Free A Flicker of Doubt (Book 4 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers

brushed something in the
bottom of the tray. I must not have put it
    back in its place properly, and I was lucky
it had fallen inside instead of out onto the ground.
    I handed the key to Markum, who looked
surprised, but pleased. He slid it into the lock, opened the door,
then replaced the key immediately. Once we were inside, the
apartment was nearly pitch-black. I knew Becka always bought the
heaviest drapes she could find, since she liked to sleep late
whenever she could. A light suddenly sprang up, and I realized
Markum had turned on his small flashlight.
    “ Let’s just grab the machine
and go.”
    “ Easy, Harrison. We’re here.
Why don’t we look around again?”
    “ Markum, we searched the
place in the daylight I don’t want the sheriff to catch us in
here.”
    “ He’s busy with a body on
the county line, remember? Okay, I don’t want to explain this to
him any more than you do.”
    He unplugged the machine and wrapped the
cord around it “Are you ready?”
    “ Let’s go.”
    We were back outside in less than a minute.
As I stepped back to let Markum close the door, the porch light
from next door came on. Without thinking or hesitating, I dove
through the bushes and started running. Markum was beside me, then
suddenly he passed me and was waiting for me when we got back to
the truck.
    I jammed the key into the ignition, started
the truck and took off without looking back. “Man, that was too
close,” I said once we were on the highway again.
    “ It wouldn’t feel right if I
didn’t have at least one adrenaline rush from all of
this.”
    We got back to my apartment and quickly
plugged the machine in. I hit the play button after I put the tape
in, but all we got was a garbled mess. Markum said, “So we took
that risk for nothing.”
    “ We had to know,” I said. “I
don’t know about you, but I won’t forget that voice anytime soon.
If I hear it again, I’ll know it”
    “ There was a lot more on
that tape than the voice, though. There was something in the
background, something I didn’t quite catch that might have helped
us.”
    I slapped Markum on the shoulder. “It’s
done, so there’s no use worrying about it now. Let’s call it a
night. We can figure out what our next step is tomorrow.”
    He hesitated, as if he wanted to apologize
again, then started to leave the apartment “Tomorrow it is,
Harrison.”
    “ See you then,” I said and
ushered him out.
    The tape had been a dead end, and Becka’s
purse hadn’t been much better. All in all, it was a bad end to a
horrible day, and the only thing I wanted was to put it all behind
me. I found myself wishing Heather was out of town so I could have
her cat Esmeralda for company, but I couldn’t very well call her up
and ask her if I could borrow her cat Well, I could, and I knew
she’d gladly do it but I didn’t want to face the teasing I’d get
about it For tonight I’d have to get through it without my feline
friend. Talking to Erin, unloading on her, had done me a world of
good, but my time with Markum had negated it I considered calling
her despite the teasing I would probably get, then glanced at the
clock and saw that it was already past midnight There was no way I
could bring myself to make the call. I wasn’t looking forward to
closing my eyes, afraid of what might haunt my dreams, but I
stretched out on the couch to rest, and before I realized what was
happening, I was fast asleep.

    Before we opened the candleshop the next
morning, I drove by the Gunpowder Gazette to get a copy of the
newspaper I’d found clipped in Becka’s apartment. I had my own
subscription, but I’d already recycled mine. While I detested the
owner and publisher of the paper, it was critical to my business
that I keep up with the events of Micah’s Ridge, and the only way
to do that was to read the Gazette. Thankfully the newspaper office
still had some for sale for that date, and as I was paying for my
paper, Hank Klein, the Gunpowder Gazette