Murder Close to Home (3 page)

Jade sighed. “I agree. That’s tough.”

I recalled my earlier encounter with Taryn that day. “Does she have a family? I’ve heard her talk about everyone else so many times, but I don’t think I’ve heard one word about someone related to her.”

Jade bit her lip. “From what I’ve heard — from others, not from Taryn herself — is that she and her husband used to own a summer house here and visited regularly. Her husband died unexpectedly one year and she sold the summer house, bought the apartment complex, and has been here ever since.”

“He must have been so young!” I couldn’t imagine having a husband die way before his time.

“It’s terrible,” said Jade, shaking her head. “I think it’s too painful for her to talk about, so she doesn’t. I’ve never asked Taryn about it because I wanted to respect her privacy on that matter.”

“Even though everyone else talks about it?”

“No, I heard it from Corey, who heard about it from a relative who knew Taryn when she came here to stay at her summer house. No one talks about it. It’s not like a forbidden topic or anything, it’s just not important to everyday life here.”

“Not important to anyone but Taryn,” I murmured. “That’s awful.”

“Yup.”

I glanced at Taryn, who had joined her friend at her booth. I found it funny that Amelia’s booth was directly opposite. I changed the conversation topic to something less sad. “They’re such opposites,” I said.

“Aren’t they, though? They actually have moments where they get along incredibly well. I think the opposite personality thing makes it so that they either are super close or super distant.”

“That makes sense. It’s a challenge for them. It keeps them on their toes.” I turned away from Amelia’s booth, where I overhead Amelia saying that she had a metallic taste in her mouth.

“Something like that.”

“I hope we never end up like that,” I said.

“Why would we? Their friendship started as being enemies. They’re friends when it’s convenient. We’re friends all the time.”

I grinned. “Absolutely.”

The music changed to the house music while Logan took a break. “I’m going to tell him.”

Jade sipped her water. “Good luck.”

Logan was eating a quick snack when I caught up with him.

“Good work,” I said.

He swept his fingers through his light hair. “Thanks.”

I waited to see if he’d ask me if he’d gotten the job or not. When he didn’t, I was glad. He wasn’t a person who presumed anything or overstretched boundaries, as far as I could tell.

“The job’s yours, if you want it,” I said.

Logan wiped his hands on a napkin and shook my hand. “I do.”

“So, is this something you want to do for the rest of your life?” I asked. The answer didn’t matter as long as he was dedicated to his work today. And for a while. I would have to find another deejay if he wasn’t committed.

“You know, I think so,” said Logan earnestly. “It’s not like surfing, where your chances are much higher of making it the younger you are. You can continue being a deejay into your later years.”

“That’s great! I do want to tell you that I just started Ruby’s Gem, so I’m new at this party planning thing.”

Logan reached his hand out and high-fived me. “Me too. We’re in this together.”

A comfortable silence fell. I broke it by saying, “I like setting my own hours and not working for someone else. I get to work for the customers instead of a boss.”

Logan’s eyes lit up. “I completely agree. You get to be in charge of your life. Not that you — or I — couldn’t before, but it’s different working for yourself versus someone else.” He checked the time on his phone. “I’ve got to get back. Thanks for the job — I look forward to working with you.”

I smiled. “Me too.”

As I returned to my booth, a sudden outcry startled me.

“YOU THINK I HAVE NO MONEY?” Amelia Lamb was shouting.

“That’s not what I said!” Taryn protested. She was still sitting at the booth with Rita.

Amelia was hovering over them with daggers for eyes. “I just sent you the rent. Why are you accusing me of not paying what’s due?”

The Parrot Tree’s usual clamor had dimmed. Everyone was hanging on to their argument. It was obvious that this wasn’t some petty disagreement. Amelia was furious.

“That’s not what I’m saying. I haven’t received it yet, so I wanted to know if it was on the way.” Taryn spoke in a calm voice, obviously recognizing that Amelia was not in a state to listen to reason.

“First the house and now this? You’ve been after me for years. You’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to leave me with nothing. You think my living on the streets would be a better option? You don’t want to take a charity case? Actually, now that I think about it, that’s what you’ve always considered me. A charity case.”

“No, I wouldn’t —” Taryn started to say.

Amelia talked over her. “No more, all right? I’ve had enough.” She stormed out of the restaurant with one of her friends running after her. Everyone watched them go and then slowly resumed their conversations.

“What was that about?” I asked. “What house? What did Taryn do?”

Jade had no idea. “I’ve never heard this before. Let’s ask Taryn.”

“I thought you wanted to respect her privacy.”

She shot me a wry smile. “It’s public news now.”

We slipped into Taryn and Rita’s booth as inconspicuously as we could. It was difficult with the constant furtive glances toward Taryn. Taryn was tight-lipped and the color had faded from her face.

“She’ll come to her senses,” Rita assured Taryn.

“I don’t know.” Taryn stared blankly ahead of her. “I don’t know.”

“Why is this such a big deal?” I asked. “Maybe there’s something we can do to work it out. We’d be happy to help.”

Taryn shook her head. “I don’t think anything can help. It happened so long ago.”

“What did she mean by ‘the house’?” Jade asked.

Taryn was beginning to regain her color. “I had a vacation home once. She bought it from me and things started happening. The sink wouldn’t work. Then the locks stopped working. A bird smashed into a window. Amelia eventually sold the house after deciding it was too much trouble to keep. She blamed me for the house’s problems.”

“Did any of that happen when you owned the house?” I asked.

Taryn held her head in her hands. “No, not one. I don’t know why they happened, but she’s held a grudge ever since. I know we joke around and do silly things that make us seem like enemies, but the truth is that... Well, I think we might actually be enemies in the full sense of the word. Or she at least feels that way to me. I don’t feel anything like that about Amelia. Seriously, I wish her no ill.”

I was opening my mouth to reply when a blood-curdling scream rang out.
“Amelia!”

The scream had come from the outside patio. I pushed my way to the front of the crowd where I could see Amelia sprawled on the floor. Orla, Amelia’s friend, was checking her vitals.

“An ambulance is on its way,” Orla told the crowd. Apart from her haunting scream, she was maintaining a calm disposition.

“How is she?” I asked.

Orla made eye contact with me, gave a slight head shake, and continued to watch over Amelia, making sure no one got too close. My stomach swooshed. Amelia’s frozen body and Orla’s insistence that she be the only person to touch her offered me a chilling revelation.

Amelia was dead. Possibly.

Orla didn’t want to cause a panic, so she was keeping everyone at bay until the ambulance arrived. Her nurse’s training was being put to good use, even if she might not have been able to save her patient.

“Out of my way!” Taryn barreled toward us and I held her back. Jade and Rita were right behind her.

Jade gasped. “This can’t be.”

Rita put her hand to her mouth with wide eyes and Taryn stood still. She surveyed the scene with a shocked expression and when she finally moved, it was to sit in a nearby chair.

“How could this have happened?” she said over and over again.
 

“How did this happen?” I asked Orla.

“We came out here and she was grumbling about —” Orla glanced apologetically at Taryn. “The situation. I was talking to her, trying to get her to calm down, when Amelia collapsed. I caught her and lowered her to the ground, but it was too late.”

Sirens blared and a trio of EMTs scrambled out of the ambulance. They wheeled Amelia away on a stretcher as the police arrived.

“Please tell me you two aren’t involved in this,” a drawling voice said.

“Corey!” Jade exclaimed. She narrowed her eyes. “So what if we are?”

“Then I’ll know the victims are in good hands,” he said cheerfully.

We filled him in. Corey turned grave when he heard the outcome. “This will affect so many people.”

I went to Taryn, who continued to sit, completely taken by surprise. I pulled up a chair. “Taryn, are you going to be okay?”

Her teeth chattered and I wrapped my jacket around her. “This is the beginning, isn’t it?” she said. “My friends are getting older and they’re getting closer to death.”

“Not all your friends. A lot of them are still young,” I said with concern.

“I’ve got more older friends that you do. More funerals to go to.” She looked at me, panicked. “I can’t do it. I can’t see all my friends die.”

“You don’t know that Amelia won’t survive,” I said half-heartedly.

Taryn pursed her lips. “I saw her. When you know, you know. Whether it was a heart attack or from choking on something, it was too soon. She had so many years left to live.”

“I know,” I said softly.

“I can’t watch people die,” Taryn repeated vehemently.

“You don’t want to relive your husband’s death.”

Taryn’s eyes glistened. “That was one of the worst times of my life. I can’t do it again.”

What could I tell her? People died. It wasn’t fun, especially when loved ones weren’t a phone call away. I couldn’t take away her hurt. All I could do was sit with her as the stars came out.

We watched them sparkle in the sky and I gestured to a particularly bright one. “You think that’s your husband, watching over you?”

Taryn tilted her head and gazed at it. “I sure hope so. Francis loved nighttime. He’d grab a blanket and some grapes and we’d watch the sky for hours. To this day, I can’t eat a grape without falling apart. I haven’t bought grapes since he... He loved grapes so much.”

I made a mental note to check for grapes tomorrow. I didn’t want to set out something that would bring up painful memories at her birthday party.

“That sounds like a lot of fun,” I said.

Tarn couldn’t tear her eyes away from the stars. “Yes. Yes, it was.”

“Hey, Ruby?” Jade called to me with a questioning look.

I went over to her as Taryn continued to stargaze. “Yeah?”

“Orla went with Amelia to the hospital. The medics found a faint pulse, so we’re hoping for the best.”

Relief washed over me. There was a chance! “Taryn, did you hear that?” I said to her. “She might live!”

Taryn pressed her eyes shut. “She’d better make it.”

“It’s nice to see people care for others,” I said softly to Jade.

“Amelia was just yelling at her and now look at her. Taryn legitimately wants the best for her.” Jade uncrossed her arms. “I love it when people come together.”

“Me, too,” I said. “When will we hear if Amelia’s going to be all right?”

“I don’t know. We have to go inside and find Ellen. She hasn’t come out,” said Jade.

We went inside The Parrot Tree and found Amelia’s booth empty. Her other friend hadn’t come out with Amelia and Orla, so I assumed Ellen didn’t know about Amelia’s collapse yet.

Allen passed by with a tray of drinks and I flagged him down. “Have you seen Ellen?”

“She left after you did,” he said after passing out the drinks to a nearby table. “The bill was paid. Is that what you were thinking of?”

“No... Should I be?”

Allen shrugged. “You and Jade walked out on your bill.”