Friends and Foes Read online

  “I think you’ve finally gone over the edge. Are you sure you’re not menopausal or something? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” That was a mean barb Sylvia threw Sally’s way, pointing out their age difference, and I could see Sally’s jaw clench.

  I looked at Sally, who looked back at me. I wasn’t a Sylvia fan, but I honestly didn’t think she had a clue as to what Sally was talking about. She looked confused. I could tell Sally felt the same way.

  “You’re telling me you didn’t trash our new store?” Sally asked skeptically.

  “I didn’t touch your store. You’re crazy. You should see someone about that,” Sylvia snapped.

  “What about putting sugar in my gas tank?”

  “That wasn’t me, either. You can’t blame me if someone else doesn’t like you.”

  “You need to stay far away from me, my friends, and the shop,” Sally said, stepping closer to her.

  I could tell Sylvia wanted to back away. I think she was worried Sally might hit her. But Sylvia was backed up against her car, and there was no place to go.

  “Sally, you’re crazy. Just crazy. Now, I have someplace to be, so just leave me alone.” Sylvia tried to open the car door, but Sally wouldn’t move. She finally got the door open and slid inside.

  “I mean it, Sylvia. Stay away from us, if you know what’s good for you,” Sally yelled to Sylvia’s car as she pulled out of the lot.

  “Man, she’s a piece of work,” Cora said.

  “Isn’t she, though?” said Sally.

  “Except, part of me thinks she was telling the truth.”

  “Me too,” I said.

  “If it wasn’t Sylvia, then maybe it was June,” Cora said.

  “I don’t know,” said Sally. “I still can’t imagine June doing this either.”

  We walked into the building, and Shelley, Jack’s assistant, escorted us to his office, where he was waiting. He stood up to greet us, handsome in his dark blue suit.

  “Hello, ladies. You’re all looking as lovely as ever. Shelley, can you bring us some coffee, please, unless one of you would prefer something else?” He looked at us, eyebrows raised.

  “Coffee is fine with me,” I said.

  “Me too,” said Cora, and Sally nodded her agreement.

  “Why was Sylvia just now coming out of your office?” I asked him.

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “She wasn’t here to see me. She had a meeting with Pete. About what I have no idea, so don’t even ask. Why?”

  “We just ran into her on our way in,” Sally said. “Our shop was vandalized, and word on the street is she did it.”

  “Word on the street?” He laughed. “Are you a gang now?”

  “If it’s not her, that only leaves June Tanner, and I find that hard to believe,” I said.

  “Why June?” Jack asked.

  I quickly filled him in on June confronting us at the pizza place, and what Cora had overhead.

  “But I just can’t see June stooping to this level,” I said. “I understand she’s mad, but to trash our store, put sugar in Sally’s gas tank? I just can’t see her doing those things. She’s a sweet old lady.”

  “Hmmm,” Jack said, and seemed to be lost in thought for a second. “I agree it does seem far-fetched, but June and Herb have been having some money problems the last couple years, which is probably why she’s upset.”

  “Really? I hadn’t heard,” I said. “The diner is always busy.”

  “I only know because they approached Pete and me last year about investing with them. They were hitting everyone in town up because the bank was about to foreclose on their building.”

  “Someone must have bailed them out, since they’re still open. Do you know who?” I asked.

  “No, but I can ask around.”

  “Do you think June would do something this drastic?” Sally asked him.

  “Your guess is as good as mine, but when people are desperate, they can do desperate things,” Jack said.

  “I’d still rather pin it on Sylvia,” Sally grumbled.

  Jack smiled and pushed some papers in front of us. “Here you are, ladies. It’s pretty standard. You each have an equal stake, and you’ll see on page two I’ve added a provision in the process if any of you decide you want out of the agreement.” Jack went on to explain the contract in detail, while we all tried to pay attention.

  “I still don’t feel right about doing this without Cora,” I said to Sally before signing.

  “I know, but it’s what she wants.”

  Cora had told us while she wanted to be part of ReadWine, she just wanted to invest and not actually be a partner. She didn’t want to be locked into a business. So we were taking her money for a percentage of the business, but no managing ownership.

  “Those details are on this page,” Jack said. “If all goes according to your projections, Cora will recoup her investment with a nice return.”

  It was the if I was worried about.

  When he finished explaining the rest, he told us where to sign and gave us copies of the paperwork.

  We got up to walk out, and Jack grabbed my hand to stop me. “Call you later? Maybe dinner?”

  “I’m not sure. Let you know later?”

  His face fell a little. “Sure. Is something wrong? Did I do something?” he asked. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

  “No,” I lied. “I’ve just had a lot to do getting ready to open.” I gave him a peck on the cheek, forcing a smile.

  As we walked out of the building, Sally turned to me. “What was that all about?”

  “What?”

  “You seemed distant toward Jack. Are you two fighting?”

  I sighed. “Not exactly,” I said, and told her what I’d seen.

  “And why haven’t you asked him about it? There’s probably a very good explanation. She’s probably a coworker,” said Sally.

  “Do you hug your coworkers?” I said.

  Sally just gave me a look. “At least ask and get his explanation. Instead of driving yourself crazy for something that might be nothing. He deserves the benefit of the doubt. Why don’t you go back in right now and ask him?”

  “No. It’s not the right time.”

  “Well, you need to do it soon, so you can know, and stop wondering.”

  “I know. I’ll invite him over tonight,” I said. “We can . . .” I trailed off as we arrived at my car to find all the tires were flat. “Do you think I ran over some nails?”

  “A nail named Sylvia,” Sally said. “Trixie, I’m so sorry she did this to your car.”

  “It’s not your fault, Sally. Besides, we don’t know for sure it was her.”

  “Oh, please. Of course it was her. You don’t really think June did this, do you? June wouldn’t have known we were here, and it’s not like we were inside for hours. This has got to stop.”

  “I’ll call Craig to come fix my car, and you go ahead and head to the shop.”

  “Hi Jack,” I said, answering my cell. His name had come up on the display. I’d been home for an hour, having spent most of my day dealing with my car. Craig had towed me to get four new tires. An expense I didn’t need right now.

  “Hey. I found out who bailed out June and Herb.”

  “You did?” I said, and walked to the kitchen to grab a diet Dr. Pepper from the fridge. “Who?”

  “Charlie Winters.”

  “I’ve never heard that name. Is he local?”

  “No. Some sort of slumlord, from what I could find out, but not here in Romero. He has businesses in the surrounding areas.”

  “That still doesn’t explain my tires. According to Craig, it takes a lot of strength to cut through rubber. There’s no way June could have done that.” After discovering my tires had been slashed, I’d gone back to Jack’s office while I waited for Craig.

  “No, but her husband could have.”

  “Herb? I just don’t see it.”

  “Anyways, I just called to tell you that,” he said and paused
. I could tell something was on his mind.

  I thought for a second about asking him, and while I had planned on doing it face-to-face, maybe it would be easier over the phone.

  “Jack, I have to ask you something.”

  “Does it have to do with why you’re giving me the cold shoulder?”

  I winced. I felt bad for treating him poorly when I didn’t even know what I’d seen or what it meant.

  “I saw you the other day in your parking lot, hugging a blonde woman. I thought maybe . . .” I let my voice trail off, not wanting to say it.

  “Trixie, you think I’m cheating on you?”

  “No. Not really. I mean, it’s not cheating. We haven’t had that talk. I guess I don’t know what to think.”

  Jack laughed. “I’m sorry you thought that. That was Verona Taylor. I used to work with her years ago. She happened to be in town for a meeting, and she just stopped in to visit. We’re just friends and colleagues, nothing more.”

  I felt so stupid for not asking him earlier, but also felt a huge sense of relief.

  “I’m sorry, Jack, for jumping to conclusions.”

  “I’m sorry, too, that you would think I would do that. We’re together. Exclusively. I’m not dating anyone else because I care about you a lot.”

  My heart warmed to hear those words. “I feel the same, Jack.”

  Chapter 11

  “So, Jack doesn’t know this guy personally, but he said he wasn’t the kind of guy he would go into business with,” I said, and filled Cora and Sally in on what Jack had told me the night before about who had bailed out June and Herb. I also told them that he wasn’t seeing another woman.

  “Told you Jack wasn’t that kind of guy, but that still doesn’t help us figure out who’s been doing this to us, and I still don’t think it’s June,” Sally insisted.

  “You just want it to be Sylvia,” I said.

  “I know.” Sally sighed. “I just can’t wrap my brain around it being June. She’s such a sweet old lady.”

  I set down my bucket of soapy water I’d been cleaning the floor with. Thank goodness the red paint was water based, and while it took a lot of scrubbing, it came off the floor without ruining the finish. “I’m exhausted. I say we call it a night and tackle the rest tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Cora said.

  We dumped out the dirty water and rinsed out the sponges, then grabbed our things to head out to the parking lot.

  “What time tomorrow?” I asked them.

  “I don’t know? Eight a.m., then maybe we’ll be able to—”

  “Sally, is that June standing by our cars?” I interrupted her.

  She looked over before she responded that it was. “What the heck does she want now? June, what are you doing here?” Sally asked when we reached the cars.

  “Making sure you don’t ruin what I’ve worked so long to build.”

  “June, like I said last time, we aren’t doing anything to hurt you,” I said.

  “And I’m going to make sure you never do,” June said, and pulled a gun from her purse, pointing it at us.

  “Whoa, June. What are you doing?” I asked.

  “You could say I’m getting rid of the competition.” She laughed, and it sounded scary. Not the normal laugh of hers I’d heard a million times before. She’d snapped.

  “June, let’s talk about this,” I said, trying to figure out how to get the gun out of her hands without any of us getting shot.

  “I’m done talking. I warned you, and you went ahead anyway. Now, get in the car.” She waved her gun toward Sally’s car.

  Sally and Cora got in the front, and I got in the back with June, while June kept the gun on Sally and told her to drive.

  “Where?”

  “Turn left out of here and head to Old Pond Road.”

  “Where are you taking us, June?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry about it, you’ll know soon enough,” she snapped, some of her gray hair falling out of her bun and giving her even more of a crazed look.

  I could see Sally glance back at me in the rearview mirror, and she looked panicked.

  Not that I blamed her, I was too.

  Old Pond Road was out there in the middle of nowhere. Not the best place to be heading with an unbalanced woman and a gun.

  I reached in my coat pocket and felt around for my phone. Did I dare risk trying to call 9-1-1 without her noticing? Would 9-1-1 even understand what the problem was?

  June was fixated on Sally and trying to hold the gun on her. I could tell June was getting tired. Her arm trembled, and she used her other arm to try to hold it steady. I slipped the phone out, and luckily, June still wasn’t paying any attention. I clicked the favorites button, then tapped a number and turned the phone over to face the seat, so when he answered, June wouldn’t hear. I hoped to God he answered, and it didn’t go to voicemail.

  “Do you know where Old Pond Road is, Sally?” I said rather loudly, startling June, which freaked me out. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her and have the gun go off accidentally.

  “Um, yeah?” Sally said. I’m sure she wondered why I asked the question. Old Pond Road had been a high school party spot for years. Since our parents were in high school. It was a secluded spot, and the cops never bothered to come all the way out here.

  “Is Old Pond Road off of US31 or US27? I can never remember where it crosses.”

  Sally gave me another funny look, and June yelled, “Shut up,” and turned the gun on me for a moment before turning it back on Sally.

  I didn’t want to keep talking and make her even more mad, so I just hoped the information had been received, or we were going to be in deep trouble.

  No one spoke for the remaining ten or so minutes we spent driving. When Sally turned on to Old Pond Road, June said, “Go to the first road and then left.”

  Where in the heck was she taking us?

  Sally slowed down to make the left-hand turn, and my heart started beating out of control. June wasn’t a match for the three of us physically, but she had a gun, and that kind of evened things up.

  “Park here,” June said, pointing the gun at a small clearing, and I could see her hand shaking.

  We got out of the car, and June just stood there for a minute like she wasn’t sure what to do.

  “June, you don’t really want to shoot us,” I said. “You’re not a killer.”

  “What I want to know is, are you the one who put sugar in my gas tank, trashed the shop, and slashed Trixie’s tires?” Sally asked.

  Good idea, Sally, I thought. Keep her talking as long as possible. Give us time to figure a way out of this.

  “No,” she said.

  “C’mon, June, you don’t have anything to lose by telling us,” I said.

  “I didn’t do it. Directly, anyways. I’m an old lady. I paid someone to do those things. I didn’t want it to come to this. But you left me no choice.”

  “Who, June? Who did you hire?” I asked, still stalling for time.

  “Some guy on Craigslist. Amazing what you can find on there, but enough talking. Walk farther down the road. Don’t want anyone coming across the bodies too soon.”

  June had lost it. I was sure she was out of her mind.

  June lifted the gun a little higher as we walked backward down the deserted dirt road a little farther. I began to wonder if this was it and reached out to grab Sally’s and Cora’s hands.

  “Say goodbye,” June said, and I started to close my eyes and think of my son when I heard a police siren.

  June, startled, whipped around, and the gun went off, a bullet pinging against Sally’s Navigator. I took the opportunity to push June down, and she dropped the gun. I kicked the gun out of her reach, and within seconds we were surrounded by police.

  Two of them picked up June and handcuffed her, leading her to the cop car, while Clive walked over to us.

  “Are you ladies okay?”

  We nodded.

  “You got here just in ti
me. But how did you know we were here?” Sally asked.

  Clive nodded toward me. “Trixie called, and I could hear you talking.”

  “So that’s why you kept repeating Old Pond Road,” she said, understanding what I’d been doing now.

  “I have to conduct a full investigation, but it appears as if you were right about June. I’ll need you three to come down to the station and give formal statements. If you can follow me back and do it now, I would appreciate it.”

  “Sure,” I said, and Sally and Cora nodded.

  I was emotionally drained, but I was glad to finally have it over.

  The End

  Read more about Trixie’s adventures in book 2, Snowglobes and Secrets or get all 4 books in the box set.

  If you liked Trixie and her friends then try the Spencer University cozy mystery series and the Presley Thurman cozy mystery series.

  Spencer University cozy mystery book 1, Death by Suspenders.

  Presley Thurman cozy mystery book 1, Stilettos & Scoundrels.

  Thanks for Reading

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  If you like clean romance with mature characters you might want to read, Finding Rachel.