by Cindy Bell
“Hi Quinn, what’s up?”
“I just wanted to see if we were still on for tonight. Dinner?”
“Oh yes, absolutely.” Nikki clipped Coco’s leash on him as he barked. “Sorry, I’m taking Coco for his walk.”
“I understand. I’ll be there for the opening. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all turned out.”
“That reminds me. Have you found out anything about Matt?” Nikki steered Coco towards the street.
“I’ve been meaning to update you on that, but I kept hoping that I’d have more information to give you. Unfortunately, every lead I’ve followed up on has turned out to be a dead end. According to the Murrows, they believe that their daughter and Matt may have eloped, or at the very least taken off together.”
“So, Briana is still missing, too?” Nikki frowned. “I guess that makes sense. There was a lot of tension around the idea of the two of them getting married. It seems pretty irrational to take off in the middle of a job, though.”
“Matt has a few petty thefts on his record, but no other criminal history. However, he had been experiencing some serious financial strain. I guess that he barely had the money to pay his employees. It could be a classic case of ditching responsibility. I’m sure they will come back, eventually. Unfortunately, they are going to be faced with quite a mess when they do.”
“It was a pretty selfish move on his part. He really put Tom in quite a bind. But he managed it, and I think today is going to turn out great. I’ll see you in a little while?” Nikki guided Coco towards the party store.
“Sure, see you then.” Quinn hung up the phone.
Nikki tucked her phone into her pocket and continued towards the store. The idea that Matt and Briana took off together seemed a little romantic on the surface, but she didn’t put much weight on things like that. She didn’t like to judge, but underneath the premise of romance she saw fear and cowardice. Why run away? Why not face the Murrows and let them know that they wanted to be together and they didn’t care what they thought? Had he even considered the fate of his employees who were counting on their paychecks from the completed job?
Nikki popped her head into the party store.
“Hi Marcie, I’m picking up Tom’s balloon order.”
“Oh great, they’re all ready, I just need the final payment.” Marcie walked over and reached down to greet Coco.
“He didn’t pay for them?” Nikki frowned. Her bank account wasn’t exactly flush with funds. “How much does he owe?”
“Two hundred.” Marcie met Nikki’s eyes. “He said he would pay on pick-up.”
“I’m sorry, things are just so chaotic right now with the opening. He had planned to pick up the balloons, but he ran out of time. He must have forgotten to give me a check for the balance.” Nikki smiled. “I’ll pay for them.”
“That’s okay.” Marcie raised an eyebrow. “Tom is spreading himself a little too thin, I think. Starting a business is rough.”
“It can be.” Nikki nodded as she did some quick math in her head. “I don’t mind paying and he can pay me back.”
“It’s all right, Nikki. He can settle it up later.” Marcie patted Nikki’s shoulder. “Meet me around back and I’ll open the big door so you can take them out. I’m sure that Tom will settle things up with me by this evening.”
“I’ll make sure he does.” Nikki nodded, then walked around the side of the shop. Nikki’s face stung with embarrassment as she took the balloons from Marcie.
“Now don’t float away.” Marcie grinned as she handed over the balloons.
“I’ll try not to.” Nikki laughed. “Let’s go, Coco!”
After half-walking, half-jogging, she made it back to Happy Dogs just in time to see Sonia arrive.
“Nikki! What in the world are you doing?” Sonia stepped out of the car. Princess bolted out after her and ran straight for Coco.
Coco barked and lunged towards Princess so suddenly and sharply that Nikki stumbled forward. The balloons she clung to wafted through the air, sending her even more off balance.
“Don’t let go!” Sonia cried out as she hurried towards her.
Princess jumped up on Nikki’s leg to greet her, and that was the final push that sent Nikki sprawling onto the ground with a leash in one hand and balloons in the other.
“Oof.”
Princess pranced over and began to lick her face. Coco soon joined in.
“Okay, okay, enough!” Nikki sputtered as she turned her head from side to side.
The flash of a camera made her blink. She caught sight of Sonia as she lowered her phone.
“Thanks for the help.” Nikki laughed as she tried to squirm away from the dogs.
“I’m sorry, you just looked so adorable there. Princess, get back here, right now.” Sonia patted her knee.
Princess bounced back and forth, took one more lick of Nikki’s cheek, then ran back over to Sonia.
Nikki managed to get to her feet while still holding onto Coco’s leash and the balloons.
“I’m just glad you decided to come.” Nikki brushed off her jeans the best she could. “I’ve got to get these balloons to Tom. I’ll be right back to give you a tour.” She hurried towards the front door of the building with Coco at her side.
Princess bolted in the other direction, around the building.
“Princess, get back here!” Sonia huffed as she chased after the tiny dog. No matter how fast she went, Princess’ little feet managed to go just a little faster. “I said, get back here!”
As the din of the other dogs and people in attendance faded behind them, Sonia’s frustration grew.
“Good thing we’re at a dog training academy, I might just leave you here for a few lessons. Now stop!”
Princess skidded to a stop near the back door. She placed her paws on a bag of cement and began to bark. She barked so loud and fast that Sonia’s head began to ache.
“Please Princess, that is enough!” Sonia reached down to pick up Princess, and as she did, she looked between a pile of bags of cement and saw something that took her breath away. When she could breathe again a shriek escaped her mouth so loud and long that Princess jumped up into her arms.
Chapter 4
The sound of Sonia’s scream sent chills up Nikki’s spine. She gripped Coco’s leash tighter as he snarled and lunged in the direction of the scream.
“What was that?” Tom narrowed his eyes as he finished tying the balloons to a table. “Do you think someone is hurt?”
“I think that’s my friend Sonia!” Nikki ran towards the sound of the scream. Her heart pounded against her chest as she tried to rationalize what she heard. Sonia wasn’t hurt, she’d just been startled. Sonia wasn’t being attacked, she’d just gotten frustrated with Princess. Or maybe she’d seen a massive spider. Yes, that had to be it. But even as these thoughts ran through her mind, she knew that she was wrong. Sonia wasn’t loud. She didn’t make unnecessary noise. She rounded the corner of the building and saw Sonia with Princess in her arms. Her face had drained of all color.
“Nikki.” Sonia reached for her friend. “Nikki, it’s horrible!”
“What is?” Nikki grabbed Sonia by her thin shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Sonia, are you hurt? What’s wrong?”
“There.” Sonia pointed with a trembling finger towards the piles of bags of cement. “He’s there.”
“Who’s there?” Nikki frowned. “Sonia, you’re not making any sense.”
“It’s Matt,” Sonia whispered, and pulled Princess closer to her.
Coco sniffed at the bags of cement. He pawed at the bottom one, then gave an uncertain bark.
“Matt?” Nikki crept closer to the bags. She held her breath as she peered through a space between them. On the ground, hidden by the bags of cement, was Matt. Or at least, Matt’s dead body. She stumbled back just as Tom stepped up behind her.
“Nikki? Is everything okay?” He put his hand on her shoulder.
“No, it’s not, Tom. We need to c
all the police.” Nikki forced herself to meet his eyes as her entire body trembled. “We found Matt.”
“Matt?” Tom raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?” He stepped around her and peered over the top of the bags of cement. “Oh no!” He gasped. “Oh no! This can’t be happening! Where’s my phone? I have to call someone.”
“I’m calling now.” Nikki took a deep breath as she tugged Coco away from the cement. “We all need to keep our distance. We don’t want to contaminate anything.” She put her arm around Sonia’s shoulders as she waited for Quinn to answer the phone.
“Hi Nikki, I’m just pulling into the parking lot now.”
“Quinn, you’re going to need backup.” Nikki shivered. “We found Matt.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I mean, we found his body. It’s here at Happy Dogs.” Nikki winced. “I’m not sure, but he might have been here the whole time.”
“All right, I’m calling for backup. Where are you?” The urgency in his voice increased along with the volume of it.
“We’re at the back of the building. Everyone is already out using the agility course. There are quite a few people here.” Nikki heard his car door slam shut.
“I’ll be right there.” Quinn hung up the phone.
“Sonia, let’s find you a place to sit down.” Nikki steered her towards a nearby bench and tugged Coco away from the bags of cement at the same time. “I can’t believe this happened. I’m so sorry that you had to see that, Sonia.”
“I just can’t believe that Princess knew exactly where to go.” Sonia wiped her hand across her forehead while still cradling the dog with her other arm. “She was so determined to get there.”
“She knew.” Nikki sat down on the bench beside her and watched as Tom paced back and forth near the back door. She could see the strain in his expression. She opened her mouth to say something soothing, but before she could, Quinn jogged up to them. He met Nikki’s eyes, his own wide.
“There.” Nikki pointed to the bags of cement. “Behind them.”
“I’ll take a look.” Quinn peered past the stacks of bags, then nodded.
Sirens rang through the air, at a distance, but getting closer.
“I have to send everyone away.” Tom rubbed his hands across his eyes. “They can’t see this. No one should see this.”
“That would be a good idea, Tom. But they can’t leave the premises, yet. Just make sure they don’t come into this area. The officers will need to interview them on the way out. So, wait until the officers get here before you speak to them. I will need to speak with you, as well.” Quinn turned to face Tom.
“Of course.” Tom frowned, then walked towards the crowd of people that had gathered around the canine agility course.
“Maybe I should go with him.” Nikki stood up from the bench.
“Stay here.” Quinn glanced over at her. “Stay with Sonia.”
Quinn walked over to the men and women that began to arrive to conduct the investigation.
Nikki stared at him for a moment, then nodded as she sat back down on the bench. She knew both of her friends needed her support, but she also sensed that Quinn wanted to keep her away from Tom for some reason. She stroked Princess’ back and reached down to pat Coco’s head. As the sirens drew closer, Coco began to squirm and whimper.
“I’m going to take him inside.” Nikki looked over at Sonia. “Do you want me to take Princess in, too?”
“No, I want her with me.” Sonia held the small dog close against her chest.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Nikki walked over to Quinn. “Coco’s a little nervous from all the noise, I’m just going to take him into one of the kennels inside away from the commotion and noise.”
“Okay, but he can’t stay there long. This whole building is going to have to be roped off.” Quinn crouched down and pulled out his phone. He began snapping pictures between the bags.
Nikki’s stomach churned as she led Coco to one of the kennels. As soon as he was inside, he calmed down. What if there had been time to pour the patio? What if they had found Matt’s body sooner? She shivered at the thought of coming across it. It was bad enough to see it after she already knew it was there. From experience she could imagine the shock that Sonia felt when she found Matt’s body. How could he have been there the whole time? It struck her that maybe he wasn’t. Maybe his body had just been placed there. She stepped back out through the back door and noticed a few officers had begun to rope off the area around what was supposed to be the back patio. As horrible as it was, Nikki found herself drawn to take another look at Matt. As she stepped up beside Quinn, he looked over at her.
“Do you know anything about this?” Quinn snapped one more picture, then straightened up.
“About what?” Nikki took a step back as she stared at him. “About a hidden dead body?”
“About why he might have ended up here.” Quinn tucked his phone into his pocket and continued to study her. “You were helping Tom with getting the place ready for the grand opening, right? Do you know if there were any issues between him and Matt?”
“Sure, I was helping him.” Nikki frowned, then glanced over her shoulder. Dogs continued to run and bark in the recreation area. None of the people in attendance appeared to be aware that anything unusual had been discovered behind the pile of bags of cement. Tom waved his hands in an attempt to get their attention.
“I didn’t notice anything really. I mean they argued a little over the building being ready on time, but that was just business stuff.”
“I see.” Quinn looked down at Matt’s body. “I think that someone hid him here. He didn’t end up here on his own. I can’t be certain, but it looks to me like he’s been here since the first day he went missing. My guess is the plan was to bury him in concrete.” He pointed to the bags. “Which means that someone familiar with this building is likely to be responsible for this.”
“You don’t think it’s Tom, do you?” Nikki’s eyes widened. “Quinn, I’ve known Tom forever. He would never do something like this.”
“I will take that into consideration.” Quinn nodded, then pulled his phone back out of his pocket. “The crime scene team has arrived. I need to go speak with Tom.”
“He’s directing the crowd to the officers.” Nikki tipped her head towards the crowd that had begun moving in the direction of the parking lot. “I’ll get him for you.” She took a step in Tom’s direction.
“No.” Quinn placed his hand on her shoulder. “It would be best if I did. You should check on Sonia, make sure that she’s handling this okay. It must have been quite a shock for her.”
“You’re right.” Nikki took a deep breath and looked over at Sonia. Princess had curled up in her lap. Sonia braced her hands on the edge of the bench. She was a petite woman, but in that moment she looked even smaller.
Chapter 5
Nikki draped her arm around Sonia’s shoulders as she sat down beside her.
“What a day this turned out to be.” Nikki sighed.
“That’s one way to put it.” Sonia pursed her lips.
“I’m sorry about all of this, Sonia.” Nikki took her hand and held it gently.
“You couldn’t have known what would happen. I just hope that the police can figure out what happened to Matt, quickly.” Sonia watched the crime scene team begin to move the bags of cement.
“I don’t know how he could have been here this whole time, and no one noticed.” Nikki closed her eyes for a moment. “I didn’t notice.”
“He was pretty well hidden, and the smell of the fertilizer was strong in that area.” Sonia shifted on the bench. “It seems like an odd place to hide a body, though.”
“Quinn thinks that whoever killed him might have planned to use the concrete to hide the body.” Nikki shivered at the thought. “If the killer had, we might never have found Matt. He would just still be missing.”
“Missing,” Sonia repeated the word, then took a sharp breath. “Nikki,
do you know who else is still missing?”
“Briana!” Nikki covered her mouth as the shock struck her. “Do you think she could have been killed, too?”
“I hope not.” Sonia squeezed Nikki’s hand. “I really hope not.”
“Nikki!” Tom waved to her as he walked towards her. “Can I speak with you, please?”
Nikki glanced around for any sign of Quinn. Wherever he’d gone she couldn’t see him. He hadn’t specifically told her not to speak to Tom. Her heart ached as she saw the panic in her friend’s wide eyes.
“Sure.” Nikki stood up from the bench and after a quick glance over her shoulder to be sure Sonia was okay, she walked towards Tom. She noticed his hands flutter at his sides, and then disappear into his pockets.
“What can you tell me about all of this? Quinn is making me nervous.” Tom narrowed his eyes. “He’s acting like he thinks I had something to do with this.”
“Tom, I don’t know anything more than you do.” Nikki slid her hands into her pockets.
“I saw the way he was talking to you.” Tom searched her eyes. “That’s your Quinn, right? The one you told me about?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t change anything.” Nikki frowned and glanced over at Sonia. “I really need to stay with my friend. She’s had quite a shock.”
“I’m sure she has.” Tom took a step forward. “Nikki, you know I’ve invested everything in this business. If I lose it, I’ll have nothing.”
“Tom, you’re not going to lose it.” Nikki looked back at him. “This is unfortunate yes, but you can bounce back from it. Once Quinn discovers who did this, the investigation will be wrapped up, and you can move on from this.”
“Let’s just hope he can figure it out quickly.” Tom ran his hand back through his hair. “I can’t even imagine who would do something like this. We had our clashes, but he was a good man. He didn’t deserve this.”
“No, I’m sure he didn’t.” Nikki lowered her voice. “Just take it one step at a time from here, Tom. Just try to keep your wits about you.”