Gazpacho Murder

by Patti Benning

  “I agree, but I don’t know if she feels the same.” The deli owner sighed. Only time would tell whether her daughter would be able to bounce back from this latest disaster.

  CHAPTER THREE

  * * *

  “I’m so glad you could come, Mom,” her daughter said, giving her a quick hug. “It was wonderful to see the two of you today. I miss home.”

  “Hopefully you and Eli will be able to come back soon,” Moira said. “I didn’t want to ask in front of Eli, since it probably isn’t a good idea to give him more to worry about, but have the two of you discussed yet what you’re going to do about the candy shop?”

  “Well… no, not really. I know that whatever we do, it won’t be anytime soon.”

  Candice didn’t quite meet her eyes, and the deli owner felt something that she hadn’t for a long time – suspicion that her daughter was keeping something from her. Her daughter keep a secret? What could Candice not want to tell her? She was just about to ask when she heard a car pull up behind her. She turned to see David idling alongside the sidewalk in front of the rehabilitation facility. He smiled and waved at them, and they both waved back.

  “Well, David found the car. I suppose I better go so we don’t hold anyone else up,” she said reluctantly. “If there’s anything you want to talk about, you know you can call me anytime, right?”

  “I know, Mom,” Candice said. “That reminds me – can you give this to Reggie? It’s a DVD Eli and I made of us saying hi to him and wishing him a happy birthday. It was last weekend. And don’t forget to remind him I’ll be coming for a visit soon.”

  “Of course. I didn’t even know it was his birthday. I’ll stop and get him something from all of us on the way home.”

  “Thanks, and thanks again coming by. I’ll see you in another week or two. I love you.”

  “I love you too, sweetie,” Moira said. “I’ll see you again soon.”

  On their way back to Maple Creek, she and David stopped at a bakery and bought half a dozen cupcakes for Reggie’s birthday. When they got to the assisted living home, they were directed by an aide to his room. His face lit up when he saw them.

  “Happy Birthday, Reggie,” she said, giving him a hug and then stepping back so David could shake his hand. “I’m so sorry it’s a little bit late. We visited Candice today, and she gave us this DVD for you. It’s a video of her and Eli, since you aren’t able to see them in person. We got some cupcakes, too. I didn’t know which flavor you preferred, so I got every kind.”

  “Thank you very much,” he said, taking the package from her while she set the cupcakes on the table next to his armchair. “I don’t mind that it’s late. It just means I get two birthdays instead of one.” He grinned, then on a more serious note said, “And how is my grandson doing?”

  “He’s healing,” David said. “He’s a strong young man, and he’ll pull through all right. Before long, he’ll be able to drive up here to visit you himself instead of sending a video.”

  “I hope you’re right about that,” the elderly man said. “That kid is all I have left. It’s hard to have him so far away, and be unable to do anything to help.”

  “I know,” Moira said. She patted his arm. “I’d be beside myself if Candice was hurt and I couldn’t be with her. Just remember, he’s not alone. He’s got his wife with him.”

  “And I couldn’t have asked for a better woman for him to have by his side.” He shifted, straightening up in his seat. “Let’s see those cupcakes. Is there lemon?”

  She and David got back home late that afternoon. It had been a busy, but rewarding day. She had been glad to see that Eli was able to move around in a wheelchair now, but still felt a pang of grief every time that she saw his broken leg and shaved head. It was hard to imagine that less than a month ago, the two of them had been happy newlyweds without a care in the world.

  She knew that Denise was right; they had both been comparatively lucky. The other young man that had been caught in the fire had died, after all. Poor Matt had been just a few years younger than Eli, and just as full of life and potential.

  She was sad to leave, but the dogs and Felix, Candice’s cat who was staying with them until his owner returned, needed to be taken care of. Keeva and Maverick met her and David at the door, their tails whipping the wall and the doorframe as they greeted their owners. Moira smiled as she stroked their furry heads, feeling better already. The Irish wolfhound and German shepherd never failed to cheer her up. Their love and devotion always reminded her that she wasn’t alone in the world – not that she ever could have imagined that she was anyway, with David by her side.

  She let the dogs out back to run around in the fenced-in portion of the yard and went upstairs to check on the cat, who was currently staying in the guest bedroom. She had set up a baby gate across the entrance to the room so that Felix could get out, the dogs couldn’t get in to steal his food or investigate the litter box. The little cat was happy to see her and rolled over purring as she patted his belly. She held still while he sniffed her hand, and wondered if he could smell Candice on her. She was sure that he missed his owner, and wished that she could reassure him that Candice would be coming back.

  The animals’ needs met, she returned to the kitchen to find David heating up a bowl of soup left over from the deli the day before. She poured herself a glass of fresh apple cider and sat at the table, feeling emotionally drained.

  “Was there anything you wanted to do tonight?” her husband asked.

  “No,” she said. “I think I just want to stay in.”

  “Okay. That’s fine by me.” He took the bowl out of the microwave and set it on the table, grabbing two smaller bowls from the cupboard along with a couple of spoons. “I figured we might as well have leftovers for dinner, instead of making something new.”

  “I’m just glad I don’t have to cook,” Moira admitted. “Besides, soup is usually better the day after it’s made anyway.”

  They ate in silence for a few minutes until David said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Your friend Martha came to see me this morning at the office before we left to visit Candice. She wants me to watch her house when she goes away Sunday night. It will be a good old-fashioned stakeout.”

  “I’m glad she came to see you. Did she tell you what she thinks it is?”

  “She half-jokingly mentioned a ghost,” her husband said. “If I’m being completely honest, I don’t think I’ll find anything. I think she’s just stressed from work and overly tired, and has begun misplacing things without realizing it. Regardless, I’ll park in front of the house and see if anyone shows up. I don’t plan on charging her for it.”

  “That’s nice of you. How long will you have to sit there?”

  “Probably all night. I’ll show up when it starts getting dark, and leave around eight or nine in the morning. If someone is breaking in to her house, they are most likely doing it at night. That reminds me, since she’s going away overnight for work, she asked me to ask you if you would mind watching Diamond.”

  “Of course. I’ll call her tomorrow morning to figure out what time I should be there. I feel bad for you having to sit in your car all night long on your own. Do you want company?”

  “If you want to join me, I sure wouldn’t say no,” he said. “It would be nice to have you there.”

  “I’d be happy to,” Moira said with a smile. “It will be fun to help you with a case, even if nothing will probably come of it. We’ll just have to leave late enough that the dogs will be okay until breakfast time.”

  “That shouldn’t be too difficult. I hate to say it, but it’s probably going to be a pretty boring night. You won’t be able to read, since we wouldn’t want anyone seeing the light in the car. Will you be okay sitting there without anything to do?”

  “Well, I’ll have you to talk to,” Moira said. “And I suppose if I get tired enough I’ll just take a nap. Poor Martha. I hope we do find something, just to put her mind at ease.”

  “If we don’t
see anything while we’re there overnight, I may suggest that she installs a security system. Even if she just has a couple of motion detectors, it might give her peace of mind to know that no one is showing up while she’s gone.”

  Even though neither of them expected the following night to be eventful, Moira couldn’t help but feel a little bit excited at the prospect of going on a stakeout with her husband. It was just what she needed to take her mind off of missing her daughter and being concerned about Eli.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  * * *

  Early Sunday morning, Moira stopped by Martha’s house to pick up Diamond. By now, the little dog was used to her periodic visits with her two dog friends, and eagerly jumped into Moira’s car as soon as she opened the door. Martha looked just as tired as she had during their coffee visit on Thursday. Moira was glad that she was getting help, and found herself wondering if maybe there really was something mysterious going on in her friend’s house. Martha was used to a busy schedule, and Moira didn’t think that the stress alone would be enough to make her friend as frightened as she obviously was. Something was definitely going on, and Moira was determined to get to the bottom of it that evening.

  The sun was already well on its way to being set when she began to pack up her things for the stakeout. She had waited until the dogs had eaten their dinner and been outside for the last time that night before settling them down to bed. She felt bad leaving them alone all night, but in reality, it wouldn’t be any different for them than if she was upstairs sleeping. They probably wouldn’t even notice that she was gone.

  She made sure her phone was completely charged and that the little pink canister of pepper spray that David had gotten her a while back was in her purse. She had a large thermos full of hot coffee, a blanket, and a couple granola bars in case they got hungry. If asked, she wouldn’t have been able to say exactly why she was so excited for the stakeout. She knew that most likely they would spend the entire night sitting across the street from her friend’s house and nothing interesting would happen at all. Chances were, she would fall asleep after just a few hours. Still, it was something different, and that made it interesting.

  She loaded everything into David’s car – the more comfortable and less noticeable of their two vehicles – then went back into the house for a final goodbye to the animals. She met her husband at the front door and watched as he turned the deadbolt before the two of them headed towards his car together. It felt nice to be doing something as a couple. She helped him out at the office occasionally, but didn’t get to go along on that many of his investigations. Between the deli and caring for the animals, she just didn’t have the time.

  Maple Creek was always a beautiful town, but there was something about that evening, with the gradually changing color of the leaves against the twilight sky, that made her realize just how gorgeous her home really was. She loved this town, and each year as she got to know it and the people who lived there better, she grew to appreciate it even more. She would be perfectly happy if she and David lived there together until they were both ancient and wrinkled. She had her friends, her pets, her restaurant, and – when Candice eventually came back – her daughter all within just a few square miles of each other.

  “Well, here we are,” David said a few minutes later as he pulled to a stop alongside the curb across the street from Martha’s house. “If you see anything move, or even think that you might have seen something move, let me know.”

  “All right,” Moira said. “Is it bad that I almost want something to happen?”

  David grinned. “It’s always the most fun when something does happen. For Martha’s sake, though, it’s probably best if she doesn’t have someone breaking into her house regularly. Even though it means a more boring night for us, I hope that no one so much as sets foot on her doorstep until morning.”

  At first Moira enjoyed herself, keeping her eyes on the brightly lit windows of her friend’s house. After almost an hour of eagerly watching, first her mind and then her eyes began to wander. She looked down the street, which was softly lit by glowing orange streetlamps. It was late enough that no one was out anymore. Earlier in the evening, a few people had walked by the car. She wondered what they would have thought if they noticed that there were two people sitting in the black car parked alongside the curb.

  It was late enough in the year that it was beginning to get chilly at night, and Moira was glad that she had brought a blanket. David had on a leather jacket, and underneath it, a sweater. She realized she probably should have brought a warm coat of her own. I should have checked the weather, she thought. How chilly was it supposed to get that night?

  She felt rather than saw David tense up beside her. Her eyes darted back towards the house and she saw immediately what had gotten his attention. A darkly colored SUV had just pulled into her friend’s driveway.

  “Hand me the binoculars,” David said.

  Moira reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the set of binoculars, placing them in her husband’s hand. She wished she had brought her own; she desperately wanted to see who came out of the vehicle.

  She leaned around David, squinting into the dark. She could just barely see two dark shapes exit the vehicle. She didn’t recognize either of them, but it would be difficult to recognize even her daughter in this light.

  “Can you see who it is?” she whispered.

  “No,” David said softly. “They both seem to be wearing ski masks.”

  Moira felt her skin prickle. There was no good reason for anyone to be parked in her friend’s driveway with ski masks on in the middle of the night.

  “What should we do?”

  “If they go inside, we should call the police.”

  They watched as the two men conversed for a moment. At last, they headed towards the door. There was a slight pause as one of them fiddled with something, then the door swung open, letting a crescent of light out on to the doorstep. A moment later, both men had stepped inside and the door was shut behind them.

  “Get your phone out,” David said. “Call the police station. There is definitely something not right going on here.”

  Moira had just unlocked her phone’s screen when the unmistakable sound of a gunshot rang out across the neighborhood.

  “Stay here,” her husband said an instant before he opened the car door. Before Moira knew it, David was running across the street towards Martha’s house.

  With her fingers shaking, it took her a couple of tries to dial the emergency number. When, at long last, she had someone on the line she had to take a couple of deep breaths before she managed to tell the operator their address and what had happened. She kept her eyes on the house the entire time, so when the front door opened and someone ran out, nearly colliding with David, she saw everything. The two men grappled for a moment, then the one in the ski mask punched her husband. David stumbled backwards, giving the man just enough space to slip by. An instant later, the man in the ski mask was back in the SUV and was pulling out of the driveway. The deli owner had the crazy urge to hop in the driver’s seat and chase after him, but her concern for her husband and whoever was inside the house was more powerful. David had been injured, and someone else had been shot. This fun little stakeout was turning out to be a bit more than she had bargained for.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  * * *

  “Are you okay?” she called out, running across the street towards her husband.

  “I’m fine,” David said, wiping at his bloody nose. “You should go back to the car. It might be dangerous.”

  “Nonsense. I already called the police, and I’m not going to sit in the car while you go inside and put yourself in danger. If whoever’s in there is still alive, it will be a lot safer if it’s the two of us against him.”

  He hesitated, then nodded. “At least let me go first,” he said.

  She agreed to that. Standing slightly behind him, she watched as he pushed open the door cautiously. He made his way slowly insid
e and she trailed behind him. She didn’t know what she had been expecting, but it was shocking to find that the entranceway to her friend’s house was just the same as it had that morning when she had been there to pick up Martha’s dog. It was never pleasant to be at the scene of a crime, but it was even more disconcerting when it happened in a familiar location.

  Her husband turned right, towards the living room. She saw him freeze in the doorway, and peeked over his shoulder. It was impossible to miss what had caught his attention. They had found the second person in a ski mask, and he was lying in the middle of the floor not moving, a small pool of blood staining the carpet.

  David, who was trained in first aid, rushed forward. Moira hung back, not wanting to get in his way. She bit her lip, watching anxiously as he knelt next to the still form, pressing his ear to the other man’s chest.