Case of the Vanishing Visitor Read online

  Case of the Vanishing Visitor

  Shanna Swendson

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Also by Shanna Swendson

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  I held my finger over my computer mouse, ready to click on the “submit” icon. “Ready?” I asked my boss. She might not still be alive, but I cared what she thought.

  “What do you think about it?” Jean Jacobs replied.

  I was the nominal editor of this newspaper, and I was an experienced journalist, so I should have felt confident in my work, but I hated having the question thrown back at me. Was she implying that there was something she’d caught that I hadn’t? Was this some kind of test? When I was recruited for this job, I was supposed to have been the assistant editor who would have the chance to learn the ropes before the editor left and I had to take over. But the editor was killed before I got to the interview, so I was thrown into the deep end, head-first. I wasn’t entirely certain I’d have been able to do the job if I hadn’t had Jean haunting the building and coaching me. She’d been dead for decades, but she still considered the newspaper to be hers.

  “I feel okay about it,” I said, trying to sound more assertive than I felt. “It’s not the most thrilling issue ever, but it was a slow week. And it’s not as though I can uncover an exciting story, write it, and get it in the paper before we have to go to press.”

  “Well, if you’re good with it,” Jean said with a shrug.

  That wasn’t very encouraging, but she didn’t say not to go to press, so I clicked on the icon. I didn’t feel great about the issue, but the summer had been pretty slow. I’d had about three weeks of good content after I busted up a real estate scam with my investigative journalism and helped catch the guy who’d killed (accidentally, he claimed) his ex-wife and her new boyfriend. Since then, it had taken all my creativity to fill the newspaper. Fortunately, school would be starting again soon, and that would give me plenty of material. Football alone would fill half the paper.

  Even though it wasn’t a great issue, sending it to press temporarily lifted a weight from my shoulders. Tomorrow I’d start thinking about the next issue but, for the moment, it was time to celebrate, and that meant dinner at Margarita’s, the Tex-Mex restaurant down the street. It had become a weekly ritual for me to hang out there while the printing press ran. Most of the time, having an apartment over the newspaper office and press room was convenient, but it wasn’t enjoyable to be up there when the press was running. Instead, I spent time chatting with the owner, Margarita, if she wasn’t too busy. She’d become my closest friend in town. Thursday nights were usually quiet, so we got to have a good visit, and I often had a chance to talk to any other friends who might also be there.

  I was already thinking about what I wanted to order when I left the office, which meant that I didn’t notice Jordan Randall until he’d already seen me. I knew what he’d want to talk about, and I didn’t have an answer for him.

  I do like Jordan, but he can be a bit intense. I guess you don’t get to be a tech billionaire without a little intensity, but there are days when it’s too much for me. Like on the evenings when I’ve put the week’s issue to bed and all I want is to relax with a margarita. That is not a time when I want to deal with any of his many projects.

  “Hey, Lexie!” he called out as he approached.

  I gave him the strongest smile I could manage in the moment and said, “Hi.” My lack of enthusiasm was surely obvious in my voice, but if he picked up on it, it didn’t change his behavior.

  “I’m glad I caught you,” he said when he reached me. My habits are pretty ingrained, so I suspected this was no accidental encounter. He’d been lying in wait to catch me. Maybe I needed to change my routine. “I wanted to ask you how the interviews are going. Anything in tomorrow’s paper?”

  “Sorry, no, nothing in this issue,” I said. “I didn’t run across any tourists this week.” When he’d cashed in his Silicon Valley billions and returned to his hometown, Jordan had focused his energy on turning the small Texas town into an arts mecca that would draw visitors, starting with a renovation of the historic downtown. His latest idea was to have me interview visitors about their perceptions of the town. I’d write features for the newspaper to show the townspeople the impact of his projects, and then he could use that material for marketing and market research. It wasn’t going as well as he’d hoped because there weren’t that many visitors, in spite of all his efforts, and I didn’t yet know all the townspeople well enough to know who was a visitor. There had been a couple of embarrassing moments when I tried to interview people I didn’t recognize whose families had been in town for generations.

  He did a good job of hiding his disappointment, though his shoulders slumped a bit. “Oh. Okay. Just keep at it. I think people are really enjoying those articles. I only need a few more good quotes for the website.”

  “Sure thing,” I said. “You know, football season will be here soon. I may be able to find people to interview if they come to town early for football games.”

  His face lit up. “Yes! But then we’ll need to market the restaurants and galleries to the towns we’re playing in home games so they’ll want to come early to dine and see the sights. Maybe they’ll get a hotel room and stay for the weekend.” He hurried back to his office, on a mission. I might have set myself up for something in the future, but for now, I could get an evening off.

  I made it to the restaurant, but it wasn’t the refuge it usually was. Tonight the place was really buzzing, with almost all the tables in the middle of the room shoved together to form two large groups. Balloons tied to the backs of chairs declared that one group was celebrating a birthday and the other was a bachelorette party. Both groups were pretty raucous, with loud whoops of laughter and a few squeals. I made my way past the tables to reach my usual seat at the bar, and Margarita gave me a quick nod as she rushed past with a tray full of tortilla chip baskets.

  There went my margarita, I suspected. The town’s outdated liquor laws kept her from selling alcohol, but she sometimes gave drinks to her friends. If she was busy, I doubted she’d be sharing illicit drinks. Oh well, there were still tacos. I ordered from the waitress helping out behind the bar and tried to relax in spite of the squealing from the bachelorette party behind me.

  The seat next to me remained empty, and I forced myself not to focus on it because I knew that the person I wanted to sit there wasn’t going to join me. On a night like this, there was no way Wes Mosby would show up. The cute local cop could hear people’s thoughts, and a crowd like this was a nightmare for him. The din of thoughts added to the actual noise would be unbearable. It looked like I’d be on my own with my tacos.

  I’d nearly emptied the basket of chips in front of me when a woman approached the stool next to me. “Is this taken?” she asked.

  I couldn’t resist one last glance toward the door, although I knew that even if Wes did show up, he’d take one look at the crowd and flee. Forcing myself to give up on him, I said, “Not at all. Help yourself.”

  She climbed onto the stool and glanced around. “Wow, busy place,” she said. “It must be good.”

  “The best Mexican food in town. But no margaritas, in spite of the name.”

  “Too bad. I could use o
ne. And this is sort of a vacation for me.”

  It struck me that if she didn’t know about Margarita’s, she probably wasn’t local. I didn’t think I’d met anyone who actually came here on vacation, on purpose. People stopped by while out on a drive, but they didn’t think of it as an actual vacation. Maybe I could get a tourist interview to go in the next issue. Jordan would be thrilled. “Really?” I asked. “You came here for a vacation?”

  “Sort of. I’m a teacher, so I’m off for the summer, anyway, and I’m here house-sitting for a friend. My husband’s on a business trip, so when my friend needed a house sitter, I figured I could make a vacation out of it. At least it’s a change of scenery.”

  “Be sure to check out all the galleries downtown,” I said. “And there are several good restaurants. For breakfast, try the Sideshow Diner, a couple of blocks from here, next to the tracks. And if you want a fancier splurge in an interesting setting, there’s the Old Mill by the river.” I tried not to groan out loud when I realized how much I sounded like Jordan.

  “You must be local if you know all the good places.”

  That was the first time anyone had assumed I was local to Stirling Mills. I was accustomed to being an obvious outsider. “Not really. I’ve only lived here a few months, but I’m the newspaper editor, so I had to learn a lot about the town very quickly.”

  “The newspaper editor?” She sounded genuinely impressed. I’d have thought she was meeting a celebrity from her reaction. That was definitely different.

  “Yeah. It’s just a weekly,” I said, trying to sound humble, “but I do a fair amount of investigative journalism—when I’m not interviewing tourists about our local attractions.” I figured this was my chance, so I said as casually as I could, “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in doing an interview about your impressions of the town? Not now, but maybe after you’ve had a chance to see things. It wouldn’t take long, just about half an hour.”

  “Oh, that would be amazing!” she said, beaming. “I’ve never been interviewed for a newspaper before. But I should let you know that I’m not entirely a stranger. My parents were from here and moved away just before I was born. And my husband grew up here, so I’ve been here from time to time.”

  “That gives you a perspective on the changes.”

  “Yes, I suppose it does. Well, then, if you want me, I’d love to do an interview. How about tomorrow morning? Say, eleven? That gives me time to have walked around a bit to see what’s happening.”

  “Eleven is great,” I said, getting out my phone and entering the appointment in my calendar. “The newspaper office is about a block away, across the street. You can’t miss it. Can I get your name? I’m Lexie Lincoln, by the way.”

  “Florence Marz—Florrie. And I’d better give you my number, while I’m at it. Just in case some big news event comes up and you need to reschedule.”

  I entered her name and number, then handed her my card. “In case you need to reach me. The newspaper address is on there. I really appreciate this. You’re doing me a big favor.”

  “I’m thrilled. It’ll make my little vacation more memorable. I’ll feel like a celebrity. Will you need to take any pictures?”

  “Only if you want to. I don’t know yet what kind of space I’ll have available, so there’s no guarantee that I’ll run any photos I take, and what I run will be small and black-and-white. Don’t worry about getting your hair done or buying a new dress, or anything like that.”

  “That’s better than being blindsided when I didn’t put on makeup.” She picked up her menu and said, “What’s good here?”

  “Pretty much everything. The street tacos are the best I’ve had. But you really can’t go wrong, in general.”

  We chatted while we waited for our orders and then as we lingered over our meals. More accurately, she chatted. She was a teacher in a town not too far away, and her daughter was interning in Dallas for the summer, so this was the first summer they hadn’t taken a family vacation. Her husband, Hugo, ran an alarm company. He hadn’t wanted her to come along on a business trip to a convention in Vegas even though she said she wouldn’t mind being left on her own to lounge by the hotel pool, and so when her friend had mentioned needing a house sitter, she’d decided that a long weekend in Stirling Mills was the next best thing. Her friend’s house even had a pool, so she’d get to lounge without having to share it with other guests.

  “It’ll be like having my own private hotel,” she said. “I bought a bunch of spa treatment stuff, so I’ll do face masques and all that. It’ll be almost as good as being at a spa.” She sounded like she was trying to convince herself. It would take a lot of convincing to make yourself believe that house-sitting in Stirling Mills was as good as going to Vegas—and I didn’t even like Vegas.

  “There’s a day spa near here in one of the old houses in the historic district,” I said. “You could splurge and get the real deal. It’s hard to give yourself a proper massage.”

  “I’ll have to look into that,” she said. “I don’t know what my husband would say about spending that kind of money.”

  “He’s getting a trip to Vegas, and you know he’s not working the whole time. He can deal with whatever you do to enjoy yourself. You can at least spend as much as you would have on a plane ticket.”

  “You know, you’re right. I do deserve it. And I’m pretty sure a massage would be less expensive here than at a hotel spa in Vegas.”

  By this time, the birthday party had left, so the restaurant was a bit quieter, but the bachelorette party was still in full swing. As long as they were here, I figured there was no way Margarita would be able to slip me a drink, since they’d then expect drinks for their table. Even so, I wasn’t quite ready to leave and face the printer noise in my apartment, so I ordered churros for dessert. Florrie had just started to say she’d have some, too, when a woman approached the bar. She gave us a cursory glance, then did a double take and gaped at us, her jaw hanging open. A second later, she recovered her composure and turned away, letting her hair fall over the side of her face, like she was hiding. Her hair was odd enough for that not to work well as a disguise tactic. It was blond on the ends and a mix of brown and gray at the roots, with the middle a washed-out, murky blue.

  I was wondering if she was hiding from me or from Florrie when Florrie quickly said, “On second thought, I think I’ll just head out.” She threw some bills on the bar, hopped off the stool, and scurried out, her head ducked. Those two must have known each other, and neither of them wanted to talk. There had to be a story there, but probably not the kind that could go in the newspaper.

  The new woman caught the attention of the waitress behind the bar and said, “I’m picking up a to-go order for Clancy.” I thought she looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place her, since she was probably in the wrong context. I knew I hadn’t interviewed her, but I’d likely seen her around town. Surely I’d remember the blue hair, which wasn’t that common in Stirling Mills. She didn’t acknowledge me, so I didn’t think I was spacing on someone I should have known. One of the hazards of having a prominent job in a small town is that people often expect me to remember them because they remember meeting the newspaper editor. I have a pretty good memory for names and faces, but I can’t memorize absolutely everyone I meet, and that means I’ve had a few awkward moments. It was actually a relief that I was invisible to someone. She got her order in a large paper bag and left without a word to me.

  At about half an hour to closing time, I’d finished my food and was nursing the last of my iced tea, delaying my return home, when the door opened and I got a glimpse of reddish hair before the door closed again. I couldn’t help but grin. One look at that hen party must have sent the tough cop fleeing in terror. I’d paid my bill, so I waved goodbye to Margarita, who was still being run ragged by the party, and hurried out, hoping to catch Wes. He was half a block away by the time I got out the door, so I had to run to catch up with him. “Bachelorette parties aren’t your scene
, huh?” I teased.

  “Oh, no, I don’t need to hear those thoughts,” he said, blushing. I could only imagine.

  “It’s actually relatively quiet now. Before, there was also a birthday party.”

  “Yeah, I know. I tried earlier and hoped it had calmed down by now. Thursdays are usually quieter.”

  “Heading somewhere else?”

  “Just home, I think. It’s too late for anywhere else.”

  “Long day? And no, I’m not fishing for a potential story idea. I’m being a concerned friend.”

  “Just a lot of paperwork I found that the chief hasn’t been doing.”

  “How long until he retires?” The current police chief had been hired because Wes was being groomed for the job but had been deemed a bit too young for it. He was more or less doing the job while the chief coasted to retirement.

  “Would you believe, he said he’s having the best time of his career, so he may put off retirement for a while.”

  “Oh no.”

  “Maybe you could stir up some ghosts to scare him away.”

  Actually, Wes’s father, the last chief, did haunt the police station, but I hadn’t thought of a good way to tell Wes that.

  We were across the street from the newspaper office, and for a moment I pondered inviting him up to my place. Then I remembered that I didn’t have anything to offer him to eat and he was looking for a meal after a long day. This probably wasn’t the ideal time to make a move. Or was it? “If you want to call in a to-go order, I could go in and pick it up for you,” I offered. And then I could invite him up to eat at my place.

  “It’s nice of you to offer, but not tonight. I think I’ll just head home.”