Chapter Nine

 

 

SHEP

 

I knocked on the door of the diner, which was empty at this time of night. Ivy must have locked up early since it wasn’t even ten yet. She waved and hurried toward me, my mind hearing the swish of her skirt and my eyes seeing the beauty she was. Lately, whenever we were together, it felt different than it did last month or last year. We still laugh, play, tease, and generally carry on, but there’s an underlying tension between us I had yet to define. Screwing up our friendship in order to define it was my biggest fear. If I didn’t have Ivy, I didn’t have anything. Comfort was the basis of our relationship, and I wasn’t sure if admitting how much I loved her would change the dynamics. The logical answer was yes, it would, and it might mean the end to my new living arrangement and our friendship. I couldn’t risk it.

She flicked the lock and I heard it tumble right before she opened it, holding it with her butt. “Hi,” she whispered motioning me in. “Thanks for coming over.”

I shrugged out of my jacket and laid it on the back of the first booth. “No problem, Ivy. I left work only thirty minutes ago so forgive the outfit,” I said, brushing off the dusty jeans.

She laughed and the sound went straight to my groin. I swear to God if this doesn’t stop I might go insane. What was wrong with me? Maybe she was asking herself the same question because the way she was looking at me wasn’t how she normally sizes me up.

“I’m not concerned with your clothes,” she said. “Are you hungry? Mason left a meatloaf meal in the oven for you.”

I rubbed my hands together. “I’m always hungry.” I grinned, patting her back. “I’ll get it, you sit down.”

I ventured into the kitchen and grabbed a hot pad, pulling the plate out of the oven. It had two slices of meatloaf, potatoes and gravy, green beans and a dinner roll. I carried it back to the table and set it on the old Formica top. “Do you want any?” I asked, but she shook her head no.

I grabbed a glass and poured ice water into it then joined her at the booth. I unwrapped my silverware and dug into the meatloaf, the juicy meat breaking apart under my fork. “I love meatloaf,” I said after I swallowed. “I especially love the way Mason drowns it in mushroom gravy.”

She played with the salt and pepper shakers on the table. "Mason does meatloaf right, that's for sure. Have you ever stopped to think about meatloaf? I mean it starts out this raw mess until you mix it together with the right ingredients then let it set to absorb the flavors. Once it's all shaped in the pan, you bake it until the juices run clear. It gets scored heavily before sweet, but vinegary, ketchup is poured over the top. Finally, it transforms again when it's sliced and slathered in gravy."

I laid my fork down and took her hand. "What is this an analogy for?" I asked her. "Is something wrong?"

 She shrugged and her hand bounced in mine. "I’ve decided life is a lot like meatloaf."

"Because we start out raw, everyone adds an ingredient and lets us absorb it as they shape us?"

"Something like that," she whispered. "I went to see Lucille today.”

Ahhh, it all made sense. Ivy has always been a sensitive soul regardless of her gruff, no nonsense demeanor she’s carried since her mom died. I’ve witnessed her stand up to bullies without a lick of fear in her eyes and then I’ve held her once they’ve left as she cried. She’s an enigma few people can analyze correctly. I’m lucky to be the one who can. I like being the one to hold her and comfort her when she needs it. You’ll never hear me admit it, but the feel of her in my arms does something to my soul I can’t explain.

“Was she as bad as they say she is?” I asked, squeezing her hand. “I wish you had told me. I would have gone with you.”

She stared out the diner window watching the tiny snowflakes fall lazily from the sky to the ground. They piled slowly on top of the snow from the last few days. “I had to go alone. I realized it after they put the cameras in today. I wanted to tell Lucille myself I was going to take care of her legacy. The doctors said not to bother, since she wouldn’t know me or understand anything, but it was wrong not to try.”

I took her other hand and held them both, but her eyes never left the window. “I’m not in disagreement with you. Maybe she didn’t understand, but you tried.”

“She understood,” Ivy whispered, her eyes leaving the window and traveling to mine. “To answer your question, she’s as bad as they say. She’s peaceful though as she sleeps. She can’t move her right side and her speech is garbled and hard to decipher, but she spoke to me.”

I leaned over the table towards her. “She did? What did she say?”

Her gaze left mine and went to the plate on the table. “I told her about taking over the diner and thanked her for the opportunity. I promised I would do right by her, the diner, and the customers. She never made a peep until I was ready to leave. Then she struggled to open her eyes and speak to me. She whispered for me not to be like her and to find love. Maybe it was her way of explaining why she didn’t put the same clause in my contract for the diner, so I could give it to one of my children someday. I don’t know. Maybe she’s just out of her mind and doesn’t know what she’s saying.”

“Or maybe, she knows your heart is too big to keep to yourself. Maybe she knows someone out there in this vast world needs your love to keep them going.”

I wished that someone was me, but I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t risk our friendship by doing or saying something inappropriate and scaring her.

She shrugged. “I told her I would be back on Sunday to tell her about the Winter Carnival. Maybe you want to come with me?” she asked, her eyes filled with hope. She clearly wasn’t going to talk about the love angle, and I wasn’t surprised. She refuses to talk about anything that makes her uncomfortable, including her home life, her mother, or the bullies in high school. None of it was open for discussion unless she had too much to drink or was dealing with a current situation paralleling an old one.

I smiled and winked. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else. I’ll regale her with stories about the times the tree didn’t want to light.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t happen tomorrow night,” she said, laughter filling her body and soul again. “I saw Mayor Tottle today."

I dropped her hands and leaned back. "I did, too."

She leaned forward excited. "Did he say anything about the job?"

I spooned in some potatoes and shook my head. "Not a word," I answered between bites. "He wanted me to help him with the tree lighting at the carnival and to make sure the whole event goes off without a hitch."

"You do that every year; why did he think you wouldn’t?”

I gave her the palms up. “Maybe because of the awkwardness after the interview last week? It doesn’t matter. I’ll be there as I always am for the people of Bells Pass, nothing else matters at the Winter Carnival.”

She winked at me. “I agree, and this year I'll be lighting the tree with Mayor Tottle."

"You are? Why? Is that all he wanted to see you about?" I asked, surprise lacing my tone. I swallowed, the meatloaf nearly sticking halfway down. “It’s a real honor to get to light the tree.”

"Boy, you ask a lot of questions,” she said laughing.

"You haven't answered any of them yet," I said, grinning.

She held up her hands. "Let me put them in the right order; I'm lighting the tree with Mayor Tottle because I'm the newest business owner in Bells Pass this year. I tried to talk him out of it since I’ve only owned the place a week, but he wasn't hearing it. He said I should be there at eight. He didn’t tell me much else, so I’ll have to roll with it. He never said another word to me after the invitation and left."

I pushed the plate away, full of the rich gravy and meat. "I'll pick you up at the coffee booth at seven forty-five. I always run point for any troubleshooting when they do the tree lighting, so I have to be there anyway. Will someone else be able to take over the booth for you?"

"Sure, Melissa will be helping. I'm the boss now, remember?" She laughed and I grabbed her hand, bringing it to my lips to kiss. When I realized what I did, I dropped it like a hot potato.

I smiled to cover my discomfort. "How could I forget. In all seriousness, I'm proud of you, Ivy, for being successful in a business such as this, but also for being strong in the face of adversity. You do the right thing and it was the right thing to go see Lucille today. Do you feel up to decorating or would you rather wait?"

She eyed the boxes by the swinging door. "I would rather wait, but today I heard enough complaints about it not being festive in here. I can't get a tree until Sunday but I can put the rest of this up. It's getting late though, you should go home."

I scooted out of the booth and held out my hand to her. “Like hell I will. I’m your best friend and we’re going to put on some music, open the boxes, and let Christmas explode all up in here.”

She put her arms around my neck and hugged me. “You’re the best.”

I hugged her back and sighed. I get to be her best friend, but I wish I was her everything.

 

 

IVY

 

I spun around in a circle. We certainly let Christmas explode in here. We weren’t done yet, but the festive air was building. Shep had plugged his iPhone into the dock and we were currently rocking out to Rocking Around the Christmas Tree while we hung garland and ornaments, flocked snowflakes on the windows, and prepared the corner for the tree.

“Where do you want to get the tree this year?” Shep asked from the corner where he was hanging twinkle lights. “I was thinking we could take my truck to the Boy Scout’s stand and grab two, one for here and one for home.”

I grinned and tacked the end of the garland on the corner edge of the counter. “Sounds like a plan to me. I like to support the young kids, and buying our trees there is a great way to do it. Maybe we can make a day of it.”

He finished the lights and plugged them in, clapping when they all lit up without any burnt-out ones on the string. “I’m all about making a day of it. I need a break from the constant worry about this job.”

“Sounds—”

A knocking sound came from the back of the restaurant again and we both froze.

He put his finger to his lips and herded me backward toward the swinging doors. “Are the cameras on?” he whispered and I nodded, fear making my belly churn. “Let’s go check them.”

We tiptoed down the hall to my office, which shared an outside wall with the diner. We could hear the person on the other side crunching in the snow as he went from knocking to pounding. He had to be working up a real sweat out there and I trembled. Shep settled a warm hand at my back and waited while I opened the laptop. I had my phone with the app, but the laptop made it easier to see, and easier to change to a particular camera to get a closer look at the person.

I pointed without a word to the two cameras aimed at the back, then removed the other two screens, concentrating on just those. A hooded figure strode up and down the back of the diner purposefully, pounding on the walls, but I noticed something immediately.

“The lights aren’t on,” I whispered. “The only light is coming from the outside light at the house.”

“He didn’t disable them, since the cameras are working,” he whispered back. He picked up his phone and mouthed ‘police’. I nodded and he went to the front to call, not wanting the guy to hear him.

I sat stock still, the pounding making me jump even though I knew it was coming. I watched him stroll up and down the diner, kicking and pounding, as if the diner wasn’t a building, but a living human being. I shuddered. What did he want and why did he pick my diner?”

Shep snuck back in the room and watched the video feed with me for another few minutes. “The cops are on their way,” he whispered. “Let’s hope he sticks around long enough for them to catch him this time.”

I knew he wouldn’t. He would hear the cops coming a mile away, even without their sirens on, and he’d take off. The only upside was now we had him on video. So far, he hadn’t turned his face to the camera, but with any luck, he would before the cops came. The pounding stopped and we saw him with his hand raised, waiting for a breath and then he ran, staying behind the diner and running into the trees next to the house. Those trees led to a road where he probably had a car parked.

“Cops must be here,” Shep said, striding from the room toward the front of the diner. I hurried to follow him and sure enough, two squads were in the parking lot. Shep opened the door and motioned for them to come in. Once they approached, he pointed toward the side of the building. “We were watching the video, but the guy took off the second he heard your tires on the snow. Once you check out the scene we can show you the video.”

“You have video now?” Officer Ensign asked. She had been here the first time we called the police and must have heard the call come over the radio.

“I had it installed with the lights. No one knows the cameras are there since they’re hiding in the lights. Whoever this is somehow took the bulbs out without knowing the camera was still recording him. I’m not sure how he disabled the lights. I’ll have to rewind the video to see.”

Officer Ensign looked to Officer Roberts. “Let’s check the back together. I don’t want to risk being jumped by this guy.”

Shep spoke up. “We saw him take off through the woods next to our house. Maybe he has a car parked on the highway?”

Officer Ensign pushed the button on her radio sitting on her shoulder. “Officer requests unit to check Highway 231 behind Nightingale Diner for car, or evidence of a car, sitting on the side of the road for a long period.”

She let go of the button and in a breath, someone responded. “Ten four. Secure the scene for evidence collection if found?”

“Affirmative. Radio in and we’ll be over when we’re finished at the diner.” She released the button again and they crunched their way to the back of the restaurant. I could picture them flashing their Maglites around, steering clear of the footprints in the snow, and searching for any sign to elucidate the man’s identity.

It wasn’t four minutes and they were back again, coming through the door of the diner, their tool belts rattling with handcuffs and pepper spray. “The guy is good,” Officer Ensign said. “He knows enough to walk over his own footprints enough times they’re useless as evidence. We saw several pieces of glass under the lights, which means he somehow broke the bulbs. Did you hear anything?”

Shep was leaning against the door when he answered. “Not a sound, but we had music on while we decorated. It would have covered the sound of a bulb breaking, but it didn’t cover his pounding.”

“Let’s rewind the tapes and see if it caught his face or any identifying information.”

I had the laptop sitting on the counter and I manually rewound the tape back until we saw the screen lighten, which meant the lights had come on. I stopped and reset the mode to play, watching patiently for the intruder to approach the light. When he did, he was dressed all in black, with a black ski mask covering his face.

“Dammit,” Officer Ensign sighed. “We can’t even trace his clothes when he’s wearing a ski mask sold in every store in the country for a buck.”

I pointed at the screen. “Gloves, too, so no determining his hands or getting prints. He knows what he’s doing.”

We watched as he lifted something into the air and we realized it was a slingshot. We all leaned in closer to the screen to watch him put a projectile into the slingshot and let it go. Instantly the light went out and he did the same thing to the other light.

“This guy means business,” Officer Roberts said resigned. “We’ll have to turn this over to the detectives. Does the system allow you to get us a recording of the videos?”

“Absolutely,” I answered.

“Good. We’ll see if our computer techs can clear up the fuzz on the video and hone in on the slingshot. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it will be a brand sold in town. If we can trace sales of the slingshot we might get a hit,” she explained.

“I’ll do anything I can to help,” I said angrily. “Whoever this is has no right to be on my property or to vandalize it. I don’t want to lose customers because they’re scared and worried about their safety. This makes me livid.”

Shep laid a calming hand on my shoulder. “We’re doing all the right things to protect ourselves and the customers. He won’t get away with this forever.”

Officer Roberts agreed. “Shep’s right. None of us at the department will stand for it either. We’ll work until we catch the guy.”

“Next time this happens, if there is a next time,” Officer Ensign said, leaning on the counter. “When you call 911 tell the operator to have the officers park offsite and approach on foot. There are ways to conceal footsteps, but you can’t do much with a two-ton vehicle.”

“Good point,” Shep agreed. “I’ll do that next time. I also won’t be leaving her here alone at night anymore. If she has to stay late after close or before anyone else is here in the morning, I’ll be with her.”

I glanced up at him from the laptop where I was making a copy of the video the way Terry showed me. “I’ll be fine, Shep. You can’t be worrying about me while doing your own job.”

Both officers swung their heads side-to-side. “I hate to say it,” Officer Roberts said, “but Shep’s right. It would be irresponsible to be here alone at night with this going on. For all you know, it’s a customer who has a strange fixation on you. Don’t stay here alone, don’t walk over here alone, don’t let anyone know your schedule for when you’ll be alone, and don’t let your guard down until we catch the guy. I don’t want to get a call and find you in here beaten or worse.”

Officer Ensign pointed at her partner. “Exactly what he said. There’s stubborn and then there’s stupid. Being here alone falls into the stupid category.”

I held up my hands from the keyboard. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. I’ll never be here alone.”

Both officers appeared relieved by my words. “Good, email me the video to this address,” Officer Ensign said, handing me her card. “I’ll get it to the detectives and have them work on cleaning up the video.”

A crackle was heard over her radio. “Code eleven on Old Mill Road. Securing scene. Will need assistance.”

She reached up and compressed her radio button. “Copy that. Squad ten and thirteen on their way.”

She pointed at the computer again. “Get it to me ASAP. They requested help, which means they found something. We’ll go address it. If you see or hear anything else, call us immediately and we’ll come back.”

I glanced up at Shep. “We’re done here. We’ll be locking up and going home.”

Officer Roberts nodded. “Good idea. Ensign, go to Old Mill, I’ll make sure these two get home without incident and meet you there.”

Officer Ensign agreed and left the diner. Officer Roberts waited while I stowed the laptop in my office, shut down the lights, and checked the doors. Shep kept a firm hand on my back as we hurried toward the house behind the diner, Officer Roberts following with his hand on his gun and his head on a swivel. Once Shep had the front door open he waved us off and jogged back to the diner, disappearing behind the building. We heard his engine catch and Shep closed the door, leaning on it for a second before he pushed off and gathered me to him.

“Don’t argue with me about letting me stay with you at the diner. I don’t want to lose you, ever,” he whispered, his hold tight and protective.

“I’m scared enough not to argue. I don’t know why this is happening now, but I’ve passed concerned and crossed into scared. I’ll call Terry tomorrow and ask him to come replace the bulbs and put guards over them. I’m not happy about the expense, but I have to keep everyone safe.”

He rubbed my back and pressed a kiss to my temple. “No amount of money is too much to ensure your safety, Ivy.” He didn’t release me, but walked me toward the living room and sat with me on the couch, letting me rest my head on his chest. “I’m not living the rest of my life without you,” he whispered.

His tone, and the way he held me, said he didn’t mean as only my best friend.