by Lynn Cahoon
“Your office? Someone just turned over some things. I think he was looking for something.” Sergeant Allison peered at her. “You aren’t selling drugs out of your office now, are you?”
“What?” Cat asked, but she wasn’t sure it came out as a real word or was just more of a squeak. She shook her head. “I don’t do drugs. I don’t sell drugs. I’m not sure I’d even know where to go to buy drugs.”
“I thought maybe since you grew up here in Aspen Hills.” He shuffled, uncomfortable.
“Well, you thought wrong. I like a good glass of wine now and then, but I don’t do drugs. And I didn’t in high school either. It’s just not done when your uncle is a cop.” She stared at him, wondering what had led him to that conclusion. “Anyway, can I go inside?”
He nodded. “Just let me know what’s missing, if anything.”
Cat took a deep breath and pulled open the door. Her desk was on its side. The office chair lay on the floor as did the two uncomfortable visitor chairs. Her bookcase was turned over and books were strewn around the room. She picked up a copy of a hardcover Stephen King she’d found at a yard sale when she’d been building her office library last summer after she’d been accepted into the program.
What was missing? She had no idea. All she knew was someone came and stirred up her office like it had been a batch of stew on the stove. She pushed one of the bookcases back into place and started stacking books on the shelves. She didn’t realize she was crying until Uncle Pete stilled her hand and took the book she’d just picked up and set it onto a shelf. He replaced the book with a cup of hot cocoa.
“Why don’t you go out to the hallway and sit for a minute? Did you notice anything out of place?” He shook his head. “Sorry, I know everything’s out of place but you know what I mean.”
Cat shook her head. “Take me home unless you need me here. I need to get out of here before I scream.”
“Okay, I can do that.” He took her arm and led her out of the office. When they went past Sergeant Allison, he paused. “Lock that place up. I’m taking her home.”
Allison’s eyes flashed in anger. “I haven’t questioned her yet.”
“It will have to wait. She’s had a tough day. And you did have some time, why didn’t you use it before sending her in to clean up her office?” He shook his head. “Don’t get me started. Just lock the door.”
Cat looked over at her uncle once they were both back into the car. “You don’t think it’s vandals, do you?”
He shook his head. “How do you feel about staying with your mom for a few nights? I’d feel safer if someone was with her. I’ll be over there tonight, but could you go over tomorrow?”
She was so tired, it felt like she’d been hit by a laser beam or something to suck all the energy from her body. Of course, that only happened in the books and movies that she loved. Not in her real life.
6
The good thing about having an early Friday class to teach was half the time, the students were typically either mentally or physically already off for the weekend. Cat estimated about half the class was here for her Friday lecture. She’d even tried doing pop quizzes on Friday, but then she had to do makeups after the missing students all somehow got doctors’ notes for missing the class. Even those she’d see at the bar later that night. Covington was special. She just had to accept it. She finished her lecture, gave out the homework assignment for Monday and let the class out fifteen minutes early, after making sure no one had questions or wanted a discussion.
She needed to get to her office and get it cleaned up. She didn’t keep anything of monetary value there, besides the books. Throwing away a damaged book was painful, even though she knew she could usually replace it. It was the idea of losing something she’d spent time with.
Stephanie met her at the door as soon as she walked through the hallway. “Oh, Cat, I’m so sorry about the break in. I heard as soon as I arrived this morning. Did they take anything?”
Cat unlocked the door and waved a hand at the mess. “From what I can tell, no. I mean, there could be books gone, but who steals an ancient copy of the Scarlet Letter. Or a romance? My collection here was more for lending out to students for writing exploration not literary study. And none of them were worth more than the couple bucks you can get for them at the used bookstore.”
Stephanie whistled. “That’s a mess. I don’t have class until after lunch. Let me help get this all cleaned up.”
Cat wanted to turn her down, as it seemed intrusive. But she knew if she didn’t accept help, she’d be here the entire weekend. And she’d never get the desk upright. “Okay, thanks.”
“Seriously, I saw that look. You were thinking about turning me down, weren’t you?” Stephanie stepped into the room and started to pick books up off the floor. “Someday you’re going to have to realize you don’t have to be the Lone Ranger in this life. Girl, I consider you a friend, and as soon as I get dumped by my next ex, you’re going to be bringing me boxes of tissues for weeks.”
Cat laughed and picked up the coat rack blocking the walkway. She hung her coat and her tote on it. “I haven’t had a real friend for years. I guess when I was dating Seth, that’s all I had time for. Then when I looked around, the girls I had hung out with had all moved away.”
“We’ll get you trained in the art of friendships. My mama always said boys will come and go, but the people who are your true friends will always be in your heart. And, besides, it’s fun to go to girls’ night at the bar once in a while.” Stephanie chatted about this and that while they worked on getting the bookshelves set back up.
“Go ahead and just put them on shelves. I’ll go through them later and rearrange how I want them,” Cat said. All of a sudden, she felt herself being pulled into an embrace. She looked up into Michael’s blue eyes.
“Cat, are you all right? I just heard. Why didn’t you call me?” Michael held her tightly, then let her loose, holding her at arm’s length to check for injuries.
“I wasn’t here when the break in happened.” She pushed his arms down and stepped back away from him. She felt her face grow instantly hot as she glanced over at Stephanie.
“Hey, Cat, I’m going to go grab us some coffee. I’ll be right back.” Stephanie made eye contact and giving her a small thumbs up behind Michael’s back.
Michael waited for her to leave the room and then stepped closer. “I’m sorry, I expected you to be alone.”
“Michael, we’re not dating. There are already enough rumors going around about us. I can’t have you running into my office all upset because you think something happened to me.” She leaned against the upturned desk.
He ran his fingers through his hair, clearly upset. “Sorry, I was just worried.”
They stood there, looking at each other for what seemed to be forever. Then she sighed. “I’ve been told I don’t let people into my life easily. I’m sorry I overreacted to a friend’s concern. Thank you for stopping by.”
“Can I help you turn the desk over at least?” He stepped over to the World War II era steel monstrosity that TAs all got for their offices. “I can’t believe anyone actually got this turned over by themselves.”
“Good point, maybe there were two vandals.” Cat walked over to the edge where he stood. “I think if someone wanted to flip it, like this, it would be pretty easy. And they didn’t do anything but just tip it over. Lifting it back up, on the other hand, I do need your help for that.”
He knelt beside her and leveraged his fingers under the lip of the desk.
Cat followed his lead and when they were both in place, he looked at her.
“Try to use your legs, not your back. On three, okay?” When she nodded, he counted out, “One, two, three.”
Her muscles screamed with the weight, but they got the desk turned over on the first try. She found her chair and flipped it upright, then sank into the slightly padded seat. “Okay, I need to add weight training back to my routine.”
He chuckled glanci
ng around the room. “Moving all those books is going to catch up to you tomorrow as well. If there isn’t anything else, I’ll leave you to it.”
“Michael,” she called after him. When he stopped and turned around, she stood. “Thank you for helping. And for being concerned. I appreciate it.”
A small smile teased his lips. “Now was that so hard?”
Before she could answer, he picked up a silk scarf that had been under the desk. He set it on top and nodded. “I’ll let you make the next move. Or not.”
She watched him leave, then glanced at the scarf, picking it up. She’d seen this somewhere. It wasn’t hers; she wasn’t much of a scarf person. Unless it was a knit scarf to keep warm in the winter. This one was long and slender and smelled of a floral perfume.
“That’s pretty. Did the professor give that to you?” Stephanie came back into the room with two coffees and set one down on top of the desk. “I hope it’s still hot. I was giving him some time alone with you.”
“The professor? I thought you were calling him Professor Hottie?” Cat sipped the still hot coffee and thought about the scarf. She’d assumed the vandal had been a male. What if it was a woman? A very angry woman? Did Michael have secret admirers who were tired of his attention to a new TA?
“I like the professor better. More dignified.”
“You know he has a name.” Cat twisted in the chair, hoping that her back wasn’t going to start hurting like she assumed it would.
“Yeah, but this is more fun.” She glanced around the room. “Have you determined if anything is missing yet?”
Cat shook her head. Nothing gone that she could see. At least her file cabinet had been locked so all her papers weren’t strewn around the room. In fact, the file cabinet hadn’t even been touched or at least not moved. She touched the locked dark metal drawer and her hand came back covered with a white powder. They’d dusted for prints, of course. There was black and white powder everywhere. Tomorrow she’d come back with some cleaning supplies and clean every surface in the room. Today was just about getting everything off the floor. “At least they didn’t destroy the books. It looks like someone came in and had a hissy fit, as my mom used to say.”
Stephanie took another sip of coffee then stood up. “If we’re going to get this done before noon, we better get moving. I’ll probably have a poorly attended class, but I like to be there for the ones who are at Covington for an education, not just the parties.”
Cat called her mother as she walked home. It took several rings before she picked up the phone. “Hey, Mom, how are you?”
“I’m fine dear, but I’m at work. I have a break in the line so I have a few minutes. Everyone’s coming to chat about the murder. They’re very disappointed when I tell them I don’t comment on ongoing investigations.”
Cat stopped in the middle of the quad and sat on a bench. “Wait, you’re at work? I thought you were fired?”
“Apparently, Mr. Hines was mistaken or had his own agenda like you thought. The chairman of the board, Alice Borden, called me this morning and apologized for the terrible mistake. She even gave me a raise.” Mom’s voice dropped to a whisper. “A dollar more an hour, can you believe it? Your father’s going to be so happy. Of course, he’ll put the entire thing into my retirement account. Maybe I just won’t tell him.”
“You’d hide that from Dad?” Cat watched as a student jogged through the quad. Other than that, it was just her and the squirrels.
“You know I won’t. But it’s a tempting thought. Anyway, I’ve got to go. I’m working late tonight to get things ready for tomorrow. We have a ten o’clock reading in the children’s center and nothing’s been done for the event.”
“Okay, Mom. We’ll talk later.”
“Sounds good. Eat something healthy tonight, okay?”
Cat smiled as she answered. “Friday fish night. Which means tater tots. So maybe I’ll add a salad.”
“You better. Got to go. Love you.”
And Cat heard the click of the phone going off. Her mother was back to work and the guy who fired her was dead. If that didn’t seem suspicious to anyone else, it did to her. Cat glanced at the admin building and then her watch. It was just after three. Molly should still be working unless they had fired her due to Mr. Hine’s death.
She made her way to the first-floor office she’d found earlier this week on a whim. She pulled open the door and saw Molly at her desk working on the computer. “Knock, knock. Mind if I come in?”
Molly looked up and shock filled her face. At least Cat thought it was shock. The woman was probably just waiting for someone to come in and tell her it was her last day.
“Of course, come in. It’s Cat, right?” Molly stood and smoothed out her skirt. Most of the staff who worked at the college looked like the students who attended. Jeans and t-shirts. But Molly looked like she’d stepped out of a 1950s advertisement for the perfect secretary. If Cat remembered right, she’d been in a dress last time she’d visited Hines’s office as well. “I just wanted to stop in and see if you were okay. I heard about what happened to Mr. Hines.”
“It’s awful, isn’t it? I can’t believe he’s gone. I mean, he was a horrible man, but who would want him dead?” She sat back down in her seat and sighed. “The college has been wonderful. They said my job is fine and I’ll be working with the new college lawyer when they hire one.”
“That must be a relief.” Cat stood in front of the desk. Molly didn’t have visitor chairs except for the sofa where Mr. Hines’s visitors would wait. “Anyway, I just wanted to check in. Maybe we can get coffee next week.”
Molly popped back up from her chair. “That would be lovely, thank you.”
Cat said goodbye and headed to the street that would take her back to the apartment. She had everything she needed for dinner. Tomorrow she’d go back and clean her office. Then she’d go for a ride. And Sunday, she’d finish cleaning the apartment.
The break in had been a pain, but she had things under control.
She was almost home when she realized Molly’s perfume smelled familiar. Her eyes widened as she remembered where she’d smelled it before.
She waited until she got home and texted her uncle. When you start a text with the words, this is weird, but, it got people’s attention. He called her a few minutes later.
“Exactly what are you saying about the break in?” No hello or greeting.
Cat explained what happened and how she’d found a scarf that wasn’t hers when she cleaned up her office. Then she dove in and told him how she’d stopped by to see how Molly was doing.
“Because the two of you are such close friends.”
Exasperated, she blew out a breath. “No, but it doesn’t hurt to be nice. Mom’s always saying I need to open up to people more, especially now that Seth and I aren’t joined at the hip.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t get huffy. I’ll give you this one. But you and I both know it was more to check on what she knew about Hines’s death. Anyway, are you sure the scarf doesn’t belong to your mother? She’s always wearing things like that.”
That idea hadn’t occurred to her. “I’m going over tomorrow to clean up the powder your guys left all over my office. I’ll take a picture of the scarf and send it to Mom. Did you know she’s back at work? I guess the board didn’t know Hines was firing her.”
“Sounds odd. More likely they didn’t want to be sued for wrongful termination. Lying about why you’re firing someone isn’t kosher. I’m not sure it’s illegal, but it does give the lawyers something to hang a suit on. And you know everyone’s looking to see just how deep Aspen Hills’ pockets are. Especially with Covington here.”
“I don’t understand. We’re a small town. Why would there be a lot of money in the city coffers?”
Uncle Pete ignored her question. “Look, I’ve got to go. Take a Ziploc bag with you tomorrow and put the scarf inside. I’ll drop over and pick it up sometime tomorrow. How late are you going to be working?”
&nb
sp; “Hopefully not past noon. I’d like to take a bike ride out to the lake. It’s supposed to be one of our last amazing days before winter hits.”
“I’ll be there around ten. Call me if you’re going to leave earlier.” He paused. “And keep your phone charged and nearby. Just in case.”
“Now, why would you say that?” Cat asked, but there was no answer. When she looked at the phone, her uncle had terminated the call. Things were getting weirder and weirder to paraphrase the fictional Alice.
7
Cat had stuffed a backpack with cleaning supplies, rags, and a couple of plastic bags, just in case she found something else. She rode her bike to the campus and locked it in a rack in front of the Language Arts building. The coffee stand was open until noon during the semester, so she grabbed a coffee and a breakfast sandwich. She hadn’t eaten much last night after her talk with Uncle Pete. Now she was famished.
As she waited for her order, she stared outside at the sky. A few clouds floated in the distance but the weather guy from Denver had promised a beautiful day this morning when she’d turned on the news. Hopefully, he’d get this one forecast right.
A figure turned the corner and Cat saw a man with a dog. As he came closer, she saw it was Charlie and Star Jones. She wondered how long it would take campus security to find him and escort him off campus. As she watched, he found where she was standing and meeting her gaze, raised a hand and smiled. Then he turned around the way he’d come and left.
Now that was weird. Was he checking in on where she was? Was he watching her house? How would he have even known she was here otherwise? A cold chill surrounded her but she wasn’t going to call Uncle Pete and complain about a waving homeless guy. That was just paranoia talking.
The woman working the cart held up a bag. Her breakfast was ready. Cat grabbed the food, then hurried up the stairs so she could get into her office and out of the open. She felt exposed. Fumbling with her keys, she finally got into her office and closed and locked the door behind her. Not a lot of TAs would be working on a Saturday. Fewer would be working this early. Cat liked getting her work done early so she had the rest of the day for herself. To write. Or today, to enjoy the outdoors. She just wished she had someone to be with her. She could call Stephanie or even Michael, but she really didn’t want to be around anyone. She wanted to be with Seth, but that wasn’t going to happen, and the sooner she got that through her head, the better. Or maybe through to her heart. Intellectually, she knew he wasn’t coming back. The fight and the lack of contact afterward had been evidence enough. But her heart couldn’t accept he was really gone.
