Death by Auction Read online

  But not until she took a shower and did her best to wash away the memory of Bryce Cadigan’s dead eyes.

  Chapter Five

  Gage had been right about the crack-of-dawn phone calls from Jean and company, but the knock at Abby’s back door was a definite surprise. Granted, Tripp was a morning person, usually going on his daily run well before the sun came up. However, it had been nearly two in the morning before the sound of his truck had rumbled up the driveway. The noise had dragged Abby out of a sound sleep just long enough to note that he was back home. Her ninety-pound mastiff mix, Zeke, had woofed softly in response to the noise; then both of them had dropped back off to sleep.

  Nudging Zeke out of the way, she opened the door to let Tripp come inside. She smiled as he grumbled something that might have been a greeting as he headed straight for the coffeepot. A grumpy Tripp was pretty cute. “Good morning to you, too.”

  He plunked down at the table and sat with his chin down on his chest as if his head was too heavy to support. Rather than try to force him into a conversation, she broke four more eggs into the skillet and turned the bacon. Five minutes later, she divided the food between two plates and carried them over to the table along with a basket of fresh blueberry muffins.

  After topping off Tripp’s coffee and her own, she sat down, too. He finally showed a little more life as he reached for his fork. “Bless you, woman.”

  “Considering how late you got home last night, I’m actually surprised you’re up and around already.”

  “Me too, but I’ve got stuff to do today.” He took a bite of the eggs and moaned is if it were ambrosia. “Thanks for feeding me. I didn’t expect that.”

  “It’s no big deal. I was cooking, anyway.”

  For the moment, both of them concentrated on eating. It wasn’t long before their plates were empty and Abby was on her second cup of coffee as Tripp finished his third. He then cleared the table and washed the dishes while she sat back and watched.

  It didn’t take him long, but still he lingered as he slowly dried the skillet and put it away. She settled in to wait him out. Finally, he returned to the table after raiding Zeke’s treat jar. He tossed one of the organic cookies in the air and smiled when the dog missed and had to chase it across the floor. He held out a second one so that Zeke could take it straight from his hand. “Sorry, boy. It was my fault that one got away from you.”

  The dog was always quick to forgive his buddy almost anything, especially if the apology included a treat or two. It was time to jump-start the conversation. “So what kind of stuff do you have to do today?”

  Not that it was really any of her business, but he was lingering for a reason. He leaned back in his chair, looking more like himself.

  “I plan to mow the lawn and do a few other chores outside. I also have to hit the books and work on a paper that’s due this week.”

  That all sounded pretty normal, but something was obviously bothering him. Rather than wait for him to come to the point, she tried to hurry things along. “So, how did things go at the police station last night? Did Gage keep you and Ms. Brunn there for long?”

  Because if he hadn’t, what had kept Tripp out so late? Not that she really wanted to know, especially if he and Valerie had been doing something other than hanging out at the police station to all hours.

  “Gage had a lot to wade through last night. Like he said, the press was out in droves. Considering how many of them were parked out in front of city hall, it must have been a slow news night. I’d never heard of Bryce Cadigan before you hired him for the auction, but he must have been well-known in the area.”

  He seemed puzzled why that might be. “Anyway, Gage and even the mayor had to make statements. Meanwhile, Valerie and the other people he wanted to talk to had to cool their heels until he was done. For whatever reason, he made Val wait the longest.”

  Abby didn’t point out that the woman had been one of the last people to see Bryce alive. Tripp already knew that. “So where did Gage leave things with her?”

  “The same as last night. He’d rather she didn’t leave town until he knows for sure that they’re not dealing with a murder case.”

  He paused to pour another cup of coffee, clearly not happy about Gage’s request. Did Tripp want Valerie to be able to leave because he thought she was innocent, or because he didn’t want her around? Even if Valerie did go home, she had obviously planned to come back in two weeks. Why else would she have handed over that much money for the privilege of going to the veterans dance with her ex-husband?

  After taking another sip of coffee, Abby asked, “When did Gage expect to hear from the coroner?”

  Tripp let out a slow breath, clearly frustrated. “He wasn’t sure. Today is Sunday, and I don’t know if the coroner and his crew work weekends or not.”

  Neither did she.

  It was probably time to change the subject, but not quite yet. “So did Valerie ever tell you what she and Bryce were talking about?”

  Which really wasn’t any of her business, and Gage wouldn’t even like her asking the question. She’d learned the hard way not to tread on his toes when it came to police business.

  Tripp reached for another muffin, but he paused briefly before finally picking it up. He broke off a piece and ate it before answering. “Valerie and I didn’t actually have much of a chance to talk last night. Gage parked her in an interrogation room while he made me sit out in the lobby. By the time he cut her loose, she had a headache, and all either of us wanted was to get the heck out of there. I drove her to the hotel and came back here.”

  He finished off the muffin and stood up. “I didn’t mean to impose, but thanks again for breakfast. I actually came over to borrow some milk. It was either that or I would’ve had to eat dry, cold cereal. Bacon and eggs really hit the spot.”

  He stretched his arms over his head as if trying to work out a few kinks. “The grocery store is also on my chore list today, so let me know if you need anything. Otherwise, I’ll go get started on the yard.”

  She and Zeke both followed him to the door. “Considering how little sleep you got, the grass can wait. Do your homework and buy your groceries.”

  He stepped out onto the back porch and looked around. “Thanks, but it will actually help if I do something active. I’ll spend a couple of hours on the yard, do the grocery shopping, and then hole up and work on my paper this afternoon.”

  It was no surprise that the man wouldn’t cut himself any slack. She would’ve offered to mow the grass herself this one time, but there was no way the stubborn man would let her do that. The agreement he’d made with her late aunt when he first moved in was that he got a reduction in the rent in exchange for doing chores around the place. Abby had inherited him as a tenant along with everything else in her aunt’s estate.

  “Is it okay if Zeke hangs around outside with you? Zoe is coming over in a little while. We’re going to total up the take from last night and get it ready to deposit first thing tomorrow morning.”

  She leaned down to cover the dog’s ears. “You know how much Zeke likes to feel useful. While I don’t want to hurt his feelings, he’s not very good with numbers.”

  Tripp grinned as he started down the steps with the dog following right behind him. “Come on, dog. Us guys have lots of manly work to do out in the yard. We’ll handle the things that take muscles and brute strength, and let the ladies do all that icky math stuff.”

  Abby laughed. “If you want an audience while you’re out there flexing, I can always call Jean and tell her that you’re in dire need of something to eat for dinner tonight. I bet she can whip together one of her tuna specials in no time at all.”

  The look on Tripp’s face was priceless. The poor guy didn’t have it in him to hurt Jean’s feelings by telling her that he didn’t much care for her casseroles. He also couldn’t bring himself to just toss them in the trash, so he ate them no matter what her latest special ingredients turned out to be. In the past, the list had included a
nchovies, jalapeño peppers, and crushed barbecued potato chips as a topping.

  Abby took mercy on him. “Better yet, why don’t we order pizza for dinner?”

  That idea improved his mood. “Sounds good to me. It will even be my treat since you cooked breakfast for both of us.”

  “Great. Make my half the veggie, and I’ll make dessert.”

  “Sounds good.” Tripp watched as Zeke bolted past him headed toward the back corner of the yard. “Let’s aim for eating around six if that’s okay.”

  “Sure thing.” Abby didn’t know about Tripp, but she got real tired of cooking for one. Having dinner delivered was definitely an improvement over the leftover meatloaf she had in the fridge. “I’ll see you then.”

  Meanwhile, the dog came trotting back with one of his grimy tennis balls and dropped it at his buddy’s feet. Softy that he was, Tripp picked it up and threw it deep into the backyard. Abby left them to play their games so she could get organized for her upcoming meeting with Zoe. Unfortunately, her elderly friends weren’t the only ones who enjoyed watching Tripp hanging out with Zeke in the backyard. She gave in to the temptation to observe the pair from her the kitchen window.

  Right now, Zeke was running circles around Tripp with the ball in his mouth. Finally, he charged closer and dropped the slimy thing before dancing back to wait for Tripp to pick it up. Evidently mastiff slobber didn’t gross Tripp out like it did Abby, because he didn’t hesitate to grab the ball up off the ground and send it flying through the air again. Zeke barked and charged after it.

  As soon as he did, Tripp turned to look right at Abby. Darn it, he’d caught her staring again. The man hated being stared at, but he didn’t seem particularly upset this time. He just waved and headed for the shed, where the lawn mower was stored. She took advantage of the moment to put Zeke’s water bowl out on the porch in case he’d worked up a thirst chasing down his ball.

  So what dessert should she make for their dinner tonight? A pie would take too long, but throwing together a blueberry buckle wouldn’t take long. Her decision made, she gathered the ingredients and set to work.

  Twenty minutes later, she put the pan in the oven to bake, and set the timer. A glance at the clock reminded her that Zoe would be arriving any minute now. She quickly made a fresh pot of coffee and added a few more muffins to the basket before carrying it all down the hall to the dining room. The doorbell rang just as she set the tray on the table. Abby dusted her hands off on her jeans and stepped into the entryway. She was about to open the door when she caught a glimpse of the person through the window and froze until she could make sense of what she was seeing.

  First of all, Zoe had dark brown hair and was slightly shorter than Abby. The woman waiting for her to open the door was both far too blond and too tall to be Zoe, which left just one possibility that made any sense. But what would Valerie Brunn be doing on Abby’s front porch? She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. However, it wasn’t as if she could simply ignore the woman and hope she’d go away of her own accord.

  Well, she could, but not with Zoe pulling up in front of the house. Taking a calming breath, she opened the door. “Ms. Brunn, how can I help you?”

  “I need to talk to Tripp. Have you seen him this morning?”

  As she spoke, Valerie leaned to the side as if trying to see past her. Did she think Abby was holding the man prisoner or something? Come to think of it, though, she hadn’t heard the lawn mower, and she hadn’t seen either Tripp or Zeke since she’d started making the coffee cake. Had they decided to go on a run? Not that it mattered right now.

  She gave Valerie a cool look. “Yes, I saw him earlier. Did you try calling his cell?”

  The woman made an exasperated noise. “Of course I did. When he didn’t pick up, I had no choice but to come here looking for him. I knocked on his door first, but there was no answer.”

  By that point, Zoe was walking up the front steps. Abby offered her a much friendlier smile. “Hi, Zoe, come on in. I set us up in the dining room. I thought it would be easier to work there.”

  Abby moved out of the way just enough to make room for Zoe to come inside while making sure to block Valerie from doing the same. “Ms. Brunn, as far as I know, Tripp is at home. He did mention at breakfast this morning that he planned to work in the yard for a while and then study. Maybe he doesn’t want to be disturbed and turned his phone off.”

  Maybe it was petty of her to enjoy the way the woman flinched when Abby mentioned having breakfast with Tripp. “I’m sorry I don’t have time to chat, but I need to join my guest. If I see Tripp, I’ll tell him you stopped by. Have a nice day.”

  Then she stepped back and calmly shut the door in Valerie’s face before the woman could respond.

  Zoe was waiting for her just out of sight in the living room. “Was that who I think it was?”

  Abby felt her cheeks flush hot. It was bad enough she’d been rude to the woman, but having a witness made it that much worse. “Yeah, that’s Valerie Brunn, Tripp’s ex-wife.”

  Zoe moved closer to the window and peeked outside. “What did she want?”

  “She’s looking for Tripp. She didn’t say why.”

  A conscience could be an awful burden sometimes. Her late aunt would’ve been ashamed of the way Abby had treated Valerie just now. Zoe wasn’t looking all that happy about it, either.

  “Zoe, if you’ll give me a minute, I need to try to catch Valerie. She’s alone here in town, and I probably should’ve been more hospitable.”

  Even if she didn’t want to be. Rather than give herself time to rethink her decision, she charged back out the front door and looked up and down the street to see where Valerie had gone. When she didn’t spot her in either direction, she went down the steps and around the side of the house. Sure enough, Valerie was standing on Tripp’s front porch with her face pressed up against the window, trying to see inside.

  “Ms. Brunn, I just realized my dog is gone, too. When Tripp takes Zeke for a run, they don’t usually stay gone long. If you’d like to wait until they return, I have fresh coffee and blueberry muffins. My friend and I really do need to work, but you’d be welcome to sit with us.”

  Abby held her breath, hoping against hope that the woman would simply give up and leave. No such luck. Valerie was already headed in her direction. “If you’re sure you don’t mind. I don’t want to be a bother.”

  There was an underlying edge to the woman’s words that made it clear she knew she already was one, and an unwelcome one at that. That didn’t stop her from following Abby back around to the front of the house. When they walked inside, Zoe was already seated at the table with the paperwork from the auction spread out in neat piles.

  Ordinarily Abby didn’t mind serving as hostess, but right now there was a knot in her stomach that made it hard to play that role. “I’ll go grab another coffee cup and plate. Back in a second.”

  She’d barely gone five steps when she realized she hadn’t even introduced the other two women. Stopping to do so now would only make things more awkward, so she kept going. From the murmur of voices following her down the hall, it seemed likely that the other two women were making up for her lack of manners.

  After grabbing another plate and cup off the shelf, she headed back into the fray. Valerie had taken a seat at the table next to Zoe, who was explaining why she was involved in last night’s auction to help raise funds to assist veterans in the area. Abby stepped into the room just as she said, “Abby is heading up the whole project and is doing a great job of it.”

  Valerie turned her puzzled gaze in Abby’s direction. “So you’re a veteran, too.”

  She sounded surprised by that possibility. What did she think veterans looked like? From what Abby had seen, they came in all shapes and sizes. “No, actually I’m not. I owed someone a favor who is, though, and he asked me to help out.”

  “From what I saw last night, the auction and the dance was a major undertaking.” Valerie picked out a muffin and set it on her p
late. “Must have been one heck of a favor.”

  Abby poured herself a cup of coffee. “It was.”

  Zoe remained silent, but her gaze ping-ponged between Abby and Valerie, her dark eyes alight with curiosity. Considering it was already common knowledge in Snowberry Creek, Abby figured Zoe knew Tripp had helped Abby deal with the aftermath of finding a dead body buried in her backyard. That made it more likely she was waiting to see if Abby was going to explain the situation to Valerie.

  Surrendering to the inevitable, she set her cup aside. “Right after I inherited this house from my aunt, Tripp and I were working out in the yard trying to get rid of some blackberry brambles in the back corner when he spotted a patchwork quilt buried under some old plywood. Well, technically, the goats found the quilt, but Tripp was the one who realized what else they’d uncovered.”

  By that point, Valerie looked confused, not that Abby blamed her. She’d had trouble making sense of the situation at the time, and she’d been standing right there when Tripp tried to keep a goat from eating the quilt.

  Zoe evidently didn’t know as much as Abby had thought because she was looking a bit bewildered. “Goats? Why on earth would you have goats in your yard?”

  “It sounds strange, but if blackberries are taking over the place, you can rent a bunch of goats to come in and eat them. We were watching them work when Tripp realized one of them was chewing on a piece of cloth. He took it away from the goat and then tried to pull the rest of the quilt out from under the plywood. That’s when he realized it was wrapped around a dead body.”

  Valerie looked a bit ashen. “So last night wasn’t the first time you found a . . . well, you know?”

  Actually, it was the third time, but Abby was ready to change the subject. She settled for simply saying, “No, it wasn’t. But like I said, I owed him.”

  Pasting a bright, if somewhat brittle, smile on her face, she reached for the stack of papers and the lockbox that contained the checks and other cash they’d taken in the previous night. “Zoe, should we get started?”