Mission to Murder (20 page)

I watched her leave. “Nice touch making up that background check thing.” I started clearing the plates. Obviously our impromptu family breakfast was drawing to a close.

“We’ll talk about the road trip later.” Greg stood and carried dishes to the sink. “I honestly did a background check on Mr. Josh Thomas.”

“Seriously? It was a double date.” I opened the dishwasher and started unloading plates.

Greg brought more items off the table. “I did a background check as part of Craig’s murder investigation. She doesn’t need to know that. Right now I’m looking pretty heroic in your aunt’s eyes.”

Bottom rack empty, I started unloading the cups on the top. “So nothing in Josh’s past screamed serial killer, huh?”

“Sorry, no. I would love to have this case over. Now we’ve got more questions than answers.” He glanced at Amy’s plate. “You think she’s done?”

I nodded. “If she’s not, she can get a clean plate. Of course, there’s not much food left anyway.”

He brought the plate over and scraped the few crumbs of toast and scrambled eggs into the garbage disposal. “Would I be a bad guy if I said I’m glad Hank’s out of the picture?”

“Only if I am. I’m happy he’s gone. I can barely talk about it without grinning. Of course, she wouldn’t like it if I broke out into song.” I took the plate from Greg and rinsed it. We loaded the dishwasher with rhythm and speed. By the time Amy and Jackie returned to the kitchen, the table was clean, the leftover food was wrapped up and either in the fridge or sitting on the countertop. And a new pot of coffee was brewing.

Amy picked up a cup and filled it with the half-done coffee. “Justin asked if you got the envelope he left the other day.”

“I did.” I didn’t say the evidence Justin had found led the investigation directly back to me. I sat down next to her at the table. “So when is he coming back into town?”

“Hank?” Amy frowned.

I groaned inwardly. On the outside, I put on a Barbie doll smile and shook my head. “Not Hank, Justin.”

“Oh, he’s coming in for Jackie’s murder thing this week.” Amy smiled. “He says I need to get out of the house and not fret so much.”

“Sounds like a smart man.” Jackie joined in the conversation but remained standing.

Amy grinned. “Oh hey, I found the building plans for City Hall.”

“You did? Where?” Jackie frowned. “I swear I went through every file in that room.”

Amy looked at me. “The mayor had the file in his desk.”

“That snot. When I asked him, he said he didn’t handle building plans and that I should talk to you.” Jackie pointed at Amy. “And he knew where it was all the time.”

Amy pulled a folder out of her purse. “I made a copy for you before I returned it to his desk.”

Jackie leaned over my shoulder as I read the description. “It doesn’t mention a wall, or the mission being on site. But just not saying something, doesn’t mean it’s not true.” I pushed the pages toward Greg. “Another false alarm.”

“You’ll figure this out.” Greg tapped the pages. “And this is the kind of mystery you should be solving instead of my murder investigations.”

Jackie laughed and then kissed me on the cheek. “I’m out of here. I’ve got some errands to run in the city, so don’t freak if I’m not at the apartment.”

“I didn’t freak. I was worried about you.” I wondered if Toby had ratted me out to my aunt.

Jackie rubbed off a spot her lipstick had left on my cheek. “I’m a big girl, hon. I’ll be fine, no matter what.”

She waved at Greg, who stood by the door, watching out the window. And then she disappeared. My aunt had a lot in common with Houdini and his vanishing act.

“What’s that about?” Amy leaned toward me.

“Greg believes I should keep my doors locked at all times. So he’s following her to lock up after she leaves.” I felt silly and expected Amy to laugh, but she didn’t.

“Reasonable.” She closed her eyes for a second, then they flew back open. “I almost forgot. Esmeralda wants to know if you’re still on the road.”

“You mean the path,” I corrected her.

Amy’s eyes widened. “Yeah, that’s what she said. Are you on a path?”

“My personal fortune-teller seems to think so. I feel like I’m stumbling through the day.” Trying not to be killed, I added silently.

T
he impromptu breakfast meeting broke up soon after Aunt Jackie left. Amy hung around for a few minutes, talking about Hank, and then she got a text.

“Justin wants me to meet him down the coast. I guess the waves are amazing.” Amy glanced at me like she needed permission.

“Why are you looking at me?” I waved my hands. “Fly little bird, go ride the ocean’s waves.”

Amy grinned. “We said we were shopping today. Remember?”

Crap, I’d totally forgotten about our monthly trip to Bakerstown’s shopping mecca. And I needed new capris. But the more time Amy spent with the friendly Mr. Justin, the further away she was from Hank and his manipulations. I would sacrifice my fashion needs for the good of my friend. And future encounters with her dates. “Sorry, Greg and I made plans, but I guess if you want to . . .”

Amy almost jumped out of her chair. At first I felt a tad offended, but remembering Justin’s big blue eyes, I forgave her.

“We’ll go next weekend.” Amy grabbed her purse and headed to the front door, with Greg on her heels to lock it after her.

When he came back into the kitchen, Emma whined at the door. “Hold on, I can only play doorman one door at a time.”

“But you do it so well.” I opened my notebook and crossed off breakfast with Amy. Although I should have added Jackie and Greg’s names to the item before I crossed it off.

“What else do you have to do?” Greg glanced at my list. “Want to add one more thing?”

I studied him. With his sense of humor, he could be asking me on a real, official date, or to help him clean the grease traps over at Diamond Lille’s. I never knew what to expect. And I liked it. My lips curled upward, my voice husky and low, as I asked, “What did you have in mind, cowboy?”

He chuckled. “Apparently not what you were thinking. Although your idea may be more enjoyable than mine will be.”

“What do you want to do?” I had a feeling it started with a couch, a television, a twelve-pack of beer, and, at least one, if not all of the professional baseball games.

“I think we need to play tourist.” Greg spun his keys around his finger.

I watched the silver chain go around and around his hand, mesmerizing me. “I think our cover would be blown the first time we entered a shop. Not many of the town’s owners don’t know me, even if they hate going to the business-to-business meetings.”

“I don’t want to go into town to play tourist.” He picked up Justin’s letter. “I want to go to The Castle and take the grand tour.”

On Sundays the tours were combined, and for the price of a ticket, you got to wander the house, the grounds, and even partake of a wine and cheese tasting with the manager. I wondered who was hosting now that Craig had left the building. I peered closer at the man standing in my kitchen. “What are you looking for?”

“I’ll know it when I see it.”

When we pulled into the parking lot, the Sunday crowd seemed thinner than usual. Maybe having a murder at The Castle had diverted some of the traffic. I glanced at my watch. Or it could be too early for the big crowds. I’d held an impromptu brunch and now, I was playing undercover investigator with Greg, and it wasn’t even noon.

He came around the truck and opened my door, holding out his hand. The first time we’d gone somewhere together, I’d hopped out of the truck, not waiting for him to come around. When he groused, I thought it was cute. I’d never had a boyfriend who wanted to treat me like a princess. Now I just enjoyed it.

Lisa Brewer wasn’t working the ticket stand when Greg paid for our entry. So far, his plan of being incognito was kind of working. We strolled along the sidewalk, admiring the well-tended flower gardens on either side. The previous owner loved to entertain, so there were several guesthouses alongside the main house. Greg turned me toward the one closest to the house. It was reserved for the caretaker, formerly known as Casa Craig. He glanced behind us, then instead of turning left into the open guesthouse, we turned right and disappeared behind the other cottage.

“For someone who wants me to stay out of the investigation business, you’re leading me into temptation, Detective.” Whispering, I took a step closer to Greg. If we were going to get tossed out for trespassing, I wanted to be right next to my police officer boyfriend. Although I think Toby would have a hard time arresting us; he’d be laughing too hard.

“Craig’s body was found in the woods, so we released the house early. We’ve searched it, but nothing was found inside. The Castle’s attorneys told us to back off.” Greg stared at the outside of the building.

“Won’t it ruin the investigation if we break in? Chain of custody and all?” I didn’t tell him about my own visit to The Castle a few days ago. He’d already learned enough about my extracurricular activities for one day.

I saw Greg bite back a smile. “We aren’t going to break in. I told you I just wanted to look.”

I studied the back wall of the cottage. “I don’t see anything.”

Greg didn’t answer. Instead he walked closer and knelt next to the dog door Craig had installed for Fifi. The plastic that kept out the heat and cold but let the dog come into the house had been pulled away from the top panel. He took out his cell and took a picture. He studied the woods behind the house.

Finally he stood and motioned me back around the way we’d come. He blended us in with a group of tourists who were heading down to the steps to the Grecian pool. The same pool where Nick and the town kids swam when they’d broken onto the property this summer.

On Sundays, The Castle staff served drinks poolside, allowing visitors to pretend they’d been invited to a party by the owner to see and be seen with the California elite. The man would roll over in his grave if he knew riffraff like me were drinking frozen alcoholic beverages around his pool.

The sun gleamed off the imported tile as we claimed a table near the back by the columns surrounding a spa-like pool house. A waiter arrived, offering a choice of frozen margaritas, draft beer, or chilled water. I took the margarita and Greg, the beer. When they delivered the drinks, they also dropped off a basket of chips and fresh salsa.

Greg pulled at his beer, then dug a chip into the salsa. “Fifi didn’t go willingly.”

I sipped my drink. “So the person who took her, she didn’t like.”

“Or didn’t know.” Greg leaned back, his sunglasses hiding his eyes so I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

I thought about Brenda at the shop and the way Fifi reacted to Ray. I leaned closer. “I told you about Fifi going all pit bull crazy on Ray the other day, right?”

Greg lifted his glasses and glared at me. “When were you hanging out with Ray again? I swear, Lille’s going to take you out. You need to stay away from him.” Greg fell silent, and I didn’t push it. He had the cop look on.

“You told me about the dog incident. Sorry I overreacted.” He drained his beer and ate the last chip. “Ready to get back to our date?”

I took a big gulp to finish off my drink. As the frozen delight went down my throat, my head exploded. Too cold, too fast—brain freeze. I put my hands up to my nose and breathed the warmed air in slowly. Slowly the pain went away. I sighed, then smiled. “I’m good.”

“You don’t lie well.”

“Sorry.” I stood and waited for him to join me. The sunlight bouncing off the clear blue water of the pool caused me to slip my sunglasses off the top of my head and cover my eyes.

Greg took my arm in his and kissed the top of my head. “I’m not.”

Monday morning I found my latest novel and Emma next to me on the mattress and the sun shining in the windows. I never set an alarm for my days off. Ever. I took the early bird shift at the store so on my days off I deserved a few more winks of sleep. Unfortunately, my internal clock usually went off earlier than I’d like.

Today was no exception. Six
A.M.
on the dot according to my Mickey Mouse clock on the nightstand. Emma licked my arm as soon as she saw my eyes open.

“Hold on, I’ll let you outside.” I walked to the bedroom door and removed the chair from under the knob. Now it was habit, even though Greg had given my house the all-clear last night. Until Craig’s murder was solved, I figured a little paranoia couldn’t hurt.

Sauntering down the stairs, I let Emma out, transferred the wet clothes to the dryer, and made coffee. Sitting at the table, I started the rest of my weekend list. Jimmy Marcum had some papers for me to sign for the business. It seemed like we were always filing some business license or something. Last spring, Jimmy saved my butt when the city tried to condemn my house without giving me time to repair. Now they only talked to Jimmy. No more process servers showing up at my door.

I didn’t think Mayor Baylor had given up on his quest to annex the property. Before, he’d wanted me to sell to a condo developer who actually was being manipulated by a girlfriend who thought the house hid buried pirate treasure. Now rumor was he wanted to build a South Cove tourist center, and since my property was the closest to the highway, I was the logical choice to condemn in order to build his vision.

Except I didn’t want to move, sell, or even think about the possibilities. I don’t know why whenever he got an idea, it always focused on my house or my business. After the run-in with him and his wife last weekend, I was beginning to think our good mayor didn’t care for me much.

Not that I cared a whit what he thought.

Glancing down at my list, I’d written three things:
Jimmy
,
shopping
, and
laundry
. Since it was just me, housecleaning only hit my to-do list once a month or if I was expecting company. And neither of those two qualifiers were in store for the next week. I did need to get a new dress for the mystery launch party. I’d kept myself from checking over the book order this week. Jackie had handled it all, and even though I could have determined who the author was, I was enjoying the mystery, too.

I poured a cup of coffee and then added one more item to the list. Not that I’d forget, but so I could check it off:
Take Emma for a run.

By four, Emma and I had run, the laundry was done, and I was on my way back from Bakerstown. Everything had gone like clockwork. To reward myself, I was scarfing down a fish sandwich from one of the fast food heaven places the city council regulations didn’t allow in South Cove. I’d turned up the stereo, Dixie Chicks blaring from the speakers, when the speed of my Jeep started to slow.

Frowning, I pushed harder on the gas pedal. Nothing. Then I saw the display where my speed digitally displayed the last time I’d noticed.
Low Fuel Warning,
it flashed. And apparently, the light had been flashing for a while, because now it wasn’t just low, but nonexistent.

I eased the car over to the side of the road and pulled out my cell. I got Greg’s voice mail. I wasn’t far out of town, maybe ten miles. I could walk, but I’d bought ice cream at the store. I’d hate to have that melt and seep over my brand-new carpet in the back. Gritting my teeth, I left a message—
come save me.
I would get lecture number three: “Don’t ever pass a gas station if you have less than a half a tank.”

We’d been dating less than a year, so we didn’t have many stock lectures. But this one was high up on Greg’s worry list. I guess him being in law enforcement, he saw the other side to being stranded. Worse than melted ice cream.

I finished my fries and wondered if I should turn off the stereo. How much did it take to drain a battery? I was considering my answer when I saw an older pickup stop behind me.

I groaned. My knight in shining armor was Ray Stewart. I locked the doors and rolled the window down a crack, not enough for him to get a hand inside. I’d seen too many movies where the kidnapped woman had been Tasered by someone they knew. He might be a local, but I wasn’t stupid.

I watched in my side mirror as he ambled up to the Jeep, glancing in the back to see my grocery sacks. His smile creeped me out a tad. When he reached the driver’s side door and leaned over, putting his hands on top of the car, his smile widened when he saw me sitting there.

“Well, hello, beautiful.” He leaned back and took a second look at the Jeep. “I didn’t recognize you outside of that beat-up piece of crap you usually drive. I guess the rumors were true.”

I kept my hand on my cell, hoping Greg would call back. Anytime now. “What rumors, Ray?”

“The old bat must have left you some bank.” He smiled and the gold tooth glinted in the sunlight. “I figured it was small town rumors.”

“I don’t have time to chat.”

He burst out laughing. “Honey, it looks like you have all the time in the world to talk with me. Where you going to go?”

I held up my cell. “Greg’s on his way.”

Ray took a step back and held up his hands in mock surrender. “Ooooohhh, I don’t want to upset your cop boyfriend. Do the two of you barbeque baby back ribs? Or does he consider that cannibalism?”

“Not funny.” For the first time, I glanced at Ray’s eyes. He’d pushed back his aviator wrap glasses on top of his greasy, too-long hair when he saw I was in the car. The degree of bloodshot made his eyes almost red, and I wondered if he was coming off a bender or on something worse. I focused on his pupils, but before I could determine whether they were dilated or not, he noticed my interest and flipped the shades down.

“Bright out here,” he commented. “Why don’t you open your door and we can go wait in my truck for your boy toy?”

I wondered if that line ever worked on anyone. “I’m pretty comfortable here. But thanks.”

His lips curved into a smile. “Then why don’t you open the door and let me slip into that leather seat next to you.” He leaned in closer. “I’ve never done it in a brand-new car before.”

And you’re not going to today, either.
I stopped myself from gagging. Just then I saw a car coming down the road heading out of town. I reached down and flashed my lights, hoping the driver wouldn’t think Ray and I were talking. The blue crossover pulled in front of my Jeep and Bill Simmons got out.