A Fortunate Encounter Page 5

  Claire’s heart began to pound. “Did you recognize either of the guys?”

  “I only saw them from the back. They were heading away from the bonfire, towards the parking lot across the street.”

  “Would Jade go off with guys she didn’t know?” Claire asked.

  “No, she wouldn’t.”

  “Even if she’d had a few drinks?”

  “She wouldn’t. Jade was careful.”

  “If you think back on that night and you picture Jade walking away, can you see anything about either guy that seemed familiar?” Claire held her breath.

  “I don’t know.” Alyssa’s eyes watered. “I want to help. I want to remember. I want to go back and make Jade stay with me. I want to look at everything and have every detail burn into my mind so I can tell you what happened. But I can’t.” A tear slipped down the young woman’s cheek. “I should have made her stay with me. I shouldn’t have let her leave.”

  “It’s not your fault, Alyssa,” Claire said kindly.

  “I feel like it is.” Alyssa brushed at her cheek. “When I talk to the police, they make me feel like it’s my fault.”

  “I don’t think that’s their intention.”

  “Why isn’t it my fault?” Alyssa’s voice pleaded for an answer. “We went there together. I went home, but Jade didn’t. We should have watched out for each other. See what I mean? I let Jade down. I’m at fault.”

  “No, you’re not. You were among friends. You both knew a lot of people at the bonfire,” Claire said. “There was no reason to think there was any danger. It was a group of people gathered for a nice time. I wouldn’t have kept my eye on Jade either. There wasn’t any reason to do that.”

  Alyssa’s chin trembled. “Except there was.”

  8

  “Her friend, Alyssa, thinks she might have seen Jade leave the bonfire with two guys.” Claire sat on a small stool, stocking a shelf for her friend, Tony Martinelli, a tall, burly man in his early seventies with a full head of white hair. Tony had owned the Adamsburg Square Deli and Market for the past fifty years and when Claire moved to the neighborhood, he and the young woman, and her dogs, had become fast friends.

  Bear and Lady trotted past Claire on the way to the little courtyard at the back of the market, each one carrying a dog treat in their mouths.

  When Claire noticed the treats, she looked up at Tony. “You’re going to spoil them.”

  “Everybody needs a little spoiling, Blondie. Life’s too short.” Tony filled the cooler with juices and milk. “Why does this Alyssa person only think she saw Jade leaving the bonfire? She’s supposed to be her friend. Doesn’t she know what her friend looks like?”

  “Jade was in the distance. Alyssa saw them only from the back.”

  Tony scowled.

  “Alyssa said she’d had a few beers, more than a few beers.”

  “Ah. The real reason for the girl’s uncertainty,” Tony shook his head.

  Augustus Gunther, a retired state supreme court judge, sat at a café table sipping a cup of coffee while reading a Boston newspaper. Without looking up, he said, “If the young woman was intoxicated, her testimony would not hold water.”

  “From what she told me,” Claire said, “I think she was pretty drunk.”

  “An alcohol-induced impaired mind,” Augustus said. “Take what she tells you about that night with a grain of salt.”

  “I will.” Claire pushed a curl from her eyes. “I do.”

  “And be mindful of motivations,” Augustus added as he adjusted his bowtie with one hand.

  “Yes,” Claire said. “What motivation would cause Alyssa to lie about seeing Jade leave the bonfire?”

  Augustus folded his paper. “She might not necessarily lie. Perhaps the young woman feels guilty that she didn’t notice her friend leave so her mind conjures the image of Jade leaving the bonfire in the company of others for two reasons. One, she can convince herself that she was watching out for her friend, she was aware of her friend’s whereabouts, and two, Jade left of her own accord which absolves this young woman of any guilt. Jade is an adult and can choose to leave a place when she wishes.”

  Tony made a face and asked Augustus, “Do you really think that’s why Alyssa told Claire she thinks she saw Jade leave?”

  “The young woman may very well be unaware of why she thinks she saw Jade leave the bonfire. Alyssa’s mind might have come up with the idea in order to protect herself from feelings of vulnerability over the loss of her friend.”

  “So you’re saying Alyssa might have made up the fact she saw Jade leaving?” Claire asked.

  “Precisely,” the ninety-two-year old judge said.

  Tony said, “The kid was drunk. She saw somebody leave the bonfire with two guys. Maybe it was Jade, maybe it wasn’t. She isn’t sure. It might be worth looking into though.”

  “Just be aware that there might be nothing to the claim,” Augustus warned. “Don’t take her word as gospel.”

  “Maybe the convenience store has security tapes. Maybe Ian can find out if the police checked the tapes,” Claire said. “Jade might show up on one of them. Maybe her companions show up on them, too.”

  “What else will you do to help the case?” Augustus asked.

  “I’m planning to speak with Jade’s old boyfriend, Blake Rhodes. He’s agreed to meet Nicole and me at the chocolate shop when it closes tomorrow.”

  “Do you think the woman will be found alive?” Augustus asked.

  Claire breathed a long sigh. “No, I don’t.”

  “Ugh,” Tony groaned. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

  “Your goal is to help the mother find her daughter?” Augustus asked.

  “Yes. And help her figure out who did this,” Claire said.

  Bear and Lady had come in from the courtyard and sat in one of the market’s aisle’s, listening. Lady stepped close to her owner and rubbed her head against Claire’s knee and Claire put her arm around the sweet Corgi.

  Augustus stood and picked up his paper. “I’m off to a meeting.” He looked at Claire. “This is a very sad business you’re involved with, but it is very kind of you to help. Mind your safety, Claire. If you need anything, you know where to find me.” Before exiting the shop, the older man turned back. “You might pay Bob Cooney a visit. The man is a wealth of knowledge.” And with that, the judge left the market.

  “Don’t talk to Bob Cooney alone,” Tony suggested.

  “It’s okay. Mr. Cooney and I have an understanding.”

  In his mid to late fifties … it was hard to pinpoint the man’s age as he dyed his hair jet black and dressed well … Bob Cooney was a former private investigator who was known for shady dealings and having his finger on the pulse of much that happened in the city. He usually didn’t do anything for free and his price for information was quite high, yet he had helped Claire a few times, and she wasn’t opposed to asking for his assistance again.

  “I don’t know,” Tony said warily. “I don’t trust that guy.”

  Claire chuckled. “Neither do I, but I’ll take help wherever I can get it, even if I have to pay him handsomely for it.”

  “Leave him as a last resort,” Tony told her. “And I’ll go with you to talk to him, if you want my company.”

  Claire thanked her friend. “I also want to talk to Jade’s current boyfriend. He’s working here in Boston as a physical therapist. From what I’ve heard, things were going great between him and Jade, but, I’ve also heard that Jade met up recently with her former boyfriend, Blake.” Finished stocking the shelf, Claire broke down the cardboard box. “I don’t yet have a feel for Jade, what she’s like, what kind of person she is.”

  Tony started away pushing the small dolly he used to move heavy cartons around the store, but then he paused and looked at Claire. “That’s because you’re chasing a ghost.”

  In the late afternoon when business was slowing down for the day, a slim young woman entered the chocolate shop and when she spotted the curly-headed bl
onde behind the counter, she made a beeline for Claire.

  “You’re Claire? I’m Cori Ball, a friend of Jade Lyons. Mrs. Lyons told me you worked here. She said you were helping her find Jade.”

  Claire’s eyes widened and after wiping her hands on a cloth, she led Cori to an empty table by the windows. “How can I help you?”

  “I hope I can help you,” the pretty brunette said. “Jade was my best friend since we were five years old. I’m having a hard time with her being gone. I can’t believe it.”

  Claire hadn’t noticed at first, but now she clearly saw the red rims of Cori’s eyes, the bloodshot lines running through the whites of her eyes, the nails bitten down to ragged edges. A low-level anxiety seemed to be coming from the young woman’s pores.

  Cori lifted a finger to her lips absent-mindedly about to bite her nails, and then quickly put her hand in her lap. “I was at the bonfire. I saw Jade there.”

  “Did you talk to her?” Claire asked.

  “Yes, of course. We walked around together. We met up with other friends who were there.”

  “Were you together most of the night?”

  “A lot of the time. Jade came with Alyssa, but Alyssa met a guy she likes and wandered off with him,” Cori said.

  “Do you know something that might be helpful to the case?” Claire asked.

  “I don’t know.” Cori ran her hand through her short brown hair. “I don’t know if it will be any help at all.”

  “Did you see something? Hear something?”

  “We ran into a few guys that night. They were being fun, kind of flirty with us. There was one guy who seemed to like Jade. He paid a lot of attention to her, joked with her.”

  “Did you know these guys?” Claire asked.

  “From school. We’d seen them around, talked to them at events. They seemed nice. We walked around the park with them, stood by the bonfire.”

  “Did you get separated from Jade?”

  “One of the guys, Joe, he asked if I wanted anything from the food trucks so we walked over to where they were parked. When we went back to the fire, I didn’t see Jade, at first. Then I saw her walking towards the other end of the park heading for the parking lots across the street.”

  “Was she alone?” Claire’s heart raced.

  “No, she was with the guy who had been flirting with her,” Cori said.

  “Just the two of them?”

  “Yes.”

  “Jade has a boyfriend,” Claire said. “Was she happy with him?”

  Cori looked around the chocolate shop. “I think she was going to break up with him.”

  “She told you this?”

  “Not really. It was just the things she said that made me guess a breakup wasn’t far off. She was annoyed that Kyle was so busy with work all the time. She didn’t think he was making time for her. I think she wanted a change. I don’t think Jade was ever really into Kyle. I don’t think she saw him as a long-term partner.”

  “So she was open to this guy flirting with her?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you know his name?”

  “AJ. AJ Phelps.”

  The name Phelps sounded familiar to Claire, but she couldn’t place it.

  “He goes to Whittemore?”

  “He’s a senior,” Cori said. “He comes from a very wealthy family. I used to tease Jade that if she got involved with AJ, she’d be set for life. AJ’s brother is getting married soon. It’s a huge event. Hundreds of guests.”

  A light went off in Claire’s head. Phelps. That was the family who Nicole had won the contract with to provide desserts for a big upcoming wedding.

  “So Jade went off with AJ?” Claire asked.

  Cori nodded, her face washed in sorrow. “I didn’t see Jade again that night. I haven’t seen her since.”

  “Did you tell the police Jade was with AJ?”

  Cori looked down at the table. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “I didn’t want to cause any trouble. If I told people I saw Jade leave with AJ, then her boyfriend would find out. What if Jade wasn’t going to break up with Kyle? I didn’t want to get Jade into trouble.”

  “Why tell me?”

  Cori’s face crumpled. “I thought Jade would come home. I thought maybe she was staying with AJ. I didn’t want to make anyone angry. But … but Jade hasn’t come home. I texted her a millions times and she never answered me. I….”

  Claire waited.

  “I looked for AJ on campus. I saw him yesterday in the Quad. I asked him about Jade. He said he and Jade drove around for a while and then he dropped her off back at the bonfire.” Cori looked at Claire and leaned forward over the table. “AJ has scratches on his hands.”

  9

  “You work with the police?” Kyle Vallins asked with a confused expression. “Then why do you work in a chocolate shop?” The young man had an athletic build, short blond hair, and blue eyes.

  “No, we don’t work for the police,” Claire explained as she, Kyle, and Nicole took seats at a café table. “I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression. There have been times when we have assisted the police department with an ongoing investigation, but this isn’t one of those cases.”

  Nicole said, “Jade’s mother asked us to look into it.”

  “Why though?” Confusion still showed on Kyle’s face. “What do you know about police procedure?”

  “Claire is a former lawyer,” Nicole said. “We have some skills in research and investigation that the police sometimes find helpful.”

  Kyle said, “I see.” But he still didn’t seem to quite grasp how or why Claire and Nicole helped with cases.

  “Because of our success with other cases, Mrs. Lyons asked us to help her investigate Jade’s disappearance,” Claire said. “We’re very sorry that your girlfriend is missing.”

  “Thanks.” Kyle’s broad shoulders seemed to slump a little.

  “Have the police talked with you?” Nicole questioned.

  “Several times.”

  “We’ll probably ask similar questions,” Claire said. “I hope you can bear with us.”

  “You work in Boston?” Nicole wanted to get the young man talking and feeling comfortable.

  “I work at Hereford Health and Wellness as a physical therapist. I see clients and lead a few exercise classes. I also do personal training with a couple of athletes.”

  Robby delivered drinks to the table and then scurried into the backroom, but Claire knew he’d have his ear to the door listening to the interview.

  “Are you living in Boston?” Nicole asked.

  “I have an apartment with two other guys,” Kyle said. “The rents in the city are crazy so the three of us cut costs by rooming together.”

  “Do you get to see Jade very often?” Claire sipped from the mug of hot coffee.

  “Not as often as we’d like and not as often as we used to. She’s studying and I’m working fulltime, plus training for a marathon. We can’t just wander over to each other’s places like when we were living near the campus.”

  “Did you live together when you were working on your degree?”

  “No, we didn’t. We both thought it was too soon to do that and we liked living with our friends,” Kyle said.

  “Have you heard from Jade?” Nicole watched the man’s face.

  Kyle’s eyes widened in surprise. “No, of course not. I have no idea where she is.”

  “Do you think she’s met with foul play?” Nicole asked carefully.

  Kyle breathed a heavy sigh. “Honestly? I don’t know what to think.”

  “How was your relationship? Was it going strong?” Claire asked. “Were things going well for you two?”

  “I hate to say it, but I think we were headed for a breakup.” Kyle looked down at his mug. “I could feel Jade pulling away. And I wasn’t upset about it.”

  “What do you think was the cause of the deteriorating relationship?” Claire questioned.

  “I don’t think t
here was a cause.” Kyle ran his hand over his hair. “People grow apart. Jade was still in school. I was finished and working. We didn’t live a few minutes from one another anymore. Even though we’re not that far away from each other, neither one of us cares enough to commute to where the other person is. It was sad at first, but I realized that I felt okay about it. I don’t think we were destined to be together.”

  The words ran cold over Claire’s skin. “Why do you think that?”

  Kyle shrugged. “It was nice when it started, but we really don’t have a ton in common. We don’t have the same mindset about things. I don’t think it would work long term.”

  “And you think Jade was feeling the same way?” Nicole asked.

  “I do. I didn’t feel the same emotion from her that was once there. She was busy with other things.”

  “Had either of you started to see someone else?”

  “No. At least, I didn’t. I’m pretty sure Jade wasn’t seeing anyone,” Kyle said.

  “When was the last time you saw Jade?” Claire sat back in her chair to help create an easy-going mood.

  Kyle’s forehead wrinkled in thought. “A week before she went missing. I drove up to her mom’s house. Jade was living at home this semester. We went out to eat and then we saw a movie. We had a nice time.”

  “Had either of you brought up possibly breaking up? Claire asked.

  “No.” Kyle shook his head. “I think we were both avoiding the subject. Things were comfortable between us, but there was something missing. I wondered if we’d meet up less and less, with more time between the times we saw each other. Let the relationship sort of drift away and then when it was clear neither of us thought it should go on, one of us would say something about it.”

  “Did you know Jade’s former boyfriend, Blake Rhodes?” Nicole asked.

  Kyle’s face seemed to tighten for a moment. “I didn’t know him. He and Jade broke up a couple of years ago.”