by Jessica Beck
“What is this about?” I asked her once Jake was gone, not that I didn’t have my suspicions.
“Are you at all concerned about Emily marrying your ex-husband?” she asked, the words coming out in a near whisper. I had a feeling that she didn’t want her daughter overhearing this particular conversation.
“Actually, I’m not. Max is in love with Emily in a way that he never managed to achieve with me,” I answered. “She’s changed him in ways I frankly didn’t think were possible.”
“Then you approve?” she asked, clearly taken aback by what I’d just told her. “You two are friends, aren’t you?”
“Me and Emily, or me and Max?” I asked. “Never mind, it’s the same answer either way. Yes, I’m friends with both of them.”
“Even after he cheated on you? How is that possible?” she asked, clearly worried about Emily’s heart and her daughter’s future well-being.
“The Max who did that to me is not the same man who wants to marry your daughter,” I said. “Do you believe that people can change, Christine?”
“I think it’s possible, but I’m not all that sure that it happens very often in real life,” she admitted.
“I can’t fault the logic of that argument, but in my opinion, Max is one of the rare ones who has managed to do it,” I said.
“Do you truly believe that?”
“I do,” I said, oddly mimicking the words I’d spoken at the altar once upon a time with the man in question.
“I hope you are right,” she said, clearly still fretting over her daughter’s choice in men.
“I am sure of it, but even if I’m wrong, your daughter is crazy about the man, so there’s really nothing anyone can do about it,” I reminded her gently. “Christine, you need to trust Emily’s judgment.”
“Even if she’s wrong? What do I do if it all falls apart?” she asked. The woman appeared to be on the verge of some kind of breakdown, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for her.
“Then you will be there to help her pick up the pieces if something bad happens. What else can you do? My momma was there when it happened to me, and I know that you’ll be there for Emily if you need to be.”
“Your mother is an extraordinary woman,” Christine said.
“As are you,” I answered warmly.
Christine surprised me by hugging me just as Emily walked up. “What’s going on, you two?”
“I was just thanking Suzanne for looking for your three little friends,” Christine said, doing her best to wipe her tears away out of her daughter’s line of vision.
“It’s already been taken care of. I’ve thanked them both half a dozen times already myself,” Emily told her mother.
“Still, one more won’t hurt,” she said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really must see to cleaning the floor near the comic books.”
“They’re called graphic novels, Mom,” Emily said with a smile.
“Call them whatever you’d like, but someone spilled popcorn on the floor, and it’s been driving me crazy. We don’t even sell popcorn!”
“One of the mysteries of life, I suppose,” Emily said, looking at her mother with great fondness. The two women clearly had a special bond. Emily and I shared that in common as well. Each of our mothers were also our good friends, something that still amazed me. “Here’s the list, Suzanne.”
She handed me a piece of paper neatly divided into two sections. One said “MAX,” while the other one was headed “EMILY.” Max’s list had two names on it, and Emily’s had only one. The ratio didn’t surprise me one bit. In all honesty, I had expected Max’s list to have even more entries than that. “I’m still not certain why I had to write these names down, since I’m going with you when you talk to these people,” she added.
“About that,” I said. “Emily, it might be better if you stay here, just in case there is another call.”
“Suzanne Hart, you’re not going to get rid of me that easily. I want to be there when you find my friends. They need to see me.”
Emily was slipping back into the habit of referring to her three stuffed animals as sentient beings, something that was devilishly easy to do myself when I was around her.
I was searching for a way to address my concerns when Jake joined us. “Actually, having you with us might hurt the investigation,” he said.
I thought the same thing, but I certainly wasn’t going to be so blunt stating it.
I was about to backpedal a little for Jake when Emily asked us, “Are you telling me that I could actually make things worse? Is that true?”
“Emily, the thing is, people might not feel as free to talk with you there,” I said softly. “You understand, don’t you?”
“Not really, but I don’t want to make things harder than they have to be if I can help it,” she conceded.
“Can you tell us why these names are on the lists you made?” Jake asked her. It was an excellent question, and I chided myself for not thinking of asking it myself. “All we need are the highlights. We’ll dig into the rest.”
“I can do that. In a nutshell, Dusty and I have a history, or so he wishes. We had a rather unpleasant encounter yesterday, and I could easily see him doing something this petty to get back at me.”
“How about the other names? The ones that made Max’s list?” I asked.
“Hattie Moon is furious that Max wouldn’t cast her for some silly part in his play, and she’s been complaining all over town about him for days. In fact, she threatened to burn the place down if she didn’t get her way! As for Michelle Pennington, she has a crush on Max. She’s had one for years, but lately she’s been trying to win him back in the most obvious ways, and he keeps rebuffing her. The odd thing is, I know for a fact that she’s been dating Dusty all the while. What can you expect from small-town living? Sometimes it feels as though all of our lives are intertwined. Do you need anything more?”
“No, you’ve told us everything we need to know to get started,” Jake said.
Christine broke things up by calling out, “Emily, is there a receptacle anywhere near here? If there is, it must be covered in books.”
“Hang on a second. I’m coming, Mom,” she said, but before she left us, she said, “Find them. Please. I’m begging you.”
“We’re going to do our best,” I said.
Jake touched my arm. “Suzanne, let’s get going.”
“Call me as soon as you learn anything,” Emily said. “Promise me you’ll do that. And be careful around Dusty. He’s not as harmless as he looks.”
“We’ll do just that,” I said.
Jake headed for the door, and I followed suit. As I neared the door, I glanced back at Christine. Our gazes met, and she gave me a look that said a thousand things without verbalizing a word.
I nodded back in response, trying to put as much into it as I could, and then I joined Jake outside at the Jeep.
It was time to continue with our investigation and see what we could learn about the missing store mascots.
Chapter 4
“Can you tell me anything more about the people we’re going to be speaking with this afternoon?” Jake asked once we were back in the Jeep, alone this time.
Before I started the engine, I handed both lists to him. “I think Emily did a pretty good job of summing things up. I hadn’t realized that Michelle was seeing Dusty, but then again, contrary to popular belief, I don’t know everything that goes on in April Springs.”
“Funny, but I thought that Max would have more than two names on his list. If you ask me, he’s the reason behind all of this,” my husband said with the hint of a frown.
“Why, because he’s my ex?” I asked him. My husband had never really warmed up to his predecessor, which made perfect sense to me.
“No, because he’s an idiot,” Jake said rather bluntly.
“I woul
dn’t call him that on his worst day,” I said, being in the unusual position of defending Max yet again, this time to Jake. “You don’t really know him all that well.”
“Suzanne, he let you go, so really, that’s all I need to know about him.”
I touched his arm lightly and smiled. “It’s sweet of you to say so.”
“Not that I’m complaining,” Jake said, matching my grin with one of his own. “If he hadn’t been so monumentally stupid as to cheat on you, I wouldn’t be with you now. Where should we start?”
“Michelle Pennington is the first name she wrote down for Max,” I said. “Why don’t we start with her?”
“I’ve never even heard of the woman. How well do you know her?”
“Not all that well at all, but I suppose I’d have to say a little bit, anyway.”
“From the donut shop?” Jake asked as I started driving. I knew where Michelle worked, so at least that made tracking her down easy enough.
“Donuts? Michelle? No way. She thinks they are poison.”
“If they are, then they are tasty, tasty poison,” Jake replied. “What’s her problem, anyway? What does she have against donuts?”
“It’s not just the treats I sell,” I said. “Michelle doesn’t approve of sugar in any form whatsoever. The woman is fanatical about what she eats, or at least she used to be. Honestly, I haven’t seen her in a while. We don’t exactly run in the same circles.”
“What does she do for a living?”
“The last I heard, she was working for an accounting firm in a strip mall on the way toward Maple Hollow,” I said. As we drove by the hardware store, the newspaper, and the bank, I wondered why Michelle would be on Max’s most recent list of enemies. I knew that they’d dated just before he’d started seeing Emily, but from what I remembered, it had flamed out rather spectacularly. She was at least ten years younger than my ex, and though he tried his best, he couldn’t keep up with her in the end, so he ended things with her, or so he claimed. From what I’d gathered, Michelle hadn’t been particularly happy about the split.
“Max doesn’t seem like the type to date an accountant,” Jake said.
“She’s not an accountant; she’s the receptionist,” I said.
“Okay. That I can see.”
“Jake, from what I know about Michelle, she’s smarter than you might think. If she’s working as a receptionist, it’s because that’s what she chooses to do at this point in her life, not that there’s anything wrong with her job. Hey, I make donuts for a living, so who am I to judge? In many ways, her job is a lot better than mine is. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Max has good taste in women,” I explained carefully to him.
“Because he married you. I certainly agree with that.”
“And he’s with Emily now, too,” I reminded him. “You’re a fan of hers, and don’t even bother trying to deny it.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Jake frowned for a moment as we pulled up in front of the accounting office, which was located between a chiropractor and a frozen-yogurt place. “What I don’t understand is why do so many quality women go out with duds? Are you all trying to reform the bad boys, or is there some kind of charm to him in particular that I’m not getting?”
“Well, he’s certainly handsome,” I said, and before I could finish the thought, Jake interrupted.
“Please. I know you better than that, Suzanne. There’s got to be more to it than that.”
“What you asked me earlier is true enough. Max has a way of charming you without you realizing that it’s even happening. It’s hard to explain, but when that man is giving you his attention, it’s complete and undivided. It feels as though there is nothing more important in the world than you are to him at that moment. It’s honestly a little intoxicating.”
“I suppose it would have to be,” Jake said as he nodded. “I’m just glad that you were able to break yourself away from his sway.”
“Seeing him with Darlene made that easy enough,” I said. I leaned over and kissed my husband before I got out of the car. “The truth is that I was devastated at the time, but I’m glad it happened. If he hadn’t cheated on me, I wouldn’t be with you right now.”
“At least we can agree on that,” Jake said with a smile. Was it possible that my current husband was a little jealous of his predecessor? I’d have to do everything in my power to reassure him that I had no, and I mean zero, interest in Max, at least not romantically.
“So, how do we tackle this?” Jake asked me as we neared the door.
“I’ve got a thought. Will you play along with me?”
He shrugged. “Your ideas are pretty solid. Sure, why not?”
“I appreciate the confidence,” I said as I opened the door.
“Lead on.”
Michelle hadn’t changed a bit since I’d last seen her. She was the fittest woman I’d ever known in my life. Maybe giving up donuts, and all of their sweet siblings, wasn’t such a bad idea after all, especially if I could look like she did. Then again, Jake liked me kind of curvy, and who was I to try to convince him that he was wrong? I wasn’t surprised to see that Michelle had a pashmina draped across her shoulders, even though the office wasn’t all that cool. The woman was quite stylish, and she was always accessorizing with some kind of wrap or another, and her dangling jewelry looked to be a health hazard to me.
“Hello, Suzanne,” she said curtly to me the moment she saw me walk in. Her taciturn look eased somewhat when she spotted Jake just behind me. After Michelle made a show of getting up from the desk and walking straight to my husband, she extended a hand as she also offered him a smile that offered a great deal more than just a warm welcome. If Jake noticed her focused attention, he didn’t react to it. “You must be Jake Bishop. I understand that you are a state police investigator.”
“I used to be,” he said as he took her hand briefly before releasing it again, her jewelry jangling a little as she dropped her arm in surprise.
Michelle frowned for just a moment, clearly surprised that her charm hadn’t instantly won him over. Wow, this woman’s ego had done nothing but grow since the last time I’d seen her.
She turned her attention back to me when she saw that Jake was impervious to her charisma. “What can I do for you?”
“We’re here about the key to the newsstand,” I said.
Jake’s right eyebrow arched slightly at the statement, but that was nothing compared to Michelle’s reaction. “Key? What key? I don’t have a key.”
I looked at the list Emily had given me and pretended to study it. “Are you certain about that? Your name is on my list.”
“Let me see that,” she said as she made a grab for the document.
I couldn’t very well allow that. As I pulled it back toward my chest, I said, “I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to show this to anyone. Why would your name be on the list if you didn’t have a key?” I tried to make the query sound more like an accusation than a question.
“I’m sure I have no idea,” she said.
This wasn’t working as well as I’d hoped. Was it time to concede that my gamble had been nothing but a bluff, or should I double down and go all in? Jake had taught me that in poker parlance, that meant sticking to my lie and pushing even harder, even when things began to look bleak. His expression was much more elegant than anything that I could have come up with.
“Think hard, Ms. Pennington,” Jake said beside me. It was clear enough that he was ready to commit as well, and I loved him even more for it.
Michelle pretended to ponder it for a few moments before she finally said, “You’re talking about Arnie’s key, aren’t you?”
“Arnie?” I asked.
“Arnie White. He and I were dating when the newsstand flooded, and Arnie helped replumb the shop. It was his key, not mine. I don’t believe that I ever even saw it.”
We would need to speak with Arnie White to see if that were indeed true, but in the meantime, it was time to press her a little harder on the real reason for our visit. “I understand you and Max had a fight recently.” I didn’t happen to have that specific bit of information, but it was a fair gamble. Otherwise why would Emily have written her name down on Max’s list?
She frowned openly at this. “I’m not sure what business that is of yours. After all, he divorced you years ago.”
“She divorced him,” Jake reminded her.
Michelle waved a hand in the air. “Whatever. It’s all ancient history. Max and I are through. I moved on weeks ago. Does it even matter? Why do you care, Suzanne?”
“Emily’s stuffed animals are missing,” I said, watching her gaze.
She didn’t flinch upon hearing the news, but that really didn’t necessarily mean anything. “So?”
“So, do you know anything about it?” I asked her.
Michelle shook her head. “What a ridiculous question,” she said. “Of course not.”
“Have you been here all day?” Jake asked her. It was an excellent point of inquiry, given the telephone call Christine had gotten at the newsstand earlier. Whoever had kidnapped the three guys had followed us out to the Jefferson place. I had chosen my partner well, for a great many reasons.
“We open at ten,” she said curtly.
“And you’ve been here since then?” I asked her. “If I ask one of your bosses, will they confirm that?”
I’d started to head for one of the closed doors when Michelle stepped in front of me. “You can’t just barge in there and start asking them questions.”
“Can’t we?” I asked. I stepped around her, wondering if she’d have the guts to try to stop me physically, but I never found out.
“Fine,” she conceded before I had to carry out my bluff. “I had an appointment this morning, so I just got into the office ten minutes ago. What could it possibly matter to you?”