Strung Out to Die

by Tonya Kappes

  “You know, Ginger makes me keep this phone booth here for you. It costs me more to keep it than you use it.” Jim handed me the money. “You really should get a cell phone. Not that I’m trying to act like your husband looking after you, but I am your best friend’s husband and she thinks you should have one too.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” I put the coins in the slot and carefully dialed Sean’s mobile.

  I had to concentrate on pushing the right numbers because I couldn’t risk dialing the wrong number like I had done so many times before. This time, I couldn’t afford to screw up, literally.

  “Sean, it’s Hol.” I thought if I called myself by the nickname he had given me when we were married, he might feel some emotion and return my call. Wishful thinking, but it was worth a try. “I saw your truck in South Burrow. Please call me. We can work this out.”

  Not that I really wanted to fix our relationship, but I did want to find him to take the heat off of me.

  “So, you still haven’t seen him?” Jim asked. “Why is his truck in South Burrow?”

  I hadn’t realized he was still standing there.

  Really, everything seemed to be running together. Days, nights, and hours.

  “Tell me about South Burrow.” Jim seemed awfully curious.

  I’m sure he was trying to gather any information he could to help with the investigation, including taking in everything I was saying. I’d made it a point not to tell Ginger anything.

  “I had to go there for some beads and I saw his truck there.” I lied yet again. “Marlene had told him about some work down there.”

  “South Burrow? What does Marlene know about South Burrow?” He asked, and then waved at another hardware customer.

  “Apparently she’s from there.” I got back in my car. “I guess I better go.”

  Jim walked back to the shop, and I headed for home.

  I racked my brain for any clue why Sean would leave town. When I talked to him before he disappeared, I had been sure he was innocent. Since he sold his precious truck, it’s made me question whether I really knew him at all. The only evidence that he hadn’t left for good was his precious chandelier he’d left behind. That was enough of a red flag for me to question where he really was.

  I glanced at the box in the back seat in my rearview mirror. There was no way Sean would leave town without that box, guilty or not.

  There was foul play somewhere in all of this.

  I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and tried to piece all the information I had. Unfortunately, the pieces of the puzzle were not fitting together. Plus it was hard to concentrate with all the honking horns behind me.

  The new ePhone was coming out today, and it looked like everyone in Swanee was turning into Cell City’s parking lot.

  With all the excitement, I found myself turning in with them.

  I convinced myself it wouldn’t hurt to look and followed the people into the shop.

  A lady in a blue Cell City t-shirt greeted me as soon as I walked in the sliding glass doors.

  “Welcome to Cell City.” She smiled, and handed me a brochure with a picture of the new ePhone on the front. “Are you here to get the new ePhone?”

  I shrugged. “I’m just checking it out.”

  Before I knew what was happening, she had me sitting in a cubicle, signing a two-year contract, and explaining how I could tell this phone what to do by just talking to it.

  “Like solve a murder?” I asked, hoping the new gadget could return my life back to normal.

  “No.” She threw her head back in laughter. “Oh, you are a funny one.”

  Within minutes, I was out the door, sitting in my car with my new ePhone.

  Immediately, I dialed Sean’s number, knowing he never answers a call from a number he doesn’t recognize. But I thought if I gave him the option to call my new phone, he might call me back.

  I’d never considered that Noah might be tapping my home or shop phone until that moment. I wouldn’t put it past him.

  This is Sean. I’m going to be out of town putting up chandeliers in a new restaurant. So leave a message and I’ll eventually get back to you.

  What? I hung up and redialed. He put a new message on his phone between the time I’d called from Sloan’s Hardware phone booth and this time?

  I listened carefully.

  He sounded tired, withdrawn.

  I called back. I needed to write down every single word in his message. I grabbed a pen from the glove box, and with no time to find a piece of paper, I wrote on my arm.

  Out of town, chandelier, eventually.

  Those words spoken in his tired voice replayed in my head when I hung up. Those words were completely out of character for him.

  One, he almost never left Swanee. Not even on our honeymoon. As a matter of fact, we never took a honeymoon.

  Two, he said chandelier. What man says chandelier? Also, why go into so much detail in an outgoing message? Was that a clue? Was he in trouble and he knew I’d be calling to talk to him?

  Deep down, I had to believe he put those words on there for me to hear. He was in trouble, and I had to find him.

  And three, eventually was always right now for him. Sean loved to work. He jumped at the chance to work every time. So, if someone did call him for an job, he would always call them back right away, no matter what, and give them a time frame when he could get the job done.

  Out of town, chandelier, eventually. I continued to repeat those words out loud until I got home.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  “Hello?” Bernadine answered her phone; there was a little trepidation in her voice.

  “Bernadine, I’m so glad you are home. Do you want to go for a walk?” I asked.

  I wanted to talk out what was going on in my head. I’ve already conjured up every scenario, from Sean being a murderer and running off, to him being kidnapped.

  Bernadine had always been the most logical Diva other than Ginger. And talking to Ginger wasn’t an option at this point.

  “I don’t know. I’m awfully tired, and my toe still hurts.” Bernadine said. “Where are you calling from?”

  “I got the new ePhone.” I never thought those words would come out of my mouth. And by Bernadine’s silence, she obviously didn’t either.

  “You what?” Bernadine finally broke the silence.

  I imagined her jumping up and down with excitement.

  “Yes, I broke down and got one.” I briefly told her about my adventure in Cell City. “Listen, I really need to talk to you.”

  Before I made it home, Bernadine had already used my hidden key and let herself in. She and Willow were sitting on the futon. Willow had her snoot stuck deep down into Bernadine’s zip lock baggie of treats and eating her heart out.

  Bernadine claimed that Food Watchers told her if she carried around healthy snacks, it would aid in her weight loss plan. I think the snacks were meant for Bernadine to eat, not Willow.

  “Bernadine, I told you that she can’t eat all those grapes.” I took the bag and put it on the counter.

  The last time Willow ate Bernadine’s grapes, she had diarrhea for a week. Doc Johnson, Swanee’s only veterinarian, had a hard time getting Willow regulated.

  “Well, let’s see it.” Bernadine held out her hand. “I want to hold the new ePhone. I hear it can do anything short of cooking.”

  I laughed, and handed her the new electronic gadget. For the price of the darn thing, it should be doing my laundry.

  Bernadine played with my new phone while I went to my bedroom to change into my walking stretch pants.

  I slipped them on and looked in the mirror. They felt looser, and they were. I even had to double over the waistband. I slipped my tennies on and skipped down the hall.

  “You ready?” I looked down at Willow.

  He-hon, he-hon, he-hon, She trotted over to the hook where her beaded collar and hot pink leash hung, her tail twirling with excitement. She had already figured out that when I put those stret
ch pants on and followed up with my tennis shoes, she was going for a walk.

  It took us two times around the lake for me to tell Bernadine everything I knew about Sean and Marlene.

  “I can’t believe that.” Bernadine seemed amazed at all that had taken place. “How much is the Spinel diamond?”

  I stopped dead in my tracks, and turned to face her.

  “Are you kidding me?” I asked her, a tad bit frustrated. “I just told you that I believed something has happened to Sean and all you can think about is how much Marlene’s gem is worth?”

  “It’s a lot to take in. Besides, isn’t this what we Divas do? Wish our exes away?” Bernadine smiled and shoved me when I didn’t reciprocate. “Come on, Holly, we will find him.”

  “Well, don’t tell any of the Divas anything I told you.” I stumbled from Willow pulling so hard to get back to the cottage. “Are you sure you saw Marlene here?”

  “I’m double-dog positive. On my ex-husbands pension.” Bernadine made the sign of the cross, because God knows there was no way Bernadine would pit anything against the big payout she was going to be getting.

  Willow went straight to the water dish. She wasn’t use to so much exercise.

  A knock at the door made us jump. The clock read 9pm, which was late for me to get a visitor. Unless it was Sean.

  “Sean?” I swung the front door open with hope in my heart.

  “Wrong.” Noah Druck stood on the small concrete slab just outside the door.

  What does he want? I mouthed to Bernadine. She didn’t wait to answer me. She grabbed her things and hurried out the door.

  “Hi, Noah.” She gave a spirited wave. “Bye, Noah.”

  What a good Diva she was. Leaving me high and dry. She made the phone symbol with her hand and held it up to her ear, “Call me,” she mouthed back.

  We watched Bernadine hurry to her rowboat so she could row back to her side of the lake.

  “Come on in.” I held the door wide open.

  Willow snorted as though she was asking him to come in. He looked at her and then at me.

  “I’ll stay out here. This is official police business.” He rested his hands on his hips. “Tell me about Sean’s truck in South Burrow.”

  My mouth dropped, and then I quickly shut it. That no-good-for-nothing Jim Rush must’ve ran straight to the police station after I spilled the beans about the truck.

  Dirty rat.

  “If you don’t tell me, it doesn’t matter.” He leaned in like he was going to let me in on a little secret. “I will be making a trip to South Burrow tomorrow.”

  Maybe Noah finding out about the truck was a good thing. I could tell him about the truck, voicemail, chandelier, everything, and maybe he could put out an APB and find Sean.

  Just as I was about the spill the beans, a cell phone rang.

  Girls, girls, girls, Vince Neal and Motely Crew belted out the ring tone loud and clear.

  Yes, it was so eighties, but it was Sean’s favorite song and long-time ring tone.

  My eyes grew when the phone continued to sing in my cottage. Willow ran back to the bedroom. Was Sean here? Had he been here?

  “Holly, you and I both know that is Sean’s ring tone.” He walked past me and into the cottage. “Where is he?”

  The phone rang again. Girls, girls, girls.

  “I have no idea where he is or where the phone is.” I made one last attempt to draw his attention away from the ringing phone.

  By the look on Noah’s face, he wasn’t buying it. So I went in search of Vince’s voice. As I got closer, it stopped.

  “Holly, I’m not playing games.” He was on my heels. “If Sean killed Doug, you are an accessory to murder. Unless you killed Doug, and Sean found out. Then you’d have to put some of those Diva ideas into motion. If that was the case, I’m sure you know where Sean is.”

  Noah plucked his cell from its case that was attached to his uniform belt, and typed on the keypad.

  Girls, girls, girls.

  I stood still as if cement was in my shoes. Someone was setting me up, that was for sure. I watched Noah walk over to the futon and run his hand along the creases. I cringed, thinking about his hands in The Under, but he didn’t mind.

  “Look what I found.” Noah held the phone up and tucked it in his jacket pocket. “And to think, all these years you never put your hand under anything.”

  “That’s right!” I pointed to the futon. “I didn’t know it was there. I would never put anything in an under.”

  “I’m going to give you forty-eight hours to get your story straight and talk to a lawyer. And you need to include the little incident from this afternoon at Sean’s house.” His eyes squinted as if he was trying to read me.

  I knew not to say a word. There was nothing I could say to get me out of this mess.

  Noah walked back to his cruiser without looking back.

  I shut the door, locked it, and checked it twice. Chills went all over my body. I pulled back the curtains and glanced outside. I wondered who was watching me. Who knew to call Sean’s phone when Noah was here? Someone wanted Noah to find it here. Who was that someone?

  That someone had been in my cottage and planted Sean’s cell phone in my futon.

  Ouch. I felt in the small pocket of my yoga pants to see what poked me, and it was Sean’s key and piece of paper that I had stolen from his house. I took out the pink carbon copy paper and unfolded it.

  Allergy tests results? I read the paper aloud. Sean was allergy tested? I recalled him sneezing in The Beaded Dragonfly after the Divas’ and I had gone to Ginger’s to give our condolences.

  Damn, if he weren’t missing, I would secretly wish he was allergic to me. But it only stated he was allergic to the typical things: mold, pollen, cocoa…cocoa!

  Now I knew I was right. Sean was in trouble. Someone was setting me up for the murder of Doug Sloan, and that someone kidnapped Sean.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Thank goodness I’d asked Marlene to open the shop, because when Willow nudged me, the clock read 10am.

  She nudged me again. I pushed her snout away from my armpit.

  “Okay, let’s go.” I said, and got out off the futon.

  The TV was tuned to the local morning news.

  Last night after I got home, I was scared to death. So much so that I couldn’t sleep and decided to practice some of the new self-defense moves I had learned. I even put in a Veronica Mars DVD.

  Somehow, Veronica always made me feel better, or at least she gave me a few ideas on where to start looking for Sean.

  I felt like I’d given Marlene enough time to come clean, and I wanted to know who those women from the pier were. I also wanted to know why she had stopped by the cottage when she was supposed to be working at the shop. Not to mention her history in South Burrow.

  I opened the front door and let Willow out to do her business. She trotted straight for Jim, who was unloading some equipment to be stored in the barn.

  “Hey, Jim.” I waved to him, but he didn’t hear me. I yelled louder, “Hi, Jim!”

  He turned once Willow was around his ankles. He bent down to pat her and then waved to me. I walked over to get her. Once you’d given her a good belly rub, it was hard to get rid of her.

  “I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” Jim asked.

  Ginger had told me that Jim usually waits until after he thinks I’m up before he goes to the barn, since he can make so much noise in the barn.

  “Nah, I accidently overslept, but Marlene is opening for me today.” I brushed my bangs out of my eyes. “Did you tell Noah about Sean’s truck?”

  I knew he couldn’t lie because he was the only person who knew.

  “Holly, what did you expect me to do?” Jim’s voice was inflamed and belligerent. “It’s obvious that Sean murdered my brother-in-law, and I want him found. So does Ginger.”

  “I know.” I bit my lip and looked away.

  I didn’t really know, but I did know that I had to watch what I s
aid around anyone, especially Jim. The last person I wanted another visit from was Noah Druck.

  “Anyway, I’ve gotta go.” I pretended like I had a treat between my fingers. “Come on Willow.”

  Week, week, week, she squealed the entire way back to the cottage, her hind hooves dancing to get a sniff at my fingers.

  “Holly.” Jim called out. “You should stop by and see Ginger. She could use some company.”

  He was right. Ginger had made herself scarce over the past few days. I figured she was dealing with the loss of Doug and trying to settle his business dealings.

  I threw on a jogging suit and ran a brush through my hair. It was time to face Marlene and get some answers that I desperately needed.

  “You stay here.” I gave Willow a pat on the head before I gathered my stuff.

  Willow was scared of Marlene, and if she decided to yell at me for my line of questioning, it might make Willow a nervous wreck. And nothing good comes from a nervous piggy.

  The scrap piece of paper with Donovan’s number was on the counter next to my keys. I grabbed them and my new ePhone, and then I shut and locked the door behind me.

  Someone had been in my house and planted Sean’s cell in The Under of my futon. It was time I learned how to defend myself.

  Pulling out of my driveway, I made a quick call to Donovan.

  “Hey, Holly.” Donovan sounded happy to hear from me. “Are you calling to take me up on my offer?”

  “Yes,” I confirmed. “Do you think you could stop by tonight?”

  We agreed on a time and I gave him my address.

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Donovan said before he hung up.

  I was looking forward to seeing him again. I was even more interested in feeling safe in my own home, and learning moves that could possibly save my life.

  I pulled up in front on The Beaded Dragonfly and noticed the sign on the door was turned to display the closed side.

  The two nosey women from the pier were looking in the windows.

  Where in the hell was Marlene?

  I got out of my car and slammed the door.

  The two women jumped and turned around. Startled, they grabbed each other and took off down the sidewalk.