by Vella Day
“Why not?” she said even though she didn’t plan on staying much longer.
“Any for you, Brian?” Lena waved a hot pot of steaming coffee, the aroma of warm beans almost making Jessie wish she’d ordered a cup.
When he held a hand over his drink, Lena smiled then went back to her other customers.
Jess studied Brian, and a sliver of guilt surfaced. To be fair, Brian was not at fault for his father’s death. He’d found his dad hitting his younger brother and had gone ballistic on his father. Brian had landed a punch, and the drunken man had slipped, knocked his head on the corner of the coffee table, and died less than an hour later. His mom was devastated, but she’d convinced the authorities it had been an accident.
Jessie had felt so sorry for Brian at the time but then worried his father’s violence might be passed onto Brian and to his kids. It hurt like hell when she told him goodbye, but she had her standards. When he’d said he wanted to leave Kerry for good right after high school, she sent him off with a fond farewell.
“I gotta say, Jess, you’re looking mighty fine.”
“Huh? Oh, thank you.” She wiped her mouth with the rough paper napkin, not wanting to discuss how either of them had aged. “So, when did you get into town?”
“Three days ago. I didn’t stop by because I heard about your grandmother’s friend’s disappearance and figured you’d be too busy to socialize. I didn’t find out about DuPree’s death until this morning. Man, Jess, what’s happening to our little town?”
She leaned back against the soft, leather booth and shook her head. “I wish I knew. Speaking of disappearing, have you ever heard from George?”
“No.” Jessie thought she saw a flash of fear cross his face, but it left so quickly she figured she’d been mistaken. “My brother walked out on the family what, fourteen years ago, and never looked back, lucky son of a bitch.”
His attitude was a cover up. His older brother’s leaving had hurt him.
Brian smiled. “So, is there anything I can do to help with your case load?” His hardness evaporated faster than sweat in winter.
This was the side of Brian she’d always liked—personable, eager, and charming. “Not really.”
One eyebrow lifted up. “You sure? You are alone in the office.” She shook her head. “Well, let me know if you think of anything.”
“I will.”
“So what have you been up to?” he asked.
“Work, work, and more work. Nana hired an outsider to find Sadie, and I’m trying to find out who killed Clinton.”
Brian wrapped his hands around his coffee mug. “You got any leads?”
“Not yet.” Brian had to realize she’d never leak information about an ongoing investigation.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about you.” He looked up and her heart skipped a beat.
“Y-you have?” Don’t go there. Brian was a bad boy, and someone who would try to control her. He was just the kind of man she didn’t need.
Her mind skipped to Dax Mitchell again, who wasn’t much better. She’d seen how he’d tried to take over the investigation as if she was some stupid hick. Nope. She’d keep her distance from him too.
“Yes, a lot. We had good times together, you know.” Brian went on. “Real good times. Do you remember riding on the back of my bike? Or how about the time we went hiking and got lost?”
She laughed then took a sip of her lemony iced tea. “How could I forget?”
Jessie didn’t want to remember those times though, at least not now. That was in the past, and she wanted to live in the present. “So tell me what you’ve been doing since you left. I know you reenlisted. How did that go?” No one seemed to know what had happened to Brian after his mom passed. Many thought he’d been killed in battle.
“I did one more tour then left the service for good.”
She almost spit out her drink. “You left? Man, I pegged you for a lifer. What happened?” She dabbed her napkin on her chin.
His eyes turned cold for a moment, and then he shrugged. “Does there have to be a reason?”
Given it appeared to be a sore subject, she decided to drop it for now, but she’d do some digging later. “No. Then what did you do?”
He drained the rest of his coffee, though he didn’t act as though he enjoyed the taste. “Worked construction in Tampa for a while. I know this is hard to believe, but I actually began to miss Kerry. The never ending heat down there and the lack of seasons finally got to me.” He looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “Funny, I couldn’t wait to get out of this town the moment I turned eighteen, but here I am, back for a job.”
A squeal stopped her from probing further. Jessie looked up to find Lena hugging some tall blonde. The two separated, and Jessie’s heart sped up.
It couldn’t be, could it?
Chapter Four
Jessie twisted in the booth and faced Brian. “Is that Amanda Simmons?” If so, her best friend from high school sure had changed.
Brian nearly dropped his cup on the table. “Jesus H. Christ. It sure as hell is. Wow, she looks amazing.”
Jessie laughed. The man was more fickle than any woman she’d known. She leaned back, certain Lena would drag the newcomer over any second. Sure enough, Lena turned and pointed at her. Seeing Amanda again almost erased the sadness that had saddled her all day.
Her friend strutted over, wearing a too short skirt and an obscenely low cut top. How Amanda even walked in those three-inch heels, Jessie didn’t know. A few men whistled as she passed by their tables and she waggled her fingers at them. Jessie couldn’t blame the men. Kerry wasn’t a place that attracted women, especially hot ones.
Amanda had cut her long, blonde hair really short, but on her the style looked good. Jessie had never bothered to cut her hair in a particular style, and her no-upkeep do suited her fine.
Jessie slid out of the booth, and Amanda threw her arms around her in a huge bear hug. Uncomfortable with the closeness, Jessie was about to step back when Amanda held her at arm’s length and ran her gaze up and down.
“Why Jessie Nash, look at you all dressed up in that uniform. I swear, girl, if it weren’t for your long hair, you could pass for a boy. I need to take you shopping and get you gussied up. It’s so good to see you.” Amanda’s gaze dropped to Jessie’s ring finger. “Just as I suspected.”
Former best friend or not, don’t even think about going there. Jessie slipped her left hand behind her back. She had no intention of explaining to a girl, or rather a woman, why she hadn’t married. She had that debate with Nana almost every friggin’ night.
Jessie glanced to the booth where Dax had been sitting. If only Kerry had men like him, she’d be married in a heartbeat. Not to him specifically, since he was too controlling and too much the I-am-man type, but to some sensitive man who looked like him.
Jessie remembered her manners. “Amanda, do you rememb—”
Another shriek. “Ohmigod, is that you, Brian, underneath that scruffy beard?”
“Sure as shit is.” He stood, wrapped his arms around Amanda’s waist, and spun her, just like old times.
Jessie swore red underpants peeked out from under Amanda’s skirt.
“Boy, oh, boy, do you look great,” Brian said. “When did you blow into town?”
“’Bout four days ago.”
“Same here.”
Jessie sat down and scooted to the end of the booth while she waited for the two old friends to finish their out-of-control reunion. When they both slid in, Jessie realized she was a tad hurt. “Amanda, why didn’t you let me know you were back in town?” Brian had already explained his delayed appearance.
Amanda slapped a hand on Jessie’s wrist and squeezed. “Yeah, about that. I’ve been meaning to stop by, but I’ve been busy getting Momma situated. You might have heard she’s not doing all that well, which was why I had to come home in the first place.”
Jessie had heard her mother had been diagnosed with liver problems. Drinking was a bit
ch on the system. “I’m sorry she’s so bad. Do you have a minute to catch up or do you have to get back to her?”
“I’m good. A friend is staying with her this afternoon.”
Brian leaned forward with a gleam in his eye. “Say girls, you all know what’s happening in three weeks, don’t you?”
“No.” Jessie hadn’t a clue.
“I do.” Amanda winked at Brian then flashed a big smile at Jessie.
Jessie shook her head. “What? Tell me.” I’m so not dying to know.
“I can’t believe you, Jessie Nash,” Brian said. “It’s only our tenth high school reunion. What say we all drive over together to Calvert and have a blast.”
Brian had been the star athlete in high school while she’d been the geek. What he’d seen in her back then, she’d never know. “I’ll pass.”
The last thing she wanted to do was talk about the good ole days and how much their lives sucked because they’d done squat since high school. She didn’t get over to Calvert much since only a small portion of their graduation class even came from Kerry.
Amanda nudged her. “Come on, Jess. I’m going. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Really? Sure Amanda had been homecoming queen, but she never tried to be the most popular kid. Despite looking great, she had a mind too. “Look, I haven’t seen many of the kids since we graduated.” Nor had she wanted to.
Amanda winked at Brian. “Let me work on her. She’ll change her mind.”
Right. And the town’s road would be sprinkled with diamonds.
* * *
Dax was stumped. He’d found Roberta Barton all right, but he wasn’t so sure her information would lead him anywhere.
Roberta handed him a cup of steaming coffee. “Sugar’s on the table in the little, flowered bowl there. I don’t have any cream, so I hope that’s all right.”
“No problem.” He needed to wait for the coffee to cool. “How would you describe Sadie’s mood when she was here? Was she anxious, excited or what?” He slipped off his sweater since she kept the place stifling hot.
“Hmm. A, B, or C. I’ll take B for one hundred,” she giggled, acting ten instead of in her late sixties. “Excited.”
“Did she say about what?”
Her brows furrowed. “Well, the aliens of course. Wouldn’t you be if you’d found evidence they existed?”
He inwardly groaned at the mention of aliens again. The local theater must have shown some Roswell documentary, and the old ladies had bought into the conspiracy theory.
“Perhaps. How about telling me what you know about her disappearance, and start at the beginning.” Dax took a sip of the coffee and it nearly burned his tongue. Yowza. Well, at least the drink was strong, and he needed the caffeine to help him stay awake in her heated home.
“She came by last Tuesday to measure my windows. I’d found the cutest blue and white check material at Wilson’s Fabric House that I wanted her to use,” she said waving a hand, “but I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my home decorating plans. Anyway, that was the last time I saw her.” Roberta sniffled then dabbed her eyes with a lacy handkerchief.
“I thought you said she sounded excited.”
“She did when she told me about the goggles she’d found, and that she wanted to go back and see if she could find a piece of metal from the spaceship or something else alien. She was big into souvenirs.”
Dax didn’t want to go down that path. “Let’s suppose, for argument’s sake, she arrived home safely that night. Can you think of anywhere she might have gone the next day?”
Roberta closed her eyes. She remained still for so long, he thought she might have fallen asleep. Then her eyelids popped open. “Well, there was this man in town the week before Sadie left us. He rode in on some fancy schmancy motorcycle.”
That sounded like a potential lead. “Can you describe him?”
“Oh, yes. He was youngish—maybe sixty-five, with really thick, white hair. He was sexy as hell.” Roberta fanned herself.
Kerry must have done something to the water supply to make everyone want to get laid.
“Did you see Sadie and this man together?” he asked after nearly scalding his tongue on the coffee for the second time.
“Sure did. I could tell Sadie took a real liking to him. The Sunday before she disappeared, there was a church social. We always have a social on the third Sunday of the month. Could her man dance or what? He had Sadie doing the tango, and my, oh, my, they were attached at the hip most of the night. Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if she hopped on the back of his bike and high-tailed it out of town.”
Now he was getting some place. “Do you know this man’s name?” Dax pulled out his phone to take down the information. He didn’t want to bring up the fact that her friend probably wouldn’t have measured Roberta’s windows if she’d planned to leave town the next day though. This strange man could have abducted Sadie, although Dax saw no reason to wait a week after the dance to take her.
“Sadie called him Sexy Sam. She never mentioned his last name.”
“I’ll ask around and see if anyone can ID him. Do you know where he was staying?”
“Why with Sadie, of course.”
Of course. He needed to get out of this crazy-as-a-bat town. “Thank you for your time. If you think of anything else, I’m staying over at the Nash place.”
She smiled. “Oh, don’t I know it.”
Great. He didn’t need rumors spread about him. What he did need was a drink—a really strong, cold drink, and The Coal Mine Bar was just the place. He might even find out more about Sadie Palmer’s new adventure from some of the locals. If that lead failed, he’d tackle Clinton DuPree’s disappearance.
Fortunately, Roberta lived less than a mile from town, and he was at the bar in no time. Dax pushed open the heavy wooden door to relative darkness, and it took a moment for his vision to adjust. The place smelled of stale beer, sweat, and rotten wood—a stench worse than the first time he’d been there. Not that a bar ought to smell like some spa, but this place was foul. Maybe that’s why it was called the Coal Mine Bar since it was like a fetid hole five hundred feet underground.
Dax scanned the insides. Only two other men were there, each with a drink in front of him, deep in conversation. Dax wouldn’t disturb them unless he needed to.
A huskily built bartender was polishing the wooden counter with a clean, white rag, and since the stools looked safe enough to sit on, Dax took a seat. “Hi, I’m Dax Mitchell, a private invest—”
“I know who you are. Brad told me to expect you.”
The town was smaller than he’d thought. “And you are?”
The bartender looked annoyed. “Bruno Quattrone, the owner.”
“I’d like to ask you some questions about Sadie Palmer.”
The bartender turned his back and lined up the liquor bottles behind him—bottles that were perfectly straight to begin with. Dax waited. It was what he did well.
Finally, Bruno turned around. “Sadie didn’t come in here, so I don’t know anything about her disappearance.”
Dax believed Mr. Gruff. “Then what can you tell me about the sheriff’s disappearance?”
His jaw clenched and his eyes squinted, as though he were in pain. “I wish I could help you there. I told Jessie everything I know, which was nothing.” This time, the man came off as sincere instead of inconvenienced.
“Do you know if the sheriff had any enemies?”
Bruno laughed, but the sound held no joy. “Everyone in this town has enemies, mostly because everyone has a secret or two.”
“What would the sheriff’s secret be?”
Bruno shook his head. “If I knew, it wouldn’t be a secret, now would it, Einstein?” The guy had a point.
A new customer rolled in and Bruno moved to the end of the bar to take his order. Dax swiveled around trying to figure out his next move. It was probably time to head to where Sadie had been seen last. He spun back to motion for Bruno, needing
not only a drink but directions to the mine. The guy either was ignoring him or he didn’t see him wave his arms. After not getting the man’s attention for a good two minutes, Dax spoke up. “Hey, bartender.”
The owner turned. “Name’s Bruno. Do you have a short memory problem?”
His mom should have named him Pit Bull or Viper, but Bruno wasn’t a bad second choice. Dax decided to play nice. “Bruno, can I ask you something?” There—nice as could be.
The man looked disgusted, but then excused himself from the other customer and ambled over. “Yeah?”
“Can you give me directions to the mine?”
“Whatchu want to go there for? It’s been closed for a year.” Bruno tossed his towel into the bar sink.
Dax held his tongue. “I know, but Sadie Palmer was last seen there.”
Bruno’s shoulders relaxed. “Oh, sure.” He turned to his right and faced the front door. “Take Main Street ’till you come to Orchard Avenue.” Bruno pointed with his right hand. “Take a right and go maybe three or four miles. Stanford Street is at the end, so when you reach it, hang another right. You can’t miss the place. Lots of Do Not Enter signs.”
“Thanks.”
Just as Dax was leaving, the door swung open and nearly hit him in the face. Three dusty men, all looking like they’d just gotten off work at the cement plant, plowed in. From the smiles on their faces, they were good friends. Dax missed that sort of friendship, but P.I.’s were meant to work alone.
As he stepped outside, he realized he’d never received that longed-for drink, but at this late hour, he couldn’t afford to stall. Maybe when he returned to town, he’d enjoy a cold brew. He checked the sky, noting the sun was close to setting, and calculated he had a half hour until dark. He would head to the mine, look around for a dropped handkerchief, a heel mark, or anything to show where Sadie might have been the night she disappeared, then head on over to The Sugar Shack for a bite to eat.
Worse case, he’d find some alien metal and go on a national tour. Late Night, here I come. Okay, so he’d lost his ever-loving mind. According to Mary Alice, alien technology could do things to a person, and he was close to being a believer.