The Plain Jane Mystery Box Set 2

by Traci Tyne Hilton

  The girl rolled her head to the side and moaned.

  She looked familiar. It had been dark last night, so she didn’t trust her memory, but it looked like it was the very drunk blonde from the night before.

  There were no signs of trauma on her head, but there was a heavy odor of last night’s drinking. “Wake up.” Jane shook her shoulder.

  The girl’s eyes fluttered open. Her mouth opened slightly, followed by a hollow retching.

  Jane stepped back. It didn’t seem like a case for an ambulance, but then, she didn’t have a lot of experience with fall-down drunks who slept under bushes. She exhaled slowly and looked up at the house. Should she wake Jake to help get the girl inside? Or could she do it herself? She got herself into the bushes behind the girl and lifted her by the armpits. “Up and at ’em.” She lifted the half-conscious girl—she was lighter than expected—and propped her up. “Wakey, wakey.”

  The girl’s head flopped to the side and breathed her dead-dragon breath all over Jane.

  Jane wrapped her arms around the girl and dragged her up the steps and into the house. She dropped her onto the sofa. “I guess it’s time to make coffee.”

  The girl looked to be in her mid-twenties, but if this kind of drinking and passing out was normal for her, she was probably a lot younger. She rolled her face onto the flower pillow with a soft groan and didn’t say anything. One arm hung limp off the sofa, a fresh set of French tips grazing the floor.

  Jane got the coffee going and went upstairs to Jake. He was reclining against a pile of fluffy white pillows, reading something on his phone.

  “Hey, Jake, what’s the best hangover cure?”

  Jake looked up, both eyebrows lifted. “Did you party a bit too much after I went to sleep?”

  “Nope, but I think that blonde girl from last night did.”

  “And you are worried about her why?”

  “Because she’s on our sofa.”

  Jake set his phone down. “That’s not what I expected.”

  “So what can I give her to perk her up a little?”

  “A few years to grow up.”

  “Not a raw egg with tabasco? Or the hair of the dog? Something like that.”

  “Definitely not either of those. I’d suggest a croissant and maybe some coffee.”

  “You could Google, maybe, and see if there’s something better.”

  “There’s not. Remember, I was an expert there for a little while.”

  Jane sat on the end of the bed. “Funny, I never expected to be glad for your wild past.”

  Jake lunged forward and grabbed Jane for a kiss. He pulled away and grinned. “What were you saying?”

  She kissed his cheek. “Nothing, but we have a fairly sick guest downstairs, so I should go play nurse now.”

  “And tonight you can play nurse for me?”

  Jane swatted him lightly. “We’ll see.”

  She tripped down the stairs, her face a little hotter than it had been when she went up. Jake. Oh, Jake.

  The blonde was lying on her back now, one hand over her face.

  Jane poured a cup of coffee and brought it over. “Good morning.”

  “No.” The word came out like an expletive.

  “Unfortunately, it’s true. I don’t know how long you were asleep in my bushes, but it’s morning now. Coffee?” She passed the mug.

  The girl ignored it. “Did someone hit me with a brick?”

  “You did that to yourself, I’m afraid.”

  “Most likely.” She tried to sit up, but failed.

  “Could you eat something?”

  “Never again.”

  “Was there a reason you stopped by to see us, or were we just lucky?”

  “Stop talking. Please. For a year.” Her mouth was a thin line.

  Jane sat back and drank the coffee. Surely this girl would wake up a little and want something. Coffee, breakfast. Something so that Jane could earn a little trust from her and get a little Warrenton gossip.

  Jake joined Jane in the front room, dressed in his bathrobe and slippers. “So what’s her name?”

  “She requested I not talk for about a year, and since the time hasn’t passed yet, I haven’t asked.”

  “Who the heck are you, and why were you in my bushes?”

  She groaned. “Taylor.”

  “That’s half a point. If you want to pass the test, you’ve got to do better than that.”

  Jane got up to get Jake a cup of coffee. His teasing tone was softening their guest. If he could get a little information out of her, she’d thank him well for it.

  “Taylor Kent.” She opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling. “You were at the bonfire last night.”

  “I’m surprised you remember there was a bonfire last night.”

  “You were asking questions. I know who you are.” Taylor’s words were long and drawn out as though it was painful to speak.

  Jane rejoined them with two more cups of coffee and a plate of dry toast. She sat back to observe.

  “I was asking questions, Taylor. But no one was answering. Why?”

  “Because we don’t know you.”

  “Then let’s make up for lost time. I’m Jake Crawford, and that’s my wife, Jane…Adler. We got married on Tuesday. Someone left a dead body in our shed.”

  “But who was it?” Taylor propped herself up on her elbow, but changed her mind. “My sister, Sadie, told me this was the house they found the body in. I saw you guys turn here while I was walking home. Please tell me who it was.”

  “We don’t know.”

  “But Josh came. Josh saw the body.”

  “Who is this Josh you speak of?”

  “Josh, my brother-in-law. He’s a cop. Didn’t he say who it was?”

  “Taylor, my friend, there was no telling. That body was past its expiration date.”

  She covered her face with her arm.

  “Who do you think it was?” Jake asked.

  “How should I know?”

  “Taylor, can you eat something yet?” Jane interjected.

  “No.” She sat up, but leaned forward, holding her head in her hands.

  “Last night someone said a girl named Cherry ran away,” Jane said. “Did she go alone?”

  “No.”

  “Who went with her?”

  Taylor reached for the coffee cup and held it. “Her sister Skye, Skye’s friend Emma, and Rose, just another girl. I don’t know her very well.”

  “That’s only four,” Jake said. “The police said five kids went missing.”

  “Five?” Taylor scowled. “I guess, if he was only counting locals.”

  “Who else left with the girls?” Jane asked.

  “Cherry’s cousins Levi and Amos. And another guy, Ryder.”

  “Levi, Amos and Ryder aren’t local?” Jane pushed the plate of toast closer to Taylor.

  “No.”

  “Who haven’t you mentioned yet?” Jake asked. “You left out a local.”

  “Yeah, sorry. It was Hannah.”

  “Hannah’s not your best friend?” Jake selected a piece of dry toast and stared at it.

  Taylor shrugged.

  “Eight people all went missing three weeks ago.” Jane grabbed her own piece of toast and crunched it. Why had the cops only counted the local kids? “Why did you leave Hannah out when listing them?”

  Taylor finally took a piece of toast, but she just held it. “Hannah doesn’t count.”

  “Why not?”

  “I saw her at work two days after the others left. She didn’t go with them.”

  Jane swallowed. “Maybe she had plans to meet them later?”

  “Everyone was already talking. The girls had left in the night, no notes or anything. Just took stuff and left. They took Cherry’s car. Hannah didn’t leave until after she heard all the attention Cherry and the others were getting.”

  “You think she left for the attention?”

  “It would be like her.” Taylor bit her toast and chewed slowl
y.

  “Has anyone heard from Hannah since she left?”

  “No.”

  “And you really don’t think she could have met up with the others somewhere?”

  “Maybe if that Rose girl had wanted her to, but I don’t think the others would have.”

  “Was she not friends with them?”

  Taylor laughed. “She was a lot older. Cherry is seventeen, Sky and the others were younger. Hannah is, like, twenty-five. Why would they want to hang out with her?”

  “And why would she want to hang out with them?” Jane said it softly, under her breath. Her heart was with Hannah, too old to be cool to the very hungover Taylor and gone missing too late to get any sympathy.

  “Because she was weird. The kind of old person that dressed up in costumes and went to see movies.” Taylor finished her toast and brushed the crumbs off.

  “So you weren’t concerned the body in our shed was Hannah, then, were you?” Jake got up and went to the window.

  Taylor didn’t answer.

  “How long had you known Ryder?” Jane asked.

  Taylor looked up, eyes narrowed. “No.”

  “What about Levi and Amos?”

  “No one knew them long.”

  “Does Eric thinks Cherry ran off with Ryder?” Jane sipped her coffee.

  “Ryder wasn’t here long enough to do something like that.”

  “But that other guy, Mason? He was ragging Eric because Cherry had run off with someone else. She couldn’t have left him for her cousins.”

  “Ryder did not run off with Cherry.”

  “How do you know?” Jake came back to them. “If you didn’t know Ryder, how do you know he didn’t know Cherry?”

  Taylor groaned and dropped back on the sofa.

  “Was it love at first sight?” Jane kept her voice soft.

  Taylor sighed.

  “You wanted to know him.”

  Taylor nodded.

  “How long had he been in town?”

  “He had only been here for two days.”

  “That’s why they don’t count him as missing, I guess,” Jane said.

  “Who did he know in town?” Jake sat down next to Jane.

  “He seemed to know Cherry’s cousins.”

  “How long had they been in town?” Jane leaned against Jake, glad for all of the help he had been in this surprise interview.

  “A month. They were staying with Cherry.”

  “And Ryder came to town, and then, two days later everyone was gone?”

  “Yes. Exactly. Except Hannah. She left at least two days after that.”

  Jane rubbed her chin thoughtfully. If the number of boys and girls matched better, or if four of the kids hadn’t been related, it would have made more sense. Then again, running away didn’t have to be about sex. They could have all left to go on a road trip, just for kicks. It could have been nothing more than that. And Hannah could have left for some other reason. Comic-Con or something. And…the body in the shed could be completely unrelated to any of it. Some other sad murder.

  “What about all the other missing kids?” Jake asked. “The ones from the other towns?”

  “How should I know?” Taylor took a tentative sip of the coffee.

  “You haven’t heard any rumors, maybe?”

  “I hear things, but it’s not like you can trust rumors.”

  “Humor me,” Jake said. “I’m in the mood for a story.”

  “Okay.” Taylor rolled her eyes. “Every town has a slut. Right?”

  Jane cringed.

  “And I’d vote Cherry our number one.”

  It was uncharitable, but Jane wondered how Cherry would rate Taylor.

  “So when the crowd ran off, I wasn’t too surprised. But of course, some of the parents freaked. They just knew they had been kidnapped like all the other girls.”

  “Hold on. You pointed out that those guys Cherry left with were her cousins,” Jake said.

  “But Ryder wasn’t, so even if I don’t like it, I guess there’s a chance. Besides, Emma’s and Rose’s parents were the ones that freaked out. Cherry’s folks have been cool.”

  “Fair enough.” Jake raked his hand through his hair. “But what did you mean about ‘kidnapped like all the other girls.’”

  “Over in Seaside and up in Astoria, a week before Cherry and the rest of them left. Those are the ones that went missing that people have been talking about.”

  Jane shivered. It was a serial killer. It had to be. She put her hand on Jake’s knee, glad for the solid evidence that she wasn’t alone in this world. “What does rumor say about those girls?”

  “That’s the funny thing. They were less like Cherry and more like Hannah. At least that’s how the gossip has it.”

  “Kind of geeky? Or older?”

  “Not older—they were all high schoolers. Seniors in the fall. And it wasn’t that they were geeky about computers or anything, just…weird.” She set her cup down. “That’s what the rumor said. They were the quiet, library types. You know what I mean? Like, church camp kids or something.”

  “But I thought you were going to tell us the town…well, the girls with reputations had left.” Jane wondered how much of Taylor’s story was rooted in reality and how much was just hurt feelings because she had been left out of the road trip.

  “Girls do things to change their reputations. The quiet girls sometimes change overnight.”

  Jane could picture it easily enough. Quiet, insecure, trusting girls. The kind that are easily swept off their feet by a smooth talker. No wonder everyone was upset. “Cherry wasn’t like that, but what about the others from town?”

  “Rose was a weirdo. Definitely. And Emma, too. But Skye was cool.”

  “Is everyone one hundred percent sure that Emma and Rose left with the others?” Jane could see it now, four kids head out on a road trip, which completely masks the kidnapping and murder of the others. Except, of course, everyone was really upset, so it hadn’t masked anything.

  “I think so, but it’s not like I could prove it.” Taylor patted her pocket and frowned. “What time is it?”

  “Nine. Do you need to be somewhere?” Jane held her phone out for Taylor to check.

  “Yeah. Work.” She yawned and hit Jane with the breath from hades again.

  “Do you need a ride home?” Jane offered.

  “No.” Taylor stood up and wavered on her feet. “Maybe. No. I can walk. It will do me good.” She picked up another piece of toast. “I don’t think Josh will tell me anything about the body, even if he finds out. But maybe…”

  “Yes. Definitely.” Jane tapped the contacts on her phone. “Give me your number and I’ll text you as soon as I hear who it was.”

  “Yeah. Okay.” Taylor recited her number. “Thanks.”

  “I hope it wasn’t your friend Ryder,” Jane said.

  Taylor scrunched her mouth up. “Me too.” She paused at the door. “Don’t mention this to anyone else, will you?” Her almond-shaped blue eyes, shadowed and tired, looked scared.

  “Of course not. What’s said in the cottage stays in the cottage.” Jane watched Taylor leave on shaky legs and hoped she could at least stop at home to brush her teeth before work.

  Chapter 6

  By eleven, Flora and Rocky were established at the little round table on the patio at the Crawford cottage. “Did Taylor use anything while she was here that she might have left prints on?” Flora spread lemon curd on her croissant.

  Jake pushed the coffee cup across the table. “This.”

  “Nicely done.” Rocky picked the cup up with a napkin and dropped it in a plastic sack. “I don’t know that there’s anything in that shed that might have prints on it, but it never hurts.”

  Flora had placed a large picnic basket in the middle of the table when she arrived. Jane had done her best to ignore it, but curiosity was killing her.

  “Who do you think you should talk to next?” Flora asked.

  “Cherry and Skye’s parents.”r />
  Flora narrowed her eyes and nodded. “Why?”

  “Because she is connected to four of the missing kids—her two daughters and her two nephews. She probably has some thoughts on the matter.”

  “I can see why you want to talk to her, but you need to work your advantages.” Flora took a bite of her croissant. “What are your advantages?”

  “We have everyone’s names or at least their first names,” Jane said, one eye on the basket.

  “Nope.”

  Jane drummed her fingers. “Then Taylor, I guess. We can make use of knowing her.”

  “Better.” Flora smiled. “Plus, your age. I suppose you are older than these kids, but you don’t look it. You need to get in with the young people and get someone else’s opinion of the missing people. Taylor thinks it was for adventure, but what does Eric think?”

  “After last night, I don’t think we’ll get anything out of them,” Jane said.

  “What did you do?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Then you’re fine. Go back tonight.”

  “With beer and firewood,” Jake added. “We could have stayed until dawn if we had brought beer or firewood.”

  “There you go.” Rocky nodded at Jake with approval.

  “But what if the body isn’t related to the missing girls?”

  “I don’t believe in coincidences. If it’s not related, I would be very surprised.” Flora pushed the basket toward Jane. “Speaking of coincidences, this is an apology gift from Franny Manchester.”

  “The organist?” Jane lifted the lid on the basket.

  “Yes. You did a pretty good job of keeping your honeymoon a secret, so your mom called the office to see if we knew where you were. Franny’s husband had delivered this basket to the church yesterday. Anyway. It’s to apologize for almost dying during your wedding. The woman is just heartsick over it.”

  The basket was a regular horn of plenty. Two golden-crusted pies sat on top of four jars of homemade jelly, next to a six-pack of home-brewed beer. Handfuls of saltwater taffy surrounded everything. “But she can’t even be out of the hospital yet! Surely she didn’t bake us pies.”

  “I don’t know who did the baking, but they were letting her out today, so I suspect the pies were store bought and the rest was stored up in her pantry. Please call her. Let her know you don’t hold a grudge.” Flora finished her scone and looked at her watch.