by Jenn Cowan
Bobby runs a hand through his hair, which only makes it stand up due to all the gel in it. “Kids are another issue. I can’t give her any.”
“You can’t?”
He shakes his head. “April and I tried for years and were never able to have any.”
I frown, completely forgetting that little fact. I open my mouth to say something else when Lindy calls out to me. I raise an eyebrow at her appearance. She’s looking a little sweaty and her mascara is running down her face. There’s no way she’s nervous. She lives for this stuff. It’s literally her business as she’s a party planner.
“Autumn… Joshhh,” she slurs. “You two need to take your places at the back of the room. You’re not in the first part of the scene. Chase and Allisonnn, please head to the pianooo. Taylorrr, you need to get behind the bar with the other barmaids and Travisss, you come in from the side exit with your posseee. Be sure to pretend you’re shooting up the place. Lotsss of gun clicking and hollering,” Lindy orders before stumbling toward the bathroom.
Travis rolls his eyes and heads toward the exit while a couple of other deputies trail behind him.
Chase begins to play the piano while Allison sings next to him. Couples mingle around the tables while the barmaids serve everyone drinks. Regina flirts with Pastor John, who still looks incredibly uncomfortable sitting in his chair.
I jump when Travis and his ‘posse’ storm into the room, making lots of noise with their toy guns and all their whooping and hollering. They make their way around the room, pretending to bug the ‘patrons’ then settle in on the bar stools. Everyone looks around at each other because they’re waiting for Lindy to shut off the lights so someone can ‘murder’ someone in the bar, but it never happens. I exchange a look with Josh. “Maybe something’s wrong with the breaker. Since we’re not in this scene, I’ll go see if I can help her.”
“I think I should come with you.”
I nudge him in the stomach. “Is this your way of trying to get me alone, Mr. Parker?”
He grins and murmurs, “Always.” Then his expression turns serious. “I also want to make sure you’re safe. Lindy seems like a loose cannon tonight. Has she had too much to drink? She didn’t seem like herself up there.”
I rack my brain trying to remember if Lindy was drinking anything during dinner. I don’t remember seeing her with anything but her usual pink bedazzled tumbler cup, which she always has diet coke in. She calls it her unicorn juice. Whatever that means. Maybe she spiked her soda with a little alcohol for the party. It wouldn’t be the first time someone got overly tipsy in this town hall and it certainly won’t be the last. “Let’s both go check on her.”
Josh intertwines his fingers with mine before leading me toward the hallway. When we reach the breaker box, Lindy isn’t anywhere to be found.
“That’s strange.” I take in the dusty janitors closet to see if there’s any sign of her being in here. A pink jewel catches my attention by some stained towels on the floor. I bend down to pick it up then notice some drops of blood. “That’s strange.”
“What?” Josh asks, peering over my shoulder.
“This is a jewel from Lindy’s cup, but there’s blood over here.”
Josh tenses behind me. “Do you think she cut herself and went to find a first aid kit?”
I point at the white first aid box with the big red cross on the lid hanging on the wall. “She wouldn’t have had to go far.” I chew on my lower lip as I scan the area, but when I don’t see anything else I tell Josh, “I’m going to check the bathroom. Maybe she went to wash the wound.”
He nods. “I’m still coming with you.”
“It’s right across the hall, Josh. I think I’ll be ok in the ladies’ room,” I tease.
He doesn’t smile, which isn’t like him. “Something’s wrong, Autumn. The way Lindy was acting then the blood. I think something’s happened to her.”
“Like what?”
“I’m not sure, but I don’t think you should go into that bathroom alone.”
“What’s going on out here?” Travis inquires, tucking his toy gun in his belt. “Where’s Lindy? The town’s getting restless in there. They want to see a murder.” He shivers at the words. “Not that I can say I’m looking forward to it happening, but when it’s fake, I guess it’s ‘fun’.” He shakes his head. “I’ll never understand these theater parties. What’s the appeal?” He pauses. “What’s with you two? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“We can’t find Lindy and there’s blood in the janitor’s closet.”
Travis’s face grows serious. “Show me.”
Josh leads him into the janitor’s closet while I sneak away to check the bathroom.
Part of me thinks Josh is just on edge because of all the murders happening around town, but another part of me wonders if his intuition is valid. I can at least pop in and clear the bathroom so the guys don’t storm it and give some old lady a heart attack while she’s trying to relieve herself.
When I step into the bathroom, I notice more drops of blood on the floor. As I make my way into the bathroom those drops turn into puddles and before I can even get to the sinks, I spot Lindy lying in a pool of blood by the bathroom stalls. I rush to her side and check for a pulse. When I can’t get anything, I scream, “Help!”
Travis and Josh rush into the bathroom.
Josh immediately gets on his cell and calls for help.
Travis drops to his knees and checks for a pulse before trying to find the source of the blood. “Where’s all this blood coming from?” he asks, although I’m not actually sure he’s asking me that question so I keep my mouth shut and let him do his job. He scans her body again for a wound. “It’s like it’s coming from her nose and mouth.”
“Is she…”
Travis feels again for a pulse then shakes his head. “She’s dead.”
3
“Autumn, are you alright?” Josh hands me a mug of chamomile tea then snuggles under the blanket with me on the couch.
I take a sip of tea letting the soothing herbs calm me. We’re trying to decompress after a long night of questions and more questions and not just from the police. Everyone in town is in an uproar over Lindy’s death. No one seems to know what to do or what to think. Her cause of death wasn’t clear so everyone’s on edge.
The clock on the wall chimes, drawing my attention to it. It’s almost two in the morning and we have to be up in five hours to have the spa open by nine. At this rate, I’m not sure I’ll even make the Saturday morning Farmer’s market in Villsboro. I yawn, but my mind’s racing with possibilities. “I just don’t understand what happened. Was she sick? Did she fall? Was she… murdered?”
Josh squeezes my shoulder. “Babe, Travis said he would call as soon as he knows anything.”
“I know, but if it was murder, we only have a small window of opportunity to catch the killer.” I take another sip of tea then lean my head back on the couch.
“Let’s go to bed. We can figure all this out tomorrow.”
I groan. There’s no way I’m going to sleep with everything going on.
Josh holds out a hand to help me to my feet and leads me back to our bedroom. We get ready for bed and as we’re lying there, my head on his chest while he draws circles and hearts on my shoulder with his index finger, he asks, “If she was murdered, who would be at the top of your suspect list?”
“Hmm. That’s a good question. Lindy is a great party planner, but no one in town seemed to really like her. She flirted with everyone’s husband.”
“Except for me,” Josh corrects.
I lift up and look at him. “Yeah, why is that? You’re the hottest guy in town.”
He kisses my head. “I think you’re a little biased, but I’ll take it.” Then he sighs, “It’s probably because the one time she did flirt I called her out on it and told her she didn’t hold a candle to you so she’d better move on.”
I gasp. “You never told me that. When was this?”
I frown. “You’ve been single for years. She never hit on you while you were single?”
“No. It seems Lindy preferred a challenge. Taken men were more her type.”
I scowl. “That’s awful.”
“I don’t think Lindy every truly wanted to settle down. If she did there are plenty of unattached men in this town for her to choose from.”
“Are there any men who didn’t take kindly to her constant flirting or their wives for that matter?”
“Besides Nikki?”
I stiffen at hearing her name. “You don’t think…”
“I would say after their very public fight tonight, Nikki will be at the top of the suspect list if this turns out to be murder.”
“But Nikki is a yogi. They’re all about ‘Namaste’ and harmony. There’s no way Nikki would kill her and how would she anyway? She wasn’t even there when Lindy died. Bobby said she went home.”
“Did she though? Who can verify that?”
I open my mouth to defend my best friend, but I can’t refute Josh’s claim. “There wasn’t a wound. It looked like all the blood was coming from her mouth and nose, but there was no cut or gash.”
Josh doesn’t say anything for a moment. “Lindy was slurring her words. She seemed disoriented and she was sweating an awful lot. Then there was the excessive bleeding.” He untangles himself from me, turns on the lamp and grabs his phone off the nightstand.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking up her symptoms,” he says, tapping away on his phone.
“Why?”
“Maybe we can figure out how she died.”
I sit up and peer over his shoulder. “Poison?”
“More specifically arsenic.”
“That’s an awful way to poison someone.” I scan the list of symptoms. “Vomiting blood, sweating, cramps, diarrhea, dizziness, slurred speech until your organs shut down one by one. Ugh. That sounds awful. If she was poisoned, someone had to give her a pretty high dose for her to experience such severe symptoms so quickly.”
“It says here it can take up to thirty minutes for a person to display symptoms because the poison has to get into their system.”
My eyes grow wide. “So, Nikki could still be a suspect even if she wasn’t there.”
“It’s a possibility. I think you have to prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario. Their fight was very public and the fact that Lindy’s been cozying up to Bobby gives Nikki motive.”
I lean my head back on the headboard. “But Bobby doesn’t even like Lindy. Nikki knows he loves her.”
“Bobby said himself that he and Nikki have been having issues. Maybe…”
“Maybe what?”
“Do you think Bobby was cheating on Nikki and she found out somehow?”
I turn my nose up at his suggestion. “Nikki would have told me.”
“She didn’t tell you about them having problems,” Josh points out.
I scowl at him. “Thanks for rubbing that in.”
He puts his phone back on the nightstand and drags me into his side. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to upset you. I was only pointing out facts. You like facts, right?” He nuzzles my neck.
“Sometimes,” I mumble then giggle when he nibbles on my collar bone. “Fine, yes, I like facts. Happy?”
“Not quite,” he moves up my neck to my lips and plants a breathtaking kiss on them.
My phone ringing on the other nightstand interrupts us.
Josh groans against my lips. “Talk about bad timing.”
I plant one more kiss on him before snagging my phone. “It’s Nikki.” I glance at the time. “I wonder why she’s calling so late.”
“She probably heard about the murder.”
I nod and answer the phone. “Hey, Nik.”
“Autumn, Bobby came over and told me about Lindy.”
“Isn’t it awful?”
Silence.
“Nikki, did I lose you?”
“No, I’m still here.”
I sit up more in the bed. “What’s wrong?”
“Can you meet me?”
“Um, sure. How about breakfast at the bakery? Or we could go to the Farmer’s market together?”
“No, like now?”
I glance over at Josh, who I know can hear every word.
His blue eyes darken and his brows pinch together.
“Um, it’s kind of late. We were just getting ready to go to bed.”
“Please, Autumn. It’s important. Meet me at the yoga studio in ten minutes,” she orders then hangs up.
I look down at my phone before meeting Josh’s eyes. “I guess you heard all of that?”
He nods. “I don’t like this Autumn. It’s late and there may be a killer on the loose.”
I reach up and stroke his cheek. “I know, but this is Nikki and she sounds off. Maybe something happened with her and Bobby.”
“If it did, why didn’t she just tell you over the phone?”
I shrug. “She’s probably upset and needs a shoulder to cry on. I’ll take my Taser and stay in the Jeep until she gets there.”
“I could always drive you and just wait in the Jeep,” Josh offers, already getting out of bed and putting on some sweat pants.
“Babe, it’s late. You should get some sleep. One of us has to be on our A game tomorrow. We’re trying out the new aromatherapy oils on several of our clients. If Nikki takes too long, I may pick the wrong oil and ruin the whole experience.”
Josh smirks. “Autumn, you can’t pick the wrong oil in an aromatherapy treatment. There’s literally a specific set of oils for the treatment.”
I wave him off and tug a sweatshirt over my head before slipping into some yoga pants and boots. “I could put them in the wrong order.”
He laughs. “Alright, you go. I’ll stay here and hold down the fort.” He pauses then glances around the room like he’s searching for something.
“What are you looking for?”
“Just thinking.”
I quirk an eyebrow. “About?”
“Maybe getting a dog. We could put the dog bed by the bedroom window so if anyone tried to break-in he could wake us up.”
“A dog? For protection?”
Josh nods.
“Where did this come from?”
“I’ve always wanted a dog, but my parents never wanted the responsibility and then when I got older, other things took precedence.” He walks around the bed and wraps his arms around my waist. “I always thought once I got married and had a beautiful wife…” He kisses my nose. “I would get a dog before having a couple of kids. That way the dog could protect them too.”
I melt at his words. “So, you want to get a dog?”
He nuzzles my neck. “Haven’t you ever thought about getting a pet?”
“Well sure, but not a dog.”
Josh jerks back and stares at me like I’m not his wife. “Wh-what do you mean? I know you’re not a cat person because you’re allergic.”
I chuckle. “No, definitely no cats. I was leaning more toward a bunny.”
“A bunny? They poop… a lot. What do you even do with a bunny? It can’t even protect you or alert you if there’s an intruder.”
“I know, but you can pet it. Feed it. Hold it. Not to mention they’re so soft and cute.”
Josh makes a face.
I swat his chest. “Alright let’s table the pet talk until further notice. Nikki’s waiting on me.” I raise up on my tiptoes and give him a peck on his cheek. “I’ll text you when I get to the studio and when I’m on the way home, okay?”
“Promise?” He yanks me in and plants a toe curling kiss to my lips. When he lets go, I’m breathless and so not wanting to leave the house.
“Promise,” I whisper, still trying to catch my breath as I make my way to the front door. When I step out onto the porch, I yelp when a hand covers my mouth.
4
“Autumn, it’s me,”
Travis whispers.
“What are you doing out here?” I demand, shoving him away from me. “It’s after two in the morning. Why are you not in bed? Or at the station? Or with Taylor?”
Travis runs a hand through his red hair and steps back onto the sidewalk. “I came to talk to you about what happened tonight.”
“At two in the morning!” I cry. “What is it with everyone wanting to talk so early in the morning?”
“Who is everyone?” He eyes me then asks, “Why are you dressed and look like you’re going somewhere?”
I avoid his eyes and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear before shifting my feet nervously back and forth. “Um, no one. No reason. Why?”
“Autumn,” he growls. “What are you hiding and why is your husband letting you do it alone?”
I wrinkle my nose up at him. “My husband doesn’t ‘let’ me do anything thank you very much.”
He swipes a hand down his face. “I didn’t mean it like that, Autumn. Just… where are you going and why are you going alone?”
“That’s none of your business, detective. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere to be.” I try to push past him, but he blocks my way.
Travis holds his ground and fights back a grin as he crosses his arms over his chest like he’s a bouncer refusing me entry into a club. “You do realize I’m just going to follow you if you don’t tell me and I may even follow you anyway.”
I glare at him. “Don’t you have a job to do or something?”
“I am doing my job. I’m talking to the consultant for the police department about an ongoing case.”
I straighten up at his words. “So, it’s a case now. Does that mean Lindy was murdered?”
Travis cups his mouth like he wishes he would have kept his mouth shut. “I shouldn’t say anything as the autopsy isn’t complete and the blood tests haven’t come back yet, but we found Lindy’s cup that she drinks from all the time.”
“Yes, the sparkly one with rhinestones that’s basically a shrine to diet coke.”