Massage & Murder

by Jenn Cowan

  I sit down next to Bobby and bite my lip. I’m not sure if this is the right time to bring up the case, but I’m on a time crunch and the bodies are piling up. “Did you ever find anything on the Mayor? Anything April had on him?”

  Bobby shakes his head. “I searched her records. Her office. Our bedroom. Nothing. I’m thinking of hiring a private investigator. Someone has got it in for the Mayor. I think April was killed because she found out about something. Something the Mayor was into.”

  “Like what?”

  He shrugs. “I don’t know. Hence the private investigator.”

  I frown. “So, you think April and Vicky’s murders aren’t related?”

  He makes a face. “Why would they be? They didn’t run in the same circles. It seems like we’d be grasping at straws to link them.”

  I open my mouth to object when I hear my name. “Autumn. The Mayor will see us now.”

  Bobby looks back and forth between me and Travis. “You two are talking?” When we don’t respond, he huffs and mutters. “Guess something good came from April’s death.”

  I’m not sure how to respond so I pat his knee and get up. Travis has a blank look on his face as if he’s not sure what to make of Bobby’s comment. April wasn’t keeping us from talking…was she?

  I follow Travis down the hallway as a million questions keep running through my mind. I push them aside and focus on what I’m going to ask the Mayor. When we get to the end of the hall, Travis stops and looks around. “That’s strange.”

  “What?”

  “Officer Dane is supposed to be guarding the Mayor.”

  I look up and down the hall and don’t see anyone. “Maybe he went to get some coffee.”

  Travis shakes his head. “Not without another officer relieving him. Someone tried to kill the Mayor. The Captain ordered 24/7 protection. Somethings not right.” He pushes open the door to the Mayor’s room and stops short.

  I bump into him and raise an eyebrow. “Travis.” When he doesn’t move or respond, my heart starts beating like a stampede in my chest. “What’s wrong?”

  “The Mayor.”

  “What about him?” I try to peek over his shoulder, but he’s too tall.

  “He’s gone.”

  “Gone?” I step around him to find an empty hospital bed. “Maybe they took him to X-ray or to run more tests.”

  Travis shakes his head. “The nurse said he was in his room…resting.”

  “Maybe she was wrong. I’ll go ask.” I turn to leave.

  Travis reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. “No, I’ll go. I need to find Officer Dane and call the Captain. You stay here in case the Mayor comes back.”

  I watch him walk to the nurses’ station then turn back to the empty room. I shiver. This is the same room Vicky was killed in. Maybe it’s cursed. I shake the thoughts from my head and think about the Mayor. Where could he be? Surely, he didn’t just get up and walk out of the hospital. He was shot. Just had surgery. Leaving would be hazardous to his health.

  His bed is disheveled. The pillows are practically hanging off the bed as though someone knocked them off. A blue blanket and the sheet are pulled to one side and a cell phone is tucked underneath it. I glance toward the door and see Travis talking to a nurse. The silver phone is shining back at me. It won’t hurt to take a peek.

  I pick up the phone and press the button on the side. A text flashes across the screen. It’s from a private number. It reads. Meet at the drop off spot with $50,000 or else I go public. A noise from the hall makes me tuck the phone back in the bed. Travis enters the room with a young petite blond nurse, named Hallie.

  Her brown eyes grow wide as she takes in the empty room. “He was here ten minutes ago.”

  Travis rubs his eyes. “He couldn’t just get up and walk out of here, right?”

  The nurse shakes her head. “He would have to pass the nurse’s station, unless…”

  “Unless what?” Travis snaps then cringes. “Sorry.”

  The nurse nods and then gestures toward the fire door across from the room. “Unless he went through there. The alarm is broken so anyone can enter or leave without being noticed. Although he was in no condition to leave.” She shifts back and forth. “I’ve got to talk to my supervisor and let her know what’s going on.”

  “Call if you hear anything.” Travis hands her a business card before she hurries back down the hall. He stares at the empty bed. His eyebrows are pinched together and appears to be deep in thought.

  I open my mouth to point out the phone, but a groan comes from the behind the fire door.

  Travis reaches for his gun and puts a finger to his lips. He creeps toward the fire door as I watch from the Mayor’s room. My palms begin to sweat and my heart pounds in my chest. It’s so loud, I’m sure Travis can hear it. He sneaks a peek at me before pushing open the door.

  “Officer Dane?”

  I let out the breath I’m holding and move toward the fire door. Travis’s bends down next to Officer Dane. Officer Dane is the same age as we are, but years on the force have not been good to him. His dark hair is already speckled with gray and a few wrinkles line his forehead, which also sports a huge bump on it. “What happened?” Travis asks, helping up his fellow officer.

  “I’m not sure.” Officer Dane replies, rubbing his head. “One minute I was checking on the Mayor and the next I’m waking up with a splitting headache.”

  I crouch down and assess his wound. “You don’t remember getting hit?”

  Officer Dane shakes his head.

  I’m not sure I believe him, but head wounds are fickle. “We better have a doctor look at you.”

  Travis holds on to Officer Dane’s arm as they make their way down the hallway. I trail behind them thinking about the day. The photo I found earlier flashes through my mind. I need to go back to the spa and check out the file. I feel like it’s the key to this puzzle.

  “Autumn?”

  I look up to see Josh standing in the waiting room. Travis and Officer Dane have disappeared. I must have zoned out. “How did you know I was here?”

  “Bobby called me.”

  I glance around the waiting room and as if Josh can read my mind he says, “He left. Something about needing to get some answers.”

  “Answers?”

  Josh shrugs. “He didn’t elaborate and I didn’t push.”

  “Did he say where he was going?”

  “No, why?”

  “The Mayor is missing.”

  “Missing?”

  I nod.

  Josh frowns. “You think Bobby had something to do with it?”

  I shrug.

  “I walked him out. He was alone. There’s no way he could have gotten the Mayor out of here.”

  “Unless he had help.”

  “Autumn.” Josh rakes a hand through his wet hair. He’s still wearing his leather bomber jacket. His dark jeans have a little bit of snow on the cuff and his boots are still covered with snow. Obviously, he hasn’t been here long, which didn’t give Bobby and whoever he is working with a lot of time to get the Mayor out of here without Josh seeing them.

  “You’re sure he left alone?”

  “Autumn, Bobby drove off as I came back inside. There’s no way he ‘kidnapped’ the Mayor.”

  “Maybe he pretended to drive off, but really drove around the side of the building and picked up whoever took the Mayor.”

  “And who took the Mayor?” Josh crosses his arms over his chest and raises an eyebrow.

  I bite my lip. My mind was going a million miles an hour and I’m grasping at straws. This whole case doesn’t make sense. If Vicky killed April because April was going to start a new spa in town then who killed Vicky and why? The Mayor was shot, is now missing and looks like he is being blackmailed. The Mayor was the key, I know it, but how? “We need to go to the spa.”

  19

  I take a sip of Chamomile tea and stew. Josh didn’t take me to the spa, he took me home. I’m sitting in my favorite MU sweatsh
irt and black yoga pants snuggled up on the couch. Josh fed me beef stew and shoved my favorite tea mug in my hand.

  He insisted we get home before the weather got any worse. We did slide into the driveway so I guess he has a point. I sigh. The snow is really hindering my ability to look into this case. Not to mention I’m still mad at my BFF. A subject we are both tiptoeing around.

  Josh hates confrontation and I can’t say I love it, but we need to discuss things. After everything Travis told me, I need time to process my feelings and figure out how to move forward.

  My phone rings interrupting my thoughts. Travis’s name flashes across it. I should pick it up. Josh and I left the hospital quickly. I gave one of the nurses a message telling him I’d left, but it still wasn’t the same as actually saying ‘good-bye’.

  Josh snorts when he sees who’s calling, but doesn’t say anything.

  I ignore him and tap a finger on the rim of my cup as I stare into the fire.

  “Autumn…I’m sorry.”

  I tear my gaze from the fire and lock eyes with my best friend. I hate fighting with him, but I also refuse to be in the middle of some weird triangle. “I know,” I whisper and take a sip of tea.

  “Please talk to me.”

  I shake my head. “I can’t right now. The Mayor is missing. Someone is stalking me. Shooting at me. I need to solve this case then figure out the rest of my life.”

  Josh nods. “What can I do to help?”

  There’s my BFF. “Where’s the file folder from Cat?”

  “I think it’s still in the Jeep.”

  “Can you get it?”

  He gets up and shrugs on his coat. “Do you think there’s something in there that will help you solve this case?”

  “I sure hope so because I’m coming up empty.”

  Josh opens the front door and lets in a blast of cold air. I hunker down and snuggle into the white chenille blanket on my blue plushy couch. He’s back in a few minutes with a file folder in his hand. He hands it to me then goes back to check the lock and peek out the front window.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Maybe nothing. I felt like I was being watched.”

  I sit up and push the blinds apart to stare out onto the empty street. Snow is still coming down and the yard is covered in a blanket of snow. Only a few houses still have lights on; it is after ten o’clock on a Monday night. The street’s empty, but I also get the feeling we’re being watched. I close the binds and move onto the floor so I can spread the file out on the coffee table. It’s not as thick as I remember it. Weren’t there more papers? I open it and gasp.

  “What is it?”

  “Nothing.”

  Josh furrows his brows. “What do you mean nothing?”

  I hold up the white pieces of paper. “Nothing but blank sheets of paper.”

  “What?!”

  “Someone must have broken into the Jeep. I really should start locking it. What is this town coming too? Murder, kidnapping, break-ins.”

  Josh wipes a hand over his face and sits down next to me. “I don’t like this, Autumn. Maybe you should let the police handle this.”

  I can smell the tea tree and mint on his sweater. It usually comforts me, but I don’t feel very calm. Someone is trying very hard to make sure I don’t piece all this together. I’m not sure what to think.

  “Autumn?”

  “We need to write down what we know. So much has happened and I need to get it all straight in my mind.”

  Josh grumbles something I can’t make out. I can feel his eyes on me as I get up and retrieve a notebook and pen from the book shelf. I’m a note taker. A visual person. I need to see what we’re working with. I flip open the book and write out April’s name then circle it, make a line and add Vicky’s name along with her motive, ‘rival spa’. I make another line from April’s name to the Mayor then write ‘blackmail and broke’. I bite the end of the pen and stare at the paper.

  “What about Sally and the good Dr.?”

  “Cat did say Sally and Vicky were talking in the office when she went to use the restroom. It’s possible they were working together, but why? Sally has only been in town for a month.”

  “Maybe they bonded over their hatred for April?”

  I frown. “Do you think Sally told Vicky about coming to town to get her boyfriend back? It seems like something you would share with a friend not your employer.”

  “True, but Sally doesn’t know a lot of people. Vicky gave her job.” Josh shrugs.

  Something didn’t feel right. Then I remember the photo. “Josh, I found something…in Vicky’s office.”

  “What?”

  “A photo.”

  “A photo of what?”

  “The Mayor and…Vicky.”

  “So.”

  “They were kissing.”

  Josh’s mouth drops open. “Vicky and the Mayor? Are you sure?”

  I nod. “They were young though. Maybe our age.”

  “That was over twenty year ago. The Mayor was still married.”

  “I know.” I rub my temples. A headache’s starting to form.

  “You don’t think…”

  “What?”

  “Bethany’s father was overseas in the Army, right?”

  “So.”

  “Maybe he’s not Bethany’s father.”

  My jaw drops. “Bethany does favor her mother, but I remember Bethany’s dad. She has his nose and some of his mannerisms. The Mayor and Vicky may have had an affair, but I don’t think Bethany was a product of it.”

  Josh shrugs. “It’s just a theory.”

  I bite my lip and try to remember back twenty years ago. I was only thirteen. Adult drama wasn’t something I was into, but I do remember babysitting for Vicky several nights a week after Bethany was born. She worked late at the spa trying to make ends meet. Her husband was killed in a military raid shortly after Bethany was born. Maybe Vicky got lonely. Turned to the Mayor for comfort. Josh clears his throat and pulls me from my thoughts.

  “Autumn?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Are you with me?”

  “Of course. I was just thinking about your theory. I still don’t believe Bethany is the Mayor’s daughter. Vicky was madly in love with her husband. She was crushed when he died.”

  “I know. She still has a photo of him in her office.” Josh hangs his head as if he feels guilty for even thinking she would cheat on her husband. “Where did you find the photo of Vicky and the Mayor?”

  “In a secret compartment in the desk. There was a file too, but I didn’t get a chance to look at it. We need to get to the spa and see what’s in there before someone else finds it.”

  “Do you think the person trying to break into the spa was looking for that file?”

  “Possibly…I don’t know. None of this makes any sense.” My phone rings again. Travis’s name pops up again.

  Josh scowls. “I’ll get some more tea. You better answer or he’ll keep calling.” He snags my cup and stomps into the kitchen.

  I sigh and pick up the call before it goes to voicemail. “Hello.”

  “Autumn, are you ok?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “You left the hospital without a word. A nurse told me you left with a man.”

  “Josh came to pick me up. I wasn’t sure when you would be able to leave so I came home.”

  “Oh.” He sounds disappointed.

  “Did you find the Mayor?”

  “Not yet.”

  “What about Officer Dane? Does he remember anything?”

  “Autumn,” Travis growls. “You know I can’t discuss this with you.”

  “Fine.” I snap. Silence fills the airways then I sigh and ask, “How’s Cat? Did Regina fix her hair?”

  “I just got off the phone with her. She’s officially a red head again.”

  I smile. “That’s good. Red heads are cuter than blonds.”

  “Are they now?” I can hear the smile in his voice.

  “I’
ve always been a fan.”

  “Good to hear.” Someone said something to him. “Autumn, I’ve got to go.”

  “Is everything ok?”

  “We have a lead on the Mayor?”

  “Let me know when you find him.” I want to add I hope he’s alive, but I keep the thought to myself. “Be careful, Travis.”

  “I will. Call you later?”

  “Please.”

  “Bye, Autumn.”

  “Bye, Travis.” I hang up and stare at the phone. A sinking feeling forms in the pit of my stomach. Is this how cop’s girlfriends and wives feel when they get off the phone with their loved ones? If so, I’m not sure dating Travis is such a good idea. Visions of awful things happening to him flash through my mind.

  “Did he find the Mayor?”

  I jump and drop the pen I’m holding. “Um, no.”

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” Josh sets my tea mug next to me. “Everything ok? Did Travis accuse you of kidnapping the Mayor? You’re as white as the blanket.” He gestures to the blanket on my lap.

  “No, how could I kidnap the Mayor? I was with Travis the whole time…” I pause and watch my best friend’s face fall. I hadn’t meant to let that slip. I decide to change the subject. “Back to our suspect list.” I add in Sally and Dr. Gregory with question marks by their name and write affair under Dr. Gregory’s name and jealous girlfriend by Sally’s name. “Their whole situation confuses me too. I know April was manipulative. Travis and Cat are proof and so is Bobby, but why bring Dr. Gregory here? Why not fly to Chicago to get treatments? She certainly had the money, what was the benefit of bringing him to Daysville?”

  “He’s a specialist. Maybe his treatments required more visits and it was easier to bring him here then fly there.”

  “I guess, but it still doesn’t feel right. Why didn’t Bobby go to any of these appointments?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he did. You could ask him.”

  “Good idea.” I pick up my phone and pause.

  “What?”

  “You don’t think Bobby is involved with any of this, do you?”

  “Both he and Nikki had every reason to kill April, but I don’t think they did and they had no reason to kill Vicky. Didn’t we rule them out?”