Halle beamed. “We aren’t losing anything on them. I’ve been keeping track of the new sales, since that’s my baby, and they’re up nearly twenty percent. The makeover station is red, but I think it’ll really be something in the spring and summer for wedding season. Everything else is in the black. The new product lines are super popular, and we’ve increased the number of clients leaving with products from twelve percent to nineteen. Becky, the new receptionist, told me she’s already gotten some online reservations for wedding parties into May and June. It’s amazing how well everything is going.”
“Then we’ll bump you in January. Are the hours working for you? I know you’re working a lot of evenings and weekends.”
Halle nodded enthusiastically. “I like it. I don’t mind the weekends or the evenings, and I get plenty of time during the day to do what I need to do. It works for me.”
Beckett pushed back from her desk and crossed her legs. “Good. If it ever doesn’t, let me know and we’ll figure something else out.”
Before Halle could respond, the door to Beckett’s office swung open and Paulina strode in, her face angry and her purse clutched in her hands.
“You bitch!”
Beckett lifted her eyebrows. “Hello, Paulina. Nice to see you. Can I help you with something?”
Halle rose, her face belying concern. “You want me to call the police?”
Beckett shook her head. “There’s no need for that. You go on out into the salon and get back to work. I’ll handle this.”
Paulina didn’t even wait for Halle to leave before tearing into Beckett. “You’ve black-balled me. I’ve applied to every salon from here to Portland and none of them will take me. What are you telling them?”
“Paulina, you’re using Vive as your last place of employment. You were terminated for failing to report your appointments, which is essentially theft. When the managers call, I give them the dates of your employment, when you left, and notify them you were terminated. I’m certainly not calling these places and having them put you on some sort of ‘do not hire’ list.”
“You fired me because you couldn’t stand the thought of me working more than your stupid rules allowed! There was nothing wrong with the old system, but you changed it to cost us money and put more in your pocket. You’re nothing but a greedy, selfish bitch. And now you couldn’t even be happy with firing me. You had to make sure I’d never work anywhere again.”
Annoyed, Beckett rose and placed her hands on her desk, leaning forward. “I want you to listen and listen well, because I’ll only say this once. You weren’t fired because I didn’t want you working. You were fired because you broke the rules. When you began working on weekends and after closing, while using the products Vive was providing to you free of charge, you were stealing. Theft, Paulina, as in a criminal offense. You should be grateful I didn’t notify the police, not angry you can’t get another job. You were doing just fine working off the books here before, so I’d suggest you hang a tile somewhere and get back to it.”
When Paulina remained rooted to the spot, Beckett rounded her desk and marched to the office door, yanking it open and holding it.
“Coming in here and behaving like a child will not be tolerated. If you act like this again, you’ll no longer be welcome here in any capacity.”
Paulina whirled, her eyes flashing. Stomping to Beckett, she jammed her finger under the other woman’s nose. “You’re going to pay for what you’ve done to me. You think you’re so much better than us because you don’t have to make other people pretty for a living anymore. Well, I’ve got news for you, Beckett McKenzie. You’re nothing but a two-bit whore who couldn’t hang onto her husband and who is now shacking up with her kin. You’re going to hell for everything you’ve done, and I hope you burn forever. You might wear fancy suits and expensive shoes and sit in an office, but deep down you’re nothing but a waitress, a hair-cutter, and a slut.”
Calmly, Beckett turned to Halle. “Make sure Paulina leaves. If she refuses to do so or remains on the premises more than thirty seconds, you are to call the police to remove her. Am I clear?”
Halle nodded. “Crystal.” She looked at Paulina. “I’ll call them. Don’t doubt me.”
Paulina sneered at the much younger woman. “Just like her. Fuck you all!”
When the front door slammed and Paulina sauntered down the steps and into the parking lot, Beckett sighed and leaned against the door. “Well, that was fun.”
Halle grinned widely. “Never a dull moment. You two-bit whore.”
“Don’t forget waitress, hair-cutter, and slut.”
“With your fancy suits and expensive shoes.”
“I wish my suits were fancy and my shoes expensive.” Beckett chuckled. “I’m taking a break to go tell Savi about all of this in the café.”
Halle looked at her watch, noting the time. “You were supposed to be off an hour ago. It’s past six.”
“I have too much to do here to head home. Besides, my house feels very crowded lately, and I could use some breathing room. If you want to take off early, I’ll hold down the fort until we close.”
****
Beckett sat on one of the stools at the counter in the café kitchen, watching Savi methodically go through her menu for the next day, putting loaves of bread aside to rise, mixing up batches of dough to chill for the night, and crafting the specials with meticulous instructions for the cook who would be preparing them. Turning her focus to the vat of tomato-carrot soup she was putting together on the stove, Savi cast a glance over her shoulder at Beckett, who was idly munching on cookies at the counter.
“If you’re going to sit in here and eat, at least have something decent for you. You’ve eaten half a dozen cookies and not one bite of the chicken salad sandwiches in the fridge. I made it fresh around three, so they’re good.”
“That’s nice, but I want the cookies.” Beckett bit into another and sighed. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to fire you. You’ll make me fat.”
Savi lifted one eyebrow and began seasoning her soup. “Not if you eat what I told you to eat, I won’t. One cookie will not make you fat. A dozen? Well, maybe. You’ll just have to work it off with Murphy later on.” She laid the spoon on its holder and wiped her hands on her apron. “I’m going to be here late. We had a run on muffins today, and I had to dip into what I had frozen for later this week. I’ve also got to get caught up on the brownies, and I’m putting together a cold crab salad for lunch tomorrow, so I need to get the salad mix done and the crab steamed and cleaned. I’ll be lucky if I’m home by midnight.”
“Good thing you’re off tomorrow.” Beckett toed off her heels and reached for the second apron. “I’ll help. The only thing waiting for me is the profitability reports, and I’m happy to let them sit until tomorrow.” She tied on the apron and wiped her hands on the front of it. “Where do you want me?”
“I won’t complain. If you want to work on the crab salad, there’s a recipe in the book.” Savi waved with her spoon in the general direction of her recipe book. “The dinner special tomorrow is a pesto glazed sirloin sandwich on ciabatta with a microgreen salad and roasted beets. It should be pretty popular.”
“Sounds yummy.”
“It is.” She dragged out a stack of muffin trays and lined them with the paper cups she would pour the batter into. “Crab is in the fridge. Jax brought it over this afternoon. There’s boiling water in the pot on the stove and a steam basket on the counter. Do you know how to clean them?”
“I’ve lived in Maine for six years. I know how to clean a crab.”
The two women worked amenably for hours, chopping, stirring and seasoning. By ten, they were finishing the dishes and preparing to leave. Beckett, more attuned to the sounds of the salon at night stiffened and cocked her head, listening hard when she heard an unfamiliar noise.
“What is it?”
Beckett held up her hand. “Someone just came in the side entrance.” Peeling off her apron, she hung it up and
exited the café kitchen, striding in the direction of her office.
“Should I call the police?”
“No, it’s probably just someone who forgot something. I just want to see who it is.”
Savi tossed her own apron down and grabbed her shoes in one hand, rushing after Beckett. “I’ll go with you.”
Together, they strode through the darkened halls toward the front door. When they passed by the hair area, the manicure stations, and the make-up counter without seeing anyone, Beckett began to get suspicious. As they crossed into the entryway and Beckett saw the door to her office open, she held up a hand to stop Savi.
“Stay back here and get ready to call the police. No one should be in my office.”
Beckett entered the office, her arms crossed over her chest. Paulina was methodically tearing all the books from the shelves. Both the chairs had been upended and sliced open. Beckett recognized her desk scissors protruding from one of the chairs. The desk was swiped clean, paperwork littered the floor, and the laptop had been snapped in half. Rage rising in her, Beckett forced herself to remain quiet, watching as the other woman worked.
Paulina whirled to head for the desk and froze, her gaze focusing on Beckett. Her face paled, the color draining from her skin in the span of a heartbeat. Beckett glanced over her shoulder to Savi.
“Call the cops.”
Paulina stomped to the door and shoved her way past Beckett. “I’m leaving.”
“The hell you are!” Beckett grabbed Paulina’s arm to stop her. Paulina spun, her closed fist making contact with Beckett’s face. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Beckett grabbed Paulina by the hair and hauled her back, holding her until Savi grabbed onto her other arm.
“Are you okay?” Savi glanced at Beckett worriedly.
“I’m fine. I’m dripping blood on a silk jacket, but other than that I’m fine and dandy.” Beckett scowled. “We need to call Sheriff Rogers. Let’s put her in my office. There’s no window in there, so she can’t get out.”
Savi regarded the mess with raised eyebrows. “Well, it’s not like she could do any more damage than she already has.”
Paulina jerked her arms in an attempt to break free, huffing when she was unable to break either woman’s grip. Beckett shoved her roughly into the office and yanked the door closed. Dialing the sheriff’s office, she greeted the dispatcher.
“Evening, Evelyn, this is Beckett McKenzie over at Vive. We’ve had a break-in and need a deputy to come out here. Can you send someone?” Pausing to listen, she nodded. “Yeah, we’re fine. I’ve got Paulina Curtis locked in my office. Yeah, the one I fired. I know, I seem to find trouble everywhere these days. Just go on ahead and send Doug over. Savi and I will wait.”
Savi lifted her eyebrows. “Do you know everyone?”
“Mostly. Trenton and the Harbor are relatively small when you look at year-round residents. I suppose I could’ve called Harbor police, but the sheriff’s office has jurisdiction here, too. And I like them better.”
It took ten minutes for Doug Reyes to enter Vive. A slightly paunchy father-of-four, Doug had been a Deputy longer than Beckett had been alive. He studied the scene with one raised eyebrow and then turned to address Paulina, who had taken to sobbing in one of the chairs she’d sliced open.
“Well, Paulina, looks like you’ve done stepped in it, my dear.” Sighing deeply, he unhooked his handcuffs from his belt. “I’m going to have to place you under arrest.”
Paulina nodded miserably and stood, holding her wrists out in front of her. “I just wanted to teach the wicked bitch a lesson on how to treat people.”
“Let me read you your rights before you say anything else. Paulina Curtis, you’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided to you. You have the right to have said attorney present with you during questioning. Do you understand these rights as recited to you?”
“Yes.”
“Now that you’ve been properly Mirandized, do you wish to repeat what you said immediately before I read you those rights?”
Haughtily, Paulina shoved her nose in the air and began walking in the direction of the police cruiser. “I said all I wanted was to teach the wicked bitch a lesson about how to treat people.”
Doug sighed. “Good enough. Ladies, let me put her in the backseat, and I’ll be back to take your statements.”
Beckett turned to look at Savi, her jaw slightly open and humor dancing in her eyes. “I live in a spoof. This is some satirized version of real life. These things cannot possibly be happening to me.”
Savi slung her arm around Beckett’s shoulder. “Think of it this way. It’s an excuse to buy new chairs.”
Chapter 23
Ryan slipped into the Trenton jail and pulled his wallet from his jacket pocket, slipping a driver’s license from the plastic sleeve. The bored-looking clerk glanced at the ID.
“Help you?”
“Yes, I’m here to see Paulina Curtis.”
“Are you her attorney?”
“No, ma’am. I work for her attorney’s office. I’m here to get a preliminary statement.” He withdrew a sheet of paper from his briefcase and passed it through, then held up a fake badge identifying him as an “administrative aide.” Watching as the woman looked at the IDs, he smiled winningly and waited.
Disinterested, the woman shoved a sign-in sheet through the window. “Sign in, then step into the room to the right. I’ll have her brought out.”
Ryan signed the false name on the sheet, took his ID back, and walked into the room to wait. Within five minutes a guard brought Paulina. Raking his gaze over the skinny woman with frizzy blonde hair, Ryan sighed.
“Good morning, Ms. Curtis. My name is Adam Garabedian. I work for the Public Defender’s office.”
Paulina glared at Ryan through the glass window. “I didn’t ask for a lawyer. Can’t afford one.”
Smoothly, Ryan removed his round spectacles and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wiping the clear plastic lenses before replacing them on his nose. It was the little things, he knew, that made an identity different from his own.
“I’m not a lawyer, ma’am. I just work for one. I’m here to get your statement about what happened the night before last at…” He purposely trailed off and fumbled with his folder as if looking for the name of the salon. “Vive. That’s the one.”
Paulina huffed a sigh and dropped onto the metal stool anchored to the floor. “I broke in. Beckett McKenzie, the bitch owner of the place, fired me because she didn’t like me working extra hours at night to earn some more money. She hated that a lot of us didn’t turn in the money we were making for her piece of it, so she made us all employees and took away our right to set our own prices and hours. When she found out I was still working off-book, she fired me.”
“Sounds like a reasonable thing to do. Everyone needs extra money. Were you angry when you were fired?”
“I was pissed off. I started applying for other jobs, but I’d worked there for so long that all the salons wanted to call Vive for a reference. When they did, Beckett was telling them not to hire me. She made it so I couldn’t get work anywhere. I confronted her about it, she defended herself and even said I wasn’t welcome there anymore. Like I’d ever go back to that hack house!”
Ryan smiled. “I don’t blame you one bit. What happened then?”
Clearly enjoying the opportunity to tell her story, Paulina leaned forward and braced her elbows on the metal counter. “I waited until I thought everyone had gone home, and then I used my key to get in. I guess they didn’t change the locks.”
Ryan made a noncommittal sound and managed to maintain a mild expression and tone. “Isn’t there a keypad or something?”
“It’s a badge swipe. When I came in that day, I nabbed Beckett’s secretary’s badge from her desk and used it and the key to get past the security system. I
was just going to trash her office. I grabbed the scissors from the desk and sliced up her chairs. They were ugly anyway. Then I broke her laptop and ripped up a bunch of her paperwork and books. Why in the world does a salon manager have books in her office? It’s not like the woman knows how to read!”
Chuckling, Ryan made notes in his folder. “Did you see anything out of the ordinary while you were in the office? Or notice anything strange during your tenure there? Did Mrs. McKenzie ever come to work under the influence of anything or harass any of the employees?”
“Other than me? Not that I saw. Lately she’s been weird. There are some rumors her dead husband isn’t dead. I say I can’t blame the fucker for taking off and leaving her. I wouldn’t want to be married to such a hag, either. They say he faked his own death just to get away from her and go live somewhere with one of his girlfriends. I hope he broke her heart. Better yet, I hope he’s still alive and shows back up here to wave his hot side piece under her nose. Maybe he could take the kids from her, too. That would really show her.” Satisfied with the fantasy, Paulina thumped her fist on the counter enthusiastically.
“What about the allegations of drug use?”
Taking the bait, Paulina’s head snapped up. “What allegations?”
Working one finger into his collar in a way meant to make the woman think he was nervous, Ryan cleared his throat. “Oh. I shouldn’t have said anything. I thought you knew.”
“What allegations?” She leaned forward until her nose almost pressed against the window. “Is Beckett using drugs? Or dealing them? God. That’s almost too good.”
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