Thanksgiving in Cherry Hills Page 3

  “Oh, dear. Did you see what happened?”

  “No. The mugger was already gone by the time I made it downstairs.”

  “Well, I hope he’s caught.” The woman picked up a dishtowel and wiped her hands. “I’m Marissa Keller, by the way. I’m in charge here.”

  “Kat Harper.” Kat jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. “There’s more food in the car. Should I bring it in?”

  “I’ll help.” Marissa exited the kitchen and threw her hairnet into a nearby trashcan, sending her curls springing to life. “Just let me get my coat from the office.”

  With two of them emptying out Kat’s trunk, the task didn’t take long. Their biggest challenge was navigating around the growing crowd of people. The sight and smell of the food seemed to have drawn out every resident on the premises. They had all crammed into the cafeteria, trying to get a peek beneath the foil covers and box lids.

  “No sampling,” Marissa said, brushing an eager hand away from one of the containers. “This is for tomorrow. Tonight we’re having spaghetti.”

  A chorus of groans followed Marissa’s announcement, but it seemed more for show than anything. Judging from the looks on their faces, the individuals in this room were grateful just to have been promised any type of meal.

  All except one.

  A large, bearded man stood near the far wall, apart from everyone else. With his hard eyes and crossed arms, he didn’t look grateful at all. But Kat didn’t think that had anything to do with the food. His gaze wasn’t on the trays piled on top of the serving counter, but on her. And his calculating expression sent a chill slithering from the top of her head all the way down to the tips of her toes.

  Something touched Kat’s arm, nearly causing her to jump out of her skin. She whipped around to see that Marissa had set a palm on her wrist.

  “I can’t thank you enough for this,” Marissa said. “Give Jessie my thanks too, will you?”

  Kat drew in a breath, willing her heart rate to slow.

  Marissa surveyed the piles of food. “This was so very generous of her. Her mother was the same way, back when she ran the restaurant.”

  “It must be something in the Polanski genes,” Kat said, shifting her attention to the conversation at hand. “Jessie wanted me to ask you to make sure you invite her to your Christmas fundraiser too.”

  Marissa’s smile faltered. “Christmas fundraiser?”

  “She heard from one of the diners that CHATS is going to hold one. Is that not true?”

  “It’s true. I’m just surprised she’s interested.”

  “Why?” Kat asked. “Because she made a donation as recently as last month?”

  Marissa stared at Kat for a moment. Then her smile reappeared, although this time it looked strained. “We’ll be sure to send her an invitation.”

  Kat didn’t know what Marissa wasn’t saying, but there was obviously something about this topic that rubbed her the wrong way. Was it the fact that CHATS had to hold another fundraiser in the first place? Maybe as the person in charge she felt responsible for the shelter’s dire financial straits.

  The skin at the back of Kat’s neck started to tingle. She turned around. The same man was still watching her. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling suddenly vulnerable. Had he been staring at her this whole time?

  “No touching,” Marissa said.

  Kat forced her gaze back to Marissa, who was easing a little boy’s hand away from one of the pie boxes.

  “This food is for tomorrow,” Marissa said. She scratched her head, her brow furrowing. “Although, I’m not sure our refrigerator is large enough to hold everything.”

  “We’ll eat up whatever doesn’t fit,” a thirtyish man near the door piped up. The others chimed in with their own cheers of agreement.

  Marissa laughed. “It’s cold enough to stash some trays outside. Just nobody go sneaking onto the patio when we’re not looking.”

  The crowd let out a collective grumble of disappointment.

  Marissa grinned at Kat. “As you can see, everybody here is looking forward to tomorrow.”

  “I don’t blame them. Jessie is the best cook I know.” Kat peeked over her shoulder, unnerved to note that the bearded man still had her in his focus. She leaned closer to Marissa. “Who’s that guy in the corner back there?” she whispered.

  “Who?” Marissa craned her neck. “You mean Howard?”

  “Is he the man with the beard?”

  Marissa nodded. “I know he looks scary, but he’s harmless.”

  Kat didn’t know what to make of that. Based on the man’s build alone, ‘harmless’ would have been one of the last words she would have used to describe him.

  “He’s uncomfortable in large groups, is all,” Marissa continued. “But he’s doing much better now that the doctors seem to have found a combination of medications that works. Three weeks ago you wouldn’t have been able to get him into a room with this many people in it.”

  “Do you know if he’s been on the premises all day?” Kat asked.

  “Oh, our residents aren’t supervised. They’re free to come and go as they please.”

  That hadn’t been Kat’s question, but she was also having trouble figuring out how to ask point-blank if Howard had been here at the time of Sylvia’s mugging without sounding as if she were accusing him.

  Marissa clapped her hands together. “Anyway, I’m sure you’re anxious to get back home. I’ll walk you to your car.”

  Kat followed Marissa outside. The two women didn’t speak again until they were standing beside Kat’s vehicle.

  Marissa slipped her hands into her coat pockets. “I didn’t want to bring Sylvia up inside, but now that we’re alone I feel I can talk more freely. Tell me, did you have a chance to speak with her after her ordeal?”

  “A little,” Kat said. “Andrew, I mean Detective Milhone, was with me at the time. He took her statement.”

  Marissa rocked back on her heels. “I worry about her. She’s had some setbacks of her own recently, and being mugged certainly can’t be good for her psyche.”

  “She seemed to be handling it well. She was a little shaken, of course, but I believe she’s doing okay.”

  Marissa nodded, but the creases around her mouth suggested she still had her concerns.

  “Oh, she left a turkey and a few other food items at my place,” Kat said. “Those were the only things the mugger didn’t manage to steal.”

  “Bring them by when you get a chance, but no rush. With all the food Jessie provided, I can’t imagine we’ll need it tomorrow.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  Marissa pressed her lips together. “On second thought, why don’t I come get the turkey from you sometime next week? You shouldn’t have to drive back here.”

  “It’s no problem.”

  “I’m all over Cherry Hills for different things anyway.” Marissa patted her pockets until she found a scrap of paper and a pen. “Write your number down. I’ll call the next time I’m in your neighborhood.”

  “Okay.” Kat jotted down her name and number.

  “Thanks.” Marissa grabbed the paper and pen before taking a step backward. “Well, I should let you go. Let us know if you hear anything about the police catching Sylvia’s attacker.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  Kat watched Marissa duck back into the building. It wasn’t until she was getting into her car when she noticed the blinds were crooked behind one of the windows. Between two pumpkins painted side by side, she could just make out the outline of a scruffy beard and, directly above it, two unblinking eyes looking right at her.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Kat felt jumpy during her drive away from CHATS. She kept looking in her rearview mirror, half certain she would spot the man from the cafeteria chasing after her car.

  Instead of going directly home, she stopped by the Cherry Hills Food Mart for more pie ingredients. The parking lot was packed, but she managed to snag a spot by a streetlamp. She scrambled out of the
driver’s seat, her gait falling just short of a run as she hurried toward the store.

  Once inside, she gave herself a moment to catch her breath. She wasn’t sure why she was so spooked. After all, Sylvia’s mugger had to have made off with enough food this morning to forgo an evening attack. There was no reason for him to strike twice. Besides, nobody would try to mug her here. There were too many potential witnesses around. Judging from the number of people jammed inside the Food Mart, her pie project wasn’t the only one falling behind schedule.

  She plucked one of the shopping baskets from the stack piled near the entrance, shifting her focus to mentally inventorying everything she needed. Since it was closest, she headed first for the tofu display in the produce section. She picked up a container and tossed it into her basket. Then she threw in a few more. She hoped she wouldn’t need them, but this way she could afford to mess up a couple more pies if it came down to it.

  A young woman wearing one of the Food Mart’s red aprons sidled up to Kat. “Can I help you find anything?”

  Kat shook her head, then stopped. Could the staff on duty that morning have heard or seen anything that might lead to the person who had mugged Sylvia? She had a hard time believing anyone would linger in the alley behind her apartment building on the off chance that a lone woman might stroll by with an armload of groceries. It seemed more likely that Sylvia’s attacker had spotted her while she was shopping or trying to start her car, then proceeded to follow her to a more isolated area before making his move.

  Kat turned to the woman, a redhead with a smattering of freckles sprinkled across her nose. “You didn’t happen to be working this morning, did you?”

  “Sorry, my shift only started an hour ago.”

  “Thanks anyway.”

  “But Dave’s been here all day,” the redhead added. “He’s my manager. He’s probably in the deli. They’ve been swamped since five o’clock.”

  “I’ll find him. Thank you.”

  “Sure thing.” The redhead bounced off to offer her assistance to a man who was scratching his head while he peered at a display of multicolored gourds.

  Kat made her way toward the back of the store, but the line at the deli drew her up short. Evidently she wasn’t the only person who lacked the necessary cooking skills to prepare a decent Thanksgiving meal. The crowd was so thick she didn’t think she could reach the number dispenser on the counter.

  “Bathroom break,” she heard someone say.

  “Okay, Dave.”

  Kat pivoted around to see a man in a red apron ducking through a section of the counter attached by a series of hinges. He brushed by her, but not before she caught sight of the name tag pinned to his shirt.

  “Excuse me,” she called out, hustling after him. “Dave?”

  He didn’t slow down. “You’ll have to take a number.”

  “You’re Dave, right?” she said, careful not to knock anyone over as she raced after him. “I heard you were working this morning.”

  His steps faltered. “That’s right.”

  Kat positioned herself in front of him. From this distance she could see that Dave’s eyes were a warm brown, the same color as his thick hair. “A woman was mugged this morning after she left here.”

  Dave frowned. “I didn’t know that.”

  “It happened a couple blocks away. But I was thinking, if her attacker had followed her from here, you might have seen him before they left the store.”

  Dave let out a half laugh. “Are you kidding me? As busy as we’ve been, I’ve probably seen most of Cherry Hills pass through here today.”

  “The woman was Sylvia Garcia. Do you know her?”

  “Yeah, she’s a regular here.” A shadow darkened his face. “She was mugged you said?”

  “Yes.”

  “And on the day before Thanksgiving too.” He shook his head.

  “You didn’t see anybody watching her when she was in here earlier?”

  “No, but like I said, I was too busy to really focus on what I was doing, let alone pay attention to anybody else.”

  Kat nodded. Although she had hoped he would be able to tell her something, she had known it would be a long shot.

  “Sorry I can’t help you,” he said.

  “Thanks anyway.”

  Dave didn’t give her a chance to ask any more questions. He dashed down the aisle as if this might be the first bathroom break he’d had time for all day.

  Kat finished her shopping, then made her way to the registers. Every line weaved into the aisles.

  She shifted from foot to foot as she waited her turn. The baggers she could see up ahead looked harried. Was it worth it for her to question them? They struck her as the most likely employees to have noticed something happening in the parking lot. Maybe one of them had witnessed Sylvia’s futile attempts to start her car, perhaps while someone else watched from afar.

  After finally reaching the front of the line, Kat paid for her items and stepped forward. But she didn’t pick up her grocery sacks right away.

  “Excuse me,” she said to the bagger.

  His head jerked up, as though he were startled someone had stopped to talk to him.

  “Have you been here all day?” Kat asked.

  His eyes darted around. “Uh . . .”

  “A woman was mugged after leaving here this morning, and I was wondering if you saw anything.”

  He shook his head. “I was here, but I didn’t see nothing.”

  Kat tamped down her disappointment. “Okay, well, thanks anyway.”

  She grabbed her bags, briefly considering making her way down the line and talking to each bagger before deciding against it. They were busy enough as it was without her pestering them.

  She hurried back to her car, tossing her groceries onto the passenger seat so she wouldn’t have to stop to open the trunk. Her pulse had started racing as soon as she was outside again, and now she was anxious to return home.

  She parked in front of her apartment building and got out of her car. She made it within two steps of the main entrance before she stopped. Could she find any clues pointing to the mugger’s identity in the alley behind the building? It was possible he had dropped something during his scuffle with Sylvia.

  Clutching her grocery bags to her chest, Kat followed along Sylvia’s presumed footpath. She wondered if Sylvia had felt this nervous earlier. Probably not, she decided. After all, not only had Sylvia been walking while the sun was still out, but getting mugged had undoubtedly been the last thing on her mind.

  It was at the forefront of Kat’s own mind now though.

  But despite how her pulse was pounding, something still compelled her to take a look. She stayed close to the edge of the building as she made her way around, wanting to cut off a would-be attacker from ambushing her from at least one direction. The grass surrounding the complex crunched beneath her feet, the blades beginning to freeze now that the sun had set and temperatures were dropping.

  She reached the edge of the building. Holding her breath, she peeked around the corner.

  A light shone from above the door she and Andrew had burst out of when exiting the stairwell. Although dim, it was enough to illuminate the spot where Sylvia had been knocked to the ground. But as intensely as Kat scrutinized the area, she couldn’t see anything that might have been left behind by the mugger.

  She also couldn’t see what had compelled Sylvia to take this route instead of sticking to the sidewalks. Cutting through the alley couldn’t have saved her more than a few steps. And it wasn’t as if the views back here were great. Other than a couple of smelly Dumpsters, there wasn’t much to look at.

  With a sigh, Kat made her way back to the main entrance and let herself inside.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Although she was disappointed she hadn’t been able to learn anything about Sylvia Garcia’s attacker during her visit to Cherry Hills Food Mart, Kat’s trip wasn’t a complete waste. She now had enough supplies to make at least five tofu pumpkin pi
es—assuming they turned out better than this morning’s attempt.

  Her arms ached as she toted her bags into the apartment building lobby. She was so preoccupied with wanting to get everything upstairs that she almost didn’t see Janice, one of the second-floor residents, standing by the mailboxes. The pretty African American woman had a stack of envelopes in one hand and a dog leash in the other. Her Irish setter sat beside her. When he spotted Kat, his tail started thumping against the floor.

  “Kat, hi,” Janice said, her brown eyes twinkling.

  “Hi, Janice.”

  As if the sound of her voice was enough to give him the go-ahead, the Irish setter rushed over and sniffed at one of Kat’s grocery sacks.

  Kat set the bags down to pat the dog’s head, welcoming the opportunity to rest her arms. “If you’re anything like my cats, nothing in there will interest you, Bubbles. It’s all vegan.”

  Janice laughed. “Oh, Bubbles will eat anything. He’s not picky.” She sobered. “Hey, did you hear about that lady who was mugged outside our building today?”

  Kat nodded. “Andrew and I were here when it happened.”

  Janice wedged her mail under her arm. “You know, I might have seen the guy who did it.”

  Kat’s heart skipped a beat. “You did?”

  “I’m not sure, but when I was walking Bubbles this morning I saw a guy emerging from around the side of the building.”

  “Was he wearing a ski mask?”

  Janice shook her head. “He was carrying a bunch of grocery bags though. And I thought it was odd that he would come from behind the building, since the Food Mart is in the other direction.”

  “Did you see where he went?”

  “He turned right out of the parking lot, but I didn’t see where his car headed after that.”

  Kat raised her eyebrows. “You mean he was parked in front of our building?”

  “Yeah.” Janice frowned. “Unless he stole a car too.”

  “What kind of car?”

  “A white sedan.”

  “And you didn’t see if he had the keys to it?”

  “The key had to have been in the ignition already. He didn’t even stop to unlock the door.”