Found and Destroyed: The Second Sarah Martin Mystery

  Found and Destroyed

  Danelle Helget

  The Sara Martin Mystery Series

  Lost and Found

  Found and Destroyed

  Dedication

  For my Mom, who always told me that I could do anything I put my mind to. You are truly cherished. Thanks for the support, encouragement, and love.

  With love,

  Nell

  Copyright © 2012 Danelle Helget

  ISBN 978-0-87839-862-1

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  First Edition: June 2012

  Electronic Edition: June 2012

  Published by

  North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.

  P.O. Box 451

  St. Cloud, Minnesota 56302

  www.northstarpress.com

  North Star Press Facebook

  https://www.facebook.com/pages/NorthStar-Press/100096141174

  Chapter One

  Regular or decaf? That’s easy. Cash or check? Again, easy. Paper or plastic? Easy. Deciding whether to live in the Twin Cities close to friends, family, and lots of great restaurants and shops, or in a cabin on a lake with acreage and only three neighbors way up north where dirt roads outnumber paved … that’s harder. So I decided, since I couldn’t decide, that I would just buy more furniture to fill up the cabin in Nisswa and keep my apartment in the Cities too. A perfect scenario for the indecisive!

  I’m Sara Martin and ya know what? I’m kind of a mess. There, I said it. Ahhh, it’s like free therapy. Just saying it makes me feel tons better. The last six months of my life have been a train wreck, to say the least.

  Late last summer I went on a vacation at a cabin with my husband of four years, Jake, and a couple we’d been friends with since grade school, Mark and Lily. While on that vacation, I found out that my husband and Lily were having an affair. That gave me a migraine, so I went to lie down. I woke up to find out that Lily was gone. Turns out that, while I was asleep, she and Mark went on a walk in the woods to talk about things when she slipped on a rocky patch, hit her head, and died instantly. Mark and Jake stupidly decided to cover up her death because it looked suspicious, and they were sure people would believe they killed her because of the affair.

  Well, it all got figured out by my new friend, Detective Derek Richards … with a little help from me and some weird dreams. I don’t like the word psychic, so I don’t talk about that part. Jake is my ex now and is serving time for his crime. Mark, as it turns out, had a past and that all came out too. Unbelievably, he had been involved in the death of a childhood friend as well … and on the same piece of rocky ground! My dreams included her and Lily’s ghost. Both cases were solved and now the people of Nisswa have closure and seem to think they need to thank me for it.

  It was awkward and I didn’t enjoy the attention from it, but I dealt with it. When everything settled down, I had fallen in love with the area, so I used the very large inheritance I had gotten from my grandmother to purchase the cabin we’d stayed in. Almost all of the property around the lake and a boutique in town called Lost and Found came along with it. The lake was a smaller one, but was big enough for me. It was clean and stocked with fish, and did not have a public access. Another plus was that the only other homes on the lake were the three on the other side, which are all next door to each other.

  Lost and Found, a cute little store on Main Street, got a lot of out-of-town visitors and traffic in the summer. The store came turn-key and the staff wanted to stay when I purchased it, which worked out great for me since I’d never run a business and they knew the ropes. It was nice to have a trustworthy staff that enjoyed their jobs. As soon as I purchased the store, I remodeled it and stocked it with everything including home decor, tshirts, gifts, souvenirs, candles, and handmade jewelry. The older couple who owned it had it open during tourist season, but I wanted it open year round, with shorten the hours in the cold months. It had been a learn-as-you-go adventure, but I enjoyed it, and worked very part time, coming and going as I pleased.

  The last couple of weeks, I’d been repainting the inside of the cabin and moving in a few things from the Cities. Yesterday I brought in all of the big furniture I’d ordered for the cabin. I guess driving for hours and hauling heavy items was not a good idea. My back was killing me by the end of the day. I’d had Detective Derek’s help, but there was still a bedroom full of furniture, new kitchen table and chairs, and a new couch for the living room. It was a lot. After we’d gotten all of that loaded up in the Cities, we drove all the way to Nisswa, unloaded the stuff, then reloaded the trailer with the old stuff from the cabin and brought it to the Goodwill and unloaded it there. It was a long day.

  On Monday morning I woke up an hour before I had to open Lost and Found. I had taken three Tylenol before I’d gone to bed, but it wasn’t working. I rolled myself out of bed and into a hot shower. I took my time and did my exfoliate and shave routine. By the time I got out, the heat and meds were doing their thing and I could move again, pain-free. I quickly dressed and did a simple hair and makeup routine. I’d recently cut my hair really short into an inverted, tapered bob. I loved the ease of it. My hair was thick and normally dark brown, but I’d had it dyed a blonde-caramel.

  I walked into the kitchen and tossed some Kitty Krunchies into Faith’s bowl. She came bounding over from her favorite chair and started to eat. She was four months old, and I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life. She had been a gift from my BFF, Kat, after everything that had happened with Lily. Faith had become my best friend when Kat couldn’t be there.

  Kat lived in the Cities. We worked in the same law office. She was in family law doing mostly divorces, and I did living wills, trusts, and estate planning. I dropped back my hours when I bought the cabin to taking a case here and there, when I wanted one. She and Lily and I used to meet for drinks a couple of nights a week before the affair and Lily’s death. Kat was always single and loved to go out dancing. I tried to keep up, but she was always more of a free spirit than I was. She was a great friend though, and had always been there for me when I needed her. She made me laugh and forget my problems when I was with her. I always felt so blessed to have her.

  With Faith happy, I made toast for my breakfast, filled a travel mug with coffee, and threw my shoulder bag on. I gave Faith a pat on the head.

  “Keep an eye on things for me, girl. I’ll be back later.”

  I shut and locked the door and headed out to my Jeep. I noticed that Derek had unhooked the trailer for me. I’ll need to return that to Kat’s dad sometime this week. Derek was great about doing stuff like that for me, even when I didn’t ask him.

  I had about a twenty-minute drive to town. I was ten minutes late. It wasn’t a big deal since I was the only one scheduled ’til eleven, and I was the boss. I threw the Jeep into park behind the store and walked around to the front. In the store, I flipped on the lights, turned the sign to open, and walked back to the office. I took off my coat and put it and my purse on the hook behind the door. It was early fall so the traffic in the store was slowing for the season. I went through the place and lit a few scented candles—they sold better when people could smell them burning, plus it gave the store a great scent.

  My cell phone rang, so I ran across the store to grab it out of my purse. It was Derek.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” he said.

  “Good morning!” He had a way of putting an instant s
mile on my face.

  “Just checking in. Are you at the store already?”

  “Yup, just got here.”

  “I wanted to tell you thanks for a great weekend. I had a lot of fun,” he said sweetly.

  “Thank you for all of your help. I couldn’t have done it without you,” I said.

  “I also wanted to let you know that my sister called this morning to say she’s getting married. I’m excited for her, but she just met this guy and it’s kind of bothering me, so I wanted to talk to someone about it.”

  “Oh, wow,” I said, “which sister?”

  “Kelly.”

  “Ohhh. When? Do they have a date set?” I asked.

  “Yes, December 2nd,” he said reluctantly.

  “Wow, that’s soon! Is she … pregnant?”

  “I … I … I don’t know. I guess I didn’t think to ask,” he said, sounding even more concerned.

  “Well, there’s not a whole lot you can do about it either way. Why don’t you call and ask her to lunch so you can talk to her? Maybe she’ll put your mind at ease,” I told him, not really knowing what to say.

  “Yeah, I’ll have to do that. Anyway, I just needed to vent to someone. I’ll let you go for now. I’ve got a call on my work line, but I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  I disconnected and took a deep breath. I’d never met anyone in Derek’s family, but I knew that he was close to his family, and he seemed really upset.

  The morning went by quickly. When Ginger got in at eleven, I took a break and went two doors over to Morning Glory, a little diner that was open all day long. They served everything from breakfast to broasted chicken dinners, and they had a great bakery selection.

  I sat in a corner booth with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Nisswa had a paper, but it was just a weekly that came out on Thursdays. I looked towards the counter area and noticed a large woman in her late thirties headed in my direction with a coffee pot and cup.

  “Coffee, sugar?”

  Was she calling me sugar, or offering it with the coffee?

  “Sure, thanks,” I said with a smile at the sweet hospitality.

  “Do you need sugar or creamer?”

  There’s my answer. I nodded and she grabbed both out of her apron pocket.

  “You’re not from around here. You coming through town on business or pleasure?” she said leaning back on the booth behind her.

  “Actually, I’m new in town. I just bought the store two doors down, Lost and Found, and some property on Lake Hawsawneekee,” I said.

  “No shit? You that woman that found the bones of the little Sander’s girl?” she asked. She straightened up and leaned forward. Her face was lit up with excitement and she looked eager to hear more. “You’re the hot topic in this place these days. Small town gossip spreads fast in these parts. People say you’re psychic and talk to ghosts. They say a ghost told you where to look,” she said, awaiting my response.

  “Umm, gosh, people have big imaginations … don’t they? “ I responded, not wanting to get into the details with this … stranger.

  “Yeah, they sure do,” she said, noticing my unwillingness to carry on with the conversation. “Well, sugar, can I get you something to eat?”

  “Yes, I’ll take a caramel roll, and just the coffee is fine.”

  She took a pen out of her ponytail and wrote it down on a receipt pad, then spun around and walked off. I wondered if I’d annoyed her by not offering any more information. I opened my newspaper and ran my eyes across the headlines. Nothing exciting happening. I sipped my coffee and was pleasantly surprised when it tasted really good. They even have little flavored creamers.

  The waitress returned with my roll, which she’d warmed up. This is no good for my diet. I have such a weakness for caramel rolls. I’ll have to go for a run later, I thought. The waitress topped off my coffee and leaned back on the booth again.

  “Sorry if I seem nosey. It’s just this town doesn’t have a lot going on, so news like that is huge. It’s nice to actually talk to the source rather than just hear the stuff from the customers, and the newspaper didn’t do a very good job on the article. It just left all of us with more questions,” she said, seeming much friendlier now. “I’m Tannya by the way,” she said with a smile, extending her hand.

  “Hi. Sara Martin,” I said shaking her hand.

  We talked a few more minutes about my owning Lost and Found. She knew the old owners, not well, but she said they came in for breakfast on Sundays. She worked full time, mostly Monday through Friday 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., but occasionally she helped out on weekends or in the evening.

  Tannya had grown up in the area and informed me that she had been divorced after a year of marriage and now lived in a small fixer-upper about a mile from town. She was taking some online college classes, but wasn’t really sure what she wanted to do. When another customer came in, she excused herself.

  She’s a chatty one, I thought. Seems nice. Nosey, yes, but friendly. Tannya had long, bleach-blonde hair with dark roots, and really bright makeup. Her lips and cheeks were very pink. Her build was large, not obese, exactly, but she had me by about sixty pounds. She was dressed in too-tight khaki pants and a blue polo shirt that said Morning Glory on the upper left side in gold. I watched her until she started talking to the new customer, then returned to my paper.

  Finishing the last bite of my roll, I began to feel the guilt rush in. That was so unhealthy. Never again! I promised myself. I’ll run when I get home and eat salad the rest of the day.

  “Good to meet ya, hun,” Tannya said, as she placed the bill on the table.

  “It was nice meeting you, too,” I said with a smile and placed a five on the table and walked back to work.

  When I got back, Ginger was checking out a customer. Two others looked around. I was excited to see people in my store. Every time the door opened, I got excited. It was fun owning my own business, especially in my case because I didn’t have any money pressure. If my business didn’t make money, I’d be fine and could still pay the bills and staff. I did want the business to do well though. And I enjoyed the tasks: stocking shelves, getting new stuff in, decorating areas, setting up displays … all of it, even the paperwork. It was pure bliss.

  I finished up some paperwork in the back and said goodbye to Ginger. She was scheduled until close, so I had the rest of the day to myself. The first thing I did was stop at the First National Bank of Nisswa and open checking and savings accounts for me, and a business account for Lost and Found. It was a nice bank. It was clean but seemed a little old-fashioned with all the women dressed in matching business suits. Still, they had all of the services I needed, and there was only one other bank in town, which was smaller and didn’t offer Internet banking. The experience was pleasant and seamless.

  Next I stopped at Schaefer’s Foods and picked up some much needed groceries. My cupboards at the cabin were bare. That was the one hang up in floating between the two locations. It was hard to transfer perishable foods back and forth and to determine what you would need for each stay. I didn’t really have a schedule, and never really knew how long I’d be gone when I left each place. It was a good thing that Faith liked car trips. I took her with me every time I headed to the Cities, just in case I wouldn’t be back for a while. I loaded up my cart with healthy foods, since I still felt the guilt of the caramel roll, and checked out.

  At home, after I put the food away, I grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and went out to the patio. I returned to the cabin and grabbed a heavy sweatshirt and threw it on. I was bummed that summer was over, even though the cabin was very cozy and I loved the fireplace. The fall colors around the lake were well past peak and the trees where getting very thin. It made me think about raking leaves, which didn’t sound like fun to me, so I made a mental note to call a landscaper.

  I took my phone out of my purse and called my mom, Jan. She was retired now, thanks to my grandmother’s inheritance. She and my dad, Will Lewis, had be
en married for thirty-two years and seemed still very much in love. My mom said that she wanted to come up the next day to help me finish painting the kitchen. Everything else was already pretty much done. I told her I’d buy her dinner at Morning Glory as a thank you. I gave her the directions, again, and we agreed on meeting at 11:00 a.m. She’d been at my cabin once before when I first bought it, but she was really bad with directions. I was scheduled to open the store in the morning, so I’d be home after that to meet her. I put my phone down on the little glass-topped table and my feet up on the chair next to me. I had begun to feel my back tightening up again.

  When I had finished my hot chocolate I went back inside. I was bored. I wasn’t used to having so much free time. When I worked as a lawyer I was up at 6:00, out the door by 7:30, and in the office at 8:00. My hours were long. Most nights I was there until seven, and some nights I even had to bring work home. That, plus trying to have a life with my husband, took up all of my time, so now, minus such strenuous work and the husband, I didn’t know what to do with myself.

  I changed into workout clothes and laced up my tennis shoes, determined to run off the caramel roll and hot chocolate. I threw my inhaler in my pocket and grabbed my iPod from my room. I left the door unlocked, knowing I wouldn’t last long. I headed down the driveway, took a left on the county road, and picked up the pace. An hour later I was home. Most of the time had been spent walking. I’d made it only about a third of the way around the lake. I’d thought about stopping at the Sanders’ place and letting them know I was living at the cabin now, but I couldn’t make it that far.

  They lived in one of the cluster of three houses across the lake. Their daughter had been the other ghost in my dreams. She had been missing for many years when we found her remains on the property where Lily died. Her parents were very grateful to me for finding them. I wanted to get over there and let them know that I’d bought the cabin and the store before they heard it from the town’s people. This small town living is going to take some getting used to. My phone rang. It was Derek.