CHAPTER 10
Mina
“Ow!” I shook my hand at the burn of scalding-hot coffee dripping over the web of my thumb. “Damn,” I muttered under my breath. Drawing in a hiss of air, I wiped it off with a damp towel, then grabbed a lid and snapped it on the cup. My mother would yell at me to run my hand under cold water, but my skin had long since developed a callous against minor burns.
Adding a sleeve to the cup, I turned and set it on the counter in front of the receipt to which it belonged. Reading the name, I called it out. “Toren.”
A mountain of a man walked up, scooping the cup into a hand so big it nearly swallowed it whole. Inky dark eyes stared down at me from beneath thick, black eyebrows and a swath of wavy raven-colored hair.
I kept my expression neutral as I studied him for a quick second. He was new around here. I would remember a man who looked like him. Not just for his height. He was quite handsome as well.
A tourist, maybe? It was that time of year. One I had hoped to capitalize on with the café, but Miranda Benning and her shenanigans set me back too far.
Not that it would have mattered after finding the woman in the wall.
A tight-lipped smile toyed with the man’s mouth. He gave a curt nod. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Have a nice day.” I offered him a sunny smile.
Raising his cup in acknowledgment, he turned and walked away. The bell over the door dinged as he left.
Claire darted inside right after he stepped out. She ignored the stranger and got in line.
I caught her eye and waved. She lifted a hand.
The queue of people in front of her moved quickly, thanks to my efficient staff, and Claire quickly placed her order, then made her way down to the end of the counter.
“Hi.” I shot a quick grin over my shoulder as I squirted two pumps of toasted marshmallow flavoring into a cup.
“Hey. So, how did your sleuthing with Luke go last night? Find anything interesting?”
Her question was one-hundred-percent innocent, but that didn’t stop the blush from coloring my cheeks as I remembered what happened when Luke and I parted ways last night.
I turned my face away before she could see. “It was fine.” I picked up the two shots of espresso I’d just brewed and dumped them in the cup with the flavoring before reaching into the fridge beneath the counter for the milk. “We didn’t really discover anything. Just likely crossed some names off the list. But we only got through a handful before the library closed. We’re going back tonight.” I poured about eight ounces of milk into a small, stainless-steel pitcher, then set it on the espresso machine and stuck the steamer wand into the milk.
“That’s a bummer.” Claire’s mouth pulled down.
“Yeah.” Snagging a small coffee cup off the stack, I poured house brew into it for the next order while I waited on the milk to steam for the latte. This time, I managed not to burn myself.
After shutting off the steamer, I snapped a lid on the coffee, then called the name on the order. “Karen.”
An older woman materialized from behind Claire. This woman, I recognized. I didn’t really know her, but I’d seen her around town enough to know she was a local.
She took the coffee and was gone before I could wish her a good day.
“So, did Ozzie tell you anything?” I asked, forgetting about the woman.
Claire tipped her head side-to-side. “Sort of. He didn’t want to, but I badgered him to give me something. He confirmed it’s a woman. He also said the clothing on the body looked like it was from the eighties, and that they think she was stabbed. I guess there were slits in her clothes that looked like knife wounds.”
I grimaced. Hopefully, the woman hadn’t suffered much from those wounds. I could only pray it had been quick.
My mind went to the list of names we’d created as I wondered who it could be. “What about her clothing makes them think it was a woman from the eighties?”
“She had on a shirt with shoulder pads and stirrup pants.”
Interesting. “That could be the early-nineties too,” I said.
“That’s what I told him. He gave me a look like I’d lost my mind, so I pulled up an image of an actress from 1991 and showed it to him. She had on both.” A cheshire grin split her face. “Then I told him it was a good thing he confided in me.”
