Accessories & Alibis: A Presley Thurman Cozy Mystery Book 10 by L.C. Turner

Author:L.C. Turner [Turner, L.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-20T16:00:00+00:00

14

The rest of the afternoon flew by, and I made it to the spot I had arranged to meet Rita with only minutes to spare, which I thought was pretty good, since I hadn’t known where I was going. We didn’t know what each other looked like, and I only had Roxanne’s description of what Rita looked like, so I hoped we didn’t end up missing each other.

I saw someone fitting the description Roxanne had given me walk in. She was also looking furtively around the room. I half-stood up and got her attention, and she started to walk over in my direction. When she got within earshot, I spoke.

“Rita?” She nodded, and I held out my hand to shake hers. “I’m Presley.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said softly.

“Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea? I grabbed mine when I came in. I was desperate for my afternoon pick-me-up,” I said, trying to make her feel comfortable. Her fingers were tapping incessantly on the table. I hoped she wasn’t nervous over meeting me.

“I’m fine,” she said, and we both sat down.

I wasn’t sure where to start, and I didn’t think either one of us was looking for small talk, so I decided to jump in.

“I know this may be uncomfortable and awkward because we don’t know each other, but on the phone it sounded like something was wrong. You have nothing to fear from me—or Roxanne, for that matter. I’m just trying to help a friend.”

“Why did you come to the diner to look for me?” she asked, very tentative with her words.

“Roxanne said she had been talking to you at Dianne’s the night of her boyfriend’s murder, so we thought maybe you could help her case. You know, if she were at the diner with you, there is less of a chance she was somewhere else killing him. I know you have no reason to believe me, or even care for that matter, but I don’t think Roxanne did this.”

She nodded but didn’t say anything. She seemed to be thinking.

“I’m assuming you got my number from Caren and called because you want to help,” I said, prodding her a little.

I didn’t want to scare her off but we needed her help. Rather, Roxanne did, and I wanted to see why she was so scared and why she had taken off. I thought it could be a key to this whole thing.

She nodded, again not saying anything.

“Rita,” I said gently, “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me anything. What’s so upsetting that you told your friend Caren you were going on a surprise vacation? That doesn’t seem to be the truth.”

She took a deep breath. “Roxanne was with me that night. She was upset, said she’d had a fight with her boyfriend. She seemed like a sweet girl, so I let her stay while I was closing. There didn’t seem to be any harm in that. I’ve been in her shoes before, you know, a fight with a boyfriend where I didn’t want to go back home.

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