Secrets in the Shadows (17 page)

“Okay. It’s not a memory I like to think about. Like I said, I was sixteen. Their daughter, Margie, was like a sister to me, and every summer, we’d spend a few weeks with each other. I was at her house when it happened.” Pausing, she remembered how naïve she’d been that summer, and winced.

“The night she disappeared, the night he tried to rape me, it had been storming. It was a bad summer thunderstorm, and the power was out. We spent most of the evening on the porch after the storm passed, talking about whatever it is teenage girls find to talk about.” She smiled sadly. “It was almost dark, so it must have been late evening, nine or ten o’clock anyhow. Lightning bugs were out. It had been, well, an interesting few days. Margie wasn’t herself.”

“How so?” Ethan asked.

“She was edgy,” Lauren replied. “She’d always been a quiet girl, toed the line, never made waves. She studied, made good grades, and she did what her parents wanted her to do. She was biding her time, waiting until she graduated high school and could leave for college. It wasn’t so much that she hated her life, as it was that she wasn’t happy settling for what her parents wanted for her.” She looked at him. “You understand?” When he nodded, she continued.

“That summer, however, she was different. She was openly hostile to both her parents. A couple nights before she disappeared, we went to a party out at Travis Tyler’s. Parties weren’t really my thing, but Margie insisted. She swore we’d only be there a little while, and that’d we’d still be home before curfew.”

“I take it things didn’t work out that way?”

“No. Not even close. As soon as we got there, she disappeared with a boy, and ended up completely trashed out of her mind. If Travis hadn’t helped me, I never would have gotten her out of there. Anyhow, the point is, she wasn’t the same Margie.” She fell silent.

Ethan’s voice was quiet. “What happened the night she disappeared?”

“That night.” Lauren grimaced, shaking her head. “We were waiting for the power to come back on, and Margie promised me she would tell me what was wrong. We sat out on that porch with her brothers, and we all told ghost stories. By the time the power came back on, we were so spooked, all we wanted to do was go inside. Margie made us milkshakes before bed, and I thought we would probably talk once we got up to her room. What I didn’t know was that she had put something in my milkshake to knock me out. It was just dumb luck that I didn’t drink it all. It didn’t taste right.”

“I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I took it into the bathroom when she wasn’t looking and dumped it down the toilet. Whatever was in it made my mouth dry, and I ended up drinking a couple large glasses of water before I went to bed. That’s probably all that saved me from being raped that night.” She shifted in the chair, uncomfortable. The stony look on Ethan’s face told her that he was upset, as well.

“That’s the last time I saw Margie, when I went into the bedroom to go to sleep. When I woke up, Carl was practically on top of me. He had expected me to be knocked out, you see, and when I wasn’t, it startled him. I fought, kicking, screaming, and it didn’t take long for everyone to wake up. Mary Margaret was woozy, but she was still yelling, screaming, calling me a whore, and my cousin Rob was trying to keep his parents away from me. It was a nightmare.”

Ethan frowned. “So his wife was woozy? You think they drugged her, too?”

Lauren shrugged. “Possibly. It would make sense. Anyhow, I called my parents, and they came and got me. By the time they got there, Carl had taken off. We went to the ER. I was examined, and we filed a report with the state police. They looked for him, but they never could find him. Within a week, Mary Margaret had disappeared, too, taking the younger kids with her. The other day in the shop was the first time I’d seen her since that night.”

“Jesus, people just never cease to amaze me,” he said. “Your cousin, Margie? How’d she disappear?”

“She stole my car. After it was over, I started to get my things together, and discovered that my money was gone, and so was my car. I always assumed that Margie had taken both. I never saw her again.”

“So do you think Carl Vernon could have been behind the vandalism?”

“No, he’s terminally ill. I’d look at the son, Troy. You know that creepy feeling women get around some men?” He nodded. “Well, he set off my radar big time. I think he’d be capable of almost anything.”

“I’ll do that, then. I’d also like to talk to Charlie about what he’s found out.” Moving on, he asked more questions about the shop—whether she had insurance, who all had keys and the security code, and so on. After a few more minutes, he glanced at his notes.

“I think we’re done, at least for now. Do you have any questions?”

“No.”

As they stood, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Lauren.”

She shrugged. “What can you do? It happened a long time ago. But thanks.”

He opened the door and followed her into the hall, where Winston waited.

Ethan frowned. “Given the circumstances, I think we’re dealing with something a little darker than random vandalism. Watch your back until we can figure out who did this, and I’ll see about adding some extra patrols past your house. I’ll walk you out.” He escorted them down the hall.

By now it was fully daylight, nearly seven o’clock, and traffic had picked up significantly. When they reached the door, he pulled a couple business cards out of his wallet, handing each of them one. “Call me if you have any questions, or think of anything else significant.”

Lauren nodded. “We will. Thanks, Ethan.”

They went down the steps to the sidewalk, waiting for the traffic to clear before they crossed the street. Reaching the other side of the street, they slowed down when they came up to the Brown Bag. Seeing the building in the daylight, Lauren felt shock start to wear off and the pain set in.

“What can I do, honey?” Her father slipped his arm around her shoulders.

Feeling her composure start to break, she called on the last of her reserves. “Just get me home, Daddy. I just need to get home.”

Late Friday afternoon, the sheriff’s department released the scene. Molly, who had taken the day off work to stay with Lauren, suggested they go ahead and get the insurance claim started.

“The sooner you get the claim established, the sooner you can get in there and fix this.”

“Okay.” They were also scheduled to meet a representative from the security company, who would hopefully be able to answer the question of why the alarm hadn’t gone off. Just as they were leaving to go downtown, Charlie called. Lauren had been too upset to talk to him earlier, and asked her father to call him, instead.

When she told him where they were headed, he asked if she minded if he met them there.

“No, I’d be grateful. You don’t have to go, though. You know that, right?”

He just snorted. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Hanging up, she told Molly, “Charlie’s going to meet us there.”

“Imagine that.” Her mother smiled. “I’m glad you have someone to lean on right now.”

Lauren shot her a puzzled look. “I have you and Daddy.”

“Yes, but we don’t offer you the same kind of comfort I imagine Charlie wants to.”

“Mom!”

“Am I wrong?”

She sighed, and tried to hide her smile. “Probably not.”

~
* ~

When Charlie parked in front of the café, the front door was open. Walking in, he stopped in the doorway and whistled.

“My God.” He was astonished by the level of destruction. The stench of the tar was overwhelming. Lauren, standing in the middle of the room with her mother, turned when he came in. He spread his arms.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry.”

Her smile conveyed her sadness. “It’s not your fault, but thanks. Come on in, if you can stand it.”

He made his way over to where they stood and kissed Molly on the cheek, then placed his hands on Lauren’s shoulders in an almost-hug.

“How bad is the back?”

“Come see for yourself.” They made their way to the kitchen. By this time, the food had started to spoil and the smell, combined with the odor of the tar, was sickening.

“The restrooms are also trashed.” She gestured back toward the alcove outside the kitchen. “Toilets, sinks, mirrors. The tar’s in there, too.”

“I guess that’s what they used, then?” He pointed to the empty five-gallon buckets on the floor.

“It looks like it. That’s the stuff they put on mobile homes, so it flows almost like paint,” Molly replied.

Lauren was clearly stymied. “How in the world are we going to get it off of everything? The broken fixtures, the displays, the furniture, those will be easy to replace compared to cleaning up this crap.”

Molly made a note in the notebook she carried. “You’ll have to hire a special cleaning crew to come in, and they’ll scoop it up in buckets. We have a list at the office of companies who specialize in this sort of cleanup. I’ll email some of the numbers to you as soon as I get in so you can start calling them.”

Lauren shuddered. “I need some air.” They walked outside and she glanced at her watch with a frown. “The security guy should be here soon.”

Charlie studied the building. “How soon do you think you’ll be able to get a crew in here?”

“It depends on how quickly the adjuster gets out here. I’m trying to get her here tomorrow afternoon or Sunday,” Molly said. “She owes me a favor or two, and I’m going to call them in. If I can pull a few strings, Lauren should be able to get a cleaning crew in here by this time next week at the latest.”

Glancing at her own watch, she hugged Lauren. “I’m going to head over to the office, get started on the claim. If I hurry I can probably reach Caroline before she leaves for the day. Charlie, do you think you can see Lauren home? I didn’t even think about that earlier when I suggested we ride together.”

“I would be glad to,” he assured her.

Waving before Lauren could say anything, she hopped into her truck and drove away. They stood looking after her for a minute, and Lauren turned to him, lips pursed.

“Well, that was subtle.”

He just grinned back at her and after a moment, she started laughing. It didn’t last long. She looked at the café.

“What a mess.”

Reaching out, he squeezed her shoulders and pulled her close. “You’ll get it cleaned up. Now, tell me what happened.”

She filled him in, and he shook his head.

“The alarm didn’t go off at all?”

“No.”

He frowned. “Mind showing me where the outside utility boxes are?”

Leading him around to the back of the building where the employee parking and delivery area was, she pointed to the back door. “What are you thinking?” Carefully, he went over all the lines into the building with his eyes, not touching them. He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

“I don’t know. Something just isn’t right. I watched you set the alarm. Was it still armed when Janet came in this morning?”

“I’m not sure. I can call and ask her.” She got out her phone and dialed. As Janet answered, the truck from the security company drove up. Lauren glanced at Charlie. He nodded, going to meet the technician.

~
* ~

Watching him go, Lauren waited for Janet to answer. “Hey, it’s Lauren. Do you have a minute?”

“Of course. How’re you holding up?”

Lauren blew out a breath. “I’m trying to focus on the cleanup instead of the destruction. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay, honey. I just wish there was something I could do.”

“There is. It wasn’t planned, but I want you to just relax and try to enjoy this ‘vacation’ we’ve had forced on us. There’ll be plenty to do soon enough.” Changing the subject, Lauren asked about the alarm. “Was it still armed this morning when you got here?”

“It was.”

“Okay. Janet, I hate to ask this, but is there a chance you could have written the code down where it fell into the wrong hands?”

“No, ma’am. I memorized it when you changed it the last time and I never wrote it down except when I was memorizing it. I burned the paper it was written on, so there’s no way anyone could have gotten it.” Janet’s voice had been certain, and Lauren believed her.

“I didn’t think there was, but I had to ask. The security guy’s probably going to ask me, so I wanted to be sure. Speaking of the devil, he’s here, so I’d better go.”

“Keep me updated.”

She hung up and waited for the men to reach her. The technician, Tom, shook her hand and asked for ID, apologizing.

“It’s company protocol.” Pulling her wallet out of her purse, Lauren showed him her driver’s license. “Thanks.” He walked over to the utility boxes and crouched down, tracing the lines visually, just like Charlie had done. He squinted up at Lauren.