A Fatal Fall: A Senoia Cozy Mystery

by Harper, Susan

  She spotted Jefferson heading up the stairs toward the second floor, and she followed. The second floor was where the DJ and bar were located, and once she caught up to him, she saw that he was doing his duty and taking pictures for a future sample book. “This is going really great,” Jefferson said proudly, raising his voice in order to be heard over the loud music. “I saw Bobby earlier,” he added. “Didn’t know he could dance.”

  Felicity smiled, thinking of the kind man who owned the realty business across the street. “How has he been?” she asked.

  “He’s been great, and you know he always has nothing but good things to say about you ever since you helped to clear his name,” Jefferson said, referring to the murder Felicity had helped the local police solve earlier that year. He smiled and held up the camera. “Let’s get a picture of the two of us.”

  Felicity smiled, and the two of them squeezed together as Jefferson held out the camera and snapped a picture of them with the DJ in the background. “Easy there, you two,” they heard the DJ say over the mic. “Make sure you get my good side.”

  Felicity and Jefferson turned around and laughed. They headed over to the DJ, and the man put down his mic. He smiled and stuck his hand out to Jefferson. “Mack Flyn,” he said. “I don’t think you and I have met.”

  “Mack, this is my assistant, Jefferson,” Felicity said as the two men shook hands.

  “I know Abigail and Roger appreciate this,” Mack said.

  “Roger?” Jefferson questioned.

  “Roger is the owner of the apartment buildings,” Felicity explained.

  “There is no way the city would have let Abigail and Roger do this if you hadn’t stepped in,” Mack said.

  “Mack!” a woman who had been standing beside the DJ station called out. “I thought you were going to play my song. What happened?”

  Mack rolled his eyes. “You two know Nadine, right?”

  Felicity smiled at the woman. She was short with an enormous head of auburn hair, way too much makeup, and dressed in a white blouse that was a bit too formal for the event. She smiled. “Felicity!” the woman said. “I have been meaning to talk to you.” She scooted closer to Felicity and Jefferson. “I heard that you got a window smashed in.”

  Felicity nodded. “Yes, unfortunately. Miss Nadine, this is my assistant, Jefferson. Jefferson, this is Nadine. She’s Roger’s wife.”

  Nadine was swaying slightly to the sound of the music as she spoke. “Nice to meet you,” she said to Jefferson. “Listen, Roger wants to pay for the window… Hold on a second.” She went digging through her purse and handed Felicity a business card. “This is the number for the owner of the company we’ve been using. You can give him a call, but in the meantime, Roger will cut you a check. We want to make sure you get that window replaced as soon as possible. We want the square to stay looking nice and welcoming. Can’t have a shop with a busted-in window right next door to the apartments we’re trying to promote, can we?”

  Felicity heard Jefferson grunt slightly, and she nudged him as a warning not to get snippy. “That’s very kind of you two,” Felicity said. “And I’ll be sure to give the foreman a call. Is Roger here tonight?”

  “Oh, no. He’s not into the party scene, but you best believe I had to sneak out tonight to have a little fun. I should probably get going here in a second, though. I don’t want to keep Roger up late waiting on me,” Nadine said with a smile. She pointed at Mack. “I’m going to leave as soon as he plays my song!”

  Mack waved her off as he continued to man the station. Felicity laughed slightly, bid Nadine farewell, and ushered Jefferson away. “Lose the attitude, Jefferson,” Felicity warned him. “Nadine was nothing but nice to us, and her husband is even going to pay to replace the window.”

  “Sorry,” he grumbled. “I guess I’m just not that thrilled about the apartments coming in. It’s just going to be a bunch of tourists and wannabe actors. Guess I’m not looking forward to it. It’s kind of a big change to my little town, you know?”

  “Well, I think it’s a good thing,” she proclaimed. “It’ll mean more business, and the film industry has done a lot for this little town. Don’t forget that. Now, how about you and I take a fiver? Let’s get a drink.”

  Jefferson agreed and Felicity led the way to the bar, where they met the bartender, David. Sitting at one of the little stools by the bar was Abigail Dumont. “Abigail, this party is amazing!” Felicity shouted, tapping the woman on the shoulder so that she would turn around. The woman was a short and slightly stout individual, and she had one of the prettiest faces Felicity had ever seen; it seemed to almost glow when she smiled.

  “Felicity! Jefferson!” Abigail stood up and had David pour them drinks. “This party would not have happened if it wasn’t for you two. Great job!”

  “Hey, Abby!” David called out. “One of the security guards just radioed me in, and I think we have another kid walking around with a fake ID.”

  “Another?” Felicity questioned.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it,” Abigail grumbled. “Third one tonight. This sort of stuff happens at events like this.” Felicity and Jefferson exchanged nervous glances. Abigail laughed. “Don’t worry, the security team you hired is good. And I’m going to make sure it gets handled. Why don’t you two relax a little? The party is going great, and if anything happens that we need you two for, David or Mack will grab you. Trust me, I know what I’m doing. I deal with stupid teenagers with fake IDs at every party my DJs work.” Abigail turned to David. “Okay, where do I need to go?”

  “First floor,” he said.

  “I’m off,” Abigail said and disappeared into the crowd.

  “Don’t worry,” David assured them. “She’s got this. Abigail is a tough lady, and she doesn’t put up with crap like that at her parties.”

  “Thanks, David,” Felicity said and grabbed the two drinks that David had prepared for them.

  Deciding to take Abigail’s’ advice to relax a bit, Felicity and Jefferson found their way to some open seats. Next to the open areas where the walls had been framed up for future windows, Felicity and Jefferson had set up some lounge furniture for people to sit and enjoy the view. Jefferson was quick to sit down, and Felicity noticed a look of discomfort on his face as he rubbed his knees. “Are you all right?” she asked him, concerned. “You’re a little young to be having knee problems.”

  He chuckled slightly and leaned back in the low lounge chair. “Well, if you do recall, I got hit by a car earlier this year.”

  She blushed slightly. That was certainly not something she had forgotten, as he had taken the hit for her—pushing her out of the way of the oncoming vehicle only to be run over himself. She shivered slightly at the memory of seeing Jefferson go tumbling up and over the fast-moving car. “I don’t need to be reminded. I remember. And thank you, again,” she said and smiled down at him. She looked out the frame down at what had to be a crowd of at least two hundred people dancing in the streets.

  “A lot happened that night,” Jefferson said. “You kissed me.”

  Felicity turned her head and could see Jefferson awkwardly avoiding eye contact. It had probably taken a bit of courage to bring it up. “I did, on the cheek,” she said. “You did save me from being hit by a car, even if it meant you getting hit instead.” They spent a considerable amount of time by the window, avoiding the topic at hand. As soon as Felicity saw that Jefferson was almost done with his drink, she used it as an excuse to get away for a moment. “I’ll go grab you another drink,” she insisted. “You stay off your feet for a bit.” She hurried back into the crowd.

  As she was making her way past the DJ station, she spotted Dawn and Monte and waved them down. “I was wondering when I was going to see you two,” Felicity said.

  “Monte keeps dragging me back over here to talk to Mack,” Dawn moaned. “I’d rather be outside in the fresh air dancing in the street.” Monte was not paying either of them any attention, because he was engrossed in conversation
with Mack. “Where’s Jefferson?” Dawn asked.

  “Over by the windows,” Felicity said and let loose a loud sigh. Her shoulders slumped slightly, and Dawn quickly picked up on her body language.

  “Everything okay?” Dawn asked, leaning in closer so that the two of them could talk without having to shout over the music.

  “I don’t know, Dawn,” Felicity admitted. “Jefferson and I have been friends for a long time, but—”

  “But you get the notion that he wants something more, right?” Dawn swayed slightly to the music as they spoke. “Believe me, you are not the only one who has noticed that. Just do him a favor and figure out where you stand on that before you bring it up. He’s a good guy. It wouldn’t be the worst thing.”

  Monte wandered over to them. “I love this song!” he exclaimed, and Felicity rolled her eyes. “What?” he asked. “Did I break up some girl talk or something?”

  “A little bit,” Dawn said and gave him a friendly shove.

  “Did Dawn tell you she enrolled in school to start toward that education degree?” Monte asked.

  “No!” Felicity exclaimed and swatted at Dawn’s arm for not having immediately told her. “Congratulations!”

  “I’ll be going to school during the day and working the late shifts at the hospital, so wish me luck,” Dawn groaned. “Sleep is about to become a thing of the past.”

  “Speaking of which,” Monte said with a nudge. “I’m your ride, and you probably need to go home and get some sleep before your new schedule kicks in.”

  “Agreed,” Dawn said.

  “What about you, Monte?” Felicity asked. “Have you put any thought into your new career change?”

  “Yeah, but I’ve come up empty so far,” Monte griped. “We can’t all be lucky and just accidentally stumble into our careers like you and Jefferson.” He laughed and bid Felicity farewell. She watched the two of her friends leave before grabbing Jefferson another drink at the bar and then nervously making her way back toward where she had left him. He was still seated in the chair, rubbing his sore legs.

  “Here you go,” she said, upbeat, and handed him the drink.

  “Thanks,” he said. “I’m a bit of a lightweight, so this will be it for me.”

  “Same here,” Felicity said. “I never really have enough time to sit and enjoy a drink.” She plopped down into the now empty chair next him.

  “Listen,” he said as he put his drink down on the ground beside his foot. “If I made you uncomfortable, I didn’t mean to.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “You just took me by surprise, I guess.”

  “Felicity, I know that you don’t really…”

  A loud scream jolted them both, and they glanced toward the open window frame only to see a flailing body fall from above them. Felicity shrieked, and Jefferson jumped from his seat to run to the open window frame; he gripped the temporary railing and looked out and down. “Oh no!” he shouted. “Felicity, stop the music. Call for an ambulance, quick!”

  Chapter 3

  Felicity stood by Jefferson as the scene unfolded before them. They had managed to make their way out of the apartment building and were now standing in front of the broken window of their shop, as they could get a good view from there. Part of the black trash bag had been torn down during the party, so Felicity’s glowing spray-paint flower looked like it was wilting. Most of the party-goers had been ushered back into the apartments or across the street while police officers quickly put up barriers around the body. The poor girl who had fallen from the roof had already been pronounced dead—by whom Felicity was not sure, but word had traveled quickly amongst the crowd and she was already covered with a tarp, so Felicity had not gotten a good look.

  “Look at those jerks taking pictures,” Jefferson grumbled and pointed to some people looking down from the second floor of one of the apartment buildings.

  Felicity rolled her eyes and tried not to get too testy. People were so obsessed with their phones nowadays. She tried her best to ignore it and turned her attention toward the scene as the police continued to block off all foot traffic. “The poor girl. I didn’t get a good look at her, but she looked young from what I could tell. I thought the entrances to the roofs had been locked. Those were the only doors that the construction team added to the interior of the buildings—and for this reason! Just to keep people off the roof for this party. Weren’t they all supposed to be locked?”

  “I guess not,” Jefferson said.

  There were police everywhere, and they were all shooing people away. The police all seemed angry, unusually angry, like they were all taking this quite personally. It’s probably because she’s so young, Felicity told herself. One officer was walking away, wiping tears from his eyes. While she felt horrible for the young girl, she could not help but to wonder what this would mean for their business. The lofts would get a bad rep, the DJ business would as well, and Overton’s Events was liable to get sued. She could only imagine what the city officials would have to say to her once this was over.

  She stared at the paramedics who were parked in the median; the men were shaking their heads and whispering amongst themselves. Thankfully, the street had already been blocked off for the party, so that was one less thing the police had had to worry about. Suddenly, Monte came walking up to them, shaking his head. “They let you out of the apartment?” Jefferson asked.

  Monte frowned. “I had run to the scene. I thought that maybe I could help, but she was dead before I got there.”

  “You were the one who pronounced her dead, then?” Felicity asked.

  “Yeah. Dawn and I wound up sticking around a little longer. We were at the car when I realized I left my wallet. I came back just when everyone was freaking out over what happened,” Monte explained. “I called Dawn and told her to head on to the hospital, that I would stay here until the coroner arrived and catch a ride home and drive myself to work. Can either of you take me home?”

  “I’ll drive you,” Jefferson said. He turned to Felicity. “You staying here, or do you want me to come back and get you?”

  “Huh?”

  “We rode to work together this morning,” Jefferson reminded her.

  “I have to stay here to help clear out the party,” Felicity said. “Come back for me after taking Monte home, if you don’t mind.”

  Felicity looked up to see another patrol car arriving on the scene. The car parked in the middle of the street and she frowned slightly to see her old high school boyfriend, Jack Hudson, exit the vehicle with his partner. “Ugh,” she heard Jefferson say and tried not to giggle. Jefferson was not exactly silent about not liking Jack. Neither was Felicity.

  She watched as Jack and his partner made their way over to the caution tape. She turned her attention back to Monte. “You saw the body, Monte. How bad is it?”

  Monte’s face paled slightly. He shook his head. “Broke her neck. The girl was probably sixteen or so. She shouldn’t have even been at this party. She’s just a kid.”

  “No, get off me!” a loud, angry Jack shouted, drawing their attention back toward where the body was.

  Felicity watched him as he shoved two of his fellow officers. “Jack, you should leave,” she heard one of the men say.

  “I’m not going anywhere!” he shouted, but his partner grabbed Jack under his arm and marched him across the street.

  Felicity and her friends watched Jack and his partner speaking privately, and Jack’s body language made Felicity’s stomach tighten. The man was shaking. Jefferson grumbled slightly, as though it pained him to say, “Felicity, he looks pretty upset. Maybe you should go talk to him.”

  She hesitated for a moment, but eventually agreed. Jefferson and Monte said their farewell, as Jefferson needed to get Monte to work. By the time Felicity arrived across the street from Jack, his partner had left him to go back over toward the body while two paramedics were trying to force Jack to sit down on the sidewalk and adorn a shock blanket. Her throat tightened slightly to see Jack�
��s anger turn to turmoil as he allowed himself to sink down to the ground and wrap the blanket over his shoulders. “Jack?” Felicity spoke, and the man looked up with tearful eyes.

  “Go away, Felicity,” he warned and returned to his secluded posture, leaning forward and covering his face with his hands.

  “Jack, talk to me,” Felicity said and stepped toward him, but one of the paramedics stopped her.

  “Give him some space,” the man said.

  As she was about to argue with the man, she felt someone tap her shoulder. It was Jack’s partner. “Felicity Overton?” he asked, taking a step away from Jack and silently encouraging her to do the same.

  “Do I know you?” she asked.

  “Patrick Waverly,” he said with a wry smile.

  “Oh, wow, Patrick!” She smiled back and hugged him. Patrick had been one of Jack’s football buddies back in high school. Before her and Jack’s rather nasty breakup the summer after their senior year, they had all been good friends, but she had not seen Patrick in years—not since the breakup. She lowered her voice. “Patrick, what’s going on? Jack won’t talk to me.”

  Patrick hesitated, but ultimately he conceded. “Do you remember Jack’s sister, Jamie?”

  Felicity cringed. “Please don’t tell me…” He nodded. Felicity’s mind went back to those good days in high school before Jack had become a controlling tool. Jamie had been nothing but a cute little thing in pigtails with freckles back then. She could recall the girl always wearing her favorite pink overalls with just about everything. She hadn’t seen the girl in years. She shivered. “Not Jamie,” she said weakly and felt a few tears roll down her cheeks. She had babysat Jamie every summer growing up; that was how Felicity and Jack had officially met. Jamie had always been Jack’s little cheerleader during football. Jamie had practically become their high school class’s unofficial mascot since she had attended every single football game and had stood on the sidelines with the coaches, yelling at her big brother on the field.