by Molly Dox
“So, he wanted to talk to me. He’s getting married. He thought I should know. Oh, and by the way, back when we were married, there were two people he fooled around with. I only knew about one. The other was my sister.” She stopped to let that sink in.
“What?” Charlotte’s eyes popped open wide. “She doesn’t even live that close.”
“She does now. She’s apparently moved in and he kicked the other girl to the curb. He’s getting remarried…to my sister.” Lead. It still felt like lead. “They’re flying off to Vegas after they share this secret with my parents.”
“No, he isn’t. They aren’t. What were they thinking?” Charlotte was still stunned.
“Yep. Yep. They most certainly are, and he thought I should know. He hid it from me. I thought he was still with secretary-slut.” She shook her head, steeling herself. It was easier to be angry than upset.
“What did your sister have to say for herself?” Charlotte was crumbling inside, her heart breaking for Annie.
“Not a word. Not a clue. She never told me. Ever. And I didn’t even know she was on the island. Unbelievable.” Annie’s stomach twisted.
“Wow. She’s a peach,” LuAnn kicked in.
“Yep.” Annie sucked in her lip. “So, liquor me up girls, get me laughing, and then call me a cab, because I am more than ready to let loose and burn off some steam.”
Charlotte shot up her hand to flag down the waitress. “Shots,” she said. “And keep them coming; and a pitcher of beer.”
“Soda for me, something diet.” She turned back to the girls. “I’ll be your designated driver tonight. You were gracious enough to include me in your plans.”
“Really? That’s not necessary,” Annie started.
“No, it works out for me. I have to go into the police station tomorrow to fill out a few last pieces of paperwork. I’ll be uniformed up and starting next week,” LuAnn said.
“Awesome. Thanks so much.” Charlotte perked up when the shots arrived.
“Oh, look who’s here,” Annie said, pointing toward the door.
“Who’s that?” LuAnn quizzed.
“Town wide drunk and entertainment during the slow season,” Charlotte shot out without a second to pause.
“I guess I’ll get to know him well, then.” LuAnn laughed.
Annie chimed in. “So, when I heard the news, I had a moment where I was seeing red. It made me realize, crimes of passion, all that stuff is real. I mean, this is my ex-husband, but I was still angry. Look at what’s going on here.” She turned to LuAnn. “Are you up to speed on the latest on goings at the police department?”
“Yeah, that bit of news was splashed all over most papers in New Jersey I think. When a police chief is incriminated, well, you take notice.” She leaned in and quietly said, “I heard it might not be all to the story, but you didn’t hear it from me.”
Charlotte smiled. The girl liked gossip like the best of them. She’d fit in just fine. “So far we know that the police chief was fooling around with the mayor’s wife…”
Annie added, “And the mayor was fooling around with the police chief’s wife. Now there’s a blackmail thing going around too.”
Charlotte stared at Annie. “What did I miss? Jeff and Gretchen? Blackmail?”
“I was going to tell you about it tonight. I found out earlier, maybe yesterday. I forget. Anyway, I ran into Mayor Millbourne on the beach this morning while I was walking Pip. That’s my dog,” she added for LuAnn. “I mentioned how sorry I was about his wife, and he seemed indifferent. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it does make one wonder.”
“Interesting,” Charlotte said.
“Indifferent? Wouldn’t you be broken up? I mean, look how you’re upset about your ex-husband’s betrayal. This was his current wife. Why was he indifferent?” LuAnn was puzzling with them now too.
When the tray of shots came around, the pitcher of beer, and soda, Charlotte told the waitress to keep them coming. They had a designated driver and a mission to get Annie drunk as a skunk. The waitress nodded. “If she chucks, I’m not cleaning it. And get yourself to the bathroom,” she scolded, before Annie had her first shot.
“Yes, ma’am.” One time. It happened one time. They never let her forget it. It was after her divorce. She had a reason. Of course she was horrified when it happened, but thankfully she was intoxicated enough that the guilt didn’t stay long. It was a hangover she’d never forget. She wasn’t a big drinker, in fact, she was drinking less and less these days, sometimes bypassing alcohol completely, but in moments like these, shots were her best friend.
Why did it hurt so badly when she didn’t even want the man anymore? They were divorced. She was glad to be rid of him. And yet, the betrayal of knowing both her sister and her ex held their relationship a secret for so long killed her. Her own sister. Marriage? And her parents, what would they say? Would they freak out or give her their blessing? Not that it would matter, because they were apparently flying out to Vegas, so it was pretty much a done deal.
Annie picked up a shot and liquored herself up. “Keep them coming,” she sighed. “It’s going to take a lot to numb this pain.”
Charlotte watched her friend drown her sorrows. After a few more shots, and as her words slurred, she knew she was coming to her limit. Anymore and she’d end up sick.
“When I heard the news, I wanted to kill him,” Annie said. Then with an exaggerated movement, she drew her hand to her face. “Shhh, if word gets out, it just might happen with all the weirdness lately. Okay, I don’t really want to, but…” The tears started next. “I hate him. I hate her. I hate everyone. People are mean.” She dropped her head onto the table.
“Okay, champ,” LuAnn said. “Why don’t we get you home?”
“I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted the night to go. I wanted to laugh and have fun. I’m sorry.” She kept apologizing.
LuAnn said it was fine, and helped her out to the car after they all settled their bill. Driving her home, Charlotte directed her to Annie’s house first, since Annie couldn’t remember where she lived in her current state.
“Oh, Pip. You have to meet Pip. And Squeak. That’s the cat that hangs out back.” She stumbled a bit, and made it as far as the sofa. Pip jumped up excited to see people. Annie was asleep within moments.
LuAnn sighed and put the dog out. Squeak ran inside when she wasn’t looking.
Annie woke up the following morning with Pip sleeping on one side of her and Squeak on the other. Drawing her hand up over her eyes, adjusting to the brightness of daytime and a hangover, she looked at the cat. “How did you get in here?” The two had made some kind of truce, because Pip wasn’t chasing the cat away. She groaned and headed to the kitchen for a big glass of water. She must have been knocked out. At least she didn’t have the recurring chicken dream. She’d been having it a lot lately. It was her own version of a nightmare, feathered fiends chasing her with their beady little eyes, always pecking. Annie shuddered.
Chapter 8
Chief Wylie’s voice carried through the shopping complex. Annie came out of her shop, to see what the commotion was about.
“Let me repeat this one more time. I was in love with Sharon Millbourne. I’d never kill her.” His voice echoed off of a microphone a newscaster held up. Speakers were set up nearby.
What was going on? It was almost like he’d called a news conference. When did this all happen? Annie was left scratching her head. It was one of the most public places that people gathered during the busier season. Off-season, there weren’t a lot of people around.
The mayor was present, apparently at the chief’s request. Mayor Millbourne rushed the police chief like an irate bull, ready to take him down. Someone stepped in from behind and blocked him, holding him to the side.
“I’ll see you dead,” the mayor yelled out.
The police chief continued. His face was red. He didn’t want to be doing this. So why was he? “We’ve been having an affair. I fell in love. We were
planning on being together. I’d never hurt her.”
Gretchen watched, her jaw dropping, only her reaction wasn’t quite as thwarted. As the wife being cheated on, she was almost measured. Annie found it odd, the different reactions. It’s as if the affair was news to the mayor, but not to Gretchen.
“I’ll kill you,” the mayor shot out again. He struggled against the hands holding him in place.
Public humiliation. It’s what the blackmailer demanded. Only it turned into so much more. Gretchen walked up to her husband and slapped him in front of the camera crew. “How could you?” She seethed under her breath, between clenched teeth. It was all for show. She was in love with Mayor Millbourne. She found her way over to Jeff Millbourne to try and calm him down. She turned to the news crew. “He can’t even protect me. I was blackmailed and I had to go to someone else for help. What kind of police chief is that?”
“Is this true?” The news crew jumped on the story.
“You were blackmailed?” He stared at his wife, incredulously. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
It all played out on the cameras. Was this what the blackmailer wanted?
Annie went back to her shop, her mouth agape after all the mud-slinging went back and forth. Grateful to not be involved in this situation, she locked the door behind her. Her last client had already left. She was only waiting on Jamie, her co-worker and employee, but she’d come through the backdoor. They were going to sit and brainstorm ways to drum up business. Summer couldn’t come soon enough.
Annie played back all of the reactions in her mind. Each was very specific. On the beach, Mayor Millbourne seemed indifferent, but not today. Was it his pride, hearing another man had his wife, or was it something else? He said he’d kill the chief. Had he killed before?
Jamie slipped in the back door. “What’s going on out there? I saw a news van.”
“Oh, some weird news conference was going on. I think they were wrapping up. I couldn’t deal with it anymore, so I came back in and locked up.”
“Yeah, the news van is packing up.” She dropped her bag and settled onto the loveseat in the waiting area. “I had an idea of a way to bring in more money. We could have a party, a make-over party. It would be something different. A day of beauty sort of thing, only with champagne, music, fun, and make it a “girls-night-out” kind of thing.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Annie said, letting the idea work on her.
Chapter 9
With her new houseguest, Squeak, she figured she’d better pick up some extra food. She’d need to try to find the owner. The cat seemed to think it belonged at her house. Was there an owner? Or had the owner left for the season, without the cat? Either way, a stop at the market was in order.
The last person she expected to run into was Gretchen Wylie. Annie tried not to stare. She debated whether she should say anything or not. It was all out there in the public eye, even on television. It’s not like it was a secret. Annie took a deep breath and went over to Gretchen. “Hey, Gretchen.”
Gretchen looked over at her. “Annie.” Her tone was flat.
“I’m so sorry about what happened. I saw it play out. That must have been mortifying. I can’t believe he embarrassed you like that. Are you okay?” There were no words to truly express the level of embarrassment the police chief’s wife was put through.
“Yeah, well, I took away what he loved most.” She lingered for a moment, and then finished. “Me. I’m filing for divorce and taking him for everything. He’s a fool to think he can betray me like that. And now that his affair is public information…anyway, it’s his turn to suffer.”
There was almost no feeling. She was seething mad, but she didn’t look like a broken woman. She held her head high. She spoke strongly and seemed in control. Annie thought about how she crumbled on hearing the news of her ex and her sister, not even played out in public, and yet Gretchen was as cool as a cucumber. Good for her. Annie would have been jittering nerves and bundles of tears.
The women went their own ways. Annie picked up cat food, a treat for Pip, and a few odd items. Nothing appealed to her for dinner. She was pretty sure it would be a pizza night. Calling out for dinner was easier than cooking, even if money was getting tighter.
Annie couldn’t help going back over the events of the day in her mind. The way the mayor reacted versus his reaction on the beach. The fact the Chief Wylie held a conference to declare his love for a dead woman, a woman he’s presumed to have killed. And then there was Gretchen, almost indifferent to the entire scenario. And when she mentioned that ‘she took away what he loved most’, she hesitated before adding herself. Or did she mean Sharon Millbourne? Could Gretchen have had something to do with it? No, that’s silly. She knew Gretchen. She did her hair. She wasn’t a killer. Sure a drama queen, but not a killer.
Was the police chief’s news conference a publicity stunt to draw out the real killer? Was somebody keeping track of who showed up and who didn’t? Was he trying to clear his name? Or was he truly guilty, but trying to push the blame toward somebody else?
Mayor Millbourne was pretty angry on hearing about the affair. Was it his ego or pain hearing about his wife publically? Was he embarrassed or mad? He seemed mad, but maybe it was the fact that it was dished about in front of everyone. And it’s not like he wasn’t fooling around also. The three of them raced through Annie’s brain. Somebody was hiding something. The question was, who? And they did have the gun for evidence. Maybe Chief Wylie did do it after all. It was his gun.
Annie came around the corner of an aisle and bumped into Mrs. Bushmiller. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She’d been distracted.
“Annie, hi.” They were still finding their comfort level.
With their forced proximity of Mrs. Bushmiller’s condo being so close to Annie’s shop, Annie knew it was better to just get over her frustration with the woman. Keeping peace would make life easier.
“How’s Mitzi doing?” Mitzi was Mrs. Bushmiller’s dog.
“Good,” she said. “Listen, I’ve been thinking. Things have been a little awkward lately. I was hoping…”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Annie smiled. “Let’s just move forward and put the past behind us.”
“I’d like that.” She seemed sincere enough. While Mrs. Bushmiller could be a pain at times, she wasn’t a bad person.
“Cat food?” Mrs. Bushmiller raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a new friend?”
“A local cat is getting comfortable around my home. First in the yard, and then the other day, he got inside. I don’t know if he’s a stray or not. Either way, he needs to eat,” Annie explained.
After a bit more small talk, the women went on their way, bumping into each other again at the register. It felt a tiny less awkward. Annie was glad they got over the hump. It would make life easier.
Chapter 10
When Charlotte stopped by at Annie’s request, she picked up the pizza on the way over. She wanted to bounce a few ideas off of Charlotte. The day was still grinding in her head after she left the market.
“Mmm, smells good,” Annie said, handing Charlotte a ten. Thanks for picking it up.
“Sure, it’s no problem. Are you sure you don’t want a couple of bucks?” Charlotte offered.
“No, I invited you over. You get it next time.” Annie had plates and napkins set out.
“Sounds good, so what’s up? You said you had some puzzling to do.” Charlotte pulled out a slice of pie.
“I ran into Gretchen today. And did you hear about the news conference that took place? That was weird?”
“No, what did I miss? Drat. I always miss the good stuff,” Charlotte sighed.
Annie took a bite of pizza. After chewing, she continued. “So, I’m in the shop and I hear a commotion, almost like speakers. I go out to the square and the police chief, well, ex-police chief, err, umm, suspended police chief was addressing the media.”
Charlotte arched an eyebrow. “What was he saying?”
�
�Oh, this is good. He was declaring his love for the mayor’s wife, right out there in public, in front of the mayor and his own wife.” Annie paused for dramatic affect.
“Get out! Why would he do that?” Charlotte asked.
“I think he’s trying to clear his name and take the spotlight off of himself. He said he was in love with Sharon and wanted a future with her.”
“Wow.” Charlotte wanted to know more.
“Yep,” Annie said. “And then the mayor went to take a swing at him, or rush him or something, but somebody intervened. Gretchen went over to comfort the mayor and made a snide comment to and about her husband.”
“It just keeps getting better.” Charlotte was stunned.
“Anyway, that’s not all. I ran into Gretchen at the market and said something to her. Just something like how I was sorry he embarrassed her like that in public.” She took another bite of pizza.
“Hurry up and chew, woman. Don’t leave me hanging!” Charlotte laughed.
“Right, sorry. Okay, so Gretchen was talking about how she was going to divorce him and stuff anyway. And of course, we know her secret about her and Mayor Millbourne. So do you think the two of them will end up together? And do you think Chief Wylie actually committed the murder? It just seems like of all people, if he was in love with her and wanted to be with her, why would he end her life?”
“Unless, what if she threatened to ruin him or hurt his marriage first? Maybe she didn’t realize he intended to be with her in the end, or maybe she didn’t want to be with him even though they were fooling around.” Charlotte shook her head. “What a mess. And poor Sharon Millbourne; there’s no bringing her back.”
“Maybe he panicked,” Annie said, starting to fill in pieces of the puzzle.
“And is just trying to clear his name, even though he did it?”
“Right! Or not. I don’t know, but all of these bad things happening are starting to play with my head. I miss our quiet little town,” Annie said.
