Chapter 6 #3
They pressed their backs to the books as a couple of women squeezed by. Once they’d passed, Amie had finished processing what Grayson had said.
“What about the rest of the employees?” she asked. “Aren’t there other people working here?”
“Nope, just me. Others got laid off.”
Surprised, Amie asked, “When?”
Grayson looked up, doing the mental math. “Three weeks ago? A month? Something like that. Savannah kept me on because I’ve been working here the longest.”
“Why’d the rest get laid off?”
Grayson rubbed his thumb against his pointer and middle fingers. “Why else? Store’s been struggling as long as I’ve worked here. I felt kind of bad for the others, but it means I can more easily pick up extra hours when I need the cash, so I’m not complaining.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Amie saw Raina emerge from the back room with a jug of iced tea. She gave Amie a small smile as she passed them.
“Did Raina complain?” Amie asked, lowering her voice. Through the shelves, she saw the store’s manager veer down the next aisle, away from the empty pitcher she’d been on her way to fill. Benny was still standing by the refreshments, appearing to have single-handedly eaten half of the crackers.
“About Savannah laying off the other part-timers?” Grayson asked. “Nah, she was cool with it. Raina always goes along with whatever Savannah says. She’s probably gonna take over the store once Savannah retires.”
He winced, scratching the back of his head. “I mean, she was. Maybe not anymore.”
Amie’s heart picked up speed. “Raina wanted to take over the store?”
Grayson nodded. “She wants to own it one day, I think.” Then, apparently catching on to Amie’s train of thought, hastily added, “But she wouldn’t have, like, killed for it.
She loved Savannah. Or, at least, she dealt with her better than most people.
Raina’s been working here forever, but Savannah was probably only a few more years out from retirement.
She wouldn’t have killed Savannah just because she was taking too long to retire.
Raina’s, like, one of the most patient people in the world. ”
“I’d imagine you’d have to be, to work that much with Savannah,” Amie said.
“You got that right.”
“Did you get along with Savannah?”
Grayson snorted. “No one got along with Savannah. You’d either let her walk all over you, or get chewed up, spit out, and then walked all over. I usually opted for the first. I honestly wouldn’t have minded getting laid off. I’m pretty sure the guys who did get the boot didn’t care much.”
He shrugged. “But it’s just a job. I clock in, I take a super long lunch break, I clock out. Try not to take things too seriously. Plus I get an employee discount, so, not the worst use of my time.”
“Savannah was killed here in the store, right?” Amie asked, wracking her brain for more questions to ask while she had such a willing subject.
“In the back room, yeah. Heard it happened after closing. Wasn’t told much else.”
“Was it a break-in?”
Grayson shook his head. “Not from what I saw. No broken windows or busted doors. It can get really stuffy in the back, so sometimes we prop the door open to get fresh air. My guess is Savannah forgot to close it, and they came in through there.”
“Were you here when the store closed?” Amie asked.
“Nah, I worked open to three.”
“Mm.” Amie wracked a little more. “Did you see anything … suspicious that day? Anything unusual happen?”
“Not really.” Grayson rubbed his chin. “I might’ve noticed more if I’d known there was going to be a murder that night. I’ve been working on my powers of observation today, in case there’s another one.”
He looked around. “Ask me … um … oh! Ask me how many bouquets of flowers are in the store right now.”
“How many—”
“Seven,” Grayson cut in. He paused. “But we get those flowers every week, so maybe that doesn’t count. Ask me …”
The mention of flowers jogged Amie’s memory. “Savannah was at the grocery store that morning,” she said. “She got into an argument with a man named David. Did you hear about this?”
“Oh, yeah,” Grayson said. “Didn’t think much of it. It’d be more unusual if a day went by when Savannah wasn’t pissed off about something.”
“Who else did she tell about it?”
“She was grumbling all day about people sticking their noses into other people’s business. If anyone bothered asking her what was wrong, she’d go off about how David started yelling at her while she was talking to the flower guy.”
Amie’s stomach sank. That meant anyone could have known that Savannah and David had gotten into an argument that day.
“Anyway,” Grayson said, “I should probably get back to looking like I’m working. Oh!” He held out the clipboard he’d been clutching. “Would you like to sign up for our newsletter? You’ll be notified about new releases through text or email.”
Amie wasn’t particularly interested, but since the guy had spent so much time answering her questions, she felt compelled to help him out.
Scribbling her name and email address onto the sheet, Amie was surprised to see Benny’s name and phone number above hers.
She suspected it was more likely he’d filled it out due to social pressure than a genuine love for books.
In his defense, that had been her reasoning, too.
It was likely Grayson would get a good amount of sign-ups solely from people who would feel bad saying no.
“Did you need help finding something?” Grayson asked as she finished.
“Oh, no. Just browsing, thanks.”
“All right. Let Raina know if you need anything.” He gave her a small salute, then wandered off.
Amie peeked around the bookshelf. Benny was still haunting the refreshments, the pitcher of iced tea sitting empty next to him. She drifted back down the aisle, looking for Raina in a way she hoped didn’t seem like she was looking for Raina.
Stopping by a display of autobiographies, she peeked through the shelf to search for her target.
Raina was standing in the next aisle, her back to Amie, the jug of iced tea resting in the crook of her arm.
She appeared to be scanning the bookshelf for something, but Amie recognized the other woman’s casual glances down the aisle.
They were identical to the casual glances Amie had been casting less than a minute earlier. Raina was looking for someone.
Amie knew this could be her opportunity to talk to the store’s manager, but curiosity kept her where she stood. She wanted to see who Raina was looking for.
As the minutes passed, Amie began to wonder what was taking Ziya so long. She hoped she hadn’t confronted Madeline directly about Savannah’s murder. If Madeline was the murderer, and suspected that Ziya was onto her …
Amie’s anxiety began to spike. She was moments away from sprinting out of the store when Raina began moving down the aisle toward the counter.
Abandoning any subterfuge she’d been attempting earlier, Amie followed the manager down her parallel aisle, peeking out to see who she was approaching. To her surprise, there was no one. Raina had twisted the cap off the jug and was refilling the pitcher.
“Excuse me” came Andrew’s voice from behind. Amie froze, then slowly turned, expecting to see the man glowering at her for spying.
But Andrew was walking over to Benny, who was standing by the door to the back room.
“Sorry, Benny,” Andrew said. “Employees only.”
The landlord’s face was pink with embarrassment. “I was looking for the bathroom,” he said awkwardly.
Andrew shook his head. “Normally I’d let you use the employee bathroom, but the police still have a section of the back room blocked off. No one can get to it right now. Sorry.”
“Sure, no problem,” Benny mumbled, moving away from the door. He shuffled past Andrew, disappearing down one of the aisles. Andrew watched him go, then entered the back room.
Amie turned back to find her view of Raina blocked by several people who had seemingly all in unison decided it was time to buy their books.
Raina must have also noticed the sudden line at the register. “Grayson!” Amie heard her call from behind the wall of people. “Register!”
Grayson jogged out of a nearby aisle, making a beeline for the back room. “I’m taking my lunch break!” he called, sliding his clipboard across the counter and slipping through the door.
A moment later, Raina appeared behind the counter. She retrieved the clipboard, shooting an annoyed glance at the back room door before smiling at the first customer in line.
Amie let out a frustrated huff. It’d be a while before the other woman was free to talk. Ziya could be dead by then.
ZIYA. Remembering her worry for her ex, Amie allowed her fear to rush her out the door of the bookshop so fast she collided with the subject of her concern.
“Ow,” Ziya groaned, grabbing Amie’s shoulders to steady them both. “What happened? Are you being chased?”
“No, I—are you okay?”
Ziya rolled her eyes. “That woman moves fast. I chased her into the café, but wasn’t able to get to her before she went in the back. Had to stand in line and order a cake pop just to tell Jess I wanted to talk to their boss.”
“Did you really have to order the cake pop?” Amie asked, smiling.
“Well, I stood in line for so long, I had to get something.”
“You haven’t even eaten your muffin yet.”
“I got you one, too.”
“Ooh!”
They sat at a small table outside of the café, neglecting their breakfast items in favor of the frosting-coated balls of cake on sticks.
“When Madeline came out,” Ziya said, “I said I saw Andrew yelling at her and wanted to make sure she was okay. She looked kind of weirded out that I dragged her out of her office for that, but she said she appreciated me asking.”
Ziya took a bite of her cake pop, then continued. “I asked if she knew why Andrew was so upset with her. She was still a little confused, but also seemed like she wanted to talk about it, y’know? Defend herself to someone, even if it wasn’t him.”
Amie nodded.