Deathly Ever After Read online

  Outlined by the glow of the streetlight against the curtains was the silhouette of a person.

  Chapter Ten

  Inhaling sharply, Autumn froze. It was dark inside, and she was glad she hadn’t turned on any lights. It should be impossible for whoever was out there to see her… unless they had seen the light from the TV. Her heart was thrumming in her chest, and adrenaline was making her palms prickle and had chased the last traces of sleepiness away. Her phone was still in her hand, but if she made the screen light up, whoever was out there might be able to see the light through the sheer curtains, and then they would know exactly where she was standing. Was it worth the risk to call the police? Was this even something she should be calling the police for?

  Before she could decide, the figure moved, their shadow drifting across her window toward her front door. A moment after the shadow had gone, she heard a knock on the door. This did nothing to calm her pounding heart.

  Taking a deep breath, Autumn walked as silently as she could toward the kitchen. She tried to come up with scenarios in her mind as to why someone perfectly harmless was knocking on her front door a few minutes before five in the morning, but she couldn’t come up with anything. Someone knocking on her door this early in the morning could never be a good sign.

  She made it to the front door and approached it closely enough to look out the peephole. She couldn’t see much in the darkness outside, so, gathering her courage, she flicked on the porch light.

  It was Jed. He jumped slightly when the light came on, then gave a small wave, probably guessing that she was watching him. Autumn felt herself relax. She didn’t know why Jed was there exactly, but she was relatively sure that he wasn’t here to murder her, and the fact that it wasn’t a police officer standing there reassured her that no one had died. She unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door.

  “Hey,” she said, keeping herself centered in the doorframe. Just because she didn’t think he was going to attack her didn’t mean she was comfortable with inviting him in. Alicia’s words still rang in her head.

  “Did I wake you up?” he asked.

  “No,” she said truthfully. “Not to be rude, but what are you doing here, Jed?”

  “I need to talk to you.” He looked around, as though he was expecting someone to jump out of the shadows surrounding her porch. “In private. Can I come inside?”

  She hesitated, biting her lower lip as she mulled over her options. She could say no and force him to say whatever he was going to say on the porch, or she could take the risk and invite him in. This is Jed, she thought. I’ve known him for years. There’s no reason to believe that he wants to hurt me, even if he is involved in something unpleasant. She knew that if Alicia hadn’t planted the idea of him being the killer in her mind, she would never have even considered it.

  “All right,” she said. “Come on in.”

  She stepped back, and Jed came into the kitchen, shutting the door behind him. With the door shut, it was almost pitch black in the kitchen, so she reached over to flick on the lights.

  “Do you want something to drink? I could make coffee.”

  “No, thanks. I shouldn’t stay for long.” He took a deep breath. “I think you’re in danger, Autumn.”

  Another point against the possibility that he’s the killer, she thought. Why would he be here to warn me off if he wanted to hurt me?

  “Because of the fire?” she asked. Then, realizing that he might not even know about the fire at the grocery store yet, she added, “A friend of mine called me earlier to tell me about a fire at the Green River Grocery. I think they put it out before it got too bad.”

  “I know, the police managed to get in touch with me. That’s why I’m here, but that’s not the only reason. I left town because someone threatened my wife the morning after we found the body. We weren’t supposed to tell anyone else, not even the police, but now my wife is safe, staying with family out of state, and I had to warn you. I don’t think you’re safe.”

  “I haven’t gone near the grocery store since I came out of it to find my tires slashed and a threatening message written on my car,” she said. “Do you really think someone would come after me even if I’m staying away from the place?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I… I’ve told a few people that you planned on making an offer on it. I even canceled a couple other showings, because I’d rather see the property go to you than to anyone else. My wife and I both think that all of this is happening because someone doesn’t want me to sell the building for some reason. If whoever is behind it heard that I was planning on selling it to you… well, I’m worried they might try to take you out of the equation.”

  Autumn bit her lip. She had hoped that she wouldn’t be in any more danger if she took the threat to heart and kept away from the Green River Grocery until everything settled down, but Jed was making a lot of sense.

  “What about the fire?” she asked. “If you think someone wants to prevent you from selling the building — probably because they want to buy it themselves — then why would it make sense for them to try to burn it down?”

  “I’ve got no idea,” he said. “All I know is that whoever is behind all of this is dangerous, and I don’t want to see anyone else get hurt. It’s possible that the fire might be unrelated. Like I told you before, we’ve been having problems with vandals for a while.”

  “What exactly have these vandals been doing?” she asked. She hadn’t asked before, assuming that it had been graffiti or something similar.

  “They broke a window a couple of times, knocked some holes in the walls, that sort of thing. Just causing trouble for the heck of it. You know how people can be.”

  She frowned. Was it possible all of the issues he had been having were tied to the recent murder and threats? It was hard to think clearly about all of this; she had only had a few hours of sleep, and hadn’t even had coffee yet.

  “Thanks for warning me about this,” she said at last. “I’ll be careful, though I don’t know how much more careful I can be. Have you gone to the police with this yet?”

  “Not yet,” he said. “I was worried before that whoever is behind this might make good on their threats and go after me or my wife if I did.”

  “I don’t know if I’m comfortable keeping all of this from them.”

  “Tell them if you want. I won’t stop you. Who knows, maybe it will help.” Jed sighed, and Autumn realized just how tired and defeated he looked. She knew that the grocery store had been a financial drag on him for years, even before he had closed it, and he had done nothing but lose money on it ever since he shut the business down for good. Now, with all of this happening, it was becoming an even greater source of stress. She couldn’t imagine being in his position, with property he needed to sell but just couldn’t seem to get off his back.

  “I think things will turn out okay,” she said, hoping to comfort him. “Are you sure you don’t want anything to drink?”

  He shook his head. “I should get going. I’ve got to check on the grocery store, and I’m sure the police will want to talk to me in person about the fire. I just wanted to stop here first and make sure you knew what was going on.”

  Autumn watched as her old boss opened the door and walked down the driveway, she shut the door quietly behind him, locked it, and went back to bed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Autumn managed to fall asleep, but her rest was fitful, and when she woke up a few hours later, she knew that she was up for good. So much had happened in just a few days, and it was beginning to overwhelm her. Nick and Alicia, as helpful and supportive as they were, could only do so much. She didn’t really have anyone else to turn to. Sure, Bonnie might lend a friendly ear, but there wasn’t anything her newest friend could do or say that the others hadn’t. Her parents might be able to give her advice, but she knew she would only worry them if she called, and the same went for her aunt and uncle.

  It wasn’t as though she was trying to be involved in all of this, but it was beginning to look like she was a part of it, whether she wanted to be or not. If she was going to be targeted either way, she figured it was probably in her best interest to try to figure out who was behind the crimes as soon as possible. It was time to break her promise to Alicia and to start sticking her nose where it didn’t belong.

  She had just finished a light breakfast — this time, Frankie got half a slice of bacon — and was in the middle of washing the dishes when her phone rang. The number had been saved in her phone as Asheville PD. The Asheville police department. Her stomach twisted, and she picked up the phone, answering it as she shut off the water.

  “Hello?”

  “I would like to speak to Ms. Roth, please.”

  “This is she.”

  “Hi, Ms. Roth. This is Detective Jenson. We need to ask you a few questions regarding someone you used to work for. If it’s convenient for you, could you come down to the station before noon today?”

  “Um, sure,” she said, glancing at the stove clock. “I can be there in about half an hour. I’m supposed to be at work by eleven. This won’t take too long, will it?”

  “It shouldn’t. I’m happy to let your boss know what’s going on, if you need me to.”

  “Thanks, but I don’t think that will be necessary. I’ll just let him know I might be a little bit late.”

  She said her goodbyes and ended the call, already going over the schedule in her head. Unless she was mistaken, Emily would be on shift that morning, and if need be, she could get started on lunch by herself. As she dialed Nick’s number, she wondered what on earth Jed had gotten himself involved with now.

  Half an hour later, Autumn pulled into the police department’s parking lot and made her way inside. She had to wait only a few minutes before Detective Jenson came to usher her to a room in the back.

  “Thanks for coming in on such short notice,” he said. “Would you like something to drink? We’ve got coffee, water, and juice.”

  “I’m fine, thanks. What is this about? I’m assuming I’m here to talk about Jed. I can’t think of anyone else you might have meant.”

  “Yes.” He pulled out a chair and gestured for her to sit. When she did so, he took a seat himself across the table from her. “We’re concerned, because he had told us he was on his way here early this morning, but he hasn’t arrived, and he’s no longer answering his phone. Have you heard about the fire at the Green River Grocery?”

  “A friend of mine called me at four-something this morning to tell me about it,” she said. “I actually saw Jed not long after that call. He’s missing now?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” the detective said. “Before we go any further, I want to assure you that we have no reason to expect foul play. We only called you in because you’re one of the few people we know he was close to, and we were hoping you might be able to tell us how to get in contact with him. Could you tell me what time you saw him this morning?”

  “A few minutes after five,” she said. “I don’t remember exactly, but I know it was between five and five-thirty.”

  “Did he say where he was going when he left?”

  “He told me he was going to stop at the Green River Grocery to check on the damage, and that you guys would probably want to talk to him about the fire in person. I don’t know what his plan was beyond that.”

  “Do you know if he was having money troubles at all?”

  Autumn frowned. She wasn’t sure what that had to do with any of this, but she answered anyway, “He’s been having money troubles for the past couple of years. That’s why he closed the grocery store, and that’s why he’s so desperate to sell it.”

  “Did he ever talk about the insurance plan he had on the building? Did he mention to you that he raised the insurance after closing the store?”

  Her frown deepened. “No, to both of those things. He never mentioned insurance at all, though I’m sure he had it. Why does any of this matter? He could be in danger.”

  “Like I said, we have no reason to suspect foul play at the moment.”

  “Well, I do,” she said. “Do you know why he was at my house at five in the morning?” Taking a deep breath, she told him everything Jed had told her.

  By the time Autumn left the police department, the police were still looking for Jed, but no longer because he was a potential insurance fraud suspect. She had told them everything she knew, and still felt like it wasn’t enough. How had he gone missing between stopping at her house and going to the grocery store? She felt like they were all missing something important, but she couldn’t imagine what.

  She was only a few minutes late to work, and found Emily in the kitchen, already starting on the green beans. Autumn was glad for the help while she cooked; she didn’t think she had ever been more distracted.

  Finally, after putting the lightly seasoned chicken breasts in the oven, she washed her hands a final time and turned to the younger woman. “Do you know if Nick’s in? I need to talk to him.”

  “He’s here,” Emily said. “But I don’t know where. Some woman came in crying and he escorted her to one of the rooms. I haven’t seen him since, but I’ve been in here pretty much the whole time.”

  “Do you know who it was that came in?”

  “I’m not sure. I know I’ve seen her before, but I was hurrying to get my cleaning done before starting lunch and didn’t get a good look at her face. She might have been the Leroys’ daughter-in-law.”

  Autumn rubbed her temple, trying to think. Why would Dennis’s wife arrive in tears? Did it have something to do with the fire at the grocery store? It seemed like too much of a coincidence to ignore, but she couldn’t figure out how it fit in with anything else.

  “I’m going to go see if I can find Nick and find out what’s going on. Are you okay to take the chicken out in a few minutes and prepare the plates?”

  “Of course. Let me know if you figure out what’s going on.”

  “I will,” Autumn promised.

  She felt a little bit bad leaving so much of the day’s work on Emily’s shoulders, but she would try to make up for it later by mentioning to Nick how much of a help she had been. She knew that Emily enjoyed working in the kitchen, and she hoped that she continued getting the opportunity to do so even after Autumn left.

  Setting off for the wing where the Leroys’ room was located, she kept her eyes peeled for Nick. His office door had been open and the office empty when she walked by, which meant that he was in here somewhere. She just didn’t know where. She could always page him if she really had to, but if he was in the middle of something important, she didn’t want to interrupt him.

  She still hadn’t found him by the time she reached the Leroys’ door. She hesitated outside of it, but the sound of loud sobbing came through clearly. If Nick wasn’t in there, then he should be. Someone was obviously in distress.

  Raising her fist, she knocked on the door, waiting until she heard a man say, “Come in,” before pushing it open. Inside she saw Mr. and Mrs. Leroy huddled around a woman who was sobbing into a pillow. Nick was crouched on the floor in front of her, looking concerned. Autumn recognized the woman right away as Francine, Dennis’ wife.

  “It’s my fault,” the crying woman choked out. “I killed him. He’s dead because of me.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Shocked, Autumn took half a step back. Nick glanced at her and gestured impatiently for her to come in. Even though she was hesitant, she obeyed, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her.

  “Thank goodness you’re here,” Nick said. “I was just about to page one of the girls. Francine here needs a ride to her mother’s house, which is on the other side of town. Would you mind taking her there?”

  “Nick… can I talk to you in private?” Autumn asked, still eyeing the crying woman warily.

  He nodded and stood up, promising that they would be right back before following her out into the hall. “I know it’s a lot to ask and it’s not in your job description, but —”

  “Did she just admit to killing her husband?”

  Nick’s eyes widened. “No. Of course not. She’s blaming herself for his death because she was the one who convinced him to put the offer in. Autumn, I’d never ask you to be alone in a car with someone who had just admitted to committing murder.”

  “I know you wouldn’t,” she said, feeling herself begin to relax. “Just, when I walked into the room and that was the first thing out of her mouth… Sorry, a lot has happened today, and I’m kind of jumpy.”

  “It’s all right,” he said, touching her arm gently. “If you don’t want to drive her, I’ll see if I can get someone else to do it. She’s hysterical and really shouldn’t be driving herself, and her in-laws are already having problems handling the death of their grandson. We already spoke to her mother, and she’s making up a guest bed for her daughter as we speak.”