SCREWED DOWN MURDER (Mrs. Fix It Mysteries Book 2) (12 page)
Read SCREWED DOWN MURDER (Mrs. Fix It Mysteries Book 2) Online
Authors: Belle Knudson
Dean was already creeping up to the front door when Kate joined him.
“I thought Scott told you to stay out of this,” he whispered.
“Scott isn’t my boss.”
Dean just shook his head. They crept to the front window which was opened. Jessica was tied to a chair.
“You had to meddle,” Beth said. “You couldn’t leave it alone. The cops were going to charge that contractor with murder.”
“Why’d you do it?”
Beth stopped in her pacing. “I didn’t mean to kill him.”
“Why were you there?”
“I wanted to confront him with the evidence I found. He wasn’t giving the contract to the lowest bidder. He was awarding them to his favorites. His cronies.”
Kate and Dean looked at each other. Behind them, they heard a curse. Kate turned to see Scott pointing at her and motioning her away from the cabin. He was probably right. This wasn’t her place, but Dean was a civilian also.
“Then how did he die?”
“He got angry with me. He threatened me then he tried to hurt me. I only defended myself by tasering him,” Beth said.
Kate almost gasped. Beth must have heard her because she looked toward the window. Dean and Kate ducked. Scott signaled for the patrolmen that had arrived to go around back. He grabbed Kate and pulled her close to him. “Go back to your truck. Get out of here.”
She nodded then she and Dean walked away. She hoped that Beth was no longer looking out the window.
Kate waited by Dean’s truck. He fidgeted and she wondered what was going through his mind. She didn’t think that Beth would have a chance to harm Jessica.
“What will I do if something happens to her?” Dean said.
“She’s going to be fine, Dean. Scott will take care of it.”
“You have a lot of faith in him,” Dean said.
“Yes, I do. I’ve seen him do what he says he will. He’s never let anyone down as far as I can tell.”
Dean tapped the side of the truck. He couldn’t seem to stand still. A few minutes later there was a yell. Dean and Kate crept closer to the house. A patrolman was pulling Beth out of the house. She had handcuffs on.
“I think it’s okay,” Kate said, but Dean was already running toward the house.
Jessica appeared on the porch and Dean took her in his arms. She wasn’t sure that Greg would be that excited to see her if they met again. Before he left she hadn’t had these doubts, but now she did. The longer he was gone, the more she questioned their relationship. Had it been as good as she remembered?
Kate walked up to the house after the patrol car left. Scott stood on the porch.
“I’ll need a statement,” Scott said, “but it can wait until later in the day.”
Dean nodded. “I’m going to take her home. To my house. We’ll be by later.”
Jessica looked shaken but happy to be with Dean. He walked her to his truck, his arm over her shoulder. Kate was glad that the woman had someone who loved her that much.
“She’ll be okay,” Scott said.
He put a hand on Kate’s shoulder. It felt comforting. She felt safe. Something she hadn’t felt since Greg left. She patted his hand. “She will be and that’s good. Did you hear what Beth said? It was an accident.”
“She should have come forward.”
“It would have been her word only,” Kate said. “She’s young.”
“But now she has the added charge of kidnapping,” Scott said.
Kate shrugged. She had to get back to fixing Carly’s shelves.
***
Kate met Scott for breakfast the next morning. While they ate muffins and drank coffee at Bean There, Larry walked in with Carly.
Scott looked at Kate. “Your doing?”
“I might have made a suggestion to Larry.”
“You insist that you aren’t nosy, but you are,” Scott said.
“I like to take care of people. That’s all.”
“I get that. Maybe I need some taking care of.”
She put up her hand. “You know how I feel. We’re friends for now.”
“And when I find your husband? Will you keep me in the friend zone?”
“We’ll see.”
She wasn’t making any commitments. Before she could change the subject, Dean and Jessica walked in. Jessica made a beeline for Kate.
“Oh, Kate. I have the estimate signed. And I’ve prioritized what I want done.” She dropped a key on the table. “I’m moving into Dean’s place, so I won’t be at the house much. Just tell me when you complete each task and I’ll pay you.”
Kate looked at the key then palmed it. “Okay.”
“Good. Hello, Scott. Didn’t mean to ignore you.”
He smiled. “No offense taken.”
He seemed more amused than anything. Jessica went back to Dean.
“How is your disposal working?”
“Like new. Thanks.”
“Good.”
“So Jessica is going to put her house on the market?”
“Yes, as soon as I’m done. I think she’s ready to be out of that house. Dudley had horrific taste in decorating.”
“I don’t understand men who feel they need to dominate women,” Scott said. “I don’t have the energy to do that. I want a partner.”
Kate sipped her coffee, not sure how to answer that. If Scott was auditioning, he was doing a good job. She wanted a partner also.
“Kate, don’t fret about the passport until we know for sure what his visits were about.”
Was Scott able to see inside her mind? She found it uncanny that he could figure out what she was thinking. As if he were on the same wavelength or something. Greg had always treated her as if she were a foreign object. He’d never understood her.
She had to stop comparing the men. It wasn’t fair to either of them.
“We got a confession out of Beth.”
“Oh?”
Now this was more interesting.
“She was confronting Dudley about what she’d found with the contracts. He’d tried to harm her, so she pulled out her Taser weapon. She had no idea that he had a heart condition.”
“So not premeditated.”
“No, she’s been charged with murder two,” Scott said.
“Really sad to see a young life ruined like that.”
“If she had just come to us then we could have helped her. And she was the one who backed into the utility pole.”
“That would explain the dent in her bumper. I knew it wasn’t done at the office. It had metal flecks in it. I didn’t make the connection because the new pole they put up was made of fiberglass.”
“She lucked out when the recordings were ruined.”
“What did Jessica find?”
“She found an appointment in Dudley’s book to meet Beth. She called Beth who came over, and then when she figured out that Jessica knew something she kidnapped her. She was going to kill her then dump the body.”
Kate shuddered. “How awful.”
“But it’s done. And now you can get on with your steady work at Jessica’s house.”
“True. Means I can get my truck fixed, too.”
At least it all worked out okay. Jessica had Dean. Larry had Carly. Kate glanced over at them. They didn’t know that anyone else was in the room. It made Kate happy. Now if she could just figure out where her husband was, she, too, could get on with her life.
~~~
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