Chapter Twenty-Two
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It was the smell that hit Zach first. The stench of death hung heavy over the old, decrepit barn. Deputies had been checking everywhere that Darrell Madison might be hiding out and abandoned buildings had been second only to the homes of friends and family. They’d hit the jackpot in the middle of the night.
Some kids had gone out drinking and partying and ended up making the grisly discovery. Zach had received the call from the police about one in the morning, which meant that he had to either drag Leann out of her warm, comfortable bed in the next room or find someone to watch over her. His next call had been to her brother Jason who had gladly taken the job.
The medical examiner crouched over the body of Darrell while Zach anxiously awaited his verdict, sipping on a hot coffee that he hoped desperately would wake him up.
“Gunshot wound to the chest is my preliminary cause of death.”
Shot? If the killer had a gun, why didn’t he use it on Drew? Assuming it was the same person, of course.
“Is there an exit wound or is the bullet still inside?”
“No exit wound. I’ll send the bullet to the lab when I extract it. You can see if it matches this.” He held up a gun with his gloved fingers. “This was sitting under the victim’s arm. It could just be his, though, trying to defend himself.”
Bagging the firearm, Zach examined it and saw that it had been fired recently. Had Madison got off a shot before he was killed? Perhaps there was an injured man wandering Tremont and he might end up in an area emergency room.
Naw, I’m not that lucky.
“Estimated time of death?”
The medical examiner stood to make way for the men who would bag the body and take it to the morgue. “That’s going to be a tougher question. He’s definitely been here a day or two. I’m guessing late Saturday or early Sunday maybe.”
“Thanks. Call me when you have anything.”
The body was zipped into a bag and loaded onto a gurney before being rolled out of the ramshackle structure. Now that Madison was on his way to autopsy, Zach walked the perimeter of the barn looking for anything unusual or out of place.
“There are tire tracks in the back.”
Looking up, Zach wasn’t surprised to see West standing there. Jesus, the man needed a hobby or something. Did Gigi even know her husband had escaped the house?
“Tim, can you get photos of the tracks and then make impressions?” Zach asked one of Tremont’s junior detectives before approaching West. “Is there something I can do for you?”
West rolled his eyes at Zach’s careful tone. “You can give me a rash of shit about being here. I have no good excuse and I know you can handle this, but my curiosity got the better of me when I got the news. I was going to call you into my office for an update in the morning and then found myself in the truck driving here to see it for myself.”
At least West had had the grace to admit he didn’t belong here. It also looked like he still had contacts in the police department to have been called in the middle of the night about Darrell Madison.
“You might want to see a doctor about those blackout periods, West. Could be dangerous.”
“Might get my ass kicked, that’s for sure.” West grinned and pointed to the barn. “Found anything?”
Zach actually kind of felt sorry for West. It was clear his brother-in-law missed being a cop but it didn’t look like he’d get to go back to it any time soon. The town was thrilled with the job he was doing as mayor and were already pressing him to run again.
“Just got started. Wouldn’t mind a second set of eyes.”
That smile grew wider. “Don’t mind if I do.”
They started inside where the body had been found. A large pool of blood was located in the corner indicating where the shooting had occurred.
“So Darrell stood here.” Zach put himself in position. “Maybe he was facing the doorway? If he was expecting company he wouldn’t have any reason to be worried about the killer being in between him and the only exit.”
“That would make sense. He would probably need help to evade the law.” West nodded and knelt down next to a stack of garbage. “It looks like Madison was hiding out in here. There’s a change of clothes, a blanket, some empty water bottles, and food wrappers.”
“I’ll have Tim bag all of that. Where is the food from?”
West used a pencil to sift through the trash. “Lucy’s. Looks like had a couple of burgers, some fries, and a shake. Strawberry. I prefer the chocolate.”
“Lucy’s have a camera we can pull footage from?”
West stood and shook his head. “Not unless she’s added it recently. Damn, that would have been useful. We could have seen who bought a similar order in the last few days and that might tell us who was helping him. He couldn’t go there himself with the whole town looking for him.”
There had to be a helper. There was no way Darrell Madison was going to waltz up to the nearest fast food joint, order himself some junk food, and then parade down Main Street as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Not when the entire Tremont police force was looking for him.
“So if Darrell is our guy, then he shot Drew Marshall and came here to hide out. That makes sense. Someone was helping him and they may or may not be involved in the original murder but they might be the person who shot Darrell. I guess it’s progress.”
“Then you think Darrell killed Marshall?”
Zach grimaced as he studied the crime scene. “I’m not ready to say that yet. It’s a definite possibility but Darrell could have been hiding out here simply because he was a suspect, not because he did it.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, West nodded in agreement. “He might have been shot because he knew who the real killer was. Looks like we have two competing theories. How do we decide?”
Zach pointed to the door. “We’ve got tire tracks coming in and out of here. We’ll see what make and model vehicle they belong to. We also found a firearm under the body. We’ll see what ballistics can pull from it. Hopefully one of those two items will push us in the right direction. If not, there’s always old-fashioned police work.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Time to talk to Darrell’s soon to be ex-wife. What time do you think she gets up in the morning?”
* * *
Stretching and yawning, Leann padded on slippered feet into the kitchen. The heavenly aroma of coffee wafted around the house and she needed her caffeine fix soon. She had a big day ahead of her, although she hadn’t discussed it with Zach yet. She was going to look at a house with Dizzy. Her friend was willing to pretend that she was looking to buy, not Leann. If it got out that Leann was looking at homes…
It would be bad. Very bad. Right now she simply wanted the killer found and some semblance of normalcy to return to the town.
Stopping abruptly in the kitchen doorway, Leann saw Jason sitting at the table, not Zach.
“How long was I asleep?”
Smiling, Jason hopped up from the table and crossed over to the coffeemaker to pour her a cup. “I have no idea, but it’s about seven-twenty in the morning so you can do the math. If you’re wondering where Zach is, we got the call in the middle of the night. Darrell Madison is dead. Shot in the chest. Zach is working the scene and any follow-up. I’m protecting you for now.”
Leann simply could not drag her brother to look at houses. He might believe that Dizzy was looking for a new home but that wouldn’t stop him from pushing Leann to move back.
Focus. Dead body found. Think real estate later.
“He’s dead? Do you know who shot him?”
Jason shook his head. “We don’t but there was a gun found. Ballistics will tell us if Madison tried to use it to defend himself or if it was the murder weapon.”
Leann took a fortifying sip of her coffee. “Where does that leave us? Darrell was the main suspect. Do you have any others?”
Jason cleared his throat and tugged at the collar of his shirt. “No, and that means I need to shake things up a little bit in the investigation. Zach’s only been working the leads part-time because his main focus has been protecting you, but I really need him to work this case one hundred percent. I’m planning to have one of my other men take over your protection duty.”
It was all Leann could do not to burst into laughter. They’d really hit Jason where it hurt when she’d said Zach was considering moving to Florida with her. His best laid plans were slowly going up in smoke.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
His jaw dropped and he blinked in surprise. “What do you mean? You can’t say no.”
Stretching out her legs, she gave him a serene smile. “Sure I can. Being protected was my choice to begin with. You can’t force it on me. I was okay with it being Zach but I don’t want anyone else. If Zach needs to work leads I’ll simply go with him. I won’t be any trouble.”
Her brother paced the kitchen, his shoulders stiff. “I’m going to ask Logan to take over for Zach. He’s a great guy and I trust him completely.”
Leann had met Logan Wright and she trusted him too. But that wasn’t the point.
“Why don’t you have Logan chase down the leads then? Zach and I are used to each other. I don’t want to have to start over with someone new. This living together stuff isn’t easy.”
Jason’s gaze went to the staircase that led to the bedrooms. “Isn’t it a little quick for you and Zach to be living together? I mean…that’s a big step.”
Older brother assumed she and Zach were sharing a bedroom.
“Frankly, that’s none of your business, Jason. I don’t ask about your sex life with Brinley because I sure as heck don’t want to know about it.”
His cheeks turning red, Jason shifted on his feet. “I’m just saying that I don’t think you should rush into anything. You know, Zach’s been single a long time and I doubt he’s the marriage and family type. If you want to settle down someday he’s probably not a good bet.”
Seriously? Jason was going to try that line? Her brother was standing in the middle of the most domestic bachelor pad ever spouting a line of bullshit no one would buy.
“Actually, that’s not the case at all. Zach definitely wants to have a family someday, and I think he’d be a wonderful father after all he’s been through in his childhood. If I remember correctly, Brinley took a chance on you. I wouldn’t have said you were exactly marriage material either when she met you.”
Her brother seemed to stagger back and had to place a hand on the counter to steady himself. “Jesus, you’ve talked about marriage? Are you that serious?”
It was fun to torture her brother but she didn’t want to be completely cruel. “In a very generic way, not in an ‘us’ way. We were simply talking about how he’d created a very comfortable home here for himself. That’s it. We’re not nearly close to getting hitched, so relax.”
“Thank God. That would be fast even for you, Sis. Take your time. Get to know one another.”
“How long did you give Brinley?”
“You’ve got me there. This is more of a do as I say, not as I do conversation.”
Slapping her empty coffee cup down, Leann grinned at her brother.
“That’s how I’ve lived my entire life, Jason. I’m not about to change now.”