Confections and Confessions

by Harper Lin

  “He admitted to picking up hookers?”

  “He admitted to picking up a hooker. He said once or twice a year, he has an itch to scratch. He wasn’t going to deny it. But he also said his brother-in-law uses his truck on occasion.” Dan pinched his lips together.

  “Did he insinuate his brother-in-law was involved with killing those girls?”

  “I’m really not sure what Lars said. It was so casual, like it was no big deal that he cheats on his wife, and sometimes his brother-in-law picks up a hooker here and there too.” Dan scratched his head. “I don’t know if he was lying or if he was being so honest that my mind is completely blown.”

  Amelia chuckled. “That’s a tough one.”

  She wanted to tell Dan that she had a bad feeling from Lars and that she wasn’t all that comfortable with his wife, either. But she was afraid she’d just sound catty. After all, Dan knew Lars. They’d been partners. They worked together every day. They had each other’s back. That was part of the policeman’s code. They were the good guys even if they were a little odd at times.

  Amelia remembered when she and Dan were first introduced and she had hinted maybe one of the police officers had a crooked streak. She’d said maybe they couldn’t be trusted.

  That was the first and last time Amelia ever saw Dan mad at her. She never forgot the lecture he gave her. He was a cop. Every day he dealt with people who hated him for it, and so did every other person who wore a badge. It wasn’t a fair game and more often than not seemed to be rigged in the bad guys’ favor. But still they went to work and risked their lives. No, Amelia wasn’t going to suggest Lars was anything more than just a jerk. She didn’t like keeping quiet about her gut feeling, but she did. She was probably wrong anyway. She was no detective. She ran a cupcake truck.

  Dan went on to say that could explain why Lars’s truck was seen in that part of town. It could have been him or his brother-in-law who were driving around.

  “Why don’t we go talk to his brother-in-law and see what he has to say,” Amelia suggested.

  “I’d like that, but Lars said he was away for the week on a camping trip with the family. He said they went to some remote area off the Willamette River. Could be anywhere since they rent an RV.” Dan shook his head. “I’ll catch up with him when he gets back. I don’t know, Amelia.”

  Amelia let out a deep breath and reached over to pat Dan’s hand. He took hers in his, brought it to his lips, and kissed it softly. Although Amelia felt her heart race, she couldn’t help but wonder why he was suddenly so affectionate. He’d kissed her longer, more often. What was going on? Was he being transferred? Was he dying? Had he done something wrong? All those hookers knew his name. For the first time since they started their relationship, an unease settled into Amelia’s chest. She didn’t like it.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “He would have told you if he were being transferred,” Lila said as she wrote some numbers in her accounting book.

  Beatrice was in another world, huffing and puffing over her newest coconut, lime, and cilantro creation and had no time for “relationship issues.” Her words.

  “Of course he would have,” Amelia said as she handed some change to a customer through the window. “But something is happening.”

  “Maybe he just wants to move your relationship to the next level?” Lila offered as she studied another receipt.

  “The next level? What does that even mean? I don’t even know what level I’m on. Maybe I left something behind on the previous level. Going to the next level? What would we do there?” Amelia wiped her brow.

  “Sex,” Beatrice piped up. The sudden outburst made Amelia and Lila both stop what they were doing and look at her. But Beatrice remained calm and continued baking as if she hadn’t said anything at all.

  “Could that be it?” Lila asked carefully.

  “I’m not going to talk about this anymore,” Amelia said.

  “Maybe he’s dying,” Beatrice added.

  “Now, that I’ll talk about.” Amelia stroked the back of her neck. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s nothing. You know, I thought I was done reading into what a man says back in high school. I’m acting like a nervous freshman with the prom date closing in. This is ridiculous.”

  “I don’t know, Amelia. Beatrice might be on to something,” Lila said.

  “Dan is not dying.”

  “No. Not that. The other thing she said. By the way your cheeks are lighting up I’d have to say she’s on to something.” Lila pointed her pencil at Amelia.

  “Look. I have two kids to raise. I don’t have time for things like that. I’m not going to just have some random fellow showing up at the breakfast table and setting that kind of example for Meg and Adam.” She felt her blood boiling. “And if that is what’s got Dan acting this way, he’s going to be disappointed. I’m just not that kind of girl.”

  “They won’t buy the cow if the milk is free,” Beatrice added. “I learned that the hard way.”

  Again, Amelia and Lila stared at each other and then Beatrice.

  “I need some air,” Beatrice said. “Lila, can you man the helm?”

  “Sure, Captain.” She stood up but pointed to the service window. “After you take care of some business.”

  Amelia turned to see Dan with Lars slowly strolling up to the truck. She swallowed hard, suddenly needing a big gulp of water.

  Dan waved, his eyes saying more than his lips as he looked at her intently.

  “So, I was right. This is the truck,” Lars said loudly. “Nice to see you again, Amelia. You know, after yesterday I had remembered a few things I needed to talk to Dan about, and when I called him, I suggested we meet here. I’m hoping for a policeman’s discount.” He laughed and looked to Dan for approval before turning back to Amelia.

  “Hi, Lars. Sure, I can set you up.”

  “Do you have any of those PB&J cupcakes? Trish loves those,” he asked.

  “No.” Amelia pointed to the chalkboard on the truck. “These are what we are serving today.”

  “That’s too bad. Trish really likes the PB&J ones.”

  “I’ve got lime, coconut, cilantro right out of the oven.” Amelia tried to smile.

  “In fact, before you came over with Dan, she’d asked me to pick up a couple of those for her last week. I was on a stakeout on the other side of town. She really likes the PB & J flavor. When do you think you’ll have those again?”

  Amelia shook her head. What was with this guy? It was just cupcakes. If he was getting four of them for free, he should take what he was given. She looked him up and down and saw he wore those same shoes from Swooshies that she thought were so stupid.

  “I really don’t know,” Amelia said. “We don’t have a set schedule.”

  “That’s too bad. Trish really loves those.” He kept staring at Amelia. “I bet if Dan asked for some, you’d whip them up right away.”

  “Lars, remember when we were partners, and you told me I should tell you when you are overstepping your bounds?” Dan said without looking at Lars.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t mean anything by it.” He chuckled as if he’d done nothing more than give the wrong time of day. “You just don’t know what it’s like to come home to Trish when she doesn’t get her way. Maybe some flowers will do the trick. They’ll save her hips a little extra weight, that’s for sure.” He laughed some more but then just turned to Dan and stretched out his hand.

  “Lars, thanks for the information,” Dan said as they shook.

  “Anytime, partner. Amelia, get those PB&Js on the menu.” He waved before taking a baseball hat out of his back pocket and pulling it down over his face. Amelia only glanced up for a second before faking a smile. Then she turned back to folding and unfolding some paper napkins in front of her.

  As Lars strolled away, Dan came up to the window.

  “What a piece of work,” she said to Dan.

  “Yeah, he’s always been that way,” Dan said.

  “How did you mana
ge to work with that every day? I’d have lost my mind.”

  “You learn to take people with a grain of salt,” Dan said. “Besides, he’s not all bad. He managed to come through when it counted.”

  “What did he want?” Amelia asked.

  “He told me his brother-in-law would be home in a few more days. That he used his key to search their house, but he didn’t find anything helpful.” Dan clicked his tongue.

  “Is that normal police procedure?” Amelia immediately regretted asking the question. Dan looked up at her and sighed.

  “No.”

  Leaving Lila and Beatrice to finish up for the day, Amelia left with Dan, who asked if she’d come with him that evening.

  “Sure,” she said with very little emotion. “Where are we going this time? A heroin den? Maybe a hide-out for a biker gang?”

  “What’s the matter with you?” Dan asked, his voice stern.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know. I think this case is bugging me, too.”

  She put her hands in her pockets while choking down her real concerns. How could she think about their relationship when there were five dead women? Girls.

  “I’m the one who should be sorry. I was going to ask if you’d come with me to the drainage ditch. Amelia, I’m at the end of my rope. If I don’t find something soon, this case is going to slip away.” He looked like he was about to cry. “Back to the cooler with the other cold cases until this nut strikes again. They’re just girls, Amelia. He’s preying on little girls. It’s killing me.”

  Amelia’s heart went out to Dan. She slipped her arm through the crook in his elbow and pulled him tightly to her side.

  “I’ll go with you. What do you hope to find there?”

  “A clue. A hint. Anything. Nothing. I’m not sure. But like I told Lars, there’s got to be something. No one just commits murder and disappears without leaving something behind.”

  Amelia nodded and told Dan she’d be ready whenever he wanted. As he opened her car door for her, he leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him back quickly not wanting to draw attention. But it was too late. Dan held her in his arms and squeezed her tightly.

  “Are you dying?” she whispered in his ear.

  “What?” he asked, pulling back and looking at her as if she’d just admitted to being the one who disposed of Jimmy Hoffa.

  “Nothing.” She stroked the nape of her neck. “Pick me up tonight?”

  “Around ten.”

  “I’ll be ready,” Amelia said before getting in her car and driving away. She felt no better about the situation. But at least she’d see Dan again tonight. She realized that she wanted to see Dan. She wanted to see him every day. But she was starting to think that maybe that was just expecting too much.

  Amelia was old-fashioned. There would be no living together or playing house. That was out of the question. And the term “seeing other people” meant breaking up, plain and simple.

  “What are you talking about, Amelia? Dan didn’t say anything about any of that,” she said to the rearview mirror. And all the way home, from six o’clock until ten when he picked her up, Amelia had a hundred imaginary conversations in which she tried to explain her feelings and decide how she’d answer Dan if he suggested living together or seeing other people.

  When he arrived, it all went out the window. She was just happy to see him.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The drainage ditch was a concrete V that ran the length of Polk Street, a busy thoroughfare in town that reached far out past Food Truck Alley and out into what could be called “the country.” Trees scattered around the area, and off to the east was a vast grassy field. No houses or buildings were around for a couple of miles. The place was perfectly secluded but still out in the open.

  Polk Street turned off and merged with other busy streets that had stoplights and three lanes of traffic. What remained and continued was a gravel road that was not heavily traveled except by city workers and the occasional kids looking to get away from authority figures.

  When Dan finally parked the car just a few feet in front of rows of yellow tape, Amelia was surprised at how desolate and alone she felt out there. Carefully, she stepped out of the car and into the glare of the headlights.

  “The bodies were found in this vicinity.” Dan pointed with his flashlight while handing her a smaller one that could fit in her pocket. He snapped off the headlights, and for a second, complete darkness covered them. The night was clear. Amelia hadn’t seen so many stars in a long time, and they made her feel small and vulnerable.

  Dan turned on his flashlight and began to walk toward the yellow tape. Amelia stayed by the car. She watched as Dan shined the light all along the ditch. Back and forth he walked, like he’d lost a wedding ring or something just as tiny in the dirt.

  When Dan stopped walking, she watched him. His shoulders slumped, and his head fell down so far that his chin nearly touched his chest.

  “Missy, give Dan a sign,” Amelia whispered as she snapped on her own flashlight. “He’ll find it, and he’ll get the bad guy. Just show him where to look.” She kneaded the shaft of the light in her hand and shifted from her right leg to her left. Then she heard something behind her.

  She turned away from Dan and looked into the darkness. Quickly, she brought up the beam of light and swept it toward the back of the car. The crickets chirped, and a breeze barely rippled the leaves on the trees. But she heard something else. There was a step. Then another. Somewhere, behind her, in the darkness, someone or something was coming toward them.

  Dan was still over by the tape and deep in thought.

  Don’t panic. It’s probably a squirrel or chipmunk. She tried to soothe herself as she squinted into the blackness. The sounds stopped. She held her breath and listened. There was no sound now except Dan’s footsteps along the gravel edge of the ditch as he paced and tried to get a better look down along the concrete edge.

  Not until Amelia decided to walk up to Dan did she hear another sound. Not a footstep this time. It was someone’s voice. A low whisper.

  “Come on,” it said. It hissed.

  Amelia’s body froze. It was like Dan was a mile away. Amelia didn’t know whether she should run to him or just get back in the car.

  Before she could do anything, a man appeared from behind the car and lunged at her.

  “Dan!” she screamed as she shined her flashlight right in the man’s face. He wore an old-fashioned ski mask. His eyes bulged wildly from the two holes, and his mouth was in a sneer. He held something that Amelia’s flashlight shined off of. A knife.

  The masked man raised the weapon high over his head as he darted toward Amelia, who defensively raised her arms up in front of her. Thinking quickly, she opened the car door, putting it between herself and the man.

  Dan shouted her name and ran up from the ditch just in time to catch the blade of the weapon as the man clumsily brought it down the length of his arm.

  All Amelia had in her possession was her flashlight. Without risking the masked man grabbing hold of her, she threw the flashlight at him, making contact with the side of his head.

  He yelped as the flashlight cracked his temple then fell helplessly to the ground, where it shined on his and Dan’s feet as they scuffled. Amelia saw it for only a second—for just a split second the pattern caught her eye before leaving, consumed in the darkness again.

  Amelia could hardly see the quick exchange as Dan swung and tried to dodge the blade while grabbing hold of the man’s wrists, but the knife was on the ground and the man ran off into the darkness before Dan could subdue him.

  He was gone. Just like that, he blended into the darkness and was gone.

  “Are you okay?” Dan asked and grabbed Amelia by the shoulders, almost shaking her. She could feel his hands trembling as he held her.

  “Yes. I’m okay. Are you?” She scurried to where her flashlight was and shined it on him. “My gosh, Dan, you’re bleeding,” she cried. The tear in the arm of his suit coat was turning
red.

  “It’s not so bad.” He shook his head. “You. You’re sure you’re all right? What was I thinking to bring you with? What’s wrong with me?” he growled as he flopped into the driver’s seat and radioed for back-up.

  Within minutes, the place was lit up with red and blue rolling lights and a dozen headlights, along with the paramedics who looked carefully at Dan’s wound as he complained.

  “It was him. It had to be him.” He shook his head.

  “Please relax, Dan,” Amelia soothed.

  “Yeah, Detective. This isn’t a bad cut. It could have been a lot worse,” the paramedic, a short guy who reminded Amelia of a male version of Beatrice, said with authority. “Had your assailant gotten you in the armpit, you’d have lost a lot of blood before we got here. That would have been worse.”

  Dan grumbled something that Amelia couldn’t make out. She took his other hand in hers and squeezed it. He squeezed back but didn’t look at her. Instead he watched the uniformed officers scouring the area, putting up more yellow tape, and combing the ground. Then one man called out.

  “We got a present for you, Detective!”

  Amelia knew the officer who shouted. His name was Connor, and in his blue latex-covered hand, he held up what looked like a box cutter.

  Amelia gave Dan and Officer Connor a description of everything she could remember about the man. She gave his height and his build, and she was sure that his eyes were blue or green, not brown. But as she was remembering the event and the sudden hysteria and madness of the situation, she remembered one more thing. Her words caught in her throat as she took hold of Dan’s hand and held it tightly.

  “Amelia?” he said gently. “Oh no. I think she’s going into shock.”

  “No, Dan,” Amelia murmured. “I’m not going into shock. I’m all right. But…”

  “But what, honey?” He stroked her hair.

  “I saw his shoes.” She described the tussle and throwing her flashlight, which hit him in the head and fell to the ground. “When the flashlight hit the ground, all I could see were your shoes. Yours and his.”