Southern Pecan Killer Page 7

  “Sweetheart, you go play with your dolly in my yard, hear? I’m gonna go talk to your auntie for a minute, and I’ll be right back.”

  Securing the child inside her fenced yard, Beulah sent a quick text to Chas Beckett, then headed over to Dora Lyndhurst’s home, a look of fierce determination on her face. The back door was slightly ajar, probably so that Kaylee could come and go as she pleased, so Beulah swung it open and tiptoed in, hearing a woman’s voice when she stepped into the kitchen. The sound seemed to be coming from the vicinity of the bedroom, and Beulah headed down the hall. When she got to the doorway of William and Dora’s room, her eyes widened with shock. Despite the efforts of the police crime scene cleanup team, there were still faded bloodstains on the floor, and over in front of the closet, Jeannie Conrad was parading around in her dead sister’s clothing and jewelry and talking to herself.

  “You were always the favorite. You got everything you wanted. All the best gifts, good grades, the handsome husband who should’ve been mine…even a baby girl that should’ve been mine. I wanted kids, you didn’t, and you got Billy’s baby. Well she’s mine now, dead Dora.”

  The laugh that Jeannie let out was so sinister that, chilled to the bone, Beulah could take it no longer.

  “You sad, sick girl. You killed your sister and her husband and stole their baby,” Beulah gasped, mad as a hornet. “You know what that’s gonna do to that child? She’s gonna have to be raised by that sorry excuse for a mother that you’ve got.”

  Jeannie screamed in surprise when Beulah first started speaking, but as the elderly woman went on chastising her, her eyes narrowed to slits and she grinned a sadistic grin.

  “Are you meddling in something that’s none of your business, you old hag?” Jeannie took a slow step toward Beulah, who didn’t move an inch. “Because that’s what Billy did. He came in from the garage when I thought he’d left for work, and it was the last thing he ever did. Brought him to his knees with his own baseball bat, and when he got up to come after me, I took him out. It was a shame, really. He would’ve liked me much better as a wife, but he freaked out when he saw that Dora was dead. Ding dong the Dora’s dead,” she grinned again.

  “You crazier than a bed bug, but that don’t excuse what you did, no sir, it surely does not,” Beulah said in a low voice, her rage growing.

  Sirens wailed in the distance and Jeannie froze, her eyes darting behind Beulah. She made a dive at the old woman, who stepped out of the way, just in the nick of time, and as she did, Spencer came barreling into the room, putting Jeannie Conrad in a fighter’s hold from which she couldn’t break free, before she even knew what was happening to her.

  “You okay, Miss Beulah?” he asked, pinning down the struggling killer.

  “I woulda been okay even if you hadn’t come in like the cavalry. I was about to show this lunatic how we handle threats in the deep South,” Beulah huffed, rolling her shoulders.

  “Well, thanks anyway, we’ll take it from here,” Chas replied, moving into the room, with Solinsky behind him. “The social worker is in your back yard with Kaylee. Why don’t you go check on them,” he suggested.

  “I surely will. Somebody’s got to be looking out for that poor lamb,” Beulah shot a scathing glance at Jeannie.

  “I was a good mommy. She always liked me better. She deserved to be my baby,” the murderer wailed.

  “Mr. Chas, I’m gonna get myself out of here before I lose my patience,” Beulah growled.

  “Good idea, Beulah, thanks for your help.”

  “I wish I could’ve done more, I surely do,” the woman muttered, tromping out of the room.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  * * *

  “I can’t believe that a woman would kill her own sister out of jealousy,” Echo shuddered, peering over Missy’s shoulder at the tray of cupcakes that Beulah had just brought to the table. The three women were sitting together before the shop opened, trying to process the horrific events of the past week.

  “I can’t imagine what it had to be like for that poor traumatized baby, seeing her mama and daddy like that,” Beulah said angrily.

  “What’s going to happen to little Kaylee?” Echo asked. “Have you heard anything?”

  Missy sighed, her heart breaking for the sweet child. “Chas said that all of William Lyndhurst’s relatives refused to take her in, and the social worker said that she didn’t think they’d meet the criteria for placement anyway. Her grandmother said that she couldn’t take her in until she could find a full-time nanny, so right now, she’s in the crisis nursery.”

  “You mean the orphan’s home?” Beulah was appalled. “That baby must be scared to death,” she shook her head.

  “Poor thing, so she’s just a ward of the state right now?” Echo murmured, pushing her cupcake away, suddenly not hungry.

  “I wonder if I’d make a good mom,” Missy stared into her coffee.

  Echo and Beulah stared at her for a moment.

  “Oh my gosh…are you thinking about trying to adopt Kaylee?” Echo pounced, her eyes bright with excitement. “Missy that’s an amazing idea! You and Chas would be the best parents ever!!!” she gushed.

  “I don’t know…” Missy hesitated. “I don’t really know anything about kids. She just looked so sad and alone, it breaks my heart.”

  “That sounds like a heart full of a mama’s love,” Beulah observed, giving Missy a pointed look.

  “Do you really think I could do it?” she asked the two women. “I mean, I have the shop and I’m always so busy…”

  “That’s what you got me for,” Beulah reminded her. “And I know all there is to know about raising them babies,” she chuckled.

  “I didn’t know anything about babies before Jazz came along, and I haven’t managed to mess up too badly,” Echo grinned. “We can raise our babies together. It’ll be like Kaylee has a sister.”

  “I always wanted a little girl, but I never thought I’d meet a man whom I’d trust enough to start a family with,” Missy confessed.

  “Well, they don’t make better men than Mr. Chas,” Beulah commented.

  “Except for Kel, I’d say that’s true,” Echo chimed in. “Have you talked to him about it?”

  Missy shook her head. “I feel weird bringing it up.”

  “Talk to the man. See how he feels. This needs to be a decision that you both make,” Beulah advised.

  “Look at it this way,” Echo’s grin was full of mischief. “You’d get to have your little girl without having to deal with morning sickness and stretch marks.”

  “You’re terrible,” Missy shook her head.

  “Nope, she’s right. It’s a gift, Miss Missy. A precious gift. All you and Mr. Chas got to do is unwrap it.”

  **

  “Can we talk?” Missy asked, intertwining her fingers with her husband’s as they walked on the beach, the early autumn evening air cool on their skin.

  “Uh-oh, the three scariest words in the English language,” Chas teased gently, bringing their hands to his mouth so that he could kiss the top of hers. “Of course. What’s on your mind, sweetie?”

  “Have you ever thought of having kids?” she asked, after taking a deep breath.

  “Ouch, that must’ve taken some courage,” Chas observed, looking down at his hand, which Missy was unconsciously squeezing with all her might.

  “Oh, sorry,” she giggled nervously.

  “No worries, you can always hang on as tightly to me as you’d like,” he smiled at her tenderly.

  “But…have you? Ever thought about it, I mean.”

  “Not until I met you.”

  “And?”

  Chas stopped walking and faced his wife, putting his hands gently on her shoulders.

  “What are you really trying to ask me, beloved?” the look on his face melted her heart.

  “I…I just…”

  “Yes?” he kissed her forehead, her struggle puzzling him.

  “Little Kaylee has been abandoned, practically, and I ju
st feel so bad, and…”

  “And?” he prompted, his eyes never leaving those of his wife.

  “And…what if we adopted her? Should we do that? Would you want to? Am I crazy?” she blurted in a rush.

  Chas grinned. “My tender-hearted Missy. What a noble thing for you to say. Do you want to adopt Kaylee? I always had the impression that you were frightened by the thought of having a child.”

  “I am, but, I think…with you…it could be beautiful,” Missy’s eyes filled with tears.

  “Are you sure about this?” Chas stroked her cheek with his thumb and she nodded.

  “I’d love to raise a daughter with you, Missy Beckett. I’ll look into it in the morning,” he kissed her soundly and she clung to him and cried.

  “Why the tears, sweetie?” he asked, wiping them away.

  “Because I love you,” she whispered. “And we might be getting a sweet little girl.”

  He pulled her close and held her, the ocean lapping at their ankles. Life just got way more interesting.

  Copyright 2017 Summer Prescott

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