom.
She needed to talk to Marilyn before Alex finished his video game, so food would have to wait a while. Marilyn stirred the big pot of curry with a wary expression. Things hadn’t been the same between them since Shauna had moved in with Zach, and the video on Jack’s phone wasn’t likely to change things for the better. Her mother-in-law didn’t react well to stress.
“Marilyn, I need to show you something.”
Marilyn tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. “What’s wrong now?”
“It’s about Jack. I found his phone.” Shauna pulled her phone from her jacket pocket. “The sheriff kept Jack’s phone, but Zach copied everything first. There’s a video from Jack I think you need to see.”
It would do no good to try to explain it first. Jack’s mother had formed her opinion of what had happened long ago, and only hearing from Jack himself would make her listen to any other explanation of his death. “You’d better sit down.”
Marilyn came around the side of the counter and held out her hand. “You sound very ominous.”
Shauna pulled up the video and started it, then handed her phone to Marilyn without another word. Marilyn’s hazel eyes filled with tears as the sound of Jack’s voice echoed in the kitchen. Her mouth dropped open as she watched the video. She started the video again and let it run through a second time before she spoke.
The color had leached from her face, but she couldn’t seem to tear her gaze away from the frozen image on the screen. “He expected to be killed. This is proof that Zach killed him. You need to show the sheriff.”
She must not have listened well. “That’s not what he’s saying at all. He told me to turn to Zach for help. If he feared Zach, he wouldn’t have done that. Someone was coming for him, but it wasn’t his best friend. His death wasn’t an accident. I talked to Zach last night about the day Jack died. The rock-and-ice slide happened out of nowhere. I think someone deliberately started it to kill Jack. I have to find out who did it. I think Jack’s killer is after me now. I think he killed Clarence and Lucy. Darla too.”
Marilyn said nothing as she started the video and watched it to the end a third time. She finally put the phone on the counter. “Everyone loved Jack. Who would want to kill him? And what makes you think his death is tied in with the other deaths?”
Shauna couldn’t explain her conviction, even to herself. “Jack is dead. So are Darla, Clarence, and Lucy. I found out that Darla discovered something upsetting and went to Jack about it. What if they uncovered something illegal and were killed to keep it quiet? Maybe Clarence found evidence after Darla died. It all fits.”
Marilyn pressed her lips together and went back to stir the curry. “Town scuttlebutt says Clarence was involved with something illegal that got him and Lucy killed. People think he was trafficking drugs. Why else would Lucy move to that neighborhood?”
Hunger forgotten, Shauna leaped to her feet with her fists clenched. “Clarence and Lucy were fine people, good Christians with impeccable integrity, and you know it. I don’t care what rumors are flying around. I knew them better than anyone, and they both hated drugs, especially after Darla’s death.”
Could Jack have found out evidence involving drug trafficking, though? He might have told Clarence about it. “Can you think of anything in the couple of weeks before Jack died that made you wonder if he was worried about something?”
Marilyn’s brow creased as she stared off into space, then shook her head. “He’d been busy with the annual audit so I didn’t see him much for several weeks. He seemed quiet, but he usually was during tax time.”
Remembering the same thing, Shauna nodded. “He didn’t get home until after nine the week he died.” Jack had owned an accounting business and often conducted audits for companies as well as prepared individual taxes. “What if he found evidence of wrongdoing during an audit?”
Marilyn scooped up rice into a bowl and added several ladles of curry to it, then handed the steaming food to Shauna. “That doesn’t seem like enough to get him murdered.”
“Unless the person was afraid he’d turn him in to the police. Staying out of jail is quite a motivation.” The oven dinged as the timer went off for the bread. “Do you remember Harry Richards?”
“Jack’s friend who plays for the Jupiters?”
“Yes, that’s the one. He had lunch with Jack, and we wondered if he’s the Jupiter connection Jack mentioned. Did he tell you about their lunch?”
“Just that he saw Harry and he was doing well. Jack didn’t mention anything they talked about.”
A dead end. Shauna spooned up some curry and closed her eyes when the spices hit her tongue. “This is so good.”
“I haven’t made it since Jack died.”
“I know.” His mother’s curry had been his favorite dish, and Shauna had never been able to duplicate it. “I have his computer in storage, and his filing cabinet is in the garage. I could go back and see what he was working on the month before he died.”
“Isn’t the sheriff inquiring? You don’t need to be inserting yourself into the investigation when someone is already targeting you. If you back away, things should settle down and you can go home.”
“I don’t think the sheriff is looking into Jack’s death just yet. And I think his death is the start of all of this. I can’t rest until I know.” Shauna slid off the stool and went to call Alex for supper.
If she had to dig out the truth by herself, that’s what she’d do.