Deadly Past (Detective Sarah Spillman Mystery Series Book 8) by Renee Pawlish

Author:Renee Pawlish [Pawlish, Renee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Creative Cat Press
Published: 2022-05-10T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Gabby Medina was both shocked and surprised when she answered the door and saw me. She glanced around as if looking for someone to rescue her, then forced a smile.

“Detective. What can I do for you?”

I smiled. “There’s something else that’s come up with my investigation, and I’d like to talk to you again.”

She hesitated. “I wish you would’ve called ahead. I’m … busy.”

If I’d called ahead, she likely would’ve avoided me. I locked eyes with her and waited. She finally sighed.

“Come in for a minute. Chloe will be getting up from a nap soon, and then I’ll have to go.”

“This won’t take long.”

I followed her into a living room decorated in Southwestern tones, terra-cotta walls, Native American artwork, and a colorful wool blanket hanging on one wall. We sat on a tan couch and loveseat. She crossed one leg over the other, trying for casual, but it didn’t quite work. She now waited for me. The house was quiet, sunlight streaming through a window.

“How’re you doing, now that a little time has passed since Shannon’s death?” I began.

Her mouth grew tight. When she finally spoke, she kept her voice low. “It’s been hard. Sometimes I’m fine, but only for a minute. Then I think about her, and I’m shocked. I’ve cried a lot in the last twenty-four hours. I talked to her mother, Patty. She’s having a hard time, as you would expect, and so is Shannon’s sister.” She stared at me. “And then there’s anger, too. She shouldn’t have been murdered. I hope you find who did that to her.”

She gave me my lead in. “We’re looking at things closely, and something came up that I needed to talk to you about.” My voice was quiet as well.

“I’ll help where I can.” It was again forced.

“It’s about Kurt Faulkner.”

She stiffened. “I really don’t want to talk about him.”

I shifted on the couch. “Why not?”

She glanced away. “Until you mentioned his name, I hadn’t thought about Kurt in years. I was hoping to keep it that way.”

I put a hint of irritation in my voice. “When I talked to you yesterday, you knew that Kurt had been accused of child abduction.”

She tried to get more comfortable on the couch, but she looked miserable. “I don’t really want to talk about it,” she repeated.

“I need to know what you know.”

She took a long time before answering. “When you brought up Kurt’s name, I got scared.”

I watched her closely. “Why?”

A finger tapped the arm of the couch. “Okay. You’re right. I knew all about Kurt back then.” She flung a hand in the air. “Of course, Shannon shared the whole thing with me.” She gathered her thoughts, and I waited. A car passed by on the street, then it was quiet. “When that whole thing happened with that little girl, Shannon was scared, too.”

“You know Shannon was Kurt’s alibi?”

She nodded. “Yes. She saw him at the study hall.” She bit a fingernail nervously.

I stared at her. “Was that the truth?”

She shrugged.

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