Page 126 of Deeper Than the Dead

Brooks sat in the chair that had been her daddy’s favorite. “What can I do for you, Ms. Boyett?” He took a long draw from his spiked coffee.

“Do you know anything about what Garth Rimmey was doing the day Sheree—my stepmother—disappeared?” Vera sipped her own warm brew, flinched at the burn.

He studied her a moment. “You sure you want to know?”

Vera took another sip. This one went down a bit more smoothly. Life was full of firsts, and this was certainly her first time having whiskey before breakfast. “I asked, didn’t I?”

He gave her a nod. “Rimmey and I were buddies. We had a little business on the side—selling weed and a few other things. Anyway, that day we were at his place just chilling. Business wasn’t usually very good on weekday mornings, so we were relaxing.”

Another swallow of Jack and coffee slid down Vera’s throat as she waited for him to go on.

“Your daddy showed up about ten-ish. I can’t tell you the exact time, but it was midmorning.”

Vera held her breath. “Why?”

He frowned, took another drink. “Why what?”

“Why did my daddy come to Rimmey’s house?”

“He wanted to have a few words with him. Knowing when something was coming that I wanted no part of, I stepped outside for a smoke. I heard them arguing. Your daddy was telling him that he knew what he’d been doing with his wife. Rimmey said something stupid like ‘What you gonna do about it?’” Brooks snorted. “To make a long story short, your daddy beat the shit out of him. Then he left.”

“When you say beat the shit out of him—”

“I mean, he blacked both his eyes, busted his lip. Rimmey thought his jaw was broken, but it wasn’t. That kind of stuff.”

Vera nodded. “And you’re sure it was my daddy.”

Brooks laughed. “Oh yeah. Me and Rimmey had driven by this place lots of times looking for Sheree, and we’d watched the two of them, your daddy and her, once or twice when they were in town together. Believe me, I was well aware who Vernon Boyett was. Knew you too.” He looked her up and down. “You were a little spitfire. Had yourself a crush on Gray Benton.”

Vera ignored the remark. “What was my daddy driving that day?”

He frowned. “What?”

“Was he driving a truck?” Her father had bought his truck brand new twenty-five years ago. Her mama had helped him pick it out. He had always loved that truck.

Brooks thought for a minute. “No. It wasn’t a truck. It was a car. A sedan.”

“You don’t remember the model or the color?”

He shook his head. “Nothing that stood out. It was generic, you know. An old piece of shit.”

“Do you recall about what time my daddy left?”

He made a face. “Not the exact time, no. But what he came to do didn’t take long. Twenty, maybe thirty minutes.”

“Just one more thing,” Vera said. “Were you with Rimmey the rest of that day?”

“If you’re asking if he killed her, the answer is no. He drank himself into oblivion after your daddy beat his ass. When I left that afternoon, he was passed out cold.”

“You’re sure he didn’t leave the house after you did.”

“Positive, because I stole his hidden stash while he was out cold and had myself a party at a friend’s house. Rimmey was pissed the next morning.” He laughed. “Seriously pissed. If he’d woke up later in the afternoon or even that night and found it missing, he would’ve been pissed that day, and I would have known it.”

Vera understood that he could be lying, probably was. “Who do you think killed him a few days later?” She held her breath. This was important. What happened to Sheree in that bathroom was an accident ... Garth Rimmey’s death was not. She didn’t want her father charged with his murder. The best way to prevent that was to find out who did it or to find a solid alibi.

“Some believe it was your daddy.” Brooks leaned forward. “But between me and you and the Jack sitting here, it wasn’t. You see, Rimmey decided to get back at me for stealing his stash. He told my baby mama that I’d been fucking around on her. She got so pissed off she called the cops and told them I’d beat her up, so I got arrested.”

Vera so hated men like this one. “Did you? Beat her up?”

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