Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (95 page)

“Hello, stranger,” she said. I had worked with her in the afternoon for the last hour of my shift. “Did you get to take a nap?”

I had told her about my bad day at work and Ty showing up. I seemed to be spilling my guts to everybody lately. But then I thought about what David had said about Ellen. He was right. There was something really comforting about her. Sometimes he called her “Mom Number Two.” And it wasn’t in the sarcastic way he referred to me as “mommy” sometimes. He meant it.

When I finished telling her everything, she told me to go home and take a nap. I think it actually helped. I was feeling a little better. But honestly I couldn’t see how it was possible to feel any worse.

“Yeah,” I said. “You were right.”

“Usually am when it’s the easy stuff,” she said, rubbing my shoulder.

Angie walked up, dressed in a Christmas sweatshirt and a Santa hat. As was her habit, she handed us those aprons, hair nets, and gloves.

“Abby, how about you help with serving?” she said. “And, Ellen, you’re on kitchen duty tonight.”

“Sure,” I said.

“You got it, Ange,” Ellen said.

I set the trays out and plugged them in, stirring the contents. It looked like some sort of beef stew with mashed potatoes and rolls and green beans. Dessert was a large cake that one of the local bakeries had donated.

I was working with Sutter. Angie had pulled me aside and told me that she thought he was on some sort of medication.

“He suffers from mood swings,” she said. “He seems fine tonight, but I just wanted to let you know in case he starts acting up. Let me know right away if anything comes up.”

I nodded and wondered why they would have someone like that working here. And then, of course, it came to me. People weren’t exactly knocking down the doors to volunteer. Most people didn’t give places like these a second thought. I knew. I was one of them.

I kept an eye on Sutter, but didn’t see any crazy moods.

People kept coming in. At one point Angie asked me if I could stay an extra hour. I told her that it was fine.

Just after seven, she let the last of the people in from out in the cold. I glanced up and looked around the large room and at the line, trying to gauge when I would get home.

That’s when I saw her.

Standing with a tray in her hands, looking at the food on the table.

It was her.

The dead woman in the alley. The one with the bright red blood gushing out of her neck. The one that I had seen being murdered just last night.

Standing in line, eyeing the mashed potatoes.

Still alive.

CHAPTER 34

Goose bumps engulfed my arms as she walked past me.

It was her. Her neck was still intact but it was her. The same thin body. The same hair. The same nose. The same full lips. It was her. I was sure of it.

And I didn’t have a clue what to do.

She reached over for the salad, keeping her eyes down.

“That’s right,” the man standing next to her said. “I’m glad to see you easing up on those carbs. You’re getting fat.”

She sighed and tossed down the serving fork.

“Hello,” I said, ignoring the guy she seemed to be with.

She looked up startled and forced a smile.

“Hi,” she whispered. I could barely hear her.

He shot me a dirty look.

I watched her as they walked to a table, sitting side by side. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her cheek as if apologizing. But I could see it. The dark energy swirling around him.

I looked away and noticed Sutter’s eyes crawling all over her like cockroaches.

As the line slowed down and then came to an end, I watched her, trying to be more subtle and less creepy than Sutter. Trying to think of a way to approach her.

I couldn’t let the opportunity get away, couldn’t just hope to find her again here tomorrow. This might be my last chance. Somehow, I had to tell her that she was going to die unless she listened to me.

I caught myself studying her boyfriend, or whoever she was with. He looked to be about 25. He was tall and thin, except for a small beer belly, and wore old clothes and one of those Jamaican-style rastacaps covering his dirty hair. He had a lot of tattoos and his chin was full of scruff.

My immediate impression was that she was too good for him. And not because of how he was dressed or how he looked. There was something in his eyes. Something about him was wrong.

A sudden chill passed through me as I wondered if I was staring at a future killer.

“I just saw an old friend and want to say hello,” I said, turning to Sutter. “I’ll be right back to help with clean up.”

I started walking over to the table.

“Hey, you can’t just leave!” I heard him shout behind me. “Come back here, slim!”

I stopped for a moment and turned around to look at him. He was holding a large serving spoon in his hand. His expression had changed. He was neither friendly nor creepy. He looked angry and downright scary.

“Come back here!”

People looked up from their trays and started staring at him and then me.

I didn’t care. This was more important. Angie would have to deal with Sutter’s freak out.

“Hi,” I said, sitting down across from her.

It was a feeble plan. But at least it was something. I tried to be upbeat and something bordering on charming.

I couldn’t just blurt out the truth here in the middle of all these people and hope that she would believe me. I needed to get her alone. I needed an address or phone number where I could reach her.

She ignored me.

“Hi,” her boyfriend said. “Logan.”

I saw Angie coming out from the kitchen, heading toward Sutter. He began pointing toward me.

“I was wondering if you two would be interested in answering a few questions for a survey we’re conducting regarding your experience here tonight. If you do, there’s a $20 Target gift certificate that you would be eligible to win. I would normally just ask you the questions right now, but we’re shorthanded tonight, but if you give me a number where I can reach you, we can do it over the phone in the next few days. Does that sound like something either of you would be interested in doing? It only takes five minutes.”

“I don’t know what little boys you hang with,” he said, letting out a dark chuckle that was dirtier than his hair. “But it takes a whole lot longer when you’re with me. Right, April? Whole lot longer.”

She looked away.

“Hell, yeah,” he said a moment later. “I think you guys use too much salt. I’ll take your survey. We both will. That will increase our chances of winning, right?”

“Sure will,” I said, feeling sick and promising myself that if I couldn’t hold it down, I would throw up in his face.

I pulled out my phone.

“Whenever you’re ready,” I said.

He gave me his first, making the six sound like “sex” and looking at me.

“You’re up, April,” he said, going back to his food.

“I’m Abby by the way,” I said. “Pleased to meet you.”

She whispered the numbers, forcing me to ask her if I had it right.

“I’ll be in touch,” I said, getting up.

I fought the urge to delete Logan’s number.

I had crawled through a river of Sutter and Logan and was in dire need of a long shower. But I had made real progress. I knew who the victim was going to be and I had her phone number. For the first time I felt like I had a chance to save her. A real chance.

CHAPTER 35

“All right,” I said. “I’ll be there in an hour.”

I drove over to the soccer fields, my mind on autopilot. I hadn’t talked to Ty since he dropped by Back Street that day. He had called a few times but I didn’t answer. I listened to his messages without returning his calls.

I was tired. Tired of the whole thing. We had gone around and around like an airplane circling a fogged-in airport, waiting for the okay to land. But there would never be an okay for us. The radio was dead. So we just kept circling, going over the same territory over and over again. And I had just run out of gas.

The sadness had been replaced at first by anger. But now there was only acceptance of the inevitable.

In his latest message he offered to play keeper for me while I practiced my shot. Why not? The soccer field was as good a place as any to end it.

I turned into the lot, driving down to where we used to practice. Ty’s truck was parked at the far end. I spotted him under one of the crossbars, doing pull ups. I tightened my shoelaces and then dribbled through the frost-covered grass toward him. He jumped down and waved when he saw me.

“Hey,” I said. “I’d be careful doing that. I’ve heard about some people who have had the goal come down on them.”

“That would be a bad way to go,” he said, walking over to meet me.

I could see he wanted to kiss me but I backed away.

“I miss you,” he said again.

“Well, here I am,” I said, the words sounding like I was reading from a phonebook.

“Okay, let’s do this,” he said, nodding toward the goal. “I’m ready.”

“I’m going to warm up first. I’ll meet you back here in a few minutes.”

I took off and dribbled around the field a couple of times. Then I did a few wind sprints.

My first shot turned out to be my last. Knuckling through the air, the ball, slippery from the wet grass, went right through his fingers and hit him in the head. The impact knocked him back into the goal.

“You all right?” I said, running up to him.

“I think so,” he said, rubbing his head. “You should see the other guy. Oh, wait, you do see the other guy. The dead guy.”

He started to giggle.

It didn’t sound like something Ty would say, no matter how mad he was. Plus he was laughing. His eyes didn’t look right.

“I think we should get you to the hospital,” I said, reaching down to help him up. “I think you might have a concussion.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my head,” he said as he staggered to his feet. “It’s my heart that’s broken.”

I put my arm around his waist and helped him toward the parking lot.

“Hey, what do you think would happen if I died of my broken heart?” he said, staring at my ear. “Then you would have two dead guys to love. Would that make things easier or more dif, dif, dif, ah, harder? Which shoes would you choose?”

We finally reached the Jeep and I helped him inside. As I reached over to help him on with his seatbelt, he tried to kiss me but missed, giving me a small headbutt instead.

“I just want to kiss you,” he said, sounding drunk.

I was starting to worry. I hoped it wasn’t too serious. I got in the driver’s side and backed up.

“Hey, that’s mine,” he said, pointing to his pickup.

“I know,” I said. “Stay awake.”

“Why? Is it bedtime already?”

CHAPTER 36

On the way to St. Charles, Ty started feeling better.

“I’m okay,” he said. “You didn’t hit me that hard. I just feel a little weak is all. But I think it might be because I haven’t been eating right. I’m not going to the hospital, Abby.”

“When’s the last time you had some real food?” I said.

“I don’t know. It’s been a while.”

I got to the hospital and kept driving.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry about those things I said back there.”

“Never mind that now,” I said. “Let’s get you something to eat and we’ll see how you’re doing.”

Our breakup would have to wait. At least until after he had had a decent breakfast.

We walked into Pilot Butte Drive In and I watched him while he ate a huge plate of
huevos rancheros
.

***

April, if that was even her name, had given me a fake phone number.

When I called it, it was to a dog grooming service. A man who sounded old answered.

“Hi, is April working today?” I asked.

“April?” the man said. “Nope. You got the wrong number.”

“Wait,” I said. “Are you sure? She’s blonde with dark eyes.”

“Sounds nice. No, the only one around here fitting that description is the golden retriever I’m looking at. But he calls himself Rufus.”

I put the phone down and took a sip of coffee. I was sitting by the window on my break. A freezing fog covered the street. I could barely make out the opposite sidewalk.

There was only one other thing I could think of.

I dialed the number and waited.

“Yeah?” he said.

“Hi, Logan. This is Abby Craig. I don’t know if you remember—”

“Yeah, did I win?” he said.

Win? He hadn’t even filled out my phony survey. How could he win? But I wasn’t going to let some imaginary fine print get in my way.

“Uh, no, sorry,” I said. “But I have some good news for April. Her name got pulled out of the hat. But I must have taken down her phone number wrong. Anyway, would you know how I could get ahold of her?”

“You just missed her. Hey, but why don’t you give me your number,” he said. “And I’ll pass it along to her.”

I didn’t like the idea of giving this loser my phone number but couldn’t think of what else to do.

“All right then, Abby,” he said. “I’ll give her the good news.”

I started to lose some of the hope I had felt the night before. Would he even give her the message? Her life was in his hands. Maybe literally in his hands.

I didn’t trust those hands.

CHAPTER 37

An hour later, she called me back. I made up a story about needing her signature on some paperwork. I asked if there was somewhere we could meet.

“I’ve got a class at the college at one,” she said. “But I’ll be home till 12:30.”

I looked at my watch. It was just before 11. My shift ended at two, but I would have to make up something else to tell Mike.

I felt bad about lying to him, but I told myself I would make it up to him later.

I could feel Mo’s eyes drilling into the back of my head as I walked past the growing line of customers and out the door.