Page 16 of A Little Bit Whiskey
“Thank you.” She turned on her heel.
He waited for the next ten minutes as patiently as he could. He had thought about telling her no, but that would have been rude and his mother had raised him better. Well, mostly better than that.
Anna stepped from the bathroom. “Please think about what I said. I don’t want to have to bring up that note in front of everyone, but I will. Make no mistake.” She scurried past him and out the door.
“Well, that was fun.” Noir let out a long breath. He pulled out his phone and shot off a text to Tamsyn. He didn’t like telling her about Anna’s visit that way, but she was only a few minutes from clocking in, and she most likely wouldn’t have answered the call. If and when she had time during her patrol, she’d call, and he’d pick up.
He tapped star one and plopped back onto the bed.
His father picked up on the second ring. “It’s late. Is something wrong with your new accommodations?”
“No. I love the cottage. Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know if you noticed or not, but I had an odd visitor.”
“Your mother and I are in bed, so we didn’t. I take it whoever showed up wasn’t necessarily a welcomed guest.”
“It was Anna.”
“Jesus. What the hell did she want?” his father asked in a tone that indicated more concern than frustration of being disturbed at a late hour.
“A plethora of things, but the one that kicked me in the gut was she has a note from Elizabeth that she’s never shown Tamsyn. It was cryptic, but it implies someone was threatening her.”
“Let me guess. Anna believes that person was your mother.”
“Exactly, only the note doesn’t say that. It was handwritten and scanned into her phone. She said Fred’s seen it and that she’s spoken to the cops about all the times Mom threatened Elizabeth. She even claimed that she and Elizabeth were friends.”
His dad laughed, but it wasn’t a funny haha laugh. It was sarcastic in tone and nature. “Anna did her best to point the finger at your mom when Elizabeth first disappeared. She ranted to anyone who would listen that Weezer must have done something. When Tamsyn accused Weezer, Anna played right into that, but no note was ever brought up. Not by her or by Fred.”
“Well, it might show up tonight or tomorrow.”
“That should be interesting. Thanks for letting me know,” his dad said. “You doing okay?”
“I knew things would be weird. I worried about what you and Mom would say. Or my siblings. But I knew I would have your support. I figured we’d get backlash from some people, including Anna, but I honestly didn’t expect something like this.”
“That damn Holiday Showcase makes everyone in this town nuts, including your mother… ouch. That hurt, Weezer.”
Noir laughed. Growing up, he never comprehended his parents’ relationship. That lack of understanding had caused him uncertainty and a lot of grief. In the past few years, he’d grown to adore his parents’ romance, their love for one another, and their dedication to their family. He didn’t agree with everything they’d done, but their hearts had been in the right place. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Good night, son. Sleep well.”
Noir stared at his phone.
No text back from Tamsyn.
He shouldn’t be surprised. Not that Candlewood Falls was a crime ridden community, but Tamsyn took her position as a police officer seriously and she might not want to deal with a personal issue such as this until off duty hours.
Tamsyn
Tamsyn stared at the text from Noir. “Shit,” she mumbled. Fucking Anna and her crazy antics. When Tamsyn had been twelve, Anna had talked her into performing in the Holiday Showcase. Only, their talent had been all focused on Anna and her singing, which was horrible.
Tamsyn was to play the piano, something she enjoyed in the privacy of her own home. She still enjoyed it, and she liked to sing, but she wasn’t overly talented in either category. However, to appease her guardian, she agreed.
Only, Anna had thrown a hissy fit about everything that Weezer was doing and the committee collectively voted to toss Anna out of the show. It didn’t happen often, but they did have a limited number of spots. Anna fumed over it for months. She vowed to get Weezer back and she never let her forget her poor choice in pushing Tamsyn out of the showcase.
That wasn’t what happened, since Weezer had told everyone that Tamsyn was free to perform, just not with Anna.
Tamsyn squared her shoulders, looped her fingers into her uniform belt, and strolled into Fred’s office. “You wanted to see me?”
“Close the door and take a seat.” Fred waved his hand toward the chair in front of his desk, not bothering to stand. For man in his early sixties, he was still quite attractive. He stood six feet tall, with a muscular frame. His hair had thinned and grayed some. He had deep lines around his eyes, showing the stress of his job. His eyes were dark brown and soulful. He carried the weight of the town on his shoulders, and it was a responsibility he didn’t take lightly. “I stayed late because this couldn’t wait until tomorrow night’s dinner.”
