A Trip with Trouble (Mountain Lodge Mysteries) by Diane Kelly

Author:Diane Kelly [Kelly, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250815996
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published: 2022-10-24T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Misty

Lexi was the first to share with the other women. “The deputy asked me all kinds of questions about Todd. Whether he had a violent temper. Whether he’d ever threatened me. That kind of thing. He’d obviously run a background check because he mentioned that Todd had a clean record.”

Reyna said, “He asked me about Sterling first. Same kinds of questions he asked Lexi about Todd. Whether Sterling had a temper. Whether Gerri had ever mentioned him threatening her or acting violently.”

I found myself straining to listen in. Rocky had pulled up a website that sold tools, but I think he was only pretending to peruse it and was actually listening in, too.

“I told him that Sterling has acted like a spoiled, pompous ass,” Reyna said, “but that he’d never threatened her or gotten physical, as far as I know. He asked about Andrea, too. She’s a you-know-what with a capital B, but Gerri never mentioned her throwing a punch or tossing out a threat. She seemed to stick to insults.” She straightened just a bit. “He even asked about Mariah. I told him that Gerri and Mariah got along well, that Mariah often played the mediator when her husband or mother-in-law ended up at odds with Gerri. She was the only one with the sense to realize that antagonizing Gerri wasn’t in their interests.”

Bessie’s eyes narrowed. “The deputy seems to be doing a lot of digging for someone who thinks Gerri’s crash was an accident.”

Reyna said, “I thought the same thing.” In my peripheral vision, I could see her turn to look my way. “Hey, Misty! What did the sheriff ask you?”

I’d been advised to keep the information about the damage on the right side of Gerri’s helmet secret, so I couldn’t share that tidbit. Instead, remembering that he wanted everyone to think he was sticking with the accident theory, I said, “He just asked my opinion on Gerri, whether she seemed healthy and mentally acute. I told him she seemed sharp as a tack and pointed out she was in great shape for a woman her age.”

Reyna’s expression appeared dubious. So did Bessie’s. “That’s all you talked about?” Bessie said. “You were gone several minutes.”

I flung out a hand in a dismissive gesture. “You know how these investigators are. They ask you the same question ten different ways.”

Reyna and Bessie still appeared far from convinced, but at least they didn’t push me further.

Reyna turned back to the group. “It’s been an exhausting day. I say we all head to bed early tonight, and ride out to Mount Mitchell tomorrow. Gerri would want us to enjoy ourselves. Besides, a ride would do us good, help us clear our heads.”

The ladies stood to return to their rooms. I raised a hand from behind the desk and called, “Good night, everyone!”

As Katie walked down the hall, I found myself staring at the long, dark hair hanging down her back, courtesy of the synthetic hair extensions. My mind went back to the white van we’d passed on the parkway, how she’d gasped on seeing it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.