by Beth Byers
My nails were digging into my palm when a worried look crossed Hilary’s face.
“Did something happen to her or the girls?”
“They’re fine. It’s not going to make sense that I ask you this, but where were you today?”
“Why would I answer that for you?”
I hated myself a little more as I said, “It’s important to know for Addy and the girls’ sake.”
Zee shot me a look, both mean and approving. If she only knew how much that bothered me. Our friends were on the line and they were family to us. I couldn’t be kind when it was their future.
“For the girls?”
I nodded.
“And Addy?”
I nodded.
Hilary sighed, “I live with my boyfriend. We both work here. We got up, made breakfast. Some sugary crap I’ve regretted since then.” Her sarcastic, “Does that matter?” was well deserved.
“This place opens at 11:00. I have to be here at 10:30 to start prepping. My boyfriend had the later shift, so I got dressed, he dropped me off, I came in, and then he left to take care of the stuff we needed. Groceries, wash the car, deposit our tips. Stuff like that. Why? How does that help Addy and the girls?”
“Did your boyfriend know your brother?” Zee asked suddenly.
Hilary’s gaze narrowed and she said, “What does this have to do with Jordy? Is he bugging Addy? If she needs a character witness or something for child support, I’m on her side.”
“Sounds like you aren’t much of a fan of your brother’s.”
Zee played with the soy sauce bottle and eyed Hilary who was watching Zee’s hands rather than meeting our gazes. Why was she answering questions but avoiding our gazes? What was she hiding? “Look. Jordy is three years older than me. He was a terrible brother. Not protective. Not kind. He stole whatever money I had, led Addy into drugs, got her knocked up, was downright abusive after she had the baby. His little gang of criminals messed with me, Addy, and my mom. The day Jordy took off was a good day for all of us.”
“Gang of criminals?”
Hilary nodded, her mouth twisting. She wasn’t protective of her brother. She didn’t even hesitate. She looked up. “He robbed the bank, broke into people’s houses, stole cars, sold drugs. He was the worst and I’m glad he moved away. For me, for my nieces, for Addy. Addy had to break away from everything that had to do with Jordy—including me—to get clean. The only person who missed him at all was my mom. And even she didn’t miss him that much.”
“Was he a druggie?” Zee asked.
Hilary shook her head. Old, hateful emotions crossed her face, “He was always mean. My earliest memories were of him pinching me when my mom wasn’t looking. Some people are just horrible. He always was.”
I wasn’t sure I believed that. If it made Hilary’s past easier for her, I wasn’t going to argue.
“Hilary…” I didn’t want to tell her that her brother was dead. I was pretty sure she didn’t have anything to do with it since her alibi was verifiable. I was guessing she’d have said good things about her brother if she knew he was dead, and she was a murder suspect.
I breathed slowly in and then slowly out and then looked up. And there was Simon and Carver. The sheriff just shook his head, unsurprised, but Simon’s mouth twitched. His gaze met mine as the waitress put a platter of sushi before us. The scent of fish and wasabi exploded inside of my head and I gagged.
Hilary frowned. “Do you not like sushi?” Her question was a bit derisive, but I couldn’t answer. I jumped from the booth and ran out the door of the restaurant. I glanced frantically around and then darted around the side of the building and heaved onto the side of the building.
While I was puking into the bushes, Simon placed a hand on my lower back and another on my forehead, smoothing my hair back. It took far too long for the heaving to end, but once it did, I slowly stood and leaned against him.
“Are you ok?”
I nodded into his chest. “Just a little motion sick. Zee’s a maniac behind the wheel.”
Simon grunted. I was too tired from puking to pull back and see what that meant.
“How’d you find out about the sister?”
I nuzzled him, stealing his warmth and then said, “Zee, of course. She knows everyone.”
“Of course. Is there anything you know that we don’t?”
I shrugged. I pulled back and said, “Zee and I found out that Jordy had a girlfriend the whole time he slept with Jane.”
Simon raised his brows. The expression in his kind eyes cooled. It wasn’t directed at me, so I cupped his face and said, “None of the people involved in this were innocent. Except maybe Jordy’s girlfriend. Who is Shane’s sister. That was why Shane flipped out. If we thought he’d been a jerk about his son, he was worse about his daughters. I guess Jordy really messed up Addison’s life until he left town. Shane must have known he was coming. She was upset when I saw her this morning at the dog shelter. Was it really this morning?”
He nodded and I sighed into his chest. “We were gonna go to the aquarium.”
“And linger forever watching the leafy sea dragons and the sea otters.”
“They hold hands while they sleep.” It was a fact I stated every time we saw them.
Simon kissed my forehead. “We’ll still do that. As soon as this case is done, I’m taking the rest of my vacation.”
“Hilary has a pretty solid alibi,” I said. “But she didn’t have good things to say about her brother. There’s no love lost, and I’m not sure she’ll be upset when she finds out he’s dead.”
“Not every family is one to be envied.” Simon had told more than one person that they’d lost their loved one. He’d probably seen the gamut of emotions. I was glad he was out here with me. Carver was the sheriff. He could tell Hilary that the brother she hated had been murdered. She’d discover she was a suspect and that her own comments to protect Addison had moved her up the suspect list.
I told Simon everything we learned, happily adding in Jordy’s criminal history since it made Addison and Shane look a little better.
I wasn’t sure I believed that though. Would criminals from nearly a decade ago suddenly care about whatever had happened back then? It seemed pretty unlikely. Whatever they had taken couldn’t be worth causing problems years later. Not when they all could have moved on.
Chapter 8
It was late by the time Carver and Zee left the restaurant. They walked Hilary out to her car, where her boyfriend was ready to take her home. I frowned as I saw him pull up. Something about him bothered me even though Hilary threw herself into his arms. I could see him whispering to her while he rubbed her back. That would be how Simon would comfort me, so why was he bothering me? Maybe I was just mean because I felt awful?
I had a headache from puking and didn’t think showing up to talk to Addy would be a good idea after school was out. Let alone when her husband might be home and ready to jump to her defense. United fronts and all that.
I messaged Zee while Carver and Simon conferred. I was going to go home and be done with the day.
Simon drove me home. They had decided to wait until they knew more about time of death, so they could narrow down alibis. Simon and Carver had worked the crime scene. Coming here as soon as they’d gotten Hilary’s name.
Simon chatted about sending down officers to verify alibis and question people who might have been around when Hank thought he was by himself, but I was only half-listening. I wished I could say that I had been thinking about the crime, but mostly the day was a blur.
“What about Jane?” I finally asked.
“I haven’t talked to her yet.” Simon turned onto the curving road up to our house. I hadn’t intended to leave the dogs so long today and hated that I had. I was tired, never wanted to see food again, and I was upset with myself that I’d trapped Hilary into answering questions.
It hit me all the sudden why the boyfriend had bothered me. He was supposed to have been working, but he was with the car. I tol
d Simon who just said, “It was slow in there.”
“Yeah.” I expected everyone to be lying. Too many people were full of lies. Jane, Hank, that boyfriend. Me. I’d been full of lies and sideways truths as I’d questioned poor Hilary.
“Hilary still misses Addison.”
Simon frowned.
I yawned as I answered, “Addy needed to leave her old life behind to get clean. Even though Hilary didn’t use drugs, Addy broke away from everything that came before. So despite missing Addy more than her brother, Hilary let Addy go, sacrificing her relationship with her nieces.
Simon pulled up to our house and I hauled myself out of the car to the chorus of the dogs.
“Did you want to eat after…that?”.
I shook my head as I greeted the dogs. They barked at us as though they hadn’t been sure we’d come back. I dropped a big comforter on the ground for a cushion, grabbed a throw and curled up so they could surround me.
Moments later, I fell asleep and only woke when Simon lifted me up to carry me to bed.
“You, sir,” I murmured, “know how to make a girl feel like a delicate flower.”
He groaned forcing me to bite his shoulder. A moment later, he tossed me onto the bed and dropped down next to me on his stomach, rubbing his back. I elbowed his side and then said, “I guess the time change is catching up with me.”
“Nope,” Simon said, “We’re just old now.” He yawned and then said, “Tomorrow when you and Zee interfere, be safe?”
“I promise.” I kicked off my shoes and wriggled out my jeans and bra, not bothering with my t-shirt and a moment later, Mama Dog curled up by my neck. Daisy laid herself along my back. Goliath took the end of the bed, and I snuggled into Simon’s side.
“We need a maid,” Simon told me. “A dog maid who comes out and walks the dogs, brushes their hair and teeth and maybe sprays them with something vanilla scented.”
“Like cookies?” I yawned.
“Cookies.” He agreed. “Now I want a sugar cookie.”
I couldn’t fall asleep right away. Instead my mind had woken up just enough to think about what had gone down that day. We’d seen Jordy on the street. Arguing with some guy in the mechanic uniform. From there, he’d alienated all of us at the booth, been attacked by Shane, and left. Wherever he’d gone had left with him dying at the dog shelter.
In the meantime, Zee and I uncovered what a terrible father Jordy had been. That discovery had certainly made his death all the more…maybe all the less regrettable. Him dying would free his kids from whatever mischief he intended to cause them.
Someone had killed him while I’d gossiped with my staff, helping to close the diner, telling them about Fiji, and worrying about Jane and Hank. When I’d finally left there with food for the birds, Jordy had been dead.
Hank as a killer? Sure if it was to protect his kid. The same with Jane. Geoff? I didn’t know him, but if he loved those little girls like Shane believed, he had a motive. A big one. What man wasn’t a little more protective over his daughters? Addison too. Whose whole life had been messed up until Jordy had left her and her kids? She had the biggest motive of them all. Little girls to protect and a far better understanding of the type person Jordy had been.
Except perhaps Hilary who had an alibi. Her boyfriend had no alibi, that we’d verified yet, but also no motive.
Jordy had a cousin and an aunt in town. His old criminal buddies? They couldn’t possibly have a motive after all this time? It wasn’t a question that I could answer, so I snuggled tighter into Simon’s side, closing my eyes and picturing a hammock on a Fijian beach until the worries of the murder faded and the promise of another tropical vacation took over.
* * * * *
I woke to a note on my pillow from Simon. He’d fed the dogs and hired someone to take care of the dogs. I sent the poor fellow a detailed message about how to love my furry beasts for me and included the cat and the parrots as an afterthought.
I’d woken three times to the parrots. They needed to go to someone else’s house. I loved animals, and I liked parakeets and could even see taking a parakeet should one come into the shelter. But I liked my sleep more.
I grinned as I showered and dressed. I was too proud of myself that I didn’t want to keep the parrots. My happiness was followed by a frown since I knew I was going to appear at Shane’s place. Especially because I would be using her love of her job to bully her into giving me details of everything I wanted to know.
I snuggled all of the dogs and succumbed to their soulful eyes when they eyed me and then whined under the treat jar. I messaged the poor kid to take them on an extra long walk and then left the house.
My Forrester was waiting for me since Simon had taken his police SUV. The drive down to The 2nd Chance Diner to get Zee passed in a blur while my thoughts skipped from person to person. I didn’t really want any of the people I thought might have killed Jordy to be the killers. I just didn’t see an old friend killing Jordy after all this time after a few hundred bucks from a bank job or the pearls from some home they might have broken into.
I certainly believed that someone would kill him. I believed that he deserved to die which made me question my very soul. Maybe not deserved to die. But his death didn’t bother me all that much. Had I become callused on my spirit from all these deaths?
Perhaps. Goodness I would like at least 6 months to pass before we stumbled over another body. I wanted to…spend a summer working in the food truck pod or the diner. I wanted to wake up next to Simon and grab weekends away. I did not want to follow the thought process of one more killer. I wasn’t even going to ask the universe for forever. I felt like that would be an instant no. Just a break from murders.
“Rosie luv,” Az called, sounding offended. “You puked up my waffles?”
Carmen, one of our waitresses, laughed sarcastically at that and then asked, “Surely another dead guy in town is worth more of a reaction than Rose getting car sick?”
“I’m just saying my waffles are something special. Something that doesn’t need to be…what’s a good word for puke?” His dark chocolate honeyed voice was filled with humor as he suggested, “Horked?”
Carmen scrunched her nose.
“Ralphed?” Her son, Lyle, and another employee called.
“Spewed,” Zee called as she filled coffee cups down the line of the bar.
One of our regular customers laughed and called out, “Purged?”
“I’m fine with vomited,” I said and sniffed. All this talk of puke was making my stomach hurt. Maybe I had a stomach bug? I had just flown internationally. Didn’t you get sick often when you did? I sighed. I’d so wanted waffles when I was in Fiji, but Az’s waffles. Not just any random resort waffle.
“Upchucked,” Az said through the window and then called, “Order up.”
I took the plate and delivered it to the second booth, glancing out to Paige’s shop across the way. I was in the mood for some new jeans, and she always had some that made my butt look good despite its…abundance.
“Tossed her cookies,” Zee said as she started a new carafe of coffee.
I scowled at her and got my usual mean snort.
She glanced me over and said, “You look like you slept in a pile of puppies.”
“Are we done?” Lyle asked, “Because hurled, regurgitated, yakked, heaved, um….”
“She lost her lunch,” Carmen said, “and that’s enough. This is a restaurant after all and people are eating.”
“Hear, hear,” another of our regular customers said, “How about a refill, Carmen?”
She smiled at him and filled up his soda and then said, “Rose, if you’re feeling sick maybe oatmeal?”
“I want one of those honeydew smoothies please,” I said. “And toast.”
Az winked at me and I made myself a cup of tea while he cooked up the food. The morning rush had ended by the time I’d gotten dressed, taken care of the dogs, and come in, so I didn’t feel bad about taking a booth and putting
my feet up.
“Do you know Matthew Morgan?” I asked Zee as she passed me by.
She delivered a couple of plates, cleared a table, and then came back to my booth. “He’s Aaron Welsh’s nephew. He does a lot of odd jobs because he has some…issues.”
“Simon hired him to care for the dogs during the day.”
Zee nodded and then said, “He’d be really good at that. He’s better with people than animals.”
“Perfect,” I took a drink of my honeydew smoothie and it settled into my aching stomach nicely. Nothing but a little stomach bug and needing some lighter food.
Zee cleared a few tables and then joined me in the booth.
“Addison today?”
I nodded and then said, “Shane too. We need to know where she was after she left here. She was upset, we made her re-visit all the reasons she hated Jordy, maybe she ran into him? Maybe he came over to the shelter, they got into a fight, she killed him?”
“Maybe,” Zee said. “I can’t really see it. You told Shane you’d help. Jordy had essentially abandoned his kids. Addison should have had his parental rights terminated and then have had her husband adopt the girls, but it wasn’t like Addison had no legal leg to stand on. Shane…she’s not stupid, jumping to murder ”
I nodded, hoping it was true. As much as I wanted that, we couldn’t just assume Shane was not a killer because we wanted otherwise.
Chapter 9
Zee used her ridiculous connections to find out where Addison lived, and I refused to ride in her car. She got into the Forrester grumbling.
There was a little mobile home and RV park between Silver Falls and Neskowin that was off the side of Highway 101. They had transitory spots near the front of the park and permanent residences at the back. The sides of the little road into the mobile home park were lined with pretty flower beds protected by large rocks. Since it was March, daffodils and pansies were filling the beds with color. I could see the start of tulips that had yet to bloom, but I knew their leaves well enough to know they were coming.