Addison snorted. It was far from a fairy tale. Maybe that’s why she escaped into movies growing up. So she could imagine herself in a different life, with a mom around, and a dad who didn’t have to work all the time. Instead, she was raised by the Addams Family, Willy Wonka, and good old Walt Disney.
“My mom left when I was seven. My dad had to raise me on his own while trying to keep the corner store he owned afloat. It kept him pretty busy so I had to entertain myself.” She shrugged. “So I watched movies. It was like a free babysitter.”
“Sounds rough,” he said. “I’m sorry. A kid needs both parents.”
Addison glanced at him, wondering if he spoke from experience. By the furrow between his brow she thought he might, but she didn’t want to pry.
Addison could still remember the night she’d woken up from a bad dream and stumbled into her parents’ bedroom to find her mother loading her belongings into a suitcase. When she’d asked her mother why she was leaving, she’d said it was because they didn’t have enough money for all three of them to survive on. Like she was being selfless.
For years Addison wondered about that. How could one less income earner in the household make things any better? But what her mother had really meant was that there wasn’t enough money for her.
The almighty dollar had ripped their family apart, had left her father working sixteen-hour days to keep the convenience store they owned afloat. Had left Addison in her cousin’s hand-me-downs. Had left her without a mother.
But she was an adult now. Her life could be whatever she wanted it to be. A choose-your-own-story adventure. She wasn’t going to settle for anything less than her happily ever after, something she’d been imagining since she was a kid watching those movies in the back room of the store.
So she waved the heavy mood away. “I don’t have any regrets. If my mom didn’t want to be a part of my life, then no big loss. My dad did the best he could. He worked very hard to take care of me and keep a roof over our heads. And I hope to return the favor one day. As in soon, since he’s about to lose his roof. And his wife.”
“His wife?”
“Well, not really,” she said. “But money problems can tear relationships apart, you know?”
“Not if your relationship is strong enough.” Felix spoke with such certainty, that again, she wondered about his past.
She made a noncommittal noise. It wasn’t like she’d been old enough to really understand the dynamics between her parents. “I just worry. Dad’s been through a lot. He deserves to be happy, and Dora makes him happy. I just don’t want to see them struggle.”
Felix gave her an amused look. “So you’re going to save them.”
“Well, I can help. But first things first.” She gave a peppy go-get-’em fist pump as she rounded the car. “We have a mystery to solve.”
Felix stood on the other side of the car regarding her with a curious look. Not giving him the opportunity to throw her a pity party, she gave him a wink and hopped behind the wheel.
The moment Felix slid into the passenger seat, she whipped out her notepad. “Okay, so who’s this Jayden character that Charlotte mentioned?”
“He’s a new kid,” he said. “I don’t know him too well. We’ll put him on the list to check out.”
Addison flipped back a couple of pages in her notebook and added Jayden’s name to the list, then returned to her questions. “Charlotte mentioned a down payment, that you had a deadline. What was she talking about?”
“Is that part of your investigation?”
“Maybe,” she said vaguely. “I have to consider all angles.”
He sighed, but his mouth quirked into a smile. “I am going to buy a bar. Or at least I’m hoping to.”
“Really? A bar?” she practically blurted. “You want to start your own business?”
“Well, you don’t have to say it like that.” He actually looked affronted.
“No. That’s great. It … it just surprised me, is all. I had no idea.”
Felix stared at her for a moment, and she felt the weight of his next words. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”
Addison was certainly beginning to think so.
“I’ve got goals,” he said. “What do you think? I want to be a minimum-wage wonder for the rest of my life?”
Addison shrugged. In fact, that was exactly what she’d assumed. “No. Of course not.”
“A buddy of mine is going to sell his Irish pub in the South of Market area. He knew I was interested so he’s letting me have first crack at it before putting it on the market. But I have to come up with the down payment by the end of this month. I’ve been working my ass off.” His hand clenched into a fist on his knee. “I almost had it too.”
Addison could see how much this meant to him. It looked like they both had dreams to protect.
“And you still will. It’s not over yet,” she said with conviction. “Let’s see, who’s next on our list today? Ah, yes. William Jackson. Do you have an address for him?”
“You bet I do.”
“Great. I just want to make a quick stop at the Regency Center first.”
Felix was reading the list over her shoulder curiously. He reached over and pointed at RED BRA written on the notepad. “You can cross Charlotte’s name off the list.”
Her pen hovered over the page uncertainly. “Did you notice how cagey she got when we started asking her questions?”
“She wasn’t cagey.” Felix leaned back and put his seatbelt on. “Joe was rushing her. He can be a total dick sometimes.”
Addison pretended to scratch her name off the list, but closed it before Felix could see that she actually put a star next to it.
11
Play Fetch
Felix and Addison stared up at the imposing white facade of the Regency Center as they waited to cross the street. Addison didn’t ever want to show her face there again, but it was the best way to wrap her head around the events of the cocktail mixer. That night had left her too rattled to even begin to ask the important questions at the time. Right now, she wanted to know how the dogs disappeared. If they could figure out the how, maybe it would lead to the who.
“What are we doing here?” Felix asked. “Want to relive your big moment on stage?”
She glared at him over her sunglasses. “So not funny.” Hitting the crosswalk button, she waited for the light to change. “We’re here to do a little crime scene investigation. It might give us more insight before we start pointing fingers.”
“What do you expect to find that the police didn’t?”
“Nothing,” she said. “I just hope to figure out whatever they did. They probably uncovered everything they could find, but it’s not like they’re going to tell us about it, are they?”
“So you just hope to find something to help our own investigation.” Felix nodded while giving her an astonished look, like he’d just seen a miracle performed. “That’s pretty clever.”
Addison swatted him on the arm. “You don’t have to say it like that.”
The light turned and their pedestrian symbol lit up. They crossed the street and headed up the stairs to the Regency Center entrance. Felix held the door open for her, but she paused just outside to remove one of her crystal earrings.
“What are you doing?” he asked. “The earrings don’t match your shoes?”
Addison gave him a smug look. “You’ll see.”
Placing the earring in her dress pocket, she slipped inside. The doors closed behind them, muffling the traffic noises. It was like stepping back in time to 1909 when the center was built and the loudest things out on the street were the clip-clop of horse and buggies or the odd trolley car rolling by.
Men and women lingered in the lobby dressed in suits and sensible pencil skirts. A few heads turned their way, but after they gave them the once-over and realized Addison and Felix weren’t part of their event, they returned to their conversations.
Addison scanned the room, searching fo
r someone in charge. It didn’t take long before the center’s event organizer from the night of the cocktail mixer approached them.
Darcy’s warm customer-service smile faltered when he spotted Addison. “Good afternoon,” he said, with a dubious squint to his eye. “How can I help you?”
Felix turned expectantly to Addison for a cue, but she was already prepared.
“Hi. I’m so sorry to bother you. I’m not sure if you remember me, but—”
“Oh, I remember you.” His face tightened as he battled to keep the smile in place. She wondered if he’d ever had an event go so wrong.
“Well, I think I lost an earring while working on the stage that night,” she told him. “I was wondering if I could have a look for it.” It was a simple enough fib. Which was a good thing, since Addison was a terrible liar.
Darcy hesitated, glancing back at the guests in the lobby. They were filtering through a set of doors, and he looked ready to follow.
“Please,” Addison begged. “It will only take a few minutes. They were my grandmother’s earrings, and she was very special to me.” She tilted her head to the side to show the one lone earring left in her lobe.
Darcy considered the now-empty lobby one more time before giving her a brief nod. “Okay. But it will have to be quick. They are about to start a presentation that I need to introduce.” He curled an impatient finger. “This way, please.”
He led Addison and Felix through the lobby and into the ballroom. It was less romantic than she remembered without the candles, dimmed lights, and, of course, Phillip. However, with the lights turned up and the room cleared of guests and furniture, she could appreciate just how rich and detailed a setting it truly was, from the intricate ceiling moldings to the pattern in the hardwood floor.
“I’m sure our cleaning staff would have found it,” Darcy said, as he climbed the stage stairs. “Or else it might have gotten thrown out with the trash.”
Addison gasped, as though afraid her heirloom was lost forever and couldn’t possibly be replaced at any cheap jewelry store. Which was exactly where she’d bought it.
He may not have been pleased with her but he at least looked abashed at his comment. “Don’t worry,” he added quickly. “I’m sure we’ll find it.”
Felix assessed her with a shrewd look. Either he judged her for being such a schemer, or he was impressed. She suspected it was the latter.
Strolling to the center of the stage, Darcy spun on his oxford heel. “Here we are,” he said, as if Addison might have missed it.
“Thank you so much,” she said.
Darcy nodded, but remained fixed to the spot, as though waiting for her to begin her search. She suddenly realized he wasn’t going to leave them alone.
Crap. That was about as far as her plan went.
Awkwardly, she bent over and began scouring the stage. She hemmed and hawed. “I remember being over here.”
Felix began looking for the nonexistent earring too while Darcy scrutinized them. He didn’t help them look, of course, but stood there watching like he didn’t trust them. For good reason, she thought, but it still annoyed her. It wasn’t like they could take a good look around the place with him standing right there.
Addison continued to mumble things while throwing covert looks around the stage, however she was too nervous with him around. After a few minutes of fake searching and Darcy clicking his tongue impatiently every so often, a young redhead interrupted them.
“Excuse me, Darcy.” She hovered at the base of the stage. “The Covington party says they can’t get the projector to work.”
“What?” Darcy practically leapt to attention. He descended the steps two at a time, waving over his shoulder as he walk-sprinted. “I’ll be right back.” It almost sounded like a threat to Addison’s ears.
Once the redhead was gone. Addison began to look in earnest. But for what, she wasn’t sure.
Felix crossed over to her. “Nicely done on the earring story. So what are we looking for?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“What do you mean? This was your idea.”
Addison positioned herself in the middle of the stage, staring out to an invisible audience. But when the cocktail mixer came rushing back to her, and an image of the angry crowd flashed through her mind, it didn’t feel so invisible.
The room seemed to swell around her, the floor beneath her feet shaking—or maybe that was her legs. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, clearing the memory. After a moment, she opened them again to find Felix staring at her curiously.
She ignored the look. “Well, we know the dogs couldn’t have left the stage through the curtains. There were hundreds of people here that night. Someone would have seen them.” Turning, she faced the glowing EXIT sign off to the side of the stage, hanging above the door to the back alley. “And we know they didn’t leave through the alley because Melody would have seen them.”
“That’s if she wasn’t the one who took them,” he said.
“Well, let’s just say she didn’t. How else could they have gotten out of here?”
Felix grew quiet as he considered this. He rubbed the scruff of his five-o’clock shadow, and it scraped beneath his hands. It brought back memories of the night at Joe’s Dive and she could almost feel the rough hair brushing against the skin of her neck again.
She shivered, in a good way—which was bad, very bad—and mentally slapped herself. Phillip was going to call any time now to ask her out again. She was sure of it.
Addison tried to put herself in the shoes of a criminal mastermind. She tilted her head back to glance at the rafters above, the spotlights, and the curtain tracks. Could the dogs have been hoisted up in a cage somehow? Which was maybe slid out of a window using a complicated system of pulleys and cables, and then deposited in a garbage truck making a late-night run? Then she remembered this wasn’t Ocean’s Eleven and continued to brainstorm.
Felix was skirting the open area, running his hands over walls, flipping back curtains, and opening and closing the alley door.
The backstage was simplistic, bare bones. No place to hide, no mysterious doors, no windows, no props or equipment. Addison could feel the clock ticking. Darcy would be back any minute, and they were no further ahead. She wanted to prove Melody’s innocence. Or at least have a reason not to suspect her anymore.
“Ugh. I’d hoped there’d be something here.” She stomped her foot like a five-year-old.
Felix spun to face her, giving her the strangest look. She blushed at her childishness. “Sorry.”
Then he stomped his foot.
For a second, Addison thought he was making fun of her. But then he did it again, and she heard the difference. She could hear the wood beneath his feet, but there was a hollow sound to it. Like an echo of an empty room. A room beneath them.
Their eyes dropped to the floor at the same time, searching for something, anything that stood out among the black paint. Addison spotted something. A notch cut out between the wooden floor panels, just large enough to slip her fingers into.
Checking over her shoulder to make sure Darcy wasn’t coming, she reached down and pulled on the panel. The entire thing lifted right up, revealing a trap room below. She set the panel aside and squatted by the hole in the floor. Squinting down into the darkness, Addison had a fleeting vision of all the things lurking down there.
Felix took out his phone and shone the light inside. He moved it around, highlighting the framework beneath. It was a five-foot drop into the black pit.
Addison bit her lip. “I suppose one of us should go down.”
“I’ll go.” Felix held his phone out to her. “Here, hold this.”
Addison fought her instincts that told her there were all sorts of scary things down there, or maybe that was all the horror movies talking.
“No. I’ll go. I’m smaller and lighter, so you can help me back up.”
She sat down and dangled her legs over the edge. The cold floor made her bar
e legs tighten with goose bumps beneath her fifties-style dress. She wiggled her way forward, wondering what the best way to land was when Felix grabbed her hands and extended her arms above her head.
“Hold on,” he told her. Bracing himself on either side of her, he lowered her into the black pit beneath the stage.
Even when her feet were firmly on the ground, she didn’t want to let go of Felix. But as his hands slipped from hers, she felt the darkness envelop her and could sense all the zombies and vampires lurking around her.
She took a step back and brushed against something. She spun around. A scream built inside her lungs just as Felix’s phone shone down on her and her mysterious attacker.
It wasn’t Freddy Krueger. It was just a wooden post. Addison grunted, clutching her chest in relief.
“See anything?” Felix asked, passing her his phone so she could see better.
“Not yet.” She couldn’t mask the shake in her voice.
Addison knew she didn’t have much time. She needed to do this. For the sake of the missing dogs, for her dad, for her passion, and maybe a little for Felix, she supposed. So swallowing her fear, she took the phone and shone it around the space.
The stage was held up with a series of crisscrossed beams and posts with enough space left between them for performers to move freely. She assumed it was so they could pass things up through the trap doors or pop up during a certain moment in a play or concert.
Shining the light at her feet, she weaved in and out of the wooden framework beneath the stage. All she could see was a thick layer of dust coating the floor. Overhead, cracks of light shone down on her face from more trap doors. Felix’s footsteps shifted above her head, echoing through the hollow space around her.
Addison took another hesitant step forward and felt a crunch beneath her shoe. She pulled her foot back and held the phone over the spot, half-expecting to see human bones. It glistened as the light hit it, sparkling bright among the thick, gray dust. Whatever it was, it obviously hadn’t been there long.
Her fear momentarily forgotten, she bent down and picked it up. She recognized it right away—the handcrafted details, the careful color choices. It was a tiara that she’d outfitted a Chow Chow with at the cocktail mixer.
Beauty and the Wiener Page 13
