Necklaces & Nooses Read online

  Willie hailed a cab, and we continued our playful banter all the way to my door.

  “I had a great time tonight, Presley,” he said.

  “Me, too, Willie. Thanks for ordering great sushi.” I got out of the cab then leaned in the door for one final comment. “I had a great time. Call me tomorrow?”

  “Definitely! Bye, Presley.”

  “Bye,” I said, shutting the door and walking up to my building. “Hi, Charles,” I said to the doorman.

  “Hi, Red, have a fun evening?”

  “I sure did. Good dinner, good company. It was very nice.” More than nice, I thought. I was hoping to see more of Willie.

  My phone had been ringing non-stop for the last twenty-four hours so when I felt it vibrate in my purse, I almost didn’t even look at it. It had been a long day and I was ready for bed. I was tired of all the questions, but I didn’t want to ignore it just in case it was Willie. Although, I had just left him so that didn’t seem likely. I pulled it out and saw it was a 212 area code, New York City. The only person I knew from the Big Apple was Cooper. We hadn’t talked in a couple weeks, since we realized the long distance relationship thing wasn’t working very well. I had picked up the phone several times to call him, but just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was one of those things where I loved him and he loved me, but we just weren’t both in the same place in life. Coupled with his crazy travel schedule, it just made things impossible. I hesitated for a split second but knew if I didn’t answer it, I would regret it. I went to hit the talk button, and it stopped ringing. I stared at the phone for a few minutes hoping he would call back and was disappointed when he didn’t. Finally he did.

  “Hey, King.”

  I heard his voice and just about melted. That was the problem, even though we had mutually decided this wasn’t the right time, I wanted to throw all caution out the window anytime I even thought about him.

  “Hey, Coop. How’ve you been?”

  “Good, and you?”

  “I’m fine,” I replied and then listened to a painfully long ten seconds of silence. “Are we really going to be all formal?” I teased him, trying to break the ice.

  I heard him breathe a sigh of relief. “God, I hope not. I guess I wasn’t sure you would want to talk to me.”

  “Why wouldn’t I want to talk to you? We will always be friends. We talked about that.”

  “I know. I guess it just seems weird. I’m sure it will pass. So how have you been?

  “Good. Just the same ole stuff.” I hesitated telling him about the murder. Not because of Willie, but because Cooper would jump to the conclusion I was going to be nosy and investigate on my own. Obviously he knew me and wasn’t completely wrong, but I didn’t really want to hear it.

  “Are you sure? Nothing exciting you want to tell me about?”

  What was he getting at? He was in New York or traveling all over the U.S. I had a feeling he knew exactly what I was doing, but how? “No, nothing exciting, just work.”

  “King.” I could hear him sigh. The sound of the familiar nickname that was only used by my dad and him, and it tugged at my heart. I did miss him.

  “What?”

  “You don’t think it’s worth mentioning the murder investigation you’re mixed up in?”

  “How did you know? And I wouldn’t necessarily say I am mixed up in it.”

  “A detective called me. Willie Landon. He was asking me about your involvement in the senator’s murder.”

  I wanted to be angry, but Willie had already told me he had checked me out. He would have had no idea that Cooper and I were an item, until after that point when we had discussed our respective ex’s. But still, he could have let on he actually talked to Cooper, not just the police station in Alkon.

  “And you are mixed up in it. You found the body. How much more mixed up could you be?”

  “Well, I didn’t ask to be involved.”

  “You might not have asked, but you are. Why must you always get yourself in these situations so I’m stuck worrying about you?”

  “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m a big girl, and it’s not like we’re together.”

  “We are still friends, and I still care. I am always going to worry. You rush into things without thinking sometimes.”

  “Cooper, I’m sorry if you worry, but stop. I can handle myself.” This was not the conversation I wanted. It was turning into the same argument we always had, the main one that made us realize we always were in conflict, and even though it was well intentioned, it was still a conflict neither of us wanted.

  “Presley…”

  “Cooper, I don’t want to fight about this.”

  “Neither do I. That’s not why I called, to argue.”

  “Then please just drop it.”

  “I can’t help but worry. I want you to be safe.”

  “I know.” We talked a little bit longer, skirting around the elephant in the room, and said our good-byes with him asking me to let Willie do his job, and me promising not to get involved. I tried to tell Cooper that this was a different situation than when the senator was murdered and I had no interest in trying to figure out who killed Solange. Even if she was my boss. I knew when I was in over my head. I sat back on the couch and sighed. Why did being an adult have to be so complicated? I missed him, but it wouldn’t work. I thought I liked Willie, but after talking to Cooper I almost felt as if I didn’t want to pursue someone else, something else. It made it that much harder to get over Cooper. Maybe I shouldn’t talk to him, or at least not for a while. Give myself time to get him out of my system. It just brought back memories of how much it hurt when emotions were involved. Not that I wanted to be single the rest of my life, and my mother would never let me live it down if I didn’t give her grand kids, though at this rate it looked like my brother Jesse had a better chance of it than I did. Who would have thought?

  Chapter 7

  I walked up to the boutique trying to balance my purse, my tote, and my venti latte, all without spilling any of it. Quite a feat, if I must say so myself. Especially because I was distracted thinking about how much fun I had at my dinner with Willie. The evening had been good—no, actually it had been great. Just like when he drove me back to my car from the precinct the other night. We just had a good rapport. Never a silent moment, and it was easy, effortless banter. I was looking forward to seeing him again.

  I put my key in the lock, and as I swung Silk’s door open, I cringed, closing my eyes tight for a second. I opened them and still couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The boutique had been torn apart. It was an absolute shambles. And I’d thought it was a mess the day before when I came in after the police crime tech people had left. It had taken me and Steph hours to get it back to normal. But this time was a whole different level of mess. Every single rack and four-way was knocked down. The accessories that weren’t locked up were strewn all over the store, and it looked like the high-end necklaces, the pearl and crystal ones were ripped apart. There were pearls and crystal beads all over the floor. Why would someone do this?

  I called Willie.

  “Hey, aren’t we were meeting up later?” he said. “Are you having second thoughts already?”

  “Not at all. I am calling for something else entirely,” I said, walking over to the counter to set my stuff down, my ear to my shoulder to hold the phone. I realized this was a crime scene, but either I set my stuff down or I risked spilling latte all over the floor, and I didn’t think they would want that either.

  “What’s going on?”

  I could tell now he was worried. “I just walked in to the store, and it’s been trashed. Worse than the way your folks left it.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right there. Don’t stay in the store, go outside and wait for me.”

  “Why? I won’t touch anything.”

  “Just do it. I’ll be there in fifteen.”

  Willie arrived ten minutes later to find me sitting on my sweater in front of the store, sipping my coffee a
nd watching traffic go by. It was a nice morning, and I had grown tired of standing. I had worn jean trousers and a sweater twin set, so I was perfectly content people watching. He rushed up to me.

  “Are you okay?” He looked so concerned, it made me melt.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Getting tired of having to clean up the store, but what can I do?” I smiled, and he smiled back. “Maybe hit James up for a raise.”

  “Good, I’m glad you’re all right. Now stay here while I check the place out.”

  “Why can’t I come with you?” I said, standing up.

  “Because someone might still be in there”

  “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.” Now it made more sense that he had wanted me to stay outside, and I grew a little weak in the knees thinking that I might have been in the store with the person who ransacked the place. I sat back down to wait as he went into the boutique, gun drawn.

  He came back a few minutes later. “No one’s in there, and you’re right, the place is trashed. I’m sorry to say the back room is, too. The crime tech guys should be here any minute. I need to ask you a couple of questions and get an inventory list so we can see if anything has been stolen, but then you can leave.”

  “I assume I will have to wait for the crime tech guys to get done again before we can try to open?”

  “You got it. Now what can you tell me about this?”

  “Not much. I unlocked the door and walked in and saw the mess and called you. Not much to tell, do you think this is related, you know, to Solange’s murder?”

  “Hard to tell for sure, but I would say yes. Up until this week you haven’t had any trouble, at least from what you know and have told me. It would be quite a coincidence for these to be two unrelated incidences.”

  “True.”

  The crime tech van pulled up behind Willie’s car.

  “Hi, guys.” I waved, nothing like being on a first name basis with the police department. This was sure to come in handy someday. “Are you done with me?” I asked Willie.

  “For now.”

  Great, now I once again had time to kill. I decided on hitting the thrift stores I was used to frequenting with Solange. It would not only be a good idea for the store—we were running low on vintage— but a fun way to spend a few hours.

  I stopped at Starbucks and grabbed another latte—such a bad and expensive habit I had—and then walked down North Street to a resale shop that was one of Solange’s favorites. Since we would soon be going into fall, I looked for denim. The previous year Solange had found some great Seventies flares and vests with embellishments. They sold within a week at a 500 percent markup, all because she had put them with new merchandise that created a look our clients had to have. I hoped maybe I would be that lucky and happen across some great vintage find.

  After about twenty minutes of looking through racks, I gave up that notion, at this store anyways. That was the frustration of looking for vintage pieces. You often had to spend hours looking to come across that one great piece. I had a lot less patience than Solange had. I hit up a few more stores with no luck, so decided to grab a Caesar salad from my favorite deli. Enjoying my salad while reading a book, using the Kindle app on my iPhone, was a nice change of pace from being at Silk. It brought me back to wondering why someone had trashed the boutique so soon after Solange’s murder and made me think someone was looking for something. Was that what had happened the night Solange died? She was in the wrong place at the wrong time? What could anyone possibly want at Silk? We sold things that people didn’t need. Nothing in the store was worth killing someone over. Or was it?

  I had plans to meet up with Anna and Jared for dinner and a few drinks. I was more than ready for a couple of cocktails. The last few days’ excitement was starting to catch up with me, and I needed to talk to my friends. I also wanted to show off Willie, as he had agreed to meet us there. Not only was he cute, but he was also a cop and a fun blend of playful and serious. Since our dinner date, we had talked on the phone a few times, outside of crime related issues, and had been texting. I felt if nothing else, we could be good friends. Oh, who was I kidding? I would love to date him. I was anxious for him to meet my friends, because if we were going to have some kind of relationship, he had to get along with my peeps.

  My friends had been after me to date when Cooper and I decided to call it quits, but I just hadn’t been in the mood. Willie was the first person I thought might actually make me want to give a relationship another go. I knew Jared and Anna would like him and hoped he would have fun with us.

  I had already arrived at Muldoon’s, our favorite hangout because of its low priced martinis and fifty cent Guinness Wednesdays. That night wasn’t Wednesday, so I went with my normal raspberry martini. It was sweet enough to take the alcohol edge off, but not so sweet it makes you sick. I ordered chips and salsa for all of us to snack on, and sat back to people watch while I waited for everyone else to show up.

  After airports, bars were the best place to people watch, and it was an environment where you could do so without seeming obvious about it. I wished I were a fly on the wall next to the couple that seemed to be arguing a few tables away. I loved to pretend I knew what strangers were talking about, making up imaginary scenarios and assumptions. That’s why I felt I would be a good writer. I had a vivid imagination even as an adult, and surely I could channel that imagination and use it for good, or at the very least someone’s entertainment.

  I was scanning the crowd for someone else to watch and make assumptions about, when a strong arm reached around my shoulders and hugged me. I looked up at Jared, my best friend next to Anna, and smiled. He was such a great guy. Blond, good looking, totally into fashion, and gay. The best friend a girl could have, eye candy who could help me pick out the perfect outfit. I had met him here at Muldoon’s one night, while I was employed by corporate America, and some co-workers and I came in after work to unwind. I had thought he was cute and had just enough cocktails to shamelessly start flirting with him across the room. He flirted back for a while, and just when I was about to walk across the room, introduce myself, and ask him out because I was just inebriated enough to be that courageous, he came over to me and said while he appreciated a pretty girl hitting on him, he was gay so not to waste my time. Once I got over my sheer mortification that he had noticed my interest, and that I was so off the mark as to his sexual orientation, we became fast friends. I loved how he would just say what was on his mind with no fear.

  “How’s my girl?” he said kissing me on the side of the head.

  “Great! Well, except that my boss was murdered and my only source of income is closed right now.”

  “See, that’s why you need to sit down and finish one of your books. Sell it and become rich. Then take all your friends with you as a freeloading entourage.”

  “If I ever start one, I will be sure to try and finish it,” I said dryly. This was a constant source of annoyance for me. Jared was always pushing me, as a good friend should I supposed, but I felt like a big loser when I wasn’t able to do what I so wanted to do, because of my stupid mental block.

  “What do you mean? You’ve started a lot of books I thought.”

  “Not since eighth grade, and they’re all about horses.”

  “So go after the young adult market. Tweens is where it’s at these days, the largest market segment of disposable income.”

  Jared made it seem so easy. “You have an answer for everything don’t you?”

  He shrugged, “Pretty much. That’s how I roll.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. He was one of my best cheerleaders. “Enough talk about my non-writing, let’s talk about something else.”

  “Okay, how about your love life?”

  I groaned. This was even a worse topic to discuss, but at least tonight I had a little progress that would get Jared and Anna off my back for a while. “You will be happy to know I have something to report in that area, and you will meet him tonight.”

  “What! Shut t
he front door, Presley got a man.”

  “Stop. He’s not my man; he’s a friend.”

  “With the potential to turn into more?”

  “Maybe. Right now we need to be just friends. He is the detective investigating Solange’s death.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “What—how’d she die?”

  “No, you already told me that. How did you get so friendly with the cop? And why didn’t you mention this at coffee this morning? Why am I just now finding out?”

  “We just sort of hit it off. I thought…” I stopped talking because I saw Willie walk through the door, and oh my gosh, he was hot. He did not look like Detective Landon, in fact he looked nothing like a cop. If I had to guess, I would think he was an artist of some sort by the way he looked. Black skinny jeans that hugged his frame, long sleeved shirt also black, with the sleeves pushed up just a bit so you could see his tattoos sticking out, black leather vest unbuttoned, and accessorized with a black belt and a black hat. On most people I would think the black hat was over the top, but on him it worked.