RELEASE DAY!
Synopsis:
Sometimes you need to be careful what you wish for.
Pretty much settled into her new home in Appomattox with Brett and his daughter, Sheridan longs for something to keep her busy. That is, until Maddie and her new friend are framed for theft and murder. Not quite the distraction she had hoped for, but she’ll turn over every rock to prove their innocence. In the process, she learns about the powerful Buchanan family and the history of the local community. Will the truth come out before the person calling the shots takes Sheridan and Maddie out of the picture?
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Read an excerpt:
My complaints to my close friend, Kim, about
boredom were interrupted by the slamming of the front door and I ended my call.
Probably something I’d have to get used to as step-mom to a teenager. In the kitchen,
I found Maddie, her backpack thrown on the floor. She was stomping around the counter
island, her face in a pout.
“What’s
up Maddie?”
“You
won’t believe what happened today. It’s unbelievable. I still can’t believe it
and I was there.”
Her
voice rose an octave as she vented and I had no clue what she was talking
about. Maddie went to a variety of activities during the week. They were called
“camps” but that seemed a misnomer to me. Robotics, theater, and computers were
not quite what I thought of as a “camp.” I waited a few seconds and she ranted
some more.
“Alex
was accused of stealing money from the office. It was in his backpack, but he
didn’t steal it. They didn’t even give him a chance to explain. They called his
mom and took him away. He was mortified.”
“Calm
down and help me understand. Can we back up please? Who’s Alex?”
“He’s
one of the kids attending all these camps with me. Of all the kids, he’s been
the nicest to me. I don’t understand why they don’t believe he had no idea how
the money got in his backpack.”
She
finally simmered down and plopped into a chair, a grimace on her face.
“You
may be upset for nothing. Once they got him to the station with his parents and
got more information, they may have figured out they made a mistake. But why
would they think he stole the money and why are you so sure he didn’t do it?”
“I
don’t understand why they picked on him. The officer walked in and asked for
him. Then asked where his backpack was. Alex pointed to his pack and the
officer went over, opened it and pulled out an envelope and money fell out. It
wasn’t even hidden. Then they grabbed him. He looked around but nobody helped
him. I didn’t know what to do to help him.”
“What
makes you think he’s innocent? How else would it get in his backpack?”
“You
don’t understand! Alex’s nice. He … He wouldn’t do that.”
“How
do you think the money ended up in his backpack then?”
“I’m
not sure and Dad says I shouldn’t accuse people without facts. When the police
came and asked for Alex, two other boys snickered and fist-bumped. I think they
set him up. All our backpacks stay in the main room while we go in and out.
They could have stolen the money and stuck it in his pack. Then they must have
called the police and made an anonymous report or something. We’ve got to help
him.”
She
stomped around the kitchen some more and kicked her backpack.
“Maddie,
is your backpack in the same place as Alex’s and the others’?”
She
turned to me and nodded. “Yeah, why? They’re all together in the main room.”
“Humor
me, okay? Can you dump everything out of your backpack and make sure that the
only things in there really belong to you?”
I
cleaned off the table and she emptied her back pack onto the table. Books,
brush, hair ties, crumpled up papers, pens, pencils, stale cookie, and an
envelope.
“What?
Where did that come from?” Her eyes opened wide. She went to grab the envelope
and I caught her hand.
“Don’t
touch it. You don’t know where the envelope came from or what’s inside?”
She
shook her head, eyes wide. “Am I going to get arrested now, too?”
“I
don’t think it will come to that. Your dad will be home in a little while and
we’ll show him what we found. He’ll decide what to do. But don’t touch the
envelope in case there are fingerprints or something else that might help
identify who handled that envelope, okay?”
She
nodded and sat down, staring at the mess.
“Is
that everything? What about the pockets? Everything out, even the crumbs.” I
realized this was going to be the cleanest this backpack had been since she got
it almost a year ago. Maddie emptied and gasped as she found another envelope
in one of the outside pockets.
“Sheridan,
there’s another one here. Oh, no, I touched the edge!”
“It’s
okay. Let me see if I can find something…” I rummaged through the kitchen
drawer and pulled out serving tongs. “I’ll use these tongs and pull it the rest
of the way out.” It took a few tries, but I managed to get the envelope out and
dropped it with the other one. Then I released the tongs and left them on top.
“Now
what?”
“Why
don’t you go through all the stuff you just dumped here and either throw it
away or put it back in the backpack. Except the two envelopes. In the meantime,
I’ll work on finishing up the meatloaf and potatoes for dinner. Later, after we
talk to your Dad, you might wipe the whole thing down with a sanitizer.”
She
made a face. “This cookie doesn’t look so good. Did you make any more today?”
I
looked at the cookie she’d picked up out of the pile. “That one bit the dust.
Yes, there are more cookies over on the counter – only one, please. We’ll be
eating in an hour.”
Somehow,
my boring day seemed preferable to the drama. The idea of the camps was giving Maddie something to do. A big
benefit, the camps provided an opportunity for her to make friends before
starting at her new middle school in the fall. As with most 13-year-olds,
middle school was a big deal. It was convenient she attended the camps at
Clover Leaf Middle School where she’d be a student. And it had been working
until then.
***
Maddie and I finished the dinner
preparation and set the table as Brett pulled in the driveway. He raked his
hand through his dark curly hair. That was a sure sign that he was tired or
stressed. This situation with Maddie would push him over the edge, likely add a
few gray hairs. Meeting him at the door, we kissed and that at least brought a
smile to his eyes.
“Hungry?”
He
looked past me to Maddie. I followed his gaze. Shoulders dropped and mouth
quivering, she’d lost her independent teen, “I can take on the world” attitude.
“What’s
wrong?”
He’d
barely got the words out and she was in his arms, sobbing. Her long brown hair
fell over her shoulders.
“Maddie’s
friend, Alex, is in trouble. He’s been accused of stealing money. Maddie thinks
he’s been arrested. The police found an envelope with money in his backpack.”
“Do
you want me to see if I can find out what happened with your friend?” He caught
my expression and his jaw clenched. “That’s not all, is it?”
“Afraid
not. Maddie is sure he was set up, that somebody put the envelope in his
backpack. When she told me both their backpacks were unattended in the room, I
had her empty out hers. We found two envelopes that aren’t hers.”
His
jaw clenched, he mumbled. “We’ll figure this out. Let me call Chief Peabody and
have him send someone over.”
“I’ll
finish putting dinner on the table. I imagine they’ll be tied up for a while.”
Brett
nodded and walked down the hall to our office. Maddie moved as if to follow him
and I stopped her. “He’ll take care of it and you can help me in the kitchen.”
A
few minutes later, he joined us. “There was a shooting. It’ll be a while.
Envelopes under the tongs?”
“We
used the tongs so we wouldn’t touch them.”
He
nodded. It was a quiet dinner, the envelopes grabbing our attention and
dampening our usual dinnertime banter. We cleaned up and waited.
Excerpt from A New Place, Another Murder. Copyright © 2018. All rights reserved.
