Another dead end, Joss thought to herself, finally turning to head back down the steps and to her car. Since no one was home, she had some extra time before her shift at work. Just enough time to talk to Luke about her idea for Mrs. Krispin. Joss thought adding a bit of homemade bakery items to the diner was a perfect idea, especially in time for the holidays. Mrs. Krispin clearly knew how to bake for a crowd, she definitely had the personality and the time, so all Joss needed was Luke’s okay, and she’d bring her idea up to Mrs. Krispin. You really couldn’t go wrong with a sweet little old lady and her delicious baked goods.
Chapter Eleven
“What happened when you stopped by the travel agency?” Ryan asked, dipping his fry in some ketchup.
“A whole bunch of nothing,” Joss said with a sigh. “That Peter guy is a real jerk, to be honest. No wonder his secretary spilled the beans.”
“Wait. So, something did happen, then?” Ryan looked up from his plate.
“It wasn’t until I left.” Joss gave a sly smile. “You asked about when I was there.”
“Semantics.” Ryan rolled his eyes. “Now is not the time for that. Tell me what you found out.”
“I went in, just asking about a friend of mine that was supposed to be doing some traveling. I told Peter that I wasn’t sure when exactly she said she was going away, but that I needed to talk with her about something important. He told me that he was unable to share that sort of information with me.”
“That makes sense,” Ryan agreed. “You would want him to give you the same privacy.”
“True. I expected him to shut me down. I just had to take the chance. Here’s where it gets good, though. When I decided to try one more time before I left, I mentioned Sabrina’s name. His secretary about choked on her drink, and she ended up leaving the room right after. Peter suddenly started acting strangely. He didn’t give me the information I wanted the first time, and he still didn’t after I said the name Sabrina, but once I did, he started being downright crazy. I mean, like flipping out about privacy, and keeping my nose out of where it didn’t belong. He was all but screaming at me by the time I left. He pretty much chased me out of the building.”
“Sounds like you were causing trouble, but I still don’t see any relevant information,” Ryan mused, dipping another fry.
“So, I get out to my car,” Joss continued. “And the secretary is out there. She’s sitting in the passenger seat of the car next to me, parked facing the opposite direction of the travel agency building. She got my attention, gesturing for me to roll down my window.”
“This feels like a bad horror movie,” Ryan interrupted.
“Shhh.” Joss held her finger to her lips. “The woman, I never did get her name, tells me how big of a jerk her boss is, but I’d already come to that conclusion on my own. She told me that Peter gives her a hard time about everything and no one ever sees it. He always makes it look like everything bad that happens at work is her fault, and she was tired of taking the blame since she pretty much ran his business for him. She had finally found a way when I came in asking questions about Sabrina, to get back at him. Apparently, Peter had been seeing Sabrina. I’m not sure if it was really a secret or not, but this woman certainly made it out that way.”
“They were dating? I guess that’s good Lemon Bay gossip since Peter has been a single man his entire life. Wasn’t he whatever the male version of an Old Maid is?”
Joss stared at Ryan, speechless. But only for a moment.
“First of all.” She held up a finger. “Why do you even know that about Peter? Second of all, I guess it doesn’t matter except for the fact that Sabrina and Arnold are still married.”
“You specifically said that you went to Arnold’s house, and then you went to Sabrina’s house on two separate occasions. If they are married, why don’t they live together?” Ryan asked.
“Exactly. When I was talking to Mrs. Krispin, she told me that years ago, Arnold and Sabrina married, then divorced, then remarried again. According to everything that I can find, and I’ve spent some serious time looking, they never divorced a second time.”
“I know it’s hard to believe, and I appreciate your loyalty to a marriage, but not everyone else feels the same. If they weren’t living together, chances are they aren’t in the midst of a good relationship. Isn’t it possible that they are separated and seeing other people?”
“I guess.” Joss hung her head. “Unless…. What if I’m right and Arnold is the A.S from the guestbook and the -A. from the letters? Sabrina is dating Peter, and Arnold was dating Isa?”
“Sounds like a soap opera to me, but if we are in the game of playing connect the dots again, then yeah, I’d say that’s a possibility.”
“Then Isa’s death can be murder, and Sabrina has the motive to do it since her husband was seeing Isa.”
“I’m gonna take a page from your book,” Ryan said, holding up a finger. “First of all, why does it seem like you want Isa’s death to be a murder? Second, why would Sabrina be mad if she was also seeing someone else? I get your point, Joss, but it feels like you are trying too hard to make this be a thing.”
Joss paused, genuinely considering what Ryan had said. Of course, she didn’t want someone to have been murdered, that wasn’t the point. She’d read something online that pointed toward the fact that it was, and if that was all there was to it, she’d probably have just left it alone. With everything else that was going on, Joss just wasn’t the type of person to let it be without at least trying to find some answers first.
“I have to go do some prep work,” Joss said, deciding it was best to let things go for now.
“I didn’t mean to make you upset.” Ryan reached his hand out.
“It’s fine. I’m not mad. I’m just at work, and we’ve been talking for way too long. I have things to do.
“Joss,” Ryan called, but it was too late. She was already on her way into the stockroom.
She really wasn’t upset. Joss knew that Ryan had a point. Everything she was feeling was just that; a feeling. She had a lot of facts, but nothing was fitting together yet. Arnold and Sabrina were married but separated. Sabrina was seeing Peter and Arnold may or may not have been seeing a woman who was now dead from either natural causes or murder. Lilly, their daughter, who was really Lizbeth, was a thief and a liar. Rachel was acting strangely and now Ryan, who had originally been on her side, seemed to just be interested in pointing out flaws in Joss’ theory. She didn’t know if there was a connection, but she hoped she was close to figuring it out if there was.
Coming around the corner from Luke’s office and into the stockroom, Joss hadn’t been paying attention. She, amongst several shoe boxes, came crashing down onto one of the large metal shelves stocked with canned goods. Screaming, Joss looked around, barely sure what had just happened. Everyone at the diner knew not to leave things on the floor. Especially shoe boxes, considering that this was a diner and not a shoe store. Dina had to be the culprit, and speaking of the devil, she came running to see what all the commotion had been about.
The searing pain Joss felt in her ankle was enough to ask Dina for help, no matter how angry she was at her.
“I can’t move my ankle,” Joss said. “It hurts.”
“What can I do?” Dina asked, frantically.
Luke came in next, kicking the boxes out of the way so he could get closer to Joss. “What is going on in here?” he bellowed.
“Don’t kick those!” Dina screeched. “They aren’t yours!”
“This is my diner, so everything in it is mine. If I find out that your ridiculousness injured one of my employees, so help me, Dina.”
“Can someone just help me up?” Joss asked, looking more annoyed by them than anything else.
“Dina, go get some ice and some pain reliever. That should help with the swelling,” Luke directed, glaring at her.
Luke bent, sliding his arms under Joss’ and helped her to her feet. Slowly, the two of them made their way to his de
sk chair, where he gently lowered her so she could sit. He piled Dina’s shoeboxes up, giving Joss a place to prop her ankle, and they waited a moment for Dina to return.
“Here,” Dina said, handing over a bag of ice and eying her shoe boxes under Joss’ foot. “I only brought them in so I could get your opinion on what shoes to wear for my date. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”
“I’ll be fine,” Joss said. “You didn’t need to bring them all here, though. You could have taken photos or just described them to me.
“Go back out front, Dina. Call Tyla in while you’re at it. Joss is going home,” Luke said, fawning over Joss, making sure the ice was placed perfectly on her ankle.
“I’ll be fine,” Joss said again, wincing through the pain. “I just need to rest a little, and I’ll be good as new in no time.”
“Here are some pain relievers,” Dina said, handing Joss two pills. These were all that was left in the first aid kit, so take this, too.” This time she passed a little baggie. “I keep them in my purse for emergencies. Keep the whole bag, that way you don’t have to worry about stopping at the store or using your own. Joss, I’m so sorry. If there’s anything else I can do…”
“Go back out front,” Luke repeated, a stern look on his face. “You’ve done enough.”
Chapter Twelve
Joss’ ankle was swollen, bruised, and still a little sore, but she was going to be just fine. Luke had insisted that she go home for the rest of the day and take care of herself. After quite a bit of back and forth, and a dozen more apologies from Dina, Joss finally agreed. She felt a little guilty having to leave work, but when she realized she had the rest of the night off and didn’t have to be back until the following morning, Joss decided that she might be able to use that time off to her advantage. She’d still been unable to talk to Sabrina or Lilly and thought that she’d try going by their house again. Maybe all she’d need to do was talk to them in order to find out the missing pieces.
Joss packed a bag with a few snacks for the ride, since she hadn’t eaten and was due to take another set of pain relievers to help with the swelling. She made sure her phone was charged and that she had comfortable shoes on just in case her ankle began to swell even more. She wasn’t sure if Sabrina or Lilly would even be home, but it was worth a shot. She drove to Hannaford Heights, back to the address she’d gone to previously. As luck would have it, there was a red car backing out of the driveway just as she pulled her own vehicle up. She wasn’t about to get out and try to get their attention, and she certainly wasn’t going to follow them, so Joss decided to wait for a bit to see if they came back. She ate a granola bar and took two pills from the bag Dina had given her, washing them down with one of the bottles of water she’d brought with her. She pulled out her phone and figured she could beat a few levels on one of her game apps while she waited.
Joss’ body jerked awake. She looked around her, seeing that night had fallen and the sky was dark. Confused, she realized she was still in her vehicle in front of Sabrina and Lilly’s house. Joss sat up in the driver’s seat, having no idea what had happened. She looked toward the house, still not seeing a car. According to the clock on her dash, it was eleven p.m., and clearly, Joss had fallen asleep while waiting for Sabrina and Lilly. But that didn’t make sense. She hadn’t been tired or even worked a long shift that day where her exhaustion might have caused her to fall asleep unexpectedly. She looked at her phone, there were no missed calls or texts, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Joss felt groggy. She rubbed her eyes a few times, poured a bit of water into her palm and splashed her face, getting her shirt wet. After trying to make herself a little more alert, Joss turned on her headlights and slowly pulled her car away from the curb, still confused. She made it to the stop sign at the end of the street when she noticed a single sheet of paper stuck under her windshield wiper. She got out, looking around, and quickly pulled the paper out, getting back into her car as fast as she could.
Mind your own business. Stick to serving food where you belong. Stay away.
Any grogginess Joss had felt before was suddenly gone. She felt alert, and like the adrenaline coursing through her veins was going to make her pop. She drove home as fast as humanly possible, obeying the traffic laws of course, and sprinted into her house, turning on every light and triple checking that her windows and doors were locked. She sat at her kitchen table, reading the handwritten letter over and over. She let her worry about that take over for a while before the pain in her ankle from the jog into her house reminded her she should probably take more pain medication. She hobbled to her purse, pulling out the baggie from Dina and gasped. The pills had the letter PM on them. Had Dina given her pills that would put her to sleep? Joss had put herself at risk by going to talk to Sabrina and Lilly as it was, now she had to worry about the fact that someone saw her there, asleep, alone and vulnerable in her car, and left a note telling her to mind her own business. She wanted to tell someone what had happened, but she wasn’t sure who to even tell. Ryan would be upset with her, Tyla would try and force her to call the police, and really, there wasn’t anyone else she trusted enough. Whoever left the note knew that Joss was a waitress, and that was terrifying in and of itself.
Knowing she needed to get some more rest, but feeling too nervous, Joss sat up and watched movies for the rest of the night. She planned what she was going to say to Dina, who had not only caused Joss to hurt herself in the first place but had also put her at risk by giving her medication that would make her drowsy. The last thing Joss remembered before drifting off to sleep was if it really was an accident at all. Could Dina have given her something on purpose, or was she just starting to let everything get to her?
Chapter Thirteen
“What are you doing here? You look worse than you did the other day.” Luke paused mid pancake flip to stare at Joss.
“HHmmppfh,” Joss grumbled.
“Alright, then. How’s your ankle?” he asked.
“It’s okay. Where’s Dina?”
“I just sent her to the Post Office to pick something up for me. Why?”
Joss explained what happened, minus a few important details, to Luke, not expecting his response.
“So, you think that because she saved my life from a murderer a couple of months ago, that means I should just forgive her now?” Joss was flabbergasted.
“It’s not like she did it on purpose. You know Dina. She’s sort of a mess.” Luke attempted to defend her.
“Yeah. I just could have fallen asleep while driving home or something. That’s not dangerous at all.” Joss rolled her eyes and left the kitchen, not moving very quickly.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You’re limping.”
“I’m fine,” Joss said, only halfway telling the truth. Her ankle hurt, and she was afraid the person who left her the note would come into the diner, but she still felt like being there was better than being alone at her house.
The morning wasn’t terribly busy, and Joss, even though she was annoyed with Dina, gave her the majority of the tables. Joss only took a few here and there. She was about to take her lunch break when she heard a familiar voice. Looking up, she saw Rachel enter the diner, followed by Christopher, who had been holding the door open for her.
“You want the table?” Dina asked, knowing she and Rachel were friends.
“No. You go ahead and take it. Maybe I’ll sit with them for a second before I eat,” Joss said, watching as Rachel and Christopher picked a booth.
What were they doing together? Joss wondered if they’d known each other for long or how they knew each other at all. She thought that Christopher didn’t live in Lemon Bay, and Rachel was fairly new to the area, so she was eager for Dina to get them settled in so she could go over and chat.
“Hey, Rachel,” Joss greeted, deciding to pretend like she didn’t remember Christopher.
“Hi, Joss. Are you limping?” she asked, looking down at Joss’ feet.
Joss chuckled. “Ye
ah. I tripped over something in the back. Clumsy me. Who’s your friend?”
Rachel hesitated, looking slightly annoyed. “This is Christopher.”
“Hi!” Joss said with a wave. “Nice to meet you.”
Steaks and Suspects Page 5
