Molly Dox - Annie Addison 01 - Color Me Crazy (6 page)

“Charlotte! Go to the shop first. I just thought of something
,” Annie squealed, her mind suddenly kicking into gear.

“But it’s locked up
; it’s not like you can get inside.” Charlotte wanted to help, but wasn’t sure what Annie was up to.

“I have to get inside. I just remembered something. Before they locked me out of my shop, in the back room where my supplies are, I made a mental note that I needed to mop the floor. We sweep and give it a once over daily, but it needed a thorough cleaning. There were footprints. I’m sure most were mine and Trish’s, but what if…”

“Got it, I’m on my way,” she said. She was worried about breaking in, but if it helped clear Annie’s name, it would be worth it. There was just one problem. If they found a lot of different prints, how would they match the print to the shoe? People owned numerous pairs of shoes.

Pulling up, Annie jumped out of the car and ran to the window in the back. No, it was too narrow. She’d have to brazenly break the glass by the front door. It was her last chance. She’d obviously be arrested if she got caught, but if she could get in there and figure something, anything out
, it would be worth it.

“What do you need me to do?” Charlotte asked, ready to jump into action.

“Maybe distract Mrs. Bushmiller, so she doesn’t call the cops on me again. I’m sure she’ll see us.” Annie hated that the nosy neighbor was one of her worst hurdles.

“Got it.” Charlotte took the initiative and went for it.

Annie looked around. She had no idea how to break the window. It was now or never. She decided to use her purse like a swinging weighted weapon. She swung hard into the window, but nothing happened. One more time, harder, still nothing. Annie held her breath, and out of frustration kicked the glass. She pulled a muscle in her thigh, grunted as her toes screamed with pain, but thankfully the glass shattered and gave her access to the interior lock. She finagled it at a weird angle, and sighed. One down, one to go. The deadbolt would be at a different angle. She’d have to push out more of the glass to reach higher. She took her purse and swung it into the shattered glass that remained, and knocked out a bigger section.

When the police showed up, she was in the back supply room, examining the footprints.

Officer Nick Rossi’s voice startled her. “And what exactly are you doing?”

Annie’s heart raced. “I didn’t do it. But there are footprints here that might be a clue. Did you guys dust for prints?”

The officer sighed. “Fingerprints, but not footprints,” he sheepishly mentioned. It was an oversight. They weren’t used to doing investigations of this kind. “Listen, I’m going to have to take you in for breaking and entering, tampering with evidence, and I’ll be honest, it doesn’t look good for you.”

“Please, just this one time, listen to me. I’m trying to save my life. I did not kill the woman, but I think I might know who did.” She was panicked that her time was running out.

The officer turned away. “I didn’t see you here. Leave now. I hope this isn’t the biggest mistake of my career, but I think I believe you. I’ll report not finding anyone on the scene this once. It goes against my better judgment, but don’t expect me to turn a blind eye in the future. This could cost me my job.”

Annie whispered thank you and was out the door. At Charlotte’s car, she sent a text to let her know she was waiting at her vehicle.
We need to leave. I can’t do this right now
.

They’d go to Uncle Buck’s the following night. Annie was afraid to be seen in public at this point. She was in enough trouble.

When they pulled up to Uncle Buck’s the next evening
, both Annie and Charlotte noticed the police car. Not many places were open off-season, so in this area they could be at Willie’s Steak and Pancake House or Uncle Buck’s. They could have easily just stopped in for a sandwich. Still, their curiosity was peaked. Had the cops come to the same conclusion…that they needed to hear more from Patsy’s son, Greg?

“Do you think?” Annie said, her hand’s wringing together. Her stomach knotted.

“Let’s go find out.” Together the women went inside.

One of the officers was sitting at the bar, eating a sandwich. Maybe he was just there for dinner. Or maybe he was watching the bartender, waiting for him to slip up. Charlotte led Annie to the bar and hopped up on one of the stools.

Greg walked over and glared at Annie. They obviously weren’t finished yet. Charlotte watched the way Greg reacted to her friend, then spoke. “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like a beer, something on tap.”

“Diet soda,” Annie got out, and then looked away. She hated the way he glared at her. It made her uneasy. He knew she was snooping.

The cop looked up and noticed the stand-off going on. There was tension in the air. He nodded across the room to somebody. Another officer, a plainclothesman stood, and walked to the bar. “Greg, I’ll need you to come with me. I have some questions for you.”

Greg spun around and saw the man. The cop who was at the bar eating was now closing in on the other side of the bar. “We need to talk to you.”

Greg tried to play it off at first. “Sure, sure…” But the panic in his eyes said something else completely.

Trish walked into the bar, saw what was going on, and started to walk out.

“Trish,” Greg called out. “Come back. Help me.”

Another officer was walking through the door, forcing Trish back a few steps. He spoke loudly and clearly. “We’re going to have to ask everybody to leave the premises at this time. You can settle your bills at the counter on the way out, and get your dinners packaged to go.”

What was going on?

Speaking to Greg,
he said, “We have a warrant to search both your home and workplace. Until we’ve given the okay, you’ll both remain in custody.” It was Officer Rossi. Did they find his footprint, like Annie had suggested?

“Wait? What? What do I have
to do with this?” Trish rebutted, annoyed she was part of this.

Greg slipped. “Seriously? You’re the reason all of this happened. If it wasn’t for you…” The confession started to slip.

“Greg,” she turned and glared. “Shut your mouth, now. Don’t try to pin this on me. You’re the one that poisoned your mother.”

Everyone turned to look at Greg. He broke down crying. “You don’t understand. She had terminal brain cancer. I didn’t want her to suffer. It seemed like the right thing to do.” He sobbed as the officer put handcuffs on him. “
I love you, Trish. How could you betray me like this?”

“Love me? Are you kidding me? I was only using you. Did you really think I could love someone who would kill their own mother? You wasted my time, you couldn’t even secure the insurance,” Trish snorted.

Everyone stood stunned as the lover’s confessions fell to the floor. Trish had made an imprint of Annie’s key when she was busy with a client and passed it off to Greg one night. Greg used the key to break in. The intention was to pin it on somebody else, and Annie was an easy target according to Trish.

Charlotte couldn’t help herself. “What about the poison they found?”

Greg had the last laugh. “I wasn’t going down for murder. Are you kidding me? I’d never survive in jail. I may have loved you Trish, but I was willing to let you take the fall. I knew my mom was going in to the salon, so I set her up.” Greg smiled at his cleverness. “And here you thought I was backstabbing Annie. It was you I hoped they arrested all this time. You’re nothing but a snake. I may have loved you, but I could smell your greed a mile away. I loved my mother. I wanted to help her so she wouldn’t suffer. You wanted her out of the way so that you could manipulate me out of insurance money. I only kept you around for the sex.”

“You lousy…you said you were going to set up Annie
!” She ran over to where he was, wanting to get her hands on him, but another officer stopped her and arrested her for conspiracy. There was more going on than anyone anticipated.

Annie gasped. They were going to pin this on her. She had no reason for them to pin it on her. Trish apparently pointed out that Annie was an easy target. She didn’t have family here, was divorced and lived alone, and didn’t have a large group of friends. Her social life was almost non-existent, except for her one older friend
. That would take the fire off herself and Greg.

“Wait, how did she die?” Annie asked.

Officer Frisco spoke up from behind the bar. Annie hadn’t seen him there. “Cyanide, he must have laced her drink for it to act that quickly. Doing it so publically with witnesses gave him an alibi. He looked concerned and surprised like everyone else. The problem was that the poison in the salon wasn’t cyanide. It was arsenic, which could have absorbed through the skin. Things didn’t match up, but we couldn’t say anything until we knew more.” He walked a step closer. “We had our suspicions once we identified the fingerprint inside the glove, but we couldn’t tie it all together, until now. The footprint that was found placed him inside the salon. It was a large man’s footprint, too wide to be yours or Trish’s. And thank you, Greg for spilling your confession. It makes our job that much easier.”

Annie stood stunned. “What does that mean?”

Officer Ross answered. “It means you’re free and clear. And thank you for your help in solving this puzzle.” He smiled softly at her.

“I’m free?” Annie couldn’t stop the tears. Her body shook
as the stress drained from her body.

Charlotte wrapped her arm around her friend. “It’s over.”

“It’s really over?” She almost couldn’t believe it. She asked the officer again.

“For you
, it is. For these two, it’s just starting.” He nodded his head toward the women and joined the others as the two new suspects were brought out to the waiting police cars.

“It’s over,” Annie said again, dropping her head to the bar.

Her entire life had been put on hold, her freedom, her business, and just like that it was over. Annie sobbed, getting the built up emotions out.

“You know, Annie
, you were pretty good at this. I wasn’t half-bad myself.  Maybe we should team up and start an investigation agency,” Charlotte said, her mind clicking with ideas now. “Let’s come up with a clever, catchy name.”

“Are you crazy? I
don’t want anything to do with law enforcement at this point.” Annie was overwhelmed by the turn of events.

“Not even anything to do with sexy Officer Rossi?” Charlotte nudged her friend.

“Okay, well, that’s just not fair. You know what I mean.” Annie smiled.

“Think about it
, kid. You and me, solving crimes and, interrogating people…” Charlotte started to build a case for them to go into business together.

“I think I’ve had enough crime solving to last me a lifetime,” Annie cut in. “Can we just go back to the way things used to be
- a quiet island, no murders, and a boring day-to-day existence?”

“You’re no fun,” Charlotte pouted.

“Don’t you have an active-community brochure to read?” Annie teased her friend. “You are getting up there in age.”

“Oh you! You’re in trouble when you feel better,” Charlotte quipped.

“I’m not sure how long that will take. My reputation is ruined and my business will be dead. Nobody is going to want to come in after all of this. The entire community knows about it.”

“And they’ll now learn you didn’t do it. There’s no reason to stay away,” Charlotte reminded.

“I sure hope so. I can’t afford to live here if I don’t have a business.” Annie stood and stretched. “I’m ready to go home. I don’t think I can handle any more excitement today.”

On arrive
home; she happily passed the news on to Alex that she wouldn’t be needing his services after all.

Annie stood in front of her shop as they removed the bolted lock that had stopped her entry. It felt weird watching them work. A locksmith gave her a key to the new lock they were installing once it was open.
They’d boarded up where she kicked in the glass. She’d need to take care of that soon.

Walking inside, she sat at the small desk and flipped through her book. She wouldn’t be in business much longer if she didn’t bring clients back in. It was barren. One word that you might have killed someone and everybody drops out of your life. Sheesh.

It was bittersweet. Her stomach rolled as she realized she might have to close up shop and leave. She couldn’t afford to stay without customers. She was happy to be back in her shop, but if it was for the last time…she felt the tears well up in her eyes. Brushing them away with the back of her hand, she regained her composure.

When Officer Rossi showed up, she did a double take. What now? Was she in more trouble? “Can I help you?” Everything inside of her cringed
; was her new-found freedom over already?

“I just wanted to stop by and say I’m glad it wasn’t you.” He gave her a smile. “I hope you understand we were just doing our job.”

She looked down, then back up at him, almost afraid to meet his eyes. She nodded, but it didn’t change the fact that her entire world spun on its axis. Nothing would ever be the same.

“Good day,” he said, before heading out the door. The chimes jingled as he left.

Any other day, she’d have been thrilled to see such a sexy cop walk in, but these days, staying away from cops was her current plan of action.

Annie locked up the shop with her new key and added it to her keyring. There was no point in staying, as there were no appointments. Getting to her car, she saw a card under her windshield. It was Officer Rossi’s card. It simply said, “Call me sometime
,” with his phone number. Annie smiled and tucked it into her wallet. Maybe another time, but right now Pip and Charlotte were all she needed in her life. Two good friends that stood by her side.

“Oh, Annie, I’m so glad I caught you,” the woman said. It was Caroline, one of the cashiers at the convenience store. “I’ve got a list of people that want appointments. I have names and numbers, so I hope you can fit us all in.”

“What?” Annie wasn’t sure what Caroline was talking about.

“Charlotte told me what happened, so we spread the word that one of our own needed help. The community pulled together and we started a phone chain. Overnight, we were able to pull together twenty-four appointments during the next two weeks. Do you think you can fit them all in? Just call the numbers and confirm if you’re okay with the date and time requested.”

“Are you serious?” Annie could barely breathe. She simply blinked. “You did this for me?”

“If we can’t watch out for each other, who can we watch out for
, right?” She smiled, proud of her accomplishment and happy to see a deed well done.

“I’m so touched. I can’t even imagine
…” Annie said, half-laughing and half-stunned.

“Here’s the list. I need to run, but I’m so glad I ran into you. I’ll see you next week. I need a haircut!” Caroline waved and turned to leave.

“Thank you,” Annie called out after her. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. It wouldn’t bail her out completely, but it was a start. Her reputation could be rebuilt, she’d regain customers, and she’d be darned if she was going to leave now. Sandy Beach Island was her home.

Annie went back to the shop and unlocked the door. Going inside, she went to a side drawer of the desk. Pulling out Jamie’s resume, she sat down and dialed the woman’s number. “Hi, this is Annie Addison from Beachside Beauty. Are you still interested in a job? Great! How soon can you start?”

The End

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