Page 30 of The Couple's Secret
Turning back to them, Hollis scrubbed a hand down his face. “We gotta do this all over again? All the questions?”
Josie said, “This is a double homicide. Officially. In our jurisdiction, so yeah, we’re going to do this again.”
“Fine. But let’s go somewhere we can sit. Downstairs we have some rooms where the car salesmen used to do paperwork. One of those should work.”
Hollis labored to get down the steps, lowering his left leg to each step so he didn’t have to bend it. Knee problems, he explained. As they passed by the front desk, he called out, “Ellyn, how about some coffee?”
“Coming up,” she replied.
As promised, a hall off the main lobby led to five doors, each one filled with more stuff. Hollis chose the room that was easiest to navigate. A sleek black conference table sat among clusters of cleaning supplies. Josie and Gretchen edged past a row of mops and took their seats. Hollis lowered himself into a chair across from them.
“All right, then. You wanna know how we knew each other? Tobias stole my girlfriend.”
He let those words hang in the air between them. The gleam in his eyes told Josie he was waiting for some sort of reaction. When they gave none, he laughed. “Nah, just kidding. I used to rib him about it, but she wasn’t really my girlfriend. It was Jackson’s mom, Rachel.”
“Rachel Wright?” Josie asked.
“Yeah. I took her out a couple of times. Everyone in our neighborhood used to go to the same bar—that was where I met her in the first place. One night we went there after dinner and Tobias charmed her right off her bar stool. That was the end of that.”
Gretchen said, “Had you known him before that?”
“Of course. He was always around. We went to the same high school, but he was a few years behind me.”
More concussive booms came from the back lot although here in this room they were somewhat muted.
“Were you angry with him when he started dating Rachel?” asked Josie.
Hollis waved a hand in the air. “No, not really. We weren’t serious. Never did more than go to the movies or dinner. Plus, she already had a kid from her last relationship. She was a looker, but I wasn’t interested in being a stepdad. Course, I didn’t know Jackson yet or I probably would have changed my mind.”
“Somehow Tobias stealing your date led to the two of you opening a company together?” Gretchen said skeptically.
“No. Rachel did. She knew I had this inheritance from my dad passing and she also knew that Tobias didn’t have a steady job. Landscaping in the summer, snow removal in the winter. It was unreliable, particularly if the snowfall was low during any given year. Then as a side hustle, he started helping people by cleaning out their places for extra cash. Word got around that he was quick and wouldn’t charge an arm and a leg, so he kept getting more requests. Rachel suggested he bring me in on it.”
“Tobias was okay with that?” asked Josie. “Given the romantic rivalry?”
Hollis chuckled. “It was hardly a rivalry. Women always liked him better. He wasn’t the best-looking guy in town but he was sweet and liked to spoil his girlfriends. Gifts, dinners, flowers, romantic gestures. When Rachel told him it was her idea for him to partner up with me, he went for it. We made decent money so I kept helping him out. Eventually we became real friends. One night we were out drinking away the day’s wages and had this crazy idea to start an actual company. I had the funds to start it up, so we did.”
“It was successful,” Josie said.
Hollis nodded. Ellyn swept into the room, carrying a tray which she set in the center of the table. It held a carafe, three coffee mugs with At Your Disposal’s logo on them, creamers, sugar packets, and wooden stirrers. She waited as Hollis took a mug and poured himself some coffee. When he reached for the sugar packets, she slid the tray out of reach, toward Josie and Gretchen.
“Aww, come on,” he complained.
“You know the rules,” she told him. “You need to be compliant keeping your blood sugar under control or you won’t be eligible for that pump. No cheating!”
“You know, if I wanted to get bossed around all the time, I would have gotten married again.”
Ellyn rolled her eyes. “Please. Like any woman would have your sorry ass.”
He took a sip of the black coffee and winced. “I’m sorry I hired you.”
“No, you’re not,” she said. “Family takes care of family.”
Josie watched the two of them bicker. Seeing them side by side, she noticed the resemblance. Russet hair, blue eyes, soft chins. Siblings, most likely.
Hollis grumbled something under his breath, which Ellyn ignored. She turned to Josie and Gretchen. “Help yourself. It’s really not that bad.”
With that, she left the room. Josie’s energy was flagging so she gave in and poured herself a mug. “We heard that you and Tobias had a disagreement over the expansion plans around the time he and Cora were killed.”
