29. Melanie
CHAPTER 29
Melanie
Luke set my iced coffee on the table and took the seat next to me. He scooted my chair closer so our legs were touching, and put his hand on my thigh.
I’d forgotten how much I loved the way he used physical touch. It wasn’t always sexual—although he was excellent in that department as well. Sometimes it was a mix of affectionate and possessive. A way of showing me, and everyone else in the room, that I belonged to him.
I was Luke Haven’s girl.
The Steaming Mug was about half full, with a short line at the counter and a few of the tables filled with chatting customers. It was midmorning on Thursday, and Luke had suggested we slip out for coffee. One of the perks of dating my boss, even if that part was temporary.
He leaned close and pressed a kiss to my temple. “How’s your coffee?”
I took a sip. “Perfect. Although I’m kind of looking forward to cooler weather and cozy cups of hot coffee. Maybe in front of a fire.”
“That does sound good.”
It was sweltering outside, the air hazy brown with wildfire smoke. It was too deep in the mountains to pose a danger to anyone, as far as I knew, but the air quality wasn’t great.
“I finally heard from the Enchanted Hollow people,” I said. “They’re still revising the script, but they don’t expect any more delays. Which probably means minor delays, just not major ones.”
“Does this mean you’re going to start walking around talking like Queen Ione?”
“Foolish mortal,” I said in my queen voice. “You think you can mock me? Watch your tongue before I banish you from my presence.”
He kissed my temple again. “That’s what I thought.”
Louise Haven walked in, dressed in a bright orange velour tracksuit with a large yellow handbag dangling from her arm. She was followed by her friend Doris and several other white-haired ladies, all engaged in hushed conversation. Before she got to the counter, Louise spotted us. Her face lit up with a smile as she veered to our table.
“Look at you two all cozied up like a proper couple.”
“Hi, Aunt Louise,” Luke said.
She pulled a small notebook and a pen out of her bag, then started thumbing through the pages. “I’m glad you’re here. This confirms what I already knew, but it’s nice to see for myself.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“That I need to take you off the bachelor hierarchy. Well, to be precise, I’m moving you into the taken-but-not-yet-married subcategory.”
“Bachelor hierarchy?” I asked. “Tell me more, Louise. I have a feeling this is gonna be good.”
“Oh, you know, it’s just a little thing we do,” she said with a wave of her hand. “There’s a ranking system for the most eligible Tilikum bachelors, and now and then we might make a friendly wager on who’ll be the next to graduate off the list. Nothing but an amusement, really. ”
“You were betting on Luke to drop off the list next, weren’t you?”
“It’s all confidential, dear. I’m afraid I couldn’t say.”
My lips turned up in a smile. “That’s why you invited my family to sit with you at the bachelor auction. You paid for an entire table just to get me there, didn’t you?”
She pressed her lips together, as if trying not to smile. “The auction had nothing to do with it. That was all for the SPS.”
I laughed. “I don’t believe that for a second, you sneaky little minx.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “I don’t see you complaining about the results.”
“Fair enough. Did you win some good money? I hope so. Your little auction stunt certainly cost me a pretty penny. Or cost my mom a pretty penny, to be precise.”
“I had nothing to do with that part. I simply made sure the pieces were all in place. What happened with the bidding was out of my hands.”
I gasped. “You made sure Jenna was there, too, didn’t you? Did you pay for her ticket?”
Louise fidgeted, looking up and around—anywhere but at me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I shook my head. “You’re a little bit extra, Louise. I love that about you.”
“It all worked out in the end, didn’t it? And word on the street is, what Jenna thought was her second choice turned out to be anything but.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice, like she was letting us in on a big secret. “I heard she and that Hank fellow have been seen around town together on several occasions.”
“We saw them at the Zany Zebra,” I said.
“Well, that’s an interesting tidbit, isn’t it?” She glanced at her knot of friends making their way through the line to order. “If you’ll excuse me. ”
“Can’t wait to share the gossip, can she?” I asked, watching her join the group.
“She wouldn’t be Louise Haven if she could.”
I shook my head again. “I should have known she was up to something. I thought it was odd that she invited my family to sit at her table.”
He squeezed my thigh. “For once in my life, I’m glad she meddled.”
We kept sipping our coffee and idly chatting while people came and went. A group of firefighters arrived while Louise and her friends moved several tables together next to us and started taking their seats. They immediately huddled and started whispering fiercely. I wondered how many of the firefighters were on their bachelor hierarchy.
Probably all of them, if they weren’t married.
As the firefighters left with their drinks, another silver-haired lady burst in—Suzanne Montgomery. I’d met her at Luke’s shop. She darted to Louise’s table and started talking frantically.
“What’s that about?” I asked.
“We probably don’t want to know.” Luke took a sip of his coffee. “Some kind of matchmaking, meddling-aunt emergency.”
“Found dead?!” Louise exclaimed. “Oh no.”
That got my attention. I didn’t bother to wait for a break in their conversation. “Who was found dead?”
“The latest missing woman.” Louise put a hand to her chest. “We were hoping she’d be found like the others.”
I glanced at Luke in alarm. The others must have been the women Garrett had been telling us about. Apparently, the woman in Echo Creek had been released from the hospital and was expected to recover from her injuries. The victim from Tilikum—her name was Bella Lewis—had also gone home. I’d heard from Harper that she was doing well, all things considered. She had a lot of bruises, and he’d broken her arm, but she’d be okay.
“Since when was there another missing woman?” Luke asked.
“You didn’t hear?” Louise asked. “She went out for a jog and never made it home.”
“How do they know it’s the same guy?” he asked.
Suzanne chimed in. “My nephew works for the sheriff’s department, and he was first on the scene. He says they can’t say definitively yet, but the signs were there.”
“I don’t know what’s worse,” Doris said. “The same man responsible for all three, or more than one perpetrator to worry about.”
“Four,” Louise said. “Isn’t that right, Suzanne?”
I sat forward. “Four? There have been four victims?”
Doris fanned herself. “Oh my, I had no idea.”
“One was from Pinecrest,” Suzanne said. “She was found like the others. Hurt, but alive. This one, though.” She shook her head sadly.
“I’d get some pepper spray if I were you, dear,” Louise said, meeting my eyes.
“I already have some.” A sick feeling spread through my stomach. Four victims. What was even happening?
“Although I’m not sure how much good it would do if you don’t see him coming,” she said.
I stiffened in my seat. Luke stood and offered me his hand. “We should get going.”
Vaguely, I nodded. Ignoring the continuing chatter from Louise and her friends, I got up and we cleared our table. I didn’t want to hear more of their conversation.
Luke took my hand, and I held it gratefully as we left the coffee shop and started up the sidewalk. I knew the abductions didn’t have anything to do with me, but four? And the latest wasn’t just an abduction, it was a murder .
But I didn’t want to let something I had no control over get to me. I didn’t want to live in fear.
“Are you okay?” he asked as we walked. “Maybe that’s a stupid question.”
“I’m fine.” It came out like a reflex. “Actually, I feel a little sick.”
He stopped, and we moved aside as a group walked past us. Meeting my eyes, he pressed his palm to my cheek. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
I stepped in, and he wound his arms around me as I rested my head on his chest. I believed him. Or I believed he meant what he said.
But he couldn’t always be there.
Taking a deep breath, I moved back. “I don’t know why I’m letting this get to me.”
“Because you’ve been through something similar. Of course it’s going to bother you.”
“Yeah, but whoever this guy is, he doesn’t have anything to do with me.”
“Still. We’ll be careful.” He kissed my forehead.
I loved it when he did that.
We walked back to his garage, and as we went inside, the rush of cool air washed over me, making my skin prickle. It helped, as if the chill grounded me in reality. This wasn’t LA eleven years ago. It was Tilikum. And whatever was happening out there wasn’t going to touch me.
Still, I dug through my purse, making sure I did have my pepper spray. Maybe I’d get a few more. I wasn’t going to take any chances.