by R A Wallace
“Feel better?” Rudy asked.
“Much, thank you.” Lacey picked up her fork. “It doesn’t look like you ate much.”
“I was waiting for you,” he said with a smile.
***
Van sat at the bar and watched as Phoebe wove her way through the crowd to reach him.
“Thanks for saving my seat,” Phoebe said as she climbed up next to him.
“That’s what friends are for,” Van said. “I protected your glass of wine for you too. No one has touched it.”
“Oh, thanks.” She picked up the glass and spun around in her chair to do some people watching. She elbowed Van. “Is that the one?”
Van swung around and saw Pat checking out the bar side for empty seats.
“Yes. Her name is Pat. She seems very nice,” Van said.
“She does. I talked to her earlier for a couple of minutes,” Phoebe said. “Well, good for you.”
“Sorry you haven’t been able to talk with Wes yet,” Van said.
“He’s definitely avoiding me,” Phoebe agreed.
“Don’t give up,” Van advised.
Phoebe glanced at Pat again. It looked like she was getting ready to leave for the night.
“I’ll make you a deal. I won’t give up if you don’t,” Phoebe said as she finished her wine.
Van slid down from his stool. “Looks like she’s heading out for the night.”
Phoebe patted his arm as she slid from her stool.
“Don’t wait for me. See if you can catch up with her.”
Wes watched from the far corner of the room as Phoebe followed Van Haskins from the room. Phoebe and Van always had such a friendly camaraderie going on screen that Wes had figured they were friends. It looked like they might be very close friends. He set his glass down and called himself a fool. It was time to call it a night. Wes began working his way through the crowd to the exit.
Emily looked around the bar trying to figure out where else she could seat customers. She saw Wes leave the bar through a side door that only the staff use. Someone bumped her from the side.
“Excuse me,” Emily said as she turned.
She found Jay Kerns unsteadily weaving his way through the bar. He didn’t stop to apologize. She breathed a sigh of relief that he was leaving and mentally added his empty chair at the bar to her list.
Chapter Six
“What do you mean he’s dead? That’s not possible.” Even as she said it, she knew it was silly. Of course, it was possible. There were police everywhere. Susan turned to Mindy and Clive. “What have you heard so far?”
“Not much,” Clive said.
They stood in front of the Golf Shop watching the activity near the bungalows. There were a lot of others gathered around in small clusters near them doing the same thing. Susan could hear snippets of conversations from the different groups.
“When did it happen?” Ross took a step closer to Susan.
“No one knows yet. Someone on the staff found him when they arrived for work this morning,” Mindy said. “At least, that’s what we heard.”
Susan was about to ask another question when a group of four walked over to them. Mindy handled the introductions.
“Susan, Ross, this is Iva and Dee Kaptur.”
Susan nodded to the couple as Ross reached out to shake hands with Iva. They appeared to be about her age.
“And this is Phoebe Gaines and Van Haskins,” Mindy said. “Iva and Dee offered their services, but were told that they wouldn’t be needed.”
Susan lifted her brows and looked at each of them. “You’re doctors?”
“I am,” Iva said quickly. “My wife is a nurse.”
“Did you see the victim at all?” Ross asked.
“No.” Iva looked past Ross as another vehicle pulled in. “That must be the coroner.”
“I can’t believe anyone would kill Jay Kerns,” Phoebe said.
“Did you know him well?” Susan asked.
“We’ve worked with him over the years,” Phoebe glanced at Van.
Van nodded his agreement. “Not often, but there have been times. This tournament was to be one of them. Jay was going to be a guest announcer. Phoebe and I will handle most of the duties.”
“Did any of you see Jay last night?” Susan asked.
“We did.” Van looked at Phoebe to include her.
She nodded her agreement. “At the restaurant last night.”
“He was in the bar,” a woman said as another couple joined their group.
“Ross, Susan, this is Rudy and Lacey Corbett.”
Susan waited until all of the greetings were over to prompt them.
“Jay was in the bar last night?” Susan asked the young couple that had just joined them. She guessed they were in their thirties.
“We looked in there to see if there was any seating,” Rudy explained. “We ended up waiting for a table in the restaurant.”
“The place was pretty busy last night,” Lacey added.
“I hope the police figure out what happened soon,” Dee said. “Of course, it might have just been a medical condition of some sort.”
Susan glanced over at Ross but didn’t respond to Dee. She had already seen Erica and Jerry with the other responders. Based on their faces, it wasn’t a simple medical condition.
“Wes!” Clive waved him over to join their group. “Have you heard anything?”
Wes shook his head. “No one that I’ve spoken with knows anything yet. They are all waiting to hear from the police.”
Susan noticed that Phoebe’s focus remained on Wes after he finished speaking. Wes was watching the activity near the bungalows. Susan turned and saw a couple of men try to approach the bungalows. They were turned away. After a brief discussion between them, the men walked toward her group.
“Did you get anything out of them?” Van asked.
“No. They refused comment until they have more information,” Gil said. “We figured it was worth a try though.”
“When you’re in the media business, you have to,” Avery agreed. “Our bosses would never forgive us if we were this close to a story and ignored it.”
“Ross, Susan, this is Gil Ressler and Avery Chapman,” Clive said. “As you may have guessed, they both work in the media.”
“We still don’t know if there is a story,” Dee said. “It could have been a medical condition.”
Gil made a face indicating he doubted it. “That’s a lot of activity over there for something like that.”
“I heard it was murder.”
Susan turned toward the speaker as another couple joined their group. The couple appeared to be around her age. She noticed that Iva placed himself between his wife and the new couple.
“Paolo, Angela, this is Ross and Susan. They’re both from Teaberry and will be competing with us all this week,” Mindy said.
“Who told you it was murder?” Susan asked Angela.
Angela was staring at Dee when Susan asked. It took a moment for Angela to shift her focus.
“It’s what everyone is saying,” Angela said. “I’m sure whoever found the body works here. They’ve probably told most of the staff here what they found already. That kind of thing gets passed fast.”
“Who would want to kill Jay?” Gil asked.
“You have to admit, he had a knack for making people mad,” Wes said.
Susan noticed that everyone turned to look at Wes when he said it. No one disagreed with him.
***
Caitlyn thought the flyers came out better than she’d expected, especially given the quick turnaround time. She backed her van into the alley behind their building and stopped at Vintage first. She called them to ask for Daryl’s help. A moment later, the rear door of the antique store opened and Daryl appeared.
“How many boxes are we getting?” Daryl asked.
Caitlyn told him as she opened the back of the van. Daryl offloaded the boxes for Vintage and Anderson Florist while Caitlyn called Tia and Giselle.
Within moments, their back doors opened. Daryl carried their boxes in for them as the women held the doors open. He then motioned for Caitlyn to go to the far end of the building and they repeated the process for Tea & Thyme.
“We make a good team,” Daryl said with a wave as he disappeared through the back door of Vintage.
***
Megan sipped her tea as she read back through the information on the web pages she had written for the Teaberry Invitational. She was able to find quite a bit about the couples who would be competing. This would not be their first tournament.
She wondered how stressful that would be for someone like Ross and Susan who would be competing for the first time. She doubted either of them would lose any sleep over it. She didn’t think they planned to do it on a regular basis. She was looking forward to watching them play. When she heard the doorbell, she glanced at the clock as she shifted her laptop to place it next to her on the couch. She wondered who might be stopping by on a Saturday afternoon.
The one person she didn’t expect to find on the other side of her door was Cole Vanderen. He stepped back when she opened the door looking uncertain about his decision to come.
“Cole? Is everything alright?” Megan asked.
He ran his hand through his hair. “I didn’t know what else to do. I know he didn’t do it. He couldn’t have.”
Megan could hear Dan enter through the kitchen. He must have come to the house when he heard a vehicle in the drive. He appeared behind her.
“Cole? What’s wrong?” Dan asked.
Megan opened the door wider. “Why don’t you come in and explain.”
She led him back to the living room and waved to a seat. After closing her laptop and setting it on a side table, she sat on the couch next to Dan.
“Okay. One more time, slowly. Who didn’t do it, and what didn’t he do?” Megan asked.
“Wes. Wes Lowry. He’s the golf instructor.” Cole glanced at Dan then looked back at Megan. “I’m working some hours at the golf course. They have the tournament coming up next week.”
Megan nodded to prompt him.
“The guy that was killed. The police are questioning Wes about it.” Cole looked like he was ready to jump up and begin pacing.
“Who was killed?” Dan asked.
“One of the sponsors. His name was Kerns,” Cole said.
“Jay Kerns?” Megan looked at Dan. “I was supposed to meet with him today.”
“What for?” Cole asked.
“The town web site. What have the police said?” she asked.
Cole shrugged. “They questioned everyone.”
“It sounds like they’re treating it like a murder investigation,” Megan said to Dan.
“If they questioned everyone, why are you worried about them questioning Wes?” Dan asked.
“The questioned the rest of us at the golf course. They took Wes downtown,” Cole said.
“The police are just doing their job,” Megan said. “If they learn something that warrants it, they need to ask some people more questions. It’s possible they may even be taking a statement from him. He may know something that will help them to find the killer.”
Cole looked uncertain. “You think?”
“It is possible,” she said. “It will start to make more sense as the police learn more.”
“I guess I shouldn’t have bothered you.” Cole looked sheepish.
Megan smiled. “You didn’t bother us. Besides, I have a press pass to get into the golf course. I’ll be there all next week.”
“You will?” Cole stood, a hopeful look on his face. “Then you’ll be there to help Wes if he needs it?”
“I will, but I’m sure the police will handle it. They probably already have leads that they’re following.”
***
Erica waited until Jerry closed the door behind them before she spoke.
“What do you think?” she asked him.
“About Wes Lowry? He sounds nervous about something.” Jerry leaned against the wall.
“I thought the same thing.”
“Could be nothing,” he said.
“Could be something. What else do we have?”
Jerry recited what he knew. “Victim is Jay Kerns, age forty. He was found outside of his bungalow by one of the grounds crew when they arrived for work early this morning. Mr. Kerns spent the previous evening at the bar on premises. From what we’ve learned so far, he drank rather excessively. He was seen leaving by several people.”
Erica ran it around in her head. “If he left the bar with other people still there, why is it that no one found him until the morning?”
“Good question.”
Erica tilted her head in the direction of the room next door.
“What do we do with him?”
Jerry shrugged. “We don’t have enough to hold him.”
She walked toward the door. “Not this time, anyway.”
“Early days yet,” he agreed.
Chapter Seven
He hadn’t said anything about taking her shopping. She’d waited all week, thinking he didn’t want to take her on a weeknight after school and that he was waiting for Saturday. But he hadn’t mentioned it at all yet. Maya wondered if maybe he’d just forgotten. Maybe if she reminded him? She could hear him working out in the garage. He’d mumbled something at breakfast about changing the oil in the car.
Maya went out through the kitchen and into the garage. She found him underneath the car. He had the front wheels up on ramps. She bent down and looked underneath. She could see a large pan. She knew he used it to drain the old oil.
“Dad?”
She heard a grunt and the sound of metal hitting the cement floor.
“What?”
“I need something to wear for the closing ceremony at the end of the tournament.”
“What?”
“I said…”
“I heard you. I mean, why did you wait until now to tell me?” he asked.
She could hear the frustration in his voice.
“I told you weeks ago. You said there was still plenty of time to worry about it.” She stood up and wrapped her arms around herself.
“Can’t you just wear something you already have?”
She heard him shift under the car, then the sound of a ratchet turning. She thought about the clothes she already had in the closet. She knew that most of them didn’t fit her anymore. She didn’t really buy clothes all that often.
“I don’t think I have anything that will work.” The clothes that did fit usually looked stupid on her. She couldn’t pick things out the way her mom could.
“Listen, Maya. I just can’t, okay? Why don’t you go into town and find something on your own? Okay? Just take a couple of twenties from my wallet.”
She could hear the frustration in his voice again.
“Yeah. Okay.” She retraced her steps and went back into the kitchen. He’d tossed his wallet and phone on the counter. She took the bills out and went into her bedroom to find her birthday money to add to it. Maybe Togs had something. She’d never been inside, but she liked the displays in the window.
***
“Do you want the receipt with you or in the bag?” Julia asked.
“I’ll take it, thanks.” Lacey reached for the receipt and tucked it into her purse before taking her bag outside. She found her husband sitting on a bench talking to Dion. She took the seat next to Rudy.
“You found something?” Rudy asked.
“I did.” Lacey looked around. She saw a few others from the golf tournament that she recognized. She was sure there were many more that she didn’t. “This is nice.”
“It is,” Dion agreed. “It’s my first time here.”
“We were talking about where to eat dinner tonight,” Rudy told her.
“The restaurant at the golf course was nice,” Dion said. “But a little crowded.”
“We were wondering what else they might have around here,” Rudy said.
“I might be able to help with that.” Lacey reached into her bag. “She stuck a flyer in my bag.”
Rudy reached for the flyer. He held it up so Dion could see it too.
“Barbeque sounds good,” Dion said. “I wonder where the Station Pub & Grill is?”
“There’s a map on the back.” Lacey pointed.
Rudy flipped it over. “It’s not far from here.”
“I’ll have to see if Jodie is interested,” Dion said.
Rudy turned to Lacey. “What do you think? Are you up for it?”
“I think you would like it,” Lacey said to him before smiling at the young girl approaching them. “Hello.”
“Hi,” Maya said as she passed them. She paused to check out the display in the window then quickly went inside.
“Hi, Maya.” Julia watched Maya look around the store. “Can I help you find anything?”
Maya looked surprised. “You work here?”
Julia laughed. She was used to the question now. “I do. What are you looking for?”
“I have to go to something at the end of next week,” Maya said.
Julia put two and two together. “That’s right. You’re playing golf in the invitational, aren’t you? Cole mentioned that there’s a dinner at the end of the tournament.”
She moved over to one of the racks. “Were you thinking of a dress?”
Maya took a few steps toward her. “I’m not really sure. I mean, I don’t know.”
Julia glanced at Maya as she held a sundress up. “I can imagine it’s pretty tough trying to figure out what to wear. I know there are going to be media people there. The tournament is going to be televised, right?”
Maya wrapped her arms around herself again and nodded.
“I don’t have much money,” she confessed.
“This one isn’t bad.” Julia showed her the price tag. “This time of the year, you might need a sweater or something to wear over it, especially for the evening. Do you already have one?”
Maya nodded and told her the color.
“Okay.” Julia hung the dress up and moved over to another rack. “This would probably match then. I think it would look really nice on you. What do you think?” She held up the price tag.
