Free Killer Shortbread by Tom Soule, Rick Tales Page B

“Call me if you think of anything that might help, okay?”
                  I nodded numbly and didn’t look around even after I heard the door close behind him.
     
     
                 

Chapter Two
     
                  Two days, six hours, and 23 minutes. That’s how long my baby boy had been missing.
                  I was curled up on the couch, staring at the recipe books on my shelf. Derek had helped me decorate them; they were covered in glitter and stickers of “Bob the Builder” and “Barney.” My bottom lip trembled, and I breathed in slowly. Better not to think of it. He’s going to come back to me. He has to.
                  The phone rang and I lifted myself up and just stared at it. I didn’t want to answer it. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. Besides, it was probably the police, checking to make sure I hadn’t skipped town. As if blaming me for my son’s disappearance and forcing me to close my bakery weren’t enough, they were following me everywhere. There was a police car camped outside of my house 24/7 for my “safety,” but I knew the truth. And it hurt like hell.
                  Sighing, I picked it up, expecting to hear Detective Jordan’s gruff voice on the other send. You can imagine my relief when it was Charlotte who spoke.
                  “Hi, darling, how are you holding up?” Her voice practically dripped with sympathy.
                  “I’m okay,” I lied, looking down at my carpet.
                  There was no use lying to her, though. Charlotte and I had been best friends since we were six years old, and if no one else could tell when I was in a dark place, she could. It had been her idea to start “Sugar Sweet” in order to get through my divorce, and, though I would never admit it, I knew that that and Derek were the only reasons I got through that time.
                  “Of course you’re not, sweetie. I’d be more worried if you were. Tell you what, why don’t you come out with me and Ella now? We’re just going to a bar, no dancing or anything. What do you think…”
                  “I don’t know…” I mumbled, but I already knew it was a lost cause.
                  There was no saying “no” to Charlotte.
                  “I’ll pick you up at in twenty minutes, okay? It’ll help you get your mind off of everything.”
                  “I don’t want to get my mind off of Derek. I want to be out there looking .” My teeth were clenched, and frustrated tears threatened to start a waterfall on my cheeks.
                  “But look where , Maisie?” Charlotte sighed. “Darling, I’m so sorry, I know this is awful, but there’s nothing you can do. Leave that to the police, love. They’re going to find him. And while they do that, you’re going to come with us and order the strongest drink they have.”
                  I have to admit I wasn’t completely against that idea.
     
                  The bar was called “Geyser,” and even just walking in there was a little depressing. It was full of people just under middle age, drinking to their regrets before they even reached their midlife crisis. What made it even more depressing was the realization that I was one of them. Charlotte and Ella, both only a year older than me, hadn’t seem to come to that realization yet.
                  Ella dragged me the bar and grudgingly, I draped my jacket over the back of a stool and slid onto it. My friends appeared on either side of me, and the barkeeper walked over, polishing a glass.
                  “What can I get you ladies?” He smiled at me and I couldn’t help but blush.
                  “I think I’ll have a shot of absinthe, please.” I smiled back shyly, ignoring Charlotte giggling behind