Part 10 (1/2)
”Yeah. Either they're hooked themselves, or they sell it. A single pill goes for eighty dollars.”
That was a lot of money, thought Lucy. ”Who buys it?”
”Addicts. It's very addicting, and once they're hooked they need three or four pills every day, or they start feeling sick. Withdrawal symptoms.” Frankie paused. ”When they can't afford the OxyContin they use heroin. It's much cheaper.”
A year or two ago, thought Lucy, she would have been shocked. But not now. The police and court reports showed a big increase in drug-related crimes and the town had seen several violent drug-related deaths in recent years. Doc Ryder had expressed concern about the number of overdoses he was seeing in the emergency room. It wasn't just Tinker's Cove, either. Even the governor's wife was trying to raise awareness of the problem.
Still, Lucy resisted the idea that either Lily or Eddie might be using drugs. ”They're both good kids... .”
”I know,” agreed Frankie. ”That's why I didn't name them. I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.”
”That's exactly right,” said Lucy. ”I can't believe either one of them would do this awful thing, steal painkillers from a dying man.”
”You're right, I'm sure you're right,” said Frankie, but her tone of voice gave her away. She wasn't convinced and neither was Lucy.
That afternoon, Lucy ran a few errands before picking up Sara and Renee at Fern's Famous, and Zoe at Chanticleer Chocolate. The work permit had come through and today was Zoe's first day, but Lucy wasn't happy about it. She'd been in a bad mood as she went about town, making a stop at the town dump before picking up groceries and dry cleaning.
The rear of the Subaru wagon was full of green reusable grocery bags, dry cleaning hanging from the back of the front seat where she'd hooked the hangers around the headrest supports, and a couple of big boxes now empty of bottles she'd recycled, on the back seat.
”Gee, Mom, is there room for us?” asked Sara, when she opened the car door.
”Just stack up those boxes inside each other,” said Lucy.
”They don't fit,” complained Sara, struggling to jam one box inside the other. ”This one's too big.”
”Turn it sideways,” said Lucy, wondering how a girl who got all A's in geometry couldn't figure out how to stack a couple of cartons.
”Got it,” said Sara, succeeding in combining the two boxes and making room in the back seat.
The two girls jumped in and immediately began whispering and giggling.
”Can you let me in on the joke?” asked Lucy, accelerating into the road. ”I had no idea chocolate was so much fun.”
”It is at Fern's,” said Sara, prompting a fresh round of giggling. ”Especially around Valentine's Day.”
”Come on, tell me,” said Lucy, in a playful tone. ”I've had a tough day and I could use a laugh.”
”Well,” began Sara. ”Promise you won't tell?”
Lucy didn't get it. What was so funny and had to be kept secret, too? It didn't make sense, especially since you'd think the mood would be somewhat subdued at Fern's following Max's death. ”Sure,” she said. ”I won't tell.”
”Dora makes special chocolates that she doesn't sell in the shop. She calls them 'naughty chocolates.' ”
Lucy braked hard at the stop sign. ”Naughty?”
”Yeah.” The girls were giggling again. ”Like Hot Lips. Those are shaped like lips and are kind of spicy. They're real popular, we've been filling tons of orders from all over the country.”
Lucy still didn't get it. You could buy lips wrapped in red foil at the local drugstore. They brought them out every year for Valentine's Day, along with boxer shorts printed with hearts. ”That doesn't sound very naughty,” she said, turning onto Route 1.
”It's not just lips,” said Renee. ”She has other, um, parts.”
”Like b.o.o.bs!” exclaimed Sara. ”And, and, you know... .”
Lucy thought maybe she did. ”Who'd 'a thunk it?” she exclaimed, chuckling to herself as she proceeded along Main Street toward Chanticleer Chocolate, where she had to pick up Zoe.
”You're not mad?” asked Sara. ”Dora said you might not approve.”
”I used to have standards, but motherhood has taught me to compromise.” Lucy joked with the girls, but she fully intended to drop in at Fern's Famous first thing next morning to check out the naughty chocolates.
Pulling into a vacant spot in front of Chanticleer Chocolate, Lucy tooted the horn. Zoe was supposed to work until five, and it was now ten after, but there was no sign of her.
”Sara, just go inside and see what's holding her up,” said Lucy.
A minute later Sara reported that Zoe would only be a few more minutes. ”Tamzin's got her cleaning the display case and she's not done yet.”
Lucy thought of the ice cream that was probably melting in the back of her car, not to mention other perishables like expensive winter lettuce and fresh fish. ”How long do you think she's going to be?”
”A while,” said Sara. ”There were trays of chocolates everywhere and they've all got to be put back in the case.”
Lucy wanted to go in and demand Tamzin let Zoe go for the evening, but she knew that wasn't a good idea. She'd already raised a fuss about the working papers and she didn't want to make things any harder for Zoe. But this was still darned inconvenient.
Finally, at thirty-five minutes past five, the door opened and Zoe appeared, zipping her parka.
”Sorry, Mom,” she said, climbing in the back beside Sara and Renee. ”Tamzin said I couldn't go until I finished.”
”No problem,” said Lucy, flicking on her signal and turning onto the street.
”I was afraid you'd be mad,” said Zoe.
”Well, I'm pretty sure the ice cream has melted and twelve dollars worth of fish is ruined, but it's not your fault,” said Lucy. ”It's Tamzin's.”
”She was upset. I think that's why she made me do all that work,” said Zoe.
”What do you mean?” asked Lucy, turning back onto Route 1.
”Everything was fine, she was all nicey-nice, showing me how to wrap the chocolates and tie bows and all this stuff. Not like a boss at all, like we were friends. But then Trey came in with Ms. Clarke and she was all smiley with them, but as soon as they left she turned into this really mean person. All of a sudden she was making me do icky stuff like cleaning the bathroom and mopping the floor.” Zoe sighed. ”I didn't think working would be so hard.”
”Maybe tomorrow will be better,” said Lucy, who was revising her thinking about Tamzin and Trey. Just because they weren't a couple didn't mean that Tamzin wasn't hoping to become one. Trey was awfully attractive, and wealthy, besides. Tamzin couldn't be making much more than minimum wage in the candy shop; it was probably barely enough to keep her in push-up bras and stiletto heels. Mentally slapping herself for being so catty, Lucy turned her attention to Zoe, who needed a bit of encouragement. ”Was the shop busy?”
”Really busy. Valentine's Day is Sunday.”
”With anybody you know? Did any of your friends come by?”
Zoe shook her head. ”Tamzin took care of the customers.”
I bet she did, thought Lucy, turning onto Red Top Road.