Sue felt the tension building back in her chest as she touched her hair. In fact, she had not been to a salon. She’d colored her hair with a cheap box from the grocery store. She hated that she felt like she needed to go to the dinner, even when she didn’t want to. That old guilt and insecurity ate at her. “No, Kathy, I will not be honoring our boy.”
Ugh. She hated when Kathy called him that.
“Sue, this is Kathy. Why haven’t you called? I can’t do everything. You need to get in touch with me. There is so much we have to discuss. Oh and did you find the cuff links yet?”
Sue flipped off the phone.
“Sue, this is Kathy. Call me.”
“Sue, this is Kathy. I’m losing my patience. Call me.”
“Dammit, Sue, this isn’t how adults behave. I swear I don’t know how my son even put up with you like he did. I told him you were—you need to call me. Do it for Hank. You owe him.”
“Sue, where the hell are you?”
Sue gave a small snort of disgust and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Get a grip, Kathy. It’s been like a day.”
“Hello, Mrs. Jewel, this is Officer Hollen from the St. Louis Police Department.”
That caught Sue’s attention. She picked up her phone to look at the unfamiliar number.
“We have some folks here who are very concerned about you. If you get this, please give me a c—”
There was a pause, and she heard a faint voice in the background. Sue slid the message progress bar back a few seconds and turned up the volume.
Kathy’s voice sounded to cut off the officer’s, “You need to look in the river for her. She was never a strong woman. My son was a saint for taking care of her. I told you she was addicted to pain pills, right? And my Hank stood by her the entire time, so patient and loving.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the officer said, her tone placating. Then for the message, he finished, “Please give me a call back on this number anytime.”
Kathy called the police on her because she didn’t return a fucking phone call about cuff links?
Even though it was late, Sue dialed the officer’s number and began to pace as it rang.
“Officer Hollen,” the man answered.
“Uh, yeah, um, hi, Officer Hollen, this is Sue—Susan Jewel. You left me a message that I needed to call you. My phone was dead, and I just charged it.” Sue went to the window and glanced out but didn’t see what she looked at as she concentrated on the phone call. “I think my mother-in-law might have…”
…gone insane and called in the cavalry.
“Yes, hello, Mrs. Jewel. Thank you for getting back to me. You’ve had us worried.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. Everything’s fine. I’m fine.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Would it be possible for you to come down to the station for a quick conversation so we can clear this up?” he asked.
“Um, no, I’m sorry. I’m on a small trip right now,” she answered, dropping the curtain and resuming her pacing. “I’m out of state.”
“Where would that be?”
“Freewild Cove, North Carolina. I’m staying with friends,” she said. New friends, but friends. It wasn’t a lie.
“And when are you expected to return?”
“I’m not sure. It could be awhile.”
“Ma’am, are you sure everything is all right? Your mother said you—”
“Mother-in-law,” Sue automatically corrected.
“Yes, ma’am, she said that you have been out of contact for a while, and when she let us into your house, she indicated the state of things were not how you normally kept them.”
A while? It hadn’t even been two freaking days.
“Oh?” Sue frowned, not knowing what state she left the house in. “I mean, I guess I packed really fast.”
“The front door was unlocked, and there appeared to have been a struggle,” he said. “Can you explain that?”
“I must have been upset.” Sue took a deep breath and closed her eyes. With her husband’s job, he’d often interacted with police officers. They generally liked him. “My husband just passed away. I needed to get out of the house, so I came to visit friends. I swear everything’s fine. I’m fine. I’m just… fine.”
“Yes, I found Detective Sanchez’s card in your living room. She filled me in on your accident,” he said. “After such severe injuries, you can see why we were worried that something worse might have happened to you.”
“Well, I’m sorry you were worried. I’m fine,” she insisted.
“I’ll tell you what. Give me your address, and I’ll call Freewild Cove’s police department and have them come to check on you, just to be sure. How about that? Then everyone’s minds can be put at ease.” His tone said he wasn’t asking her permission.
“I’m not sure of the address. It’s an apartment,” she answered, looking around for something that might have an address and not finding anything but the phone numbers Vivien had left her for their cell phones. “Um, just tell them it’s the apartment on top of Warrick Theater. It’s a small town. They’ll know.”
“Warrick Theater,” he repeated.
“Yes.” Sue took another deep breath. Damn Kathy for this.
“Very good. I’ll give them a call. Expect someone to come by in the morning,” he said.
“Okay, thank you—oh, wait, um, Officer Hollen, if you don’t mind, please don’t tell Kathy where I’m staying,” Sue said.
“Oh?”
“I mean, I know that sounds dramatic, but it’s not. I just, I mean, I came here to get away from things.” Sue frowned. She shouldn’t have said anything. So what if Kathy found out? “Never mind.”
“I won’t give her the address, but you should call her. She’s very worried about you,” Officer Hollen said. “She’ll be pleased to know you’re safe.”
“I’ll call her,” Sue said.
“Good. I’m happy to hear you’re all right, ma’am,” Hollen stated. “Expect that visit in the morning.”
“Okay, thank you, officer.” Sue listened to him hang up and slowly placed her phone on the counter. It took all of one day for her old life to come dragging her back in.
Sue stared at the phone for a long moment. The idea of talking to Kathy left her sick to her stomach. She started to dial, only to stop. Instead, she pulled up text messaging and typed, “Got your messages. Taking a trip. Phone not holding charge. All good. Talk to you later.”
After sending the message, she lowered the device’s volume and left it face down on the counter. She walked away from the phone and heard it buzz with an incoming call. She checked the screen to make sure it wasn’t the police. Seeing it was Kathy, she set it back down and didn’t answer.
Sue stepped into her sneakers, walking on the backs of them as the phone continued to vibrate on the countertop. Taking the keys for the building, she went downstairs, pausing mid-step to slip her heels into the shoes.
Fucking Kathy.
“Our boy wouldn’t want you going out by yourself,” Sue mocked the woman under her breath. “Our boy was so great at kicking the shit out of his defenseless wife, wasn’t he? Our boy is a real fucking hero with the best cuff links in the world. Don’t pawn the cuff links, Sue. I want to.”
She pushed open the door to her apartment and didn’t bother to lock it behind her. It felt strange standing in the business in the middle of the night.
Sue walked through the lobby and peeked into the empty amphitheater. Rows of seats centered around a black stage and movie screen. Light from the exit signs cast a soft red glow over the area.
She thought of the séances that used to take place, but it didn’t frighten her. Those people were long gone and had nothing to do with her. Sue had lived in real fear. A ghost paled next to Hank when he came home drunk and angry.
Unless that ghost was Hank.
Sue shivered. Okay, so maybe she was a little freaked out by the idea of ghosts. She dropped the curtain and walked toward the glass doors
in front of the theater. A push bar along the front made it unnecessary to unlock the door from the inside, and she was able to leave.
The evening was chilly but not unbearable. She liked that the downtown was empty. It gave her the chance to explore without overthinking each interaction.
She headed down the block toward where Vivien said there was a coffee shop. It seemed as good of a destination as any. Headlights passed by on the cross street ahead of her. She automatically moved closer to the building, into the shadows, as it passed.
Sue clutched the keys in one hand and dragged the fingers of the other lightly along the building’s stone facade. The steady sound of her sneakers on the pavement became pronounced. Thoughts of Kathy’s phone calls lingered in the back of her mind, which only gave Hank too much space in her brain.
“Dammit, Sue! What are you doing going out like that? Are you trying to embarrass me?”
Sue smoothed her hair back automatically at the memory.
“Why so shy, baby? Ah, come here, Suzie, dance with your man.”
Hank had been a great dancer. He used to spin her on the dancefloor and take her breath away. Those had been the happy times. That was the thing about her marriage. Not every day had been beatings and yelling. There were moments, really good moments.
“Stop making excuses,” Sue scolded herself.
Someone once told her, “When the bad outweighs the good in a relationship, it’s time to get out.”
She should have tried harder to escape.
“Meh.”
Sue stopped at the sound and looked around. A white cat sat in the middle of the road, staring at her.
“How are you, little kitty?” Sue asked, slowly approaching the animal.
“Meh,” the cat seemed to answer with its strange meow.
“Just meh?” Sue chuckled. “Been there.”
As she approached, the cat began to walk away from her. It went to the sidewalk and moved toward the end of the block. Interested in what it might be up to, she followed.
“Hey, kitty, come back,” she said in a hushed tone, wanting to pet it. “Do you have a home? What are you doing out here on the street?”
Sue came to the end of the block and turned the corner. A red sedan was parked down the block. The cat kept walking. She kept an eye on the sedan’s windows to be sure no one was in there. When she was satisfied the car was empty, she turned her attention to the animal.
The cat sat in front of a glass door. A light came from the back of the quaint bookstore. The animal looked at her and then pawed the door.
“Do you want to go in?”
“Meow.”
Sue laughed as the animal answered her. “I’m sorry, it’s closed.”
Sue pushed on the door handle to show the cat it was locked, but the bookstore door opened. The animal darted inside.
“Oh, crap, stop.” Sue let the door close and peered in through the window. The cat strolled through the rows of books and disappeared. It was nearly midnight so going inside, even if the door had accidentally been left unlocked, felt like breaking and entering.
Hey, that would be one way for her to meet the local cops and prove she was alive to St. Louis PD. They could email her mugshot to them. Oh! Or she could send it as the next Christmas card instead of the fake posing happy family. Kathy would love that.
Sue chuckled as she imagined the look on the woman’s face.
Feeling guilty about letting an animal into someone’s store, Sue pulled open the door an inch and said, “Here, kitty, kitty. We shouldn’t be in there.”
She watched, but the cat didn’t come to her.
Sue crouched near the ground to be at the animal’s eye level as she searched the back of the store for a sign of where it went. “Here, kitty. Kitty?”
She thought of the life insurance check. Maybe she could go home, call the store, tell them what she did, and offer to pay for any damages. There was some humor in her using it for cat damage since Hank hated cats. Probably because they didn’t beg for his attention.
“Lesson learned. Never date a man who hates cats,” Sue mumbled, before calling, “Kitty?”
“I love cats,” a male voice said from behind her.
Sue inhaled sharply and turned, but from her precarious position near the ground, her foot slipped, and she fell on her hip. Thankfully, it was a short drop, and it only stung a little. Breathing hard as her heart thumped faster, she looked up.
“Susan Sue.” Jameson smiled down at her and offered a hand to help her up. “I see you decided to give our town a chance after all. Though, I will say, it looks better from up here and maybe during the day.”
Sue eyed the hand but didn’t take it. “I… cat.”
“Cat burglar?” Jameson clarified with a playful smile and a glance at her ridiculous bedhead kitten t-shirt.
“No.” Sue pushed herself to standing. There was something about this man that made her giddy. The ring vibrated, and she clenched a fist to make it stop. At the gas station, she’d been too exhausted and hungry to recognize the feeling for what it was. She found him extremely attractive, and that made her nervous. If there was anyone whose opinion she couldn’t trust when it came to men, it was her own.
Jameson pointed toward the window. “Cat?”
Sue glanced to see the white cat looking out at them from his perch on the window display of books. She wondered how long it had been there staring at her. “The door was unlocked. It wanted to go inside. I was trying to show it that the door was locked, but accidentally opened it, and it ran in.”
“He ran in,” Jameson said. “That’s Ace, and the bookstore is his home, well, home base anyway. He kind of comes and goes as he pleases along this block. It’s his turf.”
Sue released a big sigh and stared at Ace through the window. “I was so sure I was going to be in trouble.” She leaned closer to the glass and tapped her finger toward the cat. “You almost made me break into a bookstore, little rascal.”
“Meh,” Ace answered, indifferent.
“Well, I’m happy I happened to be around,” Jameson said. “I saved you from a life of crime.”
What were the odds? Sue glanced at the red sedan, realizing it was his car. She hadn’t put that fact together until that moment. Red sedans weren’t exactly rare.
“Did they ever get the bus fixed?” he asked.
“I assume so.” Sue didn’t mean for her answer to sound annoyed, but even to her own ears, that’s the tone she detected. Forcing some control over her nerves, she said, “I took your recommendation and found that hotel. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.”
“If it were me, I’d call the company and demand a refund.” Jameson smiled. “And ask for reimbursement for the hotel room. It’s the least they could do for stranding you in the middle of the night. And if they say no, they say no.”
“Yeah, thanks, I’ll think about it.” Sue stayed near the bookstore door.
Jameson appeared to notice and stepped back on the sidewalk to give her space.
“What are you doing out here at this time of night?” she asked, trying to think of anything to fill the growing silence.
He gestured to his left. “Inventory. I could ask you the same thing.”
“Exploring,” she answered. Sue took a step forward to look at the store he indicated. “You work at the coffee shop?”
Jameson nodded. “More or less. I own it.”
“Own?” Sue glanced at the shop again and inched closer to peek inside.
The window read, “The Coffee Shop in Freewild Cove.” Sue looked at the bookstore. That window read, “The Bookstore in Freewild Cove.”
“Um, clever shop titles,” she said.
“It’s been great for internet searches. They say what they are,” he said.
“So, do you own the bookstore, too?”
“Just the building. Melba owns the shop.”
“And Ace?”
“I don’t think anyone can own Ace. He’s a free spir
it.” Jameson chuckled.
“What made you decide to join the barista arts?” she asked, trying to sound clever.
“As a young lad, it was always my wish to remain highly sugared and caffeinated,” Jameson joked. “This gave me the perfect excuse.”
Sue couldn’t help but laugh. “Living the dream, huh?”
“Exactly.” He gestured toward the door. “Want to come in?”
Sue started to shake her head in denial, but the ring sent a little jolt up her arm, and she found herself saying, “Yes, as long as I’m not interrupting.”
“Not at all. You can watch me count tea boxes.” Jameson held open the coffee shop door for her. “It’s fascinating work.”
Sue glanced at Ace, who paused to look at her from where he licked his erect back leg.
“I’ll leave the door unlocked. You can go at any time,” Jameson said. “I understand if you don’t want to be alone at night with a stranger in a strange town.”
Instead of answering, Sue pointed toward the bookstore and said, “Should we try to lock that door, so no one breaks in?”
“Melba doesn’t always remember to lock up.” He motioned upward. “I have a camera that covers both entrances. If something happens, we’ll see it.”
Sue looked up to see the small camera. “That’s how you knew I was out here?”
He nodded.
“Is there a lot of crime here? I noticed the theater had security cameras too,” she said.
“Not really. Usually, drunk tourist stupidity and most of that is closer to the beach. I got the camera more so I could make sure the morning shift shows up on time. Stu’s a great guy but often imbibes in drunk local stupidity. He’s plays gigs down at the beach, then comes in here and works the morning shift.” Jameson chuckled. “Ah, to be young again.”
“Did you just imply that we’re old?” Sue arched a brow at him as she walked into the coffee shop.
Was she flirting?
“Never.” He grinned. “You don’t look a day over eighteen.”
“Please tell me that isn’t true,” she said. “You couldn’t pay me to be a teenager again. I’ll accept a day over thirty, which is a lie, but a nicer lie.”
The Fifth Sense: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Romance Novel (Order of Magic Book 4) Page 7
