I nodded, taking this in. Her eyes showed her fear. “What did she do?”
“I’d rather not say, but there was a lot of harassment. I didn’t want to spend the money on the arrangement, but the other two; they adored her. It’s not like she’s going to come back and be mad at us because we didn’t spend enough money on a flower arrangement for her,” she said and tried to chuckle. It was a sad, hollow sound. “Right? She can’t come back, right?”
I reached a hand out and put it on the back of one of hers. “No, she can’t come back. It will be fine. Molly, do you have any idea who might have killed Tori?”
“It could be anyone. Really, Tori had more enemies than she did friends. At least if they would tell the truth, she did. The problem is, not many will tell the truth about that. But if I had to name someone, I’d say it was John Greenlee.”
“Why do you say John Greenlee?”
She was quiet for a moment. “Not long ago I met up with him and a couple of other friends at a sports bar in Boise. The talk turned to our businesses and how things were going. John said the best thing that could happen for the businesses in Sparrow would be for Tori Wells to disappear. I turned to look at him, shocked that he had said something like that. He said, don’t act surprised. I know you’d like to be rid of her too, and if you really think about it, it wouldn’t take much to make that happen.”
“Did he say what he had in mind?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t want to hear anything like that. When Tori turned up dead, and I heard how it happened, like most people, I thought it was an accident. But then a few days ago I remembered the conversation I had with John. And I guess I could shrug it off as someone just talking, but you didn’t see the look in his eyes. He meant it.”
“Have you mentioned this to the detective on the case?”
“No, like I said, I completely forgot about it until a few days ago.” She sighed and took a step back from the front counter. “I suppose I just need to put all of this behind me. As much as I resent feeling pressured to pay money for an arrangement for Tori, I need to find a way to move on from this chapter of my life.”
I nodded. “Maybe you should just consider this last financial expenditure on her flowers a ‘goodbye forever’ sort of thing. You know, the last thing you’ll ever be pressured to do.”
She nodded, turned around, and headed toward the door. When she got to the door, she stopped and looked back at me. “To be honest, if I were going to look at who might have killed her, I might take a look at John Greenlee. He hated her more than anyone. He said the best thing for this town would be for Tori to suddenly die. He laughed like it was a joke, but there was something in his voice.”
I nodded, and she left the shop.
Chapter Twenty
When John Greenlee walked into the diner the next day, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Molly’s words came rushing back to me and suddenly I knew. John Greenlee had killed Tori. I can’t even say why exactly, but I knew. Maybe it was what Molly said, maybe it was what John Greenlee had said to me himself the first time I spoke to him. Or maybe there was something brewing in the air that made me understand that John Greenlee had killed Tori wells. Whatever it was, I knew it was true.
He smiled at me when he caught my eye and I forced myself to smile back. My face felt frozen and stiff and I suddenly wished I was anywhere but there.
“Good morning, Rainey,” he said, walking toward me. “How have you been? The weather sure has turned up cold, hasn’t it?”
I forced my frozen mouth to move. “I’m fine John,” I said. “It sure has turned cold. Stopping in for some coffee to warm up?” I hoped that was all he wanted and he would leave quickly. I needed to get away so I could call Cade. He probably would think I was nuts, but I didn’t care. John Greenlee had killed Tori Wells, and I was going to make sure he paid for his crime.
“Coffee would be great, and I thought I’d have breakfast, too,” he said. “Do you mind if I sit at the front counter?”
I stared at him a moment too long. I shook myself. “No, not at all. Go ahead and take a seat and I’ll get you that cup of coffee.”
The diner was full this morning, fuller than it had been in weeks. The bustle of a busy diner can get loud and confusing and I suddenly felt out of sorts. I told myself to do one thing at a time. I just needed to get him a cup of coffee to get him started off. Then I’d duck into the backroom and give Cade a call. It’s not like John could do anything with the diner packed the way it was. And as long as he didn’t know that I knew what he had done, he wouldn’t have a reason to do anything. I went to the cupboard and pulled out a coffee cup along with a small saucer to set it on and poured him some coffee, then brought it back to him. He was sitting right at the center of the counter.
“Thanks,” he said reaching for the jar of creamer and pouring it into his coffee. John Greenlee liked his coffee light. He continued pouring and stirring until the hot liquid had turned the color of light Caramel.
“What can I get you?” I asked as lightly as I could muster. I pulled my order book from my apron pocket along with a pen and waited while he glanced over the menu in front of him.
“I think I’m going to go for the works platter,” he said. And then he looked up at me and grinned. “Don’t tell the wife. She’d have a fit if she knew I was going to eat pancakes, eggs, sausage, and hash browns all at once.”
I gave him a smile, hoping he couldn’t tell it was forced. “Got it. I won’t tell your wife what you’re eating down here at Sam’s.” I jotted down his order and then looked up at him again. I was suddenly sure he understood what I had figured out and my heart pounded in my chest. I knew I needed to calm down, but my head was spinning. “Let me turn your order in to Sam, and I’ll be right out with it as soon as it’s up.”
I turned before he had a chance to answer me and headed back to the kitchen, tearing the ticket from my book and in the process nearly tearing it in half. I caught myself before it had completely torn through what I had written down, making it illegible. In the kitchen, Sam flipped pancakes, eggs, and sausage while Ron washed dishes. Luanne and Diane hurried back and forth getting the customer’s orders together. The noise in the kitchen would make it impossible for me to make a phone call. I sighed.
“Got another one for you, Sam,” I said, trying with shaking hands to hang up the order so that it wouldn’t be torn completely in half.
He glanced over his shoulder. “Things are crazy out there, aren’t they? It’s nice to see, but with the cold weather keeping people away, I forgot how crazy things get when we’ve got a full house.”
I nodded at his back as he had turned back to the food he was cooking. “It’s crazy out there. I think just about every booth is filled as well as most of the seats at the front counter.”
“My feet are already hurting,” Diane said as she picked up two plates of scrambled eggs. “They’ll be happy when my shift ends.”
“Just think of the tips,” Sam advised with a grin.
“There’s always a silver lining isn’t there?” Diane said and laughed.
My eyes went from Sam to Diane and over to Luanne as she picked up three plates of pancakes and eggs, hurrying out to her tables without a word. I wanted to say something to them to let them know that we had a killer at the front counter, but I found my tongue unable to form the words.
“Rainey, your orders are ready,” Sam said. I was confused for a moment, thinking he meant the one I had just put up on the order holder for John Greenlee. But then I realized he was speaking of the ones I had turned in earlier for two other customers at the front counter. My legs moved woodenly toward the counter where Sam put the plates of food he had cooked.
“These two?” I asked stupidly. There were only two plates sitting on the sideboard.
“Those would be the ones,” Sam said, without looking up.
I stared at them, forgetting for a moment what I was doing. Sam glanced at me, his eyebrows raised and question
ing.
I looked at him and then shrugged. “I guess I didn’t get enough sleep last night. I better get some caffeine before I completely forget what it is that I’m doing here.”
“Oh, caffeine,” Sam said and flipped a pancake. “It’s the breakfast of champions, you know.”
“You can say that again,” I said, picking up the two plates and shuffling toward the door that led out to the front counter. “Here we are,” I said cheerfully as I set the plates down in front of a couple of our regulars.
I glanced over at John Greenlee as he took a sip of his coffee, then the front door of the diner swung open and Cade walked through it. When he caught sight of me, he grinned. I took a deep breath, relieved to see him.
Cade took a seat at the front counter next to John Greenlee, folding his hands over one another in front of him. “This place is jumping, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “Let me get you a cup of coffee.” I turned and headed to the coffee pot. The steam swirled up from the pot as I poured the hot liquid into the cup. I took a deep breath. Everything would be fine. The diner was too busy for John to do anything. But Cade had no idea that a killer was sitting right next to him. How would I get a chance to tell him without John hearing me?
“Here you are,” I said putting the cup in front of him. “Scrambled eggs on white toast?” There was no need for me to even ask, but it kept my mind busy.
“It’s like you’re a mind reader,” he said and reached for the jar of creamer. I pulled my order book out of my apron and jotted down his order, my eyes going to John when I finished. He was sipping his coffee, waiting on his food.
“I’ll be right back,” I said and hurried back to the kitchen, placing the ticket on the order holder.
“Got a couple more for you, Rainey,” Sam said.
I went over and picked up two more plates that belonged to people sitting at the front counter. I needed to figure out how to get a minute to speak to Cade privately. I headed back out to the front counter and placed the food in front of two other diners.
“So, Cade,” John Greenlee said amicably. “You find Tori Wells’ killer yet?”
My heart stopped beating for a moment.
“Not yet, but you know how it is. These things take time.”
He nodded. “I can only imagine. I mean, if I were a betting man, I’d bet it was some drunk driver. The fool probably got confused and drove down that alley, thinking he was on a regular street and slammed right into Tori without thinking twice.” He chuckled. “I bet she flew a good ways from the impact, too.”
My heart began beating again in a rush.
“I suppose that’s possible,” Cade said. “But at this point, it doesn’t really make a difference. Whoever hit Tori left the scene of the accident and at the very least they’ll be charged with manslaughter. Whether the impact killed her or she died laying there in the cold, is anyone’s guess. But we know she didn’t live very long after she was struck, according to the medical examiner’s report.”
John nodded. “Some poor drunk. Now he’ll suffer because that foolish woman was someplace she didn’t belong. Probably sticking her nose into someone’s business like she always did.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What do you mean some poor drunk will suffer because Tori was someplace she didn’t belong? She was going to the community center to prepare the Thanksgiving meal for the less fortunate in our community. She was exactly where she was supposed to be and if what you said is true, somebody was driving drunk down that alley and hit her, then that person has no one to blame but himself.” I could feel the heat rising up on the inside. John was proud of what he’d done and smug that he hadn’t been caught yet.
He shrugged and gave me a grin. “I guess, but I still think it’s a shame someone might suffer for having killed Tori Wells.”
Cade turned in his seat, looking at him thoughtfully.
I took a deep breath. “You know what? I don’t believe it was a drunk driver. Honestly, with all the hateful attitudes that are going on among business owners in this town, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if it was premeditated murder. Someone ran her over on purpose.”
Out of the corner my eye I saw Cade look at me and narrow his eyes. I was doing my best to control my anger, but he knew me well enough to know I was about to lose it.
“It wasn’t just business owners that couldn’t stand her. Tori had a knack for making enemies. But just because somebody didn’t like her doesn’t mean they would kill her,” John said, tilting his head as he looked at me.
“I think for most people that’s a true statement,” I said, putting both hands on my hips and ignoring Cade’s stare. “But what I want to know, John Greenlee, is did you kill Tori?”
Cade sat up straight in his seat and I could feel him willing me to look at him, but I wasn’t going to do that. I knew the truth, and the truth was going to come out.
John Greenlee sat up straight, too. “What? What are you asking me, Rainey? I didn’t kill anyone, and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t make accusations like that.” He looked over at Cade. “She’s crazy.” He said it weakly and Cade eyed him without saying a word.
I narrowed my eyes at John. “Really John? Because I happen to know that you put some thought into how to get rid of her. You couldn’t stand her and you had had enough. Isn’t that the truth? You hated her and you decided to do something about it.”
I could sense Cade tensing up. “Rainey,” he said in a near whisper.
John’s hand gripped the edge of the counter. “So? What does that mean? A person can’t have a little fun thinking about getting even with someone? It doesn’t mean they’re actually going to do it.”
Cade turned toward John. “I don’t think that’s something normal people do.”
John stared at me, his face draining of color. Then he began to laugh. “Rainey Daye, you do have a wild imagination, don’t you?”
“Does she?” Cade asked him.
He turned and looked at Cade somberly. “I think she does,” he said feebly.
“Don’t you think you’d sleep better if you admitted what you did?” I asked him, lowering my voice. The other customers at the counter had all stopped eating and were staring at John and I realized I might have taken things just a wee bit too far.
John Greenlee stared at me. His hand moved beneath the counter and before I knew what was happening, he withdrew a gun from his coat pocket. I had just enough time to duck before the gun went off and from the corner of my eye, I saw Cade dive at John Greenlee. Screams went out around the diner as people hit the ground and dishes flew. I heard John Greenlee scream, and I heard Cade grunt. I might have noticed more about what was going on, but the side of my head was on fire.
Chapter Twenty-one
I watched as the police car pulled away from the diner with John Greenlee in the back seat. If I’d had any idea he would pull a gun out of his pocket and shoot at me in the middle of a packed diner, I would have kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want anybody to be hurt. Tori’s death was far more than enough.
I sat on the backside of the ambulance as the EMT cleaned my ear and bandaged it. I had refused the trip to the hospital. It was nothing more than a very slight flesh wound, not big enough to warrant visiting the ER and waiting around for a couple of hours to see a doctor who was just going to tell me to keep it clean and go home.
I winced as the EMT applied ointment to my ear.
“Sorry about that, Rainey,” he said. “You sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?”
I had already been asked at least five times. “No, Mel, I’m fine. I promise.”
He nodded and began placing a bandage on my ear. “Next time you try to catch a killer, try not to get shot at, will you?”
“I promise to try not to let this happen again.”
Cade walked out of the diner and stopped on the sidewalk, looking in my direction. He shook his head and then came to sit beside me on the back of the ambulance.
“I al
ready know what you’re going to say. I need to quit accusing people of committing murder.” I sighed and winced as Mel finished up with the bandage.
“Rainey,” Cade said and looked at me very seriously.
“What?”
“If you get yourself killed, I will never forgive myself. I’ll never forgive you, either. I don’t want you asking around town about possible murder suspects anymore. I’ll handle the murder cases.”
“Cade, no one in their right mind would fire a gun in a packed diner the way he did. Especially not with a police detective sitting right next to him. Most killers are not going to behave that way. It was a fluke,” I said lightly. It was a bigger deal than I was trying to make it seem and I knew it. That bullet had barely missed blowing my head off. But what was done was done, and I didn’t want Cade kicking himself for ever allowing me to help out on murder investigations.
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