Manicures & Mischief (A Cozy Spa Mystery Book 6)

by Jenn Cowan

  My jaw drops and I motion for him to come inside. I glance toward the hallway then hurry Eddie into the kitchen so Josh can get Allison into the guest room without Eddie seeing her. “Do you want some tea?”

  “Sure. Thanks,” Eddie mumbles and stares at his hands.

  I make more noise than I need to while getting out cups, preparing the water and plopping in the tea bags. The tub’s draining so Josh must be getting Allison settled in the guest room.

  “Autumn?”

  “Hmm?” I set the cup of tea down in front of him, totally missing what he just said to me.

  “I said Violet left this morning.”

  “Left? Where did she go?” I sit down across from Eddie and sip my chamomile tea.

  Eddie stares into his tea cup as if the answer will appear in the yellow liquid. “I’m not sure. She said something about needing some space and visiting her dad. He’s in Chicago, working for the city’s sanitation department.”

  “How’s old Gus doing?”

  “Better… I think.”

  “You think?”

  He rubs his eyes and shrugs. “Violet says he is, but who really knows?”

  “So maybe Violet just wants to go see for herself. Nothing wrong with that.”

  “Violet’s been acting strange lately. Taking phone calls and disappearing into the other room. Do you think she’s cheating on me?”

  I snort tea through my nose, which doesn’t feel great when the tea is scorching hot.

  Eddie hands me a napkin.

  “Thanks.”

  “So, do you?”

  “Think she’s cheating on you?”

  He nods, but doesn’t look like he wants me to answer.

  I reach out and pat his hand. “No. I don’t think Violet is cheating on you. She loves you.”

  “Then why did she postpone the wedding a month ago and now, she’s called it off completely?”

  “Cold feet?”

  “Maybe. I asked her, but she told me…”

  I lean in eager to hear the reason for their wedding to not take place.

  Eddie takes a sip of tea then studies the kitchen table. “She was upset when the town started to change.”

  I blink. That’s not what I was expecting Eddie to say. “What about the town is changing?”

  He scrubs his face with his hands then says, “Her dad sold the house she grew up in and they knocked it down to build the bowling alley. She cried for days.”

  I’m kind of stunned by this news. I figured Violet would be relieved that piece of her past no longer existed. Guess not. “What does that have to do with you?”

  Eddie rubs his forehead as if trying to ward off a headache. “I was on the board of trustees who approved the permit for the building. She was angry I didn’t tell her about it, but I honestly thought she would be happy. I didn’t realize it was sentimental to her.”

  “Who bought the land?”

  “A private investor out of Chicago. He’s scooped up a few places here in town and has big plans for Daysville.”

  I narrow my eyes. “What kind of plans?”

  “The bowling alley is the only thing I’ve been privy to.”

  My nostrils flare. I hate change. Especially when it comes to our town. It’s perfect just the way it is. Sure, a bowling alley is nice and gives us something to do, but my mind starts to race with horrible possibilities that this investor has planned for our little town. Condos? A mall? Parking garages? Surely not, those seem to extravagant for Daysville. “Who’s the investor?”

  Eddie shakes his head. “He’s working under his company’s name, but I think he’ll really bring some great things to Daysville.

  “Yeah, right,” I mutter under my breath.

  He takes another sip of tea then asks, “So, what do you think about Violet?”

  “I think she was right to postpone the wedding. You should have told her about her childhood home being torn down. If you aren’t going to share something as big as that with her, what else are you going to keep from her?”

  He jerks back like he’s surprised by my words. “Nothing. I would never.”

  “But you did.” I take another sip of tea and watch Eddie mull over my words.

  “You’re right. I messed up, but I apologized and I thought we worked it out. The wedding’s set for September. Everything’s planned. How could she just walk away from it? From me?” he whispers into his cup.

  My heart breaks for Eddie. I know he loves Violet and I thought she loved him. How could she just walk away from him? Something must be going on with her. Maybe it’s her dad or maybe… my mind flickers to this mysterious developer. Could Violet be hiding something? I shiver at the thought. “Give me a second.” I get up from the chair and snag my cell phone off the counter then head into the hall. When I hit Violet’s number, I pray she picks up.

  “Autumn?”

  “Hey, Violet. Are you ok?”

  She sniffles into the phone. “Not really.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I’ve done something Autumn. Something bad.”

  I stiffen at her words. “How bad?”

  “I need your help.”

  My heart kicks up in my chest. No one asks for my help unless they want me to solve a murder. Please don’t tell me Violet murdered someone or found a dead body. “Where are you?”

  “At the old mine. Can you come now?”

  “Now?” I glance up to find Josh studying me with a confused look on his face. I mouth, “Violet” and he nods. “I’ll be right there.” When I hang up I sigh. It’s going to be a long night.

  “Why are you talking to Violet and why is Eddie at your kitchen table?”

  “Violet called off the wedding. He’s upset and she’s in trouble.”

  Josh’s brow pinches together. “What kind of trouble?”

  I shake my head. “I’m not sure.” I glance behind me then lower my voice. “She wants me to meet her at the old mine.”

  “Why is she at the old mine?”

  “I don’t know, but I told her I would meet her.” I look over his shoulder at the closed guest room door. “Is Allison asleep?”

  “More like a zombie.”

  “Huh?”

  “She’s just staring off into space, not talking or really doing anything.”

  I purse my lips. “I need to talk to her, but maybe a good night sleep will do her good.”

  “I’m wondering if we should take her to the hospital.”

  I rub my temples because a headache is brewing at the back of my eyes. “Maybe. Can you keep an eye on her until I get back? If she gets worse, we’ll take her to the hospital. Ok?”

  Josh nods. “What about Eddie?” He gestures to the kitchen table.

  “I’ll tell him I’m going to meet Violet and that he needs to go home and wait for her.”

  “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

  I frown and cock my head. “Why not?”

  He gestures to the kitchen. “The poor guy’s beside himself. Look at him.”

  I take in a slumped over Eddie. His head is in his hands and he looks so defeated. “What do you propose?”

  “I’ll talk to him. It wasn’t very long ago, I was in his shoes.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well not exactly in his shoes, but we are having to postpone our wedding until these murders are solved and I have loved you from a distance since grade school.” He winks at me and plants a kiss on my nose.

  I smile and stroke his cheek. “I love you.”

  “Right back at you, babe,” he says, pulling me to his chest. “Now go help Violet so you can get back here and solve this case. I’m not wanting to postpone this wedding longer than we have to.”

  “Me neither.” Then I groan.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We have to tell our mother’s we’re postponing the wedding.”

  Josh stiffens. “Do we have to?”

  I chuckle into his chest. Our mothers have be
en on cloud nine and in total wedding planner mode since Josh put a ring on my finger. They’re going to be crushed. “It’s only for a little bit. We’ll need their help calling businesses. I’m sure everyone will understand with everything going on. No one will be in the mood for a wedding anyway.”

  “I was in the mood for a wedding,” Josh mumbles into my hair.

  “Me too.” I sigh into his chest. “I better go. I’ll Rock Paper Scissors you on who has to call our moms.” I hold out my fist, preparing to partake in the game.

  He grins. “Nah. I’ll do it. You have your hands full.”

  I give him a squeeze before planting a kiss on his lips. “You’re the best.”

  “Ah shucks, Miss Fisher, you’re making me blush.”

  I laugh then cover my mouth to keep from waking up Cat. “I won’t be long.”

  “Call if you need me.” Then Josh pulls me in for another hug and kisses the top of my head. “Be careful, Autumn. I don’t have a good feeling about any of this.” He pauses. “Maybe I should go with you.”

  “I’ll be fine. It’s Violet. Plus, I need you to stay here and make sure Cat and Allison are safe.”

  He squeezes me one last time before letting me go. “The keys are on the coffee table. Call me if you need me and I’ll be right there. Even if I have to wake-up Allison and Cat and bring them with me.”

  I smirk. “I’ll be fine, but I’ll call if I don’t think things are on the up and up, but it’s Violet. How much trouble could she be in?”

  8

  “Violet? Are you here?” I glance around the dark mine. The hairs on my arms stand up and a chill fills the air even though it’s the middle of August. I run my hands up and down my arms to try and ward off the cold and the feeling that something isn’t quite right. What did I get myself into? I should be at home snuggled up with Josh on the couch. Or asleep. Or something other than this. “Violet?”

  A cold hand clamps down on my arm and I scream.

  “Autumn, it’s me. Violet.”

  The light from the full moon shimmers in through the holes in the mine. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at home with Eddie?” I hiss.

  “I can’t go home. At least not yet. Not after what I’ve done.”

  I glance around trying to figure out what she’s talking about, but it’s too dark. “What have you done, Violet?”

  “Come. I’ll show you.”

  I gulp, not sure I want to see what she’s done. She leads me through a few tunnels and into a makeshift office. I blink to allow my eyes to adjust to the light. There’s a few candles burning around the room and ‘For Sale’ signs are scattered about along with several stacks of papers. “What is all this, Violet?”

  She tugs on her long sleeve black jumpsuit then wrings her hands in front of her before saying, “Eddie’s working for a developer who is buying up abandoned properties in Daysville and is planning to turn our small town into the next big city. Like Kansas City or St. Louis.”

  “Wait… what? Eddie wouldn’t do that.”

  Violet bites her lip. “I didn’t think so either, but did you know he approved the destruction of my childhood home without even telling me? I mean, who does that?”

  “He told me. He’s at my house right now beating himself up about it. You should go talk to him. I’m sure you two can work this out and get past this, right?”

  She scowls and shakes her head. “I don’t know. If he can lie about something as big as that, what else will he lie to me about?”

  I can’t say I disagree with her, but I know Eddie and he wasn’t trying to hurt her. “Why do you think Eddie is working for this developer? He told me he was only on the board to approve the permit for the bowling alley, but didn’t know what else this developer has planned. He said this guy’s pretty secretive.”

  Violet wrings her hands. “Eddie grew up in a big city. He likes that life. I think he misses it. If someone came in and expanded Daysville, I don’t think he would be upset about it.”

  “But you are.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  I chew on my lower lip. “I can’t say I’m crazy about the idea, but we don’t even know what this guy is planning.”

  Violet looks down at her boots and kicks the dirt.

  “Violet? Do you know what this guy is planning?”

  “Um, maybe.” She takes a stack of papers from behind her back and hands them to me.

  “What is all this?”

  “Contracts to purchase various properties.” Then she points over to another stack of papers in the corner. “Those are bids for construction companies and different contracts for stores that plan to set up shop in the mall.”

  I move toward the papers and peruse them. “Do I even want to know how you got all these?”

  “Probably not.” Violet looks down at her boots again.

  “Where did you get these, Violet?”

  She bites her lip. “I probably shouldn’t tell you. It makes you an accessory just by being here. I will say, I didn’t steal them, I happened upon them.”

  I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Violet, we have to put all of these back where you ‘happened upon them’. You can’t just take this stuff.”

  “Bobby will want proof and so will the rest of the town. This guy, whoever he is, is planning to ruin our town.” Violet puts her hands on her hips and glares at me. “I thought you would understand. That you would help me,” she pouts.

  I sigh. “Of course, I’ll help. I don’t want Daysville to change any more than anyone else here in town.” I peruse the room. “What’s with all the ‘For Sale’ signs?”

  “I’m removing them from the properties that are listed ‘For Sale’.”

  I smirk. “You do know that’s not going to keep this developer from buying them, right? They are listed online.”

  “I know, but I panicked and thought maybe if he didn’t see the signs, he wouldn’t bother looking online. It’s dumb, but I had to do something.”

  I pat her arm. “I understand. We should take these to Eddie. Maybe he can stop the sale or find a way out of this.”

  Violet turns pale. “We can’t.”

  “Why?”

  “He’ll hate me. Call off the wedding.”

  “Violet, he told me that you already called off the wedding.”

  She twists her dark hair around her finger. “I know. I thought he knew about all this and was keeping it from me… again.”

  I shoot her a reassuring smile then frown. “Bobby has to know about all of this. I can’t believe he would keep this from the town. Nikki’s going to be so mad when she finds out.”

  “Maybe, but I know he’s been out of town on some other business so his assistant Wesley has been handling things around the office.”

  “Seems awful convenient that this developer shows up when Bobby is out of town, doesn’t it?”

  Violet nods. “Very.” Then she sighs. “I guess you’re right. Let’s go talk to Eddie. He’ll know what to do. Do you think he’ll be mad at me?”

  I fight back a grin because Eddie is most definitely going to be mad, but there’s no way I’m telling Violet that. “I’ll think he’ll be relieved to know why you called off the wedding. He’s a wreck.”

  She shoots me a sad smile. “Me too. I wanted to talk to him about all of this, but I thought he was a part of all of this.” Violet gestures to the signs and the papers.

  “That’s understandable, but now that we know he’s not, he can help us.” I turn to leave and when I make it to the entrance of the mine, my phone rings. Josh’s face pops up on my screen. “What’s wrong?”

  “Cat,” he chokes out. “Allison,” he pants like he’s running. “They’re missing.”

  “We’re on our way.” I hang up and practically yank off Violet’s arm as I pull her toward my Jeep. “We have to hurry.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure, but we have to get back to my house and fast.” I jump in my Jeep and Violet barely has a c
hance to shut the door before I’m flooring the pedal, throwing up dirt and rocks as I head for my house. I try Cat’s phone and then Regina’s, but they both go straight to voicemail. Shoot. Thoughts bounce around my mind as I make my way through town. Where could they be? Did Allison kidnap Cat? Surely not. I skid to a stop in front of my house. All the lights are on and Josh and Eddie have flashlights in hand and are coming out of the woods.

  Josh rushes toward me and starts talking non-stop, “We were talking in the kitchen after you left and I got a strange feeling something wasn’t right so I went to check on them. The windows in each of their bedrooms were cracked and they were both gone.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’m so sorry, Autumn. This is all my fault. I should have kept a better eye on them. I thought they were sleeping.” His blue eyes brim with tears. “Please don’t hate me.” He grips my arms like he’s afraid I’m going to leave him.

  I stroke his cheek. “It’s not your fault. This whole mess is getting out of hand. Murder. Kidnapping. Comas and now, more kidnapping. Have you called Regina?”

  He nods. “Voicemail.”

  I bite my lip. “Same here. The hospital doesn’t have great reception. Maybe Cat went there. I’ll go check.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Josh offers, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me into his side.

  I nod then turn to Eddie. “So, I guess you know Allison came back here and we didn’t call the police?”

  He shrugs like he’s not surprised. “We’ll check out her house and the salon.” He slides his gaze to Violet. “Or I’ll go look.”

  Violet shakes her head. “I’ll go with you. We need to talk anyway.”

  Eddie smiles.

  I clap my hands like we’re a sports team getting ready to take the field. “Great. Call if you find either of them.”

  They nod and take off toward Eddie’s BMW.

  Josh jogs up to the house, switches off the interior lights and locks the door then joins me by the Jeep. “I told your dad what’s going on and he’s going to keep an eye on the house in case either of them come back. He’s camped out on my back patio.”

  I glance in that direction and see a dark silhouette raise their hand. I wave back then turn toward the Jeep. My parents are staying with Josh’s so Josh could move his stuff into my house. He sold his house back to his parents, who claim they are going to stay put for a while. I think they’re hoping we give them a grandchild sooner rather than later. We’re not getting any younger. Rumor has it my parents are searching for a house in Daysville as well. Seems the wedding and thoughts of grandbabies are making the Florida birds flock back to Missouri.