Chapter 16 #2
“He’s always starving.” I dug into my breakfast. “What are you doing this morning, Beth? I don’t want to mention your leaving, but have you been on the beach lately?”
“Every day. I put it as one of my three must-dos in my planner. I’ll go as soon as you leave for work. I should have asked before, but you don’t mind me taking Emma with me, do you? She knows I don’t run, so she just kind of hangs out with me as we walk.”
“I bet she’s loving it.” I reached down and gave Emma a bite of my bacon. I wasn’t above bribing my dog to remember who she loved more. “I might be driving to Bakerstown today if you want to go with me.”
“I’m off at three if you can wait.” Beth opened her planner. “I need to take some books back to the library and I’d love to spend a few hours researching this new cult that Dom’s sister was in.”
Greg sat down at the table and opened a muffin.
The basket on the counter was full of them.
He and Beth must have already eaten the protein part of breakfast since he’d cleaned up the pans after he gave me my plate.
“What have you found out so far? I asked Esmeralda to do a deep dive and see if there’s anything that connects Chip to the cult or Dom’s sister. ”
Beth looked up sharply. “Because?”
“Because Dom is still a person of interest and revenge is a dish often served cold.” Greg smiled. “These are good. Thanks.”
She smiled back at him. “Well, if this was revenge for Dom’s sister, the dish is frozen, not cold. But whatever. You do you. And if you want, you can take some of these muffins to the station. I think I made too many for just us.”
“You’re sweet, thanks.” He didn’t stand. Instead he turned his attention to me. “While Beth is researching cults for her book, you’ll be doing what?”
“Helping her?” I smiled and felt my lips stretch over my teeth.
“Try again?” Greg pointed out that I’d said I was going before Beth agreed to come.
I opened my notebook and pulled out my phone.
“Josh gave me some books on South Cove history to read. I found out that before Chip bought the bar, it had been a speakeasy and a brothel. There were rumors of hidden rooms to hide the bootlegged whiskey. Chris was there last night to see what it would take to open the bar again and asked me to come along. It was emotional for her. So I tagged along and measured the rooms and took pictures. I just need to find an original blueprint to compare the measurements. I think there might be something to the rumors.”
He looked at my pictures and my drawings. “Fine. Go ahead.”
“Thank you for your permission, but I wasn’t asking for it.” I closed the notebook and put it away.
“Jill, you never do. Oh, you asked about the cold case murder at the bar before Chip bought it. Apparently, the girlfriend did kill the guy. He was cheating on her. The case was closed, but she committed suicide soon after and the chief at the time didn’t want to upset the girl’s family.
So he took it to the judge and the other case was closed with the note she’d left.
Maybe they didn’t file all the paperwork to get the dismissal filed. ”
“That’s sad. I know it’s only two deaths, but that building might be holding on to the negative energy now.” I tried to remember what I’d heard or read about clearing a building. “Maybe we need to sage it? Can you ask Esmeralda?”
“Okay, Miss New Age. Beth, can you keep her from doing anything stupid before you leave? I know it will be hard, but it’s only until Monday when you drive off to the airport.
Then I’ll take over the responsibility.” He stood and put about half of the muffins in a bag.
“And thanks for the muffins. I’ve got to get to work. ”
“Hey, you’re making it sound like you’re the boss of me,” I complained as he walked past me and into the laundry room to get a clean shirt. He’d have them all hanging up on the rack in the room, waiting.
“Brothers. They’re cut from the same cloth,” Beth commented as she refilled her coffee.
Neither one of them answered me. Greg tapped his watch and reminded me that he was walking me to work.
At the bookstore, I was almost through serving the commuter line their coffees when a twenty-something woman came into the shop.
Her long black hair was all braided, each having a little bead at the end that made noise as she walked.
A yellow romper and blue neon tennis shoes completed the outfit.
No one was going to miss this woman on the street or in a crowded store.
She stood out. Book shopping, I thought as she went straight to the new releases and touched every book on the shelf.
She waited for the last coffee customer to be served before coming up to the counter with one book.
“How can I help you?” I nodded to the book. “I read that last month and loved it.”
“Good recommendation.” She smiled as she set the book down. “I’m Zara Madison. My aunt said you were looking for help. So I’m here to help. Do employees get a discount? I’ll probably just spend my entire salary on books, but it would be so worth it.”
I loved her energy. “Let’s have something to drink and we can talk about if you’re a match. You have good taste in books. What can I make you?”
“Chai, iced.” She picked up one of the bookmarks that Deek had designed for the store. “This is good work. Did Auntie Evie do it? I didn’t realize she had graphic design skills like this.”
I handed her the tea and then grabbed my coffee. I nodded to the table next to the counter. All the commuters had just bought and left. We were alone for a while. “Actually, no, another employee, Deek, designed those.”
She tucked the bookmark into the book and left it on the counter. “Oh, the writer? That’s unusual for someone to have talent in visual arts and wordsmithing.”
“Deek’s unusual, that’s for certain. Tell me about you.”
By the time Beth came to work, I had hired another bookseller.
Zara was going to school part-time but hadn’t settled on a major yet.
She’d spent a few years traveling through Europe after high school, so I knew she and Judith would find some common topics.
I liked her. She was starting training on Saturday since she had classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Between her and Andrew, I should almost have a full-time barista. If they wanted that many hours.
I told Beth I’d meet her at three at the house and we could eat dinner in Bakerstown since Greg had already mentioned he’d be working late. So first thing was to see if Amy had a blueprint for Chip’s Bar and maybe time for lunch. I headed over to City Hall.
She had just gotten off the phone when I came through the door to the mayor’s office. “I am so glad you showed up today.”
“Oh? Problems?” I glanced toward the mayor’s office. Muffled voices came through the closed door. Loud muffled voices.
“Aren’t there always? I swear, those two fight like this is a boxing ring, not a government building. Anyway, did you come to get me for lunch or are you just popping in?” Amy had her hand on the door sign that said Be Back Soon, with a moveable clock on the bottom.
“I need to ask a favor, then we can do lunch.” I stepped closer to the desk. “Chip’s place, the building, not the bar, does it have any blueprints?”
She took the file off the top of her desk in a wire basket.
“Greg’s already been here. He asked for a copy.
But the problem is the only blueprint is from the bathroom remodel in 1990.
There are no original blueprints here on file.
He said you’d get me a copy if you found something this afternoon.
” She studied my face as I looked at the blueprints.
I assumed they’d match up with what I’d measured, except I hadn’t measured the bathrooms last night and I should have. She handed me a folder with a copy of the print inside. “Thanks. This is helpful.”
She put the original folder in a desk drawer. “Why did he tell me you’d get a copy of the original prints?”
I rolled my eyes. “Because I’m going to the library in Bakerstown today to research the building. I can’t believe he used my information to check your files.”
“Isn’t that good though? At least he’s using your work and not ignoring it.” Amy grabbed her purse and rerouted her phone to the police station. She hit the intercom. “Esmeralda? I’m running to lunch. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“Tell Jill I said hi,” was the response.
I rubbed my face. Everyone knows my business before I even do anything. “I don’t know why Greg worries. He has spies all over to keep me in line.”
“Or he knows you too well.” Amy hung up the sign and locked the door. “Let’s get out of here before Marvin or Tina open the door with something else for me to do.”