Authors: Maggie Sefton
Thirteen
Kelly
hurried up the steps to Pete’s café’s back door. The caffeine lobe of her brain had
been throbbing throughout the phone call from one of her Warner Associates colleagues.
Kelly thought she’d remembered to buy coffee when at the store. Alas, she had not.
The canister was as empty as the proverbial gourd when Kelly opened it this morning.
Steve gave her a quick kiss and raced over to the fast-food outlet in the Big Box
shopping center across the street to grab some coffee and a bagel before attacking
the interstate to Denver. Only an intense two-mile run and a hot shower helped Kelly
drive from the house to the knit shop and café. Her colleague caught her mid-drive.
It was all she could do to keep a civil tongue.
Kelly charged through the door and headed straight for the grill, both arms outstretched
and stiff, TV-zombie style.
“Coffee! Coffee!”
she croaked in guttural zombie-speak.
Julie hooted with laughter as Kelly lurched toward the grill. Eduardo simply grinned,
gold tooth showing. He’d met Zombie Kelly many times before.
“Oh, look, everyone! It’s the Walking Caffeine-Deprived!” Jennifer teased, pointing
to Kelly. She snatched the mug dangling from Kelly’s hand.
“Fill it quick!” Kelly instructed as she leaned her arms on the counter above the
grill where Eduardo was turning bacon strips. Their sizzle sent an unbelievably tempting
aroma into the air. Kelly inhaled the luscious scent and her stomach growled. “I forgot
to buy coffee last night and had to do a two-mile run, shower, and drive here with
no sustenance.”
“Didn’t you eat?” Jennifer asked as she poured the divine black stream into Kelly’s
mug.
“I forgot that, too.” Kelly gave her a sheepish look. “I was counting on the run and
hot shower to help me make it here. Unfortunately, one of my Warner colleagues made
the mistake of calling while I was midway through my hunger drive.”
“I pity that guy,” Julie said, as she lifted a basket of breakfast breads—cinnamon
toast, bran muffins, hot biscuit—to her tray.
“You’d have been proud of me. I didn’t take his head off. And I was able to control
the Hunger Beast during the entire call.” Noticing two crumbs of muffins that dropped
to the counter, Kelly licked her finger and captured them.
“Did you see that, Eduardo?” Jennifer said. “We need to feed her fast.”
“I’ve got just what you need, Kelly,” Eduardo said as he placed a crisp bacon slice
on a small plate in front of her. “That ought to keep starvation away until you order.”
“Ooooh, bacon!” Kelly’s eyes lit up. A childhood and into-adulthood favorite. “Thanks,
Eduardo.” She popped the slice into her mouth and savored the luscious, familiar flavors.
“Mmmm.”
“It’s the fat. Works every time,” Jennifer said, giving a sage nod. “She’s coming
around. Saved from zombie-hood in the nick of time. Why don’t you sit over there at
the smaller table and have breakfast.”
“Wait, I’m communing with the caffeine gods.” Kelly inhaled the aroma drifting up
from her mug. Then she took a deep drink. “Ahhhh, now I’m saved.” She dropped her
briefcase on the chair. “But starvation is about to set in. Why don’t I continue down
that fattening road Eduardo started me on and have an order of biscuits and gravy.
Add a little sausage to the bacon.”
“Why not?” Jennifer scribbled on her pad and placed the order on the counter. “She’s
staying on the Fat Road, Eduardo. Biscuits and gravy.”
“You girls make me laugh.” He grinned. “Always worrying about your weight. A little
bacon is good for you,” he decreed as he flipped over two spicy homemade sausages.
“I thought you always said it ‘never hurt anybody.’ Don’t confuse me, Eduardo.” Kelly
settled into the chair beside the window looking into the garden and tables outside.
She spotted Hal Nelson and Malcolm carrying two large paint cans into the remodel.
“Rosa swears by it,” Jennifer said. “Ask her. She says it’s good for your skin.”
Now Kelly was really confused. “Your
skin
? What do you do, smear bacon grease on your face?”
This time Eduardo cackled out loud, joined by Julie, who was loading two breakfast
platters onto her tray. “Crazy Kelly.” He shook his head as he cracked two eggs at
a time into his mixing bowl.
“No, silly, you eat it,” Jennifer said, laughing softly. “You accountants are too
literal.”
“Hey, we can’t help it. The numbers make us that way.” She took another deep drink
and savored.
“You guys were gone for that tournament in Denver this weekend, right? I know you’d
mentioned it.”
“All of us except Megan and Marty. Curt was having a family gathering at his ranch
Saturday afternoon, so they opted out. Say, didn’t Cassie go to that? I was here when
Jayleen asked her last week.”
Jennifer wiped off an empty table, pocketing the tip and check. “She had a blast.
Jayleen actually took the time to drive over and pick up Cassie and take her to Curt’s.
She called around dinnertime and said the kids were still playing and having a great
time and wanted to know if Cassie could stay for more burgers and chili.”
“It sounds like Cassie was enjoying herself. That’s great.”
Jennifer looked over at Kelly. “Cassie loved Curt’s ranch. Jayleen told me she was
captivated by the sheep and the cattle. And the horses. Oh, boy. She just loved them.
Curt and Jayleen took all the kids for horseback rides. Just around the property.
Cassie had never been on a horse before.”
Kelly smiled, watching her friend’s face light up as she related Cassie’s adventures.
“Oh, I’m so glad Cassie had a good time, Jen. I know you and Pete were worried about
her making friends. I keep forgetting how old Curt’s grandkids are.”
“They’re all ages, and Curt has a bunch of nieces and nephews and grandnieces and
– nephews.” She looked out the window. “And there are two or three Cassie’s age. Jayleen
said Cassie fit right in.”
“I can picture Jayleen watching over Cassie like a mother hen, can’t you?” Kelly said
from behind her mug.
“Ohhhh, yeah,” Jennifer said, catching Kelly’s gaze. “I can’t tell you how grateful
Pete and I are that Jayleen and Curt have been so welcoming. Jayleen even invited
Cassie to her ranch this week. Wasn’t that sweet?”
Kelly nodded. “It sure was. That sounds just like them. Well, if Cassie liked Curt’s
ranch in the foothills, she’s going to love Jayleen’s spread up in the mountains.”
“That’s for sure.”
“You know, I watched Jayleen the first time she met Cassie, and you could tell she
really took to her. That’s not surprising. Remember, Jayleen doesn’t get to see her
kids or grandchildren down in Colorado Springs. So, she’s a grandmother without grandchildren.
Don’t be surprised if she adopts Cassie.”
“Just like Mimi. Mimi doesn’t have grandkids, either. We predicted that Mimi would
take to Cassie like a cat to cream. And we were right.”
Kelly laughed softly. “Cat to cream, huh? We’re really going with the food analogies
today.”
“Hey, I can’t help it. I work in a restaurant. And I’m not surprised. In fact, Mimi
and Burt invited Cassie to their place Sunday morning and afternoon while Pete and
I were working. They gave her a tour of Old Town.”
“Perfect.” Kelly took another deep drink. Nerve cells had fully awakened now, synapses
snapping. “You know, it looks like Pete’s grandfather’s heart attack is turning into
a good thing for Cassie. She’s come up here to Fort Connor and she’s finding all sorts
of things to do and people to meet. I can’t help thinking that she might never have
had those same opportunities living down in Denver with Ben. No disrespect intended,
you understand.”
Jennifer leaned against a café table. “No, I understand what you mean. And you’re
probably right.”
Julie walked up then, Kelly’s breakfast platter in her hand. “I didn’t want this to
get cold sitting on the counter. Eduardo would be insulted,” she said, placing the
platter in front of Kelly.
“Oh, boy . . . biscuits and gravy,” Kelly said, sniffing the scrumptious flavors drifting
from the plate to her nose. “Good thing I ran this morning. My arteries won’t like
this.”
“You’ll run it off,” Julie said with a dismissive wave of her hand as she headed to
the grill.
“Well, I’d best return to the rest of my customers. I’ll leave you to commune with
the Fat Gods.”
“Go ahead, rub it in,” Kelly retorted, sinking her fork into a thick piece of biscuit
and swishing it through the thick gravy, then popping it in her mouth. Heaven. Yummy
and fattening and altogether delicious. Why was everything delicious also fattening?
She’d have to ponder that another time. Right now, the biscuits and gravy claimed
her full attention.
Glancing through the window, Kelly watched both Jennifer and Julie move back and forth,
back and forth, between the grill and the garden, taking orders, carrying trays, serving
every type of breakfast from the high-calorie treat Kelly was indulging in to fiber-filled
bowls of granola and fresh fruit.
Morning sun streaked across the golf course, highlighting the clusters of golfers
making their way methodically around the course. Some lingered, talking, while others
moved as if on a tight schedule. No doubt they were—fitting in a fast round or even
a few holes in between customer or client or patient appointments.
The thick screen of cottonwood trees that lined most of the driveway provided ample
shade for the café garden as well as Kelly’s cottage. And the former garage was looking
ever so much better now that Hal and Malcolm had remodeled it. There was even a new
coat of adobe mixture applied over the outside walls, and the red-tile roof had some
tiles repaired. She swirled the last of the biscuits through the last of the gravy
while she watched Malcolm carrying what looked like a drop cloth from the truck into
the storage building.
“Hey, there, Kelly.” Burt’s voice came from behind her right as she swallowed.
She turned to him and waved, then pointed to her mouth. Speech was still impossible
with a mouth full of breakfast delight. She did manage “Umphhh,” as she pointed to
the chair.
Burt chuckled as he sat. “Caught you with your mouth full, huh? Well, I won’t tease
you. I already had some of Pete’s delicious gravy this morning. Half a portion, so
I’m feeling really virtuous.”
Kelly swallowed, then chased it with a big sip of coffee. “I succumbed, too. Couldn’t
help myself. I’m still adjusting to that longer drive from the housing development
in Wellesley to here. I’m used to simply walking across the driveway.”
“You’re tough. You can last.”
She gestured toward the remodeled garage with her mug. “Hal Nelson and Malcolm have
done a good job, Burt. It looks like they’re painting inside today.”
Burt’s smile faded. “Yep, they’re finishing up. They should be done this week.” He
stared off toward the building.
Picking up on his swift change of mood, Kelly asked, “Something on your mind, Burt?”
Burt looked back at her, and one side of his mouth curved up. “Yeah, I’m afraid there
is. I heard from Dan early this morning. Apparently someone called into the department
and said they had been playing golf that same evening of Rizzoli’s murder. The golfer
said he remembers seeing a disheveled man wandering around the edge of the course
that borders Lambspun and the driveway. Of course, Dan and the guys asked the man
to come in and maybe he could take a look at some photos or maybe have an artist draw
a description.”
Kelly felt a cold spot appear in her gut, despite the warm breakfast. “Oh, brother.
Do you think it was Malcolm?”
Burt looked at her sadly. “It could be, Kelly. Dan said the golfer came and gave a
description to the police artist, and she sketched a figure that could very well be
Malcolm. I even went over to take a look, and it definitely resembles him. Even if
from a distance.”
Kelly made a face. “Damn. That would put Malcolm right here in the same vicinity where
Rizzoli was killed. What time was it? Did the golfer remember?”
“Yes, he recalls it was close to seven.”
This time Kelly rolled her eyes. “Oh, man, it keeps looking worse. That’s right at
the same window the medical examiner gave for time of death.”
“I know. Definitely not good news for Malcolm.”
“Do you think they’ll come and question him again?”
Burt shrugged. “I don’t know if it would do any good, Kelly. Malcolm admits he was
drunk at the time and can’t remember a thing. That’s what makes this witness’s testimony
so damning. Malcolm can be shown to be at the place where Rizzoli was killed at the
approximate time Rizzoli was killed. But Malcolm doesn’t remember a thing. So . . .
as far as police are concerned, he’s the prime suspect right now.”
“How about Barbara?”
“I wish I could say Barbara is no longer being considered, but Dan confirmed that
she’s still very much on the suspect list. And from the way he was talking, she’s
just a notch below Malcolm.”
“But there’s no proof Barbara was anywhere close to here that evening. She was in
the canyon driving.” Kelly glanced out the window into the flowering bushes outside.
“Or so she says.”
“That’s right, Kelly. Barbara can’t prove she didn’t drive here that evening. She
definitely had even more motive than Malcolm. Because she had two public confrontations
with Rizzoli. She definitely demonstrated she had enough hatred of Rizzoli to want
him dead. Plus, she was here in the shop the day Jennifer’s cell phone went missing.”
He shook his head. “Hell, even Malcolm came into the shop to use the restroom.”
“I figured the cops must have asked Malcolm that question. I remember seeing him leave
the bathroom corridor one time myself. But he usually came in the back way through
the café. I saw him enter and leave that way once when I was working in the café.”
“So, you can see why both of them are front and center on police radar. Malcolm had
a public confrontation with Rizzoli and got drunk that night so he doesn’t remember
what he did. Meanwhile, a witness now stated that a man matching Malcolm’s description
was seen in the vicinity at the time of Rizzoli’s death.” Burt sank back into his
chair. “Malcolm also had access to the shop and could have taken the phone. Now, Barbara
had two public confrontations with Rizzoli and has no explanation for her whereabouts
the evening he was killed. And she, too, was in the shop the same time Jennifer’s
phone disappeared. So, both of them are squarely in police crosshairs.”