by Lena Gregory
“What about Skyla? She doesn’t strike me that way.”
“Skyla was always kind of quiet, but her family held a lot of power. They’d have expected her to enter the political arena, for sure.”
“But she didn’t.”
“No.” Trevor squirmed in his seat. “She left town.”
Gia let it drop. She’d already heard the story from Skyla, but she couldn’t help asking the question that nagged at her. “If you were so different, then why did you hang out with them?”
“Who knows? Because I was expected to, I guess. From the time I could walk, my parents dressed me up and hauled me off to every one of their birthday parties, holiday gatherings, and social events. As I got older, I just continued to go. The other kids didn’t really bother with any of us, so even when I did try to do something else, I ended up alone.”
Her heart ached as she remembered the picture she’d found in the yearbook, him with the chess club, standing slightly apart from everyone else. The only picture she’d found of any of his group with anyone but each other.
“By twelfth grade, all of the other kids in our group had paired off, leaving me and Allison Monroe untethered. She latched on, and we ended up together through the rest of that year. Not really a relationship, more like what I had with my parents. She told me where to be, and I got dressed and showed up. It was more for appearances than anything else.”
“Were you happy with that?”
He shrugged. “Not really, but it didn’t matter. It was the life I was used to, doing what I was told, when I was told, and on and on and on.”
Gia could understand following along and doing the things you were supposed to do, the things society expected of you. She’d done it often enough while married to Bradley, attending function after function to keep up appearances, even after his victims had started coming forward.
“Allison was never faithful to me. We didn’t have that kind of relationship, and I was fine with it, accepted it for what it was. We were basically friends, nothing more.” He went back to tracing the carved heart with his finger. “Then one day, I walked in on her and Mitch. I’d had enough, and I told her we were done.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I should have realized…did realize that she didn’t seem right when I caught them together. She seemed out of it, like she wasn’t even really aware of my presence or its implications.”
Skyla’s story rocketed to the front of her mind. “Oh, no, Trevor.”
“She sought me out after, apologized, though there was really no need. She told me what he’d done. She thought he’d slipped some kind of drug into her drink.” He balled his hands and bounced the sides of his fists up and down on the table. “And I didn’t believe her. She’d never lied to me before. And Allison never drank or used drugs. She was too into herself, too into taking care of her body to damage it with alcohol or drugs. I knew that, and still, I didn’t believe her.”
“So, what happened?”
“There was a party. Mitch’s party a few weeks later. I hadn’t seen Allison at all in between, but when I saw her that night, she was wrecked. Not acting herself, unkempt, not at all the girl I knew. I caught Mitch in private and asked him what was going on.”
“And he denied it?”
“No, quite the contrary. He bragged about it, said he was slipping drugs into her drinks, making her do things with him that she’d refused to do before.” He weaved his hands into his hair and squeezed so hard she thought he would pull it out. “And I lost it. I went ballistic, beat him so badly they had to call an ambulance to come take him away.”
He stared hard into Gia’s eyes. “Honestly, Gia, if Ron and Bobby hadn’t pulled me off and beat me to within an inch of my life, I think I might have killed him.”
“Oh, Trevor.”
“Anyway, before the ambulance even left, Allison passed out and stopped breathing. I don’t know what he was giving her, but whatever it was, he gave her too much. Had the ambulance not already been there, she probably wouldn’t have made it.”
“Did Mitch get arrested?”
Trevor laughed, but it held only anger. “No. Mitch had political aspirations, goals his father shared. His father came to me while I was still in the hospital recuperating. He offered me a large sum of money to keep my mouth shut.”
“And?”
“I told him what he could do with his money. But then Allison came to see me, and she begged me to keep quiet. She didn’t want to go through court, have to tell what he’d done to her, what she’d done with him. So, I kept my mouth shut.”
“You respected her, Trevor. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“No? It wasn’t the first time, Gia. It wasn’t the first time Mitch had done something to a girl. There had been an incident with another girl a few weeks before. If Harley hadn’t intervened then, I don’t know what would have happened to her. As it was, she was never the same after. And neither was Harley. How many women do you think Mitch has done that to? Women who might not have suffered if I’d opened my mouth. How many lives do you think that man has wrecked?”
“Then why didn’t you say something?”
“Because I had no proof. Allison refused to testify, the other girl disappeared, Harley wouldn’t talk to me, I never saw any drugs. It was my word against his, and I couldn’t prove a thing.”
“I’m sorry, Trevor.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
Gia took a deep breath and tried to digest everything he’d told her. “Did Mitch press charges against you for hitting him?”
“Yeah,” he scoffed. “Just to prove he could make my life miserable if I told. But I didn’t care. My father had some power of his own, and he believed me. He spoke to the judge, and arranged a plea bargain. He spoke to him privately about the situation with Mitch too. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done.”
“Then you did try.”
“For all the good it did.”
Gia squeezed his hand. There wasn’t much she could say to alleviate his guilt. “I don’t understand why you wouldn’t answer Hunt’s questions. Why not just tell him all of this if you think it relates to Ron Parker’s murder?”
“Because the night Ron was killed, Allison called me. She said she was back in town and wanted to get together. I left Brandy with Zoe and met Allison at her hotel. We had a drink and some appetizers at the hotel bar, and then I started to feel sick. She said she wasn’t feeling well either, so we went back to her room to sit down and hope it passed. The next thing I remember, it was morning. I was lying on one of the hotel room beds, and Allison was on the other. She said she didn’t remember anything that happened. My wallet and the keys to my car and house were on the nightstand, where I have no memory of putting them, but the key to Storm Scoopers was gone.”
“Did you find it?”
“No. I went home and got the spare before I came in the next day.”
Realization dawned. “You think Allison killed them.”
“I’m not sure.” He ran his hand through his hair. “But I’m afraid she might have.”
Gia shoved to her feet. “Jeez, Trevor, why wouldn’t you tell Hunt that?”
“Because I’m not sure. I can’t be sure. I was obviously set up to take the fall for Ron’s murder. What if we were both drugged and set up? How can I put her through that?”
“Ah, man.” She paced back and forth beside the booth. “Have you talked to her?”
“No. Not since that morning, before I found him.”
“You think she—or someone—set you up to take the blame for Ron’s murder?”
“Well, let’s see. Whoever did it used my key to enter my shop and either lured him there and killed him or dragged him there after they killed him. Either way. What do you think?”
Chapter 25
Gia strode through the All-Day Breakfast
café door early Friday morning ready to get back into the swing of things. While she’d sort of enjoyed the few days of not having to be responsible, she couldn’t help the thrill she got from things returning to normal.
It had taken the better part of two hours and a promise from Hunt that he’d treat the information confidential and try to look into it discreetly, without involving Allison unless absolutely necessary, for Gia to talk Trevor into confiding in Hunt. Once Hunt had arrived at Storm Scoopers, Gia had left. She hadn’t heard from either of them since.
She’d spent Thursday shopping with Savannah, who had insisted they needed new clothes for their upcoming Disney trip, despite Gia’s argument that they’d only be gone for a day. She’d even allowed herself to be talked into a mani-pedi, which she had to admit had felt kind of good. She didn’t often treat herself. Then she’d picked up everything Cole would need for their steak and egg dinner Saturday night and dropped it off at the café.
But her break was over. She locked the door behind her and busied herself with the familiar routine of getting ready to open. She restocked the refrigerator, which was easy since Earl and Cole had prepped everything the night before, turned on the grill to warm up, set out and filled warming trays with bacon, sausage, home fries, grits, and gravy, and refilled the shelves with breads and English muffins. Once the kitchen was ready, and the aromas of breakfast meats and potatoes filled the air, Gia headed out front to start all the coffee pots and fill the cake dishes with breakfast pies and assorted muffins. She wrote “Now Serving Cold Brew Coffee” on the big chalkboard she used for the daily specials and dragged it out onto the sidewalk.
By the time she was finished, the fresh Kaiser rolls had been delivered, and she hoisted the bag up and brought it to the kitchen.
A knock sounded on the front door.
“Coming,” she yelled, though Earl probably couldn’t hear her from the back room. She hurried out to unlock the door, then held it open for Earl and Cole. “Good morning, guys.”
They both took their usual seats at the counter.
“I didn’t expect to see you this morning, Cole. I figured you probably had enough the past few days.” She set out three mugs and poured coffee for all of them.
“I got used to getting up early, so I figured I’d come in and meet Earl for breakfast.”
“Well, I’m glad you did, and thank you again for running things all week.”
“Anytime, dear. I had a blast.” Cole leaned over the counter and grabbed the remote. He turned on the TV and turned up the volume.
Gia looked up at the TV, but there was a commercial playing. “Is something going on?”
“They’re supposed to be having a press conference about the deaths of Ron Parker and Bobby Fischetti,” Cole said.
“I saw that on the news before I left,” Earl chimed in. “Said it was supposed to be coming up soon.”
The commercial ended, and they switched to a live shot of a podium set up in front of the courthouse. Reporters jostled for positions as a team of investigators, Hunt noticeably absent, approached the podium.
A heavyset man with gray hair held his hands up for quiet, then introduced himself as the medical examiner and began his update. He didn’t really say anything new, except to offer his opinion that both victims had been killed with the same weapon, an ice pick, which still hadn’t been recovered.
All of the investigators to take the stand rattled the same line, ongoing investigation, still pursuing active leads, and blah, blah, blah… The one new bit of information they offered was that they believed the first killing may not have been premeditated, while they believed the second one was.
“How could they say that wasn’t premeditated?” Cole pointed at the TV.
“Maybe he was stabbed during an argument that got out of hand,” Earl said.
“I guess, but then what were they doing in Trevor’s shop when it was closed?”
Gia tried to conjure an image of Allison as the killer. When Gia had seen her, she’d been angry, nasty, but a killer? Maybe. She could see that before she could see Trevor killing anyone. Still. Why would she have killed him? The more Gia thought about it, the more it seemed he had to have been killed over something that had gone on in the past. She just couldn’t come up with anyone with a motive to have killed him now.
“They had to have been in his shop for a reason and…” Earl shot Gia an apologetic look. “Sorry, Gia, but I can’t imagine Trevor wouldn’t know they were there.”
“No, it’s okay.” She’d accepted the fact that Trevor did appear guilty, or at the very least, an accessory in some way, and she couldn’t defend him without admitting she’d spoken to him, so she just kept her mouth shut.
Willow unlocked the door and came in, saving her from having to get any further involved in Earl and Cole’s conversation.
“Good morning, Willow.”
“Hey, Gia.” She held the door open for Skyla. “My mom wanted to have breakfast and hang out for a while this morning. Is that okay?”
“Of course.” She set two more mugs on the counter and filled them.
Skyla took a seat, but Willow set right to work readying the dining room, filling salt and pepper shakers, wiping down the menus, making sure the chairs were at the right tables, and changing any dirty slip covers on the cushions. Every once in a while, stopping to sip her coffee.
“Cole and Skyla, do you know what you want for breakfast?” Gia asked.
Cole hooked a thumb toward Earl. “I’ll have what he’s having.”
Skyla didn’t bother looking at the menu. “I’ll have a vegetable omelet and a glass of orange juice, please.”
“I’ll get the juice.” Willow slid behind Gia and opened the small refrigerator beneath the counter. She poured three glasses of juice, then returned the pitcher and refilled the coffee pot they’d already drained.
With everything in the dining room under control, Gia pulled on an apron and got to work in the kitchen. She lined bacon and sausage to heat, then scrambled six eggs and poured them onto the grill. She grabbed the pre-cut vegetables from the refrigerator—spinach, squash, zucchini, mushrooms, and tomato—and sprinkled them on the grill to warm, then scrambled three more eggs.
She broke up Earl and Cole’s eggs and stirred them, dropped a couple of warm biscuits onto each of their plates, ladled out two small bowls of gravy, two orders of home fries, and two orders of grits, put them all on a plate, and stuck them on the cutout. She dropped two slices of the multigrain bread Skyla liked in the toaster, flipped Skyla’s eggs, spread the vegetable mixture on one half of the circle, flipped the other half over it and added a sprinkling of cheese to the top, put the scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage on Earl and Cole’s plates, then slid Skyla’s omelet onto hers and buttered her toast. She set all of the plates on the cutout and peeked through into the dining room.
Though Willow had already seated two tables, their orders hadn’t come back yet.
She ran into the back and grabbed another carton of eggs. When she returned, the plates were gone and two order slips hung above the grill.
Two slices of breakfast pie. Easy enough. She popped two slices of white bread and two of rye into the toasters, then ladled pancake batter onto the grill for the next order, lined sausage up next to it, and put one slice of western and one slice of meat lover’s pie onto plates. When the toast popped, she buttered it, added a small side bowl of jelly to each and put the plates on the cutout. She flipped the pancakes, filled two bowls with butter and two carafes with warm syrup, put the sausage on the plates, and stacked the pancakes next to them.
With both orders done, she started washing the dishes she’d left in the sink.
“Knock, knock.” Savannah stuck her head in the kitchen.
“Hey, I thought you were going back to work today?”
“Nah, I took the day off.” She grabbed a plate a
nd put a slice of western pie on it, then forked open an English muffin and dropped it into the toaster. “No sense going back when I’m just going to take off Monday anyway.”
“Your boss didn’t mind?”
“Nope. I never take time off, and I always cover when someone else wants to, so he was fine with it. Besides, I work on commission, remember?”
Her English muffin popped up, and she slathered it with butter, put it on her plate, put the plate on the counter, and pulled up a stool. “I talked to Leo.”
Gia fumbled the stainless-steel bin she was in the middle of washing and it clattered into the sink. “And?”
Savannah took a bite of pie. “Mmm…delicious.”
“Thanks.”
She swallowed, then got up and poured a glass of orange juice from the fridge. “He said Trevor came in and talked to Hunt. He agreed to having Leo present, since he’s Hunt’s partner.”
She shut the water off and turned toward Savannah. “Did he tell them everything?”
“Leo didn’t say specifically what he told him, but he did say he answered their questions this time. He also said he understood why he was afraid to the first time they questioned him.”
“Do they still think he had anything to do with Ron’s murder?” She held her breath.
“No. Trevor has pretty much been cleared of all charges, as long as nothing new comes up.”
Gia sighed in relief.
“He also said to tell you Hunt said thank you and he’s sorry, and he’ll call you when he can.”
She nodded. “Thanks, Savannah.”
She cut a piece of her pie with her fork, then pushed it around her dish. “I’m sorry, Gia.”
“For what?”
She looked up at Gia. “I should have trusted you when you were so sure Trevor didn’t do it.”
“Don’t be silly. Trevor didn’t handle everything the best either. If he’d have just answered their questions in the first place, he wouldn’t have looked so guilty.”