Book Club Bloodshed (3 page)

All four feet, eleven inches of the librarian Ruby was waiting for Missy when she left the building and headed for her car.

“Hey, Miss. How did it go?”

Missy was in no mood to talk. It was late. It was cold. Her best friend had dated her first love behind her back. And because she was up later than usual, she was feeling a little hungry also which wasn’t good.

She just wanted to get home to her Irish setter, Cody, and then climb into bed. She wasn’t due at work till noon tomorrow.

“It went fine.” Missy looked around for Noreen as she walked to her car.

Ruby made a pained face. “Does Tyler think it’s one of us?”

Missy waffled on what to tell her. Clearly, Tyler suspected Noreen. But Missy doubted he’d want her to broadcast his suspicions to everyone.

“I don’t know what he thinks,” Missy said. “But it almost has to be one of us, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Tears filled Ruby’s eyes. “I can’t believe this is happening. It’s like waking up and finding out gravity stopped working.”

Missy nodded, wondering where Ruby got that simile from. It didn’t quite fit but it was hardly the time to debate the finer points of literature. As a matter of fact, debating the finer points had ended in bloodshed.

Missy realized she was being a little inconsiderate of Ruby. The woman had gone out of her way to get them access to the library for these Book Clubs and had risked bringing wine in.

“Hey, I’m sorry I keep forgetting to ask.” Missy rubbed her shoulder. “Is your boss upset?”

Ruby hung her head. “I think I just lost my job. Christina said she wanted to take the night to think about it and asked me to come in tomorrow morning on my day off.”

Missy said nothing. She hadn’t had a lot of jobs in her life, but even she could tell the writing was on the wall for Ruby. That old battle ax, Christina, wouldn’t have called Ruby in on her day off just to reprimand her.

But Missy didn’t have the heart to tell her that. “Sorry, Ruby. I hope everything works out.”

“Thanks, Missy. Thanks.”

Missy watched as Ruby walked with her head down to her car. She felt bad for the woman. She was only a few years out of college and now she was about to get fired from her first job. Ruby had gone to school for library science and come back home at the perfect time to accept the recently-vacated position of Assistant Librarian. Tomorrow she would be fired. How was she ever going to get another library job after this?

Missy saw Noreen walking toward her, yet another cigarette in her mouth.

“Missy, you made it out alive.”

Missy smiled but she couldn’t stop thinking about Noreen and Tyler being together, even if it was years ago and even if it was after Missy and Tyler had dated.

“So?” Noreen asked. “Do I need to call an attorney?”

She took another short drag on her smoke and smiled, but Missy could tell it was forced. Noreen couldn’t stop fidgeting or keep his eyes steady on anything.

Missy knew she shouldn’t be saying this because it would be a betrayal of sorts to Tyler, but then again she herself felt betrayed.

“Noreen, all kidding aside, you might want to think about getting an attorney.”

“I wasn’t kidding!” she yelled. Noreen took one last drag and angrily flicked her cigarette away. “I know how it looks and the way he was questioning me…God, he talked to me like I was a criminal.”

Missy found that hard to believe. Tyler was a cop and these days he was pretty buttoned up, especially on the job, but he wasn’t cruel. She’d seen how conflicted he was when they’d talked.

“If they arrest me, Miss, I really need your help.”

Missy almost said no, but she bit her tongue. She would have been saying no for the wrong reasons. Her mother was right. If Noreen got into trouble, Missy should do everything in her power to help. Friends like Noreen didn’t come along often.

“Wait, are you actually mad at me?”

Missy realized she hadn’t answered Noreen’s question about helping her. “What? No. Of course not. I was thinking about how I could help you.”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious isn’t it? If they arrest me I need you to investigate like you did when Albert Switzer was killed.”

Missy chewed on her bottom lip. “Nor, it was blind luck that I identified the murderer last time. All my investigating didn’t help an iota.”

“So you’re not going to try?” Noreen grabbed her. Her fingers dug into Missy’s shoulders. “Missy, I’m in serious trouble here. Please.”

“Noreen, take it easy,” Missy said. “We both know you didn’t do this. Tyler is just being careful, like he was careful with me and my mother last time.” Missy shook her head at the memory of Mom getting arrested and of the chief later wanting to bring Missy in. She knew what it was like to be under suspicion of doing something awful. It weighed on you heavily. “He can’t just ignore the facts. He has to work through them and show how it can’t be you. You know what I mean?”

“Yes.” Noreen smiled, for a second. Then her eyes widened.

“Noreen?”

Missy turned. Tyler was standing five feet away, one of his deputies next to him. They looked very official, like they were about to do something.

“Yes?” Noreen put on a brave face.

“We’d like to ask you some more questions.”

Noreen didn’t respond for a moment. Her eyes darted from Tyler to Missy and back. Then she remembered to smile. It was the fakest smile Missy had ever seen and that was saying something, because she’d been to high school.

“Sure. Where can we go?”

Tyler motioned behind him. “Inside again. Please.”

“Okay. Sure! No problem.” Noreen started walking and Missy knew she was in real trouble now. Before Noreen reached the sidewalk in front of the library, she looked back over her shoulder and mouthed some words:

Help me.

Eventually one of the cops told Missy she had to go home. Another twenty minutes had passed and Noreen was still inside the library, facing Tyler’s questions again. When she opened her mouth to protest, the cop cut her off.

“We’ll make sure she gets home safe and sound. You go on ahead now.”

Missy didn’t care for his tone. The cop was really a kid. His youth hit home for her. She had probably been just starting high school when he was born. It made her feel old.

Missy smiled politely and got into her car. Her phone had died over an hour ago, so she plugged it into the charger.

As she exited the parking lot, the phone buzzed signaling a voicemail or text. It was probably from earlier when the phone was dead. She figured it was her mother, probably calling to check in and make sure Missy was okay.

She got home fifteen minutes later. Her exhaustion was bone-deep. Cody met her at the front door. Missy rubbed her back, loving the feel of her rust-colored coat. Cody immediately plopped down and rolled onto her back, begging for the belly rub. Missy was happy to comply. The dog, after all, had saved her life six months ago.

Each step upstairs required effort, she was so tired. Cody ran right past her, full of boundless energy. In her bedroom, Missy got changed into her favorite pajamas, loving how they were a little loose in the hips now.

She climbed into bed and the cold sting of the fresh sheets was invigorating. She plugged her phone into the charger and put it on the nightstand before pulling her bedspread up.

It was then she remembered she had a message.

Exhausted, Missy turned out the light and rolled over. The message would be waiting for her tomorrow when she woke up. Whenever she woke up. Tomorrow was that rare day where she could sleep in. It would feel great.

But what if it was Noreen calling? Maybe she’d been arrested.

Missy frowned. If Noreen was in that much trouble, she would have called
several
times till she got an answer. Missy decided it could wait and closed her eyes.

Five minutes later she was still thinking about her phone.

Sitting up, she took the phone off the nightstand and put her glasses on. It was a text from Trudy:

We need to talk.

Missy put a hand over her mouth. She had no idea who this could be. But it had to be related to Anne’s death. Getting a random text from a stranger about anything else would be way too coincidental.

Missy sat up, fully awake now despite her earlier exhaustion. She put her feet on the rug, where space was at a premium because Cody always slept on it. The dog snored softly.

It was pretty late so Missy didn't think she should call Trudy, who had a husband and two young children. But she was intrigued by the text message. Maybe Trudy had seen something? But if she had, she would have already shared it with the police.

Wouldn't she?

The best and only way to find out would be to talk to her. Instead of calling and possibly waking up Trudy's entire household, Missy thumbed a text.

Call me if you're still awake.

Missy laid back down, and before her head even hit the pillow, her phone rang.

"Trudy?"

"Missy." Trudy's voice was a whisper. Missy pictured the forty-year-old mother down in her living room, probably wearing a robe and speaking in a hushed tone so as not to wake everybody else up. "Are you home?"

"Yes." Missy got out of bed. Cody just kept on sleeping as Missy went downstairs. "Are you okay?"

"I'm worried."

As she listened, Missy went into the kitchen. She was on autopilot as she opened the cupboard and grabbed a bag of pretzels. Fortunately, before she got it open, she realized what she was about to engage in that big no-no: mindless eating. She put the bag away.

"What's wrong?"

Trudy hesitated. "Anne was seeing somebody..."

"What?" Missy's ears perked up.

"On the side, you know?"

Missy would never have thought the respectable Anne Baxter would even be capable of an affair. She had the perfect husband, perfect family, perfect job. Her life was in order. Why would she want to mess all that up? Missy never understood the mentality of cheaters. She couldn't fathom doing that to anybody.

"Who was he?"

"I don't know..."

Missy rolled her eyes. Trudy was always full of unsubstantiated rumors. She was the queen of them.

"How do you know she was cheating then?"

"I saw her at the grocery store once. She was sitting in the front of the...vehicle with someone. I didn't get a good look at him—"

"Hold on, Trudy," Missy said. "Why would Anne be sitting in a car with some other man in front of her store where she knew everybody would recognize her?"

"It was after hours, really late," Trudy said. "And it was in back. It was very strange."

"What were you doing there?"

"I was leaving work." Trudy worked at the card store at the end of the strip where the grocery store was. "I was there later than usual, because we had a big corporate audit coming up and I wanted to make sure the reconciliation was correct. I mean, I was
real
late, till almost one. The grocery store closes at ten on Sundays so I didn't understand why she'd be there."

Missy nodded. That
was
suspicious. She very much doubted Anne was that involved in the day-to-day business of the grocery store, her role (as she was so fond of mentioning) was more strategic, so why would she be there after midnight and meeting up with a man in a car?

It was a good lead, but Missy didn't know why Trudy was calling her to share.

"Did you tell Tyler?"

"No, that's why I'm calling you."

Missy sat down at her dining room table. "Why not?"

"You can't tell Tyler."

Missy didn't want to make that promise. Even though their relationship was very awkward these days, Missy still considered Tyler a friend and as the chief detective of Grove City, she had to share important information that would help him in his investigation. Missy was generally a rule-follower, and withholding information from not only the police but her friend was a big no-no in her mind.

"Trudy, if you don't know who it is, why can't I tell Tyler that Anne is having an affair?" She figured Trudy was afraid of breaking Anne's trust. But now that Anne was dead, wasn't finding the killer more important. Sometimes she didn't get Trudy. "Tyler can just act like he figured it out on his own. Nobody is going to point the finger at you."

Trudy lowered her voice even more. It was barely a whisper now, but it came loud and clear through the phone.

"Because of his car."

"What about his car?" Missy was really confused now. Maybe Trudy had had a little too much wine tonight?

"It was a cruiser."

Missy nearly dropped the phone.

"She was fooling around with a cop?"

Missy started pacing. Her mind churned with questions and possibilities.

"You think this guy killed her? Maybe in a jealous rage, or maybe because she broke it off?" Trudy asked.

"It's possible." She palmed her forehead. "I mean, it's much more likely than one of us doing it, right?"

"That's what I was thinking. And, you know, with how she died..."

Missy had already been thinking the same thing. Anne had died in a violent struggle. Somebody had smashed her head on the pipe stand or at least pushed her into it. Missy shuddered. It was a horrible way to die, your final moments spent in a blind panic as someone tried to...she knew what that was like. Six months ago, Gordon Cooper would have done the same to her were it not for that lovable Irish setter sleeping upstairs.

"You've got a point." Missy tongued her teeth. She was trying to figure out what to do with the information. "I think we should tell Tyler."

"We can't!" Trudy said. "What if it's him?"

Missy almost laughed out loud at the thought of it. Everybody in town knew by now that he and his estranged wife were working on their relationship and Tyler didn't have a wandering eye. He was honest, loyal, and true. He wasn't the type to run around on somebody or go behind their back—

Or was he?

He and Noreen had a relationship in college that Missy hadn't known about. College changed many people, especially that first semester. Maybe it had changed him? A few months around all these new women, where the old high school rules of "date one person" no longer applied. In high school he had his pick of women, but only dated three total, herself included. Had he turned promiscuous?

No. She refused to believe that Tyler Brock was having an affair with Anne. Sure, he had changed since high school—everybody had—but she just didn't think he was capable. Especially considering she was pretty certain he still had some old feelings for her. If he was going to cheat on the wife he was also trying to reconcile with, Missy was the most likely candidate, not—oh God—Anne Baxter. He wouldn't have been caught dead with a woman like that before and she couldn't envision it now. Tyler was down-to-earth, easy-going, and not class-conscious.

Missy made up her mind. “No, it’s not Tyler.”

“How can you be sure?” Trudy said. “Are you two…”

“No.” Her answer came a little too quickly, sounding defensive. Everybody knew they’d been high school sweethearts, and according to Noreen, the rumor mill hadn’t stopped spinning about them since Tyler had returned, filling the vacant detective role at the police department.

“Oh, I thought…well, I was kind of hoping you were…I mean, that’s why I called you.”

Now Missy understood why Trudy had confided in her. Trudy had thought Missy and Tyler were an item, which meant Tyler wasn’t likely to be Anne’s behind-the-scenes beau.

“I think we need to tell him,” Missy repeated. “I trust him.”

“No!” Trudy practically screamed. When she spoke again, it was at a whisper. “Even if it’s not him, you can’t tell him. I mean, what if…”

Missy rolled her eyes. Trudy could figure out a way to find every horrible hypothetical possible. She was a sweet woman, but her pessimism was just hard-wired.

“What if what?”

Trudy said, “If the cop that killed Anne knows that we know about him, what do you think he’s going to do? He killed one woman. And he had
feelings
for her. What do you think he’d…”

It made perfect Trudy Sense.

Missy shook her head. “We’re safer if we tell Tyler, Trudy, trust me. There’s a killer out there right now and if he thinks we suspect him, he’s going to…you know, come for us anyway.”

Trudy went deadly silent. This had apparently not occurred to her.

Missy said, “Look, let’s take it one step at a time. We need help—”

“I shared this with you in confidence, Missy.” Trudy’s voice was cold.

“Trudy—”

Trudy hung up.

Missy thought about calling her back, but instead put the phone down. She slumped on the couch, her hand hitting a bag of chips.

With a gasp, she realized she’d been eating chips during the end of that conversation. But she didn’t even remember getting them out of the pantry.

She carried the bag into the kitchen and threw it out.

Mindfulness
.

She needed mindfulness when it came to food. Her habits were deeply ingrained. Without even realizing it, she’d opened a bag of junk food and started eating.

She wondered what had happened to Noreen.