Coughing & Donuts: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery (10 page)

She looked from me to the guard tower, then, back to me. “What do you mean? I didn't see anything that night.”

“No, of course not. It was raining that night. You're right. Mike was alive in the morning, so of course you wouldn't have noticed anything unusual at night, but I'm sure you must walk Phoebe in the morning too.”

She nodded. “Well, yes, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“I'm not sure. That depends on what you saw.” I hoped I wasn't grasping at straws, but she was the only other person that had seen and heard me that night. She could vouch for me and tell Lou why I had been upset. It wasn't any reason to kill a man.

She looked at her watch. “You better get in. You're going to be late, aren't you?”

“You didn't answer my question.” I didn't want to be late, but I also didn't want to let her walk away without knowing whether or not she'd seen or heard anything unusual on the day Mike was murdered.

She looked at Phoebe for a moment while she thought back to that day. “I didn't hear any gunshots.”

Disappointed, I thanked her and walked away. “Okay, well, I better go. Have a nice night.”

“You too, sweetheart. Have a good night.” She walked off, speaking softly to Phoebe as they followed their path.

Wait a minute
, I thought.
She said she didn't hear the shots? How did she know how Mike died? No one told me anything.

I turned around to ask her, but she and Phoebe were jogging and she wouldn't have been able to hear me speaking to her.

*

My shift had gone as planned. No elopements. No police holds, other than the one I thought we still had. I'd noticed a message on the desk that said his placement hearing would be taking place at the end of the week. I knew that wouldn't go well for him. With a murder hanging over his head, I'm sure he had far more to worry about than how his psychiatric care would play out.

When I'd first been asked – told – to stay away from him, I was relieved, but as time had gone by, I realized how necessary it was for me to speak to him. He had the answers that I needed, but he would also cost me my job if I defied orders, so since I wasn't entirely positive I'd ever find gainful employment again if I let that happen, I heeded the warnings. See, I could follow the rules when I really put my mind to it or when my life of luxury was on the line. And, if there was ever a time that I'd say my livelihood was on the line, this would be one of them.

As I packed up my gear to leave for the day, I glanced outside at the guard tower through the windows in the break room. I must have been too distracted every time I'd ever been in there because I'd never noticed what a clear view we had of the tower from the windows. I could easily see exactly what the guard was doing. In this case, there were two guards on duty at all times. One stood in the doorway, opening and closing the gates to allow weary employees to either pass on their way in or pass on their way out. The other sat in front of the monitors, writing something on a clipboard.

Interesting. I wonder if anyone who had been working that night had noticed anything. I wished that I'd been paying more attention, but I was so flustered from that evening's bad episode that it was all I could do to pay attention to Amy as she showed me around.

The more and more I thought about it, the more confused it made me. How was it that a place full of cameras could not have captured a murder and how come no one had leaked any information as to the manner of death?

I thought about what Alma had said.
She said she hadn't heard any gunshots. Was Mike shot to death? How come I hadn't noticed that? I mean, I stood inches from him and I didn't notice anything unusual, other than the fact that he was pretending to be asleep or so I thought. Was I slipping? It was my job to notice when things were not right? How could I have not seen that there was something wrong? Was it my fault that he'd died? Was he dying when I was standing there yelling at him?

“Why the long face?” I jumped. I hadn't heard anyone enter the break room and it had been hours since someone had spoken to me.

“You scared me. What are you doing here so early in the morning?” I asked Rollie.

“Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I didn't realize that anyone was in here. Sometimes I sneak in a little early to see how things are going and to bring the next round of treats that Karen baked for everyone.” Rollie said.

I could see the strain on his face. Something was bothering him. I didn't have to guess what that something was and I wasn't sure if I should have mentioned the uncomfortable situation going on with staff members, but it was like ignoring the elephant in the room.

He cleared his throat as he walked over to the windows, next to me. “I should warn you. Reporters are asking a lot of questions. So far, we've managed to avoid any major media outlets, but there's one particular reporter out of Hollywood that is asking more questions, more often than the others and she informs me that she has been watching you closely. I get the feeling that she has honed in on you in particular and soon we'll wake up to find an expose on you.”

Well, that's not what I was expecting him to say,
I thought as I noticed his very formal looking new duds. Perhaps, he was hoping to have his fifteen minutes of fame.

“She's following me?” I hadn't noticed anyone following me. “Why would she follow me anyway? What's she looking for?”

“I don't know.” Rollie shrugged. “I just thought you should know. I received another phone call from her last night. Have you been running around town acting like a detective? Are you conducting your own investigation, Mercedes?”

Oh, she knows.

“No?” I hadn't meant for that to sound like a question, but what he'd just said threw me for a loop. I was being followed by a reporter. I can't say that's ever happened to me before.

“Mercedes.” Rollie shook his head.

“Okay, well, in my defense, I have a right to clear my name.” I protested.

“Clear your name? No one truly believes you did anything wrong. If that were true, you wouldn't continue to be employed here, regardless of what Karen asks that I do. You have to understand, Mike's murder has everyone on edge. We're all thinking the same thing. We've walked through those gates, hundreds of times. That could have been us. That could have been you.” Rollie explained.

I hadn't thought about it that way before. He was right. People were on edge. A murder happened at the place they spent the most time at – the place where they thought they were secure and the victim was one in charge of  protecting them.

“I hadn't considered what this must have done to everyone else. You all knew him. Sorry. I was being selfish. Narcissistic.” I apologized.

“Well, that's understandable. You were the last person to have seen him alive. I can't imagine what it must be like for you.” He patted my shoulder.

Since he and I had known each other for some time, I felt comfortable telling him what was on my mind. “I couldn't have been the last person to have seen him alive. The killer would have been the last one to have seen him.” I sighed as the realization hit me. “
Was
I the last one to have seen him? Do you know something? Did the police tell you that?”

Rollie took a step back, running his hand through his thick crop of hair. “No, but they have the footage of when you two were arguing, then, sometime after that, he was killed. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have phrased it like that. I didn't mean anything by that.”

“Tell me the truth, Rollie. Did the police tell you that he was alive when I was there? We weren't arguing by the way. Yes, I was upset, but that's because of the stuff from the night before and because I was frustrated because he was ignoring me. I'm sure they could hear that on the footage.” I couldn't get the image of him sitting with his head down out of my head.

“Mercy, there's no audio on the footage. It just records images. No one could hear what was or wasn't said. It just looked like you two were arguing. Of course, we can't see everything in the room, but from what we could see it looked like you walked in and were visibly upset about something, then, you seemed to be yelling and you knocked everything down from the desk.” He said.

“There's no audio?” I had no idea. I just assumed they had seen and heard everything. “What about the cameras outside of the building? Did you see how he treated me that night? Did you see the woman with the dog? She can tell you that he left me standing outside in the pouring rain while he mocked me.”

He looked confused, like this was the first time he heard anything about it. “I saw the footage from that night, but I'm afraid, there's no woman with a dog on it. We do see you, though.”

I could tell by the look on his face that what he saw didn't make me look good. “You saw me running in between buildings and checking cameras?” I knew that's what he was afraid to say.

“Yes, there's footage of you from the time you parked until you finally found your way inside the building.” He answered.

“Are you sure there's no footage of the woman with the dog? I'm sure you've seen her before. She has that giant Chow Chow Phoebe.”

Rollie shook his head. “I really have no idea. I'm not much of a dog person.”

I hung my head. I was doomed. “Did you ask the employees not to speak to me?”

“No! Who told you that?” His eyebrows furrowed.

I already had made enough enemies. I didn't need to make anymore, so I just shook my head and said, “No one. I was just asking.”

“I'll talk to them. You should know that we are having a memorial service for staff members today. It's at three o'clock this afternoon in the chapel.” He said.

Emotion welled in my throat. “Are you asking me not to come? I understand.”

“No, I'm telling you to come. Let's not add more fuel to the fire. I'll be there and so will Karen. How about we pick you up a little after two?”

“Okay.”

“Hey, this is going to be okay. No one blames you. Remember that. Get some sleep and we'll see you this afternoon. Karen will be so happy to see you.” He said, squeezing my shoulder for reassurance.

I had a feeling that this wasn't going to go well for me.

“Whoa! Where are you going dressed like that?” Charlie was the last person I expected to see standing on the other side of the door.

“To a memorial service. What's wrong with my outfit?” I asked, preparing for him to make some snide remark.

“Nothing. I just have never seen you so dressed up before. Memorial service? For the security guard?” He asked.

“Yes. I thought you weren't talking to me. What are you doing here?” I know I sounded wounded and I wished that I didn't.

“That's why I came to see you. I was going to see if you wanted to grab a meal and call a truce. I'm flying home in a couple of days and I don't want to go back to Nebraska with things like they are and I promise I won't call you my girlfriend anymore.” He smiled at me.

I didn't know how to respond. Did I not want to be his girlfriend? What does girlfriend really mean anyway? We live thousands of miles apart and I'm too old to want to get into a relationship.

“Ms. Mares, you're over thinking again. We're friends. Let's just leave it at that.” I saw a flicker of something in his eyes, but he didn't fill me in on what he was thinking. “Are you leaving now? How about a rain check on that meal? Just give me a call when you're back, okay?”

I agreed and said my goodbyes. I had about an hour before Karen and Rollie would be arriving to pick me up, so that was enough time to make some phone calls and try to get myself in the right head space to survive this memorial.

“Hey, Toots! How is it going?” Ruby sounded chipper. Her mother-in-law must have been doing better.

“I'm still here. They haven't burned me at the stake yet.” I said.

She laughed. “I was going to call you yesterday to tease you about your fifteen minutes of fame, but Hank wouldn't let me. Something about not messing with your adult ego state or some other mumbo jumbo.”

Ruby and Hank were an adorable couple. His psychiatric practice was well known and he was well sought after for interviews and for consultations, but he was also incredibly grounded and so very much in love with Ruby and had been since the moment they met. Believe me, I know. I was there when they'd met in college. She gave him a run for his money and he was more than happy to oblige. They were the epitome of what real love should look like and I was glad to know them.

“My adult ego is intact, I think. What do you mean by my fifteen minutes of fame?” I asked.

“Well, the story about you that ran on that prime time news magazine show.” She said.

I had no idea what she was talking about. “What show,” I asked.

“You didn't see it? They had footage of you eating with your boyfriend. Why didn't you tell me that you and Charlie were an item now? I'm your best friend and I had to find out on television? Mercy, do you know how great this is? Hank and I were talking about it last night. There's so many things we could do together as couples. We could take trips together and...” She was so excited for me.

“Ruby, he's not my boyfriend. He's just here to help me out and he's staying in a hotel, not with me. What news show?” I had to get her to focus, otherwise she'd never let up about me and Charlie. Ever since I'd gotten divorced, she'd been trying to fix me up with men she felt had husband potential. I wasn't interested.

“Darn. I thought you'd finally stopped pretending that he didn't matter to you.” Ruby groaned.

“I don't pretend. I do care about him, just not in that way.” I didn't want to say too much. If I mentioned how hurt I was when he hung up on me, she'd jump all over me and have us married in less than a week's time.

“Well, don't stall for too long because he's a good man with a secure job and he likes you. No man travels across the country for you unless you mean something to him. Am I right, Hank?” I figured Hank was nearby. He always was.

“Hi, Hank!” I yelled into the phone. “Save me from your wife, please!”

Ruby chuckled. “You are so silly. I'm not doing anything. I'm just being honest with you. Don't let Charlie slip through your fingers. You'll regret it one day, if you keep it up. Anyway, look the video up online. The show is called The Real Story with Paula Kay.”

“Paula Kay? Are you kidding me? I watch that show.” I was shocked. “Oh, and I can't look it up. My computer was stolen.”

I knew I shouldn't have said that, but it was too late. It would only be seconds before Ruby would take it and run with it. The question was, how far would she take it?

“Your laptop got stolen? From where? The hospital?” She asked, then, addressed her husband. “Someone stole Mercy's laptop.”

“It was my fault. My brain has been all jumbled up lately and I forgot to shut the apartment door when I went to work. They didn't touch anything else. It was just my laptop. You know, a crime of convenience.” I hoped that would diffuse the situation, but knowing Ruby like I did, probably not.

“Did you report it? How do you know they didn't touch anything else? For all you know they could have taken something that you haven't realized yet. What did the police say?” She asked.

I cringed because the next little tidbit of information I was about to lay on her wasn't going to go over so smoothly. “The police don't know. I didn't call them.” I held my breath as I waited for her meltdown.

“You didn't call them?” She was breathing heavily. I had half a mind to remind her to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth, but I refrained. “Why didn't you call them? How do you expect to find the person that stole it?”

“Um, well, I don't. It's really no big deal. It's just a laptop. It's not like I had any government secrets in there. Heck, I don't even know how to use half the features on it.” I said.

Ruby must have been blowing a fuse because I heard the phone shuffle, then, Hank's calming voice. “Mercy, I think you should call the police. There's a certain vulnerability that you're exposing yourself to by not making them aware. Number one, they violated your space. That has to be stressful and will impact your ability to sleep. Two, you might not realize it, computer hard drives contain so much private information. You won't want some stranger getting access to your files.”

I knew he was right, but I honestly didn't feel entirely positive that the local police would do anything about it. If their captain didn't like me, there was no way that they would all take a sudden interest in helping me.

“You're right.” I wasn't going to follow his advice, but I didn't want to continue this debate either, so I agreed with him just to end the conversation.

“I know you're not going to do it, Mercy.” Hank whispered.

“Sorry, but I have my reasons.” I said.

He raised his voice to a normal level. “We spoke to Diana last night. We'll be leaving New York, then tomorrow, we'll stop and pick up Barney.”

“Oh, are you sure? I don't want you to feel obligated.” I was thankful for having such great friends who I could count on.

“Yes, my mom is doing better. She's as feisty as ever and says we need to go home, so that's a good sign. The doctors say that she's gotten past the worst, so let's just hope that's true.” Hank said.

“Great! Fingers crossed.” I said. “I better give Diana a call before I go to the memorial service.”

Ruby was back on the line. “Honey, keep your head up and, please, at least talk to Charlie about the laptop. I hate to think that there's someone running around thinking they can get away with a crime and continue on with their lives.”

I thought the same thing, just not about the laptop.

*

I kept telling myself that this wasn't a good idea. I don't know why I let Rollie talk me into this. I suppose that if I hadn't shown up, people would have read into that too, but now as I stood here with sideways glances coming from all directions, I wasn't feeling like I was a welcomed guest.

Karen, Rollie's wife, made a big show of displaying her affection for me.
Bless her naive heart!
But, I'm pretty sure all that was doing was giving people all the more reason to not like me.

“Don't pay attention to them,” she whispered in my ear for the fourth time since we'd arrived. “They should all be suspicious of each other. They all knew him and they all knew that not one of them liked him, so they should lighten up and show some respect.”

I'd forgotten how much I loved Karen. She had spunk, even when her prognosis was not good, she was a fighter and a true testament to the idea that your attitude can dictate how things go for you. She never let her illness define her. That took guts. More guts than I'd ever have.

“They hate me.” I sighed.

“They don't know you. To know you is to love you. They'll figure it out.” Karen squeezed my hand gently.

Rollie hushed us like we were children and, then, we proceeded to act like children by shushing him back.

Karen told him, “You need to handle your people. Look at the scowls on their faces.”

Rollie had been so focused on the moment that he had rarely looked up and seen the looks of disdain that everyone wore. His eyes slowly moved from face to face. The few that noticed would look away quickly or nod in his direction, but the others were lost in thought. I wondered who or what they'd been thinking about.

Most of those in attendance were people I recognized. I'd either worked side by side with them or I'd seen them in passing. Of all the stories I'd heard, Mike didn't have a good relationship with anyone other than the police captain. I was under the impression that staff members and even members of his own family found him to be off-putting at best.

Although we were all there to gather together and share memories, this didn't feel like much of a memorial service. People were making small talk, huddled in corners. Others looked around the room nervously at the others in attendance. I suppose for some, we were all suspects.

What I didn't see though, were tears. Not one soul was crying.
Did no one like this guy? Was he that bad?

There was rustling behind us and whispers. I turned my head slightly to see what the commotion was. Brandi stood in the doorway with three teenagers. I assumed they were the children she shared with Mike. A lump formed in my throat. I felt so horrible for his children. Bad guy or not, he was still their father.

Rollie turned to see what the gasps were about. Brandi looked right at him and waved as if she were seeing an old friend.

“Hey, Rollie! How are you, honey?” Her voice boomed through the hushed crowd.

Karen gasped, then, caught sight of what Brandi was wearing and had to cover her mouth to stifle a giggle.

I had to stand on my tiptoes to see what the fuss was about, but knowing Brandi, I already knew that she wouldn't disappoint. She wore a long, white, form fitting gown with a slit up to her hip.

Where did she get that get up? House of Strippers?

Her platinum blonde hair was combed out and cascaded down her back, exposing just a hint of her backless gown. Her children were dressed in sharp contrast to her, but also to each other. One wore jeans designed to look like they'd been put in a meat grinder and a halter top. The boy was dressed appropriately for the occasion with tan trousers and a button up shirt – freshly ironed. The younger female wore a too-short mini skirt and a T-shirt that read: Take a picture. It will last longer.

Who were these people?

Brandi paraded down the aisle in between the rows of seats and did her best runway walk, her hair swinging behind her, blowing the strong smell of orchids and cigarettes into the faces of the stunned crowd.

It was like a train wreck. I couldn't take my eyes off of her and her children. I felt so horrible for them, but at the same time, I couldn't wait to see what they were going to do. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach that we were about to be made witness to an epic scene.