A Latte Difficulty

by Angela Ruth Strong

  He turned and took a seat at his desk. “Yes, Tandy. She was meeting the owner of Valley Vineyards at their location miles away.”

  Well, she’d tried. Tandy picked up the little black backpack she used as a purse and slung it over a shoulder. Now that they’d hit a dead end, they could turn around and go a different direction. She’d be heading back to the coffee shop to perfect her iced s’mores coffee recipe. “Sorry for wasting your time, Griffin. It seemed plausible.”

  Griffin hit a few keys on his keyboard. “Sit down, girls.”

  Tandy scrunched her eyebrows then glanced at Marissa to see if the other woman knew what else was going on. Marissa didn’t notice because she’d gone back to spying on the deputy.

  Her obsession with him was even creepier than his beady eyes. Though the obsession could be coming from her subconscious. Might Marissa have gotten her bald dudes mixed up, and Deputy Romero was the real culprit? Tandy shivered.

  “Marissa.” Griffin waited for her to sit and face him. “Are you still willing to testify against Cash?”

  She peeked over her shoulder once more. “Yes.”

  “Good.” He went back to his computer. “Then we are going to have to keep you safe until the trial.”

  She gave him her full attention. “Safe?”

  Tandy blinked as well. Did Griffin really think she was in danger? He’d accused her of crying wolf earlier. It was good he was taking her seriously now, but how serious was it?

  “I…” Marissa stammered. “I can have Ranger stay with me again. Or do you think I should go over to Connor’s parents’ farmhouse instead?”

  Griffin leveled his eyes on her. “Not unless you want to put his family in danger too.”

  “No.” She reached for Tandy. Gripped her arm with fingernails as sharp as the look the sheriff was giving them. “Of course not. What…? Where…?” Her eyes filled with unshed tears. “Why…?”

  Tandy peeled Marissa’s fingernails off then gripped her hand in a way that could still be reassuring without the added side-effect of pain. She knew this would be especially important when she asked the question Marissa was afraid to. “What is the option you recommend?”

  Griffin rubbed his face. “Marissa, I have a safehouse prepared for you.”

  Chapter Ten

  Marissa wanted to scream like Kevin on Home Alone. She covered her mouth instead. “You expect me to leave town as I’m planning my wedding? I don’t have a dress anymore. I don’t even have a wedding planner. I have to do it all myself. How can I possibly do it from a safehouse?”

  Griffin rubbed his temples. “How can you possibly attend your wedding if you’re dead?”

  He might as well have aimed his gun at her. Not being able to plan the perfect wedding was going to kill her.

  Tandy squeezed her hand. “I can help out, Marissa.”

  The suggestion was worse than death. “So you can get your black bridesmaid dress?”

  Tandy’s lips curved up on one side. “Tempting, but no. I’ll be good. I won’t even pick up cowgirl boots for you.”

  “I hate this.” Marissa dropped against her stiff seat back and stared at the ceiling. “I know you wouldn’t do anything purposeful to ruin my wedding, Tandy, but you’re so…”

  Tandy’s grip on her hand loosened.

  Gah. With everything else going wrong in her life, Marissa didn’t want to lose her best friend. She sat up and gripped tighter. “I mean, we have different styles.”

  Tandy didn’t tighten her grip or let go. She was a hung jury.

  Marissa made her final appeal. “You’d hate it if I planned your wedding.”

  Tandy shrugged at that, the muscle in front of her ear relaxing as she unclenched her jaw. “That’s true. You’d dress me like a ballerina.”

  Marissa could picture it. A full tulle skirt. A bun that wasn’t messy for a change. She gripped Tandy’s hand with both of hers. “You’d be so pretty.”

  “I’d wear my motorcycle boots and black choker.”

  There went that image. Marissa’s shoulders slumped. “Moria did call you an urban pirate.”

  Tandy’s lips pursed thoughtfully. “I kinda like that.”

  “Ladies.” Griffin scratched his head. “I’m sure the wedding stuff will get figured out. Right now we need to focus on the safehouse.”

  Marissa would rather talk about weddings. Her wedding. Her plans for a future that never involved a safehouse. “How long will I be there?”

  Griffin picked up a pen to fiddle with. “Probably until I can arrest whoever stuck that note to your front door.”

  Probably? “What if you don’t? Or what if you arrest them but they are part of a bigger network of criminals?”

  Griffin snapped his pen lid on and off a few times before making eye contact. “If we had to, we could put you in the witness protection program with a new identity. Connor could join you, of course.”

  Marissa’s stomach sunk from the ride on this roller coaster that was her life. If it came to that, Connor would join her, but she didn’t want him to have to. Neither of them had ever lived anywhere else. She had her new shop. He had his construction business. They both had families. She didn’t mind leaving her parents behind, but his mom and dad were the best. Though leaving the goats behind could be a good thing.

  Tandy spoke for her. “Are you serious?”

  Griffin sighed and put the pen down to type in the computer. “That’s worst-case scenario. I’ve heard rumors of a secret witness protection town in the mountains somewhere with no roads in and no roads out. I think it would be a great place to live.”

  Marissa smacked the desk. “Griffin! I wear high heels. I don’t want to live in the mountains.”

  Tandy tilted her head. “There’s always cowboy boots.”

  Marissa bulged her eyes at the friend who should be standing up for her here no matter their difference in footwear.

  Tandy let go of her hand to smack the desk, as well. “But you’re not going to live in the mountains because Griffin is going to solve this case.”

  Griffin scratched his head.

  “Or I will,” Tandy finished.

  Marissa nodded in appreciation as if that sealed the deal. “Thank you.”

  Griffin shot Tandy a withering glance before focusing on Marissa. “In the meantime, I have a safehouse set up. I’ll personally escort you to get your things then say goodbye to Connor before taking you out there.”

  “Goodbye?” Marissa sank into her seat again. She’d been so upset about not being able to plan her wedding that she didn’t stop to think about what life would be like without Connor. He was her rock. He kept her grounded.

  Tandy rubbed her arm. “Not forever.”

  Marissa’s chin quivered. She felt like crying, but without Connor, whose shoulder would she cry on? Certainly not Griffin’s. “Will I be able to talk to him on the phone?”

  Griffin nodded. “When I’m there to set up a secure line.”

  “See?” Tandy said, as if a secure line made everything better. “Then we can talk too. And I’ll run all the wedding planning stuff past you.”

  If nothing else, this change of events would up Marissa’s prayer life. Probably Tandy’s too with as much as she would be juggling. “You’re going to plan my wedding, solve this mystery, and run the shop all by yourself?”

  Tandy grimaced. “Not all by myself. I have Greg.”

  Marissa bit her lip. Should she mention how busy Greg already was with his law practice? “I know he’d do anything for you, even dress up like Abe Lincoln on a hot day, but…”

  “I know.” Tandy twisted her lips in thought. Then her blue eyes caught Marissa’s and clouded with concern. “I’ll figure out something. Don’t worry about me. I just want you to be safe.”

  Marissa’s heart squeezed tight. Was her life worth keeping safe if she was leaving it all behind?

  Griffin stood. “Let’s go, Marissa. The sooner I get you situated in our standard safehouse, the sooner I can get back to
work on the case.”

  Her heart pitter-pattered like she was afraid, but if she was going to a safehouse, what did she have to fear? She stood and Tandy stood with her, demonstrating she wasn’t alone.

  That’s what she was afraid of. Losing this kind of connection.

  Her life was about to change. Not in the loud, crazy way she’d feared when Cash had chased her to the roof or when she’d found blood spattered throughout her house. But in this anticlimactic way that was as serene as it was surreal.

  Would she ever see Tandy again?

  She reached for a hug.

  Tandy stiffened for a moment like she usually did before melting into Marissa’s arms like chocolate on the tongue. “I don’t like admitting how much I’m going to miss you.”

  “Then don’t.” Marissa wiped at a rogue tear behind Tandy’s head before pulling away so that she could pretend to be as tough. “I’ll be back soon. Just keep in mind that if you mess up my wedding, I’m going to make you wear pink.”

  Tandy took a minute to clear her throat before looking up and narrowing her eyes. “And I thought Moria was the heartless blonde.”

  Marissa mustered a weepy smile at Tandy’s attempt at making her feel better. It was good to have friends like Tandy. Even if she wasn’t sure they’d ever see each other again.

  A weight formed in the pit of Tandy’s stomach as she watched through the window. Marissa climbed into Griffin’s cop car. Tandy needed to go finish preparing the Red, White, and Brew booth for the weekend’s carnival, but the heaviness inside wouldn’t let her get to work until she knew Marissa was really safe. Though the only way Marissa wouldn’t be safe was if her instinct about Deputy Romero was accurate.

  Tandy glanced over her shoulder. It was weird how quiet the guy was, but how could she judge when she’d never tried to talk to him before?

  “Hey,” she said before she changed her mind.

  Kristin, the secretary wearing a headband with two red stars attached like antennas, looked up, sending the stars bouncing. “Is there something I can help you with, Tandy?”

  Maybe the deputy didn’t talk because Kristin spoke enough for both of them.

  Tandy waved Kristin away. “I’d actually like to speak with Deputy Romero about my friend.”

  The deputy looked up, beady eyes neither friendly nor welcoming. It didn’t bother Tandy as much as it had Marissa though. Back in her days at the newspaper in Cincinnati, she’d hated being interrupted at her desk. But that was before she bought a coffee shop and only got paid when people showed up.

  Kristin smiled at her boss, obviously unfazed by his demeanor. “Do you have time to answer questions, Adrian?”

  The deputy waved Tandy over without a word. Like sign language. Crazy that her new deaf friend spoke more than this guy.

  She took a seat at the side of his desk and glanced down at the paperwork there to see exactly what she was interrupting. He scooped it into a pile and flipped it over on the far corner before she could make out anything other than the word “forensics” at the top. Were he not an officer of the law, working confidential cases, it might be considered suspicious behavior.

  “Were you able to find any fingerprints at Marissa’s house or on the note on her door?” she asked.

  He flicked his eyes toward the paperwork as if confirming she couldn’t see through it. “Yours were there.”

  She tucked in her chin in surprise. Did he suspect her? She’d been through that with Griffin once before, and it wasn’t fun. “Well, yeah. I’m at Marissa’s all the time. Did you find anything suspicious?”

  “Not yet.” His gaze bored into her. Unrelenting.

  If he was suspicious of her, then she’d be suspicious of him. She checked his neck for any remains from a tattoo he might have drawn on to implicate Cash. Nothing. But if he had wanted to implicate Cash, then he would have had to know the guy first. Could they have been in the military together? They both had buzzed heads. “What did you do before you moved here?” she asked casually.

  His eyes almost disappeared when he narrowed them. “Marines.”

  Aha! So he could have known Cash. But he didn’t have the green eyes Marissa remembered. “Your eyes look like they are bothering you. Do you wear contacts?”

  “My eyes are fine. Thank you for your concern.”

  Such evasive maneuvers. What was he hiding? If he’d attacked Randon and set Cash up as Moria claimed, then he was a killer on the loose with access to Marissa’s whereabouts.

  But why would he want to hurt her? Cash was currently the one under investigation, and Marissa was testifying against him. The note on her door had been trying to get her not to testify.

  It would be counterproductive for the deputy to both pose as Cash then threaten the life of anyone who implicated the other man. Plus, there was the fact that the deputy had been guarding Randon at the hospital and Randon was still alive.

  Or was he? Her heart revved like a car engine. “Why aren’t you at the hospital protecting Randon anymore?”

  He stared, his expression unflinching.

  Did he have no soul? If Randon died on his watch then—

  “The hospital brought in their own security.”

  Tandy closed her eyes and exhaled. “Oh, good.”

  Nobody had died on this case. That boded well for Marissa, right? If someone had really wanted to kill her, they wouldn’t have left a warning note.

  The deputy cleared his throat. “The hospital brought in security because they know I’m busy with the investigation as well as crowd control for the festival. We would all be better off if you could be so respectful.”

  Tandy blinked a few times then gave her thinnest smile. Marissa may see the deputy as creepy, but she saw him as a jerk.

  “Since this crime is still unsolved…” She let the reminder of his current failure sink in as she pushed to her feet. “You certainly do have more work to do.”

  He turned to position his fingers on his keyboard, ignoring her, and she kinda wished he was guilty of a crime. Any crime.

  But despite his resemblance and possible connection to Cash, she didn’t think Marissa had anything to worry about with him. There didn’t seem to be a motive. As for Marissa’s creepy vibe, it could have simply come from Marissa never having been ignored by a man before.

  Tandy stopped at Kristin’s desk to finish putting her soul at ease. “Do you know where Griffin is taking Marissa?” she asked.

  Kristin shook her head, sending her headband stars flailing for help. “The safehouse is owned by the county and its location is only shared on a need-to-know basis. Cash’s accomplice could torture me for the information, and I’d never be able to tell.”

  Tandy’s eyebrows arched at the extreme image. “How…comforting.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  Tandy hooked a thumb over her shoulder and lowered her voice. “What about the deputy? Could he be tortured for the information?”

  Kristin propped an elbow on her desk and leaned her chin on her fist to study her coworker on the other side of the room. “I doubt it. Even if he knew, he never talks. Not everyone can be as heroic as Connor Thomas.”

  Tandy pursed her lips at the awkward turn in their conversation. Did she mean Greg? Because that was Tandy’s boyfriend. Memories of Kristin’s mistletoe headband from Christmas danced in Tandy’s head. Maybe she’d tried to get somewhere with the deputy and had struck out. She was probably just lonely. “Does Romero have access to the safehouse location.”

  Kristin shrugged. “He doesn’t know anything. The only way anybody would ever find out where Marissa is hiding is if they were a hacker and could break into Griffin’s computer.”

  Tandy looked away. The only hacker she knew was in a coma from the attempted murder by the same person who had threatened Marissa’s life.

  “What do you mean your life has been threatened?” Connor yelled down to Marissa from the mayor’s roof.

  Connor’s construction crew looked on, turning off power tool
s, probably to be able to hear as well. She had, after all, shown up with the sheriff.

  This was not the ideal setting for what Marissa had hoped would be a private conversation. With as long as it had taken her to pack up all her stuff, Connor should have been off work. But he’d gone into overtime since the mayor’s daughter’s wedding reception was supposed to be held on this property in a week.

  “Could you please come down here?” she called up. She wasn’t going to climb any ladders in her new gold flip-flops. Even for a goodbye kiss.

  Connor nodded, hooked his hammer in his tool belt, then motioned to a couple men to keep working before lowering a leg over the side of the house and descending the ladder with the speed of a fireman. He hopped to the ground and looked her up and down, concern creasing his sweaty brow. “Are you okay?”

  He meant physically, which she was, but inside she crumbled like the topping on one of Billie’s apple pies. She had to be honest with him. “No.” Her bottom lip quivered.

  “Oh, hon.” He wrapped his strong hands around her upper arms. “What’s going on?” He looked past her to Griffin, blame darkening his eyes.

  “I’m taking her to a safehouse because someone doesn’t want her to testify against Cash.”

  She didn’t even get a chance to see Connor’s face or add to the explanation before she was against his damp shirt. He usually smelled like pine, but today the scent was mixed with a musk that would need to be showered away. Not her favorite scent, but it could be a long time before she smelled it again. She wrapped her arms around his solid back and breathed deep.

  “Who threatened her?” Connor asked over her head.

  “There was an anonymous note on her door. We’re investigating,” Griffin said.

  “Not good enough.” Connor pulled away and cupped her face this time. “When is the trial? How long will you be gone?”

  His concern wrapped around her heart like a warm blanket. She covered his hands with hers and looked into his eyes. “Cash’s trial date isn’t until September, but hopefully the accomplice is found before then.”