Killer Party

by Lynn Cahoon

  She nodded, accepting my lie smoothly. “Of course, any time. We’re here until they release us from this prison.”

  “A prison with drinks, amazing food, and the woman he loves.” Butch winked at me. “A man could do worse.”

  I said my good-byes and then made my way back out to my car. I decided to stop at the shop and pick up some pumpkin cheesecake for after dinner.

  I parked the Jeep in front of the shop and was all the way inside before I saw him. Josh Thomas was sitting at a table, watching me enter. I stumbled over my feet a bit. When I got my feet back under me, I turned toward him. “Hey Josh, what’s going on?”

  “I take it you don’t listen to your phone messages?” His voice was low, like he thought someone was listening.

  “I heard it, but I’ve been busy. I was planning on going over to see you right after I picked up dessert for tonight’s dinner.” I slunk into a chair opposite him. This wasn’t going to be a quick conversation. “What did you need to talk about?”

  He leaned closer, glanced left and right, then whispered, “I believe our new business owner is a KGB spy.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Greg almost choked on his pasta. “He really thinks that Vladimir is a Russian spy?”

  He’d been home when I’d arrived and was already making spaghetti sauce. He’d given me a look when I’d asked him about his day, so I’d changed the subject. Now, we were talking about my conversation with Josh. “He has a pretty good argument.”

  “What, that he’s foreign? Man, I can’t believe how bigoted some people are around here. Mrs. Davis has been lighting up my dispatch line for the last month, now Josh is seeing Cold War–spies infiltrating our town under the guise of stacking dolls.” He took a piece of garlic bread from the plate in the middle of the table.

  I heard Emma’s tail start thumping the floor as she watched him tear off a piece, hoping it was for her. I had to agree with my dog. Greg made a mean spaghetti dinner, complete with a first course salad and red wine. Memories of the alley scene from Lady and the Tramp filled my mind.

  “Actually, he’s been seeing a woman show up at the back door early in the morning. She wears a cloak with a hoodie and arrives most mornings at six and leaves no later than seven. And she carries a large tote.” I gave Emma a small bite of my bread, hoping to keep her loyalty. If I knew my dog, she could be won over by food, no problem. Of course, she was my dog.

  “I hate to burst Josh’s bubble, but did he ever think that Vladimir has a lady friend? Maybe one he didn’t want his daughter to know about? There is still the matter of a wife in Russia.” Greg cleaned the rest of his spaghetti sauce off his plate with the bread and pushed his plate away. “That hit the spot. And another thing, how does Josh know this?”

  “His apartment windows look over the building Vladimir owns. I guess he can see a lot from that vantage point.” I thought about Greg’s explanation for Vladimir’s mystery visitor, which made much more sense than Josh’s conspiracy theory. And it seemed like Vladimir was a bit of a ladies’ man since he’d gone to pay his respects to the almost widow with flowers. “Are there even Russian spies anymore?”

  “Honey, as long as there are people in power who want to make sure they know what their neighbors are doing, there will always be spies. Now we just have a new bunch of people trying to figure us out and report back to their superiors.” He grinned at me. “I cooked, does that mean you’ll do dishes?”

  “Big game on tonight?” I still wanted to talk to him about the whole high school thing with Levi and the other boy, but for some reason, I held back. Even when I had been talking to Lois, it felt like she was telling me a secret. A secret that even now, years later they didn’t feel comfortable discussing. I wanted to be sure that this sore spot had anything to do with Levi’s death before confronting Greg with the fact that I knew.

  “Preseason game, but it looks like they’ll have the new rookie quarterback they got in the draft play for at least a few quarters. I’d like to see how he does in his first national televised game. That alone can mess with a kid’s head, especially early on.” He kissed me on the head and then grabbed a beer from the fridge. “You can come join me on the couch if you want.”

  “After I get a few things taken care of first.” I fanned the back of my hand over my forehead. “A woman’s work is never done.”

  “Hey, I cooked.” He sounded hurt.

  “I was kidding.” I stood and stacked the plates. “But I do have a few things I want to do before I settle down with a book.”

  “You mean watch the game with me.” He lightly tapped me on the butt. “Let me know if you need help with anything. I don’t want to be slacking on my shared chores promise.”

  Greg was a good guy. A great guy. I shouldn’t feel uncomfortable telling him anything. And yet, I held back.

  Still.

  *

  Friday morning arrived and instead of the sunny day I’d expected, fog hung on the streets. And dampened my mood. Emma whined when I put on my running shoes, so I relented and clipped on her leash. “We’re not running though, just a walk to get you back in the swing of things.”

  She’d seemed fine since Toby had brought her back from the vet. Probably his quick reaction and frantic drive to the clinic had made this incident a blip on Emma’s radar rather than the life-threatening event it could have been. Besides, I loved the way the shoreline looked while the fog was in. The place looked otherworldly.

  We wandered up the coastline, no particular hurry. I had to open in just over an hour, Greg was already at the station, so no one waited for us at home. Besides, the walk gave me time to focus on the one question in my life right now. Who killed Levi and why? From what Greg had found out from Terrance, they weren’t any closer to finding Levi’s killer than I was. Maybe not as close. I just needed to find out what if any of the information I’d found was important.

  As we made our way back toward the South Cove beach parking lot, I noticed two figures on the observation deck, looking out to the ocean. The man was tall and dark, but I couldn’t see his face from where I stood. The woman—and it was definitely a woman, as her loose brown hair billowed out into the wind—stood next to him, staring at the waves. I did that a lot. Just sat and watched the waves. It calmed me.

  Emma barked at a seagull and the woman turned to look our way. She said something to the guy and then they turned and left. I guess they didn’t realize anyone else was out here. Disappearing form my view, the only thought I couldn’t shake was the woman looked like Jessica. A lot like Jessica.

  When we got home, Greg’s truck was back in the driveway. Had I been wrong? Had he not left? Or had he just not been in bed and I assumed he was gone? No, the house wasn’t that large that I could avoid running into him. He must have forgotten something and come back for it.

  He was sitting at the kitchen table when I came in. “Hey, I’ve got to run upstairs and shower before I go to work. Want to join me?”

  He didn’t answer, so I slipped into the chair next to him. “Whose laptop?”

  “What?” He stared at me as if he didn’t even know who I was. He slammed the lid of the laptop. “Oh, it’s one from work.”

  Greg stood and jetted out the back door. No good-bye, no see you tonight. And worst of all, no answer to whose Mac he held in his hand. I knew the city didn’t pay for laptops, except for ones for the mayor, Greg, and Bill Sullivan. All the other employees had desktop personal computers. And the patrol cars had laptops, but they were attached to the cars. And no one had an Apple product. Especially one that was that expensive.

  I watched out the kitchen window as he pulled his truck out of the driveway. Had he thought I’d already left for work, that’s why he brought the laptop here to check out? I looked at the clock. If I was going to get a shower and still be on time to open, I had to go.

  No one waited for me at the door. But within ten minutes the shop was filled with Friday commuter regulars. I loved talking to these customers about t
heir big city jobs. I’d been one of them for years before I’d moved and opened Coffee, Books, and More. I knew how hard it was to get through the day in the grey cubicle jungle.

  One of the last customers I served that morning was a real estate agent. “Rumors are flying about the new owner of The Castle. Have you meet them?”

  “Where did you hear about the sale?” I’d just searched all the new filings and there was nothing.

  “Someone from the records department is leaking information to my boss over at the real estate agency.” The woman flipped her too perfect hair. “Of course, it could just be gossip. Last year, the story was that Sandra Bullock was moving to town and buying up property. You see how that turned out.”

  Well, there was no movie star living in our little tourist town. I didn’t think anyone famous would like living here, mostly because of all the visitors we get. I suspected they liked gated communities and ten acres plus of land. I had to agree with my customer, rumors did seem to appear with no real reason—except this wasn’t the first time I’d heard that The Castle had been sold.

  I called Brenda to chat but I got her voice recording saying she was unavailable for the weekend. She must be taking some time after the bachelor party that wouldn’t die. She listed John, the guy we’d met last Friday as the contact person. I hadn’t realized he was her assistant. As I was pondering this new information, the phone rang, startling me.

  “Coffee, Books, and More, this is Jill.” I looked at the clock. Nine, not a good sign. Typically, a call this early this would mean someone couldn’t do their shift. I grabbed the schedule. Toby was off until Monday due to his job making South Cove safe from drunk drivers so it had to be Deek calling.

  “Hi, Doll. Just calling to remind Jackie about the meeting today. I hope she’s feeling all right. She seemed a little out of sorts at the last meeting.” Darla came just a few words from actually asking what was going on with my aunt. I thought it must be an interviewing technique. Asking without asking.

  “She’s fine. Distracted with this wedding planning. You know she and Harrold are getting married next June, right?” I went with the obvious. There wasn’t anyone in the world my aunt hadn’t told about the upcoming wedding. Or probably invited. I checked my watch. I could attend the meeting, then head over to Diamond Lille’s for Friday clam chowder. It would be my reward for attending. If I kept rewarding myself with food for attending the meetings, by the time the festival was over, I’d gain five to ten pounds.

  “Of course, I should have thought about that. Well, tell her to bring a calendar. We’re going to start planning dates this meeting.”

  “Actually, I don’t think she’s going to be able to continue.” I left it at that, hoping Darla would say they didn’t need anyone to replace her, but I got a little gasp.

  When she gathered her breath, she sputtered. “I need her. You don’t understand what goes into planning one of these festivals. I can’t do it without her.”

  I sighed. Time to fall on the sword. “Don’t worry. I’ll replace her.”

  “Oh, Jill, that would be lovely. We need all of the members to make a successful festival.” Darla droned on and on about the community spirit and teamwork needed to pull off one of these events.

  Finally, when she took a breath, I lied to get her off the phone. “Sorry, someone just came in. Excellent customer service is essential, you know.”

  I took a book to the couch, but instead of reading and losing myself in the story, I brooded over the new responsibility I’d just accepted. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to help, but my fall schedule was overloaded as it was, especially with the math class the college was making me take for the degree. I don’t know why they felt I needed something like Algebra to run my coffee shop, but my advisor hadn’t seemed willing to give me a pass on the class. My mind was wired for words, not numbers.

  I was still grumbling when Deek showed up for his shift.

  “Hey boss man. What’s the story today?” He grabbed a cup of coffee and plopped down on the couch next to me. “Why are you in the doldrums?”

  “The what?” I didn’t move. I didn’t have the energy.

  Deek laughed. “The doldrums. Haven’t you ever read The Phantom Tollbooth? You look like you’re wiped out and not wanting to do anything.”

  “I’m kicking myself for saying yes to another project when I’m pretty sure I can’t get the ones I have done.” I took a sip of my now cold coffee. “I’m an over committer. Isn’t there a self-help group out there for people like me?”

  “Probably, but the down side is you have to go to more meetings and their coffee isn’t primo like ours.” He leaned back into the couch. “Tell Uncle Deek what’s going on. Maybe I can help you adjust. I’m excellent at this time management thing. One year I took nineteen credits and ran the fantasy book club over at the college. Man, those guys could come to blows over what series ruled. No one ever beat out Tolkien for our top spot though. I guess we were traditionalists.”

  “I said I’d take Jackie’s spot on the festival planning committee. With classes and my shifts, I’ll hardly have time to see Greg, much less meet at least weekly on this festival.”

  “You need to delegate.”

  My laugh came out a little too bitter. I started holding up fingers. “So I have Aunt Jackie, who already bolted from the job. Toby who needs at least a few hours of sleep a day. Nick, who is actually back in school, so the drive would be killer, even if he had time. And you.”

  He nodded. “Exactly. You have me. I’m down to my last year so I’m only taking four classes this semester and next. I have time and brain cells to spare.”

  “You’d want to represent us at the winter festival planning committee?” I rolled my shoulders. This could work. Hope seeped into my body, making me come out of the doldrums as Deek had called my mood. “It’s a lot of coordination and a huge time commitment.”

  “You’ll be paying me right?” Deek sipped his coffee. “I could use some real-world experience in this team building project management thing. I’m kind of tired of reading case studies.”

  “I’m paying you for your time. And today, I’ll even cover your shift while you’re gone. If you can get them to schedule these meetings just before your shift, that would be awesome.”

  “Then I’m your guy. Who knew this coffee shop job would be so fun? I get to work with the kids on weekends, and now, I get to plan a winter wonderland.” Deek rested his arms on the back of the couch, apparently enjoying the new responsibilities.

  “Well, at least as wonderland as we can get down here in the land of sun and sand.” I glanced at my watch. “Your first meeting starts in fifteen minutes at the winery. You better get going.”

  He finished his coffee and saluted when he stood. “Your wish, my command. Or something like that. See you around noon. You sure you can handle the volume?” He looked around the empty shop.

  “Fridays don’t get going until after school lets out. You’ll be busy around three with the cool kids.” I picked up my book. “If I’m lucky, I’ll get to read a few chapters before you get back.”

  I was lucky and by the time Deek returned all excited and filled with news from the committee, I’d finished half the book. I tucked it into my tote for later, and headed out of the shop, leaving Deek in charge.

  I stopped by City Hall to see if Amy wanted to join me, but she was already eating at her desk. “Sorry, I had Lille’s deliver. I’m on phone duty since Esmeralda is out today. Some sort of convention.”

  “For fortune-tellers?” My stomach rumbled. I hadn’t remembered breakfast either at home or when I got to the shop. Which was so not like me. Between Greg’s unusual behavior and the Darla call, I’d been too upset to eat. That never happened. “I’d like to see that schedule.”

  “Exactly. What are their sessions titled? I don’t see dead people: What happens when your connection goes off?”

  “Or Gypsy costumes: Do we have a responsibility to dress the part?” I loved t
alking with Amy. She had the same warped sense of humor as I did.

  “What about, Eating for your muse: What foods keep the dead away and what foods bring them closer?”

  At that my stomach growled again. And Amy’s phone rang. “I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll see you at Sunday brunch?”

  “Eleven, at Lille’s.” I turned toward the door and heard Amy’s routine script as she answered the phone.

  “South Cove Police department, how may I help you?”

  Diamond Lille’s was packed so I had to settle for a small table in the corner. After giving Carrie my order, I sipped on my iced tea and opened the book I’d been reading earlier.

  I was halfway done with my soup and all the way lost in the book when loud voices drew me out of the story and back to reality. The diner had cleared a bit while I was reading, but the booths were still all filled. And the angry voices came out of the one around the corner where I couldn’t see the occupants.

  “I suppose your boyfriend would have paid more attention to you during a meal.” The man’s voice was too tight, too loud. I felt bad for the woman on the other end of the discussion. He wasn’t listening, just reacting from pain. I’d watched this conversation before with when I was a family law attorney. Typically, when a spouse had evidence of infidelity, by the time they got to me, they were calm.

  Tiny, the chef, walked by me on his way out to the far booth. I could imagine the arguing couple would be hustled out of the diner quickly. Lille didn’t appreciate anyone messing with her customers. I returned to my book, trying to zone out the voices when I recognized the woman who flew past me toward the restroom door.

  It was Allison, her face swollen with tears.

  CHAPTER 15

  Toby was sitting out in a lawn chair in front of the apartment-shed when I arrived back home. Emma lay at his feet. I’d given him a key for the back door when he’d moved in. He used it sparingly, mostly to let Emma out during the day when I was working. Toby loved my dog almost as much as I did.