The Sweet Taste of Murder: An Angel Lake Mystery (7 page)

The cat jumped up on the desk and watched her closely. She went over and scratched his head. Satisfied, the cat curled up and shut his eyes.

“Looks like he adopted you,” Brad said.

“Maybe. I could use the company.” Elise grinned, realizing how that sounded. She pushed over a mug of coffee. “Cream or sugar?”

“Nah, black is fine. So, what did you want to tell me?” He blew on it to cool it down and took a sip.

“I found something weird today. On my jog. It was at the back of the car lot—”

“You went to the car lot?” He interrupted as his eyebrows raised in surprise at her.

“Well, I was jogging around the lake.”

“You have to leave the trail to get to the lot.”

“There is a path there you know. It’s well beaten down through the grass.”

He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “There’s the Elise I remember. Continue.”

“Well, one of the cars looked like the trunk had been forced open.”

“Tell me you didn’t touch it.”

“Not with my hands.” She held them out as if to prove they were clean.

“Elise.” He sighed again. “We’ll probably have to take you down to the station and fingerprint you so we can eliminate your prints.”

“I didn’t touch anything! I used my shirt!” she insisted.

He rolled his eyes. “You’re not exactly helping here.”

She marched toward the fridge and yanked open the door. She pulled out the mayonnaise and lunch meat, giving him a guarded look as she slapped them on the counter. “You want something to eat or not?”

His gun holster made a leather squeak as he sat on the bar stool. “Yeah, sure. Listen, I’m not trying to give you a hard time, but this is serious stuff. I know you care about Lavina and want to help her, but you can’t go running off and get yourself involved.”

“I was careful. It was very strange.”

“What made you curious about it?”

“There was a fresh scrape from where the paint was scratched off. And one corner of the trunk was still pretzeled up.” She spread mayonnaise on the bread and folded on the pastrami. “This is from Lavina’s Deli. You want mustard?”

He shook his head. She ripped off a paper towel and slid the sandwich over to him. Humming, she began to make a new one.

Brad took a bite with a thoughtful look. “I went over that car lot with a fine tooth comb, and didn’t see anything like that.”

“I guess somebody wanted something in there, and they wanted it bad. Something important.”

“How do you know it wasn’t a random car thief?”

Elise bit the inside of her cheek, thinking. “There were more expensive cars on the lot. Why wouldn’t the thief had gone for them? And who breaks into a car, but leaves it? They had to be looking for something.”

He finished off his sandwich and wiped his mouth on the paper towel. “Thanks for lunch. And for giving me more work to do.”

“You leaving now? Where are you going?”

“Out to the dealership. Maybe a rain check for another coffee?”

She nodded.

“And I’m serious about maybe having to fingerprint you. Do me a favor and stay out of trouble.”

She followed him to the door and waved as he got into his car.

Back inside, the cat yawned, ending with a meow. Elise dropped a torn corner of lunch meat for him. Quickly, she packed the fridge back up. “Maybe I’ll just head over there,” she told the cat. “He might need help finding the car.”

He blinked coolly at her and jumped down from the desk to sniff the meat.

She bit her lip, thinking, before snatching her keys.

Stooping to give the cat another scratch, she whispered, “And you, my friend, really need a name.”

As she was putting her key in to lock the door, she caught sight of her neighbor hauling his lawnmower out of his garage.

“Hey!” she yelled.

He pushed his hat back and looked around.

“Over here!”

Spotting her, he walked over. “You our new neighbor?”

“Yes.” She stuck out a hand. “Name’s Elise. Do you know anything about an orange tabby? He’s been hanging out at my back door since I moved in.”

“My name’s Thomas.” He inspected his hand for dirt and brushed it off before shaking hers. “I guess you’ve met Max.”

“Oh, I was wondering what his name was. Who does he belong to?”

“He used to belong to the people who lived here. They must have dumped him when they moved.”

Elise felt her face heat with fury. Swallowing hard, she answered, “Some people…. Wow. I guess he doesn’t have to worry about that anymore. He’s got a home now.”

“Don’t get me started. Anyway, welcome to the neighborhood.”

“Thanks. And, don’t worry about all those dogs in my yard. I’m just dog-sitting.”

“Fine by me.” He grinned, half-turning back towards the garage.

She gave him a wave and got into her car.

CHAPTER 12

E
lise exhaled deeply as she pulled in next to the police car and climbed out. A quick glance at her Fitbit showed her heart rate was elevated. She imagined Brad’s face when she showed up—butting in again?

But she had to know what was in the trunk. It really felt like it was her clue.

The dealership had remained closed since Cameron’s death. Row after row of brand new cars glinted like marbles in the sun. When were they planning to open again? Surely a business this big couldn’t handle the financial loss of long-term closure.

She walked around the outside of the dark showroom. The windows—painted in screaming red letters ‘SALE’— already looked like they could use a cleaning in just the twelve days since it had been closed. Angel Lake was known for its dust storms, and they’d had a few in the interim.

Elise rounded the back corner of the building and headed over to where the garage was. Here, the cars weren’t so pretty. Several had their hoods up, waiting to be fixed, like time had been set to pause.

Still further back was the used car lot, and then the row where she’d seen the Ford with the jimmied trunk. She could just make out a dark figure standing at the rear of the vehicle.

Brad looked up at the sound of her footsteps. He raised his hands beseechingly. “You really can’t stay out of trouble, can you?” he called.

Elise shrugged and smiled as she came up beside him. “I told you I didn’t touch the trunk. I just want to know what’s inside.”

He glanced at it. “This definitely is new. Good catch. I requested the forensic team to come back and check this out. ”

“A clue!” Elise made a half-hearted fist pump in the air.

“Yeah. This was good. Just don’t make a habit of finding any more. Let me do my job. You know how this made me feel calling it in? A jogger discovered a clue that I should have found.”

“Hey, you can’t be everywhere all the time.”

Brad touched the scraped paint with a glove covered finger. “Whoever did this was not too smooth about it. There are better ways to get in.”

“Like how?”

“Like opening the driver’s door and popping the trunk latch. The car wasn’t locked. I’m gathering you didn’t check?”

Elise’s mouth dropped open. She shook her head.

“Good. That helps. Fewer fingerprints that way. Now, I just need to get my hands on the video footage from inside the dealership.”

“What? Why aren’t they just handing that to you?”

“Apparently, it’s monitored by a third party. They aren’t making it easy to see. I might have to get a subpoena.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Yeah. Nothing is ever easy in investigations. Remember that.” His gaze flicked over her face. “By the way, I like your hair.”

“Oh!” She’d forgotten about the haircut. “Thanks. That reminds me, I heard something interesting while I was there.”

“More interesting. Great. Let’s hear it.” He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled with an overly-patient expression.

“So, you know how those salon places are. Gossip central.”

“Yeah. I actually love them. Lots of info that everyone is more than willing to give out. I should have scheduled a haircut for myself.” His hand whisked over the top of his closely cropped hair.

Elise wrinkled her nose. “Not too much to cut there when you keep it military short.”

“Old habits die hard. Anyway, continue.”

“There was this man who popped his head in the salon looking for his wife. Sylvia. Do you know her?”

Brad nodded. “Frank’s wife. Yeah.”

“After he left, Carla mentioned there was a ton of bad blood between Frank and Cameron, and that was before Sylvia got pregnant. I’ve been hearing it’s pretty common knowledge that the baby is Cameron’s. And then,” Elise’s voice raised with excitement as she remembered. “Another gal mentioned that Frank was working with the exterminator, who had a big job across from the dealership just days before Cameron died.” She swiveled around to locate the Wiggle convenience store.

“You’ll try anything to get Lavina out from being a suspect, won’t you?”

“I’m not making this up. It’s what I heard.”

“Thanks for the gossip, but Frank’s already been on our radar.”

“Oh. So that was a bomb of a clue.”

“No, I appreciate it. You can tell me anything you hear, anytime. Just don’t go busting in searching out stuff by yourself. Let us do that.”

They turned together and began walking back to the showroom.

“What are you going to do now?”

“Just wait for the team to arrive. It might not be for a while. You?”

Elise checked her Fitbit for the time. “I have to return the dogs. They’re still playing in my back yard. That’s my job, for now, a dog walker. Actually, I love it.”

“Seems like quite a change from the big city. How are you doing with all of that?”

Elise shrugged. “I don’t think I was ever made for city living. My husband, being a corporate lawyer, was always gone. He used to get m—” she paused, trying to think of the right word. “He wasn’t happy if I didn’t attend events by myself. Appearances you know. Everyone there is about them.” She laughed a little. “I did love dressing up, but really, it’s only fun when there’s someone by your side. But, honestly, I never felt more alone than in my marriage. I didn’t know how to fix it.”

She looked up and noticed Brad staring at her.
TMI, Elise!
Her face flooded with heat. “I’m sorry. That all just slipped out. Still healing, I guess.” Unconsciously, her thumb felt for the empty place on her ring finger.

“It’s okay. It’s still fresh,” Brad offered.

“It really is. It will be finalized in little over a week. And I’m sad about all the wrong stuff. Not so much about the marriage ending. I’m more sad about the dreams I had as a young girl that are being taken away with it. But really, they were destroyed the night I read the text.”

“The text?”

“Yeah. That’s how I found out. So cliche, right? Still, it was almost a weird, sick relief when I saw the text message because I finally knew what was wrong. Some girl asked him if they were still on for that night. He’d changed her name in his contacts to Steve, but I figured no matter what something was up when Steve wanted him to bring extra condoms.”

She shook her head with a sad smile. “But that’s what happens sometimes. And now I’m here. And I’m doing okay, really.”

Brad nodded. “I had a hard time when I returned home from the Army. It’s not easy leaving one life for another. But slowly, eventually, everything does fit into its place like it was the way it was supposed to be all along.” He leaned over and patted her shoulder. The pats changed to a slow squeeze. “Sure, there are some ‘not okay’ moments, but it will work out. You’re strong. Stronger than you think. And I’m glad you’re here.”

“Full circle, right?” She grinned.

“Sometimes you just have to know when to come home.” He gave a final clamp on her shoulder. “Now get out of here and take care of those dogs. And stay out of trouble!”

CHAPTER 13

E
lise walked out of the bright sunlight and into the dark nail salon. It had been two days, and she still hadn’t heard anything more from Brad about the trunk. She debated whether it would be out of line to give him a call. Squinting, she looked around the interior for Lavina.

It was her first time getting a manicure since she’d left New Hampshire, and she would have been quite happy to wait longer, but Lavina had been insistent in their phone call that morning. “I need a distraction and some girl time,” she’d begged. “And, I’d love to hear more about Brad.”

Elise winced at the memory. She already knew where Lavina was going with that. Her thumb went to the divot on her ring finger, sending a pang of sadness. She still hadn’t heard anything from Mark after her lawyer sent over the documents. But, from the way everything was going so far, her lawyer had assured her it would all be over soon.

Definitely too early to be grilled about Brad. She wasn’t ready to jump into anything yet, not for a long time. And darn Lavina for suggesting otherwise! She huffed.

“Hello, darlin'!” Lavina’s cheery voice rang out from the back of the salon. Her face was half-obscured by a pair of overlarge super-model sunglasses.

From behind the front desk, a young woman with silky black hair pulled into a tight ponytail smiled. She fretted with a vase of flowers, rearranging the long stalks, then beckoned warmly with her hand to lead Elise back to her friend.

“Why on earth are you wearing those indoors?” Elise grumped as she sat in the chair next to her.

Lavina pulled the sunglasses partway down and peered over the tops. “Last night was a bit late in the making. Two bottles of wine and Mr. G.” She smiled lasciviously. “And everyone knows glasses make all eyes appear fresh.”

“Yes, but you can’t see a darn thing.”

“Pish. Who needs to see things when there are darlin' people to take care of it for you?” Lavina flashed her million-dollar smile at the young esthetician. The gal held up a pink bottle for Lavina’s approval. Lavina reached for the polish and held it into the light, before nodding. “Sparkles. I love it.”

The esthetician gently took Elise’s hand and placed it in a bowl of warm scented water. “Five minutes,” she directed with a deep accent.

The bell chimed again. Both women looked up.

A woman in a violet dress suit with a spray of flowers adorning her matching hat, waltzed in. An unhappy teenage girl trailed in behind her. “Pricilla. Stand straight, dear. What have I told you about a woman’s posture?”