Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Josh sat outside the front of my shop, dressed in all black. I barely saw him in the dim light. He needed to have a smoking habit so at least the tip of a cigarette would glow. He must have seen me come around the shop from the back parking area, because he asked, "So what are we doing?"

"Checking out the community center. After I left the olive tree, I wondered where else Mandy might go to check out the setting for the wedding. We both visited the wedding site, so next is the reception site. I'd probably do the same thing. Especially with the wedding less than a month away." I gave him a flashlight. "And as the business-to-business council administrator, I have a key to the community center."

"You think she might have gone in there? How would she get inside?" He stood and took the flashlight.

"That I don't know, unless someone gave her a key when she applied for a use permit for the reception. Amy could have done it and not thought anything of it when Mandy disappeared." It was my working theory. I hadn't gotten ahold of Amy yet, but I'd left her a message when I had a break from class. I didn't get a lot out of the class, as I was thinking about finding Mandy most of the time. At least after I took the test.

We walked in silence to the community center. The only noises I heard as I was walking were the ocean waves and the jukebox at the bar across the street. Chip's bar didn't have a lot of customers. It mostly catered to the tourist trade. The locals went to the winery. Mostly because Darla was nicer than Chip, who ran the bar. And she didn't water down the drinks like he did.

Josh looked over at me. "Thank you for doing this. I didn't even think to check here. I thought about the olive tree this morning. It felt like she was calling me there."

"Yeah, I wondered about the tree, too. I'm still nailing down our wedding site, so maybe that's why I thought of it." I wondered if Greg was even going to want to marry me after tonight. I'd hung up on him, and now, I was doing exactly what he hated for me to do. Conducting my own investigation. But at least I had Josh for backup, just in case.

"I really mean it. I appreciate what you're doing. I know we haven't been friends since you moved here." He sighed. "Mandy says I alienate people before they can hurt me. She might be right about that."

We walked in silence for a while. Finally, as we arrived at the community center, I spoke. "Josh, you're not a bad person. If I made you feel alienated from the community or even just the business-to-business meeting, I'm sorry."

"That's very nice of you." He turned to me. "I know I'm pushy and no one likes my ideas. But I love South Cove and my antique store. I want us all to succeed. That's all. Well, and to find my fiancée."

"Then let's check the community center. At least we're doing something." I took out my keys and shined the flashlight on them as I found the right one. I slipped it into the lock, and the door popped open. A smell hit us as soon as the door opened. Sweet. I gagged as I swung my light around the large open gym and found the source of the smell.

I covered my mouth and nose. The cleaners apparently hadn't been here this week.

Josh started crying and turned back to the door. "I can't do this."

"Josh, it's not Mandy." I stepped closer and bathed the object in light. It was a small animal. A squirrel had gotten in through a window and died in the middle of the gym floor. And with the building being closed up and the hot temperatures this week, the little guy hadn't had a chance.

Josh turned toward me and nodded. He stopped where he was, not coming any farther into the building. "Can we just go?"

"I'm going to check the bathrooms, just in case." There was also a large kitchen I'd also walk through before we left. No stone unturned, right?

As I came out of the bathroom, I saw a car with flashing lights pull up through the still-open door. A bright light made Josh look like he was wearing white.

"Put your hands up," a familiar voice said as a man got out of the police car, a gun drawn and pointed at Josh. "Don't move. Are you alone?"

Instead of checking out the kitchen, I moved to the front door and into the light. "No, I'm with him."

A groan came from the police officer as Greg dropped the light and the gun. "Jill, what are you doing besides making my life harder?"

* * * *

I still smelled like a dead squirrel as we sat in the conference room at the police station. Greg was talking to Josh about the trip to the olive tree and the incident at the community center.

"You realize both of those places are private property. You could have been prosecuted or shot for trespassing." Greg pounded a finger on the table for emphasis.

"Technically, we were on public property at the community center, and I have a key, so we didn't enter illegally," I reminded him.

He turned toward me, fire in his eyes. "And that makes it better?"

"Yes. We went looking for Mandy. Her fiancé and a concerned neighbor." I didn't use the word friend; it would have been overkill and untrue. "And if you'd already checked there, the squirrel might have lived. Did you think about that?"

Greg blinked his eyes at me, unsure of where to go next. I had that effect on men. They never won an argument with me. A skill I'd learned in law school and had continued to hone against my aunt. She really had the gift. "Jill, you can go home. Toby will drive you."

"Did you check the rest of the community center?" I asked, standing up but not crossing the room to join Toby, who stood at the door, grinning. He loved watching us fight. It was like his own soap opera.

"Yes, we did. Then we locked it up again and disposed of the dead squirrel. So please, no more night raids." Greg turned away.

"The only reason we did it tonight was I didn't want Mandy sitting there in pain after falling and breaking her leg or something worse."

"Breaking a leg's pretty bad," Toby clarified.

Greg shot him a look, and Toby held up his hand.

"Sorry, just clarifying Jill's statement." Toby grinned at me.

"Anyway, I was going to ask you to come check it out, but then you yelled at me about visiting the olive tree, so I thought it was better that I just handle the problem myself." I spoke quickly, hoping to get my reasonings out before he threw me in jail.

Greg leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. "Both of you, just leave. Please. I've got paperwork to complete, and I have no idea how to write this up."

"Simple," I said as I walked to the door to meet Toby. "Just say that the business-to-business liaison was showing around a local business owner, and the caller had wrongly assumed the place was being robbed. Who did call it in, by the way?"

"Chip at the bar. He was catching a smoke outside and saw you go in. Josh's all-black outfit made him suspicious." Greg nodded to Josh as he stood up. "Next time you're not robbing a place late at night, maybe a different outfit might be in order."

I had to agree there. Josh did look like a cat burglar. Or a spy. Or even a common thief. But really, it was the uniform of a brokenhearted man. We needed to find Mandy. I followed Toby out of the station to the sidewalk.

"Where's the Jeep?" He nodded at the bookstore across the street.

"Home. I dropped it off and walked up to meet Josh. I've been either in the car or sitting at the library all day besides my shift. I needed to stretch my legs." I paused as we reached the sidewalk. Josh crossed the street. He still lived over the antique store, but I'd heard rumors that after the wedding, he and Mandy would be looking for a house. A wedding that might not ever come now. "He's in pain."

"He is a pain," Toby corrected, then held up his hands. "I know, bad joke. I do feel for the guy. To have happiness so close and have it snatched away. Do you really think Mandy might have been kidnapped?"

I looked at him. Typically, I was the one asking Toby to spill official police investigation secrets, but tonight, he looked as confused as I felt. "I don't know. I was hoping she was just out and about and got lost. Either a weekend away, which has now extended to over a week, or she got hurt somewhere remote. Which is why I visited the tree and the community center. Kidnapping seems extreme. What does Josh have that anyone would want that bad?"

"Now that is a good question." Toby pointed down the sidewalk toward my house. "Let's walk. Greg will go on any calls, and I can do an up close and personal look around town as we stroll."

"I can find my way home," I said, but I knew what the answer would be. Toby was nothing but loyal, both to Greg and me, as his bosses. He followed orders.

When he only chuckled in response, I sighed and started walking.

"I'm still dealing with the fact that Aunt Jackie wants to retire," I told him after we'd gone a block. The Train Station, Uncle Harrold's model train store, was up ahead, just after Diamond Lille's. The café was still open but mostly empty. Townies were eating late dinners and enjoying some dessert before heading home.

"She's been part of the shop since I started working there." Toby stopped walking, and I had to turn to see his face. He nodded, then started walking again. "Honestly, I didn't think she would ever retire. At least not until she met Harrold. She hired me on a whim that first day. I'd come in for a coffee and a paper, since I was looking for a part-time job. My rent was killing me, even working for Greg full-time. I joked that I could sell coffee and books, and your aunt looked at me. I mean, really looked. Then she went back into the office, and when she came out, she had a W-4 and an employment form. It's not the one we use now. I think she pulled it off the internet. We hammered out my first two weeks of shifts, and I put on an apron."

"I've never heard that story before. All I knew was I came back from dealing with Miss Emily's funeral and you were my new employee. Actually, Aunt Jackie called me one day, and I thought the shop was quiet. She was upstairs in the apartment." I smiled in the darkness. I'd been upset with my aunt for taking over after I'd just asked her to help out with running the place for a week. I didn't know that she needed me at that time as much as I'd needed her.

"So why are you worried?" he asked as we strolled past the Train Station.

I didn't look in. Instead, I looked across the street. Steve's Scuba Shop was still open. I didn't know why he'd keep open this late, but maybe he liked hanging out at the store. Like I did at mine.

"I'm not worried as much as conflicted. I've told myself I'm not thinking about it until my class project and the degree requirements are done. One major life change at a time, right?" I reminded myself to take the tote out of the Jeep when I got home. Leaving my laptop out in the car overnight was just begging for it to stop working. Especially since I hadn't emailed myself a copy or saved the project somewhere else. "Oh, and I've got Deek's book review/recommendation still to write. But I'll have that done by Friday."

"Deek's fit into the team really well. I wasn't sure what to think when he joined. Especially since he replaced Sasha, but I like the kid," Toby admitted.

"He's not that much younger than you are," I reminded him.

"Maybe not in years, but he's been living in his mom's basement for too long and hanging out at campus. He needs some bumps in his road to help him grow up. Even this book thing is going well for him. Some people just live a stress-free life."

We were out of town proper now, and between my house and here were just homes and art galleries that also doubled as the artist's home and studio. We were a creative bunch here in South Cove. At least some of the residents. I was someone who loved books enough to make selling them my life.

When I retired, or when Greg and I retired, I'd need to sell the bookstore or close it down. Would there even be bookstores then? Not a question I wanted to think about. "I'm going to miss having Aunt Jackie around. Even though I know she's still right here in town, it won't be the same."

"I know."

We walked in silence the rest of the way to my house.

"Jill." Toby paused at the gate. "You're going to be okay running the bookstore without Jackie. I know you're worried about that, but you know what you're doing."

"I know I can do it. The question is, do I want to do it alone?" I smiled at the shocked look he gave me. "Don't get all worked up. I'm not closing the store. Running it without my aunt around is just going to be an adjustment. The funny thing is when she came, I couldn't wait for her to leave. Now? I don't want her to leave ever. Beside the fact that right now? I've got all the change in my life I need."

A light went on over Esmeralda's front porch, and I saw her open the door and look over toward the house. I waved, but either she didn't see me or she was still upset over our tiff. She shut the door, quickly.

"You and Esmeralda need to talk. She misses you. I can tell." Toby opened the gate for me and watched as I walked up to the porch. "Sometimes you have to take people as they are, and not what you want them to be."

"I'm not mad at her. I'm frustrated that she told Greg she'd watch out for me. I've got enough of you guys watching my every move. I don't need my friends to do it as well." I opened the door and let Emma run out to greet Toby. He was her unofficial babysitter when Greg and I went out of town. She loved her Toby. Mostly because he let her do ride-alongs when he was working. Greg said it was fine, but honestly, it made me a little nervous about my girl's safety.

He rubbed Emma's head and took a treat out of his uniform pocket. She snatched it up and came back to lie on the front porch while we talked. Emma didn't like dirt. "I better get back."

"Thanks for showing me the way home. I'm quite certain I couldn't have found my way without you." I stepped toward the doorway.

"Thanks for taking Josh with you tonight. I bet he's crawling the walls at night trying to figure out what happened to Mandy." Toby reached up and tipped his brimmed hat to me.

I unlocked the door and snapped my fingers at Emma to come inside. "Don't let Greg hear you say that. I don't think he's very happy with me right now."

"Maybe on the outside, but I bet he worries about Josh as well. I don't think Josh has many friends, unless you count Kyle, and he works for Josh." Toby took off toward the sidewalk and jogged out of sight. The guy was in great shape. I walked that hill all the time, but jogging it? Uphill? At night? That took more energy than I had. Especially without Emma to help drag me forward.

I turned on the lights as I went through the house. I let Emma outside to the backyard and grabbed a beer as I did.

Then I remembered I needed to retrieve my tote from the Jeep. I went back inside, leaving Emma in the backyard. She couldn't get out; Greg had made sure the fence all around the property was dogproof, even though some of it had been chicken wire and other sections barbed wire. It had cost an arm and a leg, but the entire property was securely fenced now. I'd bought the materials, and Greg had done the work. I wasn't much into gardening or landscaping like Greg was.

I went back inside and grabbed my keys, unlocking the Jeep as I walked. Emma came over and sat near the back fence where she could watch me. Even my dog watched out for my personal safety. It was no wonder I was beginning to get a bit of a hangup about it. I grabbed my tote, and a coyote howled from a distant mountain. The sound made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Emma started barking in the direction of the sound.

I locked the Jeep and hurried into the house. A coyote wouldn't attack me directly, or at least, that was what I'd been told, but I didn't want to take any chances. As I shut the door, I saw Esmeralda standing on her porch, watching me. This time when I waved, she lifted a hand. Then she went inside.

Weird.

Back inside the house, with the front door locked, I let Emma inside and made some hot cocoa. I didn't know if Greg would be home soon or not, or what kind of mood he'd be in, so I pulled out my laptop, planning on working on my paper.

As I did, the book and pages I'd found from Professor Wellborn fell out of the tote too. I picked up the book and realized it was on Old Mexico. The library had told me it wasn't in their system and that it must be one of the professor's own books. I'd kept it, planning on giving it to Greg.

I set it aside and glanced at the papers. Most of the notes talked about the life of Gabriel Santiago and his family. I saw the professor's questions listed in the text but highlighted. Had Gabriel spent the gang's ill-gotten loot?

And if he had, was that the reason he'd wound up dead just five years after the robbery? I could tell that the professor had more questions than answers. And definitely not enough answers for someone to kill him for the information.

The more I learned, the further away solving Mandy's missing status seemed. I felt like I'd been part of a treasure hunt. With mean boys who liked sneering at you instead of asking a direct question.

Maybe keeping out of this investigation like Greg had asked of me was a good idea. I just needed some time to be sure about what I was seeing.

The smell from the community center was still on my clothes. Death smell stayed with fabric. Even if the only one dead had been an unlucky squirrel.