Up Shute Creek: Rose Gardner Investigation #4

by Denise Grover Swank

“Agreed, but here’s the really important part that proves she was telling the truth about her story,” Neely Kate said.

  “Go on.”

  “Caroline was supposed to marry Jacob Krensky on Saturday, but I found out on social media that the wedding was called off. No reports about her having gone missin’.” She paused. “And the engagement photo looks just like our Carly.”

  “What could have happened to make her run and hide from both her fiancé and her father?” I asked.

  “Good question. Let’s hope she trusts us enough to tell us.”

  Twenty minutes later, Neely Kate parked in the lot of the Sunshine Café. As we walked toward the entrance, I tried to get used to the gun tucked between my legs in my thigh holster. I knew it was safer to have it within reach, but I still hated wearing it. I knew Neely Kate was carrying hers in her purse.

  I glanced at my best friend as our shoes crunched on the pea gravel. “You know, there’s every possibility the waitress who gave us that paper with the numbers is gonna ask if we delivered it.”

  Neely Kate made a face. “We’ll tell her we got delayed and we’ll deliver it after breakfast.” Reaching for the door, she turned back to me and said, “And we will. We still need to drop by the florist and the salon.”

  We sat down in an empty booth, and Neely Kate picked up a menu just as Nina started to walk over. “What can I get you ladies to drink?” she asked, keeping her head down.

  “I’ll take some orange juice and coffee,” I said.

  “Same,” Neely Kate said.

  Nina’s face slowly lifted and her slack jaw confirmed she hadn’t noticed it was us before she showed up at the table.

  “What are you two doin’ here?” she whisper-shouted.

  “We’re havin’ breakfast,” Neely Kate said, sounding innocent.

  “Is Wilma cookin’ this mornin’?” I asked, trying to crane my neck to look in the back.

  Nina stared at me as though I’d asked if a Martian were at the grill. “No.”

  “Good,” I said, “because I’m hungry.”

  She spun around and headed into the back.

  “She didn’t look too happy to see us,” Neely Kate grumbled. “I thought she wanted to help find Sarah.”

  “Maybe some of the employees give reports on what she does to Stewie,” I suggested. “We’ll just have to be discreet.”

  She nodded her agreement.

  Nina came out a few minutes later with a tray for the drinks. She acted like we were strangers as she set the orange juice and coffee in front of us. Pulling out her notepad, she asked, “Do y’all know what you want yet?”

  “Sure do,” Neely Kate said cheerfully. “I want pancakes and bacon and a side order of hash browns.”

  Nina wrote it down and glanced at me. “And you?”

  “I’ll just have some scrambled eggs and toast.”

  “Okay,” she said, keeping her gaze on the pad as she wrote. In an undertone, she added, “What are you really doin’ here?”

  Neely Kate picked up her laminated menu and pretended to scan the page. “We have a few more questions.”

  “If Paula sees us talkin’ about Sarah, she’ll tell Stewie,” she said, leaning over the table and pretending to pick up some trash.

  So I was right, not that I was surprised. The man kept her stranded out at that cabin, without transportation. “We’ll be discreet,” I said. “Would it be better if we wrote our questions down and then you could answer them when you bring our food?”

  Nina stood upright and turned slightly to look at another waitress who was waiting on customers several tables down. “No. I’ll be back.” Then she headed back to the kitchen.

  Neely Kate’s back was to the waitress who’d captured Nina’s attention, but I got a good look at her profile. She was in her twenties and thin, but she had a haggard look that probably came from too much booze and cigarettes—and if she was snitching to Stewie, likely too many drugs.

  “This puts a crimp on things,” Neely Kate said, taking the wrapper off her straw and putting it into her orange juice.

  “But she doesn’t seem unwilling to talk,” I said. “So we’ll make it work.”

  Neely Kate looked less sure.

  We watched Nina take care of the other customers while Paula took care of her own. The other waitress seemed to be ignoring Nina, so when Nina walked past our table, I flagged her down. “Excuse me. Could I get a glass of water?”

  Nina stopped and said, “Sure thing. It looks like you could use a coffee refill too. I’ll be right back.”

  She returned a couple of minutes later with a glass of water and a pot of coffee, and a quick glance around proved that Paula was nowhere to be seen. Nina set down the water glass, then took her time scooting my coffee cup closer.

  “What do you want to know?” she asked under her breath.

  “Are you sure Digger slashed Sarah’s tires?” Neely Kate whispered.

  She slowly poured my coffee. “Certain. He bragged about it to Stewie.”

  “Sarah’s coworkers at the dentist’s office said she often showed up with bruises on her arms, especially toward the end of her time there. They said she’d usually show up with fresh bruises on Fridays. Then flowers would arrive that same day with a card that said ‘sorry’ with no signature.”

  Her upper lip curled. “Let me guess, that busybody Christine was quick to gossip about that one.”

  I hesitated, not wanting to throw anyone under the bus, but it almost seemed like Nina was trying to get out of answering the question. “Not just Christine. Another employee confirmed it.”

  “Sissy,” she muttered in disgust as she slid my cup back into place.

  “Do you know how she got her bruises or not?” Neely Kate asked, sounding grumpy. Obviously she was getting the same vibe.

  “I don’t know for certain,” she said, but she didn’t look at us as she moved Neely Kate’s cup next. “I know she had bruises off and on over the last month or so, and if I had to guess, I’d say they were from Digger. But I never saw him hurt her. He’s a son of a bitch to be sure, but I’ve never seen him lay a hand on her.”

  “What about Conrad?” I asked. “Could he have been the one to give them to her?”

  “Conrad?” she asked in surprise, glancing up as she started to pour coffee into Neely Kate’s cup. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he put the moves on her, but hurt her?” She shook her head. “I don’t think it was him.”

  “Did you know he was accused of molestin’ his teenage daughter?” Neely Kate asked.

  Her mouth dropped open, but she recovered quickly. “No. But I guess I’m not entirely surprised. Still, Conrad is a creeper, not an abuser.”

  “Could it be anyone else?” Neely Kate asked.

  “Who else would it be?” Nina asked as she set the cup on the table. “Digger seems like the most likely suspect.”

  “She never mentioned it to you?” Neely Kate asked.

  “No.” She took a step back as Paula emerged from the kitchen. “I’ll go check on your order.” Then she walked past her coworker without giving us a second glance.

  Neely Kate grabbed a container of creamer and poured it into her coffee. “There’s one person we haven’t considered who may have been givin’ Sarah those bruises.” Her gaze lifted to mine. “Marsha.”

  My breath stuck in my throat and I realized she was right. Sure, Sarah was grown, but she’d still lived with her mother. And Marsha could have been abusive. Especially if she blamed Sarah for Conrad’s interest. Hadn’t my own mother tormented me my entire life? “We need to ask Nina.”

  Nina returned a few minutes later, carrying two plates. As she set them in front of us, I quietly asked, “Did Marsha hit Sarah when she was a girl?”

  Nina set our plates on the table. “No more than most parents. Sure, she whipped her, but she never beat her.”

  “So it seems unlikely that Marsha gave her those bruises?” I asked.

  “Not likely at all. You’re barkin
’ up the wrong tree. I keep tellin’ you it’s Digger.”

  “Except Sarah never told you that he hurt her,” Neely Kate said.

  Paula turned her attention to our table, and Nina asked, “Is there anything else I can get you girls?”

  “Looks like we’re good,” Neely Kate said sweetly. “Thanks.”

  I tentatively took a bite of my scrambled eggs as Neely Kate took a big bite of her bacon. I nearly sighed in relief when the eggs tasted fine, without a hint of eggshells, but Neely Kate seemed to have issues when she tried to cut off a chunk of her pancakes with a fork.

  “Are these things made of cardboard?” she asked as she put her weight into her fork. It slid off the pancakes and clanged against the plate.

  I gave her a tiny grin as I took another bite and said, “Mmm…”

  “Okay,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “I deserve that after yesterday, but seriously, I can’t chop through these. They’re as hard as a rock.”

  “Is there a problem?” Paula asked as she stopped by our table.

  “Actually,” Neely Kate said, trying to jab her fork straight into her pancakes. They barely made a dent. “These things are as hard as a rock.”

  Paula narrowed her eyes as she stared at the round dollop of butter on top of the stack. “It’s not meltin’.”

  Sure enough, it wasn’t.

  Paula picked one up and banged it on the edge of the table. “Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She spun at the waist and shouted toward the kitchen, “Ed! These pancakes are still frozen solid!”

  “Still?” Neely Kate asked.

  She tossed the pancake back onto the stack. “Just sit tight. I’ll take these back and zap them in the microwave and get you fixed up.” Then she grabbed the plate and headed toward the back.

  Neely Kate watched her walk away, her jaw hanging open.

  “Why were those pancakes frozen in the first place?” I asked.

  She shook her head with a dumbfounded expression.

  Nina glanced over her shoulder at her departing coworker, then hurried over to our table.

  “Hey!” a man called out from the table she’d been standing at before. “You were in the middle of taking our order!”

  Nina held her finger up to her lips. “Shh! I’ll pick up where you left off. Just give me a second.” Then she turned to us with one hand on her hip. “We’ve got a couple of minutes. Paula will stay back there while she’s nukin’ your pancakes. She’ll use it as an excuse to take a smoke break.”

  Neely Kate blinked, most likely about to protest that she didn’t want the formerly frozen pancakes, especially after Paula had banged one against the table, but quickly refocused on the task at hand. “What did you and Sarah used to do on Friday nights?”

  “We usually went to Tiggy’s with the guys.”

  “Did y’all still go after Digger and Sarah broke up?” Neely Kate asked.

  She nodded. “The guys and I went, but it wasn’t the same without Sarah.”

  “Do you have any idea where she went the Friday night before she disappeared?” I asked. “Conrad said she left around nine sayin’ she was goin’ to think.”

  “She likes to go to the creek for that,” she said. “The place we all hang out.”

  “Do you know if she really went there that night? Based on what we’ve heard, if she found a bunch of money, it must have happened Friday night.”

  She perked up at the mention of the money. “I have no idea.”

  “Do you know what Stewie and Digger were doin’ that Friday night?”

  “The three of us were at Tiggy’s until about midnight. Then Stewie and I went home.”

  “Do you know where Digger went?” Neely Kate asked.

  “He said he was goin’ home.”

  Neely Kate gave me a questioning glance, then turned back to Nina. “What were Digger and Stewie up to on Sunday afternoon?” We’d never asked her about Digger and Stewie’s alibi on Sunday afternoon.

  “I don’t know. Stewie said he was watchin’ the games at Digger’s house, but the only thing I know for certain was that Stewie came home smelling like a brewery and hornier than he’s been in ages.”

  Neely Kate’s eyes widened, but she remained silent.

  “Is there anything else you can think of that might help?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “I’m tellin’ you, Digger messed with the car, and I suspect he did something to her too. He cared about her, but he’s got a temper when he’s drinkin’. You need to talk to him.” Then she spun around and shouted, “Paula! You got those frozen pancakes nuked yet?”

  “Comin’!” Paula shouted from the back, then burst into a coughing fit.

  Nina hurried back over to the table she’d left mid-order.

  I took another bite of my eggs and grinned at Neely Kate. “Mmm…”

  She stuck her tongue out. “I don’t plan on eatin’ those nuked pancakes.”

  “I can’t say I blame you.”

  “Here’s what I don’t get,” Neely Kate said in low voice as she leaned over the table, “Why doesn’t Nina confront Digger herself?”

  “Do you think he’d really tell her anything?” I asked. “It would incriminate him.”

  “Stewie seems to have Nina under his thumb,” she said. “And men like him get off on exerting power over women. Sounds like his bestie Digger’s just like him. If he did something to her, he’d brag about it.”

  “But what if he really cared about her?” I asked.

  “Does it sound like he cared about her?” she asked with a blank look.

  “I don’t know,” I said in frustration. “We both know that a man in an abusive relationship might think he loves his significant other. He might get upset when he hurts her, even as he passes off the blame for his actions.”

  Neely Kate’s eyes hardened. “Not all men, Rose. Not all men care.”

  I felt properly chastised. Neely Kate knew from experience.

  “I’m so sorry, Neely Kate,” I said. Tears burned my eyes, my defenses crumbling. I’d let myself forget about the horror of her past and consequently let my guard down.

  She shook her head, her eyes full of fire. “Don’t look at me like I’m some pathetic woman.”

  I sucked in a breath. She didn’t want my pity, and I was reeking of it. “You’re not some pathetic woman.”

  She swallowed, looking like she was about to cry. “There’s something else we need to consider. Nina said that the Sunday night Nina disappeared, Stewie came back horny. What if he killed Sarah and got off on it?”

  I stared at her in horror.

  Sadness filled her eyes. “That’s the same dang look you gave me yesterday.”

  I felt like I was going to be sick. “Neely Kate.”

  She reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet. “We’re not gonna find anything else from Nina, and I’m sure as Shinola not eating those pancakes. Let’s go.” Opening her wallet, she groaned when she saw she had a couple of ones and a five.

  “I’ll get the check, Neely Kate.”

  “I don’t need your charity either,” she snapped. “I’m twenty-five years old and I’ve been leaning on someone my entire life. It’s about time I took care of my own daggum self.”

  Her outburst caught me off guard, but I realized this had nothing to do with nuked pancakes and the cash in her wallet. She was shaken up after this weekend, and after sharing her secret with me. While I’d held it together yesterday, I’d just confirmed one of her worst fears. That I did see her differently now.

  I reached over and grabbed her hand in mine. “Neely Kate, I don’t think you’re pathetic or in need of charity. I love you. Nothin’s gonna change that.”

  “I know you’ll love me, Rose. But you see me differently now. You can’t deny it.”

  Part of her was right. I’d tossed and turned the night before, my imagination wandering over the horrors my best friend must have endured in Ardmore. I couldn’t even fathom it. But I reminded myself the woman I saw n
ow was not the woman who’d lived through that hell. She was stronger.

  “I’d be lyin’ if I said horrible things hadn’t crossed my mind, but you moved past that experience. It’s part of you, but you’re stronger now.”

  She didn’t look convinced.

  “Let me deal with the frozen pancake issue, because there’s no way in Hades we’re payin’ for those, and you go outside and call Maeve to make sure Carly’s still doin’ okay.”

  Her lips twitched with a small grin. “I almost wish I could stay and watch this.” But she grabbed her purse and shot out the exit.

  Paula came back with the plate of pancakes, then looked around in bafflement when she didn’t see Neely Kate. “Where’d she go?”

  “She left. I need the check, but I won’t be payin’ for hers. It was inedible.”

  Anger flashed in her eyes. “I fixed it!”

  “By putting them in the microwave?” I asked calmly. “They never should have been frozen in the first place. This is a diner, for heaven’s sake. Now have our waitress bring me the check, minus Neely Kate’s food, and I’ll be out of your hair.”

  “My pancakes were frozen?” another customer asked in disbelief, dropping his fork to the table with a clang.

  “Look what you’ve done!” Paula sneered. “Our Yelp reviews are gonna be even worse than they already were.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Nina! Bring this bitch her check!”

  I took offense to her name-calling but kept quiet, feeling grateful I’d sent Neely Kate outside. She was a ticking time bomb of emotion. I suspect she would have gone ballistic.

  Nina hurried over with the check. She must have been listening because she’d marked out Neely Kate’s food and drinks and kept mine. I put enough money on the table to cover my breakfast and give Nina a generous tip.

  As I headed toward the door, Nina watched me with a look I couldn’t decipher—perhaps regret for not being more forthcoming. Or perhaps she was just worried about the tip.

  Neely Kate was sitting in her car with both front windows down. When I got inside, I sat in my seat for a moment before I said, “I want to be completely honest with you, Neely Kate. You deserve that after all our half-truths.”

  She nodded but didn’t say anything.