Free Broken Vows Mystery 03-In Sickness and in Death by Lisa Bork

in the sink under the bar. “I think she misses you.”
    “Misses me?”
    “Yeah. She talked about you and the baby all the time. Then suddenly she didn’t have anything to talk about anymore. I’d ask her how you were doing and she didn’t know.”
    Guilt washed over me. I’d neglected my sister, my surrogate child. Erica needed support, and I hadn’t been there to give it to her. “What does this guy she walked out with look like?”
    “Dark hair. Maybe six foot. Okay looking, for a guy.”
    “If he comes in again, can you call me?”
    Bernie stopped drying the glass in his hand. “What for?”
    “I don’t know where Erica is, and she’s been off her medicine. I need to find her and make sure she’s all right.”
    “Sure. Sure. If he comes in, I’ll call you. And if Erica comes in, I’ll let you know, too.” He leaned closer. “I gotta tell you, though, if she doesn’t come in for her next shift, she’s through.”
    “Fair enough.” If that happened, I would pay Erica’s bills just like always.
    After thanking Bernie, I rejoined Danny at the table. He had four slices of pizza stacked on a plate with a side of heavily buttered bread. No vegetables.
    I let it go. “I’m going to grab a piece of pizza and some salad. Then we need to go to Erica’s apartment, okay?”
    Danny nodded, his cheeks bulging with pizza.
    ____
    Erica lived in the apartment I’d leased when Ray and I separated four years ago. He and I’d been unable to come to terms over his desire to have a baby and my desire to avoid perpetuating my bloodline’s mental health issues. When Noelle fell into our arms and Ray and I reconciled after three years, we bought the bungalow, and Erica had moved into this old Victorian on Wells Street. She lived in the first floor apartment, and the landlord lived on the second floor. This time of year, the landlord was most likely holed up in a hunting lodge somewhere with his old war buddies. The entire house was dark when we pulled into the driveway.
    I rang the bell then used my key. The apartment smelled musty. Danny followed me in and waited while I turned on the lights.
    “Wow. Cool.” The dozens of fake butterflies dangling on fishing line from the ceiling captured Danny’s attention immediately. “She likes butterflies.”
    I nodded. My fears grew.
    The kitchen was clean and orderly. No one had cooked here in days, maybe months. Her bed was made, her clothes hung. Her suitcases remained tucked under the bed. Erica wasn’t here, and I couldn’t find a clue as to where she might be.
    I tried to find her yearbooks, but failed. I’d have to go by my dim memories of Maury Boor for now.
    I shut off the lights and led Danny out to the driveway again. “Danny, I need to go to The Cat’s Meow. Would you mind staying in the car while I go inside?”
    He shrugged.
    “Will you promise to stay in the locked car and wait for me? I don’t want to come out and find you missing again like at Dr. Albert’s office.”
    He gazed at the floor. “I promise.” He lifted his head. “Do you think Erica is at The Cat’s Meow?”
    I slid into the car and started the engine as he scrambled into the back seat. “I don’t know. She was there the other night. She was at a motel near there this afternoon. I just have to ask if they’ve seen her.” With any luck Briana Engle, Gumby’s wife, would be there to answer my questions. I didn’t feel like sidling up to anyone else in the place.
    I backed out and headed out of town.
    “What’s wrong with Erica?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “She’s weird.”
    “She is not weird.” I glanced at Danny in the rearview mirror but couldn’t make out his features in the dark. “Why do think she’s weird?”
    “I don’t know. She’s just different.”
    I had to give him that. Erica was different. When depressed, she was unapproachable. But with the right medication and phase of the moon, she was exuberant, charming, outgoing, and talkative. These days,