Killer Run

by Lynn Cahoon

  “Honestly, no, and I’m beginning to worry a bit. You don’t think something’s happened to her and she’s hurt in the house somewhere?” Cathy shrugged. “I looked through all the windows yesterday, but I couldn’t see anything out of place. The girl keeps a clean house, that’s for sure.”

  I could just see Cathy positioning her walker up to the first-floor windows and peering inside. On an instinct, I asked another question. “You don’t remember seeing a man around, do you? Was Rachel dating?”

  Cathy shook her head. “I tried to set her up with my grandson. He’s a plumber and makes an excellent income, but she said she wasn’t in the market for a man. I assumed there was a heartbreak somewhere in her past. Of course, she had clients coming in and out during the day, but I never saw her leave with anyone. It’s too bad.”

  “What’s too bad?” I had been scanning the booth for my aunt and hadn’t heard past the failed matchmaking comment.

  Cathy pushed her walker past me and toward a pile of Beanie Babies. “I just meant if she had been involved, I’d know she was safe. A woman needs a man to take care of her.”

  Like a fish needs a bicycle. I pointed toward the other side of the booth. “Oh, there’s my aunt. I’d better catch up with her. Nice to see you again.”

  As I wandered through the tables to meet up with Aunt Jackie, I wondered if the reason Rachel had turned down the blind date was because she was already involved with Michael. I took my aunt’s arm and led her out of the booth. “Time to check out the antique shops.”

  An hour later I’d found the perfect wrought-iron bed frame. Or what would be perfect after I scraped off the flaking paint and repainted it shiny black. The frame was in good shape, too, and would hold a queen-size mattress, which I ordered after a quick stop at the mattress store. Delivery would be on Monday.

  “I’m hungry, you know.” Aunt Jackie pointed toward a local fast-food drive-in. “Stop there and I’ll buy us burgers for the drive home. I need to get back and get ready for work. Some of us aren’t on vacation.”

  I glanced in the rearview mirror, where I could see the frame. We’d had to put the back seats down, but luckily it had fit in the back of the Jeep. After spending way too much money at the mattress store, I’d popped into Home Heaven and bought the wainscoting, paint, and sandpaper. If everything went well, I’d have the bed cleaned, prepped, painted, and set up upstairs before the mattress delivery occurred next Monday. I was feeling pretty good about my progress.

  We ordered, and as we waited for the food, Aunt Jackie pointed to a name on one of the filing reports. “Did you see this?”

  I leaned forward and read the line she had her finger resting on. “Diamond Lille’s was a client of the Ashfords?”

  My aunt flipped backward through the report. “At least they were a couple of years ago.”

  The window opened and the bag with our food appeared. I drove over to a parking spot and distributed the food. The place was known for the best tater tots in town. I could smell the pounds attaching to my hips as I pulled out the paper container. “What would Promote Your Event do for a small diner?”

  My aunt unwrapped her bacon cheeseburger and shrugged. “A lot of shops do a marketing campaign to see if they can bring in more business.”

  I thought about Lille’s plan to buy out Harrold. “Or maybe they need to pave the way for an expansion?”

  My aunt took a bite of her burger, then waved it at me. “Don’t even think that way. There’s no evidence that Ashford was involved in what happened to The Train Station. Besides, Sandra was already dead before the first vandalism happened. I don’t think Michael is in any condition to harass an old man. He seems like he’s barely hanging on.”

  I thought about his lunch with Rachel. Didn’t seem like he was a grieving widower that day. But Jackie was right, it was leaping to conclusions to blame Ashford for Harrold’s trouble until I saw a pattern. But at least I knew what to look for in the pile of reports I still had to review tonight. And if Diamond Lille’s was an ongoing client, that might give me enough to talk to Greg about my suspicions. I dug into my mushroom Swiss burger with an enthusiasm I hadn’t felt for a long time. The pieces were all falling into place.

  Finally.

  By ten that night, I was feeling less optimistic. The paint on the bed frame wasn’t coming off, and an Internet search of the problem told me I needed to return to Home Heaven, again, to pick up the chemicals to strip the paint from the frame. Sanding the stuff would take me a few months, if even then. I kicked myself for not talking to one of the yellow-vested experts running around the store. Greg laughed at me when he called to check in and I explained my problem. He also gave me a list of the type of paint stripper and tools I’d need to pick up. So eventually, I kind of forgave him for laughing. Especially when he reminded me of the earrings he’d given me earlier in the week.

  My shoulders and arms ached from the wasted effort trying to sand off the frame, so I stood in the shower until the hot water began to cool. After that, I dressed in my favorite camisole and pajama pants, then went downstairs to heat up a can of soup. I took the pile of unread pages out of my office along with the sofa pillows and set the papers on the coffee table. When I had my bowl of soup and a peanut butter sandwich ready, I added a soda and took the food out to the living room on a tray. Emma sniffed the air, but I told her to lie down. “You have dog food in the kitchen if you’re hungry.”

  She huffed and turned a few circles before she lay next to the coffee table within smelling distance of my cream of mushroom soup. Ignoring her pleading eyes, I dug into the soup as I turned on the television. The local news was just finishing, and there was a story on the Bakerstown Business Council. Watching the interview of their liaison, I thought about both the Ashfords and Rachel’s business. Maybe they attended the business council meetings? I knew things about the people who attended South Cove’s Business-to-Business meeting. Maybe I should call up my peer and see if she had any gossip for me. I wrote down the name of the liaison along with the name of her shop, Bakerstown Floral. Looked like I’d be making two stops tomorrow.

  Finished with dinner, I gave Emma the crust off the bread and pulled the pile of papers onto my lap. Two hours later, I’d gone through the rest of the papers, and not found a single mention of Diamond Lille’s in the paperwork. So Promote Your Event wasn’t working with Lille. Or at least, they weren’t putting it down on paper. I pushed off the idea. There was something going on with the diner and Harrold’s. I didn’t think Lille had actually done the window painting or smashing, but that boyfriend of hers was a definite possibility.

  I took my tray into the kitchen and started turning out lights. Tomorrow would be soon enough to worry about what I didn’t know.

  First stop in the morning was to Aunt Jackie’s to drop off the rest of the Ashford records. Since my initial review had gotten me nowhere, I hoped my aunt had a magic touch. Besides, I wanted the papers out of my house to keep Greg from seeing them. I didn’t mind keeping some secrets from him, but explaining our digging into the Ashfords would be hard. And he’d probably ask for the earrings back or something.

  As I drove past Diamond Lille’s, I saw Lille outside talking to someone who looked familiar. I slowed the Jeep and realized she was talking to Homer Bell. Homer, who owned the food truck. He got in his car and drove away as I pulled into the parking slot on the street he’d just cleared.

  I quickly stepped out of the Jeep and called over the top of the roof, “Why are you talking to Homer?”

  Lille paused and frowned. “Why do you care?”

  I walked around the Jeep and stood in front of her. “Are you trying to buy the food truck? He said there was another party interested.”

  She laughed. “I should have known it was you. Homer’s playing both of us. Now he says there’s a third party interested.”

  “Great.” I shook my head. “I’m not sure I can deal with a price war. Why do you want the food truck anyway?”

  “
Like it’s any of your business?” Lille leaned against the diner wall and lit up a cigarette. She took two long drags, then put it out again, using the side of the building. She smirked at me. “Don’t judge. I know I’m not supposed to smoke in front of the shop.”

  I held up my hands. “No judging here. But aren’t you expanding the shop?”

  Her head jerked up, and she stared at me. “Where did you hear that?” She held up her hand. “Don’t tell me. Carrie’s been gossiping again.”

  “I, well, Harrold told me you were looking at buying his place.” I tried to duck the fact that Lille’s best waitress was the original source of the rumor. No use getting her in trouble. I liked Carrie.

  “And he also told you he told me no.” She tucked the cigarette back into her pack and put it into her apron pocket. “I’ve been thinking about expanding into the food festivals. That way I can increase my business and keep the diner here the same.” She glanced toward The Train Station. “At least for the next few years. Who knows how long Harrold will want to keep the place going? Eventually I might get lucky.”

  “That’s what I was going to do with the truck.” I leaned on the Jeep. “Well, I guess good luck with the deal. I hope one of us gets the van.”

  Lille snorted. “I’m sure you really mean that.” She spun around on her heel and went into the diner.

  I climbed back into the Jeep and headed into town. When Aunt Jackie answered her door, I held out the pile of papers for her to take. “I know who our competition is for the food truck.”

  “Let me guess, Diamond Lille’s?” She took the papers and turned to let me in the door. “Do you want some breakfast?”

  The smell of fried ham and fresh baked bread filled the small apartment. “I could be convinced.” I went over and poured myself a glass of orange juice from the decanter she had sitting on her table. “How’d you know?”

  She filled a second plate with ham, eggs, and a slice of fresh-from-the-oven bread. “Just did the numbers. Homer doesn’t know that many people, and he doesn’t like going in to Bakerstown because he sees it as the big city.”

  “So, if he was working a buyer, it would have to be someone here.” I slathered butter on the bread and took a bite, thinking about the sale from Homer’s perspective. “But that doesn’t make sense. He’s got a third buyer and there’s just the two of us in town who could use a food truck.”

  My aunt held up her fork. “Three.”

  I turned my head and watched her eat the piece of ham. “I don’t know a third.”

  My aunt smiled. “Of course you do. We’re one of their best customers.” She waited, but when I didn’t catch on, she said, “Pies on the Fly.”

  I shook my head. “Sadie doesn’t want a full-time job. Just something to keep her busy.”

  “The food truck wouldn’t have to be full-time. She could take it to festivals on the weekends, like we were planning.” My aunt focused on her breakfast for a few minutes, then added, “Look, I know she’s your friend, but friends don’t tell each other everything.”

  “Maybe not, but if Sadie was looking at something this big, she would have told me.” I finished my orange juice and refilled the glass.

  Aunt Jackie shrugged. “If you say so. But I know Homer. He didn’t reach out past South Cove’s borders for his buyers. I guess they might have come looking for him if someone knew he was thinking about selling. Have you decided on our maximum bid level? We need to have a firm figure before we start negotiating. If we don’t get this one, another truck will come available someday.”

  “I’ll do some number crunching tonight. I was hoping it wouldn’t be much. Since we put Sasha on full-time, the profit margin has been a little tight.” I finished eating and took my plate to the sink to rinse.

  “You do have the Miss Emily fund,” my aunt reminded me. My friend had left me a sizeable inheritance as well as the house I was continually remodeling last year when she died. Well, when she was murdered. So far, I’d spent some of the money for remodels and set up a couple of college funds for some very distant relatives of my friend.

  I finished off the rest of my orange juice. “I’m considering that money my rainy day fund.”

  “It might be time to think about the rain.” My aunt shrugged. “I just think if we’re going to jump into this season, we may want to buy soon so we aren’t late to the party. If they already have a coffee/treat vendor, we won’t get invited to the festivals.”

  I thought about my aunt’s warning as I drove into Bakerstown for the third day in a row. This time it was just me, and I turned the stereo up to full-blast level, singing along with my favorite songs, trying to get the food truck out of my mind.

  Maybe we needed more information. Like a field trip to a festival to see if they did already have a coffee truck. No use getting worked up about something that might never happen. I made a mental note to check out local festivals on Sunday. Maybe Amy would want to come along and we could make a girls’ day out of the errand.

  One decision done, I turned in to the parking lot of Home Heaven and grabbed the list of items I’d need to strip the metal bed frame. After that, I drove to Bakerstown Floral. Allison Delaine was working on a floral arrangement in the front of the shop when I entered.

  “Good morning, how can I help you?” she called out, her Southern accent softening her words.

  I handed her a card that listed off my position as liaison for the South Cove City Council. “I’m Jill Gardner, and I run the Business-to-Business committee for South Cove. I saw you on the news last night and realized we’d never met, so here I am, meeting and greeting.”

  She broke into a wide smile. “I can’t believe they finally ran that interview. We recorded it almost three months ago. I guess yesterday was finally a slow news day.”

  “Well, any publicity is good, right?” I took in the shop. The smell of cold, fragrant flowers was overwhelming. “I’d love to chat about your committee and how you run things. I’ve been liaison with South Cove now for over five years, and it feels like it’s time to mix it up.”

  Allison tucked the last red rose into the bouquet and turned it from side to side to check its balance. The final piece was stunning. “I’m sure you’d find our little meeting boring. I barely can get anyone to come unless they want to complain about something. Last month I invited a guest speaker on shop safety and had three regular members show up. It was embarrassing.”

  “But those three members got good advice, right?” I played with a dangling ribbon that had come unrolled while Allison was working. “Believe me, I’m fighting with the same problems. Maybe we can brainstorm some solutions.”

  She took out her planner. “I could do coffee next week, if that will work. I’ve got an employee to cover the early shift on Wednesday. How about I come by your place at ten?”

  I took one of her cards off the counter and wrote the day and time on the back. “Perfect. I’m looking forward to chatting.”

  “I am, too. I had talked to a PR company about doing some pro bono work for the committee last month, but she turned me down.” Allison put the calendar back under her counter and then put the completed bouquet into the refrigerator behind her. “One down, six more to do today before my delivery guy gets here.”

  Clearly, that was my clue to exit stage right. “I’ll be out of here then.” I tapped the card on the counter, curious whether the PR company she’d referred to was Promote Your Event. “The agency must have been doing really well for her to turn down your offer. I’m sure they would have gotten a lot of business from the committee members just by doing a little free work.”

  She took a purple vase off a nearby ledge and pulled a pile of different-colored lilies from a box on the bottom refrigerator shelf. She shook her head. “Actually, no. Sandra, she’s the owner, said she was selling the business. That’s why she didn’t agree to take on our work. I got the impression the deal was already in the works.”

  CHAPTER 15

  Returning to South C
ove, I drove through town on my way back to my house. Sadie Michaels’s purple PT Cruiser sat in front of Coffee, Books, and More. I parked the Jeep behind it and went into the shop. Toby looked up from checking off the delivery list. “Hey, boss, what are you doing here?”

  “Stopped to see Sadie. Is she in the back?” I walked around the counter and headed to the back office door.

  “Yep. They’re finishing the last load of the order.” He pointed to the clipboard. “We’ve been killing it with the Sweet Summer Lemon Surprise this week.”

  “Sadie and her specials.” I paused, remembering that tonight was date night. I needed to hurry if I was going to get anything done before Greg showed up. The cheesecake would be perfect with coffee after our dinner. Or maybe iced tea. I’d put a jar of sun tea on the porch as soon as I got home. “Pack one up for me, will you?”

  “It’s a lot of calories. You sure you don’t want just a slice?” Toby set the clipboard down and leaned on the counter. “You know you can’t resist temptation.”

  “Jerk. Greg’s taking me out tonight, and I thought I’d serve dessert on the back porch.” I studied my midday barista. “If it’s any of your business.”

  Grinning, he saluted me. “Your wish, yada, yada, yada. Greg didn’t mention he’d be off-duty tonight. I guess I’d better think twice before calling and interrupting your date. I’d hate to lose both of my jobs at once.”

  “Whatever.” I pushed through the swinging door separating my back office and storeroom from the front of the building. Sadie was standing by the walk-in wrapped in the arms of Dustin Austin, her new boyfriend. She must have heard my entrance because her face turned beet red and she pushed away from Austin.

  “Jill. I didn’t expect to see you today.” She ran her hands down her hair to make sure it was straight and snuck a peek at Austin as she did. She reached over to straighten his T-shirt. I had to admit, the guy made sixties grunge look good on a middle-aged man.

  “Apparently not. Hey, Austin, how are things in the bike rental business?” I looked around the crowded storeroom. At least they’d put away the delicate desserts before falling into each other’s arms for a steamy kiss.