by Pam Moll
“Ma’am,” The operator intoned. “Keep calm.”
Right. Keep calm, Mo, think of Erica. I tried to prop a pillow under her head and felt sticky, matted hair. I realized it was blood and heard myself screaming again.
“Hello,” came a disembodied voice from my cell. “Hello ma’am. Are you okay?” the operator asked in a level voice.
I calmed down again and managed to say, “Sorry I’m just rattled. Blood. There’s a lot of it.”
“I’ll dispatch paramedics to you, but first I’ll need your location.”
“4th street.” I yelled into the phone. “Um.” I had forgotten Erica’s house number. “The last house in the cul de sac. The red door. It’s open.”
“Okay, sending help now.”
I reach for Erica’s hand and held it. It felt warm. My heart was pounding. “Hang in there, girl. Help is on the way.” I tried to soothe her as I rubbed her pale hand. I reached for a blue and baby pink crocheted afghan on the overstuffed chair and covered her with it.
I could barely hear the dispatcher’s voice.
“Sorry?” I said.
“What’s your friend’s name?” He repeated.
“Sorry, yes, her name is Erica Alltop.” I stared at the spots of blood that had transferred to my hand when I touched her head wound.
“And your name?” The dispatcher was doing his job. I just wanted help to arrive before it was too late.
“I’m Molly. Molly Brewster. I stopped by to see how she was feeling because she’s missed work for a few days, and I found her unconscious.” Why was I explaining myself to the 911 operator? Was I subconsciously worried about how this would look? Two bodies in one week? As Aunt Tammera would have said, “Run Mo, run.”
“Okay Molly. Do you have something to press to her head to help stop the bleeding?”
“No, but I can find something.”
I placed my mobile phone on speaker and with trembling legs rushed into the kitchen. I saw Snickers laying under the table and the Siamese cat on top of it. I was pretty sure Erica didn’t allow her cat on the kitchen table, but at this point I wasn’t going to shoo it down. The cat must have approved of my decision, because it flicked its long furry tail.
There were several towels draped over the chrome handles of both the dishwasher and the oven doors. I didn’t want to chance that they were soiled, so I opened a few drawers. Jackpot. I grabbed a handful of brightly colored towels and rags.
“I have a clean dishtowel,” I said into my phone as I stood over Erica’s auburn, totally unconscious head. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and took a deep breath. I can do this.
“Okay, Molly, can you see the wound?”
“I’m not sure. There’s so much blood on the couch and her hair.”
“Gently press it to the wound. Be careful of her neck.”
My hands were shaking, and I was fighting back tears, but I did as he said.
“Erica,” I said gently. “Stay with us. Hang on.”
While waiting for help to arrive, it’s moments like this that I wished I lived in a larger city. A city with its own police force, and CSI, and a hospital. Even though Bay Isles shared these facilities with neighboring cities, there was still lag time.
I heard Snickers whimper and the cat let out a loud meow.
“Shhh,” I said to Snickers and Erica’s cat.
“Did you shush me?” The dispatcher asked.
“Sorry, no I meant the animals.”
Within a few minutes, I heard sirens out front and soon saw a familiar person rush into the room.
Deputy Drew looked at me, perplexity written on his face. “Mo?” he said. Again? Well, he didn’t say that part, but it was written on his face.
“Hi,” I forced a sweetish smile between clenched teeth.
Deputy Drew’s face recoiled when he saw Erica. “Is she …” Deputy Drew shot a look at me, then back at Erica.
“There’s a pulse.”
He nodded. “Good. Help is on the way.” He frowned. “What are you doing here?” He leaned down to inspect Erica.
My mind groped for a reasonable explanation for my appearance in Erica’s living room, holding her hand. The truth was always the best policy. Unless you were Aunt Tammera. She could weave fiction out of facts and have you believing they were true.
“This is just awful. I came to check on her. She wasn’t returning my calls or texts. She hadn’t shown up for work yesterday, and no one could get a hold of her.”
How could he look at me that way? Surely, he didn’t think I had anything to do with Erica’s injury?
I cocked my head to the side when I heard his wonderful soothing voice. I shook my head to clear it and wondered what he had wanted when he said he needed to stop by my apartment to chat.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I felt a blush climb my cheeks as I thought about how I’d been staring at him. But anything was better than thinking of Erica lying on the couch. I shuddered.
“What happened to her?” Lucky rubbed his forehead.
“I can see how this looks.”
“How does it look?” He raised his eyebrows.
“I mean I found a body on the beach, and now I find Erica hurt.”
His faced flushed. “Okay, so can you tell me what happened to her?”
“No. I mean I have no idea what happened to Erica. I wanted to check on her.”
“Check on her? Why?”
“Um,” I was willing to tell him everything this time. “I remembered that she had words outside the café with Jim.” I felt guilty telling him this about Erica, when I hadn’t been able to talk to her first.
“Jim Grist?”
I nodded.
“What about?”
“I don’t know. And then I got worried when she hadn’t shown up for work.”
“So, is it common for a boss to check on her employees?”
“No, I supposed not. But I was worried about her. And, I …”
He didn’t reply. He blinked. “And you, what?”
“What?” I said.
“You said you were worried about her and, then what?”
“The door was open.”
“Unlocked and open?”
“Yes.”
“Didn’t that seem a bit bizarre?”
“What?” I sputtered.
“The door being left open.”
“No, I mean we are in a small town and many of the residents leave their doors unlocked.”
“And you know this how?”
He was getting to be annoying. I was confused and shaky still from finding Erica with blood all over the back of her head. “Don’t you need to go secure the place or something?” I looked around.
“Yes. Help is on the way. I wanted to ask you some questions first before I have a look around.”
“It’s just that I’m a bit shaken up still.”
“I can imagine. First you find a body right outside your apartment. And not even a day later you come across one of your employees injured, and possibly it’s an attempted murder.”
“Oh geez.” My fingers felt cold against my cheeks. This doesn’t look good for me. I needed to find out the person behind these two acts before the police suspected me.
I heard the sirens and the ambulance arrived within minutes, its flashing lights illuminating the driveway. Two paramedics rushed into the family room, rolling a stretcher between them.
“You’ll need to step aside, ma’am,” one of them told me. I realized I was still holding Erica’s hand. I nodded and moved aside. Tears welled up in my eyes.
Deputy Drew led me out of the way, so the paramedics could work on Erica. One talked on the radio and took instructions.
“Looks like a serious head injury,” The younger paramedic said to Deputy Drew.
“Is she going to be alright?” I asked, brushing away a tear.
“We don’t know yet. We’ll get her to the hospital and they’ll find out what kind of shape she’s in.”
; They secured her neck in a brace and slid a backboard under her and bandaged her head.
Lucky guided me to the kitchen. From there I heard the EMT’s speaking in low, urgent voices.
“Should I go to the hospital?” I asked Lucky.
“You can follow in your car. Oh wait, where’s your car?” He asked, puzzled.
“We were out walking …” I said, pointing at Snickers. I decided not to tell him about the golf cart two streets over.
“I can take you in my car, if you like.”
“I’ll need to call Erica’s mom, Fiona. She’s on a cruise, so I’m not sure her cell will work. But I can contact the ship.”
“You might want to go home and clean up first.” Drew used a corner of a white towel to wipe something from my face. When I saw that it was blood, I felt the room spin.
“Are you okay?” he said, grabbing my arm.
I nodded. “I guess.” I sighed weakly.
His hands touched my jaw briefly, igniting a spark in me. Then he glanced at the paramedics and his face transformed back to business. “We’ll need you to come to the station, again. To take your statement.”
“Take my statement? Why?”
“Because you found her.”
“Uh, okay.” That sounded reasonable. But I didn’t like the idea of having to go to the police station to discuss Erica.
Detective Lacey, the women with the granite face, walked into the kitchen. She strode toward us like a matador, and I’m surprised that no one else could hear the sarcastic click of her heels as they hit the well-polished tile floors. She was as frigid as an iceberg.
Lucky took a giant step and slid between me and Detective Lacey. He said a few words so low, I couldn’t hear them. I was hoping they’d turn in my direction, so I could read their lips.
While the paramedics worked on Erica, Detective Lacey came over to me. “Miss Brewster, seems we keep meeting.”
I nodded and sighed.
“Tell me what happened here?”
For a few minutes, I went over how I’d found Erica. I answered her questions, just like I had with Deputy Drew.
“Do you think she let in whoever did this?” I asked.
“I’ll ask the questions. You came here to talk to her, right?”
“I hadn’t actually talked to her. She was not at work. Snickers and I were out walking, and I wanted to check on her.”
“Isn’t that quite a walk from your apartment?”
“I’m staying at Granny’s and …”
“Right. And how long were you here?”
“Like I told Drew, um, Deputy Drew, I was at the Grille eating a late lunch. You can ask Amy the waitress.” I almost added that she should ask Drew, because he saw me too, but I’d let him tell Lacey that.
Detective Lacey nodded to Drew.
Deputy Drew left the room, telling me he’d be right back.
A few minutes later, he returned. “All right, Molly, your story checks out.”
“Well, of course it does,” I blurted out, startled. “What did you think, I hurt Erica?”
“Did you?” he asked.
“Of course not!” I stared at Drew, concerned by his blank expression.
He grimaced. “Right now, I don’t believe anybody about anything. This mess is just getting worse and worse.” His puppy eyes looked exhausted.
My heart sank. I could see Detective Lacey doubted me, but now Drew? How could he think I’d have anything to do with Erica’s injury?
Lacey smiled a wry grin at Deputy Drew, her almond shaped eyes regarding him with familiarity. Was this more than a glance between colleagues? Just how familiar were these two? I felt an odd pang in my chest. Was I an idiot? Deputy Drew Powell and I weren’t dating, so it was none of my business how familiar he was with Detective Lacey or any other women, for that matter. But it bothered me.
I had this high school-crush thing going on in my head. I’d have to hold my tongue when I drove to the hospital with him and avoid asking if he and Lacey were more than friends.
I stepped into the kitchen and washed my hands eagerly. I could use a firehose and bleach and still feel like I hadn’t gotten my hands clean.
As I dried my hands I admired a crystal blue vase filled with three rainbow roses. I strained my neck to peek in the family room. The deputies and EMT were tending to Erica. I walked over to the flowers on the counter and picked up the business-size white card attached to the slender pink ribbon around the vase. The note read: Thinking of you, your favorite baker.
Impulsively, I removed the card and stuck it in my back pack leaving the top unzipped. I’d be needing the card if I was going to act as Erica in order to ask the florist who the delivery was from. The kaleidoscope of roses had been dyed so that each petal displayed a different vibrant hue of yellow, blue, green, purple and pink to create a flower arrangement that had to be unique to a specialty florist. It wouldn’t be hard to find the florist that made the bouquet.
For a brief moment the thought of interfering with a police investigation crossed my mind, but the thought of being arrested outweighed my common sense. I needed to solve the case before they hauled me away. Plus, I wanted to verify my hunch that Erica’s favorite baker could be one of the Doughty cousins. Would their jealousy or anger at Jim be enough of a motive to poison him? But why would one of the Doughty cousins harm Erica? My prying into the investigation gave me hope that the police would add someone else to the suspect list. It was no fun being on the list alone.
Snickers came over and nudged me with his nose and I patted his head.
Out of the blue, Detective Lacey walked into the kitchen and handed a treat to Snickers. A strange gesture, coming from the ice queen.
I softened when I saw her get down on one knee to pet him. But my suspicions rose when she pulled out another treat from a baggie and let Snickers eat it, and then lick the bag clean. Lacey swiped at Snickers’ slobber.
“I’m sorry. He’s a slobbery mess when it comes to Pup-peroni treats.” I couldn’t believe this was the same lady of steel that had berated me with questions a few minutes earlier. Why was she now being so nice to my dog?
Lacey smiled up at me. The bag of treats were gone, and instead the plastic was lined wet with dog slobber. “Come here Snickers.” I reached for my backpack to retrieve a Kleenex to wipe Snickers’ jowls. When I grabbed the handle, it turned upside down dumping the contents onto the floor. I saw Detective Lacey’s eyebrows rise.
I looked at the pile on the floor. No gun or knife came tumbling out, just a mixture of wallet, keys, Snickers candy bar, lip balm, my moleskin notebook, loose coins... rubber gloves and a mask!
Silence filled the tiny kitchen.
“Okay,” I finally said aloud. “Okay.” I crouched down to quickly gather up the items tossing them in backpack.
“What do you have here?” Lacey poked at the mask with a pen.
“Hey, I know what this looks like. But it’s nothing at all.”
“Well, it sure doesn’t look good.” Her voice was quiet, but a smirk formed on her lips.
“I always carry gloves and a mask, just in case I plan to tend to a mint garden.” Even though I said the words, I realized how shallow the excuse sounded.
Lucky walked into the kitchen and looked at the collection of my personal items spilled on the floor. When he eyed the gloves and mask his expression looked like I was carrying a weapon of mass destruction around in my backpack.
He gave me a look that said, now you really have some explaining to do, Lucy.
So much for dating a cop.
When life gives you lemons, trade them for coffee.
~ Anonymous
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Erica wasn’t allowed visitors yet at the hospital, so I agreed to meet Drew at the station for my statement. I had to stop by the Bean and check on my employees and talk to them about Erica. But first I needed a shower.
I stepped into the warm water and let it run over me. It felt like it would take every dr
op of hot water in my apartment and a lot of soap to get the blood off of me.
I blow dried my hair, got dressed in clean black leggings and a long-sleeved T-shirt, and then went in search of food.
I hadn’t eaten since lunch at the Grille and had expended a lot of energy being terrified. I opened the refrigerator and stared at the empty shelves. A plastic baggie contained a few shriveled-up grapes, and my veggie drawer held one apple, one orange, and a few spotty carrots.
Even my freezer which usually held an endless supply of chocolate, including a bag of miniature Snickers, was bare.
“Let’s go to the Bean,” I said to Snickers.
I pulled my cell phone out of the charger on the counter, and bummer, discovered it hadn’t been plugged into the socket. The battery barely had juice.
I smiled at my Charlie Brown Christmas tree I had bought at the grocery store a few days ago. The tree was lit with one strand of bright white lights, half a dozen colorful glass bulbs and silver tinsel. There were no presents under it yet.
Ugh. I had presents to wrap, a surprise visit from my mom to deal with, and a murder to solve.
As I walked to the café, I worried about having to make a police statement. When you find yourself invited to a police station interrogation room again for the second time in a few days, a word to the wise: it may be time to talk to a lawyer.
“Welcome back,” Aurora said when I entered the café.
I strode over to the group, which consisted of Aurora, Bales, Chris, and even Granny Dee. There were hugs all around.
“Do you think whoever killed Jim also attempted to kill Erica?” Aurora blurted out.
“The police don’t know details yet. I’m going to meet them in a few to tell them what I know.” I hoped that I was only going to give a statement and I was not a suspect. Otherwise, I’d need to find a good criminal attorney. I thought I’d ask Granny if she could recommend one, just in case. I never had a need for one in the past. After all, I was a coffee shop owner. Even if my granddad had a lawyer, he’d probably not handle murder suspects. Maybe I should text Aunt Tammera before I meet Drew at the Palma County station and get her advice on whether I needed to retain counsel or not.