The Dead of Winter by J. C. Kenney

Author:J. C. Kenney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mysteries & Thrillers
Publisher: Beyond the Page
Published: 2021-05-24T00:00:00+00:00

Allie’s latest rule about conducting a murder investigation: At some point during the investigation, it’s helpful to spend the day with the twins. It’s guaranteed that I’ll have a great time with them and sleep like a baby that night.

And so it was that I met Mom at church feeling like I’d landed one of my authors a six-figure book contract. My mind was clear, my mood was good, and my body was free of any aches and pains that often came with the February blahs.

I took a seat next to my mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek as I hugged her.

“Aren’t you the chipper one this morning.” She gave me an appraising look, as if I were one of her patients. “Is everything all right?”

“It’s all good. I’d forgotten how well I sleep after spending the day with the twins.” We had a few minutes until Mass was to begin, so I told her about my adventures with the young ones.

Mom laughed out loud when I told her about their antics in the horse barn. She was in the middle of a story about Luke asking Sal if he could borrow one of the park’s horses for a senior prank when the church’s pipe organ blared to life.

We rose to our feet as Mass began. While I was bummed that I didn’t get to hear the end of the story, someone caught my attention. Eugene “Junior” McCormick, a classmate from high school, was with his family a few rows ahead of us.

I mouthed the words to the opening hymn as I tried to figure out why the sight of him was suddenly so important. Then it hit me.

Junior was a manager at the farm supply store in nearby Columbus. I’d been in that store with Luke a few times. One time, while my brother had chatted endlessly with a friend about tools, I wandered around the store to keep myself entertained. Among other things I’d looked at were guns.

And more relevant to my current needs, gun safes.

When Mass was over, I told Mom I wanted to say hi to an old friend and made my way to Junior. The clouds had finally given way to clear skies, so folks had congregated in front of the church to take advantage of the warming rays of the sun.

I took the favorable conditions as a sign I was on the right path. My quarry was standing behind his kids while his wife chatted with a woman who worked at Rushing Creek Elementary School. The conversation appeared to be about the upcoming art fair. Junior stifled a yawn as he stole a look at his phone. It appeared I wasn’t going to be interrupting something regarding his kids and their grades. Good. He could spare a few minutes.

“Hey, Junior.” I sidled up next to him. “Long time no see.”

The blank look he gave me morphed into a smile. That was a relief. For a second, I worried he wouldn’t remember me, which would drag out the introductions, and rob me of the few precious moments I had with him.

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