Welcome to Sweetwater (Annie Parker Mystery Shorts Box Set)

by A. J. Bromley

  After eating and cleaning up the kitchen, they moved into the living room. Darla told Annie about the film festival in Boulder. “It was fun being with the other movie lovers. This week was Humphrey Bogart. I thought Victor was my Cary Grant when I first met him.”

  They sat on the comfortable sofa. As the movie was starting, they talked about their favorites. It wasn’t long before Annie was sound asleep, leaving Darla to watch alone.

  Chapter 3

  Darla was sitting at the kitchen table when Annie came in after showering and dressing causally for the day.

  “I’m afraid I wasn’t very good company last night. I hope you enjoyed the movie.”

  “I didn’t last much longer then you did. Right now, I have been trying to call Victor but it goes right to voicemail. Even texting doesn’t work. Either his battery is down or someone took his phone. Later today, I’ll check our credit cards. Maybe Victor has been using them.”

  “I’m going to make us a nourishing breakfast. The group working on the dance will be here at 3:00PM.”

  Taking eggs, cheese and bacon from the refrigerator Annie proceeded to make them each an omelet. “Darla, would you do the toast and juice. The coffee is about ready.”

  “You don’t get much of a break from cooking, Annie.”

  “I have always enjoyed it. I took a few gourmet cooking classes. Unfortunately, that isn’t what my customers want. An old-timer once told me to stick to regular cooking for us regular folks.”

  After breakfast, Darla insisted on doing the cleanup. Annie noticed that she was starting to get a little color in her cheeks, along with losing some of her shyness. Darla might have more inner strength than she realized. Victor never tried to build up her confidence that’s for sure.

  Annie went on to tell Darla about her friends. She was also thinking about asking them to help find Victor.

  “I hope that I won’t be in the way.”

  Darla wasn’t one to be pushy, thought Annie when she replied. “We can always use more help.

  “Kate is married to Mike MacKenzie, but everyone calls him Mac. He is out of town on business a lot, so Kate enjoys having outside activities. Lately she has been rather quiet. I don’t know what the problem might be. I wish I could help her.

  “Molly and Polly, the Peterson twins are very interesting women. They are good friends and very resourceful allies. They go on exciting trips once a year. They are planning to visit Peru this year.

  “These three women helped me solve a crime in this town over a year ago.”

  The group arrived soon after 3:00PM. Kate was first and the twins followed shortly afterwards.

  Annie introduced Kate, Molly and Polly to Darla. Then they all gathered in the living room while Annie went over the reports for the dance. “Kate, I know you are helping at the school carnival Friday afternoon. I hope you’re still able to see that the chairs and tables are set up for the dance.”

  “Not a problem, Annie. You know how I look forward to the carnival. It’s a worthy cause, helping to send kids to camp.”

  Kate turned to the twins as she asked about their special punch. “Hope you two haven’t lost the recipe.”

  The women beamed with the compliment.

  Suddenly Darla remembered the tea; she quietly slipped into the kitchen to prepare refreshments. She put some of Annie’s cookies on the silver platter. Kate came in to offer her assistance.

  “Darla, I have been hearing about the good work you have done on alterations. It might be profitable to expand your business after Victor is found.” Kate started gathering up the teacups and cookies went into the living room. Darla followed with the hot tea. She was feeling good after Kate’s comments.

  While everyone was enjoying a break, Annie brought up the subject about activating the posse. She thought the group could look into finding Victor.

  Someone shouted, “About time!” Then the others chimed in.

  Darla was looking on with a surprised expression. The group had suddenly taken on a new energy.

  Annie told the posse that Victor was gone when Darla got home Friday night. “Sam won’t start an investigation until tomorrow. Something about a 48 hour rule.”

  Then Darla went on to talk about Victor and his poker-playing friends.

  Annie turned to Kate and asked her to speak to Lee at the gas station. “We don’t have any last names for Chris and Dan as of right now.”

  “Can you describe the two men, Darla?” Polly inquired.

  Darla thought for a moment then went on to tell about them.

  “Dan is tall and quite thin with blonde hair. He wears thick glasses. Chris is a little taller than I am. When he smiles there are dimples in his cheeks. They are in their early 40s, I would guess. I doubt that they had anything to do with Victor’s disappearance.”

  Molly spoke up first. “I know those boys. Dan Wheeler was in my history class. Polly, didn’t you have Chris Steele in math? I’m certain that is who you are talking about, Darla.”

  Polly agreed with her sister. “We will go have a chat with them. We always enjoy seeing our old students.”

  Everyone started gathering up the dishes and taking them the kitchen. Annie asked the group to dinner on Wednesday at 6:00PM. “I’m trying a new chili recipe and I want your opinion before springing it on my customers.”

  They all laughed good-naturedly. It wasn’t long after that the three women left. Darla was grateful that so many people wanted to help her.

  Chapter 4

  Sunday night Sam called Annie. “How is everything going, Annie?” He was hoping that Darla had heard from Victor.

  “There hasn’t been any word from him. Sam, I hope that this turns out all right.” Annie reported how Darla had been trying to reach her husband’s cell phone with no luck.

  “Tell Mrs. Franconi that I will be there at 10 in the morning. I’ll be opening the case and I will need a statement from her.”

  “Sam, do you remember we have a date for the dance?”

  “I haven’t forgotten. Right now I need to get the Franconis back together.” With that, he said his usual sweet good night.

  Monday morning Sam was at his desk making plans for the day. After he talked with Mrs. Franconi, he needed to see the poker players.

  Julie, the station’s secretary was busy at her desk. There was a lot of talking and laughing. Monday mornings were always like this. People came in to pay their parking tickets and talk over old times with Julie.

  She knew all the residents, young and old having started here right out of high school. Sam considered her a treasure. Keeping all the deputies in line was no easy task.

  “Can you come in to my office, Dennis?” Sam planned to have his deputy see the neighbor across the street from the Franconis.

  “What’s up, Chief?” Dennis was standing in the doorway to Sam’s office, licking his fingers of one hand while holding a partially eaten powdered doughnut in the other hand.

  Sam went on to tell Dennis about Friday night and the disappearance of Victor Franconi. “I need you to question their neighbor, Sadie Thomas. She is elderly and a bit eccentric. I’m sure she saw what happened across the street at the trailer Friday night.”

  “I can go out there shortly. I need to finish up a report first.”

  “Oh Dennis, dust off your shirt and tie. Sadie has got 20/20 vision.”

  “You can really take the joy out of eating a simple doughnut, Sam.” Not wanting any further comments, Dennis left Sam’s office.

  Chapter 5

  Promptly at 10:00AM Sam pulled into Annie’s driveway. Darla was quick to answer the door and she looked eager to talk. She showed a bit of spirit unlike Friday night.

  Darla had coffee made and had a few leftover cookies waiting on the kitchen table. Sitting down Sam enjoyed some coffee before taking out his notepad. Then he asked Darla about Friday night.

  “Victor is addicted to gambling. He spent a lot of time at the casino when we first got here. That’s where he met Chris a
nd Dan. Lee works at the gas station here in town. I think I already told you that. Sorry, I forgot.”

  “That’s all right. Please continue.” Sam was trying to keep her on track.

  “I don’t go out on Friday nights unless there is a good movie that I want to see. I buy the snacks and beer for the gang and then hang out in the bedroom. My sewing keeps me busy.”

  “Tell me what happened when you got home this past Friday night.”

  “The film festival went until midnight. I came home right afterwards. It took about a half-hour with getting to my car and driving home.”

  “The 911 operator reported that it was 12:40AM when you called.”

  “First I noticed the living room was more of a mess than usual. Four men playing cards can be bad enough but this time was different. Victor was gone. The trailer was empty. I found the pillows trashed, my knickknacks broken and blood on the rug.”

  “Do you have any idea who might have taken him, Mrs. Franconi?”

  Darla was getting a bit agitated. “No Chief, I don’t. Now I have checked with our two credit card companies and there has been no activity since Victor disappeared.”

  “Mrs. Franconi, I want to thank you for your time. I will be talking to the three poker players. Let me know if Victor contacts you.”

  “Chief Sparks, I do want to thank you for calling Annie. She has been very good to me. Did you know that she helped me get started with my sewing jobs? She let me put up a notice on the bulletin board in her café.”

  “Annie is a special person. I think that you will find a lot of the people in town would agree with you.” Sam closed his notepad and finished his coffee.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Franconi. Call me if you think of anything else.”

  Sam went to the gas station looking for Lee before returning to his office. He talked to Terry Waters, Lee’s boss, and learned that Lee had left town early Saturday morning. No one was sure when he would return.

  “Have him check in with me when he gets back. I have a few questions for him.” Sam made an entry in his notebook and left.

  When Sam got back to the station, he called the manager of the Mountainview Casino. Sam felt that gambling was an easy way to lose your hard-earned money. He did enjoy going to the restaurant occasionally. They served a great prime rib.

  The manager, Lloyd Watson, knew whom Sam wanted. “Chris and Dan are long time employees here. What is the problem?”

  Sam explained about the poker game on Friday night and Victor’s disappearance. “Chris and Dan were there along with another fellow.”

  Lloyd thought about this for a minute before replying. “I know these men and they wouldn’t be involved with anything illegal. Listen, I’ll send them over when they get off today at 3:00PM. I know you’re doing your job, but these are okay guys.”

  Dennis was hanging around Julie’s desk when Sam came out of his office. Julie was giving directions to a couple of senior citizens.

  “Did you see Sadie Thomas?”

  “Sure did. She is quite something. I had a pleasant visit with her. She told me about the activity at the trailer Friday night.”

  “Why don’t we go back into my office, Dennis?”

  Sam sat behind his desk waiting for Dennis to sit down.

  “Okay, what’s the story?”

  Dennis went on to report about Sadie’s observations. “She said the players showed up around 8:00PM. Mrs. Franconi had driven out at 7:30PM. This has been the routine for the past six months. The only exception was that the wife didn’t always go out. The game usually ended at midnight and the men would leave. Last Friday night the men left at 10:30PM. They were yelling as they pulled out of the driveway.”

  “Sadie is quite the neighborhood busybody. I have known her since I took this job six years ago and I trust her report. Bet she gave you coffee and some of her famous strudel.”

  “I’m stuffed. Wish I hadn’t eaten those doughnuts.” Dennis smiled sheepishly.

  “Thanks Dennis. I’m waiting for two of the poker players to come in this afternoon. Need to see how their story agrees Sadie’s.”

  Chris and Dan came into the station at 3:30PM. They were not happy being called to the police station. Lloyd tried to calm them down but they were still uneasy.

  Sam spoke with the men individually. Their story was the same as Sadie’s. Then Sam talked to them together. Chris told how they thought that Victor had been cheating for quite some time.

  “Victor was an average player in the beginning. We would all win a couple of games. Lately he was winning all the time. His luck seemed to change in the past few weeks.”

  “Do either of you know where Lee went?”

  Both men were beginning to relax after the earlier interrogation. Knowing why the Sweetwater Chief of Police needed to question them was no longer bothering them.

  Dan spoke up. “We all went out to the casino after leaving the trailer. We wanted to be with our friends. Lee left shortly after 1:00AM. We haven’t seen him since.”

  Sam thanked the two men and let them leave. This had helped answer some questions, but it still didn’t explain Victor’s disappearance.

  Chapter 6

  Annie was at the café early on Tuesday morning. She was already busy baking muffins and cookies. Soon Roy arrived followed shortly by Caitlyn, both just chatting and laughing at some remark. A friendship had formed over the past year, which put harmony into the workplace. They got off to a rough start when Caitlyn intruded on Roy’s domain.

  The two of them were going to the dance together as friends, since they didn’t have any serious relationships. Because the theme was rock and roll, they planned to dress accordingly. About half the town got in the spirit of the event by searching trunks, closets and used clothing stores. There would be many Elvis and Sandra Dee lookalikes.

  As soon as Sam showed up for his morning coffee, Annie started to get nervous. Not knowing how he would react to the posse’s interference, she tried to play it cool.

  Of course, the first thing she did was spill his cup of coffee on the table and on his navy blue uniform. So much for playing it cool.

  “Watch what you’re doing, Annie. Are you trying to ruin my day even before it gets started?”

  “I’m so sorry, Sam. I don’t know what happened to me.” Rushing to wipe up the spilled coffee on the table, Annie looked at the wet spots on his uniform.

  “Relax it will dry eventually. So what has got you so keyed up this morning? Is Darla giving you any trouble?”

  “Good heavens no, Sam. She is the perfect houseguest.”

  “Anything new about Victor?”

  “I’m still working on it, Annie.

  “On a brighter note, how are the plans for the dance? Didn’t you have a meeting with the committee on Sunday?”

  “Everything is coming together like it always does. I think many of the locals are excited about the carnival and dance. How about you Sam, are you ready?”

  “Oh Annie, I am more than ready. It will be our first official date.”

  Annie was all warm and gooey inside thinking about their first date. When Sam reached across the table to take Annie’s hands, he smiled and with a twinkle in his eyes, he gave her hands a tight squeeze and got up to leave.

  “Try not to spill anything on your other customers, Annie.”

  After Sam left, Annie called Kate. She had been so quiet lately. Annie was concerned about her friend.

  “Annie, I already checked at the gas station and found out that Lee was out of town. I did talk to Hank Davis who is a friend of Lee’s and he reassured me that he was an okay fellow. He said that Lee got a call from his mother in Nebraska. His father had suffered a heart attack.”

  Kate didn’t tell Annie about the rest of the conversation with Hank. They had chatted about the carnival since they were both helping. Then Hank talked about Spring Fling and asked her to save a dance for him.

  Chapter 7

  Annie knew as soon as she opened the front door to her
house that someone was in the kitchen. She detected an aroma of garlic in the air. Annie was starving because she had only at a quick cup of vegetable soup for lunch.

  Entering the kitchen, Annie saw a different looking Darla. She had colored her hair a soft brown color. “You changed your hair color.”

  “This is my natural color. It was Victor’s idea for me to be a blonde. He is all about outside appearances and not the inner person. I’m beginning to realize how shallow he can be.”