Read Flea Market Fatal for Free Online Page A

options. Out of high school he’d gone to work straightaway at the factory and had no other skills. He could have taken a number of other jobs, but all of them would have required him to start at the bottom. At thirty-five he wasn’t ready to do that.
    “But as it turns out he was forced to. Your father swallowed his pride and went back to the factory the next day. He was worried about mortgage and the little girl about to enter high school. He’d always wanted you to go to college and worried that if he had to start over we might not have enough money to support you in your education.”
    Missy’s eyes filled with tears. She made sure to keep her back to the school. That way if anybody came outside they wouldn’t be able to see her crying.
    Mom continued. “He went back to his manager and begged. Pleaded. Even offered to take a pay cut. But the manager refused him. It had only been a day, but the man claimed to have already filled the spot. There were always people begging for a nice job at the factory. It was the biggest employer in the county back then, so ownership could be picky.
    “It was such a blow to your father. I can still remember what he said when he got home that day. He said he was utterly replaceable . The words were like daggers in my heart, I loved him so much. He said Loretta had been right. He’d been foolish to think he could run a successful business, when the factory was able to fill his position in less than twenty-four hours. Your father was absolutely devastated.”
    Missy had a hard time speaking through the tears. “I knew Dad had lost his job, but you guys never…I never realized how hard it had been for him. Was I that self-absorbed?”
    “No, dear.” Her mother’s voice was warm and sweet. “We didn’t want you to worry so we didn’t voice our concerns around you. We wanted you to have a normal childhood, and you were just starting high school, we just wanted you to be happy.”
    “Mom…I don’t know what to say.”
    Her Mom was quiet for a stretch. “Your father was really devastated. He was never quite the same after that. He lost most of his self-confidence and honestly he never recovered from it. I think that was the beginning.”
    “I knew Dad wasn’t himself but God I never realized how bad he felt…” Missy was doing everything she could to keep it together, when she just wanted to drop the phone and fall to her knees. How did she not know this about her own father? It didn’t matter that they’d purposely kept it from her. She had lived in the same house with the man.
    She should have known. Or at least suspected. She should have talked to him. Done something to help.
    “Your father didn’t want you to worry, Missy. He got to a point where he didn’t care if he was depressed, he just wanted to make sure you were happy.” Mom’s voice grew thick. “I should have forced him to try more therapy. Different therapy. Medicine. Anything. But he was so stubborn. He wanted to face the problem himself, he always said.”
    Missy tried to pull it together. Dad was long gone now. Nothing could be done about it at this point. Right now she was the prime suspect in the murder of Albert Switzer.
    “Why did Albert back out of the deal?”
    “It was Loretta. She didn’t care for your father. She didn’t think he could be successful. Albert couldn’t convince her, and Albert always did what Loretta wanted even though she was horrible to him.”
    “What happened between Dad and Albert after?”
    “I urged your father to talk to the man, but he wouldn’t. He just said he’d never be able to trust Albert again. He was probably right to think that, but I still held out hope. Your father needed that business venture to work. So when he wouldn’t do anything…I took matters into my own hands.”
    “Mom?” Her voice had taken on an ominous tone, one Missy had never heard before. “What do you mean?”
    Mom laughed. It came out sounding forced. “I drove over to their