Tequila Trouble - Nicole Leiren

by Danger Cove

  It felt a little like the universe was ganging up on me regarding my housing situation, and I fought the twinge of irritation attempting to unleash a sarcastic and inappropriate remark. Instead I smiled. "I appreciate that and will keep it in mind. I'm rarely home though, so an apartment presently equals the amount of upkeep I'm able to commit to."

  Maura finished her drink and offered a wry smile. "You may be right, or maybe upkeep isn't what you're having trouble committing to. I remember, after my husband died, searching for the place I belonged. Once I found it, here in Danger Cove, it was a little scary to let go of everything I'd known for so long. But here I am, happily fulfilling the sweet tooth cravings of an entire town and the surrounding communities."

  Clara brought her order from the back and placed it in front of her. "Enjoy."

  Maura picked up the bag of food and placed cash on the bar to cover the check. "Thanks for the food and conversation. Just remember that, while life is an adventure, it's okay to have a home base."

  She waved off the change I tried to give her and headed out before I could respond. Maybe she was right, or maybe they were all crazy. Rather than whether I should buy a home when my lease expired, the big question remained: would this still be home if everyone I cared about moved on?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Mandi emerged from the kitchen moments after Maura left. "Phone call for you, Lilly. It's Agnes. Sounds urgent."

  Nothing like someone else's troubles to veer attention away from my own. "Okay, thanks." I turned my attention to Tanner. "Could you cover for a few? I have a phone call."

  "Sure."

  No smile or tease from him. Despite what he had said, I wasn't sure things would be alright no matter what happened. With nothing more to say, I sighed and simply offered, "Thanks."

  I closed the door to Hope's office and exhaled slowly before picking up the phone. I prayed Agnes hadn't taken a turn for the worse. Forcing a smile to my face, I lifted the receiver and pressed the blinking red button. "Hi, Agnes. How are you feeling?"

  "Lilly, thank God. What took you so long?"

  "I'm at work." This time my grin was genuine. "Some of us still work, you know. My fortune wasn't quite as large as yours."

  "Oh, tosh, if you hadn't given most of yours away to build that park and set up a scholarship fund, you could've managed to live a life of leisure."

  Not wanting to argue, I opted for the path of least resistance. "You're right. The next time I'm left with a large inheritance, I'll save it all for myself. Now tell me how you're feeling."

  "I need to see you."

  The urgency in her tone had me worried. "I can come by and see you at the hospital tomorrow before work."

  "No. Today. I've been discharged from the hospital. I'm home."

  "Agnes, not only am I working, but Hope left me in charge. I just can't take a few hours off. People here need me."

  The audible exhale in my ear stressed how much she was fighting for control of her emotions. "I need you, Lilly. Now please…"

  "Okay, let me see what I can do."

  "Don't be long." Agnes issued her final command before cutting the connection.

  "You're welcome. Yes, nice talking to you too." My words wafted into the room around me with no one to hear them. Still, they felt good to say. I initiated a new call and dialed Tanner's sister, Ashley.

  "Hello?"

  "Hi, Ashley. It's Lilly."

  "Oh, hey, Lilly. What's up?"

  I felt bad asking her to come in on her day off, especially in the summer, but desperate times and all. "I need to take care of a few things this afternoon and was wondering if you could do me a favor and come in for at least a few hours and help in the dining area so that Mandi or Tan can cover the bar?"

  There was a pause, a little long for my liking, but finally she spoke. "I'll get paid, right?"

  "Of course. Why wouldn't I pay you?"

  "Well, you did say it was a favor."

  You had to love teenagers. "You're right. I did. It's a favor since I'm asking you to come in when you're not scheduled. You'll still get paid like you normally do."

  "Okay, great. Be there in ten."

  "Thanks." I hung up the phone feeling this conversation went far better than the one with Agnes. The smell of chicken soup wafted into the office and called to me with its siren song. I was helpless to resist.

  Closing the distance between me and the savory soup, I smiled at Tara. "This smells fantastic."

  Her grin widened at my compliment. "Want to taste?"

  "Is Smugglers' Tavern known for their pirates?"

  She laughed and ladled some soup into a cup. The chunks of white chicken, carrots, celery, and whatever those little green herbs she'd used for seasoning were bathing in a golden broth. I lifted the spoon to my lips and blew to cool it slightly. A moment later, the flavor washed over my taste buds and transported me to a happy place. "Oh, Tara…this is so good. So much better than Chef Jonathan's leftovers I was forced to eat yesterday evening."

  The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them. Tara's face moved from pride to annoyed. "Chef Jonathan is a master at what he does. It's just hard to cook in someone else's kitchen. You don't like him because he's trying to steal me away from you."

  I couldn't argue with her about that. I wasn't happy with him for a number of reasons. His attempt to poach Tara, especially without considering the other half of the Dynamic Duo, did make me dislike him…a lot. There was no reason to point out to her that he was trying to steal me away too. She wouldn't be interested in that detail.

  After placing the cup on the counter, I clasped both of her shoulders with my hands. "Just so there's no misunderstanding, I want you to know that I think you are one of the finest chefs to ever put on an apron. Neither Hope nor I would ever stand in the way of you following your dream, even if that took you away from us. I would miss you terribly, both your skills in the kitchen and as my friend. Having made that clear, whatever you decide to do is okay with me."

  Tears glistened in her eyes, and she nodded. "Thanks, Lilly. This is so hard."

  I pulled her into a quick hug. I understood the dilemma completely. A song Mandi had forced me to listen to one evening while I was hanging out at her apartment—"Should I Stay or Should I Go"—should be the theme song around here right now.

  Once I'd secured the envelope of cash from a locked drawer in the desk, two containers of soup, one for Agnes and one for Mandi's mom, I filled the team in on the latest and headed out. At first I pedaled quickly, not wanting the soup to get cold, but realized that no matter how fast I went, Mrs. Adam's soup didn't stand a chance of not having to be reheated. I knew both she and Agnes had a stove and microwave, so warming it wouldn't be a problem.

  I was about halfway to Agnes's house when my phone rang. It was Vernon. "Hi!"

  "Hi, Lilly. Are you outside? Sounds windy."

  "I'm on my bike delivering some chicken soup to the sick." Thank goodness I'd invested in a Bluetooth headset. Otherwise my multitasking skills would seriously be put to the test.

  "New service you're offering at the tavern—delivery?"

  I chuckled. "No. Just an old service I offer to friends. You need me to bring you something? More scones maybe?"

  "I wish, but so far I haven't earned them."

  That wasn't good news. Vernon's connections had come through every time so far. "Were you able to learn anything?"

  "Only that both Rico and Drake lived in Seattle at one point in time. My connection is going to reach out to someone they know in Seattle to see if anything more can be learned. I'll keep you posted."

  It wasn't much at all, but I suppose a little more than I'd known before. "Thanks, Vernon. I appreciate it."

  "Welcome, kiddo. Be careful out there on the roads. No speeding."

  Vernon was such a kidder, at least when it came to me. I think it was the scones I supplied him with—they brought out his sweeter side. That was my story anyway, and I was sticking to it.


  Ten minutes later, I arrived at Agnes's house. I knocked on the door and waited.

  "Lilly? Come in."

  I let myself in the front door, but stopped short at the sight before me. The living room looked like a cyclone had taken a round trip through it. Agnes might be a little messy from time to time, but I'd never seen her home in such a state of disarray. A half-empty bottle of tequila sat on the coffee table next to a glass big enough to hold at least two shots. Agnes was pacing back and forth, wearing a path in the one area of the floor not occupied with papers, pillow, or other personal items.

  "Agnes, what's wrong?"

  The pacing stopped long enough for her to pierce me with her tear-filled gaze. "You have to believe me. I didn't mean to do it."

  "Then who is responsible for this mess, young lady?" I tried a lighthearted approach to see if I could break her out of this downward spiral she had jumped on.

  The red curls flipped wildly as she shook her head from side to side. "This isn't a laughing matter, Lilly. I need your support, not your silliness."

  Okay…message received. Not a time for jokes. "I'm sorry. What can I do to support you?"

  She started pacing again. I decided to go on a fishing expedition. "Did Chef Jonathan say or do something to upset you?" Maybe she'd signed over half her fortune to him in a moment of weakness.

  A few sniffles later, she answered, "The man is relentless, but nothing I can't handle. He comes off a bit desperate, don't you think?"

  This coming from a woman who'd trashed her living room, indulged in a decent amount of tequila, and had obviously been crying. Vibrations of desperation echoed off the walls in here. She did have a point though. "He does seem fixated on getting his hands on our money."

  "That seems to be going around."

  Her response was mumbled, but I'd heard it. "Who else is trying to get your money?"

  "You have to believe that I didn't mean to."

  And we'd come full circle. This time I tried a different approach. "I'm sure you didn't, Agnes. It was an accident, right?" Whatever it was.

  She plopped into the recliner, and the Persian cat jumped up onto her lap, demanding attention. I remembered the affection she held for her cats one of the other times I was at her house. "Does this have something to do with Rico?"

  "I'd realized the ring was a fake when I'd tried to polish it a few days ago. I decided it was time for a little payback for Rico and all the grief he'd been causing me since we got home. By leaving it in the cleaning solution when I left, my goal was to stir up a bit of panic in him when he saw the ring start to dissolve."

  At least now I knew at what point Agnes realized the ring was a fake. Now that she was more forthcoming, I didn't want to say or do anything to stop the flow of information. "Maybe whoever sold it to him perpetrated the fraud?" Personally, I didn't buy that theory for one millisecond, but the possibility existed.

  "Sweet of you to suggest, but you and I both know that's not what happened."

  I knelt down in front of her and softened my voice. "That's what friends are for."

  The tears started rolling down her cheeks again. "I should have confronted him right then and there, but I was so upset I couldn't think straight. I had to get out of there before I did something I regretted."

  "Sounds reasonable."

  "Sounds cowardly. I wanted so badly to believe he loved me for me…not my money." Her gaze found mine. "You're lucky. You know that Tanner loved you with or without the money."

  Why did everyone insist on correlating what was happening in their lives to Tanner's and my relationship? Seriously, didn't they have enough of their own problems? Good Lord knows I had enough of my own. Yet here I am trying to get Agnes to talk about her problems, which are far worse than mine at the moment. "So you went over to visit Clara and Tara's parents. What happened next?"

  I remembered what she had told me the day it happened, but guilt has a way of changing a story depending on how much sympathy a person is looking to gain. It took a Herculean effort on my part not to supply her with the rendition she had given me that day in order to help all of this turn out to be accidental. Still…anger over Rico's betrayal might have been the final straw to the marital issues they'd been having.

  "When I came home from my visit, prepared to confront him, he was unconscious on the floor. He must've gotten dizzy from the fumes, fallen, and hit his head. What are the chances a fall like that could kill you?" Her question was delivered with disbelief and a hint of anger.

  My edit function managed to prevent me from telling her that apparently the chances were one hundred percent in this case. There were several burning questions I wanted to ask her, including why have me look for the ring when she knew it was a fake? Maybe she thought it might make her look guilty? Not sure, but not important right now. I handed her the envelope. "This is what I found when I was looking for your ring. I'm pretty sure it's an envelope of cash. Do you know anything about it?"

  This inquiry prompted her to stand and start to pace again. Not the reaction I'd wanted. After a few minutes of pacing, she stopped and leaned against the wall as if she could no longer support herself without assistance. "It was my money, but Rico made the withdrawal."

  "How do you know?"

  She closed her eyes. "I might as well tell you everything so that you can help me frame it in the best way for the police."

  Which meant she hadn't mentioned the cash to them when they spoke to her after they were here for their initial visit. As someone who'd withheld information to protect myself or those I loved, I couldn't really judge. "Agreed. The more I know, the more I can help you."

  "I'd shared with you about my troubles in paradise. What I didn't share was that I'd begun to suspect that Rico was only after my money from almost the moment we got home. His whole demeanor changed. The way he talked to me. The way he treated me. I may be naïve when it comes to love, but I'm not entirely stupid. One plus one equals two every single time. Attractive man woos recently wealthy woman until she lets him put a ring…" She chuckled and shook her head. "Put a fake ring on her finger. The ink is barely dry on the marriage certificate when he begins to treat her like a leper in her own home."

  "I'm sorry, Agnes." And I really was.

  She batted away my sympathy as though it were an annoying fly getting too close. "Anyway, as I mentioned, I'm not stupid. I put alerts on my account so I'd know whenever a withdrawal had been made."

  "His name was on the account? That was fast."

  "He could be very convincing. Even though I suspected a less-than-honorable intent, he could get me to lower my guard long enough to get what he wanted from me. I'm not proud of it, but it's true."

  "The heart does things for reason…that reason doesn't understand." I quoted from one of my favorite Disney movies, hoping she would find comfort in the words. Hey, don't judge. A wealth of wisdom can be found in The Princess Diaries.

  "Oh, honey, it wasn't my heart I was listening to. It was all those girly parts doing their happy dance when he started playing their song."

  With just a few words, she'd moved us from Disney to Dirty Dancing. Another Hallmark moment ruined. "Fair enough. Go on."

  "I made sure I knew when he made withdrawals on the account or charges on the card. Anything less than a thousand, I didn't even pay attention to."

  She definitely had more money than I did…or ever would have. I was okay with that. "So there was more than a thousand dollars in the envelope?"

  "Ten thousand."

  "Wow!"

  She smiled. "Yes, wow."

  "What was it for?" My curiosity kitty was clawing to get to the bottom of this mystery.

  "I don't know. I was going to ask him, but then…"

  Then he was dead. "Okay, maybe we can look through some of his things to figure out if he owed money to someone." Or maybe he'd decided to invest privately in Chef Jonathan's business to get a piece of the pie outside of Agnes, just in case things didn't work out. It didn't seem plausible g
iven the encounter I witnessed between them that day in Charlie's kitchen, but I was just brainstorming. Which meant I was grasping at straws to try to make sense of all of this.

  She shrugged. "You're welcome to look around wherever you want. I don't even care why he did it."

  Now we were getting to the heart of the matter. "Just that he did it."

  "Yes. Without asking or telling me. He just took the money as though it belonged to him. A few weeks with me and he already felt he could lay claim to ten thousand dollars of my money."

  The anger had returned to her voice. "Circling back to your original claim when I arrived—the important part here is that you didn't plan to kill him, right?" The toxic fumes from the cleaning solution had been stronger than any I'd ever encountered. If she had realized the mixture was toxic or had added more to the mix before she left, that could spell trouble.

  The intensity of Agnes's gaze drove an arrow straight through the thin veil of reasonable doubt I was trying to weave on her behalf. "Did I want him to die? No. Did I want him to suffer? You bet your best bottle of tequila I did."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Several moments of stunned silence stood between Agnes and me as I processed her words. Once that was complete, I gestured to the dining room table in the adjacent room. "Maybe we should sit down."

  She grabbed the tequila and a glass and followed me without saying a word. She downed the equivalent of a double shot before she continued her story. "I added some extra ammonia to the mixture right before I left. I figured the fumes would make him cough, hopefully make him sick, and turn his insides out the way he'd been doing to mine since we returned from the cruise."

  The way she delivered her agenda chilled the blood in my veins a few degrees. I smiled a little to soften the impact of my words. Agnes was obviously not a woman to be trifled with, and I didn't want to get on her bad side, especially when she and I were alone. "Maybe work on your delivery before sharing that with Detective Marshall."