The next morning, I felt almost normal. My head still ached, but it had receded to a dull throb. The doctor had told me to expect a lingering headache, perhaps some ringing in my ears, and a list of other potential complications. He also said I would probably experience fatigue and to rest as much as possible. I was able to manage the headache with a couple of over-the-counter pain relievers instead of the prescription he had given me. And thankfully, I wasn’t experiencing any other symptoms.
After swallowing the pills, I stared at my reflection. My hair was lopsided, long on the right and short on the left. The blow to my head had been at the base of my skull. The hair on that side was cut to the middle of my ear. The bandage covered another part of my hair that I was afraid I was going to lose when I had to remove it. I wiped away tears and told myself to not be silly. It was just hair. It would grow back. Even so, the first call I made was to my hairstylist. She agreed to work me in at eleven.
Olivia had arranged to work in the store, and with Emma’s help, they set the schedule for the next two days. April was one of our slower months, but Friday and Saturday were still our busiest days. Olivia assured me they had it covered. As we were closed on Sunday, I had three full days before I needed to return to work.
After speaking with Olivia, I called Marcus. When he didn’t answer, I sent a text. I had left him a message the night before as well. I was determined to track him down even if he appeared to be ignoring me.
Before leaving for the day, I needed to take care of my pets. I wasn’t up for a long walk, but I took Harry outside and circled the parking lot. He seemed content. He had spent the time I was in the hospital with the Weston boys. Harry loved Gabe and Olivia’s children, but they were a lot more active than I was. He always came home exhausted.
I took some time to review Brandy’s social media pages again. I made note of the men and women who appeared in her feed the most often. I added two more names to the ones I had already marked. I included Heidi Parker, the woman who had given Brandy’s business a two-star review. Heidi was a pain, but she was also a gossip. She might know something. Armed with the little information I could gather, I left for my hair appointment.
Jasmin Gale worked in the upscale salon, Le Belle, just off our downtown square. Like Scents and Sensibility, Le Belle wasn’t on the main part of the square but one block south on Oak which made it directly south of my store. I had a hair emergency one day about a year after we opened, and Le Belle was the nearest salon. Luckily, Jasmin had been available, and she had performed magic. I had been going to her ever since.
Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped when I walked in. The shock on her face was real. I felt the tears start to well up again. Jasmin swopped over, gave me a hug, and quickly bundled me into her chair.
“We’ll cut it short. I’ll keep the volume on top, making the front slightly longer, and we can shave the back. It will allow you to have something around your face while the back grows out. Don’t worry, Leah. I’ll make you look great.”
Jasmin helped me remove the bandage and replace it with a smaller one while she carefully washed my hair. As I relaxed in the chair, I heard a few whispers. By now, most people knew I had fallen into the lake; however, no one seemed to know I had been hit from behind. I wasn’t going to advertise that fact. The fewer people who knew I was a target, the better. It’s hard to get people to talk to you when they are afraid to be around you.
“So why were you at the lake?” Jasmin asked.
Everyone in town was aware I had recently been involved with a couple of murder cases, including Jasmin. We’d discussed it the last time I had been in so it didn’t surprise her when I told her the reason for my visit to the lake.
“Yeah, Brandy loved to go there.”
“You knew her?” I asked.
“Sure. I did her hair. She had gorgeous hair.”
“What was she like?”
“Brandy was popular, out-going. Determined might be the best way to describe her. She liked to party. Always going to bars or clubs, but she was smart. She had plans.”
“What kind of plans?”
“She wanted to have a family, stability, but she didn’t have much. Her dad died from cancer a couple of years ago. Brandy spent a lot of time and money nursing him. She was tired and wanted something, or maybe someone, to fix all her problems. She worked hard but was always looking for the next big thing.”
“When did you last see her?”
“Oh, two weeks ago I think. I can check my appointment book if you need to know the exact date.”
I should’ve known Jasmin would have information about Brandy. She knew a lot of people. Hairstylists often had the latest gossip, and Jasmin was no exception.
“No. That’s okay. What about relationships? Do you know who she was seeing?”
Jasmin sighed as she turned my head to the side. “That was Brandy’s problem. She went through men like most women go through shoes. Always looking for someone new. Someone different.”
“She indicated online she was seeing someone.”
“She talked about a new guy but never said his name. Just that he was in the restaurant business.”
My stomach sank. I sat frozen to the chair. Jasmin didn’t notice and continued chatting about her customers. I must have made the appropriate responses because she didn’t question me, but my mind was on other matters. This was one more indication Marcus was involved. I really needed to talk to him again. I pulled out my phone and sent another text.
“A quick dry and we’ll be done,” Jasmin announced.
Five minutes later, I got my first look at the new me. The back of my hair was shaved short while the front fell to my jawline. She didn’t quite manage to make me look great, but I didn’t look bad. The cut was well-done, and it emphasized my eyes. It just wasn’t my style.
“So what do you think?” Jasmin asked.
I gave her a brief smile and sincerely told her, “It’ll be great for the summer.”
She laughed. “Give it a few months. Then we can start reshaping it to your usual style.”
It felt weird, but it did look okay. I felt my spirits rise. It would be cooler for the hot summer months. If I had to have short hair, at least it was the perfect time of the year.
I paid for the cut, made an appointment to return in six weeks, and went to my car. I needed something to eat, but I wasn’t ready to face all my friends who would be forced to comment on my hair and ask about the accident. Instead of the usual sandwich at Nora’s, I drove out toward the highway and stopped at Bella’s.
It was in the middle of the lunch hour, but Bella’s didn’t draw a huge lunch crowd. It was more a dinner restaurant where you lingered over the meal and sipped wine. There were several available tables so I didn’t have to wait. I didn’t know the hostess, but I saw Mike Cantono and asked to be seated in his station. Mike was Damian’s youngest son. He had threatened me when I was trying to find out who killed Isabel Meeks. The Cantono family hadn’t wanted me to discover their drug-smuggling operation. It was the same night I first met Marcus.
After all the arrests had been made, and the bad guys sorted out, Marcus had offered both Mike and Ricky jobs and a way out of the criminal life. At first, it looked like both young men would make the transition, but now it seemed to me that Ricky was probably a lost cause. I didn’t know why he had been following me, but I had a feeling it wasn’t for anything good. On the other hand, Mike had apologized to me and was working hard. He was attending college and seemed to be taking his new life seriously. He was even friendly to me now.
Mike did a double take when he saw me. He gave me a tentative smile while he filled my water glass. He didn’t comment on my hair.
“Hi, Leah.”
“Hey, Mike. How’s it going?”
“Good. What would you like to drink?”
I ordered iced tea and the lunch fettuccine before asking if Marcus was around.
“No,” Mike answered. “He’s meeting with the contractor for the restaurant in McKinney.”
“Your grandmother said he was meeting with him the other day.”
“He’s having a lot of problems. This is the third one he hired.”
“Really? What happened with the other two?”
“The first guy quit. Said he got a better job. Marcus didn’t think it was true, but he didn’t want someone who didn’t want to be around. The second guy wasn’t doing any work. Every time Marcus went by the site, the workers were just sitting around. They didn’t have anything to do because the construction manager never ordered any materials. Marcus had to fire him.” Mike paused. “And now someone is sabotaging the site.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some of the materials have gone missing. One of the forklifts was damaged. Graffiti. Things like that.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Yeah. We had a few problems here too.” Someone a few tables over waved at Mike, asking for the check. “Sorry, I gotta go. I’ll get your order in.”
The lunch was delicious, but my mind was on what Mike had told me. If someone was trying to stop Marcus from opening another restaurant, it might be related to Brandy’s murder. But would someone murder a person to stop a restaurant from opening?
Marcus still hadn’t responded to my texts or phone call so I got the location of the new restaurant site from Mike. He was somewhat reluctant to tell me, but when I told him I would ask Arabella, he gave in. Marcus was scary, but Arabella wasn’t afraid of anyone. Mike knew she would give me the information if he didn’t.
The new restaurant was going to be called Bella’s II. I had teased Marcus that he wasn’t being very original. He had glared at me and told me name recognition was more important. He was probably right.
McKinney was located about a twenty-minute drive from my home. Like Reed Hill, it had a downtown area with a square filled with shops. The rest of McKinney, however, was much bigger than Reed Hill. While we had a little over ten thousand residents, McKinney had closer to two hundred thousand. I was familiar with the area as it had a lot of chain stores and restaurants we didn’t. It was also the county seat which meant most of the court cases were tried there, and when I was called for jury duty, that’s where I had to go.
Bella’s II was going to be located at the edge of town so it didn’t take me long to get there. It was on one corner and had a chain-link fence surrounding it. It didn’t look like much. The slab had been poured, and a basic frame was up, but that was it. However, there was a lot of activity with dump trucks and construction equipment moving around.
Marcus had selected a good location. There was a shopping center across the street that was still under construction. A few of the stores were already open so there were people milling around and cars in the parking lots. The area would be bustling by the end of the year.
There were cars parked along the street in front of Bella’s with a few pulled up onto the curb. I recognized one of them as belonging to Marcus. I turned onto the road, looking for the opening in the fence. When I found it, I pulled in and stopped the car. Directly in front of me was a small security booth with a man dressed in a guard uniform. He immediately began waving me back.
I ignored him, pulled out my phone, and sent Marcus a text. I told him where I was and that I wasn’t leaving until he talked to me.
By now, the guard was walking toward my car. I quickly jumped out and gave him a bright smile. I casually leaned against the car, trying not to fall over. Moving fast hadn’t been a good idea. I also tried not to look intimidated. The guard was huge, and he didn’t smile back.
“You can’t park here,” he said flatly.
“I won’t be here long. I’m waiting for Marcus.” The guard scowled and took another step toward me. I smiled and tried again. “You know, the owner, Marcus Cantono.”
“I know who the owner is.”
His eyes flicked briefly to the street. I turned my head in time to see a kid wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses ride by on a bicycle. The guard tracked his movement for a moment and then returned his glare to me.
“I sent Marcus a text.” I waved my phone. “I’m sure he’ll be here any minute now. Matter of fact, there he is.”
Marcus was walking down the entrance with a man in a construction hat who was carrying some papers. Apparently, I had interrupted a meeting. Marcus didn’t look happy. I could almost see the frustration radiating off him as he stomped toward me. When he got closer, his eyes skimmed my face, and he stopped abruptly, eyes widening.
“What the hell happened to your hai…I mean…uh…you look nice.”
For the first time since I had woken up in the hospital, I burst out laughing. Marcus continued toward me with the construction guy following close behind. The guard stepped to the side but didn’t leave.
“Marcus,” I said with a grin. “You really need to work on your delivery. That was one of the most insincere compliments I’ve ever heard.”
He looked at me sheepishly and opened his mouth to reply. Then all hell broke loose.