Girls' Night Out Murder (Ryli Sinclair 2) (14 page)

There were only three customers in the bakery when we
entered. Susie was getting orders around while another girl behind the counter
was ringing them up. I figured the girl was Carrie, the one Josh had a thing
for.

It didn’t take long for the customers to get their goodies
and head out the door.

“Hi, guys. Can I get you something?” Susie asked.

“How about some coffee for us?” I suggested. “Then do you
think you could sit with us for a second?”

“Coming right up.”

A few minutes later Susie came over to a table carrying four
cups of coffee in a travel tray. She set the tray down and slid into the empty
chair.

“This is the first time I’ve sat down all morning,” she
said. “I went to the station around six o’clock so I wouldn’t be late opening
up. Carrie finished getting the last of the donuts and scones out while I was
gone.”

I looked over at the girl wiping down the counter. She had
earbuds in and was humming along to the music coming through her iPod.

“We just came back, too,” Aunt Shirley informed Susie. “How
long were you there?”

“Not long. Chief Taggart basically asked me what time I
arrived at the party. What was I doing around four o’clock that afternoon.” Susie
looked at me sheepishly. “He wanted to know if I saw you at any time that
afternoon between three and five…maybe around Julie’s place.”

“Are you serious?” I said disgustedly. “I have no idea why
this creep has it out for me, but this is ridiculous!”

“Don’t worry,” Susie said hurriedly, “I told him I hadn’t
seen you at all until I arrived at the party.” She dropped her chin to her
chest and sighed. “The truth is, I closed up shop a little early. I was looking
for Jolene most of the afternoon.”

“Jolene?” Paige asked.

Susie looked down at the floor then took another sip of her
coffee. Finally she said, “I haven’t seen Jolene since Friday morning. She came
to the bakery to see if she could borrow my car. I told her no. We had a fight.
I tried calling her cell a bunch of times, but she didn’t answer. So I closed
up the shop and left.”

“Did you find her?” Paige asked.

“No. I went out to her trailer, looked around there, but
nothing. I found all sorts of things I didn’t want to see…but I didn’t find
her. So I came back to the shop, got the cupcakes and truffles I’d already
prepared for your party, then went home to shower and get ready.”

“So are you saying you haven’t heard from your sister in
over twenty-four hours?” I asked.

Susie nodded. “That’s right. But this isn’t the first time
she’s pulled a disappearing act. She did this a few weeks back, too.” Susie
swiped at a tear that escaped. “That’s when I first realized she was using
again. I went out to her trailer and saw the drugs.”

“Did you tell Chief Taggart she’s missing?” Paige asked.

Susie bit her lip. “No. The thing is, I don’t think the
Chief would take it seriously. He doesn’t exactly…he doesn’t…”

“He doesn’t think a lot of your sister and her lifestyle?”
Aunt Shirley asked.

Susie met her eyes. “No, he doesn’t.”

“Maybe we could drive by her mobile home since you’re busy
here today,” Paige said. “You know, see if she’s there but not taking your
calls.”

Susie grabbed Paige’s hand. “Thank you. I’d appreciate it.
Now, I better get back to work…I have a wedding cake to put the finishing
touches on.”

Once Susie gave us Jolene’s address, we finished the coffee
and decided to head out. We still had to drive by Julie’s place and see what we
could find out there.

We were putting on our coats and heading out the door when Susie
called me over to the display case. I gave Paige the keys to unlock the car and
told them I’d be right there.

“Ryli, I wanted to tell you something without Paige around.
I want it to be a surprise. I have one of those wedding archways with flowers
intertwined in my garage. I was wondering if you’d want to use it—I mean, if
you aren’t already using the flower shop’s archway.”

“I love that idea!” I said. “We actually didn’t rent one
from the flower shop.”

Susie bit her lip. “The thing is, it’s pretty large and
bulky. Carrie has church Sunday morning, and you know I can’t rely on Jolene…I
totally hate to ask this, but do you think you’d have time to run by my house and
help me load it real quick on Sunday?”

“It’s no problem at all. I have to run into town anyway
around eleven to pick up the flowers, so I can probably swing by around eleven-fifteen
if that’s okay?”

Susie clapped her hands together. “That’s perfect! After
seeing the layout Friday night, I realized the archway would be a beautiful
touch. And with everything that’s gone on the last few days, I really wanted to
give Paige something extra special. Let me give you my address.”

Once I got her address, I gave her a hug. “That’s so
thoughtful of you, Susie. It’s been very hard for Paige to get excited about
the wedding with all that’s gone on.”

“You girls be careful today…and I’ll see you around
eleven-fifteen tomorrow. Call me if you find out anything about Jolene,
please.”

“Will do.”

The glare outside made me wish once again I’d brought my
sunglasses. I jogged over to the Falcon and got in.

“What was that about?” Paige asked.

“Wedding stuff. Nothing you need to worry about,” I smiled
at her.

I wasn’t exactly sure where Julie lived. I Googled her name
and was able to get a current street name. I didn’t figure it would be too hard
to find, what with the crime scene tape up.

A few minutes later and we were creeping along Pike Street
at a snail’s pace. The houses on this side of town were not located within
water’s distance. I guess growing up here and having access to the lake all the
time made Julie not want to live directly on it.

“There it is,” Paige said, pointing to a cute, one-story
house. Well, cute if you didn’t take into account the fact it had police tape
all over the front door. It had a one-car garage and was no bigger than twelve
hundred square foot. There were large picture windows on each side of the front
door.

“How the hell are we going to look through the windows
without everyone seeing?” I asked.

“We’re going in through the back. Pull down the side street
here and park,” Aunt Shirley said.

“Maybe we should do this at night,” Paige suggested.

I looked in my rear view mirror at her. “Tonight? When Matt
and Nick are here? How do you suggest the three of us go about that without
attracting unwanted attention?”

Paige stuck her tongue out at me. “It was just a
suggestion.”

“If we’re lucky, she either didn’t lock her dead bolt to the
back of the house, or she doesn’t have one. If it’s just a standard lock, I can
get us in,” Aunt Shirley said.

“No! No way are we breaking into Julie’s house!” Paige said,
sitting up straight in her seat. “I didn’t realize we would be breaking and
entering. I just thought we were looking through windows!”

I looked over at Aunt Shirley. I hated to pull Paige into
this, but there’s no way I wasn’t going in…not with Taggart hot on my ass. I
needed to see for myself what the crime scene looked like.

“You aren’t going in,” Aunt Shirley said to Paige. “You’re
gonna be the look out. Your job is to sit in the car and make sure no one
comes. If they do, text Ryli and let her know. Ryli, put your phone on
vibrate.”

I did what Aunt Shirley requested. “Now, who has a plastic
card we can use? It may or may not get damaged. I can’t guarantee anything.”

I rummaged around in my wallet. “I have a Home Depot card,
will that work?”

Aunt Shirley held out her hand. “It’ll do.”

Paige scooted over to the window closest to the street so
she could see clearly. Aunt Shirley and I casually made our way through the
back of Julie’s yard. Luckily the snow muffled any sound we might have made.

We walked up the two stairs and onto a sparsely decorated
wooden deck. A small table with two chairs took up one side of the deck, and a
large gas grill took up the other side.

Aunt Shirley bent down and stuck the Home Depot card down by
the door handle. She gave it a few slides. I was still a little skeptical it
would work. I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was coming down the
street. I heard a click.

“I’m in,” Aunt Shirley grinned at me.

The back door opened into a tiny laundry room off the
kitchen. “Make sure you wipe your feet off on that rug. I don’t want us
traipsing snow throughout the house,” I said.

“This isn’t my first rodeo, kid. I know what I’m doing.”

I rolled my eyes. “So what exactly are we looking for?” I
asked as we entered the kitchen. There were dishes piled in the sink, with lots
of caked on yuckiness. “Obviously she was too distraught over Jim to do dishes,”
I mused.

“I’m not exactly sure what we’re looking for…just something
out of the ordinary. Something that doesn’t fit,” Aunt Shirley said.

We made our way into the living room. I gasped. There were
bloodstains on the couch and on the carpet. “I just wasn’t expecting it,” I
said to Aunt Shirley.

“I know. It’s always hard. I’d say she was stabbed over here
while they were both standing. Notice how there are tiny splatters that lead to
the couch. So then Julie stumbles over to the couch…probably surprised and
hurting.”

I let out a little sob. I couldn’t help myself. I hated the
thought of Julie being in pain like that. She was such a nice person.

Aunt Shirley looked at me and continued, “Then I’d say she
just sat down on the couch to die. Taggart said she was stabbed in the stomach
and the heart, but I can’t tell if she was stabbed in the stomach while
standing and then immediately in the heart, or if she was stabbed in the heart
while she was sitting on the couch. I’m not an expert in blood splatter.”

I held up my hand. “Okay, please…enough. Let’s just see what
we can find.”

I looked around the living room and saw countless wadded up
Kleenexes on the end table. I guess whoever processed the scene didn’t think
they needed to collect all the Kleenexes.

“She’d obviously been crying over Jim, which makes sense,” I
said. I ran my hands around the cushions to see if I could feel anything.

“Anything?” Aunt Shirley asked. She’d unzipped her camo
parka and lifted her sweatshirt over her hands while rummaging through the end
table drawer to make sure she didn’t leave fingerprints.

“Nothing,” I said. I knelt down on my knees to feel around
under the couch. I heard a noise and looked up. Aunt Shirley was heading down a
hallway.

“Where are you going?” I hissed. “We need to stay together
in case Paige texts.”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I gotta pee.”

“Are you crazy! You can’t use the bathroom…it’s trashy.”

Aunt Shirley peeked her head back around the corner to me.
“When you get to be my age, you’ll understand. When you gotta go, you gotta go.
My bladder dictates my life.”

Shaking my head, I started feeling under the couch again.
Figuring if I had some light it would go faster, I got out my cell phone and
pulled up the flashlight app. Flashing the light under the couch, I saw something
near one of the couch legs. I’d just grabbed it when my phone vibrated in my
hand. I slipped what I found in my pocket without looking and pulled up the
text.

“Oh, shit,” I yelled.

It was from Paige.
Cops! Get out now!

“Aunt Shirley, we need to haul ass now!”

Silence.

I glanced out the large picture window and saw Officer
Dillon pulling into the driveway. Officer Clark was with him. “Aunt Shirley!”

“I hear ya! Go, go! I’ll go out this way.”

I pivoted, crouched low, and ran like hell through the
living room. It wasn’t until I’d skidded through the kitchen and into the
laundry room that I realized there was probably no door for Aunt Shirley to
escape from. Heart thumping wildly in my chest, I was about to turn around and
go fetch her when I heard the front door opening.

Grabbing the back door with my sweater, I silently opened it
and locked the bottom lock. I could hear the two officers talking in the living
room. I slipped out the back door and eased the door shut behind me.

Praying to God none of the boards creaked, I made my way
across the deck and down the two side stairs. Once my feet hit the snow, I took
off like a rocket toward the Falcon. I could see Paige jumping up and down
inside the car, motioning for me to hurry.

I happened to glance over my right shoulder and about had a
heart attack. The window screen flew off the window and landed in the snow.
Slowing my pace, I watched as Aunt Shirley threw a leg over the ledge of the
windowsill. Next came an arm. Unfortunately, she couldn’t right herself to throw
the other leg over. She fell sideways out the window.

Thud!

She landed so hard snow flew in all directions. I was hoping
her huge parka cushioned some of the fall. Before I could change directions and
run to help her, she looked up and saw me. Motioning for me to keep going, I
quickly walked toward the Falcon…the whole time watching her.

I knew she had to be crawling on her hands and knees, but
the parka was so huge, all I could really see was this large lump of camouflage
moving swiftly in the snow over to the back side of the house. Using the corner
of the house, she slowly eased her way up to a standing position. Looking in
both directions to make sure the coast was clear, she took off across the lawn
toward the Falcon.

I reached down and pulled the car door open and slid inside.
I could hear Paige screaming in the backseat, but my brain couldn’t process
what she was saying. I hadn’t had an adrenaline rush like this since Sharon
plied me with ketamine and chased me through the church with a knife.

“Oh, man that was fun! Go, go, go,” Aunt Shirley cried as
she slid into the passenger’s seat. On automatic, my hands went up and started
the car. I pulled out onto the street and started driving. I had no idea where
I was going.

I got to the end of the road and pulled over again. “What’re
you doing?” Aunt Shirley said, giving me an odd look.

I looked down at my hands on the steering wheel…they were
shaking. “I just need a minute.”

“Are you okay?” Paige whispered. “You look pale and your
hands are shaking.”

“I haven’t felt this panicked in a while…not since Sharon,”
I said.

“Understandable,” Aunt Shirley said without much sympathy.
“But remember we have a job to do…and that’s to keep your butt out of jail.
Sometimes we have to do what we have to do.” She let out a little yell. “Man, I
miss these days!”

Knowing she was right, and I didn’t want to spend even an
hour in jail, much less the rest of my life, I gave myself a little shake. “I
found something,” I said, digging in my coat pocket to retrieve the item that
was under the sofa.

Paige leaned up from the back seat and Aunt Shirley turned
sideway in her seat. I opened my palm and revealed a syringe. “Oh, crap,” Paige
said, looking at Aunt Shirley and me. “Now what do we do?”

I looked at Aunt Shirley. “Only two people I know that use
syringes…Whitney and Jolene.”