by Lynn Cahoon
Somehow they got though the meal without any additional conversation with Marie. She seemed to want to show her best side as a server. When they left, she came running from the back to say goodbye.
“Thank you so much for coming in today,” Marie gushed as she walked them to the door.
When they got into the car, Angie glanced at Felicia. “I blame you for that.”
“I can’t help it if everyone wants to work for us.” Felicia refreshed her lipstick in the vanity mirror as they drove away. “We’re a hot commodity right now.”
When her cell rang again, Angie answered it without looking. Mrs. Potter was going to drive her insane. “What’s going on now?”
“Funny, that’s exactly what I was going to ask you.” A man’s voice boomed in the car speakers.
“Sheriff Brown?” There was no way he’d found out about their visit to the apartment building so quickly. Besides, they hadn’t even verified Javier’s story.
“Can you come into the police station? I’ve been talking to Javier this morning, and there’s a few things I’d like to make clear.”
“On my way.” Angie hung up feeling like she’d been sent to the principal’s office.
Felicia grinned at her. “Uh-oh, you’re in trouble.”
Chapter 8
The officer on the desk glared at her. The guy hated her and she didn’t even remember his name. She glanced at her watch. She’d been waiting for the sheriff for over twenty minutes. She’d ignored three calls from her home number and Mrs. Potter while she sat there. If the house was burning down, it was too late to get the fire department involved anyway since they had already cried wolf once. The sad part was she didn’t know which was worse, sitting here on the plastic chairs waiting or going home and dealing with her temporary houseguest.
The sheriff’s door opened and he stuck his head out. “Come on in, Angie.”
She followed him into the large office, where he was already making her a cup of coffee. “Sorry about the wait. I’ve been on the line with Heather’s parents. They’re out of town, so they were making arrangements to fly home tomorrow. They’re crushed.”
“I can only imagine.” She took the cup of coffee he handed her and sat in the visitor chair. When he didn’t say anything more, she broke. “So why am I here?”
“Tell me about your trip this morning. And don’t bother lying, I got a call from the Nampa police chief asking why someone from my staff was looking into Carrie Sue Franklin’s visit to New York.” He tapped his pen on the desk.
“Why do you think it was me?”
He raised his eyebrows.
“Okay, it was me, but I didn’t say I was with the police.” Angie thought about the conversation with the neighbor. She’d never even told the woman her name. “What gave me away?”
“Nothing except a suspicious witness. The woman you talked to? She’s the police chief’s daughter and she got to wondering about you. In true cop-family style, she watched out the window as you got into your SUV and drove off and copied down your plate.”
“Honestly, I never said I was with the police.” Angie sipped her coffee. “Besides, we ran into a dead end. Estebe said that Javier had told him that he’d taken a girl home and stayed with her all night.”
“I know. I interviewed Javier. I also sent a couple of officers over to try to find the building, but they haven’t been successful yet. How come you were able to find the needle in a haystack so quickly?” He stared at her.
“The gas station that’s next to the apartment building. Javier only uses Chevron gas. There’s only one Chevron on that side of town. And I knew the building from when I lived here before. A friend of mine lived in that same building when she went off to college. I helped her move in.” She shrugged. “Small town, you know things.”
“I keep forgetting that.” He rolled his head from side to side, the fatigue showing on his face. “You think this Carrie Sue’s apartment is where Javier spent the night?”
“I did, except this Carrie Sue has been out of state for a few months. She couldn’t have been his one-night stand. I hate so say it, but maybe he was familiar with the area too. He could have met Carrie Sue before and didn’t know she was gone.” Angie worried her lip, thinking about the options.
“Except if he had known her and he knew we would go asking questions, she would have denied seeing him. No, there’s something fishy going on. Someone had access to that apartment.” He looked at her. “Anything else you’ve been working on? I’d hate to duplicate your efforts in the investigation.”
“You’re mad.” Even Angie could hear the sarcasm in his tone. And typically, she was pretty clueless when it came to subtleties.
“Not mad. I just think you need to stay out of this. You’re not trained. And if,” he paused, making eye contact, “if he’s being set up, someone is going to a lot of trouble to make it look like Javier killed Heather. I don’t think you want him to notice that you don’t believe that story.”
She hadn’t thought of that. And she’d dragged Felicia into the spotlight too.
“Good, it looks like that sank in.” He stood up, glancing at the clock. “I’m heading home. You should go too. And please, stay out of trouble.”
As she walked out to her car, she thought about the sheriff’s warning. She hadn’t even thought of the killer watching the case and her. A chill went down her spine. She thanked God that she wasn’t going home to an empty house.
Man, she hadn’t expected those words to ever come out of her mouth.
* * * *
Wednesday morning she’d woken up with a promise to herself that she wouldn’t do any more investigating. Estebe and Javier needed to hire a private investigator rather than put her into harm’s way. She felt good about her decision. She called Ian to talk while she got ready for the day. Wednesdays, she worked at the restaurant dealing with food orders, checking reservations, and paying bills. And for the first time in a long time, she was looking forward to the office work part of owning a business.
She popped out of the office to grab some coffee and ran into Felicia. She refilled her cup as they said their good mornings.
“Hey, I didn’t think you’d be here today. Aren’t you spending time with your new BFF?” Felicia took out a plate of zucchini bread and sat it on the table.
“I think Mrs. Potter can survive on her own for a while. Besides, she has Dom to keep her company. I’m afraid I’m losing my dog. Dom loves her.” Angie broke off a piece of the still-warm bread. “This is good. Better than the stuff they make in the bakery. You should make Ian a loaf. He loves this stuff.”
“I think he has a lot of people cooking for him. I saw Missy Stockwell heading up to his office with a box of cookies yesterday.”
“The town sure has taken him under their wing.” Angie wondered if Ian thought small-town America was all this way, opening their arms wide to visitors. She knew sometimes it just didn’t happen that way. River Vista was different. And different in a good way. She always thought the town mirrored that old show Nona used to watch, where everyone knew everything and there was an Aunt Bee to take care of you.
“On the other hand, the town is ready to drive Javier to the police station themselves. No one at the bar understands why he’s still walking free.” Felicia cocked her head toward Angie. “Barb says you were in the Red Eye this week asking about Heather.”
“Monday. That’s where I got the lead on Javier’s girlfriend. I thought I told you that.”
Felicia shook her head. “Probably, but I thought you had talked to Kelly, the bartender. Barb’s an interesting person. She knows more about the people in this valley than their relatives do. It’s funny what someone will tell a bartender that they won’t even tell their priest.”
“What did Barb tell you about this woman? Did she know her?’ Angie broke off a piece of the bread. This really wasn
’t investigating, so she wasn’t quite breaking the promise she’d made to herself just that morning.
“I told her we tried to track her down, but the lead we had went nowhere. Funny thing is Barb has never seen the woman before, and she said she remembers everyone who came in when she was there. And she’s always there.”
Angie paused, holding the treat halfway to her mouth. “Interesting. So either the woman just happened to be in the Red Eye that night, or she came specifically for Javier.”
“Why would someone try to break up Heather and Javier? It doesn’t make sense.”
She set the bread down. “Unless they didn’t want Javier to have an alibi for Heather’s death. It’s a long shot, but work with me. Someone sends this girl into the bar to get Javier’s attention. I take it she was beautiful.”
“Blond, blue-eyed goddess from what Barb remembers. She thought it was funny the girl was so focused on Javier. Now, looking back, I wonder if your scenario doesn’t fit. The funny thing is she never heard a name. She bought her first drink with cash, then she nursed that until Javier started buying. Right in front of Heather.” Felicia looked at her watch. “He fell right into her plan. Sometimes men are too easy to manipulate. Anyway, since we don’t have a staff meeting today, I made plans to meet Ted for lunch in Boise. Do you need me for anything else?”
“No, go ahead, have fun.” Angie held up her hand when Felicia started to stand. “Wait, do I know Ted? I thought the guy you were dating was named Mike something.”
“Mike was last week. I’m not serious about either of them. It’s just a casual thing. I’m not sure I’m ready to settle down. Not like you. You hit it off with Ian and that’s all there is. You’re a serial monogamist.” Felicia squeezed Angie’s shoulder. “I know what you’re going to say, be safe. But don’t worry, it’s just lunch.”
Angie refilled her coffee cup and went back into her office. She and Felicia were different. That was probably why they’d become friends. As she worked on the accounting, she thought about Javier. Who was the mystery woman and what had been her motive?
The phone call she’d been expecting came around three. “Hello, Mrs. Potter. What’s going on?”
“I was just wondering if you’d be home for dinner.”
Angie shook her head. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be home for dinner?”
“You and your young man might have plans, especially since you can’t go out on the weekends. Ian’s a lovely man. You need to take care of that relationship. I hate to see you ruin it.”
“Ian and I are fine, even if we can’t go out on the weekend. Look, I’m just finishing up here, and I should be home in about an hour. If you’re hungry, there’s soup in the freezer.”
“An hour? That fast? I’m not sure I can be finished in an hour.” Panic echoed in her tone.
“Wait, what are you not going to be done with?” When she didn’t get an answer, Angie looked at her phone. Mrs. Potter had hung up. She glanced at the spreadsheet she’d been updating. If she stopped now, she’d lose her place. Besides, she needed to get this done. Trying to not imagine what Mrs. Potter was doing at the house, Angie went back to her work, her mind continuing to drift off to the different possibilities. Maybe Mrs. Potter was just making her tea cozies for her table.
Unfortunately, she didn’t think she’d be that lucky.
When she finally got home, she walked into a kitchen that had every kitchen item she owned out of the cabinets and the table. Dom slept in his bed. He opened one eye and beat his tail in welcome when she came through the door. Mrs. Potter was nowhere to be seen.
She carefully moved through the mess that was her kitchen and into the living room. Mrs. Potter sat in front of the television, remote in her hand, fast asleep. Angie took the remote out of her hand and turned off the game show that was blaring at almost full volume.
“Oh, dear, you’re home.” Mrs. Potter pulled herself upright in the chair. “I must have taken a nap. I had planned on getting everything put back before you got back.”
Angie sat the remote on the side table. “What where you looking for?”
“I wasn’t looking for anything. I just thought you hadn’t had time to organize your cupboard space. I had to teach your grandmother the same thing when we first started keeping house. Your cups are too close to the stove and your pans too far away.” Mrs. Potter stepped toward the kitchen. “You’ll see. It will be so much more convenient this way.”
“Instead of doing that, why don’t we go down to the River House and get dinner. My treat.” Erica had said the small upscale restaurant a few towns away was one of Mrs. Potter’s favorites. “We’ll ask for a table on the deck and watch the river.”
“Oh, my, I’m not really dressed for dinner.” She ran her hands down her polyester shirt and pants.
“You look great. Go freshen up and we’ll leave in about fifteen minutes. I need to feed the animals real fast.” Angie watched as Mrs. Potter headed to the guest bedroom and then sighed. She’d let Mrs. Potter rearrange her kitchen because it gave the woman something to do. Nothing she did had to stay that way after this week was over, she reminded herself. She headed out to the barn, not letting the mess in the kitchen waylay her.
Precious was lying in the straw, her food dish full and her water clean. When she saw Angie, she came running up to the gate to get petted. “So, is Mrs. Potter taking care of you too? How many times has she fed you today?”
The goat bleated, which Angie took as don’t mess up a good thing. She scratched under Precious’s chin and gave her a rub on her nose. “Don’t get used to it. Your food fairy godmother is only here a few more days.”
Mabel clucked as she walked out, a pile of dried corn already in her usual snacking spot. “Good night to you too, Mabel.”
Angie went back into the house, checked on Dom’s food and water in the mudroom (also full), then ran upstairs to put on makeup and pull her hair back. She changed her shirt, but decided to keep on the tan capris she’d put on that morning. Good enough, she thought as she looked into the mirror. Besides, it wasn’t a date.
When they got to the restaurant, they were quickly shown to the last table on the deck. They ordered their dinner, and Mrs. Potter excused herself to the restroom. As Angie waited she leaned back and watched the river float by. Several people in kayaks played in the water below the bridge. They ran a few rapids and then paddled back to the bridge, where they did it all over again. Not quite whitewater rafting, but a good place to practice and play.
“They look like they’re having fun.” Javier stood at her table, watching her watch the boaters. “I’ve never kayaked before, have you?”
“No, I’m not so good at water sports. I used to run, but since I’ve been back, I’ve been too busy to even do that.” She looked at him, noticing his sunken eyes and pale complexion. “How are you doing? I’m sorry for your loss.”
He barked out a short laugh. “You are the first person to say that. I do grieve losing Heather. I might have been a horrible boyfriend, but I cared for the woman.”
“I’m sure you did.” She glanced around. “Are you here alone? Do you want to join Mrs. Potter and me? We’ve just ordered.”
“Thanks, but I’m here with my uncle and my brother, Stephen.” Javier pointed to an older man sitting at a table across the deck, watching them. A younger version of Javier stared back at them. He waved to his uncle, who turned back to his meal. “I’m afraid he’s here to deliver the bad news that I can’t be trusted to be promoted in the community if I can’t stop sleeping with everyone in town. I think the fact I’m the lead suspect for Heather’s death isn’t helping either.”
Angie didn’t know what to say. Javier was being so up front with his weaknesses. “I’m sure that’s not the case.”
He smiled at her. “Now, even I could see the lie in your eyes. Seriously, I need someone to believe me. I didn’t kill Heath
er. I was sleeping next to a hot blonde when she died.”
“Who didn’t give you her name.”
Javier shrugged. “It was a game. It was a turn-on.”
“And who doesn’t live in the apartment you and she ended up in after the bar.” Angie added the information she knew.
“Wait, what? You found her?” He slipped into the other chair. “Who is she?”
“That’s the problem. I found the apartment you were in. Or at least, I’m pretty sure it was that apartment building.” She waved down the excitement she saw in his face. “Hold on a minute. I only found the apartment. The woman who lives there is in New York for the summer.”
He slumped back into the chair. “I know it makes me sound like a cad, but I was with another woman when my last love was killed in an alley. I swear.”
“Now we just have to prove it. Tell me about your necklace.” Angie stared at the same symbol she’d seen in the alley where Heather was killed. Only this one was shiny, whereas the other looked like it had been worn for years “Who else has one?”
“No one.” Javier instinctually reached up to touch the circular logo. “I’m the only person that has this. I’m on my third one. But this one is silver, whereas the last two were cheaper. My jeweler in Boise made it. I actually own the brand too, if I ever go into ranching. Why do you ask? The sheriff asked about it too.”
“Because one like it was found at the murder scene. Are you sure you didn’t give it to Heather?”
“Why would I do that? I was breaking up with the girl. She was too clingy.” Javier spat out the word like he’d just told her that Heather was a drug dealer or thief. He must have seen the look on Angie’s face, because he started to backtrack. “I mean, she and I weren’t going to work out. I cared for her, but I did not give her jewelry. I wouldn’t do that unless I was thinking about committing to someone.”
“How would it get there, then?”
Javier paused, thinking through the answer. “Heather must have taken it from my place the last time she stayed over. She was always getting into my things. That’s one of the reasons we broke up. She was too nosy.”
