Missy DeMeanor Cozy Mysteries Boxset

by Brianna Bates

  Missy went back to work, passing her things to Noreen, who put them in the back of the SUV. Inside, she was fuming. She wanted desperately to pull Noreen aside and say, See, she hates me. But with Tonya standing fifteen feet away, it obviously wasn’t the best time for that conversation.

  And more importantly, she didn’t think Noreen would see it that way.

  Chapter Three

  O n their way to the elementary school, Tonya looked into the rearview from the driver’s seat at Missy.

  “You are brave.”

  Missy was taken aback. Was the woman really giving her a compliment?

  In the passenger seat, Noreen didn’t seem to notice the comment. She was too busy banging out a text again.

  “Thanks.” Missy didn’t know what else to say.

  Tonya nodded. “To drive that old truck. I’m such a wuss when it comes to cars.”

  Missy’s eyes locked on Tonya in the rearview, but the woman had shifted her attention back to the road.

  Tonya continued. “I mean, never knowing when it’s going to break down. I’d be too worried it would happen in the middle of the night on some lonely road.” Tonya shook her head, as if she had really been concerned about Missy’s well-being, ever. “That’s why I lease and get a new car every four years.”

  Of course the woman hadn’t been complimenting her. Missy should have seen that coming from a mile away.

  Missy didn’t bother to respond and instead looked out the window. The day was getting greyer and darker, murky light filtering to the ground through the clouds. Missy was usually upbeat and positive, but she couldn’t help feeling that the day really matched her mood.

  Normally she looked forward to scrapbooking, because it meant a day working with her hands, being creative, and spending time with friends. And today she should have been even more excited than usual, because in one week, the big Scrapbooking Convention was being held in Lancaster County. This year she had entered not one, but two contests. On the first day of the convention, they were holding a Make and Take Competition, where judges provided all materials to the contestants and gave them two hours to create a page that really popped. And on the second day of the convention, she’d entered into the General Competition. She had a good theme—a Best Friends Forever page that was a pop-up page featuring her and Noreen—and a pretty good design she was working on. She’d hoped to use today and tomorrow to finish it up, then take the night on Friday to look it over and tidy it up. She’d been to last year’s convention and seen the prize-winning creations. The top prizes would be hard to come by, but she liked her chances at winning one of the lesser awards.

  Tonya pulled into the parking lot of the elementary school. Because it was Saturday, the lot was empty except for the twenty cars all massed near the gymnasium where the women always worked. Missy saw all the familiar cars, plus a couple other ones that were completely out of place.

  “What’s going on?” Tonya said.

  Noreen took her eyes off her lascivious texts long enough to observe. “Who had a heart attack?”

  Missy stuck her head between the two seats. She counted three police cruisers and an ambulance.

  “Not good,” Missy said.

  ***

  All the women had come out of the gym and were standing by their cars while the police and EMTs worked inside. Missy saw one of the cops lugging the roll of Police Line tape toward the school.

  Missy and Noreen had gotten out of Tonya’s SUV. As they walked toward the other woman to ask what had happened, though, Noreen said:

  “God, I hope Tyler’s not here.”

  Tyler Brock was Missy’s old boyfriend, actually her high school sweetheart. They had drifted apart after going to different colleges and hadn’t seen each other again until recently, when Tyler had returned from Philadelphia and essentially become second-in-command at the Grove City Police Department. He’d been a detective in Philly and as a result he usually handled the more difficult cases. Grove City had seen a couple murders since he’d come back—both of which Missy had solved, or helped to solve.

  Noreen did not like Tyler and Missy couldn’t blame her. The man had (understandably) arrested her for Anne Baxter’s murder even though Noreen had been proven innocent. Missy had tried to get Noreen to see things from Tyler’s point of view. At the time, all the evidence had pointed at Noreen and literally at nobody else. When the situation was viewed objectively, Tyler had had no choice but to arrest Noreen. But of course Noreen would never see it that way. She had nearly gone to prison. If it weren’t for Missy, who steadfastly refused to believe her friend was a murderer despite all the evidence to the contrary, Noreen probably would be in prison right now and for a long time to come.

  Normally, Missy let Noreen’s comments about Tyler go. But today she was already frustrated with Tonya and Noreen’s blind eye toward Tonya’s dislike of Missy.

  Missy stopped before they reached the other women, so they could speak in private. She faced Noreen.

  “You know, Nor, he was just doing his job.”

  Noreen glared at her. “You’re just defending him because you still have feelings for him. You’re oblivious when it comes to Tyler.”

  Missy was speechless. It had been a long time since Noreen had said anything nasty to her, and this last comment crossed the line.

  “Feelings or no, it was totally reasonable for him to suspect. There was no evidence pointing at anybody else.”

  Noreen held out a palm. “I don’t want to get into this right now.”

  Missy couldn’t help it. She was still ticked off about Tonya. “All I’m saying is—”

  “Miss, you know what? I’m sorry your truck died but that’s no reason to be act like a B.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.” Noreen turned back and motioned at Tonya’s SUV. “I was actually embarrassed by how you acted toward Tonya, after she’d come to help you.”

  “Noreen.”

  Noreen shook her head. “I don’t care if you don’t like her. That’s your business. But do you have to be so obvious about it?”

  Missy folded her arms. “You mean I should be less obvious, like she is?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Missy pointed at Tonya’s SUV, not caring if the other woman saw her. “I didn’t like her or dislike her, until she made it very clear she didn’t like me. How can you not see that?”

  Noreen shook her head. “I don’t know where you got this idea from. She likes you fine. She’s just frank, is all, and you can’t deal with that.”

  “Yeah, she’s frank all right. Frank about hating me.”

  “You’re unbelievable.” Without giving Missy a chance to respond, Noreen whirled and walked away from the school. She had her phone out and was making a call in less than three seconds. Missy got the message loud and clear.

  Feeling both angry and worried that she’d risked her friendship with Noreen in being honest, Missy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, Alison Breckmyer was approaching.

  Alison was a short, slender woman with long brown hair. She was relatively new to Grove City, having been a resident less than a year. Missy and her had both been members of the now-defunct Book Club, and were on good terms but hadn’t really become friends.

  “Here we go again.” Alison stopped next to her.

  Missy didn’t know what she meant. “What’s wrong?”

  Alison looked over at her. “You didn’t hear yet?”

  Missy shook her head no. “I just got here.”

  “Oh boy.” Alison gave her a sly grin. “You get a chance to put on your amateur sleuth hat again.”

  Missy’s stomach bottomed out. That could only mean one thing. “Don’t tell me…”

  Now that Missy studied the faces of the women standing outside, she saw the worry, the nerves, and the concern that filled them.

  Alison nodded and looked back at the school. “If you just got here, I guess that means you, Tonya, and Noreen
can’t be suspects.”

  No.

  No.

  Please no.

  Missy immediately started worrying about who it could be. She was friends with everybody here, with Tonya being the only exception. She’d grown up with some, waited on some in the bookstore a lot over the years, and had helped many with their scrapbooking designs. If she was part of something, of some larger group, it was this group.

  “Who?”

  Alison stopped smiling. “Olivia.”

  Missy couldn’t believe it. Then again, she would have felt the same way if Alison had spoken anybody else’s name also.

  “No…”

  Chapter Four

  M issy hurried to the gym before the young patrolman came back out and put Police Line tape across the door. If Olivia was dead, she wanted to help the police find the killer. Though of course, the police wouldn’t see her efforts as helping. But that wasn’t about to stop her. She knew all these women pretty well and was in a pretty good position to help. Tyler would listen to her, she knew, even if it was unofficially.

  She slipped inside. The gymnasium was empty. All the folding tables were out and covered in scrapbooking supplies, purses, donuts, coffee, water, and a few cell phones. Apparently, the police had herded everybody outside quickly, ordering them not to remove anything.

  Missy realized she might have been staring at evidence.

  Quickly, she took her phone out. She rarely used it to take pictures (selfies annoyed her!), but now she hit the icon for the camera. In less than a minute, she’d snapped off fifty or sixty shots of all the stuff the women had left inside.

  Missy had to act quickly. Pretty soon more police would arrive and notice her inside. She hurried to the other end of the gym, to the door that led inside the school. It was propped open like it always was when they scrapbooked. This was the way to the bathroom.

  Missy poked her head out into the hallway and looked left and right. She heard voices but didn’t see anybody. She could turn around and go back outside, letting the police do their job. Or she could try to get a look at the crime scene. Of course she settled on the latter.

  Olivia Oakley was about ten years younger than Missy so they’d never run in the same circles growing up, but they’d been close because Missy had actually babysat her for four years in high school. Olivia was an only child, like Missy, and Missy had come to see her as the younger sister she never had. She’d introduced Olivia as a little girl to so many things, like The Babysitter’s Club books and cool eighties movies. They’d lost touch when Missy had gone away to college but had reconnected in the last few years, and had become good friends. Olivia had even invited Missy to her wedding—

  Oh God.

  Missy’s breath caught in her throat.

  Olivia had gotten engaged a couple months ago. Missy had even met her fiancé, Roger. One time, the man had brought pastries to a crop. He was tall, broad, and thoughtful. All the women had swooned.

  Missy had to help the police, whether they wanted her help or not.

  She tiptoed down the hallway and followed the voices. The door to the restroom was propped open, but nobody was in there. Missy kept going, passing the lockers, passing her old locker as a matter of fact. Ahead, the hallway became a junction with another hallway. Missy passed the display case that proudly housed what few trophies the elementary school had claimed. The voices were loud so Missy could tell the police and EMTs weren’t far away.

  Reaching the corner, Missy stopped short. A set of photographs were spilled on the floor. Missy recognized Olivia in most of them. In the rest of the pictures, Missy saw most of the same people. It must have been Olivia’s clique growing up. She still had her phone out and began snapping away.

  “This is a crime scene!” the young cop practically yelled at her.

  Missy shrieked and fell backward, landing on her butt. Fortunately, her extra cushioning back there helped soften the landing.

  Missy looked up at the cop dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt. He looked like he’d just started shaving, he was so young. Missy had heard about him. Many of the local women had been referring to the young hotshot who’d just joined the Grove City police department. According to the rumors (which were almost always true), he’d worked in Philadelphia so he and Tyler knew each other.

  “Of course.” The young man’s expression changed to one of realization. “You’re Melissa DeMeanor, aren’t you?”

  So he knew about her. Had Tyler shared with him, or had he just heard through local gossip?

  She nodded. “Yes. And you are?”

  “Vincent Carmine.” He held out a hand. She took it and was surprised at how easily he helped pull her up. When she was back on her feet, she saw Vincent was about her height and really lean, like he exercised fanatically.

  “Hi.” She smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, but I heard that Olivia had…we were close.”

  He nodded sympathetically. “Yes, and I’ll bet you thought you could solve this crime, too.”

  Missy didn’t know if he was angry or being territorial, and he surprised her: by smiling. He was teasing. His eyes shifted down and back up—had he just checked her out?

  “Um, no. I thought I might be able to help is all, Vincent.”

  “I’ll bet.” He smirked. “And you can call me Vinnie.”

  “Missy?” Aaron, one of the EMTs came around the corner and blocked her way by standing alongside Vinnie. Aaron had constantly hit on her over the years, trying to pick her up at least once a month. The flirting had stopped immediately, however, when he met his now-fiancee a few months ago. The man was hopelessly in love with her. Missy had met her and was very happy for them. They made a nice couple. “I’m sorry, but you don’t want to see this.”

  Missy felt queasy. She’d been around three dead bodies now but knew she’d never get used to seeing them. It didn’t help that Olivia had been her good friend.

  “You two were close?” Vinnie asked.

  Missy nodded.

  “Come on, Missy,” Aaron said, reaching for her.

  “Hold on,” Vinnie said.

  They both looked at the young cop.

  Vinnie looked her dead in the eye. “Do you want to see?”

  Aaron frowned incredulously. “Vinnie, it’s not for me to tell you how to do your job, but I doubt Tyler—”

  “Tyler’s not here,” Vinnie said. “He’s on leave.”

  Missy hadn’t heard about that. It must have just happened. She wondered why he was out and couldn’t help but wonder if it was related to his ex-wife. Last she heard, the woman had intended on filing for divorce after their trial separation. But maybe that hadn’t actually happened. Missy had never been married but had seen plenty of other married couples go through these motions, separating, getting back together, planning to divorce, reconciling. She’d always wanted to get married, but with the local divorce rate steadily climbing, the thought of marriage also terrified her. Back in her parents’ days, you found somebody, worked out your problems together, and grew closer as a result. But these days, the opposite seemed to hold.

  “And this is my case,” Vinnie said.

  Aaron wouldn’t let it go. “Vinnie, I really don’t think Missy should see this.”

  “No offense, Aaron.” Vinnie shot him a look. “But I don’t tell you how to administer CPR, do I?”

  Aaron’s eyes were like saucers. Even though he wasn’t a cop, he obviously felt like he knew better than to let Missy observe the crime scene. And Vinnie was so young—Missy guessed mid-twenties, maybe late-twenties—that obviously Aaron was put off when Vinnie took charge.

  “Okay, hotshot.” Aaron took his hand off Missy. “You know better, obviously.”

  Vinnie turned to Missy. “Do you want to see?”

  Missy swallowed hard. Now that she’d had a moment to stop and think about it, she wasn’t sure if she did. Aaron’s ominous tone had made her nervous. She had no idea what she was about to see, except that it was her friend and that he
r friend was dead.

  And Vinnie was giving her the opportunity. Why? Tyler would never have let her. But was that because he was just being overprotective of her?

  In the end, her curiosity won out. She’d come inside to help the police and the police were, for the moment, letting her help. And Olivia was her friend.

  “Okay.”

  ***

  Before they let her see Olivia, Vinnie ordered the patrolmen helping him to rope off the area.

  “Make sure nobody else gets inside,” Vinnie said.

  Two cops came around the corner and hustled down the hallway. Missy looked back to watch them and saw a few of the other women poking their heads out of the gymnasium. They ducked back inside when the cops drew near.

  “Aaron, would you give us a moment?” Vinnie asked.

  Missy turned to the EMT. The man looked from Vinnie to Missy and back. He clearly didn’t want to leave.

  “I won’t get in the way.”

  “Sorry, Aaron,” Vinnie said. “This is my crime scene and I’m asking you to leave.”

  Aaron held the man’s gaze for a moment. “I’m no cop, kid, but I’ve been in these situations before. You should—”

  Vinnie cut him off. “Alright, thanks, Aaron. I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

  The EMT opened his mouth to say something that was probably not nice, but stopped short. Missy felt bad. She’d always liked Aaron and he was just trying to look out for her here. And it must have been difficult taking orders from someone ten years younger. But ultimately, Vinnie was right. This was a crime scene so Aaron had to relent.

  Aaron turned to her. “I’ll just be down the hallway, Missy. Okay?”

  “Please wait outside,” Vinnie said, before she could respond.

  Anger flashed in Aaron’s eyes.

  But Vinnie didn’t back down. “Thanks, Aaron.”

  Aaron literally threw up his hands and strode down the hallway. Vinnie waited until he was gone, before he turned back to Missy.

  “Ready?” Vinnie watched her, his eyes intense.