Devils Among Us (Devin Dushane Series Book 1) (8 page)

Both girls looked about twelve years old by this point and
like they wished the floor would just open up and swallow them. They both
nodded their heads vigorously.

“Girls, this is exactly why you are not old enough to be in
bars. You are not equipped to deal with the scumbag drunks that come with them,
and you’re obviously not good at making smart decisions, so inhibiting what
skill you do have with alcohol would just ice the cake now, wouldn’t it?”

She was starting to feel like a scolding parent when the
girls answered her with a wide eyed whispered “Yes, ma’am.” So she cut the
lesson short.

“Now get out of here before I call your parents, go, do some
homework or something.”

The blusher interjected, “It’s summer vacation we don’t have
any homework.”

Devin cocked an eyebrow at her and they shot out of the bar
like their high heels were on fire. Devin rolled her eyes as she made her way
back to the bar and tossed the two I.D.’s on the counter.

“Sorry Chuck, I tried to keep the damage to a minimum.”

“Hey, no harm no foul. Can I get you anything?”

“Some water would be great.” She turned to Shane. “Thanks
for all that assistance.” She shot him a dry look
. Does he ever stop
grinning?

“Oh you looked like you were doing a fine job of making that
mess all by yourself.”

Devin frowned as she picked up her bottle of water. “He was
warned and it was self defense.”

Shane held up both palms. “I know, I know. Terry’s a jerk
and he’s had that coming. But it’s your first day in town and you’ve stirred up
a heck of a hornet’s nest.”

“Good thing I’m not allergic to bees.”

Henry laughed softly beside her and she gave him a wink.

“You know that’s not true about harassing a minor being
statutory rape, right?” Shane’s voice was just a murmur over the rim of his
glass.

“Of course. But he didn’t know that.”

For once Devin had the cockier grin.

“Well played Detective. I am curious though, was I absent
the day they taught that kind of fighting at the academy? Or were you some sort
of special forces?”

“I was SWAT for two years.” She purposefully kept her
answers short and her eyes on her drink. This was not a conversation Devin
liked to have.

“I’ve always thought of SWAT as more flash, bang and bust
down the door, not the finesse of hand-to-hand martial arts combat.” It was not
a question, but he sat staring at her expectantly.

Devin sighed and dug a twenty out of her pocket to cover her
drinks and the inconvenience of the fight and laid it on the counter.

“Sorry again, Chuck. Keep the change.” He waved to her as
she turned to Shane. “No, I was not in any type of special forces, which I’m
sure you already know because you’ve probably looked at my file. I used to be a
competitive mixed martial arts fighter. Now, Mr. None-of-your-business, I’m
going home to enjoy a hot bath and a frozen pizza.” With that she gave him a
little salute and headed for the door.

“Used to be a fighter? That looked pretty current to me.”

“Well I like to stay in shape. Good night Shane.” She kept
walking, but right as she got to the door he called out to her.

“Devin? How’d you know I looked at your file?”

She paused as she opened the door and looked over her
shoulder to grin at him. “Because that’s what I’d do.”

Devin stretched as the early morning sunlight filtered into
her room. She frowned at the aches in her muscles from last night’s fight.
She’d have to get back in the gym today, all of the stitches were out and her
stab wounds were healing nicely, and if she didn’t go back now she would really
be out of shape.

But the gym would have to wait until this afternoon, this
morning she was going to visit her father’s cousin, Beth Christianson. Devin
had never actually met her dad’s cousin, but she received a Christmas card from
their family every year religiously. This visit was partially a family obligation.
 She couldn’t rightly stay in Fenton all summer and not visit her only
relative. However, the visit was also part of the investigation. Beth had been
there the night Laney was killed. She had been the first one to realize Laney
was missing and was the closest thing to an eye witness Devin had. The accounts
of the murder she had heard growing up were all secondhand knowledge. It
plagued her father constantly that he had not been at the Summit that night and
when he was drinking he could often be heard saying over and over “I should
have been there”.

Two hours later Devin pulled up in front of the Christianson
home. She killed the engine quickly, its throaty rumble seemed a sacrilege to
the serene setting. If a picket fence fairytale existed, this was surely it.
The pristine white pickets and porch railings were brightened by cheerful red
geraniums and a crisp American flag popped in the breeze. She stepped through
the gate and made her way up the freshly swept walk that divided the meticulous
green lawn. As she stepped onto the painted wooden porch steps, the screen door
swung open, and Devin was greeted with what was becoming a familiar reaction in
Fenton.

Beth Christianson came up short in the doorway and gasped as
she laid a hand to her chest. “Dear Lord!”

Devin waited patiently for Mrs. Christianson to regain her
composure. She could see their own family resemblance, they shared the same
build and the same heart shaped face. It was hard to tell if their coloring
would be similar. Ms. Clairol had been kind to her cousin’s fiery red hair.
Devin couldn’t help but think that this is what a Mom should look like, what
her Mom should have looked like now. Though her hair was brightly colored it
was clipped and curled into a subdued cut and her freshly pressed cotton blouse
and long khaki skirt were both practical and ladylike. It was probably a safe
bet that she had a tissue in one pocket, a cough drop in the other, and a
casserole in the freezer.

“Devin, I’m so sorry! How rude of me just to gawk at you
like that, you must think I have no manners at all!” She straightened her
shoulders and smoothed out her already flawless skirt. “I knew of your
resemblance to Laney, of course, but it’s something else entirely to see you in
person.”

“I understand, Mrs. Christianson, believe me, I get that
reaction a lot.”

“Please call me Beth, you’re Bobby’s daughter, for heaven’s
sake.”

Still not used to that introduction!

Beth smiled warmly and motioned to one of the roomy white
rocking chairs on the porch. She’d left a tray of cookies and a frosty glass
pitcher on the small table in between the chairs. “Please sit down. Can I get
you a glass of lemonade? It’s fresh.”

Devin had to laugh out loud. “I would love some lemonade!
You are the first person in town who hasn’t offered me sweet tea!”

When she smiled Beth’s eyes warmed so much they almost
became liquid. “I don’t know why I assumed you wouldn’t like tea. Laney didn’t
like it much either, she always said it tasted like you scooped up dead leaves
out of the woods and boiled them!”

“Well I would have to agree with her! And all the sugar in
the world couldn’t help that.”

“How do you like Fenton so far?” Beth was exactly the kind
of person you’d want on the welcome committee, she was warm and cheery and made
you glad to be where you were.

“It’s a nice little town. I’m actually surprised at how much
I like it.” Devin’s forehead puckered as she thought about that. Now where did
that come from?

“And why is that? Did you think we were all going to be
dreary and unfriendly?”

“No it’s not that exactly. I’ve just always loved Richmond and I didn’t think I could enjoy any other place all that much. I lived in Phoenix for a little while and overseas, and I’ve spent some time in L.A., but none of
them appeal to me like this.”

“Maybe you’re just a small-town girl at heart.” Beth should
be in real estate, she was ready to close Devin on moving to Fenton
permanently.

Devin chuckled. “I doubt that, it’s more like a nice place
to visit. But everyone has been very friendly and helpful.” She shook her head
as she thought about Shane. “Maybe a little
too
helpful.”

“I’ve heard that Adam Lentz and Shane Whitlock are following
you around like lost puppies. Maybe they’re hoping you make a permanent home in
Fenton too.” Beth tried to hide her smile behind her glass of lemonade.

“That’s all the more reason to get this case solved and get
back to Richmond. I’ve still got a puppy from my last marriage that’s trying to
follow me home from L.A.” Drat. She just remembered that she hadn’t checked in
with Carter or his mom since she’d arrived, she’d have to get on that today or
she would be subjected to another of Mama Dushane’s tirades about an old lady’s
heart only being able to take so much worry.

Please, she’ll probably outlive all of us by twenty
years.
Devin snapped back to the moment when she heard the disappointment
in Beth’s voice.

“Is that the only reason you’ve come to town? To try and
solve the murder, and then you’ll be gone?” Her rocking chair had gone still.

Devin debated momentarily what to tell her. She was a
proficient liar, she had to be to keep her distance. But it didn’t seem right
to give Beth false hope that Devin might become a fixture in Fenton.

“Mostly. I needed something to do while I’m suspended this
summer, and this case will keep me busy and maybe it will close some old wounds.
But…it has been nice to see where I come from and get some perspective. I don’t
want to be a stranger to a town that has birthed and buried generations of my
family. Besides, what’s left of my immediate family is scattered to the wind,
it would be nice to be connected to my own blood.”

There. That was a diplomatic answer.  She was here for the
case but wouldn’t mind catching up with some long-lost relatives along the way.
Apparently Beth was satisfied with this answer, because her chair once again
continued its rhythmic cadence on the creaking floorboards.

“Well it’s nice to have you for however long you’re here.”
Beth paused and tried to sound casual. “Have you had any luck with the case?”

Why is it whenever anybody in this town asks me that,
it’s as if they’re hoping I haven’t found anything at all?

“Nothing yet. I’ve been through the case files and crime
scene photos, but there were virtually no leads. The only suspect they seemed
to have at the time was Henry Maddox, but there was no evidence to substantiate
that.” Devin paused to see if Beth would comment, but Beth was staring across
the yard into another time so Devin continued with a more direct approach. “You
knew Henry, why do you think they suspected him so strongly?”

Beth sighed and folded her hands around her glass of
lemonade. “He was in love with her. Everybody knew that.”

“But she didn’t reciprocate those feelings?”

“No…and yes. It was complicated.”

“I can do complicated.” Devin gave her the warm ‘you can
trust me’ smile she used during interrogations.

“Laney always said she loved Henry like a brother, but that
wasn’t true, there was always more of a spark there than she let on. They could
finish each other’s sentences or be together and not say a word.” Her voice
ached with the sadness of what could have been. “They were soul mates, and I
always assumed after we graduated they would eventually get together.”

“Why after graduation?”

“The age difference. Once Laney was eighteen and out of
school, no one could really say anything about it.”

“But didn’t Laney have a boyfriend when she died? From the
interviews I read it sounded like they were pretty serious.”

Devin picked an oatmeal cookie off the plate on the table
between them. Sometimes you got more details when you seemed a little less
focused.

Beth shook her head and traced the lip of her glass with her
fingertip. “It never made sense. His name was Michael Leary.  He was a brainiac
planning on studying engineering at Virginia Tech. He wasn’t her type at all.  I
don’t even know what they had in common. He treated her like a real lady and
maybe that’s what she was looking for but I never thought it was going to last,
until they started talking marriage.”

“They were engaged?” Devin couldn’t disguise her interest
this time. In her entire life she had never heard this detail.

Beth was quick to answer. “No, at least not yet. At the rate
they were going they could have been engaged by the end of the summer. But they
never got that chance.”

“What happened to Michael after the murder?”

“He practically had a nervous breakdown. I remember all that
summer you could see him just walking around town all hours of the day and
night. Somehow he pulled it together in the fall and went to college. I don’t
think he ever came back to Fenton, his parents were older and he didn’t have
any other family. I tried to find him a few years ago on the internet when we
were planning our thirty-year reunion, but I couldn’t find a trace of him.”

Devin made a mental note to ask Shane and Adam if they had a
location for Michael Leary. She definitely would like to talk with him about
what was going on in Laney’s life then.

“So the police believed Henry killed her out of jealousy?”

“I suppose they did, but it just wasn’t possible.” Beth
became emphatic. “There is no way Henry could have ever hurt Laney. He would’ve
been more likely to kill himself! If Michael was truly Laney’s choice, Henry
would have suffered in silence, because her happiness was always most important
to him. The police may have spent all their time investigating him, but in my
mind he was the least likely person to kill Laney.”

Devin sensed her opportunity and pounced. “Who do you think
was the most likely to have killed her?”

Beth didn’t bat an eye. “Dean Delluca, Laney’s ex.”

Devin thought back through the case files. Delluca had been
interviewed along with everyone else at the Summit that night, but no special
notations had been made as to him being a suspect.

“Why do you think that?”

Beth took a sip of her lemonade and stared into her glass
for a moment and then gave Devin a weak smile.

“Peter tells me I shouldn’t judge because I don’t know all
the facts, but there was something going on with Laney and Dean for a couple of
weeks before she died and they were arguing that night at the Summit.”

“That wasn’t noted in the file, that there had been a fight
that night. Why wasn’t Dean ever interviewed as a suspect?”

“Supposedly he had an airtight alibi, though I never heard
what it was. Dean was under a lot of pressure at the time, he had dropped out
of school to support his wife and unborn child, a wife he didn’t want to marry
in the first place. I think that stress could have caused him to snap.”

Devin considered everything Beth had just told her, but
something wasn’t adding up.

“Why would Laney be messing with a married man if she was so
happy with Michael and talking about her own marriage?”

“That I don’t know. But I do know that Dean very much wanted
to be with her. Dean and Laney were dating when Angela showed up pregnant, he
did the decent thing and left Laney to marry Angela, but he was never happy
about it.”

“So what do you think they were arguing about the night she
died?”

Beth paused and chewed her lip a bit, worry creasing her
forehead. “I don’t know anything for sure, it would just be speculation.”

“I’m not writing anything down.”
Not yet, anyway.
“I’m just theorizing, looking for possible angles to follow since the crime
scene evidence is so thin.”

After a long pause, Beth finally relented. “I think Dean was
asking her to run away with him. When they were arguing I could see Laney
shaking her head and pushing away from him. I don’t think he got the answer he
was looking for. I don’t think Laney could have broken up a home.”

Devin swiped another cookie and waved it in the air as she
worked out her theory. “So maybe she wasn’t involved with him. Maybe it was one
sided, and he was pursuing her. He wants to escape his trapped life, runaway
with the girl he’s really in love with. She rejects him…that could be motive
for murder.” She punctuated her sentence with a bite of her cookie. “Is Dean
still local?”

Unknowingly Beth had stopped rocking while Devin spoke, even
the wind had become still. But, she now began her graceful movement again and
the gentle breeze blew across the porch, fanning the flag out once more.

“As far as I know he’s still here. He’s been in and out of
jail several times, but he always comes back to Fenton.”

“How charming. I believe I’ll look him up and see what he
has to say about that night.”

“You’ll give him quite a fright with your resemblance.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it.” Devin murmured into her almost
empty glass.

Beth’s sweet laughter peeled through the humid June air.
“Laney would have loved you!” She leaned over to refill Devin’s lemonade. “She
would have said that you were her kind of people, but really everybody was her
kind of people.”

There was a part of a Devin, beyond her investigative
instincts, that just wanted to know a little bit about her family, her blood.