Plain Murder (Amish Romance Mystery): Clean Mystery series (Amish Secret Widows' Society Book 8) (4 page)

Chapter 6.

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the

goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Psalm 27:13

After Bailey finished speaking to Crowley, he called a taxi. He had only been in the taxi for ten minutes when the road ahead became blurry.
What's this?
His breaths accelerated and nausea gripped his insides.
Come on, pull yourself together.

The road ahead was clear of traffic, so he could ask the driver to pull over at anytime if he needed to be sick. Nausea gave way to a terrifying vision.

Not again.
His flashbacks had returned.
But why? It's been over six months since the last one. The doctor did say this might happen, but I thought I'd got past all this nonsense.
His mouth dried and became sticky, and sweat soaked his shirt. The visions practically blinded him and he was grateful that he was not driving. “Pull the car over here, please.”

“What, here?” The driver called over his shoulder.

“Yeah, now.”

The taxi screeched to a halt. Bailey opened the car door and threw up violently. He tried to take a breath, to clear his mind of whatever had set him off.

Concentrating on breathing deeply and slowly, as his therapist advised, he began to unfreeze. He reminded himself where he was. "I'm safe; it's just a memory, not real, it's not happening right now." After five or so minutes, the panic in his chest simmered and stopped.

“I’ve got a cold can of Pepsi,” the taxi driver offered.

“I’m okay. I just need another moment.”

The sweat on his forehead dried thanks to the cool night air, though his shirt clung cold and damp against his skin. Finally, his head stopped pounding and his vision cleared. He dabbed his face with his sleeve. "Okay, I’m ready."

Although he felt poor mentally, Bailey felt good about being able to offer Crowley guidance on such an important matter. He had forgotten about the many analytical skills he'd learned during his training and honed to perfection during his time as an FBI agent in the field. He had forgotten the buzz of compiling facts and findings, following up on leads, and of assessing the evidence and looking for patterns.

As thrilling as looking at that evidence was, Bailey knew that he did not want to do it again. The stress would kill him eventually, and he had a life he loved now. A life with Silvie was too precious for him to risk.

He continued his journey, feeling pleased with himself, and looking forward to seeing Silvie when he got home. She would be ready with a smile and a healing hug, eagerly waiting to gather all the details she could. He could not go into detail of course, but he would reassure her that he helped their community, their detective, and had done so without suffering... too much. She would be pleased with him, and the thought of that made the sacrifice worthwhile.

I wonder what the doctor would say about all this? Would he say I've set my recovery back months, or that I did well to tackle another fear all by myself? That I'd confronted yet another stress and dealt with it head on, or that I risked a massive relapse? Have I accelerated the healing process or put myself, and my mind, at risk?

Bailey did not know the answers to these questions, but he had survived and he had helped Detective Crowley. He had to feel good about that, even if that feeling couldn't last.

As soon as Bailey arrived home, he sat down with Silvie.

"Crowley thinks that I might be of some help to them given my former training. I tried to tell him that murders weren’t my forte, but he still insists I might be able to help them.” Bailey shrugged his shoulders. 

"
Ach
." Silvie dropped her hands from his cheeks to hold his. "And you're worried it will take you back to the bad old days?"

"Exactly."
She gets it. Of course she does
. "I've come so far, Silvie. I'm happy now, in our life together. I don't want to have reminders of my old stress filled life."

"But it was facing the problem head on which allowed you to move on, remember? You faced your nightmares, faced your parents, and things improved greatly, didn't they?"

"Well, yes."

"Maybe this is the same as that?"

She had a point. It was by facing up to things he was able to let go of them. And by letting go of them, they lost their power over him.

Silvie stroked his cheek. "I'm always here for you if you fall. You're no longer alone in the world, you have
Gott
now; remember that when you feel anxious about anything."

"I do, and it makes me smile at least three times a day." Bailey kissed the backs of her hands in turn.

Silvie squeezed her arms around his waist. "You can count on me, full stop.”

Bailey clenched his jaw. "Have you remembered anything new that you forgot to tell the police?"

"I told them everything I know." Silvie rested her hand upon Bailey's.

Sabrina poked her head out from her bedroom door which was downstairs adjacent to the entry to the kitchen. “Hello, Bailey.”

"Sabrina, I'm so sorry I took off like that when you came home. All I could think about was making sure that Silvie was okay."

"No need to apologize, Bailey. I understand, that’s why I had the taxi wait for you when I came home." Sabrina turned her attention back to her
schweschder.
"I'm going to try and get some sleep now, I'm so tired."

"Okay," Silvie said with a soft nod. "Sleep well."

Silvie went off to bed earlier than Bailey. Bailey was left alone to go over what Crowley had told him. Going over what he knew of the case, he did not think either Silvie or Sabrina were in any immediate danger. The murder of someone in any position of status would suggest the motive being tied to some form of gain as a result of the death. Not having any other information to go by, this was Bailey’s only assumption. Although, he still could not help worrying about Silvie and Sabrina’s well being. He was relieved that they hadn’t witnessed the murder.

Chapter 7.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

Sabrina slept surprisingly well that night, leaving her feeling more refreshed than she was expecting to feel the next morning.

Sabrina was in the best mood she could hope for, considering the circumstances. Now that Mr. Caruthers was not going to be around anymore, Sabrina wondered who would end up becoming responsible for the business.

Later that morning, Trevor, Mr. Caruthers’ son, arrived in her office area. “Good morning, Sabrina.”

Sabrina heard Trevor’s voice before she saw him. She could tell by his demeanor, which was more arrogant than usual, that he had assumed control in the wake of his father’s death. Offering Trevor a meek nod in response to his greeting, Sabrina hurried to her desk to set about her work.

“And I don’t want you using yesterday as an excuse to fall behind in your work today,” Trevor said. “I want everyone on top form now that I’m taking over. I’ve got a lot of changes planned for these stables.”

Sabrina felt sick listening to Trevor speak in such a manner so soon after his father’s death. 

After having gathered together a collection of invoices she needed to file, Sabrina’s solemn features broke out into a smile as she saw John enter.

“John.”

Trevor quickly re-entered the area as soon as he heard Sabrina call John’s name.

Seeing Trevor, John remained silent.

“John, after the unfortunate case of my father’s passing, I’ve been forced to reassess your role here at the stables.”

“What do you mean?” John drew his eyebrows together forming a frown.

“I’ll keep you on of course, for now, but your position as my father’s second is no longer necessary, as my father is dead.” The look on Trevor’s face made it obvious that he was enjoying demoting John. “I will be more than able to take care of both my father’s responsibilities as well as yours.”

John remained silent, but Sabrina noticed that he clenched his fists.

“Until I arrive at a decision about whether you have a future with this company, you will assist Sabrina with her bookkeeping along with any other things that I might assign to you.”

John raised his eyebrows at Sabrina in silent protest.

“I’ve an auction to run. I’m sure you two can handle things here.” Trevor turned and walked back into his office.

“He was enjoying that far too much,” John said as he walked closer to Sabrina. He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled deeply. “I don’t know how he can treat people like that. How can he expect to run this place on his own? Old Caruthers needed my help for a reason. He’s going to run this place into the ground, I know it.”

Sabrina tried to reassure him by saying, “Try not to worry too much, things might turn out okay.”

“With Trevor running this place, I don’t think I can agree with you, Sabrina.” John walked toward the tearoom. “Coffee?” he yelled out over his shoulder to Sabrina.

“Yes please.” Sabrina thought back to the fight that Trevor had with his father the day before he died. No one had asked her about the fight, so she had told no one, but maybe she should have. Trevor’s father had threatened to cut him off and then he was found dead. Trevor was lazy and wanted everything for nothing, but was he capable of murdering his own father?

After Trevor’s announcement, what remained of the morning passed without further incident. After having spent a lot of her time watching the clock waiting for the afternoon to arrive, Sabrina was relieved when it finally reached twelve noon. Now that it was time for lunch, Sabrina decided that she was in terrible need of some fresh air. As soon as the sun hit her skin, Sabrina took in a deep breath of air.

“Sabrina.”

Hearing her name, Sabrina looked across the courtyard to see May walking toward her.

“Afternoon, May,” Sabrina said. “How are you today?”

“I am rather well, thank you. Although, I heard about Trevor this morning. That is frightfully unfair what has happened. I simply can’t believe what he’s done to John.”

“Yes, I agree. But, unfortunately, I don’t think there is much we can do about it.”

“Well.” May then replied in a hushed tone of voice. “There is something that I would like to discuss with you regarding the whole situation. Would I be able to walk with you?”

At first Sabrina’s thoughts were blank. Trevor’s authority was simply something she had told herself to accept, but here was May seemingly looking for a way to prove otherwise. Mr. Caruthers had promised Sabrina fulltime work very shortly, but would Trevor honor that promise? “Of course, May.”

May remained quiet as the two of them walked across the grounds of the stables. They walked on the other side, away from the noisy auction, which was in full swing. It wasn’t until they reached a bench on the outer perimeter of the property that May spoke. “I think it was Trevor.” May offered no context for her statement, but Sabrina knew to what she was referring.

“May, you need to be careful what you say.” Sabrina looked anxiously about them. It would not do to be overheard speaking about such things.

“Well, I do. It makes perfect sense. We just need to take a look at how Trevor is behaving this morning to know he’s obviously been planning this for a long time. He’s taken over straight away.”

Sabrina remained silent as she listened to May speak. As much as she hated to admit it, she saw some possibility of truth in what May said.

“Trevor never liked John. It’s just a matter of time before he fires him.” May’s tone shifted slightly as she mentioned John’s name, which elicited a raised brow from Sabrina. “And I’m not just saying this because I’ll miss John’s handsome face if he were to leave. We have to tell someone about this, Sabrina.”

“Yes, I know,” Sabrina’s said. “Bailey, my brother-in-law, used to be in the FBI. I’ll talk to him when I get home; hopefully he’ll be able to help.” Sabrina knew that Silvie was going to the widows’ meeting tonight, but she could not mention that to May. It sounded better to enlist the help of an ex-FBI agent rather than say she was going to take the advice of Amish widows.

“Thank you, Sabrina. I couldn’t live with myself if I just sat back and watched Trevor get away with all of this. Something has to be done.”

Sabrina looked around about them once more, and then whispered, “I know they never got on, but do you think that Trevor would’ve killed his own father?”

May looked Sabrina directly in her eyes and then nodded.

Sabrina’s eyes fell to the ground. It was too horrible to even imagine. “How’s your mother handling it all?”

“She’s been sedated. The doctor came to her last night and again this morning. She’s taken it hard. She’s got two of her good friends staying with her now.”

“I’d better get back to work.” Sabrina rose from the bench.

“Thank you for listening, Sabrina. I really appreciate it.”

“Everything will be okay, May. Just you wait and see.” Sabrina made her way back to her office and when she arrived back at her desk, she spotted a note. John must have left it because he had been manning the phones on her break. She looked around and could not see John anywhere. She looked back to the note.

The names written on the paper were not familiar, Clarkwell and Addison. The only calls that ever came through to her phone were regarding accounting.

Sabrina called the first number.

“Hello, Clarkwell speaking.” It was a male’s voice, his coarse tone indicating a degree of agitation.

Sabrina told him who she was and tried to tell him from where she was calling.

The male quickly cut Sabrina off before she could properly say where she was from. “Thank you for returning my call. I was calling regarding the late Mr. Caruthers and the considerable sum of money he owes us. Oh, my condolences, of course. I heard it on the news this morning on the way to work – the radio- about his um, death. Who is handling his debts now? Should I be speaking to you about it?”

Sabrina momentarily found herself unable to speak; she had no idea that her boss was in any kind of debt. All the bookwork had balanced and there was nothing outstanding on her ledgers. “I’m sorry, Mr. Clarkwell; from where are you calling?”

“I’m afraid I cannot discuss this with anyone other than a direct representative of Caruthers.”

Sabrina quickly ended the call, promising that someone would phone him back shortly. Sabrina thought about the other call she still needed to return. Sabrina took a deep breath before she called the second number. The line rang several times before someone answered. Another male came on the line speaking in a similarly agitated manner.

“Hello, this is Michael Addison.”

“Hello, Mr. Addison. I’m returning a call from you that I missed this afternoon.” Sabrina spoke in more of a delayed manner on the second call, expecting to have her greeting cut short again.

“I see, are you a relative of Caruthers?”

“No, I am the book keeper of his firm. The call you made earlier came through to my line.” Sabrina wanted to give as little information as possible to this man, already having her suspicions raised by Clarkwell.

“Well, your boss had some business with me that has been left outstanding. I want to see about getting this resolved. I’ve been owed a lot of money for a long time and since he’s just died I’m concerned about getting my money back. I can’t allow the situation to continue, or I’ll need to get my lawyers on to it.”

“I’m sorry for the difficulties you’ve had with us, Mr. Addison. I will pass this information on so we can come to some form of resolution. What line of business are you in? I have no record of our company having any dealings with you.”

“These are of a private matter; nevertheless, I need to be paid.” This man appeared to be less forceful than Clarkwell, but no less abrupt.

“Again, I apologize. I’ll have someone call you back shortly.” Addison went on to speak further, but Sabrina accidently hung up before she heard him begin to speak again. Now, feeling more worried, she wondered what to do. She had to tell Trevor about the calls, but hated the idea of approaching him about anything. Especially money, considering the heated rows he had with his father. Sabrina was pleased that Trevor was consumed with the auction for the day and the only real opportunity to speak to him about the finances of the company would be the next day.

Maybe Mr. Caruthers kept a diary, or something where he mentioned either Addison or Clarkwell.

Sabrina raced into his office and searched for a diary or some kind of notebook. In the top drawer, she found a black leather diary. She flipped through it. There were several entries referring to the name Victor Parker. Sabrina thought hard; he had not mentioned that name to her at all. She committed the name to memory, tossed the book back in the drawer and hurried back to her desk. Some of the entries next to Parker’s name had large dollar amounts next to it. Maybe he owed this Victor Parker fellow a great deal of money as well.

Sabrina kept busy for the rest of the day hoping that in doing so the day would go quicker. She was eager to speak to Bailey and hear what he thought of what she’d learned.