“She was really struggling, Missy.”
She didn’t like his emphasis on the word really. “What does that mean?”
“It means…” She could see the wheels spinning in his mind as he thought of how to phrase it. “…it means she was in a very bad place.”
“Psychologically, you’re saying?”
He nodded once.
“So what?” She pointed at him. “You’re thin so you don’t know what it’s like to be heavy, to be loudly or even silently ridiculed your whole life because of excess weight.”
He held out a palm. “I won’t even begin to imagine what she was going through, Missy.”
She didn’t hear him, though. She was too fired up. “We have our ups and downs and some days, yes, it’s depressing to look in the mirror and see all the hard work you’ve put in to lose weight all for nothing. But Karen wouldn’t have resorted to tape worms.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I’ve known her since we were seven years old. And have you spoken to Eleanor Lyons?”
“Eleanor is…” Paul searched his memory.
“She’s a member of the club too. That night, Karen told me that Eleanor recommended a diet to her.”
“Oh that’s right.” Paul nodded. “I did speak to Eleanor and she showed me the email she’d sent to Karen with the new diet.”
Missy waited for him to expand on his answer. When he didn’t, she said, “And it wasn’t the tape worm diet, right?”
Paul shook his head no. “It was about timing your meals differently. There’s some science behind eating the same amount of calories, but just at different parts of the day. I had no idea.”
In her mind, Missy crossed Eleanor of the list of suspects. “Okay, so tell me then, if Karen was on this new diet that was working why would she give herself tape worms?”
Missy had almost forgotten about the man’s partner, until the other cop looked up from his computer and turned in his chair to openly listen and watch.
PJ didn’t answer the question. “I appreciate you knew her a long time, but how often did you see her recently?”
“Not as much as either of us liked,” Missy said, seeing where he was going with this. “But that doesn’t mean we weren’t close.”
PJ nodded a few times. “When was the last time you saw her before three nights ago?”
Missy had to think about it. “Four or five months, maybe.”
“You yourself told me you only saw Karen once every few months at most.”
“Yeah, but like I said, we were close. We knew each other our whole lives…we shared a bond that went beyond seeing each other every week.”
PJ sat back. “Missy, I’m sorry to tell you this, but I have no reason to suspect anybody gave her tape worms.”
“What about Abella? What about her ex-fiance? What about her friend, Connie? I saw them practically yelling in each other’s faces right before Karen went to the bathroom that night!”
PJ folded his arms. “I’m sorry, Missy. There’s just nothing there.”
“No, wait. Wait a second. There’s more.” She replayed her conversation with Karen for him, practically word-for-word. “When I asked her if she’d tried the tape worm diet, she reacted pretty strongly. It wasn’t an act. And if she had tried it, she would have told me. I’m sure of it.”
PJ gave off the appearance of considering what she was saying at least. “Double bluff.”
“Excuse me?”
“You started the thread with her, right?”
Missy didn’t know what he was saying.
PJ went on. “You asked her what the craziest diet she’d heard of was, then she volunteered that anecdote about the tape worms?”
Missy nodded. “That’s what I said, right—”
“Did you ever stop and consider that might have been her way of gauging your reaction, to see if she could share that information with you?”
“Karen would—”
Missy stopped what she was saying. He’d made a good point. Thinking back to the conversation with Karen, her friend had watched her reaction the whole time…but no, there was no way. Missy knew Karen, no matter how infrequently they saw each other. And what was more, Karen never lied to her like that. Sure, she might have held back on some things but she was always up front about keeping things to herself. This double bluff, or whatever PJ had called it, wasn’t Karen’s style.
“I knew my friend, PJ. This wasn’t her.”
He pursed his lips, clearly biting back what he really wanted to say. “I’m sorry, Missy. I know how difficult this loss must be.”
“You’re not even going to look into the possibility?”
He stood. “We’ll take what you’re saying into consideration. Now I’m sorry, but I really have to get back to what I was doing.”
Missy stood. She wanted to fire off a snappy comeback, but she was too upset.
Chapter Nine
M issy didn’t know what to do with herself. It was the early afternoon. She had the day off, but Noreen was working. She tried her mother, but got no answer. So she ended up driving around, eventually stopping at the diner across the street from the fire department. It was an odd hour to eat but she didn’t know what else to do.
The waitress came and Missy ordered a garden salad and glass of water. Lost in thought, she stared absently out the window. She had three—no, four—leads to explore but didn’t know the best way to even approach them. Even worse, her conversation with PJ had put some doubt into her mind. The truth was, she and Karen weren’t as close as they’d been years ago. After breaking off her engagement, Karen hadn’t even felt comfortable enough with Missy to share the details. That should have told her something.
“Hey, Missy.”
She was so absorbed in her thoughts, Missy hadn’t even seen Aaron walking right toward her across the diner. Wearing his same uniform from the other night, Missy briefly wondered what he was doing here, then recalled the EMTs liked to hang out at the fire station sometimes. He must have been across the street.
“Hi, Aaron.” She got up and gave him a hug.
He kept his hands on her shoulders. “It’s good to see you.”
She smiled. “I won’t be much company, Aaron.”
He made a face. “How was the funeral?”
“As good as a funeral of a thirty-seven-year-old woman can go.”
He grimaced. “Sorry, dumb question. What I meant to really ask is, how are you holding up?”
Missy didn’t know where to begin. Normally Aaron was angling to ask her out, so she politely made small talk without revealing anything too serious about herself. She liked him, and looking into his eyes now, she was taken back by how handsome he was. Growing up he’d always been kind of awkward, especially in high school, but now that he’d been a man for many years, he’d come into his own. Why had she never seen him this way before?
“Honestly? I’m not doing that well.”
He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. Normally that kind of gesture would put her off, but Missy liked the feel of his hands. Even though he was touching her, she didn’t get the sense he was hitting on her, strangely.
“I’m sorry.” Aaron looked away for a moment. “I know what you’re going through.”
Missy remembered. A few years ago, Aaron had lost his best friend from high school, Elliot Gamble. A drunk had crossed the center line and plowed into Elliot head-on while he was on his way home from a fundraiser of all things
“He was a good guy, Elliot,” she said.
Aaron nodded. “Just like I’m sure Karen was. Especially if you were friends with her.”
She smiled, grateful for having him here. She’d always liked Aaron, even if his advances were a little too obvious and forced. He was a good guy. He worked as an EMT and was just…nice all around.
Missy felt strange. It was like she’d seen Aaron with new eyes. He was a good guy. Why had she rejected all his advances over the years? Probably becaus
e she was still subconsciously pining for Tyler Brock, which seemed so stupid to her right now.
“Hey, where did you go?” Aaron asked.
Missy shook her head. She had to be careful. She was very emotional right now over the loss of her friend. That had to be influencing how she saw Aaron. She couldn’t throw herself into his arms…what if she woke up tomorrow and realized it had been a mistake? After all these years of pursuing her, the rejection would crush him.
“Sorry.” She pulled her hands back to ostensibly look in her purse. Taking out her compact, she checked her face in the mirror. “I’ve been crying so much.”
“You look great, as always,” he said.
The warning bells were going off in Missy’s head. Why was she so adverse to the idea of Aaron? He was nice…
“Why don’t you tell me what’s really bothering you?” he asked.
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
How could he know there was more to it?
“I know you’re mourning Karen, but you’re also pissed off about something. I can tell.”
“How?” She laughed, happily surprised by this for some reason.
He tapped the side of his head. “Because I know you, Missy DeMeanor. You do remember I had a crush on you for the longest time.”
Normally a statement like that coming from Aaron would have turned the conversation awkward. But not right now. And part of her was actually sad that this crush had been going on in the past only. What about right now?
“Come on.” He winked. “You can tell me.”
Missy chewed it over. Noreen was her best friend and the person she always went to for advice, but maybe she needed somebody else’s perspective for a change.
So Missy started talking, recounting the same story she’d just shared with the detective in Templeton. Aaron listened attentively, his eyes never wavering from her. He absorbed every word she spoke.
When she was done, he sat back and raised his eyebrows. “Wow, Miss.”
“What do you think?”
He thought about it. “I think you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
She laughed. “What does that mean?”
Somewhere during her story, the waitress had brought her salad and water. She sipped the drink and picked absently at the salad, really having no appetite for it.
“It means, forget what everybody else thinks. What do you think? My father always told me to trust myself, and it was one of the most important things he ever taught me. You’ve got to trust yourself and find your truth.”
Missy had never heard Aaron say anything as profound. Normally he talked about sports, local news, and his favorite hobby: nine-ball tournaments at Shooters.
Aaron leaned in. “Nobody else believed you about Noreen, and look what you did there. You saved your best friend from going to prison.”
Missy blushed. She was uncomfortable with praise, even if deserved. “She would have done the same for me.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But the point is, not a lot of people would have done what you did. You trusted yourself to do the right thing and you did.”
Missy got the urge to take his hands again. They were really nice: big and strong but also soft. His job required him to work with his hands all day…he was probably good with them.
But she kept her hands to herself. She wasn’t thinking clearly right now and mistaking her gratefulness for his company for something else…or was she?
Aaron’s phone buzzed. He quickly checked the text and nodded.
“I’ve got to go.” He stood up and without asking her dropped a twenty dollar bill on the table. “Lunch is on me today.”
“Aaron, no, I can’t—”
He held out a palm. “Get me back some other time. And remember, no matter what happens, I believe in you.”
Her heart swelled and his eyes got watery. “Thanks, Aaron.”
She wanted him to hug her, but instead he gave her a little wave and hurried out. She watched him jog across the street and jump into the passenger seat of the ambulance as its siren began to sound. Then they were pulling out, the fire engine not far behind.
There was nothing wrong with Aaron. In fact, there was everything right. She’d just overlooked him all these years because she’d been so focused on Tyler, or on replacing Tyler…she’d never given Aaron a fair shake, had she?
***
Missy stopped home to let Cody out and feed her. She wanted to talk to both Abella and Mrs. Butterworth, but it was late in the workday so she doubted the attorney would take any unplanned meetings at this point. She’d gotten Mrs. Butterworth’s number from Karen and she tried calling the older woman but nobody answered. Briefly Missy considered just driving over, but she had no way of knowing when Mrs. Butterworth would be home. She was very rich and might have been staying for all Missy knew at her lake house or with family. Maybe she needed to get away from the estate for a few days after Karen’s death.
That left her with Ron and Connie. She didn’t have Ronnie’s number or address so that kind of settled that question.
She called Noreen.
“How are you doing, Miss?”
“Okay,” she lied. “I just wanted somebody to know where I was going tonight. In case something happens.”
“Oh my God, could you be any more ominous? And I’m glad I count just as somebody and not your best friend of all time.”
Missy laughed. “I’m going over Connie’s.”
“Are you sure about this?” Noreen said. “I got a weird vibe from her.”
Missy nodded. “I’ll take Cody.”
“The dog did save your life once.”
“Hey…” Missy wanted to get Noreen’s opinion of Aaron. She was always joking about the man’s constant advances on Missy, but Missy had no idea what she really thought of him.
“Now that was a pregnant pause.” Noreen laughed. “What is it?”
Missy shook her head. She really shouldn’t be thinking about a relationship at a time like this, especially when she somewhat doubted her own feelings.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t BS a BS-er,” Noreen said.
“Let’s talk later, okay?”
Chapter Ten
C onnie was waiting for her on the porch of her nice two-story home that looked pretty new. Missy couldn’t help but feel jealous. She loved her house, but it was old and falling apart, and paying the mortgage and taxes was always a struggle.
“Hi, Missy,” Connie said.
Missy got out of her truck and opened the passenger door for Cody. The Irish Setter bounded out and zipped across Connie’s lawn to greet the other woman.
Connie’s face lit up. “And who is this?”
“Cody,” Missy said, joining them on the porch. Connie was bent over and lavishing affection on the dog, who had already turned over on her back.
“What a nice dog,” Connie said.
Missy nodded. “She’s a great dog. She actually saved my life.”
“Saved your life?” Connie asked, coming back up to her full height. “Now that sounds like a story.”
Missy smiled. The woman was behaving differently tonight. She was much less guarded or challenging than she’d been at the Diet Club meeting and the viewing.
“Great place you’ve got here.”
Connie smiled back. “Thank you. Would you like to come in?”
Missy followed her inside. Everything looked new and what was a few years old was well-maintained. It was a far, far cry from how Missy kept her house. She usually had two baskets of laundry on her sofa and at least two layers of dirty dishes in her sink.
“Can I get you something to drink?” she asked.
Missy was instantly on her guard. She’d read up online about how people ingested tape worms. There were actually pills that people purchased. All you had to do was crush them and spill the powder into a drink.
She remembered to smile. “Normally, I’d say yes. But my stomach’s a little upset so I better not.�
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“Water then?”
“I’ll get it,” Missy said, pushing past her as they entered the kitchen. “Where are the glasses?”
“Uh.” Connie eyed her strangely. “Over the sink in the cabinet.”
Missy pulled out two glasses and poured herself water out of the tap.
“How about something to eat? I was thinking of ordering a pizza.” Connie smiled. “As always, I revert to food in a time of crisis.”
Missy smiled, knowing exactly what she meant. How many times had she done the same? But she didn’t trust this woman, at least not yet.
“No thanks, I had a big lunch at the diner.” That made her think of Aaron, and Missy caught herself wondering what he was doing.
“The Grove City diner? I love that place. Their chicken pot pie—”
“—is the best,” Missy filled in.
Connie laughed. It was the first time Missy had heard her laugh. It was a big, loud sound, almost a guffaw. She sized the other woman up. Connie was wearing stretch pants and a t-shirt and almost looked like she’d been exercising.
Missy poured Connie a glass of water and they sat down at the kitchen table. Cody made herself right at home. She spun around three times and sat right under Connie’s feet. Cody was a good judge of character, Missy reminded herself.
“So what do you do, Missy?” Connie asked.
Missy wasn’t really here to make chitchat or small talk, but she knew she had to ease into this conversation if she didn’t want Connie to put any walls up.
“I work at Books and Crannies, have you ever been in there?”
Connie thought about it. “Once or twice. I’m not really a big reader. I prefer the visual arts.”
“I’m a total bookworm,” Missy said, as if confessing some great, horrible crime. “But I love movies too.”
Connie sipped her water and reached down to rub Cody’s head.
Missy nodded at her. “How about you? What do you do for work?”
Connie put her glass of water down. “Karen didn’t tell you?”
Missy frowned. Connie had grown instantly defensive.
“She didn’t.”
Connie looked at her. “Well, I told you I’m into visual arts.”
Missy DeMeanor Cozy Mysteries Boxset Page 34