Checked Out (A Ricki Rydell Mystery Book 1)

by Abby Matthews

  “I’m sensing that. But why? What has she done? I mean, besides sleeping with everyone’s husband or boyfriend. There’s something that goes deeper than infidelity.”

  “Besides prostitution, I don’t know what anyone else would do to get that kind of money.” Becca gasped. “Maybe she was a drug dealer.”

  “I doubt it. My brother would’ve mentioned it. The cops keep an eye on all the druggies around here.”

  Baby Megan let out a little whimper, causing Becca to jump to attention. While she tended to the baby, Ricki thought out loud. Even if Becca wasn’t listening, she needed to hear herself say what was on her mind. She tossed the crust from her grilled cheese sandwich to Rumpus and cleaned up the kitchen. “Sometimes I feel like I live under a rock, you know.”

  “I’ve been saying that for years, but you never listen.”

  “I should’ve known more about Jennifer’s life then I did, or at least heard about it. We never ran in the same circles, but everyone else seems to know about her. The only way I’m going to put a list of suspects together is to start asking questions.”

  “Listen to you talking like a detective. It’s good fodder for your books, I reckon.”

  “If I want to understand what happened to her, I need to understand the woman herself.”

  With the kitchen now clean, she went to the living room and found the baby latched on to Becca’s breast. Rumpus sat on the floor at her feet, licking his chops and begging. The dog was a freak. He was begging for breastmilk.

  “Any thoughts about what I just said?”

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  “Tomorrow, I’ll go to the park and wait for The Two Graces to show up. The next time I volunteer at the library, I’ll talk to the others who work there. Someone has to know something, and if Jennifer’s life was as juicy and scandalous as everyone says, I’m sure there’s a lot to learn.”

  Nine

  Ricki tossed and turned all night, excited to start investigating the people of Unionville Public Library. Considering someone was dead, it occurred to her that getting excited about it probably made her a little off in the head. Becca was right about Ricki not getting out of the house enough, and maybe this new side to her personality was a side effect of years of isolation. She had been out every day since she found Jennifer’s body on the bathroom floor. That was more activity than she had in the last year.

  By morning, Rumpus knew something was up. Even if she had already taken him outside for his morning walk, he carried his leash around in his mouth while she ate breakfast. He was just as anxious as she was to get to Asbury Park, but he would have to wait till at least ten o’clock. The Two Graces said they walked between ten and twelve which left her two hours with nothing to do but sit around and wait for them to show up. She figured since she was going to be there so long, she’d take snacks and something else to do besides surfing the Internet on her phone, so she packed Jennifer’s book in the backpack.

  Things were heating up in the book. Although she thought Jennifer was missing the mark on getting all the genre tropes, she handled fiction well. Except one thing. There were times in her manuscript where she broke the fourth wall. Writers create a distance between the reader and the narrator. In Jennifer’s case, every once in a while, she would throw a line or two out there that didn’t seem to fit, like she was talking directly to the reader. It took Ricki so far out of the story that she had a hard time getting back into it.

  Jennifer worked so hard to push this book on her. She even came to the library on her day off because she knew Ricki would be there just so she could shove it in her face. Ricki met a few pushy people in her life, but she was the pushiest. But there was something very different to her pushiness, something desperate, like she had…only a few minutes to live. Did Jennifer think, or know, someone wanted to kill her? If Ricki hadn’t found that ominous note in her desk drawer, she wouldn’t be thinking such a wild scenario.

  Out of context, the times Jennifer broke the fourth wall in her book didn’t make sense, but Ricki marked them as she read along, thinking she was leaving a message behind for the reader to figure out. In chapter two, for example, Jennifer wrote something as simple as: And they carried on as if nobody knew, but I knew, I knew everything, and now you know.

  At first, it didn’t seem like such a big deal to Ricki. It was only one sentence after all. Except that one sentence turned into another and another, and she noticed the pattern. Also, in this particular example, Jennifer had this sentence sandwiched between two paragraphs that were filled with graphic detail of the two cheaters having sex. The further she went along in the manuscript, the more Ricki saw that this was a story within a story, and she had to find out what Jennifer was trying to say.

  With her backpack filled with all the necessities to cover the next two hours, she found a bench perfectly situated where she could see the comings and goings of every person walking through the park. Rumpus had other plans, naturally, and kept jerking on his leash so he could sniff every blade of grass and every tree. That got old real quick. By 10:30, The Two Graces still hadn’t shown up. By eleven o’clock, Rumpus dug himself a little hole in the earth under the bench and rolled around in the dirt to cool off. Now that her dog was preoccupied with something more exciting than sniffing the scent of every dog who ever walked through the park, she noshed on a banana and read more of Jen’s book.

  As she flung the banana peel in the trash, Ricki spotted The Two Graces walking like they were on a mission, their mouths moving nonstop. Finally. She stood right in the middle of the pathway, making sure they’d see her.

  “Ricki,” Grace1 shouted, waving her hand in the air. Grace2 did the same. “We were just talking about you.”

  “Oh? Whatever it was, I didn’t do it.”

  The two ladies laughed. “We heard all about Damon.”

  Her mouth fell open. What could they possibly have heard about Damon? Nothing happened, except her trying to escape her brother’s house to avoid getting asked out on a date. But she ignored the subject completely. That was not why she came to the park that day.

  “I smell a wedding in your future,” Grace2 said in a singsong voice.

  Apparently they wanted to keep the subject open for discussion. “Um, what?”

  “Stop that,” Grace1 said, nudging Grace2. “It’s obvious she has no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Ricki had to put a stop to this before she was whisked off to the bridal shop to pick out her wedding dress. “I hardly know Damon, except from high school, and back then I didn’t really like him. He was friends with my brother, not me.”

  “You’re not even going to give him a chance?” Grace2 said, deflated.

  “I’d like to find a boyfriend under my own terms, if that’s all right with you.” That may have come out a bit more forcefully than she had intended, but she hated being set up with anyone. “I don’t mean to be rude. Anyway, how are you ladies today?”

  “Excellent, considering,” Grace2 said.

  “Considering what?” Ricki had wasted enough time in the park already that morning waiting for The Two Graces to show up, so she cut right to the chase. “You don’t mean Jennifer, do you?”

  “That’s exactly what I mean,” Grace2 said.

  Grace1 elbowed Grace2, trying to get her attention.

  “Stop. You can’t pretend like it didn’t happen.”

  Were The Two Graces keeping something from Ricki? She had to get to the bottom of this, and quick. “What’s going on?” Grace1 glanced away and released a hefty sigh. Clearly she didn’t want to continue with this conversation. Remembering what Becca said about Jennifer and Trina’s fiancé right before the wedding, Ricki wondered if this was what they were talking about. “Have you heard what happened to Jennifer?”

  “Let’s get going,” Grace1 said. “I have to meet someone for lunch.”

  “You’re supposed to meet me for lunch,” Grace2 said. She turned her attention to Ricki. “Who hasn’t heard about Jen
nifer by now? But I suspect nobody really gives a rat’s patootie.”

  “I take it you don’t like her either.” Rumpus tugged on her arm, trying to drag her toward the bunnies nibbling on clover a few yards away. “It seems a lot of people didn’t like her. I didn’t know her that well, so I can’t understand why everyone seems okay with her being dead.”

  “A piece of work, that one.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” Grace1 couldn’t bring herself to look at either one of them.

  “What don’t you want to talk about?” Ricki said, playing dumb.

  “I told you I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, her voice taking a sharper tone. “It’s in the past. We’ve all moved on. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have to finish my walk. Come on, Grace.”

  Nothing like making your favorite teacher from high school angry. Oh well. Maybe Ricki would have to try a little more subtlety next time. “Well, that was a bust. Let’s go home, Rumpus.” On her way to the car, her brother called. “What’s up, bonehead?”

  “Are you alone?”

  “This is my brother and not some creepy guy about to ask me what I’m wearing, right?”

  “You’re so funny. Not.”

  “I’m on my way home. What’s up?”

  “Promise me you won’t react out loud when you hear what I’m about to say.”

  Ricki stopped dead in her tracks. “Is something wrong with Mom and Dad?”

  “They’re fine. Remember how you came to my house, pretending you wanted to see me but only wanted to get information out of me?”

  Ricki threw her head back and growled. “Yes, fine, why?”

  “I’m not saying anything in an official capacity, but you might’ve been right about her death being suspicious.”

  Ricki bit her bottom lip and started jumping up and down, trying not to enjoy being right for a change. People stared. Not in a good way. “What happened, what happened? I need details.”

  “I heard through the grapevine that the coroner said she had a healthy heart.”

  “That’s what Mom said. I knew it. How are you going to find out what really happened to her?”

  “They’re going to run a toxicology report and see what turns up.”

  “You mean she was drunk or had drugs in her system?”

  “I don’t know. Everything I’ve learned about her has been through other people. Apparently, she was big into herbal supplements and vitamins. It’s possible she may have overdosed on something that was supposed to be good for her.”

  “Or maybe it mixed with a medication she was on. I’ve read about that.”

  “We’ll find out later. Don’t tell anyone what I told you.”

  “Do you think it’s possible someone tried to poison her?”

  “Pull the reins in. I only said she had a healthy heart. You jumped straight to that conclusion all on your own.”

  “What else am I supposed to take from it?”

  “All I’m saying is, don’t jump to conclusions yet and start getting yourself in trouble. I told you before, mind your own business.”

  “How am I supposed to mind my own business when you just dumped all this information on me?”

  “You asked me to find out, and now that you know, you need to mind your business even more. And don’t tell anyone. Later.”

  So her brother was pretty much saying what she suspected all along. The healthy Jennifer Barnes had a little help in her death.

  Ten

  With a new motivation, Ricki headed to the library on Thursday morning, thinking she was going to start her own informal investigation into the death of Jennifer Barnes. Well, it turned out she thought wrong. Only a few weeks ago, she walked in the library and was met with smiles for just showing up to pick up the books she had on hold. Those times were so simple. This time, not so much.

  When she walked through the double doors, she was met with sideward glances and whispers behind cupped hands. It almost felt like she had stolen someone’s lunch money or something. Feelings of paranoia washed over her quickly. As she slipped the book into the return slot at the circulation desk, she saw Jon inspecting DVDs behind the counter. He stole a quick glance at her before turning away, face blushing. Now, she had written enough romance novels to know when a blush was a crush and when a blush was something else. This was a blush of embarrassment, of hiding something, not infatuation. Whatever it was, he couldn’t look her in the eye.

  “Hi, Jon. How are you?”

  Not looking up from the DVDs, he mumbled, “Good.”

  It was possible that inspecting DVDs took a lot of concentration and focus, but maybe not. “I’m here for my second day of shelf reading.” Ricki tried to show some enthusiasm thinking it would rub off on Jon.

  Still not looking up, he said, “Felicity would like to see you before you start.”

  There was a hint of dread and apology in his voice, and the paranoia she felt earlier when she walked in went up to about level ten in a split second. “Is she in her office?”

  “Yes,” he said, still not looking at her.

  “Did I offend you or something?”

  “Felicity would like to talk with you.” And that was that. Jon turned his back on her and took care of the patrons standing at the desk.

  As she zigzagged through the maze of desks, searching for Felicity’s office, she met eyes with Victoria, the volunteer coordinator. “You’re just the person I wanted to see.” She smiled, thinly.

  “Oh. Jon said Felicity wanted to speak with me.” She was beginning to feel uneasy. Something was going on. She didn’t volunteer at the library long enough to do anything wrong or make any enemies, so what was this all about?

  “We would both like to speak with you in her office.” Her voice was stern and all business, quite unlike the first time she met her. “Come with me, please.”

  Felicity sat behind her desk, poised like a woman in charge. Or mad about something. Ricki couldn’t tell which, but she certainly felt like that one single time she was called into the principal’s office in high school—full of questions and full of fear.

  “She’s here, Victoria said. “Have a seat right here next to me.”

  Ricki sunk into a brown leather chair that wasn’t as comfortable as it looked with its fluffy cushions. The shoulder strap of her purse slid down her arm, landing right in her hand. Perfect. She needed something to fidget with. The atmosphere in the room was serious. She wondered if it had something to do with Jennifer, considering she was the one who found her lying on the floor in the employee bathroom. Maybe they wanted to ask her something that only she would know. She couldn’t handle the tension any longer. “What’s this all about?”

  Victoria spoke first. “When you submitted your application to volunteer here, and knowing your reputation as an upstanding member of the community, I assumed you were going to be a certain kind of person.”

  Ricki raised an eyebrow. A certain kind of person? What did that even mean? She sat there, unable to form a complete word in her head. Eventually she knew her brain would catch up but waiting for that the happen made her even more nervous. What was Victoria getting it?

  She continued. “We don’t have a thorough screening process for volunteers, yet, but I feel perhaps we made a mistake.”

  “What she’s trying to say,” Felicity interrupted, “is that we assume the people who volunteer here are trustworthy. But it has come to our attention that you can’t be trusted.”

  Still no words yet. All Ricki could do was stare at them like an idiot. She wasn’t getting it.

  “We feel that since we can’t trust you that we’re going to have to let you go. We simply can’t have anyone working behind the scenes in this building without having that trust. You understand, don’t you?”

  No, she didn’t understand. Thankfully, a word finally popped into her head. It was only one word, but it was enough. “Why?”

  “It has come to our attention, excuse me, my attention, that you did something
illegal a couple of days ago.” Felicity’s voice grew sterner as she went along in the conversation. Ricki was beginning to see what this was all about, but she wasn’t about to play her hand so soon. “We closed the library out of respect to Jennifer’s family and friends and the patrons who loved her. You violated that shared mourning among our staff and patrons. You convinced, scratch that, you manipulated Jon, the impressionable young man that he is, into letting you into the library so you could snoop.” By now, her voice was quite high pitched and dripping with anger. “You practically twisted his arm. You might as well have broken into the library as far as I’m concerned. What exactly were you looking for, anyway?”

  “I don’t have an answer.” Partly because she still hadn’t found the words to form a coherent thought but also because she wasn’t about to tell them what she was doing there. They didn’t need to know that she was investigating Jennifer’s wrongful death. They didn’t even know she was possibly murdered. “I don’t understand what I did wrong. Jon was here, so it’s not like I broke in and stole books without checking them out.” The words, they finally came. “Could you tell me exactly what was so wrong about what I did?” And along with those words came the defense. She was offended. She was a good girl her entire life, and the first time she decided to do something that might have been a little bit on the manipulative side, she got busted. What was up with that?

  “It’s as simple as this, Ricki. I specifically told Jon not to let anyone in the library during the three days we were closed. He told you nobody was allowed in, but you somehow talked him into letting you in. That’s very manipulative and underhanded, and I simply do not want that kind of person working, volunteer or not, in my library. We have a reputation to uphold. So I’m letting you go, and I’m still trying to figure out what to do about Jon.”

  Okay, that woke her up. “What do you mean, what you’re going to do about Jon? If you feel so adamant about me being the manipulator in this scenario, what does that have to do with him?”