He shook his head. “That’s the joy of retirement. I get to make my own schedule. I’ll run out at lunch and get us something to eat, but other than that, I’m at your beck and call.”
“If you do that, you won’t finish your words. You focus on what you need to do. I’ll do the same. At the end of the day, we’ll compare notes and see who was more productive.”
“I do love a challenge. Game on.” He focused on his laptop.
Rarity did the same. She didn’t mind someone being around, like Jonathon, as long as they could entertain themselves while she worked.
After she got her Thursday tasks done, she looked at the plan for Saturday. The items were mostly done, just not treats ordered or the letters sent out. She sent out emails to the ones who’d signed up, using a picture that Caleb had sent her last week showing the book and the details about the club meeting. It was cute, and using emails kept the cost announcing the club down. She’d continue to use the template, or Caleb would for the duration of the book club. She’d planned on running it for eight months, but if it was as successful as last week’s meeting, she could see it going indefinitely. She needed to rethink what to do in summer and if they needed some advanced clubs or if you could move up a club level based on your reading level.
She was playing with some ideas when her first customer arrived. A young woman walked in with a black lab. Rarity glanced over at Killer, who was sleeping in his bed. She’d leave him there until she knew how the dog was with other dogs. As it was, she didn’t have to worry. Jonathon had stood, stretched, then walked over and plucked Killer out of his bed and was walking around the store with him. Away from the other dog.
Bless you, Rarity thought.
“How can I help you today? Are you looking for something special?” Rarity smiled at the newcomer, finally looking at her face. “Oh, Cara, I’m sorry I was focused on the dog. This must be Whisky.”
“Say hi to Rarity, Whiskey.” Then Cara pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. “I found this on the windshield of Janey’s car. I think someone was stalking her.”
Rarity took the paper and laid it on the counter. She grabbed a ziplock bag from Killer’s tote and slipped the page into it before even looking at it.
“What are you doing?” Cara looked at Rarity like she was crazy.
“Keeping any fingerprints or smudges intact. You should have taken this to the police.” Rarity looked Cara, who was now pale with concern. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll call Drew, and he’ll pick it up.”
She nodded as Jonathon walked closer with Killer. “I didn’t know who to trust. Her sister says that the cops just want to keep the killer off the hook. I think she’s wrong, but you can’t tell Trish anything.”
Jonathon leaned over and read the note. “You shouldn’t ignore me?”
“Yeah. She kept getting these notes, but she said she didn’t know who was leaving them for her.” Cara pulled a folder out of her bag. “When the cops came by, I was in shock, so I didn’t think of them. But here are the other ones.”
Rarity tried not to gasp when she saw how many notes were in the file. “Did she ever report this to the police?”
“Campus police, but they said it was probably just someone trying to scare her.” She reached down and rubbed Whiskey’s ears. “I wanted her to go to the Flagstaff police, but she never got around to it. Then the notes stopped coming, so she left it alone. She threw away the notes, but I pulled them out of the trash. I just had a feeling.”
Jonathon was on the phone, probably with Drew.
Rarity looked up at Cara. “Thank you for bringing these. Do you mind hanging out until our detective gets here? I’m sure he’ll have some questions.”
“I don’t know what I can say besides what I just did, but I can stay for a bit. My first class isn’t until two today. It’s lab day.” Cara glanced down at Whiskey. “You don’t mind if he’s in here, do you? I hate to leave him alone. He misses Janey. We usually rotated our classes so he wasn’t alone a lot. Now, it’s just me, and he notices. Janey did take vacations at times, so I’m guessing he thinks she’s just gone for a few days. But as time goes on, he keeps staring at the door, waiting for her to come home.”
Whiskey’s situation reminded her of Killer’s situation. He’d lived with Martha before she’d been killed. Then she didn’t come home either. Drew had brought him to Rarity in a huge carrier, and he’d been so scared. But he fit in faster than she’d expected. Maybe it was the new surroundings, or maybe he’d figured out that Martha wasn’t coming back. Whiskey would do the same, but it would take a while. At least he had someone who loved him. “He’s more than welcome to hang out. Does he want some water?”
When Drew arrived, he looked at the notes, then chatted with Cara for a few minutes.
Jonathon came over to Rarity. “Since you have company, I’m going to grab us some lunch. What do you want from the Garnet?”
She gave him her order and reached for her purse.
He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it.”
After Cara left, Drew stood at the counter, glancing through the notes. “This thing just keeps adding on layers. I asked her why she didn’t bring these up before, and she said she’d forgotten. Her friend was being stalked for over a year, and she forgot about it?”
Chapter 17
When Archer came to pick her up, he stopped short when he saw Jonathon. “Hey, I thought you were only here until Caleb showed up.”
“And that’s still true. Caleb didn’t show.” Jonathon shut his briefcase. “I’m meeting some friends for dinner, so I’ll see you both tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks for hanging out, Jonathon. I appreciate you taking time out of your day.” Rarity squeezed his arm as he moved toward the door and lowered her voice. Archer had gone to the backroom to find Killer. “You really don’t need to be here all the time.”
“According to Drew, someone is to be with you at all times. If you don’t like the rules, you talk to my son. I’m not doing it. Besides, I’ve gotten a lot of words this week. If I stay longer, the book will be done and ready for revision by the time I go home.” As Jonathon left, he nodded to Archer who’d come out of the back room, holding Killer. “Like I said, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“He’s such a nice man,” Rarity said after Archer closed and locked the door behind him. “I’ll finish closing up, and I’ll be ready to go.”
“I thought we could do fish and chips tomorrow night for a Friday thing. I checked the fridge, and you’ve got everything we need.” Archer chatted as she wandered through closing the shop up. “I didn’t know what to make tonight, though. Thoughts?”