The Bantam Menace by Kirsten Weiss

Author:Kirsten Weiss [Kirsten Weiss]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: misterio press
Published: 2023-06-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

I clutched Arsen’s arm. Junior? Dead?

The sun sparkled off the swimming pool, its blue perfection reflecting the cloudless sky. Its surface rippled lazily, dreamlike. Behind us, the family murmured, cheerfully unaware.

Junior. This was awful. Bile clawed at my throat. “Oh, Arsen,” I whispered. “Was it…?” Murder?

He nodded. “I’ve called the sheriff. She wants me to keep a lid on this until she gets here.”

I glanced at my parents. They would be annoyed we’d kept them in the dark, but I could live with that. And they wouldn’t be in the dark for long.

Five minutes later, sirens echoed off the mountains. My parents stiffened and glanced at each other. Dixie and Ghost did the same.

The others didn’t react. Or they pretended not to. And I hated that I’d grown suspicious of them all, even innocent-looking Anabelle and forthright Judith.

“What happened?” I asked Arsen quietly.

He shook his head. “I found him in his bedroom. He’d been uh...” He glanced down at me, his expression troubled.

“What?”

He grimaced. “His throat had been cut. It was quick. But there was a lot of blood.”

I pressed my hands to my mouth. “Arsen, Nanette knows how—”

Judith strode toward us. “Something’s wrong. What is it?” she asked, brusque.

Arsen hesitated. “It’s Junior. He’s dead.”

Judith’s narrow face whitened beneath her tan. She swayed, and Arsen grasped her elbow to steady her.

“That’s— How?” she croaked.

“The sheriff asked us not to discuss any details,” he said. “She wants it kept quiet until she can arrive and manage the situation.”

“How?” she demanded, her voice low and fierce.

“He was stabbed,” Arsen hedged. “He bled out quickly.”

That wasn’t exactly what had happened. But I understood why Arsen was sugarcoating the news. No one wanted to hear a relative had died like that.

The sheriff and her deputies arrived. The section of the house with Junior’s bedroom was cordoned off. Questions were asked. And though I should have done my best to eavesdrop on the interviews, I didn’t have the stomach.

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