Remote Consequences (26 page)

It made me feel a little sick to my stomach, but truth be told…I had no claim to this man and his sex life. I guess I never had.

"Come on, Ty. Tell the truth. It was one night, but not just one time."

Ack. Was there any man in this town that hadn't seen her marshmallows?

"So, you're here with Ty. Is this your way of announcing to the world that you two are back together?" Allyson didn't miss a beat. "I mean, why wouldn't he go for the poor, feeble Mandy Murrin? He always did have a hero complex. And you and your pitiful little sister are just perfect for him. How is your sister, anyway?"

Her voice grated through me, and my skin felt as if it were peeling and cracking. My brain pulsed with long lost words that I wanted to say to this woman. She'd made my life difficult for most of my childhood. And now, she'd personally attacked both me and my sister. It was almost too much for me to fathom.

She tapped her toe on the floor of the café, and for a few moments it was all I could focus on. This confrontation was sinking fast, and I couldn't find my life vest. I was too tired. I just wanted to go home and forget all of it. Then…

"Ms. Harlow, is it?" Colin's voice pulled me back from the darkness.

I hadn't realized that I'd closed my eyes until they sprang open, and I noticed he was watching me. Everyone was watching me. But he was speaking to her.

"Yes. You seem so familiar but…where do I know you from?" Allyson was trying to line up her next victim. It was no secret that she used sex to manipulate men, and she seemed to have her hand in every cookie jar in town. Only, I knew her secret—she'd always loved Ty, and it was clear that he'd never returned the sentiment.

"Oh, you don't know me. But I know you, and I believe you have some explaining to do. Isn't that right, Mandy?"

His leg brushed up against mine again, under the table, and my heart started to beat at a steadier pace. Just that small touch of reassurance directed me back on track. In that moment, I started to refocus, and I reached out my hand to tap it on the table in rhythm to my words.

"Yes, that's right. Care to explain to us why your scarf was in the possession of my sixteen-year-old sister who was abducted from school yesterday in my stolen car?"

As I tapped out the last three words, Colin returned the scarf to the table, and the three of us watched Allyson's smirking face turn sour.

"That's not mine. You can purchase that at any department store," she sputtered.

"Let me see that." All eyes redirected to a deep voice coming from the bar area just behind Allyson.

There sat Captain Owens. He'd spun the bar stool around and was reaching out for the scarf in question.

Yes! He'd been sitting there the entire time—listening in. Just as I'd had Ty ask him to do. I wondered if he'd arranged for the other things I'd asked. Only time would tell. I took a quick peek at the wall clock over the bar.

Ty handed him the scarf and then looked back at me. Question upon question boiled inside his eyes, but I didn't have time for explanations now. My attention was battling itself for focus between Allyson's face and the captain's examination of the scarf.

"I'm not much for fashion. But correct me if I'm wrong, Ms. Harlow—do all department stores monogram their scarves with the initials A. H. down in the corner?"

Boom chica boom, bitch.

"Well, I…I really don't know how it got in the hands of little Paget. I assure you."

The bell over the café door rang again and in walked Mayor Mills. I hadn't seen him in person in, well, years. But he was the same suit-wearing, plump-bellied, fake-smiling politician as always. He took in the gathering of persons of interest in front of him, and he didn't look happy.

"Owens…Dempsey…what is going on here, exactly? And captain, why was I told that there was an emergent issue going on at the café?"

Ty bit back a smile, and Colin made a sound like a laugh-cough, but no one answered the mayor.

Captain Owens stood up and gestured to us. "I believe we have a criminal amongst us, sir."

Mayor Mills looked in my direction, but then his eyes settled on Colin.

"Who is this?"

"I'm Colin Brooks. You might remember my father, Caden Brooks." Colin's voice was as cold as ice.

"Not him. Her." I couldn't stop myself from breaking up the awkward reunion. I nodded toward Allyson.

She shook her head and pressed her well-manicured hand to her chest with indignation. "This is ridiculous. This…this
felon
…who is already out on bail for lying to the police, and Ty Dempsey, who I believe is in a relationship with her, are trying to accuse me of something. I think they believe that I stole Mandy's car and abducted Paget from school and then wrecked her car and left behind my scarf. The whole thing is outrageous. They obviously planted one of my scarves and are just trying to frame me. It is just a ridiculous accusation, and I won't be ridiculed here and made a fool of in public."

"For someone who wasn't involved in yesterday's events, you sure seem to know a lot about it." I interjected.

"Hmmph. Tell her, Ty. I've already been cleared in all that."

"Well, I didn't say you were cleared, exactly." Ty looked back and forth between me and Allyson. "I said that I'd check out your alibi, and it appears to be solid. She was being honored by the Millbrook Service League for outstanding community service at the time of the abduction."

"Community service? Is that what they're calling it these days?" I couldn't resist the jibe.

A beat of silence followed, and then: "Andy, is that what's going on here?" The mayor was addressing Captain Owens.

But it was my voice that answered once again. "Actually, sir, we're here to accuse her of much, much more than that. I believe that she and her accomplice have not only committed this nasty business with my car and my sister, but they've left me a threatening note. I wouldn't doubt it if they were involved in moving Caden Brooks' body to your office and even intentionally poisoning my drink." My voice surprised me. It was as if it had a mind of its own today. Different parts of my body seemed to do that a lot lately. I wondered if that could be a real medical issue.

"Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Captain Owens, a voice of reason, jumped in.

Once again, the bell chimed over the door, and silence fell over our mini-mob. Another piece of our puzzle walked in with an attractive older woman in tow. They each wore their own set of country club tennis whites. One of the duo was Matson Mills, and the woman on his arm was Mrs. Mills. She looked at the two men who stood at the end of our booth with a blank expression.

But I watched Matson's eyes, and they were focused on Allyson, although she made a great effort to avoid eye contact with him.

"Douglas, why have you told us to join you here? Are we meeting these people for breakfast?" Her voice sounded a little sluggish, and I wondered if she was on something. Perhaps a little anti-anxiety mixed in with her morning mimosa.

"Hello, dear. I'm not exactly sure myself. Apparently some crime has been committed and Andy Owens here seems to think that I should now be involved in every ongoing case in town. I'm starting to wonder if I need to find someone else to do
his
job."

I watched Captain Owens, and he seemed to be getting a little hot under the collar at the mayor's wrist slap of a comment. He turned to me. "This is your chance, Ms. Murrin. Let's hear your theory. 'Cause one scarf is not going to settle the case here."

I sat up a little straighter and gathered up the little energy I had left. "We're still missing two people, sir. But we'll get started."

Mayor Mills gawked at me. "Do I know you, young lady?"

My mouth dropped open in surprise. Was it possible that this man for whom a cable service call to his house had been the very start of the downfall of my life had no clue as to my identity? Way to hurt a girl's ego.

"Mayor, this is Mandy Murrin. She's the one who reported the discovery of a body in your freezer," Captain Owens said, filling in the blanks.

Mayor Mills looked me up and down. His nose rose and scrunched as if he'd smelled something bad, and I had the sudden urge to sniff my armpits. Geez. I mean, I knew I hadn't had a shower since, well, since yesterday morning. But give a girl a break.

"And we are here to what? Have a community leaders' luncheon with her here in the café?"

Now I knew where Matson Mills got his spoiled brat attitude. I cast a quick glance at Brat Boy, and he stood there with a look of longing directed at Allyson. If he hadn't slipped me drugs, I might almost feel sorry for him.

Almost.

"No, sir, we are here to find out exactly who in your family really killed Caden Brooks," I answered.

Patience is a plaster for all sores. –Irish Proverb

In that moment, it felt like the entire café was in a state of suspended animation. So I took the opportunity to bring everyone up to date on the case.

"Ten years ago, I was a senior in high school. I didn't know Caden Brooks, and with the exception of finding his dead body and meeting his son just a few days ago, I doubt I ever would have known anything about the man. But since he and his death have become the focus of my life, I've taken it upon myself to help put this case to rest." I paused to look at Colin. He gave me a small smile of encouragement.

The mayor and the captain both took him in and gave each other a suspicious glance. Mayor Mills pointed at Colin, who was now standing outside the booth, leaning back on a newspaper dispenser as if he were on a midday lunch run. How had he gotten out of the booth without me noticing? I had to get him to teach me his moves some day.

"What are you doing back in town? When you phoned me I told you to crawl back under whatever rock you've been hiding under all these years. No one in my family had anything to do with your father's death."

"Oh, are we telling the truth about things now?" Colin said.

"Are you capable of telling the truth? I didn't know that any of the Brooks clan was familiar with the term." Mayor Mills got in his jibe, but no one seemed to enjoy it but him.

"Are you seriously going to stand here, in front of all these people, and try to convince us that no one in your family had anything to do with my father's death when the body was found in your home and then in your office?"

My heart reached out to him.

"Well, what about you?" the mayor said. "Are we just supposed to believe you because you reappear back in town all of the sudden and the body happens to show up at the same time? Doesn't anyone see how convenient that is?"

He had a good point, but I was feeling protective of Colin right now. "Uh, excuse me…Mr. Mayor. But before you start throwing around accusations at Colin, how about taking a good look at your boy wonder here."

Matson, all but forgotten since his entrance, had started inching his way toward the door. His mother was sitting at the bar, staring off into space.

"Where do you think you're going?" Mayor Mills yelped, and Matson returned to stand beside his mother.

"Dad," he whined, "I want to get out of here. This whole thing is stupid. He did it and she's trying to frame you. Finding that body in the attic and then moving it to your office. They're trying to make a fool of our family. You always said that you can't trust a Brooks. And Allyson said that Mandy was here to destroy our family and that we needed to scare her back out of town. Only she wouldn't take the hint already. Maybe you just need to send her packing. You can do that, right?" He waved his hand at me as if he could sweep me out of the room like a crumb on the floor, and then looked at Allyson for support.

"That's ridiculous, Matty. I said no such thing. I have no idea what you're talking about," Allyson said.

"Yes you did. You told me that when we were in…
bed
." He said the last word in a soft tone, as if he was trying to protect her virtue.

All heads swiveled back and forth between Matson and Allyson—kind of like at a tennis match. It was a good thing they were dressed for the occasion.

"In bed?" The mayor's voice rose an octave.

"Look, am I the only one who can see it? This town belongs to our family, and she's the misfit. Everything was fine until she got here. Right, Dad?"

"He's not your father." Mrs. Mills' voice was barely a whisper, but with an announcement like that—who could have missed it?

Whoa.

*  *  *

"Myrna, this is not the time and certainly not the place for this…" Mayor Mills' voice was frantic as he stepped back and tried to wrap his arm around his wife.

She shrugged it off and stood up. "Oh, this is exactly the time and place. I can't take it anymore, Douglas. Let's just get all this out in the open and get it over with. You humiliate me at every turn. I've raised this boy while you've pretended to love him, but every time I look at him I see the man I really loved. And every time I turn around I see your slut in my house. Watching me. Waiting for…I don't know, waiting for you to leave me, I guess. And I just can't live with what we've done another day." She burst into tears.

Ty and I exchanged glances. The mayor loosened his tie and stepped back to brace himself on the countertop.

"I'm sorry, Colin." Mrs. Mills turned and looked at him. She reached out a hand, but he didn't take it. "I…your father came by the house that night. He told me how he was going to run for mayor and how Douglas was trying to blackmail him by threatening to reveal the truth about Matson. Caden wanted us to come forward with the truth and beat Douglas to the punch. But I told him that Douglas would never do it. Just to stay calm and keep Matson and I out of it. I knew our family would never survive the scandal."

Gasp.

"So you killed him?" Colin said. His voice was dark.

"Please, Myrna. Don't say anything else. Wait for our attorney, please, honey." The mayor's voice was a little wheezy now, and I took note of his graying pallor.