by Cindy Bell
“Thanks,” she replied. She caught Morris and Sammy smiling sweetly at each other.
Morris escorted them to their cars and Bekki drove off while Morris was still talking to Sammy.
***
When Bekki got home she collapsed on the couch. The last couple of days had been exhausting. She drifted off to sleep whilst thinking about Jasmine.
She was startled awake by the phone ringing.
“Hello,” she said into the phone in a sleepy voice.
“Did I wake you?” Nick inquired apologetically
“I must have drifted off to sleep,” Bekki replied whilst looking at her watch. It was almost 7pm.
“Sorry,” Nick’s smooth voice said. “I am still at work and I’m going to be here a while longer. We are trying to get something solid on Randy so we can lock him up.”
“That’s okay,” she replied. “Why don’t we leave it for tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I promised your parents I would stay with you tonight,” Nick explained.
“Really? I am starting to think the three of you talk more than you should” she giggled. “Honestly, Nick I am so tired. I’m just going to have dinner, and shower and go to sleep”
“Okay,” he replied reluctantly. “But call me if you need me. Promise,” he said sternly.
“Promise,” she replied.
Chapter Five
After a restless sleep Bekki opened the salon the next morning relieved to find that it hadn’t been broken into. Sammy arrived shortly afterwards carrying two coffees.
“Hi,” Sammy said cheerfully.
“Hi, Sammy,” Bekki replied as Sammy handed her a coffee. “Thanks.”
“How was your night?” Sammy inquired while they were setting up their stations.
“Nick was held up at work...”
“Do you cut men's hair here?” a smooth voice inquired from a few steps behind Bekki. Bekki froze as she realized she hadn’t heard the ring of the bell over the door. When she turned slowly to face him she noticed that there were two other men lingering a few steps behind him. One had his hand wrapped around the bell over the door.
“Actually we do,” Bekki replied smoothly as she met the man's stone gray eyes. He was handsome in a regal way, appeared to be in his late forties, and was wearing a grim smile. “But I'm sorry, we're fully booked,” she added as she took in the sight of the two other men. They looked quite different in snug t-shirts, their muscular arms were covered in tattoos, and the expressions they wore were nothing but threatening. They looked similar to the men who had come looking for the supplies the day before. Menacing.
“I'm sure you could fit me in,” the man suggested with a kind smile.
“I'm sorry,” Bekki said again, more firmly this time.
“Oh, forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself,” he laughed theatrically. “My name is Jeff Barnes. I own the company that your friend Jasmine worked for,” he paused a moment and his expression grew darker. “Unfortunately, I am here to answer some questions that the police officers had. Apparently there's some discrepancy about the location of the supplies that Jasmine had with her.”
Bekki's eyes narrowed suspiciously. She had heard his name in some of the social circles in New York, she couldn't quite place where or what was said about him, but his story seemed reasonable since there definitely seemed to be misplaced supplies.
“And them?” Bekki asked as she tilted her head towards the men who were still blocking the entrance of the salon. “Do they want haircuts too?”
“Oh no, they like the rougher look,” Jeff shrugged a little. “They're my bodyguards. They travel with me, you know how New York City can be, and it seems that Harroway might be just as dangerous.”
“It's not,” Bekki replied coolly. She was ready to turn him away, but he had already revealed something to her, and she wanted to know more. “I can do a quick trim,” she offered and walked over to her chair. Sammy had been staring at the entire exchange and when Bekki agreed to cut Jeff's hair she took a sharp breath.
“Boys, behave yourselves,” Jeff instructed as he settled into the chair in front of Bekki. Bekki sighed as she pulled a fine toothed comb through his dark brown hair, which was scattered with flecks of gray. She was doing her best to keep calm, but she couldn't help but wonder if he was telling the truth.
“So her products are missing?” Bekki asked quietly as she picked up a pair of scissors to trim the hair at the back of his neck. The two rougher looking men had taken seats by the door and were glowering in Sammy's direction.
“Yes, I sent her out with some samples to distribute,” Jeff explained in a relaxed tone. “As tragic as the circumstances are, those products are valuable to my company. I was hoping to get them back.”
“I see,” Bekki replied and snipped lightly at his hair. She glanced up at the two men in the reception area, keeping an eye on them as well. Sammy was sorting through the items at her station, trying not to look terrified.
“Did she happen to show you any of the items?” Jeff asked. Bekki could see the muscles of his shoulders stiffen in anticipation of her answer.
“She wanted to,” Bekki replied carefully. “But she never had the chance to.”
“Oh?” Jeff shifted slightly in the chair causing it to swivel a little. Bekki put her foot on the circle of metal beneath the seat of the chair to steady it and prevent the scissors from slicing off part of his ear.
“Sit still please,” she warned him. “Yes, I was unfortunately too busy to see the products.”
“So, she had them when she left here?” Jeff asked and again shifted causing Bekki to clip his hair a little shorter than she intended.
“Mmhm,” Bekki replied and evened out the other side of his hair. “So you're the owner of the company? You couldn't send another employee down here to handle this?” Bekki asked.
“Oh no,” he frowned. “Not after what happened to Jasmine. I wanted to handle this personally. Who would have thought in this little town there would be a murderer?”
Bekki finished his hair and brushed off his shoulders as she stepped back. “Oh, I doubt anyone from here was involved,” she assured him, her fierce blue eyes flashing with annoyance at the assumption.
“No?” he asked as he stood up from the chair and turned to look in the mirror at the haircut he had received. “Nice,” he said quietly and studied her reflection through the mirror. “You know I've heard a lot about you, Bekki.”
“You have?” she asked with surprise as she was putting her supplies away.
“Yes. You made a pretty big name for yourself in New York City. It's a shame that all of that went down the toilet,” he lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug.
“I wouldn't say that it did,” Bekki managed a smile through the mirror.
“Well,” he gestured to the small salon and laughed shortly. “I mean, this isn't exactly glamorous now is it?”
Bekki caught Sammy glaring in his direction from across the room.
“Just what are you trying to say?” Bekki asked as she folded her arms across her body.
“Nothing really, I'm just pointing out, that it may have been hard for you to see your much more successful friend again,” he met her eyes with a cold and steady gaze.
“Are you accusing me of something?” Bekki asked, her eyes widening at his words.
“Should I be?” he countered with such arrogance that Bekki's hands instantly balled into fists at her sides.
“Are you implying I had something to do with Jasmine's death?” she hissed out between clenched teeth.
“What?” his eyes spread wide with shock. “No, of course not. A woman like you, I wouldn't expect that you could hurt a fly,” he laughed at that and shook his head. “But perhaps Jasmine did leave her products here. Perhaps you thought you'd keep them for yourself, maybe sell them from your salon as your own products,” he shrugged a little. “Try to salvage what's left of your name by stealing my products.”
Bekki's head was spinning with a m
ixture of anger and hatred. The man had her so tangled up with the desire to strike out at him that she could barely think straight.
“I think you should leave,” she said flatly, barely able to control her temper. She was sure if he stayed much longer Nick would be dealing with her arrest for assault. The man had done nothing to warrant her attacking him, but every muscle in her body, every instinct in her heart, wanted to harm him.
“Sure, sure,” he tilted his head towards the men. “Pay the woman,” he said gruffly.
“No charge, just leave,” Sammy said quickly from where she stood. She could see from the boiling look in Bekki's eyes that things were about to spin out of control.
“Why thank you for your kindness,” Jeff smirked and then paused at the door of the salon. He reached up to brush a stray strand of hair from the shoulder of his dress shirt. Bekki was mesmerized by the motion. Something on the cuff of his shirt caught her attention.
“Wait,” Bekki hurried over to him and he turned to face her, startled that she was suddenly approaching him. All of the fury she had felt was muted by the impact of what she had seen. “I'm sorry for your loss,” she uttered swiftly, and then shocked both the rough looking men, and Sammy, by abruptly embracing Jeff. He rested his hand awkwardly on her shoulder, and she took a deep breath.
“Uh, thank you,” he said with a slight cough. “We should be on our way. But, if you happen to come across those supplies, please contact me.” He reached in his pocket and handed her a business card. Bekki's hand was shaking as she grasped the card. When the bell over the door of the salon rang, signaling the departure of the three men, Sammy hurried over to Bekki.
“What was that about?” she asked with confusion. Bekki's lips trembled slightly as she held the card so tightly in her hand that her fingertips lost all color.
“I think he killed Jasmine.”
“Are you sure?” Sammy asked fearfully. “How can you know for sure? Why would he kill his own employee?”
“I don't know,” Bekki admitted as her chest tightened with fury. She was certain she had just cut the hair of the man who had taken the life of her friend. “But I know he saw Jasmine. He had to have seen her after she left here and before she was killed.”
“How do you know?” Sammy pressed and stepped up to the front door. She turned the lock on it. “That's it, I'm canceling at least the morning appointments.”
Bekki only nodded distractedly as she dialed Nick's number on her phone.
Nick answered on the first ring. “Hello?”
“Nick, I think I just met Jasmine's killer,” Bekki said all at once.
“Bekki are you in danger?” Nick asked with urgency.
“No, no, I'm fine,” she promised him and then sighed. “Listen, can you just meet me at the salon?”
“Sure. I'll be there in two minutes,” he assured her. When Bekki hung up the phone Sammy was tightening all of the blinds.
“It's okay, Sammy,” Bekki said with a shake of her head. “They're not coming back here. Not with a squad car parked out front,” she tilted her head towards the police car that had just parked in front of the salon. Nick jumped out of the passenger side, leaving another uniformed officer to stand watch outside the salon. Bekki quickly unlocked the door for Nick and he rushed inside.
“What happened, are you okay?” he asked as he looked into her eyes.
“I'm fine,” Bekki spread out her arms to show him she had no injuries. “Listen, I have to tell you…”
“Bekki, I asked you, no I flat out told you, to stay away from this case,” Nick reminded her, his expression just on the edge of fuming. “You have no idea who you're dealing with.”
“Uh, I think we kind of do,” Sammy offered quietly as she peeked out through the blinds.
“What do you mean?” Nick asked.
“If you'd let me tell you,” Bekki insisted impatiently.
“Okay, I'm listening,” Nick sighed and swept his hands across his face to calm himself down.
“Jeff Barnes, the owner of Electrify, the company that Jasmine was working for came in here just before. He claimed he was also looking for the supplies that Jasmine had, which are still missing. He said he wanted to handle the case personally because he cared about what happened to Jasmine,” she paused a moment and Nick nodded.
“Yes, we knew he was in town. We called him to ask him some questions and he was already headed here. It's a bit strange, but not unheard of,” he shrugged slightly.
“Well, you should have seen the men he was with,” Sammy said with a shake of her head. “They looked like the guys that came here the other morning, like they were straight out of one of those mafia movies.”
“Really?” Nick said with a little more interest.
“Yes, he said they were his bodyguards,” Bekki continued to explain.
“Well, that's possible, too,” Nick nodded and then frowned. “So why do you think you met the killer?”
“I think the killer is Jeff Barnes,” Bekki said sternly.
“The owner of the company?” Nick hesitated as he considered this. “But why would he kill Jasmine? And if he planned to, why wait until she was here to do it?”
“He was very concerned about her supplies,” Bekki pointed out with a frown. “Maybe that had something to do with it.”
“Maybe,” Nick said slowly and then shook his head again. “None of the pieces of this fit together. Jasmine doesn't have any connections with the criminal whose plate we ran or the guys that came for the supplies the other day. The criminal has no connection with Harroway either. As for this Jeff Barnes, I don't see what he has to do with any of it.”
“I don't know either,” Bekki admitted with a deepening frown. “But I know he did it. Or at the very least, he's lying about not seeing Jasmine after she came to the salon and before she died.”
“How do you know that?” Nick asked with a furrowed brow.
“Because,” Bekki picked up a tube of lipstick from the display on the receptionist desk, “of this!”
“What does lipstick have to do with it?” Nick asked.
“It was on his cuff,” Bekki explained as she opened up the tube of lipstick.
“Well, Bekki,” Nick shifted slightly. “Rich and powerful men are known for having their affairs,” he explained with a slight blush.
“I know that,” Bekki agreed. “But only one woman had a tube of this lipstick.”
“How do you know it was that lipstick?” Nick asked. “There are so many different kinds of lipstick and shades I couldn't even begin to keep track.”
“That's true,” Bekki nodded and then waved the tube of lipstick under his nose. “But not all of them are scented.”
“Wow, that smells good,” he murmured as he breathed in the scent. “So you're saying that the lipstick on his cuff smelled like this?” he asked.
“Yes,” Bekki said as she capped the lipstick once more. “And this is made by a local woman and only sold here. I haven't sold any, except for giving one to Jasmine, right before she left the salon.”
“Wait, how do you know it smelled like this lipstick?” Nick asked as he went over the information in his mind.
“Because I hugged him,” Bekki said with confidence.
“You hugged a potential murderer?” Nick's eyes widened with shock and frustration.
“I had to be sure,” Bekki explained. “I knew if I could smell the lipstick I would be certain that it was this exact same lipstick. Which means that Jeff saw Jasmine before she was killed, and after she was here. He saw her in the time that the murder occurred, and is acting as if he just drove into town.”
Nick nodded slowly and ran his hand back through his hair. “This is very good information. I'll take him in for questioning. In the meantime Bekki please…”
“I didn't investigate!” Bekki said with a smirk. “He came to me.”
“Well, just be careful,” Nick held her gaze intently. “Promise?”
“I promise,” Bekki nodded as s
he glanced over at Sammy. “I don't think either of us were expecting to have him walk into the salon. Were we?”
“I sure wasn't,” Sammy agreed. “Is it enough to arrest him, Nick?” she asked hopefully.
“I can't be sure until he's questioned,” Nick explained. “But everyone is working on this.”
Bekki nodded and gave him a quick hug. As she pulled away, Nick wrapped his arms a little tighter around her waist.
“No more hugging murderers, okay?” he kissed her gently on the forehead.
“I'll do my best,” Bekki replied with a small smile. He held her gaze briefly and then stepped out of the salon. Sammy was quick to lock the door behind him.
“I have to admit Bekki this is freaking me out,” Sammy frowned as she rubbed her upper arms. “Do you really think it was him?”
“One thing I've learned Sammy, is to always expect the unexpected,” Bekki sighed. A moment before she had been certain of her assumption that Jeff was the killer, but Nick had made a good point. Why would Jeff want to hurt one of his own employees? Why did those men coming looking for the supplies the other day if they didn’t kill her?
Chapter Six
Bekki convinced Sammy to open the salon for afternoon customers now that there was a cop car regularly driving past. Bekki didn't want to disappoint her regular clients, and she also needed to do something to keep her mind off what was unfolding.
“We're a less likely target the busier we are,” she explained to Sammy who still felt a little uncomfortable about reopening the salon.
“I guess,” Sammy sighed and escorted the first customer to one of the empty chairs. During the afternoon all that people wanted to talk about, was the break-in and Jasmine’s murder. The entire town knew about it and each person had their own theory about what had happened.
“That woman was so gorgeous that I assume it was a jealous lover,” Mrs. Paultren who was one of the librarians at the local library pointed out.
“Sure it could have been,” Ms. Culpper agreed with a slight shrug. “But, maybe she was a government spy. Maybe her cover was blown somehow.”