Last Girls Alive (Detective Katie Scott #4) - Jennifer Chase Page 0,75
returned to the office, trying to piece together what they had from the social worker and from Bramble’s interview.
Katie’s cell phone buzzed and she looked at the text: Katie, I can meet you at Gypsy’s Diner at 2pm, Dottie.
“Oh no,” she said in a low tone.
“What? News?”
“I forgot that I said I would have lunch with the undersheriff today.”
McGaven made an unhappy face. “Good luck with that.”
“She cornered me yesterday. What was I supposed to say?”
“Well, it’s better to get it out of the way.”
“Why do you say that?”
“It seems to me that she wants something—or…?”
“Or what?”
McGaven swiveled his office chair. “Look, it’s none of my business.”
“We’re way past that.”
“I’m just saying that it seems like she might be fishing for something or giving you a warning, considering her new position and all…”
Katie nodded. The thought made her cringe, but the sooner she found out what this transplant from Fresno Police Department wanted, the better. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She sent a text back: Looking forward to it. I’ll see you there.
Thirty-Eight
Tuesday 1350 hours
Gypsy’s Diner was a new restaurant Katie hadn’t had a chance to check out yet. The interior was decorated in black and white with pink highlights and silver accents in a 1950s-type diner atmosphere. There was no jukebox, but pop hits from every decade were piped in from speakers embedded in the walls.
Glancing at her watch, Katie saw that it was nearly 2 p.m. She didn’t see the undersheriff yet, so she decided to get a booth and wait for her. It was then that she noticed that all the staff were dressed as celebrities from the past eighty years. With everything going on in her professional and personal life, Katie thought this lunch distraction might be what she needed. She began perusing the menu, deciding on what she wanted.
Just as Katie began to relax, she saw Undersheriff Dorothy Sullivan enter the restaurant. She was dressed in a pricy suit and her blonde hair seemed to be more on the platinum side than yesterday. The undersheriff smiled brightly to the waitress, dressed as Marilyn Monroe, and then was directed to where Katie was sitting. She made her way through the restaurant and around tables of patrons before seating herself across from Katie.
“Hi. I’m so glad that you could make it,” she said with an overly friendly smile.
“My pleasure,” said Katie forcing a smile.
The undersheriff took her jacket off and made herself comfortable.
The Marilyn lookalike appeared and asked, “What can I get you two ladies to drink?”
“Iced tea,” said Katie.
“Sounds good,” said Dottie.
The server left.
“Well…” began Dottie.
Katie felt a heaviness of dread, but maybe she should have more female friends. The fact was she was more comfortable around men than women after so many years in the military and the police department.
“It’s been quite the transition coming from Fresno PD but I was up for the challenge when it was offered to me. I’ve been following the interesting cases of the Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department.”
Katie nodded politely.
“And of course, I know all about you.”
Katie tried not to gulp.
“When you came back to town after being released from the army and you found yourself in the middle of a missing persons case; and you find her grave after everyone had searched for her for almost five years, and you were trapped, and, well, I don’t need to tell you about it—you were there.”
Katie wasn’t sure how she was supposed to handle this conversation, so she nodded and agreed, keeping a smile on her face. With perfect timing, the iced teas were delivered. “What would you like to eat?” the server asked.
“Oh, I’ll have the Gypsy Burger with fries please,” the undersheriff said.
“Sounds great, I’ll have the same,” replied Katie. “Thank you.”
The blonde bombshell server took the menus and left to put in the orders.
“Your uncle told me that you two love getting together every month to have burgers and milkshakes,” she said.
“Yes, it’s been a tradition for us since I was young.” It pinched Katie a bit that her uncle told a new employee about their personal life, but she knew that there was more to this “girls’ lunch” than it appeared.
“That’s really nice,” she said, “and special.”
“We’re family. We only have each other left.” After losing her aunt in such a traumatic and tragic manner, she took their relationship very seriously.
“Well, he’s lucky to have you.” After sipping her iced tea, Dottie said, “Life is so very precious.”
“So,” Katie said. “Tell me about you. Are you married? Children?”