Jenn McKinlay - Due Or Die

“As far as Mimi knows,” Carrie said with a frown. “I did call Bill to see if they were kept elsewhere, but he hasn’t returned my call.”

“What about those boxes you had the night you became president?” Lindsey asked. Carrie looked confused, as if she didn’t remember. Then her face cleared. “Oh, yeah, Warren gave me those. He said he didn’t want to be entrusted with them anymore. At the time, I didn’t think much of it.”

“That sounds promising,” Kyle said. “Like they’re of value.”

Lindsey glanced at the clock. “Let’s go to the house. Maybe we can resolve this just by looking in those boxes.”

Kyle hopped up immediately, but Carrie stayed in her seat, looking pale and nervous.

“I haven’t been back since…” Her voice trailed off, and she cleared her throat. “That is, shouldn’t we wait until Kim can come with us?”

“She’s learning to knit with Nancy,” Kyle said. “Besides, you know how sensitive she is. We should probably check it out before she goes inside.”

Carrie nodded. She took a deep breath and stiffened her spine.

“All right. The police called and told me they were done. I suppose we might as well go and get it over with.”

Kyle drove them in Carrie’s car, which was good, because with each passing mile, she became even more tense.

He parked in the drive in front of the house. Someone had plowed the drive, but the walkway was matted from the many footprints of the police and the investigators coming and going. They picked their way to the door, avoiding the spots where ice had formed. Carrie took her keys from her son and unlocked the door.

She pushed the door open and they stepped into the foyer. Lindsey flashed back to the last time she had stood here. The house had been warm, the lights were on and Sully had been beside her. Not this time. The house was cold and dark and, frankly, creepy.

Carrie snapped on a light and led the way up the stairs. When she got to the top, she let out a gasp and stepped back. She would have fallen down the steps if Kyle hadn’t braced her with a hand at her back.

He looked over her shoulder and then turned to Lindsey and said, “Call the police.”

Lindsey peeked around them both and saw what had startled Carrie. The Rushton house had been thoroughly ransacked. No police investigation could have caused this much damage.

In a quick glance, Lindsey took in the scattered papers and open drawers and cabinets. Even the closet she and Sully had put the boxes of books in had been left with its door hanging open and its contents strewn on the floor. Lindsey quickly glanced down and noted that the spot where the boxes had been was empty.

The police arrived within twenty minutes. Not wanting to disturb anything, the three of them waited outside and met Emma and Chief Daniels when they pulled up behind Carrie’s car. Chief Daniels’s face was grim as Carrie reported what they had seen.

They watched the two officers disappear into the house and Carrie sighed. “I’m beginning to feel as if the drama will never end.”

Kyle put his arm around his mom’s shoulders and gave her a one-armed hug. Lindsey was glad Carrie had him to support her. As if it wasn’t bad enough that her husband had been killed in that house, now it appeared that everything she owned had been looted.

The neighbor in the house on the left came out to see them. Her coat was unbuttoned and she wore gloves but no hat or scarf, so she must have been in a rush to get to them.

She was somewhere in the midst of middle age, with her short hair more gray than brown, and she was sturdy, as if built to withstand what the years had dished out at her.

She hugged both Carrie and Kyle and shook Lindsey’s hand. Lindsey had seen her before in the library. Her name was Marcia, and she was a big fan of cozy mysteries and frequently checked out the latest food-related mysteries by Cleo Coyle and Krista Davis.

“What’s going on?” she asked Carrie. “Why are you standing out here? You’ll catch your death.”

“Someone’s been in my house,” Carrie said. Her voice quavered a bit. “They trashed it.”

“Oh, no,” Marcia said. “When?”

Kyle and Carrie shrugged. “This is the first time we’ve been back.”

“Have you seen anyone around the house?” Lindsey asked.

“No,” Marcia said. “Although…”

“What?” Carrie asked. “Anything you noticed might be important.”

“Well, it wasn’t me. It was Frank,” she said. She turned to Lindsey and added, “Frank’s my husband. I want to say it was the day before yesterday, but you know it could have been yesterday. This snow storm has really made me lose track of all time. Anyway, Frank was looking out the window and he asked me if you had gotten a new car.”

“Me?” Carrie asked.

“That’s how I reacted,” Marcia said. “I said, ‘Oh, sure, her husband was just killed, but, yeah, she’s going car shopping.’”

“Why would he think that?” Lindsey asked.

“He said he saw a strange car parked near your house. He said it was a blue sedan.”

Carrie and Lindsey exchanged a look. “Did he happen to mention anything else about it?”

“No, just that it was a woman driver, she had long brown hair like yours, and when he waved, the woman waved back. He just assumed it was you.”

Carrie and Lindsey exchanged a glance, and Lindsey said, “If she was wearing a heavy coat, it would be hard to see how tiny she is.”

“Who?” Kyle and Marcia asked at the same time.

“Marjorie Bilson,” Lindsey said. “We have to tell the police.”

“But why would Marjorie break into my house?” Carrie asked. “It makes no sense.”

“The boxes of books are missing,” Lindsey said. “It has to have something to do with that. Maybe she’s trying to get you in trouble with the Friends so that they’ll reinstate Bill. It’s hard to say what goes on in her head.”

“We don’t know what else is missing yet,” Kyle said. “The burglar could have taken more than just the books, making this a straight-up robbery. Everyone in town knows what happened to Dad and that we haven’t been in the house. It could have been anyone.”

“True,” Carrie said. “We’ll have to wait until the police let us inside again. Oh, Lindsey, you have to get back to work, don’t you?”

Lindsey glanced at the time on her cell phone. She’d been gone almost an hour. “Yes, I’d better get back.”

“Kyle can take you,” Carrie said.

He looked at his mother with concern, and Marcia said, “It’s okay, I’ll wait with her.”

“Are you sure?” Lindsey asked. “I can walk.”

“Don’t be silly,” Carrie said. “I’ll be fine.”

Kyle opened the passenger-side door for Lindsey and they headed back to the library. Occupied with their own thoughts, neither of them spoke for a few minutes and then Kyle said, “I don’t feel like I ever really knew my father. Now I’ll never get the chance.”

“I’m sorry,” Lindsey said. She wasn’t sure what else she could say.

Kyle shook his head. “Don’t be. Honestly, he was never really a part of Kim’s or my life. He sort of orbited around the three of us but never really participated in the family. Mom did everything from coaching Little League to chaperoning all of our field trips. When I picture my father in my mind, all I see is him in his recliner yelling at us to keep it down because he couldn’t hear his program.”

Lindsey blew out a breath. She studied the handsome young man beside her and felt sorry-for his father. By being so wrapped up in his own whatever, he had missed knowing this really bright and interesting young man. She couldn’t help but think that was terribly sad.