AG01 - Washed Away (2 page)
"This is the strangest thing I've seen in my entire tenure here at Neosho Police Department," Alexa heard Police Chief Christopher Nettle say to the reporter who was riddling him with questions. "This is a very serious situation. I assure you that we are working very hard to get to the bottom of this, and will keep the public informed of any safety concerns that arise. Our first priority is to catch the person responsible – the second is to keep our community safe from further incidents of this kind. Thank you… no more questions at this time."
As Chief Chris (Alexa's nickname for him – much to his dismay) walked toward her, Alexa tried to ward off the numbness that was creeping over her. She knew she needed to keep a level head and stay focused for the questions he would ask her, but fatigue was overwhelming her. She had been out here talking to various officers since they had arrived four hours ago. Actually, she had been ordered to stay put until the chief was finished with the media.
GRRR! That man!!
she thought.
MOF had chucked it in and headed off to bed after the police had questioned her and her family. Alexa assured her that there was no sense in waiting on the chief, no telling how long he would be and MOF had to get up early. Phil, bless his heart, ducked out as soon as the police finished with him.
Lucky dog!
"Don't look so upset. I only have a few questions right now. I can see you're done for." CC (short for Chief Chris – yet another acronym) said to her.
"I can't help it, I've had a very long day – and night," Alexa grumbled.
"I promise to make this as painless as possible. I've already talked to my officers about what you told them. Just a couple more questions. Did you recognize the victim?"
"No, I mean, maybe a little. I can't place him, but I know I've seen him somewhere, but never as a dead guy."
"Duh," CC said under his breath.
"What?" Alexa asked defensively, she couldn't rein in her snappy comments when she felt like this.
"Nothing. Ok, let's hear the whole story again, from the time you came out of Mrs. Moffet's house this evening. Who was standing where, what was the sequence of events, and which details are you conveniently leaving out? We both know how you LOVE a mystery."
"Ok, listen CC, you're stepping all over the last nerve I still have intact! I've told you everything I can remember, except… Oh yeah… I forgot… the killer walked up and gave me his signed confession, which I promptly threw into the creek just to make your life harder..."
CC bit back, "Yeah, yeah… I know… You're just helping me out by not telling me everything; you're just being a good citizen. That makes sense. We police officers just get in the way of true crime fighters like you."
"Blah, blah, and another blah to you too, CC." Alexa parried as she made the appropriate 'blah, blah' hand signs, tilting her head back and forth each time she said 'blah'. She turned away before he saw the sarcastic smile she had on her face…
Can't let the man think he's winning, his ego is big enough.
The smell of the creek was stronger now because the wind had shifted that evening. It smelled of wet dirt, water, moss, and trees.
Most likely, a storm is brewing – in more ways than one. Ah, Mother Nature, gotta love her. I discovered a body just a few hours ago! This is scary… but a little exciting. Man, I am dea-, whoa, almost said the 'd' word. If CC doesn't keep biting my head off, maybe I can go home soon and salvage a few hours sleep from this night.
Turning back to CC, she caught him with a sympathetic look on his face – at least she thought it was sympathy – she really couldn't read his face very well in the dark.
But he does look so cute! Uniforms… there is no known defense against them.
He quickly slipped his 'chief of police' mask back into place and sighed, "I know you're exhausted, just one or two more questions, and then you can go home and crash. Ok? When you first spotted the vehicle, what was your overall impression?"
Alexa sat down on a nearby stump thought a moment, "From the way the truck was floating there, it looked as if someone had just run off the road, but there were no tire tracks on the bank, like the truck had been there for a while. I guess that's why I was so shocked to see the body tied to the axle. Usually boat trailers sit pretty close to the ground, so it would be hard to drive the truck along with that guy tied underneath."
CC moved closer, close enough for Alexa to catch a whiff of his cologne, "So, you didn't see another person in or around the vehicle? Did you notice anyone else around?"
NO FAIR!! Even after a hard day's work, he still smells good! Unlike me… I probably smell like the fish hatchery down the road.
"No, there was no one in the cab, which I thought was weird. I guess I was so stunned by everything that I didn't really pay attention to the surroundings, except maybe that the water seemed pretty clear – clear enough to see the dead guy. Sorry, I can't think of anything else, my brain is mush right now." She sighed and began to massage her temples.
"Of course, well, thanks for the information. I'll be in touch if I have any more questions. I may want to question Tara tomorrow, I need to know if she saw anything when she left early to go home. By the way, don't leave town…" he winked as he turned to rejoin his officers over by the creek.
She thumbed her nose at him as she turned toward her car.
Can't let him see me doing that, he'll keep me here all night. When he's in the questioning mode, it's impossible to get him off task.
She had known CC since the first day she came to town two years ago. He had been on patrol, she had been speeding… She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she remembered the scene that had followed, but it was an exhausted smile.
OK, off to bed.
CC thought as he walked away…
She looks a little dejected, and with her hair blowing all over, I almost gave in to the temptation of going over and hugging her so I would have an excuse to smooth it down. She smells so good, like the storm that is blowing in.
But he had reports to write that wouldn't allow his mind the liberty of dwelling on Alexandra Inez Graham. Her friends often shortened her name to AIG. Phil (the lucky dog!) had unlimited access to her, because of their close friendship. Sometimes CC got the urge to haul Phil into the station to grill him about what they did together, even though CC knew that the friendship was platonic.
Maybe someday I'll get up the courage to ask Alexa out.
Alexa was dreaming…
This is a dream,
she thought.
How can I know I'm dreaming and still lay here dreaming?
Right then, the door burst open and in walked her cat Neosho, except she was wearing a raincoat.
Neosho said, "Get up and answer the door."
Someone was knocking on the door – a loud, persistent knock that would wake the dead. Finally, Alexa could stand no more and jumped out of bed…
She bolted upright in bed, her mind still groggy after her dream. She rubbed her eyes and tried to focus.
There IS knocking going on, but it's not at my door.
She jumped out of bed (for real this time), ran to the front door and flung it open. There outside her window stood Phil on a ladder nailing the fascia board back onto the frame of the window – her BEDROOM window.
GRRR!!
"DUDE!! Do you not know that today is my day off and I'm trying to get some SLEEP??" she yelled at Phil, who kept right on working as if she weren't there. "Phil?! Yo, Phil!!" she called from the foot of the ladder. Finally, she stood where he could see her and waved her arms.
He jerked his earphones out of his ears and said, "Hey, AIG! What's up? Thought I would come over here this morning and fix this board, it's been hanging down for several weeks now. Were you calling me earlier, 'cause I had my tunes up to drown out the noise of this hammer?"
She gave him 'the look', which he didn't get at all, because when she didn't answer, he just shrugged and started hammering again. She thought,
MEN!!!
Phil thought,
WOMEN! Moody as always!
She turned and began walking back toward the porch, her anger fizzling.
Might as well let him have his fun, he usually does just what he pleases anyway.
Just then, the smell hit her.
Sweet Baby James!! There's nothing like the smell of coffee brewing. My kiddo is an ANGEL!
Phil must have smelled it too because he was off the ladder and by her side in about two seconds. He held open the screen door of her house as she walked inside. "Thank thee, kind sir," Alexa curtsied and said sweetly in a really bad English accent.
"Oh, milady, 'tis my honor and great pleasure. Pshaw! Nothing could delight me more," Phil countered with a courtly bow. Alexa giggled.
These mood swings of hers are getting bad
, he thought.
Wonder if the hormone dosage is right
.
Just then the smell of sizzling bacon and baking biscuits grabbed their senses by the hands, led them to the kitchen table, pulled out a chair for each and bade them sit down. They couldn't resist – truly, there was nothing on earth that could possibly persuade them to do otherwise. Tara was making breakfast, and at that moment, Alexa couldn't possibly love her more.
As she sat down at the table, Alexa noticed her clothes and groaning, forced herself back into a standing position. "I'll be right back," she said. She dashed into her bathroom, took the fastest shower in Neosho, Missouri history, put mousse in her hair, quickly pulled on some clothes, and ran back to the kitchen. "Did I miss anything??" she asked as she skidded to a stop beside her chair.
"No, weirdo. But, sit down and eat before I grab your plate and go to town." Phil… always the gentleman.
"If you eat that before praying, it will make you sick," Tara said in a sing-song voice.
"So, what are you saying, Tara?" Phil asked rhetorically.
Alexa… always the lady, "Pfff. Shut up and say the blessing, dude."
Wait, that came out wrong. Never mind, he's praying.
"Now I lay me down – OUCH! Ok, I'll say the other one I know," Phil grinned as he said a blessing over the meal and promptly started to scarf down the food, rubbing the tender spot on his ear where Alexa had pinched him.
After their initial hunger was abated, Phil brought up the events from last night. "So, AIG, what do you think really happened last night? Who was that guy anyway?"
"What guy? Mom, did you bring a date and not tell me?" Tara asked, suddenly grinning.
"Oops, I guess I forgot to mention it since you were asleep when I got home last night. No, I did not bring a date. Are you crazy?" here Alexa sobered, "But, you probably should hear this from me instead of the police. Last night as we were leaving MOF's house, I found a dead body in the creek."
Tara laughed at first, but then noticed the look on Alexa's face, "Mom, you're joking. What are you talking about? A dead body?! Who? What happened? How?"
"All questions I want answered too." They all turned to see Chief Chris standing at the screen door of the kitchen, travel mug in hand. "Can I get a refill?" he asked, holding up his mug.
"I smelled breakfast from my truck and figured you were all back here. Hope you don't mind the interruption," he looked apologetic as they waved him inside. As he pulled up a chair, Alexa automatically grabbed his mug and refilled it from the coffee pot on the counter.
"Don't worry about it. You know you're welcome – anytime." as she set a plate of food and his coffee in front of him.
CC looked over at her, caught her expression, and relaxed.
She really means that. She's so good at making people feel at home and comfortable.
"So, back to the topic of the day… CC, what's going on with the dead guy?" Tara wanted to know. "And don't tell me I'm too young for this," she warned, pointing her finger at the others.
"Unfortunately for you, age has nothing to do with this subject. I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about when you left Mrs. Moffet's house last night."
"Ok, shoot."
"What time did you leave?"
"I guess it was about 7:00 pm or so. I had to get home and finish my science report. It's due on Monday and I hate leaving stuff hanging over my head for the whole weekend."
"Did you see or hear anything when you left? Did anything feel wrong or look out of place? I'm trying to gauge your impressions here, not really looking for specifics, unless you have those."
"Well, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but I heard an engine gunning up the road. That didn't seem strange though. It sounded like it was coming from a way off, so I couldn't really tell where the sound originated. I heard the train coming right after that, so everything else was kind of drowned out."
As Alexa watched the exchange between them, she went over those moments in her head, trying to pick out anything useful. She looked over at Phil who was sitting there finishing his breakfast, but his focus was on the conversation. CC knew more than he was telling and she would definitely have some questions for him when he was done with Tara.
"So, what time did you get home?" CC asked.
"It was 7:17. I was on my cell phone with a friend all the way home, and right after we hung up, I looked at the time."
"When you left Mrs. Moffet's house, did any vehicles pass you on the road? Did you see any headlights or hear any tires squeal? Anything like that?" CC's brows were drawn together, an intense expression on his face – he was definitely in the "Chief Chris" role right now.
"No one passed me, but I saw Mr. Henderson pulling into his driveway a couple of streets over. It looked like he had some relatives over or something because there were a lot of cars parked on the street in front of his house. Maybe one of them heard or saw something," Tara suggested.
"Alright Tara, I want you to really concentrate and go over that time in your mind. If you come up with anything – doesn't matter whether you think it's important – I want you to call me." CC handed her a card with his cell phone number on it.
"Ok. I hope you catch the person who did this. But, CC, what happened? How did the guy die? Who was he?"
"In deference to your mom, I'll let her fill you in after she and I have had a chance to discuss some things. I need to ask her a couple more questions anyway. Is that alright with you?" here looking at Alexa.
"Yeah, that's fine with me. Tara, I'll fill you in later, honey. Or, hey Phil, can you do the honors? I know she's dying of curiosity, and CC is in the zone." Alexa said, pleading to him with her eyes.
"Sure, no problem. You don't even have to ask." Phil stood up and started for the front door, urging Tara along. "We'll head over to the park, be back later."
"Bye," CC and Alexa said in unison. "Be careful," Alexa added.
Once she heard the front screen door close, Alexa gave CC an encouraging look. She walked over to the counter for more coffee. "So, what is the latest? Feel free to elaborate," she said, refilling his cup as well as hers.
"Let's go out on the porch. I would like to see just how clear the coast is. Tara is your daughter, after all." CC suggested.
Alexa laughed, "True, she loves a mystery just like me, but this one is hitting too close for comfort. I'm kinda creeped out."
"Well, get ready for more creeping. You were right. The guy is someone you knew." At her shocked face, he decided to just spit it out. "It was Garret Brown, the new guy who worked at the library."
"What? The brand new guy who barely started working there last month?" Had she not been sitting down, Alexa might have had problems maintaining her balance. Her head swam, her heart sank, and she felt nauseous. "I just saw him last Tuesday when I went in to check out a book for my lit class. He flirted with me and commented on the book I checked out – and now he's DEAD."
CC reached over and took her hand. He held it and said, "I want to give you some time to absorb this before I question you any further. Let's just sit here until you're ready to move on."
She looked over at him with relief written on her face and said in a small voice, "Thanks, CC. You're sweet."
Even though he knew he shouldn't, CC couldn't help but feel pleased with her matter-of-fact compliment. They were sitting on the porch swing together; he was holding her hand and occasionally patting it; it just felt right to him. Then, she leaned over toward him, put her head against his shoulder and heaved a sigh.
I want to put my arm around her, but this is not the time or place. Sometimes this cop thing is just a kick in the pants.
They stayed like this for several minutes until Alexa suddenly sat up straight and asked, "How did he die? Did he drown?" CC sighed and looked down at the porch because he knew this next piece of news would hit her hard.
"No Lex," using a nickname he had made up for her the first night they met. "He was hanged."