Girls' Night Out Murder (Ryli Sinclair 2) (15 page)

“Where did Whitney say she was going to be today?” Aunt
Shirley asked.

“Just give me a minute to think. I’d been drinking a lot
last night, so my mind is a little fuzzy,” I said.

“She said two houses. She was showing two houses, one was on
Murray Street or something like that,” Aunt Shirley said.

Paige hit the seat in front of her, startling Aunt Shirley.
“I remember! It was Montgomery. She was showing a house on Montgomery and a
house on Sage. I remember Sage because I remember giggling in my head and
wondering if the house on Sage would smell like sage.”

I laughed…only Paige. “Great job,” I said. “So which house?
I’m thinking Sage because it’s so late in the morning, she’s probably already
shown Montgomery.”

“I agree. I just hope that’s the order she went in,” Aunt
Shirley said.

Paige pulled up Google Maps on her phone and typed in Sage
Street. A few seconds later, I was heading toward the outskirts of town. I
pulled onto a paved road. The houses out here were spread out a little farther
since it was lakefront property. Each house had a private dock that led to the
water.

I was beginning to think we’d made a mistake when I heard
Aunt Shirley yell. “There! The house on your right, and it looks like cars are
there.”

I saw where she was pointing. It was an impressive house, no
doubt. It was also recently built. There was still a sign stating it was a Jim
Cleary house in the front yard next to the For Sale sign.

I didn’t pull into the small drive, instead I simply pulled
over as far as I could and let the Falcon idle. No one said a word, we just
watched as the front door opened and Whitney came down the stairs followed by a
young couple holding hands.

I turned off the car. “How do you wanna play this?” I asked
Aunt Shirley.

“Straight up. I say we tell her what we found and see how
she reacts.”

We watched as Whitney shook their hands and handed them a
business card. The young couple got in their car and backed out in front of us.
They took off in the opposite direction we were facing.

“Let’s go,” I said opening my door.

Whitney was still standing in the front yard doing a small
victory dance. “I guess that means it went well,” I said, making Whitney
scream. It was exactly what I’d wanted to do.

“Don’t scare me like that!” she demanded, patting herself on
the chest. “You gave me a fright.” She wrinkled her brow. “What are you doing
here?”

“We came to ask you a few questions,” I said.

“What kind of questions,” she hedged.

“We found one of your syringes at Julie’s house. Care to
explain,” Aunt Shirley demanded.

“Why were you at Julie’s house? It should be off limits. I
drove by it this morning and there was still police tape up.”

“Care to explain the syringe?” Aunt Shirley asked again.

Whitney’s eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms in front of
her chest. “I don’t have to tell you anything. And the fact you went into
Julie’s house when it still has police tape around it is against the law. It’s
called breaking and entering in case you didn’t know.”

I pulled the syringe out of my coat pocket. “The syringe we
found…like Aunt Shirley said, care to explain?”

Whitney’s mouth dropped open. “Omigod, did you pick it up?
Your fingerprints are all over it now. You contaminated a crime scene! My uncle
is gonna be pissed!”

Crap! Did she say
uncle?

“Who’s your uncle?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the
answer.

Whitney looked down her nose at us. “Chief Taggart.”

“Does he have family all over this town?” I muttered.

“How do you think I knew Julie’s whereabouts and when Jim
would come into her office to see her?” Whitney sneered. “Tammi and I are
cousins. Her mom and my mom are Chief Taggart’s little sisters.”

Breathing at this point was almost becoming painful. I was
honestly terrified.

“And let me tell you, he’s gonna be livid you went into
Julie’s house and took something!” She let out a harsh laugh. “I bet he doesn’t
waste any time hauling you in. He told me this morning after your little visit
to the station that he was going to let you stew a little, get you all worked
up over the fact he was going to arrest you in a few days,” her eyes took on a
wild look, “but after this little stunt, I bet he arrests you by tonight!”

“Now wait just a minute,” Aunt Shirley said. I was glad she
could talk because my mouth was so dry I couldn’t even open it. I could feel
myself shaking. “No one said we were inside the house. We also drove by and saw
the police tape. We decided to look in the windows and see if we could see
something relevant to the case. We found the syringe on the back deck in plain
view.”

I needed to practice my lying. Aunt Shirley did it so well
I
actually believed what she was saying.
“So don’t go gettin’ your panties in a bunch. No need to call your uncle.” Aunt
Shirley paused as if thinking. “Oh, and we also noticed a screen was pushed
out, too. I don’t know if that means anything.”

Paige let out a nervous giggle. Whitney whipped her head
around to glare at her. “I almost wish I’d have stuck around last night just to
see my uncle make you sweat.”

I jerked back as if she’d slapped me. Truth was, I wouldn’t
have been more surprised if she had. “Wait, I just realized something. Last
night when you were texting on your phone before you suddenly left…were you
talking with your uncle? Did he tell you Julie had been murdered and he was
coming out to question me?”

Whitney shrugged. “Again, I don’t have to tell you anything.
Although I will say, I don’t know how a syringe got on Julie’s deck…maybe Julie
was using drugs. I mean, I doubt it, she was too fat to be a drug user.”
Whitney suddenly laughed. “Maybe Jo the Ho was supplying Julie with drugs.”

Jesus, what is it with
this family and name calling?

“All I know,” Whitney continued, “is you better stay away
from me, or I seriously will call my uncle and tell him what you did. Trust me,
he’s dying to haul you in for these murders.” Whitney turned and walked toward
her car. She yanked the door open and glared at us. “One more thing…that’s not
mine. The needle size is wrong.” Whitney yanked the car door closed and sped
away.

We all stood in silence…too stunned to speak.

“Well, at least we know why Taggart seems more and more
inclined to pin these murders on you,” Aunt Shirley said.

“And why’s that?” I asked.

“Could be he’s trying to take the heat off his niece,” Aunt
Shirley said.

“What do you think she meant by the needle size?” Paige
asked as we headed for the Falcon.

“Not sure…guess we need to do some research later on,” I
said. “Let’s stop by the trailer park real quick to see about Jolene.”

It wasn’t too hard to find the trailer park where Jolene
lived. There were only about fifteen other trailers in the park, each one
looking sadder and sadder than the last. It was hard to believe that something
so ugly and trashy could be mixed in with the hundred thousand dollar and
million dollar homes the lake boasted. The trailers were eerily quiet
considering it was the day before New Year’s Eve. I was guessing most of the
residents didn’t get around too early in the morning…they were probably more
night owls.

Paige read off the trailer number from the address Susie had
given us. It didn’t take long to locate the dilapidated, singlewide heap
sitting in front of us.

“Well, isn’t this a nice pile of dung,” Aunt Shirley said as
she got out of the Falcon.

At one time I’d say the trailer had been white, but now
there was a plethora of browns and grays covering the outer aluminum panels.
There was a fist-size hole in the door that had been patched up with duct tape.
It wasn’t even the cute, colorful kind you can buy nowadays. Nope, this was just
the traditional silver quick fix stuff.

Plop! Plop!

I looked down at my phone. It was a text from Debbie
.
Can u come over? Dealing with a lot.

I looked over at the girls. “Debbie wants to know if we can
stop by real quick. Guess she’s having a hard time today.”

“Sure,” Paige said.

I texted her we’d be over shortly. She sent back her
address. Slipping the phone back in my pocket, I looked up at the nasty,
dilapidated trailer.

None of us were eager to walk up the broken wooden steps
that led to Jolene’s front door. “Careful where you walk and what you touch. We
don’t have time to get a Tetanus shot today,” I advised.
 

“Well, let’s get this over with,” Aunt Shirley mumbled as
she carefully started up the broken steps.

I wasn’t sure the tiny deck would hold all our weight. The
way it was creaking with just Aunt Shirley on it had me worried.

Think thin…think thin!
I repeated over and over in my head as I slowly made my way up the stairs. I
glanced back to make sure Paige was close on my heels. I didn’t want to leave
her outside for fear of something happening to her. The area didn’t exactly
scream safe, friendly neighborhood.

“Jolene,” Aunt Shirley said, knocking on the splintered and
patched door. “Are you in there?”

Silence.

Aunt Shirley gripped the handle and twisted. None of us were
really shocked when the door swung open. I couldn’t imagine there was much
inside that needed locked and protected.

The smell of rotten eggs, sewer, and cat urine permeating
throughout the little trailer had my stomach rolling. I put my hand up over my
mouth and nose to try and block the smell. Paige did the same thing.

Immediately in front of us was the living room. It was sparsely
decorated with one broken-down and dangerously sagging brown couch facing a TV
that had to be thirty years old. There were no pictures or decorations on the
walls, and there was no other furniture to really speak of. To our left was a
tiny kitchen that didn’t even have a kitchen table. I’m sure there were
countertops, but you couldn’t see them because of all the trash and old food
covering them.

The hallway to our right was so narrow a heavier person
would have to turn sideways just to walk down it. Craning my neck, I could see
three doors. I didn’t even want to venture what the bedrooms and bathroom
looked like.

My stomach rolled again. We needed to get out of here fast
before I lost what little I had in my stomach.

The piles and piles of trash littering the floor was mindboggling.
I’d never seen anything so filthy in my life. Fast food wrapper, putrid milk
jugs, animal feces…you name it, it was on the floor.

“I’m thinking someone should have given her a garbage can as
a housewarming gift,” Paige said matter-of-factly.

I snorted repeatedly through my hand. Well, it was more a
laugh, but with my hand covering up my vital breathing parts, it came out like
little snorts.

“Maybe a mop and broom,” Paige continued.

I smacked her on the arm. “Stop, you’re making me laugh, and
I don’t want to take in any more air than I already have to!”

“Look over there,” Aunt Shirley said, pointing to a metal TV
tray sitting next to the sagging couch.

I took a step forward to see what she was pointing to,
kicking trash out of my way. It didn’t take long for my eyes to hone in on the
syringe. “Well, hell,” I said. “This doesn’t help narrow things down at all.”

I knew I needed to look at the needle size like Whitney had
made reference to, but I didn’t want to risk walking across the room. God only
knew what might grab me.

“Hey,” a deep male voice said behind us, “where’s Jolene?”

Whirling around, my eyes widened at the sudden appearance of
the scruffy-looking guy. I couldn’t tell his age, but I placed him between
twenty to twenty-five years old. He had on greasy gray sweats and matching
sweatshirt. He looked cold as hell.

Usually I’d be a little more afraid being alone with a young
male in a seedy place. However, his sunken cheekbones and emaciated body had me
believing that even
we
could take him
if we had to.

“I said where’s Jo?” The man scratched his head, his wild
eyes darting around the trailer.

“We haven’t seen her in a few days. When’s the last time you
saw her?” Aunt Shirley demanded.

The man shrugged his bony shoulders. “What day is it today?”

I rolled my eyes. “What do you want with her,” I asked, not
really sure I cared to hear the answer.

He laughed. “I got me an itch that Jo usually scratches.” He
grabbed his crotch through his sweat pants and sent parts jiggling. “You get my
drift?”

I barely refrained from gagging and throwing up in my mouth.
“Well, as you can see, she isn’t here,” I said forcefully, hoping he’d take the
hint and leave.

He didn’t. Instead, his glazed-over eyes looked us up and
down slowly. I was definitely going to shower when I got home. “Since she’s not
here,” Scrawny shrugged, “how’s about one of you? I got ten bucks.”

Aunt Shirley guffawed. “Ten bucks? Ha! You ain’t seeing my
goodies for no ten bucks!”

The meth-head wrinkled his nose. “I wasn’t exactly thinking
of you, old lady. I was thinking of one of you bitches,” he said, pointing
between Paige and me.

“First off,” Aunt Shirley said, “you’d be lucky to have a go
at someone like me. I’d rock your world, little boy.”

“Eewww!” I exclaimed. “Gross!”

Scrawny shrugged again. “I guess maybe I’d give you a go.
You do have cool hair.”

“Aunt Shirley,” Paige hissed, “just stop talking. You’re
going to get us in trouble.”

“How’s about fifteen bucks and I do you all?” Scrawny lunged
toward Paige. I leapt onto his back and started beating him over the head with
my hands, screaming obscenities at him the whole time. Turning in circles he
tried to shove me off.

“Stand back,” Aunt Shirley shouted as she reached inside her
coat and unzipped a pocket. I jumped off Scrawny’s back and gave him a good
shove. He stumbled and would’ve gone down but the antiquated TV caught his
fall. I quickly pulled Paige toward me.

“This is for thinking we were easy, asshole!” Aunt Shirley
aimed the can of Mace and sprayed with everything she had. The guy’s screams of
pain had me in a panic. We needed to haul ass outta there and fast.

“Let’s go!” I yelled, shoving Paige out the door with my
right hand and grabbing ahold of Aunt Shirley’s parka with my left. I yanked
her through the front door just as the guy clamored to his feet.

“When I catch up to you, you bitches are gonna pay!”

I already had my keys out as we stumbled down the stairs and
jumped into the Falcon. My hands were shaking as I shoved the key into the
ignition. The Falcon roared to life. I careened out of the tiny yard as the
stranger staggered out of the door, tears streaming down his red face, fist
shaking in the air.

Aunt Shirley rolled down her window and flipped him the
bird. “Catch that you sick piece of shit!” Laughing, she rolled the window back
up. “God I miss being a private eye.” Turning in her seat she said, “I’m
thinking about coming out of retirement.”