Sweet Friend of Mine (A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 8) (4 page)

A
ngie and Courtney
met Chief Martin at the police station. The sisters wanted to make a professional impression when they met with Ryan Allen’s parents so decided to dress in trousers, boots, and blazers. Angie wished the conference room of the station was a less harsh environment with its overhead lighting, metal tables, and plastic chairs. She always dreaded having to meet with someone who had just lost a loved one and thought that a police station should have a more comfortable room for sad occasions like that.

The sisters shared a look of apprehension as Courtney knocked on the conference room door. The chief opened it and nodded. He then turned and introduced the sisters to Mr. and Mrs. Allen who sat side-by-side at the large metal table. Untouched coffee cups sat on the table in front of them.

The couple appeared to be in their late forties or early fifties. Mrs. Allen’s short brown, feathered hair was mussed and sticking out in spots like she hadn’t brushed or combed it since her son had gone missing. Her eyes were bloodshot and she held a squished tissue in one hand. Mr. Allen’s hair was cut close to his head. His jaw was tight and he sat ramrod straight in his chair as if he could control the hand of fate by keeping his emotions in check. He looked shell-shocked as his eyes twitched about the room finally settling on Courtney and Angie as they took their seats at the table.

“We’d just like to go over a few things.” The chief sat next to Angie and faced the parents. He spoke gently. “We’ll ask some questions that you’ve been asked before so please bear with us. It’s just part of the process.” He opened a leather folder. “Would you mind going over the events of the night when Ryan called you.”

Donna Allen gave a little moan and dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

Bob Allen ignored his wife, cleared his throat, and nodded at the chief. “Ryan called us shortly after midnight. We had just gone to bed.” He took in a long breath as the memory of that evening’s events rolled over him. Mr. Allen coughed and when he raised his right hand to his mouth, Angie could see little red cuts on his fist.

Mr. Allen went on. “Ryan said the car had gone off the road and was in a ditch. He told me he wasn’t hurt, just a little shook up by the surprise of it. He’d tried to get the car back on the road, but the embankment was steep and he couldn’t manage it. It was cold and he wanted to get home thinking we could call a tow truck in the morning.” The man reached for the cold coffee in front of him and took a swig of it. “My wife and I got dressed and we headed out. Ryan said he was in Mission River, close to Silver Cove. He tried to tell us exactly where he was, but if you know that road, it’s just trees on both sides, not many landmarks.”

Angie spoke. “How did Ryan describe his location to you?”

“He said he was near the line between Silver Cove and Mission River so we drove in that direction. My wife had him on the phone. Ryan said he was freezing and to keep warm, he would start walking south towards Sweet Cove so we should watch for him walking along the road. We drove into Mission River a ways and didn’t see him anywhere so we turned back and drove in the other direction figuring we’d missed him somehow.”

Courtney looked at Mrs. Allen to confirm what she’d heard. “You had your son on the phone as you drove around?”

Mrs. Allen gave the slightest of nods.

“How did he sound?”

Mrs. Allen seemed not to understand the question.

“Did he seem himself? Did he sound confused? I wonder if he might have bumped his head on the dashboard or on the steering wheel when the car left the road and that might have made him disoriented.”

“He sounded normal.” Mrs. Allen wrung the tissue and pieces of it shredded between her fingers. Chief Martin put a box of tissues in the center of the table.

“Was he upset about going off the road?” Courtney didn’t think Ryan could sound perfectly normal after running his car off the road and having to call his parents late on a cold night to come and get him.

Mrs. Allen’s face was blotchy. “He wasn’t upset, really. Annoyed, maybe.”

Angie asked, “Did he talk about how he’d spent his evening?”

The mother rubbed her chin. “Ryan met his friend, Henry. I’m not sure what they did.”

“I think the plan was to go out to eat.” Mr. Allen interjected.

“Have you talked to Henry since that night?” Angie questioned.

Mr. Allen answered. “We called Henry after we lost contact with Ryan. Henry was asleep, but answered his phone after it rang a few times. He told us that he and Ryan parted ways a little after midnight. He hadn’t heard from him since. Now that I think back, Henry said they’d gone to a pub. We didn’t speak long. I was ready to call the police at that point.” The man shifted in the uncomfortable plastic seat. “We haven’t talked to Henry since.”

Courtney looked at the mom and before speaking, made sure there was nothing accusatory in her tone. “Could you tell us, did Ryan drink on occasion?”

The woman opened her mouth to speak, but Mr. Allen cut his wife off and replied to the question. “Ryan and I would have a beer once in a while if we were home watching sports. I imagine he and Henry would do the same if he was at Henry’s house. Ryan never drank to excess.”

“How about the night he went missing?” Angie saw the mother flinch at the word ‘missing.’ “Did Ryan sound like he might have had a few drinks?”

Mrs. Allen shook her head. “No. He sounded normal.”

Angie asked a follow-up question. “What did you talk about when you were on the phone with your son that night?”

The father had a stern expression on his face and seemed to be losing patience. “We were trying to locate him. We were becoming frustrated, driving up and down the road unable to find him. We weren’t having a pleasant chit-chat. Our interactions were about where the heck Ryan was.”

“Did you take the phone at any point or did Mrs. Allen stay on the phone with Ryan the whole time?” Courtney looked from one to the other.

“I took the phone for a minute. I was getting annoyed. It’s a straight line to Mission River from Sweet Cove. I didn’t understand why we couldn’t find him.”

“Did you have words with each other?” Courtney could see the man becoming agitated and she didn’t know what the cause was aside from the obvious worry over his son. Was Mr. Allen aggravated by having to answer so many questions or was he concerned that they would think he and Ryan had a fight while on the phone?

Angie picked up on why Courtney was asking. The thought passed through her mind that Ryan and his father may have gotten angry with each other, Ryan might have cursed at his father and hung up on him and that was why the call ended. She watched the father’s face for any sign that he might not be forthcoming.

Mr. Allen’s cheeks looked flushed. “No, we didn’t have a fight, if that’s what you mean.”

Angie took over the questioning. “So you drove around for some time without being able to locate Ryan.” She paused for a few moments and turned her attention to the mother. “How did the phone call end?”

Mrs. Allen swallowed. “I heard Ryan curse. Then the phone went dead.”

“Did you try to call back?” Angie used a soft voice.

Mrs. Allen nodded. “I called back several times. He didn’t pick up.” Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.

Angie wanted to ease the tension in the room. “Can I refresh your coffee? Or can we get you some water or a cold drink?”

“May I have some water, please?” Mrs. Allen asked quietly.

“Why don’t we all stretch for a few minutes.” Chief Martin stood. “I’ll have a pitcher of ice water brought in.” He opened the door to encourage the Allens to stretch their legs.

The couple stood. Ryan’s mother rubbed her lower back and then walked out to the hall with her husband. An officer poked his head in and asked the chief to come speak with him.

Angie and Courtney were alone in the room. Angie stood up and whispered, “Good thinking to ask if Ryan and the dad had an argument. I wonder if they annoyed each other and Ryan hung up on them.” She looked to the door to see if the Allens were coming back in.

“I can imagine the conversation getting heated.” Courtney kept her voice down and positioned herself so she could see movement in the hall. “Ryan could be disoriented. He gives his parents directions and doesn’t understand why they can’t find him. The parents were in bed when the call came in. They’re driving around and Ryan isn’t where he says he is. I can certainly see things heating up as they get more and more annoyed with each other.”

Angie agreed. “Then Ryan hangs up and won’t answer when they call back.” She stepped closer to her sister. “Now the parents might be full of guilt that they got angry. They could be feeling guilty that if they had kept their son on the phone, they would know what happened to him.” Angie groaned. “What a mess.”

Courtney kept her attention on the door. “We’re just speculating. Maybe they didn’t get on each others nerves. Maybe Ryan didn’t hang up on them. Maybe something
else
caused the call to disconnect.”

“What a tangled web.” Angie squeezed her shoulders trying to rub away the tension. “If people would just tell the truth….”

An officer carried in a tray with a pitcher of water and five glasses. Shortly after, the Allens came back into the room and the chief entered right behind them. Water was poured and glasses were passed around to everyone.

“We won’t keep you much longer.” The chief assured the couple with a nod.

The Allens looked slightly less tense than before they took a break.

Angie smiled. “We understand that Ryan is quite the musician.”

Mrs. Allen’s face brightened. “He is. He plays a lot of instruments.” She looked over at her husband with a little smile. “We don’t know where he gets his talent, certainly not from us.”

“He started music lessons when he was young?” Courtney asked.

Mr. Allen said, “We have an old piano that’s been in my wife’s family for years. Ryan took to it immediately. He could pick out full songs on the keys. His mother decided to encourage his interest.”

“He was in a band?” Angie leaned forward.

“He was in a few bands throughout middle school and high school.” Mrs. Allen nodded.

“They disbanded when some of the members went off to college.” Ryan’s father informed them.

“Did he join a band at college?” Courtney questioned.

Mr. Allen shook his head. “He wanted to focus on his studies.”

“He still played music though, just on his own.” The mother clarified.

Courtney was pleased that the couple could talk about something nice in Ryan’s life. “We heard he was in the band called
Vine
.”

“Briefly.” Mr. Allen seemed to stiffen.

“Ryan was friends with the young man who was also in
Vine
? Darren Wilton?” Angie asked. “Darren went on to found a new band?”

“They weren’t really friends,” Mr. Allen offered.

“No?” Angie was surprised.

“They had musical differences. That’s how Ryan put it.” Mr. Allen looked uncomfortable.

“Did they stay in touch?” Courtney made eye contact with the parents.

“No. They went their separate ways.” Mr. Allen’s voice was more forceful than at any other time during the interview.

“Darren’s new band had a song on the radio last fall,” Courtney noted.

“So we heard.” Mr. Allen took a quick look at his watch. “We need to get to another appointment.” He turned to the chief. “Do you mind?”

The chief stood and thanked the couple for their time. “We’ll be in touch.”

The sisters shook hands with Mr. and Mrs. Allen and murmured their thanks. When the couple left the room and moved down the hall to the lobby, Courtney said, “Well, that ended quickly.”

“Didn’t it?” Chief Martin frowned.

“Did we touch on a sore point?” Angie guessed that there was bad blood between Ryan and Darren Wilton.

“The music thing might be worth pursuing.” The chief gathered up his things. “See what happened between the guys, find out if there’s still animosity between them.”

Unease flicked through Angie’s body as she made eye contact with Courtney and the chief. “And maybe see where Darren Wilton was the night Ryan went missing.”

B
undled
up in her winter coat, hat, and gloves Angie headed down Main Street to the Sweet Cove Resort located in town on Robin’s Point. The point jutted out into the sea affording a panoramic view of the ocean, beaches, and cliffs. The Roseland sisters’ grandmother once owned a small cottage on the point that had been there for over a hundred years. The sisters and their mother had spent many weekends and several weeks each summer staying at their Nana’s place.

The town of Sweet Cove had leased the land on Robin’s Point to the cottage owners and eventually decided to end the leases and offer the cottage owners the chance to purchase the parcels. The cost of the land was too high so Nana sold her cottage to the town.

The town then sold the land to the Williams’ family and ten years later, Angie’s boyfriend, Josh Williams and his brother, Davis, built a hotel-resort on the point. The brothers had a small public park built next to the resort with access paths down to the town-owned beaches.

Josh was back in Sweet Cove for the day and invited Angie to the resort for lunch. Before heading into the lobby of the luxury hotel complex, Angie walked over to the park on the point. Whenever she and her sisters visited Robin’s Point, they could feel the spirit of their nana all around them and Angie and Courtney would experience a peaceful and comforting humming sensation that beat in their blood. Sometimes, when the girls were in danger, that same humming thrummed in their veins as a kind of warning for them to be on guard.

Stepping to one of the park benches, the familiar pulsing started to flow through Angie’s body. She sat down on the bench and gazed out over the dunes to the wild sea crashing against the beaches below. Angie flicked her eyes to the resort. She hadn’t seen Josh in over two weeks and despite knowing how busy he’d been lately, she couldn’t help but feel that they were drifting apart. A little sigh escaped her lips as she wondered if Josh might be going to break off with her and a sense of sadness squeezed her heart. After several minutes of looking out over the ocean, Angie stood up and headed to meet Josh.

Stepping into the warmth of the lobby, the elegant décor and colors of the walls and furniture of the space relaxed Angie and she marveled at how the decorators of the place knew just how to elicit a feeling of luxury and comfort. On one side of the room, two soft chairs and a sofa clustered in front of a roaring fire practically begged Angie to come and sit.

“Angie!” Josh Williams hurried around the corner into the lobby. His blue eyes sparkled when he saw the young woman standing there. He wrapped her in his strong arms and hugged her. “I’ve been missing you.”

Angie smiled up at the handsome man. An unruly lock of his sandy blonde hair hung over his forehead giving him a sweet, boyish look and the dimple in his right cheek nearly had Angie melting in his arms.

Josh took Angie’s hand and led her to the beautifully appointed dining room to the table-for-two set up near the wall of glass which afforded a sweeping view of the resort’s property and out over the ocean. “It’s so great to see you. How have things been?”

Angie took a sip of water from her cut-glass goblet. “Things have been quiet until recently. Have you heard about the missing young man from Sweet Cove?”

Josh’s eyes bugged. “What? No. I just got in from the trip. What’s happened? Who is it?” Josh and Davis had been on a business trip to New Zealand and Australia and had not kept up with the local news.

Angie gave her boyfriend a run down on what had happened and what she knew about the case.

“Has Chief Martin called you all in to help with the counseling?” Josh had been told that the sisters were trained in different aspects of counseling, but he did not know anything about the sisters’ special powers. That had been the only way the sisters could think of to explain being called on by the police for their assistance on some cases.

“Yes,” Angie said. “That’s how I know some details of the case.”

The two gave their lunch orders to the waiter and then Angie asked Josh about his trip.

“It was exhausting, really. I’m only here for the day and then I’m off to New York. There’s a lot that has to get done in a short time.” Josh had to stifle a yawn. He apologized. “I feel like I haven’t slept for days.”

“Why are things so busy right now?”

“Davis and I are reorganizing things.” A look of worry crossed Josh’s face. “He and I don’t always see eye to eye. You know how he is. Business is his life. He’s very hard-driving. I’ve learned a great deal from Davis and I shouldn’t be complaining, but….” Josh waved his hand in the air. “We’re trying to accomplish some things in a short amount of time and the whole thing is quite stressful. There are a lot of changes coming and change can be very hard.” His blue eyes darkened.

Angie’s heart dropped into her stomach. She wondered what sort of changes were on their way and worried how it might affect their relationship. She was about to ask a question when Josh spoke.

“Anyway, let’s not bother with all that right now. I need to forget about it for a while.” Josh held Angie’s eyes. “I’m so glad you could get away to meet me.”

The two chatted and enjoyed their meals and each other’s company until a young man dressed in a suit walked quietly to their table and handed Josh a note. Josh frowned while reading it and shoved the paper into his pocket.

“I have to be at the airport in an hour.” Josh leaned back in his upholstered chair and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I thought we could spend the afternoon together.”

Angie nodded. “It’s okay. I understand.” She tried to keep the disappointment from showing on her face, but it didn’t work.

“I know I’ve been letting you down recently and I don’t want to do that to you.” Josh was about to say more when the young man appeared again.

“The car is out front, Mr. Williams. Your luggage is in the lobby.”

“Stay and finish your lunch. We need to talk when I get back.” Josh stood up, went to Angie and kissed her.

“Have a safe trip,” Angie managed. She felt like she was about to cry. Keeping her head down in case some tears started to fall, she busied herself with finishing her lunch. Despite her feelings for Josh, Angie didn’t know if they could sustain things between them if one person was always away. She looked out the window at the crashing waves.

Someone spoke her name and she spun around in her seat to see Betty Hayes standing beside her table. “Betty. I didn’t hear you come up.”

Betty sat down across from the young woman. “Victor told me some things about the case. That poor young man. Where could he be? It’s been three days and he still hasn’t been found.” Betty’s eyes narrowed. “He must be dead, don’t you think?”

“Well, he might have taken off. Who knows why, but he might have left the state and gone somewhere else. He may be found days, or weeks, or months from now.” Angie gave a shrug. “Just because he’s missing doesn’t mean that he isn’t alive.”

Betty said quietly, “You think he’s dead, don’t you?”

Angie straightened up, surprised by Betty’s words. She really didn’t know what she thought. She’d been so involved in questioning and thinking about relationships between the parties involved that she hadn’t really focused on whether Ryan Allen was still alive or not.
Since I haven’t had any feelings that he’s dead, maybe that means he’s still alive?
Angie didn’t want to discuss the case at the moment, so she changed the subject.
“Are you meeting Mr. Finch here for lunch?”

“I wish that was who I was meeting, but, no, it’s a business lunch.” Betty exhaled and rolled her eyes. “I’m meeting a very wealthy client. It could mean a huge commission, but the person can be, well … a bit difficult.” She looked out of the huge window. “I really do not care for the winter. Give me flowers and green grass any day.” Movement near the door of the dining room caught Betty’s eye. “Oh, here he is.” She was about to get up when she thought of something. She cocked her head. “By the way, have you heard anything about the resort being sold?”

“What?” Angie’s blue eyes widened.

“There’s a bit of rumbling on the Realtor pipeline. It’s probably nothing. Rumors start. I just wondered if maybe Josh mentioned something to you.” One of Betty’s eyebrows arched. “Those Davis Brothers better not contract with another Realtor. I have a relationship with them. I would be quite put out if they didn’t choose me to represent the sale.” Betty looked around the room and then leaned close to Angie. “Imagine the commission on the sale of this place. Woo. If that boyfriend of yours lets slip that they’re selling this place, you let me know.” Betty winked at Angie, plastered a smile on her face and waved to the man who was being shown to a table across the room as she strode over to meet him.

Angie sat dumbfounded.
Is this what Josh wants to talk about when he gets back from his trip? Are Josh and his brother selling the resort? Is that one of the reasons he’s been so busy lately?
If they did sell, then Josh would never be in Sweet Cove. An ache squeezed Angie’s heart.

She rose from her seat and headed to the door of the dining room. On her way out, she spotted Betty speaking animatedly with a young man who was sitting at the table with her.

Unable to pinpoint what it was about the scene that caused a flicker of something to pick at her, Angie shrugged it off and headed home.