HAMMERED (Mrs. Fix It Mysteries Book 1) (2 page)

She probably wouldn’t get back in until they were finished with the crime scene. The woman’s eyes were going to haunt her.

“What are you doing here?” Beth asked.

“I’m not answering any questions.”

The officer at the door came out onto the porch. “You have to go, Beth.”

“I’m not leaving. The public has a right to know.”

Kate wanted to roll her eyes. The idealism of youth. The officer led Beth off the property and told her she could stand on the sidewalk. When he returned, he looked at Kate. “The chief will be out in a few minutes to talk to you. FYI, they are bringing the body out, but it will be in a bag.”

Kate shuddered.

“Can I go sit in my truck?”

“Sure.”

She unclipped her keys from her belt then climbed into her truck that was still in the driveway. She turned on the air conditioning since the truck had heated up while sitting in the sun. She also turned on the radio and looked down at her phone. The body would come right by her, and she had no need to see it.

She heard noises and saw people in her peripheral vision, then Scott was standing outside her truck. He knocked on the window. She rolled it down.

“She’s gone.”

“Good. I didn’t need to see that.”

His eyes didn’t hold their usual sparkle. Kate would have thought that being a homicide detective in Philadelphia, as Scott had been, he would be vaccinated against feeling too much. Instead, he looked a little hollowed out.

“You okay?”

“As good as one can be having seen a dead body,” Kate said.

She didn’t want to see that again. Dead people at funerals were made up. She’d stick to that.

In fact, she just decided that she wanted a closed casket when she died so no one would have to look at her.

Scott nodded. He still had that strong presence that she remembered. She’d always had the sense that he could take care of everything. Was it surprising that she ended up marrying someone so different from him? An academic.

Greg had made her feel emotionally safe. She’d never needed to feel physically safe because her father had taught her to fight. Still, might have been nice to know that her husband could defend her. He certainly couldn’t now from wherever he was.

“We need to take your statement, but the detective on the case wants to do it at the station.”

She looked around. “I can’t get out. Can we move some of these vehicles?”

“I’ll move them for you.”

“Am I a suspect?”

“Kate, everyone is a suspect. Until we know time of death, I’m a suspect. I’m just not in handcuffs out of professional courtesy.”

He walked away. She waited while he moved vehicles so she could get out. Meanwhile, she turned off the radio. Too many happy songs while she was dealing with some woman’s death.

How had that person gotten into Scott’s house? The door was locked. Her inquisitive mind wanted to know it all. She doubted that Scott would tell her anything.

She started her truck when the driveway behind her was empty. The truck backfired and threatened to stall. Guess she better get it to the shop. She’d been counting on part of this job’s pay to do just that.

Calculating what bill she could put off, she tried to figure out when she’d be able to get the truck repaired.

“Sounds like you need a new truck,” Scott said, standing beside her vehicle.

She jumped and put a hand on her heart. “I can’t afford one.” Then she had a thought. “Did you know that woman?”

That would explain the look on his face. No matter how jaded you were from working homicide, if you knew the person, then you’d be affected by it. Scott must have recognized her, because Kate didn’t think the woman was from Rock Ridge.

“Yes.”

“Who was it?”

Scott stared back at her, not blinking. “That was my ex-wife.”

Chapter Two

The Rock Ridge Police Department was part of the municipal complex in the town. All the government offices were in a building next to it along with a community center. The fire department, a paid operation, and the first-aid squad (strictly volunteer) had a building nearby.

The noise hit Kate when she walked in. Phones rang. People talked. A few people yelled. They were all behind a glass partition, but the cacophony seeped out into the lobby. A petite blonde sat behind the partition, not smiling but waiting. She wore a uniform and had a large belly that made it hard for her to reach the phone on the desk. She’d answered when Kate first entered the lobby, and it had been a struggle.

Guess she was on light duty. She looked ready to pop out that kid any minute. Kate shuddered, remembering how large she’d been with twins.

“Can I help you?” the young woman said.

Kate realized she had no idea who she was supposed to see. “I guess I’m here to see the chief.”

“He’s still out. You can wait in the lobby.”

“I’m supposed to make a statement about the thing he’s at.”

The woman nodded. “I’ll see if someone else is here that can do that. Just have a seat.”

Kate sat on furniture as comfortable as being stretched on a rack. Despite the bench looking like wood, she was sure it was made out of concrete. It held the chill of the air conditioning. She had her work overalls on, but they weren’t thick at all, so she felt the coolness on her butt. She was tempted to stand, but she’d been ordered to sit.

Not that she couldn’t be a rebel, but she was off her game today.  Discovering a dead body will do that.

“Miss?” the woman said finally.

Kate stood and moved to the glass. “Yes?”

“Detective Johnson will see you. When you hear the buzzing, push the door to your right open.”

Something made an anemic buzzing sound. Kate pushed the door open. Inside, the noise was even louder. How did anyone work here? She was usually alone in her tasks, so she didn’t have office mates to shoot the breeze with. If there was noise, she made it with a power tool.

She enjoyed the solitude. After years of two boys in the house, she liked the peace and quiet of working alone. This environment would never do and had more than once convinced her that she hadn’t been cut out for an office job.

Detective Johnson, or Ken as she knew him, loped toward her. He was a long man. Long limbs, long neck, long body. Making the transition from Mr. Johnson to Ken had taken her years because she and his daughter, Carly, had been best friends since high school.

He had brown hair and dull, brown eyes, which belied a quick mind. More than once, Kate and Carly thought they could get something past her father, but it hadn’t happened once. Most people underestimated him.

Kate wondered if he was close to retirement, or did he never plan to leave the job? He’d been up for the chief of police job, but Scott had been given that. Did he hold any resentment? She hoped not.

“Hi, Ken.”

He didn’t hug or kiss her. He was obviously in cop mode. “Hello, Kate. Follow me.”

She did as he led her past a maze of desks. She hadn’t realized that the Rock Ridge Police Department was that big. There were at least eight desks in the small room. All with at least one inhabitant.

Ken led her to the back of the room to a smaller room. Probably for interrogation purposes since there was a mirror on one wall just like in the cop shows.

“Have a seat. You need coffee?”

“Yes.”

She could drink coffee all day. Even right before bed. Though she didn’t hold out hope that this one would have much taste. Might have been in the pot all morning. Ken grunted then left her in the room.

She sat, a chill going up her spine. Did she need a lawyer? She hoped not. She couldn’t afford one. If her business had been doing better, she might have been able to, but she’d only started in six months ago.

It had taken her two months after the boys had left for college for her to figure out what she was good at.

Ken came back in with the coffee.

“Thank you. Do I need a lawyer?”

“If you want one, we can wait.”

“No, I’ll answer your questions. I’m not a suspect.”

“Everyone’s a suspect until we know time of death. Can you account for your time before you found the deceased?”

“Part of it. The rest of it I was at Scott’s house fixing the hole in his wall.”

“We’ll worry about that when the ME tells us the time of death.”

That reassured Kate. She was in the hardware store prior to that. The woman would have had to have been killed before she arrived at the chief’s house. She hadn’t heard anyone else in the house.

“Tell me about finding Jackie York.”

Kate told him everything she could remember up to and including finding Scott’s ex-wife on his kitchen floor. She wondered how long they’d been married. Jackie York was probably a beautiful woman in her day. The kind that turned heads.

Opposite of tomboyish Kate. She’d long ago learned to be comfortable with herself in most situations, but once in a while a gorgeous woman did intimidate her. She’d bet that Scott’s ex-wife would have been one of those women.

She would have sported the latest in clothing with some person’s name on the tag that Kate had never heard of. If LL Bean or Carhardt didn’t make it, then Kate had no idea what it was.

“So you fixed the hole, used the restroom, then Chief York called you. Do you often wander around your clients’ houses?”

“I’m not going to answer that. It’s none of your business what I do on a job. I’m not a suspect and don’t have to explain myself.”

Scott took that moment to stop in the room. “Are you antagonizing Mrs. Flaherty?”

He looked a little better than he had at the house. He’d straightened his tie and rolled down his sleeves.

“I’m just doing my job,” Ken said.

“Well wrap it up. She’s not a suspect.”

“Why do you say that?”

“She didn’t even know my ex-wife. Right, Kate?”

Kate shook her head. That was the truth. “Never met her.”

Ken frowned. “Okay. I’ll print this out and you need to sign it.”

“Fine,” Kate said.

She was ready to move on to her next job. She turned to Scott. “Will I be able to get back into your house tomorrow? I need to sand and paint.”

“No. I can’t even get into my house at this point.”

Even though it was none of her business, she asked anyway. “Where will you stay?”

“I have a couch in my office.”

“Comfy.”

He shrugged. “I’m hoping it’s only one night.”

Ken left then came back with a piece of paper. Kate read it and it was exactly what she’d said. She signed it.

“You’re free to go.”

As she was leaving the interrogation room, she heard her name. She looked up to see Larry Stadt, chief of the Rock Ridge Fire Department. And a guy who had been interested in her for years.

***

Kate wanted the floor to swallow her up as Larry strode across the room. This was not going to be good. Two alpha males in one room. Both mistakenly vying for her attention.

Larry had taken it upon himself to be Kate’s protector. She suspected he had ulterior motives, but she’d made it clear that she wouldn’t date. Him or anyone else.

She didn’t like her life being in limbo, but until there was a definitive answer about the whereabouts of her husband, she was still married.

Larry always skated the edge of understanding that. He stopped in front of her and put his hands on her arms. Marking his territory much?

She didn’t want to embarrass him, but she gently stepped away from him.

Larry had brown hair, parted on the side, and soft, puppy-brown eyes. He was one of the sweetest men that Kate had ever known.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Larry. I just needed to make a statement.”

“You aren’t being charged, are you? I can call a lawyer for you.”

His taking over rankled her. She was an independent woman, and she didn’t need him to do that. “No, I’m fine. I’m on my way home.”

Scott stepped closer to them. Of course. There was so much testosterone in the room that she’d bet she could pee standing up next time.

He held out his hand. “I’m Scott York, the new chief of police.”

Larry looked at the man’s hand then up at his face. He clasped Scott’s hand. “I’m Larry Stadt, chief of Rock Ridge Fire Department.”

Kate wanted to laugh. Or break out a ruler, so they could all see once and for all whose was bigger. Instead she walked away. Let them have their male games.

She had work to do.

Larry caught up with her at her truck. “There something going on between you and that cop?”

He spit out the last words as if they hurt him to say them. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

“Not that it is any of your business, but no. We knew each other in high school.”

Larry’s face relaxed. “You free for lunch?”

“No, sorry. I have to fix someone’s steps this afternoon. I’m late, but I’m sure they’ve heard that I was at the police station.”

“Nothing goes unnoticed in a small town.”

“That’s for sure,” Kate said. “I really have to go.”

She looked past Larry. Ken was putting Scott in the back of a squad car. He was handcuffed. “What’s going on?”

Larry turned in the direction she was looking. “Guess the chief is getting arrested.”

She didn’t like the glee in his voice. She brushed past Larry to talk to Scott before the back door closed. “Scott? What’s going on?”

“ME gave us a preliminary time of death. I have no alibi for my location, so Ken here arrested me.”

Ken nudged Kate out of the way. “I’m taking him to the county jail. Out on twenty-two.”

Kate knew the place. It was a fortress right next to the county college her husband had been a professor at. She hadn’t been out that way since the school had asked her to clean out her husband’s office. The trip had taken a lot out of her, and she still hadn’t looked in the box she’d packed.

“But he didn’t kill her. He’d divorced her already. Ken, this doesn’t make any sense.”

Larry came up behind her. “Best let the cops deal with this, Kate.”

He might as well have patted her on the head and told her not to worry her pretty little head. If she could have, she might have jabbed him in the ribs. Not in front of two police officers.