Chapter 44
“Mom?” Livvy’s voice was shaking with anger and embarrassment. “I can’t believe you would come to my job today and create a huge scene.”
“I did not make a scene,” Shannon protested.
From the clanking of silver and china, Livvy could tell her mother was unloading the dishwasher. Which probably only contained one spoon, one bowl, and one glass, but in Shannon’s world the dishwasher got run every day. No matter what.
“Oh really? You didn’t threaten to kick a security guard in the balls if he didn’t let you in to see Traci Eddings?”
Her mother didn’t deny it. “Who told you?”
“Howie. The guard. He’s a friend of mine. And one of the girls in the front office heard you shouting at Mrs. E. Mom, how could you? I’m so humiliated, I could die.”
“I don’t care. I’d rather you be embarrassed than murdered.”
“Jesus, Mom! Why can’t you get it into your head? I’m fine. I like my job, and the people I work with and live with, and I’m not quitting. And also, I’m perfectly safe.”
“That’s probably what Parrish Eddings told her mom too,” Shannon said, unfazed.
“You’re unbelievable, you know that? How would you like it if I showed up at the hospital and raised a ruckus the way you did?”
“If you went to my workplace, out of genuine love and concern for my well-being, as I did, then I would not have a problem with that.”
“Well, I have a problem,” Livvy said. “I do have a problem with you asking my boss to fire me, and with you coming into my place of business and insulting my boss. And, Mom—I’m warning you, if you keep this shit up, I’ll…”
“You’ll what?”
“I’ll cut you off. I’ll block your calls and texts, and I definitely won’t see you. I’ll totally ghost you.”
“You wouldn’t do that to me. I’m your mother, and everything I do for you—everything!—is out of love.”
“Try me,” Livvy said.
As soon as Felice walked into the dorm that night, Livvy pounced.
“Come see me,” she whispered. “In my room.”
KJ and Garrett had donned headsets and were playing Grand Theft Auto on their gaming console and slamming back beers in the lounge. They were barely aware of Livvy’s existence, but she wanted privacy.
“Gimme ten,” Felice said.
“Close the door, please,” Livvy said when Felice walked into her room wearing loose-fitting cotton pajamas.
“The guys are gonna think we’re in here having a lesbian hookup, but come to think of it, who cares what they think?” Felice did as she was asked.
“What’s up?” She sat down at the foot of Livvy’s unmade bed in her messy room. “And why all the secrecy?”
“Did you hear about the press conference today?”
“No. All I heard about today was ‘My prime rib is too rare’ and ‘Is this fried chicken gluten-free?’”
“The medical examiner says Parrish died from a drug overdose. They found alcohol, marijuana, and fentanyl in her system.”
“Fentanyl? That’s some scary shit.”
“Right? There was a lot of booze at that party. A lot of joints were being passed around. I took a few hits myself. So did KJ and Garrett. It could have been any of us.”
“But Parrish is the only one who died,” Felice pointed out. “So, what’s your point?”
“My point is this wasn’t an accident. Somebody wanted Parrish dead.”
Felice fixed her with a stare. “Like who? And why?”
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
“Not me. Let the cops do their jobs. I’m out.” Felice jumped off the bed.
Livvy grabbed her by the hand. “The local cops? They’re a joke. You don’t know ’em like I do. All they care about is busting speeders and jaywalkers. And giving out ‘Just Say No’ pamphlets at the high school. I bet they haven’t ever investigated an honest-to-Gawd homicide.”
“Neither have we,” Felice countered, unclasping Livvy’s fingers from her wrist.
“Mrs. E is offering a fifty-thousand-dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever killed Parrish,” Livvy added. “I mean, it wouldn’t be about the money… but…”
“Dammmmmn. Fifty K? Wow.”
“Right?”
“All we gotta do is catch a killer. Like on Dateline, right? Easy peasy,” Felice scoffed.
“We can do it. I know we can.”
Livvy opened her closet door and pulled out a large cardboard tampon box, reached inside, and pulled out the notebook, which gave Felice a laugh.
“You really think somebody’s gonna come in here looking for a notebook they don’t even know exists? Like who? One of those two doofuses out there?” Felice nodded her head in the direction of the lounge. “Does this mean you don’t trust KJ and Garrett?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust them. I just think we keep this on the down-low. For now.”
Livvy leafed through some pages in Parrish’s bitch book, stopped, and stabbed her forefinger on one particular page.
“I think I might have figured this one out. Like I said, her handwriting is barely readable, but this looks like it says something about liquor. A guest came to her and complained that they ordered premium Glenlivet at the Verandah bar and got something else, I can’t read what it was. And her note says the customer said it happened a couple times. And then, this next bit, it says something like ‘check liquor distributor.’”
Felice rocked backward on the bed. “Okay, I been around restaurants my whole life, and I know this scam. She thinks somebody’s pouring well liquor and charging customers for the top-shelf brands.”
“You know,” Livvy said, “I think maybe the same thing is happening with our wine list. I’ve had a few customers send back their wine, complaining that it doesn’t taste like it usually does. Like, a customer last week said his Beaujolais tasted… not right.”
“What’d you do?”
“Brought him a different kind and took it off his check, like Garrett told me to do.”
“Huh.” Felice peered over Livvy’s shoulder. “What else is in that bitch book?”
Livvy paged backward and pointed at a note, but Felice shook her head.
“I can’t read that chicken scratch. But, are you hungry?”
“Have you met me? I’m always hungry.”
“Skinny girls like you, eat like a horse and never gain an ounce, really piss me off,” Felice said, getting up. “Be right back.”
Ten minutes later, Felice entered the room with a tray holding two steaming bowls of noodles.
Livvy bent over the tray and inhaled. “Smells divine.” She grabbed one of the bowls and a pair of chopsticks. “What all is in here?”
“A little of this, a little of that. Ramen noodles, some chopped tomatoes and basil from the restaurant’s kitchen garden, some diced-up salmon left over from dinner service, some fish sauce, and a poached egg.”
Livvy scooped up a pile of fragrant noodles and chewed. “Mmm. This beats the hell out of the popcorn I had when I got off work.” She slurped up another bite and rolled her eyes in ecstasy.
“I ate a lot of ramen when I was in school and my mom was working the night shift, but I never knew ramen could taste like this.”
“Oh yeah. Done right, ramen is like the little black dress of the cheap and fast dinner category,” Felice said.
She looked over at her friend. “Hey, Livvy. Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“It’s about your family,” Felice started.
“I guess you heard about my mom showing up here today to make a complete ass of herself with Mrs. E,” Livvy said, her face getting pink.
Felice shrugged. “I heard, but that’s not what I’m wondering about. It’s none of my business, but is there, like, a dad in the picture? My dad disappeared when I was a little kid, and he never married my mama anyway. And my aunt always says that was a blessing, ’cuz he was nothing but trash. Anyway, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“I’ve never known who my dad is,” Livvy said matter-of-factly. “All I know is my mom got pregnant with me the summer she worked here. Parrish told me, right after we moved in here, that my mom and Mrs. E were best friends back then. They were both lifeguards, and a little boy drowned, but my mom was the only one that got fired. Anyway, whatever happened, I think it’s part of why she hates the Saint, and especially hates the whole Eddings family.”
“Really? You’ve got no clue who your father could be?”
“None. I used to get all sad that I didn’t have a daddy, especially around Father’s Day,” Livvy said, her tone wistful. “But my mom would always say we were doing fine with just the two of us. When I got older, I quit asking questions about him.”
“Seems like, now that you’re an adult, you have a right to that information. It’s half your DNA. Right?”
“At this point, I don’t want to set her off,” Livvy said. She scraped the last bit of ramen from her bowl and set it atop a stack of books on her nightstand.
Felice picked up a novel with an especially lurid-looking cover. “You really like to read all this scary serial murderer shit? Karin Slaughter? Is that the chick’s real name?”
“She’s my favorite. Her books creep me out, but once I start reading, I can’t stop.”
“You think there’s something in those books that can help us figure out who killed our girl Parrish?”
“Parrish died because of something someone at that party gave her. I think we have to look at who was at that party, and figure out why they’d want to kill her.”
“Well, I can’t help much with that, since I wasn’t there. Thank God.”
“But I was there,” Livvy said.
“Do you remember who she was hanging around with that night?”
“There were a whole bunch of people I didn’t know, folks who work in housekeeping, landscape, reservations. The steel drum band guys were definitely there, and I saw Parrish talking to one of them, but then he walked away.”
“When was the last time you saw her that night?”
“I’m not sure. We rode there together with KJ on the golf cart. But then we kind of got separated. I was talking to one of the other servers from the Verandah, and then some of us were standing around the bonfire, drinking, and I honestly lost track of time. When it got time to leave, she wasn’t around. I just figured she hooked up with someone earlier.”
“Okay,” Felice said. “So the who is a big question mark. But what about the why?”
Livvy tapped the blue notebook. “My theory? Parrish figured out there was all kinds of shady stuff going on at the hotel. And whoever killed her was afraid she’d blow their cover. But who?”
“I guess that’s what we gotta find out,” Felice said.
“There’s notes in here that say something about inventory at the pro shop, but it’s literally just scribbles,” Livvy said. “The lady who runs it is a real bitch, but maybe I can do a little snooping around. I’ve also gotta figure out this whole mattress thing.”
“That’s a start,” Felice agreed. “I guess I can look into the liquor and wine situation. Maybe ask a couple of the servers if they’ve noticed anything. And then, I think I’m gonna try to figure out what’s going on with our seafood and meat vendors. Something’s definitely off there. They’re selling us subpar product, at premium prices.”
“Have you mentioned that to Mrs. E?”
“I tried, but it was the day of the Beach Bash and Charlie Burroughs cut me off. Said he’d discuss it with me later. Which he hasn’t.”
Livvy picked up a pen and jotted a note in the bitch book. “Let’s make sure we look into that next.”
“We?” Felice asked.
“Yeah. We’re a team. Right?”
“I guess.”