by K E O'Connor
A customer arrived with an armful of merchandise.
I stepped to the side, trying not to feel annoyed at being disturbed flirting. “I’ll leave you to it.”
“I’ll see you at the dance,” Grant called as I left the store.
This time, I managed to stop myself from giving him my dorky thumbs up as I left.
Grant would definitely see me at the dance, I’d make sure of that.
I was delighted he was interested in me. He seemed like a lovely guy. If his position at the store became a permanent one. I’d happily have him as a new resident in Zee Town.
Back at the office, it was all systems go in preparation for the Valentine’s Day card deliveries. My team of twelve zombie deliverers were trying on their delivery outfits. They had red jackets with little gold embroidered Cupid’s arrows on the pockets. Yes, it was on the tacky side, but everybody loved them, and you could spot a deliverer from the end of the street in their bright red jacket.
People got a thrill from seeing them wander down the road, full of hope that they might stop and deliver a card.
“I’ve detailed a route for each of you,” I said to my delivery crew. “You have a maximum of ten streets each. I’ll give you your cards to deliver in street and number order, so you can’t get them mixed up. Some people will want to take the cards from you and others you’ll need to put through letter boxes.”
“Do we get treats?” a short, dark-skinned female zombie called Delilah asked.
“Yes, once you’ve delivered your cards, come back here. I’ll have a special treat table set out for you to enjoy. Laura has made you a tasty organ stew, and there’ll be plenty of different flavored meat soups.” It was nice to give them a reward for helping out.
I passed around the delivery routes and answered a few more questions from the zombies before they departed, all ready to do their deliveries.
The pile of cards had continued to grow in my absence. For a second, I was tempted to rifle through them and see if there were any for me. That was foolish. I didn’t have a Valentine or a love interest, although Grant briefly crossed my thoughts. It was too early to declare my interest in him with a soppy card.
I sighed as I stacked some cards. I was a confirmed bachelorette, whether I liked it or not.
I watched the zombies as they ambled away from the office. Being single right now was a good thing. It meant I could focus on my missing zombies.
If I found them and got them home safely, that was the only Valentine gift I wanted.
Chapter 8
Love was in the air as I walked to work the next morning. Everywhere I looked, there were hearts, flowers, cupids, and sickeningly sweet couples walking hand-in-hand, oblivious to the frost that crunched under their feet. Most likely, they were warmed by their desire for each other. The thought made me queasy.
I had no choice but to embrace Valentine’s Day. It would be here tomorrow, whether I liked it or not. Normally, I didn’t mind it, but this year, I felt particularly lonely and wished I had someone to spend my free time with.
“Cassie, are you all set for tomorrow’s love fest?” Selina hurried up behind me, heading in the direction of her surgery.
“Yes, everything’s going to plan. I was just admiring the decorations.”
Selina grinned at me. “Sure you were. Much like me, I imagine you think this whole thing is a joke. Idiots pretending they’re in love for a day and spending a fortune on frilly bouquets of flowers and expensive boxes of chocolates.”
I nodded, although I’d secretly love to receive either. Even a small box of cheap chocolates would do. “Is there any more news on Phil? Did you do an autopsy?”
“I’m still working on it,” Selina said. “I’m running a few more tests so I’ll have more information soon. Although, I’m not sure I can share that with you. Nick scolded me for letting you see the body.”
“He did? It’s got nothing to do with him,” I said.
“Well, it sort of does,” Selina said. “If the evidence had been contaminated by you, it wouldn’t look good. You might even end up a suspect if a rogue hair lodges somewhere it shouldn’t.”
“It won’t be the first time Nick’s accused me of something I didn’t do.” I shook my head. “Do you know anything about the other missing zombies? We’ve got several who have vanished.”
“Nick also mentioned that. I think he’s found who killed Phil, though,” Selina said.
“He has?” My heart thudded. This was news to me. “Phil was definitely killed?”
“It’s looking likely.”
“Who’s been taking our zombies?”
“I don’t know the details. Nick mentioned he’d arrested a tourist who got into a fight with a zombie last night,” Selina said. “He’s got the person locked up.”
“I wonder who it is?” I said, more to myself than Selina.
“Nick didn’t say,” Selina said. “I can’t stop. I’ve got patients waiting.” She hurried away.
I had to know more. It didn’t make sense that a tourist would start hiding our zombies. They wouldn’t even know where to put them. And what were they doing with them once they had them?
I dashed to Laura’s diner, which was already filling up with the early morning breakfast crowd.
“Morning, Cassie,” Laura said. “What can I get you?”
“Some of your heart-shaped cookies,” I said.
“These are your breakfast?” Laura placed half a dozen cookies in a brown paper bag. “Although they’re delicious, they aren’t a good substitute for a warm bowl of oatmeal, not on a cold morning like this.”
I grinned at her. “I’m sure they’re lovely for breakfast. I need to get answers out of Nick. These might be a good way to sweeten him up.”
“Cassie! Be careful.”
“What? I need answers.”
“And you’re giving Nick Morton heart-shaped cookies to get those answers.” Laura handed them over. “Are you sure they’re sending him the right message?”
“They’re cookies,” I said.
“Shaped like hearts.” Laura grinned. “I’m sure there will be no misunderstanding when you give them to him.”
“All I need is information. Nick can think what he likes about the shape of these delicious treats.”
“Good luck with that.”
I hurried out of the diner to the police station. The cookie bribe had to work. Cookies always made people happy.
The reception was empty when I walked into the station. After a minute of waiting, I dinged on the bell to let someone in the back office know I was there.
Nick opened the door of the office. He sighed as he walked toward me. “Have you got a crime to report?”
“No crime. I brought you these.” I shoved the bag of cookies at Nick. “I thought you might need something to celebrate with. I heard you arrested the person who’s been taking our zombies.”
Nick took the bag and extracted a cookie. “That’s very... kind of you. How did you know about the arrest?”
“I heard about it around town,” I said. “Who is it?”
“No one you know.” Nick placed the cookie back in the bag.
“It’s not a resident of Zee Town?”
“It’s someone from out of town. He got himself in trouble with one of our zombies,” Nick said.
“Do you think he’s taken the others? What about Phil? Was this tourist involved in his death?”
“Why don’t you come to the cells? You can interrogate him.”
“Can I?” I asked. The cookies were working better than I’d imagined.
“No, you cannot come into the station and talk to a suspect about something that’s none of your business.” Nick dropped the bag of cookies on the desk and folded his arms.
Stool hurried out through the door behind Nick and limped over to me.
I patted his head and grabbed the bag of cookies, pulling one out and breaking it into pieces before feeding it to him.
“He shouldn�
�t eat cookies for breakfast,” Nick said.
“One won’t hurt. I know he’s got a sweet tooth.”
“Don’t feed them all to him,” Nick said. “I want some with my coffee later.”
“You can’t tell me anything about who you’ve arrested?” I brushed crumbs from my fingers. “I just need to know our missing zombies are safe and you’ve got the right person.”
“I can’t tell you anything until I’ve spoken to him. Even then, I won’t tell you anything.”
“What’s he doing in Zee Town? Is he here for the Valentine celebrations? Did he sneak in to cause trouble? Does he have a plan for the missing zombies?”
A sigh slid from Nick’s lips. “Again, I haven’t spoken to him yet. I don’t know any of the answers to your questions. If I did, I still wouldn’t tell you. This is an ongoing investigation. Until it closes, nothing will be public knowledge.”
“Hi, Cassie.” Alex walked out from the office. “Have you got us something nice?” He looked into the brown paper bag, took out a cookie, and bit into it.
“I got you a congratulation present for arresting someone over the missing zombies,” I said to Alex.
“He seems like a nasty guy. He even tried to have a go at Lucy in the Black Dog. You can imagine what Marissa did to him.”
I glanced at Nick and noticed him shoot a dark look at Alex. I decided to continue pressing my luck. “Has he said anything about the missing zombies? Do you know where they are?”
“Nothing yet,” Alex said through a mouthful of cookie. “He isn’t a fan of zombies, though. It seems to me he came here to cause problems. If he’s taken our zombies, then he’s hidden them well. When we talked to him earlier, he seemed surprised about the missing zombies, but said it was a good thing they’re gone. A few less zombies in this freaky town was only a positive thing. Those were his exact words.”
“Alex, don’t you have work to do?” Nick’s voice was a low grumble.
“Sure do,” Alex said, his attention remaining on me. “Our suspect also said he’d be happy to help us get rid of the rest of the zombies.”
“Alex, you want to take your cookie into the office,” Nick said calmly, as if giving a child an instruction. “As I was explaining to Cassie, this is an open investigation. As you know, we don’t talk about those, do we?”
“Oh, sure, but Cassie’s involved,” Alex said. “She knows all the missing zombies.”
“She does, which could make her a suspect since she knows their movements and where they live,” Nick said. “And as we know, the zombies trust her. They’ll do anything she tells them to.”
“Wait a second! You’re going to blame me for this?” I jabbed a finger at Nick. “You’d be the one most likely to make our zombies disappear since you hate them so much.”
Nick raised an eyebrow. “I don’t hate the zombies. There’s no reason for me to make any of them disappear.”
“If I’m a suspect, then you must be, too,” I said. “I love our zombies. And sure, I know most of them and where they live, but all that means is I care about what goes on in Zee Town. You, on the other hand, keep your distance from everyone. You’re cold and remote, and you pick on the zombies.”
“Are you done?” Nick asked.
I glowered at Nick. This friendly chat over cookies had not gone to plan. “I believe so.”
“I should have you arrested for wasting police time,” Nick said.
Alex gave a startled laugh and dropped the remains of his cookie on the floor as he watched us ranting.
Stool gobbled up the cookie.
I glared at Nick. He simply lifted his chin and glared right back.
Stool began to whine.
I turned to Alex. “If you had to pick a suspect out of the two of us, who would it be?”
Alex’s eyes widened, and they shifted from me to Nick. “I don’t think either of you are involved in this case. We have someone in custody.”
“Theoretically, if you had to pick one, would it be me or Nick?”
Alex grabbed another cookie, stuffed it in his mouth and chewed. “I couldn’t say.”
“Nor should you,” Nick said. “Cassie is being ridiculous.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” I said. “You brought up the possibility that I was a suspect, despite having arrested somebody else. I only do good things for our zombies. Just last month, I—”
“Stop talking,” Nick said. “At the moment, you know as much as I do about the missing zombies. I’m not even pursuing the fact that a few zombies haven’t turned up for work. It’s not a major incident. I’ve arrested someone who attacked a zombie and tried to harm Lucy, but that’s it. I will charge him with whatever I think is relevant. If, however, during the interview, he discloses that he does know something about the missing zombies, I’ll add that to the investigation. Until then, stop trying to make something out of this. I don’t have time for it.”
“What about Phil?” I asked, hearing Nick’s sharp tone, but refusing to give up. “Selina isn’t sure what happened to him. She hadn’t ruled out foul play.”
“Have you got your handcuffs?” Nick asked Alex.
Alex choked on his cookie. “They’re in my desk drawer.”
“What do you need them for?” I asked.
“To arrest you for poking your nose in business that doesn’t concern you.” Nick rounded the counter and grabbed my elbow. “It’s time for you to leave.”
“You can’t evict me from the police station,” I said. “I have a right to ask questions about all aspects of public safety.”
“You do.” Nick yanked open the door and marched me into the street. “And I’ve answered them. Now you must leave. You’re stopping us from doing any work.”
I shook my head and glared at him. “I’m trying to help you and keep our town safe.”
“I keep the town safe,” Nick said. “It’s what I’m paid to do. You focus on your job. I’ll focus on mine. And... thank you.”
I shook my head, confused by his words of thanks. “I don’t understand.”
Nick glanced at his feet. “For the heart-shaped cookies. They look nice. If Alex and Stool haven’t eaten them all by the time I get back, I’ll try one.”
“Erm, well, you’re welcome,” I said. “Enjoy the cookies.”
“I will.” Nick turned and went into the station.
I stared at the closed door. Nick had thanked me and been mean to me in the space of thirty seconds. That guy’s mood swings were epic.
Facing Nick’s wrath had been worth it. I now knew someone had been arrested. Hopefully, our missing zombies would soon be discovered and no more would be found dead on the beach.
Although, where the zombies were hidden was still a mystery. So long as we got them back quickly and safely, that was all I cared about.
I’d keep asking around to see if anyone had an idea where they’d been tucked away, but this mystery felt like it was almost solved. The zombies would be home in no time.
Chapter 9
I stifled a yawn behind my hand. It was just past eight o’clock in the evening, and I’d finished double checking the delivery schedule for tomorrow, collating last minute Valentine’s Day cards that had been dropped off by lovesick fools, and done a final check of the running order for the dance.
Someone knocked on the locked office door. I looked up to see Alex standing outside, grinning at me. I stood and unbolted the door. “It’s a bit late if you want a map of the town,” I said to him with a smile.
“I hope I’m not too late with this.” Alex held out a red envelope.
“I wondered if you might send a little something this year.” I took the envelope from him.
Alex gave a sheepish shrug. “Nick kept me late at the station. Otherwise, I’d have been here earlier. I don’t want to let Jen down tomorrow. She’s a great girl. We’re having lots of fun together.”
“Jen’s not only a great girl, but she’s also my best friend,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Make su
re you treat her well.”
“I am and I do. I promise,” Alex said. “Did she tell you we’re going to the dance together?”
I placed the card in the relevant collection box. “I don’t remember her saying much about it. She might have mentioned going with someone and possibly what outfit she was wearing, and how she would wear her hair, and how excited she is. Does that sound about right?”
Alex’s grin widened. “She’s not the only one who’s excited. It should be a fun day tomorrow. Are you looking forward to it?”
“Yes, it’ll be great.” I had mixed feelings. Part of me was happy to see everybody enjoying themselves, but I’d be surrounded by something I didn’t have. Most of the time, I was content in my own company, but Valentine’s Day brought it home to me. I didn’t have a loved one by my side.
“Enjoy tomorrow. See you at the dance.” Alex stepped away from the door and gave me a wave goodbye.
I rolled my shoulders. I was too tired to do anything else useful in the office. I locked up and headed to the Black Dog for a quick drink with Marissa. It would give me a chance to try that new cider she’d mentioned and find out more about the guy who’d been hassling Lucy.
When I went inside, the pub was quiet. I found a seat at the bar, my fingers tingling to life as the warmth from the open fire seeped into them.
“Hello, beautiful.” Marissa walked along the row of alcohol at the back of the bar, her red hair done in an elaborate beehive. “What will it be?”
“I’ll try a half of your new cider,” I said, “and a dollop of sympathy over my everlasting single status.”
Marissa grinned as she served my drink. “Join the club.”
“You’re not single, though,” I said. “You always have a guy around.”
Marissa arched a groomed eyebrow. “I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”
“It is. I meant you always have men interested in you,” I said.
“I run the only pub in Zee Town,” Marissa said. “It’s where most of the men hang out. It makes for easy pickings when I’m interested in having some fun.”
“I guess so.” I sampled the cider. It was the right side of sharp and sweet. I took several more sips before placing the glass down.