Happy Hour

by Anina Collins

  “Oh, don’t say that, Alex. You haven’t let me down at all,” I said before kissing him softly on the cheek.

  “I had been so sure we’d find something out when we spoke to Gerald, and now that he’s gone, I’m sure he knows something about Marcus Tyne’s murder, but now he’s in the wind and we may never find him.”

  I slipped my arm around Alex and hugged him. “He’s not going to get far. We’ll find him.”

  Shaking his head, he said, “Not if that woman who visited him yesterday is helping him. They could be halfway to Canada by now.”

  His mention of that woman made me wonder why we hadn’t heard of any female associated with Gerald Engels before today. Had it really been because the police had been exclusively focused on my father as the main witness, or had it been because we were meant to see Gerald as single?

  “About her. Why didn’t he say anything about a girlfriend or wife when we spoke to him? Nobody lives in this house with him. We know that. I mean, just look at it. No woman would live amongst so much stuff. I can’t imagine any woman being able to deal with all those piles of knickknacks and things he has in there. Just the thought gives me the chills. I’d go crazy if I had to come here very often.”

  Alex stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “What did you just say?”

  “I’d go crazy if I had to come here often? I would. All that stuff would give me a headache.”

  He waved his hands at me and shook his head. “No, before that. You can’t imagine anyone dealing with piles of stuff?”

  “Yeah,” I said as I thought about the narrow path lined with stacks of old records and other people’s garbage in his dining room. “I’d have to take a shovel to this place if Gerald and I got together, I swear.”

  “Poppy, where else have we seen piles of stuff we had to walk around recently?”

  I thought about his question and immediately remembered the garage at Millville Motors. “The place Frank Mitchell works!”

  Running over to the window, I looked into the dining room again and saw that the piles and pathway looked almost identical to how the boxes of auto parts had been arranged at the garage. “Birds of a feather?”

  “I don’t know. It might be just a coincidence, but both these guys knew Marcus Tyne.”

  “And Angela Touring!” I said excitedly, now genuinely frightened she might be the next victim.

  Quickly, I called the Hotel Piermont to make sure she was safe. The front desk person answered on the second ring.

  “I need you to connect me to Angela Touring’s room. She’s on the second floor,” I said, forgetting her room number.

  “Miss Touring checked out this morning, miss,” the woman’s voice said sweetly.

  I pressed END and looked over at Alex. “Angela Touring must be feeling much braver now. She checked out of the Hotel Piermont this morning. What are the chances she and Gerald knew each other and she was the woman who visited him yesterday in the hospital?”

  “No idea, but we need to get over to her house right now because either she’s in danger because Frank Mitchell wants to kill her, as she claimed, or she’s involved in the murder of Marcus Tyne. Either way, we need to find her.”

  We ran to the car as I thought about how convincing her scared little victim act had been that day. I’d been so sure Frank Mitchell would try to do something to hurt her that I paid for her stay at the Hotel Piermont.

  Damn, I was such a fool!

  Alex started the car and it lurched forward down the street, picking up speed as we raced to Angela’s house a few minutes away. After he radioed into the station to tell Stephen we needed backup, he turned to look at me and said, “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t.”

  “That I was a complete fool for falling for her act?” I asked, smarting from how stupid I could be.

  “You weren’t a fool, Poppy. You’re just good-hearted with small town beliefs. Unscrupulous people take advantage of that.”

  “But she’s from Sunset Ridge too,” I protested, knowing exactly what he meant even as I tried to find another excuse for my idiocy.

  “Then you’re just good-hearted. I don’t want you to beat yourself up over this, though. Clearly, this big city detective didn’t see through her act either.”

  He cut the wheel, turning the car sharply onto Angela’s street. Hanging onto the door handle, I said, “But you didn’t foot the bill at the hotel to keep her safe. At least you were sort of skeptical. I bought that story of hers hook, line, and sinker. I’m so stupid.”

  My bemoaning my trusting nature made him smile, and as he jammed the car into park a little ways down the street from Angela’s house, he turned toward me and cupped my chin. “You aren’t stupid. You’re sweet and kind, and I suspect Angela is anything but. For now, I want you to stay here until backup comes. Don’t fight me on this, okay? I’m not sure what we’re walking into here, so stay put until I come back.”

  I opened my mouth to explain that I wanted to go with him, but he kissed me, effectively stopping me from saying anything. Leaning away, he said, “I mean it, Poppy. Don’t fight me on this and don’t move from this car until Stephen gets here.”

  Frustrated from being cut out of the action but understanding his reasons, I sulked but accepted his rules. “Fine, but if Stephen is an ass to me, he’s getting it both barrels this time.”

  “Agreed. Now wait for him and I’ll be right back, okay?” he said sweetly with that look in his brown eyes that never failed to make me want to do just what he wanted.

  I forced a smile before he left the car to walk up to Angela Touring’s house, but every cell in my body wished I could be right there with him when he questioned her about all the lies she’d told.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I watched Alex walk up the sidewalk to Angela Touring’s front door while a knot formed in the pit of my stomach. He insisted I wait there in the car because he worried there might be a problem and he didn’t want me to get hurt, but what if he got hurt? Just the thought of him in danger made my chest tighten until I could hardly breathe.

  Silently, I begged him to be careful even though I knew he wouldn’t take any unnecessary risks. At least I could count on that.

  But I wanted to be standing on that front porch with him. That’s where his partner would be, if I was a real partner and not just some silly woman who tagged along giving her half-baked opinions and making him worry instead of focusing one hundred percent on his job. Maybe Stephen was right. Maybe I didn’t deserve the respect I thought I did.

  As his nasty words from the night before replayed in my mind, he walked up to the police cruiser and tapped on the driver’s side window, jarring me out of my thoughts. I looked over at him, and even now after Alex had told him what would happen if he insisted on being rude again, he glared at me through the glass like some petulant child staring into an exhibit at the zoo and unhappy because the animals weren’t acting like he thought they should.

  Despite wanting to tell him to go away, I forced myself to smile and waved at him. He opened the door and barely poked his head in.

  “Where is Alex?” he asked in a voice to match that petulant child expression he still wore.

  This guy wasn’t very bright. A quick look around would have given him his answer without having to sully his time there by talking to me.

  I pointed toward Angela’s house where Alex still stood on the front porch. “He’s at Angela Touring’s house.”

  For any other cop, I would have added more information just in case they didn’t remember every detail like Alex and I did simply because we’d worked the case from the beginning. For this guy, though, I offered just the facts and no more. The less I had to speak to him the better.

  Without moving his head, he averted his gaze to look out the back window at where Alex stood and mumbled something I thought sounded like the word, “Fine.”

  It sounded odd, like some kind of unneeded opinion on a co-worker’s actions. I wanted to tell him that, in
fact, Alex was fine and likely didn’t need his help, but I knew that would be unprofessional. Alex didn’t need any grief from Derek, so I kept my mouth shut and silently critiqued Stephen’s uselessness.

  Finally, I turned to look at the porch and saw the front door open. Angela Touring stood looking out at Alex as he spoke to her, but a quick assessment of her body language told me this visit wasn’t anywhere as pleasant as the last time he’d been there to see her. He stood ramrod straight, appearing official the entire time, but after a few seconds, she put her hand on her right hip and shook her head. Then she slammed the door in his face.

  From behind me, I heard Stephen mumble, “Damn. Someone doesn’t want the police around.”

  He really had a grip on the obvious, this one.

  Alex hurried down the sidewalk and came up alongside the car to where I sat. Opening the door, he leaned down and shook his head. “I couldn’t see inside because she kept the door closed, but she’s not going to let me in there without a search warrant. I’m going to have to bring Derek in on this.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be able to get a warrant,” I said. Magistrates in town signed warrants for far less than we had on this case, so I didn’t doubt he’d have one in just a few minutes.

  I just hoped it would be in time before Angela jumped in her car and sped away for points unknown. Now that she’d be on guard after seeing Alex at the door, she’d be eager to flee at any moment.

  Without even a cursory glance at Stephen, Alex took out his phone and called Derek, who by the way the conversation sounded on our end seemed happy to finally have a break in the case after making my father a suspect.

  Alex, on the other hand, appeared unhappy with what he heard. “Judge Harlow? I thought he announced he was going on an extended vacation,” he said with a groan. Looking down at his watch, he sighed. “Maybe you can catch him before he gets his first drink in him. I hope so.”

  I heard Derek say something about eleven in the morning being pretty early to be in the bag, but Alex didn’t look convinced. We’d had to deal with the judge before, and I’d known him for years. My father had told me many times that the judge was often his first customer of the day, and usually that was even before noon.

  Derek asked, “What’s your theory of the case involving Angela Touring? I need to know just in case Harlow is feeling particularly curious today. Sometimes he likes to know what he’s signing.”

  For a moment, Alex didn’t speak. I knew why. We had a sense that Angela was involved in Marcus Tyne’s murder, but how exactly she played a part still hadn’t been something we’d teased out of this mystery yet. For my part, I felt pretty secure in my assumption that it had something to do with romance. The problem was with who.

  Alex, on the other hand, hadn’t bought into the romance facet of this case yet, but he agreed she definitely played a part in Tyne’s death. Now that Derek had asked for his theory, he’d have to give him something more to go on other than he thought it suspicious that she’d suddenly checked out of the Hotel Piermont this morning after doing or saying something when she possibly visited Gerald Engels to make him leave the hospital and risk his life a few hours ago.

  “Well, to be honest, I’m not entirely sure what she’s done, but she was Tyne’s girlfriend until a few months ago. They have a history that includes domestic violence, at least officially, which she very likely might have wanted to get revenge for. And we know Frank Mitchell, the guy she cheated on with Marcus Tyne, could easily get his hands on antifreeze since he works at a garage, and he’s been telling his boss that they’re back together and engaged to be married.”

  He stopped for a moment and then said in a low voice, “As for Gerald Engels, we aren’t really sure what part he played in all of this, if any.”

  I had to admit as I sat there and listened to him describe it like that, the case sounded pretty convoluted. Leaning toward Alex, I listened to hear if Derek thought that too.

  “It sounds like she’s less a suspect than Frank Mitchell, Alex. It also sounds like you have a lot of loose ends.”

  Leave it to Derek to miss the obvious.

  Positioning my mouth close to Alex’s cell phone, I said, “She’s involved with at least one of these guys, if not both of them, Derek. The romantic angle is there. I know it. I think she’s been playing Frank or Gerald to get her revenge.”

  Derek’s surprise at hearing my voice came through loud and clear. “What the hell is Poppy doing there? Her father’s still the only real suspect we have.”

  I knew I shouldn’t say anything more, but his silliness was wasting precious time. “Derek, worry about reprimanding Alex later, please,” I yelled as Alex backed away from the car. “We need that search warrant right now before Angela Touring takes off.”

  The horror on Alex’s face telegraphed I probably had irritated yet another person on the Sunset Ridge police force. Derek I could get around. He’d chastise me and I’d pretend to listen before turning on the charm and reminding him that we’d been friends forever so he couldn’t be mad at me.

  Alex was a different story. I had a feeling that the angry look he wore wasn’t going to go away any time soon if I ruined his chances at getting a search warrant by being there at the scene.

  He paced back and forth outside the car, and with each pass looked unhappier by the second. Finally, he stuffed his phone back into his pocket and returned to stand next to the car.

  Talking over the roof, I heard him tell Stephen to head out to Frank Mitchell’s place in Millville. As he began to walk to his car, Alex yelled, “And if he’s not there, check Millville Motors. That’s where he works supposedly long hours.”

  When he didn’t come back to the car, I tentatively inched out toward the front of the car until he said in a low voice without even looking at me, “Poppy, you should get back into the car. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  But nothing in his tone told me concern was at the bottom of why he didn’t want to deal with me at that moment. I knew he wished I would listen to his suggestion this time, but I couldn’t. I felt too bad about what I’d done.

  I walked over to where he stood at the edge of the bumper and stopped in front of him. He intentionally looked over my head down the street, so I stepped back away from him in the hopes of forcing him to look at me.

  “Please don’t move far away from me. I don’t want to see you get hurt,” he said in a low voice, finally looking me in the eyes.

  “Why do you keep saying that? Do you think Angela is going to suddenly turn all sharpshooter and gun me down out here?” I asked, looking around for a shred of evidence anything I’d said could happen.

  With a heavy sigh, he hung his head. “I have no idea what she’s going to do, but no, I don’t think she intends on gunning anyone down today. But I really don’t know what she’s thinking at the moment.”

  I stepped forward closer to him and wished I could take him into my arms for a big bear hug. Tilting my head up, I saw worry in his eyes as he looked at me.

  “What’s wrong? Are you angry at me for what I did with Derek? Because if you are, don’t worry. I promise I’ll make sure I say all the right things to him and smooth things over like they’ve never been smoothed over before. Things between you guys will be so smooth you’ll be like glass.”

  “I’m not worried about that, although I wish you hadn’t done it. No, I’m just worried that Harlow won’t give us a search warrant and I’ll have no leg to stand on to even bring Angela in for questioning.”

  I brushed my hand against his as it hung at his side and gave it a quick squeeze. “Judge Harlow signs everything, Alex. Don’t worry. Derek is very persuasive. Who knows? He might slyly suggest the judge should join him at the bar later as they’re talking to convince him to sign the request for the warrant. I hate seeing you worried like this.”

  He looked back at Angela Touring’s house, and then turned to face me as his shoulders sagged. “I hope you’re right. I just wish we knew what her story was.�
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  “What did she say when she answered the door? I read her body language and all I can say is that woman was giving off some seriously negative vibes.”

  “She wasn’t as nice as the last time we were here. I can tell you that,” he explained with a frown. “I told her I wanted to come in and talk to her about the Marcus Tyne case, and she said she knew I couldn’t come in without a warrant. Of course, that’s true, so I suggested we talk outside on the porch, but she wasn’t having any of it. She said she had nothing else to say about Tyne’s death and slammed the door before I could even ask her if she visited Gerald Engels yesterday.”

  “Well, once Derek gets here with the warrant, maybe she’ll change her tune. In the meantime, we’re here, so it’s going to be okay.”

  Alex shook his head slowly. “Not if she drives away, which we can’t do a damn thing about since I don’t even have cause to question her right now. That’s why I’m worried Judge Harlow is going to deny me the search warrant.”

  As he spoke, out of the corner of my eye I saw something move in Angela Touring’s yard. I turned my head quickly in fear Alex had been wrong and she actually had decided to begin shooting and I saw an amazing sight.

  Angela and Frank Mitchell running full speed down the steps on the side of her house into the backyard. I grabbed Alex’s arm and pointed at them. “She and Frank! They’re running!”

  I don’t think all the words were out of my mouth before Alex took off sprinting after them. I followed as well as I could in my new strappy spring sandals I instantly regretted wearing that day, but it was no use. Even in sneakers, I couldn’t run as fast as Alex. I only made it to the side steps before he was running back toward me looking panicked.

  “Get back to the car! They got into a car in the alleyway behind her house! Come on, Poppy! We need to catch them!”

  A rush of adrenaline pumped through me, making me run faster than I’d ever run in my life, especially in sandals. I reached the car right after Alex did, so by the time I slid into the passenger seat, he was jamming the car into drive and taking off down Angela’s street.