“Oh, hi,” Rossalyn looked up and smiled. “Jason, right?”
“Yes ma’am,” the young man from the gas station nodded shyly. “How did you know that?”
“It’s been so long since any man other than my husband put gas in my car that it kind of stuck out in my mind,” she grinned. “Would you like a seat at the counter?” she gestured to the row of empty stools.
“Uh no, ma’am… I came to talk to you,”
Rossalyn paused. It seemed somehow that whenever anyone needed to talk to her about something these days, the news was never something she wanted to hear.
“Okay…” she said slowly, wiping her hands unconsciously on her apron.
“Ma’am, my mama ain’t doing so well. She’s… sick. And, I uh… I got the job at the gas station, but it just don’t pay well enough to get us the things we need, and I was wondering if you might have a job open. I mean, I’ll do just about anything, and I’ll take whatever you can pay me. We ain’t got a car or nothing, so I can only work here in town,” the young man reddened and Rossie’s heart went out to him.
She didn’t want to say no, but she didn’t know if hiring another employee was in the budget. There was a loud clanking sound from the kitchen and she looked through the window, seeing José doing his prep work for the lunch rush, with a mountain of unwashed pots, pans and dishes behind him. If she hired Jason, it would free her up to interact more with the customers and get them their food more quickly. It would also mean that maybe José could get a day off every now and again. As it stood now, the hardworking young man worked as many hours as she did, and they were open seven days a week.
“It’s hard work, and I can’t pay much…” Rossalyn began.
“I’ll do it, ma’am, and I’ll do a good job, I promise you that,” Jason replied earnestly.
“You see that pile of dishes back there?” she asked.
“I’m on it,” he nodded. “I can stay ’til quarter of five today, cuz my shift at the station starts at five, if that’s all right with you ma’am.”
“That’s fine, Jason,” she smiled. “We’ll do your paperwork really quick before you get started. And stop calling me ma’am, it’s just Rossalyn.”
When she entered the kitchen, with Jason trailing behind her, José glanced up, seemed surprised, and quickly re-focused on brushing a honey and garlic glaze over a tray of pork loin.
“José, this is Jason. He’s going to be helping us out around here. I’m going to show him around, and after he finishes his employee paperwork, he’ll get started on those dishes, so you can just concentrate on food prep. You’ll be able to show him the ropes once he finished the dishes.”
“Okay,” José nodded, not looking up. Rossalyn frowned slightly at his odd behavior. José was typically very outgoing and loved everyone. It seemed strange that he wouldn’t at least smile and say hello to his new coworker.
She gave Jason a brief tour of the kitchen, then took him back to the office to fill out his paperwork, letting him know that he should start on the dishes when he was done. She hadn’t bothered to ask him whether or not he’d had any restaurant experience, because the place was small enough that he’d pick up on anything he needed to learn just by watching how she and José did what needed to be done.
Feeling relieved that now the rush periods would be a bit easier, she started strategizing about the best way to utilize her new employee. The easiest thing would probably be for him to help José in the kitchen, doing prep and cleanup so that José could concentrate on cooking, then Jason could serve and take orders while Rossalyn manned the cash register. It would help the customers get in and out more quickly, which seemed to be a goal for them, particularly at lunchtime.
The new team was working quite well together, and things were going along just fine, despite José’s standoffish manner toward Jason, until the Willis brothers came strolling in. Jasper and Merle sprawled in two seats at the center of the row at the counter, making customers on either sides of them glance up in annoyance. Jason glanced over at Rossalyn, a strange look on his face, and approached the brothers.
“Well, well, well, looky what we got here,” Jasper sneered. “Looks like the hot chick who owns this dump has seen fit to hire more scum of the earth. Or maybe she don’t know that you’re a pedophile. Didja leave that out when you signed your application?”
“You need to shut your mouth, Jasper,” Jason warned, a vein on his forehead rising up and pulsing. “You idiots gonna order or what?”
“Why you little…” Jasper stood suddenly, slamming both hands, palms down, on the counter in front of him, leaning into Jason’s personal space and sending his barstool flying.
“Don’t even think about it,” Rossalyn warned, dashing to stand beside Jason behind the counter. “You are not going to come in here and harass my staff and cause trouble. Since the two of you can’t seem to behave yourselves, you’re going to need to leave right now, and don’t bother coming back,” she ordered.
Jasper shifted his weight and leaned closer, his face a twisted mask of mocking fury. “You gonna make me, sweetcheeks?” he purred in a voice that made Rossalyn’s stomach churn.
A large masculine hand clamped onto Jasper’s shoulder just then, yanking him backward, and the startled miscreant turned around to see a stone-faced Officer Morgan Tyler glaring at him.
“That’s more than enough, Jasper. You need to just walk away and don’t come back,” Morgan said evenly.
“It ain’t your place to tell me where I can and can’t go, Tyler,” Jasper growled, folding his arms across his chest defiantly.
“Let me put it to you like this, you can either get out the door right now, or I can take you in for disturbing the peace, which is it going to be?”
“So, you’re fine with having a loser who likes little girls in here, but I ain’t good enough?” he challenged, not backing down. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere, I got as much right to be here as that scumbag does,” and with that, Jasper swiped a glass and chrome sugar container off the counter, which shattered when it hit the floor.
Morgan was on him instantly, and had his hands behind his back, handcuffing him before the obnoxious oaf knew what was happening.
“Let’s add malicious destruction of property to that disturbing the peace charge, and since you stayed here after the lady told you to leave, I’m thinking that’s trespassing as well,” the officer said calmly, while Jasper struggled in his grasp.
“Buckley ain’t gonna like this,” Merle commented, seemingly unfazed at his brother’s arrest.
“I wouldn’t like it either if a cousin of mine was embarrassing the family on a constant basis,” Morgan replied. “You get outta here too, or I’ll come get you after I take him in.”
“I don’t think you know who you’re messin’ with, Tyler,” Merle stood.
“Sure I do. The same family that’s been causing trouble in this town for years. Now get on home, Merle, before you get yourself arrested, too,” was the calm reply.
Morgan steered a still-belligerent Jasper toward the door, reading him his rights, and Merle ambled out behind them, getting into his truck and leaving without further incident.
“Ms. Channing, I can explain,” Jason’s face was dark.
“Not here, Jason, not now. We’ve got a job to do,” Rossalyn said in a low voice. “All right everyone, the show’s over, sorry about that. Just some local boys who don’t mind their manners,” she explained with a rueful smile.
The customers went back to eating, and the only ones who seemed rattled by the incident were Jason and José, but things were busy enough that Rossalyn didn’t notice.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
* * *
Rossalyn went up to her room to make a phone call, not wanting Ryan to hear what she was going to talk about. She wanted answers, and Officer Tyler had written his cell number on the back of the card that he’d given her, so she worked up the courage to call.
“Morgan Tyler,” he answered, sounding
a bit curt.
“Umm… hello, Officer Tyler. I… uh… don’t know if you remember me, but this is Rossalyn Channing, you arrested a man in my café today,” she began tentatively.
“Yeah, sorry that happened. Those two are known to be trouble, and they seem to take a perverse pleasure in hassling good people,” Morgan replied, his tone more genial.
“I’m just glad that you were there to take care of it, thank you.”
“No problem. If I were you though, I’d seriously consider getting a restraining order against those two so that they can’t come near your property. Those kind of incidents can be bad for business if they keep happening,” he advised.
“I’ll definitely think about it,” Rossalyn agreed. “Look, Officer Tyler…”
“It’s just Morgan, remember?” he interrupted. “Pretty much only folks who are breaking the law call me Officer,” he chuckled.
“Okay, Morgan,” she smiled, relieved that he seemed to be so nice. “I don’t know how much you can tell me, but since I’m new around here, I was hoping that maybe I could ask you a couple of questions.”
“Sure thing, shoot.”
“Well, when Jasper Willis came in today, he was being really rude to my new employee, Jason.”
“That’s not unusual, Jasper is pretty rude to everyone.”
“I know, but this time, he said something that made me uncomfortable.”
“Not surprised, unfortunately. What did he say?”
“He called Jason a pedophile and said that he liked little girls. Now, I know it’s none of my business personally, but if he’s a sex offender or something…” she began, feeling a blush rise in her cheeks, and was glad that this conversation was taking place over the phone, rather than in person.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Jason used to work with a girl named Dana, when she was a senior in high school, and he gave her a ride home from work. Jasper had crush on her, but she wasn’t the least bit interested in him, so when he saw her riding around town with Jason, he made all sorts of ugly accusations. When Dana had a scare, thinking that she was… in a family way,” Morgan cleared his throat. “Jasper just assumed that Jason, who was five years older than Dana, had been the one to… uh… you know. Anyhow, he got his dimwitted brother, the sheriff, involved, and convinced the family to press charges.”
“Wait, aren’t Jasper and Jason around the same age?”
“Jasper’s a bit older, actually.”
“So, it’s okay for him to have a crush on a high school girl and want to date her, but somehow Jason is a pedophile because he did date her? That’s crazy,” Rossalyn exclaimed.
“What’s even crazier is that it wasn’t Jason’s kid. He and Dana were just friends. So, the judge threw the case out for lack of evidence, and Jasper has hated him ever since. He’s just one more in the long list of people that Jasper and Merle like to harass when they’re bored. The sad part is that there’s still plenty of folks around here lookin’ sideways at Jason, even though the charges didn’t stick.”
“That is sad. Why doesn’t anyone put a stop to the Willis brothers’ awful behavior?”
“We lock ’em up when they break the law, but if County gets to ‘em before we do, they always let ’em go because of Buckley Willis.”
“That’s unethical,” Rossalyn observed.
“We can only do what we can do,” Morgan sighed.
“Okay, one more thing, if you have a minute… ?”
“Yup, go ahead.”
“The murder that was between Hawg Heaven and the highway… who was the victim, and do you know if they have any leads yet?” Rossie asked, hoping that she wasn’t stepping out of bounds by asking.
“Normally I wouldn’t talk about an ongoing investigation, but County plays their cases so loosely that everyone in town knows anyhow, so, you never heard it from me, but I can tell you some of what they know so far.”
“I won’t say a word, I promise,” she assured him.
“The victim was Dana, the gal who was friends with your new employee. Darn shame too, she died young, left a sweet little girl behind,” Morgan said soberly.
“Oh, that’s terrible. Why on earth would someone want to kill a young mother?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. As far as we know, she had no enemies. It may have been just one of those random “wrong place wrong time” type of things.”
“Are there any suspects?”
“Suspects… no. There are a couple of persons of interest,” he hedged.
“Does one of them happen to be the guy on the motorcycle who lives behind me?” she asked, a note of fear coloring her tone.
Morgan hesitated. “I… can’t answer that,” he said finally, in a tone that made her suspect that she had been correct in her guess.
“Who’s the other person of interest?” she asked.
“I can’t tell you that either, but I would imagine that if you listen in on some conversations at the café, you may get some idea from the townies,” was the careful reply.
“I understand. Is there anything that you can tell me about the neighbor who lives behind me?”
“His name is Tom Hundman. He was a troublemaker growing up. Solved his problems with his fists. His dad was a no-account drunk who walked out the front door one day without a word and just never came back. Tom was about seven at the time, and to tell you the truth, I think him and his mama were probably relieved.”
“What does he do now?”
“Word around town is that he has some kind of internet business. Whether it’s legal or not, I have no idea, and don’t really want to know, unless he’s hurting somebody with it. He was military. Went to war and came back messed up somehow. Gets disability and rides around on his motorcycle a bunch. Acts tough, but doesn’t seem to cause trouble like the Willis boys. I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side, though. It’s probably best to just keep your distance.”
“Is he dangerous?”
“That I don’t know, but why take a chance?”
“The sheriff seemed to react when I described him after the murder. Do you think he could’ve been involved?”
“Anything’s possible, I suppose. I really don’t have any idea. He could have some PTSD or something, who knows?”
“Okay,” Rossalyn sighed inwardly at the lack of information. “I’ve taken up enough of your time, Morgan, so I’ll let you go, but thanks for taking my call.”
“Anytime,” the officer replied cheerfully.
Rossalyn sat, troubled, wondering whether her neighbor, who seemed to have a good side underneath his gruff exterior, was actually a murderer, and if he wasn’t, then who was? If a young mother wasn’t safe in a small town, was anyone? She vowed to keep her ears open to try to find out more about Dana. Maybe she could even talk with Jason about it, but she didn’t want to upset him if he and Dana had still been friends. Her head ached, and she found herself wishing yet again that she had Will around to talk to.
He would’ve known what to do, she was sure of it. She wasn’t quite certain what he had done for the Marine Corps, but she knew that all of his deployments were top secret, and she very rarely knew where in the world, literally, he was at any given time. Her husband had been whip-smart, with small-town sensibilities, making him a down-to-earth, humble man who seemed to always have the right answers. She could use a few of those right about now.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
* * *
When Rossalyn made it into work the next day, Jason wasn’t due in for another hour, but José was busy clanging pots and pans as he readied for the breakfast crowd.
“Morning, José,” she smiled, heading to the sink to wash her hands and help out.
“Good morning, Miss Rossalyn,” he said quietly, not looking up from the potatoes that he was gutting.
One of the breakfast features of the day was Bacon and Egg Twice-Baked Potatoes, one of Ryan’s favorites, and there were large trays of previously baked potatoes, waiting
to be prepared.
“I can help you with those in just a second,” she promised, drying her hands on a paper towel.
“Okay,” he replied, never lifting his gaze.
“José, is everything okay with you? You seem very quiet,” she observed, concerned. “Is your mom all right? And your sisters?”
“Yes, Miss Rossalyn, they’re fine. I just…” he put the potato down and sighed, clearly uncomfortable.
“What is it, José? What’s wrong?”
“What do you know about Jason?” he asked, looking around as though he was afraid he’d be overheard.
“Well, from what I’ve heard, he was accused of some terrible things, but the accusations were false.”
José shook his head.
“I don’t know if the accusations were true or not, but he grew up three houses down from me, and all I know is that he did some weird stuff that made nobody want to hang around with him.”
Patriot's Passing: Hawg Heaven Cozy Culinary Mysteries, Book 1 Page 9
