Artisan’s Grove

Part 1

“Martin Singer, I’m here about the job.”

Behind the desk, the slim black woman stared openly, “What job?”

Sighing, Martin dropped the newspaper on the desk. The circled ad clearly stated, “Help Wanted.” Behind him, his daughter Emma thumbed through pamphlets. She was the whole reason he was here in this remote town. They needed a new start.

“Oh right, you want the caretaker’s job,” A smile appeared on her face and she extended her hand, “Egypt Calloway, I’m the receptionist at the lodge in the winter and the hotel manager at the beach house in the summer. You’ll like it here. We’ve got everything, skiing, snowboarding, sailing, swimming, boating, parks, but everything centers around those apple trees you see all over. Bet you’ll like it here,” She smiled at Emma. Emma ignored her as usual.

Martin nodded, “That’s great. So when do I start and who do I work for?”

Egypt rolled her eyes, “Allan Aldaine he owns everything around here. We all work for him. You can start right now, follow me.” She came out from behind the lodge’s desk. Her lavender business suit ended in a skirt so high and so tight Martin was embarrassed for her. He kept his mouth shut as she struggled to move gracefully across the room.

Emma trailed behind. She was staring out the large glass windows at a few boys shoving each other. Martin clicked at her and she angrily moved to follow him. Not for the first time, Martin wished Emma’s mother were still with him.

“So we’ll let you meet Mr. Aldaine and if you don’t run screaming from the man, we’ll get you settled in. You’ll live in the lodge all year round. It doubles as extra hotel space in the summer when the college kids come over from Pittsburg. Skiing is ten months out of the year so you’ll be kept pretty busy.” Egypt walked across the grass of the lodge past the boys. She hissed at them. They hissed back.

Martin noticed their smiles for Emma and frowned. He didn’t want to go through this again with her.

“I like to keep busy and I’m taking the job no matter what. I sold everything to come out here and start over. There’s no back to go to.”

Egypt stopped and frowned. “Are you sure you want to stay here?”

“What’s wrong with here?” Emma asked.

Egypt didn’t answer. She just frowned harder and kept walking. A small office building sat at the back of the lodge. Egypt pressed on, her heels catching in the gravel. She got to the door and opened it, standing there, not entering.

“You’re not coming in with us?” Emma asked.

“Mr. Aldaine’s already met me.” Egypt held the door.

Martin walked through the door and tripped. Emma screamed. Martin looked down and saw the blood first then the leg he had tripped over. Egypt raced in. “What happened?”

“Oh God,” She screamed, “Mr. Aldaine!”

Martin touched his throat. No pulse and he was cold. “He’s dead.”

Part 2

“Move, get out of my way.” Elaine shoved her way through the group of young boys, staff members and guests milling around the lawn of the ski lodge. “What the hell is going on? Don’t you have work and vacationing to do? Let’s go people move it.” No one was listening. Elaine hated when no one listened, so she started shoving people out of her way. “Move damn it! I own this hell hole and I’ll cancel all your stays and fire the holy hell out of a lot of people if you don’t get the f-Sheriff Dean?”

Sheriff Dean’s hat was off. His craggy face usually attempted to smile. She could never stand the man with his obvious age. He was disgusting, out in public without a hint of Botox. He muttered something.

“Speak up. Where’s my father?”

The crowd was staring at her. “What the hell is going on?”

“He’s dead.” Sheriff Dean put his hat back on and his grubby badge showed. “We found him shot in his office, ma’am.” He pointed behind him, “Just in there. A fellow was going to meet with him for the caretaker’s job and tripped over the body. I’m very sorry.”

Daddy was dead? “Shot to death? Are you kidding me?” Elaine pushed past the old man to the office. A few officers were milling around doing nothing. Some pale yocal was standing off to the left with a smear of red on his pants and a white sheet over… over…

“Daddy?”

“Don’t act like you care,” Egypt whispered. “You hated him more than the rest of us.”

~*~
“So did you see him?” Thin, lanky and kind of cute if he had better shoes, the guy grabbed Emma’s arm and pulled her to one side.

Emma nodded. Creepy seeing him all bloody laying there, not moving. “Yup.”

“Cool! I’m Jason Whitman. So was he all bloody and rotting?”

“That’s sick.” Emma responded, noticing the rest of the boys were now circling her for details. It was nice to have an audience again. “He wasn’t rotting. I think he just died. But his chest was all messy and bloody. My dad tripped over him.”

The crowd ‘ewwed’ and laughed.

“Who was that guy?” Emma asked.

“My Uncle,” Jason answered, “and every body in town hated him, including me.”

“What? Why?” How could you hate your own uncle?

The boy next to him snickered, “Jason hates him because he wouldn’t front the money for Jase to get out of this place.”

“It was for college, Tom. I wanted money for college. Guy’s got millions. Owns everything in town and can’t front me for four years at Pen State. He’s a cheap bastard. Was a cheap bastard…I wonder who gets his money?” Jason frowned.

“Why?” Tom asked, “So you can get them to give you money?

“Why not?”

“Emma,” her dad called. “Let’s go.”

“I gotta go,” Emma dragged her feet. “Can I meet you guys later?”

“You staying in town?” Tom smiled at her.

Jason shoved him, “Bunch of us are meeting in the apple grove behind the lodge. Round midnight... If you’re staying in the lodge, come check it out.”

“I’ll be there.” Emma smiled, looked like this crap hole wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

“Emma!”

Now if she could just get her dad off her back…

Part 3

Egypt called her sister at the paper as soon as the sheriff released her from the station, “Get me Kira C. Lynn, it’s her sister…” The woman on the other end mumbled something and Egypt heard her sister trying to put her off. “Hey, Hey! You tell her Aldaine is dead and I…Shut up and listen. I was there when it happened. And if she wants me to keep quiet about Aiden, she better come see me, pronto.” Egypt slapped her cell phone shut and went into the condo she owned on Lake Shore Drive. “Hiya Aiden, honey.”

A soft smile crossed the little boy’s face. He was paler than Egypt by a long shot and his black hair was only softly curling. His wide blind brown eyes blinked up at her. “Hiya Momma honey,” The four year old giggled and rolled around the hardwood floor. Blocks scattered every where. “You got here fast.”

“I know, baby, I missed you.” Egypt got down on her knees and hugged her beautiful son and thought about his father’s body in the county morgue.

~!~

“Now how long have you been in town Mr. Singer?” Sheriff Andy Dean was upset. His meal ticket had just died and there was going to be a whole mess of chaos. Aldaine was related to at least twenty money hungry people in this town and in about an hour all of them were going to be clamoring for details. Andy hoped like hell the rich old bastard had been smart enough to make out a will or there was going to be hell to pay.

The nicely bland features of Mr. Singer creased with annoyance, “Long enough to find a body apparently.”

“Don’t be a smart ass sir, I am old and I do not have time to sort the crap from the facts.” Andy leaned against the interrogation table, “How long have you been in town?”

“Not long enough to kill anyone.” The man shot back. Although Andy was not so sure, Mr. Singer had the hands of a working man and the hardness around the eyes of a man born low and penniless. He could have been paid by Elaine Aldaine or her brother Johnny or that nephew of his… They all had money and reasons.

“I am getting a headache,” Andy rubbed his old skin for emphasis. “Talk.”

Mr. Singer leaned forward and clasped his hands. “My wife and I wanted a good life for our girl. So I decided to move Emma out here. I came in on the train not more than two hours ago and headed straight for the lodge.”

“What for?” Andy tilted the ancient tape recorder up to catch every word.

“To take the caretaker’s job… the lady behind the counter took us round back and I tripped over the body. Believe me; no one is more upset about his death than I am. I need a job. I think I’m screwed.”

“You might be. You are coated in the victim’s blood. You’re new in town and ain’t no one here to vouch for you.” Andy walked out of the room and let him stew. Guy was most likely innocent but Andy didn’t like new people. He was too old to deal with new faces.

Gary was outside the door his puppy dog face earnest and slobbery, “Whatcha got deputy?”

“Egypt Calloway says they walked in on the body.” Gary fumbled with his notebook. “I let her go but told her we’d be in touch.”

Andy nodded, “Good, cut Mr. Singer loose. Their stories match. But keep tabs on him and don’t let him leave town. Get me the rest of the Aldaine’s I want to talk to them. And where are we on the autopsy report?”

“Body’s at county general and Jamie’s been called.” Gary hopped to follow Andy into the main room. “Should have something in an hour or two.”

“Anything from the scene,” Andy grabbed a cup of coffee.

“Just this,” Gary held up a gold bracelet that Andy knew for a fact belonged to Kira Lynn.

Part 4

“I don’t have time for Egypt right now!” Kira growled as her secretary handed her the message. “I have got to get my tape recorder and get to the sheriff’s office. Every Aldaine in town is going to be there for questioning and I’m going to get the story of a lifetime!”

Kira tugged at the pink streak in her long slick black hair. It was a nervous habit no one in this town was smart enough to pick up on. Good, the more mysterious she seemed the better. Reporters had to keep a distance from everything in life in order to see it clearly. But she was excited. The murder had come over the wire a half an hour ago and her car was juiced and ready.

“Johnny head down there already,” Kira asked Bobby in Sports. The fat greasy balding bad example of chocolate man flesh blinked up at her with his squinty little eyes. Well almost up at her, his eyes actually stopped at her breasts. Which apparently was where he thought her mouth was located.

“’Spect so, his father being dead an’ all,” The man oinked.

“Yeah,” Kira walked past him and hopped into the elevator. She speed dialed her pain-in-the-ass sister. “Egypt? Kira, I want to talk in person. Yeah, not now… The story’s breaking now. Yes, it is all about the story! How many times am I going to be breaking a murder story in this town! Damn right I’m excited.” The elevator hit the lobby and Kira walked out of The Artisan Times.

~!~

Elaine hugged her brother Johnny. He was slim and young and perfect in every way. He was nearly as perfect as Elaine herself. “Did the old bastard have a will?” Elaine purred in his ear.

Johnny pulled her off of him, his face darkening. “Christ, Lane, he’s not even cold.”

She snapped her teeth at him, “He was always cold.”

“He’s our father,” Johnny reminded her.
“He was our father, now he might be our salvation. Or he could crush us all. Worry about that, John, before we start speaking well of the dead.”

Johnny glared at her but she could see he was worried. After all without Daddy’s money, the paper would foreclose. Since Johnny liked to gamble on ponies, cards, casinos and whores.

Sheriff Dean appeared and Johnny latched onto him, “How long do we have to wait Andy? We’ve been standing here for hours. What happened to my father?”

“Looks like he’s dead. Two shots to the chest at close range… We’ll know more after the ballistics and the autopsy comes in. Until then why don’t you step inside and start making a statement.”

“Statement,” Johnny’s well tweezed eyebrows lifted into a frown.

“Yes Mr. Aldaine, we need to know where your father’s been in the last few hours and which of his loving children and friends had access to him.” The sheriff pulled his grotesque old lips back into a smile, “Gotta catch the killer, sir.”

Johhny turned to Elaine, “Call my lawyer.”

Elaine was already dialing.

Part 5

The rooms in the lodge were gross. Small, bare wood beams, they smelled like musty, dirty sheds. Emma tossed her favorite roller bag onto the bed. Opening it, she grabbed out her favorite pair of jeans. She only had ten minutes to sneak out, get behind the lodge and head down the trail to the apple grives. She was determinied to look good and fit it in this time. Her make up was perfect. Her shirt was slutty but not too slutty and now with her favorite pants she was: "Gorgeous!"

Soft snores were the only sound coming from her father's bedroom. Emma held her sneakers in one hand. Passing the mothy curtains that covered the living room window and stepping in bare feet on the gross old rug was not her idea of moving up in the world. It was okay though, that guy Jason was hot and had rich parents. And now that that old guy was dead, he'd probably get some money. And Emma knew exactly how to get money out of men.

Down the stairs, she spotted two black girls talking. One was that lady from the desk...the other one looked like the hotter version of her. Emma stopped and ducked down so they wouldn't see her.

"Kira he has a right to anything they're getting." The desk lady growled. "He has lots of rights and you never seem to remember that!"

Kira with her pink streaks and hot looks, pouted. "He doesn't know any better. Leave him where he is. He's fine. You're his mommy. That's all he knows. Why change things now?"

Desk lady started to cry. She grabbed for Kira. "He's your son! Don't you care he's your son? And what about his father?"

Kira leaned back and slapped the desk lady across the face. "SHUT UP! No one needs to know who that boy's daddy is. Do you hear me?"

Big fat tears escaped the desk lady's eyes and ran hottly down he face. Kira pulled her into her hug. "I'm sorry, honey. I'm just afraid for him. He's not like other boys. He can't be with other children. He can't handle everything, Egypt. You promised me you would protect him."

Emma glared at her watch. She had five minutes now. She had to get past them. Slipping down a step at a time on her butt, Emma hit the bottom stare. She slid behind the staircase. Bingo! A back door!

Outside the moon lit up the path. Emma raced down it. She didn't bother to put her sneakers on. There was no time. Skipping over sharp rocks and tripping a bit as the dark hid branches, she almost over shot the meeting place. She came full tilt into it's center, crashing into a warm body.

"Hey," a warm voice from underneath her said, "you made it!"

"Jason, hi." Emma helped him up. "Yeah, I made it." She dragged her sneakers on to her bruised feet. "Wasn't that hard to sneak out."

Tom walked over. He was drinking out of a paper cup. "We're going deeper in. It's cold and we want a fire. Can't risk being seen. Hey Emma, you made it. Want a beer?"

Emma frowned at the cup. Tom smiled reassuringly at her and so did Jason. "Sure."

tune in next week...

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