Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I had a productive day at the library, but when I glanced at my watch, it was already after five. I saved my document, gathered up my notes, and jammed them into my tote. Time to get home and take Emma for a run. And maybe throw in a load of laundry.

I could make it with clean clothes until after Wednesday, but doing laundry soothed me. And the routine chore gave me time to think about what my paper was missing. As did the drive home from Bakerstown. I didn't think I'd need to visit the library again, but I still had some time, if I needed to during my final edit.

That was the good thing about being at least a little early on the project. Okay, maybe I wasn't early. I had classmates who had already turned in their projects, but I hadn't been at the point where I was ready to write. I had still been researching. And thinking. And for me, that was my process. I didn't want to give that time away, but on the other hand, the paper had to be done by Friday.

As I drove, I thought about the paper, and my thoughts went to Josh and his return from the hospital. Lorenzo hadn't said that Josh was his primary suspect, but from Greg's comments, I thought I could read between the lines.

The problem was Josh, for all his grumpiness and odd behavior, wouldn't hurt a fly. He talked a good game, but when tattooed Kyle had come to work for him, he'd found it in his heart to support the kid, not just focus on his outside. Josh was a hard crust with a soft middle inside, kind of like those candies that had the baking soda fillings that exploded in your mouth. I wondered if they still made those. And there I went, chasing a squirrel.

By the time Greg arrived home, I'd had a productive evening to match my day. Emma was happily recovering from her run in her kitchen bed with a chewy toy. A couple of chicken breasts were slow-cooking in salsa to shred later for tacos or burritos. I'd finished all the laundry, including folding and putting it away, and I was now back on my computer. I was editing the first part of my paper. Again.

"The kitchen smells like heaven. Don't tell me you cooked." Greg came up behind me and gave me a hug and a kiss on the neck.

"Let's say I started dinner. The chicken still needs to be shredded, but we can make tacos if you want to chop some veggies to go with it." I finished the page I was on, then made a note of it in my notebook so I would know where to start tomorrow. My eyes were already burning, and as I checked the clock, I knew why. It was almost nine. My stomach growled. "Did you already eat?"

"No, I've been driving for most of the day, looking at the list of potential holding sites for Mandy. I talked to Josh, and he had several he hadn't checked yet." Greg took out the tomatoes and lettuce from the fridge. "He's almost given up. I don't know if this is better than his frantic search at the beginning or not. He looks so sad."

I took the chicken out of the slow cooker and started shredding it. "Mandy was his world."

Greg leaned over and kissed my shoulder. "I understand what he's feeling. I would be a mess if anything happened to you."

"Back atcha." I put the shredded chicken back into the broth/salsa mix so it wouldn't dry out. I had turned off the slow cooker, but it would stay warm long enough for us to make our dinner.

"That's almost sweet," Greg teased. "How is the paper going?"

"Almost done. I can't believe I'm here. When I started the MBA, I didn't think I'd ever complete it. Now, I just have to cross this finish line, and I'll be done. Totally." I felt pride over my achievement, even if it was coming at a bad time for Josh and Mandy. "Oh, Lorenzo came to visit me at the library. He thinks I'm an idiot."

"Actually, he didn't think that at all. He called me after the two of you talked and told me to reinforce the message of you staying out of his investigation. He seemed convinced about your argument that Professor Wellborn might have been killed by one of his special teaching assistant study group members." Greg got out the tortilla shells and the cheese. "Or at least, it's a new lead that doesn't put Josh as the killer."

"My theory was that Mandy was kidnapped by one of them. But I guess it works for the professor's murder too. I bet Josh wishes he'd never found that book." I moved my laptop and notebook off the table. "Oh, I forgot. Josh was going to take the boat out to see if he could find a cave today. Well, he and Tank were going. I suppose that outing got canceled?"

Greg chuckled. "Yeah, Tank and Josh aren't on the best of terms right now. But I think Josh is looking at a different set of caves. He said he was going to call the park system and see if he could get a special pass, since the cave is closed right now. I don't think Josh's curiosity is going to be enough, since the bats are breeding right now. Or birthing, I can't remember which."

"Well, if the treasure was hidden in a closed cave, that might be why it hasn't been found over the years." I shuddered. "Bat caves are gross."

He paused as he handed me a plate. "You're saying you don't like caving? I might have to change our plans for Wednesday night."

"You're not seriously thinking of taking me to a cave." I took the plate and made two soft tacos. "Not in the evening. What if we don't get out before it gets dark?"

"We'll be fine." Greg filled his plate with four tacos. "You stress too much."

"Greg," I started, but he shook his head.

"We're not talking about Wednesday's outing. So stop trying to change my mind." He sat at the table and took a sip from his water. "What else can we talk about? Have you talked to your aunt lately about her plans?"

"No, but I asked her to meet me for lunch on Thursday to talk. I haven't even read her proposal, but I'm sure it's reasonable. I want to be mad at her for leaving, but I get it. Life's short." I took a bite of my taco, then set it on my plate. "She deserves to be happy, but I'm going to miss her. A lot."

"You'll see her. She's not moving out of town," Greg reminded me.

I shrugged as I took another bite. I was hungry, but this conversation was making me less and less so. "I won't have anyone to bounce shop things off of."

"Maybe you should think of making someone an assistant manager." Greg polished off another taco. "I liked having the freedom of taking a few days without you worrying or closing the shop."

"Actually, Deek brought up that idea." I sipped my water. Now my appetite had totally disappeared. If I didn't eat more, I'd break into the ice cream carton as soon as dinner was over. "But right now, it's a problem. Toby has a real job. Deek wants to be an author. Evie's still going to school. And Judith and Tilly are too new."

Greg pointed to my plate, and I picked up my taco again and took a bite. "If I were you, I'd talk to Deek and Evie together. See what they say. Maybe they could share the ‘assistant' manager position. Or maybe you're right and one of them doesn't want it now."

"I do need to talk to them. Although Deek wasn't too excited about picking up more responsibility." I took a second bite as I thought about changing the staff structure. "I mentioned the fact that I would be hiring another part-time person and upping everyone's hours to Deek and maybe Toby, I forget. I'll talk to Aunt Jackie Thursday and schedule a staff meeting for next Monday. They can help me fill the holes."

"I bet they can." Greg smiled and stood. He put his plate into the sink and reached for mine.

I was about to tell him I wasn't done, when I looked down and saw my plate was empty. He'd distracted me enough for my automatic feeding process to click in. I would never starve. My body took care of itself, even when my mind had to be entertained. "Thanks for helping me talk this through. Maybe you can be my replacement Aunt Jackie."

"I don't think I have it in me. Besides, you need to talk to your staff. They'll keep you in line." He rinsed plates and put everything in the dishwasher. As he was doing that, I put away the leftovers. I'd have enough for lunch this week for at least one day, if not several.

As we finished up, our conversation turned to what to do for the rest of the evening. Greg wanted to go out and watch the stars. I suggested we try to finish a television series we'd been watching. The night was turning chilly, and I didn't want to freeze as we sat there.

"You'd never make it living in Alaska." Greg dried his hands on a bright blue kitchen towel that proclaimed South Cove as the Number 1 Tourist Trap on the Pacific Coast Highway. I was proud of the marketing that Darla had started up last year.

I took the towel and wiped my own hands, then hung it on the stove. We walked arm in arm into the living room. "I never said I wanted to move there, either."

* * * *

Tuesday morning, Josh was sitting outside my shop when I arrived to open it for the day. He stood as I came up, and I was relieved to see that he'd not only changed clothes that morning, but he also appeared to have recently showered and shaved. Maybe he was on the mend from his grief, even though if Mandy was gone, he had a long path to being totally well. If he ever got over her. "Josh, good morning. I meant to stop by, but I have my last paper due tomorrow, so I'm a little slammed with school stuff."

His eyes looked a tiny bit glazed, and I wondered what, if any, drugs his doctors had put him on to repair his emotional state. "It's fine. I don't expect you to drop everything to come see me. Especially since you were there when I went off on Tank. He said the two of you were friends. Are you still?"

"Friends is kind of a broad word. We had a class together, years ago. I consider you a much closer friend than I am with Tank. Why do you ask?" I unlocked the door and turned on the light. Then I headed to the coffee bar. "A large black?"

"That will work." Josh followed me inside. "I don't know. I guess I'm just wondering who I can trust. I thought since Mandy and Tank had been friends that I could trust him as well."

I looked up as I poured his coffee. "But now you don't think that's true?"

He shrugged as I handed him his travel mug. "I don't know. He's lying to me. I caught him in several lies already. What if he's lying about not knowing where Mandy is?"

"He could be. I barely know him, and he doesn't have many family members and friends in the area." Honestly, I was doubting what I knew about Tank at this point as well. "Hey, did Professor Wellborn tell you who he was bringing in to help with the research on the journal?"

Josh nodded. "He talked about Tank a lot. And his last teaching assistant, Rachel. I guess he really trusted her. And one more guy, but I can't remember his name. I didn't really pay attention. I had the wedding planning and Mandy. The journal just seemed like a good distraction."

I started another pot of coffee as we talked. Then I poured a cup for me and sat next to Josh on a stool. "Greg said you were trying to research a new cave."

"It's closed due to bat babies. I guess they're endangered and people going inside the cave upsets them." He sighed and pushed his cup around the table with one finger. "I don't know what else to do to find Mandy."

I set my cup on the counter. "Josh, how did Mandy's family feel about the wedding?"

He snorted. "Her uncle hated me. Said I was too old for her. There's ten years between us."

"I thought you were older than me." I frowned, trying to do the math. Josh had dated my aunt for a while. At least he thought they were dating. I think my aunt was just passing time until she met my now uncle, Harrold.

"I'm five years older than you are. That's one of the reasons your aunt told me there could never be anything between us. I really thought if I just kept trying, but then she broke it off and started dating Harrold. He's a good guy, and she deserves him. I was never going to be the one for her. I have to admit that when Mandy started hanging around, I thought she was playing me. I was way too old for her." He smiled as he remembered their beginnings.

"But ten years isn't that much of a difference." Greg was at least five years older than me, but it really didn't matter. We liked the same things.

"I thought she was younger than she was when we first met. Finally, she told me I was being stupid and acting like I was an old fart." He laughed when he said it. "She was right, as usual. Why?"

I thought about my visit to the farm. Was there something Mandy's uncle was hiding? I'd already told Greg about my suspicions. Maybe I should go to the farm again. Just to make sure. "I was just wondering."

My regular commuters started coming in, and while I was helping them, Josh left. He'd tucked a five under his cup and left when I was in the back, getting out more cookies for a customer.

Judith had the next shift, so when she arrived, I was ready to get home and get working on my paper. After Emma's run, of course. Sometimes my dog's needs fell ahead of my own, and this was one of those days. Besides, I'd think better if I worked out before I sat down again.

Judith had colored half her hair bright purple, and the other half was left her natural gray. She looked like she was the fun aunt or grandmother. Bookselling was her second career, and she loved having time off to explore the world.

As she came in, the shop was quiet. So as we cleared up the items on the close-of-shift and open-of-shift worksheets, I asked her about what she wanted out of the job.

Fear came into her eyes. "Please don't tell me you're cutting hours. I'm halfway to saving for a two-week biking trip in Europe next summer."

"Actually, just the opposite. Do you want more hours? Maybe go to full-time with a liberal time-off policy?" I was making it up as I talked, but hey, I was the boss now.

"Interesting. We're going into the busy season anyway, and I was expecting to work mostly full-time until fall. But you're talking a full-time position forever?" She set the last piece of cheesecake on a plate and then put the tray on the counter to be washed before putting it with the others for Sadie to pick up at her next delivery.

"Or as long as you want it. I know you like to travel, so if you need more time off than I can give you paid, we can work something out." I paused, then told her about my aunt's retirement. "I need to do some restructuring and would rather make sure my current employees have what they need before hiring someone else."

She blinked and then leaned on the counter. "You realize how different that is than when I worked at a corporate job. They hated any request that wasn't their normal nine-to-five. Even if I agreed to take leave without pay."

"I'm not very corporate. Although, if I get this paper done, I'll be one of those MBA types that you used to work for." I glanced at the clock. I needed to get home.

"Jill, you'll never be like those suits I used to work for. You care too much." She waved me off. "Get out of here. Let me look at my calendar and see what's going on, but as of right now, I'd love to go full-time."

"We'll have a staff meeting next week, so just have your plan together by then." I grabbed my tote and checked to make sure I had my laptop and notebook. Driving back here to get it would cost me time I didn't have.

As I walked home, I was thinking about the shop and changing up shifts. I paused as I got to Diamond Lille's, taking in the smell of hand-cut French fries rolling out of the building. I turned and noticed that Steve's Scuba Shop was still closed. The notes were still taped on his door. I grabbed my phone, but instead of calling Greg, I dialed Amy's number.

"South Cove Township, Mayor Baylor's office. This is Amy. Can I help you?" Amy's rote delivery of her opening lines seemed especially long today.

"Amy, this is Jill. I was wondering…"

Amy cut me off. "Sorry, I can't do lunch today. Justin's getting freaked out about how many days a week we eat out. And we have reservations for that new steak house Friday night, so I don't want to jeopardize it. Jill, he's making spreadsheets on how we're spending our money. It's driving me crazy."

"I'm not asking you to lunch. Do you have a contact person for Steve at the scuba shop? Maybe his girlfriend, Hope?" I held my breath. Maybe he was visiting family and hadn't put up a sign. That way, Amy could just laugh at me, and we'd be done. "His store has been closed since Friday, and I'm beginning to worry."

"Hold on, let me check." She paused for a minute. "I just looked up the list of vacationers from Greg's database. He makes a list of all the residents who are on vacation so he can watch out for their homes and buildings. And there's nothing here about Steve being out of town."

"Do you have a contact number?" I heard papers rustling and voices as I waited.

"Let me dig into this, and I'll call you back." Amy hung up on me. Mayor Baylor or his wife must be causing problems in Amy's office. I tucked the phone away and hurried home.

Was Mandy not the only missing person in South Cove?