The
Murder of Manny Grimes
The
Cases of Lieutenant DeLong #1
By
Angela Kay
Genre:
Suspense, Thriller, Mystery
When
three young boys stumble into Lieutenant Jim DeLong's life one night
during a winter storm, they claim they've seen a dead body by the
swing sets of the Columbia County Elementary School. After he
investigates, DeLong sees no evidence, not even a body. But were the
boys telling the truth?
With
the help of his oldest friend and mentor, former Naval investigator
Russ Calhoun, DeLong sets out to find whether Manny Grimes is alive
or dead. The further away he gets to the bottom of the mystery, the
closer he comes to realize that his own life is falling
apart.
Delving
deeper into the murder of Manny Grimes, Lieutenant DeLong begins to
unravel, losing his sense of control, falling into old temptations he
spent years to overcome. Will he be able to move past his own demons
and untangle the web of lies before it's too late?
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Chapter
10
“We don’t have the time to go
searching for a missing person that hasn’t yet been reported missing.”
Captain
Stewart had listened intently to DeLong’s story before shaking his head in
annoyance.
“But,
sir,” DeLong protested, “the kids reported him at the school and—”
Though
he already knew the answer, Stewart asked, “When you investigated, did you see
Grimes at the school? Or any evidence that corroborated these children’s
claims?”
“No,”
DeLong admitted.
“I’m
sorry, Lieutenant, but I’m not going to allow you to run around town, searching
for a man that more than likely got out of Dodge. I don’t appreciate the fact
that a member of my team," Stewart jabbed a thumb toward his chest,
"entered another person’s home without permission. And convinced a
civilian to do the same.” The captain glared from DeLong to Calhoun and back
again.
“Captain
Stewart,” Calhoun put in. He had been seated quietly, listening as the
lieutenant recounted once again what had happened the day before. Now he rose
to put in his two cents. “I believe that something happened to Grimes. I went
to his house on my own accord. Everything Jim just told you, I stand by.
Something happened to this man. We have a duty to find out what. Captain, if we
come up with nothing, or we find out we've been chasing our tails, then I'll
eat my jacket."
Stewart
narrowed his eyes in Calhoun's direction and crossed his arms. “You think this
is funny, Calhoun? I would have thought better of you than to be involved in a
wild goose chase. Entering a man’s premises without a warrant? I should throw
the book at you.” He glared at DeLong again. “Actually, I should throw the book
at both of you.”
He
sighed and leaned back in his chair, uncrossing his arms and linking his hands
behind his head. He continued to glare between the two men.
“All
right," he said after minutes passed. "DeLong, I’ve known you long
enough to know that ninety times out of a hundred, your instincts are sound.
You want to search for the man, then fine." He held both palms in the air,
then slowly lowered them flat on the desk and leaned forward.
"But
do not, I repeat do not, do anything that would require a warrant until you
have probable cause to actually get a warrant. Keep me posted. I’ll give you
two days to either find Grimes or hard evidence that he is actually missing.
Two days. That is all.”
“Yes,
sir. Thank you, Captain,” DeLong said with a satisfied nod.
“Yes,
thank you,” Calhoun echoed.
“I
have to run out for a little while,” the captain said with a sigh. He rose,
straightening his shirt uniform. "Try not to waste too much of my time. Or
yours."
"Yes,
sir," DeLong acknowledged as he left the office.
“Where
do you want to start?” Calhoun wondered, trailing after him.
“I
suppose we should go back to the schoolyard,” DeLong said, halfway out the
door. “Maybe between the two of us, we'll find something I overlooked when I
first looked around." Outside, DeLong blew into his hands to warm them.
"Honestly, I just wanted to get out of the station a little bit. But I
didn't want to go home. Sam has me sleeping on the couch these days. Anyway, I
wasn't really sure what I was looking for. The body wasn't there. The snow we
had would have destroyed most, if not all the evidence."
At
the truck they slid inside. DeLong adjusted the heat as Calhoun set the gear in
motion. "I just want to be sure we've covered all our bases.
Then
let’s go back to the Walkers'. I want to know more about Jonathan Walker’s
friendship with Manny Grimes.”
Blood
Runs Cold
The
Cases of Lieutenant DeLong #2
A
young woman has been murdered at the Savannah Rapids Pavilion and
Lieutenant Jim DeLong realizes at first sight this case will be the
most difficult one of his career. DeLong is immediately swept into
the memories of his childhood and dark secrets he's longed to
forget.
The
victim is his sister-in-law, and old thoughts he's fought to delete
will be resurrected whether DeLong likes it or not. He and his
brother have been estranged by unhappy times in their youth. With no
clear motive, DeLong questions his ability to remain objective.
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Chapter
5
DeLong closed the garage door and
went inside the house. He heard
soft
murmurs floating from the living room. He knew his six-year-old
daughter,
Bella, was in school, so he guessed Samantha was probably
watching
television. DeLong was glad to be with his wife, even for just
a
few minutes. After coming onto the scene and seeing his brother's
wife,
he just wanted to hold on to Samantha and never let her go. It was
nothing
but a harsh reminder that in the blink of an eye, everything can
go
wrong. The memory of Bree was etched in his mind and continued
to
haunt him. Seeing her in the water left him feeling empty.
Samantha
liked to tell him that everything happened for a reason.
But
there was no reason for women like Bree DeLong to be
murdered.
She
was a kindhearted young woman who wanted nothing more
than
to help those less fortunate—particularly children.
"Honey,
I'm home," DeLong called out. Draping his jacket on the
back
of the kitchen chair, he let out a long yawn. His eyes felt heavy,
and
his stomach rumbled. But despite his hunger, he didn't feel much
like
eating. He would opt for a quick nap, but he wasn't sure that would
happen
either.
"Jim,
we're in here, honey."
We?
Was
someone here?
Remembering
the urgency in Samantha's text resulted in his
stomach
churning.
DeLong
grabbed a Coke can from the refrigerator and stepped into
the
living room.
Though
deep down it didn't come to a surprise to him, DeLong
almost
dropped the can when he saw his brother sitting on the couch
next
to his wife.
"Sully."
He blinked a few times as if he were trying to stop
imagining
things. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm
sorry to come here like this." Sullivan glanced over at
Samantha,
then back at DeLong. He looked as though he wanted to say
something
and then shook his head. Sullivan pushed to his feet. "Sorry,
Sam,
I can't do this. I really should go."
Samantha
put a hand on his wrist to keep him from moving away.
"You're
always welcome here, Sully. Right, Jim?" She shot her
husband
a look of warning.
"Of
course," he stammered.
Samantha
pulled Sullivan back to the cushions.
DeLong
studied his older brother for a good five minutes, taking in
every
sadness, every anger. He seemed to have aged a few more years
since
DeLong had seen him at the morgue. His eyes were hollow, and
he
looked as though he hadn't slept for a week.
He
wanted to say something consoling to him, but what could he
say?
There were no words to ease someone in this time of grief. If there
were,
he wasn't aware of them.
"How
are you doing?" He sat on the edge of the coffee table.
Sullivan
only shook his head. His eyes began to water, a single tear
sliding
down the corner of his eye. He bounced his knees and set his
head
in his hands.
"I
didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Sullivan mumbled. “Ally’s in
school.
I-I went there to tell her what happened, but I just couldn't.”
"We’ll
figure this out. It'll be OK.” DeLong cleared his throat,
pressed
his fingertips to his eyelids, and then leaned in toward his
brother.
"Why don't you go ahead and tell me everything you know?
Start
from the last time you spoke to or saw Bree. What she was doing,
where
she went, who she spoke to...don't leave anything out."
Sullivan
looked at DeLong, then Samantha and back again. "The
last
time we spoke was yesterday morning. I think around six or so. It
was
before she took Ally to school.”
“How
did she seem?” DeLong asked.
Sullivan
shrugged. “Normal.”
“Do
you know what her plan for the day was?”
“I
think she was going to that center she runs—Protecting
the
Lord’s Children. After that…”
Sullivan trailed off. He seemed to be
thinking
about what he wanted to say next. Finally, he replied, “After
that,
she was supposed to go home.”
“But
she didn't go home?” DeLong pressed.
“I
don't know. I went fishing with an old friend."
“From
what time to what time?”
Sullivan
narrowed his eyes at DeLong. “What does that matter?”
“I
need to build a timeline,” DeLong explained. “That’s all.”
Sullivan
squared his jaw, reminding DeLong of how their father
always
looked when he was forcing himself to remain calm.
“Ten
that morning to five in the evening. We went to Clarks Hill
Lake.”
“What’s
your friend’s name?"
“James
Simmons. We used to work together.”
“Where
did you go after fishing?” DeLong asked slowly. He
motioned
for Samantha to hand him a pad from the end table. He began
writing
the information down.
“Are
you implying that I killed her?” Sullivan snapped. DeLong
looked
up to see the hot anger flash in Sullivan's eyes. He opened his
mouth
to say something else, but before he did, DeLong held up his
palm.
He was used to spouses getting flustered by the police as they
attempted
to weed out suspects. His brother was no different.
“I
have to ask these questions, Sully.”
“I
wouldn’t hurt her. I loved my wife. We had a good marriage. I
can’t…I
can’t believe you’d actually think I’d….” Sullivan trailed off
and
rose to pace the room.
DeLong
remained silent, watching. Samantha glared at him.
DeLong
shook his head slightly to warn her to stay out of it.
"We
were happy," Sullivan continued tautly. "She didn't leave me,
and
she wasn't having any kind of affair. We were happy."
"Good.
Did she have any friends that wanted something more from
her?
Something she wasn't willing to give him?"
Sullivan
shook his head with conviction. "No. I mean, everybody
loved
her. You know that. That goes without saying. People loved her,
but
not in any romantic sense."
"Did
she seem upset at all? Like she was worried about
something?"
"No.
I mean, I don't think so."
"And
you? Is everything good with you? You don't have anything
to
worry about? Anything that's upsetting you?"
DeLong
watched as his brother gazed at him. It looked as though
he
wanted to say something, but couldn't decide what it would be.
Finally,
he put his head in his hands, sighed and looked back at
DeLong.
"Why
don’t you go ahead and say it, Jim.”
“What
are you talking about? I need to ask you these questions. I'm
24 Angela Kay
just
covering all the bases, Sully."
"These
questions are pointless!" Sullivan sliced his hands in the
air.
“How is whatever it was I did going to help find my wife’s killer?”
"Why
don't you just answer my questions, Sullivan? Let me do my
job."
The words come out gruffer than he intended, which resulted in
his
wife hissing his name.
Sullivan
gaped at his brother, frowning, arms tightly crossed
against
his chest. Finally, he shook his head in agitation.
"No.
I was wrong to come here. What was I thinking? I mean, I
need
someone capable enough to find out who murdered my wife." A
mixture
of undeniable anger and pain flashed in Sullivan's eyes. "I need
someone
that I can trust."
"You
can trust Jim, Sully," Samantha interjected, eyes wide,
glistening
with tears and worry.
Sullivan
let out a scoff. "Him? Jim DeLong? Are you kidding me?
No
offense, but my drunk little brother could fly off the rails at any
moment.
You of all people should know that."
DeLong
squared his jaw in an effort to stay calm. He remained
quiet
as Samantha stammered.
Sullivan
shook his head and cursed. "Forget it. This was a mistake,
and
I'm out of here."
Before
anyone could respond, Sullivan flew out the door.
DeLong
frowned, well aware that Samantha was glaring at him.
“Go
stop him!” she hissed through her teeth, jabbing her index
finger
toward the door.
Obliging,
DeLong chased after his brother, calling his name. He
knew
it was a fruitless effort, even before he saw Sullivan climbing in
his
car and pulling away, tires spinning hotly on the cement.
Equipped
with a professional writing degree from Augusta State University,
Angela Kay is a southern lady who spends her days and nights dreaming
up new ways to solve dark murders of normal people.
Angela
Kay was one of 23 across the United States to win a 2009 playwright
contest for her one-act entitled “Digging Deeper.” Because of
this, she was able to spend a week in Atlanta at the Horizon Theater
Company.
She
lives in Augusta, Georgia with her crazy calico, Maggie.
Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!
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