Molly Dox - Annie Addison 01 - Color Me Crazy

by Molly Dox

  Pulling into the pebbled driveway of her small cape cod, the headlights of her car alerted Pip that she was home. She could hear her barking start as soon as she stepped out. Solitude was nice time to time, but having Pip meant she was never alone. And dating was out of the question for now; she still wasn’t sure she could trust a man again. Not that she didn’t look time to time, but no thank you, she wanted no part of a relationship again.

  Pip greeted her, bouncing up and down like she had a spring beneath her. Annie reached down to rub behind her ears. “Just give me a second girl.” She tossed her bag on a table and kicked her shoes off. “Okay,” she teased with enthusiasm, as Pip jumped onto her lap. She gave her pup a few quick belly rubs and then put her out to do her business.

  Lost in thought, Annie replayed the night at Uncle Buck’s in her mind. Running her fingers through her hair, she sighed deeply. Life could be taken away so fast. She made a mental note to call her mother the following day. Or maybe the one after. Yeah, she was pretty sure she was fine. She’d talk to her next week.

  Chapter 3

  Annie pulled a sweatshirt over her head and tugged on a pair of shorts. Leashing up Pip, the two of them went for a morning walk on the beach. Singlehandedly, this was the best part about living on the island. Having close access to the beach and ocean, falling asleep to the sounds of the waves crashing, and the quieter months of the season when only the locals remained. September was hit or miss with the weather. Some days were ideal, but the nights grew cooler.

  The little home she rented was four houses from the beach, and within a minute her feet were in the soft, white sand. Climbing up over the dune, she headed toward the ocean’s edge where the sand was packed down harder after getting wet. It made walking much easier. Pip loved to dig in the sand and play at the edge of the water, chasing it as the ocean pulled back only to come closer, chasing Pip in the other direction.

  Annie’s mind was still full. The events from the night before still hadn’t left her. She thought about everything she hadn’t done yet, and reminisced on past events, her divorce, and how she ended up where she did. Would she have done anything differently if her time was up today?

  Patsy had lived a full life at eighty years old, but what if she still had things left she wanted to do? Annie wondered if she’d stop dreaming after a certain point in her life, or stop making goals.

  She was certain she had Charlotte to thank for her sanity. When their friendship formed, she’d just gotten out of her marriage and depression had hit her hard. Time seemed to go by quickly. Within a couple of years, they’d already gotten so close.

  Annie sat down in the softer, dry sand after walking with Pip for a bit. As she stared out at the ocean, she watched the cascading waves come and go, and got lost in the therapeutic effect of the water. The white noise of the waves and the consistent pattern lulled her into a comfortable numbness. An occasional person wandered by, and hobby fisherman dotted in the distance, hoping to snag a fresh meal for dinner.

  After far too much time, she got up and stretched. It was time to clean-up and head to work shortly. Another day, and life goes on. At least for her it did. Patsy didn’t get so lucky.

  Chapter 4

  Annie stopped at the little convenience store on the way into work. Hot, fresh coffee was exactly what she needed to start her day. It always tasted better when somebody else made it. Pouring her coffee into the foam cup, the aroma filled her nostrils. She couldn’t help but overhear two police officers talking about the night before. She tried to focus her hearing, to pick up on what they were saying. She couldn’t very well pry blatantly.

  “So, it’s looking like we’ve got a homicide on our hands,” the first officer started. Frisco, otherwise known as Reggie Frisco, but most people called him by his last name, was talking to his partner, Nick Rossi. Frisco was a good old boy, the kind of guy who’d spent his entire life on the island. He was a big boy with a big belly to match. Nick, on the other hand, was the kind of guy Annie had a hard time looking away from. Not that she was interested in guys at this point of her life, but if she was Nick would be right up her alley.

  Nick Rossi, stood tall and proud, with a slick of dark hair that was cropped short. He also sported a golden tan that said he spent plenty of time outdoors. His deep brown eyes and solid broad shoulders left her breathless. It was a silly crush. He was a sight for sore eyes.

  “Autopsy says poison. I guess we’d better start a list of suspects. Did they get the son’s statement yet? He was pretty broken up. We’ll need to ask him for a list of people that could have possibly wanted to harm her.” Nick shook his head. “Who’d figure, eighty years old? Good thing there was an autopsy done, otherwise it would have been written off as heart failure.”

  Annie inched a tiny bit closer. Poison? Homicide? She had to fill Charlotte in on the news. It would make good conversation, trying to piece together who took the woman down.

  “Chief Wylie is looking into insurance stuff. Sure would be nice if this was a quick and easy solve,” Frisco said, adding more sugar to his coffee.

  “Come on, aren’t you excited to dig into the investigation? Not much happens around here other than routine traffic stops, drunken brawls, and domestics.” Nick wanted the chance for an adrenaline rush and a puzzle to solve.

  “Eh, I like the easy life. That’s why I work here.” Frisco, on the other hand, wanted to sit in his car and listen to the latest ball game. The quieter the workday, the better in his eyes.

  “Come on,” Nick said, heading to the register. He tossed a couple of bills on the counter and headed to his car. Frisco followed suit.

  Poison. Wow. She was murdered. This changed everything. At eighty, everyone just assumed her time was up, but it turns out she predicted her own death. The day prior she’d commented that somebody would take her out. Annie just thought she was being paranoid. Was there a reason? Her mind ticked while her hand dug into her purse to pull out a few bills to pay for the coffee and the snack she grabbed off the cooler shelf. She begrudgingly chose two hard boiled eggs and celery sticks. What she wanted was a box of soft chocolate chip cookies, but she was determined to stick to her lifestyle changes until she couldn’t stand life without cookies anymore.

  Getting to the shop, she was still noodling on the news of the day. Patsy had been murdered. It was hard to think about work when all her brain wanted to do was play amateur sleuth. Pulling out a piece of paper, she jotted down a list of people that she knew at the bar, all the people Patsy had talked about that she could remember, and put a big question mark at the top.

  If insurance was involved, the obvious person might have been her son, but that didn’t seem likely. They appeared to have a good relationship, even if Patsy did complain about him, she still went to visit him at work every night to sit and talk. He was her world. Annie didn’t know about her past or Greg’s father. She’d never asked. Maybe it was time to see if there was an ex-husband in the picture. Annie was more than annoyed with her own ex-husband enough times to at least play with the idea of incapacitating him a little bit, not that she’d actually follow through.

  When Trish came into work, Annie whispered as if others might overhear. “Did you hear about Patsy? She died last night, and now they think it was murder.”

  Trish gasped. “Our Patsy? Oh dear. Do they know who did it? What happened?”

  “She dropped at Uncle Buck’s last night. Charlotte and I were there at the time, we saw it happen.” Annie continued to fill in what little detail she knew.

  “Wow, that’s scary. Are they sure it wasn’t just a heart attack or something? She was up there in age.” Trish’s voice trembled with curiosity.

  “No, I don’t think so. I shouldn’t say anything, but I overheard the cops talking while getting coffee. They think somebody poisoned her.” Annie was still whispering.

  “Huh. I wonder who wanted old Patsy gone?” Trish turned to put her lunch in the small refrigerator in the back room.

  The doo
r jangled as Mrs. Bushmiller walked in. “Did you hear? Patsy died.”

  “Yeah, I heard.” Annie didn’t say anything else.

  “News travels fast on this little island,” she said, miffed that she wasn’t the one to get to share the news first. She loved having the best details and gossip. “Well, anyway, I’ve got to run, I just wanted to say good morning and share the news.”

  “Have a good day,” Annie said, catching Trish out of the corner of her eye as she came back into the room. “Trish? Are you okay? Something seems off.” Trish’s arms were tightly crossed over her belly.

  “If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell anyone. I mean it. I just need to say it out loud.” She dreaded admitting it, but she just had to get it off her chest.

  “Go on,” Annie said, wondering what had gotten into her co-worker.

  “I’ve been sleeping with Greg,” she said, almost too quiet to hear. “Rich has been slacking in the boyfriend department, and I’ve been secretly seeing Greg on the side. What if they think I’m involved somehow, because she was his mother?” Her hands started shaking, and she pulled them tighter to her body as her color drained from her face, leaving her ashen pale.

  “You and Greg, the bartender? Huh, I didn’t realize,” Annie said, taking in the new bit of information. “Well, you had no reason to want her dead, right? I can’t see how they’d implicate you. You have no motive.” Greg was older than Trish by a few good years, but it’s not like there were a ton of men to pick from that lived there year round.

  “Other than her being a lousy tipper, she wasn’t half bad,” Trish reasoned.

  “Do you think, Greg…?” She almost hated to ask.

  “Oh, heavens no. Those two were really close. I can’t imagine him doing it,” Trish said.

  “Did his mom know about the two of you?” This was good stuff. Annie couldn’t help but nose around a little bit.

  “No! She wouldn’t have approved anyway. You know how she is. I just, well, Rich has left me feeling unwanted lately, and Greg and I got to flirting one night. One thing led to another, and next thing you know we’re meeting up secretly, having a little rendezvous. There just didn’t seem to be a reason to stop.” Trish sighed, realizing what a mess she’d gotten into.

  Annie nodded. “Right.” Her brain was working overtime. She wasn’t sure if Trish was capable of murdering someone. She didn’t think so, but what did she really know about the girl other than what she saw at work? It felt odd to even think about her that way. Before this moment, she had never even considered a situation like this, but now it was like a big puzzle to solve. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t her puzzle to solve, but she could at least think about it on her own. It wouldn’t hurt anything for her to poke around a bit.

  “I don’t feel so well,” Trish said, before turning and running for the bathroom.

  Annie watched the woman scramble for the bathroom door. It was like she was seeing Trish with a new set of eyes. She made a mental note to see if she acted weird throughout the day.

  When Trish returned, she sighed. “I don’t know what got into me. How’s the book looking today?”

  “Pretty sparse,” Annie answered. “You have your three clients, I have four, and we should be able to close early; I’d say by four-thirty.” She’d need more than that to afford her rent through the rest of the season. Hopefully things would pick up as parties and holidays came around.

  “Sounds good. Ugh, I must have eaten something bad.” She spun around and ran back for the bathroom.

  “I hope you’re not pregnant,” Annie teased, calling out behind her.

  Trish turned and glared at Annie. “Don’t even joke. I wouldn’t know who the father is.”

  Chapter 5

  Later that day, when Frisco and Nick Rossi showed up at Beachside Beauty, things got a little crazy. Annie was surprised to see them at her shop. “Can I help you?”

  Frisco spoke first. “Annie Addison?”

  Annie nodded. “Yes?”

  “We have a warrant to search the salon. I’ll need everyone to step outside while we work.” The police officer was firm but direct.

  “Wait. What? What do you mean you have a warrant?” She stood confused, unable to move. It felt like a dream. A warrant? To search her salon? For what? She felt lightheaded, but pulled herself back to where she needed to be. Why would they want to search her beauty shop?

  “Ma’am, we’re investigating a homicide. There was poison within our victim’s body, and her son stated she got her hair colored here prior to her passing. Hair color, chemicals, and it looks like you’ve been added to our list of suspects. I’ll need you to step outside.” His tone grew harsher.

  “But I…” Annie shook her head in protest. “I didn’t do anything!” How could they even think she’d have anything to do with this? She barely knew the woman, other than her being a customer from time to time. Outside of her business, she didn’t socialize with Patsy.

  Officer Nick Rossi stepped to her side. His voice was softer, though deep. “It’s all part of the process. Nobody is accusing you of anything, but we need to search the premise. We’ll need you to wait outside.” He placed his hand on her shoulder to gently guide her toward the door.

  Annie nodded, knowing they wouldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. She had nothing to hide. “Okay, fine.” She still felt defeated. She was trapped in a daze as she walked out the door. It was crazy, the idea of them finding anything at her shop.

  Annie and Trish sat on a bench across from the shop as the officers searched the building. Annie’s insides trembled. It was surreal. How was this even happening? She’d never done anything bad, never been arrested, had no reason to be a suspect, and now because of some freak thing, she was the suspect in a murder investigation? How would she explain this one to her mother? She could already hear her disappointing tone in her head. First divorce, now this. It was like she couldn’t get anything right in her mom’s eyes.

  As the officers finished turning over the shop, they exited the building with a small sealed baggie in hand. “Ma’am, you’ll need to come with me.” There was no mistaking Officer Frisco’s tone.

  “What?” Annie’s face slackened. What was in the bag, and what did it have to do with her?

  “We found this vial behind a bunch of bottles near the hair coloring stuff.” Frisco led the way. “It looks like we’ve just solved the case. Now, if you’ll tell us why, we can wrap this up.” He had no idea what was in the vial, but the suspicious container was tucked away without a label and out of place. “We’ll get this tested and close the book. Case closed.”

  “I didn’t do it! I don’t even know what that is. I wasn’t even the one to color her hair!” Annie was in a panic, stumbling over her words.

  Trish groaned. “Thanks for throwing me under the bus. And for the record, I’ve never seen that before.” She pointed to the bag with the vial. “Whatever that is, it’s not ours.”

  “I think we’re going to need to question you both,” Nick stated. “This way,” he said, leading the women to the back of his car.

  “Can I at least lock up my shop and get my purse?” Annie said, afraid things were looking dim.

  Nick went with her to collect her things and lock up the business, while Frisco took Trish in for questioning. Both women were left stunned. Neither had seen the vial before, or even knew what was in it. Confusion ruled the moment.

  If somebody was trying to frame her, she was going to find out both who and why. Everything inside of Annie shook. What if they think she did it? Would she go to jail? She was innocent! What about Pip, who would take care of Pip? Oh, she had to call Charlotte, to let her know to check on her dog. How long would she be at police headquarters? And what about her clients who were booked later this afternoon? Thoughts raced through her mind, one after the other.

  After a rash of questioning, she was let go with a warning not to leave town. Annie’s entire world crumbled at her feet. If she didn’t figure out
who did this, she might end up being the one who took the fall. This meant war. Somebody tried to frame her. Trish was let go with the same warning not to leave town. Together they headed back to the salon, Nick dropping them back off. Each was silent, lost in thought.

  As soon as she got to the shop, she called Charlotte. “I need to talk. Can you come over tonight? It’s really important.” There was nobody else she trusted more than Charlotte. She’d know what to do. She was always full of such good advice.

  “Sure, hon, no problem. Want me to pick up a pizza?” Charlotte sensed the tension in her friend’s voice.

  “That would be great, thanks.” Charlotte was the best friend she had on the island. They bonded over shared stories at the salon, and started hanging out from time to time. So what if she was older than her? They were as close as they could be.

  Trish finally spoke. “Like, if you did it…I wouldn’t tell anybody. I think you’re a nice enough girl, but maybe you should talk to somebody if you’re feeling hostile toward others.”

  “Seriously?” Annie stared at Trish. “And what makes you think they don’t think it’s you?”

  “I have no reason to. And by the way thanks for throwing me under the bus and putting my name out there.” Trish snapped at her boss.

  “Thank you for sitting there while they accused me and not defending me.” Each woman glared. “I’m closing shop and canceling tomorrow’s appointments. I can’t handle this right now.”

  Trish took a deep breath. “This is just freaky, okay? I’m scared. What if they think we did it?”

  “I don’t know Trish, I just don’t know.” Annie’s brain felt scrambled, like a plate of eggs.