Braxton Campus Mysteries Collection - Books 1-4

Chapter 5-2

“So, I see you"ve met,” Nana D announced, holding the clarinet behind us. “Behaving yourself, Kellan?”

I feigned a look of shock. “Of course, I always do.”

Nana D glanced at Bridget, who responded, “He"s been a perfect gentleman. I can see the resemblance between you two. He"s got your humor and your nose. Like a little button.” Bridget nervously laughed and reached for her bag.

“Well, I need to make a few calls, Nana D. I"ll check in with you later. Anything with your afternoon meetings that I need to prepare for?” I questioned with a growing angst and curiosity.

afternoon meetings“Not at all, dear. I"m not up to anything, at least nothing that your mother should worry about.”

“Or Dad? I"ve heard he"s a bit shaken about the… issue… from last night.” I suddenly remembered I wasn"t supposed to talk about it, per Sheriff Montague.

“Nothing for him to fret over either. Now skedaddle, please. I"ve got more important people to spend my time with.” Nana D shoved me out the door before I could say goodbye to Bridget.

I drove to the sheriff"s office and signed my official statement. In Wharton County, there was one sheriff and a few detectives to cover all the towns, including Braxton. Local police in each town ensured smaller crimes were addressed and minor ordinances were obeyed while the sheriff"s office handled major crimes, specifically murder and grand larceny. The sheriff was out on an interview, but Officer Flatman who"d been on campus the night before was glad to assist. Stepping away from his desk, I saw a notation on a post-it about contact with an Alton Monroe. Next of kin? Something to follow up on.

Eleanor lured me over by offering to prepare an amazing meal. Ten minutes later, I sat at a corner booth at the Pick-Me-Up Diner and devoured my ham and cheese egg white omelet with avocado on the side. I needed something healthy to offset the two pieces of pie I"d already eaten for breakfast. Gone from last night was the relaxed sister who"d rocked a gorgeous dress, and in its place was a serious worker-bee in a pair of stained khakis, Keds, and a faded black polo shirt. Her hair was still pinned up, but she hardly had any makeup on today. Working in a diner would prevent a clean and spiffy appearance.

“Mom and Dad were meeting with Braxton"s public relations director about the accident. Dad told me a bit about Abby. Poor woman, I can"t believe she fell down the steps and died.”

“Did Dad know her well?” I considered revealing what Connor had shared about it not being an accident. Bad enough Nana D had figured it out, I couldn"t let it slip again.

“She"d been the chair of the communications department for many years, but they didn"t get along well. After a few months, Dad decided she didn"t properly represent Braxton. By then, they"d already granted tenure, which meant he had no simple way to get rid of Abby,” Eleanor said.

A server cleared the plates, impressing her boss by wiping the table, asking how everything tasted, and suggesting different dessert options. I declined, knowing I"d already have to run twice as long that afternoon.

“What"s the latest word on the over-achieving end of our family?” I asked Eleanor, who kept in contact with our older siblings much more than I did.

“Eh, Penelope seems happy, though there are days I wonder if she might not be looking for an excuse to have an early mid-life crisis,” Eleanor replied.

“She has her hands full with the kids. But she loves it all, and I can"t imagine she"d have given up any part of her life.” I secretly knew Penelope was hoping to buy a larger stake in her real estate firm. “What about your brother?”

“Hampton"s your brother too, no matter how much you two fight,” she replied. “And with Gabriel refusing to talk to any of us, we can"t ignore him.”

“Yep, I should behave more brotherly to the Hampster.” Don"t even ask why I call him that, as it"s been his nickname forever. Hampton, four years older than me, was a lawyer in Tulsa and married to an oil heiress who never let him go anywhere.

“He"s coming to town soon to share news,” Eleanor said. “I bet his wife"s pregnant again.”

I cringed at the thought of four kids under the age of six. “Speaking of Dad, did Mom say where he disappeared to last night? I tried to contact him. He never answered his phone.” It was odd that he didn"t even text me back, but I figured he got caught up in controlling the release of any information to the media. “Connor thought—”

“No, I left shortly after the party ended.” Eleanor looked peculiar when her face flushed a deeper shade of red. Did she know something she wasn"t telling me?

“I see. How about Connor working at Braxton? I was surprised to hear about that.”

Eleanor shuffled across the booth. “Yeah, big changes, huh? Well, I need to check on a couple of things in the kitchen, which means you need to jet. I"ll call you later. Hugs and kisses.”

We said our goodbyes, which felt a little awkward given how abruptly she hightailed it out of the booth. I texted Maggie to see if she wanted to meet for dinner, but she had plans already. Instead, she suggested I stop by Memorial Library the next day. I confirmed, then bit the bullet to call Derek.

Astonishingly, he answered on the first ring. “How"s the research going?”

“Not so well. There"s been an incident,” I said, angst rising inside my body. I couldn"t tell him she"d been murdered, but it suddenly crossed my mind that he"d pawned her off on me. Could things have gone sour between them, and he was somehow involved in her death?

“Do tell. You know I"m counting on you to help put this background material to bed, so we can start this project as soon as possible, right?” replied Derek.

“Abby died last night.” I pondered what kind of response I"d receive to my news. Would he be nervous? Relieved? Cool and collected?

Derek laughed hysterically. “That"s a great one, Kel-baby. First time I"ve heard that excuse to get out of a work assignment. Awesome way to make me laugh, dude.”

Not a reaction I"d considered. “Seriously, ummm… appears she fell down a flight of steps.”

“Wait, you"re not joking, are you?” he replied.

“No.”

“That"s insane. Didn"t you talk to her yesterday?” He stopped laughing and listened to me.

“We were supposed to meet last night, but then I stumbled upon her dead body with a friend of mine on campus.” I updated Derek about Abby working as a professor at the college, what Myriam Castle and Nana D had said about her, and the little I"d learned from visiting the sheriff"s office that morning.

“Do whatever you can to get her research notes. I texted her earlier to give them to you.” Derek didn"t seem too phased about her death, but he also thought I"d have access to her personal things. “I guess I won"t be getting a reply, huh?” He laughed again, but this time with a more sinister tone.

“And exactly how am I supposed to do that?” Perhaps I should ask him where he was last night.

him“You"re the wannabe investigative reporter, Kel-baby. Break into her office or tell the cops she left something behind for you about a project you were working on together. I need this to be your top priority. We have to film season two as soon as possible, dude.”

Derek was the typical sleaze who made me doubt my career working in Hollywood over the last few months. “Listen, I know this is important. I"ll see what I can do. I guess I"ll be coming back to Los Angeles sooner than we planned.”

Derek was unusually silent on the phone before finally responding. “Why don"t you stick around for her funeral? Meet her contacts and find out who else she worked with. Take advantage of the situation. Get the scoop on her death too. Builds a good side story for the show. Research professor falls to her death while working on Dark Reality. Think of the ratings, Kel-baby!”

Dark RealityHis last comment lit the proverbial fire under me to finish my time with him as quickly as possible. “Yeah, good plan. What hotel are you staying at? I"m thinking about visiting Hawaii next month.” I had no intention of going to the tropical islands, but how much did I know about this man outside of work? Was he really where he said he was?

“Royal something, can"t recall. Good chatting. Gotta run. Get that scoop. Your job depends on it!”

Before I responded, Derek hung up on me. What an i***t! I needed to quit, but I was close to getting my name on the credits for a full season, and this would be the exact bonus to staking a claim to my own show in the future. It wouldn"t be difficult to check if Abby had any notes in her office. Attending the funeral with my family was a good show of faith.

Since Maggie was on my agenda the following day, I"d add in visiting Lorraine. She"d have information on Abby"s funeral arrangements. I also wanted to touch base with Connor to determine what he"d been up to for the last ten years. Ever since Francesca"s death, I"d pushed away all our friends in Los Angeles and spent my free time with Emma. I hadn"t truly connected with a group of guys since my days in the fraternity. Abby"s death reminded me too much of the lost man I"d become when my wife died two years ago. While in town, I could reconnect with some old buddies and solve a crime!