Chapter 16
There was no cursed bear.
It had taken us a couple hours to check each box then re-pack and re-stack them. In the end we admitted defeat.
To match my gloomy mood, the weather had taken a turn. From how swiftly the black clouds were booking it overhead, there was a storm headed our way.
A big storm.
I drove home and changed into my uniform for my shift. By the time I’d smooched and fed Smuckleberry, it was pouring rain and the wind was really whipping.
I jogged to my car, my phone buzzing. I checked. It was a text from Detective Vandre.
“How does he have my phone number?” I wondered, wiping rain off my face.
The text said: Can we talk. Important. Blue Owl? There now.
I hesitated. If he was at all the way Dusi painted him—a power hungry rule breaker—I should not meet with him alone.
But he already knew I worked at the diner, and I couldn’t skip my shift. There would be too many people around for him to do anything dangerous.
My thumb hovered over the thumbs up emoji, but I put my phone down instead.
“I’ll decide when I get there.”
I drove, taking it slowly and carefully. Coastal pines whipped in the wind and the late afternoon was that strange darkness that made me think of tornadoes. (Which we really didn’t get around here. Often.)
Rain turned to hail, coming down so hard, I couldn’t see the street ahead of me. I pulled over onto the shoulder and put on my hazard lights.
A weather warning flashed on my phone, but after five minutes, the hail changed to rain—rain that fell like bullets. At least I could see the road enough to slowly ease back onto it.
Futures bobbed and flashed:
I made it to the diner…
I made it to the diner…
I made it to the diner…
…so I continued at a snail’s pace, even though I knew it was dangerous, even though I knew I should turn around. When I finally turned into the diner parking lot, I cheered.
“I made it to the diner! Woo, way to go future!”
There were only two cars in the lot. One was Buzz’s, the other was Gail’s. No Detective Vandre.
“Okay. Maybe one more peek into the future wouldn’t hurt?” I pulled the hood up on my jacket but didn’t get out of the car. Not yet. I looked into the future to see if Vandre was really here.
Futures…did nothing.
No flash, no images.
Just…nothing.
“Uh-oh. Is this what happened to you, Yancy?” I pulled out my phone, to…what? See if there were any “Hey your future got cut off in the storm” warnings or something?
There was no cell signal.
Well, shoot.
It wasn’t like losing connectivity was unusual. Storms took out our electricity and cell towers all the time.
I could turn around. I could go back to town.
The rain came down like shoveled gravel. Driving here hadn’t been very safe, and the storm was just beginning. Driving back meant the risk of trees falling, flash floods, mud slides, and washed-out streets.
The diner had power, a land line that might still be up, a generator, and plenty of food and water.
“Stay here it is,” I said.
I zipped up my coat, grabbed my purse, and made a run for the front door.
It opened easily and I jetted inside to stand on the mat, dripping.
The diner was warm and smelled like apple pie, coffee, bacon, and maple.
There were two people at separate tables: Gail, looking glum, and an older man named Charles who had probably gotten a taxi so he could order his weekly biscuits and gravy and tell us they were too salty.
I shucked out of my coat and hung it in the storeroom. I tucked my purse in my locker but kept my (still dead) phone in my pocket.
I patted my hair (not too wet) and swung into the kitchen to check on Buzz.
He was sitting on a high stool, his back to the sinks where it looked like he’d just finished off the dishes.
“So, there’s two of us crazy enough to drive out here, huh?” he asked.
“Guess so. Shelly didn’t show up?”
“It was Aggie’s shift, but I couldn’t get her on the phone. Or Shelly. Think they called it quits?”
I smiled. “No, I don’t think so. Shelly likes it here. Aggie…Well, I don’t know about her, but I bet it’s just the cell tower being down. We still got the land line?”
“Working last time I checked.”
“Then we’re good. Plus,” I waved a hand toward the dining room, “it’s not like we’re overrun with customers right now.”
He smiled, but it was tired. “That’s good.” He yawned. “It’s been a long night.”
“You’ve been here since last night? Buzz. You are going to fall asleep and griddle yourself to death. Go home.”
“Who’s gonna cook, Pipes? Someone’s gotta cook.”
“Me.” I pulled my shoulders back and gave him a pointed look.
“I know the menu inside out, we aren’t going to have hardly any customers in this storm, and if it gets busy—which it will not—I will switch to the easy stuff.
Sandwiches, pies, fries—and tell folks that because of the storm we’re out of everything else. Or that our grill is down.”
“Naw,” he said around another yawn. “You don’t need to do that. I got this.”
“Okay, compromise. How about you go nap in your office, and I’ll keep an eye on things for an hour or two? If we get in some big orders, I’ll come get you.”
He rubbed his palm over his face, then let his hand fall to his lap. “You’d do that?”
I chuckled. “Yes.”
“You’ll handle cooking and serving?”
“There are two people out there, Buzz. You just handled the cooking and serving and the dishes for hours and you’re only half awake. I’m going to be fine. Go. I’m getting tired just looking at you.”
He pressed against his thighs and levered up. “All right. Don’t let the power go to your head.” He waggled his eyebrows and held out the key ring with keys to the storage areas, the fuse box, doors, and more. “Last chance to change your mind.”
“For the love of burgers, Buzz.” I pocketed the keys. “Go. Sleep. I’ll make you a sandwich when you wake up.”
He lifted a hand over his shoulder as he shuffled out of the kitchen back to the tiny office where he handled the paperwork.
It only had a desk and a chair in it, but I’d seen the sleeping bag he’d stashed in the corner.
I figured it wouldn’t matter that he would be on the floor.
He’d probably be asleep before he got the bag unzipped.
I did a quick ops check of the kitchen. Everything was clean and in good shape. Buzz had all our sides and extras cut and ready in the refrigerator and freezer. The desserts were good to go too.
He really did run a tight little ship here, and even though this was temporary—very temporary—I was excited to be able to call it my own. Well, to call it ours, for a few hours.
“I do want to be a partner in the business, Buzz,” I said, trying out the next conversation I wanted to have with him. “I’d like to be a bigger part of this. I love the Blue Owl. You’ve made it a home for me. I want to buy in and keep it going.”
That sounded good. Maybe after he got some rest, we could talk.
And maybe he might actually say yes.
I thought about what my life would look like if I were co-owner of the Blue Owl and it made me smile again. I didn’t have to look into the future to know what my heart wanted.
I headed out to the floor to see if my two customers needed anything.
Charles was halfway through the biscuits and gravy, a crossword puzzle book open on the table next to him. I refilled his coffee and water, agreed that the gravy might be a little salty and maybe we could adjust it for next time, then headed over to Gail.
She sat alone at the same table where she and Kenny had sat just a few days ago.
“Hey there, Gail. Can I get you anything else?” I took a peek at the future, and it was still blank. I wasn’t going to panic about it. It might be a side effect of the storm or maybe some kind of magical thing was happening in Ordinary that was blocking my signal.
Gail looked up from her almost empty glass of cherry cola. “Uh, I suppose some more cola?” She wasn’t wearing makeup, and her eyes were a little red like she’d been crying and had cried herself out. Her tone was softer too.
“Sure. Would a sandwich hit the spot?”
I couldn’t see the future, but there were no plates on the table. I had a feeling she’d been sitting here nursing the cola for some time now.
“I guess. Yes. Do you have turkey on rye?”
“I do. Anything special you might want on that?”
“No. Just however you do it.”
I slipped into the kitchen, made her sandwich the way Buzz always did it—he added red onions and green goddess dressing—then brought it out with a scoop of potato salad.
“Here you go.” I set the food and drink in front of her.
“Thank you. Piper? Could you sit here a minute?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“It’s just…I had everything figured out, right? A plan. I knew how to get what I wanted. Knew who to…use to get what I wanted.”
“Hugo?” I asked.
She nodded. “And Kenny. Used them against each other. I wanted them to break up the partnership. Wanted that business to sell. I hated that business. It ruined my marriage.”
I thought maybe Hugo stealing items and selling them on the black market might have been more of a marriage killer, but what did I know? I was single.
“But I didn’t want them dead. I said things about Hugo. I said things to Hugo. But he was an okay guy. Well, back at the beginning he was okay. Sweet.”
“You knew he was stealing things for a long time, didn’t you?”
“I suspected it. But I didn’t want to know.
He said he had one big payout coming in soon.
That it would make him and Kenny rich. I was excited at first. Then I saw the websites he was looking at.
Bahamas, Jamaica, Thailand. All one-way tickets.
All only for one person. He was going to leave me.
He was going to take that big payout and dump me. ”
“Is that why you cheated on him?”
“I didn’t—” She glanced up, then took a sip of her cola. “Not at first. I just wanted to talk Kenny into signing over part of the business. Things got out of hand. Kenny was real sweet in the beginning too.”
“Did you kill them, Gail?” I asked. “Hugo was leaving you. And did you think Kenny was really going to recognize your partnership in the store?”
“Kenny never signed the papers. He said he did, but my name isn’t on the building. I was never a partner. When I found out, I was angry. But I didn’t kill them.”
She picked up her sandwich, then put it back on the plate.
“I’ve got nothing. Just the house. I locked up the business and put cameras on it in case someone tries to vandalize it. Kenny would have hated seeing it get vandalized. But I’m going to sell the house. I’m moving to Idaho. Or Florida. Or maybe Boring where my life will be more…”
“…Boring?” I suggested.
She perked up a little at that. “Can you blame me for wanting some quiet? This town is just too much for me.”
She didn’t even know the half of it—the magic half.
“You’re staying until the murder investigation is done, aren’t you?”
“I suppose.” She finally took a bite, and her eyebrows lifted. “This is good.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s going to take time to sell the house, anyway. But I need something new. You know? Something that I can call my own.”
I thought of the yarn shop and the Blue Owl, and how I was ready for my life to change, to claim more places as mine, to move forward and build my dreams.
“I’ve got to get back to work. You need anything else?”
She shook her head and went back to her sandwich like she hadn’t eaten in days.
The sky flashed—white-blue sizzle—and a huge boom of thunder roared.
Then the entire place fell into darkness.
“It’s okay,” I said into the dark. “I think we blew a transformer. We have a backup generator. You all stay seated and I’ll go kick it on.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and turned on the flashlight function. It was bright enough to guide me down the back hall to our storage room. I put on my coat and rushed out the back door into the deluge. I unlocked the fuse box and hit the switches to power up the generator.
The rattling rumble of the engine turning over was satisfying. So was the porch light turning on.
I hurried into the building which was only illuminated by half the normal lights to conserve energy. That was how it was intended to work. People didn’t mind eating in low light—it gave the place ambiance. And that meant we’d have enough power for the grill and refrigeration units.
The diner was empty.
Gail was gone.
Charles was gone.
But there was a man in a trench coat standing in the shadows by the door, a knife in his hand.
Detective Simon Vandre.