A Grave Revenge by N L Cameron

Author:N L Cameron [Cameron, N L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

They didn’t arrive back in Marysville until just after sundown on Sunday night. Helena invited Gertrude over and spent the few hours before bed catching her up on the events of the trip and the awful news of Mick’s death as she prepared for the workweek.

“I’m not looking forward to going back,” she said as they drank cocoa together in the dining room. “I really wish I could take the rest of the month off, but I have a business to maintain.”

“You’d think the news of all the burglaries would have drawn more interest to the shop,” said Gertrude. “You ought to be the most talked-about woman in Marysville, but it hasn’t shaken out that way.”

“Gunderson has been trying to keep the local news from finding out about the break-ins,” said Helena. “Whether he’s trying to protect himself or us, I can’t tell. He claims he doesn’t want a handful of old ladies being harassed.”

“Well, he can’t keep things on the DL forever,” said Gertrude, stirring tiny marshmallows into her drink. “I guess you haven’t been watching the local news since you left—they found out about the murder down at the station on Wednesday and have been reporting on it ‘round the clock. In the meantime, the other related deaths are starting to float up into public awareness.”

Better news than this Helena could hardly have hoped to hear at that moment. “Maybe they’ll start investigating Bentworth next. Eventually, some scrappy young reporter is going to realize the trail of bodies leads back to him.”

“Maybe,” said Gertrude. “But don’t count on them being able to do anything about it, even if they figure it out. Bentworth could buy up every paper in this town. He could buy up all the news and radio stations.”

“He can’t buy the FBI,” said Helena, “or the Department of Justice. Eventually, they’ll realize he’s going to extreme lengths to cover up his own complicity in several murders.”

Gertrude gave Helena a look that seemed to say, “You poor, naïve soul.” Aloud, she said, “Nobody can hide their crimes forever. What’s that line in the Bible about things done in secret being shouted from the rooftops? I suspect Bentworth has a great many things he would prefer to keep hidden.”

* * * * *

When Helena arrived at the store the next morning, she received an unpleasant shock: a young Hispanic man with close-cropped hair and a neatly pressed black suit leaned against the driver’s side door of a Lexus town car. Helena eyed him warily as she stepped out of her car; the cuffs he was absently buttoning were worth a whole year’s salary to an average resident of Marysville.

She could sense at once that the man wasn’t here to browse the antiques, which he confirmed by saying, “I’m here on behalf of a client. I assume you know which client.”

“Suppose you tell me,” said Helena.

The young man smiled a smile that was not at all welcoming. “He knows that you and your friends have been hard-hit

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