by Lynn Cahoon
As I walked up to the pair, Harrold turned toward me. “See? I can’t take all of this. I thought you were going to find out who was doing this and stop it!”
“Sir, we are looking for the guy.” Toby looked at me with a shrug and took Harrold’s arm. “Now, if we can just finish your statement.”
Harrold pulled his arm away from Toby. “Not you. You and your boss are worthless. I asked Jill to solve this problem. But all that seems to be happening is that it’s getting worse.”
I pulled Harrold to one side. “Look, I’m working on it, but you need to talk to Toby right now and we’ll talk later.” I waited for Harrold’s nod, then I waved Toby over. “He’s ready.”
Toby looked at me. “Greg’s not going to be happy when I tell him about this.”
“Then don’t tell him.” I put my hand on his chest. “Seriously, don’t say anything. If I find something that implicates someone in this problem, I’ll tell you. I’m not going to run out and get myself hurt. I’m just doing some of the legwork since you guys are all involved in solving Sandra’s murder.”
We stood frozen for a second while Toby considered his options. He shuffled back and forth on his feet, and with that one movement, I knew I’d won the argument.
“Fine, but if you find out anything, you tell me so I can check it out. You don’t need to be talking to whatever nut job could have done this.” He frowned down at me. “Promise me?”
I nodded. “Paper chasing only.” I held my hand up. “Scout’s honor.”
“From what your aunt’s told me, you were never a scout.” A smile creased his face.
“Details don’t matter. I’m sure I would have been an excellent Girl Scout.”
“Don’t make me regret this.”
I nodded to the matching park bench still on the sidewalk in front of Diamond Lille’s. “I’ll wait over there for you to finish your report.”
I took my notebook out of my tote and started writing notes about Harrold’s misfortunes. My thoughts kept going back to Carrie’s comment about Lille and why Harrold didn’t visit the diner anymore.
Before I could finish the thought, a black Harley pulled up next to the diner and Lille got off. She kissed the man driving, and as he turned back around to leave South Cove, she watched until we could no longer see the bike. As she turned, the wide smile that had been gracing her face fell as she saw me sitting on the bench.
“What are you doing here?” She put her hands on her hips. “Trying to steal my breakfast customers with your little cookie stand?”
“Coffee, Books, and More isn’t a cookie stand,” I countered. Taking a deep breath, I pushed past Lille’s barb. “I’m waiting on Harrold. We’re coming in for breakfast right after he deals with the latest attack on his shop.”
Lille turned and gasped when she saw the bench through the window. Her shock seemed real to me. “Oh my God. Poor Harrold. First the paint, then the display being trashed, and now this?” She turned and frowned. “What’s your boyfriend doing about this? You know, any one of our businesses could be the next target. We have to find this guy.”
I went with my standard line. “Greg and I don’t discuss open investigations with each other. You really think that the other businesses are in danger?”
Lille turned toward me and held out her arms. “Diamond Lille’s is right next door. You know the little creep will get tired of harassing an old man. Then where’s he going to attack? Not the winery on the other side of town. My place, that’s where.” She pointed to the camera attached to the street lamp. “Why did we pay for a system that’s not keeping us safe? You take that to the city council and tell them to get the rest of those cameras activated right now.”
As she started to stomp away, I called out, “Who dropped you off?”
She spun around and glared at me. “Why do you want to know? Want someone else to pay attention to you so you can make your man jealous?”
“I’ve told you before, I don’t need to make Greg jealous. I was just wondering who you were dating now. I’ve seen the two of you around a few times. Is he a local?” I turned in the bench so I could see her face.
“He is, but of course, you knew that from his club leathers.” Her gaze moved to the road where the guy and his motorcycle had disappeared. “Let’s just say he’s someone I’m hanging out with, and if and when I think you need to know more, I’ll call Darla and have her publish it in that little newspaper of hers.”
I watched as Lille finished her trek into the diner. Her prior good mood had all but dissipated into a rage. And rage was caused by fear. So if Lille was afraid of the vandal attacking her diner, it stood to reason she wasn’t the one who’d hired the guy to scare off Harrold. Which took my one and only theory regarding the case down the tubes.
I wrote a note in my list of to-dos. I needed to talk to Mayor Baylor and see what it would take to get the rest of the cameras online. That was the only way Greg would be able to catch whoever was doing this. As I closed the notebook, Harrold came and sat beside me. His body almost crumpled into the bench as he heaved out a sigh.
“This is getting hard to deal with,” he muttered. “Who would hate me this much to damage my store?” His head turned to the side, and he focused on the diner.
“You think Lille had something to do with this?” I needed to know what the argument was between the two.
He rubbed his hands together. “I don’t think even she’s this conniving. But a month ago, she came to talk to me about selling The Train Station. She said she was looking at expanding the diner.”
“What did you say?”
He laughed a short bark. “I told her that I would keep The Station open until they dragged my dead body out of the building. Why would I want to sell? I get great walk-in traffic during the weekends, and now with the online business, I’m selling twice the number of model trains I did two years ago.”
“So you told her no, and the vandalism started.” I said what both of us had been thinking.
He shook his head. “I know Lille. She’s prickly and hard to like, but she has a good heart. She and my Agnes were best friends for years. In fact, Agnes developed Diamond Lille’s first menu and taught Lille how to cook the dishes. There’s no way she’d turn on me, not like this.”
“Then we’ll find out who is doing this.” I put my hand on Harrold’s blue button-down shirt, which made him look like he was going to work in an office, not a model train store. “I promise.”
Harrold glanced over at the damaged shop window. “I hope so.”
I stood and nodded toward the diner. “You want some breakfast? I’m buying.”
“I can’t. Christopher is on his way in from Bakerstown along with a fellow from one of the glass shops to do the repair. But I appreciate the offer.” He stood and shook my hand. “You just go do your snooping around and figure out who’s responsible. I’d appreciate that more than a free meal. And I’m sorry about the outburst earlier.”
I walked him back to his shop and then decided to head home. After my run-in with Lille, I didn’t want to eat breakfast at the diner. You had to let the woman calm down or she had a habit of erupting like a volcano. I’d probably be okay to resume visiting the diner in a few days. One thing about Lille was that she didn’t hold a grudge for long. Too many other people to be angry at, I guess.
When I got home, I sat for a minute and then made a new to-do list. My vacation days were disappearing faster than I wanted, so I needed to make a plan about what I had to get done before I went back to work next Tuesday. I wandered upstairs to peek at the paint in Project Guest Room. It needed one more coat and then I could put up wainscoting around the ceiling. Which I still needed to buy and paint. I wrote down these items on my list and thought about the pieces I’d found at Antiques by Thomas. As long as I could find the right bed frame, each one of the other items would be a perfect match. I drew out a rough look on what I would put where and then took measurements of the room.
As I was consideri
ng the window treatment, my cell rang. Glancing at the caller ID, I punched the button to answer. “Hey, Aunt Jackie. What’s on your plate today?”
“Good morning to you, too.” She paused. “I was calling to see if you got through the filings. I didn’t hear from you last night.”
“Come with me to Bakerstown and I’ll give you what I’ve gone through and we can talk on the drive.” I paused, knowing there was one thing I could say that would make her say yes. I decided to push that button. “Unless you’re not feeling well enough?”
“To drive to Bakerstown? I’m not dead, you know,” she grumbled. “Give me twenty minutes to get ready. I haven’t even showered yet.”
“No problem. Let’s make it an hour and that way I can take Emma for a quick run.” I looked around the room.
“You’re going to owe me lunch, you know.” And with that, my aunt hung up. I guess she didn’t think her statement needed an answer. I was going to owe her lunch, but spending time with her this week wasn’t going to be a problem. I wanted to. I found the camera app on my phone and took several pictures at different angles of the guest room so we could compare furniture as we shopped.
Then I changed into my running clothes and Emma and I took off for thirty minutes of joyful not talking, thinking, or doing anything but running. Well, Emma found a dead fish, but I convinced her to leave it for the gulls and thankfully she didn’t decide to roll in it today.
As I got ready for the trip to Bakerstown, I stashed my couch pillows in my study and grabbed the part of the Ashford filings I’d read through last night. I still had a pile to get through tonight, but Greg wasn’t coming over for dinner, so I should have lots of quality time to read.
I just wished it was a novel I was reading rather than the boring accounting that had made my eyes cross last night a few pages into the pile.
With Emma safely in the house and my pillows safely in another room where she couldn’t use them for chew toys, I started up the Jeep and headed into town. When I passed by The Train Station, the bench was already back in its place on the street and the broken glass had all been cleaned up. By the time I returned to town, the window would be replaced and the shop back to normal. Three attacks in three days. No wonder Harrold looked like he’d been up for days. The guy probably wasn’t sleeping, listening for problems.
I passed Coffee, Books, and More, then did a U-turn at the next block, parking on the same side of the street as the shop. This time I entered through the front, where Sasha was finishing an order for a local customer.
“Hey, boss. Coming in to check up on me?” Sasha put a sleeve on the cup and handed it to the customer. She focused on the woman and added a quick, “Thanks for visiting.”
As the customer went out the front door, I glanced around the empty shop. “Thursday mornings, got to love them.”
Sasha laughed, throwing a clean bar towel over her shoulder. “I have to admit, you do have the easy shift. Once the commuters are caffeinated and on their way to work, it’s kind of dead around here until Toby arrives in at noon.”
“Exactly why I love this shift.” I grabbed the phone and dialed my aunt’s number. “Hey, I’m downstairs talking to Sasha, so whenever you’re ready …”
My aunt mumbled something about distracting the help and hung up on me again.
“So, you and Jackie taking off again? Didn’t you road-trip yesterday?” Sasha sipped on a glass of water she had behind the counter.
“We did. And today we’re going to a flea market to find a bed frame. I hope that we’re successful so I can also buy a new mattress while we’re there. I like shopping, but I don’t want to spend all of my vacation in stores.” I nodded to the coffee. “Pour me a large black hazelnut to go, will you?”
“No problem.” Sasha grabbed a cup and filled it with the coffee. “I heard you’re redoing the guest room. What colors are you using?”
I took out my phone and showed her the almost painted room, pointing out the placement of furniture I’d planned for the room. As we were talking, Aunt Jackie came in through the back of the shop dressed in a white pantsuit with a coral-colored shirt underneath. The perfect outfit to go hunting through dusty, dirty rooms in antique shops and flea markets. I guess I should have been more specific.
“You know we’re going antique shopping, right?” I pointed at her outfit. “You’re going to look like you’re wearing brown by the time we return. I know you own jeans, you wore them yesterday.”
“You need to learn to wear something besides jeans.” Aunt Jackie looked down at her outfit. “Besides, I wore low-heeled sandals. I’ll be fine. I know how to act like a lady and not get grubby.”
Sasha laughed. “Besides, I don’t think a speck of dirt would dare land on you.”
My aunt shook her finger at the girl. “Don’t be smart. And pour me a large black to go, as well, since my niece forgot to order one for me.”
“I was just showing Sasha the floor plan. I want to start at the flea market, then move to the shops on antique row, and end up either at Home Heaven or the mattress store, or maybe both.” I listed off my agenda.
My aunt handed me an envelope. “Josh brought this by last night for you. It’s an estimate for the pieces you wanted. He said he’d throw in delivery for free.”
“Since it’s less than a mile, I would hope so.” I put the envelope in my tote with my notebook. I’d open it if I found a piece to replace the ones I’d found at Antiques by Thomas. Even though the man was dating my aunt, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get a family discount.
We said our good-byes to Sasha, Aunt Jackie leaving a new list of to-dos for her to complete since the customer traffic was so low. As we settled in to the Jeep, I strapped on my seat belt. “You know you don’t have to leave her a list of things to do every time you see her. She knows her job now.”
My aunt clicked her own belt and shrugged, looking back into the shop. “It’s good for her to learn exactly what it takes to run the shop. I think she’d be a great manager someday, if you don’t let her get lazy and read books all the time when she’s supposed to be working.”
I pulled the Jeep onto Main, heading to the highway. “Part of her job is to run the kids’ book club. If she’s not reading the books, how is she supposed to lead the discussions? Besides, reading isn’t just a requirement for the job, it’s the best part.”
“Let’s just say we have a different opinion on the priority of tasks we assign our staff.” My aunt grabbed the papers from the backseat. “Is this what you’ve read through?”
Nodding, I turned the Jeep onto the highway, passing by the beach parking lot, which was completely empty this morning. “That’s it. And I didn’t see anything that would lead us to Sandra’s killer.”
“Don’t give up on my method quite yet.” She went to the first page, where I’d put a colored sticker. “What’s this?”
“I marked places where she talked about her client list and the number each year. I also marked places where I didn’t understand what they were talking about.” I shrugged. “Well, not all the places. I would have had a sticker on every page that way.”
“You really need to learn more about the business of running a business.” My aunt set the pages down. “Tell me what you didn’t understand and I’ll walk you through the process.”
It was going to be a long drive. I took a deep breath and started listing off the parts of the reporting process I didn’t understand.
By the time we reached Bakerstown, I knew more about reporting requirements than I ever wanted to know or cared to admit. As a family lawyer, I knew there were tons of laws and regulations I should understand about the store, but business law had always bored me to the core.
Today’s drive had reminded me not only of why I hadn’t chosen corporate law for my career, but also why I counted so much on my aunt to help me with the business side of the shop. Heaven help me if I ever lost her.
CHAPTER 14
“What about this one?” Aunt Jackie
held up a quilt. The patterns and colors screamed modern and didn’t even match my vision of what I was looking for.
I shook my head. We’d been to almost all of the booths with no luck for the bed frame or a quilt to cover the bed or one to hang on the quilt frame sitting in Josh’s back room. “It’s not what I’m looking for. I want something that looks old, maybe a scrap quilt or even a log cabin pattern.”
“I don’t know why you don’t just buy something new. There’s a linen store just up the street,” my aunt grumbled and headed to the next booth. “This one looks promising. At least it has some furniture.”
I followed her into the room and ran straight into a woman with a walker. The metal walker tipped, but the woman stayed standing. “Oh, I am so sorry. I didn’t see you.” I looked into the face of Rachel’s neighbor, Cathy Addy.
“No harm done, dear. They don’t make the aisles here very old-lady friendly.” She peered into my face. “You’re Rachel’s friend, aren’t you?”
“Yes, well, I mean, she’s my travel agent.” I wouldn’t have called the two of us friends. “I stopped by a few days ago.”
“I remember. I was watering the plants. Good thing, too, since that girl still hasn’t shown up at the office. I put up a sign on the door saying she’d reopen next week. At least that way, people aren’t coming over and bothering me about her hours.” Cathy ran her hand over a pillow that pronounced that Coastal California Is for Lovers in hand-done cross-stitch. “Although her shop does bring in stragglers to the yarn store.”
“I run the coffee shop and bookstore in South Cove, so I get a lot of drop-ins from the other businesses on Main Street.” I didn’t think yarn had much to do with travel, though, and I figured the traffic went more from Cathy’s store over to Rachel’s. I thought about seeing Rachel and Michael meeting for lunch. If she wasn’t running the agency, where was she? “Have you heard from her?”
