The Malt in Our Stars

by Sarah Fox

  I’m looking forward to it, had been his reply.

  My original plan was to walk over to the Spirit Hill Brewery around midmorning. The Inkwell didn’t open until noon and Aunt Gilda had texted me to cancel our lunch date, so my schedule was clear for the next while. There was a murder to solve, of course, but at the moment I wasn’t quite sure what step to take next in that regard. And now that I was awake and dressed, I decided I needed to change my plan. Nervousness swirled around inside of me, robbing me of my appetite and distracting me so much that I couldn’t focus on reading Midnight’s Shadow while I ate my toast.

  It was pointless to try to concentrate on anything. I needed to get over to the brewery so I could see Grayson and, hopefully, put an end to the nervous whirling in my stomach.

  I made the trip to the brewery on foot. Although Grayson was my next-door neighbor, it took a few minutes to follow the long driveway that led up the wooded hillside. When I reached the fork in the driveway, I hesitated, wondering where I’d most likely find Grayson. His house was off to the right, while the brewery’s buildings were up ahead.

  In the end, I kept going straight, figuring he’d most likely been up and working at the brewery for a while already. I’d seen him out on an early morning jog with his dog, Bowie, on occasion, usually through my window while I was still in my pajamas, so I knew he tended to be up and about long before I was ready to start my day.

  My guess turned out to be a good one. As I crossed the brewery’s parking lot, I spotted Grayson emerging from one of the buildings, heading for the smaller structure that housed the offices. My steps faltered when he noticed me, but even from a distance I could see the grin that appeared on his face. Butterflies danced in my stomach, but they were fueled by excitement more than nervousness.

  “Sadie,” he said as he approached, and the warmth in his voice increased the fluttering of my butterflies.

  He was about to say something more when I blurted out, “I came to apologize.”

  “Apologize?” He seemed genuinely surprised. “What for?”

  “Running off yesterday after . . .” I couldn’t bring myself to finish the sentence.

  The reappearance of his grin brought me a rush of relief. “Don’t worry about it. As long as we’re okay.” He held my gaze. “Are we?”

  “Very much so,” I said before I had a chance to second-guess myself.

  “In that case,” he said, “will you have dinner with me on Tuesday?”

  “I’d love that.” I could feel shyness threatening to take over me, so I quickly changed the subject. “I was wondering if you could help me with something.”

  “I’ll try my best,” he said.

  I hadn’t planned to ask him for help with my investigation, but I realized now that he was the perfect person to assist me. At least, I hoped he was.

  “Before Marcie was killed, Eleanor Grimes insinuated that there was something shady about her past. I tried asking Eleanor about it, but she literally pushed me out of the museum and slammed the door in my face.”

  His forehead furrowed. “Eleanor’s not known for having a friendly disposition, but that seems extreme even for her.”

  “Right? She really didn’t want me implying that she was a suspect. Maybe because she’s guilty?”

  “Of murder?” Grayson didn’t sound convinced. “It’s hard to imagine her getting the upper hand in a struggle with someone less than half her age. Unless Marcie had some health or mobility issues?”

  I remembered that he’d never met her. “Aside from suffering from migraines, she seemed healthy. She was in her late twenties, I think. Eleanor’s got to be at least seventy.”

  “Exactly. It seems unlikely.”

  “It does,” I agreed. “But I noticed that Eleanor has scratches on her arms.”

  “From a struggle?”

  “Could be.”

  He still didn’t seem convinced, but that didn’t worry me.

  “She’s not the strongest suspect,” I conceded. “But I still want to know what she found out about Marcie’s past. It could be important, even if Eleanor’s not the killer. And I don’t want to upset Linnea by asking her. I’m not even sure she knew what Eleanor was referring to. So that’s where you come in.”

  Grayson raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “Since you used to be a private investigator, I was hoping you might know how to find out about someone’s past.” I waited eagerly for his reply.

  “Google is always a good start, but I’m guessing you already tried that.” There was a hint of a teasing tone beneath his words, but I didn’t mind.

  “I couldn’t find anything helpful. Just some social media profiles and a couple of mentions of her name in relation to Linnea.”

  I waited as Grayson studied me. I didn’t know what he was thinking, and that brought my nerves back to the surface, making me eager to fill the silence.

  “You know how to check someone out, right?” When I realized what I’d said, I slapped my hands to my face. “That came out wrong.”

  Grayson laughed and tugged my hands away from my face. “Yes, I do. And yes, I will.”

  “Really?”

  He kept hold of one of my hands and took a step closer to me. “Sadie . . .”

  I held my breath, wondering what he’d say next, but the sound of running footsteps interrupted us, wrenching our attention away from each other.

  Annalisa, the brewery’s receptionist, ran toward us from the direction of the offices.

  “Mr. Blake!” She came to an abrupt stop when she reached us, pressing a hand to her chest as she gasped for breath. A few strands of blond hair had come loose from her French braid.

  “What’s wrong?” Grayson asked as my hand slipped out of his.

  “It’s Ms. Lo from the film crew,” Annalisa said between breaths. “She’s gone missing!”

  Chapter 14

  “Where and when did you last see Olivia?” Grayson asked Alex and Evan.

  We’d gathered in the small reception area of the building that housed the brewery’s offices. Annalisa was behind her desk, trying to reach Olivia by phone for the third time since Alex and Evan had realized that she’d gone missing.

  “We were inside the main building, getting ready to film a couple of the workers doing their thing,” Alex replied. “Olivia said she needed to make a phone call, so she stepped outside.”

  “That’s the last we saw of her,” Evan added.

  Alex shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I went outside to see what was taking her so long, but she’d disappeared. I looked around, called her name, tried phoning her. Nothing. I called Jules too. He’s at the coffee shop. He hasn’t seen or heard from Olivia in more than an hour.”

  When Grayson glanced Annalisa’s way, she shook her head, letting him know that the third call had gone straight to voicemail, just like the previous ones.

  “Did you all drive up here in the same car?” Grayson asked.

  Alex nodded. “And it’s still in the parking lot. I’ve got the keys.”

  Grayson pulled out his cell phone. “I’m going to call my head of security. He can check the surveillance footage and see where Olivia went once she got outside.”

  Grayson moved into a corner of the room as he spoke into his phone.

  “This totally isn’t like her,” Alex said. “She’s such a stickler for being on schedule, and now we’re half an hour late getting started on today’s filming.”

  “Maybe she cracked,” Evan said.

  Alex shot him a dirty look.

  Evan shrugged. “She’s been freaking out about everything that’s been happening, and you know she’s worried about getting the ax.”

  “She didn’t crack,” Alex said, steadfast in his opinion.

  “She’s worried about losing her job?” I asked. “Why?”

  “This is her first episode as director,” Alex explained. “The last director got fired, so Olivia’s worried that if things don’t go smoothly, she’ll look b
ad and get fired too.”

  “Even though the vandalism isn’t her fault?” I said.

  Alex ran a hand through his dark hair. “She shouldn’t be so worried. We’ve almost got all the footage we need and, like you said, the smashed windshields and stuff aren’t her fault. Besides, even though she’s been stressed out about the problems we’ve had, Olivia’s got it way more together than our last director.”

  “What was wrong with the last one?” I asked, ever curious.

  Evan pointed a finger to his head and made a circle.

  Grayson ended his call and rejoined us in the middle of the reception area. “Jason, the brewery’s head of security, is on his way over here. He’ll check out the surveillance footage as soon as he gets here. In the meantime, maybe we should spread out and have a look around.”

  Olivia’s crewmates agreed to that plan and headed out the door with Grayson. I followed after them, wanting to help out. We split up so we could check the perimeter of all the buildings. If Olivia had gone inside one of them, Jason would likely see that on the surveillance footage and let Grayson know. For the time being, we decided to search outdoors, although Grayson let some of his workers know to be on the lookout for Olivia inside as well.

  I hoped she wasn’t having a breakdown like Evan had suggested, though she had seemed stressed on all the occasions I’d seen her. I wondered if she suffered from any health problems. Maybe she’d passed out somewhere.

  Worried she could be in need of medical assistance, I picked up my pace as I walked around the outside of one of the buildings. As I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of Olivia, I realized I didn’t know what was inside the structure I was circling. I’d lived next door to the brewery for more than half a year now, but I’d never taken a tour of the facility, even though they were available for visitors most days of the week. I’d have to remedy that sometime soon, I decided. Even though I owned a pub, I’d never seen the inner workings of a brewery before.

  As I completed my circuit of the building, I found Grayson standing outside a large door, currently shut.

  “No luck?” I guessed.

  “No.” He nodded at the door. “This is where she came out. I don’t know where she would have gone, if not to the car. Annalisa already checked the women’s washroom and the staff washrooms, but they were all empty.”

  I was about to ask how long it would take for Jason to get a look at the security footage when I froze. “Did you hear that?” I asked.

  “Hear what?”

  I kept still, straining to hear anything other than the birds in the trees at the edge of the property. I’d almost concluded that I’d imagined the distant thudding when I heard it again. Grayson’s gaze snapped to his right, and I knew he’d heard it too. A second later, a muffled, desperate voice joined the thudding.

  “Is it coming from that shed?” I pointed to a small building near the tree line, with a tractor mower parked in front of its door.

  Grayson broke into a jog, heading for the shed. I followed hot on his heels. As we got closer, and I could hear the voice better through the pounding, I realized it was a woman calling for help. And she didn’t sound happy.

  “Olivia?” Grayson called as we reached the shed.

  “Oh, thank God!” The thudding stopped. “Get me out of here!”

  “Hold on,” Grayson said, already releasing the brake on the tractor mower. Someone had parked it so close to the shed that the door wouldn’t open.

  I helped Grayson push the mower out of the way. The shed door burst open and Olivia stumbled out into the open, blinking against the daylight. Her fashionable clothes were rumpled and dirty, and her hair was messy.

  “Are you all right?” Grayson asked as he reset the parking brake on the mower.

  Olivia glared at the machine. “Is that what was blocking the door?” She didn’t wait for confirmation. “Who’s behind this?” Her voice rose in pitch. “They could have killed me!”

  “How did you end up in the shed?” I asked, wondering if she was exaggerating.

  “I was just walking around, talking on my phone, when someone hit me hard from behind.” She put a hand to the back of her head and winced as she touched her scalp. She checked her fingers, but fortunately there was no blood on them. “I didn’t lose consciousness, but I was stunned. Someone dragged me into that shed and shut me in there.” She glanced around. “Where’s my phone? Oh no!” She rushed over to a phone that lay on the ground a few feet away. “Seriously? I’m going to strangle whoever did this!”

  The phone’s screen was smashed, as if someone had stomped on it. Olivia finally stopped talking, long enough for Grayson to get a chance to say something.

  “Did you see who did this to you?”

  “All I saw was someone in a black hoodie.” She tried to make her phone work, with no results.

  “I’ll call an ambulance, and the police,” Grayson said.

  “I don’t need an ambulance, but I do want to talk to the police. This has gone far enough!”

  “That’s for sure,” I said. The saboteur’s conduct was escalating in an alarming fashion.

  Olivia ran her fingers through her hair. “Where are Alex and Evan? We need to get filming.”

  “I think you should get checked out by a doctor first,” Grayson said as he woke up his phone. “You might have a concussion.”

  “I don’t need a doctor. I just need to get this episode finished!”

  Grayson exchanged a glance with me and then got on his phone. I wouldn’t have called Olivia hysterical, but she was far from calm. Alex and Evan appeared and jogged over our way as soon as they spotted Olivia. I moved a few feet away as they converged on the director and she immediately repeated her story—and her rant—to her crewmates.

  When Grayson finished his phone call, he came over to join me and checked his text messages.

  “Jason’s over in the office,” he said. “He wants us to come take a look at the footage.”

  “Hopefully Olivia’s attacker was caught on camera.”

  “They must have been,” Grayson said. “We’ve got cameras all around this place. Whether we can identify him or her might be another story.”

  Alex and Evan were up to speed now, so Grayson suggested we all head back over to the offices. Olivia assured us that she was fine to walk over there under her own steam. She certainly didn’t seem any worse for wear, aside from her rumpled appearance and stoked temper.

  Jason was waiting for us in the reception area. I’d met him on a few previous occasions so I needed no introduction. The first time we’d crossed paths, he’d escorted me off the brewery’s property at Grayson’s request. That was back when Grayson and I weren’t exactly on the best of terms. Jason was a big and imposing man, standing well over six feet tall, with muscles that looked like they were made from steel. Nobody with any sense would mess with him.

  “Are you all right, ma’am?” he asked Olivia. “I saw what happened on the surveillance video. That was a nasty hit to your head.”

  “I’m fine,” Olivia said impatiently. “Did you see who attacked me?”

  “Come take a look.” Jason led the way into one of the offices.

  Several screens were mounted on one wall, each one displaying a different part of the brewery. Jason headed for what looked like the control center. He tapped a few buttons and then pointed at one of the screens. It showed a static view of the area around the shed where we’d found Olivia.

  “Watch this,” Jason said.

  He hit a button and the video played. At first no one was in sight, but then Olivia walked into view, holding her phone to her ear. She turned around, ready to pace back the way she’d come, when another figure darted into frame and whacked Olivia on the back of the head with what looked like a short piece of two-by-four. I winced as the footage showed Olivia crumple to the ground, her phone skittering out of her hand.

  “But who is it?” Olivia demanded, still impatient. “It looks like a woman, but the hood is hiding her
face.”

  “Just wait a moment,” Jason advised.

  Olivia let out a huff, but otherwise stayed quiet.

  The hooded figure stomped on the fallen phone before grabbing Olivia’s legs and dragging her through the shed’s large door. A moment later, the attacker reappeared, pushing the tractor mower out into the open. After slamming the door, the figure maneuvered the mower into place to block the door. It didn’t look easy, but the big machine was soon in place.

  Olivia’s attacker set the brake on the tractor and then spun around. The sweatshirt’s hood fell back, briefly revealing the woman’s face and long blond hair, before she yanked it back up over her head and sprinted away.

  “I don’t believe it!” Olivia said, staring at the screen.

  Jason backed up the footage and froze the frame that showed the woman’s face.

  Alex swore as he took a step closer to the screen.

  I was almost as surprised as Alex and Olivia.

  “You know who that is?” Grayson asked them.

  “I told you she was crazy,” Evan muttered.

  “Wait.” I put two and two together. “You mean that’s the director that got fired?”

  Olivia’s hands balled into fists, her gaze still fixed on the screen. “I’m going to wring her skinny little neck.”

  “She’s the one who got fired,” Alex said in answer to my question.

  Olivia had completely ignored me.

  “What’s her name?” Grayson asked.

  “Tiffany Clearwater.” Alex shook his head. “I can’t believe she’d do this.”

  “I can,” Evan said.

  “Where is she now?” Olivia shot the question at Jason. “Where did she go?”

  “She took off down the driveway,” he replied. “That was nearly half an hour ago now.”