Seeing Is Believing (2 page)

"Well, Leslie's lived her all her life,
so her family is liable to have known anyone who was around here, even for a
while. But I went to college at Tech, so I was gone for four years. We can say
I met your folks at school."

"Perfect," Reed replied. "Let's go."

They stepped out into the warm afternoon
and Reed's stomach rumbled at the smell that hit his nose as they neared the
cafe. He could make out two distinctive aromas, pumpkin pie, and coffee, good
strong coffee from the scent wafting out the cafe door.

He pulled open the screen and ushered
Chester in first, using his second place arrival to take a look around. It was
a quaint little shop, with tables and chairs dotting the floor. Each table was
set with the usual condiments you would see in a coffee shop, along with a
horseshoe shaped napkin holder that was full.

Several booths set along the walls, but
the shop was empty, and Reed wondered how business was in this small town. The
hard economic times had been tough on everyone. Would Leslie Hopkins take
advantage of a chance to smuggle to make some extra cash? Chester didn't think
so, but sometimes you didn't know people as well as you thought you did.

Reed turned his gaze on the woman who was
now greeting Chester. Leslie was tall, and plump, just the right size to his
point of view. She had a nice curvy figure, with large breasts and beautiful
hips. Her dark hair was tied up, and he wondered how long it would be when she
let it down.

Hazel eyes flickered joy at seeing her
new customers. He guessed her to be about thirty, maybe a year younger or
older, but no more. He watched her gesture to the counter and saw there was no
ring on her right finger. Chester had told him she wasn't married, but it
didn't hurt to check things out for
yourself
, just to
be sure.

He gazed away from the counter to see
her eyeing him with interest and he smiled at her.

"Reed Jacobs.
I'm an old
friend of the Gross family."

"Nice to meet
you.
Y'all come in and take a seat. What'll it be? I have a fresh baked pumpkin pie,
a pecan pie, and the usual assortment of cookies, oatmeal raisin, chocolate
chip, and peanut butter. I had a cheery pie, but I just sold it."

Reed's stomach grumbled and when Leslie
laughed, he noticed the way her eyes lit up even more. She didn't seem like the
drug smuggling type that was for sure.

"Pumpkin?
Or pecan?
Or maybe a little
sliver
of both?" She cocked her head and Reed felt his body respond. Damn, she was
pretty, that was for sure.

"Both. You talked me into it. With some
ice cream, please."

She winked at him,
then
turned to Chester. "And you?"

"Same, thank you Leslie. We'll just take
a seat over here by the wall, if that's okay with you."

Her laugh was infectious, and Reed felt
a tinge of guilt about lying to her about his real purpose for coming into her
shop. Maybe he should ask her about the shipment she'd received earlier, tell
her why he was really there and discuss the case.

But that wouldn't be right. Not yet.
Technically, right now, she was still a suspect and he needed to treat her as
such. That meant asking some probing questions if he could get her to sit down
with them. They selected their table and Reed watched her walk toward the
counter. It was a very nice view.

While she was preparing their food, he
leaned across the table to Chester. "Get her to join us."

"Why?"

"I just
wanna
talk to her, that's all. Come on, just for a little bit. It's not like she has
anyone else in here."

Chester nodded, although Reed could tell
he wasn't thrilled with the situation.

Reed could hear the dings and electronic
buttons of microwaves, and before long a plate loaded with two slices of pie
appeared before him. Large scoops of ice cream sat on top of the pastries, and
she placed huge mugs of coffee in front of them, along with a jug of cream.

"Join us," Chester said, and Reed could
tell he was looking for an excuse, something to make her want to stay. As it
turned out he didn't have to.

"Don't mind if I do." She set down a
third cup of coffee,
then
took a seat. After doctoring
her coffee she turned a pointed gaze on Reed.

"What brings you to Dante's
Peek
, Reed?"

"Blade."
He took a sip
of his coffee and then sank his fork into the pecan pie, slicing off a bite and
sliding it through the melting ice cream. He lifted the dripping concoction to
his mouth and then felt as if he would melt into a puddle of goo as the tastes
mixed together in his mouth. It was the most amazing thing he'd eaten in quite
some time.

"So good," he said after the food slid
down his throat. He took a bite of the pumpkin, doing the same thing with it
that he'd done with the pecan. It was probably the best slice of pumpkin pie
he'd ever had.

"This is incredible. Where did you learn
to cook like this?"

"My mother," Leslie said with a laugh.
"Every month she comes by and asks where her
share of the
profits are
, since I'm using her recipes. Of course I've added a few
things, too, so they're not hers totally. I give her free pie and coffee."

They all laughed, and Reed was so busy
eating that he didn't even bother to try and ask her questions. He would get to
that soon enough. Depending on how things progressed, and how much time he
spent in Dante's Peak, he'd probably gain ten pounds. He'd go back to Dallas
and everyone would kid him about eating his way through the case.

"So, do you like ghosts?" Reed wiped his
mouth,
then
took a swig of his coffee before answering
her. She was polite enough, he'd noticed, to wait until he was done eating to
ask her questions.

"Yeah, they're fascinating." The truth
was he didn't believe in ghosts, nor did he give a rat's behind if anyone else
did. They were just something to keep people occupied, he thought. But he
didn't want her to know that. After all, if he didn't believe in ghosts, there
would be no reason for him to come to Blade, would there?

Of course in this instance the term
ghost town was misleading. What it really meant was a town that had died away;
it didn't mean there were ghosts rumbling around in the old, rundown buildings
that were still around.

"Did Billy the Kid really stay there?"

"That's the rumor," she said with a
grin. "He was the most famous of all the outlaws who were there, obviously, and
most of the people who visit do so because he was there. Have you been out
there yet?"

"No, I haven't. I just got here, and my
folks told me to make sure and look up Chester, so that's the first thing I
did."

She nodded,
then
winked at Chester. "He's great, isn't he?"

"Definitely," Reed said, really meaning
it. Chester had told him he'd done some checking on Reed with the Dallas PD,
but other than that he'd been very forthcoming about the small town, and what
he thought was happening there: absolutely nothing.

"How's business?" Reed took a drink and
watched her reaction carefully. Her frown was genuine, and he felt sorry for
her as she turned a gaze on the empty, except for them, shop.

"Very slow," she said softly. "It'll
pick up for the few weeks before Halloween, and then around Thanksgiving and
Christmas I'll get a lot of local business, people wanting me to make pies for
their family gatherings. But after that, it gets really slow until Valentine's
Day, when cookies sales pick up for a while."

"Sort of
seasonal work, huh?"
He smiled at her, gratified when she smiled back.
She really was very pretty, and if he wasn't careful, it could end up being
very distracting.

"I suppose you could say that. We have
good months and bad months, like all businesses, but
Tandi's
come up with a new idea that might bring in more cash."

Oh really, like offering to take in a drug
shipment? Reed cleared his throat.
"Really?
Who's
Tandi
, and what did she come up with?"

"Sorry," Leslie said with a laugh. "I
forgot you didn't know her. She's my assistant, and she's fabulous. We're going
to start selling Halloween favors, decorations and little souvenirs that fit in
with the month, and hopefully with the town. We just got the first shipment
today. Want to see? You guys will be the first, and you can tell me if you
think they'll sell or not."

Reed felt as if Lady Luck had just
smiled at him and then pushed the perfect opening into his lap. "Sure."

"Definitely," Chester said, nodding.
Reed had almost forgotten the man was there he'd been so quiet.

They all got up and trooped to the back
room. The first thing Reed noticed was the open back door. The screen door was
closed, but it still was an open invitation for anyone to come inside. He
walked over and looked into the alley. A quick glance at the screen showed him
it wasn't locked.

"Nothing there but the trash cans,"
Leslie said. "I leave it open on nice days like today so we have a little bit
of wind moving through the store. In the mornings it's especially nice, after
the ovens have been on for a while."

Reed was sure she was right. He turned
toward her as she put her hand on the box sitting on the table. The box moved
and the startled look on her face made him frown.

"Something
wrong?"

"Yeah," she pushed at the box again and
her frown deepened. "When I put this box up here earlier today it was so heavy
I could hardly lift it. Now it seems light as a feather.
How
odd."

Reed and Chester exchanged glances, but
before Chester could open his mouth, Reed shook his head. Better to wait until
they'd had a chance to talk to her before they brought up the subject of the
possibility the box contained things other than what she'd ordered.

He walked to her and peered into the
box. It was half
full,
with exactly what she'd said
would be inside: Halloween novelties.

"There's some missing, too." The
agitation in her voice made him wince. She rummaged through the box,
then
turned to the open door. He could tell exactly what she
was thinking, that someone had come inside while they were in the other room
and taken part of her favors. Of course he knew it wasn't favors they had
taken.

It was risky, really, shipping drugs in
someone else's containers. The chances of being seen while recovering them were
pretty high. Of course if someone detected the illegal substances there was no
way they could be tied to the person really shipping
them,
that
was a plus for them, and a huge negative for the person receiving
the shipment.

He wasn't sure why he did what came
next. Maybe it was her pretty eyes, or the sad way she looked at the box,
wondering why someone had taken part of her shipment.

"If you check the invoice, I'm sure
you'll discover everything's there," Reed said with a frown.

"What do you mean?" She shook her head
and glared at him.

"I mean, somebody hijacked your box at
the shipping center and added something illegal to it. Then, while you were in
the other room, they came back here and got it."

Her look of horror made him want to take
her in his arms. She turned to Chester, who nodded. Then she turned back to
Reed.

"Are you a cop?"

"No." He pulled out his wallet, wincing
when she took a step back. "I'm a private investigator. And if you'll help me
this week, we'll figure out who's done this, and make sure they get arrested."

A look of disbelief, and wariness,
crossed her face. She turned back to Chester who gave her a sad smile.

"It's true, Leslie. I've had him checked
out and he's clean. Somebody's using the shipping business, and they're using
you, too. Will you help us bring him, or her, or them, in?"

Reed was happy that it took her
absolutely no time to nod. "You bet I will. How dare
they
."

"Good," Reed said. "The first thing I
want is to check any invoices or packing slips that came with this crate. Did
the delivery guy give you any?"

"
Yes,
and the
packing slip was in the box. I put it down here." She put her hand on the
counter, then sighed heavily and turned to Reed. "It's gone."

They searched the table, and the floor
around it, and then she let out a cry of dismay. "I hope this doesn't make me
look guilty."

"Not at all," Reed said. "In fact, it
reinforces your claim. They took the slip so you couldn't prove exactly what
was in the box. I bet if we let a drug dog in here it would hit on the box. I
think we need more coffee, and we need to sit down and decide what to do next."

Chapter Two