Happy Hour

by Anina Collins

  “I just have a few questions, Joe. We’ve found a second person who was poisoned by antifreeze. A man named Gerald Engels. He says he was in here Monday night and then Tuesday afternoon. Do you recall that?”

  My father took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, puffing out his cheeks. “The name doesn’t ring a bell, but remember, I only really know my regulars.”

  “He seemed to know who I was, Dad, so I think he might have been in here at least a few times. A little shorter than Alex with light brown hair. Messy hair.”

  My description of Gerald Engels wasn’t exactly the best. To be honest, although he knew me, I still didn’t recall seeing him until that day at his house.

  “That could be any one of a number of people, Poppy,” my father said with a smile. “He said he’s been in here a lot?”

  “Not a lot, but he knew me from here, so I must have waited on him a few times for him to remember me.”

  Alex and my father each smiled, and turning toward me, Alex said, “I think you underestimate yourself. I wouldn’t think he needed to see you more than once to remember you. You make quite an impression, Poppy.”

  Rolling my eyes, I tried not to laugh as my cheeks warmed from blushing at his compliment. “Well, regardless, he had been in here before. I haven’t worked behind the bar since the middle of April, so that gives us something to go on.”

  “What do you mean something to go on?” my father asked, confused about why it would matter when Gerald Engels had been in the bar before that week.

  “I just meant that might be helpful for you to remember who he was. He works with antiques and lives out on Sycamore, if that jogs your memory any.”

  He shook his head and sighed. “It doesn’t. I don’t remember him being in here at any time.”

  Disappointment settled into Alex’s expression. Frowning, he nodded. “Okay. Then I guess it’s not worth much telling you he came in especially on Tuesday to have a taste of that gold label bourbon he’d tried the night before with Marcus Tyne.”

  Shrugging, my father seemed frustrated. “I wish I could help you more. I just got that bourbon in last week. It’s good stuff.”

  Alex sighed his own frustration. “Do you remember if you served that to anyone else?”

  My father nodded. “I might have. It was so busy in here on Monday that I can’t be sure.”

  From behind me, I heard voices and turned to see three official looking men walk into the bar. They introduced themselves as from the Frederick County Health Department and then said the words I’d dreaded hearing since we first found out Marcus Tyne had been in McGuire’s the night he died.

  “Until the investigation is complete, your bar is going to have to be shut down, Mr. McGuire. We need to take samples of everything your customers may have eaten or drank in the past three days, so if you can cooperate, we’d appreciate it.”

  I watched as my father pointed to where the liquor was kept and explained about the beer and soda taps, all the while hating that he had to go through this. Alex silently pulled me off to the side as the men began their work.

  “This is only until they test for antifreeze, Poppy. After they find out it wasn’t here that either man was poisoned, your father will be able to open back up,” he said quietly as I stood there stunned.

  “Look at him, Alex. He’s terrified. They don’t mean to look like the gestapo, but they come in here and announce they’re closing him down until further notice, so of course he’s scared.”

  As I said that, the health department workers thanked my father for his cooperation and told him they’d find him if they needed any more help. It wasn’t a very subtle way of saying to go away and let them do their job.

  He walked out from behind the bar, and I saw in his hunched shoulders the effect this had on him already. Taking his hand, I gave it a supportive squeeze and forced a smile. “This won’t take long and then you’ll be open again and watching baseball with your friends, Dad.”

  Nodding, he clearly didn’t believe that any more than I did. “I’m okay, honey.”

  But I knew he was anything but okay.

  “I’m going to see if there’s anything in the stockroom they’ll need. I’ll give you a call later, okay, sweetheart?”

  He kissed me on the cheek and walked away as I watched heartbroken for him. “I hate this. I hate feeling helpless. This can’t ruin his business. I can’t let that happen.”

  Alex said nothing for a few moments and then as he watched the three men begin to take samples from every open bottle, he said, “I’m more concerned with what the health department finds, to be honest. They aren’t going to care if he didn’t know the drinks were poisoned or not.”

  “He can’t afford to pay a fine,” I said, concerned about my father’s welfare even more now.

  Stepping in front of me so I couldn’t watch what they were doing behind the bar, he said, “Poppy, if they find the antifreeze was in something here, it won’t be just a fine he has to deal with. Then it will be criminal charges.”

  “No! Alex, that can’t happen. My father would never hurt anyone like that. Never!”

  How could he say something like that? There was no chance those men had been poisoned here. No chance.

  I stood there staring at him, shocked he’d even thought that, as his phone began to ring. Answering it, he said, “Hang on, Donny. Let me put you on speaker.”

  Guiding me to the back of the bar, he placed the phone in the center of one of the tables, and we sat down to listen to what the coroner had to say. My heart sat in my throat waiting for any word that he knew where the antifreeze had come from.

  “I just got the call that the health department didn’t find any evidence of antifreeze anywhere at The Grounds or the Madison Diner,” Donny said somberly. “I know a team is at McGuire’s right now. If I hear anything, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

  “Okay, thanks Donny,” Alex said before ending the call.

  We sat there in silence as the reality set in. What if they found something at McGuire’s and thought my father intentionally tried to poison two people?

  I saw my father coming toward where we sat and took a deep breath to calm myself. I couldn’t let him see me fall apart or he’d know something was really wrong. I didn’t want him to worry about this yet. Not yet. There was still a good chance that the tests would show there was no antifreeze here either and the two victims had been poisoned somewhere else.

  At least that’s what I prayed would be the case.

  He stopped beside the table and looked down first at me and then Alex. “Those don’t look like good faces. Did something happen?”

  “Dad, don’t worry. It’s going to be okay,” I quickly said before Alex could tell him the bad news.

  He looked at Alex. “My daughter is trying to protect me. How about you give it to me straight?”

  “It’s nothing definitive, Dad.”

  Putting his hand up to stop me, he shook his head and directed his attention toward Alex. “I don’t need you to sugarcoat it. You have a job to do, so what’s going on?”

  With sadness in his eyes, he told my father the truth, even as I struggled not to break down into tears.

  “I just got a call about The Grounds and the Madison Diner. They found no traces of antifreeze at either one.”

  “Okay,” my father said after taking a deep breath. “I guess that means we just wait for the results from here now.”

  “Joe, no matter what the tests say, I can promise you we’ll find out who did this. I want you to know that.”

  All the energy seemed to leave my father’s body, and his shoulders hunched even more. “I know, Alex. I know you will.” Turning to look at me, he said, “I think once they leave, I’m going to go upstairs to try to get lost in a western and forget about this until I hear one way or the other. You can see yourselves out, right?”

  Standing, I hugged him tightly and promised we’d get to the bottom of this case quickly. “Don’t worry, Dad. You a
nd your regulars are going to be yelling at the Orioles before you know it.”

  He cradled my face in his hands like he did when I was a little girl and pressed a tiny kiss on my forehead. “I know, Poppy. It will be okay. I know I didn’t put antifreeze in anyone’s drink. The truth will come out, and I’ll be back behind that bar like I have been for all these years. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

  “Okay, Dad. Call me if you need anything. I mean, anything at all.”

  Even as he put on a brave face and promised he would call, I knew inside the fear of what those health department guys would find when they ran their tests was tearing him up. He walked away toward the stockroom again, and I collapsed into my chair, terrified at what would happen if they found antifreeze anywhere here in the bar.

  Alex gently touched my arm and motioned toward the door. “Let me take you home, Poppy. There’s no point in waiting here. As soon as Donny hears something, he’ll call me, so we might as well wait at your house where you can relax.”

  I didn’t argue, even though I wanted to. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that anyone who could even consider the idea of my father poisoning someone was out of their mind crazy. That my father would sooner hurt himself than see anyone else suffer.

  But what was the use? I couldn’t do a damn thing until those results came back and we had something to go on. Even knowing all three businesses had no hint of antifreeze would help because then we’d know something, at least.

  Until then, I’d have to accept feeling helpless.

  Alex and I sat quietly at my kitchen table, neither one of us wanting to talk about the case but having nothing else on our minds. Well, that’s all I could think of. I had a feeling Alex was worried about me more than the case. He never got upset about cases. For him, they simply required the methodical approach he always used to get to the truth.

  For this case, though, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do that. There was too much at risk for me.

  “We must be missing something. We don’t know much about Marcus or Gerald, and I bet the answer lies with them,” I finally said, unable to stay silent any longer.

  “I don’t think you’re wrong, but we can’t investigate anything until we get those results, Poppy. Let’s just wait for them to come back and then we can move on this.”

  Frustration overwhelmed me, and I exploded. “I can’t relax. My father is being railroaded by someone, Alex! I can’t relax!”

  He reached across the table to hold my hand, but I pushed him away and jumped up from my seat to pace across the room. “You can’t imagine what this feels like. My father needs me and I can’t do anything for him because I’m sitting here trying not to dissolve into a puddle of tears like a little girl.”

  Immediately, I knew I’d said the wrong thing. The look of pain told me I’d been thoughtless again. Alex knew all too well what it felt like to be powerless when someone you love was hurt. How could I be so insensitive?

  I sat down and held my hand out to touch his. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I know you know exactly how I feel.”

  He nodded, accepting my apology even as the hurt remained in his eyes. “I do, but I know it’s different because he’s your father. We’re not giving up, Poppy. I just suggested taking a little time to get our heads clear for when we get the results of the health department’s tests.”

  Standing, I walked around the table to wrap my arms around him and rested my head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Alex. I’m not being very professional with this case at all. I just want to clear my father’s name and have everything go back to the way it used to be for him. That bar is all he has, and I don’t know what he’ll do if he loses it.”

  Alex kissed the top of my head and said sweetly, “That bar isn’t all he has. He has you, Poppy. That’s far more important than some building or some business.”

  I looked up at him and sniffled. “He’s got the best cop in Sunset Ridge on the case too, so I’m not worried.”

  “Don’t lose faith in us. I know this case hasn’t been like our usual cases, but we’ve been hampered by the science with this one. Once all that is out of the way, we’ll find out who’s behind Tyne’s murder and Engels’ attempted murder and your father will be back to the way he’s always been.”

  That was the first time he’d described what happened to Gerald Engels that way. “I guess that was attempted murder. I don’t know why I hadn’t been thinking of it like that all along.”

  Alex smiled and kissed me lightly. “Because you’ve been thinking like a good daughter.”

  I stood up and walked over to the refrigerator to get a drink of iced tea. “Well, the time for that is over. Once Donny and the health department guys get the results, no matter what, I need to be thinking like a detective. My father’s counting on us, and I’ll be no use to you if I keep missing the big picture.”

  Alex had returned to the station to check out what connections there existed between our two victims other than their friendship and interest in antiques, so I decided to take a walk to clear my head.

  All Thursday afternoon, the buzz around town centered on how McGuire’s, The Grounds, and the Madison Diner would be closed until further notice. Rumors spread like wildfire that all three had been victims of a cyber-attack, some kind robbery spree, and the strangest one, that Diamanti’s owners had committed some kind of sabotage to all three businesses to help bring more people into their restaurant.

  Seeing people milling around The Grounds like zombies desperate for their caffeine made me chuckle until I remembered Pam and Gerry were losing money every minute they had to keep their doors closed, even though the coroner and health department had finished their inspections.

  The police department didn’t want to cause a panic by announcing that antifreeze had poisoned both Marcus Tyne and Gerald Engels, so the absence of the truth further added to the gossip around town. Mayor Sanders and his wife Christine quickly set up an impromptu garden party at their Victorian Row home for the citizens of Sunset Ridge, offering coffee and soft drinks along with sandwiches and donuts from the Savings King, a wise move to take the citizens’ minds off what they imagined may be happening as they watched teams of health department workers parade in and out of each business along Main Street.

  For everyone else, the whole event became just another reason for the people of Sunset Ridge to come together and share gossip about others, but even as I tried to remain strong, I worried about my father.

  He’d always been the strong one I could lean on when things got tough, and now everything he’d worked for was under attack. His bar. His livelihood. His reputation in town. Alex was right that he had me, but those other things mattered to him. He’d spent much of his adult life as the owner of McGuire’s, and one terrible act by someone hell bent on murdering Marcus Tyne and Gerald Engels could take everything away from him.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if the person responsible knew that and had chosen my father intentionally. Was my father meant to suffer too, or was he just a convenient patsy?

  Chapter Ten

  The sound of Alex’s phone tore me out of a dream that disappeared from my memory almost as soon as I opened my eyes. He slowly slid his arm out from underneath me and reached over to the nightstand to answer the call as I mourned the loss of him holding me.

  “Hello?” he said in a groggy voice while he scrubbed the sleep from his face.

  Whoever had called didn’t say much before Alex pressed END and dropped his phone back down onto the nightstand. He pursed his lips and made something like a grunting noise. If dissatisfaction had a sound, that was it.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as the last remnants of sleep faded from my brain.

  “Nothing. Just work. I have to get to the station.”

  He slid out from underneath the covers and walked toward the bathroom before I could ask what they could possibly need him for at seven in the morning after he’d worked no less than fifteen hours a day all w
eek. Throwing the covers off, I padded across the room and stopped to lean against the doorframe to the bathroom as he brushed his teeth.

  “Do they think you wear an S on your chest, Alex? You’re working yourself too much.”

  Leaning over the sink, he spit out the toothpaste and finished rinsing before turning his head to look at me. “Working a lot isn’t the same as doing a good job.”

  I saw the frustration written all over his face, so I took him into my arms and hugged him close. “Whatever’s going on, it will be okay.”

  Secretly, I prayed that the call he’d gotten wasn’t to tell him that the antifreeze had been found in anything the health department had taken from McGuire’s. Was that why his mood had turned sour so suddenly?

  I stepped back and searched his face for the answer to my unspoken question but found nothing to tell me one way or the other. Without a word, he kissed me tenderly on the lips and then pushed past me to finish getting ready to leave.

  “Did they find something at McGuire’s, Alex? Is that what’s going on?”

  He finished tying his shoes and sat up on the edge of the bed. Shaking his head, he said in a low voice, “No. That call was about Gerald Engels. He’s taken a turn for the worse.”

  “What? The doctor said he’d be fine when we were there to see him. What happened?” I asked as my emotions began to overwhelm me. I barely knew Gerald, but something about saving his life made me feel like we’d been friends for years. The idea of him dying now made my heart contract.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t want to tell you just in case…”

  Alex let his sentence trail off, but I knew what he meant. “I can’t believe he’s not getting better. I want to come with you if you’re going to see him.”

  He stood from the bed and walked over to me. “I’m not, Poppy. I’m just going to the station now. There’s nothing for us to do at the hospital now. I’ll call you later, okay?”