“That’s nearly impossible to get,” Lucca said to his friend. “I’ve tried for months.”
“I know, but I heard about this guy who said for a thousand dollars he’d get it for you.”
I nearly choked on my Poptart. “A thousand dollars!?”
“I know, it sounds crazy, but I really wanted that gauntlet. So, I got in contact with the guy and he said he’d do it. All I had to do was give him the money and my log in information for the game.”
Jeremy was quiet for a moment. Lucca had been hanging on every word. “Dude,” he said to his friend, “did you get the gauntlet?”
Jeremy shuffled in his chair. “No,” he said quietly. “The guy not only took my money, but he transferred a bunch of my relics from my account to his. I had to practically start all over. I messaged him as soon as I found out and he responded with ‘sucks to be defeated, sucks to be you’.”
“Ouch,” I said. “That’s terrible. Did you report him?”
Jeremy shook his head. “No, I was too embarrassed. And I have no idea who he is. I just have his screen name. But…” He paused and looked at us. “I always wondered if it could be John Asuza because of the name.”
“What was it?” I asked.
“TimeOut68.
“That’s the year John was born!” I said getting excited. “I read that on his wikipage! And that’s the name of his podcast!”
“Man, I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Lucca said to him. “That’s awful. You should’ve told me.”
Jeremey shrugged. “It’s kind of embarrassing, you know?”
“Did you tell anyone about this?” Grandma asked.
“I complained once on a forum about him and several other people told me they had problems with him too. And then I got a message from him saying that if I talked about him online again he’d come after me.”
“You don’t have proof of any of this, do you? Not because we don’t believe you, just so we can see it for ourselves and see if anything stands out.”
“I have screenshots of some of my conversations on forums,” Jeremy said pulling out his phone. “And I can pull up my messages with him and take screenshots and send them to you.”
Grandma gave him her number and her phone began to ding with each new picture Jeremy was sending her. Grandma immediately forwarded each one to me.
We thanked Lucca and Jeremy for their time and stood to leave. As Hattie walked past Jeremy, she held up a yellow pill. “This should help the pain.”
Grandma walked up to him next and took it from him. “Whatever that is, you don’t want it.”
We piled into my truck and my phone dinged again. I assumed it was one last picture from Grandma but instead it was a text from Owen. My heart leapt in my chest. He wanted to meet for lunch.
“If it’s okay,” I told Grandma and Hattie. “I’m going to drop you two off and then meet Owen for lunch.”
“That’s perfect,” Grandma said. “Irene had a hair appointment with Kaylee Palmer this morning and we’re all supposed to meet with her to see if she got any information from her. We’ll meet with her and you can meet with Owen and then we’ll all get together later and swap what we know.”
26
“Change of plans,” Owen texted me. “Instead of meeting me, I’ll pick you up. That ok?”
I texted back that it was. I was in the parking lot of the retirement community, just having dropped off Grandma and Irene, so I just sat in my truck and waited for him. While I waited, I got another text from Annalise, telling me how much fun they had geocaching that morning. I laughed when she said they hadn’t found any dead bodies. That was good. I had assumed that wasn’t a regular occurrence. She asked if I wanted to go geocaching next Saturday. How could I tell her it wasn’t really my thing? But what was my thing? I really wanted a thing. Maybe I would give it another try.
A few minutes later Owen pulled up and I got into his car. There was an awkward silence between us. I had so many questions for him – how was the case going? How was he doing? Why was he acting so weird around me? But I sat there quietly instead.
It didn’t take long for me to realize where we were going – his favorite park. I started to relax a little. We pulled up to his favorite spot and he reached around to the backseat and pulled out a bag and handed it to me. “I stopped at the sub shop on the way to get you.” He reached around one more time. “And I picked up drinks at the gas station. I thought we’d have a little picnic.”
I was surprised to say the least. Was this…a date?
He pulled a blanket from his trunk, the kind medics use for people who are in shock and placed it on a nearby picnic table. I followed him over, still not sure what to think. This was strange – the guy had barely talked to me recently, and when he did he seemed annoyed. And yet here he was, planning picnic lunches for us.
I sat down and he sat next to me, straddling the seat and facing me. “Nikki, can we talk? Like really talk?”
My chest tightened as I turned to face him. I had no idea what he was about to say. I suddenly realized just how close we were to each other, his face less than a foot from mine. The air between us felt thick and warm, and it wasn’t just the darn Florida humidity. There was a nervousness and something else…
Owen’s voice was soft and deep as he looked at me. “Nikki, I’m sorry for the way I’ve acted lately. Things have been…complicated.”
He looked at me like he wanted to explain but instead he stunned me further by his words. “My gosh, you’re beautiful.” He reached up and touched my hair, which I now straightened. It was my only hair ability, but I finally had it down. His hand moved to my face and found myself leaning into it. What was happening? My body seemed to understand even if my mind didn’t.
I suddenly wanted him to kiss me, and my heart caught in my throat when I saw him look down at my lips. He leaned forward and I could smell his breath, peppermint, as he came closer. There was a wildness in his eyes that I had never seen before. Owen was always so predictable, careful, well planned. But this was a look I had never seen before and it was exciting. He closed his eyes and his lips brushed against mine. And then I felt them again, but this time they were warm and firm against mine. I kissed him back and felt a flood of emotion. He grabbed me and pulled me closer. I suddenly didn’t care that this didn’t make any sense. It felt right. And then, all too soon, he pulled away.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I can’t do this.”
Now I was furious. I stood up and shouted. “What is going on with you?”
He wouldn’t look at me, just looked down at his hands. “Nikki, I think I might be moving.”
His words hit me hard and I plopped down with enough force I was afraid the bench would break beneath me. “What?” I asked, shock and hurt evident in my voice.
“I have a job opportunity in Vermont. It’s not a done deal, but it’s between me and another guy. And I think I have a pretty good shot at getting it.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just sat there, my heart aching and my head throbbing.
“I wanted to tell you earlier, but I didn’t know exactly what to say so I’ve just been avoiding the topic…and you.”
“Why did you kiss me?” I asked. “Why would you do that and then tell me you’re leaving?”
“I…I don’t know. I was just overcome with something. I have feelings for you but…it can’t go anywhere. And even if I stayed, neither of us are ready for a relationship. You’re still figuring yourself out and I obviously have some kind of control and jealousy issues based on my reaction to seeing you with some other guy. That certainly isn’t healthy.”
He rambled on another minute or so, but I couldn’t focus on his words. Instead I thought of watching Bo, my ex-fiancé, leave, and then seeing Joe the fireman getting married, and now this with Owen. All of this in the span of a few short months. I looked up at him and suddenly wanted to beg him to stay. But I couldn’t do that, not if he really wanted to leave. He deserved to be happy
and follow his dreams. And one day, whenever I realized what my dreams were, I wouldn’t want someone to hold me back from them.
I reached over and touched his leg which immediately got his attention and caused him to stop rambling. “I understand,” I said softly. “If you have an opportunity like that, then you should take it. These things don’t happen every day, right?”
He let out a breath of air that he must have been holding for some time. “Thank you for understanding.”
So that was it. He would be leaving soon. I looked up at him and for some reason I wanted him even more. I let out a little laugh. “You realize you basically kissed me for the first time and then broke up with me all in like five minutes.”
He laughed and then reached over and took my hand. “Maybe someday…”
“Maybe someday,” I repeated, gently squeezing his hand. “Now, what kind of sandwich did you bring for me?”
Owen laughed again and reached for the bag. “It’s always about lunch with you, isn’t it?”
Sometimes it was. And sometimes it was just an excuse to ignore the pain inside.
27
By the time he had dropped me off at Grandma Dean’s apartment he had told me the woman he met at the coffee shop was his realtor. He had also shared that he didn’t really have any strong leads yet on the Asuza case. I had told him what I knew, and he promised to look into it. And then that was it. I watched him drive away, not knowing if that would be our last big conversation in person. At least it had gone well, and whenever he left, we would be on good terms.
I fought the tears in my eyes and tried to will them to go back inside as I walked up to Grandma’s door. Owen had told me not to tell the grannies yet, and even though I usually still told them things, I promised him I wouldn’t, I decided to honor his request. Partly because it wasn’t a done deal, though I knew it probably was, and partly because I didn’t think I could talk about it without being a big crying mess. The grannies were all inside when I walked in.
“What’s wrong with you?” Grandma asked as she put some dessert plates on the table.
“Nothing,” I lied. “Owen took me to a park for a picnic. Darn allergies got to me.”
“Oh!” squealed Hattie. “A picnic! How romantic!” She fluffed Chantilly’s dress and I cringed seeing that hideous doll again. Then I saw something that really got my attention.
“Hattie, is your doll missing an eye?”
She looked a little embarrassed then laughed. “She just got back from her first overnight with Lloyd. There was a little accident. But Florence said she’d fix her right up.”
“Come sit down,” Grandma said, motioning to my chair. “You won’t believe what happened to me while we were out. Someone left me a code this time. And I think it’s the last one we’re going to get.”
“What makes you think that?” I asked, sitting down.
“Because it says so,” Virginia answered for her.
Greta took the lid off of a pie sitting in front of her and Irene handed her the large knife Grandma had put on the table. “And I made pie!” Greta beamed. “And yes, I actually did make it this time.”
As Greta sliced the pie and the grannies chatted, I took a breath, thankful for this little piece of normal that had snuck into my day.
A large slice of chocolate cream pie was handed to me. Mrs. Flemming might make good pie, but nobody made pie like Greta.
“So, what happened today?” I asked Grandma with a mouth full of pie.
“Nikki, please,” Grandma said reaching into her purse. “You’re not a barbarian.”
She pulled out a business card and put it in front of me. “Look at this! Hattie and I met Irene for a quick lunch so she could tell us about her appointment with Kaylee Palmer, and when I walked out, this was on my car.”
It was a business card to Dr. Harold Fernsby, Hattie’s dentist. On the front, above the doctor’s name was a code.
WDMZLWAM
Irene pointed to the card. “And looks what’s written on the back.”
I flipped over the card and read it out loud. “Take a guess, you’ve had eight clues. If you get it wrong, then you lose.” This really was a game to someone.
I reached for the little notebook in my purse so I could write down the latest code when Irene asked me a question.
“Did you get any information from Owen? Do they have any strong leads?”
“Not yet,” I answered, pulling out my notebook and sitting it in front of me. “It sounds like he’s had a lot going on lately.” My heart began to hurt again and I pushed my thoughts aside to stay focused on the case. “What about you? Did you get any info from Kaylee?”
“Yep,” Irene answered. “She admitted to having an affair with John. She said it had been going on for a few months. She was in love with him, and even though he claimed to love her, he said he’d never leave his wife.”
“Do you think she had anything to do with his murder?” I asked.
Irene shook her head. “I don’t think so. She seems like a really nice girl. And from what she said, John wasn’t really shy about it around his wife.”
“So, Lira knew?” I asked. “Do you think it was Lira then?” Even as I asked the question, I didn’t feel like Lira was guilty. She didn’t seem like the game playing type. And whoever was the murderer definitely liked playing games – to a fault.
“I don’t think she’s the murderer either,” Irene answered. “Kaylee said Lira knew there were others before her, so why kill him now? And Lira has that fortune and all of her charities. Other than him having multiple affairs, I can’t think of another motive.
“People kill all the time over affairs,” Virginia pointed out.
“True,” Grandma said. “But she didn’t even act like she loved him when we went to visit. I got the feeling they were living separate lives.”
“Me too,” I added. “So, where does that leave us?” I added the new code at the end of my list. Eight codes in all. “Have you guys deciphered this last one?”
“That’s where it gets interesting,” Grandma said. “We did decode it. It says ‘overdose’.”
“Overdose?” I repeated, surprised. “Didn’t Mr. Asuza have a muscle relaxer and pain killer in his system when he died?”
“Yes,” Grandma confirmed. “And we asked Lira if she knew if he was on any kind of medication and do you remember what she said?”
“That he would rather suffer than take even a Tylenol,” I answered.
“And I asked Kaylee the same question and she said no, he hated the thought of taking anything,” Irene added. “So, why did he have it in his system?”
“And why is our last code overdose?” Greta said more than asked.
I added a few more notes to my notebook. “So, let’s make a suspect list. I’ll call out names and you guys tell me what you think? Kaylee and Lira.”
“Innocent,” the grannies added.
“Lucca.”
“I think he’s innocent,” Hattie said. “He didn’t seem like a killer.”
“I agree. Even though he had a motive, and I’m sure he’s happy that he never has to deal with John again, he didn’t seem like a killer to me.”
I wrote their names down just to keep track of them but marked them off immediately. “What about that Jeremy Rickles kid we talked to today?”
“I think he has a motive too,” Grandma said. “But he didn’t really come across as a killer either.”
“So, who does that leave?” Greta asked.
“Delores,” I said, writing her name down larger than I did the others.
“But what motive would she have?” Virginia asked.
We sat there quietly for a minute thinking it over. “I don’t know,” I finally said. “But she just keeps popping up. She’s the one who gave me my first clue, she works for the newspaper and two of the clues have been on newspapers.”
“And she was acting suspicious going into the dentist’s office the other day,” Virginia pointed out. “
And then today you get that business card from the same dentist.”
Grandma pulled out her phone. “We never looked through those screen shots Jeremey gave us earlier. Maybe there’s something in there that could point to Delores, though I don’t see how. She doesn’t seem like the game playing type.”
I pulled out my phone too and I could hear the other grannies’ phones pinging as Grandma sent them the screen shots to look over as well. The first one I looked at had the messages between Jeremy and TimeOut68. “Well, that Timeout guy definitely threatened Jeremy. It’s all right there.”
“What a terrible person, whoever he is,” Greta said. “To take advantage of people like that, and because of a game! Games are supposed to be fun and innocent!”
I flipped to the next screen and froze. It was a screen shot of a conversation in a forum between other gamers. I sat there staring at my phone as Grandma sat hers down.
“Well,” she said, frustration in her voice. “That wasn’t helpful.”
I couldn’t believe the name in front of me. How could I have been so stupid. It was starting to make sense.
“Nikki,” Grandma asked, concerned. “What’s wrong?”
I finally looked up from my phone. “I know one of the gamers in that forum.”
“You do?” Grandma asked surprised. “Which one?” She started reading the names on the list. “RangerDanger? CrazyEights? EpicMode? ScaryPumpkin?”
“EpicMode,” I said, my heart heavy. “That’s Ayden?”
“Ayden? The one that has been interested in the clues?” Virginia asked.
I nodded.
“And isn’t he the one that handed you the one at our shop?” Grandma asked.
I nodded again.
“Grandma, do you know if there’s a woman here named Alice? He came here the other day and told me he was visiting his Grandma Alice.”
Grandma thought for a moment. “I can’t think of an Alice. Can you?” She looked to the other grannies and they all shook their heads no.
Crack the Code (Glock Grannies Cozy Mystery Book 5) Page 12
