Chapter Twenty-Three
Addie and Serena cleared off the counter after their lunch. A burst of excitement built in Addie’s chest and raced up through her cheeks when Marc’s smiling face appeared at the window. Her reaction didn’t seem to go unnoticed by the prying eyes of her friend, who stuck out her tongue and giggled as he walked through the door.
“What? What are you two up to?” He glanced from one flushed face to the other smirking one as he tucked his patrol hat under his arm and planted his feet firmly in a stance commonly taken by police officials.
Serena shook her head. “Absolutely nothing, Officer.” She winked at Addie. “Well, I should be off, got a business to run. Not all of us have hired
help.” She flashed a fleeting look at Addie and headed for the door.
Paige came in as Serena brushed past her. Serena gave her a wary smile, and then she looked back at Addie, her head cocked and brows raised.
Addie huffed. “See you later, and thanks for lunch.” She shook her head, feeling impatient with Serena’s incessant misgivings about Paige and her true intentions.
“You’re back early. I don’t think you’ve been gone even half an hour?” But her question was lost. Paige stood silent, her eyes fixed on the back of Marc’s head.
He turned around and looked at her hovering near the doorway. “Hi, Paige.” He nodded. “Haven’t seen you for a long time. How’s it going?”
She was speechless, and all she did was nod back at him. Addie thought she looked as though she were about to bolt. “Paige, do you know my friend Marc?”
“Your friend?” Her tense face appeared to relax somewhat.
“What? Is Addie such a horrible boss that you didn’t think she could possibly have friends?” Marc chuckled.
“Yes, well no, of course not, but I thought . . .”
“You thought what?” Addie’s eyes narrowed. She was curious to know how her employee viewed her.
“It’s just that my . . .” She cleared her throat. “My mom said you were a troublemaker and were into some pretty bad stuff in Boston and now the troubles followed you here.”
“That’s nonsense,” cried Marc.
“That’s what I told her, too, but then when I saw you here, I figured . . .”
Addie took a deep breath. “You figured what?”
“Umm”—Paige’s eyes dropped—“that maybe she was right. I’m sorry.”
Addie shook her head and clicked her tongue. “No worries; we’re all entitled to our own thoughts. I just feel bad that your mother has such a low opinion of me.”
“I tried to tell her she was wrong, that you were one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”
“And what did she say?” Marc smirked, his eyes narrowing.
“She said you’d do nothing for me except to take me farther down with you.” Her voice drifted to a whisper.
Marc huffed and shook his head. “Well, I think I’ve heard enough of this slander.” He shifted his weight on his feet. “Addie, the reason I came by was because I heard you had a very efficient assistant working for you now”—he smiled at Paige—“and I was hoping I could steal you away for a few hours. There’s something I want to show you.”
“Of course. Oh, wait a minute.” She looked at Paige. “Do you feel comfortable working on your own for a couple of hours, or is that asking too much on your first day?”
“If you think I can, then I know I can.” She beamed.
“That settles that. It’ll be a good test for you, and if you pass it with flying colors, I’ll even throw in an immediate dollar an hour raise.”
“Wow, that would be great. I promise, I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t. I have faith in you.”
“Thanks for trusting me. Wow, this is fantastic.” She almost appeared to skip down the aisle as she headed toward the back of the shop.
Addie laughed and looked at Marc, who was shaking his head.
“What?”
“That’s a big increase in one day, don’t you think? But hey, you’re the boss.”
“She really proved herself today, and it’s worth it. Plus if you keep dragging me out of here all the time, she deserves some extra responsibility pay.” Addie retrieved her handbag from under the counter. “Paige, we’re off,” she called, heading to the front of the shop.
Paige came to the front of the store, a wide smile across her face. “I have your cell number. If I have any questions, can I call?”
“Yes, most certainly, don’t hesitate. I’d be upset if I found out you needed help and didn’t ask for it,” Addie called back from the doorway and headed to Marc’s car parked at the curb.
He opened his patrol car door for her, and she nodded her appreciation. She glanced at Martha’s shop window and was met by an unmistakable look of contempt. She shuddered and turned to Marc as he fastened his seat belt. “What have I ever done to that woman to make her dislike me so much? I’ve just recently met her, and we’ve never really even spoken.”
Marc peered down through her side window and was struck by the same look from Martha. He shrugged. “With her, it could be anything, but my guess is because you’re an outsider and have now claimed the rights of the town’s oldest family. She’ll eventually get over it. I hope.”
“I do too. I feel like I’m walking on eggs shells all the time with her.” Addie glanced back at the now unoccupied window. “Where are we off to? I was so happy to have an opportunity to leave the shop and not have to close it down, I didn’t even think to ask.”
“You’ll see.” He smirked and flashed a sideways glance at her.
“Come on, can you at least give me a hint?”
He pursed his lips and frowned, opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it. Then he bit his bottom lip as though he was thinking. “Umm, well. Nope, don’t think so.”
She laughed and playfully slapped his arm. “Thanks for nothing. How do I know I haven’t been kidnapped?”
He pulled over to the side of the road, shut off the ignition, and turned toward her. “If that was the case, then I’d have driven you farther away than two blocks.” He winked and got out.
“What? We’re here?” She slouched down and peeked up at the building they were parked in front of. “This is where we’re going? Raymond’s office?” She rushed to meet him on the sidewalk. “But why? I thought you didn’t want me around here.”
“I didn’t, and you shouldn’t be, but it’s not an active crime scene anymore.”
“But you said to leave investiga—”
He waved both his hands in the air. “I don’t like it, but Barbara just called me and said she found something that might involve your cases, and you seem to be involved in everything one way or another anyway, whether I like it or not.”
“You hate me interfering.”
“Yes, I do. I’m not happy about it. Some things are better left to the police, but I’ve come to see that maybe
you might be right about a few things.” He winked and held the door open to Raymond’s office for her.
“Marc, thanks for coming by.” Barbara approached them from behind the front reception desk.
In contrast to Barbara’s casual appearance on Addie’s previous visits to the office, today Addie thought she looked exactly like a legal assistant out of a 1950s movie. Her graying black hair was pinned up in a tight topknot, making her birdlike features look more like those of a stern librarian type. However, her usual warm smile lessened the severity of her dour face today.
She cordially greeted Addie and led them into the back office. “I discovered the missing file this morning when I was trying to finish last week’s billings and then pack them up for storage.” She gestured to the half-emptied file cabinet. “I thought I better not touch anything else until you came and could check for more fingerprints or something.”
“You’re right. That was good thinking. I’ll have to get the crime scene team back. I guess we cleared the area a bit too soon.”
She wrung her frail white hands and looked over at Addie, who was making her way to the file cabinet. “It seems such a shame, dear. I don’t understand it. Why you?”
Addie stopped and stared at her. “Why me what?”
“It’s your file that’s missing.”
“Mine?”
“Yes, and I don’t understand where it could have gone. I just worked on the latest billings to your account last week and Ray—um, Mr. James was going to review them along with those of some other clients yesterday. That’s why he was working, so he could approve the account billings, and I could post them today when I came in. I know yours was here on Friday, along with some others. I put them all on his desk before I left for the weekend.”
Addie stepped back from the cabinet and looked at Marc. She could feel the color draining from her face. He nodded a quick look of understanding and pulled a notepad out of his shirt pocket. He scribbled something into it and looked up at Barbara. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to restrict access to the offices again.”
Tears filled Barbara’s eyes, and Addie’s heart ached for her. “You and Mr. James were close, weren’t you?”
Barbara nodded and dabbed her eyes with a tissue she pulled from her sweater sleeve. “I worked for him for over twenty-five years.”
Addie placed her arm around the woman’s shoulders. “I know this is hard on you, but have you noticed anything else missing today? You know, since the police let you back in.”
“Not really. I stopped looking when I found those missing files,” she choked.
“Those
missing files?” Marc interjected. “Did you discover other files missing?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “Miss Anita Greyborne’s is gone, too.”
Addie’s brows shot up.
“Your file was kept in front of it in the cabinet. When I couldn’t find yours with the others on the desk”—she glanced at Addie—“I assumed Mr. James had mistakenly put it away, but I still needed to post it to the bank, so I looked for it and found your aunt’s gone, too.” She shook her head. “I’ve been in such a daze since I got the news. I’m really not sure what I’m doing.” She sobbed openly.
Marc held her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I understand Barbara. I think you need a few days off. Since I’m declaring this area an active crime scene again, it will give you some time to process all this.”
The site of his tenderness toward this distraught woman sent Addie’s heart racing. Except for the night they’d shared a kiss, she’d rarely glimpsed this gentler side of him.
“Addie, since this is again an active crime scene, I’m going to have to ask you to leave immediately.”
Her mouth dropped open, but she looked at Barbara’s tear-blurred eyes and closed it.
“You don’t mind walking back to your store, do you?” He wrote something in his notepad.
She bit her tongue and nodded. “Barbara, please let me know if there’s anything you need,” Addie said, retreating out the door.
“Thank you. I will.”
She heard Marc behind her asking Barbara a few more questions as she swept by the reception desk. A flash of yellow on the computer monitor caught her eye, and she stopped. She leaned over and peered at the sticky notes papered across the bottom of the screen and gasped.
“Barbara, can you come out here for a minute, please?” she called.