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ONE
Where the hell is she?
I took another tub of dirty dishes back to the kitchen and dropped them off with a loud clang to my dishwasher, Mel. Owning the tavern didn’t mean I was above working there too, when needed.
I jogged to my office to grab my purse, worry gnawing at my insides like a rabid badger. Sure, Alexis could be a little flaky, especially when it came to getting to work on time, but in the ten months I’d known her, she’d never been late to pick up her daughter from the sitter. Not once.
Of course, Alexis never missed work either, but she’d totally blown off her shift today. My gut did that sick, twisty thing again. Three hours now, and Alexis still hadn’t returned my calls or answered my texts. I handled the orders and tidied the bar, taking on the task that Alexis would’ve done if she’d shown up.
It was that weird time of day between happy hour and dinnertime when things were slower, thank God, but I still had other things I could’ve been doing. Like inventory or paying the bills to keep the lights on. Or figuring out whether I wanted to sell Rhodes Tavern to some out-of-town franchisors who’d made me an offer.
I pushed thoughts about the future out of my head as I raced out the back door to my car. I needed to get to the sitter’s house. Since she couldn’t reach Alexis either she’d been callingmefor the past hour. I sort of liked the fact that I was number two on the phone chain, despite the stress about why I’d been asked to step up.
I couldn’t help but smile when I pictured sweet little Savannah. She was seriously the most adorable baby I’d ever seen—and this was coming from someone who wasn’t sure they ever wanted kids of their own.
But Savannah looked just like her mama—curly black hair, big green eyes, infectious smile. Except for the ears. They were big for her size and had a little crease at the top that made them distinctive. I assumed Savannah got those from her dad, though Alexis had never mentioned who that was.
She’d come to Harpers Ferry alone and four months pregnant. She didn’t like to talk about her past, so I didn’t ask. If anyone understood avoiding what was behind you, it was me.
I punched the gas as the light turned green and tried not to worry. Maybe this was nothing more than Alexis needing a break. It was tough being a single mom. I’d watched my own mother go through that growing up, so I knew how much work it was.
Except whenever I’d talked to Alexis the past couple of days, she seemed jumpier than usual. So much so that I’d offered to watch Savannah for her, if she needed, so she could have some time to herself to relax. She’d never gotten back to me on that.
By the time I got to the sitter’s house, the sun had set. It was only six-thirty, but as fall dragged on the days got shorter and shorter around here. I rushed through the handoff with the sitter since poor Savannah seemed cranky and overtired. Once I got the baby and her supplies loaded into my car, I headed for Alexis’s house.
She was renting a place on the edge of town. Nice. Safe. A one-story ranch that had been converted into a duplex. Alexis had the right side of the place. The other half was vacant at the moment. As I drove, I glanced into the rearview mirror at Savannah dozing in the car seat in the back. The sweet chubby baby was finally lulled by the rhythm of the car. Savannah would be six months next week, and she was trying to sit up now.
Alexis was getting her started on baby food, interspersed with formula, since she’d never been able to breastfeed. I smiled to myself and shook my head as I thought about Savannah’s feeding schedule. I’d never been so much as a babysitter back in the day but now I sure knew a lot about raising little ones thanks to my adorable passenger.
I made the final turn onto Alexis’s street and spotted an explosion of color up ahead, the kind you never want to see. My throat went dry, and my pulse pounded in my ears. This was not good. Not at all.
There were a bunch of squad cars, red and blue lights blazing, in front of the duplex. An ambulance too. I swallowed hard against the bile rising inside me and parked at the curb a few feet behind one of the police cars. Time warped, slow and too fast at the same time. Should I get out?
Yeah, I needed to get out. Find out what was wrong, even though I didn’t want to know. I had a horrible feeling that I already did. Something awful had happened to Alexis. I felt it in my bones.
I unclipped my seatbelt, the noise too loud in the quiet vehicle, and Savannah stirred in her car seat. No. If this was going to be as bad as I imagined, I wanted the baby to sleep through it. I wanted to keep her safe, to protect her from whatever was going on here for as long as possible. Thankfully, she fell back to sleep.
Breathe.
My hands were shaking so badly I couldn’t open the car door at first. Then, once I finally got it open, an officer was there, telling me I had to move, I had to leave, no one was being allowed on the crime scene.
Crime scene.
Oh God.
“But I’m a friend. Of Alexis Barnes. Sh-she works for me at Rhodes Tavern. I have her daughter in the back seat,” I said, my words tumbling over each other. “I-I’ve been trying to reach her for hours.” I looked at the duplex, the front door gaping while cops swarmed the front yard. I could see the silhouettes of figures through the gauzy front curtains and I had to hold on to the car to keep from collapsing on the ground. My chest ached as I whispered, “She never showed up for work today.”
“Ma’am,” the officer said, looking concerned, his face ashen in the gathering twilight. “You might want to sit down, there’s something you should know.” He paused to glance at the action then turned his attention back to me. “I’m, uh, I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Loss?” My knees gave out. Luckily the car door was still open, and my butt hit the driver’s seat instead of the pavement. Just then a stretcher was wheeled out the front door, a white sheet covering the body atop it, and that’s when I knew. Alexis was gone.
I remembered from my CPR training at the tavern that when someone was going to pass out, you put their head between their legs and told them to breathe, so that’s what I did. Eyes watering, vision tunneling, stomach churning like I was going to vomit any second. Through the roar of anxiety and grief and shock, I heard the officer telling me again how sorry he was for the second time.
“What happened?” I managed to get out.
The officer sighed and crouched next to me, his hand on my shoulder. “I’m not at liberty to discuss the case at this time.” He glanced into the back seat, then at me again. “Maybe you and the baby could come to the station with me. We’ll need you to make a statement.”
A statement?
