“I’ll be back in a flash,” he says, patting my thigh. “Need to step outside for a moment. Order me another?”
And then he follows the security guard to the main room where the rest of his employees are enjoying dessert.
“He’s had a lot to drink tonight,” Don remarks, sliding to my side of the bar. “More than usual. Make sure he gets home safely?”
“Of course.”
“I’ve seen you, out and about.” He starts washing a line of dirty glasses one of the waitresses has set on the bar. “You go for a walk through the grove and down to the beach every morning.”
“Yeah, I do.” I’ve been going down to the trails first thing every day to think, and try to relax. “Have you been following me?” I tease.
“Nah.” He punches buttons on the register to clear a tab. “You know the bench near the cliff? The one overlooking the tide pools?”
I nod. It’s black wrought iron and sits off the beaten path, a few feet from the groomed part of the trail.
“I like to go there to clear my head before work. It’s peaceful. Stay there long enough, right in the thick of the grove, and you become a part of nature.” He mixes vodka and tomato juice. “You wouldn’t believe the things I see and hear. It’s like people don’t even know I’m there.”
I swivel on my stool and scan the room. I hardly know anyone here. After all, I only worked for Michael’s company a few months. I mostly kept to myself. Even now, I prefer Don’s company to anyone in the main party room, especially now that Michael has stepped outside.
I think about the bench Don likes. It’s not far from where Joanna’s body was found.
I wonder…
“Did you know Joanna?” I ask, keeping my voice as casual as I can.
He slides the Bloody Mary down the bar to the waitress waiting to fulfill an order. “Oh yeah. Everyone knew Joanna. Came in all the time.”
“With Michael?”
“Michael. Rachael. Travis. That woman might’ve been friends with everyone in town.”
“Well, not everyone,” I blurt, and instantly regret saying it. “It’s a terrible thing that happened to her.”
Don bends beneath the counter and comes up with another shaker. “Seems to have worked out for you in the end, though.”
I frown. “What do you mean by that?’
“Just that you seemed to benefit from her loss, that’s all.” He puts his hands up in surrender. “Hey, that came out wrong. I don’t mean to imply—all I mean is, I see the way you and Michael look at each other. You’re happy, and now you’re starting a family. If Joanna hadn’t been killed, you two would’ve never gotten together. You wouldn’t have had any of this, including your baby.”
I suddenly feel very uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have brought up Joanna.
“It is a strange thing, though,” Don says, after he takes another order.
“What?” I ask.
“You look just like her.” He meets my gaze head on. “Especially tonight.”
I force a tight smile as my skin shrinks over my bones. “It was great meeting you, Don. Please excuse me.”
I find Michael outside, talking to the security guards.
“I want the police here. Now,” Michael rasps. His finger comes so close to the guard’s nose, he nearly flicks it. “Pick up your little walkie-talkie and call Detective Patel. He’ll come by, ask them all kinds of questions, and then they’ll be the ones on the news. Travis is the one they should be investigating anyway. That bastard could’ve been the one who killed Joanna. Do you hear me? He could’ve killed my wife! They should be looking into him!”
My wife.
A part of me dies inside.
He stumbles, and the guard next to him steadies him. Michael jerks away. He doesn’t even realize how drunk he