The Stone of Sadness (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 3) (9 page)

So the convict couldn’t have been the murderer, Olivia concluded, as he was arrested in another state on the day of the killings.

Olivia checked the library wall clock and decided it was time to head back to the house. She wanted to go for a walk and thought Lily would like an outing. She packed her notes and printouts in her bag, took the stairs down to the lobby, and stepped outside into bright sunshine. Olivia squinted as she walked to her car.

When Olivia reached for the Jeep’s door, she noticed something white fluttering on the windshield. She reached around and pulled a piece of paper from under the windshield wiper.

LEAVE IT ALONE
was printed in the middle of the paper.

Olivia’s heart thudded. She glanced around the parking lot but there were only a few cars parked here and there. No people were around. She looked at the paper again. The words sent a chill down her back. Not many people knew she was researching the murders.
Who would write this? Why?

Whoever it was knew what kind of car Olivia drove and that she was at the library. Olivia’s eyes narrowed and she could feel anger pricking her skin. She crumpled up the paper and stuffed it into her bag. She got into the Jeep, started it up and pulled away from the library going much faster than she should.

Olivia turned into the driveway of the house just as Jackie’s red truck was starting to back out. Olivia parked her car and got out slamming the driver side door. Jackie stopped her truck.

“Hey, how’s it going? How was the library?” she called out of her truck window.

Olivia stared at her. “How did you know I was at the library?” she said evenly.

“You told me.”

“Oh. Right,” Olivia said.

Jackie studied Olivia for a few seconds. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Olivia answered. “Sorry, I’m distracted. I need to go for a long walk.”

“Okay.” Jackie moved the truck backward again preparing to leave. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Olivia stormed into the house and into the kitchen. She filled a glass with cold water and downed it in three gulps placing the empty glass on the counter.
Who left that note? Why should I leave it alone? Who has something to hide?

Olivia jumped as Lily’s wet tongue lapped a path across the bare skin of her leg.

“Lily,” she laughed. “I didn’t hear you come up.” Olivia scratched her behind the ears and Lily did a little jumping thing with her two front paws. The dog’s eyes were bright and happy. Olivia’s distress and anger started to fade.

“You’re a good one,” Olivia told her. “How about we go for a walk? Let’s go to the rail trail.” The Howland area had an extensive system of rail trails, former rail lines that had been converted to passive use trails which threaded throughout Massachusetts beside roadways or through woods and forests. Now these pathways were used for walking, biking, and jogging.

Lily woofed and she followed Olivia upstairs. The dog sat patiently tapping her tail while Olivia changed into her exercise shorts and shoes.

Before the events of last summer, Olivia had been a jogger. She never called herself a runner because she felt she was too slow for that description. She always said that she didn’t go very fast, but she could go pretty far. In college, she had no trouble “running” six or seven miles every other day with a shorter jog of two to four miles on her off days. Because of the stabbing injury to her gut last year, Olivia had been taking long brisk walks but hadn’t tried to do any jogging. Jackie had recently taken up running and had worked up to doing two to three miles a day, five days a week.

There was a club of runners in the Howland area that got together each week to run and Jackie was at the point where she felt she could keep up with some of the slower members. Jackie’s friend had been nagging her to take part in the running club but Jackie always refused. The next running event was going to be held on the rail trails in Howland and Jackie couldn’t think of a good excuse not to go, so she asked Olivia if she wanted to try it out with her. Olivia was reluctant.

“But you’re in good shape from all the walking you’ve been doing,” Jackie said. “And there are different groups. There are people from elite runners to the slow pokes and everyone in between. You pick which group you’re going to run with. They have different routes and distances mapped out for each group. It might be a fun way to get back into jogging.”

“I don’t know, Jackie,” Olivia said. “I’m not going to be able to keep up with anyone.”

“I bet you’ll surprise yourself. It could be fun. It’s no pressure and my friend says it’s a great group of people. And they all go out for beers afterwards.”

“Well, in that case,” Olivia laughed, then hesitated. “Maybe. Let me think about it.”

“Come on,” Jackie said. “Don’t make me go alone. I can’t tell my friend I’m not doing this event.”

“You can run with your friend.”

“She’s in the advanced group.” Jackie made a sad face.

“Oh, okay. I’ll go,” Olivia conceded. “Can I bring Lily?”

“Great, thank you,” Jackie said. “Dogs are welcome but they have to be leashed. I’m glad you’re not making me do this on my own.”

The weather on the evening of the running club event was perfect for exercising. The air was dry and comfortable. Jackie picked up Olivia and Lily and they headed for the state park.

“Perfect day,” Jackie noted.

“I was hoping it would rain,” Olivia deadpanned.

Jackie chuckled. “You’ll do fine.”

“I don’t know why I’m nervous,” Olivia said.

“It’s just because you haven’t run for a while,” Jackie told her. “You can alternate jogging and walking. It’s a good way to start again.”

People were parking in one of the big fields next to the rail trails. Jackie pulled the truck in beside a line of cars and they got out and headed in the direction that other runners were walking. Every body type and shape was represented in the gathering, from long lean marathoner looking bodies to short and stout men and women. There were teenagers in athletic clothes standing around chatting, adults stretching and signing in at a table, and a number of dogs greeting one another.

Lily looked eagerly at the other dogs and wagged her tail. Jackie and Olivia followed behind Lily and headed for the check in table. As they passed a Mercedes wagon, a blonde woman in a tank top and shorts was pulling a big box out of the back of the vehicle and it slipped from her hands and crashed to the ground causing the contents to spill over. A round of cursing followed the impact. The woman bent to gather the materials and Olivia walked over to help.

“Let me help you,” she said.

The woman looked up. “Olivia.”

“Emily,” Olivia said.

They both stood.

Olivia introduced Emily and Jackie. “And this is Lily.”

Emily shook hands with Jackie but ignored the dog.

“I’m running late. I’m supposed to be checking people in,” Emily said. “I’ve got all this stuff to carry.”

“We can help,” Olivia offered. She bent to gather the things that had fallen from the box. Olivia picked up cords of rope, some sort of pick type things, metal loops, a harness, shoes with rubber soles, and gloves.

“That’s my climbing equipment. Just throw it all back in the box,” Emily said. “I was trying to move it to the side of the hatch to get the folding table out.”

“Let me give you a hand,” Jackie offered. There was a mountain bike on top of the table and the two women pulled the bike out and then removed the metal table.

“This is the car I use for all my athletic equipment,” Emily said. “I should replace it with a van. I really need to get this stuff in order.”

Olivia put the box of equipment back in the hatch.

“Could you carry this box of t-shirts over to the check-in table?” Emily asked. “And there’s a container of forms and pencils in the hatch somewhere.”

The women picked up the boxes and headed for the first registration table.

“I don’t know why I offered to help with this. I have a triathlon to train for next month,” Emily said.

“Wow,” Jackie said. “Ambitious.”

“Training for that must take up all your time,” Olivia said.

“I swim or bike in the mornings and run here on the trails on the weekends. After work, I run on the roads. This is going to be my last one, though. Too time consuming with my other commitments. Only marathons from now on.”

There was a long line of runners waiting to check-in and only one young guy trying to handle all of them. “I thought you’d never get here,” he grumped at Emily.

“I run a business,” she snapped. “You’re lucky I made it here at all.”

Jackie and Olivia exchanged glances as they set up the table and placed the container of forms and the box of t-shirts on top of it.

“Can we do anything else?” Olivia asked.

“Thanks. I’ll handle it from here,” Emily said.

“Somebody’s stressed out,” Jackie said as they walked to the back of the line.

“When I met with Emily’s sister, she told me that Emily pushes herself in every area of her life,” Olivia said. “She’s sure hard-driving.”

“Not one of my characteristics,” Jackie smiled.

“She’s got a ton of money. Obviously she’s smart, good-looking, fit. But she doesn’t seem happy, does she?” Olivia said.

“Some people are just sour.”

“Born that way or made that way by life?” Olivia asked, thinking of Emily’s past troubles…her controlling parents, Kenny Overman suspected of murder, her boyfriend James drowning in his pool.

“Maybe some of both,” Jackie said.

Olivia sat at the bar of Howland’s Sports Bar Restaurant. She was meeting Jackie for dinner and decided to arrive early and get a drink at the bar. The edges of a headache had been threatening all day and she wanted to get in out of the unseasonable heat that had returned to the area. She took a sip of her iced tea just as her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. The text message indicated that Jackie was running late. Olivia didn’t mind, she was enjoying the air-conditioned coolness and listening to the comments of the other patrons who were watching the Red Sox game on the big flat screen television over the bar. A group of middle aged guys were cursing and praising different players.

Look at Lackey. He’s improved.

That Lavarnway kid could become a major force. Just needs more experience.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.
A fast ball was hit to center field causing the group to moan.

Yeah! Nice play, Jacoby!
The guy next to Olivia hit the bar with his hand to emphasize his appreciation of the talents of the Red Sox centerfielder. He turned to Olivia.

“So, what do you think? Are they gonna make the playoffs this year?” he asked.

Olivia took another sip of her iced tea. “They have the talent. They’re doing well. I hope they don’t end up breaking our hearts,” she told the guy.

The man shook his head. “Spoken like a long time member of Red Sox Nation.”

Olivia smiled. She had been raised by a die hard fan. She and Aggie had always gone to Fenway Park for plenty of games each season. Aggie almost never missed a game on television. Now watching the Red Sox made Olivia happy and sad, happy because she loved the team and the times she shared that love with Aggie, and sad because Aggie was gone and now she was watching alone.

“You from Howland?” the guy asked.

“No,” Olivia said. “I live in Cambridge. My cousin lives here. I’m visiting.”

“So how do you like our town?”

“It’s nice. It’s a lot different than the city.”

“The peace and quiet can be pretty good…or can drive you nuts,” the guy chuckled. He extended his hand. “Glenn Masterson.”

“Olivia Miller.” She shook with him.

The guy was meaty and thick. His hand was the size of a bear’s paw. He was graying at the temples and his complexion was bright red like he had been spending too much time in the sun without sunscreen.

“Have you lived here long?” Olivia asked.

“Oh, sure, my whole life. My folks lived here before I was born. Didn’t get very far from home, did I?” Glenn smiled.

The guy next to Glenn leaned forward and said, “Don’t let this guy bother you,” he kidded with Olivia. “He’ll talk your ear off if you give him a chance.”

Glenn gave him a poke with his elbow and said, “Maybe you should learn how to hold a conversation.” He turned back to Olivia. “This is Tom.”

Olivia liked the easy banter between the men. They seemed to be good friends, comfortable in each other’s company. A woman with a few extra pounds came up behind Glenn, and gave him a peck on the side of his face.

“The traffic was terrible coming home. There must have been an accident,” she told him.

He put his arm around her and gave her a hug. “This is my wife, Robin,” Glenn told Olivia. “Hon, this is Olivia. She’s in Howland visiting her cousin.”

“Nice to meet you, Olivia.” The woman’s smile was warm and welcoming. The bartender greeted Robin and placed a glass of red wine in front of her.

“How are you enjoying your visit?” she asked Olivia.

“It’s been nice. I’m minding my cousin’s house and dog while he’s away on business,” Olivia said.

A plate of appetizers arrived and they dug in. “Help yourself,” Glenn indicated to Olivia, as he bit into a mozzarella stick.

“Who’s your cousin, hon, if you don’t mind my asking?” Robin nibbled a chicken tender dripping with buffalo sauce.

“John Miller, he owns the yellow Colonial out on Streeter Road,” Olivia answered.

“Oh, I know who John is. He has the nice chocolate Lab…Lily, isn’t it? I run into them walking in the state park. We have a Jack Russell terrier, crazy as a hoot. That dog can’t run enough. I take him to the park almost every day or he’ll tear up the house with all of his excess energy.” She shook her head, smiling.

“I don’t know if I could keep up with a Jack Russell,” Olivia said.

“You’d think that dog would help me lose weight, but nope. Guess it doesn’t help meeting this gang here twice a week for a few drinks and appetizers.”

“You get together every week?”

“Just about,” Glenn answered. “We watch the game, shoot the breeze. We’ve all been friends since high school.”