Red Red Rose (4 page)

“That’s
what I thought.”

Cassie
returned with his fresh fruit and vegetable smoothie, and I took it from her,
holding it out to Will. “Take your super smoothie and your little jealous man
feelings and go sit down.”

“Jealous
man feelings?” His eyebrows shot up, partly in amusement.

I
chuckled. “Go. Sit.”

“He’s
single, right?” Cassie asked, once he was out of earshot.

I
gave her a look. “I don’t think you want to go there, Cass.”

“Come
on,” she whined. “Pleeeease, you guys are friends. You gotta set me up.”

“I
can feel him out for you, but in all the time that he’s been coming into the
shop,” which was the same amount of time I’d known him, “I haven’t known him to
have a steady girlfriend. He goes on lots of first dates, and a few second
dates, and even fewer third dates, but I don’t think it goes too much beyond
that.”

“Why
do all the good looking ones have to have wandering dicks?”

I
snorted. “Tell me about it.” A quick glance at the clock told me her shift was
almost over “You have class today?”

Cassie
was in her junior year at Western on the road to becoming a social worker.

“Just
one class today, but I have two papers to write over the weekend.”

I
missed writing papers about as much as I missed Nathan. “Why don’t you do a
quick check of the bathrooms, and then as soon as Mitch gets here, you can take
off a little early.”

With
a nod, she flitted off to the restrooms and I went to the register to check our
numbers for the day.

“Hey
Danny,” I heard Cassie’s cheerful voice, and looked up to see our most loyal
customer coming in the door. He gave her a bashful wave before she ducked
inside the bathroom and then he claimed one of the fat cozy chairs in the
corner with his stuff before making his way over to me at the counter. I’d
already started on his drink, and couldn’t hear over the sound of the steamer
when he started to make small talk.

“What
was that?” I asked once the milk was steamed.

“I
asked how your day is going so far.”

“Not
bad. I took the morning off so I haven’t been here long, but it looks like it
will be another busy day. You have lots of work to get done?”

“Always.”

I
snapped the lid on his cup and slid the sleeve over it before handing it to
him. “Anything else for ya?”

“I’ll
try one of those strawberry strudels.”

I
retrieved one from the case and slid it into a sleeve. “Do you want it warmed?”

“Yes
please.”

I
popped it in the small microwave for a few seconds.

“Did
you know that strawberries aren’t actually berries at all?”

I
gave him a curious look. “Really?”

“Yes,
but bananas, kiwis, tomatoes, avocados, pomegranates and even watermelons are
all berries, which are any simple fruit stemming from a single flower with one ovary.”

“Interesting.
Well, then what would be a proper name for strawberries?” I handed him his
strudel and waited while his face turned up in a puzzled frown.

“I
don’t know, I’ll have to think on that.”

I
chuckled as he walked away from the counter, back to his workspace. There was
no use in ringing him up yet when it was likely there would be many more drinks
and snacks after that one. I just started him a tab for the day.

“He’s
so odd,” Cassie commented, back from her check of the restrooms.

“Maybe,
but he’s sweet, and harmless. He just has a thing for weird trivia facts.”

Shortly
after, Mitch came on for his afternoon shift and I let Reggie and Cassie go. Mitch
had been with me almost since the beginning like Cass and Reggie. He was an
alright worker, on the quieter side compared to the rest of them. It was
obvious though, that working in a coffee shop wasn’t his life dream, but he was
friendly enough and did his job. I’d had higher hopes when I hired him. He’d
been persistent about getting the job, coming in almost every day to check, so
I gave him a shot despite his lack of coffee experience. The experience he
picked up, the enthusiasm and passion for coffee and customer service, not so
much. I couldn’t complain too much though. I’d worked in restaurants with
co-workers that had much worse attitudes than him. All in all, my team was
pretty solid.

Together,
we covered the counter until Carlie, my youngest and newest employee, showed up
once her high school let out for the day. When she walked in, I noticed her new
hairstyle right away. She was always changing it up, and now she’d gone with a
platinum blonde that faded to a black ombre at the end of her long ponytail. “I
like the new do,” I told her. For the last few months she’d been a redhead,
before that, it was blonde with purple in the underneath.

“Thanks,”
she smiled and then grimaced. “Not exactly a good time to be a redhead.” All of
the murdered girls were redheads. One of the reasons Emily didn’t fit the
profile. She had locks of sunshine, not fire.

“When
are you going to let me do yours?” Carlie quickly changed subjects. She’d been
asking since I hired her in September. When she graduated in June, she planned
to enroll in beauty school. I absent-mindedly ran my fingers through my own
ponytail.

“I
think I’ll keep it the way it is a while longer.” The raven colored tresses
that fell down and hit me mid-back weren’t natural, but I’d been dying my hair to
match my mother’s since I was thirteen. I could no longer even picture myself
with lighter hair. The black was just me now.

“Hey
Carlie,” Mitch popped out from the kitchen. He cocked his head. “You changed
your hair.”

“I
did.” Mitch might have missed the way her whole face lit up at him noticing,
but I didn’t. The twenty-five year old was completely oblivious to the
teenager’s crush on him and went about his work while she stared after him
dreamily. He was handsome, with a stocky build. I think he’d been a wrestler in
high school and maybe even college, but now he was taking steps to become a
police officer. That he remained unaware of Carlie’s affections was the only
thing that saved me from having to discourage them. As far as I could tell, he
was a decent guy, but he was too old for her. She was a sweet kid who didn’t
need to be tailing after an older guy, especially not one who smoked and to my
knowledge, found his dates by frequenting the local bars.

The
three of us worked through the rest of the afternoon, into the evening with few
slow periods. Good for business, but exhausting. At seven things started to die
down and Mitch went home, leaving Carlie to close with me. All day she and
Mitch had been talking about a new movie they both wanted to see. Carlie had
mentioned that a group from her school was going to a nine o’clock showing. I
think she’d hoped he would ask her if she wanted to go with him, but he
remained clueless despite her less than subtle nudging. Feeling bad for her, I decided
to let her go fifteen minutes early so she wouldn’t miss the first part of the
movie.

“Go
ahead and take off so you can make your movie with your friends. I’ll be fine
closing up tonight by myself.”

“You
sure?” I could see the hopeful look on her face.

“Yeah.
It’s not a problem. Go see your movie.”

Once
she’d gathered her stuff and clocked out, I watched out the window to make sure
she got to her car safely and then I went ahead and turned off our open light a
few minutes early and started the process of cleaning the espresso machine. The
young guy who appeared to be working on a paper, packed up his things and left.
Once again, Danny was the last customer standing. He appeared fully engrossed
in his work still, so I left him to it.

Just
before I closed out the register, the door opened and I looked up to see
Officer Nielson walking in my door. He was in uniform, so I guessed he was on
duty, or just coming off a shift.

“Good
evening, Nora.” He walked up to the counter.

“Good
evening, Officer Nielson.”

“You
know you can call me Ben, Nora.” Besides being a police officer, he’d also
dated Emily briefly a couple months back. He was the only cop who was as sure
as I was that she hadn’t disappeared of her own volition. He was doing what he
could to ensure that a full investigation was done. He was a nice guy, and I
kind of wished Emily hadn’t broken things off with him. He was more stable than
most of her flings. In the short time they spent together, he’d also adored
her, which was more than I could say about previous boyfriends. Maybe if she’d
been out with him, she would be home safe right now. Unfortunately the nice, responsible
guys weren’t really her type.

“You
here on official business about Em, or can I get you something?”

“I
wouldn’t say no to a cup of regular coffee if you’ve got one, but I’m here just
to make sure you knew it wasn’t Em that was found this morning.”

“Yeah,
I heard the description didn’t fit. I take it you haven’t had any luck in
finding out what happened to her?”

He
cupped the back of his neck and looked at me regretfully. “I wish I could say
we had, but I want you to know we are taking this seriously. I know it may seem
like all the attention is on the other girls, but we are searching for Emily
and I promise we won’t give up until we find her.”

I
nodded. “I appreciate you stopping by.” I got him his coffee on the house and then
I followed him to the door, locking it behind him so I could finish closing up.
Danny finally looked up from his screen when I was counting down the till.

“When
did it get to be nine?”

I
let out a soft chuckle. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a few things to tend to
in the office, so you can finish up whatever had you so intensely focused
today.” I took the money back to the office and deposited it in the safe for
the night, then made sure everything was set for Reggie to open again in the
morning. By the time I returned to the front, Danny had almost finished packing
up his things. I gathered the garbage into one large trash bag, before
unlocking the door to let him out.

“Have
a good night.”

“Do
you want me to wait for you, walk you out?”

“I’ll
be fine. I’m parked out back, but thank you.” I locked the door again behind
him and then collected my things, slipping my coat on, before scooping up the
trash bag and hauling it to the back. I set the alarm and then exited into the
dark alley. I set the trash on the ground and used my key to lock the door. As
I bent to retrieve the trash bag, a tingling sensation ran down my spine just
before a rustle in the nearby bushes drew my attention.

I
straightened and scanned the dark around me, seeing nothing but shadows. The alley
butted up against the building that sat on the corner behind mine. It was
shared by a bike shop and photo lab. Beside it, a large parking lot stretched,
taking up the rest of the block. That was where I parked, and nothing but
darkness and shrubbery, as well as a few trees, separated me from my car. The
noise must have been the wind. I shook off the tinge of fear and carried the
trash bag over to the dumpster. I tossed it inside, but again I was startled by
a rustling noise. I froze for just a second before I spun around, searching the
night for whatever made the noise. I did not believe it was the wind this time.

“Danny?”
I called hesitantly, thinking he might have walked around to make sure I made
it to my car safely. He didn’t answer and no one stepped out of the shadows. My
heart was drumming inside my chest. I hurried toward my car, fumbling with my
keys to hit the unlock button on my CR-V. When I climbed into the driver’s
seat, I hurriedly hit the lock button and then pulled in a deep breath, letting
it out with a weak chuckle, while mentally I scolded myself for being so silly.

It
was probably a stray cat. There was no one but me in the alley.

~~~~

I
watched as her car came to life, flooding the parking lot with light. I
remained in the shadow of the bike shop until she pulled out of the lot and
onto the street. I watched her go until her taillights disappeared around a
corner, shrouding the area once again in darkness.

“Goodnight,
sweet Nora,” my whisper faded into the night.

Dear
sweet Nora. Missed what was right in front of her. I could have stepped out of the
shadows and she still wouldn’t have seen the threat. After all, it was only me.
That thought made me snicker to myself. It made no difference that things
hadn’t gone exactly according to plan. I slipped up and got caught, a mistake
that nearly cost me everything, but in the end, I would have what I wanted, and
very soon she would realize her mistake.

I
couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when she finally realized who I was,
who’d I’d been all along, and that I’d been right in front of her all this
time.

Not
yet though.

I
walked over to the dumpster and tossed the object in my hands over the side.