by Lisa Boone
She glanced over at Moose who was staring at her. He flipped the magazine over before sliding off the stool and disappearing into the back of the pub.
“Why didn’t you call the police?” Emily asked.
“I did. They sent someone out to take a look but they didn’t find the guy. They seemed sympathetic but they said it wasn’t against the law to stand in the park and stare. Neither is returning my high heels.” She ran her hand through her hair. “Apparently, neither is leaving a rather creepy and disturbing Valentine’s Day card about the color of my blood.”
Emily’s mouth fell open. “Come again?”
Sarah buried her head in her hands. “I don’t even want to talk about it.”
“Well, did you look through the peephole when he knocked or when the guy came by?”
She folded her arms on the bar. “I never saw him at the door. I just know Rory was acting as though someone was there.” She laid her forehead on her arms. “I couldn’t sleep last night. I just laid there waiting for something to happen.” She lifted her head up and glanced at her reflection in the mirror.
She looked a wreck. Dark circles surrounded both eyes, which were reddened from lack of sleep. “I can’t go through this again, Em. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“Maybe you are,” Holly said coming up to stand next to her.
“Thanks,” Sarah said, watching as Holly joined Emily behind the bar. The bell above the front door jingled. She glanced back up at the mirror, just as a man with sandy blond hair walked by. She spun around in her seat only to spin back around when she noticed the man’s face.
“It’s not him,” Holly said.
Shaking off her disappointment, Sarah turned back to Holly, only then registering that the other girl had spoken. “Who?”
“Who?” Holly mimicked derisively.
Sarah raised her eyebrows in surprise at Holly’s rudeness.
“The one you’ve been waiting for the last month and a half,” Holly said in clipped tones.
“Who said I’m looking for Jamie?” Sarah asked in annoyance.
Holly snorted. “If that wasn’t who you were looking for just then how did you know I meant him?” She placed her hands on the bar and glared at Sarah. “I’m glad Jamie’s gone. If he knows what’s good for him, he better stay gone too.”
“What’s your problem?” Emily asked giving Holly a side eye.
Holly looked at her in surprise. “My problem? How about the fact that everyone around me seems to have forgotten that Jamie murdered my cousin and best friend? How about the fact that my family seems to be obsessed with recreating the crime and pinning the murder on someone else all for a few extra dollars? I don’t know what makes me madder. That they want to cheapen her memory with a made for TV special or that we can’t even do the stupid thing unless we can get Jamie on board with it.”
“None of that has to do with Sarah, so why are you snapping at her?” Emily asked.
Holly flung her hand out towards Sarah. “Because she’s one of the ones pining for him to come home. Be honest, Sarah, if he were here right now, would you throw that drink in his face or run into his arms.”
“Right now, probably both,” Sarah said closing her eyes.
“I can tell you what I’d do,” Holly said. “I’ve been dreaming about it since I learned they let him go and he was here.” Her upper lip curled in disgust. “I can’t believe Kristen allows him to hang around here. The very same place where he killed Robin. I thought I was going to lose it when I heard. That’s why I came home for Christmas. I wasn’t planning on it but I wanted to see him one more time. I wanted to look him in the eye and tell him what I thought about him. I wanted to hurt him the way he hurt all of us, but he ran away.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Robin was more than a cousin to me. We were best friends. We were inseparable and then Jamie Murphy took her away from me. He killed her and now she’s dead and I’m all alone.” She blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over. Once she had her emotions under control, she said, “I’ll never forgive him for that. Never.”
Sarah gave her a sympathetic nod. She knew how she’d feel if someone killed her sisters or someone she was close to but… “What if he’s innocent?”
“He’s not.”
“Kristen and Phoebe seem to think so,” Sarah said.
“Kristen doesn’t believe he’s innocent,” Holly said snidely. “She just doesn’t care whether he’s guilty or not and Phoebe is too flighty and self-absorbed to care about anything except for those stupid horses of hers.”
“It’s not just Kristen and Phoebe. Brian thinks he’s innocent too.”
“Brian also thinks Jamie is in lo—” She pursed her lips together, cutting off whatever she was about to say.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Holly said with a smirk. “Brian’s obviously wrong. Jamie’s guilty. Everyone knows that.”
“I don’t know that.”
Anger flared in Holly’s eyes. Her fingers curled into a fist as she glared at Sarah. For a moment, Holly looked like she was about to hit her, but instead she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she appeared much more relaxed and friendly. “I’m sorry, Sarah. I shouldn’t take out my anger on you. It’s just frustrating.”
“It’s all right. I understand.”
“Please don’t take what I say personally. It’s not you. I understand why you think you’re in love with Jamie. Believe me I get it. The man’s handsome. There’s no denying it. He’s also got the bad boy thing going on. Some girls find that really attractive. You obviously do.”
“Holly, please. I have more pressing concerns than my love life at the moment,” Sarah said before describing what happened after the party, hoping Holly may have seen or heard something that might help her figure out who followed her home.
Holly’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, my God. It makes perfect sense now.”
Sarah sat up straighter. “What does?”
“That’s why you’re so obsessed with Jamie,” Holly said thoughtfully. “I knew it had to be something like that.”
“What are you talking about?” Sarah asked.
“You think you’re in danger. Oh, sweetie, you’re still traumatized by what happened on Halloween.”
“New Year’s Eve,” Emily corrected.
“What difference does it make?” Holly said turning back to Sarah. “No one is trying to hurt you, Sarah. It’s all in your head.”
Sarah exchanged an annoyed glance with Emily.
Holly pressed her fingers to her temple. “I understand now. That’s why you don’t want to believe he’s a murderer. I was thinking it was because you were shallow, but it’s actually because you’re scared. And since you’re a good decent caring person, you don’t want to believe the man you think you need to keep you safe is a cold blooded murderer. You have to believe he’s innocent in order to justify wanting his help. But sweetie, listen to me, you don’t need Jamie to protect you. There’s nothing wrong.”
“Holly, I’m not delusional. I’m telling you, someone followed me home last night. I didn’t imagine it.”
“Sarah,” Holly began in a lecturing tone of voice, “you don’t need Jamie. You’ve got an education, money in the bank, any guy would be lucky to have you. Go find a good decent man before Jamie destroys you like he did Robin.”
“Jamie’s not going to destroy me,” Sarah said in exasperation. “He’s not even around anymore.”
“Oh please,” Holly sputtered. “How much do you want to bet, he’s going to come riding to your rescue the first time something bad happens and like a fool, you’re going to take him in because you think you need him.”
“Something bad happened last night but I don’t see him here, do you?” Sarah turned to find Kristen staring at her anxiously and Moose standing off to the side near the door to the back offices, looking as though he was waiting for something.
“Sarah, can I speak to you privately, please?” K
risten asked gently.
Sarah automatically nodded, noting Kristen’s own dark circles and red eyes. She followed the other woman through the dining room to the offices in the back.
Moose held the door open for them and Sarah could have sworn she saw a gun in a holster under his arm, which was something she had never seen on the big man before. Once she was through the door, he stepped inside the hallway, and stood there with his back against the door as Kristen unlocked her office door.
Kristen opened the door, motioning for Sarah to take the chair across from the desk. When Sarah sat down and looked at her employer, she was surprised to see Kristen pressing a tissue to the corner of her eye.
“Sorry,” Kristen said. “I can’t seem to stop from crying.” She neatly folded the tissue into a triangle before dabbing at the other eye.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“I haven’t stopped since last night. I feel like I’m living on borrowed time.” She laid the tissue down. Reaching into her desk drawer, she brought out a piece of white paper. Disgust written on her face, she held it out from her and towards Sarah. “This is a copy. The police have the original.”
Sarah unfolded the paper, revealing a copy of one of the Valentine cards she had noticed on the kitchen table the night before. She clasped a hand to her mouth as she read the vile threatening words written on the paper.
“I found that on my pillow last night when I went to bed. Phoebe found this one,” she said thrusting another piece of paper in Sarah’s direction, “taped to her bathroom mirror when she woke up this morning. It’s even sicker than the one I received. Moose told me that someone followed you home last night. Did you receive a threating card too?”
“Someone left it outside my door along with the high heels I lost last night.” Sarah handed the copies back to Kristen who waved her hands and leaned back as though touching the paper again could somehow hurt her. Sarah let the papers fall to the desk.
Kristen looked confused. “I don’t understand … Why us?”
“I don’t know.”
Kristen twisted her fingers nervously. “Did you get a good look at the guy outside your apartment last night?”
“No.” An image of Kristen and Wade Hogan arguing last night leapt to mind. “Could the man you spoke to last night have left this note for you?”
“What man?”
“Wade Hogan.”
Kristen’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wade? No, of course not. Wade would never do something like this. Never,” she said vehemently. “Whoever wrote this is sick.”
“Did the security cameras around your house catch anything?”
“Nathan checked them but didn’t see anything suspicious. There were so many people walking around that night. Besides, we don’t have cameras upstairs. I just don’t understand what’s going on. Why would someone shoot up the pub? Why leave these disturbing cards in our house? Why would they follow you home?”
“Maybe it has to do with Robin’s death. This all started when you and your sister started talking to those Hollywood producers.” Sarah glanced down at the note. While not referencing Robin specifically, it did promise that Kristen would be joining her dead sister very soon. “I don’t know why Robin’s killer would go after me but maybe he doesn’t want you and Phoebe re-opening the case and is trying to scare you both.”
“If that’s so, he’s doing a good job.” Kristen blew out a shaky breath. “I don’t think he needs to worry about that. We seem to be at a standstill. Nathan doesn’t want to hire a private detective. We argued about it all night after the party. He wants us to concentrate on the TV show but that’s not going anywhere because the producers want Jamie to be involved and won’t even consider going forward without him. Nathan’s been on the phone trying to get them to reconsider all morning.”
“Why do they want Jamie so desperately? They have you all. Surely, you can give them what they need.”
Kristen’s lips curled in disgust. “They think the whole forbidden teenage love affair angle between the beautiful mob princess and her daddy’s handsome hitman is hot. When we told them that we thought he was innocent, they got really excited. They took one look at Jamie’s mugshot and decided they had to have him involved for the show to work.”
“Oh.”
Kristen waved her hand. “I don’t even care about the show. It’s embarrassing. I’ve spent the last few years trying to get away from our past and now it’s being drudged back up.” She tilted her head back, blinking back more tears. “For a national audience no less.”
“Then why did you even agree to talk to the producers?”
“Nathan asked me to. He’s the one who set the whole thing up. We don’t need the money but my husband—” Her eyes welled with tears again. “He convinced me this was a good way to find out just what happened to Robin that night.” She balled her hands into fists. “I had been talking about hiring a private detective for some time and then when this guy came to the pub asking questions about Robin’s death and talking about doing some type of TV show about it Nathan jumped at the offer. He thought this was our chance to find out what happened. I just want to know who killed my sister. That’s all. I don’t care about the money or the TV show or the fame. I just want to know. Her killer deserves to be punished. I owe Robin that much.” Her gaze fell to the note lying on the desk between them. “I just didn’t expect this to happen. Phoebe wants to drop the investigation. She doesn’t want us to talk to the producers or hire a private detective. She’s scared to death.” Her hands shook as she wiped the tears off her face. “So am I. I don’t think it matters what we do at this point. Whoever killed Robin is coming after us now.”
“What did the police say when you showed them the cards?”
Kristen made a sound of derision. “The police can’t help us. Even if, by some miracle, they figure out who left this letter, what then? What will they really do with him? If he doesn’t have a record, he’ll be out on the street in no time. And in the meantime, they won’t provide protection.” She crossed her arms and glared at the wall. “They said they’d have a car drive past during the night. What good will that do?”
“It’s better than nothing.”
“We need a plan,” Kristen said. “The first thing we need to do is protect ourselves. You saw the security at our house last night. What good did they do? Somehow, this creep got past them. Moose and Danny are all we have anymore. We can’t afford to keep a security detail with us all the time. You, me and Phoebe are obviously in danger and we need to stick together if we’re going to survive.”
Sarah frowned, a bit surprised that Kristen seemed to be including her at all. She figured that she’d be on her own as far as protection went.
Kristen folded her hands and leaned closer. “Jamie was one of my father’s best men. If anyone can protect us it’s him. Now Brian told me last night that you and Jamie are …” She seemed to struggle for a moment before adding, “close?” She looked at Sarah as if searching for confirmation.
Ah, Sarah thought. Suddenly the reason as to why Kristen was including her became quite clear. She simply stayed silent in response, waiting for Kristen to continue.
“Surely, you know how to get into contact with him.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t.”
Kristen blew out her breath as the door opened and Nathan walked in.
“Moose filled me in.” He sat down in the chair next to Sarah.
Angry, Kristen flung out a hand towards Sarah. “She’s refusing to contact Jamie.”
Sarah’s mouth dropped open and she lifted her hands in defense. “I would if I knew where he was.”
Nathan rolled his eyes. “Did he tell you to say that?”
Kristen lifted her hands as if in prayer. “Please help us, for your own sake if not for ours.” She glanced at Nathan and did a double take. “Nathan, what happened to your hand?”
Sarah glanced over at Nathan as he held up his left hand. A brace and tape surrounded three finge
rs.
“Oh, I was hanging a picture and managed to hit my fingers with my hammer,” he said. “Hurt like hell.”
“Did you break them?” Kristen asked in concern.
“Yeah, but they’re fine. I’ve already seen the doctor.” He glanced over at Sarah. “Brian told us about you and him.”
“Nathan, there is no me and him. If I knew where he was, I would tell you.”
He looked at her doubtfully for a moment before saying, “All right. We had to ask.”
“Don’t give me that,” Kristen snapped. “Jamie ditched us on New Year’s Eve to save you. Not to sound conceited but he’d never do that to us. Not unless you were very important to him in some way.”
“Kristen,” Nathan said with a chiding tone, “she doesn’t know where he is.”
“But—” Kristen looked stricken. She reached for her tissue again.
Nathan started to laugh, earning him a disgusted look from his wife. He ran a hand down his face. “I’m sorry, Kristen, but really.” He turned to Sarah. “You have to forgive my wife. She seems to think Jamie is her personal bodyguard.” He smiled at Kristen. “At least he’s cheap labor. Just throw him a couple of scraps and he’s at your beck and call like any good mutt.”
Both Kristen and Sarah stiffened.
“He’s saved my life more than once,” Kristen said shortly.
Nathan leaned forward, balancing his elbows on his knees. “Kristen,” he said gently, “I think it’s time to come to terms with the fact that Jamie’s dead.”
Sarah’s breath caught in her throat. “Wh-what?”
“Brian told us that he dropped Jamie off at some flea bag motel twenty miles from here,” Nathan said. “He said he was half-delirious when he left to go get some medicine. When he came back, Jamie was gone. He hasn’t seen or heard from him since.”
“Oh, Brian’s lying,” Kristen said dismissively.
“I’m not so sure this time,” Nathan said.
“Jamie’s not dead,” Sarah blurted out. He couldn’t be dead. She felt her heart constrict in her chest. “He’s not dead,” she said needing to hear the words again, even if it was just from her.