Murder at Honeysuckle Hotel Read online

  When I reached the house, something came over me. A strange desire for more answers, maybe? Whatever the feeling was, it made me walk around to the scene of the crime. Maybe if I sat near the murder scene, something would spark an idea. I’d take whatever I could get. I still didn’t want to look at the spot where poor Nancy took her last breath, but I’d at least sit close by.

  Halfway to the gazebo, I noticed something red lying on the lawn. I approached, then bent down and picked it up. A red bandana sat next to the honeysuckle bush at the entrance of the path into my neighbor’s yard. I glanced around, then picked it up. When I examined the scarf, I noticed the initial M was written on the tag in black marker. I took in a sharp breath. Could it be the same M with the necklace? It had to be more than a coincidence. Whoever had the initial M liked to use this path. But why? And where were they going? Did it have anything to do with the murder? And for that matter, why was the path there anyway? I didn’t know the answer, but I was determined to find out. Now. Martha Murdoch definitely had the initial M. But then so did Mrs. Mathers. But the necklace didn’t look like one she’d own.

  Down the path, and across Judy’s yard, stood a small shed. With the door ajar, it looked as if it called me, wanting me to investigate.

  “That’s not yours.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I jumped, then whirled around. “You nearly scared me to death.” I held my hand to my chest.

  “I wanted to apologize. For what, I’m not sure. I really didn’t tell anyone. Cross my heart.” Claire Ann crossed her chest with her index finger.

  I shook my head. “We’ll talk about it later, right now I have bigger cupcakes to bake.”

  She scrunched her brow. “I don’t get your analogies.”

  “Never mind.” I waved my hand. “I found out some new details about the murder. I feel like the answer is on the tip of my tongue.”

  She frowned. “Maybe you need to just let Kent deal with it.”

  “Yeah, cause that’s working out so well for me now. Nope.” I shook my head. “I need answers. Look at this.” I held out the bandana.

  She shrugged and scrunched her brow. “It’s good to wear when you’re working on the house.”

  “It’s not mine. I found it along this path. Look.” I motioned for her to come over. “Do you know why there would be a path here?”

  She studied the beat-down grass and dirt for a minute, then shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe Judy visited with Mrs. Mathers a lot.”

  I stuffed the bandana in my pocket. “She did say that.”

  “Well, there you go. Come on, let’s go inside and cool off. You got any lemonade?” She gestured toward the back porch.

  I turned my attention away from her. I stared down the pathway. “Come on.” I motioned as I marched across the property line and into Judy’s yard.

  “Where are you going?” Claire Ann whispered. She hurried behind me.

  I hunkered low to the ground and Claire Ann followed. How ridiculous we must have looked slinking along through the bushes like a couple of cat burglars. We made it across the yard undetected. No noise came from the house and I prayed Judy or anyone else wasn’t home. Her car had been missing from the driveway.

  When we reached the old wood shed, Claire Ann whispered again, “I think she owns a shotgun. Did I mention that? This is trespassing. Why are we here?”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered back. “I just want to know what’s going on with her.” I stared at Claire Ann. “Why are we whispering?”

  “Because we’re snooping around in your hostile neighbor’s yard, that’s why.”

  I stepped closer to the shed. “There are always people over here, you know?”

  “I told you she was involved with shady people.”

  “Exactly. That’s why I want to know what’s going on.”

  “Why don’t you drop it?” She scowled.

  “Maybe you should go back to my house and wait for me.” I pointed.

  She frowned. “Damn it, Rae, you know I can’t leave you.”

  I crept up the narrow wooden steps to the shed door, then twisted the knob. I wanted a peek inside.

  “We shouldn’t be doing this.” She twisted her hands together.

  I looked back at Claire Ann. She gnawed on a fingernail and repeatedly glanced over her shoulder.

  “Oh, pshaw. We’ll be fine. Let’s just have a little look-see.”

  From the opposite side of the shed, a yellow-and-white cat jumped down from the roof and landed on the steps beside my feet.

  “Oh Lordy.” I clutched my chest.

  When I looked back again at Claire Ann her face was paler than her white tank top. Her mouth gaped. “Claire Ann, please don’t forget to breathe. Everything is fine.”

  The cat licked his paws and began smoothing out his matted-up fur, all the while watching us.

  “That cat looks suspicious,” Claire Ann said.

  I creased my brow. “It’s a cat. Cats always look like that. He doesn’t seem to mind us snooping around.”

  “Hrmmph.”

  “Keep an eye out, will you?” I motioned toward the house.

  Claire Ann groaned.

  When I opened the shed door, a strong aroma whirled through the air. I covered my nose with my hand.

  “What’s in there?” Claire Ann asked from the clear-aired comfort of outside.

  I didn’t answer—I couldn’t.

  Not your typical garden shed. No lawn mowers or rakes. However, the shed did contain items not usually seen in an outbuilding, much less together in one place. Claire Ann had suspected Judy was involved in drugs and based on what I saw, she might have been right. I didn’t know what exactly all the items together meant, but I knew Judy didn’t want me or anyone seeing them.

  Coffee filters and paper towels with orange stains littered the corner shelf. On the opposite wall more shelves were lined with containers of lantern fuel, acetone, and packages of cold medicine. On the far shelf straight ahead, lighter fluid was lined up like little soldiers, next to those were batteries. This was way wrong and my stomach turned, knowing I needed to get out of there faster than Scooby Doo could say ruh-roh.

  I turned around and eased the door to the position I’d found it in.

  “What’s in there?” Claire Ann’s eyes were wide.

  “I think you were right about the drug thing. We should call Kent.” I stepped past her.

  “I told you.” She wiggled her index finger.

  “But before we do, I want to sneak a peek in the house.”

  The sound that came from Claire Ann was between a gasp and a moan. “No way!”

  She reached for my arm, but I moved ahead faster. She missed and almost tumbled forward.

  I turned my gaze toward the house. “No one’s home. I just want to look in the window right there.” I pointed to the back of the house. “Then I promise we’ll call Kent. I think we should leave until he is finished with them, though. I don’t want to be next door when this all goes down.”

  “I am one hundred percent sure this is not such a good idea.” She tugged on my shirt.

  “What? What happened to your tough girl façade?”

  “I changed my mind. That’s part of being a girl, remember. Look, Raelynn, these people mean business. They’re like some kind of crazy mafia.”

  I swallowed hard. “They are?”

  She nodded. “Uh-huh.”

  “Well what do we do? We’ve come this far. Maybe we should just take a little look-see at her house. It can’t hurt.”

  “You saw what was in the shed and that’s enough. Let’s go back and call the police, then enter the witness protection program. On second thought, let’s pretend we never saw any of this and enter the witness protection program.” She pulled my arm.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re overreacting.”

  “You can’t let Judy know you called and told on her. She’ll hire a hit man to find you or something.”

  I turned to lo
ok at her. “Okay. Good point.”

  “You think? I told you. Let’s get out of here.” She placed her palms together in a prayer motion.

  “I said you had a good point, that doesn’t mean I’m leaving. Now come on, are you coming with me?”

  “You’re going to get me killed today, aren’t you?”

  “Now you’re just being dramatic. Come on. We’ll have to sneak along the edge of the yard,” I whispered.

  When we reached the back of the house, I ambled up the steps and onto the back porch. Claire Ann shuffled along behind me like a scared girlfriend following her boyfriend through a haunted house. I tiptoed and peered through the back window. Dirt and chipped paint stuck to my arms. My hand flew to my mouth, stifling my gasp. Fear shook me to my core. In the middle of the room sat Judy and another woman—I didn’t recognize her. The woman had an unhealthy pallor and dirty blonde hair which made her complexion look even sicker. She wore cargo pants and a pullover. When I saw the bandana wrapped around her head, a little light bulb went off in my mind.

  Judy leaned over and talked to the dirty blonde as she slumped over in the chair. Based on the use of Judy’s hands to emphasis the conversation, I knew they were up to something bad. She pointed, waved her hands around, then pounded her fist on the chair. I didn’t want to be caught in the middle of whatever bad things they were into. Just seeing Judy made me dizzy and nausea overcame my stomach. Sunshine illuminated the room, bouncing off the dirty white walls, but in spite of that, the place seemed dark and depressing. Old-fashioned light fixtures were mounted on the walls and a large soot-covered fireplace occupied the room’s center. The sparse furniture made the cottage look even more dated.

  Behind me, Claire Ann poked my side. “What do you see?” she asked.

  I turned to her. She must have guessed something was wrong by the pained look I probably had. My face felt green. We had to get out of there quick before Judy found us in her yard.

  “Let’s go,” I said through clinched teeth.

  “What did you see?” Claire Ann asked again.

  “You’re going to get us killed. Now come on.” I grabbed her arm, pulled her down the steps with me, then made a run for the path.

  There was no plan for our escape. Pray Judy hadn’t seen me? That was all I had. Calling Kent couldn’t come fast enough. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have gone over to the window. Like they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty. Or something like that. I should’ve left well enough alone. But I don’t always make the best decisions. As displayed by my failed marriage.

  We made it back to the path, but as the bushes at the edge of my property came into sight, Claire Ann screamed.

  Chapter Thirty

  I turned around to find Claire Ann face down on the ground.

  “Can you get up? Try to be quiet.” I slipped my arm around her waist and lifted.

  “I think I sprained my ankle. You go on without me.” She waved me off.

  “What? No.” I grabbed her shoulders. “I can’t leave you here. We can’t let them get by with this. We have to call Kent.”

  I lifted my gaze to span the yard, then I stopped in my tracks. A brown shoe attached to leg placed in front of my face stopped me.

  “Is that right?” The woman from inside the house stood in front of me. I stared up at her large frame. She looked as if she could break me like a twig.

  “Get up.” Judy’s voice snapped from behind me. I whirled around. She scowled. “You heard me.”

  I fumbled and helped Claire Ann to her feet. “You okay?”

  “I’m okay. It hurts, but I can walk.”

  “It’s a good thing, ‘cause it doesn’t look as if they’d volunteer to carry you.”

  “Come on, you tramps.”

  Tramps? I hadn’t heard that word in a long time. And I don’t think anyone had ever called me that. But I wasn’t exactly in the position to argue.

  “Oh, Lordy, she’s got a shotgun.” Claire Ann cried.

  Only a few white clouds dotted the cobalt-blue sky. The day would have been picture-perfect if only we hadn’t been kidnapped by a couple of deranged psychos. A beautiful summer day had turned into dread and more than likely it would be deadly for Claire Ann and me.

  We inched our way up toward her house. Judy and the other woman had us surrounded. The gun jabbed into my side as we walked. I thought about darting between trees and back into my yard, but like I said, I’d never won a medal in relay. The buckshot would hit me before I reached the first tree branch. The large oak trees sprinkled around the yard concealed the back of her home—no one could see what was happening to us. No hope of being rescued.

  “Maggie, we’ll take them back into the house,” Judy ordered the woman with the gun aimed at me.

  So Maggie was her name, but who was she to Judy? A friend? She was much younger.

  As we neared the house, Maggie paused. “You sure we should take them in, Mom? Maybe we’d be better off stuffing them into the shed.”

  “Just do as I told you,” Judy snapped.

  Mom? That poor girl, no wonder she was warped—with a mother like Judy she didn’t stand a chance. I exchanged glances with Claire Ann. She held my gaze for a second, then looked down. So much for her being a hardass.

  The scorching sun beat down on my already hot skin and I longed for relief. Too bad I hadn’t decided to go for ice cream instead of going home. But no, I had to solve a murder. Now look where it had gotten me.

  We approached the back door of the small house. My heart pounded in my ears. I looked around, but not another living soul was in sight.

  Maggie jabbed me with the gun again. “Move it.”

  Once inside, I knew we’d be done for. The modest cottage style house stood about one hundred feet from my house. It was the longest walk I’d ever taken. I imagined it was what it felt like to walk down death row to a waiting execution.

  A porch spanned the entire back of the house. A couple broken rocking chairs rested on each side, along with an old ice cooler. I shuddered to think what they kept in there. The screen door was propped open with an old boot. Not exactly the decorating type. Pretty sure they didn’t have any copies of Martha Stewart Living lying around. The place almost looked vacant.

  One thing that kept me going was knowing we were in the middle of town. At least we weren’t isolated and miles away from civilization. Although location didn’t seem to stop them doing a little thing like kidnapping and murder.

  I walked through the door. Claire Ann followed on my heels. If she could have climbed on my back, I think she would have.

  Being inside Judy’s house weirded me out more than I’d imagined. But what other choice did I have? I couldn’t turn my back on the one place I found solace. I needed the house and it needed me. Solving the murder was the only option. I was suffering the consequences now.

  Drugs. I couldn’t believe Judy had an entire operation going on in there. But was Judy capable of murder? Maybe Nancy had found the drugs, too. My stomach turned. If that was the case, then we’d meet the same fate.

  “Sit down,” Judy ordered.

  Considering there were only two chairs in the room, I didn’t know where she wanted me. She motioned down, so I squatted to the floor.

  Judy glared at us. Her eyes turned even darker, sending a chill down my spine. Her mouth twisted into an evil smirk. The wicked expression on her face revealed her true nature. When I’d first met her I knew she was bad. She’d sent off an evil vibe.

  “What the hell are you doing messing around my property?” Judy asked without taking her evil glare off me.

  She grabbed my arm and yanked me from the floor, sending a pain all the way to my shoulder as if she’d pulled it my arm clear off. From the corner of the room, Maggie aimed the gun at Claire Ann. Panic had set in and I didn’t know how I’d get us away from this crazy bitch.

  Once on my feet, I drew my hand back to get away from her, but she tightened her grip, twisting with even more force. Maggie cackled when I yelped.
Apparently, my pain amused her. She was the devil’s spawn. I twisted my arm, but her grip was too tight. If only I could get in one good punch. She drew back her arm and landed a sucker-punch square on my jaw. That was definitely going to leave a bruise. I should’ve listened to Claire Ann and never came over here.

  “I’m going to ask you one more time. What are you messing around my property for? Getting that house given to you wasn’t enough, now you want mine too?”

  “No. Claire Ann thought she heard a scream. We were checking on you.” I nodded and looked to Claire Ann. She nodded.

  “Do you think I’m stupid?” Judy glared.

  She really didn’t want me to answer that question. Yes, I thought she was stupid.

  “Now, tell me the truth or you’ll be sorry.”

  “It’s the truth.”

  She drew her arm back to slap me again when Maggie called out. “Mama, come here, I want to tell you something.” Judy whirled around, and after a second, walked over to her daughter. They whispered to each other.

  “Do you know Judy’s daughter?” I asked Claire Ann in a hushed tone while the two weren’t paying complete attention.

  “I know her. She’s just as mean as her mama.”

  Bless Claire Ann for being able to keep a sense of humor at a time like this. I held my hand over my mouth to stifle my giggle.

  “Don’t just sit there. Get up,” Judy ordered Claire Ann.

  Claire Ann bit her lip to keep from spewing a snarky comment at Judy as she stumbled up from the floor. Judy and Maggie both scowled.

  “I said, get up!” Her sneering look grew.

  “She’s trying,” I said.

  “Shut up or I’ll blow your head off,” Judy snapped.

  Maggie looked over at me with what might be described as remorse in her eyes. Why was I getting the brunt of the abuse? As far as I could tell, there was no way for us to get out of this situation. No one knew what was going on behind the walls of Judy’s innocent-looking house. Judy was full of putrid evil.