A Killer Cup of Joe

by Jennifer Templeman

  “Most of the stuff I deserve to be blamed for, people will never know about, and the things they attempt to lay on me are laughable at best, so it carries no weight at all,” he replied cryptically.

  “What do you mean, things you deserve to be blamed for?” Ellie was warming up to the conversation if it meant Joe would explain that a little further. It had been difficult for her to stay focused on their discussion for much of the evening, but a chance to talk about him might keep her mind fully occupied for a while.

  “This isn’t about me,” he attempted to divert her. “We were talking about you.”

  “We were, but we were done because I was finished discussing it. Now, I’m all ears to hear about you,” she said, hoping her voice sounded like she was joking, even though she was practically jumping up and down inside to learn something about Joe. Despite the time they’d spent together, in retrospect, she realized most of it had centered on her and she’d learned very little about him.

  He glanced over the door behind her and then looked back down at her face. “In that case, if you want to talk about my issues, you’ll have to hurry back from your trip, because I’m just about to hit the evening rush and I’m down a staff person.”

  Ellie wasn’t sure how to respond. Unless he had some kind of super power to detect when the general public was thinking about coming to his coffee shop, he was just making that up, which meant he was refusing to talk about his past. On the other hand, there was an implied promise that he would share some more if she came back to see him.

  “Sometimes, I swear there are entire conversations going on in your head that I never get to hear, but am convinced I’d enjoy,” Joe said, pulling her from her thoughts.

  “Maybe.” Ellie refused to tell him exactly what she was thinking and didn’t want him to feel like he had too much of the upper hand, so she added, “But a girl has to keep a little mystery, so you’ll just have to accept that there are some things you’ll never get to hear.”

  If she’d known taunting him so directly would make him throw his head back and laugh out loud, she would have tried it as soon as the conversation had taken such a serious turn. “Trust me, you’ve got the whole mystery thing going for you, and I’m convinced I could spend hours with you every day and there’d still be a whole host of things I’d never know.” He stood up and held his hand out to offer Ellie assistance in rising before adding, “But I’d enjoy every second of it.”

  She didn’t need to look at her reflection on the polished steel machine behind them to know her face had just darkened two tones. “I think you enjoy unnerving me.”

  “It’s only fair, since you seem to have that effect on me,” he replied with a devilish grin. Then he looked down at their clasped hands and kept his gaze there to say, “I know you said this isn’t a high-danger situation, but it’s different from your daily grind. Obviously, there’s a good bit we don’t know about each other, but from what I’ve observed, I have no doubt you can handle whatever gets thrown at you while you’re in California. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

  As if looking at their hands gave them both the courage to speak openly, she focused her eyes there as well to reply, “I will, and in a couple of days, I’ll be back home, all of this will be behind me, and my life will go back to normal.” She braved a peek at his face and found it impossible to read, so she tacked on, “And then we can get together again so you can explain some of the comments you’ve made tonight.”

  “Come back in once piece, and I’ll be glad to talk at length about almost any subject you bring up,” he promised.

  It didn’t escape her notice that he’d tacked on the loophole she had no doubts he’d attempt to enact when she pushed for too many personal details. Still, every second she’d been with him so far had turned out to be time well-spent. Even if he kept a few mysteries of his own, it was guaranteed to be a good time.

  “You’ve got a deal,” she agreed, liking the way it felt when he squeezed her hand before releasing it.

  They walked out in silence, and as she moved to exit, she couldn’t help but notice he slipped behind the counter just as a group of people came in, creating the evening rush she’d doubted earlier. Until they could catch up when she got back in town, she just might allow herself to believe he had superpowers after all.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ellie stretched and heard vinyl squeak underneath her. She’d always loved riding in her father’s Ford LTD sedan. It was non-descript tan inside and out, and where she found herself appeared to be as well, except for her seat which was startlingly red.

  In the passenger side door, there was a little compartment that the manufacturer had intended to be an ash tray, but she had converted it into a small hair accessory container. Just to verify that she was sitting in the right car, she opened the cover and found three bobby pins and a rubber band. All over the dash were Post-it notes with his distinct script on them. Ellie couldn’t remember him plastering notes in his car like this before. Honestly, it appeared as though one of his case files exploded all over the interior of the car. None of his comments made sense as they were mostly incomplete sentences that didn’t appear to relate to each other, but there was a comfort in being surrounded by his thoughts.

  Before she could question why she was there, the driver’s side door opened. Her father slid in, turned the key in the ignition, and released the emergency brake in one smooth movement. “You remember the rules, right?” he asked like he did almost every night when she rode with him to a call for his job.

  The familiarity of the scene was comforting, so she gave the rote response. “Stay in the car and keep the doors locked and the windows up.”

  “Right,” he agreed before adding, “And don’t mess with the stations I have set in the radio. I hate it when you do that, because you know I can’t set them back.”

  Before she could ask where they were going, he pulled into what looked like an abandoned warehouse. There was a hazy fog obstructing her view from the side windows, but through the windshield she could tell there were lights on inside. She watched as he reached across in front of her to open the glove box and pull out a gun, allowing more of the light yellow paper to fall out and stick to the floorboard. He always kept a weapon at his waist, so she knew this was a backup piece that he’d put in the holster hidden at his ankle. Whatever was in that building must be serious if he was taking extra firepower.

  “All right, Ellie girl,” he said softly. “Hang tight, and I’ll be right back.”

  With that, he climbed out, somehow managing to move without his seat making a sound, and vanished into the night. No matter how she squinted, all she could see were fuzzy shapes in various shades of grey or deep blue. She knew they’d driven here, but she’d been so focused on seeing her father, she hadn’t noticed any scenery or landmarks to know exactly where ‘here’ was. Not being able to focus on the details around her made Ellie feel even more disoriented and lost.

  She sat in the car for a moment or two and then realized this wasn’t like any of the calls he usually brought her on. There was no backup, no crime scene, and no other cars to offer protection for her. Something was wrong.

  When she looked down, her purse was at her feet, which meant she had her own gun and badge. Just because she was riding along with her father didn’t mean she couldn’t be his backup. Deciding for once that she would break the rule of staying in the car while he was gone, Ellie opened the door to follow him.

  Even though she was trying to stay light on her feet, each step made a sound, seeming to echo in the deafening silence around her. She knew there was a light on in the building, but outside, it was nearly black. She kept one hand out to feel for the wall or door, and in the other, she had her gun out, ready for whatever might be there waiting. In the distance there was the call of an owl and the more distant fluttering of wings. Ellie knew bats were out and wondered if the owl was about to swoop in on his prey.

  Ellie touched cool metal and followed
it until she came to what she hoped was an entrance. Trying to get an idea of what kind of door it was, she continued to feel around and realized there were two doors side by side. She had to choose which one would lead her to her father.

  Not able to tell the difference between them in the dark, she placed her ear to each in turn. Her father’s voice called out, “Diablos!” That must be the name of who he was after. Ellie couldn’t help but notice this guy shared a name commonly given to the devil. She could only hope that was where the similarities would end.

  “Michaels, how nice of you to join me,” an amused voice spoke.

  “The invitation you sent didn’t give me the impression it was optional,” Elliot replied.

  “Come now. Sarcasm doesn’t befit you,” the man admonished. “I’ve spent far too long by myself and felt I was due a little…amusement.”

  “Go to hell, Diablos,” her father demanded. Realizing her dad was probably not endearing himself to what was undoubtedly a crazy man, she knew she needed to get in the building quickly.

  “Tsk, tsk,” he answered. “I’ve spent plenty of time there, but it was lonely. Hell is empty. All the devils are here on earth.”

  “Don’t throw Shakespeare at me,” her father instructed, making Ellie wonder when he’d had time to read English literature to have picked up on something that obscure.

  One of the knobs under her hand was locked, while the other turned easily. At least she didn’t have to waste any more time figuring out which door to use. Just as she took her first step inside, she heard the man her father had been talking to speak once more.

  “Come now, Michaels. A little intellectual conversation is never a bad thing. Besides, in the mind, we men can make hell out of heaven, right?”

  “If you’re going to give me Milton, at least get it right,” her dad replied, sounding as though the conversation was making him angry. “I didn’t get the impression that you called me here to throw random comments my way.”

  “Always to the point,” he answered while Ellie closed the door as slowly and quietly as possible. “Very well.” The man’s voice seemed resigned and maybe even sad about something. “We will do this your way. You could have left things alone, but you had to keep digging, didn’t you?”

  She knew there had been light in the building when they pulled up, but once the door was open, it was impossible to see more than vague shadows. Ellie strained to listen, not wanting to miss anything that was said and needing their voices to guide which direction she should move. It was hard to hear anything over her heartbeat, which seemed to be getting faster and louder with every shallow breath she took.

  “You and your details; you insist on them matching and being perfect, which caused you to look into things better left alone.”

  “If you’re going to invite me to dance, then the music has to match the steps,” Elliot replied. She’d never heard her father speak in riddles like this before.

  “How ironic.” The man sounded amused. “Don’t you know if you dance with the devil, you’re going to get burned?”

  With that piece of advice, there was a gunshot.

  Abandoning all her training, she ran in the direction of the noise just as the room began to glow with a soft light. On the floor was her father, with a single gunshot to the chest, his usually clean white shirt already stained with his blood. She could not help but think back to her seat in the car. His shirt matched that fabric exactly.

  Ellie dropped her gun and knelt by his side. He couldn’t die. She needed him to teach her so much more. She needed to know why he’d come to this warehouse and who Diablos was. But at the moment, she couldn’t ask any questions.

  “So much…” He was trying to speak, but the short breaths he was taking made it hard.

  “So much what?” Ellie prompted, feeling like this was important.

  “I intended to tell you,” Elliot managed to say, and then a ghost of a smile graced his whitened face. “The way is paved with those.”

  “What way?” Ellie asked, shaking him slightly when his eyes closed.

  Before Elliot could answer, a voice standing directly behind her summed it up. “You’ll need to be quicker in picking up his references if you want to fill his shoes. The way to hell is paved with good intentions never carried out.”

  Realizing the man behind her could take her life as easily as he’d apparently taken her father’s, she found it surprisingly easy to ignore the threat. It was then she noticed that her father had vanished. “Dad!” she called out, wanting to find him, needing to see him again. “Daddy!”

  It was no use. He was gone, and no amount of screaming would bring him back.

  ***

  Ellie was exhausted, already feeling jet-lagged, and having trouble remembering why she’d allowed herself to be flown across the county so early in the morning. If she’d slept more than three hours, she’d be surprised. Her mind was jumbled with questions about the case, the killer, and why after all these years someone felt the need to push her out of the office. Nothing about the operation made sense. To top off her manic thoughts, the sleep she had gotten was plagued with dreams. She’d rather dwell on this case than face another nightmare like she’d had last night. Hopefully, the retreat center would allow her first day to be primarily settling in and resting so she didn’t have to worry about dozing off while searching for clues about a killer.

  Of course, before she could get to that point, she had to get through the next three hours, which she guessed would be the most difficult part of working in the field. Johnson had decided that she needed someone on the ground in California to act as a local contact while she was at the retreat, so he’d called up Agent Peters. Ellie assumed he’d thought it was a good decision since they had worked together for years. But based on the e-mail she’d gotten after the assignments had been detailed in writing, she wasn’t sure having the familiar Agent Peters on her team was going to be helpful at all.

  Will pick you up at the airport. We can discuss your work then. ~Bobby

  Ellie understood that sometimes, brevity was necessary, but she also knew for a couple of years, the shortest e-mail she’d received from him was a single paragraph. Two sentences, with one of them being incomplete, didn’t give her the impression Agent Peters was happy about being in the role of supporting agent. That on top of the fact she’d hoped they could work together indefinitely without meeting had kept her on edge for most of her flight west.

  By the time she moved to baggage claim, she was anxiously scanning the face of any blond-haired man in a dark suit. Just as her bag came around the carousel, she spotted one that may as well have had the letters FBI stamped on his forehead. His focus was on a middle-aged woman with brown hair pulled back in a bun, wearing a business suit and unnecessarily practical shoes, nervously waiting for her luggage, which had yet to appear. Of course he would assume that was the agent he’d been sent here to retrieve.

  Ellie almost wished she’d dressed more the part as she walked up to him and called out to get his attention. “Agent Peters?”

  “Can I help you?” he asked, appearing confused that the stranger knew who he was, but quickly flashed her a smile that said the interruption was welcome. His slightly disheveled blond hair and dimples made it easy for Ellie to see him as the ladies’ man Phillips had accused him of being.

  “It’s Ellie,” she explained, “Ellie Michaels.”

  “Oh, Ellie, I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting you to be so...” He stopped abruptly when his eyes took in the full effect of the woman in front of him.

  Not wanting him to comment on her being younger or perhaps more attractive than he’d mentally pictured her to be, she finished his sentence for him. “…So casual? I didn’t think a business suit would fit in at a yoga retreat if I want people to believe I’m here to lead a simpler life.”

  “Ah, yes, of course.” He quickly accepted the “get out of an awkward situation free” card she threw his way and then pointed to her suitcase. “Is that yo
ur only bag?”

  “Yep, I’m all set.” She hoped it would get less awkward soon.

  They drove for forty-five minutes as he rambled on about how traffic made it impossible to get anywhere quickly in Northern California. Grateful he was filling the silence with small talk, she let him jabber and made noises of agreement only as necessary to keep him going.

  They parked in front of a large white rectangular building that he indicated housed his office. “Just leave your bag here. It’ll save us from carrying it around while we’re inside at the briefing. I’ll be the one to drop you off at the retreat center, so it’ll be waiting for you.”

  She grabbed her purse instead, checking for the tenth time that her badge was still in there, along with the other necessities Phil had given to her before she’d left Virginia.

  Agent Peters led her to a mid-size conference room, where a projector had the yoga center’s website displayed on the screen at the front. Two suits joined them before they even sat down.

  “Michaels,” an older man called out. He had a round stomach and a voice deep and powerful enough to give the impression he was accustomed to having his every wish obeyed. “You look more like your mother than your old man, but if you’re anything like him in the field, we’ll have this wrapped up by Sunday.”

  Ellie wasn’t sure how to respond. She didn’t like having her father’s reputation be her introduction when she met new people. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to think she needed to respond, and jumped right into the reason they were all there.

  “I told the yahoos out east to send you down here because we need somebody that has the skills to go undercover without being so polished they’re easily spotted as an agent. When I realized you were familiar with the case, I called up your chief and demanded he send you over.”

  At least she now knew who to blame for her current position. There was an immediate sense of relief in knowing her sudden field status had nothing to do with her father’s final investigation.