Chapter 18
JUNE
June settled into the study, the familiar room wrapping around her like a comfortable blanket worn soft from use. The afternoon sun slanted through the windows, casting long rectangles of golden light across the wooden desk.
As Sara Lee entered, June noticed the anxiety in her granddaughter’s frown. She thought for Sara Lee, the blanket analogy probably felt more like scratchy wool that you couldn’t wait to kick off.
June spread out her notebook with deliberate care, tapping her pen thoughtfully against the page.
The rhythmic sound helped her organize the chaos of information swirling in her mind.
"You know, sweetheart," she began. "We've spent so much time thinking about Raymond's early life in Meadowlark Creek, or when he visited as an adult and usually caused chaos.
But we know nothing about his life in Richmond. "
Sara Lee looked up from where she'd been arranging her laptop and phone on the table. Her eyes brightened with understanding. "You're right. Maybe he had an enemy from there who came to Meadowlark Creek and killed him."
June recognized Sara Lee’s desire for the murderer to be a stranger, not someone from the town. "Maybe. I just think we need to know more about him."
"Well, how do we try to find out who he worked for?"
June frowned slightly, tapping the pen against her lips now. "Horace said Richmond Private Lending, but I don't know if that's a real business. It could be just a general title for whatever dealings Raymond was involved in." She stood, her decision made. "I'll do the easiest thing and call Ted."
She moved to the side of the research area, away from where Sara Lee sat, and pulled out her phone.
The device felt almost foreign in her hand sometimes.
She was still getting used to how small these things were and how much they could do.
She pushed the button for Ted's number, glad Sara Lee had set it up for her.
Ted answered on the third ring, his voice slightly breathless like he'd hurried to grab the phone. "Junie? Is everything okay?"
The concern in his voice made her smile despite the seriousness of what they were doing.
Ted had always been protective, even when they were children.
"I know you're busy with Carl," she said gently, "but Sara Lee and I want to look at who might know more about Raymond from where he worked in Richmond.
I'm not sure if Horace knew the exact place or was just giving a general title to whatever Raymond was doing? "
There was a pause, and she could almost hear Ted thinking, choosing his words carefully.
"The name of his place of work was Richmond Private Lending, but there was talk at one time about it being a front.
Possibly for a low-life loan shark type.
Wannabe mafia con jobs." His voice carried such distaste that it came through the phone like something physical.
"Oh, my..." June muttered, glancing over at Sara Lee, who was watching her with wide, curious eyes.
"What are you thinking of doing?" Ted's tone sharpened with concern. "I don't want you stirring up a hornet's nest! I've got my hands full with what's happening with Carl—"
"Ted, calm down." June kept her voice soothing but firm. "We are just going to do a little research. You take care of Carl, and I'll let you know if we find anything."
"Be careful, Junie," Ted said, and she could hear the worry wrapped around his words.
The nickname made her chest warm. Only Ted and her late husband had ever called her that. "I will. Thank you, Ted."
After she disconnected, she turned back to Sara Lee and relayed what Ted had told her, watching her granddaughter's face shift from curiosity to concern to determination.
Sara Lee's fingers flew over her keyboard. "Let me search for it."
There was very little on Richmond Private Lending when the results populated the screen.
No professional website, no social media presence, just a few sparse mentions in articles about predatory lending practices buried deep in search results.
Sara Lee scrolled through them, her brow furrowing deeper with each click.
"There's not much here, Nana June. Just a few vague mentions in the Richmond newspaper.
" She clicked another link. "But they also did bail bonding. "
"Bail bonding," June repeated slowly, her mind formulating strings of thoughts she couldn't quite place into a pattern. It was like watching puzzle pieces scattered across a table and knowing they formed a pattern but not yet understanding what the picture was.
Pippi yelped, offering a sharp, excited bark that drew their attention. June realized the dog was no longer asleep at her feet where she'd been just moments ago. Both women looked up to see the scruffy dog trotting purposefully toward the bookcases.
They found Pippi sitting at attention, looking up at one of the upper shelves with the intensity usually reserved for squirrels in the backyard.
Following the dog's gaze, June spotted Mister Smee curled on top of a few books on an upper shelf, his orange fur bright against the dark spines of classics. He looked completely at peace, sound asleep, as if this were just another ordinary afternoon.
“How did he get up there?”
“Chasing a sunspot, I suppose. Cats have an amazing ability to leap to high places.”
Sara Lee climbed up the short step ladder they kept in this section. She looked at what the cat was using as a pillow. Mister Smee yawned, and his enormous amber eyes blinked at her with feline inscrutability.
The book his head was resting on was "The Count of Monte Cristo," the spine worn from decades of readers checking it out, losing themselves in Dumas's tale. June had bought it years ago at one of the library sales.
Sara Lee carefully extracted it from beneath the cat's chin, her movements gentle. Mister Smee lifted his head obligingly, like he'd been waiting for her to take it, then put his head back down on the remaining books with a small sigh of contentment.
She handed the volume to June as she climbed back down the ladder. “I always loved this book.”
"Oh, my..." June said, turning the book over in her hands. The cover was faded. She'd read this story multiple times over her lifetime, first as a young woman, then again at different points in her life. Each time she found something new in it. "Interesting!"
"What does this tell you?" Sara Lee asked, curiosity evident in the spark in her eyes.
June's expression was bright with thought. "Well, let's see. The prison and revenge theme is strong… Edmond Dantès was wrongly imprisoned, emerging years later with a new identity, seeking revenge on those who betrayed him."
"Jail… bail bonds…" Sara Lee's voice trailed off, seeming to make her own connections.
"Perhaps Raymond might have spent some time in jail while he was in Richmond?" June asked, though something in her gut said that wasn't quite right. Raymond had been many things, but she'd never heard anything about him being arrested.
Sara Lee moved back to the table, typing quickly into her laptop. After a moment of searching, she looked up at June and scrunched her nose while shaking her head. "Nothing. No arrests, no jail time for Raymond in Richmond."
June's eyes widened as a new thought crystallized, sharp and clear. Her gaze grew distant as thoughts began to form possibilities. "What if it were someone else? Someone he knew was in jail? Someone who might have contacted him because of the bail bond business?"
Her voice grew more animated, faster, the way it always did when she was piecing together something important. "I think we should look at who in Meadowlark Creek has been to jail… outside our area.”
The idea hung in the air between them, heavy with implication. Pippi yelped again, sharper this time as a warning bark that made both women freeze at the knock on the front door.
They walked to the front together, seeing Sheriff Gordon standing on the porch, his weathered face wearing a scowl that would have intimidated most people. She opened the door.
"Ladies..." His voice carried official weight and barely suppressed frustration. "I think we need to talk."
Sara Lee's eyes widened, her face going pale.
But June simply held Gordon's gaze, inclining her head with graceful acknowledgment as she invited him in. "I think that's a good idea, Sheriff," she said calmly.
They moved to the living room, where June sat on the sofa. Her hands folded neatly in her lap, and she indicated with a small gesture that Sara Lee should sit beside her. Her granddaughter obeyed, though June could feel the tension radiating off her like heat.
Sheriff Gordon sat as well, leaning back in the winged back chair. Then he said, without preamble or any of the usual small-town pleasantries, "Whatever you know, I need to know."
June lifted one eyebrow, a gesture she'd perfected over decades of dealing with people who sometimes needed to be reminded how to act in the library. "Well then, Sheriff Gordon," she said, her voice pleasant but firm, "then I think you also need to share."
The sheriff's jaw worked for a moment, clearly wrestling with protocol and practicality, and with what he was supposed to do versus what might actually be useful. The silence stretched between them, taut as a wire.
Finally, he sighed heavily, the sound of a man who knew when he was outmaneuvered, and he pulled out his own notebook. The leather cover was worn smooth from years of use, the pages inside filled with neat handwriting documenting the usually quiet crimes of Meadowlark Creek.
"All right," he said, resignation and perhaps a grudging respect mixing in his voice. "Let's see what we've both got."