Killer Run (6 page)

“I thought you were drifting. My mom used to do that when I talked about my day at school. The vacant stare look is a dead giveaway.” Carrie laughed and threw her hair back over her shoulder. “All I said was that up-selling may not be my strongest skill. Look, John's giving me the evil eye, so I'd better get busy.”

I thanked her for the menu and left the booth. As I was heading uphill, a woman bumped into me, hard, knocking my coffee out of my hand. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore the typical runner's uniform. “Hey, watch it.”

I looked up into Rachel's eyes as she focused in on me. “Oh, Jill, I'm sorry. Not paying attention, I guess.”

The travel agent looked ready to bolt, but she was probably in the runners' group that was lining up to be shuttled to the starting line. “No problem. I have an in with the coffeehouse.”

“What?” Rachel was looking past me into the crowd. “Sorry. I've got to go.”

I watched her worm her way through the crowds, not toward the bus line, but instead to the grove of trees. She stopped in front of a man who was standing off on his own, smoking a cigarette. I shaded my eyes, trying to see if this was the new Mr. Right in Rachel's life. She sure was acting like a teenage girl in love.

The man turned away from me, and the two melted into the trees. Oh well, maybe I'd see them later. I headed back to the coffee truck and slipped into the van, washing my hands in the sink and donning an apron. “Hey, Aunt Jackie, Josh is sitting out on the bench waiting for you. Why don't you let me take over?”

“Does him good to have to wait for a while. Didn't I teach you anything about how to catch a man?” My aunt rang up an order and glanced back at me. “Don't tell me you run at the snap of Greg's fingers?”

“We're not talking about my love life.” I sliced up another cheesecake and divided the pieces into boxes, restocking the fridge as I worked. “Sasha, you want to chime in on the best way to catch a man?”

Her laugh filled the kitchen area. “Who says I want to catch one? Right now, and probably until my college life is done, I'm more into the catch-and-release program. That way you don't have to worry about games or problems. Let a guy wine and dine you for a few dates, then move on.”

“What about love?” I finished prepping another cheesecake and washed the utensils I'd used.

“Single moms don't have time to fall in love. We have too many other fires on our list to deal with.” Sasha handed two mugs out the window to a waiting customer.

“Now, dear, that's not true. What about Elisa and Toby? They seem to be on the path to the chapel.” Aunt Jackie slipped off her apron and checked her hair in the compact mirror she carried with her.

“Toby's one in a million.” Sasha didn't look up as she started a new pot of coffee. “Not everyone can be as lucky.”

Josh now stood at the door to the van, waiting. Aunt Jackie kissed me on a cheek and waved to Sasha. “You two have fun. I'll be back after two to box up the rest of the supplies, and Toby is transporting them back to the shop.”

I was tempted to pry a little more about what Sasha had said, but a rush of people hit the food truck and we were instantly busy. The runners might be health-conscious, but the race observers and walkers sure enjoyed their cheesecake. The race had started, and the last group had been shuttled to the starting line.

I leaned over the counter and watched Darla and Adam talking at the sign-up booth. He leaned against the booth's table, apparently in no hurry to get the cash box to the bank. Darla, on the other hand, had turned the booth from being a place to sign up, into the winner's circle. She had ribbons and medals strung around the table, waiting for the first runners to emerge through the grove of trees and across the finish line. Mayor Baylor was supposed to hand out the first ten ribbons, then he had another pressing engagement. Just enough time for the press to see him supporting the event.

I actually was very pleased at our first attempt at a race/walk. Darla was amazing at these types of events, and she made the entire process seem easy, a descriptor I knew wasn't true. Today's little tiff with the Mission Society over the process was a great example of what could go wrong, through no one's fault. Although it did make me wonder about Sandra and Michael. Had the slow destruction of their personal relationship doomed their business, as well?

“Jill, you need to come with me.” Toby stopped by the booth, all dressed in runner's gear, tight in all the right places.

“Are you already done?” I glanced over at the finish line and realized people were starting to move through, collecting their badges.

“Barista Babe in workout gear. Outfit sold separately.” Sasha teased as she stood next to me. “What's going on?”

“There's been a”—Toby paused, searching for a word—“an occurrence. Your aunt needs you.”

“Oh no.” My hand flew to my mouth. “Is she okay? I should have kept her from walking.”

Toby chuckled and shook his head. “Like you could have stopped her. Anyway, she's fine. She's just a little upset. Josh, well, Josh collapsed on the trail.”

“Are they rushing him to the hospital?” I slipped off the apron and glanced at Sasha. “If you get overwhelmed, just shut down. I'll be back when I can.”

“You just get to Jackie. Don't worry about me.” Sasha tapped my shoulder with a hand.

Toby held up a hand slowing me as he met me at the food truck door. “According to the EMTs, Josh is fine. Dehydrated maybe, but fine.”

“I don't understand. What's the issue, then?” I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and held Toby back, waiting for his answer.

“Josh fell on someone when he collapsed.” Toby shook his head. “A very dead someone off the side of the trail.”

T
oby led me against the wave of runners who were coming up the path toward us. Several runners called out “Wrong way,” as they passed by. A few, more direct, muttered, “Idiots.” About a half mile into the walk, Toby turned off the main path toward a bench. Several people milled around the area, and I saw Greg talking to Doc Ames. Josh was firmly planted on the bench, his head in his hands. Jackie saw me and waved me over.

“I can't believe it.” She linked her arm around mine and squeezed. “How's the truck doing? Pulling you away isn't causing a problem, right?”

Leave it to my aunt. “Don't worry about sales. What happened? Are you okay?”

Aunt Jackie stepped away from the group, leading me with her. “I'm fine, dear. Poor Josh was feeling a bit faint. I'm sure he didn't eat this morning like I told him to, but you know men. You can't tell them anything.”

“So, Josh got faint and . . . ?” I rolled my hand, hoping my aunt would get to the point and tell me who was dead, since it obviously wasn't the antique dealer who appeared to be freaked out but fine. Or at least as fine as he could be after walking daily for the last week. My aunt's fitness craze could kill the guy.

“He fell on that terrible woman.” Aunt Jackie rolled her eyes.

“What terrible woman? And he killed her by falling on her?” I'd never heard of death by fat guy, but I guess it was possible in a freak-accident kind of way.

“No, he didn't kill her. She was already dead. Sandra Ashford, the woman from that PR team. She's the dead one.” My aunt looked at me like I was slow. But then a smile crept onto her face. “It reminded me of the scene in the
Wizard of Oz
—where the house falls on the witch? All you could see were her feet in those knock-off designer shoes.”

Greg came up to us and put his arm around my aunt. “You okay there?”

I saw the tears fill my aunt's eyes and quickly get blinked away. “I'm perfectly fine. The question is, how is Josh?”

“I'm sending him to the hospital to be checked out. The EMT guys are a little worried about his blood pressure.” Greg looked at me. “I'm trying to keep this off the grid until the race is complete. The official line right now is that two racers are being taken to the hospital.”

“Two?” I looked at my aunt.

“Not Jackie. Doc Ames is taking the body out using the ambulance. We think it's the best solution to try to keep this under wraps.” Greg lowered his voice. “I need you to take Jackie out like you two were walking the race and tell Darla what happened. I don't want her to be left in the dark in case the press grabs hold of this.”

“We can do that.” I peered around Greg as the EMTs loaded the body onto the cart, an oxygen mask set on the dead woman's face. “Are you sure they'll think she's alive?”

“As long as they don't see the high heels, we should be fine. By this time, the runners are through the course and the walkers are starting to feel the pain. They'll be focused on their own progress, not the fallen around them.” Greg waved Toby over to his side. “Set these two back on the path, then help Doc get the body to the ambulance. We'll come back for Josh.”

“I'm not riding in the same van as that woman,” Josh muttered.

Greg rolled his eyes, then turned toward the antique dealer. “We've ordered a special bariatric-equipped ambulance from Bakerstown. You don't have to share your ambulance, but you do have to wait for a few minutes. One of the EMTs will stay with you until the second one arrives.”

Toby started toward the race path, but I stayed next to Greg. “You're sure it's Sandra Ashford? I mean, why would she even be out here?”

“I don't think she
was
out here. Not for the race, that is. It looks like a body dump. But yeah, it's her. The local chamber in Bakerstown will have her fingerprints on file when they set up their business. Apparently a new process for those who are in a consulting type of activity.” Greg nodded to the retreating Toby and Jackie. “Besides, she has one of those paper name tags plastered on her dress. From a meeting or something. You'd better catch up.”

I nodded and quickly caught up to Aunt Jackie. We didn't talk at all on the way back to the finish line. Between Toby's determination and my aunt's focus, we were at the celebration before we knew it. Darla put a medal around both Toby's and Jackie's neck. When she reached me, she frowned. “I didn't think you were walking.” She glanced toward the coffee truck, looking confused.

“Can you get someone else to hand these out? We need to talk.” I took Darla by the arm and led her away from the path toward the back of the booth.

“Sure.” She motioned to the woman standing in the booth. “Clarice, can you take over for a few minutes? I've got to deal with this.” She handed off the medals and pulled me over to the side of the booth. “Well?”

“There was an accident.” I stopped and looked at Toby, who had followed us. “Well, not really an accident—”

Toby interrupted. “Josh is having some medical issues and is being taken to the hospital.”

I saw Darla visibly react. “Honey, I thought you were saying someone died on my watch. Josh going to the hospital is unfortunate, but not unexpected.” She started walking back to the finish line.

Toby put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her. “Darla, when Josh collapsed, we found a body just off the path. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the race, and we're not stopping the walk, but Greg thought you should know. Please keep this quiet, though.”

“I'm not running off to file an article with the
Examiner
, if that's what you're worried about.” Darla shook her head. “I'm not an idiot.”

Toby put his hands up. “I just wanted to be clear. You know how Greg gets . . .” He glanced at me. “Sorry, Jill, but it's true. I needed to say it or he would have had my hide.”

We watched him sprint back into the crowd toward the scene. Darla sank into a chair. “I can't believe this is happening. What a day. First, the run sponsors are all over my butt because of a rule I didn't even know about, and now there's a death on the greenbelt? What's next, Diamond Lille's booth bursting into flames because of a grease fire?”

I held back a smile. “I'm sure we're fine.” But my gaze instinctively turned to the booth that had a long line in front of it as the runners waited for their free food. “Look, I'd better help Sasha get things packed up. Toby probably won't be able to help close up with this.”

As I stepped away, Darla grabbed my arm. Her eyes were bright and curious. “You don't know who they found, do you?”

After convincing Darla I had no clue, which was hard since I didn't even believe my own assertions of ignorance, I sprinted back to the coffee shack. Sasha had already closed up the outside, moving the
Open
sign to
Closed
, and, with Nick's help, was stacking things into the Pies on the Fly van. We'd leave the empty food truck locked up and parked here, and Jackie's friend would come and get the keys from me tomorrow. I was sure I was going to get a sales pitch to purchase the vehicle from the guy, and, before today, I would have jumped at the chance. Now, with Sandra dead, I realized maybe I needed to take some time with the decision.

“Is Jackie okay?” Sasha dropped the stack of boxes she'd carried from the truck into Nick's hands and ran up to meet me.

I took her inside the truck before I answered. Greg had asked us to keep this quiet, and although I was going to tell Sasha, we didn't need eavesdropping runners to hear. I leaned against the counter, suddenly tired. “She's fine. They're taking Josh to the hospital to be checked out, but I think he's okay.”

Sasha pressed a hand to her heart. “I'm so glad to hear that. When Toby came to get you, I was scared to death.”

I glanced through the window, but most of the crowd was still over at Lille's booth or crashed on the beach eating their burgers. “Actually, there's more. Josh kind of fell on a body when he collapsed.”

Sasha's eyes widened. “Oh dear, God, please don't tell me he crushed someone to death.”

I couldn't help it, I laughed. The vision of a cartoon Josh squashing Sandra came to mind and wouldn't leave. Sasha stared at me. Finally, I choked back my chuckles and wiped my eyes. “No. Well, kind of, but no, he didn't kill her. She was already dead.”

“Who? Who is dead?” Sasha put her hands on her hips. “You're being a jerk.”

“I'm not a jerk.” I leaned closer. “You can't tell anyone.” I went on to tell her about finding Sandra's body off the path.

“Are they sure?” Sasha squatted down, trying to catch her breath. “I mean, she looked amazing last night at the party. The dress she wore was killer.”

“Wait, you went to the party?” I knelt next to her. “Did you see Sandra leave? Was she with anyone?”

Sasha sniffed. “I got my mom to babysit and Darla hired me to work as a server for the event. I needed the money, but I really wanted to see all the celebrities.”

“But did she leave with anyone?” I pushed Sasha for an answer, knowing Greg would want to know.

“Nope. Michael stayed back after their fight. He sat at the bar and did five or six shots of whiskey. I can't believe anyone can drink that stuff straight.” Sasha shook her head. “All he did was sit there and drink. I think Matt had to pour him into a cab later.”

“Well, I guess the husband didn't do it. You know, statistically, he's the number-one suspect.” I opened the last box of sliced NY cheesecake and offered it to Sasha. She took a plastic fork and broke off a piece.

“Greg won't want you playing investigator in this one.” Sasha closed her eyes as she let the cheesecake taste take over her senses. “He gets a little touchy about you poking your nose in things.”

I took my own bite of the treat. “Who said I was going to get involved? I'm just talking about the average murder suspect.”

Sasha grinned. “A leopard can't change her spots. That's all I'm saying.” She glanced at her watch. “I've got to get home and collect Olivia. We're going to the zoo tomorrow, and I don't think she has a clean outfit. I tell you, single parenthood has its joys, but hauling baskets of clothes and a three-year-old to the Laundromat isn't one of them.”

“Do you need some help? I'm going to be home alone this weekend while Greg determines what happened to Sandra.” I bit my lip. “We were supposed to be leaving on our cruise in a few days. I suspect that's off.”

Sasha pulled her tote bag over her head and took out the keys to her well-loved, new-to-her compact sedan. A small wooden teddy bear with Olivia's name carved on the bear's tummy jingled with her keys. “If you don't need me to work as many hours next week, just call. I could use some time with the kid.”

I shook my head. “I'm still taking the time off. If Greg cancels out on me, I'll dig in to the spare bedroom upstairs. I've been meaning to remodel that into a guest room since I finished the downstairs.” I gave her a quick hug. “You're not getting time off that easy.”

“A girl has to try.” She waved as she left the truck.

I knew Sasha needed the hours, so there was no way I would step back from the schedule I'd already set for her. I locked up the food truck and gave Nick keys to the shop to put the leftover pies into the back refrigerator and the supplies into the office. Nick didn't have a lot of extra time to work for me along with his summer full-time job at Lille's, but anytime we did special events, he worked as many hours as possible to beef up his college fund.

Waving good-bye as he left the parking lot, I glanced back at the beach to see if Darla needed help breaking down the booths. I saw her at the finish line, still handing out medals and slips with completion times. There was still a line at Lille's booth, and a small band had set up on the beach, playing festive music. The area was crowded with people enjoying the day as well enjoying completing the event. If there hadn't been a dead body on the path, I would have called this a successful first Mission Walk for South Cove.

Now it was all about the cleanup. I walked over to Darla's booth and sat with my feet up, waiting to be put to work.

Three hours later, I was at home, my feet up on the coffee table and a book in my hand. Emma lay next to me, and her gentle snores were causing my own eyes to droop. Finally, I gave in and curled up on the couch for a short nap.

The ringing phone woke me. I grabbed my cell. “Hello?”

“Can you take me to the hospital to visit Josh?” My aunt sounded as tired as I felt.

I sat up, stretching my free arm and yawning. “Sure. When do you want to go?”

“Now, I guess. I'll buy us dinner in Bakerstown. I'm not feeling like cooking tonight.”

I glanced at the clock; it was almost six. “I didn't realize they would keep him overnight for something like this.” I wanted to say the word “trivial,” but I didn't want Aunt Jackie to drive herself so it didn't pay to try to upset her.

“It's not the race thing. They're worried about his overall health. Apparently, the man is diabetic and he didn't even know.” Jackie
tsk
ed over the phone. “He needs to lose weight obviously, but the man is hooked on candy. I've already gone over to his apartment and dumped out all the junk food. We need to stop at the store on the way back so I can restock with fresh fruit and vegetables.”

“I'm sure he'll appreciate that.” I grabbed my keys and let Emma out. I'd be back before it got too dark, but Emma liked being outside. Well, she really liked eating my sofa pillows, but I'd tried to break her of the habit by limiting her time alone with the off-limits treat.