“Ooh, siblings. I think I’ve already warned you. Macy has called dibs on your brothers. So how soon can they audition for her official plus one?”
He belts out a short-lived laugh as we park and quickly hop out.
The air is crisp and scented with cinnamon cider as we head on over to what looks to be a fairground. There are bounce houses for the kids, face painting, press your own cider, game booths with prizes, wagon rides, and a man dressed as a giant caramel apple taking pictures with a group of teenagers.
“Please, tell me about the siblings,” I say as I butt my shoulder to his. “Macy will smother me in the night if I don’t get the lowdown.”
“In that case I’d better cough up all I know. I do like to keep you safe, Bizzy.” His eyes meet with mine and there’s a softness to them that lets me know he means it. And the slight reference to me staying out of the case isn’t lost on me either. “I’ve got three brothers and a sister. I fall dead in the middle.”
My mouth opens with a smile. “Wow. Well, don’t stop there. I want to know all about them.”
“That’s easy. They’re all local. My sister Ella is married and has a baby on the way next spring. She works as a clerk for the fishing company her husband owns. That’s how they met. My brother Max—Maximus, owns a restaurant named after himself called Maximus. Don’t let the small ego fool you. He’s pretty full of himself.” His chest bounces with a laugh. “He’s a good guy, though. My brother Jamison is the attorney, family law, so our brothers have that in common.”
“Ooh, they do. And don’t forget they will always come in handy when there’s a divorce on the horizon.”
He cinches a short-lived smile my way, and my insides burn with heat.
“I’d stay away from Vegas if I were you.”
A laugh bubbles from me. “All right, go on. You have one brother to go.”
“Dalton. He’s the football coach for Ward University.”
“No kidding? Is that why they’re always losing?” I bump his shoulder one more time as he tips his head and laughs to the sky.
“Okay, you’re funny. But if they keep up this non-winning streak—he’s forbidden me from saying the L word—he won’t have a job come winter.”
“Ouch. In that case, go Ward. I hope my peers from Dexter can forgive me for that one.”
“You should come to a game. In fact, Ward is playing Dexter in two weeks. I’ve got spare tickets.”
“Really? I’d love to. But I could never get Emmie to come with me. I guess I could ask my brother.”
“This is me asking you.”
“What?” I inch back just as we approach the acres of apple trees all dotting the landscape in tight neat rows. “Jasper Wilder, are you up to no good?”
His brows swoop low. “I might be. But that’s for me to know and you to find out.”
“Someone was paying attention in middle school.” I laugh as I pick up a basket and we head on into a section of the orchard marked Pink Ladies.
He cocks his head to the side. “So, is that a yes?”
A group of women about my age make their way past us carrying a basket filled with delicious pink globes, and each one of them gives Jasper the once-over as they crane their necks to get a better look at him.
I’m sure he gets that all the time. He’s heart-stoppingly attractive. A handsome man like Jasper is practically a roadside hazard in any situation that calls for women to pay attention to where they’re going. I’m not sure why he’s paying attention to me.
His brows depress again. She’s going to say no. Shoot. I shouldn’t have led with that. I should have saved it. Heck, maybe I should have asked her to dinner. Somewhere nice like Maximus.
“Yes. To the game.” I offer a warm yet brief smile. “But I’ll be wearing my Dexter sweatshirt.”
A dull laugh rumbles through his chest. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“Good.” I point to a tree dripping with blush-colored ornaments that look as juicy as they do sweet. “So, three single brothers?”
“All single.” He makes a face. “You sound like you’re interested.”
And God, I hope that’s not the case. He openly frowns.
“Definitely not the case. Just surprised,” I say, plucking at the highest apple I can reach and chucking it into the basket. “I mean, I’m assuming they all look like you. That just seems odd they’re single.”
He chuckles a moment. “They’re odd and that about explains their inability to land a lady. But I’m one to talk.”
“Oh right.” I wince. “The counselor who’s dating the deputy now. You mentioned you dated for four years? That’s longer than some people stay married.”
He tosses a lazy grin my way. “Yeah, you.”
“All right. You leave my Vegas wedding alone. At least I got to check it off my bucket list.”
He shakes his head. “That doesn’t count. If marriage is something you want out of life, you need to go for the gold. Everyone deserves their shot at happiness.” He tosses an apple into the bucket. “Or misery, depending on your views.”
My mouth falls open. “You think marriage is a miserable institution?”
“Not me. My parents might think so. They’ve been divorced for years now.”
“Join the broken family club. I hated it when my parents divorced. I would much rather have gone through anything but that.”
“I agree.” He tosses in a few more apples. “And that’s exactly why I’m going to be in it for keeps.” He closes his eyes a moment. “I hope.”
“Me, too. I’ll do everything I can to be sure that the person I’m getting involved with is the one for me. I want it all, the long golden marriage, lots of kids, the white picket fence, dogs, cats, maybe even something reptilian to keep things interesting.”
His chest bounces with the thought. “Dalton brought home a snake once. My mother did not feel that made things interesting. She made him get rid of it and told him he could have all the snakes he wanted once he was on his own.”
“And that begs the question. How many snakes does he have?”
“Zero. He’s too tied to that university to have anything that needs to depend on him.”
“Well, then he’s wise. It’s hard to own a pet and then not be able to spend time with them. I see it happen all the time. The Country Cottage Inn is always booked in part because we’re the only place that allows animals. But even some of those would be cooped up all day if we didn’t offer daycare services.”
“I didn’t know the inn offered daycare services.”
“Yup. It’s open to all of Cider Cove. I run it with ample staff. We have an indoor and outdoor facility just off the back of the inn. You should come by some time and I’ll show you.”
“I will. I’ll bring Sherlock. He’ll get a kick out of it.” His chest expands as he lands a few more apples into the cart. “So, you ready to talk about Kaitlynn Zimmerman?”
Any trace of a smile melts right off my face. “Smooth, detective. You dressed down, brought me to a feel-good place, and loosened my good senses just enough to see if I’d spill what I know.”
He closes his eyes a moment. “You are good. But you’re wrong. If I wanted to shake away your good senses it wouldn’t be to get you to spill what you know.”
My eyes widen a moment as a searing heat rips through me.
“I’m sorry.” He holds up a hand. And yet I meant it.
He looks as if he feels equally bad for his actions as he does his thoughts.
“Don’t apologize. A man with an ego like yours can’t help it.”
Ego? There’s that. She hates me. He pierces me with those brilliant gray eyes. Good thing I have always been up for a challenge.
“What about Kaitlynn? Did you get a break in the case?”
“Maybe.” He’s back to frowning. “You asked about her engagement ring.”
“And you confirmed she was wearing it the day she died.”
“What made you ask?”
/> “The ring in her purse. That was no ordinary hunk of diamonds. It just looked like an engagement ring to me.”
“Me, too.” He looks pensively into the rows of trees before us.
“Did you contact her mother? I mean, maybe she knows something about it. Trust me. My mother would know if I happened to be in possession of two different engagement rings.”
“Kaitlynn and her mother were estranged.”
I wince hard. “That’s right. I think Rissa mentioned it. I guess I won’t pass Detective 101 for failing to memorize facts.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. Her father didn’t have a clue as to who the ring belonged to, but we’re assuming it’s Kaitlynn’s for now. Bizzy, can you think of anything else from the night of the murder that could move the case along?”
It’s my turn to gaze out at the acres of apple trees that extend before us as I consider this.
“You know, after Rissa and Kaitlynn had their big argument, Kaitlynn told me that Rissa was mad because someone in their social circle was seeing Rissa’s boyfriend. I guess it wasn’t behind her back because Rissa seemed to know about it. But seeing how heated she was, I’m betting she just found out. Maybe it was Rissa’s engagement ring? Maybe she took it off and it ended up in Kaitlynn’s possession?”
“Sounds plausible. I’ll have to talk to Rissa again. As in, I’ll do it alone.” His head ticks to the side as if to emphasize his point.
“Where’s the fun in that? Besides, I’m a woman. She’s much more likely to open up to me.”
“I don’t know about that.” He gives a wistful shake of the head. “She seemed pretty willing to open up to me the day I interrogated her. In fact, she was willing to give me a whole lot more than I was asking for.”
“Okay, I get it. She was into you and wanted to see how fast she could pin you to a mattress.” Our eyes hook to one another for an uncomfortable amount of time, and I don’t dare pry into his thoughts. “But I still think she wouldn’t open up to you about her ex.”
“Yes, but she might know the story behind the ring,” he asserts.
“Or she could lie in an effort to garner that lovely piece of ice. Speaking of her ex—or her current cheating boyfriend, what about Ben?”
Jasper’s chest expands with his next breath. “Ben O’Riley is on assignment for an advertising firm. He’s a photographer who has been in Singapore for the last six weeks. I’ve spoken to him, and he’s offered sufficient evidence that he’s been there. He’s due back in town soon. He seemed extremely devastated to hear Kaitlynn had passed away.”
“Extremely?” The word echoes in my mind long after he’s said it.
His phone rings, and he frowns down at the screen.
“Excuse me for a minute. It’s the precinct. I’ve got to take it.”
“Absolutely. Go ahead. I’ll make sure we have more apples than we can afford.”
Jasper takes off just as a loud group of teenagers head in this direction, and behind them is a brunette about my age, clad in overalls and the look of utter exhaustion written on her face. She’s got on a pair of bright yellow leather gloves that look far too big for her hands as she brushes the loose hair from her eyes with her arm. Her dark hair is pulled into a ponytail, and there’s something vaguely familiar about her.
She steps in close, and I see the apple-shaped nametag pinned to her shirt that reads Sammy in bright green letters.
“Sammy?” I ask, quickly glancing back to make sure Jasper isn’t about to pop out from the trees and bust me for making a move on his investigation.
“That’s me.” She’s suddenly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as she makes her way over. “How can I help you? You need a picker?” She grabs a tall stick lying on the ground and hands it my way. “If you ask me, the sweetest apples are up near the top. We’ve got ladders sprinkled around if you’re feeling brave. But be careful. Unless you’re here with a pair of strong arms to catch you in the event you fall, I wouldn’t do it.”
A brief vision of falling into Jasper’s beefy arms runs through my mind, and a rush of adrenaline runs through me at the thought.
“I’m no damsel in distress, but I’ll heed your warning and stay away. Hey, I think I met you. The night of the bonfire?”
“Oh.” She closes her eyes. “That’s right. You had the cute dog. I just hate thinking about that night. I was friends with the girl who was killed. Can you believe that? Someone really had it out for her.” Sammy looks to the ground as if lost in grief.
And if I’m not mistaken, it was Sammy who was talking about Kaitlynn in past tense that evening before she supposedly knew the poor girl was gone.
“I can’t imagine how things could have gone that wrong,” I say. “I guess they think it was a crime of passion. I mean, that kind of thing almost always points to the boyfriend, right?”
Her chest thumps at the thought. “Not this time. Chris wouldn’t hurt a fly. Okay, so maybe he’d hurt a fly, but he wouldn’t stab his girlfriend to death. And to do something like that in public? You’d have to be insane.”
God, he is insane, but aren’t we all?
“Yes,” I say hypnotically. “I mean, I firmly believe whoever did this was insane—at least in the moment.” I add the qualifier in the event she needs the out. “So, if Chris didn’t do it, who did? She didn’t have a secret man on the side, did she?”
“Kaitlynn?” She leans back as if the thought were incomprehensible. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. If she did, she was hiding the fact really well. But Chris didn’t hide it.” Her lips pull back. “He had someone else on the side.”
“What?” I squawk so loud the teenagers down the way turn around momentarily. “How could he have someone else? I heard they were engaged?” And on the rocks, but I’m not giving up that little tidbit.
A small laugh bucks through her. “There are no hard and fast rules to being a turkey. And Chris has always been ripe for the Thanksgiving table, if you know what I mean. There were whispers in our circle that he was stepping out on her. I figured it would get to her eventually.”
“Oh. Well, I manage the inn where she worked as a waitress, and I happened to see her arguing with her stepsister Rissa that night. Maybe it was Rissa who was sneaking off with Chris?”
She grimaces at the thought. “Heavens no. Rissa has her own problems. She didn’t need any of Kaitlynn’s trouble.”
“That’s right,” I say, hoping I can lead her down a thorny path. “Kaitlynn mentioned that Rissa was angry because someone was trying to steal her boyfriend. I guess I had it confused.”
“Don’t worry. It is confusing. And yes, Rissa was ticked because Kaitlynn’s best friend was putting the moves on her boyfriend. As far as I know, Rissa dumped him.”
“Kaitlynn’s best friend? Jeannie Branch?”
Her mouth falls open as she chokes on a laugh. “I can’t believe you know all my friends. You must have been really close to Kaitlynn at work.” Dear God. What else does she know? Exactly how much would Kaitlynn have told this woman?
“We were,” I lie. “So, who was the girl who was after Chris?”
“After? Pfft. You mean with. Chris didn’t hold back with that one.”
I’m not letting the cat out of the bag. I’ve already said way too much. Hannah would kill me if she knew I was talking about her to a perfect stranger no less.
“Oh, wait. Kaitlynn told me her name.” I snap my fingers. “It’s coming to me. It was Anna—or something like that.”
“Hannah.” She nods, wide-eyed as if marveling at the fact I had it on the tip of my tongue. How about that? I didn’t have to tell her. It sounds like Kaitlynn was blabbing all her secrets at work. Kaitlynn never did know when enough was enough. Her features grow dark as she assesses me.
“Hannah! Yes!” I slap my knee. “Oh, Kaitlynn hated her.”
“Of course, she hated her. She’s always hated Hannah. There was always this unspoken competition going on between them. Personally, I think Hannah was tryi
ng to swipe Kaitlynn’s fiancé just to prove that she could. Some girls are just catty that way to each other.”
So Chris was cheating on Kaitlynn with some girl named Hannah. I bet that’s exactly why they were on the rocks.
“I have a Hannah in my life, and believe me I don’t care for her. And yes, she’s made it a habit to swipe any and every man out of my paws.” I’m looking at you, Mackenzie Woods. Jasper flits through my mind, and my stomach cinches at the thought of her swiping him and those delicious kisses away.
Sammy’s brows jump as if she were amused. “You know what they say. If you lose them, they were never really yours to begin with.”
I try to shrug it off, but the words sting nonetheless “So, what’s Hannah doing these days? I bet she’s whistling Dixie because she gets Chris all to herself now.” I had to go with it.
“You’d be wrong. They’re staying far away from one another. Rumor has it, he cut her off after the murder. I guess an eternal absence makes the heart grow fonder, too. He’s doing the right thing, though. He’s finally showing Kaitlynn a little respect.”
I shrug. “I guess a dead fiancée is enough to douse just about any philandering flame.” Unless the philanderer is also the killer. “Where does Hannah work?”
Her eyes narrow in on mine. Why all the questions?
Jasper pops up out of nowhere, and I take a quick breath at the sight of him.
“It’s you!” She points a gloved finger at him. “Are you two trying to set me up or something? Did you send your nosey girlfriend here to spy on me?”
Jasper takes a slow breath. I leave her alone for five minutes and now this.
“No!” I shake my head at her. “I promise, it’s nothing like that. I really do work at the Country Cottage Inn. And I’m not his girlfriend. In fact, I’m nothing to him. I don’t even like him.”
Jasper shoots me a look. Gee, thanks.
My eyes widen his way as I silently ask him to go with it.
Sammy sighs hard as she examines the two of us. “Look, I don’t know who killed Kaitlynn, but you’re right.” She gives me the stink eye. “This is probably a crime of passion. One thing is for sure. It was no accident. Especially not since Kaitlynn predicted her death.”
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