Page 19 of The Couple’s Secret (Detective Josie Quinn #23)

Sixteen

The Denton location of At Your Disposal Junk Removal was located in the flat, industrial area of South Denton.

Josie had driven past it hundreds of times in the last five years.

The property previously belonged to a used car dealership.

Josie knew that beyond the two-story, glass-front building was a huge asphalt lot.

Perfect for housing trucks, dumpsters and any other equipment needed for junk removal.

Gretchen parked in front of the building.

They walked into a cavernous, tiled lobby that used to be a showroom.

Instead of a car taking up the center space there was a long, L-shaped desk.

Behind it sat a woman in her forties. Long auburn hair fell to her shoulders.

Manicured nails tapped against a mug that said, Secretary: Because Badass Miracle Worker isn’t an Official Job Title.

She spoke into a headset, discussing the sizes of dumpsters and how much it would cost to rent one.

Her nameplate read Ellyn Mann. Eyeing the logos on their Denton PD polo shirts, she said, “I’ve got to put you on hold, hon. ”

She smiled, a hint of sadness in the depths of her blue eyes. “Mr. Merritt thought you’d stop by. He’s in his office. Up the steps, first door on your right.”

The door to Hollis Merritt’s office was cracked but Gretchen knocked anyway.

A gruff voice called, “Come on in!”

Hollis Merritt’s office was the opposite of the pristine, perfectly ordered lobby in every way.

The desk was metal. Piles of documents covered nearly every inch of it.

More papers burst from the filing cabinets along the walls.

Scattered along the floor were random objects, much like the ones in Riley and Jackson’s living room.

A large blue flambé-glazed vase, a pair of elephant table lamps, an old painting of a clipper ship, and an antique birdcage.

“The kids called me. Told me you found Tobias and Cora.” Hollis stepped out from behind his desk, giving them an unobstructed view from the only window in the room.

The old car lot stretched into the distance, filled with dumpsters, trucks, and heavy machinery just as Josie had suspected.

There was also a large area that resembled a junkyard, with piles of refuse everywhere.

Looking more closely, she realized there was some sort of system.

Things had been separated into piles. Electronics.

Furniture. Paint and aerosol cans. Metal.

Hazardous materials handled by employees dressed in hazmat suits very similar to what Denton PD wore to crime scenes.

A separate building with large garage bays sat near the back, the dealership’s “Auto Service” sign still hanging proudly on its face.

Beside it, two workers threw plastic bags and other debris into a commercial-sized trash compactor. There were three in all.

Standing only a couple of feet away, Hollis hulked over them.

Not as tall as Jackson Wright but wide and heavyset.

His hair was the color of faded rust. Broken blood vessels webbed across his ruddy cheeks and bulbous nose.

Josie estimated him to be in his mid- to late fifties.

He was dressed in an At Your Disposal T-shirt and cargo shorts.

His boots were similar to those Jackson was wearing when he arrived home.

Josie and Gretchen introduced themselves. Hollis gave their credentials a cursory glance. “Riley just called me back and told me they were murdered. That true?”

There were no guest chairs so the three of them stood in the center of the crowded room. A combination of smells wafted from Hollis. Must, mothballs, WD-40, and wet wood. Must be a hazard of working in this field.

“Unfortunately, yes,” said Josie.

Hollis sighed. One of his large paws reached for the sleeve of his shirt, absently pulling it down over a device attached to his tricep. It was a continuous glucose monitor, Josie realized. He must be diabetic.

“Guess that was always the news we were going to get. Horrible. Well, I know you’re not here to give your condolences.

So let’s get on with it.” Folding his arms across his chest, he backed up and perched on the edge of his desk.

“You want to know if I killed them? The answer’s the same as it was seven years ago.

No, I didn’t. I know what you’re gonna say.

‘Mr. Merritt, they were found in Denton, which is where you were the night they went missing.’ Shit.

That looks bad. Real bad, but my answer’s the same.

I didn’t kill them. You talk to Fanning yet? ”

Josie knew that Gretchen was just as bemused as she was but kept her expression impassive. “Detective John Fanning?”

“That’s right,” Hollis said. “Surprised he ain’t here himself.”

“This isn’t his jurisdiction,” Josie said. “But we will speak to him soon.”

Gretchen arched a brow. “You seem to remember him well.”

Hollis laughed mirthlessly. “When someone accuses you of killing your best friend and his fiancée, or of hiring someone else to do it, yeah, you tend to remember his name. He even know about this yet?”

“He’s retired,” Josie said. “We’ve left several messages for him.”

Hollis shifted, peering over his shoulder at the lot.

“Surprised he’s not lurking around outside.

He was on my ass for years. God. Murdered.

You know, I knew they were gone. There was no reason for them to run off together and leave their lives behind.

Police said their bank accounts and credit cards, phones and all that, were never touched again.

But I kind of hoped it was just an accident.

I mean, I guess that’s not a better way to go. I don’t know.”

A thunderous boom sounded from outside followed by metal screeching against metal. Another came shortly after. Hollis was unfazed. The heavy equipment probably kept up a cacophony all day.

“How long had you known Tobias before you opened the company with him?” asked Gretchen.

Turning back to them, Hollis scrubbed a hand down his face. “We gotta do this all over again? All the questions?”

Josie said, “This is a double homicide. Officially. In our jurisdiction, so yeah, we’re going to do this again.”

“Fine. But let’s go somewhere we can sit. Downstairs we have some rooms where the car salesmen used to do paperwork. One of those should work.”

Hollis labored to get down the steps, lowering his left leg to each step so he didn’t have to bend it. Knee problems, he explained. As they passed by the front desk, he called out, “Ellyn, how about some coffee?”

“Coming up,” she replied.

As promised, a hall off the main lobby led to five doors, each one filled with more stuff.

Hollis chose the room that was easiest to navigate.

A sleek black conference table sat among clusters of cleaning supplies.

Josie and Gretchen edged past a row of mops and took their seats.

Hollis lowered himself into a chair across from them.

“All right, then. You wanna know how we knew each other? Tobias stole my girlfriend.”

He let those words hang in the air between them. The gleam in his eyes told Josie he was waiting for some sort of reaction. When they gave none, he laughed. “Nah, just kidding. I used to rib him about it, but she wasn’t really my girlfriend. It was Jackson’s mom, Rachel.”

“Rachel Wright?” Josie asked.

“Yeah. I took her out a couple of times. Everyone in our neighborhood used to go to the same bar—that was where I met her in the first place. One night we went there after dinner and Tobias charmed her right off her bar stool. That was the end of that.”

Gretchen said, “Had you known him before that?”

“Of course. He was always around. We went to the same high school, but he was a few years behind me.”

More concussive booms came from the back lot although here in this room they were somewhat muted.

“Were you angry with him when he started dating Rachel?” asked Josie.

Hollis waved a hand in the air. “No, not really. We weren’t serious.

Never did more than go to the movies or dinner.

Plus, she already had a kid from her last relationship.

She was a looker, but I wasn’t interested in being a stepdad.

Course, I didn’t know Jackson yet or I probably would have changed my mind. ”

“Somehow Tobias stealing your date led to the two of you opening a company together?” Gretchen said skeptically.

“No. Rachel did. She knew I had this inheritance from my dad passing and she also knew that Tobias didn’t have a steady job.

Landscaping in the summer, snow removal in the winter.

It was unreliable, particularly if the snowfall was low during any given year.

Then as a side hustle, he started helping people by cleaning out their places for extra cash.

Word got around that he was quick and wouldn’t charge an arm and a leg, so he kept getting more requests. Rachel suggested he bring me in on it.”

“Tobias was okay with that?” asked Josie. “Given the romantic rivalry?”

Hollis chuckled. “It was hardly a rivalry. Women always liked him better. He wasn’t the best-looking guy in town but he was sweet and liked to spoil his girlfriends.

Gifts, dinners, flowers, romantic gestures.

When Rachel told him it was her idea for him to partner up with me, he went for it.

We made decent money so I kept helping him out.

Eventually we became real friends. One night we were out drinking away the day’s wages and had this crazy idea to start an actual company.

I had the funds to start it up, so we did. ”

“It was successful,” Josie said.

Hollis nodded. Ellyn swept into the room, carrying a tray which she set in the center of the table.

It held a carafe, three coffee mugs with At Your Disposal’s logo on them, creamers, sugar packets, and wooden stirrers.

She waited as Hollis took a mug and poured himself some coffee.

When he reached for the sugar packets, she slid the tray out of reach, toward Josie and Gretchen.

“Aww, come on,” he complained.

“You know the rules,” she told him. “You need to be compliant keeping your blood sugar under control or you won’t be eligible for that pump. No cheating!”

“You know, if I wanted to get bossed around all the time, I would have gotten married again.”

Ellyn rolled her eyes. “Please. Like any woman would have your sorry ass.”

He took a sip of the black coffee and winced. “I’m sorry I hired you.”

“No, you’re not,” she said. “Family takes care of family.”

Josie watched the two of them bicker. Seeing them side by side, she noticed the resemblance. Russet hair, blue eyes, soft chins. Siblings, most likely.

Hollis grumbled something under his breath, which Ellyn ignored. She turned to Josie and Gretchen. “Help yourself. It’s really not that bad.”

With that, she left the room. Josie’s energy was flagging so she gave in and poured herself a mug. “We heard that you and Tobias had a disagreement over the expansion plans around the time he and Cora were killed.”

“Yeah, we fought over the expansion, sure. Tobias didn’t think we were ready. He was afraid we’d bite off more than we could chew, which was fair. But the real reason we were fighting was that he didn’t think I was serious.”

Gretchen had her notebook out, sitting on the table in front of her. “Why not?”

“He said I was just chasing a woman and that’s the only reason I wanted to expand—to Denton.”

“Were you just chasing a woman?” asked Josie, stirring some cream and sugar into her coffee.

Hollis shrugged. “Yeah.”

“So Tobias was right, but you fought him on it anyway,” Gretchen said.

“Just because he was right doesn’t mean the expansion was a bad idea. Look around you. It was a smart decision.”

Josie assumed the woman in question was the one who’d given him an alibi the night Tobias and Cora went missing. The one who passed away two and a half years after the couple disappeared. “How did it go with the woman?”

Hollis’s face reddened. “It lasted a week. I’m not great at relationships. Stopped getting married after my third divorce.”

“When was the last time you saw Tobias and Cora before the night they were killed?” asked Gretchen.

“This is all in Fanning’s file, you know.”

“Now it will be in our file,” Gretchen replied simply. “Answer the question.”

He regarded her for a moment, a spark in his eyes. “I like you, you know that?”