Murder on Wheels (3 page)

“Dogs aren't supposed to be off their leashes on the beach,” Austin muttered.

Kacey slapped his arm. “Stop being a rule book. Who died and left you king?” She turned toward me. “I know we live in a small town, but how crazy is it to run into you again today. Jane, isn't it?”

“Jill. And this is Emma.” I reached down to rub the top of Emma's head, and she scooted over to lean against my leg as we stood there. “I just love this stretch of beachfront. We run a few times a week, especially when the weather's good like today.”

“I know.” Kacey spun around in a circle. “Isn't it grand today? When Austin mentioned we should take a break and go for a walk, I was all over that idea.”

I turned my attention to Dustin Austin. I noticed his wife called him by his last name along with everyone I'd ever met. The guy hated the name Dustin, but when I'd first met him, I had felt weird calling him Austin. That thought was pushed aside by another memory crowding into my brain. The last time I'd seen him, before his wife showed up in town, he'd been in my storeroom, kissing Sadie. I could tell by the look on his face, the memory had occurred to him, too. “So, Austin, it's been a while. I hear you and Kacey are opening a dessert food truck.”

He frowned, then turned back to Kacey, grabbing her. “We've got to go.”

“Ouch, you're hurting me!” She pulled her arm out of his grasp. “Sometimes he doesn't think. Like the time he kissed me after eating a cookie and I had to be rushed to the hospital.”

I stared at her. “How would a cookie send you to the hospital?”

“I've got a mad wheat allergy. I love to bake, but I have to be really careful with the ingredients I use. That's one of the reasons we decided to open the food truck, Austin got tired of eating all my experiments. Besides, people are going crazy on this gluten-free thing, so I thought it was time to let them eat cake, too.” Kacey shrugged. “So to speak.”

“I'm sorry if I hurt you.” Austin put his hand on the small of Kacey's back. I couldn't pinpoint his true age, but I knew he had to be in his late fifties. Kacey, on the other hand, couldn't be more than thirty or thirty-five. “We need to get going. I forgot the health inspector is coming by today.”

“No, he isn't, you said he was coming next week.” Kacey didn't budge from her spot. She grinned at me. “I put it on my new calendar. You should see all the planner options they have down at that office supply place in Bakerstown. I wanted all of them, but settled on a weekly planner that had a slot where I could put my own pictures on the cover. So it looks just like me.”

“That sounds nice.” I loved seeing Austin squirm. “I have a lot of friends in the area who are addicted to their planners.”
Sadie being one of them.
“Maybe that's a topic for one of our Business-to-Business meetings.”

Austin turned stone-white. “The inspector called back this morning and rescheduled. He said that if we don't meet him today, it will be a couple of months before he can get out here.” Austin turned Kacey's head away from watching the seagulls frolic on the waves. “We really have to go.”

“Fine. I guess we have to go then.” Kacey gave Emma a kiss on the top of her head and smiled at me. “I'll see you later. Maybe I'll come in to your shop tomorrow. What time do you work?”

Austin pulled her away and toward the parking lot exit. I called after them, “Five to noon. Come in any time.”

I watched as Austin dragged his wife up the stairs to the lot and they disappeared from view. I looked around the now-empty beach and unclicked Emma's leash. “Let's finish our run.”

By the time Greg arrived to pick me up for our clams and beer date, I'd finished showering and was dressed. I sat with my legs tucked under me, my formal flip-flops with the oversized flower decoration on the floor next to the couch. Emma slept on top of one of them, making sure I didn't slip out without her noticing.

I'd left the front door open so the sun and air could come through the screen. And also so I wouldn't have to get up to let Greg in. He grinned when he saw me on the couch. “Lady of leisure these days, huh?”

“Get off my back. This is my no-guilt Monday. Although I did run with Emma, it was merely for pleasure reasons, not for the exercise.” I stretched and put the book on the coffee table. “We ready to go? Or do you want an iced tea before we leave?”

He glanced at his watch. “Reservations are at seven, so we have a little time. Iced tea would be great.”

Emma woke with a start and ran toward Greg as he opened the screen and came into the living room. “Hey, girl. Did you get to go on a run today?”

Emma wiggled her entire body. She loved Greg. Which was good since he spent most of his free time here when he wasn't keeping South Cove safe for its citizens. “I'll be right back.”

Greg followed me into the kitchen and kissed my neck as I poured the tea over the ice cubes in two glasses. “Today was crazy. Your friend the mayor has decided that we should do joint training exercises with Bakerstown on surviving a terrorist attack. So now I've been assigned a task force to develop the plan for the exercise.”

“More meetings. You must be thrilled.” I knew for a fact Greg hated meetings. I handed him the tea. “Porch or kitchen?”

He glanced out the window. “Better make it kitchen. If I get comfortable on that swing of yours, we'll never make our dinner.”

“Worse things could happen,” I said as I walked over to the table and sat.

Greg joined me. “Yeah, like a terrorist attack on a little tourist town no one has ever heard about.”

“That's not true. We do all kinds of advertising in the big California tourist magazines. And we were nominated that one year for best tourist town to walk through with less than six thousand residents,” I countered.

“In 2001. Face it, Jill, we're a small fish in a really big pond of places people can go to spend a weekend.” He shrugged. “And I kind of like it that way.”

I sipped my tea. Maybe we were just going to have to do something about that. I'd talk to Aunt Jackie next week about ways to increase our image in the tourist community. Greg looked beat, and I was sure the mayor was riding his tail about this new project. So I decided to change the subject.

“Guess who I ran into twice today?”

H
alfway through my bucket of clams, Greg's phone rang. I didn't even look up, but started eating faster. From experience, it appeared date night was coming to an end. I quickly buttered a slice of their homemade fresh bread and devoured it.

“It could just be a check-in.” Greg chuckled, watching my increased speed.

“Not with my luck,” I mumbled with my mouth full. “And this bread isn't as good warmed up in the microwave.”

He wiped a butter spot off my chin with his napkin, then answered his phone. “Hey, Tim, what's up?”

As he listened, Greg watched me drain my bottle of beer, then handed me his, which was almost still full. I took it and cracked open more clamshells. He sighed. “No, you did the right thing. I'll be there in twenty minutes. I've got to drop Jill back at the house.”

He waved over our waitress and nodded to the two clam buckets on the table. “Can you put those in a to-go box and bring me our check?”

The woman took Greg's bucket and reached her hand in to get mine, but I snagged one more clam before they all disappeared. Greg started laughing. “I think she thought you might bite off her hand.”

I finished the last clam, then took the bread and wrapped all but one slice into a napkin, putting the bundle in my purse. I buttered the last slice and glared at Greg. “I hate Tim.”

He put his hands up. “Not Tim's fault. He tried to call Toby in, but he's all the way in the city with Elisa. I guess we shouldn't try to have date night on the nights he has off.”

“If that's even going to be a problem anymore.” I polished off the bread and took a sip of Greg's beer. “What has he told you about him and Elisa? Things seemed a little tense today at the staff meeting.”

“Even with you handing out bonuses? That's odd.” Greg took the bill from the waitress, and handed it back with his credit card. “Typically when you give people money, they're in a good mood.”

“I know, right.” I thought about Toby's behavior. “Well, actually, it happened before we gave them the envelopes. I think he felt pretty bad about being a jerk then.”

“Toby usually isn't a jerk.” Now Greg looked thoughtful. “Come to think of it, I haven't heard him talk about Elisa for a while. I just thought he was keeping his private life, you know, private.”

“In South Cove? Like that's going to happen.” I slipped on my sweater and stood after Greg got his credit card back. He carried a large Styrofoam box with what should be our clams. “Too bad you're not going to get any of those. Or the cheesecake I brought home to serve with coffee.”

“You're evil, you know that?” Greg put his arm around me as we walked out of the restaurant. “But I still love you.”

The words “I love you” were still new to our relationship. I got a delicious chill every time he said them. Especially after he called me evil. He held the truck door open for me and set the box on my lap. “So, what's going on that Tim needs help?”

Greg kissed me before he answered, making me sad he wasn't coming over after dinner, and not just for the cheesecake. He rubbed my bottom lip with his thumb. “Normally with official South Cove police business, I'd say none of your business, but I'll give you this one. Someone broke into that food truck parked outside of Austin's Bikes and trashed the insides.”

“Vandalism?” We'd had problems in South Cove before with businesses being targeted, but typically, there was an underlying reason behind the attack. I grinned at him. “Or terrorism.”

He shook his finger at me. “Don't you start.” He shut the door and came around to the driver's side. Starting up the engine, he turned toward me. “Your new friend Kacey says someone stole all her recipes.”

I didn't even turn my head so Greg couldn't watch me jump to the same connection he'd already made. The only person who would want Kacey's recipes was the woman from whom they were stolen originally. “There's no way it's Sadie,” I finally said as we approached the turnoff toward South Cove.

“Honey, even with all the reasons why it could be, I agree with you. Sadie just doesn't have a mean bone in her body.” Greg parked the truck and came alongside to open my door. We walked to the porch and I realized I wasn't hungry anymore.

“You'll call me later, right?” I unlocked the door and flipped on the inside light. Greg set the to-go box on my little table and pulled me into a hug.

“Don't worry, it's not Sadie.” Greg squeezed me, then stepped back on the porch. “Lock up. I'll talk to you tomorrow.”

I locked the door and watched him drive away before I went to the kitchen to put the clams in the fridge. I got a soda and let Emma inside. He hadn't said he would tell me anything, I realized as I wandered upstairs to try to lose myself back inside the pages of the book I'd been reading before our date.

 

The alarm shrieked me awake the next morning. Tuesdays were always hard, mostly because I typically read until I dropped asleep the night before. Today was no exception. I only had my morning shift now, even though Aunt Jackie had Tuesdays off as Sasha had taken over the evening slot. I stumbled downstairs, let Emma out, and grabbed a cup of coffee. Thank goodness for delay-set brewing pots. I didn't know what I'd do if I had to actually make coffee in this condition. I headed upstairs to shower, sipping the coffee as I walked.

I beat my first commuter customer by twenty minutes and for the next hour, I filled travel mugs with our best brew. Aunt Jackie had finally agreed to a customer rewards card, with one caveat. They had to purchase one of our travel mugs with the CBM–South Cove logo and bring it back in every morning to purchase their coffee. Then I could punch their card. Ten visits, they got a free coffee. And on those days, most of them picked up a treat to take with them to their day job for breakfast.

I had to admit, the program had increased the number of commuter visits a week. They loved the free coffee; I didn't even clip coupons to save money.

Soon, the commuter traffic slowed, and I was able to complete the task list that Aunt Jackie had developed for every shift. Mine just had additional duties, like ordering books and reviewing our P&L statements—which made my eyes cross every time I had to pretend to understand what was happening with the business. As long as Aunt Jackie seemed happy with the numbers, I was happy.

When Toby arrived, I sat slouched on the couch, feet up on the coffee table, and was halfway done with the new YA book Sasha's teen group was reading this month. I heard the bell over the door ring and tried to sit up straighter until I saw it was him.

“Busy morning?” He went behind the counter and threw his jacket through the back door onto my desk. Then he washed his hands and started fresh coffee. He peered over at me as I'd returned to the story without answering. “Good book?”

“Dragons.” I closed the book and stretched. I went over to the counter. I'd finish tonight. Typically Greg and I didn't even do dinner together on Tuesdays. He said it was his man cave night. I think he just wanted to watch basketball. “So, what did you hear about the break-in?”

“What break-in?” Toby swung a clean towel over his shoulder. “I was in the city with Elisa for dinner and a movie.”

“What did you see?” I was sure he'd heard about the food truck issue, but I'd play his game, for a minute or two.

“Some chick flick. Seriously, if there isn't anything getting blown up or a gunfight, I don't pay much attention. I did get an awesome nap and Elisa didn't even have a clue.” Toby sank down onto a stool we kept behind the counter. “She seems to be clueless about a lot of things I do lately.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Clearly
something
was going on. I watched as he halfheartedly adjusted a few cups into larger stacks.

He shrugged. “I don't know. We hardly see each other lately, and when we do, she's on her phone texting more than talking to me.”

“I thought you were living together?” That had been the last big announcement, but I'd heard it from Greg, who'd heard it from Esmeralda or Tim. The exact source of gossip is hard to pinpoint at times in South Cove.

“We are, except on nights when I work late, I stay at the station. She says it disrupts Isabell's schedule.” Toby poured me a cup of coffee and pushed it across the counter slowly. “I think she's seeing someone else.”

If anyone would know the signs of juggling two or more “friends,” it would be Toby. The boy had been a player of the worst kind before he'd met Elisa. Now, he was a one-woman man, but it seemed like his woman didn't want to play that game anymore. “I'm sure it's just a phase. I mean, relationships have their ups and downs. Have you tried to talk to her about it?”

Toby shook his head. “Nope, I'm pretending like everything is okay. And so is she.” He got a water pitcher out from under the counter and filled it on autopilot. When he'd finished, he looked at it like it had just appeared. “Crap, I'm not supposed to provide free water anymore, am I?”

“Only if they ask, according to Aunt Jackie.” I took the pitcher over to its regular spot and took cups out of the counter below. “She won't be here today, so don't worry about it. And if she pops in, I set up the water station, not you.”

It felt weird worrying about water when we had an ocean filled with the stuff less than a mile away. Too bad some scientist couldn't come up with a way to change salt water into fresh. As I gathered my stuff to leave, Toby's girls started coming in the shop. The man brought in a lot of business for the shop, mostly of the female variety. But as far as I knew, he'd been a total professional since he'd started dating Elisa, even if the women coming in were less than happy about it.

As I passed by the green food truck with yellow crime scene tape all over it, I realized I hadn't found out anything about the break-in. I sat on the curb and dialed my own gossip channel. Amy Newman worked at City Hall as the city planner. Most days, her duties landed smack-dab in the receptionist category. Besides, I hadn't heard from her since the double date on Sunday.

Her line went straight to voice mail. I left a quick message for her to call, then looked at the time. Sadie would be done with her baking and delivery by now; maybe she'd like to have lunch. My stomach growled. Of course, I could just go into Diamond Lille's by myself and eat, but Lille had been a bit cranky lately, especially when she saw me. I dialed Sadie's number.

Sadie's purple PT Cruiser with the Pies on the Fly decal pulled into Lille's parking lot ten minutes later. I'd stayed on my bench, reading the dragon book. She beeped her horn as she passed me, and I stuffed the book back into my tote and crossed the street to meet her. It wasn't that I was afraid of Lille, not exactly. I was afraid of her banning me from the only restaurant in South Cove, if you didn't count my coffee shop and now Kacey's health van.

Sadie gave me a quick hug. “So glad you called. I needed a break. Nick came home from Stanford over the weekend and we ran around the entire time getting him restocked for the dorm. I swear that boy goes through more socks and granola bars than anyone else I know.”

“How's he doing? Does he like his classes?” Nick Michaels was one of South Cove's wonder kids. He'd gotten straight As in high school, been the team quarterback for the last two years, and sang in the church choir. I wondered how college was treating him.

Sadie smiled. “He's liking his clubs. He joined debate and has been swamped with the work. Classes have surprised him. He's not the only smart kid in the room.”

“I can see that.” I held open the door and aimed us toward my normal booth, but I stopped short. It was already taken. On a Tuesday. I peered closer and saw Amy and Kacey waving at us. Sadie started backing up.

“I can't eat with her,” Sadie choked out.

I figured Sadie had already seen Kacey around town. There wasn't much that went on in South Cove that everyone didn't know. In fact, the entire dining room seemed to be waiting for our next step. I touched Sadie's shirtsleeve and stopped her from running out of the diner. “Stand tall. We won't eat with them.” I pointed her toward a booth where we wouldn't see Amy or Kacey. “Go grab that booth, I'll stop and say hi and then be right over.”

Sadie nodded and almost ran toward the booth, weaving through the tables. I stepped over to greet Amy. “Hey, Amy, Kacey.” I nodded to Amy. “We had the same idea. I called you earlier about lunch, but you must have already been here.”

Kacey nodded. “Amy and I started talking last night after the police left and realized how much we have in common. I used to surf competitively in high school.”

Of course you did.
What I said was, “I didn't know that. Amy loves talking surfing.” I glanced toward the booth where Sadie sat. “I'd better get going. I'm starving.”

“I'll call you tonight,” Amy said, focusing on her burger.

“See you soon,” Kacey called out as I stepped away.

When I sat down at the booth, Sadie's face was bright. “I can't believe that woman.”

I opened the menu and handed it to her. “It's not her fault. If you want to be mad at someone, you should be mad at Austin. He's the one who led you on.”

Sadie glared at me, then took the menu, slumping into her seat. “I know. It's just I thought things were going so well, especially once we settled that
thing
.”

I nodded, already knowing what the
thing
was. Austin had wanted a more physical relationship too quickly. Nick had been still at home, and Sadie wasn't into being a bad example for her kid. Once he'd gone off to school, Sadie had been more open to taking their relationship to the next level. Then Austin had dumped her.