by Cindy Bell
Nikki lingered quite close to the shop. A few minutes later, a stretcher rolled out of the shop. Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered if she might have missed the signs of a heart attack when Bryan was at Mrs. Whitter’s house. He had been sweating a bit and seemed nervous. She assumed that he was just acting strangely, but perhaps he was having a medical emergency, and she didn’t notice. She could tell that it was him on the stretcher, but it wasn’t a heart attack that caused his emergency. She could see the blood-soaked gauze pressed against his chest. Her heart lurched as she realized that he might have been shot. With her eyes wide, she could barely convince herself to take a breath. She had just seen him not even an hour before. As Nikki watched the ambulance drive away, she noticed an officer headed in her direction. She tightened her grip on Princess’ leash, and wondered if the officer might scold her for spying.
“Ma’am?” The officer held a notepad in one hand, and had his other hand on his hip. “How long have you been standing here?”
“Not long.” Nikki frowned as she looked down at Princess. The dog lunged at the officer, determined to get a sniff of his shoe, but Nikki kept her leash tight and short. “I’m sorry, we’ll be on our way.”
“It’s no trouble, I’d just like to ask you a few questions.” He met her eyes and offered a friendly smile. He looked familiar, but she didn’t know him by name. She hadn’t had much reason to deal directly with the police, but they often patrolled local events.
“Sure, but I’m not sure if I can help.” Nikki shrugged.
“Did you happen to hear anything, or see anything?” He opened his notepad and prepared to take a few notes. “And could I have your name?”
“I didn’t see or hear anything, I’m sorry.” Nikki frowned as she offered her name. “I just followed all of the police cars because I was curious. I have no idea what happened. But is Bryan okay?”
“Did you know him?” His eyes narrowed some as he studied her.
“Not well no. I did go to his shop a few times and see him around town.” She noticed that he spoke in the past tense. “What happened to him? It looked like he was shot.”
“I can’t share too much information, Nikki, but I’m afraid he didn’t make it. If you can keep that to yourself until we inform the family, I would appreciate it.” The officer locked his eyes to hers.
“Yes, of course I will. How terrible.” Nikki pressed her hand against her chest. “How could this happen?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. So, if you have any information, if you can think of anything at all that might help the investigation, please let us know.” He offered her a card.
“Thanks.” She took the card. “If I think of anything I’ll contact you right away.”
“I’m going to ask you to move along. We’re going to clear this entire area for the investigation.” The officer glanced up and down the street beyond her. “Hopefully, someone saw something.”
“Good luck with your investigation.” Nikki guided Princess back in the direction of Mrs. Whitter’s house. It left her unsettled to think that someone could have been murdered while she was walking Princess. What if she’d gotten to the shop a little sooner? Would she have seen something? Would she have been able to help in some way?
With her stomach in knots she walked up to the front door of Mrs. Whitter’s house and knocked lightly on it.
“Nikki, you’re back so soon?” Mrs. Whitter frowned as she opened the door. “I thought you were going to keep her out a bit longer.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Whitter, I forgot.” Her cheeks flushed. “Something terrible happened and I didn’t think, I just thought it would be best to get Princess home to you.”
“What is it? What happened?” Her eyes widened as she opened the door all the way and gazed at Nikki.
“Bryan has been killed.” She shivered as she spoke the words.
“What? Are you certain?” Mrs. Whitter clasped her hand over her mouth as a gentle moan escaped her.
“Yes, I saw him, and I spoke with a police officer. He was killed at his shop.” Nikki released Princess from her leash, and the dog raced towards the kitchen. “I can’t believe that we just spoke to him a short time ago, and now he’s gone.”
“Neither can I.” Mrs. Whitter tugged at the pearls that hung around her neck. “This is just devastating, absolutely devastating.”
“Yes, it is.” Nikki grasped her shoulder with a soft touch. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Whitter, are you going to be okay?”
“Yes, of course, I’ll be fine. But what am I going to do for a birthday present now?” Mrs. Whitter frowned.
Nikki took a slight step back, startled by Mrs. Whitter’s reaction. As the woman wandered off, she muttered about how she needed everything to be perfect.
Nikki stared after her, concerned. Was she so wrapped up in the party that she didn’t realize just how tragic the situation was?
“Mrs. Whitter, please be sure not to tell anyone else. The police haven’t had the chance to notify the family, yet.” Nikki followed her into the living room.
“Oh right, absolutely. I won’t breathe a word about it.” She sniffled as she grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table. “Bryan.” She sighed and wiped at her eyes. “He was a nice man.”
“Yes, he was.” Nikki met her eyes. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
“Yes, I will be. I’m sorry, I just don’t know how to react to all of this.” She wiped at her eyes again.
“It’s okay, Mrs. Whitter.” Nikki gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “The police are going to figure out what happened. If you need any help with the party, just let me know.”
“I can handle it.” Mrs. Whitter sniffed and blinked back her tears. “I’ll be fine.”
“I know you will be.” Nikki squeezed her hand again, then smiled.
“Thank you, Nikki. Princess just loves her walks with you.” Mrs. Whitter stood up. “So much to do!”
“I love them, too. Bye, Mrs. Whitter.”
Nikki was tempted to offer to help again, but she knew better. Mrs. Whitter did things on her own. As Nikki left the house she headed in the direction of the next dog she would walk. She had a group of six dogs to collect, and could only hope that their antics would help distract her from the morning’s events.
Chapter 3
Once Nikki had gathered all of the dogs, she directed them towards the park. It was her favorite place to walk them, as it was free of cars and other dangers. However, getting them not to terrorize the squirrels could be quite a task. For a few minutes she was distracted by their playfulness and joy at being outside. However, it wasn’t long before her mind wandered back to Bryan. Who would want to kill him?
Most of the time he was a kind and friendly person. Of course, she didn’t know him very well, but from what she did know of him, he didn’t seem like someone who would be anyone’s target. Had someone tried to rob the shop? Maybe he walked in on it? Guesses and theories rolled through her mind as she attempted to make sense of what happened. When her cell phone rang she jumped in reaction to the sound of her ringtone. She juggled the leashes in her hands and managed to pull her phone out of her pocket. When she saw Quinn’s name on the screen, she answered it right away. However, just as she hit the button to accept the call, Coco and Sassy, two of the bigger dogs she walked, lunged for a squirrel. She gasped and almost dropped her phone as she tried to keep control of the dogs.
“Coco, Sassy, you know better!” She huffed as she brought them back to her side, then managed to get the phone between her shoulder and her ear. “Hello?”
“Are you okay?” Quinn’s voice greeted her with concern.
“Oh yes, sorry, it’s just I’m walking the dogs and Coco and Sassy saw a squirrel.” She laughed.
“Ah, those pesky squirrels.” Quinn chuckled. “Listen, I’m calling because your name came up in a homicide investigation.”
“Yes, I spoke to one of the officers this morning.” Nikki kept the leashes
tight in her hand.
“Would you mind coming in to talk about it?” Quinn cleared his throat. “I need to comb through what’s been done already and make sure nothing was missed.”
“I don’t mind, but I can’t really help. I didn’t see anything, like I told the officer. I followed them to the crime scene out of curiosity, but I didn’t see or hear anything. I was only there after they were.” Nikki continued to guide the dogs along through the park.
“I understand, but I’d still like to speak to you again if that’s possible, just to keep the record clear. Is that okay with you?” He spoke in a professional tone.
“Sure, if you think it will help.” Nikki noticed the way he spoke to her. She guessed that he was under a good bit of pressure as a young detective, and he needed to make sure everything was accurate.
“I think it would. Thanks, Nikki.”
“I just have to take the dogs home. I’ll need about an hour?”
“Sure, no rush. I’ll be here most of the day. You can text me when you’re on your way if you’d like. Thanks again.” He hung up the phone.
A little surprised that Quinn hung up so fast, Nikki tucked her phone back into her pocket. She never minded spending some time with him, but she wished she had more to offer to help him with the investigation.
Nikki dropped the dogs at their homes one by one. Coco was the last dog she had to drop off. As she walked him towards his house, she had to pass the pet boutique. When she did, she noticed a man across the street. He stood at the edge of the sidewalk and stared hard at the shop, which was still roped off with police tape. She didn’t think she had seen him before. The way he looked at the shop made her heart skip a beat. What was he up to? When he noticed her watching, he began to walk away. That made her even more suspicious. She decided to follow him, for just a few minutes. With Coco in the lead she walked across the street. He turned a corner and disappeared inside a real estate agency.
Nikki continued past the agency in the direction of Coco’s house. She was sure that there were many reasons for him to be looking at the shop. Just like her, he could have been curious about what happened there. Maybe he was a friend of Bryan’s and just wanted to figure out what happened. No matter what, there was no law against spying on crime scenes. If there was, she would have been in a lot of trouble. Once she dropped off Coco she headed back towards the police station. As she did she considered what she knew about Bryan.
Bryan’s shop had only been open for about a month. He was generally friendly and eager to meet people. She recalled a few occasions where he’d joked with her, and even asked her advice on some of his designs. He seemed like an open person. So, why would anyone want him dead? Perhaps if he actually lived in Dahlia she would know him a little better. As she neared the police station she recalled the woman who had threatened him that morning. At the time it seemed like a fairly innocent tantrum, but now that Bryan was dead she had to wonder if maybe this woman had something to do with it.
Nikki pulled open the door to the police station and stepped inside. Right away she was hit with the scent of cinnamon. A little surprised to associate that smell with the police station, she followed her nose in the direction of it. It wasn’t long before she discovered a tray of freshly baked apple and cinnamon pastries. She smiled to herself as she knew exactly who they came from. Gina must have dropped them off to the police officers. She liked to surprise people with gifts like that.
“Nikki.” Quinn called out to her from the door of his office.
She smiled as she caught sight of him. For a moment she recalled what it was like to be a gangling teenager with a hopeless crush. Was she still that gangling teenager in her heart? She did her best to focus on the matter at hand as she walked towards him. Quinn had a career, and he had to prove himself as a detective. She didn’t want to do anything to distract him from that.
“It looks like Gina love-bombed the station.” Nikki stepped past him, into his office.
“Yes, she did, thankfully. It gave everyone a boost after the events of this morning.” He gestured to the chair across from his desk. “I promise I won’t keep you long.”
“Oh, it’s no problem, anything I can do to help, I’m happy to do.” As Nikki sat down across from him she hoped he wasn’t that eager to send her off. But then, perhaps the connection she still felt between them was just her imagination.
Quinn glanced up at her, met her eyes, then looked back down at the file open on his desk.
“So, it seems that you had some recent contact with Bryan. Is that correct?”
“Yes, some.” Nikki cleared her throat. “But I don’t know anything about what happened at the shop.”
“So you’ve told me.” Quinn looked up at her again, his eyes inquisitive as they searched hers.
“I just don’t want to waste your time.” Nikki shrugged, then directed her attention to the photographs on the walls of his office. She’d never noticed them before. Had he recently put them up? She recognized some of his family, and one of a familiar place, the section of bay where they’d had their encounter many years ago.
“You could never do that.”
“Hmm?” She glanced back at him.
“I just mean, time with you, could never be a waste.” Quinn looked back at the file on his desk.
“Thanks.” Her cheeks flushed. She stared down at the desk, too.
“Listen, we looked over the surveillance footage from Bryan’s shop today. Unfortunately, it was not running the whole morning, but it did capture some stuff before the murder. You’re on the recording.” He folded his hands on top of the file. “Can you tell me what your interaction was like with Bryan? Did you notice anything out of the ordinary in his behavior?”
“Oh yes, I stopped in to try to find a birthday present for Princess. You know, every other time I’ve been around Bryan he was always so nice, and talkative. He loved to discuss art, and anything that had to do with animals, so we got along pretty well.” Nikki smiled at the memories that trickled through her mind. “But this morning, he was very stand-offish. I wanted to purchase a particular item, it was a key ring with a fake green gem, and he insisted that it was not for sale. He refused to sell it to me, even though he had it right there behind the counter. It wasn’t just that he refused to sell it, it was more about how he refused to sell it. He was short, and acted like me being there annoyed him. It was strange.”
“I see. Was there anything else he mentioned? Did he say anything about why he was upset?” He picked up a pen and made a note in the file.
“No, he didn’t say anything else to me. But then as I was leaving, this other woman came in.” Nikki’s eyes widened as she recalled the way she behaved. “She started accusing him of trying to kill her. And they argued back and forth a bit. I left after that, though.”
“Heather Cantrells.” Quinn nodded as he glanced back up at her. “We saw her on the surveillance video as well. Thanks for filling in some of what was said. There was no audio on the recording. We plan to speak to Heather as soon as we can find her. Did she mention what she was upset about?”
“Yes, she did. It was something about an accident, him almost hitting her, or something like that.” She shook her head. “I don’t know exactly.”
“That’s all right. That fills in some blanks for us. We were able to identify her from the video, and we did find a record of an accident she reported, so this confirms why she was there, and why she was upset. When we speak to her, hopefully she will be forthcoming with some additional information.” Quinn sat back in his chair and wiped a hand across his eyes. “Was there anything else strange about his behavior? Anything at all?”
“Well, when I saw him later at Mrs. Whitter’s—”
“Wait,” Quinn interrupted, and sat forward at the same time. “You saw him again? At what time?”
“It was just after I left you at the café. I walked to Mrs. Whitter’s and I found him inside, speaking to her.” Nikki narrowed her eyes. “I think maybe a
round eleven. Anyway, he was quite nervous. He demanded that she give him back the collar she’d purchased for Princess’ birthday. Of course, this upset her, and she didn’t want to give it to him. But when he explained it was a safety issue, she gave it back to him.”
“What made you think he was nervous?” He made another note in the file. “Thanks, you’re filling in the timeline for me.”
“He just seemed that way. Again, he wasn’t very friendly. He looked agitated. He just kept insisting that she return the collar to him. I know he cares about animals, but it struck me as him being a little overly concerned.” She frowned as she looked across the desk at him. “I’m sorry that I don’t have more to share with you about it.”
“It’s actually very helpful.” He scribbled down a few things. “I’m surprised he went to Mrs. Whitter’s house. I may need to speak with her as well.”
“If you do, be prepared. She’s already pretty tense about the party, and after what happened to Bryan, she’s even more stressed.” Nikki winced as she recalled the woman’s anxiety. “I offered to help, but she’s too stubborn to take it.”
“I’ll be sure to sweet talk her.” Quinn winked lightly at her, then set his pen down. “And you, are you okay?”
“What do you mean?” Nikki met his eyes.
“I mean, you saw this man twice today, and now he’s been killed. That has to be a little jarring.”
She studied him, curious as to whether he asked the question for personal reasons, or to get an idea of whether she might be a suspect. Could he really consider her one?
“It’s still setting in I think.” Nikki looked down at her hands, which were splayed open across her lap. “It is upsetting to think about.”
“Try not to be too worried. I’m sure that this was a targeted attack which means the public shouldn’t be at risk. But it’s always good to be cautious.” He picked up his pen, again. “Oh, one more question. Did you hear or see a motorcycle nearby the shop around the time of the murder?”