Rafe rolled up to Gretchen’s suburban home in Henderson. The kids were nowhere to be found. No bikes. No screaming. Endless quiet down an empty street.
Roxy jumped out of his truck. He followed her to the front door and rang the bell.
The door opened. But instead of Gretchen in an apron, Adelaide’s BFF, Mandy stood in the doorway in a purple tie-dyed sleeveless dress with a hem that arrowed down in the center to her ankles.
“Mandy?” Roxy looked at the house again to make sure she didn’t ring the wrong doorbell. Nope. Gretchen’s house. She was pretty sure anyway. “Is this Gretchen’s house?”
Mandy nodded. “My daughter. Yes, this is her house.” Mandy turned to Rafe and her smile grew. He had that effect. “ You’re from the hotel too.”
“I’m Rafe Amato, head of security.” Rafe held out his hand and Mandy took it.
She held it for too long and flipped his hand over, rubbing her finger along his palm.“You have a gorgeous aura. Bright red. Passionate.”
His lip curled up. “So I’ve been told.”
Who would have told him that? She’d found out a few days ago she was a blue. Whatever that meant.
Mandy held his hand as she invited them in the house. “Can I get you something?”
“Is Gretchen here?” Roxy wasn’t sure what Mandy wanted to get them. Water. Tea. Pot.
“Gretchen! Your friends are here.”
“I told you I’m busy.” Gretchen came up behind her mother. Her glare for her mom turned to a grin when she saw Roxy and then Rafe. The usual apron was around her waist. “Do you have a few more questions?”
“I do.”
“Why don’t you invite your friends inside?”
“I will, Mom.” Gretchen sighed. “Can you please go check on the kids in the back yard?”
“Do you need my help?” Mandy disappeared through the sliding glass doors to the backyard.
Roxy almost felt bad for the woman. But since she was still at the top of Roxy’s list, she didn’t feel that bad.
“Come on in.” Gretchen led them to the living room, where she sat in a chair and Roxy took the couch. Gretchen looked over at Rafe standing in the corner. “I don’t think we’ve met.”
“I’m Rafe, a colleague of Roxy’s from the hotel.” He moved toward her to shake her hand but managed to send a smirk to Roxy. Yeah, she might have said she worked for the hotel. Sue her. Although he might actually be able to do that, so please don’t.
Gretchen took in a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sorry about my mom. We don’t exactly see eye to eye on things.”
“Things?”
“All of my choices. My entire teenage years. She doesn’t like that I’m letting my father move in.”
“Does she live here too?” Welcome to Roxy’s nightmare.
“No. I couldn’t live with my mother. We would kill each other. I’ve always been more of a daddy’s girl.”
“I tried to be a daddy’s girl once. My mom wouldn’t let me.” The woman had literally stuck to Roxy like glue. Which probably worked out, because a year later, her father had left for his new family.
Gretchen laughed. “What can I help you with?”
“We just had a few more questions.” Rafe had perched himself back in the corner.
“Sure.”
“Did you see Donnie at the hotel the night he died?” Roxy wasn’t sure that was the most tactful way to ask the question. But it was hopefully effective.
“I didn’t.”
“Were you supposed to see him?”
“Yes. It was weird. He asked me to stop by, something about good news to share with me. I figured they found a way to get him out of whatever he’d gotten into. So, I went to his hotel room, but when I got to the door, no one answered.” That explained the pink cake, but someone had eaten the cake.
“I don’t know why you went there. Why would anyone want to spend one minute with that man?” Mandy needed a bell. She was sneaky.
“Mom.” Gretchen stood. “Can you please keep an eye on the kids?”
“I just...” Mandy’s eyes glistened as her voice shifted to a whine. “I just don’t want you near that man.”
“He’s dead, Mom.” Gretchen shook her head. “I won’t be going anywhere near him again.”
Mandy sighed. “I know. I don’t know why you and your father insisted on dealing with him.”
“I was trying to get him to do right by Dad. They used to be such good friends.” Gretchen somehow made her mom speechless. Given the short time Roxy had spent with the woman, she had a feeling Mandy didn’t do speechless.
“I just worry about you, honey. You’re my little girl. Your father could barely handle that man. I didn’t want you around him. I’m trying to protect you.”
“Mom, I’m an adult now. You don’t have to protect me.”
“You have kids. You know how it is. You want to protect them. You’ve always been so obstinate. Even when you were born.” Mandy sighed and wiped at her eyes in dramatic fashion.
“When you were born?” Roxy asked, curious despite herself.
“My mom complains I didn’t want to come out. I was like two days late, but she acts like I was weeks late.” Gretchen shook her head.
“One other thing.” Roxy took advantage of the lull in their discussion. “Do you or anyone you know have a jacket that says SBM?”
Gretchen shrugged. “Everyone has one.”
“Everyone?” In her thirty-one years, Roxy had seen the jacket once. Yet somehow everyone had one.
“The whole club.”
“There’s a club?” Maybe it was that damn club Sarina kept trying to drag her to.
“Mom has one. It’s for the Scrapbook Mavens club. SBM. Why?”
Mandy had a jacket. Imagine that.
“Is someone missing their jacket?” Roxy watched Mandy’s face, but she didn’t give anything away. She was good.
“Mine is at home. I think Nia is missing her jacket.” Mandy didn’t look like she was lying. She was the obvious choice for bad-guy.
Which meant Roxy would be doing another interview today. “Nia?”
“Nia Maas.”
Maas. She’d heard that name before. “Any relationship to Harold?”
“His wife.”
The lawyer’s wife. Another person to add to the mix. Eventually, they had to find the real bad guy. Right?
Unless it turned out that Detective Geary was psychic and, somehow, Roxy killed Donnie without knowing it. Her mom swore she had multiple personalities. But that was never proven.
So the chances of Roxy being the killer were slim. Thank goodness. But at the rate things were going, she wouldn’t prove it until three years into her stint at Florence McClure.