Vicki sniffed, causing me to straighten, stunned. She was actually crying. I don’t think I’d ever seen her cry before. She was always so good at keeping on the smiling face, even when things were at their worst. I wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.
“It’ll be okay,” I said. I shoved the book I was holding absently onto a shelf and went over to stand next to her. “It’s just a few books.”
“I know.” She wiped angrily at her eyes. “I just keep thinking that if things don’t get better soon, I’m going to have to go back to California. My parents will force me to get an acting job and I’ll have to go on some special diet, get Botox, maybe a boob job, and then make some vapid friends, who really don’t care a thing about me, just so I can impress some Hollywood producer.” A terrified look passed over her face. “Do you think those rumors about having to sleep your way to the top are true? I really don’t want to have to go through that.”
“You won’t,” I said. “We’ll make this work.”
She snorted a laugh, somehow making it sound sexy. “Funny how we’ve sort of swapped places. Didn’t I say something like that just the other day?”
I smiled. “You did.” The smile slipped away quickly. “And I still am worried.”
“Gee, thanks.” She gave me a crooked grin. “That makes me feel so much better.”
I ran a hand over Trouble’s head. He glared at me and stopped purring. I think I actually saw him flex his claws. I returned my hand to myself.
“I’m just being honest,” I said, eyeing the cat warily. “But it’s okay to be worried. We’ll muddle through this, and things will work out. Even if I have to take another loan from Dad, or ask him to come down to do some event, we’ll get through this.”
I shuddered at the thought of asking my dad for anything else. I’d rather live on the streets, alone and dirty, than beg from him, though I knew he’d leap to help. I’d much rather go to Raymond Lawyer and ask him for some money than impose on my dad any more than I already had.
Of course, thinking of Mr. Lawyer made me think of what Tessa had said. Could Heidi really have slept with her husband’s father? It was just so icky and yucky and vomit worthy. I couldn’t imagine it....
“We best get this cleaned up before someone actually wants to come in and buy something.” Vicki set Trouble onto the floor. He wound his way around her legs and then darted off, presumably to find something new to destroy. “I hope there isn’t too much damage.”
Turned out, the damage to the books was lighter than I’d expected. Only eight books were beyond repair. Two dozen had bent pages, but they’d be fine tucked back onto the shelves. Five were bent up enough that we set them onto the counter with a CLEARANCE sign over them. All in all, we weren’t out much money and maybe the excitement caused by the cat would bring a few people back in the hopes of catching a replay.
It took most of the day to put everything to rights. Every now and again, I’d think of Raymond or Heidi or one of the other unfriendly people involved in Brendon’s death, but I never got past the initial thoughts. I had too much to do.
By the time we were done and Trouble was back to licking his privates on the tables, it was near closing time. How could such a big mess happen from such a small incident? It had looked like a stampede of elephants had rushed through the place, followed by a handful of mischievous monkeys.
Vicki and I slumped behind the counter, actually happy we weren’t any busier than usual. I don’t think either of us had the energy to wait on someone, let alone fill an order. Physical labor was not my thing; even Vicki looked exhausted and a little disheveled.
Of course, she still looked the part of a beauty queen. I, on the other hand, looked as haggard as I felt.
“Think we should close up early?” Vicki asked. She looked down at her nails. They were perfect, as always. Only the tiny cat scratches detracted from her hands in any way.
I winced as I picked at a splinter I’d managed to get from one of the shelves. One of my nails had bent and I had at least a dozen paper cuts. I might as well have stuck my hand in a shredder. It might have done less damage.
“I suppose,” I said with a sigh. There were only two people left in the store. Even they looked tired and bored as they sipped their coffee.
It didn’t take much wrangling to clear the room and lock up. Vicki had a much easier time catching Trouble and getting him into his carrier than she’d had earlier. It wasn’t quite five, but it was close enough.
“See you tomorrow?” she asked as we stepped outside. She sounded genuinely curious, as if she didn’t quite believe I’d show. That, of course, made me feel bad.
“Bright and early.” I tried on a smile, decided it didn’t feel right, and let it fall away with a yawn. “If I can drag myself out of bed, that is.”
Vicki laughed. “Well, I’ll see you then.”
She sauntered away and I felt a pang of regret. Was I holding her back? If it wasn’t for me, she might be a star right now, rich and famous with a super sexy husband and millions of fans screaming her name everywhere she went. It was a life I’d never live. Without me, she might soar to heights she never believed possible.
I quickly realized I was just being dumb. This was the life Vicki wanted. Just because I was failing at it so spectacularly didn’t mean she would want to change anything.
I finished locking up, determined I’d work harder at making things right. No matter what happened, I swore to myself I wouldn’t let my best friend down.
25
“What is a six-letter word for ‘pest’?” I glanced over at Misfit, who was busy spreading crumbs across the countertop. I penciled in “misfit,” but I quickly erased it. I’d already tried to squeeze in “trouble” twice.
I’d thought I’d go straight to bed when I’d gotten home an hour before. However, as soon as I stepped through the doorway, my mind started to race. I really wanted to know whether or not Heidi had slept with Raymond Lawyer or if I was just grasping at rather weak straws. I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to sleep unless I knew.
But I wasn’t going to find out tonight. It might still be early, but I was pretty sure Regina Harper would be hovering around Heidi at home. The older woman would surely call the police the moment I showed my face and I doubted Chief Dalton would be able to keep me out of a jail cell this time.
So puzzles it was. I’d chosen crossword, thinking it would get my mind off things, yet it just wasn’t helping. At least I’d been smart enough to grab a pencil instead of a pen this time. I penciled in “Krissy” where I’d erased “misfit” and sighed.
Was that really what I was? I’d been making a pest of myself ever since I arrived in Pine Hills. By just being there, I’d irritated Judith and Eddie Banyon. Well, at least Judith. Eddie seemed okay with me—not that he’d ever show it in front of his wife. From first meeting I’d gotten on everyone else’s nerves in one way or the other. Was there anyone in town I hadn’t annoyed?
I put down my pencil and stood. My back ached from cleaning up Trouble’s mess earlier, and sitting at the counter wasn’t helping. I looked at the mess Misfit had left me and turned away. I didn’t have the energy to clean anything else up tonight. Maybe I’d get lucky and he’d actually decide to eat some of the treat crumbs if I left them there long enough.
Picking up my cell phone, I went to sit down on the couch. I sank down with a near-contented sigh. I clicked on the Facebook app, even though I’d much rather use the full site. I had yet to unpack my laptop, so it was either this or nothing.
I poked at the STATUS button and stared at the prompt: What’s on your mind?
“A whole lot of things, Mr. Phone,” I said, wearily. I thought about what to say for a few minutes and then carefully tapped in, Hope things work themselves out soon. I hit ENTER.
The post was vague, but vague was good. I liked vague. Vague would earn me a few kind words from friends I never see anymore, as well as people I’ve never met in my life. I’d once been addicted to a few
Facebook games a couple of years back and never bothered to remove any of the “friends” I’d earned from it when I quit. Maybe I’d take care of it sometime later if I ran out of mindless things to do.
I started to close the app when a thought hit me.
Does Heidi Lawyer use Facebook?
Thoughts began zooming though my head. What about Raymond Lawyer? Would he be so dumb as to put Dating my son’s daughter as his relationship status? What about Mason? I very well might learn a lot about the family if I looked them up on Facebook. People weren’t always careful about what they put there.
I sat staring at the tiny screen, contemplating the ramifications of what I was thinking of doing. There was no way they’d know I was looking. What harm could there be in simply typing in their names and looking at their info? It wasn’t like I was looking at anything others couldn’t see. If they didn’t want me to know something about themselves, then they shouldn’t have put it on Facebook, where anyone in the world could access it.
“Come on, phone, don’t fail me now.”
I started with Raymond Lawyer, since he was the head of the family. Unsurprisingly, the old man didn’t seem to be on Facebook. While my dad and grandparents were connected online, not everyone in the older generations was. It appeared Raymond was one of those who didn’t view social media as a necessary part of his life. Or at least, he couldn’t be bothered with it.
I moved on to Mason Lawyer. He had a page, but he had all of two friends and hadn’t appeared ever to have made a post, let alone filled in any of his info. I’m guessing someone talked him into joining—one of those two friends, perhaps—and he lost interest almost as soon as he got started.
Brendon came next. Maybe there was some evidence on the dead man’s account that would point to his killer. Could I really be so lucky that he’d made some posts about how he feared someone might be trying to kill him? Or better, named that person?
No such luck. There were men named Brendon Lawyer, but as far as I could tell, none of them were from Pine Hills.
“What’s wrong with these people?” I asked Misfit, who’d jumped up on the couch to curl up at my feet. He glanced at me with one eye and then resumed his slumber.
Didn’t the Lawyers believe in technology and staying connected with the rest of the world? They really should get up with the times.
I decided I’d try one more name in the hopes of coming up with something useful. I typed in Heidi Lawyer and there she was, the very first entry. I clicked her name, excited, but my hopes were dashed when I saw the minimal information. It appeared she’d set her privacy settings to show only the most basic of information. I’d have to be her friend to see more.
Grumbling to myself, I considered what to do. There was no way I was going to see the information without her accepting me as a friend. I seriously doubted she’d want the woman who’d been hounding her about her husband’s death stalking her online.
I happened to glance at her FRIENDS tab and clicked it on a whim. Maybe she was friends with her mother and I could check her page. Or perhaps I’d recognize a name that would trigger something that would put me on the tail of the actual killer.
As I began to scroll through the list, I began to realize something: There was no way Heidi could know all of these people. There had to be hundreds of friends on the list, many who didn’t appear to speak English. It was as if she randomly accepted every friend invite that came her way.
Or, like I’d once been, she was addicted to Facebook games.
Could it really be that easy?
I went back and sent a friend invite to Heidi. I stared at my phone and willed it to update. If she was accepting anyone and everyone, perhaps she wouldn’t even notice the latest person she’d accepted. Then again, did she even know my name? I didn’t recall telling her, though I might have done it when we’d met face-to-face for the first time. And just because I’d told her my name, it didn’t mean she’d remember it.
Time passed. No new friends were added.
I was about to give up and shut down the app when a new thought hit me—one that sent cold chills racing up and down my spine. My fingers trembled as I typed in another name, the most important of them all.
Paul Dalton
Sure enough, his face appeared, smiling at me from the tiny little box. I stared at it, heart pounding. Dare I click it? What if he left his site open so that anyone could see? I’d be able to look at every picture posted of him, read every post he’d made since he’d joined the site.
The thought of seeing vacation photos of Paul, shirtless, on the beach, tanned and grinning, had me sweating. There was no way I could resist that. I clicked his face with a trembling finger.
And there it was. Everything I could ever want to know about him, right there for me to see. I checked his ABOUT page and saw he’d lived his entire life in Pine Hills. His relationship status read SINGLE and I wondered how long ago a name had occupied that spot.
I thought of my own page and how Robert had once decorated my relationship status. Those days seemed so far away, it was almost as if it had happened to someone else. I kind of wished it had. That was another name that worked for pest, by the way: “Robert.”
Pushing the thought away, I began skimming Paul’s recent posts, hoping I’d see something about me there that wasn’t in relation to Brendon Lawyer’s murder. With the way things had been going lately, it wouldn’t have surprised me in the slightest if I found a list of suspects—consisting of my name only—somewhere on his page.
I needn’t have worried about that. Apparently, Paul Dalton kept his work life separate from his online life. There wasn’t a mention of a single case or crime anywhere on the page. I wondered if perhaps there was a law against cops posting stuff like that on Facebook. I was pretty sure there had to be.
But while I didn’t see anything about Brendon’s death or any subsequent cases he might have been involved in, I did see one line that had my heart hammering, despite its vague nature.
Had fun tonight, though it ended sort of oddly.
That had to be about me, didn’t it? I quickly checked the date and time on the post and saw that it indeed was posted about the time he would have gotten home after our little jaunt into the Lawyer’s Insurance building.
Did that mean he liked me? If so, why hadn’t he searched me out as a friend on Facebook? I started panicking then, wondering if he’d made that post only to make his mom feel good. He might have hated every second he’d spent with me; and once I quit poking my nose into the Lawyer case, he’d never want to see me again.
Stop it, I reprimanded myself. I wasn’t a teenage girl anymore.
Calmly I clicked the FRIEND REQUEST button on Paul’s page. Almost immediately I got a notification that a request had been accepted.
“He likes me!” I shouted at Misfit. The cat put a paw over his face and turned his head away from me, but I didn’t care. Paul Dalton actually liked me!
It was then I realized the little button still said: FRIEND REQUEST SENT. I clicked the notification button and found that no, it wasn’t Paul who’d accepted my request.
It was Heidi.
My excitement was replaced by a different sort of thrill. This was my chance at actually learning something about Heidi, something she might not have told me when we’d met. I clicked over to her page and started reading.
Every recent post was about her dead husband. She seemed genuinely upset about his death. She’d been flooded with sympathetic messages. People from Asia told her how sorry they were to hear of his passing; some from Germany wrote what I assumed were well wishes, though they were actually written in German. In a way it was touching, while scary at the same time. I didn’t like the idea of someone from so far away, whom I didn’t even know, knowing my personal information.
Then again, maybe she’d actually once traveled abroad and had met all of these people. I shouldn’t rush to judgment just because I didn’t understand or like something.
Aft
er skimming a few pages of posts, I turned to the one spot I hoped to learn something that would tell me more about her life. I doubted she was dumb enough to list the guy she cheated with under her relationship status, but it couldn’t hurt to check.
I clicked her ABOUT page and was met with disappointment.
There was sparse information there, and nothing about any sort of relationship, outside of it still listed her as MARRIED. I skimmed the information, anyway, and was about to close Facebook down and give up for the night when something caught my eye.
I was looking directly at Heidi Lawyer’s place of employment.
If I couldn’t go to her house to talk to her without Regina interfering, then why not go to where she worked? I found it unlikely that her mom would follow her all the way there, though I suppose they could work in the same place.
But what if she wasn’t at work when I went in? I was sure they’d given her time off after her husband’s death. Would she be back to work already? I know if it had been me, I would have taken a week off, if not more.
Knowing her mother, I thought that yeah, she very well might have gone back in, if only to get away from Regina.
Smiling, I wrote down the name of the building, figuring I’d check the address tomorrow. I glanced at the MESSAGE tab and thought about sending her a private message, asking her who it was she’d slept with, or at least if she’d be at work in the morning, but I decided it would be too tacky. This was something I needed to do face-to-face.
Closing Facebook, I rose, feeling much better than I had earlier. I might not be any closer to figuring out who killed Brendon, but I was at least doing something. That had to count for something, right?
“Come on, Misfit,” I said, stretching. I glanced at the clock and saw it was only ten till eight, but I was beat. “Time for bed.”
The orange fluffball leapt off the couch and raced into the bedroom ahead of me. I was excited about what I’d found, but couldn’t do anything about it until the morning. I needed a good night’s sleep, though I doubted I would get it. I was too wired for that.
Death by Coffee Page 20
