SCREWED DOWN MURDER (Mrs. Fix It Mysteries Book 2) (2 page)

She shook herself. She should just be happy she made money doing something she loved, something that allowed her to keep her house and her bills paid. The money for some of her kids’ college tuition came from a savings plan that Greg had opened the day the two boys were born. The rest of the money came from loans that the boys would be responsible for upon graduation.

“You free for lunch?”

She sighed. Scott asked her just about every day to have lunch. No matter how many times she’d made it clear that nothing romantic was going to happen, he still asked. She admired his persistence.

“Uh, I don’t know. We’ll see,” Kate said.

She and Scott had been together in high school. Then he’d left for college and she had been forced to move on with her life. She married a man named Greg Flaherty, a former professor at the local community college where she had earned her degree.

Now that Scott was back in town, he made no attempt to hide the feelings he had for her. Kate only wished he was less forward about his intentions. She had to look at herself in the mirror every morning. She still had to be an example for her kids.

“I guess I’ll wait out here with everyone else. Can’t imagine Dudley’s inside in this heat,” she said.

She pondered staying in the air-conditioned truck. Wearing overalls for work made her too hot to be outside.

“I’ll keep you company,” Scott said.

“Have you made any progress on finding Greg?” she asked to put some distance between them.

He smiled as if he knew what she was doing and that it wouldn’t work. If she didn’t know he was a good guy, she’d be unnerved by him.

“I haven’t. You know that I’d update you if I had something.”

She did know that. No one wanted to find Greg as much as she did, except for Scott. She knew that he had a personal stake in finding out what happened to her husband. Scott wanted to find Greg so she could officially file for divorce. Or find his body, so that Kate could lay him to rest and move on.

She had no idea why he was so persistent. She was just Kate. A middle-aged woman with two college-aged kids. She wasn’t a supermodel. She had a few extra pounds on her, and she didn’t wear anything but overalls most days.

Having seen Scott’s ex-wife, Kate had no idea what he saw in her. That woman had been sex on a stick.

“This delay is going to make me late to my next appointment.”

Kate pulled out her phone then sent a text to Jessica that she would be delayed. Jessica sent a text back that it was okay. She wasn’t home at the moment anyway.

Tucking her phone back into her pocket, Kate eyed the building. Hopefully the power would be back on soon. Time was money. If she could get to Jessica’s house and be done, she might fit in another job before dinner. Since she lived alone, she didn’t have to worry about anyone else’s schedule. She could eat when she wanted. Sleep when she wanted.

Or do neither, which lately seemed to be happening more.

Scott reached out and rubbed a thumb down the middle of her forehead. “You worry too much. You’ll get inside eventually.”

“I would love to just switch the jobs, but Jessica isn’t home, so I can’t even start on her thing until I’m done here,” Kate said.

“It will all be fine.”

Scott had always been an optimistic. Like Winnie the Pooh, he saw everything in the best light. How could he do that after what he’d seen as a homicide detective in Philadelphia? And his wife had cheated on him. He still had a good heart, and Kate wished things were different—that she could love him.

The lights in the building went on and a cheer went up from the crowd. Finally. She could get to work.

The mayor was probably waiting for her, or would be now that the power had been restored.

“Off to the salt mines,” Scott said, a grin on his face.

“You have a good day.”

He stopped then turned fully to her. “You, too, Katydid.”

She wished he wouldn’t call her that. It had been his nickname for her in high school, and it implied an intimacy that wasn’t there. Thankfully, he didn’t do it often.

Yet part of her was thrilled, even if she didn’t want to be. He’d remembered things about her. Things only a lover could know.

She rolled her eyes then walked in the opposite direction to the mayor’s office. She tugged on her shirt. The air was stifling in the building. She hoped it would cool down soon. Wishing for shorts, she strode to the mayor’s office.

Chapter Two

Mayor Dudley Stuart had a secretary that he shared with the rest of the town council. She didn’t work full time and she wasn’t at her desk today. The older woman who had been secretary had retired a few months ago, and so Celia Johnson, the mother of Kate’s best friend, Carly, had taken the position for something to do since she’d retired as a nurse. Kate suspected she took the position because she wanted to know everything that was going on in the town. A lot of people had been surprised when the mayor hired her, given her propensity for gossiping.

With Celia not at her desk, Kate wondered if it was okay to just knock on the mayor’s door. She couldn’t hear anyone moving inside, but he might not have returned to the building.

A DPW guy walked past. Kate stuck her head out into the hallway. “Hey.”

The young man stopped. “Yes?”

“Have you seen the mayor?”

“Not today. He wasn’t outside with us.”

The man kept going. Kate frowned. She knocked on the door to the mayor’s inner office. No one answered. She pondered that for a moment, then she walked toward another outside door. Maybe the mayor was out there. She poked her head out, but there was no one in that parking lot.

With the power back on, everyone was back in the building.

She sent a text to Jessica.
I’m supposed to meet Dudley here. Is he with you?

No, he should be at work. I think.

Guess she didn’t know where her husband was. Had he not contacted her about the power outage?

I’ll wait a little longer
, Kate texted back.

She went back to the mayor’s office, but something told her to knock again. She did. There was still no answer. “Will the repair be obvious?”

Kate wanted to begin her day. Her first coffee was long gone. She wanted her second after this repair. Darn. Her day was not going as planned.

She looked down the hall, but no one was coming, so she decided to peek into his office. She took a deep breath, let it out, then opened the door to see if she could find the repair he needed.

She did. It was a set of shelves that were empty, and one of the brackets had fallen of. “That’s easy to fix.”

She had brought brackets with her and would replace all of them. If one went, the others wouldn’t be far behind. Returning to her truck, she hoped Dudley would be back before she began her work.

When he wasn’t, she opened the door fully so no one would question her presence there. That’s when she saw him. On the floor.

“Dudley?”

She knelt down to find a pulse, but there wasn’t one.
Not again
, she thought. The mayor was dead on the floor, his hand clutching his chest. She picked up the phone on his desk and called the police.

She waited in the outer office, doubting the job would get done today. Or at all. She paced, trying to rid her mind of the sight of Dudley on the floor. He was pale and lifeless.

Scott was the first one in with EMTs right behind him. He glanced in then looked at Kate with a grim face. “He’s dead.”

She sighed. Another body that she had been the one to find.

“I’ll need to get a statement,” Scott said.

“Can I load my truck before we do? Clearly I’m not getting in to make the repair.”

“No, this might be crime scene,” Scott said. “You can load up your truck then meet me in the PD. I’ll have someone take your statement.”

“Thanks.”

She carried what she was holding back to her truck. Her day really wasn’t going as planned. She entered the police department, but the same woman from last time was not at the desk. She must have had her baby already.

Today it was a man with a cast on his arm. He let her in as he’d gone to school with her sons.

“Tell Jason and Jared I said hello,” Officer Gunther said.

“Not a problem.”

She passed through the door and found Detective Ken Johnson, the father of her best friend, waiting for her. “You’re like Jessica in that old television show. She found dead bodies everywhere.”

She appreciated his attempt at humor, but it fell short. “I guess.”

He led her back to the room he’d taken her statement in when she’d found Jackie York dead in Scott’s kitchen. She shuddered at the memory of being held against her will by the murderer.

As she sat down, Ken brought her a much needed cup of coffee. Kate couldn’t imagine what had happened to the mayor, but making a statement to the police meant it was being considered as a homicide. Ken took her statement then sent her into Scott’s office.

“He wants to talk to you,” Ken said.

She was going to get a scolding probably. He wouldn’t want her to interfere with the investigation.

“I have no reason to have anything to do with this murder. If it is one.”

“We have reason to believe it is, but I’m not telling you why. Stay out of it.”

She put up her hands. “Of course. I only investigated last time because you were involved. I didn’t want you to get railroaded.”

Scott smiled. “I know you care about me, Kate. One of these days you’re going to have to admit it.”

“What feelings I may or may not have for you are irrelevant until I know what happened to Greg.”

“Fine. Lunch?”

She glanced at her phone. “If I stop for lunch, it won’t be until closer to one.”

“Text me. I’ll meet you wherever.”

She thought about sending a text to Jessica then decided to go see her anyway. Even if she didn’t fix the item today, she wanted to give her condolences to the woman. Her husband had just died.

Apparently word had already gotten out about Dudley, and several cars were parked in Jessica’s driveway. Kate contemplated just calling Jessica to see if she still wanted Kate to come by.

So she called.

“Hello.”

Jessica sounded distraught.

“It’s Kate. Do you want to postpone my repair today?”

“No, please come over. It’ll be nice to have a friendly face.”

“I’ll be there in a moment.”

Kate disconnected. She looked around at the cars and wondered what Jessica had meant by a friendly face. Wasn’t she currently surrounded by people?

Kate knew she had to fix a window in Dudley’s office. She brought the necessary tools with her when she rang Jessica’s doorbell. The woman answered, letting Kate in.

“Dudley’s business associates are here. I’ve never met most of them. Please do what you need to do then come have coffee with me.”

Kate nodded. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you Kate.”

***

Kate followed Jessica inside. The living room sported several men in suits with coffee cups in their hands. Kate wanted to say something to them, but she didn’t know what. It didn’t seem right to her that strangers had descended on Jessica’s house in her time of grief. She should be surrounded by family and friends.

Kate didn’t think any of Jessica’s family was close, but she must have friends. She was involved in so many things in the community. Kate wanted to shout at these men for invading her home.

At least Kate had been invited in.

“I’ll get that window fixed in no time.”

Jessica smiled a feeble smile. Kate squeezed the woman’s arm.

Upon entering Dudley’s office, Kate watched two men look up at her with guilty expressions on their faces.

“Can I help you?” one said.

She didn’t recognize either of them, but assumed they worked at Dudley’s trucking company.

“I’m here to fix the window.”

“Can you come back later?”

“Mrs. Stuart has asked that I do this right now.”

Kate wasn’t leaving. The men looked at each other and frowned. “Okay. We’ll come back.”

They’d clearly been looking for something. Kate would have to mention it Jessica. What could they possibly need from Dudley’s office? She put it out of her mind until she was done with the repair.

The window had gotten stuck in the open position. It made things tough when you wanted to put on the air conditioning. She tugged on it then lubricated it with some grease. Finally it budged. A little. She wished for some more upper body strength to shove it back on track. She went out to her truck for a rubber mallet and a small board.

With that, she was able to put the window back in its place. Jessica came in as she closed it.

“You fixed it.”

“I did, but I want to put a thin piece of wood here so it can’t jump the track again.”

“We’re due to replace the windows on the back of the house in a month or so. I’ve already made the appointment, so no need.”

“Okay, then I just have to pack my tools then I’m done.”

“You want some coffee?”

“I’d love some coffee.”

Jessica smiled that wan smile. After loading her truck, Kate returned to the house. The men in the living room were gone. Inside the kitchen, Jessica was pouring two mugs of coffee.

“You alone?” Kate asked.

“Finally.”

“Who were they? Two of them were going through Dudley’s desk.”

Jessica sat at the counter. “I don’t know exactly. They kind of forced their way in here. I had no choice.”

Kate sat then reached out to Jessica. “Are you okay?”

“As okay as I can be.”

“Was Dudley sick?”

“No. I don’t know what could have happened,” Jessica said.

“Is there anyone I can call?”

“My parents are on their way here. My sister, too. Will you stay for a little while?”

Kate would have liked to get a third job in today since her first was a bust and the second hadn’t taken long, but she couldn’t leave Jessica in this state. “Yes, of course.”

There would be no lunch with Scott, which was okay. She should keep more distance between them anyway, but he was persistent. That’s probably what made him a good cop, she thought.