Page 25 of Tears on Her Grave

“We checked her vehicle GPS, and after she left you at Aunt Betty’s Café, she went by the ranch.” Sheriff Alton leaned forward, looking at her. “Did she mention anything about meeting someone at the ranch over lunch?”

Unable to control her sobs, Josie shook her head and looked from one to the other. “No, she mentioned buying groceries and I watched her heading in that direction when I went to my vehicle. We talked about general things, friends, and her work and clients. There was absolutely no mention about meeting anyone. I couldn’t possibly imagine why she’d go anywhere like the Old Mitcham Ranch. She is reluctant even to leave town to visit old friends in a group of people. She would never go somewhere like that on her own.”

“I see you were close friends.” Deputy Kane pulled a large plastic bag from inside his coat pocket and held it up to display two phones. “Did she ever mention why she needed a burner phone? It seems very strange for someone who doesn’t socialize very much.”

Josie stared at the phones in disbelief. How could Marissa have been so stupid as to have carried them both at the same time? She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself and then indicated to the light blue smartphone. “I recognize that one. Marissa carried it around all the time. I can only imagine that she kept the other one for work. She is a very private person and perhaps she liked to keep her clients separate.” She pulled a tissue from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes.

“Hmm, that’s very interesting.” Sheriff Alton tapped her bottom lip as if considering what she’d said. “Would you mind calling her phone, please? I would be interested to know if she’s using the burner phone for her friends. It would be very unusual for a business to use a burner phone unless it was corrupt, and as she is a tax agent it might be something we need to look into.”

Desperately torn between keeping quiet and telling the sheriff everything she knew, Josie stood and went to the kitchen to collect her phone. If she called the burner, then would she be admitting she knew it existed, and if she didn’t, would it make Marissa look as if she were a corrupt tax agent? She sucked in a steadying breath, not knowing what to do for the best. Fingers trembling, she made the decision. Marissa was dead and she had herself and the others to protect now. She called Marissa’s smartphone. When it rang, she hurried back to the family room.

“You can disconnect now.” Deputy Kane was looking at the smartphone. “You came up on the caller ID.”

“Okay, that’s all we need for now.” Sheriff Alton stood and handed her a card. “I’d like you to run through the conversation you had with Marissa at Aunt Betty’s. If you can recall anything at all that might lead us to who did this to your friend, it doesn’t matter how small or seemingly insignificant.” She sighed. “Also, if you can recall any living relatives she might have, we’ll need to contact them. Do you know if she had a lawyer?”

Feeling numb from shock, Josie nodded. “Sam Cross does just about everything in town. We talked about making wills some time ago and his name came up. I don’t recall any names of her relatives, but he might know. I remember when her folks died, no one came to the funeral.”

“That information is very useful.” Sheriff Alton headed for the door. “Thank you for your assistance.”

Josie sat down hard on the sofa, staring at the phone in her hand. She needed to call Lily but hesitated, not sure if it was the right thing to do. Confusion gripped her. Everyone should be told about Marissa but she needed to follow the rules. Taking a deep breath, she made the call. “Lily, you need to get away from everyone for a second. I have some terrible news to give you.”

“Okay, I’ll go into the break room.”The music from the beauty parlor was muted as she shut the door.“I’m all alone. What’s happened?”

Trying hard not to break down and cry, Josie pressed the phone against her ear. “Marissa’s dead. Someone murdered her out at the Old Mitcham Ranch sometime after we had lunch at Aunt Betty’s Café yesterday. The sheriff was just here asking me questions. As far as they’re concerned, I’m the last person to see her alive.”

“Oh, sweet Jesus, no. Marissa’s dead? Why did they head straight to you? They can’t possibly believe that you murdered her, can they?”Lily let out a sob, fighting back tears.“Who would do such a thing? Marissa never hurt anyone and what was she doing out at that horrible old ranch? No one in their right mind would go there alone.”

Trying to stay calm, Josie sipped the water Deputy Kane had given her. “No, she wouldn’t go there alone but everything points to the fact she did. The sheriff has her truck’s GPS records and it showed that she left Aunt Betty’s Café and headed out to the Old Mitcham Ranch. They also have her burner phone.”

“They what?”A chair screeched as metal legs tore across tile and Lily let out a long breath as she sat down.“Now you know why Wyatt insisted that we keep only one number on each phone. If we’d had everyone’s numbers, it wouldn’t take them too long to discover our identities. You have his burner number, don’t you? If so, I suggest you contact him immediately and let him know what’s going on. I’ll call Dustin Crawley—he’ll pass it on and get back to me. It’s not suspicious, us talking, because we always do and now with what’s happened to Marissa it would be normal.”She blew her nose and cleared her throat. “This is terrible. I can’t think straight. Do you figure she was killed because she wanted to go to the cops? Heck, I agreed with her. What if one of the guys killed her to shut her up? Do you figure any of them are capable of murder? If so, maybe we should risk it and tell the sheriff. I’m not planning on being murdered anytime soon.”

One slip of the tongue and they’d all go to prison. Pulling on her inner strength, Josie shook her head. “She was my best friend, but we can’t fall to pieces and start blaming each other.” She stared at the wood burning in the fire and the dancing orange flames. “We live in a town known for serial killers. Her murder could be a random act of violence, and no, after all these years, if one of us was a killer, we’d know long before now. Get the word out and I’ll do the same. For heaven’s sake, act normal. Our friend has been murdered, so it’s okay to be upset.” She disconnected and stood to retrieve her burner. The phones would be running hot tonight.

THIRTY

FRIDAY

As Dustin Crawley rode the fence line checking for breaks, he received a frantic call from Lily. At home, he’d turned off his burner phone the moment he’d heard the news about finding the body of Marissa Kendrick out at the Old Mitcham Ranch. The discovery would have the women in their secret group on edge—and rightly so. Living with his parents had its drawbacks, and a phone going off every five minutes would cause undue attention. His pa believed that smartphones were a time-wasting curse, and he’d turned on the burner only once he’d ridden out of earshot.

He’d wanted to leave home to forge a life for himself years ago, but his parents needed him to run the ranch as they weren’t getting any younger. The time he spent away on the rodeo circuit meant that his father had to hire someone to take his place, but it was the only respite he got, as living with his folks was anything but easy.

He listened in silence as Lily raved on about Marissa’s death. He understood that she was upset and caught her underlying concern that it was one of them who had murdered her. The idea of her going to the cops with this notion would undo years of careful planning to keep all of them safe. “Nothing has changed,Lily. What happened to Marissa was tragic and can’t possibly be related to what happened twelve years ago. Don’t you figure if one of us was a serial killer, we’d have all been murdered by now?”

“It just seems very strange.”Tunes from Lily’s car radio came through his earpiece.“Nothing happens for twelve years and then their bodies turn up and now Marissa is murdered.”

Pulling up his horse and dismounting to go and check the fence line, Crawley shook his head. “Nope, it’s just a coincidence. This is the problem with you women: you start panicking the moment a small thing goes wrong. Us guys just keep on doing what we’re doing, keeping our heads down and not interacting with each other. You have to admit that you, Josie, and Marissa have been acting like idiots this week. The moment those bodies showed up in the river, suddenly there’s a conspiracy between us. I’ll contact Clint and pass on your concerns but if you’ve already been seen in town with Jess, you could have caused irreparable damage. You know what people are like in this town. The sheriff asks for information and people love to gossip. The pizzeria has CCTV cameras, so meeting him isn’t something you can deny. Trust me I don’t want to go to prison because you’re making stupid mistakes.”

“I made it look like normal.”Lily sucked in a breath.“It was more like ‘well fancy seeing you here after all these years,’ rather than a planned meeting. We spoke for a few seconds and then I picked up my pizzas and left. Jess was more concerned about his wife discovering that he’d met another woman in town than what I was telling him.”

Taking a pair of pliers from his tool belt, Crawley twisted the wire to repair the fence. “Really? You come on about Marissa wanting to go to the cops about what happened twelve years ago, and you don’t figure it’s going to cause a problem? Have you considered the implications if she’d blabbed? The fact that youbelieved it was a good idea sent shockwaves through us guys. It’s just not about you girls, you know. We have responsibilities and people who rely on us. You just can’t make up your minds to do something stupid without due consideration of what might happen to everyone else.”

“Do you figure any of the guys are capable of murder?”

Suddenly glad that Lily couldn’t see him, Crawley bit back a laugh. That night on the mountain, all the guys knew that Cole and Abby were still alive. They would die from their injuries and there was little hope that they would survive, but they all knew. Anyone of them could have stopped the burial but none of them wanted to risk the implications of what had happened. They’d all covered up a crime and were equally responsible. Maybe it was time to make Lily fully aware of the truth. “That night on the mountain, when we buried Cole and Abby, we knew they were still alive. Josie knew they were still alive as well. Do you recall when we went over to the bushes and talked in a huddle? You and Marissa were sitting on the rocks bawling your eyes out. We all agreed that Cole deserved to die and Abby would be better off dead than living with the injuries that she’d sustained. We did what was best for everyone. The moment you pushed dirt into that grave, you were as guilty as the rest of us. So if the question is ‘which one of us might be capable of murder?’ the answer would be ‘all of us.’”

“Oh, my God. You knew?”Lily sucked in panicked breaths.“I had no idea. Look, I’ve gotta go. I’m late for work.”She disconnected.

Crawley stared at the phone for a few moments. Marissa’s death had absolutely no effect on him whatsoever, but her threat to go to the cops had been a problem. He thought for a beat and then called Clint Wasser. After bringing him up to speed about the phone call from Lily, he climbed on his horse and headed back to the ranch house. “I figure Lily is losing her mind. Shedoesn’t seem to be coping and right now she’s a loose cannon. I’ve tried talking to her and explaining what would happen to all of us if she went to the cops.”

---