Monday Evening
Olde Towne Tavern
Elise glanced over at Kevin. “It’s getting late. I should get home.”
Molly caught the wink that Kevin gave Elise before signaling for the checks.
Rick agreed, “I should go too. I have an early call tomorrow. This has been fun, and I hope we can do it again soon.”
It surprised Molly that she’d actually had a good time. They had reminisced about high school and updated each other on their careers and personal lives. Rick had asked questions about the renovations of the B and B, and Elise had gotten them laughing with tales of her exploits working in kitchens across Europe.
When the bills came, Molly insisted on paying her share of the tab, but Rick refused. “I invited you. Thank you for meeting me.”
Tony turned to Molly. “What’s on your agenda tomorrow?”
“We don’t have any incoming reservations until the weekend, so if it’s a nice day, I’m going to give the guest rooms another good airing out,” she said. “Then I’m going to take George Roark’s rental car and belongings to the hospital.”
Tony raised an eyebrow. “You sound like you want to get rid of him.”
“I don’t trust him,” she blurted. “I think he’s lying about something.”
Rick and Tony leaned in toward her questioningly, but Molly turned away, watching Britney deliver the checks.
Rick cupped his chin in his upturned palm. “Who is he, and what makes you say that?”
Molly frowned. “He’s Aubrey’s agent, and I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think he knew or at least had suspicions he was being fired before Aubrey’s death.”
“Is this the conversation you told me about with the publicist?” Tony asked.
“In that conversation with Tracy Barnes, he was fishing—like he wanted to see what she knew. Perhaps he’d heard about Aubrey’s little post-party meetup. After that person left, maybe George confronted Aubrey. Things could have gotten out of hand.”
Kevin laughed. “My little sister playing Nancy Drew again.” He signed his check and slipped the receipt into his pocket.
“Sounds plausible to me,” Rick said.
“Anything is possible.” Tony directed his gaze at Molly. “But I don’t want you meeting with him alone. Let me know when you plan to go to the hospital, and I’ll meet you there. I need to talk to him again. I can give you a ride home afterward.”
Molly’s first instinct was to protest, but the words came out as an agreement to call Tony with her schedule the next day.
Kevin reached over the table to shake Tony’s hand. “Thanks for looking out for my little sister. I appreciate it.”
Molly rolled her eyes.
Rick stood. “I’ll walk out with you. Kevin, I have a remodeling question, if you don’t mind. Molly, this has been great, and I hope to see you again soon.” He kissed her on the cheek.
Molly started to leave with Elise, but Tony laid two fingers on her shoulder. “Molly, wait, I want to ask you something.”
Molly and Elise exchanged glances. With a nod, Elise said, “Let’s have breakfast in the morning to go over the menus for the weekend.” Elise winked and whispered, “And hear all the details.”
Molly glared at her, then turned back to Tony with a smile. “All right.”
As they exited through the reception area, Molly stopped when she heard a familiar voice call her name. She turned and saw her aunt leaving the lounge area with her jacket over her arm.
“Aunt Vanessa!” she exclaimed.
Vanessa hugged her niece and gave Tony an approving scan. “I dropped in for a drink with some out-of-town clients. What are you two doing here?” she asked with an undercurrent of hope.
Molly laughed. “I’ve seen my whole family tonight. The only person we’re missing is Nana.”
Vanessa wrinkled her brow and shook her mane of thick, shoulder-length, dark hair.
“We had dinner with Rick Owens from high school. He works at the coroner’s office now,” she explained. “Kevin and Elise just showed up. And now you.”
“Honey, I’m so glad you’re getting out with friends.”
Tony held the front door open for them, but Molly hung back behind Vanessa, glancing into the cocktail lounge. She tapped her aunt’s silk sleeve. “Isn’t that Lauren Driscoll?”
Vanessa followed the direction of Molly’s gaze and nodded. “Yes, it is. I didn’t see her sitting in that dark corner. Aubrey’s death has really hit her hard.”
“Tony, she was in the photo you showed us earlier,” Molly said. “The one with Vanessa. Lauren was holding Aubrey’s book.”
“I remember,” he said. “I’ve been trying to catch up with her. I think she’s been avoiding me.”
“Should we go over?” Molly asked. “Just to say hi, of course.”
Vanessa glanced back at Lauren. “She looks like she doesn’t want to be disturbed.”
“Best time to talk,” Tony said, heading toward Lauren’s table with Molly and Vanessa close behind.
Lauren raised her head, saw them, and blanched as if she had sensed them coming. Her red-rimmed, puffy eyes darted about the room with alarm as they approached, and then she sank into the back of her chair. Molly wondered if she was just exhausted, or perhaps the drink she clenched was not her first.
Tony asked, “Mrs. Driscoll? I’m Detective Shannon. We’ve been missing each other. I need to ask you some questions.”
Lauren looked from Vanessa to Molly. “Now?”
“Can you come into the sheriff’s office tomorrow morning?”
She gazed into her drink. “I have to work tomorrow.”
“I can stop by the library.”
Her eyes darted upward. “No, I can come to you. What time?”
“How about nine?”
She nodded. “Okay. I’ll come in.”
Tony smiled. “Thanks. I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned to Molly. “Ready to go? I’ll walk you out.”
Molly caught Vanessa’s eye questioningly and blinked in response. “Tony, I’ll meet you outside.”
He nodded. “I’ll wait by your car.”
Vanessa slid into the chair on one side of Lauren while Molly sat across from her. Vanessa placed her hand on Lauren’s forearm. “How are you doing?”
Lauren pulled her arm away. “I’m fine.”
Molly leaned in. “I know it’s very sad—about Aubrey.”
Lauren stared into her drink. “Yes, I can’t believe it happened.”
Vanessa laid a maternal finger across her thin, pale wrist. “How about I drive you home, dear? You can pick up your car tomorrow.” Vanessa caught Molly’s eye and inclined her head toward the exit.
Molly stood. “Ah yes, I’d better get going.”
In the cool night air, Tony was leaning on the driver’s door of her car. “Well, did she say anything?”
Molly shook her head. “Not really. Lauren clearly didn’t want to talk in front of me. I’ll call Vanessa tomorrow. She’ll tell me what they talked about.”
“I hope Mrs. Driscoll shows up tomorrow. If not, I’ll pay her a visit at the library.”
Surprised she was suddenly tongue-tied, Molly retrieved her keys from her purse and unlocked the car. “I’ll call you tomorrow when I’m ready to take George’s things to the hospital.” Her heart rate sped up, and she felt warm even though the spring night was chilly.
He opened the driver’s door, his hand slightly brushing across her fingers. “I’ll meet you in the lobby near the information desk.”
She glanced up into his bright-blue eyes. Her hand felt warm where his fingers had touched her. “Uh…okay.”
“Molly, I…”
“See you tomorrow.” She slid into the driver’s seat.
He shut the door and stepped back as she started the engine. After putting the car in gear, she looked up at him, waved, and backed out of the parking spot.
***
As Molly drove the winding country road home, she replayed the evening. It had been fun, but she didn’t believe that Kevin and Elise had just happened into the tavern on a whim, nor was the tavern their only Monday dinner choice.
Elise is a chef, after all!
Admittedly, she had been a little ticked when they appeared in the dining room. She knew her brother was checking up on her, and she appreciated it—most of the time. But they still had a nice evening, and it felt great being out with friends, something she hadn’t done in a long time. But she wished she’d learned more about what the autopsy had revealed about Aubrey Rhodes.
As Molly pulled into the driveway, the headlights bounced off the white pillars, and as she drove around, they reflected in the wavy glass of the summer porch. She parked by the kitchen door and noticed Elise’s car beside the cottage, with Kevin’s truck behind it. A faint light glowed through the peach living-room curtains. Initially, Molly had been shocked to discover that Kevin and Elise were a couple, but she’d decided it was a good thing for them. She still worried about what might happen if they should break up, but, as Elise had said on Saturday, it was her heart and her feelings.
I’m happy someone in this family is having a good time.
She sighed and unlocked the kitchen door. She missed Danny. She missed him the most at night when she was alone with her thoughts. Maybe she was lonely, and that’s why she’d had a rush of whatever it was that had happened with Tony in the parking lot. She wondered if he’d felt it too. It was probably just her imagination. Tony was merely doing his job.
Once inside, she closed the kitchen door, and as she flipped the lock, she thought she saw a flash of light in the woods above the guest house. She blinked and searched the darkness behind Elise’s house.
Again! This was the second night she’d seen a trespasser. She peered at the barn at the upper point of a triangulated path between Elise’s cottage and the main house. It was pitch dark, and she wondered if they should install another motion-activated light somewhere in the open space between the barn, the house, and the parking area.
A trail started at the back of the barn and continued through a small pasture. It wound up to the top of the ridge and down to the Schulze farm in the valley below. In high school, she and Kevin had hiked the trail to visit their friends, but they had all moved on. Their parents were leasing the cornfields and pastureland, and she’d heard the farm was for sale. The light disappeared, but whoever it was could have just walked behind the trees as the path was grown up and heavily wooded. Clearing the path and adding benches along the trail was on their spring to-do list, but it hadn’t been possible with the recent rain.
There it was again. The bright beam bounced like someone was carrying a flashlight. It drifted farther up the hill, disappearing into the trees higher on the ridge.
Who could be out wandering the hillside so late at night, and why would they risk turning an ankle or falling in the dark? she wondered as she walked through the hall into the foyer. And what gives whoever that is the right to be creeping around my house?!
She latched the outside storm door, usually unlocked for guests who returned late. After locking the inside door, she took one last peek out the parlor window, deciding to walk up the hill in the morning and investigate. But for now, she’d snuggle into her bedcovers and read the next chapter of Aubrey’s book. She shivered as she walked past the kitchen and down the hall to her apartment.
There is that draft again.
Stepping backward and forward to test the location of the cold spot, she tried to determine its direction and made a mental note to ask Kevin to check it out.
Funny thing is, it’s not always in the same place.
She kicked off her shoes inside her apartment, opened her jewelry box, and removed her earrings. On the bureau, Danny’s smiling face in the photo greeted her. She put two fingers to her lips and then placed the kiss over his face. After she’d changed into her pajamas, she climbed into bed and picked up the book, but her mind wasn’t on the words on the page. She wondered what Lauren had told Vanessa and what Tony had wanted to ask her.
***
Elnora followed Molly into her room and watched as she prepared for bed. She’d seen the bouncing lights from the attic window, too, and was sure a man had been walking around the outbuildings. Molly seemed happier tonight, not as lonely. She wondered what going out and having dinner with friends was like. Young single women seemed to have fewer social restrictions than they had in her time.
Elnora read the book over Molly’s shoulders. She had always enjoyed reading and was amazed at how closely this story followed her life. Leaning against the pillows next to Molly, the night she’d met Tolbert flashed through her mind. Smitten at first sight, she was. He was a few years older than her nineteen years and was the son of her father’s moonshine supplier. They lived across the river in Kentucky, and he had arrived with his father late one evening. Tolbert had waited in the parlor while their fathers met behind closed doors in the study, the room Molly now called the library. Elnora had offered him tea and cake. He’d eaten all the cake but only took a sip of tea. After that night, he always came to the house with his father, and sometimes he came alone. Once, her mother had called her a wicked child when she’d caught Elnora sneaking out to meet Tolbert after one of his visits. A mischievous smile crossed her face at the memory.
The man in the book was called Billy Ray Johnson. She didn’t like that name and thought it was stupid. Not all of the story was how it happened, but it was close enough for her to recognize it as hers. The author had changed the names and some situations. That’s what writers do. But what was this about a secret room in the basement? Could that have been true?
Papa could have been doing more down there on chilly evenings than stoking the fire in the furnace.