1 Dead Girl's Guide to Style (14 page)

It was late
morning and I had a little bit of downtime before lunch. I was buried in a stack of receipts when I heard the door open.

To say that I was shocked to see
Rick Rhodes from the bar walking toward me would have been an understatement. He wore faded jeans with holes in the knees and a green button-down shirt that had just as many holes. I didn’t think the holes were there on purpose though.

He smiled widely. “I guess you’re surprised to see me.”

I stood and stuck out my hand. Being professional was very important for business, even though I was surprised.

“Nothing ever surprises me,” I answered.

He looked around the shop with a scrutinizing eye, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. What exactly did he want?

“I guess you’re wondering why I’m here,” he said as he continued to take in the space. He stepped over to some of the photos I had hanging on the walls. “Are these clients of yours?”

I nodded. “Yes, they are clients.”

“They look really nice.” He stared for a moment longer and then headed back over to where I stood.

I wished he would get to the point of his visit. Instead he peered out the window to his left, but finally focused his attention on me again.

He gestured toward the chairs in front of my desk. “Do you mind if I have a seat?”

What could I say? I couldn’t be rude and tell him no. Okay, I could have said no, but like I said that would be rude.

“Yes, of course
. Please have a seat,” I said with a wave of my hand.

He stepped over and plopped down in one of the big chairs. I hesitated for a moment and then sat behind the desk. I folded my hands, placed them on the desk in front of me and then looked him in the eyes. He met my gaze, remaining expressionless,
and finally offered another smile.

He leaned closer to my desk, but still didn’t say anything. The smile was still plastered on his face. After a few more seconds, I couldn’t stand the awkwardness any longer and had to say something.

“So what exactly can I do for you today?” I asked.

He leaned back and placed his arms in front of his chest. “I’ll just get right to the point.”

Well, it was about time. I wouldn’t call what he was doing getting right to the point.

“I need some help with my style and I was told you have a flair for it. Plus, I can tell by the way you dress.”

His words were sweet, but he didn’t seem as if he’d been interested in having my help the other day. I guessed he’d changed his mind. Turning down any business wasn’t an option. Even if the guy was a little odd I had to take the job.

“I would love to help you,” I said around a forced smile.

“That would be great.” He picked at the hole around the knee of his jeans. “I just need something for an upcoming date.”

“I’m sure we can find something really nice for your date. She will think you look great.”

He stared over my shoulder as if not listening, then finally looked at me again.

I positioned a pen over a pad of paper. “So tell me about your style?”

His eyes widened. “I thought you’d tell me that.”

I smiled. “I can help you discover your style, but you must know what you like.”

He nodded. “Oh, okay, I like to be comfortable. No suits or ties. None of that crap.”

I tapped the pen against the paper. “I think we can accomplish that. What are your favorite colors?”

“I like black.”

I sig
hed. “I guess we can work black into this, but we might want to add a little color too. Blue would bring out the color of your eyes.”

He shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

After releasing a little sigh, I said, “Okay, so we can schedule a time to look for clothing or I can just pick out some things for you and you can come here and try them on. Whatever works for you.”

“I really don’t like shopping, so maybe you can just bring them back here,” he said.

“Sure, I can do that. I’ll call and let you know when I have some things. When do you need them?” I asked.

“My date is this weekend,” he said.

I bit the bottom of my lip, and then said, “That doesn’t leave me much time, but I think I can get it done with time to spare.”

“So did you find out anything from the other day?” he asked.

I focused on his face. “What do you mean?”

“You were asking about that vampire. What was his name? Max? Did you find out the information you needed?” His expression changed.

“I didn’t find out much. Do you know anything?”

He scowled. “No, I was just making conversation. I don’t care about the guy.”

I hadn’t implied that he did care about Max, but he was the one who brought it up. Why was he being defensive?

“I’d like more information about the vampire hunters you were telling me about,” I said.

“Sorry, I didn’t have information then and I don’t have any now.”

This guy kind of had an attitude.

Rick leaned back in the chair. “So what’s the deal with you and this guy?”

That certainly wasn’t any of his business. “We’re friends. He’s recently back and I’m helping him with style.”

It seemed like Rick knew more about Max then he was letting on.

“So you don’t have anything else you can tell me about him?” I watched his face for a change
in expression.

He wasn’t a good actor. Reading expressions and body language was pretty easy.

He shook his head. “Nope, nothing else to say about him. You should ask him what you want to know.”

“Well, I figured since you knew about the vampire hunters then there was more that you could tell me. Not that I think you’re hiding anything on purpose or anything,” I added.

If I was polite I’d probably get more information from him. How could he be rude if I was sweet and polite?

He snorted.

Apparently, he had no problem with being rude.

“How long have you been in this building?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

“About a year now,” I said. “So back to the subject—”

“It’s a nice location,” he said, cutting me off.

“Thanks,” I said drily.

“So you’ll go shopping and find something great for me to wear with my date?”

I nodded. “Yes, like I said, I’ll call you.”

Since it was apparent that he wasn’t going to share any more information about the vampire hunters, then I was ready for him to leave. He was a strange character and I had things to do.

“Okay, just remember I don’t do suits.”

I nodded again. “Yes, I’ll remember.”

Maybe this guy was more trouble than he was worth. I should have told him I was all booked up. It was too late now.

He tapped his fingers against the arm of the chair. Finally, he looked at me again. “Your friend
who was with you at the bar… what was her name? Caitlin?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Is she dating anyone?” he asked.

Oh, no, she wouldn’t like where this conversation was going. “Don’t you already have a date?” I asked.

He smiled. “That doesn’t mean I can’t have another date.”

I shook my head.
“Caitlin has a boyfriend.”

“That’s too bad,” he said. “Maybe she’ll dump him soon.”

“I doubt it,” I said.

Even if she did
, I doubted that he was her type. Caitlin didn’t like weird guys any more than I did.

He waved his finger. “You know, the more I think about it, maybe we should go shopping now.”

“Right now?” I asked.

He nodded.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t go now. I have a bunch of work to do.” I shuffled a stack of papers, hoping that would make it look as if I was overwhelmed with work.

He frowned. “How much work could you possibly have?”

Okay, now he was just insulting me. “Believe it or not, there are a lot of people like you who don’t know how to dress,” I said with a smirk.

He scowled. At least he’d gotten my insult.

“Oh, come on, you have to have a little bit of extra time right now.”

I pretended to shuffle papers again. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t, but I promise I will call you soon.”

He picked up a magazine from the table beside him and leafed through it. What was this guy doing? It was like he didn’t want to leave. Why was he acting so weird?

He looked up from the magazine. “Did you hear that?”

I frowned. “No, I didn’t hear anything.”

“It sounded like a noise in the back of your shop.” He pointed.

I looked over my shoulder and then pushed to my feet. “I’ll be right back.”

I’d go look for the noise. Maybe when I returned he would be gone. I wa
lked to the back of the shop and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place though. I hadn’t heard any sound and I thought he had been hearing things. I made my way back to the front of the store. Much to my chagrin he hadn’t left. He plopped down in the chair again. What was he up to?

“Did you find out what the noise was?” he asked with a sheepish smile.

I frowned. “No, I didn’t see anything. So where were we? Oh, you were about to leave, right?” I asked.

“There are a few things I like in that magazine,” he said, as he pointed to the one on my desk. “I marked the pages.”

“Thanks,” I said.

He clapped his hands together. “Okay, I guess that’s about it. I appreciate your help.”

I attempted a half-hearted smile. “I’m sure your date will think you look great.”

“I hope so. I mean, I know I look good already, but I’d like to add a little something extra for her, you know?”

I controlled my eye roll. “Yes, I know what you mean.”

What a lucky girl she was. If she was truly lucky she’d cancel the date.

Rick made it halfway to the door when he stopped and turned around. I wanted to groan, but held it in.

“You know, I might be able to find out more about the vampire hunters.”

My interest piqued. “Yeah?” I asked.

“If you think you could get me a date with your friend, then I could probably find out more.”

I narrowed my eyes. “No, I won’t get you a date with her,” I snapped.

His nostrils flared. I wasn’t about to give in to a bully and I certainly wouldn’t fix my friend up with one. No way.

After a few more seconds, he held his hands up. “Okay, I hope you’ll forgive me.”

I released a deep breath, trying to control my temper. “Yes, I forgive you.”

“Will you and Caitlin come back into the bar? Drinks are on me.” He smiled widely.

I still didn’t trust him. “Yes, we’ll stop back in some time soon.”

I was just telling him that of course. I would avoid that place as much as possible. I really didn’t want to see this guy either.

“Great, I look forward to it. And again, I apologize.”

“It’s no problem,” I said.

“Okay, well
, I’m out of here,” he said.

I really hoped he meant it this time.

“Do you mind if I have a mint?” He pointed toward the dish on my desk.

I waved my hand. “Go right ahead.”

Why did it seem as if he was stalling? He picked up a mint from the bowl on top of my desk. He unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth.

“My favorite,” he said around the candy in his mouth.

He tossed up his hand in a wave and then headed for the door. I released a sigh of relief when he walked out. I expected him to pop back in though.

Curiosity got to me and I wa
lked over to the window. I looked to my left and didn’t see him and immediately looked to my right. Thank goodness I spotted him and he wasn’t coming back into my shop. He was sauntering down the sidewalk, probably headed back to the bar. I wasn’t sure what his whole visit had been about. Did he really want my help or had it all been an attempt just to get a date with Caitlin? I would have to warn her so she could be on the lookout. She hadn’t mentioned that he’d asked her out before.

Later when I stepped into the shop, something immediately seemed off. You know when you get that feeling that you’re being watched, or that you’ve forgotten something? It just seemed like I was forgetting something. My purse and my keys were in my hand. I was almost positive that my cell phone was in my purse. Yet I still couldn’t shake that feeling. It nagged at the pit of my stomach and made my insides churn. I stepped across the floor and tried to shake the sensation. It was all my imagination, I told myself. There was nothing wrong.

Even though I told myself that nothing was
wrong, when I reached my desk, I saw that I had been totally wrong. Something was definitely off. Papers that had been on top of my desk the night before were now scattered across the floor. A couple magazines were scattered about too. How had this happened? I knew that I hadn’t left my desk like that. I wasn’t a neat freak, but I wasn’t a slob either. I always kept things neatly stacked or put away when I left for the evening. I remembered leaving my desk neat and orderly. Had a wind come through and knocked them off?

There were no air vents above my desk and no open windows, so I didn’t think it was the wind. I reached down and gathered the papers and magazines and placed them back on top of the desk. I ran my hand through my hair and looked around the shop. I was puzzled as to how this had happened. There was no ghost in the shop, so it was nothing paranormal. I sat at my desk and tapped my fingers against the wood while trying to figure out how this had happened. There had to be a logical explanation.

It struck me that I should look through the rest of the shop. Maybe something else was out of place too. I stood and walked to the back of the shop and looked around but didn’t notice anything missing. It was strange because there was nothing really missing, just the mess at the front. Someone had been looking for something. But I had nothing that anyone would want. Unless they wanted a dress or a great pair of shoes. That was when something crossed my mind. There was one thing that was strange and possibly someone would want.

The only unusual item that I could think of was that paper that I’d gotten from Max.
I’d placed it on the desk. I should have left it in my pocket. But would someone really want to take that? Would someone be looking for it? Yes, I guessed if I’d taken it, then that meant someone else could take it too. But who would want it? Had Max sent someone to get in here and take it back? Why wouldn’t he just confront me and ask if I’d taken it and if he could have it back? If this was what had happened then it meant that the drawing was truly something special.

How would Max have gotten in to my shop to take the paper back? He wouldn’t have been able to get in, so that ruled him out. There was a key on my desk for the shop. I hadn’t missed it, but
… I walked over and looked in the drawer. The key was missing. There was only one person who had been left unattended in my shop recently and that was the vampire from the bar. Rick had acted strangely. Now it kind of made sense. Had he taken the key so that he could come back? How did he know about the paper?

Was anything else missing? I truly felt violated that someone would look through my things. And even worse that they would take something that didn’t belong to them. I guessed I
’d gotten what was coming to me though for taking the paper from Max’s desk in the first place. Karma. The paper hadn’t been mine in the first place. I looked around my desk. If they’d taken something else, then maybe the paper missing would just be a coincidence. But it looked as if the person had been looking for one thing only.

I sat at my desk and released a deep breath. I needed to think this through. I couldn’t just accuse someone of something without proof. Just the fact that
Rick had been acting strangely wasn’t enough. There were plenty of people around who acted weirdly. Practically everyone I knew was weird. There was no way for me to know for sure though, and no one else had had access to that key. That meant that it had to be him. How would I ever figure out if he had taken it? I ran my hand through my hair and thought about going home and back to bed.

I rested my head in my hands, and then finally looked up. This was not getting me anywhere. I had to take action. People passed by my window and I studied them as they went about their day. That was when I noticed him. I could have sworn that it was the bar vampire. Rick didn’t look my way as he walked past. I jumped up and hurried over to the window for a better look. No doubt I was just imaging things. What were the odds that he would be walking by at this moment? Then again, maybe he had just left my shop?

What would have happened if I’d walked in and caught him in the act? That would have been an ugly confrontation. I really needed a security system. I’d never installed one because I didn’t keep money in the shop, or much of anything of value.

Rick was walking down the sidewalk and even though his back was to me, I knew without a doubt that it was him. He had to have just been in the shop. Maybe I would catch him with the paper and demand to have it back. He wouldn’t be able to deny it.

I needed to weigh the pros and the cons of a confrontation with this vampire. He could go nuts right there on the sidewalk. He probably knew a lot of big bad vampires. But I couldn’t just let him get away with doing something like that. Maybe if I just politely asked him it wouldn’t cause a fight. I didn’t know for sure that he’d done anything though. I could ask him nicely and he’d say no and that would be the end of that. No more problems. Of course that wouldn’t solve the issue of who had been in my shop.

So that was that. I’d made my decision to go after him. I needed to hurry if I wanted to catch up with him. I grabbed my keys, locked the door behind me and headed out after the vampire. He had made it quite a way up the sidewalk, although he was walking slowly. It was almost as if he wanted someone to catch up to him. I was surprised that the so-called vampire hunters weren’t after him. Rick probably got in a lot of trouble. I shouldn’t get myself involved in his trouble, but I was doing it anyway.

As luck would have it, Rick had stopped and was looking in a store window. If he knew someone was following him he didn’t let on because he never looked back at me. I was finally able to catch up to him. Just as I approached, he turned to look at me. He didn’t seem surprised to see me in the least. He remained expressionless.

“They have a lot of nice crap in this store.” He pointed.

“Yeah, I guess that’s one way of putting it. Listen, I’m glad I caught up with you. I have a question to ask,” I said.

“What do you want to know? You need more information about what style I want?” he asked.

“No, nothing like that,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I had a paper on my desk and I was wondering if you happened to see it when you were there. A key was there too.”

He frowned. “You had a lot of things on your desk.”

Well, that wasn’t true because I never kept a lot of things on my desk. “So you didn’t see anything?”

“Well, if it was a piece of paper that doesn’t narrow it down much,” he said.

I wasn’t sure how much I should tell him about this paper. But regardless, it didn’t look as if he was going to admit to anything.

“The paper had a drawing on it. It was just very important to me, that’s all. Are you sure you didn’t accidentally take it?”

Okay, no matter how polite I had meant for that to sound he was bound to take it as an accusation.

His frown deepened. “No, I didn’t take anything from you. What the hell would I want with a piece of paper?”

It wasn’t just a piece of paper, but I didn’t press the issue.

He must have read my mind because he asked, “What is so special about this paper? What’s the drawing?”

“I’m not sure of the meaning, but I know it’s special. I found it,” I said.

I felt as if I’d already said too much, but it was too late now.

“Interesting.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “You said you found it. Where did you find it?”

“Well, that’s not important,” I said.

“It could be. If I knew where you found it then maybe I would know what the drawing meant.”

That didn’t make sense. I was suspicious of him for sure.

“I don’t remember where I found it,” I said.

He looked at me for a long moment. I knew that he didn’t believe me, but I didn’t care. It was none of his business.

“Sorry, I can’t help you then,” he said.

“It’s just that I really want that paper back. You were the only one in my shop. I saw it before you got there, but not after you left.”

“Look, I told you I didn’t see the paper. I don’t know what you’re getting at, but I didn’t take the paper. I don’t appreciate being accused either,” he said.

“I’m just trying to find my paper,” I repeated.

He waved his hands. “You know, as a matter of fact, I don’t need that help with my clothes after all. Just forget about it.”

I would have tried to change his mind, but I felt confident that he had taken the paper, so I didn’t want to help him anyway.

“Yeah, that’s fine. It’s probably for the best anyway. Good luck with your date,” I said a little snarkily.

He
smirked. “I’m sure she won’t be able to keep her hands off me.”

And to think he wanted me to fix him up with Caitlin. No way.

“I’m sure she won’t be able to keep her hands off you,” I said.

He glared back at me for a moment and I wondered about that fight scenario. But finally he turned on his heel and headed off down the sidewalk. He wasn’t walking as slowly this time. He glanced at me from over his shoulder though. I stared right back at him. I watched as he made his way down the sidewalk. When he turned the corner, I released a deep breath. I was glad that was over, although I still didn’t have the paper back.

I’d wanted to shake the truth out of him. But no matter what I did I couldn’t force him to tell me the truth. Or could I? I’d have to think of something.

After a few more seconds, I headed back to the shop. I needed to think about my next move and how I would find that paper. Why hadn’t I made a copy of it? I could remember some of it, and I might recognize it if I saw it again, but I couldn’t be sure of that. I unlocked the door and marched back over to my desk, more defeated than ever.