Hard Hat Man (19 page)

Kyle had showed her his plans and she knew the swimming pool would be built where the silo now stood. He was making good progress toward achieving his goal. Farther down the yard, men were staking out the plots for the apartments and condos that he planned.

Suddenly
Jan wished she would be here to see it all happen, to see his project go from plans on paper to buildings, a pool, sidewalks and landscaping with flowers and trees.
Her hard hat man had an exciting job.

Her hard hat man? Hey, one night of lovemaking didn’t give her claim to him. Best she remember that.

With a sigh, she poured
co
ffee
,
made some toast
and
ate it
. Carrying a second cup of coffee, she
went back to sorting books in the library.

A
fter
lunch
, she heard sirens. What was going on? An ambulance and police cars had pulled up beside the machinery that had been taking down the silo earlier. Had someone been injured?
Oh, God, not more trouble.

Her throat tight with anxiety, she ran outside and down the yard to see what had happened.

With a sigh of relief, she recognized Kyle standing beside the police car, talking. Kyle was safe, at least.

“What happened?” she asked, coming up beside them.

Kyle turned. “Jan. Stay in the house. You don’t want to see this.”

“See what?” she demanded, refusing to budge from beside them.

“Uh, Kyle, we may need her help,” the sheriff said.

“But…”

“Kyle, what happened?” Jan insisted.

“We were removing the cement foundation to the silo and found a body
under it
,” Kyle said, running a hand through his hair and sending a frustrated look at the officer.
Another officer was stringing yellow crime scene tape around the hole where the silo had been.

“A body!”
Jan said.

“Well, what’s left of it anyway.
It must have been there since the silo was built many years ago, since it was under the cement foundation.
Mostly bones, some clothes and her shoes,” the sheriff said. “As one of Horace’s family members, do you have any idea whose body it might be?”

“Her shoes? It’s a woman?” Jan asked, her voice coming out in a hoarse whisper.
Bile rose in her throat. Images from her dreams jumped into her mind.
A hot breeze blew her hair across her face and she impatiently shoved it back. Another police car pulled up beside them and several more officers piled out of it and ran toward the pit where the silo had stood.

“Jan, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Kyle said again
, putting a restraining hand on her arm
.

She shook off his hand, concentrating on the sheriff.
“Let me see
the clothes.”

“They’re over here,” he said leading her to a plastic container. “We’ve finished all the pictures, so will be taking these to the lab for analysis. Don’t know what we can find at this late date, but we’ll try.”

Jan’s stomach turned over, but she
took a deep breath and
fought back the nausea
as she
went with the sheriff. Mostly disintegrated blue jeans
with a leather tag saying ‘wrangler,’
and
part of
a red blouse with heart shaped buttons.
A hank
of brown hair
. A
pair of leather loafers with pennies in the front
slot
, t
he soles separating and rotting
. B
ut
enough was left of
the clothes
for Jan
to know. Nancy had loved that blouse
with the pretty buttons. And she’d never gone anywhere without her retro 50s style penny loafers.

Her dream had been right. She gasped and said it aloud. “
Oh, my God. It’s Nancy. She
didn’t run away. She’s dead.”

Jan turned away and took a few steps
into the grass beside the graveled road
, then vomited over and over.

Kyle came up behind her and held her shoulders
, then handed her a clean handkerchief
. “I’m sorry. I was afraid that’s what you would say.” He cast a disgusted look at the sheriff. “You got enough for now?”

“Yeah,” the sheriff said. “But I’ll need to ask more questions, later.”

“We’ll be at the house,” Kyle said. He looked at one of his men. “We’ll work
at
the other end
of the property
for now, until the sheriff and his crew are done here.
”

“Sure, boss.” The man got into the nearest truck and drove away. Another climbed onto the tractor and followed him.

Kyle led Jan back to the house and fixed some tea. They sat at the table drinking it.

A few minutes later, Sheriff Casey joined them and
Kyl
e poured him some tea as well.

Jan stared into her cup.
“All these years, we’ve been blaming Nancy for not contacting her family. We thought she was being selfish and thinking only of her own happiness. And all the time, she was dead. She didn’t even get a proper burial.”

“You can remedy that now,” Kyle assured her.
“After the sheriff releases her remains, you can give her a proper funeral.”

Jan glanced at the sheriff for confirmation.

“Yes, when the coroner gets done, I’ll release the body to the family.”

Jan nodded. “I must let Mom know.
But not right now, it’s the middle of the night in England.
Oh, God, I wonder if that’s the reason so many people were against your project.”

“Hm. You think this might be what they had to hide? I always thought that watershed excuse was pretty thin,” Sheriff Casey said.

“Maybe when you find out who did all the dirty tricks to stop my project, you’ll know who hid her body there,” Kyle said.

“And who did her in,” Sheriff Casey said
, running his long fingers through his sparse hair
.
“
I think some people know a lot more about this than they’re telling.”

“She was murdered?” Jan gasped.

“Sorry, didn’t I say that? We’ll need the coroner’s report, but after all these years, he doesn’t have much to go on. But her skull was crushed at the back, so it’s safe to say someone killed her. And the fact that she was buried
beneath the silo foundation, of course.
”

Jan’s stomach churned, again threatening to empty its contents, though she doubted any were left in it. “Just like my dream,” she muttered.

“What?” the sheriff asked.

“Nothing,” Jan replied. She couldn’t tell him about her dreams and about seeing the ghost of Aunt Esther crying. Or the family
Bible
that moved from place to place and opened itself to the page with her death recorded.
He’d think she was crazy. Best to not mention those things.

Casey asked, “Do you have any idea when that silo was built? Or who built it?”

Abruptly, Jan rose and went to the living room, returning with the family
Bible
. She opened it to the center page
and
turned it to show the sheriff. “Here’s the exact date of Nancy’s death,” she said. “Aunt Esther recorded it. That’s her handwriting. How did she know?”

The sheriff stared at it and wrote the date in his notebook.
“Maybe she
knew
Nancy was murdered
, but was afraid to report it,” he said grimly. “That would mean someone intimidated her to keep her
quiet
. Wasn’t
Nancy
supposed to have eloped with someone? I wasn’t here back then, of course, but someone mentioned it after Horace died.”

“That’s the story they told everyone. That she eloped with one of the itinerant workers who built the silo. That’s why I’m sure that’s when the silo was built.”

“I see. But how is it connected to all the things that have been happening lately? The dirty tricks on your building project, slashed tires, the barn fire?”

“Not to mention all the workers that I’m sure were bribed to quit,” Kyle said grimly. “I think it means someone knew all about this and didn’t want that silo removed. You might start with Alex Porter and Erick Andr
ew
s.
They’ve been the loudest objectors.
”

“Mebbe so,” Sheriff Casey said.
“
And don’t forget Sylvia Netters.
”

Kyle winced and looked away, saying nothing.

Jan’s breath caught in her throat and jealousy curled in her gut. Was Kyle protecting his lovely neighbor?

Casey turned back to Jan.
“
Can you give me any details of Nancy’s life back then? Her friends and so on?”

Jan shrugged. “Sorry. We were only here for about a year. And don’t forget, I was only ten years old. Nancy was sixteen, so we hardly shared the same circle of friends. And I haven’t seen Uncle Horace since Aunt Esther’s funeral later that same summer.”

“I see. Well, g
ive me your mother’s number. I’ll call her and
break the news to her. And
get her take on this, too.”

He wrote down the number Jan read him from her cell phone.
With a long sigh, he rose. “Thanks for the tea, Miss Kerry. I’ll keep in touch. But don’t get your hopes up. A fifteen year old murder
won’t be
easy to solve.”

Jan nodded and walked with him to the door.

Casey turned and glanced back at Kyle. “You’re staying here with Miss Kerry?”

Kyle returned his look with an equally hard stare. “Yes. After the fire, I didn’t feel it was safe for her to stay here alone.”

“I see.” Casey nodded and left.

Jan closed the door and sighed. “I suppose that means he and all the rest of this little town disapprove.”

“I could care less what they think,” he said, coming back to enfold her in his arms. “I just want you safe. Can you doubt that after last night?”

“No,” she agreed, leaning into his chest.

“Or that it’s necessary?” Kyle added. “With all the nasty things that have been happening out here and then finding her body today…well, it seems evil has been lurking on this farm for many years.”