Hot Stones & Homicides

by Jenn Cowan

  “I couldn’t have said it better myself, Autumn.”

  I jump and turn to find Travis hovering over my shoulder. Shoot, I hadn’t meant for him to hear our conversation. I glare at him as he flashes me a smile.

  “I think it’s time you and I head down to the station for a chat, Mr. Parker.”

  Josh gulps and his eyes meet mine. They’re pleading with me, but there’s nothing I can say to help him right now. Frankly, my big mouth’s the reason he’s headed down to the station. He finally drops his head and stands up.

  I’ve never seen him like this. It’s breaking my heart. I turn to Travis, who looks like he’s won a new car. “Is this really necessary?”

  “It’s just a chat, Autumn.” His eyes twinkle, which makes me stomach churn. He takes Josh by the arm and leads him toward the exit.

  “Don’t say anything. I’ll call my dad.” I fumble to get my phone out of my scrub pockets as I watch Josh disappear out the sliding glass doors. My phone slips from my fingers and clatters to the floor. Great, I probably cracked the screen. I scoop it up and inspect it, sighing with relief when I find it intact.

  “You’re that massage girl, aren’t you?”

  I glance up and see old man Gus staring at me. My klutzy moves must have awoken him. I’m just glad he didn’t wake up when Travis was escorting Josh out. That could have been ugly. “Yes.”

  “Violet talks about you. Says your friends with some guy named, Josh.”

  “I am.”

  He nods and wipes his nose with the back of his hand. “Violet likes him. That Jamie girl liked him too. Now that she’s gone maybe Violet will have a chance.”

  I perk up at his words. Old man Gus just moved onto the suspect list. A father would do anything to ensure his daughter’s happiness, right? “Maybe. Josh is a great guy.”

  Gus snorts. “No one is good enough for my Violet, but she likes him so I’ll give him a chance.”

  “Have you ever met Josh?”

  Gus shakes his head. “I don’t get out much. At least not during the day.” He huffs and coughs. Rum wafts through the room and I pretend to itch my nose to ward off the smell.

  “Did you ever meet Jamie?”

  Gus nods. “She came by the house a few times to pick up Violet when her car was in the shop. She was always gushing about Josh or the talent show. Poor Violet just sat there and listened to her go on and on about it. Too sweet to cut her off.” He shakes his head. “I was glad when Violet got her car back.”

  I nod then ask, “Did you ever visit Violet at the church?”

  Gus cocks his head and gives me a strange look. “Haven’t set foot in a church in years. Don’t plan to anytime soon either.”

  I nod again. So much for that theory or he’s lying.

  The blond nurse in pink scrubs zeros in on old man Gus. “Mr. Viles, Violet is in the ICU. There’s a waiting room right outside the door where you might be more comfortable.” She glances down at his muddy boots then smiles and gestures toward the hallway leading to the ICU. Larry, the wiry gray-haired janitor is hovering by the nurses’ station, looking disgustedly at the messy floor.

  Old man Gus huffs and staggers to his feet. “Nice chatting with you.”

  I force a closed lipped smile and watch him leave. Larry drags his bucket over to the mess and moves his mop across the floor as he grumbles to himself. I watch him swipe the mop back and forth and think about everything that’s happened in the past few hours. It’s four o’clock and I’m ready to call it a day.

  Jamie’s dead, Violet’s in ICU and Josh is at the police station. Could this day get any worse? My phone rings making me jump. The number to the spa pops up.

  “Hello?”

  “Autumn, where are you?”

  “At the hospital, why?”

  “We have a little problem at the spa. Can you get back here…now?” Maggie’s voice sounds frantic and I can hear murmuring in the background.

  “I’m on my way.”

  4

  When I reach the spa, I let out the breath I’ve been holding since the hospital. I’m lucky I didn’t pass out in the car. There are no police cars or ambulances out front. I guess that means no one’s injured…or worse, so what could be the emergency?

  I make a mad dash to the back door, but end up soaked by the time I reach it. My keys are wet and slippery. I drop them twice before finally opening the back door. A weird smell greets me. I was looking forward to inhaling the relaxing aroma of lavender, but instead it smells like mud and charcoal. Definitely not unusual for a spa, but normally it doesn’t smell up the entire spa. “Maggie?” I snag a towel from one of the massage rooms, attempting to dry off as I wonder down the hallway in search of the frantic esthetician.

  “In here.”

  I turn the corner to find Maggie in the purple room with Mrs. Walls still in the chair. She was supposed to get a two-hour facial so I’m not surprised to see her, but she still has her mask on and she’s not moving. A knot begins to form in my stomach. “What’s wrong?”

  Maggie bites her red lip and glances down at Mrs. Walls. “The mask…”

  “Yes.”

  She takes a deep breath then quickly rambles, “It’s stuck. She wanted a deep cleansing mask so I used my suction mud and charcoal mask. We got to talking and I sort of lost track of time. It was only supposed to be on for about twenty minutes.” She glances at the clock. “We’re pushing forty-five and…it won’t come off.”

  My jaw drops. This isn’t good.

  “It’s painful,” Mrs. Walls murmurs through her pinched lips. Her eyes are closed and I can see tears threatening to fall from the corners.

  I pat her shoulder. “We’ll get it off, Mrs. Walls.” Although I have no idea how. I’m not an esthetician, but I know a really good one…I thought I hired a good one, but I’m regretting my decision. If this gets out along with Josh being suspected of poisoning Jamie and possibly Violet since she was here when she collapsed, we’ll be ruined.

  I pull out my phone and call the only person I know who can help us. It rings once before I hear her southern accent greet me. “Regina, can you come help me? We have a suction mask problem. I’m in the purple room.” She doesn’t even ask questions just says she’ll be right there. I hang up and before I can say anything, Regina’s waltzing through the door. Her red hair seems a little more red than usual and she’s permed it since the last time I saw her, which was earlier this morning.

  “What’s the matter, sugar?” She smiles at me and her forehead barely moves, she must have gotten that Botox she’s been talking about getting for months now.

  “It’s stuck.” I gesture to Mrs. Walls face mask.

  “Oh, dear.” Regina smacks her gum and pulls something from the pocket of her red smock. It kind of looks like a spatula. “I have just the thing.” She looks at Maggie then gestures to the hot towel cabi. “Grab me a towel, sugar.” Then she turns to me and says, “Travis is in the waiting room. We’ll be a few minutes. Why don’t you go talk to him?”

  I open my mouth to object, but she practically pushes me out the door and shuts it in my face. I hear a grunting sound from the other side of the door and cringe. Poor Mrs. Walls. I head to the reception area and find Travis leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He’s staring at the sunflowers on the desk, but turns when he hears my shoes squeak against the green tile floor. So much for sneaking up on people.

  “Everything alright?” He eyes me suspiciously.

  I shrug. “It will be. Regina’s a life saver.”

  “That she is.” He grins.

  I glance around. “Is Josh here?”

  He shakes his head. “He’s still at the station.”

  “Why?” I cry out. “He hasn’t done anything wrong. You know he didn’t poison Jamie or Violet.”

  “Autumn.” Travis pushes off the wall and walks over to me. He reaches out and takes my hand. “I know Josh is your best friend, but all the evidence points to him. His fingerprints are on
the water bottle.”

  “Because he gave the water bottle to Jamie.”

  “His prints are also on the bottle of antifreeze we found in his car. You two didn’t come in together today?”

  I frown and shake my head. “I came in early to do some bookkeeping. Josh said he needed to run some errands.” I pause. “Someone’s trying to frame him.”

  Travis smirks. “And who do you suppose is trying to frame him?”

  I bite my lip. I don’t think Josh has any enemies. “What about old man Gus?”

  Travis laughs. “Gus? Why would Gus want to kill Jamie and frame Josh?”

  “He told me at the hospital that Violet likes Josh and Jamie kept going on and on about him in front of her. Maybe he decided to kill Jamie since she was upsetting his daughter and frame Josh to get him out of the picture.”

  “But why?”

  “Let’s say Violet and Josh start dating. They get married. Violet would move out and who would take care of old Gus?”

  Travis narrows his eyes and studies me. I can tell he’s thinking about my theory. “How did Violet get poisoned? Gus wouldn’t try to kill his own daughter, would he?”

  I frown. “Maybe Violet took a drink of Jamie’s water bottle.”

  He smirks. “Why would she do that? There’s a water fountain in the basement. She could get her own drink.”

  I shrug. “Maybe they were practicing and she got choked. Jamie offers her a drink and she takes it.” I don’t tell him my other theory, the one where Violet’s the killer and she accidently poisons herself. Why? I want to be sure I’m right. You heard old man Gus, everyone loves Violet. I can’t paint the town’s good Samaritan as the villain unless I’m absolutely positive she did it.

  He sighs. “I’ll look into it.”

  “Have you looked into any of the other talent show contestants?”

  “Autumn, I’m following all the leads.”

  “Are you really?”

  He scoffs. “Of course. It’s my job. How can you even ask that?”

  I feel a little guilty questioning him, but he seems a little too ready to lock up my best friend. “Who was at the church?”

  “Autumn, I’ve got this. Let me do my job.” He squeezes my hand and smiles.

  My heart does a little flip and I feel a little light headed. It’s probably because I haven’t eaten much today.

  “Autumn, I-,“ before he can finish someone clears their throat behind us.

  “Am I interrupting something?”

  5

  “James, what are you doing here?” I let go of Travis’s hand, and move to greet James. He’s holding a single sunflower and a yellow rose is tucked in the front pocket of his gray suit. His dark hair is slicked back and his blue eyes are filled with confusion. I don’t blame him. My relationship with Travis is confusing, but in all fairness, I did warn him.

  “We had a date to the festival, but since it’s been postponed until next weekend, I thought I’d still take you to dinner. I texted you earlier.” He hands me the sunflower.

  I take it and bring it to my nose to inhale its fragrance. “Thank you.” Then I remember our date. “Right, the festival.” I’d seen the massive text Bobby, our new Mayor, sent out about moving the festival due to the murder, but unfortunately, I hadn’t seen James’s text. “I’m sorry. I didn’t get it. It’s been a crazy day. I-,” Regina cuts me off as she waltzes up to me.

  “We’re all good.” Regina winks at me then leans in and whispers, “We put some moisturizer on her face and told her the service is on the house. She plans on keeping this little incident to herself.”

  I smile and hug her. “Thank you so much.”

  She hugs me back and gives me a pat. “Happy to help, darlin’.” Then she mumbles in my ear, “I’d make sure your new esthetician sets a timer next time.”

  I nod. “I’ll be sure to pass it on.”

  Regina releases me and turns to access James. “Nice to see you, James.”

  James gives her a movie star smile and I almost melt. “Miss Regina. How are you?”

  Regina smiles and winks at him. “Single and free tonight.”

  I choke out a laugh while Travis groans.

  James turns red. “I’m actually taking Autumn out tonight.”

  Regina’s smile falters and she turns to me for confirmation. I nod. She frowns and turns to Travis, who shakes his head slightly. “Well, it’s just dinner. No wedding invitations going out or anything, right?” She gives me a pointed look before turning back to James and saying, “You know where to find me.” She winks at him and pats his shoulder before leaving the spa in a huff.

  I bite back a groan. Regina flirts with all the younger men so I know she doesn’t have a thing for James, but she’s angry. She’s always been very vocal about her desire for me to marry Travis. I’ll have to explain things to her later. Right now, I have to check on Mrs. Walls. “I need to check on a client. Make yourself comfortable.” I gesture to the new black leather couches Sally insisted we buy. They’re so much better than the plaid ones.

  “May I?” James reaches for the sunflower in my hand.

  “Of course.” I hand it over and watch as he carefully tucks it in with the other ones and re-arranges the flowers. “I’ll be right back.” I begin to head toward the purple room when someone catches my arm.

  “Actually, Autumn, I need you to come down to the station,” Travis says.

  I turn and lift an eyebrow. “For what?”

  Travis’s face is stoic. I can’t get a read off him, but I know he’s trying to sabotage my date. Not that I was planning to go anyway after everything’s that’s happened today. “Josh is asking for you.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. It’s a low blow, manipulating me with the fact that my best friend’s in jail. I get out my phone and actually see a couple of missed calls from the jail. Shoot. I need to get down there. I was planning to go after I talked to my dad, but Maggie’s call threw a wrench in my plan. I did manage to get a hold of my dad on the way over to the spa. He assured me he would take care of everything. I sigh and head back to the waiting room.

  James is sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine. He looks so handsome and carefree with his ankle resting on his knee. I sit down next to him and he places the magazine neatly back on the stack of health magazines. “James, something happened today. I was planning to tell you once we were alone.” I shoot a glare at Travis, who’s leaning against the counter with a smug expression on his face. “I need to go down to the jail.”

  His eyebrows furrow together in confusion. “The jail? Why?”

  “Josh is being accused of murder.”

  James’s eyes go wide. “He murdered Jamie?”

  “You heard.”

  “Everyone within a hundred miles of here knows about her murder. It’s why they postponed the festival until next weekend. Poison, right?” He glances at Travis for confirmation.

  Travis shrugs and crosses his arms over his chest.

  “My delivery guy, Caleb, was all worked up about it. Complaining of being questioned by a mouthy detective when he was delivering flowers to the church.” James shoots Travis a disgusted look.

  “We had to question everyone who was at the church,” Travis growls.

  “He’s an eighteen-year-old kid doing his job, why would he kill Jamie?”

  “I don’t know, why would he?” Travis shoots back, but I can see on his face he knows his question’s ridiculous.

  James rolls his eyes then turns his attention back to me. “I have a few errands to run in town. Actually, I was planning to talk to you about it.” He pauses and studies me. “I’m looking to purchase some shop space here in Daysville and expand my business.”

  “That’s amazing.” I reach out and squeeze his hand.

  He beams back at me.

  Travis scoffs.

  “What’s amazing?” Mrs. Walls hobbles around the corner.

  I quickly let go of James’s hand and hurry to help her. James
is right behind me and grabs her other hand. I look at him and our eyes meet. I wait for the heart flutter, but nothing. Strange. I shake it off and ask him, “Is this something you want to share?”

  “Sure.” James shrugs as if it’s no big deal.

  “James is thinking about opening a flower shop here in Daysville.”

  Mrs. Wall’s eyes light up. “We need a flower shop in town. I can walk to buy my daisies as opposed to calling you to deliver them every week.” She pats his hand. “Where’s the shop going to be?”

  “I’m not sure yet. I’m looking at several locations.”

  Mrs. Walls stops by the front door and gives my hand a squeeze. “James can walk me out. You go on and close up. I know Josh is probably getting hungry. Take him some pizza; that jail food is atrocious.” She glares at Travis then pats my hand and says loudly, “Everyone knows Josh didn’t kill Jamie or poison Violet. Hang in there, sweetie.” She leans in close and whispers in my ear. “I’ll keep today’s appointment to myself.”

  I smile and thank her as James holds open the door.

  “If you feel up to it, call me when you’re done at the jail. Maybe we can grab a drink or go for a walk. The rain’s stopped and it looks like we’re going to have a beautiful sunset.” He gestures to the sky. The sun’s starting to set behind the trees and the evening air’s cool.

  I nod although I doubt I’ll feel up to socializing after everything that’s happened, not to mention I want to go back to the hospital and check on Violet…possibly question her if she’s awake and lucid.

  He grins and waves as I lock the door behind him. I watch him help Mrs. Walls down the sidewalk and sigh. He’s such a nice man. I turn and run right into Travis’s broad chest. He reaches out to steady me and a spark sends my heart into overdrive. Shoot. I was hoping those feelings were gone especially since I’m supposed to be having them with James and I’m not. I shake them off and move around him, rubbing the place where his touch still lingers.

  “Autumn.”

  I busy myself with running the credit card machine and putting away client charts.