Ashley Crane Cozy Mystery Collection

by Laurie Anne Marie

  “Tell you what. I could use a cocktail and some gossip. How about coming to my place at 8 tonight? I’m too beat to go out.”

  “Fine, see you later,” Lara said.

  Ashley sighed with exhaustion as she walked to her car. Just then, Jimmy the dishwasher came squealing around the corner in his old, beat-up car. He slammed on the brakes and stormed into the back door of the kitchen.

  “Why would he come back already?” she wondered.

  Before she could even put any more thoughts together, Jimmy and Chris came rolling out into the parking lot from the back, throwing punches at each other.

  Jimmy was chewing Chris out.

  “You’re ratting on me, aren’t you?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Chris shouted.

  Chris ducked as Jimmy swung at him again.

  “I’m not like you. You’re a weasel. Stop lying about me and what I’m doing!” Jimmy yelled.

  Just then, Darren raced out and tried to separate the two men.

  “Stop it now or I’m calling the police,” Darren yelled.

  “Yeah, you do that Darren. I’m sure the police would love to hear about everything!” Chris sneered at the men and then ran back to the kitchen.

  Darren stared for a moment, then put his hand out to Jimmy.

  “Are you ok?” Darren asked.

  “Don’t touch me,” Jimmy hissed. “You’ve caused all this mess. You won’t be getting away with this.”

  Jimmy jumped in his car and screeched off.

  During the fight, Ashley had crouched by her car. She didn’t want to be seen or get involved. She had no idea what they were fighting about and didn’t want to get in the way of a testosterone-fueled war.

  Ashley noticed Darren take a quick glance around and dash into the back of the restaurant. Had he seen her? Hopefully, he thought she had left already. She waited a minute more, then quietly opened her car door and slid in. She drove off with her head crouched down as much as she could and still see where she was going. She realized her hands were trembling on the wheel.

  Whatever the fight was about, it had looked serious. This was more than just grumblings from the staff about a mean boss. Something bad was going on between the men. Really bad. Darren must be involved in something that could only be described as big trouble. Whatever it was, she couldn’t believe what she had just seen at her job, in her quiet little town. The day had proved to be too exciting for her, and her headache came back with a vengeance. She quickly stopped at her favorite market and grabbed some figs, cheese, and a baguette.

  ***

  When she got home, Charlie wanted to play. She loved her kitty cat, but she really wanted a nap before Lara came by. One look at his face however and she couldn’t resist. His fat cheeks and big eyes were irresistible. She brought out his squeaky mouse toy on a string and jiggled it across the floor. Charlie pounced again and again. He was relentless. She never got tired of watching his antics. He had been a shelter kitten, and she felt so lucky to have adopted him. That old saying of ‘who rescued who?’ popped into her mind.

  Ashley sighed. “I’ve got to get you a friend so you’re not alone when I go to work.”

  Charlie gave her a look that seemed to say ‘please hurry up mom’ and then pounced on the toy again.

  She began to think of everything that had happened at her job today. Trying to make sense of it all was difficult. She was on overload and still tired from yesterday. Her arm started to slow down and before long, she was passed out sound asleep on her living room floor. Charlie lay down next to her to snuggle. She was in such a deep sleep she didn’t hear the doorbell ring.

  “Ouch!” Ashley cried.

  Charlie was batting her face with his paw and tugging on her hair.

  “Charlie, why? Oh, I forgot to feed you. Sorry.” She got up with a groan to get his food as the doorbell rang again.

  “Oh no, it’s 8 o’clock already. You were trying to tell me Lara was here, weren’t you?”

  Her cat looked at her as if to say ‘poor you’ as she went to answer the door.

  Ashley stood there groggily and saw a smiling Lara on her stoop holding a bottle of rum.

  Lara grinned. “You said cocktails so I thought we could make Pina Coladas.”

  Ashley stood there blinking at her friend.

  “You look awful. Bad day at work, huh?” Lara asked.

  “Oh yeah. Really bad. I just have to go wash my face and wake up. I passed out on the floor playing with Charlie.”

  “Ohhh, poor Charlie,” Lara sympathized, as she picked up the cat.

  “You deserve a much better owner. I think I should be the one to have that honor.”

  Charlie purred in Lara’s arms.

  “Take my cat and I’m coming after you,” Ashley shouted, from down the hall.

  “You really are a one-of-a-kind cat,” Lara said as she stroked Charlie’s fur.

  ***

  As Lara made their cocktails, Ashley realized her stomach was really grumbling. She had a bite of food here and there at work while she tasted things, but hadn’t eaten a full meal, and now she was ravished. She remembered she had the salad and two desserts. But she needed more than that.

  “Want some food? I have to eat something before I go into details,” Ashley said.

  Lara smiled in anticipation. “Sure, I can always eat your food. Whatcha making?”

  “I’ll just put a plate of cheese and bits together, “Ashley replied.

  She put two excellent kinds of cheese on a plate, and then olives, cornichon pickles, and marmalade. She added a spoon of white bean tapenade, some roasted red peppers, and almonds. Then she cut up the fresh baguette and put out butter and olive oil. She set out the salad that she had brought home from work and dressed it up with some added vegetables and vinaigrette. Lastly, she put out the fresh figs and some grapes and the lemon mousse and chocolate lava cake.

  Lara shook her head and laughed. “I don’t know how you throw all this delicious stuff together just like that.”

  “I grabbed the bread and figs on the way home,” Ashley said. “And I took the salad and desserts from work, so I can’t take credit for those.”

  “Not just that. Everything. The way you put it all together. You really know how to eat.”

  “That’s because I love to eat. You know that saying ‘you either eat to live or live to eat’ don’t you? I’m definitely in the latter group,” Ashley said.

  Lara laughed. “I should have brought wine. Do Pina Coladas go with all this?”

  “Pina Coladas go with everything,” Ashley said. “Forget the old rules. Who says you have to have white wine with fish, red wine with meat, and certain cocktails with whatever? So boring. And so yesterday. Eat well and mix it up.”

  They clinked their glasses and dug in. For a minute, there was no sound as they ate and drank.

  “Okay, let’s hear about work. No wait, tell me first if you like that guy I brought along with us the other night.” Lara’s eyes gleamed.

  “I can’t remember him too much. I got too buzzed. He was hunky though.”

  “Didn’t you talk to him at least a little bit?” Lara asked.

  “Not much. You guys were plying me with drinks to get me to forget about my ex dumping me, remember?”

  “Oh come on Ashley. I know that. I invited Mike for you to meet. I can’t believe you didn’t even talk to him that much. He thought you were nice though.”

  Ashley was blank-faced. “That was his name? And he thought I was nice? What else did he say about me?”

  Lara laughed. “You’re hopeless.”

  They started to gossip instead about the new guy Lara was going out with. He was tall and handsome, and Lara seemed to have a big crush on him at the moment.

  “He brought me a box of chocolates and some roses last week,” Lara beamed.

  “He sounds more divine by the moment,” Ashley sighed.

  “I don’t know how serious it will get. I’m taking
it slow. I’m sick of ‘on and off again’ relationships. I need a keeper.”

  “Well, you better find out if he will keep bringing those chocolates and roses before you decide to keep him,” Ashley exclaimed.

  The girls broke into laughter again.

  “So, tell me about work. It sounds crazy over there. You said something was ‘rotten in Scotland’ or something like that.”

  Ashley laughed at her friend. Lara always repeated back her Shakespeare quotes all mangled up.

  “It’s actually ‘Rotten in Denmark.’ It’s from ‘Hamlet.’ It means a fish stinks from its head. As in, something’s wrong at the top. Namely, the owner and management are in trouble, so it trickles down the line to all of us employees.”

  “I think I got that part. So, could you explain what’s actually happening over there, Madame Shakespeare?” Lara smiled.

  Ashley sighed. “Where to begin?”

  She tried to fill her friend in on her boss Darren, the head cook Chris in the kitchen who seemed to hate him, the angry dishwasher Jimmy, who quit that day, and the frustrated servers which were running around like crazy spinning their wheels.

  “My boss seems to think the restaurant can run on nearly empty. Everyone seems to be tense all the time, and we never can catch up anymore. Plus, it could be my imagination, but it seems there are a lot of grudges against him. Darren’s never been the greatest guy, but these past few months he seems to have made a lot of enemies.”

  “Who in particular?” Lara asked.

  “Well, the cook Chris Durst. He shoots daggers at Darren every time he walks in the kitchen, and today he said something like ‘he will get his due soon’ under his breath.”

  “Who else?”

  “Jimmy Potenski has always had a temper, but he works really hard and pretty much stays to himself. Being a dishwasher must be so tough, especially when your work is not appreciated. Darren was apparently really riding him this morning, and when Jimmy quit, he looked at Darren like he wanted to kill him. He actually even said that.”

  Lara laughed. “Everyone says that when they’re mad. I said I wanted to kill the dry cleaner after he messed up my new dress.”

  “Yeah, but to storm out of the restaurant like that? He has PTSD and told me once that his therapist said that he needed the job. He shouldn’t have quit just because of Darren.”

  “What about the servers? What did they say?”

  “They all came in the kitchen over the course of my shift and congratulated me for telling Darren off when I told him he had to hire more people. I knew people had been upset, but now it seems that everyone hates working there.”

  “This all sounds intense. I’m having a dessert. Which one do you want?” Lara leaped up to get a plate.

  “Let’s each have half of them both,” Ashley said.

  While they were ‘oohing and aahing’ over the yummy treats, Ashley had a thought. Why was Mr. Nash the investor always angry and why did he come in so much? Maybe pressure from him made Darren so unpleasant.

  Rumor had it that Nash had put tons of money into the place, so that must make him feel like he should have a say in everything. Ashley didn’t know anything else about him, but as unpleasant as Darren had become to work for, she felt Nash could be even worse. Ashley hoped he wouldn’t be taking over the place anytime soon.

  “Ashley?” Lara asked.

  No response.

  “Ashley!”

  Lara’s voice brought Ashley out of her thoughts.

  “Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about the mess at work again,” Ashley replied.

  “And I was just telling you thank you for all this delicious food. Stop worrying about work. You can’t control what happens anyway. Besides, you’re a good enough cook to get a job somewhere else if it gets too unbearable over there.”

  “Thanks, but there aren’t exactly a lot of jobs out there at the moment.”

  “Well, you can’t stay in a toxic environment either. Besides, how do you put up with working there anyway now that you know Ray cheated on you with one of the servers?”

  Ashley sighed. “Ouch, don’t remind me.”

  She then proceeded to tell Lara about what she had seen between her boss and Ray’s new girlfriend Meagan Twicking at work today.

  “Meagan and Darren looked like they were flirting today. He seems transfixed by her.”

  Lara gasped and clapped her hands. “So you’re telling me that the server Meagan who Ray cheated on you with is also sleeping with your boss?”

  “I’m not 100% sure, but they sure looked cozy today. And not at all like just an ‘employee-employer’ relationship if you know what I mean.”

  Lara’s jaw was on the floor. “Do you think Ray knows?”

  “How should I know? I avoid seeing or talking to him at all costs now. And he never comes into the restaurant as he doesn’t want to see me. But if it’s true, that would be perfect justice, wouldn’t it?”

  Lara grinned. “You know what they say about karma.”

  They both started cracking up.

  Then all of a sudden, Ashley got silent. She didn’t want to worry her friend, but she needed to tell someone about what happened as she was leaving work.

  “That’s not all, “Ashley continued.

  Lara stared at her. “What do you mean?”

  “Just before I left for the day, Jimmy came roaring back in his car, stormed into the kitchen and came out throwing punches with the cook Chris.”

  Lara gasped. “What?”

  “Yep. Then Darren ran out and told them to break it up, or he would call the police. Chris dared him to do it, and then when Darren tried to comfort Jimmy, he yelled something at Darren like, ‘You started all this, and you’ll pay’ and took off in his car.”

  “What did Darren say to you?”

  “Nothing. I don’t think he saw me. At least I hope he didn’t.”

  “Oh Ash. Sorry. Sounds like you need to get out of there pronto. It will probably only get worse.”

  Ashley sighed. “I know. I’ll start looking for a new job soon, I promise.”

  They could’ve gone all night talking, but it was getting late, and Ashley had an early call at the restaurant. As Lara got up to go, she turned and hugged her friend.

  “Thanks for the nibbles. This was great. Are you sure you’re ok?”

  Ashley nodded and hugged her friend back as she cleaned up the plates and put on the TV for a moment to catch the evening news before bed.

  “Let’s meet over the weekend. I’ll check my schedule and get back to you,” Ashley replied.

  “Ok, sounds good. And don’t let them drive you crazy over there. I say even better than looking for another job, you should open your own place and leave the crazies behind,” Lara said.

  Ashley gave her friend a hug again and started to walk her to the door. It was then she heard an announcement on the TV that stopped her cold in her tracks.

  Chapter Five

  “At 10:15 p.m. this evening, a body was discovered behind the Gratitude Cafe by a man out walking his dog. It appears the victim is 55-year-old Darren Short, owner of the restaurant. The victim was discovered by police to have three gunshots wounds to the chest. A suspect named James Potenski has been taken in for questioning and has been arrested. We will report further on this case as more information comes in,” a News Anchor said on the television.

  Ashley gasped. She grabbed Lara’s arm.

  “That’s my restaurant! I can’t believe it. Darren was a jerk, but I can’t believe he’s dead!”

  “Oh my God. That’s awful. I’m so sorry Ash. What’s going to happen now?” Lara asked.

  Ashley’s face was white as a sheet. “I don’t know. Oh no, this is horrible! And they arrested Jimmy? It’s hard to believe that he did it.”

  Lara was nearly as stunned as her friend. “Jimmy?”

  “Jimmy! The dishwasher at the restaurant that I told you about who quit today then came back and got into a fight with Chris. Everyone knew he
didn’t like Darren, but I don’t think he’s capable of this.”

  “The police seem to think so,” Lara said.

  She looked at her friend who was sitting down now in a stupor.

  “I think I should stay the night with you tonight. You don’t look as if you should be alone,” Lara insisted.

  “Thanks, I guess not, I…” Ashley stammered, then began to cry.

  Lara held her friend to comfort her.

  Charlie walked in when he heard Ashley crying. He jumped up on her lap and put his paw on her arm to comfort her.

  Ashley held him close as she continued to cry.

  As Lara led her to the bedroom, Ashley’s mind was racing. Darren shot. Jimmy arrested. A murder in their little town. What would be the fate of the restaurant? Did she still have a job? She lay in bed thinking it was all a bad dream.

  ***

  What a crazy turn of events. Jimmy had a short fuse to be sure and had been diagnosed with PTSD. He had quit, then raced back to the restaurant in anger and started a fight. Did he finally snap?

  Darren was an unlikeable and somewhat mysterious guy. He might have had other enemies outside the restaurant business too. But who? The investor Mr. Nash could have a motive since he had put so much money in the restaurant and seemed always to be angry with Darren.

  What about Chris and his mumbled words to her? What about his parting shot to Darren to go ahead and call the police? She wracked her brains thinking of the murder. Lara was snoring in the other room, and Charlie was curled up by her side. She wanted to keep analyzing it, but eventually exhaustion took its toll, and she drifted off.

  ***

  Ashley bolted up in bed with the morning light. She shook her head, thinking last night might have just been a nightmare. But when she opened up her laptop to check out the local morning headlines, the news of Darren’s murder was everywhere. She sat for a minute reading about it, then scrambled out of bed. She woke up Lara, and they had coffee together while talking about the crime. Everything seemed surreal. After Lara had driven off, Ashley got dressed.