A pretty redhead sat alone at table five. Vicki didn't remember seeing the woman in the diner before, but that wasn't unusual. A lot of their customers were travelers passing through town who stopped in at the diner just long enough for a quick cup of coffee or a bite to eat.
Vicki turned away when Gus called her name to tell her that her order was up. As she carried the tray to the far side of the room, she noticed that the stranger was gone.
Tonight, he had left a twenty dollar bill under his water glass.
Biting down on her lower lip, Vicki looked over her shoulder.
Somehow, she wasn't the least bit surprised to discover that the pretty redhead was gone, too.
Chapter 3
Victoria slept late Sunday morning. Looking at the clock through one bleary eye, she saw that she had missed early Mass. With a groan and a sense of guilt, she threw back the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.
Yawning, she slid her feet into her slippers, pulled on her fuzzy pink robe, and padded into the kitchen. She turned the fire on under the old-fashioned coffeepot that had belonged to her grandmother, opened the curtains over the window, then went out front to pick up the paper, glad to see that it had finally stopped raining. She stood there a minute, enjoying the beauty of a crisp fall morning. After a good rain, everything always looked fresh, as if the earth had been reborn. The grass looked greener and brighter, the sky more blue. Even the birds seemed happier as they flitted from tree to tree singing their early-morning hymns to another new day.
Returning to the kitchen, Vicki poured herself a cup of coffee, added a splash of milk and a spoonful of sugar, then sat down to read the paper.
She read the headline, blinked, and read it again.
BODIES OF TWO YOUNG WOMEN FOUND
NEAR HELLFIRE HOLLOW
FOUL PLAY SUSPECTED
Her coffee forgotten, she quickly read the story. The women had been found by a couple of teenage boys who had been out hunting squirrels in the dense woods near the Hollow. Both women had been fully clothed. There had been no signs of sexual molestation, and no outward signs of violence.
"Except for the two dead bodies," Vicki muttered.
The article went on to say that a large chunk of hair had been taken from the head of each woman, which led the police to believe the murders might be the work of a serial killer since they often collected trophies or souvenirs from their victims.
The story went on in detail about the reaction of the teenagers, both of whom Vicki saw in the diner from time to time. She gasped when she read the names of the deceased.
Sharlene Tilden and Leslie Ann Lewis.
Vicki shook her head in disbelief. She had gone to school with Sharlene and her younger sister, Donna Jean. The Tilden family lived down the street from Vicki. If something so horrible could happen to Sharlene, it could happen to anyone. She frowned as she read the next paragraph, which stated that both bodies had been completely drained of blood.
A cold shiver ran down Vicki's spine. The article stated that as far as the police could ascertain, both Sharlene and the other woman had last been seen at Ozzie's Diner.
The article went on to say that Lewis's next of kin had been notified and then, almost as an afterthought, mentioned that both of the deceased women had been redheads.
Vicki lifted a hand to her own red hair. Surely the fact that both of the victims had been redheads was mere coincidence.
If the story hadn't been so lurid, if it hadn't been reported by the police, she might have suspected it was just another one of the high school pranks that were so prevalent in Pear Blossom Creek in the weeks before Halloween. But the body found near Hellfire Hollow last year had been made out of newspaper, a couple rolls of duct tape, and a wig one of the kids had stolen from the Curl and Dye.
Vicki sat back in her chair. This was no high school prank. Two women had been murdered in two days. What on earth was going on?
Last seen at Ozzie's Diner, the paper said. She could have added that the last time she had seen the two women, they had been in the company of a tall, dark man who was a stranger in town.
She dressed hurriedly after a quick breakfast and went to Mass, where she lit a candle for Sharlene's soul and then, after a moment's reflection, she lit a candle for the other woman who had been killed.
Vicki stayed close to home the rest of the day. Feeling like she needed to connect with her family, she called her sister. Karen lived in St. Louis with her husband, Richard, and their four kids. Richard was an accountant for an insurance company. Most of their conversation was about Karen's kids and how fast they were growing. Richie was six, Lucy was five, Carolyn was three and a half, and the baby, Lori, was already five months old.
After about twenty minutes, Karen said, "Listen, I've got to go, the baby's crying. But you've got to come for a visit real soon, okay? Here's Mom."
Vicki spent the next hour chatting with her mother. As usual, most of the conversation was about Vicki's lack of a prospective husband.
"If you'd get out of that small town, maybe you'd find someone," Mona said.
Thinking of the recent murders, Vicki wondered if that wasn't a good idea, especially since the murderer seemed to have a fondness for redheads.
"I've got to go, Mom."
"You might give that nice Arnie Hall another chance."
"Mom, we've been through all that before."
"All right, dear. Tell Gus hello for me."
"I will. Talk to you soon, Mom. I love you."
"I love you, too, dear. Bye now."
Vicki was in the midst of doing her laundry later that afternoon when Bobbie Sue called.
"Hey, Vicki, any chance you could work for me tomorrow night? Steve's fixin' to take me to the Toby Keith concert over in Pine Grove."
"I don't know, Bobbie Sue… "
"Sakes alive, Vicki, it's Toby Keith! How often does he come here? How often does anyone come here? Please, Vicki?"
"But it's my night off. I was thinking of going to a movie."
"If you do this for me, I'll be your best friend."
Vickie had to laugh at that. It was something they had said since they were children whenever they wanted something really bad. "You're already my best friend." "Vicki Cavendish, I'm down on my knees here." Vicki sighed. She was off on Monday nights, but how could she refuse? Bobbie Sue was obsessed with Toby Keith. She had all his CDs and she played them constantly. "Oh, all right, but you owe me big time."
"Anything," Bobbie Sue promised. "All you have to do is ask."
The murders were all anyone talked about on Monday morning. At the bank, at the post office, when she went to drop off her clothes at the cleaners, it was the main topic of conversation. The police were asking the townspeople to come forward if they had seen or heard anything suspicious, no matter how insignificant it might seem, and to let them know if they had seen any strangers loitering around town.