Proof of Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery #4) - Lauren Elliott Page 0,28
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Chapter 9
Addie parked in the loading zone in front of the hospital and raced inside the revolving door.
“Whoa, what’s the rush?” Catherine Lewis—Addie’s father’s old friend and now hers, too—cried out, her usual light-peach complexion spiking to fifty shades of cherry red on the color palette chart. Her brunette, shoulder-bobbed hair swung across her face as she darted out of Addie’s path.
“Oops, sorry.” Addie steadied the tottering woman. “I have to find Simon.”
“An emergency just came in.”
Addie stopped in her tracks. “I guess he’ll be busy then.”
“You look upset. Is there anything I can help you with?”
As much as Addie adored her friend, somehow telling her that she was the prime suspect in a grand larceny and possible murder investigation wasn’t something she wanted to share at this moment. The stab wounds of Marc’s words were still too fresh. “No, it’s nothing. I only wanted to ask him something, but it can wait.”
“I’m finished up in the volunteer office for the day and was just heading out to do a bit of shopping before I go home. But a coffee right now would certainly hit the spot.” Catherine rested her hand on Addie’s shoulder. “Care to join me?”
“No, I should really get back to my shop. Another time, though, soon,” Addie said and dashed back out the door, leaving her friend of two years slack-jawed. Addie would deal with the guilt and fallout later. Her heart couldn’t take another beating right now.
* * *
Addie pulled into her parking space behind her shop and pounded on the back door of SerenaTEA. “Serena, it’s me, Addie.”
The door flung open. Serena grabbed her wrist, pulled her inside, and shut the door.
The spicy, seductive aroma of Chai tea embraced Addie, calming her. “Hi.”
“Hi? Is that all you have to say? I’ve been worried sick. What’s going on?”
Addie glanced at the desk in Serena’s office. “Is that a fresh pot of Chai tea?”
“Tea? You want tea now? I want some answers. I thought you’d been murdered by a ghost.”
Addie flopped down into a chair. “No, as you can see, I haven’t been. But . . .”
“But what?” Serena glanced over her shoulder into the tearoom, closed the door leading into it, and studied her friend. “But what, Addie? You’re scaring me. I heard rumors that a body was discovered there and when I didn’t hear back from you—”
“Marc and his new girlfriend,” Addie said, choking on the word, “think I am a murderer or, at the least, a book thief.”
Serena’s face paled. “That’s ridiculous. You a thief and a murderer?” She leaned her narrow hip against the edge of the desk. “Wait. Marc’s new what?”
“Girlfriend. Didn’t you know?”
“He doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
“Well, he and Agent Brookes looked pretty cozy to me today.”
“Agent Ryley Brookes?”
Addie nodded.
“Is a woman?”
“Yup, and a very attractive one, too.”
Serena plopped her butt on the desk.
“You didn’t know about her?”
“I didn’t even know he was back in town until this morning when Mom and Dad called me from Cape Cod. They wanted to know if Marc’s friend, Ryley Brookes from the FBI, got settled in their guest room okay the other day.”
“The other day? And you didn’t even know he was back in town until this morning?”
Serena shook her head.
“I wonder why she’s staying at your parents’ house and not at his.” Maybe she’d been way off, assuming they were a couple and were, in fact, just good friends.
“You know how everyone in this town talks. Wouldn’t the chief of police having a woman move into his house make a quick round of the coffee-shop gossip circle?”
“Yeah, I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Remember last month when your neighbor, Mrs. Thornburg, stopped me when I was on my walk and asked me if you were sick?” Addie chuckled, knowing where this was going. “And when I told her you were just fine, she asked me why the doctor was making so many house calls, then. That one took off like wildfire, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, she notices every time Simon comes over, but last year when my house was being broken into she didn’t see a thing.”
“I guess a real crime isn’t coffee-shop worthy,” Serena said, absently swinging her legs back and forth, the heels of her Skechers softly thudding against the side of the desk.
“Is something wrong?”
“Oh, I was just thinking about Marc being back in town for a couple of days and not calling me. It kind of hurts. We used to be so close.”
Despite her own issues this morning, Addie ached for her