Mina
“Steve!” I called out the name on the extra-tall cup of house brew and set the cup on the pickup counter. Without waiting for the man to come claim his drink, and eager to get through the Monday morning rush, I spun around to make the next order.
And looked straight into Ozzie’s scowling face. He stood between the order line and the pick-up station.
“Hi.” I offered him a curious frown and a half smile, unsure why he felt the need to give me a dark look. I also couldn’t help but wonder why he was here so early. Claire had been in not long ago and bought coffee for him and for herself.
“Hi. You and I need to talk.”
My half smile died, but my frown stayed in place, deepening. “Can it wait until the rush dies down a bit?” I tipped my chin to the line behind him.
“No.” Not waiting for an answer, he stepped around the counter and headed for the kitchen.
This was not what I needed.
Groaning, I turned to my closest barista, Kayla. “I’ll be right back.”
At her nod, I hurried after Ozzie, who was already standing in front of the door to my office.
Fishing out my keys, I unlocked the newly repaired door and let us inside.
“What’s so important it couldn’t wait? Did you see my line out there?” I gestured past him through the open door.
“I did. I promise not to take long. Claire brought me coffee. She mentioned you told her you spoke to Rich Stevenson the other day.” He crossed his arms. “Care to tell me what was said? And”—he held up a finger—“why you didn’t tell me about it sooner?”
I let out a soft groan and scrubbed my hands over my face. It had totally slipped my mind. “With everything that’s happened lately, I forgot to tell you. It was last Thursday. I stopped at the grocery after work to get some things, and he was there. He recognized me and stopped to talk. Did you know Moira was pregnant?”
Ozzie’s gaze sharpened. “What? No. Was it Stevenson’s?”
I nodded. “He said they were happy about it, and that he planned to ask her to marry him once he saved up enough money for a ring.”
“What else did he say? Did he point the finger at anyone?”
I tipped my head side to side. “Not exactly. He asked me if it was true that she was found at the antique store. When I said yes, he said he’d secretly hoped all these years that she just ran away.”
Ozzie’s brows dipped. “Ran away from what? Him?”
“I don’t think so, no. He said no one else knew about the baby, but that if her parents found out, they’d be really upset. He also said she told him she was having some issues at work just before she disappeared.”
That sharp look returned to his face. “What issues?”
I shrugged. “He didn’t know. I know you’re not interested in gut feelings or anything except facts, but I really don’t think he killed her.”
Rather than immediately agree that he wasn’t going off gut feelings, like I thought he would, he paused and studied me for several moments. “Why not?” he finally asked.
I blinked. He really wanted my opinion? “Well, I—” I stopped, brows twitching into a frown as I thought about what to say. “He just seemed really broken up about her death. Like, with the discovery of her body, he’s mourning her all over again, you know?” I lifted one shoulder. “He seemed genuinely upset to find out she was dead and not just missing.”
“It wasn’t guilt manifesting as him being upset?”
Pulling the corner of my bottom lip between my teeth, I thought about my interaction with Rich. Slowly, I shook my head. “No. I think he truly loved her and didn’t have anything to do with her death.”
Ozzie softly clicked his tongue, glancing away for a moment. “All right. Did he say anything else?”
“He just wanted to know how she died and if she suffered. I told him there wasn’t much left of her body to be able to tell him that.”
“Did you tell him about anything we found on or with her body?”
“No.”
