A Flicker of Doubt - Tim Myers [24]
“You saw me,” I said as I brushed past him. The key wasn’t in its usual place, and I started panicking, thinking that someone was in the apartment I almost said something to Markum when my fingertip brushed something in the bottom of the tray. I must not have put it
back in its place properly, and I was lucky it had fallen inside instead of out onto the ground.
I handed the key to Markum, who looked surprised, but pleased. He slid it into the lock, opened the door, then replaced the key immediately. Once we were inside, the apartment was nearly pitch-black. I knew Becka always bought the heaviest drapes she could find, since she liked to sleep late whenever she could. A light suddenly sprang up, and I realized Markum had turned on his small flashlight.
“Let’s just grab the machine and go.”
“Easy, Harrison. We’re here. Why don’t we look around again?”
“Markum, we searched the place in the daylight I don’t want the sheriff to catch us in here.”
“He’s busy with a body on the county line, remember? Okay, I don’t want to explain this to him any more than you do.”
He unplugged the machine and wrapped the cord around it “Are you ready?”
“Let’s go.”
We were back outside in less than a minute. As I stepped back to let Markum close the door, the porch light from next door came on. Without thinking or hesitating, I dove through the bushes and started running. Markum was beside me, then suddenly he passed me and was waiting for me when we got back to the truck.
I jammed the key into the ignition, started the truck and took off without looking back. “Man, that was too close,” I said once we were on the highway again.
“It wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t have at least one adrenaline rush from all of this.”
We got back to my apartment and quickly plugged the machine in. I hit the play button after I put the tape in, but all we got was a garbled mess. Markum said, “So we took that risk for nothing.”
“We had to know,” I said. “I don’t know about you, but I won’t forget that voice anytime soon. If I hear it again, I’ll know it”
“There was a lot more on that tape than the voice, though. There was something in the background, something I didn’t quite catch that might have helped us.”
I slapped Markum on the shoulder. “It’s done, so there’s no use worrying about it now. Let’s call it a night. We can figure out what our next step is tomorrow.”
He hesitated, as if he wanted to apologize again, then started to leave the apartment “Tomorrow it is, Harrison.”
“See you then,” I said and ushered him out.
The tape had been a dead end, and Becka’s purse hadn’t been much better. All in all, it was a bad end to a horrible day, and the only thing I wanted was to put it all behind me. I found myself wishing Heather was out of town so I could have her cat Esmeralda for company, but I couldn’t very well call her up and ask her if I could borrow her cat Well, I could, and I knew she’d gladly do it but I didn’t want to face the teasing I’d get about it For tonight I’d have to get through it without my feline friend. Talking to Erin, unloading on her, had done me a world of good, but my time with Markum had negated it I considered calling her despite the teasing I would probably get, then glanced at the clock and saw that it was already past midnight There was no way I could bring myself to make the call. I wasn’t looking forward to closing my eyes, afraid of what might haunt my dreams, but I stretched out on the couch to rest, and before I realized what was happening, I was fast asleep.
Before we opened the candleshop the next morning, I drove by the Gunpowder Gazette to get a copy of the newspaper I’d found clipped in Becka’s apartment. I had my own subscription, but I’d already recycled mine. While I detested the owner and publisher of the paper, it was critical to my business that I keep up with the events of Micah’s Ridge, and the only way to do that was to read the Gazette. Thankfully the newspaper office still had some for sale for that date, and as I was paying for my paper, Hank Klein,