tears off her cheeks and pushing wayward curls from her forehead.
“No, no, I can’t go home. I need to get to school.”
“I don’t think you’re in any shape to—”
“I’ll be okay.” She shuddered, then drew a deep breath. “I don’t want to go home. I need to think of something besides what I saw,” she said, and dug a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose.
“Then, for the time being, take a seat in my car.”
“Yes, thank you,” she said, before gathering up her things and moving toward the police cruiser on shaky legs as Trey headed back to the gas station. He went straight into the garage and then stopped, shocked to the core.
“Dear God,” he muttered. He gritted his teeth and began looking at everything but the body.
At the outset, it seemed obvious the lift had failed. It happened. He would have to check on the whereabouts of the other mechanics who worked for Paul to see if they’d been with him earlier. After a quick survey of the garage, he was disappointed to find out there was no security camera on the premises. It would have helped to know if Paul had been alone. He would send his officers to check if any cameras from surrounding businesses had a view of the station. He met Carl and Lonnie on his way out.
“Carl, is that department camera still in your cruiser?”
“Yes, sir,” Carl said.
“You know what to do. Get plenty of pictures from every angle, and dust the control to the hydraulic lift and the front door for prints. Lonnie, you make sure and keep this scene clear. The coroner will be showing up in a couple of hours.”
Lonnie’s eyes widened. “Are you saying—”
“I’m just covering all the bases,” Trey said.
“Yes, sir,” Lonnie said, adding, “This just feels so weird. We don’t have stuff like this happen here in Mystic, and now two of our locals are dead within a month, although Dick Phillips’ death wasn’t an accident.”
“Yes, and we need to make damn sure this was an accident before we close this case, understand?”
Both officers nodded.
“You and Carl stay on the premises until the coroner is finished, and make sure this place is locked before you leave. Since the lift failed, you may need to call in the fire department to help the coroner remove the body.”
“Yes, sir,” Lonnie said.
One issue dealt with, Trey thought. Now he needed to talk to Lissa.
Trey’s phone rang as he was heading for his cruiser. He glanced at the caller ID and frowned as he answered.
“Hello, Mom. What’s up?” he asked.
Betsy Jakes’ voice was shaking. “Is it true Paul Jackson is dead?”
He paused near the back of his cruiser.
“Damn, bad news spreads fast in small towns. Yes, but I have yet to notify the next of kin, so I need to do that now before someone does it for me.”
He heard his mother gasp, then begin moaning as if in great pain.
Trey frowned. “Mom?”
When the line went dead, he realized she’d hung up on him. His frown deepened. When Dick Phillips had died, she had scared him with her behavior, although he’d chalked up her reaction to being the one who’d found his body. Now she seemed on the verge of going down that road again. Damn it. He needed to be in three places at once. Then he thought of his fiancée, Dick Phillips’ daughter, Dallas. She could go check on his mother.
He made a quick call home.
Dallas answered on the second ring. “Hey, honey, did you forget something?”
“No. Shit hit the fan early today. Paul Jackson is dead. Looks like the lift fell on him. Would you please go check on Mom, and if she’s acting weird, stay with her for a little while until I can get over there? I need to talk to her, but I can’t get over there for a while.”
Dallas was horrified. With her father’s murder still fresh in her mind, she immediately empathized.
“Yes, I’m on my way. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’ll stay with her until you can get there.”
“Thanks,” he said, then pocketed his phone and got in the car with Lissa.
It appeared she’d been doing a repair job on her makeup. Her eyes were still red and slightly swollen, but she had reapplied some makeup and seemed calmer.
“Are you sure you want to go to work?” Trey asked.
“Yes, I’m sure,” she said. “If I need to sign anything, just call the office and leave me a message. I can drop by the station after school.”
“Earl said you already gave him your statement?” he said as he started the car and pulled away.
She nodded. “There wasn’t much to tell. I went in to see if my car was ready and...” She swallowed around the lump in her throat, then took a deep breath. “I went in and saw what had happened. I ran back out crying. My friend Margaret Lewis called the police.”
“Did she go inside?” Trey asked.
Her voice was shaking again. “Oh, no, no one else did except your officer.”
“I’ll ask you not to talk about the details, okay?”
She shuddered. “Of course.”
A few moments later he turned the corner and pulled up to the front walk of the school building.
“So here you are. I still think you should have gone home.”
She gave him a brief smile. “Thank you for the ride,” she said, jumping out and fumbling with her things as she walked away.
Trey drove back to the station. He wanted the privacy of his office to call Paul’s son and was dreading this call almost as much as the one he’d made to Dallas when Dick Phillips’ body was discovered.
Inside, he sat down behind his desk, searched online for Jackson Lumber in Summerton and said a quick prayer.
* * *
Mack Jackson was outside in the breezeway of his lumberyard, watching one of his employees loading up an order. He eyed the short line of trucks and pickups behind it, four of which were also being loaded. After satisfying himself that all his customers were being helped, he headed back into the main building and then down the hall toward his office.
He was well liked by his employees and was one of Summerton’s most eligible bachelors. He had no interest in changing that. He stayed friendly
