2 The Haunted Fixer-Upper Read online

  I couldn’t hold back my laughter. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m not surprised. Did you see Lacey’s face?” I snorted.

  “Come on let’s get out of here before we get any more surprises,” Reed said.

  We walked out of the restaurant into the still-warm summer air. I glanced around expecting to see my mother spying on us, but luckily she didn’t appear. As we headed toward the car, I spotted the historical society woman. She looked all business in her stiff, black dress suit.

  I nudged Reed. “Can we hide?”

  He looked up. “I think it’s too late. She’s looking straight at us.”

  Evelyn Arlington hurried her steps and blocked us on the sidewalk. With a scowl on her face and her beady little eyes narrowed, she looked like an angry chihuahua. This time the opposite eyebrow was drawn on lopsided. The venom in her eyes let me know she was ready for a fight. I, on the other hand, was not. The last thing I wanted was to cause trouble in Bay Point.

  Evelyn shoved a binder toward us. “Here are the rules for the home. I trust you’ll follow them to a tee.”

  I took the file from her outstretched hand. I was in no mood to argue with this woman tonight. I was too tired after working all day on the house. Oh, and that little thing about finding a corpse. Didn’t the woman have enough decorum to wait a few days before handing us rules?

  I glanced down at the blue binder. Gordon’s name had been marked through at the top of the binder. My name had been added below his. Had she tried to give this binder of rules to him? I imagined Gordon probably had told her where she could stick her rules. Then the thought hit me. Had she been the one who murdered Gordon?

  I looked at her again. Her fists were clenched at her sides and a scowl covered her face. She looked like an extremely angry grandmother. No way—this little old lady couldn’t do something as horrendous as that, although she was awfully hateful with her determination for historical accurateness. Still, Gordon was twice her size. Surely he could have fought her off, unless she’d attacked him from behind. How would I find out exactly how Gordon had been murdered? That was the kind of information the police wouldn’t tell just anyone… especially someone who had been so close to the murder scene.

  “We’ll look over the guidelines, Ms. Arlington,” Reed said in his sweetest voice.

  She wasn’t charmed though as she glared at him. “See that you do.”

  Evelyn spun around like a whirlwind and stomped off, disappearing into the night.

  “I can’t believe that woman,” I said.

  “She does seem obsessed. We’ll just follow the rules and maybe she’ll leave us alone,” Reed said as he opened the car door for me.

  After a few minutes of riding in silence, enjoying the beauty of the summer night, I asked, “Did you tell your uncle about the murder?”

  Reed shook his head. “I didn’t have to. Remember this is a pretty small town—word spreads fast.”

  “What did he say?”

  Reed shrugged. “Not much. What could he say?”

  I had to use this opportunity to ask about the tension between them.

  “Maybe it’s none of my business, but is something going on between you and your uncle? You all haven’t really talked since we’ve been back.”

  His jaw tightened. “No, what makes you ask?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because every time I mention him your jaw tightens up.” I pointed at his face.

  He glanced over at me. “My jaw is not tightened. There are no problems.”

  I couldn’t exactly accuse him of lying. That wasn’t good dating etiquette. Nine times out of ten, it would probably cause nothing but a fight. I had to believe him. Having said that, maybe I should have avoided the topic I was about to bring up, but I never really learned my lesson and I was always doing something I shouldn’t.

  “Did you date Amanda? I mean, it’s no big deal. Obviously we have dated other people in the past.”

  Okay, the more I tried not to sound like the jealous girlfriend type, the more I sounded like the jealous girlfriend type.

  He paused for a moment and then said, “We dated a few times.”

  I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t feel a twinge of jealousy. But the odd feeling I got from her was probably all in my head. Since we’d just turned into the driveway, I decided to drop the subject. Besides, we’d probably never see her again.

  When we pulled up to the cabin, I looked over to Lou’s place. There were no lights on in the house, but there was a single light glowing near the water in the woods next to the house.

  “Do you see that light over there?” I pointed.

  It really was kind of eerie, that lone light in the darkness. Please dear Lord, don’t let it be that crazy man who lived in the woods.

  “It’s probably my uncle. He likes to sit down there sometimes at night and think.”

  Okay that was incredibly sad.

  “Don’t you want to talk to him?”

  “I’d love to, but he doesn’t want to talk. He wants to be left alone. Trust me.”

  I had to trust Reed a lot lately.

  Chapter Fourteen

  That night I awoke to loud pounding at the door. Reed roused and in a groggy state grabbed his pants. The clock read two a.m.

  “Who the hell is that?” he asked as he stumbled toward the door.

  I jumped up and slid into my robe, not bothering to stuff my feet into my bunny slippers. “I don’t know.”

  My heart rate spiked. Something had to be wrong. Visitors didn’t show up at two in the morning.

  Once I stepped into the living room, Reed was already standing by the front door.

  He looked at me and whispered, “It’s the police.”

  My stomach sank. “What do they want?”

  He just stared at me blankly for a second, then opened the door.

  The police stepped in without being invited. “Reed O’Hara, we need you to come with us.”

  “Why?” I asked in a panic.

  The officer looked at me crossly. “We need to ask him questions about Gordon Millerton’s murder.”

  “So, he’s not under arrest?”

  He paused for a moment, then answered, “No. He’s not under arrest, but I’d advise he answered our questions. It’ll look suspicious if he doesn’t, you know.”

  “But at two in the morning? This doesn’t make sense. Why can’t this wait until the morning. We’ll come to the station around ten,” I said.

  Reed touched my arm to calm me down. “It’s okay, Bama. I’ll go with them. I don’t have anything to hide.”

  It felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. “What the hell is going on? You can’t do this.” I stepped between Reed and the officer.

  “Ma’am, please stay back.” He gave me his official step-back-or-I’ll-arrest-you glare.

  “It’s okay, Bama. Just meet me at the station because I’ll need a ride home, okay?”

  I nodded, as I pushed back tears. It felt as if I was outside of my body watching some bizarre scene unfold.

  “I’ll be right behind you,” I said.

  This was the craziest thing I’d ever heard. What reason could they possibly have for questioning Reed? Was it really necessary to take him to the police station?

  I hurried down the path to Lou’s house. Quarter-sized drops fell around me, soaking my clothes and hair. The droplets felt good though on my warm skin. The ground was uneven and it had started to rain a couple hours earlier. Mud puddles dotted the path. Before I reached the door, I stumbled and fell face first into the mud. After letting out a loud groan, I scrambled up and continued my trek toward the house. This was the night from hell.

  When I reached the front porch, I pounded on the door. After a few seconds, Reed’s uncle opened the door. His hair was disheveled and his pajamas were wrinkled as if he’d been tossing and turning. I hated being the one to deliver the bad news.

  “What’s wrong?” The color drained from his face. “Is Reed okay?”

&
nbsp; I guessed my appearance didn’t help his anxiety since I was now covered in mud.

  “The police took him to the station,” I said breathlessly.

  “What in God’s name for?” he asked with wide eyes.

  “They want to ask him questions about Gordon Millerton’s murder.” I searched his face for a reaction.

  “What a bunch of idiots. I can’t believe this. Let me make a quick phone call and then I’ll take us to the police station.”

  “I’ll go change,” I said as I hurried out the door and back toward the cottage.

  I prayed that Reed’s uncle was calling a lawyer. They couldn’t question Reed like that without a lawyer. What did they think they had on him anyway? He’d told them everything he knew right after the murder.

  After quickly washing off the mud, I jumped into a pair of jeans and threw a T-shirt over my head, then slipped into my sneakers. Thank goodness I had Reed’s uncle to help me. What would I do without him?

  When I stepped out of the cabin, 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.”

  “Well, 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.

  Well, 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.”

&nb
sp; 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…