“True.”
“Besides, it will keep us busy.”
“You’re right.”
“Plus, there’s one added benefit,” she said. “When we’re done, we’ll have some delicious cookies to eat.”
“Say no more. I’m sold.”
“Good. Let’s get started.”
Chapter Two
My mother and I tried our best to focus on the happiest memories that we had of my father, but it was a rollercoaster of an evening for us both. By the end of the night, I was emotionally ragged.
Not surprisingly, I crashed out pretty hard when I returned home. In fact, I ended up sleeping like a rock. Before I knew it, the morning sun was coming through my window.
I reluctantly rolled out of bed, got dressed, and headed over to Majestic Cove Bakery. When I arrived, my dear friend, Kristina Fowler, greeted me. After explaining how my evening had gone, she expressed her sympathy.
If I wasn’t careful, our entire conversation could devolve into a pity party. I wanted to avoid that. Feeling bad wasn’t going to bring my father back. However, it could threaten to derail my entire day. Whether I liked it or not, I had work to do. I couldn’t afford to just sit at home missing my father.
In an effort to get myself into a better headspace, I tried to steer the conversation to a different topic.
“What’s going on in your life? Any breaking news?” I asked.
Kristina nodded. “As a matter of fact, there is.”
“All right. Let’s hear it.”
“I have a date.”
“Are you serious?”
She nodded.
My face lit up. “That’s great.”
“Don’t get too excited.”
I squinted. “Why not?”
“Because I have no idea how it’s going to turn out.”
“That last disaster of a date really turned your expectations upside down, didn’t it?”
“It sure did. Honestly, I haven’t been the same since then.”
“Talk about a bad date. Well, I hope this new date goes much better.”
“So do I,” Kristina replied. “I could really use a break. The question is, will I get one?”
“Be sure to let me know.”
“I will.” Kristina stopped talking and got a faraway look in her eyes.
“It’s a shame that you’re not more excited. Dates don’t come around very often.”
“Trust me. I’m quite aware of that. I hate that I feel the need to manage my expectations. But in this situation, I just can’t help myself. After the big letdown last time, I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment.”
“That’s smart.”
“On the flip side, if things do go well, I’m going to give myself permission to get more excited than ever.”
“Let’s hope that’s what happens.”
“I have my fingers crossed.”
“How many fingers are you crossing exactly?”
“All of them.”
I chuckled. “Guess I should have known you were going to say that.”
“By the way, if things do go well on this date, maybe you’ll finally sign up for an account with the dating site.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“And you call me a skeptic. Could you be less interested in online dating?”
“Look. I just happen to have some doubts. All right?”
“I just want you to be happy.” Kristina stopped talking and looked over my shoulder. “Of course, maybe you don’t need online dating after all.”
I turned around. “Why not?”
“Because maybe Mr. Right is closer than you think.”
As I looked at the front door of the bakery, I spotted Detective Scott Webster approaching the shop.
“You still believe that Scott and I are meant to be together, don’t you?” I asked.
“There are worse men for you to end up with,” Kristina said.
“You sound eerily like my mother.”
“Maybe that should tell you something.”
“Maybe. Then again, maybe not.”
“You should give it some serious thought.”
“I will.”
“Good.”
“Not now, though. It’s too early in the morning for deep thoughts,” I joked.
Chapter Three
When Scott entered the bakery, he spotted me at the counter and approached me. All the while, he had a concerned look on his face.
“How are you holding up?” he asked.
“Why are you taking such a serious tone with me?” I wondered.
“I know you had a rough night.”
Even though I appreciated Scott’s sympathy, it seemed to come out of nowhere. After all, I had not told him that yesterday was my father’s birthday. I couldn’t help but wonder where he was getting his information from.
“How did you know that I had a tough day?” I asked.
“Melody, have you forgotten that I’m a detective?”
“I realize that. But what does that have to do with this situation? Are you investigating me or something?”
“Don’t go jumping to crazy conclusions. I was scrolling through my newsfeed this morning and I saw your mom’s social media post about your father.”
“Oh. Right. I forgot about that,” I said.
“Your mother posted quite a tribute.”
“Yeah. She went all-out. That post was something.”
“What a terrible time for you both. I’m so sorry.”
So much for avoiding the topic of my father’s death. His passing was the center of attention once again. Rather than trying to change the subject, I just let the conversation take me in whatever direction it wanted to go in.
“Yeah. It’s pretty crazy. You know what that’s like,” I said.
A lot of people had expressed sympathy after my dad’s death. Most of them had no experience with that kind of loss. Scott was different. He was no strange to tragedy.
“I sure do.” Scott stared out into the distance. “Unfortunately, I have a little too much experience in that area.”
He wasn’t kidding. Nor was he exaggerating. A few years ago, Scott had lost both of his parents to a terrible accident. They had died at the hands of a drunk driver. The driver had plowed into their car.
That being said, mourning wasn’t a competition. It wasn’t about who had suffered a greater loss. In my case, it was about trying to cobble my life back together.
“I don’t know about you, but when I was younger, I never would have imagined that I’d be going through something like this in my thirties.”
“I know what you mean. But clearly, life had other plans for us both.”
“Life is crazy like that.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“I’m trying not to. But life is the one that keeps reminding me.”
“By the way, if there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know.”
I put my hand up. “On that note, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Does it ever get easier?”
“What? Life?”
“The pain? The heartbreak? The memories of your deceased loved ones?” I said.
“Do you want me to be honest?” he asked.
I looked deep into his eyes. “I’m not going to like your answer, am I?” I asked.
“What makes you say that?” he replied.
“Because if you had something positive to say, you would have just come out with it. Instead, you answered my question with a question of your own.”
“Right. Of course,” he replied. “My question stands, though. Do you want me to be honest with you?”
I became pensive for a moment. I then said, “Hit me with the truth.”
“No. I don’t think it does get easier. I certainly haven’t gotten over losing my parents. I still take things day by day. And I imagine that will never change.”
My eyebrows rose. “Wow. You weren’t k
idding. That’s some brutal honesty.”
“I warned you.”
I nodded. “You did.” I took a deep breath. “I know your instincts are usually really solid, but in this case, I hope you’re wrong.”
“Same here. Honestly, I’d love to be wrong.”
“There’s something you don’t hear from a detective very often.”
“Nope. But it’s the truth. Being wrong about this would be great.”
“Your instincts are telling you otherwise, though, aren’t they?”
“Yes,” he replied. “I think this hole in my heart is never going away.”
I winced. “That’s crazy.”
“I’ll let you know if that changes in the future.”
“Good.”
He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. “In the meantime, hang in there.”
“I’ll do my best,” I said.
Chapter Four
After an emotional powder keg of a morning, I headed off to work. When I arrived at the detective agency that I ran with fellow investigator, Lisa Williamson, I told myself that a slow day at the office would be nice. At least, in theory. In practice, that might not pan out very well.
While getting a breather would allow me to ease my way into work, if I didn’t have any pressing matters to attend to, my thoughts might begin to wander. That could become really dangerous. Especially if my brain decided to focus on how much I missed my dad.
On the flip side, if I opened up the door of my office and a client was waiting for me, I would at least be distracted by all of the details that went into starting a new investigation. There was one problem with that, however. Jumping from one serious conversation to another without a break could lead to overload.
Much to my relief, when I arrived at my office, I was able to take a seat in my chair, lean back, and catch my breath. For the next few minutes, I attempted to clear my head. Unfortunately, that was much easier said than done. To the point where I almost started doing some paperwork just to keep busy.
A few minutes later, a middle-aged man in a business suit opened the door of the detective agency. I immediately jumped up from my chair and greeted him. So much for peace and quiet. I was happy to be talking to a new potential client.
The man introduced himself as Zack Wright. He worked in the finance industry. After telling him my name and shaking his hand, I invited him to take a seat in my office. From there, I asked what I could do for him.
Zack did not hesitate to get straight to the point. “I want you to dig up dirt on my daughter’s boyfriend.”
“Okay. What kind of dirt are we talking about?” I asked.
“Any that you can find.”
“Can you be a little more specific?”
“Kyle Flanagan is bad news. There’s something really sketchy about him.”
“What makes you say that?”
“My instincts.”
“Is that all?”
“That’s enough. I have really good instincts.”
“I’m not questioning that.”
“Good.”
“It’s more that I’m curious if you have any proof of your claims.”
“No,” he said. “But that’s where you come in. I want you to find something that will prove me right.”
“All right.”
Zack pulled up a photo on his phone and showed it to me. “Look at this guy. Tell me he doesn’t look like bad news to you.”
Kyle was a man in his early twenties. He had long hair and a beard. He was wearing ripped jeans and a tank top. He had a sleeve of tattoos on both of his arms. In the photo, he was leaning against a motorcycle. That wasn’t all, though. He also had a guitar case behind him.
Suddenly, it became clear why Zack was so worried. Kyle practically had bad boy written all over him. The question became, was he actually a bad guy, or did he just look the part?
“Do you see what I’m talking about?” Zack asked.
“He does have a distinct look to him,” I said.
“It’s more than just a look. Kyle is bad news.”
“You keep saying that. Trust me. I get you loud and clear.”
“So, can you dig up some dirt on him?”
I held up my hand. “You’re getting a little ahead of yourself. Have you expressed your concerns to your daughter?”
“Of course, I have.”
“And what did she say?”
“She wouldn’t listen to me. She thought I was overreacting. She told me that I just need to get to know Kyle better. And that when I do, I’ll warm up to him.”
“How much have you spoken with Kyle?”
“Enough to know that he’s the wrong guy for my daughter. He’s a bad influence.”
“By the way, how old is your daughter?”
“Brianna is twenty-three.”
“So, she’s an adult then.”
“Well, yes. Technically. But she’s not acting like one. She’s letting her feelings cloud her judgment.”
“What’s your plan then? Let’s say I do take your case. And that I’m able to dig up some dirt. What are you going to do with it?”
“Show it to my daughter.”
“Okay. But like I mentioned before, she’s an adult. She can make her own decisions. You can’t force her to stop dating him.”
“True. She’s a smart woman, though. If I present her with enough proof that Kyle is trouble, Brianna will come to her senses and break things off with him.”
“All right. And what if it turns out there’s no dirt to dig up? What will you do then?”
“Trust me. You’ll be able to find something.”
“Okay. In that case, I’ll see what I can dig up.”
“Great. The sooner you can find something, the better,” Zack said.
“I’ll get right to work,” I replied.
Chapter Five
When Zack left my office, I couldn’t help but be struck by the strange sense of timing that life had sometimes. Of all the days for me to get a case like this, it was wild that it would happen just as I was wrestling with my emotions about my own father. In a way, it was really overwhelming. On the flip side, I felt like the universe had custom-tailored this case for me.
That didn’t make me terribly happy. I would have preferred to tackle much different subject matter. An insurance fraud investigation would have been ideal. It could have distracted me. Unfortunately, that wasn’t in the cards for me.
Whether I liked my assignment or not, I had a job to do. That said, before I dove into the case, I found myself making a number of comparisons between Zack and my father. In a number of ways, they were similar. My father had been a successful businessman. He also wanted the best for me. In addition, he had his worries about me.
With all that in mind, my dad would have never hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on one of my boyfriend’s. The thought wouldn’t have ever entered his mind. Even though I wasn’t being paid to share my opinions, I felt like my client was going a little overboard. At the same time, I wasn’t a parent. If I was a mother, maybe my entire perspective on the situation would be different.
Ultimately, it didn’t really matter what I thought about this case. The most important thing was determining whether Zack was correct. Was his daughter’s boyfriend a bad guy? If so, could I dig up some dirt on him?
***
Normally, at the beginning of a case, I liked to do some surveillance. Keeping my distance from a subject often proved to be very beneficial to me. In fact, there were times when I was able to conduct my entire investigation without having to speak with the subject face to face.
Other times, that just wasn’t possible. While I could attempt to fly under the radar throughout this case, I didn’t believe that was the best course of action.
Instead, I decided to head over to the guitar store where Kyle Flanagan worked and decided to start a conversation with him. As I made my way to the back of the store, Kyle had a guitar in his hand. He was playing a tune.
>
Before I opened my mouth to say a word to him, I stopped and listened to him play. When he noticed me watching him, he put his guitar down.
“Keep going,” I said. “That was really good.”
“That’s what you say,” Kyle replied. “I was just messing around to kill some time.”
“Maybe so, but it was still really good.”
“If you think that was something, you should come and see my band play sometime.”
“Maybe I will. Do you have any gigs scheduled soon?”
“Actually, it’s funny that you mention that because we’re playing tonight.”
“Wow. Where?”
“Gerald O’Toole’s Theater.”
“Cool. What’s the name of your band?”
“The Dead, the Drunk, and the Lucky.”
“That’s an interesting name for a band.”
Kyle smiled wide. “Thanks. I came up with it.”
“I can’t wait to hear some of your original songs. I’m going to do everything I can to stop by the theater tonight.”
“That would be great. Which brings up another point. If you do come to the show, feel free to bring a couple of friends. I’d love it if the place was completely packed.”
“Do your shows usually sell out?”
“No. That’s why it would be really awesome if you could bring some friends with you. If my band proves that we can draw a big crowd, we can start playing larger venues.”
“Wait. Are you telling me that you don’t want to work at a guitar store for the rest of your life?” I joked.
He scoffed. “Are you kidding? I want to be playing packed arenas. And I mean, as soon as possible. I was born to be a rock star.”
“Is that right?”
He nodded. “Oh yeah. And I’m not going to stop until it happens.”
“Well, I wish you luck. Maybe one day I’ll be able to say that I knew you before you were famous.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“The question is, when you’re famous, will you forget about the little people?”
He shook his head. “No way.”
“That would be refreshing. After all, fame has been known to change people. That rock star life can get pretty crazy.”
Majestic Cove Mysteries Box Set 2 Page 8
