Risa's book

Risa bent over the antique book binding she was repairing. She had just completed mending the front cover when the bell over the front door chimed. A group of teenage girls sauntered in, giggling. “May I help you”

“We are just looking,” A pretty girl with dark brown hair replied.

“If I can help you with anything let me know” Risa watched the group disperse throughout the small bookshop. There were six to eight of them; she wasn’t sure some disappeared behind the rows of bookshelves. Risa moved to the cash register, from there she could see down most of the isles and most of the reading nook that she had set up in the corner. Mateous whimpered she took him out of his swing and held him close.

“How old is your baby?” A short mousy blonde girl looked up at her with tired, pale blue eyes.

“He is six months tomorrow”

“I am Celeste, what’s his name?”

“He is Mateous, and I am Risa. Pleased to meet you, Celeste. Are you new in town?”

“I am visiting with my cousin, Racheal, for the summer.”

“Are you looking for any books in particular?”

“Not really, I don’t do a lot of reading.”

“What do you like to do?” Risa looked around trying to see where each of the girls were, she didn’t usually have this many customers at once.

“I take broken glass and make pretty sun catchers and mirrors from it”

“I think we may have a book about stained glass crafts or two, would you like to look in our craft section?”

“Sure” Celeste followed Risa to the last row of shelves next to the outside wall. “Wow you have a lot of craft books here.”

“Most of our crafters are retired ladies but we get some younger during the summer. We sponsor a craft afternoon on Thursdays at three if you are interested in sharing.”

“I don’t know, I’ll think about it” she held a book in each hand and turned them over to look at the prices, and sighed.

“You are welcome to sit in one of the chairs by the window and look through them for a while if you need time to decide. There is hand sanitizer and napkins on every end table to take care of anything on your fingers.” Rise looked at the girl's hands and saw that several of her fingertips had blue and red stains on them.

Celeste blushed slightly, “these stains aren’t going to come off on your books but I will be glad to use the hand sanitizer.”

When she was settled into an overstuffed chair thumbing through one of the books, Risa shifted Mateous to the other hip and started a slow purusale of the rest of her bookshop. The bell over the door tinkled, Risa saw several backs leaving the store and continued to look around for the rest of the customers. The tall brown haired girl was looking at the crime section. “Are you looking for something special?”

“Do you have anything on true crime?”

“We do,” Mateous fussed and Risa moved him to her shoulder as she turned to the section with true crime. “There’s not a lot here but if you want something specific we can order it for you.” She stopped, right in the middle of the true crime section was an empty space. Risa didn’t have to wonder what was missing, it was the book she had written about the kidnapping a murder of two women from Mossville six years ago. It was personal; her mother was one of the women and no one was ever caught. She stared at the empty space. The girl looked at her questioningly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing, some books are missing from this shelf, that's all. We have one on jewel thieves throughout history and one on serial killers, and another on cold cases of San francisco.”

“I was actually looking for the book on the tinsel murders, someone said that you had that here.”

Risa stared at the girl, really looking at her. She was tall, at least five foot eight, solid build at least a hundred and sixty pounds, dark brown hair reaching past her shoulders with the ends trimmed evenly, short bangs that didn’t touch her eyebrows. Her eyebrows were neatly waxed to a smooth curve that fit the natural ridge of her face. Her eyes were a shade or two darker than her hair. Risa took a step back and hugged her baby tightly, until he squeaked.

“It’s ok you are not seeing a ghost, I am told that I looked just like her.” The girl sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, leaving it slightly mussed. Then tucked a lock behind her ear. “My guess is that the empty spot is where the book I’m looking for is supposed to be.”

“You are correct, I had three copies right there this morning.”

“You didn’t see me coming and take them off, did you?”

“No, I didn’t see you coming, and I didn’t take them off. Who are you?”

“I am the niece of the woman killed with your mother.”

“How did you know my mother?” Mateous squirmed and started crying. “Let's go into my office. I have cameras so I can see who comes in and out. The baby is hungry. What is your name?”

“Gail Enrico.” She followed Risa into the office and waited until Risa checked the camera monitor and settled in the comfy rocking chair to feed the baby. “Why did you write the book?”

“I was just trying to work through the trauma, make some sense of it all, let people know how the press coverage impacted our family. I guess part of me was hoping to uncover something that would crack the case as well.”

“You didn’t crack the case?”

“No, it is still unsolved, I managed to get access to the police reports, and what little evidence they had, but I wasn’t able to uncover any more leads.”

“Do you have any more copies of the book? I would like to buy one or two”

“No, but I can order some and have them here in two days. I won’t charge you.” she shifted the baby to her shoulder and rubbed his back until he let out a hearty burp. Both women smiled, baby Mateous promptly fell asleep.

Gail squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. “I need to go meet my friends for lunch, can I come back this afternoon and talk to you some more?”

“I close the book shop at one, but I’ll be here working on a restoration. If you go to the side door and ring the bell, I’ll let you in. I would like to talk to you more as well, I was unaware of Mara’s family.”

“Mara wasn’t her real name, that’s why I couldn’t find her.” Gail sighed deeply and rubbed her hands over her face and through her hair. She stood and walked to the office door. “I’ll come back later. Thank you so much for your time.”

Risa tucked Mateous into his portable crib and checked the camera to be sure that it was synced with her watch. She heard the front door chime and watched Gail on the security monitor until she was out of range of the camera. Who was she really and how did she find her? For that matter what happened to the books? She was almost certain that Gail hadn’t taken them and almost equally certain that someone in the group had. A flash of movement caught her attention, the craft girl was walking toward the front of the store. Risa rubbed a hand over her baby’s back and left the office.

Lisa watched Gail walk up the sidewalk to the side door. She had been pacing for almost an hour, vacillating between desperately wanting to talk to some who might be related to Mara, hoping for something, maybe a new lead, and not wanting to deal with any more drama. She hoped at least that the press hadn’t been alerted. She wasn’t sure if she really wanted to let this stranger into her business. she sighed and opened the door before the Gail could push the Bell

“I am glad you came back. You seemed upset when you left.” she ushered the younger woman into the office, baby Mateus was in his swing happily playing with his toys. Gail sank in one of the chairs and placed a backpack on the low table in front of her.

“First I need to give you these back” she opened the backpack and pulled out the three missing volumes. “My friends thought they were doing me a favor by shoplifting. I tried to get them to come back but they wouldn't, so I insisted they give me all three and I brought them back. I am sorry and if you don't trust me and never want to talk to me ever again I will go.”

Risa sank into the chair opposite Gail and studied her carefully. “I believe you” she finally said and you can keep a copy or two if you want. I'll answer any questions I can, but I would like to ask some too.”

“Fair enough, You said that you were given access to the police records, did they say anything about a safe deposit box?”

“No, There was nothing about a safety deposit box. Why do you ask?’

“I found some letters in my mom's closet a couple of weeks ago. They were addressed to me so I took them. It turns out that they were from my aunt Joy. In one of them she said she was going by the name Mara Johnson. Most of them were postmarked in various places with random return addresses, some of them were fake. There are about a dozen letters and the last one was dated six years ago. When I Googled the name Mara Johnson, I discovered that she had been killed along with another woman, Kathy Quill, and that her daughter had written a book about it. One of the letters contained a key to a safety deposit box from Mossville MO state bank. I went to the bank when I arrived yesterday and they wouldn't let me look in the box. They said I wasn't the owner and didn't have proof that I had the right to open the box.

“I wonder why the bank didn't come forward with the evidence when they were killed?”

“The safety deposit box was not under the name she was going by, it was actually under her real name of Joy Enrico.”

Risa got up and walked over to the corner of the office where there was a small kitchenette, “Would you like some tea?” Without waiting for an answer she poured water into the coffee pot labeled “Tea only" and added tea bags to the basket and turned it on. She fished in the cabinet for cups even though there were four in the drainer by the sink. It had been six years since her mother, and another woman had been found stabbed to death in the Christmas tree lot wrapped in tinsel. She saw her mother's eyes every time she looked at her baby. The book she had written a year ago helped her deal with the trauma but the pain never really went away. Her mother had always tried to help the less fortunate and had been volunteering with the Salvation Army to find assistance for transients. Mara had showed up one day and seemed ready to settle. Kathy helped her find a job at the Salvation Army thrift store and rent a studio apartment above the funeral home. The night that they were killed, they were decorating the store for the Christmas in July sale. Risa remembered the police coming by the bookshop the next day saying that they thought her mom was murdered and needed her to identify the body. The women were found when an assistant was watering the young trees. Her hands shook as she set out the mugs and poured the fresh hot tea into them.

Risa sipped her tea, then slowly set the mug on the table in front of her. “Does your mom know where you are?”

“Yes she does, she isn’t happy about it, but I’m eighteen and have my own money so. . . .”

Risa got up and took Mateous out of his swing and sat back down, snuggling him close. Gail watched her closely. “Are you ok, Do you want me to leave?”

Risa sighed deeply, “I’m Ok, I want you to stay. I have been through this and have some idea of what you are feeling, and the journey you find yourself on. Tell me more about yourself, then we can work out a game plan.” Gail smiled, leaned back in the chair and started talking.