A Taste of Magic (A Sugarcomb Lake Cozy Mystery Book 1) (16 page)

“Oh no, you brought a whole thermos this time,” Adam joked when he laid eyes on Clarissa’s coffee thermos.  “I guess I should clear all the important papers off my desk, huh?”

“I won’t spill this time,” Clarissa assured him.  She noticed he didn’t seem thrilled to see her.  But it was difficult to say if it was because she made him nervous or because she had dumped coffee everywhere the last time she had been in.

“Come in.  Sit down,” Adam said.  “I’ll just shut the door and we can get started.”

As she heard the click of the office door shutting, Clarissa gulped.  Moments earlier, she had felt somewhat reassured that the waiting area was rather full.  With several clients – also known as potential witnesses – around, she felt Adam would be less likely to respond to her confrontation with violence.

But now she was alone with him in his office.  She didn’t particularly want the office door shut.

Then again, this was a conversation they needed to have in private.

“What can I do for you?” Adam asked, taking a seat across the desk from Clarissa.

She took a deep breath and folded her hands around her thermos full of protection potion.  She didn’t answer right away.  Instead, she focused on calming her frayed nerves. She rehearsed what she was going to say in her head.  Then she looked him square in the eye. 

“I know what you did,” she told him matter-of-factly, sounding far braver than she actually felt. 

“Beg your pardon?”

“I know what you did to Jed Black,” she stated, watching him carefully to gauge his reaction. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Adam said in a strained voice.  “I was under the impression you were here to discuss investments.  If you’re not, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.  I have an office full of clients waiting for me, as I’m sure you saw.”

He stood up abruptly and opened up the office door.

Clarissa bravely fought her urge to run out of there. 

Instead, she blurted out, “I know about the blackmail, Adam.”

Adam immediately slammed the office door shut. 

Clarissa jumped but held her ground.  She unscrewed the cap on her coffee thermos just in case.

Adam didn’t say a word.  He walked around to his side of the desk and sat down heavily, as though his legs could no longer support his body.  He slumped forward, looking tired and beaten down.  His head dropped into his hands.

Releasing her death grip on the thermos, Clarissa seized the opportunity that had presented itself.  “You were blackmailing Jed to pay off your gambling debts, weren’t you?” she asked quietly.  “I know, Adam.  I know about all of it.”

Adam’s shoulders slumped but he said nothing.  His head remained buried in his hands.

“Is your gambling problem the reason your wife left you, Adam?  You were never home – you stayed late at work every night playing online poker.  You were in financial trouble and when you found out your married business partner was secretly wining and dining the secretary, you saw dollar signs.”

“Everything fell apart,” Adam groaned, his words so muffled by his hands that he was nearly incoherent.  “Jed was supposed to pay and that would be that.  It was supposed to be simple.  One little payment and all my problems would have been solved.”

“But he never made that payment, did he?” Clarissa prompted. 

She was hoping Adam would talk, because she had yet to figure out what had happened with that.  Adam had never received his money, and yet he had never gone public with evidence of Jed’s affair.  It didn’t make sense.

“He was going to pay up,” Adam replied, his head still down.  “Jed was obsessed with public image.  He didn’t want a reputation as cheating husband, so he agreed to pay in exchange for my silence.  I knew he would.  I went to his cabin that night to pick up my check.”

“And what happened then?” Clarissa asked eagerly, her heart pounding in her chest.

Adam hesitated and then shook his head.

“You know what I think happened?  I think things got out of control that night.  Jed had his gun out, one thing led to another and he ended up getting shot.  Can I give you some advice, Adam?  If I were in your position, I would seriously consider turning myself in.”

Adam raised his head at that.  “You think
I
killed Jed?” he asked incredulously.

“Are you telling me you didn’t?” Clarissa demanded, disappointed that he wasn’t confessing.

“Of course I didn’t!” Adam exclaimed impassionedly.  “Yeah okay, I gamble and lie and fine, I guess I was trying to extort my long-time business partner.  I don’t always make the most admirable choices, alright?  But I am
not
a murderer!” he huffed in indignation.

“So who killed Jed then, if it wasn’t you?” Clarissa asked him point blank.  She was hoping to watch him squirm.  With any luck, maybe he would fold under pressure and confess everything.  She stared him down, hoping for exactly that.

Suddenly Adam’s office door burst open, making them both jump.  Parker Tweed stood there looking as though he was ready to bust out a karate move.  Then he saw that Clarissa and Adam were both seated and there was probably no need for violence.  He lowered his arms.

“What are you doing here?!” Clarissa hissed, stunned and dismayed by the interruption.

“You two need to leave,” Adam informed them both sternly, seeming to come back to his senses.  “If you don’t get out of my office right this instant I’m going to call the police.”  His face was pale and he looked distraught, but his tone said that he wasn’t one to be pushed around.

Reluctantly, Clarissa and Parker allowed themselves to be ushered out.

“What on earth were you doing?!” Clarissa demanded as they got onto the elevator.

“Your friend Liana called me,” he shrugged.  “She thought you might be in trouble.”

“Wait…Liana called you?”

“Yeah, she said you were acting strangely last night.  I told her you
always
act strangely.”

“Ha-ha, very funny,” Clarissa said dryly.

“Liana was concerned.  She said you’ve been investigating Jed Black’s murder and was afraid you were getting in over your head.  She knew from talking to you that I was familiar with the case, so she asked me to check up on you.”

“I can’t believe she’d do that,” Clarissa muttered.

“She just wanted me to keep you safe,” Parker shrugged.

“I don’t need you to keep me safe!” Clarissa shot back. 

She was still feeling awfully embarrassed after thinking their non-date was a date, and that embarrassment seemed to present itself as anger.  But the rational part of her brain was quietly reminding her that like it not, Parker had tried to do a nice thing for her.  She decided it wasn’t fair to snap at him.

“I can take care of myself,” Clarissa rephrased, this time using a calmer tone of voice.

“I don’t doubt that,” Parker grinned.  “Half the time I feel like I need protection from you.  You’re completely terrifying, you know that?  If looks could kill, I’d have been a dead man a long time ago.  In fact, I think you’re trying to kill me right now, aren’t you?”

“Sorry,” Clarissa sighed, making a conscious effort to quit scowling.  “It’s just that you interrupted something really important.  I know you meant well, but your timing couldn’t possibly have been any worse!”

“What did I interrupt?” Parker asked as they stepped off the elevator and exited the main lobby.

“Never mind,” Clarissa said, feeling disappointed and confused by the way things had played out with Adam.  “Excuse me, I have to be going,” she said as she abruptly turned and walked toward her car.

“Are you headed back to Sugarcomb Lake?” Parker wanted to know.

“Yes.”

“Great, so am I.  I’ll follow you.”

Ugh, just her luck that he was headed the same direction. 

“Don’t follow too close,” Clarissa cautioned.  “I have road rage.”

“That doesn’t surprise me one bit,” Parker laughed.  “I’ll keep a respectful distance, promise.”

He gave her a wave.  Then he walked off to his luxury sports car, looking as perfect as ever.

***

When Clarissa arrived at the bustling little coffee shop on Main Street, she didn’t see Liana anywhere.  She did, however, spot her best friend’s bubble gum pink laptop.  It had been left unattended in a booth near the back. 

Sugarcomb Lake was the sort of place where one could leave a laptop unattended and not have to worry about it being stolen. Clarissa had always loved that about the tightknit small town.  The sad reality was there weren’t many places like that left anymore.

She sat down at the booth and awaited her friend’s return.

A moment later Parker walked over and sat down across from her.

“What are you doing here?” Clarissa sputtered, surprised to see him.

“I’m here to talk to you,” he grinned.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be, something to do?” she asked in confusion. 

“Nope, you were my reason for coming to town,” Parker informed her.  Then he glanced at her giant coffee thermos.  “I don’t quite understand why you came to a coffee shop when you’ve already got coffee, but whatever.”

“I’m here to see Liana,” Clarissa replied.  “She should be back any minute.”

“Ah, I see.  How do you take your coffee?” Parker asked, standing up.

“She likes it with two creams, no sugar,” Liana piped up as she returned from the ladies’ room.  “Hi, you must be Parker,” she smiled.  “Thank you so much for helping me out this morning!”

“No problem,” Parker replied.  “And how do you take your coffee, Liana?”

“Intravenously,” Clarissa quipped.

Liana giggled.  “Yeah, if only.  I’ve never met a coffee I didn’t like.”

“I’ll surprise you, then,” Parker decided before walking over to the counter to order.

As soon as Parker was gone, Clarissa gave Liana a disapproving look.  “You called him.”

Liana ignored the accusatory statement.  She sat down across from Clarissa and leaned across the table with excitement in her eyes.  “You forgot to mention how completely gorgeous he is!” she hissed.  “I can’t believe a guy like that is single!”

“How do you know he is?” Clarissa shot back.

“I asked,” Liana admitted.

“You did what?!”  Clarissa mulled that over for a second.  Then a mortifying realization hit her like a ton of bricks.  “Are you…are you going to try to date him?” she asked hesitantly.  The thought of her best friend going after Parker made her feel sick to her stomach.

“Under different circumstances, you bet I would!” Liana replied without hesitation.  “But you saw him first.  I can respect that,” she said, much to Clarissa’s relief.  “In fact, I’m going to give you two lovebirds some privacy.”

“Wait –” Clarissa protested, but it was too late. 

Liana was already on her feet packing up her stuff.  Then, in a flash, she was gone.

When Parker returned a moment later, he and Clarissa had the booth to themselves.

“So Burke’s not the guy, huh?” Parker observed quietly as he slid into the booth across from Clarissa.  He handed her a coffee.

“What makes you think that?” Clarissa asked, jumping as their fingertips inadvertently brushed.  She took a huge gulp of coffee – made just the way she liked it – to try to distract herself. 

“Admit it, you were at Black & Burke Investors today because you were working on a lead.  And considering we’re now sitting at a coffee shop instead of being down at the police station…well, it would seem the lead didn’t pan out.  Want to talk it out?”

“Not really.”

“Okay, well I’ll talk and you listen.  I’ve been doing some independent research of my own.  But I’ve hit a bit of a brick wall, which is why I need your help.  Maybe two heads will be better than one.  I talked to a source at the police station,” Parker confided.  “I saw the crime scene photos.”

That piqued Clarissa’s interest.  “You did?” she asked, unable to contain her excitement.

“Yeah, and there was a signed check on the floor near Jed’s body.  It was made out to Adam Burke and it was for a considerable sum of money.  When Liana told me you were at Black & Burke Investors this morning, I thought for sure Adam had to be our guy.”

“I thought so too,” Clarissa admitted.  “But now I’m rethinking everything I thought I knew.  Adam was blackmailing Jed – or trying to, at least.  Jed was running around with his secretary and Adam needed money to pay off a gambling debt,” she explained quickly.  “Earlier this morning I was positive Adam had killed Jed.  But now I’m not so sure.”

Parker was listening intently, but he said nothing.  Instead, he sat there quietly.  He was apparently trying to process the new information.  Maybe he was also wondering why Clarissa had withheld so much information from him in the first place – though Parker was a smart man so the answer ought to have been obvious.

She sighed and stared listlessly at her coffee cup.  “I don’t know what made me assume that solving this thing would be a piece of cake.  It isn’t.  Maybe we’ll never know the truth.  Maybe Bonnie will be convicted of a crime she didn’t commit and the true killer will get away with it.”