Down Home and Deadly

Alice , and Carly. They all looked stricken. “It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes after eight,” Carly said.
    Marco pointed at Alice . “She called emergency. They will know what time, yes?”
    “Yes,” John agreed. “So right after you came in, they called 911?”
    “Well, once someone noticed me,” I said, irritated at the whine in my voice. Still , it had been disconcerting not to be missed. “Debbie got me some frozen peas.”
    I looked over at Debbie who was leaning against the wall typing on her cell phone. She didn’t even look up at me.
    John’s brows drew together. “Frozen peas?”
    “For my head. But within two minutes, I’d say, Alice called.”
    John looked at Ricky. “Get me the time of that 911 call.”
    Ricky nodded and disappeared.
    John turned back to us. “Had anyone else been out back before that?”
    Everyone shook their head s, then Alice glanced up at Harvey . “Wait. Harv, you took the trash out about twenty minutes before Jenna did, remember?”
    John fixed his gaze on Harvey, who nodded.
    “Did you see a car behind the Dumpster?”
    “I didn’t look behind the Dumpster. I knew if I didn’t hurry back in” —h e glanced at Marco —“t he salad bar would be in shambles. I just tossed the trash.”
    I spoke up. “I wouldn’t have noticed the car if one of my bags hadn’t gone over and landed on its roof .”
    Alice took Harvey ’s arm and put it around her. “Just think, honey. There may have been a murderer right next to you.” She frowned. “It’s scary to think he was out there with you, Jenna.”
    “Yeah, scary.” I gently touched the goose egg on the back of my head and looked down at my skinned knees. “And painful.”
    “Do you know the guy’s name?” Debbie asked softly, slipping her phone into her apron pocket. From the drawn look on her face, the text conversation hadn’t gone well.
    John nodded. “J.D. Finley.”
    Debbie gasped. A couple of other people made noises, but I couldn’t be sure who. All of us looked at Debbie. Her face matched her white apron , and tears threatened to ruin her freshly applied makeup.
    “I take it you know him?” John said.
    She nodded and bit her lower lip. “He’s a friend of Lisa’s. They’ve been dating for a while, I guess.” She tried to wipe the tears away with one finger, but they tumbled down her cheeks anyway. “I’ve been out with them a few times.”
    John gave her a stern look that I knew meant there would be more questions for her later.
    She shrugged. “Poor Lisa. This will break her heart.” The last word became a quiet sob. Carly handed her a paper towel.
    Bob’s daughter was lucky to have a friend like Debbie. As far as I knew , few people but her parents would have cared i f i t were Lisa herself who was out in that car in the alley.
    John turned to the rest of us. “What do the rest of you know about him?”
    Harvey nodded toward Alice as he answered for both of them. “We knew him.”
    “Was he in here tonight?” John asked.
    “I didn’t see him,” Debbie said, but didn’t look up.
    “Me , either,” Harvey said. “And I was working the cash register by the front door, so if he’d been in here, I’d have known it.”
    “Anyone know what he was doing out in the alley?” John asked us all.
    No one answered. Finally , Alice spoke up. “Maybe he was supposed to meet Lisa? I mean, if they were dating, maybe they arranged a date here.”
    I shook my head. “Why would he have parked behind the trash bin to meet Lisa here for a date? That makes no sense.”
    John apparently agreed with me. He frowned. “Anyone see Lisa here tonight?”
    We all shook our heads. Considering I quit my job and gave up my dream of owning the Lake View Athletic Club because of her, I was pretty sure I’d have noticed if my nemesis had been here.
    Seth motioned to John from the doorway.
    “Be right there.”
    Seth nodded and disappeared into the dining room. John turned back to us. “If I think of anything else I need to ask, I’ll call you.”
    “Wait. John.” I touched his sleeve. “Who is J.D. Finley? Is he from around here?”
    “Jenna, I’m sure we’ll find out all there is to know about him before this is over, but this is official police business. Y ou need to let us do our job.” The “and stay out of it” was implied as h e turned toward the door.
    “I think finding a dead body puts me right in the middle of it.”
    He sighed. “Just this once, can’t you