Checked Out (A Ricki Rydell Mystery Book 1)

by Abby Matthews

  The muscles in Ricki’s legs twitched a little. Her stomach flipped a little. That wasn’t the reaction she was expecting to see when she walked through the doors. She was expecting to be met as a hero and not an intruder. She took a deep breath and marched up to the circulation desk and looked Victoria dead in the eye.

  “You’re not supposed to be here, remember,” Victoria said, not kindly. It was quite impressive to Ricki that she managed to say that with a smile on her face. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “I want to speak with Felicity. Right. Now.” Whoa, where did that come from? Ricki liked this new version of Ricki. She was feeling sassy. Anyway, she waited for Victoria to throw her out on her butt any second.

  “And what do you need to speak with Felicity about that a telephone call couldn’t have remedied?”

  “That’s between me and Felicity, if you don’t mind.”

  “I do recall she asked you to use a different branch and not come back to this one, or did I hear her incorrectly?”

  “I’m a taxpayer. I’m allowed to go to whichever branch I want. Now, I would like to speak with Felicity.” She folded her arms across her chest. She meant business. “I’ll wait.”

  “You can wait all you want, but I can’t let you speak with her. If you do not leave within five seconds, I’m going to call security and have them escort you out the door. You may be a taxpayer, but we still have a right to toss the troublemakers out.”

  Her face grew hot with anger. “Are you kidding me?”

  “I assure you I don’t have much of a sense of humor where you’re concerned.” Through this entire conversation, Victoria did not raise her voice one decibel. It was spooky. “Countdown begins now.” She put her hand on the phone but kept her eyes on Ricki.

  “All I want to do is talk with her. Why won’t you let me speak with her?”

  Victoria pushed a couple of numbers on the phone. “I have a problem at the front desk. Could you send security over. Thank you.”

  So much for being a wallflower her entire life. “Fine. I’ll go. But you have not heard the last of me.” Ricki raced out the door before someone snatched her by the collar and tossed her out on the sidewalk. She sat in her car and steamed, watching the front door to see if security actually did show up. It was probably a ruse to intimidate her, but unfortunately, it worked. She wasn’t exactly the bravest person in the world.

  In need of a kind voice, she broke out her phone to call Becca when she remembered the pictures she had taken at the motel on Friday. The employee parking lot was at the back of the library. Not wanting to be seen right away, she drove around the block to make it look like she had left, parked on a side street, and walked over to the parking lot.

  She strolled down a tree lined sidewalk, thankful for the shade and the slight breeze. She scanned the street to make sure it was clear before walking into the parking lot. She looked at the picture on her camera one last time to make sure she had the right car. It was an old Ford Taurus she was looking for. Instead of finding the car, she ran straight into Felicity.

  “I see you’re still here,” she said, not as kindly as Victoria. “What do you want?”

  “I want to know why you’re having an affair with the mayor of Unionville.”

  Cool as can be, she laughed. “What on earth are you talking about? You know, I’ve read a couple of your books so this preposterous question doesn’t surprise me.”

  “Don’t turn this around on me. This is about you. I know that was you at the motel with the mayor. Your disguise wasn’t that good. But my friend wanted to know where you got those shoes.”

  “What shoes? What motel? What disguise? Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m a happily married woman with three kids and a busy career. I don’t have time to fool around on the side, least of all with the mayor.”

  “Do you drive a Ford Taurus?”

  She waved her arms like she was a game show host showing a prize to the winner. “Do you see a Ford Taurus in this parking lot?”

  Actually, she didn’t see a Ford anywhere in sight, but that didn’t mean Felicity didn’t drive one. It just meant that she wasn’t driving one that day. But since Ricki knew where she lived, she could easily hop in her car in the middle of the night and drive by her house just like before. “It had an I heart my library bumper sticker on it.”

  “Security was already called, so if you don’t get out of here within the next five minutes, someone is going to take you away in a police car, and I don’t care if your brother’s a cop. You are officially trespassing. Do you understand?”

  Felicity’s face was red and sweaty. Her hands were twitchy, and she was quite loud. She was looking for a fight. Ricki most definitely wasn’t, mostly because she was a chicken.

  “I’m leaving. But you’ll be hearing from me again soon.”

  “Why? What is it that you want, Ricki?”

  “I want to know who killed Jennifer.”

  Felicity flinched, barely noticeable. If Ricki hadn’t been standing so close, she wouldn’t have seen it at all. “She had a heart attack. What are you even talking about? Don’t you even watch the news? Let me guess, you’re one of those types who don’t watch television because it messes with your mind and creativity. But that’s okay, the rest of us do, and maybe you should, too. Then you would find out that you’re way out of line. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go call security again.”

  Ricki raced to her car and drove away, for real this time. Felicity could deny it all she wanted, but she was having an affair with the mayor of Unionville. But was that enough to want to kill Jennifer Barnes?

  Nineteen

  This investigation was turning into an utter fiasco for Ricki. What made her think she could be a private investigator? Not only did she not know how to talk to people and find the answers she needed, everyone seemed to get angry at her and wanted to throw her out the door. Strong reactions. Which told her one thing: she was close to getting to the truth. Even if they wanted to fight her the entire way, she knew something was going on and that the people she spoke to knew what was going on.

  After the confrontation with Felicity, she had had enough. She camped out at home for a few days minding her own business, just like her brother suggested a while ago. And since everyone said she never watched television and was out of touch with what was going on in the community, she turned on the news to prove them wrong.

  Rumpus curled up at her feet as she fed herself on the twenty-four-hour news cycle. She didn’t learn anything that she hadn’t already read online, but after two hours of watching the talking heads rehash a story five million ways to Sunday she developed a sense of paranoia not to mention hypochondria. With all the pharmaceutical commercials telling her she needed some medication for some ailment she probably had but didn’t know about and should see a doctor so they could prescribe a medication to fix it, she felt sick. By that evening, she was searching for her insurance papers to see who her primary care physician was so she could make an appointment because she was sure she had come down with something.

  Rumpus barked. Ricki didn’t think too much of it because he was a beagle and barked at everything. But as she was in the kitchen making a late evening sandwich, he started growling and ran off to the living room. She found him staring at the front, the hairs on his back raised. Of course she picked the wrong time to lounge around in only a nightshirt and underwear. Her first inclination was to run upstairs and throw on some clothes in case somebody was trying to break in the house. Rumpus was a hunting dog and not much of a watchdog. If someone tried to break in the house, he would alert the neighborhood about it, but he wasn’t going to do much to protect her. She grabbed the golf club her brother had given her to use as protection, just in case. As she felt the head of the putter in her fingers, she could see why it would make a good weapon. One good whack with that would do some serious damage. Rumpus continued bellowing, but so far she didn’t hear anyone trying to open the door
or pry open a window. Ricki’s heart pounded in her ears as she stood frozen in place. A few seconds later, the doorbell rang. She jumped backwards, nearly falling into a chair, adrenaline coursing through her body. Burglars don’t bring doorbells, do they?

  “Just a minute,” Ricki said, scrambling for a raincoat in the hall closet to cover up her half naked self. With the coat buttoned to her neck and tied at the waist, she peeked out the window near the door and saw Felicity standing on the front porch. What on earth could she possibly want?

  The last time she spoke with Felicity she was so angry she was ready to have Ricki hauled off to the pokey for the rest of her life. It worked. Ricki ran off to her car and drove away before Felicity had a chance to make good on her threat. Whatever the reason she now stood on her porch, Ricki wasn’t going to take a chance and kept the putter in her hand as she opened the door.

  Felicity was all smiles. “I know it’s late.” She scanned the street over her shoulder like she was afraid of being seen. “I need to talk with you. It’s really important.”

  Growling, Rumpus brushed against her legs, trying to squeeze his head around to the side of the door to see who was there. “I think we said enough the other day, don’t you?” Luckily, Ricki was smart enough to keep the screen door locked, leaving some barrier between the two of them in case Felicity decided to, she didn’t know, hit her or something.

  “I understand, but if you knew why I acted the way I did, you’d understand.” At least the tone of her voice was much calmer than the last time she spoke with her. “If you let me in I’ll tell you everything.”

  Considering she had her suspicions about Felicity, Ricki didn’t open the door. “Can we do it in a public place? Because I have to be honest with you, I’m not sure can I trust you.”

  She laughed in disbelief. “Trust me? I’m not the one you have to worry about.”

  A chill ran through Ricki. Her words were a quick reminder of the death threat she received on her doorstep just the other night. She never did learn who left it there. Rumpus finally got around her leg and jumped up on the window of the screen door and barked like crazy when he saw the stranger on his porch. Felicity stepped back, frightened. It was the middle of summer and she was wearing a pair of Bermuda shorts and a tank top. If she had a weapon on her, she hid it well. Ricki took note of where she left the putter and opened the door to let her in. She left the front door open, the screen door unlocked in case she needed to escape.

  “Thank you. Can I at least sit down?” Other than the nervousness in her voice, Felicity seemed calm and normal. Maybe she didn’t actually come to kill Ricki like she imagined.

  “Can you just tell me what you came here to see me about?”

  “Oh, it’s that way, I see. What I want to talk to about requires discretion. I want you to understand…”

  Ricki could see this was going to be a serious discussion, perhaps even a confession. Some talks were meant to have while sitting on the couch drinking a cup of tea. Other talks were meant to be sitting at the table. This had that table talk vibe to it. Somewhat reluctantly, and mostly out of curiosity, she invited Felicity to the kitchen. “Can I get you something to drink? I’m not a drinker, so all I have is water and iced tea.”

  “Iced tea would be nice.” She got comfortable at the table while Ricki pulled out two glasses and filled them with ice. “I don’t blame you for not trusting me since I chewed you out the other day.”

  “My mother told me never to be rude to anyone unless they deserved it. You might have deserved it the other day but not so much today.” Ricki placed the iced tea on the table and sat down opposite Felicity. Rumpus kept a close eye on everyone. “Now, what did you want to talk about?”

  “I think you may have the wrong idea about me, and I just wanted to set the record straight.”

  “And why do you think I have the wrong idea about you?”

  “If you knew why I was rude to you the other day, you would understand. I had to be. You see, I am having an affair with the mayor. We’re in love, madly, passionately. My marriage is a sham. My husband and I lead separate lives and live like roommates. I’ve been unhappy for years.”

  There was one thing about investigating Jennifer’s death: it was certainly bringing up a lot of painful memories for Ricki. Not only was Jennifer accused of having many infidelities, but here Felicity was confessing to having an affair. If Ricki were a different person, she would take this as a sign from the universe that she had unfinished business to deal with and needed to heal. For right now though, she wanted to focus on Felicity and her problem. More importantly, she hoped Felicity would say something about Jennifer and how she died. Someone at that library had to know something.

  “Far be it for me to judge you for what you do with your life. It’s none of my business, but if word gets out about the two of you it’s going to hurt more than just your family. Which is bad enough. Your kids are going to be devastated. His career will be ruined. His marriage will be over.” Felicity held her hand up to stop Ricki from talking.

  “His marriage is worse than mine. She only sticks around for the money and the prestige of being married to a politician.”

  “That doesn’t matter. What goes on in your personal lives is really not the issue. Nobody is going to care why you did it; they’re only going to care about the ramifications of you having an affair with the mayor.”

  “How did you find out about this anyway?”

  “I think you know.” Ricki wanted to turn the conversation back to Jennifer and not to hearing Felicity rationalize her life choices.

  “So, she told you? That bitch.”

  “Something like that.” Ricki wasn’t about to tell Felicity how she found out about the affair or any of the clues Jennifer left behind. “The more important question is how she found out about the two of you.”

  Felicity picked the nail polish off of her fingernails for a few seconds. It looked like she was at a confessional, wanting to say so much but afraid of saying too much. “She was blackmailing me, the both of us. I know that automatically puts me in a bad light considering she died under suspicious circumstances.”

  Ricki couldn’t recall ever using the two words ‘suspicious circumstances’ in front of Felicity. Sure, she came right out and asked who killed Jennifer, but she never said under what circumstances she died. “Well, you’re right, it does change things.”

  Out of nowhere, Felicity broke down and started crying, her hands shaking. “I’m not going to say I’m not relieved that she’s gone. She was bleeding us dry, but I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that I did not kill her. She was blackmailing so many other people besides us.”

  That would explain the money. “Do you know who?”

  “I have my suspicions.”

  “Why didn’t you just go to the police and tell them what was going on?” The minute the question left her lips, she realized Felicity couldn’t go to the police because that would expose her relationship with the mayor.

  “We thought about it. We thought about just coming clean with everyone so we could live our lives and live our love out in the open instead of sneaking off to some rundown motel off the highway. But, like you said, there was too much at stake.”

  The only thing that was at stake was that he loved his political career and his ambitions more than he loved Felicity, but who was Ricki to burst her bubble.

  Taking a tissue from her purse, Felicity wiped her eyes and nose. “I need your help.”

  “My help? Why?”

  “Because I think I know who killed her, and I need help gathering the clues to go to the police while keeping everything quiet, at least for now.”

  “Who do you think did it?”

  She paused a few beats. “I don’t want to say just yet because I’m not sure this person is the murderer, but I have strong suspicions I’m right.”

  Ricki jumped out of her chair, unable to contain her excitement any longer. “You can’t just come to my house an
d ask me to help you pin a murder on someone without telling me who it is you suspect.” She was starting to feel confident with her line of questioning. She was getting good at this. She may have found herself a new career. So long, writing romances. Hello, solving mysteries.

  “If I tell you, will you promise not to go crazy and chase this person down like you’ve been doing with me?”

  Her face flushed. She hadn’t been chasing her down, had she? Okay, maybe a little. “But if you know who the murderer is, the police are going to do the chasing, not me.”

  She tapped her finger on the tabletop. “All right, I think it’s Victoria.”

  Ricki jerked her head back. “Victoria?” She thought back to when she first met her. She was so kind and patient with Jennifer even when she was pressuring Ricki to read her book. Even if Victoria spoke badly of Jennifer after she had passed out in the employee bathroom, that didn’t make her a murderer. At most, that made her catty and petty. But a killer? Hardly. “What motive would Victoria have to kill Jennifer?”

  “Who didn’t have a motive? She was an awful human being. And although I know this makes me look bad, she deserved what she got.”

  Felicity was right about one thing, that did put her in a bad light, but Ricki couldn’t think of anyone who hasn’t at least one time in their lives wished someone dead. She didn’t judge her too harshly for that. Considering Jennifer was blackmailing her, she understood her a little more. “So, what makes you think I can help you?”