“I’ll be back to get you in a bit.”
Mrs. Harkin smiled at her and opened a People magazine.
As Suzanne went back to her chair, she saw a young man get out of a gray Subaru, come in and stop at the desk. She didn’t recognize him.
“Can I help you?”
He was average height and build with black hair that didn’t look like it needed cut.
“Yes, I need a haircut. Do you have an opening?”
“Let me see who’s not busy.”
“No. I want you to cut my hair.”
“Oh. Well, I have about fifteen minutes. I guess I can squeeze you in.”
He smiled at her and there was something vaguely familiar about him.
“Great!”
He came around the desk and sat in her chair. She grabbed a smock and wrapped it around him.
“Do I know you?”
“No. A friend of mine, Chelsea Morris, said you were the best.”
Suzanne couldn’t place the name but she had people walk in and get haircuts all the time.
“I guess I don’t remember the name. You don’t look like you need much of a haircut. What did you want done?”
“Oh, just thin it some and clean up the sideburns and neckline. I hate when things aren’t tidy.”
Suzanne couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Okay…tidy up, it is. What’s your name?”
“Donnie.”
“Nice to meet you, Donnie.”
Within ten minutes, she was done and he examined himself in the mirror.
“Do you have a straight razor?”
“I don’t but Silvia does, why?”
“I like to get the thin hair by the sideburns.”
“Okay. Sit tight while I borrow hers.”
She went two stations down and returned with the blade. She ran it below his sideburns and he stood up.
“How much?”
“Twelve dollars.”
He gave her two twenties.
“Keep it.”
“Thanks! That’s very generous.”
“It’s my pleasure. After all, you squeezed me in.”
He smiled at her, turned and left.
Suzanne just stared after him.
That was odd. I need to look in my address book for ‘Chelsea Morris’.
Her timer went off, telling her Mrs. Harkin was done.
****
The detectives parked out front of Daylight Donuts and a waitress with Trudi on her nametag met them at the door of.
“Two?”
Jason smiled at the small red-head. She had green eyes and a bright smile.
“Are you Trudi Fulton?”
Her smile disappeared.
“Yes.”
“My name is Detective Strong; this is my partner Detective Jefferson.”
He showed her his ID.
“Is this about Chelsea?”
“Yes. Do you have time for a few questions?”
“Sure. Let me tell Gloria.”
She crossed to the back of the restaurant, spoke to the other waitress before returning and guiding them to a table near the door.
Jason looked into her eyes. He sensed a fear lingering and knew it would probably be there for awhile.
“You doing okay, Trudi?”
“I’m making it. Work both helps and hurts. I’m glad to be busy but then it’s hard when someone like Mr. Perkins comes in.”
“Mr. Perkins?”
“He’s an elderly widower who doesn’t like anyone but Chelsea to wait on him. He’s taking it hard.”
“Is there anyone else who seemed overly interested in Chelsea? Maybe pestered her or she had mentioned she was afraid of?”
“Nobody. She seemed happy and worry free.”
“The last time you saw her was when she clocked out that day?”
“Yeah. We worked opposite shifts and I was just coming in.”
Nina was taking notes and looked up.
“Where do you park?”
“In back. There’s a gravel lot for employees.”
“And you didn’t notice anything unusual that day?”
“No. Well, now that I think about it, there was one thing.”
“Oh?”
“When I got here, there was a guy sitting on the grass, behind the lot, drinking a coffee. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”
Jason touched her hand.
“I know this is hard but I need you to focus on that moment in time and see if you can recall anything about him.”
“I only glanced at him. He was sitting down so I don’t really know how tall he was. Let’s see. White, short hair, I don’t remember a beard. Jeans and a yellow shirt.”
“Had you ever seen him before?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Was there anyone else here that day?”
“Just the manager, Mr. Chambers.”
“Is he here?”
“Yeah, in back. I’ll get him.”
The interview with Mr. Chambers didn’t produce any new clues. Jason asked Trudi to take them to the spot where she’d seen the man sitting.
She walked them through the small kitchen and out the back door of the donut shop. They stepped out onto a gravel parking lot behind the restaurant that backed up to some woods. It only had one entrance onto the street. It made a good place for an ambush. Nina favored the theory.
“I bet he was waiting in or near her car.”
They did a search around the spot where the man was seen but didn’t find anything useful. Jason realized Nina was probably right.
“Where was Miss Morris’ car found?”
Nina looked in the file.
“About two miles from here, cement plant.”
“And to get there, what direction?”
“She’d leave and turn right towards Huebner Road.”
Jason turned to Trudi.
“Which direction would Chelsea turn to go home.”
Trudi thought for a minute.
“Left. She goes over and takes the beltway north.”
“Thanks for your help, Trudi. We’ll be in touch when we have news.”
Jason headed for the vehicle with Nina trying to catch up.
“Jason, where’s the fire?”
“Traffic camera headquarters.”
Nina smiled.
“Of course. We can probably track her with traffic cameras!”
“Let’s hope so. If we can we can spot her car, we can find out if you’re right about her being ambushed here.”
Chapter 10
Suzanne pulled her teal colored Ford Focus into the Quikstop. Her gas light was on and she felt like a cold drink anyway. It’d been a busy day and she was worn out. She filled her car and went into to get a drink.
Something with a lot of caffeine is called for if I’m ever going to get any housework done tonight.
Grabbing a Red Bull, she went to the counter. While the guy if front of her paid, she got out her debit card and noticed her address book was missing from its usual pocket. She rummaged around, looking for it.
Where is that stupid thing! I hate this purse; it’s like a bottomless pit.
The man in front was done and she stepped up. While the clerk ran her card, she continued to search for the book.
“Thank you, maam.”
She reclaimed her card, picked up her drink and went to the car.
Maybe it’s at home. It had better be; all my clients are in that book.
****
Donnie sat in his car across from the Quikstop gas station. Resting next to him on the seat was an address book decorated with pink flowers on it. He watched as Suzanne Cooper got gas, went inside and then searched her bag for something while standing in line.
It’s not in there, Miss Cooper. I’ll bring it to you later.
He smiled to himself. After he got Suzanne Cooper, there would be just one more.
****
Jason got on State Highway 281 going southeast, the fifteen minute drive would bring them to the I-410 access road that was home to the Texas Department of Transportation traffic cameras.
Nina had brought with her the phone records of Ed Garland and Chelsea Morris. She was nearly 3/4 of the way through them and hadn’t found a connection. She wasn’t giving up even though it was tedious work.