Unholy Shepherd by Robert Christian (rooftoppers txt) 📕

dispute between two neighbors who each attended the church, which revolved around a fence being erected over the property line. Oliva Graves complained in her husky, cigarette-scarred voice about her son wanting to put her in a nursing home, failing to grasp the concept of what the detective was asking.

The interviews contributed very little to the investigation on the surface, but even still, Manny was intrigued by the multitude of underlying feelings that bubbled beneath the surface of the church community. True, whether or not Jim really had a thing for Annie almost certainly had nothing to do with the deaths of two young boys, but there still seemed to be quite a few grievances among the people of St. Mary’s that, put simply, no one ever talked about out loud. Of those grievances, only one seemed to be connected in any way to Tom Lowes and Sandra Locke.

Paris Meintz and her husband, friends of the Lowes family, revealed that a former member of the church by the name of Steven Hanson had a very public falling out with Tom Lowes about three years prior. The rumor was that Tom had listed Steven’s house on the edge of town for sale, and things hadn’t quite gone according to plan. Tom had brought an inspector to the property to check out some work that Hanson had done in the basement, only to find a variety of code violations. Tom had reported these to the county, as most were electrical in nature and posed a significant safety risk.

“He got hit with some serious fines,” Paris had said, “and I know Hanson blamed Tom. He said he had no right to report him and was just supposed to sell his home and not ask questions. Steve actually lost money on the sale, refused to pay Tom his commission, and left a threatening message on Tom’s phone. He played it for us at dinner once. Steve said that Tom had screwed with the wrong person, and that he better watch his back.

“Then we heard that he tried to sue the county so that he didn’t have to pay the fines. I’m pretty sure he barged into the county offices and yelled at Sandra, since it was her name on the notice. The courts threw out his case and he left the city, but I wouldn’t put it past a guy like that to make good on his threats. He was never charged, but we’re all pretty sure that his first wife left him because he hit her on a regular basis.”

Unfortunately, the lead didn’t go anywhere. Manny had given the name to Agent Layton, but it turned out that this Steven Hanson guy had apparently cleaned up his act, remarried, and was living north of Kansas City. Friends and family in the area confirmed that he, his new wife, and stepson had been on an end-of-summer vacation in Yellowstone for two weeks and had returned two days after the second murder. A cursory check by the Feds into their financial activity confirmed the dates of the plane tickets, rental car, and cabin they had stayed in.

“No one in this town is who they say they are,” Manny mused aloud as he paged through his notebook. He turned to look at Maureen, and she was focusing on mopping up the remaining sauce on her plate with her last meatball. He found the way she ate adorable, and Manny couldn’t help but stare at her as she let out a sated sigh and put her plate on the coffee table. It was then that she noticed him ogling her and turned to stare back, raising her eyebrows to silently question what he was looking at. Manny tried to speak but found only empty air coming from his throat. Maureen said nothing either, and the two simply sat for countless agonizing moments.

The hanging silence was broken by Manny’s ringtone. He picked up his phone and checked the caller ID. It was his mother.

“Hi, Ma,” he said as he got to his feet. “I’m kind of in the middle of something. Can I call you back?”

“I’ll be quick, Cariño,” his mother’s voice sang through the phone. “Me and Papa just wanted to know if you’re free for brunch tomorrow morning. We haven’t seen you in so long.”

“Um, yeah sure, Mama,” he said, shifting uncomfortably on his feet and looking at Maureen seated on the couch. “I’ll call you later tonight to firm it up. Love you.”

Manny hung up the phone, cutting off his mother’s farewell. He felt guilty that he didn’t want Maureen to hear him speaking with his mother. He cleared his throat and put his phone in his pocket.

“Looks like you might get to spend some time at home after all,” he said to her. “I got a brunch date with my parents. Unless, of course, you want to come with?”

“No chance,” she replied.

“I’ll drop you off at your place tomorrow morning then, and pick you up after I’m done?”

“Sure, that sounds fine.”

Manny grabbed up the empty plates from the coffee table and took them into the kitchen, depositing them into the sink. He was about to head back into the living room when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket and its muffled ringtone hit his ears. A smile hit his face as he thought it was his mother calling him again. The smile faded when he looked at the caller ID. It was definitely not his mother.

“Agent Layton,” he said quietly as he put the phone to his ear, “what can I do for you?”

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything, Detective,” Layton’s voice said.

“Not at all.”

“I’m calling to inform you that we’re planning on bringing in Tom Lowes and Sandra Locke in tandem this week Thursday.”

“Why so late?” Manny asked.

“We’ve decided to sit on the St. Louis cartels a little longer to see if we can find some more leverage. I’d like to have a few days to see if there’s any suspicious