by Marion Myles
“There’ve been rumors all over town since we went searching in the woods last week.”
“Yeah, but rumors are one thing. Coming out and announcing it to people is something else entirely. It doesn’t usually go well. Trust me on this.”
He searched her eyes. “I guess I can see that. Okay, I’ll think of something that doesn’t involve witches or voodoo or psychic visions.”
“Gee, thanks. I feel so much better now.”
He slapped a hand on her shoulder. “Anytime, my gypsy friend. Okay, my work here is done. I’ll call you tomorrow. Give Layla a pat for me.”
He opened her car door and waited until she buckled up before shutting it firmly and giving her a short wave. Then he turned back and strode down the sidewalk toward his car.
Chapter Ten
As a rule, Mia didn’t answer her phone while she was creating jewelry. It was all too easy to lose the thread of contact between herself and whatever crystal she was working on. She knew the reason her business had become a success, beyond her wildest dreams, was because the customers, although they couldn’t fully explain why, felt an immediate bond with the piece of jewelry she made for them.
It all came down to the fact that once Mia had a sense of the person, she could find the exact stone that would bring them what they most needed. Whether that was increased energy, serenity, creativity, fearlessness, or any other thing in an infinite number of possibilities, there was a perfect crystal for each person.
And sure, that might change over time because no one ever stayed the same, but the beauty of it was the customer would simply contact her again when they felt a new need bubbling to the surface. In the last year, her percentage of repeat business was well above what she’d projected.
The thing that ignited the sales in the first place had been phenomenal word of mouth. Customers told family and friends about her products, tweeted about them, or posted pictures to Instagram. Within the first six months, she was already at the point of breaking even. The growth would no doubt have continued at a steady climb from there, but then one of those serendipitous things happened to shoot her into the stratosphere.
Rising Hollywood A-lister Melinda Frost somehow heard about her products and contacted Mia to order one of the pendant designs. Shortly afterward, Melinda landed the biggest role of her career when she was cast as Rebecca in the Rebecca Jones movie franchise. When the first movie came out, it hit big and hit hard, smashing all box office records. The second one was due to be released in the fall, and everyone was predicting another home run.
While doing publicity for the first movie, Melinda had been a guest on Girl Talk with Corrine, the top-rated daytime talk show in North America. Not only did she wear the azurite necklace Mia made for her, but it caught the eye of Corrine herself. This sparked off a discussion of Melinda’s belief in the spiritual power of crystals, and she gushed on and on about Mia’s work. Since then, Healing Crystals had been a non-stop, going concern.
Mia had grown up believing the straight life was for losers and suckers; yet here she was, a bona fide businesswoman and loving every minute of it. She’d never imagined she could get so much pleasure from creating something and putting it out in the world. And even now, more than two years later, she still loved the process of making jewelry and bringing joy to her customers while swelling her bank account.
She was concentrating on a bracelet of green aventurine and amethyst when her phone signaled. She was so used to ignoring it that several seconds went by before she registered the Jaws theme music she’d assigned to Roman Mancini. Sighing, she placed the amethyst down on the table and plucked up her cell.
“Hi, Roman.”
“Hey, Mia. I know we talked about meeting up tonight. The thing is I caught a case. It’s a messy domestic, and I’m going to be tied up for the rest of the day and then some. I’ll touch base with you tomorrow when I know what’s what.”
“Oh, okay. Sure.” She was hit with a sudden sense of pain. “You’re all right? Not hurt?”
The background noise was overpowering, and at first, she wasn’t sure he’d heard her, but then he chuckled. “I’m fine. Can’t say the same for the husband who’s in emergency getting his face stitched up. Okay. Gotta go. I’ll call you.”
She returned focus to the bracelet, but when thirty minutes had passed, and she still couldn’t settle into her work, Mia put down the pliers and dropped the crystals into a temporary holding tray. It was no use pushing when what she obviously needed was to clear her head. Besides, it was already early afternoon. She’d missed lunch, and the dogs were more than ready to stretch their legs.
Mia and the pack wandered along by the stream at the back of her property. All the canines loved it, but Tucker found this especially thrilling and darted in and out of the stream like a deep sea diver. The happy Dachshund shook furiously, spraying Mia’s shins and knees before turning with a bark and throwing himself in head-first once again.
This was good, Mia thought. Nothing beats walking her property with the dogs on a beautiful day. She’d grab a snack back at the house, and maybe be able to focus on her work. She admitted that delving into Anita’s murder was a huge distraction. The orders for jewelry were piling up, and these last two nights she’d come home from meeting Roman and gone straight back to work for several hours. If she could get another solid day under her belt, she’d be almost caught up.
Still, even after the walking break, she couldn’t bring her mind under control and finally gave up. Sure, she could put the jewelry together because the assembly was nothing more than a learned skill. Without the focused mental and emotional energy, though, the customers would end up with beautiful pieces that didn’t touch them on anything other than the physical realm. Before long, people would lose interest. Her work would be written off as nothing more than a pretty novelty item.
Putting her tools down again, she sighed. Mac immediately popped up from his bed by the window and laid his head onto her lap, pressing in hard against her as if in comfort. “It’s okay, big guy. Nothing’s really wrong. It’s this Anita thing. If only I could figure out what happened to her, maybe I could finally let it go and get on with my life.”
He groaned in agreement, rolling his eyes to look up at her.
“I know,” she said, stroking her fingers across his head. “I should go into town and talk to Luke and Brooke myself. I’m a big girl. I don’t need Roman with me.”
With the decision made, she changed into a flowy cotton skirt and fitted blouse. Finding a pair of wire cutters in one pocket of the discarded jeans and pliers in the other, she took the tools back down to her work table and tidied the area. Then, making sure the doggie door was open, and the water bowls full, she locked the front door and jogged to her car.
Mia decided to approach Brooke first. She’d googled the dance studio the night before and knew roughly where it was located. In under ten minutes, she was parked outside the sunny yellow building.
Music blasted out through the speaker system in the main studio—Taylor Swift if she wasn’t mistaken—and five tiny girls laughed and leapt about in time to the beat while a young woman wandered the room calling out instructions. Glancing over at Mia, she gave her a come-ahead gesture with one hand.
“Are you Brooke Adams?” Mia studied the instructor’s face. Can’t be, too young, she thought.
“No, I’m Callie,” the girl said. “Brooke’s in her office back there.”
Glancing over her shoulder, Mia spotted two doors along the side wall. One of which had the word OFFICE painted in bold blue. The blinds on the window were up, and she could see a blond woman sitting at a desk. She knocked hesitantly on the door.
“Come on in, Callie. Problem?” The woman didn’t look up from the laptop on her desk.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for Brooke Adams.”
“You found her.” Now the face lifted and Mia saw china-blue eyes, large and stunning, in the delicately featured face. “How can I help you?”
“This is going to seem a bit odd, but I’m Mia Reeves, a friend of the Mancini family. I was hoping you’d talk to me about Anita.” Mia held her breath while Brooke studied her.
“Wow, I’ve never met a private investigator before. You’re not what I expected.”
“I’m not really—”
“It’s okay, I know you’re probably not technically supposed to tell me who hired you, but Roman called yesterday and asked if I’d mind speaking with you. Everyone was saying you’re some kind of psychic or something. A PI makes more sense. Roman told me his mom was having a hard time with it coming up to the ten year anniversary.” She shook her head and blew out a breath. “It’s still hard for me, too. Sometimes I imagine Anita will walk in the door one day and tell us she was on this amazing adventure. Anyway, I have no problem talking to you. Callie’s taking the next class, and I’m not back on the floor until five, so I have some time now.”
Stupidly, Mia wasn’t prepared for this outcome, and she gulped involuntarily. Seeming not to notice her unease, Brooke smiled at her.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Where are my manners? Can I get you a coffee or maybe something cold?”
“I’m fine, thanks,” Mia said, shifting uneasily while she tried to formulate a jumping off point into the conversation about Anita.
“Here, I could use a break from the desk. Let’s sit over there and be comfortable.”
Lithe and graceful, Brooke moved across the room and sank into a Windsor chair arranged by the window. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Mia followed and settled on the love seat.
“Maybe you could tell me about the last time you saw Anita,” Mia began.
Brooke’s eyes immediately clouded with emotion. “It was the Monday she disappeared. I was working here at the studio for the summer, and I had the morning off. Anita and I met for lunch at Gabe’s. We were both tired after the weekend. It was right after the Fourth of July festival, and Dalton really got into celebrating. I was doing dance demos all the way through, and our younger students were in the parade. Anita had worked double shifts on Saturday and Sunday at the diner.”
“Other than tired, she seemed okay?”
“You know, I’ve gone over it a million times in my head. She didn’t say anything was wrong. Yeah, we were both seriously bagged, but she did seem a little…I don’t know what…at the time I thought she was clumsy because she was tired, but now I wonder if it was maybe something else.”
The scene flashed into Mia’s mind, the two girls at a booth along the back wall of the diner. Brooke was wearing a pale pink leotard and had a sarong wrapped around her waist. Anita was in the same outfit she died in. They were both slumped back against the padded bench, and Brooke was talking about some boy named Bobby. She was furious because he went off with his friends and got drunk on the Saturday afternoon while she was working. Then he was passed out for the fireworks and party later that night.
Anita commiserated, saying guys were so lame sometimes, but she checked her watch several times. When the food came, she knocked her cutlery on the floor before finally spilling her drink all over the table.
“Did she mention anything? Like she was nervous or scared for some reason?”
Brooke shook her head. “No. She just seemed distracted or out of it or something.”
“This wasn’t in the police report, was it?”
She sighed and looked away. “No, because I honestly forgot about it until much later. And then it seemed stupid to go to the police and tell them I remembered Anita knocked her Diet Coke on the table. Do you think it’s important?”
Mia sensed the tension climbing in the other woman and worried she might lose focus. “Probably not. So, she was tired and distracted, but otherwise okay. What did you two talk about?”
“The usual girl stuff. Our boyfriends. I was dating a total douche bag, but Anita was with Luke McNally. You probably already know that. Well, she was gone on him. Like, let’s get married gone. She had this whole plan about finishing school and starting their careers before doing the big wedding thing. Not that he’d asked her yet.” Brooke’s words seemed to pour out without a breath. “But everyone could see they were perfect together. Even from here, at the wise old age of twenty-nine, I can’t help looking back and thinking they might have actually made it.”
“You liked Luke?”
“Sure, he’s a nice guy. Even as a teenager he was decent. Kinda serious and definitely knew what he wanted to do, but also really sweet with Anita. It’s still hard for me to see him and Mandy together.”
“Someone mentioned Luke and Mandy started dating the same year Anita disappeared. Did that make you wonder at all?”
Her lips pressed into a hard line, and she shook her head. “At the time, I was devastated when he and Mandy hooked up. It felt like such a betrayal. Like he’d never loved Anita. I was a total bitch to him. I couldn’t let it go. I’d call him up all the time and yell at him, cry, basically melt down on the phone.”
Brooke got to her feet and stepped up to the window overlooking the studio where she stood for several seconds, head bowed and breath hitching. “He never blocked my number. Never told me to get lost. Just kept saying he was sorry. He missed her, too. It took me a long time to realize what he said was true. He could be with Mandy and still have a broken heart for Anita. You know what I always wondered though? Why would Mandy want him like that knowing Anita was always the one?”
She turned and stared at Mia.
“I understand Luke and what he did after, but I still don’t get Mandy. Not at all.”
Mia frowned. “Are you suggesting she had something to do with Anita’s disappearance?”
Brooke let out a long breath and sank back down onto the chair. “No, I mean, it doesn’t seem likely. She was home with her parents that night. I know the police looked into her because as soon as she and Luke got together, I kept hounding Roman about it. She couldn’t have done it, but it seems weird to me.”
“Is there anyone else you can think of whose behavior after Anita disappearance seemed suspicious?”
Brooke dabbed at her eyes and let out another sigh. “I’m sorry. It’s stupid to cry after all this time, but I still miss her so much. Me and Anita and Ashley were friends all through high school. Ashley was probably always going to move away, but I could picture me and Anita staying here in Dalton. Maybe raising our kids together. Not that I have kids, but I might have if Anita was still around…her disappearing totally messed me up, and honestly, it only feels like I’m getting myself together now. I know I was seeing someone back then, but I’d always kind of had a crush on Tony.”
“I’ve met him. Did you guys ever date?”
“No, but I would have in a hot minute if he’d asked me. After Anita, well…we were all lost for a while. Then he was gone to finish school and live in Nashville. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
“Yeah, sometimes life really does suck,” Mia mumbled. “I’m sorry talking about this upset you. I really appreciate your time.”
Brooke hiccupped once and then blew her nose. “That’s okay. To be honest, it feels sorta good, like I’m glad she’s not being forgotten.”
“From everything I’ve learned, I doubt Anita will ever be forgotten. All right, I’d better go. Thanks again.” Mia opened the door to the studio and stood for a minute watching the little girls do stretching exercises on the floor. “Hey, Brooke, do you have beginner classes for adults?”
“Sure.” She smiled and walked over to join her. “We have a class on Wednesday nights. It’s only a handful of ladies, but they really enjoy it. You should come. Dancing is great exercise and a limber body ages really well.”
Mia glanced back at Brooke. “If dancing will make my body look like yours, I’m all in.”
“Next block starts July tenth. I’ll look for you.” Her smile slipped away. “I hope you find out what happened to Anita. Good or bad it’ll maybe give me some peace, you know?”
“I’ll do my best.”
&nb
sp; Chapter Eleven
Shortly after nine the next morning, Roman called. “Hey, I heard you talked to Brooke yesterday.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Down girl, chill out. No, it’s not a problem. I’d hoped to be with you because four ears are better than two, but progress is progress. How’d it go?”
Mia shrugged, forgetting he couldn’t see her. “Okay, I think. She’s really sweet. I didn’t know you were going to tell everyone I’m a PI.”
He chuckled. “It seemed the easiest solution. And besides, thanks to TV and movies, people have a romantic notion of private investigators, so I figured it’d only help our cause. Did you…were you…did you see anything when you were with her?”
“Not really. Nothing that helps at least. But Brooke did say she thought Anita was off when they met for lunch.”
“Off how?” His tone switched to full-on cop mode in the blink of an eye.
“She isn’t totally sure about it but said Anita was sort of clumsy and distracted. At the time she thought it was to do with being tired from the July fourth weekend, but it still niggles at her.”
“She never said anything to the police.”
“I know. I asked about that. She said with all the upset at the time Anita disappeared she forgot about it and later, she felt stupid going to the police.”
Roman was quiet for several beats. Mia could hear his breathing, short and harsh. “It doesn’t really help us much, does it?” he finally asked.
“Not so far, but who knows, maybe it’s a part of the jigsaw, and we can’t see the whole picture yet.”
“Yeah, okay. Anyway, I thought we could talk to Luke tonight. He said he’d meet us at Bean Time around six thirty. Does that work for you?”
“Sure. I’ll be there.”
Bean Time had a very different vibe compared to Gabe’s Diner. Inside, the décor consisted of exposed brick, industrial lighting, and metal tables. The crowd it attracted was also the polar opposite of the family atmosphere in the diner. These customers seemed young and hip, and Mia felt as though she had walked into a big city downtown coffee shop. Every other person was wearing tiny glasses and a scarf—even though it was summer—and pointy shoes.
