Beverly Barton - Silent Killer

Seth grabbed her by her shoulders, startling her so that she dropped the paper to the floor.

“Mom, you have to go with me to talk to Sheriff Birkett. Please, let’s go now. I have to tell them I was with Missy last night.”

“What are you talking about? Why do you have to tell-?”

“Felicity called me to tell me that Mike Birkett came to their house just a little while ago and talked to her parents. The sheriff took Missy in so that the task force can question her. They think she killed Mr. Fuqua, just like they think she killed her dad. She didn’t. I know she didn’t.”

“Calm down, Seth.” Cathy pulled his hands off her shoulders and held them securely between them. “How do you know she didn’t?”

“Weren’t you listening to me? Because I was with her last night when Mr. Fuqua was killed, and I have to tell them that I was.”

“Seth, look at me.”

Reluctantly, he lifted his eyes, and his gaze connected with hers.

“Were you really with Missy last night?”

“Yes. I…uh…I slipped out of the house, and she did, too, and we met. It’s not the first time.”

Cathy suspected that Seth was lying to her. When he was a little boy, she could always tell when he wasn’t telling her the truth, and even now her maternal instincts still acted as a lie detector.

“Mom, please, please…”

“All right. Let me get my car keys and purse.” She picked up her purse off the kitchen counter and then lifted the keys off the rack by the door. “By the way, how did you get here? I didn’t hear a car drive up.”

“I walked. I left a note for Nana and Granddad.”

Cathy moaned. She’d deal with J.B. and Mona later.

“Hurry up, Mom.”

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the sheriff’s office in downtown Dunmore. She barely got the car parked before Seth opened the door and jumped out. Rushing to keep up with him, she got out, locked the car and ran to the front entrance. Seth paused long enough to hold the door for her.

“We need to see the sheriff right now,” Seth told Mike’s secretary.

“Sheriff Birkett is in a meeting,” she replied.

“You don’t understand. I’m a witness,” Seth said. “Well, sort of. He’s questioning Missy Hovater right now, isn’t he? I’ve got important information about Missy.”

The woman looked from Seth to Cathy, apparently uncertain if Seth was dangerous or just overzealous.

Before Cathy could reassure Mike’s secretary, Seth blurted out, “Get Jack Perdue. He’ll vouch for me. He and my mom are dating and-”

“What the hell is going on out here?” Jack opened the door marked with Mike’s name and stopped abruptly when he saw Cathy and Seth.

Oh God, please don’t let him assume that we’re here because I told Seth the truth about his paternity.

Seth ran toward Jack. “I’ve got to talk to the sheriff. Missy didn’t kill Mr. Fuqua. She was with me last night. I swear she was. I’m her alibi.”

Cathy held her breath as Jack reached out and laid his hand on Seth’s shoulder. Tears burned her throat, and it was all she could do not to cry out loud.

“Missy isn’t here,” Jack said in a calm, authoritative voice. “Reverend and Mrs. Harper are bringing her in later for questioning, along with her lawyer. I don’t think Missy will need an alibi, but if she does, I’ll call you and you can come back in and give a statement.”

Seth’s shoulders sagged as he released a pent-up breath. “She didn’t kill anybody, not even her father, that son of a bitch.”

Jack glanced past Seth, his gaze settling on Cathy. Her heartbeat accelerated alarmingly. “Take him home.”

“Come on, Seth, let’s go,” Cathy said.

“Thanks, Jack,” Seth said. “When Felicity called me, she thought for sure y’all believed Missy was the Fire and Brimstone Killer.”

“Go home with your mom,” Jack said. “The three of us will talk later. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Jack squeezed Seth’s shoulder as he looked at his son. Cathy knew that he wanted to grab Seth and hug him. But he didn’t. He released his hold on Seth and then turned and walked back into Mike’s office.

He had all but ignored her.

As soon as his mother took him to his grandparents’ home and his grandfather met them at the door with a reprimand, Seth knew what he had to do. He’d been thinking about it for a while now and had already pretty much made up his mind. After the way his mom had responded to his hysteria about Missy this morning, he felt certain he was making the right decision. His grandparents loved him and needed him, but his mother understood him. She didn’t expect him to be perfect. She just wanted him to do the very best he could.

He’d been putting this off, not wanting to upset his grandparents, but after his mom left, he told Nana and Granddad that they needed to have a serious talk.

“It’s not as if y’all won’t see a lot of me,” Seth tried to explain. “I’ll be over here all the time. It’s just I think it’s time for me to move back in with Mom now. I should be with her.”

“I won’t hear of it,” Granddad said. “You’re just a boy and certainly not old enough to make this type of decision for yourself. Wait another month or two. Please. Your mother isn’t the best influence on you and-”

“I’ll soon be sixteen. I’m old enough to know what’s right for me.”

“Seth, sweetheart, are you sure?” his nana asked.

“Yes, ma’am, I’m sure.”

“I do not want you living with your mother and being exposed to her fornicating with that man.” Granddad’s face turned red as he balled his hands into tight fists. “She is setting a bad example for you.”

Seth knew it would be futile to argue with his grandfather, a man who could see only one side of any issue-his own side. “I think Mom and Jack will probably get married.”

His granddad huffed.

“You could wait awhile, at least until school starts, and give us time to adjust to the idea that you’re leaving us,” Nana suggested.

“He’s not leaving now and that’s final!” Granddad stormed out of the room.

Nana patted his arm. “Give him a little time, please.”

“I will. He didn’t give me a chance to say that I’ll think about waiting until school starts to move in with Mom.”

“That’s good, that’s good. Thank you, dear.”

He could see the sadness in Nana’s eyes and hated that he had put it there. “I love you, and that won’t change just because I’m living with Mom. I hope you can persuade Granddad not to take Mom to court over this. He’s got to know that, at sixteen, the judge will allow me to choose who I want to live with.”

After he and Nana talked for a while, he felt better about the entire situation. Nana had a way of counteracting Granddad’s negativism with her positive attitude.

“I think I should spend some time with Mom today,” Seth said. “I want to explain things, to tell her that we’ve talked and-”

The doorbell rang, but before Nana could respond, someone pounded on the door. “Mona? Mona, let me in. It’s Elaine.”

“That was certainly fast,” Nana said.

“What’s she doing here?” Seth asked.

Nana rolled her eyes and sighed. “I have a feeling that your grandfather called in reinforcements.” She walked to the door, opened it and barely had time to move out of the way before his other grandmother stormed into the living room.

Grandmother pinned him with her sharp, narrowed gaze. “What is this I hear about your wanting to move in with your mother?”

“J.B. certainly didn’t waste any time,” Nana said.

“J.B. is worried, as well he should be,” Grandmother replied, never taking her eyes off Seth.