Sweets Galore: The Sixth Samantha Sweet Mystery (The Samantha Sweet Mysteries) (22 page)

Sam placed a kiss in the center of
Kelly’s forehead. “Take care of yourselves. Don’t open the door to anyone, and
call Beau the instant you hear any strange noise.”

Kelly gave a brave smile. “We’ll
be fine.”

But the break-in kept nagging at
Sam all the way home. Aside from the computer, what on earth had the intruders
thought they would find that made it worth the time to rip the place to shreds?
While the others ate leftover chicken she went online to check her bank
accounts and change all her passwords.

She’d no sooner finished that task
than her mother suggested a game of dominoes. The parents quickly cleared the
dining table but Sam couldn’t keep her mind on the game. Beau kept sending
questioning glances across the table to her and Sam felt as if her head would
burst with all the information she wanted to share with him.

“You two don’t need to stay up
with us old folks,” Howard finally said. “Beau, quit seducing her across the
table, just take her on upstairs. We’ll play the TV loud enough that y’all
don’t have to worry about staying quiet.”

Nina Rae’s eyes went wide.
“Howard!”

Oh, god, Sam thought. She felt her
face redden.

“Samantha, your daddy’s right. You
two are supposed to be on your honeymoon. It’s okay if y’all want to, um, turn
in a little early.”

If only they knew. Sam and Beau
played out the final domino hand and practically raced up the stairs,
suppressing laughter.

“As much as I wouldn’t mind my
father’s little speculation to be true, I’m guessing that those eye-wiggles
from your side of the table have more to do with our investigation,” she said
the minute they closed the bedroom door behind them.

“I finally remembered to check on
those mobster types you spotted at the press conference, the ones we think
might be connected to Jake’s gambling debts.” He kept his voice low. “One of my
deputies saw them too, so I’ve had him going through databases to see if he
recognized them. He found one, for sure, and a probable ID on the other.
They’re both from Las Vegas, so I can start there to get more info. Both have
rap sheets for federal charges and there’s a common denominator—they’ve both
worked for a guy by the name of
Kozark
.”

That sounded vaguely familiar. “Do
we know anything about him?”

“Still checking. He’s tied to
Vegas too, suspected of lots of shady financial deals and loan sharking, but
has managed to avoid being cited for anything more than a speeding ticket. I’ve
got a bad feeling about the guy but no real information yet.”

Sam nodded, wondering if the name
Kozark
should mean something to her.

“Your turn now,” Beau said. “You
can’t drop a statement like ‘I’ve got more’ on me, like you did at Kelly’s, and
expect me to wait forever to learn what it is.”

She sat cross-legged on the bed
and told him about her visit with Doralee Calendar that afternoon—everything
from the nervous tics that vibrated with the woman’s insecurity over the
divorce, to the fact that she’d gone so far as to watch Sam from afar, to the
scene in the bar that had required the police.

“I’d like to know more about that,”
Beau said. He paced to the far end of the room and back. “My contact guy isn’t
on duty right now or I’d make a call and see how violent the fight really
became.”

Sam held up a finger and pulled
out her phone. “What’s the number?”

“What are you doing?”

“The non-emergency police number?”

He recited it from memory.

“Hi,” Sam said when someone at the
police department picked up. “I’m with the
Gazette
and we’re running a short piece on a disturbance at Murphy’s Pub last Thursday
night. I’d like to include some details.”

She was put through to someone
else and made the request again. Two minutes passed very slowly.

“Assault on one Jake Calendar?
It’s a matter of public record,” said a man who sounded like he was rummaging
through a stack of papers. “It’s here. You can stop by and pick up a copy of
the report.”

“Oh, gosh, see I’m on deadline and
my editor needs it tonight. I have most of what I need except the name of the
person who assaulted him. Can you give me that much?”

“You all know the drill,” the man
said. “You’re supposed to come by and get a copy.”

“I know . . .” Sam sounded
genuinely regretful. “But there’s this deadline . . .”

“Hudson Moscowitz. That’s all
you’re getting unless you come in.” He hung up.

“Hudson Moscowitz?” She turned to
Beau. “Is that a real person?”

“Hulk. That’s what they call him.
We’ve had him in a few times too. Real troublemaker, especially once he gets a
few drinks in him.”

“Well, this
Hulk
Moscowitz was the guy that tangled with Jake Thursday night. I
wonder what happened. Doralee only said there was ‘a scene.’ I can’t really
imagine Jake in a brawl, but then Kelly did see him get pretty angry with that
poor guy who tried his impromptu audition. Maybe Jake had more of a temper than
I ever knew.”

“If I were betting on this one,
I’d guess Moscowitz threw the first punch. He’s like that.”

“I saw Jake Friday morning. He
didn’t look battered.”

“I’ll get the full report,” he
said, “and we’ll see what happened.” He lowered himself into the armchair in
the corner of the room and began pulling off his boots. “Meanwhile, want to
hear about my little talk with Victor Garcia, aka Vic Valentino?”

“Absolutely.” Sam leaned against
the headboard and stretched out her legs, realizing that the morning’s energy
boost had completely worn off and she was on the verge of sleep.

“He may seem like a mild mannered
kind of dweeb, but Mr. Valentino still has a lot of anger toward Jake Calendar
for the way he publicly humiliated him.”

Sam’s interest perked up.
“Really.”

“Oh yeah. He went through the
whole experience for me, maybe thinking that he could file some kind of charges
against Jake.”

“For smashing a cake, or for
rejecting a really awful song?”

Beau shrugged. “The main thing is,
he wanted to
press charges against Jake
.
He didn’t realize Jake was dead.”

Oh. Sam let the information sink
in, realizing she hadn’t exactly told Vic the full story.

Beau continued. “It doesn’t mean
that he didn’t deliver a doctored cupcake as a gift. He might have simply
thought he would teach Jake a lesson by making him sick.”

“Did you ask him that?”

“Didn’t get the chance. I got a
radio call right then and had to dash off. I left Mr. Valentino with the
impression that I’d be back to take his formal statement. When he sees me he’ll
think he’s getting back at Jake and I’ll spring the news on him that he may
just be a murder suspect.”

Chapter
19

Sam woke the next morning to the
barking of a dog and the realization that Beau was not in bed with her. Outside
the window she heard his voice and Nellie became quiet. She peered through the
curtains to see that the sun was up, revealing high clouds that had gathered
overnight.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he said when she
walked out to the back deck in her robe, carrying two coffee mugs. “I think
your folks are still asleep, unless Nellie woke the whole household.”

Sam patted the border collie, who
wagged amiably at the sound of her voice. “Maybe she just wanted some
attention.”

They sat in the deck chairs but
Sam felt anxious. It was now the fourth day since their wedding would have
happened. Four days in which she’d been a suspect. She didn’t like the feeling.

“I suppose we could steer the
police in the directions of all the other suspects we’ve found,” she said. “They
might drop the charges against me.”

“It probably wouldn’t do much
good, sweetheart. They think they’ve got you and, knowing Pete Sanchez, that
means they don’t really want to muddy the water with a lot of other names.”

“But it’s not right!” She leaned
forward in her chair. “It makes me want to scream.”

He reached for her hand. “Me too.
But I think we’re better off gathering our evidence and putting together enough
of it that they are forced to go after the real killer.”

She nodded, wishing it could be
otherwise.

“At the very least we’re going to
have lots of bits and pieces—maybe not enough to arrest someone else, but
plenty that your attorney can present so much reasonable doubt that no jury
would convict you.”

“Beau, listen to yourself. It
makes me sick to think that the words ‘jury’ and ‘convict’ can even be
associated with me.”

He set his mug down and stood up.
“I’m sorry,
darlin
’. Come here.”

She faced him and he wrapped his
arms around her in the comforting, all inclusive hug she loved so well. Her
breath was warm on his chest; his fingers ran through her hair as he nestled
her close to him.

“It’s all going to be fine,” he
murmured. “Just fine. Don’t you worry.”

She felt hot tears sting at her
eyelids and she squeezed them shut.

“Your mother’s up. I can see her
going into the kitchen,” he said. “Just FYI.”

She pulled back and looked into
his eyes. “Thank you for being so good to me. I can’t tell you how much it
means that you’re supporting me through all this.”

“You’re about to become my wife,”
he said with a smile. “I can’t imagine
not
sticking by you. Even if your parents end up moving in.”

She kicked at his boot with her
slipper. “Not funny. That is
so
not
happening.”

Beau reached for their coffee
mugs. “Here she comes.”

The French door opened and Nina
Rae stepped out. “Uh-huh,” she was saying into the phone at her ear. “Well,
don’t you worry about it, honey. I’ll put you on with your mama.”

She handed the phone to Sam. “It’s
Kelly.”

Sam stared at the phone and
realized it was her own.
You answered my
cell phone?

“
Kel
?
Everything okay?” Sam asked, turning away.

“Sure.” Her voice sounded perky
and entirely normal. “I was just telling
Gramma
that
I might not see them today. That’s what I was calling about, Mom. Do you think
you could stop by the police station and get the copy of our report on the
burglary? I have to work all day and the insurance company wants it faxed to
them before five o’clock, if possible.”

“No problem. I’ll be out and about
all day, I think.”

She hung up and stuffed the phone
into the pocket of her robe, realizing that she hadn’t yet dreamed up the day’s
entertainment for her parents. She felt the beginning of a headache.

Beau was in the kitchen, breaking
eggs into a bowl when she went inside, and her mother had gone back into the
guest room. When she emerged a few minutes later it was with a grim look.

“Your daddy is coming down with a
cold,” she announced. “I knew it. Yesterday he ate lunch without using my
little bottle of hand sanitizer. I
told
him this would happen.” She opened the refrigerator and pulled out the orange
juice.

In Sam’s experience, when her
mother told you something would happen you’d best go along with it. She went to
the guest room where she found her father in bed, propped up with three pillows
behind his back.

“Daddy? Mother says you’re getting
a cold. You feel like staying in bed this morning?”

“Not really,” he grumbled, “but I
will.”

He breathed deeply and Sam thought
he sounded clear enough.

“Here’s your
o.j
.
Howard. Now drink up,” Nina Rae said, bustling into the room and turning the
thermostat up another two notches.

He took the glass from her and
gave Sam a subtle wink as he raised it to his mouth.

“Beau’s making scrambled eggs and
toast, if you feel like having some,” she said.

“I’d better take his temperature
first,” Nina Rae said.

Sam went back to the kitchen. Nina
Rae insisted on taking a tray to Howard, “so he won’t be spreading his germs
around” but considering that they’d been in contact with him already it seemed
a little pointless. When Sam peeked in to tell him she needed to go into town
to do some things he practically begged her to take her mother along.

Nina Rae dithered over the
decision, torn between staying to wait on her husband hand and foot or go to
the pharmacy and load up on remedies. When Howard insisted that he ought to
start taking more vitamins, Sam found her mother waiting by the front door,
ready to ride along.

“Now don’t you pay attention to
me,” Nina Rae said as they passed the small artisan stands on the north edge of
town. “I won’t need but a minute at the pharmacy and I’ll just ride along while
you do your errands.”

Sam smiled weakly across the
console at her. How to describe all the things she’d been hoping to accomplish
today?

“The best pharmacy in town is near
the supermarket, Mother. I’m sure you can find whatever you want. But I’m going
to stop off and get that police report for Kelly first.”

She’d purposely been a little
sketchy with the details about the break-in at Kelly’s place, making it sound
more like someone had picked up a few items from the front porch than the real
chaos they’d found inside. Nothing could get her mother going on her
you’d-better-move-back-to-Texas soapbox faster than believing that something
dangerous had happened here in Taos. Sam parked in a shady spot and said she
would be back in a couple of minutes.

It took her that long just to find
out who to ask about the report and while the clerk went to pull the record and
make the copy, a female voice rose from a nearby corridor. An officer came out,
escorting Doralee Calendar.

“I can’t believe you gave his
things to someone else. I’m his
wife,
”
Doralee was saying, apparently not for the first time, judging by the
expression on the officer’s face. “Why didn’t you call
me
?”