Fugitive Filling by Jessica Beck Read Free Book Online Page A

anyone’s home.” Jake ignored the bucket step and stayed on the ground as he banged on the front door. I could see the thin material buckling under the stress from his assault.
    The camper door opened, and Bobby Wells peered out. He was wearing the same pattern flannel shirt and faded blue jeans that I always saw him around town in. He must have bought half a dozen identical shirts at the same time, and there was a bit of red clay dirt on his shoes. No doubt he’d been out working with his roses earlier, but was there more significance to the clay than that? “What’s going on, Chief?” he asked the moment he saw my husband.
    “I’m not the chief anymore,” Jake said automatically, something I wished he’d keep to himself. I hadn’t wanted him to lie to the young man, but if Bobby had been under the impression that Jake was still in charge of the police force, he might have been more receptive to our questions.
    “Hey, Suzanne,” he said as he noticed me for the first time. “What can I do for you both?”
    “Where’s your car, Bobby?” I asked him.
    “I’m picking it up from the shop in twenty minutes. Why?”
    “Just curious. I just didn’t see it when we drove up.”
    “Is that why you’re here?” he asked me incredulously. “What’s wrong with my car? It passed inspection the last time, so I’m legally driving it, if that’s what you want to know.”
    “We’re not here about your transportation; we’re here about Teresa Logan,” I said, and Bobby immediately clouded up.
    “What about her?”
    “We heard you two had quite an altercation at the grocery store yesterday,” Jake said. There was no question posed in his voice as he stated it matter-of-factly.
    Bobby was clearly unhappy about this turn in the conversation. “I thought she wanted to date me. Apparently I was wrong. We didn’t have a confrontation. It was more like a conversation.”
    “That’s not the way we heard it,” Jake replied, keeping his voice cold and narrow as he spoke. It was an effective interviewing technique, but I knew that I could never pull it off. I had the feeling that getting that “cop voice” down pat came only after being on the police force for awhile.
    Bobby sneered a little before he spoke. “I’ll just bet I know who’s been talking about me. Surely you don’t believe Gabby Williams. That woman would lie when the truth would suit her better.”
    I was glad that Jake didn’t confirm or deny our source. Gabby had done us a favor by telling us about what had happened in the grocery store, and I didn’t want to betray her confidence in return. “Son, there were quite a few people in that store. You shouldn’t spread wild allegations.”
    Bobby shrugged. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I don’t care who told you. Was I embarrassed by Teresa’s rejection? You bet I was. She’s been flirting with me ever since she got into town. How was I supposed to know that she didn’t mean one bit of it? Is that really why you’re here? Did she complain about me? That’s just perfect. First I ask her out, just like I thought she wanted. Then she treats me like an idiot, and if that’s not bad enough, the manager saw it all, and he fired me on the spot! Yesterday was a rotten day, and I hope I never see that attorney again as long as I live. You can tell her that for me the next time you see her.”
    Was it possible that he hadn’t heard the news, or was he just acting as though he hadn’t? His tone seemed sincere enough to me, but then again, I’d been fooled before by killers, and I’m sorry to say on more than one occasion.
    “I’m afraid she’s dead, Bobby,” Jake said in that solemn way that refuted any denials before they could be formed.
    He looked shocked to hear the news. “What? How? What happened to her?”
    “Someone hit her in the back of the head with a bookend,” I said.
    “No. Seriously? That’s terrible. She can’t be dead. I mean, I just saw the woman