Red Red Rose

by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

  “Please,” Reggie scoffed. “Maybe the last thing on your mind before you go to sleep at night. I know I would be imaging him in my bed if he came in here giving me those sex eyes the way he does you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, I’m out of here. Try not to burn the place down while I’m gone.”

  On my way out the door, I passed Danny buried in his work. “Danny, keep an eye on them for me, would you?” I called loud enough for them to hear.

  His head shot up from his computer and he looked at me slightly confused. “Uh, oh, yes. Sure thing.”

  With a smile and a wave I shoved open the door.

  The Raynes lived on the north end of the city, right on the outskirts of Bellingham. They had a beautiful home set on a decent sized plot of land, but when I pulled into their drive, it was as if a grey cloud of despair hung over the residence. Or maybe the cloud was over me, but every step toward their door was heavy.

  Elise answered in her bathrobe, her eyes red and puffy. Immediately, my own started to sting. “Oh, Nora,” she said softly, her voice weary and full of pain. She pulled the door open wider and stepped back to let me in.

  We joined an equally somber Mr. Raynes in the living room. Unlike his wife though, he was dressed, but his shoulders sagged and his face spoke of the same pain I heard in his wife’s voice. Normally a tall, strong man with a commanding presence, he looked like a shell of himself. His hair seemed a little thinner and greyer, as did Elise’s, but again, it might have just been me.

  “I presume the police contacted you this morning,” John spoke as Elise went to sit beside him on the sofa.

  I dropped into an empty armchair. “They did, to let me know about the homeless man who had Emily’s ID and credit cards, and that her purse was in my dumpster. Did they tell you guys anything else?”

  Elise shook her head and John rubbed a soothing hand down her back. “No, that’s all they would say. They asked if we thought she might have any reason to fake her disappearance. I told those officers that was a bunch of bullshit. Emily wouldn’t play games like that.”

  “I told them the same thing. I also told them that I thought someone might have been in the alley last night when I took the trash out. I didn’t really see anything, so it might have been a cat or the wind. Either way, I wasn’t much help, but I think they’re going to be looking at everyone at the shop.”

  “Oh sweetheart, please be careful leaving at night. If whoever took Emily was there . . . I just don’t even want to think about something happening to you as well.” Elise leaned forward and gave my hand a squeeze.

  “I know. I just can’t help but think that maybe if I’d paid better attention I would have something more to tell the police to help them find her.”

  “It won’t do for you to go putting yourself at risk. That won’t help anyone, least of all Emily. She wouldn’t want anything to happen to you,” John admonished. “Now, when was the last time you drove down to see your folks?”

  “I’m sure they worry about you being in that house alone with everything going on.” Elise reminded me a lot of my mom.

  “It’s been a while.” My parents lived in Everett. It was about an hour drive south; one I didn’t make nearly often enough since opening up the shop. They came up regularly, and Mom called every day to check in; something she’d only started doing in recent months. I was sure it had everything to do with the girls being killed by that sick freak out there. “I talk to Mom on the phone every day. She and Dad are thinking of coming up next weekend. It’s just hard when I don’t get much time off.”

  “I know you and Em turned your spare room into an office, so if your parents need a place to stay when they come, they’re welcome here.” It was so like Elise to be thinking of others even when she was amidst her own personal nightmare. Maybe it was better for them when they had visitors around, the way it was easier for me to distract myself when I was at the shop. The quiet was no one’s friend when so many dark thoughts and unanswered questions were always waiting to descend on the mind.

  “I’ll let them know. I’m sure they would prefer it to the pull out couch we have in the office. Have you heard whether or not James will be able to come home?”

  “Yes,” it was the first time since Elise had answered the door that her eyes showed any hint of light. “He was able to get emergency leave. When we talked to him yesterday, he wasn’t sure how soon he would be able to get on a flight home, or how long they’d give him, but he should be home soon. At least for a short time. I just hope he doesn’t have to go back before they find our baby girl,” she trailed off. Her husband took her hand in his to comfort her, but I could see he needed comfort as much as she did. It would only truly come when Emily was brought home.

  My visit wasn’t a long one, and I didn’t leave feeling any better than when I’d arrived, but I was relieved to know James would be home with them soon. I assured them again that I would pass along their offer to my parents and be in touch.

  The day’s activities had completely taken my mind off of my conversation the night before with Nathan, so when I returned home the last thing I was worrying about was his impending arrival. Which is why, when I sat down in front of the TV with a bowl of black beans and rice– one of those quick fixing kinds from a box– I was caught off guard by a knock at the door. I’d promptly changed into a pair of sweatpants and a Western t-shirt after walking in my door. I hadn’t even bothered with make-up today, and my hair was pulled back into a sloppy bun. All of this was probably the cause of Nathan’s deep frown when I answered the door and found him in a slick suit on my porch with a garish bouquet of flowers in his hand.

  I was tempted to slam the door in his face, but he opened his mouth and managed to piss me off before I could.

  “I’ll wait while you change.” That was it. In his mind it was a foregone conclusion that we were going to dinner.

  Arrogant, self-entitled prick.

  “Nathan, I’m seriously not in the mood to deal with you tonight. At all. So please save us both the fight and turn around and go home.”

  “Not until you hear me out.” He shoved his way inside and I wanted to bang my head against the door. I’d wasted almost six months on him and this was where it got me. I closed the door and followed him to the kitchen where he grabbed a vase from one of my cabinets and filled it with water for the flowers. After he placed them in the vase, I swiftly grabbed them up and carried them to the trash, where I tossed them, and then fixed my glare on him.

  He blew out a frustrated sigh. “Nora, that was an expensive bouquet. You’re behaving like a child.”

  “No, I’m behaving like a girl who caught her boyfriend cheating on her and now won’t leave her alone.”

  “Nora, I know it looked bad.” That was one word for the image that would forever be burned into my mind; him bending her over his couch, going at her from behind. In fact, I don’t think bad quite covered it. “But it was nothing. A mistake. It shouldn’t have happened, but it doesn’t mean I don’t still love you.”

  I let out an incredulous snort of laughter. “You’re unbelievable, Nathan. That you can actually say that word to me . . . how did I ever fall for your bullshit?” Emily had been on to him from the beginning, warning me that he was no good. The fact that she– queen of no good– saw what I didn’t, should have been enough for me. At least she’d been a good friend and spared me the I told you so.

  He took a step closer and put his hand on my shoulder. “We were good together. Still could be. Just come to dinner with me. Let me treat you, then we can come back here and I can continue to make it up to you all night.” He actually had the gall to smirk at me. Asshole not only thought he was going to get laid tonight, but he thought his sexual prowess would be enough to completely make me forget that he was a cheating bastard and that I’d walked in on the proof of that. Well it wasn’t. Not even close. I shoved his hands away and put much needed distance between us before I punched him.

  “I don’t want you
to treat me to anything. You can’t make it up to me. Not this. I don’t want you to touch me ever again. I don’t want any more gaudy bouquets or roses left on my porch with pathetic apology notes. I don’t want anything from you except you out of my house and my life.”

  “Okay, you don’t want flowers. Got it, but I don’t know what roses and apology notes you’re talking about, Nora.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut briefly and mentally reminded myself that murder, even when deserved, was still a crime. “Just stop, Nathan. Who else would leave a dozen roses on my doorstep with a note that says ‘I’m sorry’?”

  A deep crease marred his brow. “I don’t know, but it wasn’t me. I wouldn’t send a dozen roses. I’d send ten dozen.”

  That was actually probably true. The awful bouquet he’d showed up with tonight proved he didn’t do anything small. Was he compensating? Yes he was.

  “Whatever. I don’t care if it was you or not. We’re over. We’ve been over for a month now and no matter how many times you call or show up at my house or try to ply me with gifts, that’s not going to change.”

  “Fine. You need more time to work through your anger. I understand, but I’m not giving up on you, Nora. I’m not giving up on us. We’re perfect together, and I know you’ll see that again too.”

  He strode confidently toward the door.

  “Don’t count on it,” I called after him as he let himself out. As soon as he was gone, I went and locked the outer door behind him and then locked myself inside and returned to my now lukewarm dinner.

  Criminal Minds was on. Who needed any other man when you had Derek Morgan?

  Four

  I blinked my eyes open in the darkness. I waited for them to adjust while I wondered what woke me. The house was quiet and I couldn’t remember having a bad dream. I lay in my bed, listening intently for any sounds of the wind outside or rain pelting my windows. It wasn’t uncommon for a wind and rainstorm to strike in the middle of the night and drag me from sleep, but there wasn’t even the slightest breeze to be heard out there.

  I closed my eyes and burrowed deeper into my cozy nest beneath warm sheets and a heavy down comforter, prepared to return to sleep, when the neighbor’s German Shepherd, Shepley or Shep for short, started barking. A second later there was a thud at the back of my house. I jerked upright in bed, immediately searching out my cell phone on my nightstand. I grabbed it, turning on the screen light before shoving back the covers. Then Shepley’s barking grew louder until it sounded like he was right outside my bedroom window.

  I heard my neighbor, Clint, yelling for his dog. I went to the window and looked out cautiously. As soon as I shined the light out the window, giant paws slammed against the glass and Shepley’s face was there, startling the crap out of me. I quickly found my slippers and ran through the house, throwing open the front door.

  “Shep!” I yelled and the dog came bounding around the front of the house and right to me. I scanned my yard, but didn’t see anything else moving around, not even a squirrel. “What are you doing over here boy?” I grabbed his collar and rubbed behind his ears. Clint came running up my drive, a flashlight in hand, illuminating my yard.

  “I’m so sorry,” he was almost out of breath when he reached us. Clint, his wife and their two kids lived in the house behind mine and he’d had to go around the long way. His property was separated from mine by a six-foot, wooden fence. One it seemed Shepley had managed to get through or over. “He woke me up whining so I let him out to go to the bathroom and he immediately took off for your house. He’s never gone over the fence before. I don’t know what came over him.”

  “It’s alright. Maybe there was a coon or something.” I handed Shep off to Clint. I could see his frown even in the dark.

  “I don’t think it was a coon. He’s never taken off like that before. Do you mind if I take a look around back? I won’t feel right leaving you here if there could be a prowler lurking around.”

  “Oh, uh sure. That would actually make me feel a lot better.” I followed Clint and Shep around the side of the house, passing by my bedroom window, to the back, Clint constantly scanning with the beam from his flashlight. There was nothing to see until we reached the back corner between the house and garage. The garbage and recycling bins were always pulled up against the garage except when we had to put them out. Both were knocked on their sides, garbage and recyclables spilled out into the yard. That would have been the thud I heard. I couldn’t imagine Shepley knocking them both over, but he might’ve if he was chasing a cat or something and running fast enough.

  Clint was staring at them as well. “I’m not sure if Shep did this or not. He might’ve.” Clint helped me to stand them back up and pick up the larger things that had been dumped. We continued into the back yard, but didn’t spot anything unusual. Clint scanned all of the trees and bushes with his light, but the fact that Shep seemed calm, told me there wasn’t anything or anyone else in my yard but us.

  Clint walked over to the back door on the house and gave the handle a rattle while I waited, arms wrapped around my middle, Shep at my side. Then Clint turned to me. “You leave it unlocked?”

  “What? No.” I walked over and he showed me that it was indeed unlocked. “I always keep that door locked.” I thought back over the night, trying to remember if I checked it before bed. “I came out here earlier today to take recycling out. It’s been a long day; I can’t say for sure if I checked the back door when I went to bed.”

  “Do you have a security system?”

  “No, I haven’t talked to the landlord about having one put in.”

  He pulled the door open. “If there was someone in your back yard, and he found the door unlocked, he might have slipped inside when Shep came over the fence. I’ll check it out with you just to make sure you won’t be locking yourself inside with someone in there.”

  I nodded and then Clint and Shep entered the house first. Again, I was reassured when Shep didn’t immediately begin barking. Clint hit the light at the back of the house and then switched off his Maglite. He kept it in his hand though. It would make a decent weapon if he had to use it for one, but a thorough search of the house turned up nothing out of the ordinary. After locking up the back door, I walked Clint and Shep out the front.

  “Sorry for all the trouble. It was probably nothing but a stray animal.” We stepped out onto my porch.

  “It might have been, but I feel better having checked it out. Make sure to lock up behind us, and you might consider giving your landlord a ring about the security system. You can’t be too careful, especially not with the goings on lately. Have the police turned up any new leads on Emily?”

  I gave my head a weak shake. “No, but they were here this morning and I think they’re finally taking her case seriously. I just hope it’s not too late now that they’re actually looking for her.”

  He gave a solemn nod. “Well, like I said, lock up and if you need anything, Trina and I are right back there.” He jerked his head toward their house. I thanked him and said goodnight and watched him and Shep disappear down the drive, before shutting and locking the outer door. I was turning to head back inside when movement on the street out front drew my attention. There was a dark figure walking down the street. I looked and Shepley and Clint had already turned the corner of my drive in the opposite direction. The man was moving at a quick pace toward a truck parked down at the end of the street. I watched him climb up in it and pull away.

  The truck was big and dark, not one I recognized, but he could have easily been visiting one of my neighbors. Or he could have been snooping around my house before Shep chased him off. With that thought, I hurried inside, shutting and locking the door and engaging the dead bolt.

  Could that have been what happened to Em? She came home that night and caught a would-be burglar by surprise. There were just too many possible scenarios, and all of them were playing on my fears tonight. It was a while before I was able to fall back asleep. I kept waiting to hear someone mo
ving around outside. I never did and eventually I drifted off, but my alarm sounded much too early. On Sundays the shop opened at seven instead of six, but after the night before, the extra hour of sleep didn’t do much for me. My feet were dragging as I got ready for the day.

  The cover of darkness still hung over the city when I pulled my car up in front of the shop and let myself in, locking the door behind me. I went through the shop flipping on lights and turning up the heat before getting things up and running. Reggie showed up just before seven with the order from the bakery, and by the time we hit the open signs and unlocked the door for business, the smell of coffee and fresh cinnamon rolls filled the shop.

  By early afternoon we were out of the cinnamon rolls. Reggie commented that the same thing had happened yesterday. They were a weekend special and it seemed that each weekend I added another dozen to our order and we still sold out before the day’s end. Considering the things were giant, gooey and slathered in a mountain of rich, sweet, cream cheese frosting, it was no wonder that they disappeared so quickly.

  Sundays we saw a lot of families coming in and college students cramming for their Monday exams, or finishing up the papers they put off all weekend. That was one of the biggest draws of this location when Em and I were in the planning stages. We remembered what it was like when we were those students looking for somewhere near campus with a pleasant atmosphere and a steady flow of caffeine.

  The shop was painted in rich, warm colors and a collection of artwork from local artists was displayed on the walls. We had couches, and comfy chairs and traditional seating and even stools at the bar tops in the windows. We played music, but we kept it low enough so as not to distract from those who were studying, working or carrying on conversations. It had the feel Em and I had desired and worked hard to achieve. We’d talked about opening up the nook for open mic nights or acoustic concerts on some nights, but hadn’t done more than talk about it before she went missing.