Page 6 of The Beachside Cafe
She gave him a grateful look and pulled a second one out. He set the box down and looked at her again.
“So, do you know of anyone who’d want to harm Doug? He have any enemies?”
“I don’t think so. I guess someone who works with other people’s money might have a few enemies over the years. People get angry when their stocks plummet or they lose all their investments. But I’ve never heard anyone actually threaten him.” She shook her head. “No. I can’t think of any enemies he would have. If he did, I never heard about them.”
“Was he the kind of husband who would tell you if he was threatened? Did you have a close relationship?”
Jaymee thought about it for a moment. “I guess… I don’t consider us to be the strongest of couples. Not the most loving, I suppose you could say. And it’s not his fault. I’m not blaming him. We’ve been married for 21 years and things have calmed down a lot for us. We live a standard lifestyle, a nice one because Doug makes good money and so do I. And he understands money much better than I do.”
“Sounds like he got the right job then.”
“Yes, it was either investments or accounting. I’m glad he didn’t go into accounting. So boring. Although if he was in accounting, maybe he would be here now.”
Cameron shook his head. “No telling. You know accountants can get in trouble, too. Mess up someone’s books and they won’t be too happy about it, right?”
“Right, that’s true,” Jaymee agreed.
“You don’t think there was another woman, do you?” He asked the question gently.
She was grateful for that. The thought was still lingering in her mind. She didn’t want to believe it. Cheyenne didn’t believe it. But there was always a chance. If a wife could not even know her husband was a serial killer, there was always a chance Doug wasn’t who she thought he was. And she’d seen plenty of true crime shows where the wife was clueless until her husband was arrested.
She remembered moments from their twenty years together that made her heart warm over.
“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “I just don’t believe it. He wasn’t that kind of man. His mind was focused on business. More than me most of the time. There’s no way he could have separated his brain into three like that, wife, mistress, work. I didn’t even put that correctly. I should have said work, wife, mistress.”
Cameron nodded, looking thoughtful. “Has anything happened in the last few months that would change anything? What’s different now than it was six months ago?” Cameron persisted.
Jaymee blinked, thinking back. “Well, Cheyenne is here more often. She returned from college in June.”
“Cheyenne?” Cameron gave her a curious look. “Your daughter, I take it?”
Jaymee nodded. “Yes.”
“Is she here now?”
“She’s in her room.”
Cameron glanced toward the door but otherwise didn’t move from where he was perched on the desk edge. “Anything else change?”
“We started work on the café about six months ago.” Jaymee said, feeling a chill. She gave him a sharp look. “You don’t think that is what caused this, do you?”
Cameron shook his head. “Don’t know. I just picked that length of time randomly. Don’t attach any real significance to it yet. How about his behavior? Doug. Has he been different with you? Or just different in general? Change in sleeping pattern? Irritable? Short fuse? Anything like that?”
Jaymee chewed on her bottom lip, reviewing the last few months in her head.
Another chill spread over her skin when she realized there was a change in Doug recently. Her eyes darted to his face. “Yes,” she said breathlessly. “There has been a change. I didn’t… didn’t really notice… until now.” She was ashamed. Her cheeks burned hot. She should have noticed. She was his wife, after all.
“What is it?” Cameron prompted.
Jaymee licked her lips. “He hasn’t been sleeping well. I’ve seen him in here at odd hours of the day and night. He has been more irritable but he was always kind of a cold man. I loved him, love him now. But he wasn’t an affection man, you see. His brain was filled with numbers. He didn’t have time for romance.”
Cameron gave her a sympathetic look that warmed her heart. Apparently he wasn’t that same kind of man.
“I see,” he said softly.
“But yes, he’s been different. We should ask Cheyenne what she’s noticed. She is very close to her father. She’s very concerned about him.”
“Then we should try to find him.”
