Vicious Valentine

by Patti Benning

  “I’ll escort you in, ma’am. It sounds like your friend is expecting you.”

  She nodded her thanks and followed the officer toward the building. He held the door open for her and she stepped inside. The apartments were on the second story, but there was a small area at the foot of the stairs for the line of mailboxes, with a bench along the wall. Vanessa was seated on the bench, a uniformed policewoman sitting next to her and handing her tissues. Vanessa looked up when Hannah came in and immediately started crying harder.

  Horrified, wondering if she had done something wrong, Hannah took a step back, but the policewoman was already getting up and gestured her over.

  “There you are. Thank you for coming. When she told us that she didn’t have any family in town, I suggested calling a friend. Will you be able to sit with her for a few minutes? She should be able to go soon, but we might have a few more questions to ask beforehand.”

  “Okay,” Hannah said, the word making its way past her lips on its own. She had no idea how to handle something like this.

  She approached the bench and took a seat on it hesitantly, reaching out to pat Vanessa’s shoulder. “Can I get you something? Do you need water?” she asked, saying the first thing that came to mind before she realized that she had no idea where she would even get water if Vanessa said yes.

  “No,” Vanessa said in a broken voice. “Sorry, I know I’m a mess. Thank you for coming, Hannah.”

  “I’m so sorry I didn’t answer your call sooner,” Hannah said, the words pouring out of her. “I was eating dinner with Ben and I thought you just wanted to talk about –” She broke off, deciding not to mention the date. “Well, I didn’t know it was important or I would’ve answered right away. I should have been here sooner.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Vanessa said, reaching over to pat her on the hand. Hannah winced, wondering how Vanessa had somehow ended up being the one comforting her. “I knew you were on a date with Ben, I just really needed someone here with me. You know Caroline is with Dean – I tried them too, but I think they both turned their phones off. I just alternated between calling the two of you. It was horrible Hannah, you have no idea…”

  “You can tell me what happened later,” Hannah said. “If you want to, of course. Is there anything I can do to help now?”

  “I don’t think so,” Vanessa said. “I just need someone to be there, you know? I’ve been here for the past hour, alternating between staring off into space and crying. Officer Blackhall was nice enough to sit with me, but it’s just not the same as having someone I know beside me.”

  Before Hannah could respond, the female officer, who Hannah was assuming was Officer Blackhall, came down the stairs. She nodded to Vanessa. “I can escort you to your apartment for you to grab your things now. Remember not to touch anything until we get to the bedroom.”

  “That was faster than I thought it would be.” Vanessa stood up, shoving a tissue into her pocket, and turned to Hannah. “Do you mind waiting here? It will only be a couple of minutes. I have to pack up some things – since the apartment is a crime scene. I’m not going to be able to return for a few days, at least.”

  “Of course. I’ll be here when you come back,” Hannah promised.

  Vanessa disappeared up the stairs, escorted by Officer Blackhall. While she was gone, another officer approached Hannah. “We’ve already mentioned it to your friend, but we’re expecting her at the police station at ten in the morning to go over her statement again. I just want to let you know, in case it slips her mind – seeing something like this would put anyone in shock. You’re a good friend, letting her stay with you on such short notice. It’s going to be better for her than going to a motel.”

  “Of course,” Hannah said, even though the officer’s statement was news to her. It made sense, though, now that she thought about it. She didn’t want her friend to have to be alone in a motel room either.

  It seemed Vanessa hadn’t thought of it either, because when she came down with her bag of clothing and toiletries, she just stood there, looking shell-shocked. Hannah stood up and nudged her. “Let’s go back to my place. I’ll make some warm cider or something, then we can talk, or just go to bed if that’s what you want.”

  Vanessa didn’t talk at all until they were pulling into Hannah’s driveway, when she seemed to come back to herself a bit. “Thank you,” she said softly. “For coming to get me, and for letting me stay with you.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner,” Hannah said. “Why don’t you go into the kitchen? I can bring your things up to the guest room.”

  Vanessa simply nodded and walked slowly into the house while Hannah dragged the bag out of the car and through the garage door into the hallway. Seeing her spitfire friend so subdued was concerning, and Hannah hurried to bring the bag upstairs, setting it on the bed in the guest room just down the hall from Hannah’s room. She looked around, making sure everything was in place. She had finally gotten around to painting the room. It had pale blue walls, dark gray sheets and bedding, and a dark wooden armoire against the far wall. There was a lamp on the bedside table that had a soft, warm glow, and a nightstand with a box of tissues and a charging station for cell phones. She still wanted to put up some pictures or paintings and maybe find a hardy houseplant to put by the window, but it was definitely more than serviceable now.

  When she went downstairs, she found Vanessa sitting on one of the stools by the island and staring at the counter. Hannah moved over to the fridge and said, “What would you like to drink?”

  Vanessa shrugged. “Cider is fine.”

  While Hannah heated up the cider and got mugs out for the two of them, she kept shooting glances at her friend. Vanessa seemed to be done with crying for now, but her sitting silently and staring off into space was almost worse. Maybe drawing her into conversation would help.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “I guess.”

  At her friend’s toneless voice, Hannah bit her lip. “We don’t have to, of course. Whatever you need, Vanessa.”

  “We were supposed to meet at my apartment after work,” Vanessa said. Hannah nodded, remembering their earlier conversation. “I was late – I had to help clean up a mess at the bar. I texted Rory when I left, telling him I was finally on my way, but he didn’t answer. I thought he might be driving. It never occurred to me that –” She broke off and took a sip of the hot cider Hannah had put in front of her. “I was the one who found him. I got to the top of the stairs, and he was on the ground, leaning against my door, and there was so much blood…” She closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath. “He was dead. I could tell right away. Someone stabbed him, Hannah. Right in front of my apartment door. I just… I don’t understand…”

  Her breath caught in her throat and she put the mug down. She seemed to be fighting back tears.

  “I’m sorry,” Hannah said, feeling helpless. “I wish I could help.”

  “I wish I had been there earlier,” Vanessa said. “I wish –” Her face darkened. “This is all Helena’s fault. If she had just taken the shift like she’d said she would, Rory and I would’ve been able to go out like we’d originally planned and none of this would have happened.”

  Hannah didn’t know what to say about that, so she simply sipped her cider and squeezed her friend’s hand.

  Chapter Five

  Hannah woke up before her alarm the next morning, having gotten a restful night’s sleep despite the long and exhausting day she’d had. The house was silent, and for a moment, as she laid in bed, her thoughts floated to everyday things, like wondering if she had to pick up any groceries, trying to remember if she had actually put laundry in the washing machine the night before like she had intended to do, and hoping Ben had had as good of a time as she had.

  Then, with a feeling like she had fallen into a frozen lake, she remembered Vanessa and what had happened after her dinner with Ben. She jumped out of bed, tossing the blankets off her with such force that they fel
l onto the floor, and hurried to the bedroom door before she chided herself. Vanessa wasn’t a child. If she was still asleep, then Hannah should be careful not to wake her up. It wasn’t even eight yet, and they had a couple of hours before they had to be at the police station. She could use this time to make breakfast instead of yanking a sleeping, grieving woman out of bed.

  She retreated to her bed to slip her feet into the slippers she kept beneath it, then made her way quietly into the hall, padding down the stairs silently. The house was new enough that none of the steps creaked. Her attempts at stealth proved to have been unnecessary when she heard a low voice coming from the kitchen. It seemed that Vanessa was awake after all.

  She stepped into the room and Vanessa looked around immediately even though Hannah was certain she hadn’t made much, if any, noise. Her friend was on the phone, but she gave Hannah a weak smile anyway. “Caroline,” she mouthed.

  “Invite her over,” Hannah said quietly. Vanessa nodded.

  While Vanessa spoke to Caroline, Hannah began pulling the ingredients out to make waffles. A quick check of the fridge showed her that she still had some bacon, along with plenty of eggs. Vanessa ended the call just as she started making the waffle batter.

  “Caroline’s on her way,” she said.

  “Does she know what happened?”

  Vanessa nodded. She seemed better this morning, but not by much. “I told her all about it. She woke me up early this morning with a phone call. I guess she didn’t see the missed calls and messages until she got up.”

  “She must have been worried.”

  “She was frantic,” Vanessa said. She gave Hannah a slightly amused look, though she still looked like a ghost of her own self. “She felt just as guilty as you did for not answering my calls earlier. I hope both of you know it’s not either of your faults for being on dates and not answering my calls. Neither of you could have known what was going to happen.”

  “I know we couldn’t have known, but I still feel bad,” Hannah said. “Nothing you say is going to change that. I should have been there for you when you needed me.”

  Caroline arrived just as Hannah finished making breakfast. She slid the plate of waffles out of the oven, where she had put it to keep them warm, and placed it on the kitchen island along with a plate of bacon. The eggs were still on the stove, and she put them on individual plates before passing them out. Caroline thanked her for the food, but merely picked at her plate as she turned to Vanessa. Vanessa, on the other hand, ate with relish, and Hannah realized that her friend probably hadn’t had a meal the night before. She felt another surge of guilt for not trying to get her to eat something before she went to bed.

  “I am so sorry,” Caroline began, but Vanessa pointed her fork at her in a halfhearted attempt at intimidation.

  “You have nothing to be sorry about,” she said. “Seriously, you two, stop apologizing and help me figure out what I’m going to do now. I’m the one with the dead boyfriend here.”

  “Do the police have any leads?” Caroline asked.

  Hannah, who had completely forgotten that she was supposed to remind Vanessa about her visit to the police station, glanced at the clock and was relieved to see that it was barely past eight-thirty. Thankfully, Vanessa remembered her commitment as well.

  “Not yet, but I have to talk to them at ten and I’m hoping they might have some more information.”

  “They’re going to catch the person responsible for this,” Caroline said, her voice certain. “Whoever killed him won’t get away with it.”

  “I hope so,” Vanessa said. “Rory… I know we’d only been dating for a little while, but he was a good guy. He didn’t deserve this. And…” She trailed off, staring at her plate silently for a moment. “This is going to sound horrible, but while I was trying to sleep, I realized how lucky I was that I wasn’t there.”

  “That doesn’t sound horrible at all,” Caroline said. “I’m glad you weren’t there too; you could have been killed too.”

  “But maybe if I was, whoever killed him wouldn’t have attacked at all.”

  Hannah shook her head, inserting herself into the conversation. “You can’t think like that. It’s not fair to yourself. There are too many variables; it’s impossible to know what would have happened if things were different.”

  Vanessa bit her lip, staring down at the plate in front of her as if the food she had been inhaling moments before had turned to unappetizing sludge.

  “But... what if it was my fault? What if... what if it was Corbin?”

  Caroline frowned. “Do you think he’d really do something like that? Kill the person you’re seeing?”

  Vanessa shrugged, then shook her head. “I just don’t know. I wouldn’t have thought him capable of something like that before, but with how creepy and stalker-ish he got toward the end of our relationship, it makes me doubt everything I thought I knew about him.”

  Caroline, who was opening the restaurant this morning, stayed until Hannah and Vanessa left to go to the police department. Hannah waited in the lobby while Vanessa gave her statement and went over everything that happened the night before, then she took her friend to the apartment so Vanessa could pick up her motorbike. Afterward, they returned to Hannah’s house.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind if I stay here for a couple of days?”

  “Of course not,” Hannah said. “Make yourself at home. And feel free to invite Caroline over again this evening if you’d like. I’ll have to leave in a couple of hours to get to the restaurant for my shift, and I don’t want you to be alone more than you have to.”

  Even though Vanessa assured her she was fine spending some time at the house by herself, Hannah felt bad when she had to leave her friend to go to work that afternoon. It wasn’t a very busy day, so Hannah took the time to walk around the dining area while Caroline finished her shift in the kitchen. Two of the new employees, Nadia and Shayne, were working that day, and while she didn’t want to put them on edge by hovering, she liked to see the progress they were making.

  “Hey, you,” a male voice said from by her shoulder. She turned and found Ben standing there. She’d been so invested in watching parents at a table try to wrangle a handful of kids into their seats that she hadn’t even noticed him approach.

  “Hey,” she said, giving him a quick, one armed hug. “I didn’t know you were working here today.”

  “I just stopped in to grab some food,” he said. “I called in a little while ago, so my order should be done pretty soon.”

  “Caroline’s finishing up in the kitchen – I can chat for another few minutes, but I’ll have to take over soon.”

  “No problem,” he said, leaning against the wall next to her. “Do you know yet what day would be good for dinner this week?”

  “I completely forgot,” she admitted, watching as Shayne dropped off a drink order at a nearby table. “I meant to call you earlier, but I was busy. Vanessa’s boyfriend was killed last night.” She told the entire story to Ben, keeping her voice low in hopes no one nearby would be able to hear.

  “How is she holding up?” he asked when she was done. “I can’t even imagine – she’s got to be a mess.”

  “She’s staying with me for the next couple of days, and I think she took some time off work. She’s doing well, though. You know her – she’s tough.”

  “Yeah, she is,” Ben agreed. “But no one is prepared to deal with something like this.”

  He fell silent as Shayne approached, waving at them as he went by. “My shift’s over,” he called out. “I’ll see you later, Ms. Cooper.”

  “Bye, Shayne,” she said, grateful that he was feeling better. Once he was passed, she lowered her voice and turned back to her conversation with Ben. “I know. I don’t know how to help her, though. I’m hoping Caroline will go over and spend some time with her after work. Speaking of, if Shayne’s shift is over, that means Caroline’s is too and I’d better go take over in the kitchen. I’ll check out the schedule and giv
e you a call sometime today, okay?”

  “Sure. No hurry. It sounds like you will be dealing with a lot. I can wait; your friend needs you now.”

  She gave him a quick smile, pressed a kiss to his cheek, and then made a beeline for the kitchen. It was time for work; everything else could wait.

  Chapter Six

  Monday nights weren’t particularly busy at Hawk’s Place, so Brian and Tony both had the evening off, leaving Hannah to handle all of the cooking herself. Even though Hawk’s Place had been growing in popularity, it was still a rather small restaurant, so even at their max capacity they weren’t as busy as some weekday nights were at the restaurant she worked at before moving to Shale.

  That didn’t mean that it was always easy to juggle multiple orders at once. She had to be completely focused on cooking while she was on the job, and she found it surprisingly easy to push everything else to the side. She was a few hours into her shift, in the middle of peeling apples for a sweet and savory pork and onion dish, when she realized that she hadn’t even checked her phone for the past hour. As soon as the dish was simmering, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked for messages. There was only one from Vanessa, who mentioned that Caroline had left to do some chores at her own house. She reassured Hannah that she was fine and would be watching TV for the rest of the evening, and Hannah didn’t need to worry about her.

  Rolling her eyes with a fond smile, Hannah took the time to send a message back. You know I’m going to worry, no matter what you say. If you feel like you need company, call Caroline and tell her to get her butt back there. Chores can wait.

  She sent the message and was about to slide the phone back into her pocket when the device buzzed, signaling an incoming call. She looked down at it, spotted Vanessa’s name on the caller ID, raised an eyebrow, and answered it.