Lynchburg, Tennessee had a population of about 6, 378. It was an old town, having been created in 1841. The people there were very nice, Evan noticed, for everyone that he passed on his way to his new house waved at him. Most of the people were young, too, and some of the women he passed were blonde, so he tried to guess which of the young women was Kelly.
As he pulled up to his new house, his mouth nearly dropped. Yes, officer Warren had given him nearly $90,000 dollars for the rent and some clothes for Tennessee living, but he hadn't expected the house to be so nice.
It really was, too. The outside of the house was teal with a brown roof, and there was a big yard with flower beds lining the windows of the house, which were also brown. There was a two car garage connected to the left side of the house, but since Evan didn't have a garage at his house, he preferred the driveway as a place to park.
Evan had done his bit of research on Lynchburg, and one of the first things that popped up in the search bar was: Is Lynchburg Tennessee a safe place to live?
The answer to that question was, yes. Your chances of becoming a victim of crime in Lynchburg is 1 in 113.
But, Evan asked himself, why was there nothing on the Internet about the strange chain of vicious murders in Lynchburg? The span of the crimes were from 1989 to present. And as much as Evan tried different ways to look up the crimes, nothing showed up about the murders. Maybe the town had tried to cover up the crimes or something.
Just then, a woman who had to be Kelly walked out of the neighboring house to the right. Officer Warren had been right. Kelly was absolutely gorgeous. But he also saw the bombshell in her now. She was on call with someone, and visibly shouting at them, too.
Evan got out of the car, closed the door, stretched, and looked at Kelly. Kelly glanced at him, then glared at him, and then she flipped him off.
Evan laughed out loud and then went to the back of the car to the trunk and got out his three bags and suitcase. He brought out two of the bags and walked to the front door. He dug the house key out of his hoodie and then unlocked the door. He walked into the house, and then, his mouth actually did drop.
The house was absolutely gorgeous. The walls were dark gray, and there was wood on just about every surface of the house. "Dannnnggggg." Evan said out loud. Just then, Evan's phone went off.
"Hello?" Evan asked.
"Evan! So, did you get to Lynchburg yet or-" Officer Warren started.
"Yes sir!" Evan said.
"Jesus! Why are you shouting like an army general? Did something go wrong or-" Officer Warren started.
"Little Miss Perfect, our Blond Bombshell, that Blue-eyed little-" Evan started.
"Okay. You should know that as a detective, when you play different parts like you do, when you become a stranger in different towns and start snooping around like you do, some people don't like that." Officer Warren said.
Evan took a deep breath. "Ya know, I wasn't mad about our little girlie until I talked to you. She flipped me off for god sakes." Evan said.
Officer Warren sounded as if he was trying to stifle a laugh, and he was definitely smiling as he said, "Well, you always have had a way with the ladies. Good luck, and goodbye." Officer Warren said and hung up.
Evan yelled a fluent stream of curse words at Officer Warren and just about threw his phone down. But then he remembered what Officer Warren had said. I do have a way with the ladies, Evan thought, in the sense that they always glance my way when I go out. "I got it! Maybe I can woo Kelly into trusting me." Evan muttered.
Thank you Officer Warren, for helping me in an unknown way, Evan thought.
When Evan got home after going out to the rentor's main house and paying them the next afternoon at 5, he went over to Kelly's house and knocked on the door. "Just a minute!" Kelly called out.
When Kelly opened the door and saw Evan standing there on the doorstep, her mouth dropped open a little bit and she said, "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry about yesterday. I'm going through a divorce, a rather sticky one if I might add, and that was my ex husband on the phone. Would you like to come in? I just made some cupcakes and heaven knows that I'm not going to eat 'em all." Kelly said.
Evan couldn't help but feel a tiny bit triumphant when he went inside the house. "Thank you, Kelly." Evan said.
"Have a seat at the table."Kelly said, and pulled out a chair.
"Thank you, Kelly."Evan said, grateful that she wasn't making him stand.
Kelly sat down across from Evan and said, "So, Evan, what brings you to the small town of Lynchburg Tennessee?"
"Nothing, really. I just... wanted a change from the fast-paced city life of Shellbourne New Hampshire. Ya know, a 25- year- old man just wants a change in his life sometimes." Evan said,
Kelly nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I know whatcha mean. I'm 24 and I got married at 18, and I've just been thinking, maybe it would be better for me to move away, out of the same town my ex husband lives in." Kelly said.
Evans' heart pounded. "So um... when were you thinking about moving?" Evan asked.
"Oh, you ain't gettin' rid of me that soon! Yeah, even if I did move, it wouldn't be for a very long time. Like 3 months or more. Here's a cupcake. Wait, you can have chocolate and cream cheese right?" Kelly asked.
"Chocolate and cream cheese are my life. Seriously. Hey, um what's your number?" Evan asked.
Kelly smirked. "Okay. I'll give it to you only if you promise to take me out to eat ice cream." Kelly said.
"That's a deal! So, what's your number? Mine is 1-603-992-8685." Evan said.
"Mine is 1-931-454-6053."Kelly said.
"Okay, so I'll text you a time, and how about you text me a good place for ice cream?" Evan asked.
"Sounds perfect. Hope this isn't too weird of a question, but what's your last name?" Evan asked.
"My last name is Rowland. Just kidding. It's Reyman." Kelly said.
Evan stood up, "Oh, can I have the cupcake?" Evan asked.
Kelly blushed. "Oh, yeah! Of course, sorry 'bout that." Kelly said, and handed him a cupcake.
Evan smiled, and said, "Thanks," then walked out of the door.
Evan's heart skipped a beat when he imagined Kelly's face again. Kelly's face was sort of angelic, in a way that when you looked into her eyes you were immediately captivated by the angles, structure and absolute gorgeousness of her face. Almost had a gold colored glow, Kelly's face had. Not to mention those ice blue eyes. God those eyes can draw you in, Evan thought. But at the same time, even though Kelly's eyes were beautiful, they were also full of sadness and skepticism. Skepticism over what, Evan had no idea.
Suddenly, Evan had an idea. Evan took out his phone from his back jean pocket and typed in Kelly's number to his new list of contacts. Then he texted: Hey!
Less than a minute later, Kelly responded. Howdy!
So, about the ice cream situation.... Evan texted.
What about it? Kelly responded
Would tonight at about 6 work?
Yeah!
Awesome. What's your ex husband's name?
Marcus Adams.
Evan went to Youtube and clicked one of his playlists.
Then, Evan turned on his computer and searched up Marcus Adams. Within about .01 seconds over 100 results popped up. The result that intrigued him the most was the one that read: Lynchburg Tennessee man is a possible suspect in a 18- year old murder case.
Evan clicked on the link attached to that result. The computer took about 10 seconds to load and all of a sudden Evan was bombarded with a load of information. Evan couldn't help but start reading the first paragraph of the page. It said: 36 year old Marcus Adams was arrested for distributing cocaine on March 3rd, 2022. Adams would not say anything without a lawyer present, and police got a search warrant. While looking through Adam's house, police found numerous suspicious items in his house including several newspaper articles involving Adams's wife's parents's murder case. Not to mention several items such as a few butcher knives that are being subjected to DNA analysis.
"Woahoooo! YES! YES! I GOT HIM! I GOT HIM!" Evan shouted. Evan just about spun around in his chair and knocked his computer off the table when he heard a thud on his door. "What in the-" Evan started, and then got up to answer the door. As soon as Evan opened the door, a rotten smell filled his nostrils. "Gah! What the-" Evan started, but then his eyes focused on what was on his doorstep. A dead rat was laying on the place mat on the doorstep.
Evan slammed the door shut and gritted his teeth."Gosh darn it!" Evan cried in frustration. "Who would do a thing like that? That sick? Gah!" Evan added.
Evan glanced at the clock. It was 6:55 already. Evan ran upstairs and put on a button down plaid shirt, and jeans with some cowboy boots. Then, he grabbed his wallet, ran downstairs, and out the door. Evan got into his car, and then drove to Kelly's house, even though they were neighbors.
Kelly must have been waiting for him or saw him drive up because the moment he parked in front of her house she was ready and came outside. Kelly looked beautiful in a sparkly red dress, matching red heels. Her long, wavy blonde hair was in a braided bun and her lips looked to be painted a pale pink color.
Kelly walked up to the passenger side of the car and opened the door. "Howdy!" Kelly said, got into the car, and shut the door.
Driving off, Evan said "Hey!" In response to Kelly.
"Soooooo..... Where are ya thinkin' about goin' to for the ice cream?" Kelly asked.
"I saw the store when I first came here and I think it's called: Frosty's Frozen Treats, it looked good, so I think we might go there." Evan said.
"I've never had that, so I'm up for that. It sounds delicious!" Kelly said.
"Can you pull up Google Maps on your phone and search up the store and then tell me the address because I forgot the address."
"Will do, sir!"
"Sir?"
"Marcus always had me call him 'sir' when I had a question."
Evan mumbled under his breath something that sounded a lot like "What a douche".
"Huh?"
"Oh nothing 'ma'am."
"Why did you ask what my husbands' name was earlier?"
"Just curious. By the way, why was your husband arrested?"
Kelly's face flushed. "I'm sure you know why, you little snoop! How could you ask something like that? God knows what you are going to do with the information I gave you! Oh man, I am so stupid! Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh Gooooooood!" Kelly yelled.
"Jesus. It's fiiiine. I'm not a stalker or anything!" Evan cried.
"Sorry. Sorry. Just needed a little time to cool down. You know how I said I had a sticky divorce?" Kelly asked, and waited for Evan to nod before she continued. "Well, I remember it like it was yesterday. I had just arrived at work and then I got a call from Marcus's mom. She sounded absolutely hysterical. It was hard to calm her down, but once I did, she said that Marcus had been arrested for distributing cocaine to an undercover officer. I didn't know what to believe at first. Do I believe her or do I not believe her? Well, anyways, I found out that she was telling the truth. I was absolutely livid. After work, I got home and the house looked like it had been ransacked or robbed or somethin'. Which was infuriating. Come to find out, the police had gotten a search warrant to look through our house 'cause Marcus was actin' all suspicious an' all that. And then after I found out about that, I filed for a divorce. Ya know, you are supposed to trust your spouse or your partner enough to not go through their belongings. But given what they found, I should have been searchin' a long time ago."
"Yeah, I guess." Was all Evan could say.
"So. Let's go get some ice cream!" Kelly said.
"Of course, sorry about that." Evan said.
Kelly glanced down at her phone. "Okay. It says that the ice cream shop is at 668 Paramount Street North." Kelly said.
"Thanks." Evan said. It took a while to find 668 Paramount Street, but when they finally did find it, it was not long after that that they found Frosty's Frozen Treats.
Evan parked the car, got out of the vehicle, and went over to the passenger side of the car. Evan opened the door for Kelly, took her hand and helped her out of the vehicle, and closed the car door. "Thanks!" Kelly said.
Kelly and Evan entered the ice cream shop. To be quite honest, Frosty's Frozen Treats looked like a place out of a fairy tale. There were blue sparkly countertops, gray floors, white walls, and right where the ice cream buckets were at, in front of the window, was a huge cut out of Frosty the Snowman.
"Wow. Wonder what this place must be like at Christmas, I mean am I right or am I right?" Evan whispered to Kelly.
Kelly giggled. "Yeah. Christmas in Tennessee is waaaaay different from Christmas in New Hampshire, I am sure. I mean we have the lights and everythin' but we don't have the snow, which I am very grateful for. I mean, who could even have snow during Christmas?" Kelly said, glancing at the sign that said "Happy St. Patrick's Day!"
"Wow. The shopkeeper must love St. Patrick's Day if they still have that sign up after two months." Kelly said.
"Yeah. Tell me about it. So, what flavor of ice cream do you want?" Evan asked.
Kelly looked at the menu and took a while to decide before she said, "Well, I would like to try their Matcha Cookies and Cream flavor, that seems good."
"Hello sir, the lady here would like to try your Matcha Cookies and Cream ice cream, and I would like to try your Chocolate Bourbon ice cream." Evan said, glancing at Kelly.
Kelly blushed and smiled shyly. Just then, I Like Me Better by Lauv started playing. "Oooooh! This is one of my favorite songs!" Kelly said.
Evan couldn't help but stare at Kelly. Her face was radiating a beautiful glow, her eyes were shining with happiness, and her smile almost made Evan's heart melt. Evan knew right then and there that this would be his most challenging case ever.
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"Whelp, the ice cream was delicious. How was yours?" Evan asked when he and Kelly were back in the car.
"Absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for letting me get some ice cream. This has truly been an amazing distraction for a few hours."Kelly said.
Evan's heart sank. So she had only thought of this experience as a distraction and that's it. "Oh, well... maybe we could go to a lake or something?" Evan asked.
"Sure! I know a perfect lake nearby, or have you already got one in mind?" Kelly asked.
"Nope, I'm all ears." Evan said.
"Okay! Tims For Lake is about 20 minutes from here. I'll pull it up on Google Maps." Kelly said, scrolling on her phone.
"Thanks." Evan said.
"No problem. Hey, do you mind if I play some music from my playlist?" Kelly asked.
"Nope. Have at it." Evan said.
"Thank you." Kelly said. Once Evan told her how to connect her phone to his car, within a minute or so music was blaring from the radio. "This is my favorite song." Kelly said.
"What's it called?" Evan couldn't help but ask.
"Don't Be Shy, by Tiesto and Karol G. Personally, I just love Tiesto's music. He's a very talented musician and his songs are very catchy." Kelly said.
Evan didn't normally like this kind of music, but for some reason "Don't Be Shy" seemed to be an amazing song right now.
"People say I'm not gonna change, not gonna change...." Kelly sang but then just stuck to humming.
"I can't do this anymore. Kelly, you changed something inside of me when I first looked at you. And I don't want to seem pushy or anything, since you are going through a divorce, but... I know we've only known each other for a day but... you.. you....I don't know, I guess. I'm sorry." Evan said, his voice breaking at the end of the sentence.
"It's totally fine. And I'm not going to lie. You are absolutely gorgeous and, and kind and.... But we've only known each other for one day! And I don't know you that well. Soo......" Kelly's voice trailed off and she looked at Evan.
"I'm sorry. I truly am. Forget my feelings for you. I'll drop you off." Evan said coldly.
"But-" Kelly started.
"Nothing." Evan snapped, and they sat in the car in complete silence for the rest of the ride.
After Evan dropped Kelly off, Evan knew one thing for sure: He was absolutely in love with this woman.
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Evan stayed in the house for the next three days, not caring that he had nothing to eat but three cheese and peanut butter cracker packs and 4 cans of soda. But then on Sunday, someone knocked on the door.
Evan was in a pair of sweatpants and baggy hoodie, but he didn't care. His hair was messy too, but who would be so important that he would be embarrassed about his appearance?
As it turned out, the person who knocked on the door was actually a woman, and the woman who knocked on the door was Kelly.
Kelly looked solemn, but beautiful at the same time. There was definitely eating at her insides, for she seemed pale and a little tired. "Hi, Evan. I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry about what happened three days ago. And I was wondering if you would be up to talk." Kelly said, not looking him in the eye.
"'Kay. Come on in then." Evan said.
Kelly came in and then Evan closed the door.
"Have a seat." Evan said.
"Thanks." Kelly said, and took a seat on the sofa.
"Yep. Soooo.... What is it that you were wanting to talk about?" Evan asked.
"Well... I..." Kelly cleared her throat. "Do you remember when, I think he said it was a rat that was thrown on your doorstep?" Kelly asked.
"Of course I do. I'm not going to forget something like that! And who's he?" Evan said.
"Well, I got a call from Marcus this morning and he said to tell you to stay away from me and if you ever come near me again, he will tell Michael to throw another rat on your doorstep. Naturally, I was repulsed and started yelling at him, and then hung up on him. But I came over to see if that was true, if someone really had thrown a rat on your doorstep." Kelly said.
"Yeah, that did happen. And it was nasty too. Rotten and everything." Evan said.
Kelly shivered. "I'm soooo sorry 'bout that. Really, I am. Also, have you eaten anything lately because you look a little.. I don't know. Off." Kelly said.
"No. And who's Michael?" Evan asked.
"An old friend of Marcus's. I never liked him. He drank a lot, stank, smoked, was rude and broke the law a ton of times." Kelly said. "Anyways, I'm gonna go to the grocery store and get some stuff to make you some food."
"'Thanks." Evan said.
"Yep. We're good, then?" Kelly asked.
"Yeah." Evan said.
Supper that night was absolutely delicious. Kelly had cooked biscuits and red-eye gravy, baked beans, memphis ribs, country ham, and fried catfish. She had also made a pitcher of sweet tea (which tasted absolutely out of this world). Evan didn't know how to thank Kelly for going out of her way to make him so much food, so he just said, "Thanks. You really made my day."
"Yup! Y'all need to eat in New Hampshire. I heard their food ain't half as good there as it is here." Kelly said, tossing her braided long blonde hair out of her face.
"People in New Hampshire actually eat really well. Really, really, reallllly good. That's why a lot of people in my neighborhood are chubbier. Not fat, just chubbier. They eat a lot of good food. Donuts are a really big thing in my town, you could even say that donuts are sometimes considered a delicacy." Evan said, scarfing down his plate of ribs.
Kelly sat down at the table in the seat beside him. "Tell me a lil' bit 'bout yourself please. I mean, tell me about where you grew up an' all that. Please." Kelly said.
"Okay. So, my birthday is June 16, 1998. I was born with one foot smaller than the other by an inch, and I had black hair, not blonde. My parents are Jack and Milly Sanderson. Mom can cook like no other, and dad works his tail off trying to support all of the kids in my family. I'm the oldest sibling of all us siblings, and the youngest, Mia, is 15. I moved to Shellbourne to go to college there at SU, and along the way I met Lacy. Lacy was beautiful, smart, funny, and you know how they say the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach? Well, that's especially true for me. She cooked just as good as my mother. Anyways, Lacy worked as a correctional officer in one of the most dangerous prisons in New Hampshire, about 40 miles away from Shellbourne. Naturally, I was always concerned about her, so I made her get some pepper spray in case things got too out of control while she was working a shift. One day, I woke up and she wasn't home. That was odd. But, I waited the whole day before I called the police. Long story short, Lacy had been murdered by her best friend who also worked Lacy's shift." Evan said, his voice giving out at the last word.
"I'm really sorry about that." Kelly said. Kelly sat there in silence for a little while after that. Then she said, "When I was six, my mom and dad were killed in front of me. I don't remember much, just that a man in a skee mask had a gun and then he shot them. I was hiding under my bed when I saw it all happen. It was horrible. I moved in with my grandparents a little while after that whole ordeal, and after my grandma died my grandpa's health declined. He became fragile and wasn't able to take care of himself, let alone a child. So, he went to assisted living and I went to foster care. I was in and out of foster care many times, and by the time I was 17 I had been in and out of around 10 foster homes. When I was 18, since no one had adopted me, I went out into the real world. That was a harsh reality. But, one night when I was bartending out at Moonlight Bar, I met Marcus. I thought when I had met him that he was the one. I never knew how wrong I could be." Kelly said.
"Wow. I... never would have thought. I am so sorry for you." Evan said, shaking his head.
"It's not your fault. But thank you. For everything,"Kelly said.
"Yeah, anytime. Hey, how about tomorrow I come over and make you some iconic New Hampshire food?" Evan asked.
"Like what?" Kelly asked.
"Oh..... Lobster rolls, fried bass, maybe a maple sundae-" Evan started.
"Wait a minute. What's a maple sundae?"Kelly asked.
"Something absolutely delicious. Ice cream, maple syrup, and candied bacon." Evan answered.
"Huh." Kelly said.
"New Hampshire's really big on, like, apples and stuff, so there's a lot of different recipes with apples." Evan said.
"Like what?" Kelly asked.
"Apple cider, cider donuts, and apple wine. There's more but...I'm not in the mood of saying all of the apple foods we eat in New Hampshire. I'd probably be 70 by the time my list was done. And then we have poutine, chicken and waffles (a personal favorite of mine), and, well, I don't know if this is a New Hampshirite meal, but french toast with blue raspberries and whipped cream is the best." Evan said.
Kelly's jaw dropped. "Never mind about what I said about the people in New Hampshire not eating. Obviously you guys eat quite a bit. I don't think you guys starve, is what I'm trying to say." Kelly said.
Evan chuckled. "Absolutely not. Hey, um...." Evan said as he ran his palm through his dirty blonde hair. "See, I, er-" Evan started, but then stopped when Kelly interrupted him.
"Evan, I know we've only known each other for four days. But I am a strong, strong believer in love at first sight. And I have been trying to fight my feelings for a while now. We talked on Tuesday for a long while and it felt like we had known each other for forever. Plus, I am going through a divorce which is taking forever to finalize since Marcus is in jail right now, so I feel a little guilty about that. But, I promise you, once I am ready to start dating again, I will date you because I really, really, really like you. More than you will ever probably know." Kelly said.
Evan felt absolutely unstoppable. The emotions surging through him right now were almost overwhelming. Evan couldn't help but start to smile. "Kelly, that's all I needed to hear. I'm serious. You are every man's dream come true. Funny, kind, absolutely gorgeous, everything I could ever want." Evan said.
"Thank you for saying that. Now, I hate to ruin the romantic moment, but I need to head to my house." Kelly said.
Evan didn't care. "That's one hundred percent okay. Hey, I'll see you tomorrow once I'm done cooking. But if you see fire coming from the chimney, if there even is a chimney, call the police. That means that I've probably started a fire." Evan said.
Kelly laughed. "Well, okay then. Will do. Anyways, see ya tomorrow." Kelly said, and got up. Within a few seconds Kelly opened the door, closed it, and was gone.
Evan sighed. What had he gotten himself into? Evan asked himself. "Well, I should go to the grocery store then. Get some food, and all that." Evan said to himself.