***So far, Miranda Jessup Buckley has been jilted, fired and left to take care of her ex-lover's child.   For every step forward, she takes two back.  While at Haynes Pond, she discovers the dead body of Ed Preston, the local pervert.  The same Ed Preston, she tossed out of her store at scissor point.  Knowing word will spread like wildfire, Miranda has to take action. ***

 

 

 

 

 

Aaron comes back to the truck with red eyes and a sad face.  He then proceeds to cry on my shoulder for ten minutes.  

 

"Why?  I mean how could someone do that?" he says, once he can finally talk.

 

"Aaron, did you know Ed Preston?"  I ask, trying to be gentle.

 

"No.  I didn't."

 

I reach over and put his shaking hand in between both of mine.  "What I'm gonna tell you isn't going to be easy to hear, okay?  But you need to understand something."

 

Aaron nods, sniffing and periodically wiping wayward tears from his cheeks.  "Go ahead."

 

"I knew him, Aaron.  I've known Ed Preston for many years.  And, I'm sorry to tell you this, but the guy was a creep.  He traumatized many women in Patterson."

 

Tilting his head, Aaron opens his mouth to say something.  "Are you happy he's dead?"

 

I drop his hand back in his lap.  "Do I look happy?  Did you hear me whistling Dixie when I flipped the couch over, Aaron? No.  No, I'm not happy."

 

"But you said he was a creep."

 

"He was.  Did I like him? No.  Do I think he deserved to die? No."

 

Waylon looks over, obviously worried about Aaron's state of mind.  "Do we have to stay here?"

 

"I thought we could go back down and pull that skeleton thing out of the other car,"  Aaron says.

 

"Shit, I forgot about that one," I groan and lean back against the seat.  "I think it's gonna have to wait a few days."

 

To my surprise, Waylon looks relieved.   He quickly climbs in the backseat and buckles his seatbelt.

 

Aaron doesn't say anything but climbs out of the truck to go check with Mitch about leaving.

 

When he comes back he looks at me.  "I think that cop likes you."  He throws the gearshift into reverse. He's silent most of the way home.

 

"Did you look at, uh, him?" he asks. 

 

"Ed?"

 

He nods.  "Your friend said he was posed."

 

"What does that mean? Posed "

 

Aaron looks over to make sure Waylon isn't listening in.  "His hand was shoved down in his pants."

 

"That means whoever put him there, knew him."

 

"That's what your friend said."

 

"Stop calling him my friend.  He's the Sheriff of Patterson County.  Now, what else did he say?"

 

"He said that since there were no drag marks in the mud, he got lured there."

 

I shiver.  No one in their right mind would go off with a stranger.  There were no signs of a struggle.  So, apparently, Ed knew and felt safe around whoever he was with.

 

"If I get Chinese food, can I come over for dinner?"  Aaron says.

 

"Yes."

 

He looks at me with a grateful smile.  "I'm real sorry you were the one to find him.  And I'm real sorry I got so emotional back there.  It's just that we live in such a bad world sometimes."

 

I reach over and squeeze his arm gently.  

 

 

                ****************

 

While Waylon takes a shower and Aaron runs to pick up the food, I call my momma.  I can only imagine when this gets out, every old bitty in the county will be calling her to find out all about it.

 

"Well, well, Miss Miranda.  It's been a while since you checked on your old mother."

 

"It's been a couple of weeks.  And you aren't old."

 

Just hearing her voice knocks some of that dreadful feeling out of me.

 

"You still taking care of that boy?"

 

"Yes.  I'm still taking care of that boy."

 

"Okay, enough small talk.  When you call, that usually means something's afoot."

 

"Who are you, Sherlock Holmes?" I laugh.

 

"Spill it."

 

"You may or may not read about me in the paper."

 

"Interview?"

 

"More like interrogation."

 

"Are you in trouble, Randa?"

 

I close my eyes.  How do you tell your mother you found a murder victim? That you are, also, one of the prime suspects.  That you had an altercation with him.  Why doesn't Hallmark make a fucking card for that?  They have one for everything else.

 

"Miranda, please answer my question?  Are you in trouble?"

 

"I found a dead body today."

 

"Do I know them?"

 

"Every woman in Patterson knows him.  Ed Preston."

 

"Oh my Lord.  Where did you find him?"

 

"Haynes Pond."

 

"Well, what on earth were you doing there?  People don't still go parking there, do they?"

 

"I'll explain all that later.  I just wanted you to know what might come out.  Oh, and I might have threatened him with some scissors the other day."

 

She gets very quiet on the other end.  "You know my friends all talk about their children and it's about promotions, vacations, having babies, losing weight.  Just normal, boring stuff.  I dream of the day I can tell them things about you.  You know, normal stuff.  Is that a pipe dream, Miranda?"

 

"Normal is overrated, Momma.  Everybody knows that.  I gotta go.  I love you."

 

"I love you, too.  And, Randa, please be careful."

 

I hang up the phone and lean against the counter.  I think about normal.  A little normal might be nice for a change.  But I'm not gonna hold my breath.

 

 

To be continued ...