Deadly Summer (Darling Investigations Book 1) Read online

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN “Now what exactly are we going to do?” I asked. Dixie grinned. “When we’re not shooting with Lauren, Bill’s gonna sneak his camera out of the supply room at the office and follow us while we go around askin’ questions about Otto’s death.” “Everyone knows everyone else’s business in this town. How are we going to keep it a secret from Lauren?” “Nobody likes that Yankee,” she said with a snort. “They won’t tell her out of spite.” “If Lauren finds out . . .” “She won’t. And just think how satisfying it would be to find out who killed Otto and shove it in that deputy’s face.” “True . . .” “But to find out who killed Otto, we need to find out how he died, and I know his body is in the morgue.” I sucked in a breath. “You better not be thinkin’ what I think you’re thinkin’.” “I’m not suggestin’ we go do the autopsy ourselves.” “Then what are you suggesting?” “We should go down there and see if we can find the report.” “I don’t do dead people, Dixie.” “No crap. You passed out

  CHAPTER NINETEEN I jerked the sheet out of her clenched fist and covered his face back up. Once his face was out of sight, she seemed to get ahold of herself. Her arm snaked around my waist. “Let’s get you back to your chair,” she said quietly. I let her guide me out of the room and back to the wheelchair while I cradled my stupid IV bag like a baby. It was then that she realized it was no longer attached to me. “The blood was from you,” she murmured, picking up the blanket that had been on my lap off the seat and then helping me into the chair. She took the bag, hung it back up, and stuffed the end of the tube under the blanket. The camera went in along with it. “I saw him yesterday, Dixie,” I said, looking up at her. “I saw him arguing with the mayor behind Maybelline’s restaurant, and he was the one who dropped the money in the parking lot.” I couldn’t tell Luke that I’d seen him before because I wasn’t supposed to be down here. Still, the information I had was important. It was loo

  CHAPTER TWENTY After I hung up, I bolted out of bed so fast the room began to spin. I put a hand on the sloped ceiling and waited for it to pass, but the sounds of more banging spurred me into action. I knew I shouldn’t rush into something, especially if bullets were flying, but I couldn’t hide in Dixie’s room like some scared little girl. Even if I felt like one. I clung to the side of the wall as I descended the steps, hoping the dizziness would fade. I strained to hear any sounds, but the downstairs was oddly silent. As I reached the bottom step, I realized both my cousins had weapons, and I was defenseless. I peeked around the corner into the dining room and saw it was empty. I heard more noises out behind the house, and the sound of a car engine. I left the staircase, grabbed a crystal candlestick from Meemaw’s hutch, and entered the kitchen through the swinging door. It was quiet again, but the back door was open. An exterior light was on, and I saw three figures in the shadows n

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Teddy and I went into the kitchen, and he made me sit at the small two-person table shoved up against the wall while he set the kettle on the stove. “Maybe you should go back to bed, Summer.” I shook my head. “I could never go back to sleep.” Which was a lie. I was about to pass out in my chair, but it didn’t feel right to go to bed while Luke was here investigating. “Then how about we go hang out in the living room after I get your tea made? I hate these old, rickety chairs.” “Okay.” About five minutes later, Dixie came inside and saw Teddy fixing my tea. “I want a cup of tea,” she said in a good-natured whine. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll make you one too.” But he turned back and grinned at me, and I felt grateful that I was here with them. I started to cry again. “Summer?” Dixie asked, sounding worried. “Why are you cryin’? Are you feelin’ bad?” “No. It’s because I’m so happy.” “Happy? You’re sittin’ in Meemaw’s chair that’s about to collapse underneath you at two in th

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO When I woke up the next morning, I was glad I’d sent Lauren a text saying we would be in late. In fact, part of me was sorry I said I’d go in at all. I was pretty sure I’d benefit from sleeping the day away. But I had a new incentive to make this show work—Teddy and Dixie had reminded me that we were a family. The show had to succeed so we could pay off that loan. Then I could figure out where I fit in here. Still, I couldn’t let go of the conversation I’d overheard between Teddy and Dixie the night before. I needed to talk to Teddy and find out what financial issues he was dealing with regarding the farm, but I was also worried about how he’d come up with the extra cash. I was particularly worried after Dixie had suggested his strategy might not be on the up-and-up. After I showered and went into the kitchen, I was surprised to see my grandmother in front of the stove frying bacon. Dixie was still in the shower, and there was no sign of Teddy. I almost walked out, b

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE “Summer?” Luke asked in a low voice, next to me now. “You ready?” “Yeah.” “Don’t forget she needs to be back by one fifteen,” Dixie said, sounding a little too pleased with herself. “Yes, ma’am,” Luke said with a grin. He put his hand at the small of my back as he guided me to the door. Karen gave him a long, appreciative glance, but Lauren scowled. “You got yourself a new admirer,” I teased when we were on the sidewalk. “Your boss?” he asked in disgust. “I think I’d rather become a monk.” I laughed, and he looked down at me, a slow smile spreading across his face. “What?” He shook his head. “Nothin’.” “No,” I said, feeling self-conscious. “What?” For a moment I thought he wasn’t going to answer, but then he smiled, and his eyes lit up with warmth. “I always liked your laugh.” Heat spread through my body, pooling between my legs, and I resisted the urge to slap myself. Really, Summer? You are so easy. But I wasn’t, and I knew it. Not with other men anyway. Yet I al

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR It felt weird driving in a police car with Luke, but it could have been worse. At least I was sitting in the front seat. “So if you aren’t officially investigating this case, should you really be questioning Reverend Miller?” I asked as he pulled into the parking lot of the church. “I’m asking questions about incidents that happened in my town. There’s nothing wrong with that.” “So why are you really bringing me along? Because I don’t believe for one minute you want me to help you investigate a real case.” “The truth?” “Yes.” “Dixon thinks you’re making up the guy you talked to here. If we can put an ID on this guy, then I can question him and hopefully find out why he set you up and what he knows about Otto’s death. So I really want to find this guy, especially since Otto’s time of death falls during the time you don’t have an alibi.” Fear skated down my back. “You mean while I was sleeping? I thought he died of alcohol poisoning.” Luke leaned closer. “Doc Bailey t

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE By the time Lauren called it a day at six thirty, I was beyond exhausted. I’d forced myself to look attentive for the last thirty minutes while a woman told me her house was either haunted or her ex-husband was harassing her. We promised we’d get to the bottom of it. Since these cases all seemed to be preplanned, I’d bet good money that Lauren would have us insist it was the ghost, specifically the one that old-timers said roamed the streets of Sweet Briar. I suspected the legend was pure prime-time gold in her eyes. “We have an eight-a.m. call time tomorrow, so everyone be on time,” Lauren said as the crew began to pack up. “And, Summer,” she said, turning to me, “your little staycation is over. You’re going back out in the field tomorrow, so be prepared. We’ll be lucky to finish filming on time as it is.” Only Lauren would consider working from a chair while recovering from a concussion a staycation, but I was too tired to argue with her. Besides, we both wanted t

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX “It’s like this,” Dixie started to say, but Luke held up his hand in warning. “I want Summer to explain this one, Ms. Smooth Talker.” I glanced from Dixie to Bill and then finally back to Luke, whose eyebrows had risen in anticipation of my answer. Double shit. My brain was still addled, and that’s probably what he was counting on. But then he’d known we were out at the lake looking for information about Otto—he didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to
figure out what was going on. Dammit. Nevertheless, I gave him a saucy look and said, “I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” “Really?” he asked, looking amused. “I know you’re off your game, but I expected something better than that.” I blew out a breath. “I’m not sure we should talk about it here.” “If you weren’t gonna talk about it here, what were you goin’ to do?” “Interview someone.” “Summer!” Dixie protested. Bill hadn’t finished his approach to our table, and he looked liable to turn and run back out the

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN “We need to go there tomorrow,” I said to Dixie. “Do you think Bill’s still on board?” “Luke didn’t scare him off. He said he’d go with us wherever we need to go at lunch tomorrow and after we quit for the day.” “Thank goodness,” I said, then thought of something else. “I wonder what he’s doin’ with all the video. I was led to believe they dump it every night and the video editors go through it all the next day and pick out the usable footage.” “I was worried Lauren would figure it out, so I kind of asked him the same thing. He said he’s been saving our stuff to an external hard drive, but he’s worried because it takes a lot of memory. He said something about saving it on a cloud.” That made sense. I leaned back on the seat and closed my eyes. My head hurt from thinking too much. “What are y’all planning to do with this secret footage?” Dixie asked. “Are you gonna replace Lauren’s show?” “Not replace . . .” I hedged. “Supplement.” One more thing to worry about. But

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Everyone was a little shaken up after the incident, but Dixie took it upon herself to play mother hen. “I’m fine, Dixie,” I insisted. “Things like that used to happen fairly often when I was on Gotcha!” What I didn’t say was that I’d always been surrounded by security back then. They’d been left to deal with fans like Sebastian while I was swept away to another event or party or filming. We shot a few more scenes, trying to find more cooperative neighbors with dogs so it wouldn’t look like we’d found Fifi’s boy toy so quickly, but most of the neighbors who were home had seen the incident and kept wanting to talk about it on camera. Finally, Lauren threw up her hands and declared it was lunchtime. “Already?” someone said. “It’s only eleven.” “This isn’t about food or eating!” Lauren shouted. “This is about everyone getting their shit together before we pick up the next case. Be over at 351 Oak Street at twelve.” “The haunted house?” Tony asked. “That’s the one. Summ

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE We stumbled out to the living room while my fingers fumbled to call the police station. “Amber, this is Summer. Is Luke still there?” “He’s over at the impound lot with Deputy Dixon.” Dammit. “Okay. Thanks. I’ll call his cell.” “Why didn’t you tell her?” Dixie asked as I hung up the call. “Because that guy’s been dead for a while—probably since soon after I saw him, based on the fact he’s still wearing what he had on at the church and . . . his face. And Luke’s looking at the van with Deputy Dixon.” “We could call Cale or Willy,” Dixie said. “Luke would be furious. He’s going to want to see this himself.” “You should wait,” Bill said. “This gives you a chance to look around.” He’d lowered his camera and obviously wasn’t filming. “But if we look around, we’ll be tampering with a crime scene.” Beads of sweat dotted his upper lip. “So we’re careful. We can erase the last part of you finding the body and head back to his bedroom to snoop around. Then I’ll film you findi

  CHAPTER THIRTY The next morning was more of the same made-up cases. We investigated the ex-husband of the haunted-house woman by following him as he drove from his house to work at the local bank. (Nothing happened.) We went to the city park and met an older woman who was sure someone was trying to steal her cat. (She brought her cat on a leash. And, of course, we took her case.) But I was nervous. Sebastian Jenkins was supposed to get out of jail this morning, and I had no idea if he’d start following me again. I should have felt better when I saw Willy Hawkins pull up to the curb in the park while we were filming to watch for a bit, but it only confirmed that Luke was worried too. When Lauren called for a lunch break, Dixie, Bill, and I didn’t waste any time before heading out to the Dollar General. We’d stopped by the strip mall the previous evening to talk to Otto’s friends, but neither of them had been there. Not knowing what else to do, Dixie and I had gone home for dinner with M

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE When we wrapped up for the day, Dixie drove up to Eufaula to pick up the photo. Although we had a working printer in the office, we didn’t have any photo paper. So she sent several photos to the Walgreens in Eufaula and left as soon as she could get away . . . which was sooner than I could. Lauren had insisted on keeping me late to show me some of the footage they’d been sending to LA to use for the show. It didn’t take long to realize it was a joke. It ranged from boring to downright campy. “I had to up our promotion game,” Lauren said, her mouth turned down. “I thought it best to give you warning . . . and show you why.” My heart fluttered with fear. “What does that mean?” She didn’t answer, only shook her head and walked away, but I saw what looked like worry in her eyes. Oh, God. What had she done? She’d sent Bill off to get B-roll of several of the places we’d gone, so I headed to Maybelline’s Café while I waited for Dixie to come back with the truck. I slid int

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO Dixie and I met Bill in front of Tommy Kilpatrick’s house a few minutes after seven. Tommy was under the impression we were coming over to bring his photo to him and film his reaction to it. He was eager for his fifteen minutes of fame. Little did he know, he already had it. When we knocked on the front door, Tommy yelled out, “Come on in!” We found him in his worn La-Z-Boy recliner watching a baseball game on TV. “Hey, Tommy,” I said. Bill was already filming the scene from the doorway. “I brought you that photo for your sister. In fact”—I glanced back at Dixie, and her lips twitched with a grin as she gave me an encouraging nod—“I brought one for you too.” “No shit!” he said, reaching for it. “That’s a damn good photo. I’m looking pretty buff.” I cringed but said, “You definitely are!” In the photo we’d selected, I was flung over his shoulder with my butt looking as wide as an 18-wheeler due to the angle, but he was wearing a goofy grin. Whatever it took. I still d

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE The supplier didn’t send another message, and I wasn’t sure whether to write back. What would I say? Sorry a guy hit on me and then there was a bar fight? It seemed better to say nothing. But I’d put plenty of thought into Otto’s special place, and I was pretty sure I was onto something. Whenever I was overwhelmed and sad, I went home to the farm. Sure, not for real—at least not over the last decade—but in my head. I would relive the happier times I’d spent with Meemaw and Pawpaw, Teddy and Dixie, and Luke. It made sense that Otto would do the same, which meant the place he had likely gone to was the land he’d owned with his family. On the way to our location the next morning, I called Gretchen to see if she could give me directions. “Do you happen to know who’s living there now?” I asked. “No one,” she said in a sad voice. “Otto still owned it.” “Do you mind if we check it out?” “No. You do what you need to do to find out what happened. I’ll text you the direction

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR A few hours later, I stared in astonishment at the float I was supposed to ride on. It was covered with fake cotton plants that looked like they were planted in a field. Giant bugs were plastered all over the side of the float and on some of the fake plants. “Is it too late to change my mind?” Luke laughed, and I shot him a warning look. Mayor Sterling walked by looking flustered and shouting orders to everyone. He seemed irritated that I wasn’t on the float yet. “Did I ever mention I was in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?” I asked Luke as I continued to stare down the bugmobile. It could have doubled as a float representing pest control. “Twice.” Luke grabbed my hand, and a grin quivered on his lips. “I believe you may have mentioned it in passing.” How the mighty had fallen. There was a set of steps next to the trailer, and I started to climb up while Luke still claimed my hand. “There’s nothing precarious about climbing up t
hese steps,” I said, leveling a look at

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE “Summer, Bill,” Cale said. “Come on in.” My feet froze in place. “What are you doin’, Cale?” “Come on now, Summer,” he said good-naturedly, but his hand shook a little. “You’ve been pretty smart up until now. In fact, that’s why the three of you are here. You’ve put so much together already. Surely you can figure out the rest.” When I didn’t move, he motioned with his other hand. “Come on in. If you don’t, I’ll just shoot Dixie in the forehead.” Tears streamed down her face. “Run! Both of you, run!” Cale gave her shoulder a hard shake. “Shut up, Dixie.” I remembered I had the phone in my hand, recording all this. I was going to get him to admit to as much as I could. I walked into the room, and Bill followed. “I’m not leaving you, Dixie. Never again.” Cale made a face, but I could tell he wasn’t as cavalier about this as he was trying to act. “Summer,” he said, “I’m gonna need you to toss that phone on the floor. Can’t have you trying to sneak a call or a text.” I s