Sweet Taffy and Murder: Sweet Taffy Cozy Mysteries Book #1 (16 page)

She heard the smooth purr of Austin’s Corvette and then its guttural gear-down as he came to a stop in her driveway.

She spritzed herself with perfume and scurried downstairs to grab her coat. She was ready to go when he knocked.

When she opened the door, he peered into the house, but she wasn’t going to let him inside. Not yet. Not
before
a first date.

“So this was the scene of the accident?” He looked over her head and down the hall. “You’re brave to live here.”

“I try to spend a lot of time out of the house.” She pushed past him and pulled the door closed behind her. “Where are we going?”

He laughed. “Eager are you?”

After the previous night’s lumpy mac and cheese, the thought of a good dinner was a bit of a motivator.

He held the door open, and she slid into the kidskin leather seat. Her body sighed with a pleasurable remembrance of the feel of luxury cars. Yes, she missed the perks of wealth and good taste.

Austin drove to the Castle Rock Resort and Country Club. Upon arrival, he pulled into a VIP parking spot and then got out of the car to open Taffy’s door for her.

On the drive, they had chitchatted about the weather, the turnout at the opening the day before, and Taffy’s experience of being new in town, but the whole time, Taffy was distracted trying to piece together the random details about Janet. She told herself to stop thinking about the case, to forget about things for a while and enjoy this evening.

She stepped out of the car, wobbled slightly on her heels, which she hadn’t worn lately, and tugged at the hem of her slip dress to pull it a little lower down her thighs.

“You look lovely, by the way,” Austin said. He took her hand and threaded it through his arm as they walked through the main doors.

The snobby girl behind the counter did a double take when Taffy walked in on Austin’s arm. The bow-tied young man smiled. She remembered him giving her directions to find Swain, and that made her think of the poor man, his nervousness, his pride at being sober, and his fate of falling into the ocean and drowning. What had really happened to him? And where was Bill, his friend, who had been the first to come across Janet’s body?

Taffy shook out her thoughts. She told herself to try harder not to think about such things. She needed to relax and enjoy this evening out.

Austin pulled out a chair for her. She sat on its velvety surface. Classical music hummed in the air. Candlelight made the overhead chandeliers glitter. The table was dressed with a white tablecloth and napkins. The waiter opened Taffy’s napkin and laid it delicately on her lap. Austin ordered wine.

Taffy sighed, soaking up the ambience. Only half the restaurant was filled. She saw Lionel Davenport, across the room, dining with his wife. He nodded to Austin first, and then to her. His gaze lingered on the two of them for an extra moment.

“This is a nice place,” murmured Taffy. It was closer to what she was used to. It reminded her of home. She paused in her thoughts. Home. So New York still felt like home to her? Interesting.

The waiter poured the wine. Taffy asked Austin about the resort renovations, commenting on the tasteful interior choices.

“It had fallen to shambles. This is massively improved. But I have to give my brother Mick the credit for the structural and design choices. I take care of the business end of things. He makes things look pretty.”

“He likes my friend Maria, I think. Is he a decent guy?”

Austin raised an eyebrow. “Mick?” He shrugged. “We don’t always see eye to eye, but he’s my brother. We’re kind of bound together. Can’t really see him taking up with a cop though. No offense.”

Taffy frowned. If Austin wasn’t supportive of the infatuation, Mick might cool. He seemed to look up to his brother, and it sounded like their work was inexorably linked.

“Maria’s got a good heart. She’s a good nut.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth she couldn’t believe what she’d said.

Austin again raised an eyebrow, this time coupled with a smirk. “Is she? I’ll be sure to pass that on.”

“You know what I mean,” Taffy said, looking down at her menu. “At least give them a chance.”

Austin held up his wine glass toward hers. “Then let’s toast to romance.” He held her gaze and added, “And new love.”

She toasted hesitantly as a blush crept up the sides of her cheeks.

Over dinner—oysters on the half shell and filet mignon with whipped potatoes and braised rapini—they talked about Austin’s work, large-scale renovations, opening small businesses, and why he’d chosen to move to Abandon, something Taffy didn’t quite understand given his worldly ways and appetite for success.

“Ah, but there are great opportunities here for development,” he said, in an effort to explain.

“Are you planning to do something with one of those vacant lots at the edge of town?”

“Those, yes. And the property up on the bluff above the resort.”

“The sanctuary? That’s
your
development project?”

“That ‘sanctuary’ is nothing but a dumping ground and burn pit. Don’t listen to those tree huggers who say otherwise. They can protest all they want, but they won’t stand in the way of progress.”

“I told Ethan almost the exact same thing.”

He smiled. “Glad you’re the kind of girl who can see the big picture.”

Taffy didn’t much like being called a ‘girl,’ but Austin was being charming enough to get away with a few slipups. She was really enjoying drinking expensive wine and eating gourmet food in a beautiful, fancy restaurant. This was more her style. Maybe she’d call her Nana back in the morning.

“Have you ever been to New York?” she asked Austin, as the waiter took their plates away.

“A few times, but only ever for business. I’d love to travel there for pleasure.” He sipped his wine and held Taffy’s gaze. “With someone special, of course.”

“It seems to me you’d fit in better there than here. Somehow I can’t see you being happy for long in a small town like this.”

“Like I said, business opportunities. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the bigger picture. You see, it’s not just the sanctuary we’re looking to develop. We’ll soon get our hands on the adjacent lot, too, and then we can really move ahead. We’ve been waiting for that property to come up for over a year.”

“You mean the candy factory?”

He leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. “A little bird told me it might come up for sale for a song.”

Had he found out about the bankruptcy?

“What would you build up there? A Candy Land theme park?”

He laughed. “Something like that.”

“But the factory’s kind of an icon of this place, isn’t it? The Sweetest Town on the Coast and all that jazz?”

“Nothing some high-class branding can’t fix. How about, The Swankiest Place on Earth?”

“I hope you didn’t pay anyone to come up with that.” Taffy snort-laughed. Austin looked momentarily surprised at the sound but quickly recovered.

“Nah. But it’ll be something cool and high class. Just can’t divulge what it is yet. We’re going to put this little town back on the map.”

“Sounds like an expensive proposition.”

“We’ve got some big money coming in from one of our key investors.”

“Who’s that?”

“Can’t say. But he’s a big fish, from out of state.”

Taffy nodded, sipping her wine, and wondered vaguely which state.

“So you and your brother are planning to rebrand the whole town then?”

He grinned, his blue eyes challenging hers. “Why not? We’ve got the cash to invest, and support from the right people. There’s money to be made here, if you just know how to do it.”

“I take it you do. What about all that talk about falling in love, settling down, having families?”

“Money makes it all worthwhile, don’t you think?” He held his glass up for another toast.

As they clinked glasses, Taffy wondered if she still believed that. She’d certainly been missing the privileges wealth bestowed, but she’d seen and done things lately that only her Nana’s imposed exile had made possible. She’d been forced into situations she never would have sought out herself.

“Now, let’s forget about business,” Austin said, pouring a second bottle of wine. “I want to hear all about
you
. If this town seems too small for me then that goes ten times for you.”

Taffy’s head was feeling light from the wine as she took another sip from her, what, third or fourth glass?

“Honestly, at first I felt like I was in some kind of hell I couldn’t get out of, which I think was my Nana’s intention.”

“Your Nana?” The waiter brought a dessert menu, and Austin picked something without consulting Taffy.

“She sent me here to teach me a lesson, and I walked into a mess with Janet’s house being the scene of her death—you know, at first I thought she set that up on purpose, as part of her joke, but then I found proof that Janet’s death wasn’t accidental, and that was no joke.”

“That was you who found proof?”

She nodded. “It opened a real can of worms with the police department.”

“I can imagine. My friend, Allan—you know, Lieutenant Gravely—told me he was supportive of reopening the case.”

“It’s true, he was.”

“He told me they were pretty close to finding the killer.”

“He did? When?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the last time we played pool?”

Taffy wondered if there’d been some new development she’d never heard about. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it. We haven’t even been able to find a murder weapon.”

“We? I guess you’re more friendly with Lieutenant Salinas than I thought.”

“Actually, we used to be friends when I was young.”

“Before your mother died?”

“Yes, she and her mom lived with us and—wait, how did you know my mom died?”

Austin shrugged. “It’s not a secret is it? I think Allan mentioned it, maybe after talking to Maria? He lost his mother when he was young, too.”

“Oh, yes, I remember. Well, I hadn’t seen Maria since my mom’s funeral, and then all of a sudden we meet here and—you know, I never did ask my Nana if she knew that Maria and Rosa had moved here. Maybe she did. Maybe that was part of her plan too.”

Taffy was trying to piece things together. Maybe her Nana sending her to Abandon, Oregon, wasn’t as random as Taffy thought.

“Anyway, she wants me to come home now. As soon as she found out about the murder, she called right up and changed her tune.”

Taffy found it strange to be talking to Austin about the case. She was trying to avoid it this one night.

“If I were you, I’d be on the first plane out of here.”

“But you just said you were planning to settle here. For all those
opportunities
.”

“I was talking about
you
. I can’t see you fitting in here, in the long run.”

She wasn’t sure if that was intended as a compliment or insult, but she felt oddly affronted. “Maybe not, but I’m not ready to go home yet. There are a few things I need to see to first.”

“Such as? Your job at the candy factory is gone now, isn’t it? What else might keep you here?”

She was about to say finding Janet’s murderer, but then she wondered about his comment about the candy factory, and her mother. How did Austin know these things about her? He was right, nothing was a secret, and this was a small town, but something niggled at her.

And then his eyes got all soft and seductive, and he said, “Don’t tell me I can keep my hopes up? That the prospect of new love might tempt you to stay?”

Taffy found it hard to hold his gaze. She looked away.

Dessert arrived, a chocolate concoction served on a plate dancing with little blue flames.

Austin stared at the dish and then gave her a wink. “Hot and fiery, just like you.”

Taffy gulped back a little more wine, suddenly concerned about Austin’s expectations after dessert.

When the bill came, Austin laid his hand across the leather folder. He pulled out his wallet, and Taffy saw several gold and platinum cards. After the waiter left with the paid bill, Austin said, “Shall we go back to my place? I’d love to show you the new painting I just purchased.”

Taffy was saved from answering when something caught Austin’s eye.

“Excuse me.” He looked past Taffy and said, “I see Mayor Gifford and his wife. I need to go over and say hello.”

Taffy nodded as Austin reached behind him to put his wallet back in his pocket. He pushed back his chair, stood up, and in several long strides he was halfway across the restaurant.

Taffy had heard a small muffled thump as he’d pushed his chair back, and now she glanced under the table and saw that he’d dropped his wallet on its way to his pocket.

When Taffy bent down to retrieve it, her thumb slipped in and it fell open. She snuck a quick glance at his driver’s license photo. A pretty good one actually.

Several receipts peeked out of one pocket. The edge of one said ‘Chase.’ She pulled its edge and saw ‘Chase Alley Liquor Store.’

She turned to check that Austin was still guffawing with Mayor Gifford, and she noticed Chief Green was there now as well, with his wife. They shook hands and spoke animatedly. Taffy turned back to her table and looked more closely at the receipt. Amongst items such as wine and scotch whiskey, she noticed a fifth of vodka. She looked at the date. The purchase had been one day before Swain had died. It had to be a coincidence. Many bottles of vodka were probably sold daily.

Her crazy, paranoid ideas were multiplying.

Just then, someone’s throat cleared behind her. She tucked Austin’s wallet under her napkin and turned to see Mr. Davenport.

“Miss Belair. I trust you’re having a lovely evening. I thought you might like to know that the lien has been lifted from the house. If you’re still interested in selling, my wife might know of some buyers.”

He handed her his wife’s real estate card.

“Oh, thank you.”

“Good evening.” He turned and joined his wife in the lobby, where she was retrieving her coat.

Austin was shaking hands with the mayor, looking like he was saying goodbye, so Taffy quickly placed his wallet on his side of the table. He’d probably think he just hadn’t tucked it into his pocket yet.

They left the restaurant.

Taffy’s instinct was to insist that Austin drive her home right away, but she was curious about something, so when he suggested again that she might want to see his recent art purchase, she said, “All right. If it’s just a private viewing of artwork and nothing more.”

He laughed, claimed his intentions were innocent, and said he’d drive Taffy home anytime she asked.

Austin took the curves fast, and Taffy was concerned about the quantity of wine they’d drunk, but he’d plied her with more glasses than he’d drunk himself. At least that’s what she thought. With the stereo loud in the quiet night and the pavement speeding by, Taffy was drawn back into memories of New York, racing around town with her drunk friends. How had that once been so fun? She was feeling a little scared now. Thrilled, too, but also scared. It felt as if two parts of her were warring inside.

They peeled down roads she wasn’t familiar with as they headed up to a ridge above town. Austin turned down a gated driveway, the gate opening automatically as his car approached.

“Don’t you just love the conveniences money can buy?”

They slid along the manicured lane to a modern, single-story, many-windowed house. It was newly built and had a panoramic view of the town, the bay punctuated by Castle Rock, and beyond, out across the vast Pacific Ocean. Spare yet tastefully furnished, it looked like a magazine spread. Very different from Janet’s fixer-upper Edwardian.

Taffy took off her coat but kept on her shoes, her heels sinking into the plush white carpet in the great room.

“Can I get you a drink?” Austin asked.

She’d had too much already, but this was the reason she was here.

“Sure, one more shouldn’t hurt.” Though it might actually.

“Wine? Beer? Whiskey?” He walked over to a narrow counter between the open kitchen that adjoined the living area. There was a small fridge tucked in an alcove and a cupboard above it.

“You know what I’d love,” she said, perching on one end of the white sectional couch. “A vodka soda with a twist of lime.”

Austin looked up and frowned. “How about a gin and tonic instead? I hate vodka myself and never keep it in the house.”

Her skin pricked with adrenaline. That’s all she’d needed to hear.

She said, her voice catching a little, “White wine would be fine.”

She was jumping to conclusions, she knew that, but the puzzle pieces were… if not quit fitting together then at least she was getting the colors grouped and the edges lined up.

Austin had been at the resort the day she had gone looking for Swain. He had even shown an unexpected note of interest in her presence down at the dock that day. What if Swain had known something about Austin’s business deals, and maybe he needed to be shut up before he said too much. “
Money makes it all worthwhile
,” Austin had said at dinner. She wasn’t sure of the link to Janet yet. But if she had discovered information about Herbert and even Davenport, enough to make them squirm and possibly consider threatening or hurting her, maybe she had even more dirt on Austin.

Taffy had a bunch of pieces, but not enough fit together yet. It was frustrating. And potentially dangerous. Maybe if she dug around in those attic files again, she would find some more answers.

Austin handed her a glass of wine, a big one. Taffy tried to figure out how to drink it quickly and get out of there as soon as possible. She just might be sitting on a pristine white couch next to a murderer, but she couldn’t be sure. Was she being too paranoid? Austin was still being charming, and so long as she played her part and didn’t tip him off, she’d be fine.

“That’s the newest piece.”

Austin pointed to the wall above the mantel that framed a gas fireplace Taffy hadn’t even noticed he’d turned on. It was a large canvas, maybe four-by-six feet. A stormy sunset. Dark clouds above and dark shadowy land and water below. In between, a crimson-orange sunset that made it look like the horizon was on fire. The harsh reddish light stained the dark water in the foreground, which seemed to ripple, though maybe that was all the wine in Taffy’s brain.

Austin moved closer. “You see the little boat on the left?”

Taffy peered. She saw it.

“I like to think it’s a tiny yacht fit for two. Two lovers floating off into the sunset.”

It was a sweet sentiment, but the painting seemed more sinister somehow. If there were two people on that boat they were probably in some passionate rage and about to fall off the edge of earth and into some fiery hell.

They were jolted from their independent reveries by the ringing of a phone. Austin’s. He’d left it over by the bar. When he retrieved it, he said, “Sorry, I have to take this. It’ll just be a minute.”

“No problem.” Taffy took a tiny sip of her wine and perused the space. Everything was perfectly placed, as if ready for a photo shoot. Nothing seemed personal. Books, magazines, and fat, scented candles had been professionally arranged on the wide coffee table. Taffy pulled out one of the drawers tucked under its surface. She wasn’t all that surprised to find more style magazines and various remote controls. The drawer was heavy and harder to push back in, so she had to shake it a little to get the groove to run smooth. One of her shakes caused the slippery magazines inside to skew, and her eye caught a glimpse of the corner of a composition notebook. She pulled it free from under the magazines. The label on the front said MBC. It looked just like Janet’s. When Taffy opened it, she was certain it
was
Janet’s. Where had Austin gotten this? She thought Maria had taken all this paperwork, apart from the small notebook she still had in her purse, the one she had taken from Janet’s bowling bag. Why did Austin have this one?

She heard his voice getting louder. He was walking back toward the living area as he said goodbye one the phone.

“We’ll talk more about this tomorrow,” he was saying. Taffy tucked everything back in the drawer and maneuvered it shut.

“So sorry about that.” He picked up his wine glass from the coffee table and sat on the couch next to Taffy. “Now where were we?”

Taffy blinked and assessed her situation:
handsome potential murder suspect about to make a move on semi-drunk, newly suspicious, and possibly paranoid, amateur-sleuth socialite
.

She forced a yawn. “I think I need to go home.”

Austin looked disappointed but not angry. He set his drink down. As far as Taffy could tell he hadn’t had a sip.

She set her wine glass down, too. “It’s been a lovely evening. I’m just a little tired.”

“I promised I’d take you home any time you asked. I’m a man who keeps my promises.”

He stood up and offered Taffy a hand. She took it. It was warm and strong. Could Taffy be wrong about him? He’d been charming all evening. Maybe she’d been spending way too much time trying to figure out who had murdered whom, and maybe, just maybe, there were no murderers to be found.

As if tuning into her thoughts, Austin asked, “Do you think you’ll feel differently once Janet’s murderer has been brought to justice?”

She was surprised he’d brought it up, but her shoulders almost sagged with relief. It was as if he knew the toll it was taking on her. And he didn’t question or argue the point the way Ethan did.

As he helped her into her coat, she said, “When that case is dead and buried, I’ll sleep better at night, I’m certain of it.”

Austin smiled as they walked out the front door. “And after that restful sleep, will you consider going out with me again?” He cast a flirty grin over his shoulder as he opened the Corvette door for her.

She just smiled back. She didn’t know what to say because she didn’t know what she would do.

Flying back down the ridge roads, they crossed a bridge over a gorge that Taffy knew was filled with raging river water. She felt a pinching in her chest. A pang of painful memories about her mother gripped her— the call in the middle of the night, the trip to the hospital, the long wait during the coma from which her mother never woke—made her tense in her leather seat. Her breathing grew ragged, and she had to close her eyes.

Austin glanced over. “Are you okay?”

Taffy took a few deep breaths. The bridge was behind them now. She’d had images of them skidding and falling, the car hitting the water and sinking…

She gulped in more air, worried that she might be sick. They were closer to her house.

“I’ll be fine. Just need to get out.”

Austin pulled into her driveway. In the beam of the headlights, Taffy saw Midnight bolt up the steps to the front door. When the car stopped, her queasiness settled.

“Do you want me to take you in?”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”

“Let me at least walk you to the door.”

He opened the car door for her and helped her out.

Taffy was dizzy with drink. When she opened the front door, Midnight slipped through the gap. Then Austin leaned in for a kiss. Taffy turned and offered her cheek.

“It’s only our first date, Austin.”

He frowned, looking past her into the foyer and seeming frustrated at being barred from entry, but he quickly recovered and shot her an enigmatic smile.

“Then how about a second date? Let me take you out tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“I’ll get tickets for something.” He growled playfully. “Don’t you dare turn me down.” She saw something sharp and fierce in his blue eyes.

“Okay. Tomorrow.”

She wriggled out of his sweet-scented embrace.

“Good night.”

Taffy stepped through the door. Midnight slipped through the gap. Austin peered past her into the hall again, and then he smiled and said, “Sweet dreams.”

A minute after the door closed, Taffy heard the gurgle and purr of the Corvette starting up and then, a moment later, backing out of the driveway.