Dairy-Free Death

by P. D. Workman

  While Vic and Erin were eating their early lunch, there was banging on the front door of the shop. They looked at each other. Normally, the residents of the town were very polite, and if the ‘closed’ or ‘back at _____________’ signs were up in the window, they did not make a fuss, but just returned later when they were open again.

  “Just ignore it,” Erin advised when Vic stood up to answer it. “If we answer once when the closed sign is up, people will expect us to answer all the time.”

  Vic sat slowly back down again. “I suppose… but isn’t that… inhospitable? We are still here…”

  “Even a southern girl has to know her limits on hospitality. We need our lunch break. We can’t function without it. It’s rude for customers to think they can interrupt us when we take a break.”

  Vic considered that, taking another bite of her sandwich. The knocking persisted for a minute or two and then stopped.

  “You see?”

  But a couple of minutes later, there was a louder knock on the back door. And unlike the door at The Bake Shoppe, they didn’t have a window or peephole to check through. Erin looked at the door, her heart thumping hard.

  “Who do you think it is? They’re certainly impatient.”

  “What if it’s Officer Piper?”

  “No… Terry wouldn’t keep knocking; he’d just call me on the phone or ask me to make an appointment. You know how he is.”

  Erin stood up slowly. The hammering on the door continued. She crossed the kitchen and opened the door.

  “Oh. It’s you.”

  Alton Summers gave her a smile.

  “Miss Price. Or should I say, Miss Albertson.” That was the name that she had been using when he had tracked her down. “Or is it… Miss Landers?”

  Erin winced. She gave Alton Summers a hard look. He was not a young man, though he tried to look like one. Probably in his forties. He had carefully-groomed blond hair, getting a little spare in the temples, and a quarter-inch scruff that looked more like he hadn’t shaved for a week than something that he was intentionally maintaining. He wore heavy gold jewelry and had an old tattoo on his arm.

  “What can I do for you, Mr. Summers?”

  “You’re a hard lady to get ahold of.”

  “I didn’t think we had any business left to conduct. You got your payment from the estate, didn’t you?”

  He shrugged, showing yellow-stained teeth in a displeased smile. “I got some money from the estate for finding you,” he confirmed. “But it wasn’t as much as I had hoped it would be.”

  “I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t the one who hired you. If you have a problem with the fees, you’ll need to talk to the lawyer, not me.”

  “But I was thinking…” he pressed in closer to her, trying to crowd her through the doorway so that he could get into the shop. “That maybe I could get some more money from you, since you made a tidy sum on your inheritance. You wouldn’t have collected anything without me.”

  “You’ve already been paid for finding me. You’re not going to get more from me. Thanks.” Erin tried to shut the door in his face. Summers moved quickly to put a pointy-shoed foot in the door to keep it from closing.

  “I wouldn’t suggest taking that tactic if I was you,” he growled.

  “I don’t owe you anything.”

  “I’m thinking that maybe you wouldn’t like everyone here to know the details of your past.”

  Erin hesitated. She looked at Summers’s shoe, preventing the door from closing. There were a lot of things she would rather that Vic and Terry Piper and others in her new hometown didn’t know about. But she couldn’t afford to be paying some lowlife who wanted to blackmail her, either.

  “You’re trespassing, Mr. Summers. I’ll ask you one more time to leave, and then I’m going to call the police.”

  “You would call the police on me? But then you might not like what I had to tell them about you. People might not come to your quaint little bakery if they knew what kind of a person you really were.”

  Erin dug into her pocket to pull out her phone. She knew Terry Piper’s number. She didn’t even have to go through the dispatcher. He was on duty, and he and K9 would be on patrol somewhere close. Erin had a pretty good idea that K9 wouldn’t like the stench of the man once he got close. K9 was a good judge of character. And Erin would hope that in choosing between trusting the woman he’d come to know over the past few months and the unshaven, creepy-looking out-of-towner, Terry would take her side as well.

  Summers withdrew his foot, though still protesting. Erin shut the door and locked it. She turned around and saw that Vic was out of her chair, watching Erin through the kitchen doorway. Her eyes were wide.

  “What was that about?” Vic asked. “Who was that?”

  “Somebody you want to stay away from,” Erin sighed. She went back to her sandwich but didn’t have much appetite for it.

  “But who was it?” Vic persisted.

  “He’s a private detective named Alton Summers. He was hired by Clementine’s estate to see if he could find me. Because Clementine lost track of me when I went into foster care and no one knew where I was. He’s a good detective. He found me.”

  “What’s he doing here, then, if he already found you?”

  “Looking for trouble.”

  “Oh.” Vic sat back down and picked up her sandwich. “Is he going to cause problems for you, then?”

  “He’s apparently going to try.”

  Vic nodded, chewing on a thumbnail.

  “Try not to worry about it,” Erin advised, saying to herself as much as to Vic. “Worrying won’t help anything.”

  After lunch, they got back into the swing of things. There were a number of gossip seekers who came along on the prowl for information, but they told Erin more than she revealed to them.

  Erin looked up to see Mary Lou walk in with a cardboard flat of jam jars. Erin struck her forehead with the heel of her hand.

  “Oh, I forgot, Mary Lou, with everything that happened yesterday…”

  “Don’t you worry,” Mary Lou assured her. “I just had a break, so I thought I would run them over. It’s not out of my way. Not when I’m looking for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up!”

  She approached the till and put the flat down.

  “How much do I owe you?”

  Mary Lou gave her the details and Erin opened the till to settle up.

  “And a chocolate biscotti,” Mary Lou requested.

  Erin got it herself while Vic served another customer. Mary Lou was always restrained in her snack choices. She wasn’t one to go with the rich, high-calorie desserts. She took care to maintain her svelte figure.

  “Thanks so much for bringing the jams over. You’re sure you won’t tell me who The Jam Lady is?”

  Mary Lou gave a secretive smile. “No, afraid not. The Jam Lady does not wish to be revealed.”

  Erin leaned forward. “Is it you?”

  The neat blond woman shook her head. “No, I swear it’s not me.”

  Erin studied her for a moment, but couldn’t see any sign that Mary Lou was lying. She turned the mystery over in her mind. She didn’t know everyone in town, and even those she did know, she hadn’t spent a lot of time with, getting to know their foibles and quirks. The Jam Lady could be practically anyone.

  Most of the women she knew had other jobs, though. If they were making jam, especially at the rate that the Jam Lady jars seemed to be spreading around town, she would have to be spending a lot of evening hours cooking up batches of jam. In a town where everyone knew everyone else’s business, how would anyone keep hours spent on jam-making a secret?

  Chapter Seven

  IT HAD BEEN SUCH a disrupted week that Erin was a little surprised when Sunday rolled around and they needed to pack the car with their caving gear so that they could head straight out after the church ladies’ post-service tea.

  “Are you sure you want to go ahead with it this week?” Erin asked Vic. “It’s been sort of a rough week, neith
er of us sleeping well, and I thought maybe you’d like just to take a break this week. Go home and have a nap…”

  “No,” Vic said flatly. “I want to go out and do something interesting, not stay at home and do nothing. Don’t you think it’s better to work off the stress?”

  Erin shrugged. “If that’s what you want. I’m just making sure.”

  “Are your arms recovered enough to go?”

  Erin rubbed her shoulders and biceps. “Yes. As long as I don’t have to do any rope climbing. If we’re just walking or hiking, I can do that. Climbing… that would be pretty hard.”

  “We’ll keep it to walking,” Vic agreed. She bounced a little. “I’m excited about it. I know you’re not, but I really want to try it again!”

  Smiling, Erin nodded. “I’m sure we’ll have a really good time,” she agreed. “I’m a little anxious, but I’m sure once we get on our way, we’re all going to have a really good time.”

  “And you forgive me for inviting Terry? I mean Officer Piper?”

  “I’m sure it will be fine,” Erin said, not committing. She was still mildly irritated about Vic inviting Terry along without asking first, but she knew Vic had just been being polite and hadn’t intended to make it an uncomfortable situation.

  The ladies’ tea went well, and before long, they were on their way. Vic had the coordinates of the cave Willie had selected, and she gave Erin directions to get there. A knot grew in Erin’s stomach. It had been several months since her last disastrous attempt at spelunking, which had ended up with her in hospital. She had thought that she had let enough time pass to get over her nervousness about it, but as they got farther away from Bald Eagle Falls, she found herself getting increasingly anxious.

  She was relieved to see that Willie had arrived there ahead of them. Of course, Gema Reed was in prison now, so she wasn’t waiting there to attack Erin, but Erin’s body was still reacting as if she might be. Vic bounded out of the car before Erin had even put it into park and was immediately pulling out their gear, chattering away to Willie.

  Erin got out more slowly. She looked around at the beautiful scenery, her gut cramping painfully.

  “How are you doing?” Willie asked quietly.

  She hadn’t seen much of him. He was always busy with one job or another in town, or else out at a mine doing what he liked best, prospecting for precious ores. His skin always appeared to be ingrained with dirt from prospecting or smelting. Erin didn’t know much about the processes he used to find or to refine ores, but whatever he did always seemed to leave him blackened. Though she’d initially been turned off by his grubby appearance, she had largely gotten over that. He smelled more often of soap than of sweat, had a myriad of skills that he put to use in odd jobs around town, and he’d been one of the two people to save her from her previous encounter with caving. It was probably shallow of her to find him more attractive after the rescue, but she couldn’t resist her own psychological response.

  “I’m fine,” Erin said immediately.

  It sounded too chirpy and cheerful even to her own ears, and Willie didn’t believe her for a minute. He took off his ball cap and scratched his head, not voicing his doubts.

  “Okay, maybe not fine,” Erin admitted.

  Vic stopped fiddling with the caving equipment and looked at Erin, disappointment written in her features.

  “I’m still going,” Erin told her firmly. “I’m just… sort of having a difficult time with it.”

  “If you can’t go…” Vic started.

  “I can. I’m not saying that. I’m just saying… no, I’m not just fine. I’m going to need some help.”

  “That’s what I’m here for,” Willie confirmed. “And you’ll probably feel a lot better once we’re under way, instead of everything you are dreading could happen in advance. Why don’t we run through safety equipment and what we’re going to do? Maybe that will help…”

  Erin nodded. “Yeah. That sounds good.” Although what she wanted to hear was that the cave they were going to explore was so shallow and innocuous that they really didn’t need any safety equipment just to pop in and out again. And then they could all go back to town and have a cold RC together before going back home to bed.

  Willie gave her a slight smile, and Erin knew he had a pretty good idea what was going through her head. But he didn’t tell her what she wanted to hear and instead started getting her and Vic geared up for their exploration.

  They’d been there about twenty minutes when Officer Piper showed up. He pulled in behind Erin’s car and climbed out. He was pretty much ready to go, and just pulled a pack on over his shoulders as he walked over to the little group. K9 sat down beside him, and Terry scratched his ears and exchanged greetings with everyone.

  At that point, Erin’s mind went from being anxious about what was going to happen underground to being anxious about the social construct. She had asked Willie to guide them, and Vic had invited Terry along, so if it was a double date, then Willie was Erin’s date, and Terry was Vic’s. But both men were significantly older than Vic, and Erin didn’t think that either of them saw her as a potential partner. More like a tagalong little sister. Vic seemed oblivious to any awkwardness, but Erin caught looks from both Willie and Terry. Evaluating looks toward each other and directed at Erin. Everyone trying to feel out their roles and relationships.

  “Okay,” Willie said. “Are we all ready to go, then?”

  Erin held her breath. She wanted someone else to say no. To come up with some other delay. To break a boot lace or get a nosebleed or something else that would make them reschedule the exploration for another day. But no one objected.

  “Let’s go, then,” Willie said. “I’ll head in first, then Erin, Vic, and Terry can bring up the rear. That meet with everyone’s approval?”

  Vic opened her mouth and looked at Erin, and then at Terry, but when neither of them had anything to say about it, she shrugged.

  “Okay, then,” she said with a sigh. “I wish I was in the front, but I guess it should be someone who knows the system down there.”

  “You should have someone experienced in the lead,” Willie agreed. “And I want Erin nice and close to me, so I know if she has any trouble.”

  “Fine, I’ll take the third position, then, and Officer Piper can bring up the rear.”

  Everyone was right about it being better once they were inside the caves and on their way. Erin was able to relax about all the things that might go wrong, and just concentrate on what she was seeing in front of her. Her eyes adjusted to seeing everything by the dim light of her headlamp and, with Willie in front of her, she wasn’t so afraid of stepping off a cliff or smacking into an overhang. They moved slowly but steadily. It was nothing like when Erin had been dragged and left underground, bound and helpless.

  After a few hours, they were done, back out of the caves into the tear-inducing sunshine and the safety of their cars. And they did drive into town to the barbecue place to have some wings and cold RCs.

  “Thank you so much for being our guide, Mr. Andrews,” Vic gushed.

  “I thought we were all on first names,” Willie said. “It’s Willie. Okay, Miss Victoria?”

  “Vic!” She laughed. “Okay, first names, then.” She patted his arm. “Willie.”

  “How did you enjoy it?” Willie looked from Vic to Erin and smiled at her. “You seemed like you settled down and were getting into it after the first little while.”

  “I did,” Erin agreed. “It’s different than I thought it would be. Different than last time. It really is beautiful down there, in its own way.”

  “You bet it is. We didn’t see a lot of formations, but sometimes the crystals or veins you can discover are brilliant. Just… spectacular. People don’t usually go spelunking just to see dark passageways and blind fish. They want to see cave paintings, beautiful formations, gemstones, and precious ores. They want to lay eyes on something that few other people have ever set eyes on before.”

  Erin smiled at
his loquacity. Usually, Willie was a quiet man who spared few words. “That must be an amazing experience.”

  “One of the best I’ve ever had.” He took a sip of his cola. “So why don’t you tell me something about your life? What do you like to do, aside from baking?”

  “She likes to make lists,” Vic contributed. “And lists of lists.”

  “Important to be prepared,” Willie said. When Erin didn’t offer anything else, he prompted her. “Is baking all you have done, then? That’s what you did before you came here?”

  “No… actually I hadn’t done any baking before. I mean, not on a large scale like at the shop. I had only baked for friends, little gatherings. I remember working with Clementine at the tea room, way back when, but that was just as a child. Serving tables, not doing any baking.”

  “So, what did you do up north?”

  All eyes were on her. Erin shifted uncomfortably and gave a little laugh. “A little of this, a little of that.”

  Terry was staring at her intently. He shook his head at her answer. “Woman of mystery.”

  “It’s nothing mysterious. Just… boring. You don’t want to know all of the stupid, mundane jobs I had.”

  “You must have done something interesting.”

  Vic scratched at a dried-up spot of ketchup on the table. “That detective said you had other names.”

  Erin gave her a sharp look. “So did you!”

  Vic closed her lips tightly. Erin knew it had been sort of a dirty move. But if Vic was going to force Erin to reveal information about her past, especially in front of other people, she’d better be ready to reveal her own.

  Willie looked from one to the other, looking mildly interested. Terry leaned back, saying nothing. He didn’t know their complete histories, but he did know that both had used other names. He knew why Vic had changed her name from the masculine form. Erin wasn’t sure how much Terry knew about her own background. She had been one of the main suspects in Angela’s murder, so he had investigated her then. But she didn’t know how much he had found. He’d never shown her all his cards, and she hadn’t wanted to know.