Another Saturday Night and I Ain't Got No Body (A Page Turners Novel) (6 page)

“So, what’s with the hotty in the house next door?” Maggie asked.

From Edna’s kitchen table, they could see Jake in the backyard. He watched the firemen dig through the rubble of the burned out garage as they patiently excavated items that hadn’t been destroyed in the fire. He had on his usual outfit of t-shirt and butt-hugging faded jeans. Another man had arrived about ten minutes before, and the two men had their heads bent toward each other in discussion.

“His name is Jake,” Sunny explained. “He claims that he’s somehow related to Walter.” She hoped the other girls didn’t notice the way her cheeks flamed when she said his name.

Sunny hadn’t divulged the last part of her evening with Blaine, where Jake and she had done the lip-lock before she passed out on the sofa. Sunny wanted to keep that to herself for now.

“You’re blushing,” Cassie cried. “You like this guy.”

Sunny swallowed a bite of cake. “Well, I don’t know. He is really cute.”

Edna was unusually quiet as she watched out the window and gazed thoughtfully at Jake. “I think there’s something we should tell you.” She filled the girls in on the night Jake had mysteriously arrived. They gasped when she got to the part where he had a gun tucked into the back of his pants.

“What do you think was in that duffle bag?” Cassie asked, wide-eyed. “Money?”

“Maybe it was Walter’s body,” Piper chimed in.

“Gross,” Sunny said. “Why would you say that?”

“Edna said she hadn’t seen him around in awhile. Maybe this Jake guy killed him and chopped him up and is taking his body parts out a few at a time to dispose of them.”

“Girl, you watch too much TV,” Maggie said, shaking her head.

“Hey, it could happen. Maybe Walter was secretly rich, and Jake murdered him for his money or to get his house. He is living over there now. Maybe he just made up that story about being related to him.” Piper’s words all came out in a rush.

Sunny thought about the strange look that crossed Jake’s face as he talked about his family relationship with Walter.

“I think we need to get rid of cable,” Cassie said. “What kind of late night television are you watching to give you these ideas?”

“I watch that stuff too,” Edna said, coming to Piper’s defense. “On all those true-crime shows, it’s always the nice neighbor guy who everyone thought was so great until they began digging up skeletons in his backyard.”

They all jumped as a fist banged on Edna’s back door. Letting out their collective breath, they laughed uneasily over getting caught up in Edna and Piper’s ideas.

Speaking of the handsome devil himself, Jake stood outside Edna’s door, accompanied by a light-haired man wearing khakis and a wrinkled suit coat.

“Sorry to bother you ladies, but we need to ask you a few questions,” Jake said.

“Have a seat,” Edna offered, always the gracious hostess. “Want some cake?”

“No, thank you,” Jake answered s
omberly. “This is Tom Mansfield –
he’s a detective looking into Walter’s disappearance. You may have seen him out here the last few days.”

Tom no
dded to the women. “Afternoon, l
adies. Sorry to interrupt your visit. Jake tells me you all are pretty close with Walter. We still don’t know what or if anything has happened to him. We did find some things in the fire, and since Walter has no family around here and you all seem to know him pretty well, we hoped you could take a look at them.”

The detective pulled three plastic baggies from his pocket and placed them gingerly on the table.

Edna gasped and reached for the center bag that contained a charred belt buckle with a soaring eagle etched into it. “This is Walter’s belt buckle. His wife, Betty, gave it to him for one of their anniversaries. He loved the Bible verse about soaring like an eagle, and she found this for him in a shop downtown. He wore it every day and showed it to everyone. He loved to joke about trying to soar like an eagle while surrounded by turkeys. I’m sure this was his.”

“And I definitely recognize this as Walter’s,” Sunny said softly, as she lifted a bag that held a pearl handled pocket knife. “He got it on a vacation to the Grand Canyon with Betty when they were first married. He used it to cut string or slice through the tape on a box or when he helped with little things at my house. One of the blades is a screwdriver head.”

Tears sprung to Edna’s eyes as she fingered the bag closest to her. It held what used to be a gold wedding band, now grayed and covered in ash. “What does this mean?”

“We’re not sure yet, ma’am,” Tom replied. “We found some other odd things in the debris, but we haven’t identified them yet. We still have a lot of unanswered questions. The explosion caused the fire to burn hot and fast so we haven’t ruled out anything at this point,” he said.

They all sat in stunned silence.

“We’re still investigating the cause of the explosion, and the whereabouts of Mr. Mead. Nothing is conclusive yet, but we appreciate your time and help in identifying these items.”  Tom collected the baggies and placed them back into his pocket.

“Have any of you noticed anything suspicious in the neighborhood or with Mr. Mead’s behavior of late?” the detective asked.

They all looked at each other, then Piper cried, “He’s suspicious!” and pointed at Jake. “Have you asked him why he showed up in the middle of the night
?
Nobody knows him. How do we even know he is related to Walter
?
Did you know he has a gun?”

Jake appeared shocked, and a strange look crossed his face. Guilt, perhaps?

Tom turned to Jake with an appraising eye and a look of mistrust on his face.

“I think Mr. Landon and I will continue our conversation outside.” He and Jake headed for the kitchen door. “Thank you again for your time, ladies. You’ve been a big help.”  He said this last with an appreciative smile at Piper, who flushed and looked at the floor, her bravado now gone after her brazen accusations.

The detective took Jake by the arm and led him outside. The women couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it wasn’t for lack of trying as the group jumped up from the table and plastered themselves against the kitchen door and windows.

They slunk back to the table as the men disappeared into Walter’s house.

“I’m sure Walter is fine,” said Cassie, the eternal optimist. “This could all be a mistake.”

“Walter would never go anywhere without his wedding ring and that belt buckle. He had those things with him every day,” Edna explained quietly. “I think something really happened to him, girls.”

They somberly finished their coffee and helped Edna clear the table, all deep in thought with memories of Walter, imagining what could have happened. Maggie and Cassie had spent so much time in this neighborhood, they both had formed an attachment to the friendly widower
.

Gathering their purses to head out, Cassie suddenly gasped. “Oh Sunny, I almost forgot to tell you. I set up your next date for Saturday night.”

“What?” Sunny croaked.

“I know it’s probably not the best time to talk about it, but Matt has an old football buddy who moved back to town. His wife left him, and he and his little boy moved back a few months ago. I think his folks live here in town, and they are staying with them. I remember him a little from high school. He was cute anyway. But Matt thinks he’s a nice guy and seems like a good dad. His name is Hank, and I gave him your number. I wouldn’t bring it up right now, but he may call you tonight. He wants to take you to a baseball game this Saturday, I think.”

“Great,” Sunny replied. “I can’t wait.”

“Now, give this Hank a chance,” Maggie said. “You agreed to go on six of these. You can’t give up after one botched date with Blaine the boring stockbroker.” She smiled, and some of the mixed tension left the room.

“All right, you win,” Sunny said, giving in.

“Just clean up the dog poo in the yard before he shows up Saturday night,” Cassie said, and they all laughed as they filed out the door.

5

The next day, Piper Denton walked through the bustling halls of her high school. Graduation was two days away, and the noise level was deafening as kids banged locker doors, yelled greetings to each other, and ran from one class to another. She wished she were already on summer break like Sunny, but the older grades stayed in session an extra week after the elementary schools
.

She inhaled the scent of stale classrooms and floor wax with an underlying odor of sweaty gym clothes.
High schools all smell the same
. She stopped at her locker and absently turned the dial of her combination lock.

Piper had known her share of schools. Her mother moved her from one school to the next after her father died in a terrible motorcycle accident. Piper had still been in grade school when she and her mom were robbed of the most important man in their life.

After losing the love of her life, Piper’s mother led an elusive search to recapture her lost happiness. Her latest search had yielded a bald tattooed biker who went by the name of Spider. Piper’s mother had unceremoniously dropped her at Aunt Cassie’s door before she rode off on the back of Spider’s motorcycle, spouting empty promises of coming back to get her soon.

The bell rang, and Piper found herself alone in the hallway, staring into her half-empty locker. She pulled her English Lit book free, slammed the locker door, and trudged down the hall to class.

She tried to quietly sneak into the back of the class and into her desk. She had thought for years that she could will herself invisible and felt it work many times in the past.

It didn’t work today.

“Thank you for joining us, Ms. Denton,” her teacher said. “We’re discussing the homework assignment. Have you finished reading the assigned book?”

As luck would have it, her English class was reading
Catcher in the Rye
. When Cassie saw the book in Piper’s backpack, she had been so excited.

Piper had reluctantly accepted the invitation to join her aunt’s book club, secretly happy, and feeling quite grownup to be a part of the coffee house discussions. She had never been in any kind of club, and she liked the feeling of being included. She liked Aunt Cassie’s friends. Sunny was always nice to her, and Maggie cracked her up. She didn’t know what to make of the old lady yet. She was funny, but didn’t act like any other old person Piper had ever met.

“Yes, I’ve finished it,” Piper answered the teacher. She didn’t like the attention of the whole class looking at her.

In the seat next to her sat a boy with dark hair who she had noticed watching her at times when they were supposed to be studying. He was cute and athletically built. She had plenty of experience with boys looking at her, but usually in a more predatory way. This boy looked at her with kindness, and she sometimes felt him study her from across the lunchroom while she sat alone at a table, reading a book, and eating the sandwich Cassie had packed for her. When she would look back at him, he’d always look quickly away, engrossed in his lunch or his work. The way his cheeks tinged a slight red gave her a funny feeling in her stomach, and she found herself watching the halls or glancing around at lunch in search of his tousled dark hair.

“Would you like to share your thoughts on the book?” the teacher asked.

“Um, sure,” she stammered. She tried to recall what the women had said about the book the other night at Starbucks. They had veered off topic, planning blind dates for Sunny, but she had such fun being included in the conversation and the plans.

“I think it felt like I was reading a sixteen-year old’s blog who was venting all his anger at the world and at grownups in general.” She hated being put on the spot and could only think to mimic Maggie’s thoughts on the book.

She snuck a glance at the boy next to her and found he openly smiled at her.

“I agree,” the boy said, without raising his hand. “I think Piper nailed Holden right on.”

Shocked he knew her name and had spoken on her behalf, Piper could only stare down at her desk and try to keep a goofy smile from taking over her face.

“Well, thank you for your opinion, Drew,” the teacher said. “Who else would like to share their ideas?”

Beginning a new thread of discussion, the class moved on, once again forgetting the new girl with the weird black clothes.

The bell rang, and Piper collected her things, and filed into the hall.

“That was good, what you said about Holden.”

Piper looked up, stunned someone spoke to her, and found the boy walking alongside her.

“Oh, thanks,” she said.

“I’m Drew.”

“Piper.”

“Yeah, I know. My mom is friends with your aunt. I think she had the same opinion about this book.”

“Really
?
Who’s your mom?” Piper asked, confused.

“Maggie Hayes.”

“Oh, cool.” She flushed at being caught using a quote from this boy’s mother. Trying to come up with something to change the subject, she said, “Your mom’s funny.”

Drew smiled at the description of his mother. “Yeah, I guess she is funny sometimes. So I packed my lunch today. Mind if I sit with you?”