Troubled Treats (3 page)

“Thanks for understanding,” Grace said as we walked out of the bedroom toward her front door.

“Always and forever,” I said.  “We’ll grab something to eat soon.  I promise.”

“We’d better,” she said as I left her.

As I walked the short stretch of road that separated our homes, it finally started to sink in.  A part of me had believed that once Grace was presented with another local murder, she’d forget all about her promise to retire and dive right into it with me again.

It seemed that wasn’t going to happen, though.

At least she was right about one thing. 

I still had Jake as a partner, and he was more than qualified for the job.

While I’d been inside Grace’s home trying to convince her to help me again, I realized that things had been happening at the cottage.  My Jeep was parked in the driveway where I’d left it, along with Jake’s old decrepit truck, but those weren’t the only two vehicles there.

Momma’s stylish car was still there as well.

It appeared that we were about to have our very own war council.

“What’s up?” I asked as I walked in, taking my jacket off and hanging it in the closet.  To my surprise, Momma wasn’t the only visitor we had; her husband, the former chief of police, was there as well.  “Hi, Phillip,” I said, the name still perched awkwardly on my tongue.  He’d been Chief Martin for as long as I’d known him, but ever since he’d retired—and not coincidentally become my stepfather—I’d been forced to call him by his given name.  Momma must have dashed home, collected him, and then returned to the cottage, all in less time than I’d taken to speak with Grace.

“Hello, Suzanne,” he said from his seat by the fireplace.  “How’s Grace?”

“Standing firm,” I said a little sadly, and then I turned to Jake.  “She’s not going to change her mind.  I’m sorry, but it’s just going to be the two of us.”

“We’ll be fine,” Jake said.  “As a matter of fact, I’ve been trying to talk Phillip into joining our little team.”

He
what
? I would have at least liked to have had the chance to talk my husband out of it in private beforehand, but I was stuck now.  What was Jake thinking?  While it was true that Phillip had been a good police chief, we were still trying to find a way to be in the same room together, let alone work on a case side by side.

My stepfather said with a wry grin, “Don’t worry, Suzanne.  I turned him down.”

“As was your right,” Momma said.  “Phillip, you retired from being a police officer for a reason.”

“So did Jake,” I said, defending him, even though I wanted to strangle him at that moment.

“Yes, but Jake is quite a bit younger than my husband is,” Momma said.

“Hang on a second.  I’m not
that
old,” the former chief protested.  “If I wanted to, I know that I could be a valuable asset in their investigation.”

“That’s just what Stephen Grant needs on his plate,” I said.  “Momma, if Phillip’s joining, why don’t you come on board, too?”  As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew that I’d made a mistake.  Jake looked at me sharply, which meant that my offer was another conversation we’d have to be having soon.  Maybe that was how he’d ended up inviting Phillip to join our investigation.  If it was, I’d have to cut him some slack. 

“No, thank you,” Momma said.  “Phillip and I are quite happy in retirement.”

“You can say that because I’m the only one who actually retired,” he said to my mother.  Wow, I had to give the man credit.  He had guts saying that the way he did.

I braced myself for the fiery retort from my mother, and then I heard her say softly, “I’m sorry.  I keep trying to cut back on my workload, but there are too many opportunities everywhere for me to turn them all down.”

Did my mother just apologize to her husband in front of us?  It wasn’t entirely unprecedented for her to say that she was sorry, but it still happened infrequently enough to make it noteworthy.

Before I could take that in, Momma followed up by saying, “You could always do something with me in real estate.  Your skills would come in handy, I assure you.”

“What skills are those?” Phillip asked her.

“I shouldn’t have to remind you that you ran an entire police department, so that means you can handle personnel, budgets, and all sorts of problems that come up.  That would make you perfect for what I do as well.”

“You know me.  I’m just not the mogul type,” Phillip said with a grin.  “Besides, I’ve been really enjoying digging into April Springs’ local history.  That’s where you got all of that information on the old wagon factory, remember?  I have plenty to do on my own, and no desire to help you run your little empire.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

I was suddenly seeing more of my mother’s married life than I wanted to.  “Maybe you two should continue this discussion at home,” I suggested.

Momma grinned at me, but there wasn’t a great deal of joy in it.  “Are you asking us to leave, Suzanne?”

“No, of course not,” I said, and then I turned to Jake.  “Grab your coat.”

“Where are you two going?” Momma asked sharply.

“Well, you two clearly need some privacy, so if you’re determined to stay here, Jake and I are going to take a walk.”  I turned to him and asked, “Right?”

“Whatever you say,” Jake said.  He grabbed both of our jackets, and I knew that my mother and her husband weren’t the only ones who needed some time to talk.

“This is utter nonsense,” Momma said.  “Phillip, let’s go.”

“Fine,” her husband said as he stood.  “I’m not sure what good it’s going to do to have this particular conversation again, though.  We’ve already talked the topic to death.”

“Perhaps, but we haven’t resolved it yet, so there clearly needs to be more discussion.”

Phillip offered Jake a gentle grin as he walked toward the door, acting as though they shared something in common.  As a matter of fact, they did, something besides being married to a mother and her daughter.  They’d both chosen to wed strong-willed women, and that meant that sometimes there would be days like these.  In the end, I hoped that they both found their experiences worthwhile overall.

“We’ll talk again soon,” Momma said to me as they started out the door.

“You can count on it,” I said as I leaned forward and hugged her goodbye.

After they were gone, I turned to Jake and grinned.  “So, is it a wash?  We’re even, wouldn’t you say?”

“Suzanne, what are you talking about?”

“I asked Momma to join us without thinking, and I’m assuming that you made the invitation to Phillip the same way.  Let’s call it even and forget it ever happened.”

Jake thought about it for a few moments, and then he nodded in agreement.  “Done and done.  So, Grace is out?”

“I’m afraid so.  It looks as though you’re stuck with me as an investigative partner.  That is, unless you’ve changed your mind and you’ve decided to ask George for official status despite what you said earlier.”

“Like I said, that’s not going to happen.  I’m afraid that we’re just going to have to get by on our wits this time.”

“Don’t be so depressed about it,” I said after I kissed his cheek lightly.  “After a while you get used to not having any official status.”

“So, all we are is a pair of nosy busybodies, then,” Jake said.

“We’re a great deal more than that.  Think of us as independent contractors.  We’re not officially on anyone’s payroll, so nobody can fire us.”

“There’s always that,” Jake said with a grin.  “Okay, I’ll bite.  Where do we start?  I’m new to conducting an investigation from this perspective.”

“No worries, because you have an excellent partner who’s done it a dozen times before,” I said with a grin.  “The first thing we need to do is to tap into the underground network that’s not readily available to the police.”

“What network is that?” Jake asked.

“I need to speak with Gabby Williams.”

“You mean ‘we,’ don’t you?”

“Jake, she’s not going to speak freely in front of you, and besides, there’s no danger in me approaching her alone.  Gabby’s not dangerous.”  I thought about that, and then quickly corrected myself.  “Not that way, anyway.”

“In what way is she threatening, exactly?” Jake asked, clearly concerned by my assessment.

“She can kill a reputation like that,” I said as I snapped my fingers.

“Is that all?” Jake asked, relieved by my response.

“Trust me, it’s not nothing,” I said. 

“Suzanne, how exactly is Gabby going to be able to help us?  Was she sleeping with Sully or something?”

The mere thought of it shocked me, though I wouldn’t put it past the woman.  “I don’t think so, but you never know.”

“Then why should we approach her first?” Jake asked.  “If you ask me, we should go straight to the source.  Let’s start with Sully’s employees.”

“You’re still thinking too much like a cop,” I said.  “Chief Grant has already spoken with them both, unless I miss my guess.  We’ll tackle them tomorrow after we’re certain that he’s finished with them, but we have to stay out on the edges, remember?”

“And Gabby is the best source in town that you have?” Jake asked me, still not believing it.

“Believe me, she knows every bit of dirt in town.  If there’s something we can learn about Sully, she’s the one to approach.”

“And she’s just going to give you this information freely?” Jake asked me.

“Well, it might take a little finesse, but remember, I’ve dealt with her before, and that means that I have to do it solo.  Do you honestly mind if I approach her by myself?”

“I don’t suppose so,” Jake said, even though it was clear from his tone of voice that he minded very much indeed.

“Don’t worry.  It’s all going to work out fine.  I won’t be long,” I said as I kissed him, and then I grabbed my coat.  I needed to get out of there as soon as possible.  I knew that the longer I stayed, the harder Jake would try to talk me out of approaching Gabby without him.  It wasn’t that he considered her a danger; he just hated being out of the loop, and I could hardly blame him.

There were just some things that I had to do on my own, and this was definitely one of them.

Chapter 4

“I was wondering when I’d see you,” Gabby Williams said as I walked into her gently used clothes shop, ReNEWed.  It was just down the road from Donut Hearts, a fact that brought us into contact every now and then, but not as often as some folks might think.  Gabby had her circle of friends, and I had mine, and they barely overlapped at all.  However, we had a tenuous relationship that I planned to exploit.

“Am I that predictable?” I asked as I took off my jacket.  Jumping right into my motivation for being there wasn’t a great idea.  I knew from experience that the longer it took me to bring up my questions, the fewer hoops I would have to jump through to get my answers.  As I let my hand linger on a nearby blouse, I asked, “Anything new in?”

“Suzanne, the entire point of my shop is that
none
of it is new,” she said disdainfully, studying me as she spoke.  Gabby was a trim woman in her fifties, always dressed stylishly in only the best apparel her shop received.  Her eyes were red, and I had to wonder if her allergies were bothering her.  It was certainly the right time of the year for them.

“You know what I mean,” I said as I searched the closest racks of clothing. 

“Sorry, but we don’t have anything in your size or your taste,” she said a little harshly.  I might have taken offense at the crack from some folks, but I knew that Gabby was just being Gabby.  “Besides, I didn’t think you’d be coming around for clothing, not given what just happened.”

“What’s that?” I asked her, pretending to be uninterested.

“Suzanne Hart, you stumbled upon a man’s body not two hours ago, and then you try to come waltzing in here as though nothing happened.”

“You’re talking about Sully Jackson, aren’t you?” I asked.  Not surprisingly, the news had evidently traveled fast in our small town.

Gabby raised an eyebrow in my direction critically.  “That depends.  Did you happen to find any
other
dead bodies since you found his?”

“No, just the one,” I said as nonchalantly as I could manage.  “It’s tragic, but it’s not any concern of mine.  The police are handling it.”

Gabby scoffed.  “You aren’t talking about young Officer Grant, are you?  He’s barely capable of handing out a parking ticket, let alone solving a murder.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.  Stephen Grant is turning out to be a very competent chief of police, and we’re lucky to have him,” I said.  It was all I could do to hide my interest in the topic, but if I gave Gabby the upper hand, I’d be there all afternoon before she agreed to help.

“The jury’s still out on him, if you ask me.  I’ve been curious about something.  Why didn’t your husband want the job?  Goodness knows that he’s more than qualified enough for it.”

“He’s retired, Gabby.  Do you have something like this in red?”

“I don’t, but even if I did, it wouldn’t work with your skin tones,” she said dismissively.  “Are you telling me that you and Grace aren’t even going to investigate what happened to Sully?”  Gabby seemed clearly disappointed by my reaction to the murder, which was curious.

“Grace has officially retired as my investigative partner,” I explained, amazed that it stung a little to admit it so openly.

Gabby took that in for a moment before she spoke again.  “That’s a shame, but it’s perfectly understandable.  After all, how many times can you put yourself directly in the line of danger and not have it impact your life?”

“Apparently more times than I’ve experienced yet,” I said.

“So, you
are
investigating,” Gabby said triumphantly, as though she’d won a point in a debate, which was really all that every conversation with her ever was.

It was time to give her a little nudge.  “I don’t know.  The truth is that I wouldn’t know where to start.  Sully was such a private person.”

“To some folks,” Gabby said almost wistfully.  I glanced over at her and saw that she was frowning slightly.  Apparently my instincts to come there first had been dead on the money.