Mission to Murder (24 page)
Authors: Lynn Cahoon
Tags: #Fiction, #Mystery & Detective, #Women Sleuths, #Private Investigators, #Cozy
T
he big night had finally arrived. Cloaked in Mystery was about to reveal the author who was celebrating his or her launch with Coffee, Books, and More. And I still didn’t know who was walking through that door.
Bill Simmons came and stood next to me near the windows. “Shouldn’t you be up there?” He motioned to the front of the room, where Toby stood guarding the door to the back office.
“This is Jackie’s big night. I’m letting her do the honors.” I glanced over at one of the two men who’d saved me in the last week. I didn’t realize I was such a damsel in distress, but I now had not one, but two knights in shiny armor. And that was before I considered my hunk of a boyfriend. And all of a sudden, I realized what I’d forgotten. “I never got back with you about the reservation. Did you cancel the author’s room?”
Bill smiled. “Actually, no. I figured you had your hands full with being held hostage and all. So I’m giving your aunt the benefit of the doubt. Of course, I might be hitting you up for damages if this turns into a big scam.”
“I’ll pay.” I was too tired to fight anymore. I hoped my aunt wasn’t playing the gathered group as fools, or I’d never hear the end of it.
He put his hand on my arm. “I’m kidding. You’re part of the South Cove business community now. We have to support each other.” He nodded to a woman who sat in the audience. “My wife is lonely. We’ll talk at the meeting next week?”
“Sure.” I couldn’t say more. For the first time in the five years I’d owned my business here in South Cove, I felt like I belonged. Of course, maybe Josh Thomas opening his antique store next door moved me one step up the ladder. He was now the new kid, a role I’d played for too long. I searched the crowded room for Josh, my other knight from the last week. He sat alone near the back of the room. As annoying as he was, I wasn’t going to make him go through what I had for these last years. I moved toward him, planning on sitting next to him, when a hand caught my arm.
Brenda Morgan stood next to me and grabbed me into a bear hug. I’d been getting this reaction from many people lately. I was almost used to the contact. When she released me, I smiled. “Thanks for coming tonight.”
Her eyes widened. “I can’t believe what happened. Are you all right?”
I led her to the back row and sat her down. “I’m fine. Shell-shocked still, but they didn’t hurt me. You must be happy they’ve found Craig’s killer.”
Brenda’s face flushed. “If I’d thought what I knew would have helped, I would have told Greg, really.”
“I don’t understand.” Esmeralda’s words started echoing in my head. “What didn’t you tell Greg?”
Brenda glanced around the room, seeming to take in the family feel of South Cove, and I wondered if she would take the chance of moving here. “I knew Craig was transporting drugs. The feds trained me to teach Fifi to recognize drugs to help trap him. But she never picked up on anything with Craig, just Ray. And Agent Jenkins, he said that wasn’t enough.”
“The feds were watching Craig already?” I wondered if Greg knew how closely Brenda had been working with the law enforcement agency.
She nodded. “Of course, they wanted Craig or some guy in the gang called Sargent. But I never met anyone from the gang, not even the guy who . . .” she paused.
“Reno, the guy who tried to kill me?” I let the implication hang in the air. If Brenda had been open, Greg might have figured this out sooner. And Toby might not have left me alone. And if wishes were horses, all beggars would ride. “Look, no use dealing with what might have been. Water under the bridge, spilt milk, yada, yada. I’m glad you came today.”
She smiled, then handed me an envelope. “I emptied the safety deposit box and I think you need this.”
I unclasped the top of the envelope, but tucked it under my chair again when I saw Amy and Justin come in the door. “Excuse me.”
I had about two seconds to greet and usher my friends into the last two seats next to Josh when the lights flickered and my aunt appeared at the podium.
She adjusted the microphone. “Thank you all for coming out for our first annual Cloaked in Mystery event. We have one prize to award before we get on with tonight’s event. I said if someone guessed the author, we’d give them a set of the author’s signed backlist, current release, and a night at South Cove’s best bed-and-breakfast. We had only one correct guess.”
I inspected the crowd that filled the room, wondering who’d figured it out.
My aunt caught my eye and grinned. “Will Sadie Michaels please come up to the front? She’s our winner and will be introducing our guest.”
Sadie jumped from her seat. Nick sat next to her, a big grin on his face. Apparently his heartbreak from Lisa dumping him had been eased when he found out she was hanging with the drug-dealing motorcycle club. I’d heard from Carrie at the diner he’d taken up with one of the other waitresses, a college-bound girl working the summer. Someone his mom apparently liked.
I watched as Sadie made her way up the crowded aisle. I hoped the fire marshal wouldn’t start counting people as he sat in the crowded room, because we were well over the eighty he’d set as the max occupants for the shop when I applied for my city license. Instead he clapped and grinned with the rest of the crowd.
When Sadie got to the front, she turned her gaze to the door. “I want you to give a big South Cove welcome to this thriller author who got his start writing short stories as a way to pay the bills. His first novel hit the
New York Times
list for two weeks. And the rest is history. Please welcome, author of
The Silent Child
, Nathan Pike.”
The room stood as the tall, bald-headed author walked into the room. Of all the people I’d considered, Nathan Pike hadn’t even been on my list. The guy was a literary rock star. If Jackie planned on making this an annual event, she had big shoes to fill for next year.
As we sat and Nathan took over the podium, first charming us with his good-old-boy southern humor, then reading from his new release, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Greg stood behind me and leaned down to kiss me as I gazed up into those blue eyes. And for the second time in less than a week, I felt surrounded by family. Amy squeezed my hand, as I brushed tears away from my eyes.
This was a happy day. No tears allowed.
Three hours later, the room finally emptied out and Jackie and Nathan left to get him set up at Bill’s. Toby finished stacking the folding chairs on the cart. He’d take them back tomorrow to Pastor Bill at the Methodist church. Amy, Justin, Greg, and I sat on the couches returned from the back room to in front of the fake fireplace. I was exhausted.
Toby brought over a soda and tossed me the envelope Brenda had given me earlier. “This was under a chair.”
Crap, I’d almost forgotten. I tried to move the envelope closer to me with one toe. Greg laughed. “I’ll get it, princess.”
He reached over and grabbed the envelope, then put my bare foot into his lap and rubbed out the kinks.
I opened the envelope and dumped the contents onto my lap. It was pages from a notebook. I peered closer. I’d seen pages this size before. “Wait, this is exactly like the notebook Craig and Josh claim they found showing the true mission site.”
Justin leaned closer as I put the pages and the small notebook on the coffee table that sat between the two couches. “You’re right. Exact same paper. I knew something was fishy with that book.”
“But it tested out.” He’d told me the paper had been old.
He smiled, looking at the trial maps Craig had drawn on page after page of the notebook. “Just because the paper was from that time, doesn’t mean Craig didn’t do the map himself. I’m an idiot. Once the paper was tested, I never thought to time-date the ink.”
“So this means?” I couldn’t breathe.
“That the map he submitted to the council is probably a total fake.” Justin glanced up at me. “Where did you get this?”
I thought about Brenda and her distress at my suffering. I smiled. “A friend.”
Tomorrow would be soon enough to provide the commission with proof Craig had lied when he tried to torpedo the mission wall certification. And we’d be one more step closer to protecting the site.
Tonight, we were celebrating. And nothing was going to stand in the way of a mini-party with good friends. I smiled at the group. “Who wants double Dutch chocolate cheesecake?”
D
arla Taylor droned on about the ongoing Summer Festival. I sipped my coffee and half-listened while I studied the round table of business owners and representatives. We had a new member this month, and I smiled over my cup when she rolled her eyes in response to Darla’s list of offenders.
“The Castle hasn’t even participated in the decorating plan.” Darla shook her finger at Brenda, the newly hired manager. The board of directors had been swayed by her impassioned plea to continue her husband’s work at the site along with the number of shares in the corporation Brenda now owned as Craig’s widow. I tended to believe her financial interest was what moved the board’s hearts to hire her, not Craig’s memory, but what can I say? I’m a cynic.
Brenda took a sip of her coffee before she answered Darla’s complaint. “Honey, it’s not like we haven’t been busy around here, with the funeral and catching a murderer.” When Darla had the good sense to blush, Brenda continued, “The Castle is more than willing to participate in the Summer Festival, and we’d like to do more than decorate.”
Bill Simmons leaned forward in his chair. In fact, the entire table seemed on edge, wondering what Brenda was bringing to the table. Under Craig, The Castle had never even allowed South Cove flyers on the property. A slight that Bill took seriously. He tried to play it cool, though, I’d give him that. “What do you have in mind?”
“Friday Fireworks.” Brenda smiled. “For the next two months, we’ve hired a company to set off fireworks at dusk.”
“Probably on The Castle grounds,” Darla huffed, feeling the mood of the table shift in Brenda’s favor.
“Actually, they’ll be on the city beach. Well, out in the water on a boat, but I thought we could set up a few vending booths for snacks and drinks, and maybe even a band or two that might bring in the younger generation.” Brenda grinned at me. “So what do you think?”
“I’m willing to do an iced coffee stand for a few weeks.” Mentally, I planned out what I’d need. Including hiring one or two local teenagers to help work the event, the idea had potential.
“The city council won’t just approve something like that,” Darla pushed.
I assumed her concern revolved around the customers who might be pulled away from the winery to watch the show. “You have a great view of the ocean from the winery patio. If we kept the beach alcohol-free, your customer base shouldn’t be affected, right?”
Darla considered the possibility. Then Toby, who’d come in early for his Tuesday shift, spoke up from behind the bar, where he’d been making coffee. “And having the beach alcohol-free would ease the security issues that I’m sure the council will be concerned about.”
And your other boss,
I added silently.
The group was nodding. Brenda glanced around the table and grinned. “Great, I’ll go to City Hall today and get the permits. I hear Mayor Baylor is a big fan of The Castle, so I don’t expect any problems with shooting for starting at the end of the month.”
Darla sank back in her chair, her righteous indignation deflated.
Bill glanced around the table. “So, if we don’t have another subject, I believe we can thank our hostess and end the meeting.”
Josh raised his hand. “There are just a few things.”
The group at the table collectively groaned. I guess some people never changed, even if they could act heroic at times. Bill sighed and nodded to Josh. “Concerns?”
“We’ve never talked about the animal control issue.” Josh frowned and looked over at me. “And if I’m not mistaken, Miss Gardner promised that Detective King would be at this meeting to discuss the teen loitering problem.”
I closed my eyes, waiting for the group to explode. Sadie didn’t disappoint me. As she went off about him and his friend who’d brought drug-dealing, murdering motorcycle gangs to our small town versus kids wanting to have a little fun, I couldn’t help but smile.
Some people don’t know when to shut up
.
Need more South Cove?
Keep reading for an excerpt from
Jill Gardner’s next adventure,
available Fall 2014
T
he holidays were supposed to be a time of goodwill, celebration, and community. You couldn’t tell it from the glares going around the table as Mayor Baylor talked. Earlier, the leader of our little town had the group eating out of his hand. Then all hell broke loose. Focusing on the uproar going on at the business-to-business monthly meeting, I wondered if the shop owners gathered around the mismatched tables had even seen the calendar. As South Cove’s council liaison, I volunteered my shop each month for the meeting. I’m Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books, and More, and president of the I-Hate-Mayor-Baylor Club. A red-faced Bill Simmons, chairman of the business council and owner of South Cove Bed-and-Breakfast, stood at the front of the table, trying to get the group to quiet down.
Aunt Jackie issued a shrill, earsplitting whistle, two-finger variety. My aunt could make me smile even in the worst situations. She’d been a rock the last year during all the craziness that had been my life. Now I didn’t know what I’d do without her help with Coffee, Books, and More. Or without seeing her on a daily basis.
The room finally quieted. I’d been the city council liaison with the business community in our little coastal California tourist town for the last five years. And I’d never heard this kind of uproar over a mayor’s mandate before. Maybe the Honorable Mayor Baylor was losing a bit of his power over the group.
“Look, I know it’s a bad time for many of us to take on a charity project, but think of it this way, you’ll have an extra pair of hands for the season.” Bill pulled out what he’d thought would be his trump card.
“I don’t understand what you’re all so upset about. I got you free help for the busiest season of the year.” Mayor Baylor glared at me, like their reaction was my fault. “These people want to work. We need to be charitable in our attitude.” This time, his scowl was full-on directed at me.
I put on my sweetest smile, the one I saved for the few customers I truly didn’t like. “I’ve already signed up the coffee shop to participate. How about the rest of you?”
“Not all of us have South Cove’s finest working part-time in our shops,” Darla Taylor, owner of the winery and editor of the local news for the South Cove
Examiner,
sniffed. “I heard he couldn’t place these losers anywhere else, so he paid the mayor to take on these stragglers.”
“That is totally unfounded speculation,” Mayor Baylor blustered, his face turning a bright shade of scarlet. He turned his stare from me to Darla. “I hope I won’t see anything close to that being reported in the
Examiner.
”
I turned my head so no one would see my smile widen. As one of the local media, Darla’s nose for rumors was spot-on. Ted Hendricks, program director for Bakerstown’s welfare-to-work program, had come to our tourist town of South Cove with an offer. Ten participants would work for eight weeks with a local business in an intern capacity. South Cove was their last chance.
The mayor’s gaze shifted down the table, landing on Josh Thomas, a strong Mayor Baylor supporter. Except even I could see that His Honor wasn’t winning any points with his friend today.
“Delinquents. You want me to let a delinquent run wild in my store. Talk to my customers and probably scope out my merchandise so they can steal me blind when I turn my back?” Josh owned Antiques by Thomas, the most recent business to open its doors on Main Street. Today, he pounded a chubby finger on the table.
“Of course, you’d have a problem with this. You don’t even know that they are kids, or if they had trouble with the law. Just because someone is down on their luck doesn’t mean they are a bad person,” Sadie Michaels shot back. Sadie, owner of Pies on the Fly, was my main supplier of desserts for the coffee shop. And a strong advocate for the underdog in any fight.
We’d gone down this path before. Josh and Sadie rarely saw eye-to-eye on any discussion. For my part, I liked the way she called him on his prejudice and narrow-mindedness. Bill tried again to short-circuit the argument he saw developing. “We don’t have time for a political discussion on the topic. This is a done deal. They’re coming today for the initial meet-and-greet with a walk through town. Three hours on two weeknights, and six hours on Saturday. Even if you just have them stock shelves, at least they’ll be learning about retail and our special niche as a tourist destination.”
I jumped into the fray. “We only need three more host businesses. We’ve already had seven businesses volunteer. The mayor’s office is even participating.” My friend Amy, who did most of the clerical work for the city as well as served at the city planner, was ecstatic to have a little help, even if it was only for a few hours a week.
Aunt Jackie set a slice of cheesecake in front of Josh. They’d been dating off and on since the summer. He wanted more on; she kept saying she wanted the off. She smoothed his black suit jacket with her hand, brushing lint off the sleeve. “You could use help organizing your store. Just think of all you could get done with some young elbow grease.”
Josh peered up at my aunt, and I swear I saw his heart melting, just like the big green monster in the Christmas story. “Fine, I’ll take one.” He sounded like he was agreeing to foster a shelter animal, rather than a person.
Darla waved her hand. “I’ve got plenty of work at the winery. But let’s try to match me with someone who doesn’t have alcohol issues.” I wrote her name down. I didn’t even care if she was taking on an intern for news fodder, which I suspected. Now I just had to clear the caveat with Ted Hendricks, the program manager.
I searched the faces of the group gathered around the table, drinking coffee and, except for a few who had already volunteered, not meeting my eyes. I needed one more volunteer. Ted would be there in less than thirty minutes to finalize the plans.
Sadie spoke first. “Sorry. I’d take one, but the work with the bakery is first thing in the morning. I wouldn’t have anything for them to do on evenings or weekends. That’s the time I devote to Nick and the church.”
Sadie ran Pies on the Fly out of a remodeled garage behind her house. Calling it a bakery was a little generous.
Marie Jones, the owner of The Glass Slipper, had her head down, trying to curl up in her seat, apparently hoping I wouldn’t see her. I could even see her lips moving in some sort of chant. I watched her closely, wondering if she was a fan of the Serenity Prayer, the favorite of alcoholics everywhere. Finally she glanced up, maybe feeling the weight of the entire table as they turned their attention to her.
“What?” she stammered.
“Could you take an intern?” I liked the term that Ted had used to describe his charges, not typical
work study
but not
helper,
either. And if they weren’t technically interns, no one cared. As long as there wasn’t trouble.
“I don’t know.” Marie’s eyes darted from one person to the next. “I have several classes coming up this next month, and I don’t have time to babysit someone.”
“I bet the intern could help you with your classes. Maybe helping slower students or bringing in supplies, or even setting up the room each day.” My voice sounded way too chipper, like I was a game show host, describing what was behind door number two if Marie chose to accept our offer.
“That’s a great idea. People love craft projects. Maybe she’ll even sit in on the classes herself.” Darla smiled at Marie. “You’re very generous with your time.”
Marie must have known she was being played. I saw her form a response, then she just sank back into her chair, defeated. “I guess.”
“Great.” I glanced down at my schedule. “Ted’s bringing the gang at five. I’m taking the group on a walking tour of town first, then dropping each person off at their assigned store, where you’ll have about fifteen minutes to get to know each other. Then I’m hosting a small get-together here at the store. Coffee and cheesecake.”
Looking up, I saw Marie’s face had gone white. I started to backpedal, thinking that two meetings today must be overwhelming the woman’s natural shyness. “You don’t have to come, but you’re more than welcome.”
She took a deep breath, the tension in her body visually easing a bit. Then she mumbled, “There must be more than one Ted in the world.”
“Excuse me?” I frowned, leaning forward.
She looked me straight in the eye. And lied. “I’ve got a class tonight.”
I wasn’t going to challenge her, not when I’d just won a placement for our last participant. No use looking for cracks after you’ve bought the house, my grans always said. Of course, that piece of advice had gotten me stuck in a loveless marriage for too many years.
“Then we’re settled. The only other order of business is assigning the chair for the Holiday Festival.” Darla waved her hand. The assignment was a formality; everyone knew Darla would be the chair. She’d been in charge of planning the theme and decorating for years before I even moved to South Cove.
“I’ve got some great ideas this year. I’m thinking a Beach Boys Christmas to play off our successful Beach Boys Summer Fun Festival.” She glanced around at the people surrounding the table. “So, is everyone cool with that?”
Bill coughed and then said, “Well, you see, Mrs. Baylor wants to be involved this year.”
Darla leaned back in her chair. “I don’t understand. Of course she can be part of the committee. We could always use an extra pair of hands.”
Bill stacked the papers on the table in front of him. He gazed at the winery owner with genuine sadness in his eyes. “That’s the thing—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Mayor Baylor interrupted. “I’m sorry, Darla, Tina’s got experience in this type of thing. She used to plan all her sorority parties. I think it’s time we brought in a professional. South Cove needs the boost to draw in new visitors.”
Darla focused a glare at the portly man. “You’re telling me she’s chairing the festival? Because putting up college banners around an old sorority house is professional experience?”
The mayor nodded, then glanced at his watch. “Exactly. I knew you would understand.”
“Kind of like in an honorary position, right?” Darla wasn’t giving in easily. I could feel the tension in the group as they watched the back-and-forth.
“No. Tina’s determined to correct all the mistakes of the past, and she says the only way to do that is by completely redesigning the project. Or whatever. She’ll be contacting each of you for your assignments and I hope you’ll give her your full cooperation.” The mayor glowered at me, again.
Taking my cue, I fumbled for words. “I’m sure Tina will do a great job with organizing this year’s festival.”
That got me a dirty look from Darla.
The mayor stood. “I’ve got a lunch engagement in the city or I’d stay to meet with Ted.” He tossed an envelope toward me. “That’s the contract for the session. Please make sure he gets it.”
And then he strode out of the shop, the bell over the door banging in his wake.
Darla started yelling at Bill before the bell stopped chiming. “Is he freaking kidding? And you let him get away with this?”
“Calm down, Darla. Honestly, it was more than time for you to let someone else handle the burden of the committee. And we don’t know, she might do a good job.” Bill glanced around the room. “If there’s nothing else, I need to get back to the B&B. We’ve got a full house this week.”
“But I thought we were going to discuss animal control today. I know a bunch of feral cats have taken up in the empty apartment in my building,” Josh called after him.
Bill didn’t even slow down. He took off out of the shop just like the mayor had, but turned left instead of the other man’s right turn.
“This meeting is a joke,” Josh muttered, pushing away from the table. “Nothing I want to discuss ever gets on the agenda.”
“There’s a lot of stuff we have to discuss,” I said, feeling guilty. I’d been putting his e-mails in a file. The round file cabinet on my floor called the trash.
He shot me a look that would have melted my face if he’d had a superpower. He nodded to Aunt Jackie and lumbered through the door.
Darla didn’t even say good-bye as she left, her fingers twitching around the file she’d brought, probably filled with theme ideas. Darla loved turning the little town into a storyland. Each Christmas season, she’d brought a new look to Main Street. The first year I’d lived here, the theme had been
A Christmas Carol
and she’d even hired a band of carolers, dressed in era-appropriate costumes. I’d felt like I’d walked back in time, even though the snow was fake.
“She’s upset,” Sadie stated the obvious as she started collecting paper cups off the tables.
“I think it’s more than upset.” Aunt Jackie snorted. “The mayor better watch his back or he’ll be found dead on City Hall’s steps, dressed up like a holiday turkey.”
“Maybe we can talk to him. Ask him to at least add Darla back on the planning committee.” I moved a table back to its regular spot. “He had to have noticed how hurt she felt by being cut off.”
“He won’t care. Men always get what they want.” Marie’s small voice drew my eyes toward her where she stood near the window, watching the street. “You can’t stop them once they make up their minds.”
Sadie, Jackie, and I stopped cleaning. I hadn’t even known Marie was still in the shop. “That’s not always true. Men don’t have any more power than women do. It’s just that he’s the mayor.” I watched as Marie turned back toward me, tears filling her eyes.
“You’re wrong.” And with that, she fled out of the shop and into the street. I watched her get halfway across before I heard the horn.