Death by Coffee

by Alex Erickson

  The bell above the door tinkled. I glanced at the door, moderately irritated about being interrupted. I was so into telling Vicki about my upcoming date, I didn’t want to stop. When I saw who came in, however, I changed my mind and my smile returned.

  “A red eye?” I asked as Lena came up to the counter. Her skateboard was tucked under her arm like always. Even with her new scrapes and bruises, she appeared to be in a good mood.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Thanks.”

  I went to make her drink. Vicki trailed after me.

  “And you are going on a date with him? Tonight? Actually with him?”

  “Of course, it’s with him,” I said. I couldn’t stop smiling. In fact, I’d spent all night smiling. I’m pretty sure I giggled a few times in my sleep. “Who else would it be?”

  Vicki shrugged. “With you, who knows?”

  “Ha-ha,” I said flatly. “Funny.”

  I made Lena’s red eye a double and carried it to the counter. She started to pay, but I shook her off. “This one is on me,” I said, feeling generous. We couldn’t really afford to be giving things away at this stage, but hey! I was in a good enough mood. I wanted to spread some of it around.

  “Thanks!” she said with a grin. She scooped up her drink and headed for the door. She waved with her free hand before dropping her skateboard onto the sidewalk and riding it off into the sunset.

  Or, well, wherever she was going, anyway.

  Vicki waited until she was gone before grilling me some more. “Where are you going?”

  “Nowhere,” I said absently. I was staring after Lena, wondering how she didn’t spill her drink riding that thing like that. “I’m not abandoning you today.”

  She laughed, which brought my attention to her, but probably for the wrong reasons. When Vicki laughed, it sounded like bells chiming and angels singing. When I laughed, it sounded more like a drunk woman with the hiccups. Why couldn’t I be as blessed as she was? It made me worry about the date and what would happen if Paul said something funny.

  “No,” Vicki said with a wave of her hand. “I mean tonight. On your date.”

  “Oh.” A frown crept onto my face. “I don’t know.”

  “Do you know what you’re going to wear?”

  I thought about all of those boxes I had yet to unpack. All of my nicer clothes were still tucked away inside—more than likely so wrinkled, they’d never look right again. All I had were jeans and T-shirts, maybe a few nicer blouses, but absolutely nothing else that would go with them.

  “Oh, crap.”

  Vicki winced. “Do you need me to loan you something?”

  I took one look at her lithe body and her long legs and shook my head. Like I was ever going to fit into anything she wore. I might manage to squeeze one of her dresses around one of my legs, but that was about it.

  “Then you need to go shopping!”

  I stared at her. “And when am I going to do that?” I asked. “The date is tonight, and, well . . .” I waved my arms around at the nearly empty store. All two customers looked up at me before going back to their coffees and morning papers.

  “Do it now,” she said. “I’m pretty sure I can handle this.”

  I gave her a skeptical look. I mean, I had no doubt she could manage the store. I doubted we’d get much more than a handful of customers for the rest of the day, and it was unlikely they’d all come at once. But I’d already run off on her a few times now. I didn’t want to make it a habit. While she might be telling me to go, I felt bad for leaving just so I could buy a dress for a date that might not amount to anything, anyway.

  “I’m serious,” she said, giving me a friendly shove toward the door. “Get out of here before I kick you out.”

  Still, I didn’t move. I looked from the door, to Vicki, and then back again. My eyes passed over the Lawyer’s Insurance building, and the little devil that resided somewhere on my shoulder urged me to go ahead and take her advice. What would it hurt if while I was out, I happened to pay a little visit to Raymond Lawyer or stopped in to ask the secretary what she might know about Brendon’s death?

  I stomped hard on the nagging voice. I might leave, but I refused to get into the Lawyer business today. I had other, more personal, things to worry about.

  “All right,” I said as Vicki gave me another little nudge. “It’ll only take me a few minutes. I promise I’ll be right back.”

  “Go!” Vicki shooed me away.

  I balled up my apron and tossed it onto a shelf beneath the counter. “Thanks,” I said, making for the door.

  Just as I was about to step outside, Rita Jablonski appeared, as if by magic. She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off, knowing if I let her get started, I wouldn’t be getting rid of her.

  “Can’t now. Gotta go.”

  I brushed past her and legged it down the sidewalk at a near jog. Rita gave an indignant huff at my abrupt manner. A pang of guilt swept over me, causing me to turn to apologize. When I looked, she’d already gone inside.

  Oh, well. The apology could wait. I had things to do.

  There was a clothing store a block from Death by Coffee: Tessa’s Dresses. I’d seen the dresses in the window a few times already, but had never stopped to check on the prices. I couldn’t really afford much, especially with the lack of customers we’d been suffering through. As I hurried inside, I prayed the dresses wouldn’t be too far out of my price range.

  “. . . if only you hadn’t slept with him.”

  I froze just inside the door, unsure whether I should turn and hurry away or if I should gawk some more at the two women standing at the counter. The bell above my head clanged loudly, which sort of gave me little other choice but to stay right where I was. Running would do me no good.

  Both women turned my way. I recognized Heidi Lawyer instantly. Her face was flushed and I could tell she’d been crying. She had a mascara-smeared tissue balled in her fist. She sniffed, wiped at her now-dry eyes, and then hurried past me. She was practically running when she hit the sidewalk.

  “Sorry,” I said, turning back to the woman behind the counter.

  Even though her skin was dark, I could see the flush creep up her neck as she averted her eyes from my own. She brushed a loose strand of dyed-blond hair out of her face, cleared her throat, and gave me a clipped address of “Can I help you?”

  “Was that Heidi Lawyer?” I asked, letting the door fall closed behind me. I glanced back the way Heidi had gone, but she was out of sight already. I didn’t know if that meant she’d gotten into a car or if she’d entered another one of the nearby buildings. I wasn’t so sure it mattered.

  The woman stood there a long moment, not speaking, not doing anything but looking at the counter in front of her. Finally she said, “It was.” It sort of sounded like she didn’t want to admit it.

  I took a few tentative steps into the shop. I had no idea what I’d just walked in on, but I was pretty sure it had something to do with Brendon Lawyer. Had Heidi been accusing this woman of sleeping with him?

  I casually scanned the racks as I approached. Almost everything in the store was a dress of some sort, hence the name, but there were a few skirts and blouses near the back. I glanced at a price tag as I passed and just about sighed in relief. It seemed like I might actually be able to afford something here that wouldn’t force me to ask Dad for a loan.

  “She seemed upset,” I said, turning my attention back to the woman at the counter. She was pretty, not quite tall, but not short, either. Like most of the other women I knew, she was thin. It made me feel like a hulking brute next to her.

  “She was.” The woman sighed. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Are you Tessa?” She nodded once. “Was what she said true?”

  Tessa bit her lower lip and looked over my head. I got the distinct impression she wanted to pretend I wasn’t even there. She tapped her foot nervously and then glanced around the shop, as if checking to make sure no one else was listening to our conver
sation. Outside the two of us, the place was empty.

  “You heard that, huh?” she asked with a strained laugh. “I guess it’s true.” She shrugged. “But he didn’t die because of me, okay? What happened to him was an accident.”

  “Yeah, of course,” I said as innocently as possible. “I’d just heard rumors that he’d been cheating on his wife, and . . .” I trailed off, not really sure how to continue. If the rumors were true, then this woman was probably a mess inside. She’d just lost someone she very well might have loved.

  “He was an asshole,” she said, shattering that impression.

  “Excuse me?” I blinked dumbly at her a few times, not quite sure I’d heard her right. “You two didn’t get along?”

  “Look,” she said, leaning onto the counter. “Brendon and I saw each other a few times. We had fun. Then I broke it off for someone better. That’s the end of the story.”

  “Why’d you do that?” I asked. “If it was fun, why break up with him?” I vaguely wondered if it had to do with his wife. Maybe he hadn’t told Tessa he was married when he began seeing her.

  “Why would I break it off with Brendon?” she asked with something of a bitter laugh. “Outside of the fact he was a total prick when he wanted to be? Well, how about because he was seeing another woman behind my back?”

  “Do you mean his wife?”

  Tessa snorted in a very unladylike way. “No,” she said. “It was definitely not his wife.”

  My mouth slowly fell open. Not only had Brendon Lawyer cheated on his wife, but he’d cheated on his mistress as well. No wonder he ended up dead. If I’d been Heidi, I probably would have done it myself.

  And then there was Heidi’s mother, Regina. If she’d known about his mistresses, perhaps she decided to take matters into her own hands. If Heidi wouldn’t do it, then her mom very well might have. She could have killed him so her reluctant daughter could finally be free of him.

  “He cheated on you?” I asked, still thinking I might be missing something. “And it wasn’t with his wife?”

  “Didn’t I just say that?” She sighed. “Practically everyone knew I was with Brendon. It was no big secret. He wasn’t happy with Heidi, and she could hardly stand him, so it didn’t feel like I was doing anything wrong. Once I found out he was seeing another woman, and I got to know Heidi some more, I realized what an idiot I was being. I’d had enough. I moved on. He could screw this other girl all he wanted.”

  “Do you happen to know who this other woman is?”

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Tessa said. “I really just want to put him in the past, if that’s okay with you?”

  “It must have hurt to find out he was seeing someone behind your back.” Especially since she’d been doing the same thing to Heidi. It had to have put a few things in perspective.

  “It did,” she admitted. “But I got over it. He might have had some money, and he might have been, shall I say, ‘satisfying,’ but he was an asshole. I don’t have to put up with that. No one should.”

  “I see.”

  “Besides,” she said with a bitter laugh, “I should have seen it coming. The guy was cheating on his wife. What made me think he would treat me any differently? I swear the cheating thing must run in the family.”

  I was still trying to process the information of Brendon’s second mistress, so I very nearly missed that last little bit.

  “Wait, what? What do you mean it ‘must run in the family’?”

  Tessa waved off the question. “I’m through with Brendon Lawyer and these questions. It sucks he died, but I can’t say I’m overly upset by it. It’s freed me up to do what I want, and I plan on keeping it that way. He wasn’t my type. It took me a long time to realize that he, like most men, apparently, just didn’t do it for me anymore.” Her hand found her hip. “And that’s all I’m going to say about the matter.”

  I really wanted to keep asking questions, but I realized she wasn’t going to have any of it. Tessa was giving me a look that said if I kept pressing my luck, I’d be out on my butt in five seconds flat, without a dress to show for it.

  Still, I couldn’t stop my racing mind from coming up with various scenarios. Could the other woman have been married? Maybe her husband had killed Brendon in a fit of jealous rage? Then again, slipping peanut dust into food seemed like an odd way to kill someone who was sleeping with your wife. Jealous rages seem to be, I don’t know, a little more “ragey.”

  I glanced at Tessa’s finger, thinking that maybe she’d been the one to be married, but she wasn’t wearing a ring on her ring finger and there was no mark there that said she ever had. In fact, it was probably the only finger that didn’t have a ring.

  I needed to figure out who this other woman was. Tessa claimed she didn’t know, but maybe Heidi or her mother did. Maybe Mason or Raymond Lawyer knew more than either had so far let on and could point me in the right direction. If this other woman was the reason Brendon had died, then perhaps she had a connection to Lawyer’s Insurance. It would be the only way she could have gotten peanut dust into his food and coffee.

  “Was there something I could help you with?” Tessa asked, clearly impatient for me to be gone.

  I just about jumped out of my shoes. I’d completely forgotten where I was. Sometimes, when my mind gets locked onto something, the rest of the world ceases to exist. One of these days, I was going to end up rear-ending someone or falling down a manhole because I was too busy playing “little miss detective” in my head.

  It took me a moment to get my brain reoriented before I could answer. “A dress,” I said after a slight pause. “I need a dress.”

  Tessa finally gave me a real smile. The prospect of a sale was enough to lift her spirits. “What exactly are you looking for?” She looked me up and down and pursed her lips. I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  I spent the next half hour going through Tessa’s Dresses and ended up choosing a dark blue dress that cinched with a black belt at the waist. I already had shoes that would match, thank God, because the dress itself cost more than I’d originally wanted to spend. There was a cheaper red dress I’d considered, but quickly dismissed it. I didn’t want to seem desperate.

  I paid for my dress and carried it back to Death by Coffee to show Vicki. She oohed and aahed over it and asked more questions about my plans for the night. I answered automatically, but I really wasn’t listening. I kept thinking about what Tessa had told me about there being another woman, and I knew I had to find out who it was.

  My eyes strayed over to the building across the street. I knew—absolutely knew—the answer was over there. I just had to find a way to get inside and get the information I needed, all before the police closed the case and Brendon Lawyer’s killer walked away a free man.

  Or, as I was beginning to believe, a free woman.

  11

  There is one thing that cat owners everywhere understand: no matter how hard you try, no matter how many times you lint-roll yourself off, you will always, always, have cat hair on your clothing.

  I’m not sure how Misfit managed to get fur all over my new dress. I kept it in a bag from the moment I’d gotten home, carried it into my bathroom, and got dressed after a shower. It was like he found a way to shoot his fur like quills beneath the door and somehow managed to get them into the bag. It was almost like he had some sort of fabric radar.

  “This is your fault,” I said. I was standing outside on the front stoop, madly lint-rolling his fur off me. I swear I could have made a coat out of all of it. “I’m going to shave you bald, you know?”

  Misfit stared at me through the screen door. I think he was grinning.

  I finished my last swipe, turned in a circle as I tried to see if I got all the hair off my ass, and then stopped to frown at the door. My purse was inside, as were the shoes I planned on wearing. The moment I stepped inside that house, Misfit would be all over me, intentionally trying to coat me in a warm, fluffy blanket.


  “Stay back,” I warned, shaking the lint roller at him. “Or I’m going to run this thing over you until there’s nothing left.”

  He eyed me warily before fluffing his tail and sauntering away.

  Of course, I didn’t trust the rascal. Just because I couldn’t see him—it didn’t mean he wasn’t there. Chances were good I’d be ambushed the moment I let my guard down. I would not let that cat ruin my date even before it began.

  I stepped into the house like I was entering a war zone. The living room was quiet, almost too quiet. I peered around the corner, half expecting Misfit to be crouched on the recliner closest to the door, ready to pounce. It was a favorite ambush spot of his.

  I contorted my neck around, searching for any hint of tail, or perhaps ears pinned back above devious, glowing eyes.

  But he wasn’t there.

  The dining room was likewise empty, as was the kitchen. A growing sense of dread crept over me as I moved through the house, toward my bedroom, where I’d dumbly left my shoes. I tiptoed as quietly as I could manage down the hall, into the room, and snatched my heels from the floor before rushing back out into the perceived safety of the dining room. I picked up my purse and scanned the immediate area.

  No cat.

  Irrationally, my heart was pounding. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this nervous. Misfit still had his claws, so if he decided he wanted to shred my dress, he could do it faster than I could run. The cat—and he was bigger than the average cat—was a lot quicker than he looked.

  A knock on the door startled a scream out of me. I spun around to face the door just as an orange streak came barreling out from behind the couch. He hit me hard on the legs, swishing his tail up and under the hem of the dress, coating the inside with his fur. He zoomed past me, into the hall, and vanished into the bedroom, where he was more than likely preparing for another sneak attack from beneath the bed.

  “I’m going to kill you!” I screamed after him before regaining some of my composure and turning to answer the front door.

  Officer Dalton stood on the stoop, eyes wide, hand hovering near his waist. Thankfully, he wasn’t wearing his uniform, which meant he didn’t have his gun. By the look on his face, I really think he would have drawn it if he’d had it.