Strung Out to Die

by Tonya Kappes

  Most of the time, people call and ask all sorts of questions about beads they’ve seen on other people, but they don’t know the names and begin describing them to me as “round, glass, pretty.” Those adjectives describe most of the beads in my shop.

  Regardless, I’ve wasted a lot of time trying to figure out which beads they are talking about over the phone, because they almost always end up coming into the shop to figure it out anyway.

  “Holly.” The voice was low and raspy.

  For a split-second, I wondered if this was the murderer. They were finally getting in touch with me to tell me why they killed Doug in my shop. Or worse…that I was next.

  “Holly, you there?” The voice sounded vaguely familiar.

  “Umm…yes.” I was cautious.

  “Thank, God. I need you now.” Sadie was no longer disguising her voice. “I know he is cheating on me now. I need you to meet me at this bar and go in to see if he’s with a girl.”

  “Sadie, where are you?” I checked the clock on the wall. I had a little over an hour until my self-defense class.

  Week, week, week. Willow’s big black eyes stared up at me. She was starving. I bent down and patted her on the head. Humph, she fell to the ground and rolled over for a good belly scratch.

  “I’m at The Livin’ End.” She was angry. “I followed him here. You said you’d help.”

  “And how exactly do you expect me to help?” I walked through the shop, finishing the nightly duties, and shutting off the lights.

  “I have a picture of him. You can look at it and then go into the bar to see if you see him with a girl.” Sadie sniffed into the phone.

  I’m a sucker for a crying woman, especially one that was being cheated on.

  “Fine. I have to take Willow home and then I will be there.”

  “Hurry, Holly,” She said. “If he walks out with another woman, I just might kill him.”

  “Don’t do that. The last thing we need in Swanee is another murder.”

  I clipped on Willow’s leash, locked the shop door and we got in the car. Sadie’s words replayed in my head and I pushed the accelerator down a little more, making my VW go faster.

  Luckily, Swanee wasn’t that big and I got Willow home, fed, and put to bed. Then I grabbed my yoga pants for defense class. I wasn’t going to have time to change at home since I was headed to The Livin’ End. I’d have to change at the Moose Lodge.

  I pulled into bar’s parking lot and parked next to Sadie. She was sitting on the hood of her car as if she was waiting to pounce on her prey.

  “Get in the car.” I shooed her to her door. “No self-respecting, cheated on woman acts like this.”

  She jumped around and snapped her fingers. “So you do think he’s cheating.”

  “Give me the picture and get in the car.” I demanded.

  I had to pee, so it was a good excuse to go in.

  I took a long look at the picture of Sadie’s cheating husband. I did a double take when I noticed he was sporting a purple Mohawk. If he still had that hairdo, he sure wouldn’t be hard to find. I glanced around the smoky bar.

  The jukebox was blaring, but the drunks bellied up to the bar were louder. The line to the women’s bathroom was down the hall and around the corner of the bar. I planted my feet in line, determined not to let any drunken woman cut in front of me, which almost always happened when I was there.

  “I don’t remember seeing anyone fighting that night.” The bartender yelled from behind the bar.

  Without looking to see who he was talking to, I kept my head down.

  “Listen, we don’t want any trouble here. We’re just trying to figure out who killed Doug Stone.” Noah said from the other side of the bar.

  I tilted my head slightly to make sure it was him. He and another Swanee officer were writing away on their little notepads.

  I rolled my eyes. I’d give anything to see read that thing Noah was always writing in.

  At least he was here following up and not just going around accusing people without evidence.

  “If I knew something. I’d have told you.” The bartender pulled the tap and filled a frosty mug with the cheap beer. “If I remember something, I’ll call you.”

  Noah and the other officers nodded and walked out.

  Finally, I got to the bathroom, and when I was finished, I walked through the entire bar. Definitely no purple Mohawks. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t a mohawk in sight.

  Sadie was back out on the hood of her car. She threw her hands in the air. “What took you so long?”

  “I had to pee. But he wasn’t in there.” I said, and looked at the picture one last time before I gave it back to her.

  I wanted to make sure I got all the details so I could tell the Divorced Divas about this. Not that they’d be surprised that Sadie had asked me to spy, but that her husband has a purple Mohawk.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I parked my car next to a light pole. That was something I’d learned from the defenseforyou.com website when deciding whether or not to go through with this class. Nothing had happened in the past week to make me feel like someone was watching me, making me more and more suspicious of Marlene.

  My curiosity was really piqued when she called saying she wouldn’t be able to help me this week. It would be the first time she hadn’t stepped foot in the shop on a day we were open in six months. I made a mental note to stop in and check on Agnes to make sure nothing had happened to her.

  The class was in the old Moose Lodge on the outskirts of town.

  There were only a few people attending. I looked around for Cheri.

  “Up here,” Cheri said, and motioned for me to come up front.

  I shook my head vigorously, but she continued to wave me up. I’d much rather be in the back when I fall on my face.

  “Psychological confidence/strength is half the battle,” the young buff instructor stated.

  Of course that’s easy, I wanted to say to him, when you look like you.

  “Using this is the other half.” He used his hands as wands to indicate our bodies.

  I glared at Cheri. This seemed a waste of time. I looked down at my new yoga pants I had bought. There were a few extra lumps around my midsection; maybe a jazzercise class would’ve been better.

  “I am going to teach you,” He pointed straight at me and continued, “how to use your body as a weapon.”

  I couldn’t help but smile as the crowd, well—few people, cheered him on. He was definitely charming.

  “Isn’t he great?” Cheri beamed. “He’s just your type.”

  Instantly, I realized why I was there. Cheri had been trying to set us up.

  “Oh, no you don’t.” I pointed at her. “I don’t need a date.”

  There was nothing worse than being set up while you’re wearing yoga pants.

  “Just give him a chance.” Cheri’s eyes were begging me. “You do need a date.”

  I watched Mr. Macho give us the first piece of advice. He pointed to his head. “Use your brain. When you leave your car, use your keys.”

  He demonstrated how to hold our keys with the sharp edges sticking out and stabbed the air. If someone could use a string of cat eye beads to kill Doug, they’d surely be able to take my keys from my trembling hand.

  Mancho Man’s ideas weren’t making me think he was so brainy. He did a couple demonstrations with a few of the other eager clients, but I watched with skepticism. Cheri, on the other hand, was practicing by mimicking every move he did on her air dummy.

  “You have to participate.” She jabbed her keys toward me. “I told him about the Doug thingy.”

  Great. I’d become known as the Doug thingy.

  “Come on, Holly.” Mancho Man executed a couple of quick jabs, causing me to flinch.

  “Try it.” He did the move again, trying to coax me.

  I half-heartedly flung my hand out in the air.

  As quick as lightening, and before I knew it, he had his hands around me. />
  “Use your brain.” He pointed to my head. “Tight fist around the keys. An intruder could smack those keys right out of your loose hand.”

  He smacked my hand to cause me to tighten my grip.

  “Yep. Good.” He gave me a thumbs-up and moved on.

  Annoyed, I did a few more air jabs to make Cheri happy.

  When class was over, I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. I was embarrassed, and I was never coming back.

  “Holly?” Mancho Man yelled.

  I almost made it out the door. I put my keys in the palm of my hand like a weapon. I turned around to find him walking toward me. His biceps seemed a little more flexed than they should be as he took the towel and rubbed it across his forehead.

  I’m not sure what class he was in, but there wasn’t a single bead of sweat on me. Still, I couldn’t look away from his deep green eyes. There was something there, telling me to wait.

  “Cheri told me about why you were coming.” There was the look of sympathy I’d been getting all week. “I really do think you need to learn how to defend yourself.”

  I sucked my stomach in and stood a little taller when he reached out and touch my arm. Oh, how I hoped it didn’t feel flabby to him.

  “I told Cheri I’d be more than happy to come to the Divas weekly meeting to give a lesson on a different move each week,” he said.

  How could she? I noticed Cheri had made a beeline out to her car and zoomed off before I could say anything to her.

  The Divas meetings were for ranting about men, not inviting them. They were also for beading, eating, and maybe a little bit of gossip too.

  “Let me get back with you on that.” I turned back to my car. I didn’t kill Doug, but I might kill Cheri.

  How stupid. The keys cut into the palm of my hand from making my fist a little tighter. They would make a good weapon for at least one jab. I punched the air, and a little wave of confidence shot through me. Maybe there was something to this self-defense stuff.

  At least I’d parked near the light. I slid my key in the lock. I’d give it another chance. Besides, no one else was going to defend me.

  Chapter Twenty

  “You can’t bring a pig into the police station.” Noah Druck tried to shoo Willow out of the old station by using his hand that was holding a doughnut, but Willow tripped him up by smelling his shoes.

  A snort came out, and Noah dropped his donut. Willow snatched it up and downed it in one gulp.

  “Get her out of here.” Noah pointed to the door. “All our evidence will be eaten up if she stays in here.”

  “You didn’t need that doughnut anyway.” I didn’t pay attention to Noah Druck’s order. “Did you want to see me or not?”

  The other officers snickered. They’d already gotten a good dose of Willow while taking all those fingerprints, and weren’t going to mess with her.

  “Hi, Jim.” I wasn’t sure if I should smile or not. “How’s Ginger doing? I really need to call her.”

  It was still uncomfortable. Even if she didn’t suspect me of killing her brother, she didn’t extend that to my ex-husband.

  Jim was standing on the step stool adjusting some video cameras in the corner near the door. He pulled the screwdriver away and gave me a half-hearted smile.

  “It’s hard. Doug was a pain in her ass, and mine too for that matter, but he was a good guy.” Jim was always getting Doug out of trouble for Ginger.

  They were always together, sort of like brothers.

  “I heard about the shop getting broken into.” Jim said, and shook his head. “I wish we knew what was going on around here.”

  I glared at Noah. No one was supposed to know about the break-in.

  “For goodness sakes, Holly, he works around here.” Noah said, trying to smooth things over. He took a seat in the chair behind his desk.

  “You should think about installing a couple of cameras.” Jim stepped off the stool. “With the way things are going around town, I’m getting calls left and right.”

  He was right. I’d been blowing him off ever since I opened the shop. There hadn’t been a need for security cameras in a town like Swanee. Until now.

  “I’ll think about it.” I said, and held up the note from Noah Druck I had found on my door. “You stopped by?”

  Noah summoned me over to his desk.

  “Where were you last night?” He asked, and pulled out that damn notebook from his shirt pocket.

  Should I answer quickly, or take time to think about it? Which one made me look worse? If I answered too quickly, it might make me look nervous. If I took some time, it might make me look like I was hiding something.

  “Are you accusing me of something?” I asked and sat down in the chair in front of his desk. My shoulders sagged and I swallowed hard.

  “No, but I came by the shop and your house. You’re generally at one or the other.” He tapped the notebook with his pen.

  “Why do you need to know?” This cat and mouse game was getting very interesting.

  “Have you forgotten there was a dead man found in your shop?” He began to tap harder. I could see he was making indentions on the small pad.

  “I think you need to take this.” The other officer interrupted us, held out the phone. “It’s important.”

  Noah motioned for me to stay, as though I was going to jump up and escape. The other officer gave me a look. I’m not sure what kind of look, but I knew it wasn’t a good one.

  Noah came back to the desk and hovered over me. “Exactly where were you last night?”

  I would’ve given him a smart-ass answer, but he didn’t look like he was playing around.

  “I was at a new defense class last night. I thought if someone is after me, I’d better learn how to defend myself.” I chopped the arm of the chair.

  “When was the last time you saw Sean?” He sat back down in his chair.

  Did they really have sufficient evidence to arrest Sean? He’d been showing up at the shop, and even at the house.

  Last night when I got home, Willow was going crazy like she does when he’s around. He left a message on my answering machine, but the machine was so old that the tape bunched up, causing the thing to jam, and all I got was something about, “Marlene,” before it cut off.

  This morning, Willow stopped to smell a footprint in the mud. The print did look like the bottom of one of Sean’s work boots, the only boots he ever buys. He must’ve stopped by.

  “I mean it. When was the last time you saw him?” Noah’s sounded serious.

  I drew back, putting some distance between us. “I don’t know. I guess the night the shop was broken into. Why?”

  Noah stepped back and straightened up. “It appears Sean didn’t make it over to Agnes Pearl’s this morning to finish the job Doug started. He told her he would be there first thing. When she sent Marlene to his house, his truck was gone.”

  One thing was for sure, when Sean told you he was going to be there, he would be there.

  The answering machine could have the answer. The machine had seen better days. Hell, I wasn’t sure if they even made those anymore. Flora was always getting on me about a new phone with caller ID and a built-in answering service.

  “Is there something you need to tell me?” Noah asked. “You seem like you just thought of something.”

  “Nope.” I shook my head.

  Yes, I was thinking of something. Why did Sean stop by my house? What did he say about Marlene? And where was he? Sean definitely was making himself seem guilty. But I knew better.

  I had to find Sean and get some answers.

  “Come on, Willow.” I stood up and made eye contact with Noah.

  “Don’t leave town.” His face was stern, almost accusing.

  I grabbed my things, and forgot about the note he had left on my door. I drug Willow snorting along the floor. She was pulling the opposite direction of me, probably trying to get at morsel of food on the floor.

  In light of Sean missing, wha
tever Noah wanted to talk to me about last night had now been put on the back burner. He needed to find Sean, and I needed to find Sean.

  This wasn’t good on so many levels. I checked the date on my watch. I had less than a week to figure this out. My rent was due, and I needed my alimony.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Before I headed over to Agnes Pearl’s house, I decided to make a quick stop in the parking lot of Sloan’s Hardware. It was the location of the last remaining phone booth in town.

  I counted out fifty cents from the coins in my car’s ashtray and plunked them into the old pay phone.

  “Sean, where are you? Noah said that you were going to Agnes’ house to finish up some work.” I inhaled deeply. This was not like him. “You need to call me ASAP.”

  I hung up the receiver and jumped as someone placed a hand on my shoulder.

  “Why so jumpy?” Ginger stood behind me. “You really need a cell phone. I leave this pay phone up just for you because you are the only one who still uses it.”

  “Oh, Ginger. I’m so worried.” I hugged my friend for comfort. Doug was dead and now Sean was missing. My world was turning upside down, just when I was getting it back on track. “Sean is missing. Or at least he doesn’t want to be found.”

  Ginger bit her lip like she did when she doesn’t want to talk.

  “What?” I took her by the shoulder. “Now is not the time to keep something from me.”

  She shuffled her shoe through loose pieces of gravel on the pavement.

  “Tell me, Ginger.” I pleaded.

  “It’s just that Sean is making himself look very suspicious.” Ginger folded her arms. “I didn’t think he could do something like this, but it doesn’t look good. The police are going to name him a suspect, and…”

  I looked into her eyes when she stopped.

  “And what?” I waited in anticipation.

  “They are going to name a couple more suspects,” she said. “And I want you to know that I know you didn’t do it.”

  “Me? They are going to name me?” My heart stopped. “What in the world did I have against your brother?”

  “I know. It’s ridiculous, but Noah got an anonymous tip saying you had told someone that if Doug wasn’t around, Sean could get the work around town and pay his alimony on time.” Ginger bit her lip again.