by Lynn Cahoon
I started down the stairs and heard the door to the stairwell open. My luck was changing. I sped down the stairs to the second floor and stopped in my tracks. Amy was walking toward me.
“What are you doing in Austin’s apartment?” Her cold stare made me a little angry.
I leaned against the stair rail. “I wasn’t in his apartment, I was looking for him.”
“Sure, like you didn’t know your boyfriend carted him off to the station a few days ago.” Amy shook her head. “For the sake of our friendship, at least you could do me the favor of not lying to me.”
“I wasn’t lying.” My voice rose a little, and the words echoed in the stairwell. “Look, I thought he’d be home by now and I wanted to ask him some questions about people Kacey knew. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“So you’re snooping again. Does Greg know?” Amy’s eyes narrowed as she waited for my answer.
“No, he doesn’t. And he doesn’t need to know. I’m not doing anything wrong.” I felt my cheeks burn a little at that statement.
“Well, maybe we’ll just see what he thinks about that.” Amy put her key into the lock and disappeared into her apartment, slamming the door on me.
I stood at the door, shocked about what had just happened. I leaned closer to the door. “You just keep your nose out of things, Miss Amy. If you don’t, I’m sure there are a few things I can mention to Justin. Like how you turned on the GPS on his phone so you could find out where he went on his boys’ nights.”
The door flew open. “You said you wouldn’t tell him about that.” Amy’s eyes were wide and crazed. “You promised.”
“Then don’t be a tattletale to Greg.” I started down the stairs, then turned back, leaning against the stair rail. “We’ve known each other too long, and we both have a lot of ammunition in our arsenal. Can’t we just stop?”
“Whatever.” Amy closed the door again, this time a little quieter, but it still echoed in the empty stairwell.
I stood stock-still, suddenly realizing I might not ever get my friend back. Tears filled my eyes, but I wiped the back of my hand over them to keep the tears from falling. I wouldn’t cry. By the time I’d reached the shop, I’d kept that promise and now my emotional center bubbled like lava. Amy Newman was a self-centered egomaniac who could just disappear. I pushed through the front door and the bell clanged and the door slammed against a chair someone had left in the wrong place.
I picked up the chair and pushed it next to a table a few feet away. The table rocked with the force, and I had to steady it to keep it from falling over, too.
“Uh-oh. You’re steamed. Who got you riled up?” Toby waved me over to the counter. “Come over and tell Uncle Toby all about it.”
“Does that line work on anyone?” I went to the counter and put my purse on one stool and climbed up on another. “Pour me a double-shot mocha with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle.”
Toby glanced at the clock. “It’s already five, you sure you want a double-shot?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to summon a superpower I didn’t possess. The one that kept people from saying stupid things. “Just do it.”
Toby held up his hands. “Fine, just don’t be blaming me when you can’t sleep tonight. I’ll be out on patrol and not even available to play rummy with you.”
A smile played on my lips, but I forced it away. “I don’t play rummy at night.”
“That’s not what Greg says. He’s always complaining about your card habit. I hear you have a tendency to cheat.” Toby set my coffee in front of me, and I took a big sip before answering.
“He’s a downright dirty liar.” I took a napkin out of one of the dispensers I’d found at a used restaurant supply store. I was sure they came from some 1950s cafeteria complete with bobby socks on the waitresses’ feet and beehives in their hair. Wiping the whipped cream off my lips, I took another big draught. Coffee and chocolate mixed, that was an elixir of the gods. I sighed my approval.
“Better?” Toby leaned against the counter, watching me. I looked around. The place was empty except for a couple of teenagers who were over in the book side, reading on the couch and nursing frozen lattes.
“Much.” I pointed to the empty shop. “It been like this all day?”
He threw a bar towel over his shoulder and poured himself a glass of ice water. “Nope. I always have a good steady run of customers from about noon to three. Then it starts to slow down. The kids go home about now to get ready for their dates, or to eat dinner with their folks. And most of our walk-in customers have already returned to the bed-and-breakfast to get ready for their evening out.”
“You really have a handle on this shift, don’t you?” I took another sip of my coffee.
Toby eyed me. “You really want to talk shop, or are you just keeping me from asking what’s going on? Who were you so mad at? I hope it wasn’t Greg. I like working for both of you.”
“Not Greg, Amy.” I told him about my brainstorm on the beach and then explained how we needed to cast a bigger net for Kacey’s murder. “It has to be someone she knows, right?”
Toby nodded. “Good thought. I’ll talk to Greg tonight and see if he’s interviewed any of Kacey’s friends. The real ones who didn’t like the fact she was going back to Austin.”
“Like the women who visited the coffee shop before the memorial? Both of them seemed to hate Austin. Hey, I thought you were banned from working the case?” The mocha was making my body all warm and squishy. Some people used alcohol to get a buzz. I’d take my coffee fix any day.
Toby took off his apron. “I can’t work the case. Nothing wrong with me talking to my overworked boss about what he’s done.” He paused in front of me. “You going to be okay here alone? According to Jackie, this is kind of a dead night lately. Everyone heads out of town for their Friday night entertainment.”
“Then I’ll get a lot of reading done.” I patted my tote. “Besides, I brought my notebook. Maybe I can figure out some more avenues of investigation we haven’t come up with yet.”
“I love it when you talk sleuthing to me.” Toby grinned. “You know if Greg finds out we’re doing this, we’re both dead.”
I found myself defending my perceived slights against my boyfriend for the second time that day. When I paused to take a breath, Toby started laughing. “You are just trying to wind me up tonight.”
“I want you to be on your feet. I’ll drive by a few times once I start patrol.” He held up a hand. “Hey, I could shuttle you home if you’d like?”
“I don’t want a ride in the police car.” Toby had a habit of putting me in the back like a recently caught criminal. Not as sexy as it sounds in the movies: The backseat reeked of sweat, alcohol, and a faint odor of vomit. And that was when it was recently cleaned. “I can walk home all by myself. I’ve done it for years.”
“Call me if you change your mind.” Toby disappeared into the back office.
I walked around the counter and stashed my tote bag, pulling out the notebook and starting to doodle. The teenagers left a few minutes after Toby, and I was alone in the shop. After an hour of no customers, I tucked the notebook back into the tote, frustrated with the lack of progress I’d made. I really needed to talk to Austin. I picked up the contemporary romance I’d started yesterday and went over to the couch to put my feet up on the coffee table and read.
The jangle of the bell drug me out of the story, and I looked up and saw Dustin Austin standing in the middle of the shop. Surprised, I looked around the store and realized it was just the two of us. Had I somehow called him telepathically since I’d been just thinking about him? I shook off the unease and stood. “I thought you were still in custody?” The look on his face told me I’d overstepped. “I mean, what can I get for you?”
“For your information, I am only a person of interest. Your boyfriend sure isn’t keeping you in the gossip loop.” Austin walked toward the counter and sat on a stool. “I thought your aunt worked the evening shift.�
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“She does, but she had plans tonight.” I felt like a jerk so I repeated my question. “What can I get for you?”
“Coffee to go, black, three sugars.” He leaned on the counter. “Can you give your aunt a message?”
“Sure.” Now I was curious. What would Austin have to say to my aunt?
He pointed outside and toward his shop. “Tell her that I’m interested in selling the food truck, for the right price that is. Just because you’ll have to repaint it doesn’t mean I’m going to take any lowball offer.”
“Why do you want to tell Aunt Jackie this?” I pointed to my chest. “You know I’m the owner of the store, right?”
Austin smirked as I gave him his coffee. “Give me a break. Everyone knows that your aunt runs things around here. You may hold the purse strings, but she’s the decision maker.”
“Nice to know what people think, but it’s not true.” I rang up his coffee. “Two fifty.”
He gave me the exact change and then stood. “Just tell her I’m willing to talk about a fair price. I know you and Diamond Lille’s were both interested in the truck when I bought it off of Homer. I’m coming to you first, as I promised him I wouldn’t sell it to Lille, no matter what. I guess they aren’t on the best speaking terms.”
I thought about Lille kicking Homer Bell out of her restaurant when he’d told her he’d sold the truck without even allowing her to make a better offer. If she’d had a gun, Homer would have been dead that day. “I’d say that was an understatement.”
Austin tapped a finger on the counter. “Just say I’m motivated for you guys to be the buyer.” He turned toward the door.
“Hey, Austin? Who was Kacey friends with?” The pain that shot through his eyes told me I hadn’t been as delicate as I could have been. “I mean, who did she pal around with? Go out on girls’ nights with?” Cry on their shoulder when you left her was one friendship task I didn’t list out for the grieving widower. Who said I couldn’t be sensitive if I tried?
“Kacey had a lot of friends. Everyone loved her.” He paused and I could tell he was thinking about the past. “After we separated, she started with that stupid GPS club. I don’t think she’d hung with anyone who wasn’t part of the club in years.”
“She was the president.” I thought about the people we’d met on our first outing. Maybe someone there hated Kacey enough to kill her? Over what? Finding too many geocaches? I wondered if this would be another wild goose chase.
“She loved that stupid club. I kept telling her just to quit, that we had enough going on without spending time tramping around the woods.” He walked toward the door. “Call Ginny over at the bathroom place. She and Kacey were close.”
Ginny, the woman who worked for Jen. Well, maybe she still worked for Jen. The last time I’d visited, Ginny had been late, again. I’d heard the sigh in my friend’s voice when she talked to her about her hours. Too committed to the geo club to make sure she got to work on time or sometimes at all. I made a mental note to visit Linens and Loots tomorrow. Austin was almost to the door, so I called out, “Anyone else you can think of?”
He turned and stared at me. “I may not know a lot of my wife’s friends, but I do know she didn’t like that man who kept trying to get her to step down as president.” He smiled a little sadly. “She said he would be president of the club over her dead body. I guess she got her wish.”
I watched Austin leave the shop and shuffle down the street. I knew he was only in his fifties, but right now, he looked older than Aunt Jackie, Harrold, or even Josh. I took out my notebook and put a note in to talk to Taylor on Sunday. With Greg and Justin around, maybe he wouldn’t seem as creepy and they could help me decipher his cryptic answers. Of course, I’d have to be a little cryptic myself or I’d show my hand to Greg and get a lecture about staying out of his investigations. I also put visiting Linens and Loots on my to-do list for tomorrow.
That done, I put the notebook away and glanced at the clock. Seven thirty. Technically, I had an hour and a half before I could close the doors, but I might just fudge the closing hours since my traffic had been little to none all night. I went over to the sideboard in the dining room where Toby had set up a water station. I’d have to mention that it wasn’t our policy to have a water station again. Sometimes being a boss was like being a kindergarten teacher. You had to keep saying the same things, over and over, until the kids got it and stopped running in the halls. Or setting up water stations for the customers.
I took the half-full pitcher, and after filling a glass for myself, poured it out into the sink, setting the empty container way back in the cabinet where maybe Toby wouldn’t see it tomorrow. My mind turned to my aunt and her night out.
She and Harrold were going to a play that Aunt Jackie had wanted to see for months. The production was getting ready to close up shop here and move on to Salt Lake, I believed. I’d done some research a few weeks ago, planning on giving her tickets for her birthday, but Harrold had beat me to the punch.
He was good for her. She was getting out more, having more fun with him than she had since she moved to South Cove. Or at least she talked about it more. I knew she and Josh had done some antiquing trips, but he was more interested in his own hobbies and activities than what my aunt wanted to do.
I sipped my water and when I turned around a face was peeking around the side of the building, trying to see into the shop. The street lamps were on, but the corner of the building was too dark to see clearly. When I looked that way, the shadowed figure jerked back. With shaking hands, I set down my glass and picked up my cell.
“Hey, Toby.” I was glad he answered. I would have felt embarrassed calling this in to the 911 number. “Are you patrolling?”
“I’m sitting out here by your house waiting for speeders, actually. What’s up?” He turned the music down in the car.
“Can you drive by the shop? There’s someone lurking around the west side of the building, and they’re looking into the shop trying to see who’s here.” I kept my eyes on the window, wondering if the man was still there.
“Go lock the front door. Don’t hesitate, just walk over like you’re cleaning off a table, then throw the dead bolt. I’ll come down the alley without lights and see if I can catch him.” Toby paused. “Are you walking?”
I groaned inside. “Yes, I’ve got the phone in one hand and a wash towel in the other.” I paused at the door and turned the locks, not looking over at the side of the building as I did it.
“Fine. I’ll be right there.” I heard a click, then my phone rang back.
“This is Jill.” I kept my back turned to the window so no one could see how white my face must be. I’d caught a bit of my reflections in the window and I looked scared to death.
“You do have the back door locked, right?” Toby asked. He knew it was a rule that when only one person was working, the back door stayed locked. A rule I’d made and one I forgot to implement on most days I worked.
I headed to the back office. “I’m checking. I think I do.”
“Stay on the line with me. I’m coming up on the alley entrance now. I’ll be there in two minutes tops.” Toby sounded concerned.
I got to the back and jiggled the door, locked. Then I went to the door that led to the inside hallway between my aunt’s apartment and the shop and locked it, too. “There, I’m locked in. Now what?”
“Wait for me to knock on your door. Stay in the back, there’s more cover there.”
What Toby hadn’t said was if the guy had a gun, he couldn’t see me to shoot me if I was hiding in the back. I could read subtext, even when I was shaking like a leaf. “No problem here.”
I heard the tires crunch on the gravel, then heard, “Seriously?” The line went dead. I peeked out the back window, but all I could see was Toby’s squad car with the driver’s door still open. The car was still running. I opened the swinging door to the shop and tried to see Toby through the front, but apparently he was still on the side where I couldn
’t put eyes on him. Well, I could, but I’d have to unlock the stairwell and run up to the second floor landing where the windows looked out over the parking lot and Josh’s building.
I figured Toby would consider that not staying put, so I kept pacing between the two doors, wondering which one he’d knock on when it was safe. I was peeking out the back door into the gathering darkness when I heard the knock on the front of the shop.
“Jill, come open up. It’s safe,” Toby called out and I skittered toward the front. When I saw who was standing next to Toby, I stopped in my tracks.
Shaking my head, I walked the rest of the way and unlocked the door. Josh came inside first with Toby following. “What in the world is going on?”
Josh didn’t look at me until Toby nudged him. “Tell her.”
He glared at Toby, then looked at me. “I’m sorry I scared you. I was just trying to see if Jackie was working tonight.”
“I thought she told you she wasn’t going to be here.” I met eyes with Toby, who had a wide smile on his face. “Not funny,” I mouthed to him.
He held up a hand with his thumb and forefinger separated a bit, signaling he thought it was a little funny.
Josh didn’t see our exchange as his gaze was still on where his feet might be if he could see over his gut. “I know what she said, but I thought maybe she was just trying to make me jealous.”
And right then, for just a second, my heart ached for Josh. He adored my aunt, and now that Harrold was in the picture, even he knew his days were numbered. Then he opened his mouth again. “Or maybe you were trying to break us up and sent Jackie off on some wild goose chase to make me think she wanted to end it.”
Delusional. That was all I had to say. Of course, I didn’t say it aloud. “Well, the next time you want to see if Jackie’s working, just come in the shop.”
This time he did lift his head. “I am sorry I scared you. It was never my intention to be seen.”
“Now that I believe.” I glanced at the clock. “It’s time for me to close up for the night—for real this time.”
