Midthirties. Six foot even. Two hundred thirty pounds, too much of it fat. This guy hadn’t worked out in a while. The only threat was my kicking that smug look off his face and getting arrested for it.
Carter took one look at the man, and I knew it wasn’t going to end well. Clearly, there was history.
“Palmer,” Carter said as the man approached.
“That’s Detective Reed,” he said then gave me an up-and-down appraisal.
Carter put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed, and I wasn’t certain if it was to keep me from clocking Palmer or to keep himself from doing it.
The man extended his hand to me. “I’m Palmer Reed,” he said. “Detective with the state police.”
I smiled as I shook. “Fortune Redding. Former CIA.”
He smirked. “What division?”
“Field,” I said. “Terrorist elimination.”
His eyes widened a tiny bit, but he was trying to stay cool and maintain his upper hand farce.
“Interesting company you keep, LeBlanc,” he said. “I got a call from the ME explaining the situation. I’ll be heading up this investigation and am here to inform you that you have no duties concerning this case. And I’ll need to speak to Mrs. LeBlanc right away.”
Carter stiffened. “She’s not conscious and until she’s been thoroughly checked out and cleared by a doctor, no one is going in that room but family or medical staff.”
“Suit yourself,” Palmer said. “But you and I both know that daylight’s already burning on this one. The sooner I get the facts, the sooner I can put this guy away.”
He looked at me again. “I understand you’re the one who found the second victim. I’ll need to schedule some time to speak to you as well. We could talk over dinner.”
“Not unless you want to choke on it,” I said.
Carter didn’t even bother to hide his laugh and Palmer glared.
“Suit yourself,” he said. “I can take your statement tomorrow. I’m sure you don’t know anything that the forensics team won’t tell me.”
“I’m sure that’s true,” I said and smiled, wondering how long it would take him to ID the victim. If St. Ives didn’t have a record, I was going to guess somewhere between never and eternity.
He handed Carter his card. “I expect a phone call as soon as your mother is available for questioning.”
Carter shoved the card in his pocket but didn’t say a word. There was a long, uncomfortable stare-down, and finally, Palmer turned around and walked away.
“What a douche,” I said as he walked through the doors into the lobby. “What’s his problem?”
“His parents divorced when he was a kid and his dad moved to Sinful. He worked the oil field and had been commuting from New Orleans, so he took the opportunity to save on some commute time. Palmer’s mother grew up in Mudbug, and she was known in Sinful mostly as a wild child. The general gossip was that she preferred the nightlife in the city so forced a move shortly after they married.”
“And she wasn’t interested in giving it up after the divorce.”
“Heck, according to rumor, she turned up the dial, but she wasn’t about to give Palmer’s father custody. She wanted to ensure her paychecks, and since his father didn’t seem overly interested in parenting, Palmer didn’t spend a lot of time in Sinful except in the summer. But it was enough time for people to figure out he had some issues and a lot of problems with me. He dragged those issues with him into the Marine Corps, where I had the misfortune to be assigned to the same unit at my first station.”
“Let me guess—he always needs to be right and number one.”
“Something like that. The problem is, he was rarely either. And for whatever reason, he locked in on me as kids and took an immediate disliking to me. I hated when he visited summers. I couldn’t shake him off of me.”
“Jealous, I’m sure. You were the town golden boy.”
“Well, it didn’t get any better with age. When I made Force Recon and he didn’t—like he ever stood a chance—he made up some lies about me and drugs and women to try to get me removed from the unit. It didn’t work and he got transferred, so I thought I was done with him.”
I considered the somewhat flabby man I’d just scrutinized.
“What did they transfer him to? Because he doesn’t look to be in great shape.”
“He never was. He couldn’t make it through any of the fitness tests for Force Recon and couldn’t shoot worth a darn either. Heck, they didn’t even send him to the sandbox. They transferred him to a warehouse stateside and far as I know, all he ever did his entire career was count inventory. Then as luck would have it, we both discharged around the same time and he pushed hard for the deputy position in Sinful.”
“Which you got,” I said. “Did he really think Sheriff Lee would hire him over you? That’s just stupid.”
“He’s got plenty of that to go around. Thank God we have the state police to take on the unqualified.”
I shook my head. “And that’s the guy tasked with finding out who killed St. Ives and attacked Emmaline. We’re doomed.”
“No way I’m leaving this up to that idiot.”
“You don’t have a choice. That guy is just looking for a reason to get one up on you. If you so much as stick an eyelash into his investigation, he’ll have your job and there won’t be a thing you can do about it.”
Carter’s face flashed with frustration and anger and I couldn’t blame him. But he knew I was right. Palmer would be watching his every move—probably in lieu of conducting the investigation, given Carter’s description.
“There’s another way,” Carter said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
He looked me straight in the eyes. “You don’t answer to anyone. He can’t hurt you.”
“That first statement is true, and to the CIA’s dismay, always has been. The second goes without saying in every way possible. But if you’re meaning that I should launch my own investigation, I’m sort of wondering what makes you think I haven’t already?”
He grinned. “Then what are you still doing here? Get those two troublemakers you run with to your house and put on the coffee. You have work to do.”
“Call me as soon as you know anything.”
“Of course.”
I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him tight. “She’s going to be fine.”
I prayed I was right.
Gertie whistled when I finished recounting my and Carter’s exchange with Palmer at the hospital. She shook her head and grabbed another one of the mint cookies Ally had dropped by my house the day before.
“Palmer Reed. No one’s favorite summer visitor,” she said.
“So you know him?” I asked.
“Everyone knew Palmer,” Ida Belle said. “He made sure of it.”
“He TP’d houses, threw eggs on windows, harassed pets, stomped on flowers, and generally made himself a nuisance,” Gertie said. “Got caught several times pilfering through people’s houses when they weren’t home. Items came up missing during his visits and everyone pretty much knew who did it, but without proof they couldn’t do much about it.”