Accessories & Alibis (The Presley Thurman Mystery Series Book 10)

by Laina Turner

  “Here we are,” Roxanne said as she opened the door to a place called Dianne’s.

  “Reminds me of the Coffee Café,” I said to Katy. “That’s the coffee shop in the town where Katy and I are from,” I explained to Roxanne. “We’ve spent a lot of time there over the years.”

  “These small hole in the wall places are so much better than the chains, don’t you think? Don’t get me wrong I love the coffee at Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts but a different kind of person hangs out there. I like to people watch at this kind of places. They, usually, have such an interesting group of regulars.”

  “I would have pegged you for more the Starbucks crowd. Typically these places cater to an older clientele,” I said to Roxanne.

  “I waitressed all through high school at a place like this. It was the local farmers’ hangout. I loved talking to them. Such great stories and those men gossiped like crazy. Much worse than women if you ask me. So I guess as cheesy as it sounds, these kind of places remind me of home in a way.”

  We walked up to the counter, sat down, and the waitress called out she would be right with us.

  “Is that who waited on you?” I asked.

  “No,” she shook her head. “I do remember her name was Rita so we can ask.”

  The waitress quickly brought us menus. “What can I get you ladies to drink while you’re looking over the menu?”

  We all said coffee, and before she could walk away, I said, “We are looking for someone who works here.”

  Her eyebrows raised, “Oh? And who might that be?”

  I looked at Roxanne.

  “We’re looking for Rita? Is she working tonight?” Roxanne said.

  “You’re looking for Rita?” the waitress repeated and had a weird look on her face. “Let me get your coffee,” she said abruptly and walked away. We all looked at one another, a little surprised at her reaction.

  “I wonder what that’s all about?” I said. Roxanne shrugged.

  She brought our coffee and said she would be right back. We saw her checking with the other customers making sure they didn’t need anything.

  “Something is going on?” I said.

  “What do you mean?” Roxanne asked.

  “She didn’t just give us a simple answer, and there must be a reason,” I said.

  The waitress was back in a few minutes, bringing the coffee pot with her and refilling our cups before setting it down. She leaned on the counter and asked,” Why do you want to talk to Rita.” She wasn’t unfriendly when she said it, but she was very no nonsense.

  “I was in here Tuesday night at close and she was here. We had a nice chat, and I was hoping to introduce her to my friends,” Roxanne said. We had worked out what to say before coming in figuring mentioning the murder charge right off the bat might not be a good idea and hoping no one recognized Roxanne’s picture from the news. Thinking a casual, friendly approach might be better.

  “Well, she’s not here,” the waitress said flatly.

  “Is she working tomorrow,” Roxanne asked.

  “Nope. She’s on an extended vacation. Or so she said.”

  “You don’t believe she went on a vacation?” I asked because that’s what her tone implied.

  She snorted. “On what they pay us, vacations aren’t exactly in our budget.”

  “Then where do you think she’s at?” I asked.

  “Why should I tell you?” she said suspiciously.

  “She was helping me with a problem, and I just need to talk to her,” Roxanne said. I was impressed with her quick thinking.

  “And you have no idea why she would say she was on vacation if she’s not?”

  “Rita’s not the impulsive type. This isn’t like her. If she were going to take a vacation, it would have been planned in advance, and she would have been talking about it constantly. I’ve worked with her for three years, and that’s how she would have done it. I’ve tried calling her a couple times since she called Thursday morning and said she needed me to cover her shifts. She knows I need the extra money, but she doesn’t answer and has yet to return my call.”

  “Is it unusual for her to just take off like this?” I asked.

  “Very. In fact, I’m starting to worry. To take off all of a sudden and not return my phone calls. That’s not like her. We usually talk daily. She’s one of my best friends. I planned on going to her house tomorrow if I haven’t heard from her. I would have stopped by already, but I’ve been working doubles to cover for her.”

  I wanted to ask her to tell us if she was able to get in touch with Rita but wasn’t sure how to do that without telling her who Roxanne was and the real reason for wanting to talk to her. But then I didn’t want to let this lead getaway when Roxanne had so much to lose. Rita could help Roxanne.

  I took a deep breath. “Caren,” I said, using the name on her nametag. “We haven’t been completely honest with you about why we want to talk to Rita.”

  Caren’s face suddenly looked worried and suspicious. I could tell she was wondering if talking to us was a mistake.

  “It’s nothing bad, I promise,” I tried to reassure her. “Roxanne here is in some trouble and she was in here with Rita the night the trouble happened. We were hoping Rita could vouch for Roxanne being in here,” I said, trying to be as honest as possible without mentioning the world murder.

  Caren looked at Roxanne, and I could see her put two and two together. This was either going to work in our favor or be very, very bad. I was crossing my fingers for the former.

  “You’re that girl who they say killed her boyfriend,” Caren said, recognition dawning on her.

  We all just sat there for a moment, not knowing what to say.

  “Did you do it?” Caren asked bluntly, which took me by surprise, as I’m sure it did Roxanne. I looked at her and could see she was uncomfortable.

  “No, I didn’t do it,” Roxanne finally said, shaking her head.

  “OK. Good enough for me. You don’t look like a murderess,” Caren said casually, like this was something she regularly encountered. “But why do they think you did then?”

  “Because I don’t have a witness to my whereabouts during the time frame when he was killed besides Rita,” Roxanne said, leaving out the part about the email, but Caren didn’t need the whole story.

  “That’s why we’re here. Rita talked to her that night,” I said.

  “So that explains why the police were here yesterday. They talked to the owner, but he wouldn’t tell us why they were here. He’s not the most upstanding citizen, so all of us here assumed he had got himself in some trouble. Wouldn’t be the first time the police have been here to talk to him. I never thought for a minute it would be tied to Rita.”

  “So Rita wasn’t here when the police came?” I asked.

  “No. Rita hasn’t worked since Monday night.”

  Which was the night Roxanne had come in. While it could be coincidental, I had a nagging suspicion it was somehow related, but what could have happened that would have scared Rita.

  “Would you be willing to call us if you hear from Rita?” I asked.

  “Do you think her disappearance could have something to do with her boyfriend’s murder?” Caren asked, looking at Roxanne, worried again.

  “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “It’s probably just a coincidence and maybe she did decide to be spontaneous and take a trip,” I said, wanting to put Caren at ease from worrying about her friend, but not sure it worked.

  I wrote down my phone number on a napkin and handed it to her.

  “Here’s my number. Please let us know if you talk to her.”

  Caren nodded, “I will.”

  As she walked away, Roxanne looked like she was about to cry.

  “There goes my alibi,” she said.

  “Don’t think like that, Roxanne. We will find her,” I said, with more confidence than I felt.

  “What if the police can’t find her either and that’s my only witness?” Roxanne cried.

 
“Listen, Roxanne. We might not be able to find her, but the police will. That’s their job,” I said with more confidence than I felt.

  Chapter 10

  I sat in the conference room of the accountant’s office nervous about what he had found out about this whole tax situation. I had also faxed over all the other invoices and vendor information I had found that hadn’t been on the original list. He had refused to tell me anything over the phone when I had called yesterday. I was impatient and didn’t want to wait, but he said it would be better for me to come in so he could explain it to me, which, of course, freaked me out. I felt if he had good news he wouldn’t have dragged me in and could have told me over the phone.

  Gary walked in, sat down a stack of papers, and cleared his throat.

  “Can I get you anything to drink,” he asked.

  “Is this bad news?” I asked, not wanting to prolong the agony of wondering any longer, even though I could have gone for more coffee.

  “I guess that depends on how you look at it,” he said with a smile on his face. “You were correct in thinking the invoices you found are additional ones that we didn’t know about. It seems the original financials that were reported and filed by James’ firm weren’t the entire picture.”

  My jaw dropped, and I felt nauseous. I started feeling sweaty in my vintage Dianne Von Furstenberg dress. That could only mean that we were farther in the hole than I had thought. I should have known James couldn’t be trusted, and this opportunity was too good to be true, and fifty million other thoughts rushed through my head. I had thought at least the accounting firm he used would be honest.

  “They falsified information?” I asked, wanting to cry.

  He paused. “Not exactly. Or rather not intentionally.”

  “But they did hold back to portray a better picture?” I said now more angry than upset.

  “Here’s the thing. I know the firm James’ works with and they are above board. At least in any dealings I have had with them in over twenty years. I believe them when they say this is a surprise to them. And not that I know James well, but based on the little I do know I doubt he knew what was going on with this business or what was outstanding. He didn’t care and didn’t pay attention. When I talked to James’ accountant who gave us the information before he said, James had no idea these accounts existed. I don’t believe it was intentional fraud but rather just negligence. They took James at his word and maybe they should have investigated more.”

  “So someone at the store just opened these lines of credit without James’ knowledge?”

  “It seems that way. Or at least that’s what James says.”

  “You can do that? Wouldn’t the vendor need proof of identity or information for a credit check?”

  “That’s a drawback of technology these days. Usually, it can be done all online, and you would just need a tax I.D. number, which wouldn’t be hard to figure out considering it’s on all the invoices.”

  “Wow.” I slumped in my chair, wishing I had asked for some coffee.

  I thought back to the payments I had found to Threads Abound. “I did find a discrepancy of my own in trying to reconcile merchandise with shipments and payments at the store. There is a company someone has been paying every other week for months like clockwork but yet we don’t have any of that brands merchandise in the store. So far no one has any idea who this vendor is, and I also found some outstanding invoices, which weren’t on the original list. I just didn’t send them over with the others because I wanted to do some more research first. It’s all very confusing. That’s what these are,” I said, sliding some papers in his direction, hoping they were the same as in his list, or I would need a drink.

  “Here are the additional companies you owe,” he said and slid his piece of paper across the table at me.

  I looked it over; my eyes locking in on the total he had thoughtfully provided at the bottom and then looked back up to him and shook my head. “All this money owed,” I said. “With the taxes how much more does that add to Silk’s debt?” Wondering how many more surprises were in store for me and tried not to let myself freak out or throw up.

  “In the neighborhood of two hundred thousand,” he said apologetically.

  That was not a neighborhood I lived in; I didn’t live close to that neighborhood, and the shock was evident on my face. That about tripled what Silk already owed and I knew getting James to pay wouldn’t be easy and it made getting product into the store that much more complicated because I couldn’t reinvest all the money back into merchandise.

  “So you’re saying this tax thing is something I owe? For sure?”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” Gary said.

  “I don’t understand. How come this isn’t James’ responsibility?”

  “Technically it should be but in talking to his accountant yesterday I found out James has just filed for bankruptcy protection. And taxes are not a bill that can be put in a bankruptcy, so someone has to pay them. Since they are unpaid taxes on the business that means, you need to pay them or the state will shut you down and liquidate. They will get their money one way, or another.”

  “They can do that?”

  “They’re the government. They can do a lot.”

  “So let me get this straight. Either I pay the taxes James didn’t, from before I officially owned Silk or I lose the business?”

  “I’m afraid that yes. That’s exactly it.”

  I wanted to scream that’s not fair and stomp my feet. I couldn’t believe this was happening.

  “So what are my options?”

  “You need to decide whether or not you want to keep the business. It’s pretty clear James knew he was going to file before you signed the papers, so it would be fairly easy to put all this back on him. If you want to keep the business, you will need to pay this but we can probably work out a payment plan.”

  “What do you think?”

  “My opinion? If running a business is what you want, even adding this expense is still less than what you would need for a startup. It’s a lot of debts to take on, but it’s not a foolish move if running Silk is what you want long term.”

  “And you think the state would set up a payment plan for the back taxes? I mean, there’s no way I could pay that in full.”

  “They just want the money and they realize they have less chance of getting paid if your business closes, so usually something can be worked out. They aren’t as horrible as people think. Do you want me to talk to them and see what they say?”

  “I guess it can’t hurt.”

  “I think that’s a good move. Let me get all the information together and then you can make an educated decision.”

  I walked out of his office dejected and wondered, not for the first time, what I had got myself into and could I handle this. It seemed like every day there was a new obstacle. It sucked. Deep down I knew this was something I wanted to do. I wanted to be successful at it, so I wasn’t about to give up, but damn. Could a gal catch a break?

  I felt my phone vibrate in my purse and was hoping it wasn’t Katy with an emergency. I pulled it out and saw it was Cooper.

  Relief washed over me and then excitement. He was exactly the person I needed to talk to right now. He would have good advice for me on what to do.

  “You have such good timing,” I said when I answered.

  “I saw you called last night. I was tied up, and you would have been asleep by the time I finished. So I called the first chance I had today.”

  “I’m so glad. I miss you.”

  “I miss you too, babe. How’s the store doing?”

  “That’s why I’m glad you called. Things are a mess,” I said with a catch in my throat. I wanted to cry, but I needed to be strong and focus on solving the issue not whining about it.

  “Tell me,” he said and I proceeded to fill him in. By the time, I had finished I had reached my car and was sitting there already feeling better for telling him.

  “Leave it to James to not disclose
everything and then declare bankruptcy, letting someone else hold the bag. I’m sorry, Pres.”

  “Yeah, me too,” I said, sighing.

  “What do you want to do?”

  “I don’t know. I believe this is what I want to do, but it’s so much money and risk to take on. What if I fail at it and end up with a huge pile of debt? I’ll never crawl out.”

  “I get that but it’s only money.”

  “Ha!” I snorted. “Easy for you to say, you have a thriving business.”

  “It wasn’t always that way. It takes a lot of work, as you know, and sometimes you have to take risks.”

  “So you think this is a risk I should take?”

  “I think if this is something you want to do then yes, you should take the risk. I will support your decision either way.”

  Having him say it made me feel a little better. Deep down I knew it but sometimes you just needed to hear it from someone else.

  “Listen Pres. I’ve got to go but just know I’m there for you no matter what you decide.”

  “Thank you. Don’t work too hard and call me later.”

  “I will. I love you, King,” he said, softly melting my heart as usual.

  “I love you, too,” I said before hanging up. Blinking back tears, I thought about how happy I was that we were back together. He was the best guy ever, and I was lucky to have him.

  Chapter 11

  I made it back to Silk and between the coffee, talking to Cooper and the pep talk I had given myself, I had managed to put myself in a much better mood. I wanted to do this and just had to figure a way to get out of the hole. It was going to take time, but I knew I could figure it out.

  “How was the meeting,” Katy asked when I walked in I could tell she had been anxious waiting for me so she could find out what happened. I hadn’t called on my way because I didn’t want to whine.

  “He didn’t call a meeting to tell me he had found a pile of money, but it’s nothing we can’t handle,” I said, smiling. Trying to execute a mind over matter mentality.