Secrets in the Shadows (16 page)

Both refrigerators hung open, one with the door half off, all their contents emptied onto the floor in front of them. Dozens of broken eggs, pounds of yeast dough that had started rising once outside the refrigerator, and a myriad of other ingredients, including meats and cheeses, lay on the tile floor in a tarry heap. It was just too much to take in, and she swayed.

Winston caught her. “We need to get out of here. You need to sit down.”

They quickly made their way back outside where, unable to speak, Lauren sank down onto the curb and closed her eyes, tears leaking out from beneath her lashes. Ethan moved away to give them privacy and Winston sat down beside her. Placing his hand on her back, he rubbed lightly.

“Oh, honey. We can fix this. Everyone’s safe, and it’s just things, goods, that got destroyed. Try to focus on that.”

“I know, Daddy. It’s just—my God, who hates me enough to do something like this?”

They exchanged a look, making the connection at the same time. “Mary Margaret.”

Ethan came back, squatting in front of Lauren. He handed her a bottle of water and some tissues. “You feeling better?”

She nodded and took a drink of the water, wanting to rinse the bitter taste of defeat out of her mouth.

“I guess we need to join the others.” Standing, they walked around to the front of the building. Janet unlocked the table and chairs that sat in front of one of the windows, and she and Helga took seats. Winston eased Lauren down beside them.

“How bad is the office?” she asked.

Ethan looked at Jason, who shrugged.

“Where is the office? We didn’t check it.”

“Upstairs. The door to the stairs is in the kitchen. I didn’t even think to look and see if it was open or not.”

“That door was still locked. If you have the key, I’ll go check it right now.”

Janet handed him her key ring and showed him which key to use. He hurried off, and Ethan spoke.

“Can you think of any reason why the alarm didn’t go off, Lauren? You normally set it, right?”

“I was the last one out last night, and I know I set the alarm before I left. Charlie Clark was with me, so he can verify that I set it. It should have gone off.”

“I’ll call the monitoring company and see if they had anything come in.”

Jason returned, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief when he told them that the office appeared to be untouched.

“Thank God for small favors,” Winston said.

Gary spoke up. “Detective, if you don’t need me, I’ll get back on patrol.”

“We’ve got it from here.”

He tipped his hat at Lauren, then got in his cruiser and pulled out on the street. Because the town of Leroy was so small, the city police department relied heavily on county and state police for support. The city mainly handled traffic stops and crowd control during community events, and left the crime solving to the larger law enforcement agencies. Even though the Brown Bag was well within city limits, it would fall to the sheriff’s department to investigate the vandalism.

“Well, this isn’t the best place to conduct the interviews we need. Why don’t we head over to the sheriff’s department, get some coffee and sit down where we can be at least moderately comfortable?” Ethan’s suggestion was met with approval all around, and they started across the street to the courthouse, where the department was located.

“I’ll wait for the crime scene unit. Do you mind if I keep these keys?” Jason asked Janet, holding up her key ring.

She turned to Lauren, who nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Winston, do you mind staying here with me? That way if I have questions, I can get answers without interrupting.”

“Sure. I need to call Molly and let her know what’s going on, anyhow. I’ll meet you over there in a bit.” He gave Lauren a quick hug, and the women followed Ethan across the street. As they walked across to the courthouse, Lauren heard her father ask Jason where they were going to start. That was a question she wished she knew the answer to, because she didn’t have a clue what her next step should be.

Inside the sheriff’s department, Ethan decided to interview Janet first since she and Helga had been the first ones at the shop. While Helga used the restroom, Lauren sank tiredly into one of the plastic chairs in the hall outside the interrogation room. Leaning back, she closed her eyes and swallowed back tears.

More than anything right now, she wanted to call Charlie, but she resisted. The idea of reaching out to someone besides her parents was so foreign that it distracted her momentarily from the horrible damage done to her shop.

At the end of the hall, the double doors leading outside opened and Beth Hudson walked in, followed closely by Winston and Jason. Lauren watched the trio approach. Jason headed down the hall past where she sat, and her father took the seat next to her with a sigh. Beth bent down to hug her before she sat on Lauren’s other side.

“Are you okay?”

Lauren nodded. “I will be. How are Mom and Ava?” she asked her father.

“They’re fine. Ava’s still asleep, and your mother is itching to get down here and start cleaning.”

Lauren managed a tiny smile, thinking about her mother’s penchant for straightening things.

Helga came out of the restroom. Jason spoke from the doorway of the room behind her. “Why don’t we get started on your interview?” He directed the woman to an open room, leaning in to turn on the light. “If you’ll have a seat, ma’am, I’ll be in to talk with you in just a minute.”

He approached Lauren. “We made sure the doors were locked, and your dad has the keys. We took another look at the alarm system. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but I’d advise you to call the monitoring company later today and have them come out and check it.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Just part of the service. If you need anything, there’s a small lounge just through that door.” He pointed to the door in question, and with a small smile, he headed inside the interview room, closing the door behind him.

Beth spoke up. “I’m so sorry this happened. I wish there was something I could do to make it all go away.”

“There’s nothing you can do now but keep your ears open for me. I guess you’re on call this morning?” Lauren asked.

Her friend nodded. “I caught the call on the scanner. You know, there are times when I hate my job. This is one of them.”

Lauren put her arm around Beth’s shoulders and squeezed. “Don’t worry about it. You have to do your job, and maybe getting the word out will lead to a witness or some such. Do you need a quote?”

“If you don’t mind giving me one.”

She smiled at the uncharacteristic cautiousness. Beth was not usually timid in seeking out a story. “Get your recorder out.”

Withdrawing the small digital recorder from her bag, switched it on and held it out to Lauren. Clearing her throat, Lauren spoke.

“The Brown Bag may be down, but we certainly aren’t out. We are going to rebuild, and hope to find out soon who is responsible for this heinous act of vandalism. It’s a setback but that’s all.”

Satisfied, Beth turned off the recorder, and set her bag aside. “Do you plan on offering a reward?”

Lauren hesitated. “If it’s necessary.”

Winston stood. “Would you ladies like something to drink? I think I’ll see what they have in this establishment.”

“Coffee sounds good,” Lauren told him, and Beth nodded. “You want some help getting it?”

“Nope, I’ll manage.”

“Is he back at work yet?” Beth asked as he walked away.

“Uh-huh. He went back Monday, and Mom was so relieved I thought she’d do cartwheels. Apparently, my father makes a lousy patient.”

As they snickered, the door to the first interview room opened and Ethan stepped out into the hall with Janet. When he saw Beth sitting with Lauren, he scowled.

“Is there no limit to how far you’ll go for a story, Hudson?”

Beth raised her chin, her gaze growing cold as she eyed him from head to toe. “I’m doing my job, Detective, but aside from that, Lauren is my friend, and I’m here to support her.”

Ethan snorted and rolled his eyes, and spoke to Janet. “You can go ahead and leave now. I’ll let you know if we need anything else.”

Lauren stood and drew Janet into a hug. “I’ll call you later today. Daddy still has your shop keys. Do you need them to get home?”

“No, I keep those on a separate ring. Promise you’ll call?”

“I promise.”

Janet headed down the hall toward the double doors. Beth stood. “I’m going to head out, too, unless you need me. Do you want me to call Annie, let her know what’s going on? She’ll be worried sick when she hears about this.”

“Do you mind?” Lauren asked. “I don’t know when I’ll get a chance, so I’d appreciate it.”

“Not a problem. That’s what friends are for.” After casting one more scathing glance at Ethan, she followed Janet down the hall.

Lauren wasn’t surprised by the look on Ethan’s face as he watched Beth walk away. He quickly masked it, but she felt as though she had intruded on something private. She had secretly believed for some time that Ethan had feelings for Beth, but hadn’t been one hundred percent sure until she saw that expression. Winston came out of the lounge toward them, coffee cups in hand, and Lauren cleared her throat.

“Beth leave?” Winston handed one of the cups to Lauren and offered the second to Ethan, who shook his head. “Saves me a trip back down the hall, then.” With a shrug, he cautiously sipped the hot liquid.

Ethan directed Lauren to the interview room. “This shouldn’t take long.” Closing the door behind him, he apologized. “Sorry about Beth. That woman thinks a press pass means she can harass people whenever and wherever she wants.”

She paused as she was sitting down, stunned. “Excuse me?”

He scowled. “She does. I can’t turn around these days without tripping over her.”

“Beth is my friend. I’ll thank you to not take out your bad temper on me, or on her, for that matter. She’s doing her job, just like you.”

He had the grace to look embarrassed. This time, his apology was more sincere. “I’m sorry. How about we move on to why we’re here?” He reached for the small tape recorder that sat on the table between them. “Do you mind if I record this?”

With only a small hesitation as she thought about what she’d have to reveal to him about the Vernons, she shook her head. “No. Go ahead.”

Identifying himself, he gave the date, time, and the purpose of the interview. He asked Lauren to state her full name, the date, and her address. Once that was done, he asked her about the vandalism.

“How did you learn about it?”

“My assistant manager, Janet Evans, called me at home. I called my parents, and my father and I drove down here.”

“Do you have any idea who might have done this?”

She looked down at her hands. The last thing she wanted to do was share intimate details of her life with someone who was little more than an acquaintance, but she didn’t have much choice. Realizing that, she sighed.

“I do have an idea, actually.” She told him about the confrontation with Mary Margaret and Troy. “It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to find out they had something to do with this.”

He studied her, tapping a finger slowly on the table. “Why would they want to do something like this?”

Lauren sat back and explained the relationship between the two families. As she talked, he made notes. “What were those names again?”

“Mary Margaret and Troy Vernon. But you can get most of their information from Charlie Clark.”

He looked up at her, surprised. “Why is that?”

Lauren explained about the investigation into the family’s background. Laying his pen down, Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

“Okay,” he drawled. “So you all were related by marriage, and now you’re looking into their pasts. What aren’t you telling me?”

She looked at the tape recorder. “Is there any way we can turn that off for this next part?”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment, then hit ‘stop.’ “Okay. It’s off.”

Focusing her eyes on the wall behind him, she cleared her throat and started talking. “When I was sixteen, Mary Margaret’s husband, Carl, tried to rape me. I guess you could say that’s why there’s bad blood between us.”

Swearing under his breath, he rubbed his face with his hands. “I’m sorry, Lauren. Sorry it happened, sorry to have to bring it up.”

“How much do you need to know?” She realized that she was beyond caring how much she had to share. She just wanted the Vernons to pay for what they had done.

“Can you give me the general details? I don’t have to know every little thing, unless you think it might be relevant to the vandalism.”