by Rose Pressey
The store had racks of clothing in the middle and shelves of home décor items around the walls. On the left was the small furniture section. I always headed to the décor first. The items weren’t in any order so you really had to look at everything in order to find the hidden gems. I’d spotted a wooden serving tray that was just screaming for a makeover. As I inspected the item I felt as if I was being watched. The store had security cameras, but this was a different feeling. It felt as if someone was nearby and watching me.
I placed the tray in my cart and pushed around to the next shelf. That was when I spotted the woman watching me. She had her gray hair pulled up into a bun and she wore bright yellow pants and a white shirt with a big of a gray cat on the front. Dark sunglasses covered her eyes. Why did she need sunglasses in the store? There was something vaguely familiar about her. When she noticed that I’d spotted her she turned her attention away. Maybe she was worried that I’d find all the good bargains. I couldn’t help it if I found the items first.
On the next shelf, I found glass votive candle holders that I thought would look lovely in my dining room. I’d think of some way to give them a fresh new look. Next I found a foam wreath form that would be perfect to make the burlap wreath project I’d been planning.
As I turned the corner I came face to face with another one wearing sunglasses. This was bizarre. Was there something I had missed about sunglasses? Was the store having a sale on sunglasses or was it National Wear Your Sunglasses in a Store Day? This woman looked a lot like the other one except she wasn’t wearing a cat shirt. Hers was just plain blue. She stepped around me. Of course I couldn’t see her eyes to know if she was watching me, but I just had the feeling that she was. Just like with the other woman.
I’d placed the candle holders in my cart and maneuvered around a couple of shoppers. As I studied the goodies on the shelf hoping to find another bargain, I felt someone walk up behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see if I needed to move out of the way for someone when I saw yet another woman with sunglasses. She had short gray hair and wore blue pants and a white shirt with a different picture of a cat. I refused to believe that this was a coincidence. There was no way these women were truly shopping.
That was when I realized who the women were. Doreen friends had followed me to the store. I could play their game. I pushed my cart in the direction of the woman who’d just walked by. Now I would follow them around the store and see how they liked it. The leader rat had to be in the store somewhere and I figured I could follow the women right to Doreen. The woman looked over her shoulder at me, then she attempted to walk faster. Her rubber soled shoes squeaked loudly as she rushed across the store.
The woman shuffled toward the racks of clothing toward the back of the store. She glanced over her shoulder several times. The bee was taking me right to the queen. The woman paused in front of a rack of clothing. When she saw that I was near, she stuck her head into the rack of clothing. I closed the distance between us in two steps. The woman stepped back when she figured out I was right behind her. I grabbed the clothing with both hands and pushed them back, revealing Doreen hunkered down behind the clothing. It was like discovering the boogeyman hiding in a closet. I was at a loss for words.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Doreen pulled off the dark sunglasses and looked at me with a wide-eyed innocent look. “What do you mean? I’m shopping. What does it look like I’m doing?”
“It looks as if you followed me here,” I said.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I follow you?”
“That’s exactly what I’d like to know. Why don’t you come out from behind that rack?” I stepped back and motioned for her to come out.
The other women had gathered around. At least they’d taken off their sunglasses too. What had they been thinking? I’d been followed by a gang of gray-haired, kitty cat shirt wearing seniors.
Doreen stood and straightened her shirt. “Fine. I did follow you. I want to know what you’re up to. If you had something to do with the murder then I want to know about it. I wouldn’t put it past you to try to frame my poor little Ross and I won’t let that happen. Besides, you are in co-hoots with the sheriff. What a coincidence that they arrested Ross since you are dating the police.”
“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You’re being paranoid.”
To think she thought I had something to do with the murder.
“I should call police the police and tell them that you are stalking me.” I placed my hands on my hips.
“You wouldn’t dare.” She pointed at me.
“Oh, yes I would.” I pulled my phone out of my purse.
She glared at me. “We’re leaving now, but I will tell Ross about this.”
I smirked. “I’m shaking in my flips flops. I don’t think he will say anything about the fact that you followed me.” I continued to let my finger hover over my phone so that she would know I was seconds away from calling the police.
Doreen motioned toward the women. “Come on, ladies. Let’s get out of here. Raelynn Pendleton is obviously off her rocker.”
The women pushed their shoulders back, stuck the sunglasses back on their faces, and marched down the racks of clothing toward the exit. I couldn’t believe Doreen had taken the time to follow me here with her friends. And after I’d given her a ride. What did she think she would catch me doing? I’d have nightmares about those kitty cat shirts and sunglasses ganging up on me.
Chapter Fifteen
To my relief, I didn’t leave the store empty-handed. I found a couple cute glass dishes that I was sure I could make into something useful and a small table that I could redo with a little sanding and a couple coats of paint. After paying for my items and placing them in the car, I headed around to the various trash bins. After searching through several containers, I didn’t find anything worthwhile. That was the thing with treasure-hunting, it didn’t always pay off right away. A little bit of something was better than nothing though and I was happy with my finds. The key was to come back often and that was exactly what I would do.
After grabbing a turkey sandwich at a little deli, I headed back toward Honeysuckle. I’d read about the women’s club sale recently and decided to check it out. I’d never been and I hoped to find a few good items. It was at the building on the corner of Main and Second Street. Luckily there was a parking lot right in the back. I parked the Mustang and headed for the door. The parking lot was full of cars, which kind of surprised me. I hadn’t expected such a big crowd. I hoped that all the good bargains weren’t already taken. I pushed through the glass door and entered the large open room.
Tables were set up around the perimeter of the room. In total I figured there were at least fifty. My eyes widened trying to take in all the stuff. I turned to my right and started at the first table. I perused the items, but didn’t find anything that I needed so I moved on to the next table. There were a couple women in front of me and a few more had entered the room right behind me. I had to keep up the pace so I wouldn’t slow down the line. So far I wasn’t finding anything that I needed. I wouldn’t buy something just to be buying. Not to mention I couldn’t afford to do that. It had to be a true bargain.
I made it to the next table and looked at a few items. I felt eyes on me and looked up to see the woman behind the table staring at me. She had short gray hair and wore a dark purple shirt and matching pants. She furrowed her brows. Maybe it was my imagination but it seemed that she didn’t care for me being there. I picked up a cookbook from the table. It wasn’t an item I could repurpose, but it looked like it had good recipes that I’d like to try.
“How much for the cookbook?” I asked.
The woman pushed to her feet and hurried over to me. She grabbed the book from my hands and placed it back on the table. “It’s not for sale,” she snapped.
I stared at her in disbelief. I couldn’t believe how rude she was. What was wrong with her? I didn’t stick around to find ou
t why. I moved on to the next table. There was a couple dishes that were really cute, so I asked the thin, dark-haired woman, “How much?”
She didn’t rush over to me like the other woman, but she shook her head. “Not for sale.”
I glanced over at the woman at the next table. She was still watching me with an evil glare.
“They aren’t for sale?” I asked.
She nodded. “That’s right.”
I looked back at the women behind me. They were staring and this was embarrassing. It looked as if the items just weren’t for sale to me. I knew when it was time for me to leave. Apparently I wasn’t wanted in this place. Did they think I was a murderer? How could they jump to that conclusion? Just because I’d been around for two recent murders. That meant nothing.
I made my way back toward the door so that I could get out of there. When I looked around I noticed that a lot of the women were watching me. They whispered to each other. I was almost certain that I’d heard the word ‘murderer.’ I guessed that they were talking about me. They should be looking around Honeysuckle for the killer though. Just because I had been there when the body was found didn’t mean I’d done it. They ignored the fact that Ross had been there too. Apparently they were still fooled by his charms.
When I spotted Doreen by the entrance I knew exactly what was going on here. Doreen had been talking to them. It didn’t surprise me. I hadn’t realized that she was a part of the women’s club or I would have known to stay away.
She smirked when she saw me looking her way. She was proud of what she’d done. When I looked over my shoulder I saw that half the room was looking at me. I was outnumbered and knew when I wasn’t wanted. They didn’t have to ask me to leave with words, the looks were enough.
Doreen crossed her arms in front of her chest. She wore a bright pink dress and lipstick to match. “There is nothing here for you, Raelynn.”
“I don’t want to discuss anything with you, Doreen,” I said as I continued toward the door.
“Well, just so you know that the ladies here don’t want your business.”
“You made that more than clear. I hope you’re happy.”
She snorted. “Oh, I will be happy when you leave. And yes, I’m happy that the women can see how you truly are.”
I wasn’t going to argue with her because I figured that was exactly what she wanted.
A few women stood behind Doreen and nodded in agreement with every word she spoke. I heard them mention Ross and how sweet a boy he was. Wow, they didn’t know him like I knew him. They could continue to think that if they wanted to. I just wanted to get out of this place. I felt like they were ganging up on me now. I pushed through the door and outside. When I glanced over my shoulder the women were standing at the door glaring at me. At least they hadn’t followed me out into the parking lot.
I climbed into my car and pulled away. That was a bizarre situation. I shouldn’t have been surprised by Doreen’s behavior though. I wanted to avoid her as much as possible in the future. It was a good thing Claire Ann hadn’t been with me. She would have freaked out and told the women off. She had a short fuse. Breaking up a fight between Claire Ann and Doreen was the last thing I needed. Doreen looked like she would be a hair-puller. Word would spread that we’d fought with a poor defenseless woman when in reality it would have been Doreen who started it.
Even though I couldn’t afford to shop at Coco’s, I still liked to browse in the hopes that someday I could make a few purchases. I parked in front of Coco’s and peered at the store front from my car. I looked down the street toward Luke Lexington’s office and then across the street at Darcy Parish’s place. By the looks of the offices, no one would even know what had happened there days before. It was hard for me to even look at the offices now without seeing Luke’s and Darcy’s faces.
People walked past as if nothing had happened, as if they already knew who had killed Luke and Darcy. Didn’t they want to find the killer? We had to know who did this before they did it again. The only connection between the two that I knew of was the obvious one that they were both realtors.
Sitting in my car staring at the crime scenes wouldn’t help anything, so I decided to get out and go into Coco’s. There was a beautiful crystal chandelier in the window that I drooled over every time I went in. I was sure that I could make a version of it myself. I would add that to my list of projects.
The smell of various candles tickled my nose when I entered. The store was dimly lit, but it created a cozy atmosphere. My eyes never knew where to look first when I was inside this place. Gorgeous furniture dotted the floor and unique artwork hung on the walls. I wanted to buy one of everything. It would cost a small fortune. If they could just move the store to my house I’d be happy.
When I looked toward the back of the store I was surprised to see Connie. She wasn’t just shopping at the store, she was behind the counter. By the looks of her white shirt with the word ‘Coco’s’ across the front, she was working there. When had that happened? I’d been in there last month and hadn’t seen her. She had to be a new employee.
I wanted to leave, but unfortunately Connie looked up at that moment and saw me watching her. It was too late to hide now. She hurried around the counter and charged toward me like a bull running after the matador. I wondered if she would stop or just tackle me. I was frozen on the spot, powerless to get away from her.
She waved frantically as she approached. “Over here, Raelynn! It’s me, Connie.”
Yes, how could I not know who she was at this point? Everyone probably knew who she was. There were a couple of women at the back of the store. They looked up to see who Connie was yelling at.
“Connie, you work here now?” I asked.
“Just part time for extra money. What are you doing in here?” She eyed me up and down.
Had word spread that I didn’t spend money when I came in? They didn’t know that for sure. Maybe someday I would show them and buy a ton of stuff.
“I just came to look around at the pretty stuff.” I motioned.
She gave a half-hearted smile. “Well, we have a lot of new items since the last time you were in.”
How did she know when I’d been in last?
Connie leaned in closer. “I heard they have leads on the murders.”
She looked around to see if anyone was watching us. The women had moved to the back of the store and I was sure they wouldn’t be able to hear us. Connie’s eyes were wide as she fixed me with a stare. Connie had missed her calling. She should have been a detective since she was so interested, although other people in town didn’t appear to be interested enough.
“I didn’t hear about that,” I said.
She nodded. “Well, you didn’t hear it from me. I can’t say how I heard. Are you sure the sheriff hasn’t said anything to you about it?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t really talked with him since it happened last night. We’re going to dinner tonight.”
“Where are you going?” She stared at me.
Did she plan on coming to dinner with us? That was kind of an odd question. I shouldn’t have told her about our plans. “I’m not sure yet,” I said.
“You’ll let me know if he tells you anything?” she asked.
“I really don’t think I can do that. Plus, he won’t say anything. We’re just going for a relaxing dinner. We don’t want to talk about what happened. You understand, right?”
She nodded, but looked completely disappointed.
“I think I’ll look around.” I’d look at a couple things and then get out if there. She was weirding me out.
As I started to step away, she said, “I can call you if there is anything good we throw away.”
So she did know that I’d been in the Dumpster before.
I waved my hand. “That’s okay. I’ll probably not check for a while.”
It would be a while before I came back in if she was going to ask me all those questions about the case. I would have to avoid Coco�
�s.
I picked up a plate and turned it over to look for a price. I thought Connie would go help other customers, but she followed along behind me.
“What about your ex-husband and his attorney?” she asked.
I looked over at her. “What about them?” Had she seen them making out at the park?
“Are they still staying at your house?”
“Ross was never staying there. Well, he was there the one night, but I made him leave. His lawyer was staying there because that was the only place in town.”
Connie looked at me as if she didn’t believe a word of it. Why was I explaining this to her anyway? I was ready to get out of there. I didn’t know what to else to say.
I attempted to head for the door.
“What about Julian?” she asked.
Yeah, what about Julian? Come to think of it, I wondered where Julian was and if they’d ever found her. Did she know what had happened to Darcy? I guessed she would have found out if she’d shown up for work and the place was closed because of the murder investigation.
“I haven’t seen her,” I said.
“It’s odd that she would just disappear at the time her boss was killed.” Connie quirked an eyebrow.
“What are you saying? Do you think she had something to do with it?”
“She had been fighting with Luke before he was killed,” Connie said.
That was true, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.
“Are you sure I can’t call if we get rid of something good?” She studied my face.
If anyone else had offered I would have said yes, but Connie was just a little too creepy. “No, thanks. I’m fine. I have too much stuff right now anyway,” I said.
That was far from the truth. I hoped she couldn’t see through my lie.
I finally reached the door. Connie practically stepped in front of me.
“Do call me if you get any information.” She handed me a card with her phone number.
I looked at the card. “I’ll call if I hear anything.”