"A Murder In Milburn", Book 1: Death At A Diner (17 page)

“Do you think it’ll work?” Nora asked.

“It might,” Harvey said. “Let’s try it at any rate!”

*****

Chapter 26

Excited, Nora did as Harvey asked. She messaged both Sean and Jeremy and raced with him to the spot where the hike to the cave began. Half an hour later, she and Harvey had reached the cave, and Harvey was looking all around it with a flashlight.
 

“Do you think he could have done it?” Nora asked.

“I haven’t thought any different since the moment you told me what happened in this cave yesterday,” Harvey said. “How could you have gotten taken in, Nora? A married man who loved his ex-girlfriend, a girlfriend who he couldn’t have anymore. Of course he had a motive. He probably got angry at her for refusing his advances, and killed her.”

“Poor Ashley’s going to be heartbroken,” Nora said.

“It’s better to live the truth than suffer a lie.” Harvey was still looking all over the cave, shining his torch into the tiniest nooks in an attempt to search out things. From the corner of her eye, Nora saw him pick up a tiny plastic object, and slip it into his pocket.
 

“What--” she began, but before she could ask him about it, a shadow had blocked the entrance of the cave. Jeremy.
 

“Nora? Harvey?” He sounded confused. “I don’t understand. Why did you call me here? Where’s Sean?”

“She didn’t call you here.” Harvey smiled. “She just told you new evidence had been uncovered and you ran over.”

“Well, of course I did. Finding out who Raquel’s killer is, that’s important to me.”

“Why?” Harvey asked. “You’re a happily married man, Jeremy. Why is it so important?”

Jeremy blushed and gave Nora an angry glance. “You told him. You told my wife’s boss what I told you in confidence? You’re a grade A--”

“Watch your mouth,” Harvey said roughly. “Or I’ll make you answer for it.”

“Try it,” Jeremy said, his blood up.

“Raquel never told you about the cave,” Nora said quietly, making both men turn towards her. “So how did you know about it, Jeremy? Did she give you directions when you met last week?”

“She didn’t give me directions,” Jeremy said angrily, then realizing that he had just admitted to meeting her, he fell quiet.

“You didn’t tell Sheriff that you met Raquel last week,” Harvey said. “Wonder why that is? If you were the last person to see her alive, we sure could have used the testimony.”

“Sure.” Jeremy laughed. “What did you think I’d say? Hey sheriff, I know I’m married but I was meeting my ex girlfriend in a cave, and no I wasn’t having an affair with her, and no I didn’t murder her? Do you think anyone would believe me?”

Nora could tell from the look on Harvey’s face that he, for one, didn’t believe Jeremy.

“Well, that’s the way it was,” Jeremy said defiantly. “I was the one who asked Raquel to meet me. I told her it was...” He looked a little ashamed. “I told her it was about you and your business, that I had seen some files on Ashley’s computer and wanted to talk about it with her. I knew that it was the only way she’d come to see me. I’d tried talking to her about… about how I felt about her before, and she only laughed and told me to be good to Ashley and stop being a prat.” He clenched his fists. “Raquel just never understood I loved her, or even cared. I know I’m married to Ashley, but if she’d just given us a chance, I could have…” he trailed off.
 

“You told Raquel you had files that would indict me and lured her out here?” Harvey stepped forward and grabbed Jeremy by the collar. “You complete scumbag! You lied to get her out here alone and then what?”

“Then nothing!” Jeremy protested. “Besides, I didn’t ask her to come out here. She asked
me
. She’s the one who told me where we should meet if we wanted privacy. Then as soon as I told her that I’d just come to talk about my feelings, she left.”

“Left without getting angry?” Nora asked, “Not a chance. She must have yelled at you, and that probably made you angry. Is that when you decided to kill her?”

“I didn’t kill her!” yelped Jeremy. “Didn’t you guys hear me? I loved Raquel. Despite Ashley, despite the baby, I only wanted to be with Raquel. She’s the one true love of my life. But it was too late. She wouldn’t have me. She said it was against her values to be with a married man. I
loved
her. I would have been with her forever if Sean hadn’t lied to me about her and Alan way back in high school. My life is ruined, and I don’t know what I can do except cry.” Tears streamed from his face.

 
“Sean says he didn’t lie to you. It was his high school girlfriend who told him that Raquel had kissed Alan,” Nora said. “He just repeated a rumor to you. I’m sorry about everything Jeremy, I really am.”

“Sean’s girlfriend?” Harvey looked confused. “Ashley told me she used to be Sean’s girlfriend in high school.”

“I couldn’t tell Sheriff about meeting Raquel because someone murdered her right after,” Jeremy said. “But I swear, I’d pretended to be out of town, so I after she turned me down, I left and went to Jackson and stayed overnight there. I’m sure I could even get proof from the motel that I did.”

“Wait, I’m really confused,” Harvey said. “So what you’re saying is, you lied and told Ashley you’d be staying over in Jackson for a conference, and convinced Raquel to come meet you here by pretending you had evidence that I was committing fraud. Right? Then? You met her, she rebuffed you, and so you just… left and went back to Jackson? That’s it? Also you never told Sheriff you were the last person to see Raquel alive because you didn’t want to get into trouble.”

“Yes,” Jeremy said.

“I have a tough time believing it. The jury will have an even tougher time. You just let Raquel walk away after telling her you loved her?”

“I…” Jeremy sighed. “I know it sounds unbelievable, but yes.”

“Well, I think I’ve heard enough.” Harvey laughed.

“So have I,” said a strong voice, as Ashley stepped out from the shadows. In her hands, she held a gun that was pointed right at Jeremy.

*****

Chapter 27

“Ashley?” Jeremy gasped. “What are you doing here?”

“Destroying what I tried so desperately to hold together,” Ashley said. Tears were streaming from her eyes. “Why, Jeremy? I loved you so much. Why couldn’t you love me back even a fraction of the amount?”

“Ashley, this is clearly a personal matter. Let me and Nora leave you guys alone,” Harvey said.
 

“There’s no point anymore,” Ashley said. “Just no point.” Her normally placid face was streaked with mascara and tears, her chest heaving as she sobbed.
 

“Look, the stress isn’t good for you,” Nora said. “Think of your baby, if not yourself.”

Reaching under her shirt, Ashley pulled off a Velcro bit and threw it to the ground. “It was fake, all of it,” she said. “Just one more of my desperate efforts to keep Jeremy to myself. But he just… he never felt for me the way he did for Raquel.”

“You faked your pregnancy?” Jeremy said, looking appalled. “I would have… oh my god… was this after I threatened to divorce you? You knew you could trap me if I thought you were going to give birth.” He clutched his hands to his hair. “I should have. I just… I should have.”

“You planned it a long time ago,” Nora said. “I should have guessed the moment Sean told me it had been his girlfriend who told him Raquel cheated on Jeremy. You planted the story that Raquel kissed Alan so that Jeremy would break up with her.”

“That’s right. I did. Then I made sure that Alan was run out of town by telling dear, sweet, easily manipulated Sean that Alan had tried to force himself on me.” Ashley smiled, her face glowing evilly. “But Alan came back. Last year he came back to town, wanting to settle here again. Jeremy was talking about divorcing me back then. We were fighting all the time. And if Alan had come back, and revealed to everyone that he was gay, Jeremy would have guessed that Raquel never cheated on him. I couldn’t risk that. I couldn’t risk him leaving me for her. Luckily, I met Alan first because he came to our real estate agency looking for a place to rent. I took him in my car, pretending to show him a plot, and then, I don’t know, we fought. I tried to give him good advice, I told him the town had no place for a man like him, and he thought I was rude.” Ashley was getting more and more heated as she remembered, but the gun in her hand was still steadily pointed at the three of them, who were now backed into a wall.

“So you killed Alan, and buried his body,” Nora said. “That’s when it all started.”

“I guess I just got lucky with Alan,” Ashley said. “Beginner’s luck. The town thought he was just another tourist passing through, and no one noticed or wondered about him.”
 

“Then what?” Harvey asked. “When Jeremy kept fighting with you, kept threatening to leave you, you pretended to be pregnant.”

“I thought that would make him stay,” she said. “I thought he’d be a good father. I don’t know. I was desperate. Jeremy is my life. I … had to have him.”

“But even then, he crept away to meet Raquel,” Nora said. “That must have made you so angry.”

Ashley nodded. “I had a Trojan horse installed on his phone so I could read all his emails and texts. I saw him text her and I followed him here to this cave. I saw him declare his love for her and I realized that if Raquel was alive, Jeremy and I would never be together. I killed Raquel. I should have done it a long time ago. She came between me and the only man I’ve ever loved.”

“It wasn’t
her
!” Jeremy shouted. “It was
you
. You’re a manipulative witch! You manipulated me all your life, even when we were dating, even when we married. You just kept needling me into doing things I didn’t want, forcing me to become some man you imagined, instead of loving me for who I am.
Of course
I wanted to go back to Raquel. She was an angel, and you’re just a monster.”

Ashley nodded. “If we aren’t together in life, Jeremy, then death is fine with me,” she said, and pointed her gun at him.

“No!” Nora jumped towards Ashley, but the gun blew off like a cannon, illuminating the cave for a brief instant, then filling it with smoke. Jeremy crumpled to the ground, even as Nora tackled Ashley, who was desperately trying to twist the gun to her own forehead.
 

“You won’t die,” Nora screamed. “I won’t let you take a single life more, even if it is your own!”

They tussled together, until Nora banged Ashley’s hand on a rock, forcing Ashley to drop the gun. Vaguely, she saw Harvey bent over Jeremy, applying pressure to his wound.

Sean rushed in too, with two of his deputies, their guns out. Screams of “Police!” filled the cave.

As if in a dream, Nora watched Ashley being handcuffed, and Jeremy being led away on a stretcher. Harvey came and put his arms around her again, and in a moment that reminded her eerily of the scene after their accident, Harvey put his jacket around her.

So that was it. Raquel had died for no reason except the mad selfishness of a woman who had loved in vain. Nora felt her body start to shake, as she thought of the horrible waste of it all.

“It’s all right,” Harvey was saying, as he hugged her. “It’s going to be all right, Nora. You are the bravest woman I know.”
 

Sean entered then, his hair ruffled, a question in his eyes. Nora saw the pain come over them too, as he locked eyes with her and Harvey. He gave a nod to the both of them, then turned and walked back out.

THE END

Thank you so much for reading my first story!
 
If you liked it, you can get Book 2,
Death Of A Deputy
, on Amazon
RIGHT NOW!
 
Just
CLICK HERE
to do so!
 

There is also a novella-length Prequel to the series that you can get on Amazon called
Dying To Be Cool.
 
Get it by
CLICKING HERE!

 
And if you’d like updates, special offers on all of my future books & information on joining my Street Team (through which you’d receive FREE advanced copies of my future books), you can
SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER HERE!

Please continue for a note from the author…

A RECIPE FOR YOU!

Nora’s Shepherd’s Pie

Total Time:
1 hr 30 minutes

Prep:
45 minutes

Cook:
45 minutes

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

For the Potatoes:

1 1/2 pound of Russet Potatoes

1/4 cup half & half

2 ounces unsalted butter

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 egg yolk

For the Meat Filling:

2 tablespoons Canola oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon chopped green jalapeño

2 peeled & diced carrots

2 minced garlic cloves

1 1/2 pounds ground venison (can substitute with lamb or even beef!)

1 teaspoon salt