by Cole,Lyndsey
The final time Piper woke up, she didn’t have the luxury of going back to sleep. Again. She had to be at the food truck at ten thirty. She’d made sure to give herself two hours. That was enough time to take care of the dogs, get herself fed and clean, and bike to work.
And call Andy back.
Piper started with the dogs. They were yipping like mad in the sunroom. When Piper opened the door, all eight of their feet flew off the floor with each leap. Piper gave them their fresh meat, rice, and vegetables and then poured herself a bowl of cereal.
“You dogs don’t know how good you have it,” she told them through a mouth full of sugary deliciousness. “You don’t,” she repeated when they stared at her expectantly.
Piper turned on the coffee maker, loaded her bowl and spoon into the dishwasher, and was just about to head to the shower when her phone rang. She raced to the bedroom before it stopped ringing, anticipating a call from Aunt Viv reminding her to not be late.
But it wasn’t Aunt Viv.
“Hello?” Piper asked into the phone without hesitating.
“Hi Piper. It’s Andy Hayward.” Piper already knew who it was. She saved every house sitting number in her phone for future jobs and possible references.
“Hi Andy,” Piper said. She hoped her voice didn’t betray her nerves.
“I was hoping you were free. I’m looking for a house sitter.” He sounded completely calm, not like he was desperate to get something setup.
“I’m heading to work in a little bit—”
He interrupted, “Are you free to house sit? I’m leaving early tomorrow morning so could you start tomorrow?”
“Oh.” Piper was stunned into silence. She always made it clear that this was a full time gig for her and needed a heads up of at least a week. Usually more.
“So are you?” he asked again, his voice growing more and more insistent.
“Um … no. I’m not. I’m booked through the end of the month. The end of next month, I mean. The end of March.”
“Okay. Thanks. I’ll look for someone else.”
Piper didn’t want to let this opportunity slip away from her. She wanted to know why he fought with Wyatt on Saturday night. And why he blamed Wyatt for the breakup of his marriage.
“Is it just the two Dutch rabbits?” Piper asked, hoping to keep him on the line. Maybe she could swing both places at once. Ivory and Cherry weren’t too demanding since they had their boxes of grass inside, and the rabbits didn’t require her to be there overnight.
Andy paused before answering. “I don’t have the rabbits anymore. I have plants that need watering.”
“Oh. I can do that. As long as I don’t have to stay at your place, I can stop by and water them every few days.” This would be the perfect opportunity to talk to Andy and dig into his relationship with Wyatt.
“It’s kind of a specific schedule. You’d have to come every day.”
Piper didn’t let on that she was surprised. Everyone had their own idiosyncrasies about keeping their house running. And it was her job to keep homeowners from worrying about anything while they were away.
“Of course. Sure. I can swing by in … twenty minutes. You’re still in the Emerald Apartments downtown?” He lived close enough to Gone Fish’n that Piper could skip her shower and get instructions for taking care of his plants instead.
“Yeah. I’ll text you the address.”
Piper knew she’d be late. There was no way she could get there in twenty minutes even with skipping her shower. Staying at the Morettis’ was great when she didn’t have a job. But that only lasted one day. Their house was so far from downtown, where all of Piper’s commitments were, that she had to be extra conscious about when she left on her bike.
Piper threw on her cycling clothes and hurried to the garage. She opened the garage door and was met with the warmest weather of the winter. Unlike plenty of other mornings, today the clear blue sky wasn’t deceptive. The sun actually warmed Piper’s face when she got on her bike and rode away.
Piper pedaled hard and drops of sweat ran down her back. For the first time in months, she was overdressed.
The roads were a mess. Not with snow and ice anymore, but with dark, slushy puddles. Every time a car passed, Piper cringed with the possibility of getting drenched with muddy slush.
Somehow, she made it to Andy’s apartment without getting covered in slush from head to toe. She craned her neck over her shoulder to look at the back of her pink windbreaker and her messenger bag. There were two streaks of mud a few inches apart. Her tire guard didn’t stop all of the spray from her rear tire, but it stopped most of it.
Piper let herself into the apartment building as a tenant came out. Piper smiled at the passing stranger who even held the door open for her. She knew they weren’t supposed to do that.
Andy lived on the second floor, so instead of waiting for the elevator, Piper walked up the single flight of stairs. She knocked on his closed door and waited.
And waited.
Piper wondered if he’d moved to a different apartment in the same building. She checked her phone for the address he’d texted and it matched her current location. Finally she heard banging around inside so she knocked again. This time, Andy opened the door almost immediately.
“Piper,” Andy greeted her without a smile. “How’d you get into the building?”
“Someone was leaving.”
Andy’s face registered concern. “They’re not supposed to do that.”
“I didn’t think so.” Piper remained standing in the hall.
Andy realized he was being impolite to his possible plant-waterer and stepped aside to let her in. “Come on in. I’ll show you the plants and their schedule.”
This wouldn’t be the first time Piper took care of just plants. Plenty of Emerald Island residents treated their plants like pets—or kids—and had incredibly specific instructions for her.
But she’d never seen anything like Andy’s setup.
“This is my orchid collection,” he said, sweeping his hand across the living room window.
A dozen orchids in various states of bloom were lined up in front of the huge window. The bookcase that housed them nearly obscured the entire view.
“They each need an ice cube’s worth of water every five days this time of year. It’s so dry. In the summer, they just need it once a week. Luckily, they’re all on the same schedule. So every five days, just drop an ice cube in each pot.” He raised his finger to emphasize his next point. “Except every third time, so the fifteenth day. Then they need an ice cube’s worth of fertilizer.”
Andy lifted a container full of liquid that looked like water.
“This is really diluted fertilizer. Don’t mistake it for water. Use this dropper,” he picked up a dropper next to one of the orchids, “to fertilize them. Fill the dropper completely for each orchid.”
Piper nodded. She couldn’t believe this was what her life had come down to—taking care of someone’s plants.
The last time Piper house sat for Andy and his wife, their two Dutch rabbits hadn’t even been this demanding. They didn’t have a single plant then.
Andy started leading Piper to the kitchen where she saw pots overflowing with green. Her heart started to sink. This job was going to take way more time than she had expected.
“So, where did you say you were going?” Piper asked. “You’re leaving tonight?”
Without missing a beat, Andy said, “I’m leaving tomorrow morning. My wife is at her mother’s house and her health is failing. My mother-in-law’s health, not my wife’s. I’m going to help out.”
Piper noticed that Andy never made eye contact with her. She knew why—he was lying. He wasn’t married anymore. And he blamed Wyatt for the end of his marriage.
“How long will you be gone?” Piper asked, wondering if he was actually fleeing town because he was guilty of Wyatt’s murder. Not only was he leaving so suddenly, but he lied about where he was going.
“
I’m not sure.” He whipped his head around to check Piper’s reaction. “How long are you available?”
Piper shrugged. “As long as you need. I can stop by to water plants more easily than taking a dog for a walk or cleaning kitty litters. Or bunny cages,” she added. Not that this was an easy plant-sitting job, but at least she didn’t have to give them as much attention as animals demanded.
Andy nodded once and turned back to the plants. “These are African violets,” he started explaining. “There are ten.” Piper refrained from rolling her eyes. “Make sure that when you water them, you don’t get their leaves wet.”
Andy turned to look at Piper and she nodded patiently. She didn’t dare look at the time but she knew she had to get going soon.
“They have to be watered every three days. A shot glass worth in each pot. And don’t get the leaves wet,” he repeated.
“Do you have all of this written down?” she asked.
Andy held up his index finger. “I do. But I want to make sure you know where each plant collection is. Next,” he started walking down the short hallway, “are the spider plants. They tolerate neglect better than the orchids and violets, but they can’t be left alone for more than four days.”
“So the violets are every three days—a shot glass of water in each one—”
“And don’t get their leaves wet,” Andy said for the third time, looking over his shoulder with a serious expression on his face.
“And don’t get their leaves wet,” Piper repeated. “The spider plants are every four days.”
“You’ll give each of them two cups of water. I have a measuring cup with them.” Andy opened the door to a bedroom and Piper was met with a jungle. “There are eight plants.”
Piper was sure there were more. Each pot must have held six spider plants. They overflowed down the sides of the bookshelves, dressers, and window ledges they resided on. Each pot was huge.
“Okay. The violets are every three days, the spiders are ever four days, and the orchids are every five days.” Piper was anxious to get to work.
“And the Christmas cacti are every seven days, just a quarter cup each.” Andy closed the door to the one bedroom and Piper followed him into a second one. “There are only four of them.”
Piper mentally smacked her forehead. When she took care of his Dutch rabbits, she had to feed them and clean their cage daily. This was absolutely absurd. The end of his marriage seemed to have made Andy go mad.
“I’m sorry, Andy, but I really have to get to work. If everything’s written down and the plants are all separated in different rooms, I really will be fine figuring out which is which.” Piper finally looked at the time on her phone and she had exactly seven minutes to get to Gone Fish’n before Aunt Viv fired her.
“Right. Okay. I’ll give you the key to get in the building and one for my apartment. I’ll leave all the instructions on the kitchen counter. Remember, don’t get the violets’ leaves wet.”
“Got it.” Piper followed him back to the front door of his apartment and happily accepted the keys. “Let me know when you’ll be back.”
Andy looked at his feet while he responded. “Sure thing, Piper. Thanks for helping out at the last minute.”
Piper raised her hand to wave. “Have a good trip,” she said and closed the door behind her.
She couldn’t get out of there fast enough. She knew he was lying about at least one thing—being married. That, coupled with his hasty exit from Emerald Island, made him look guilty of something.
Could he be guilty of killing Wyatt?
17
“I thought I was gonna have to let you go as soon as I rehired you,” Aunt Viv said as soon as Piper opened the door to Gone Fish’n. Her phone said ten twenty nine. She had less than a minute to spare.
Piper didn’t respond.
“How was your day off?” Mitcheline asked. There was decidedly little cheer inside the food truck.
“I didn’t really think of it as a day off,” Piper answered. Any optimism she felt before getting to work immediately disappeared. It could be days—or weeks—before she would be able to relax at work.
“Well that’s what it was. I’m treating it as an unpaid day off,” Aunt Viv told her while she got the lobster roll ingredients ready. She precut dozens of hotdog buns and stored them with their cut sides together so they wouldn’t go stale.
“Thanks,” Piper mumbled quietly. Ultimately, all that really happened then was she took a day off with no pay and then got a raise.
“You’re walking on thin ice, my dear,” Aunt Viv cautioned, continuing to slice rolls in half.
Piper remained silent again.
“The only reason I offered you the job with a raise was because finding someone and training them would cost us more. But that was your final strike. You’ve been late too many times. I have to be able to count on you.”
Piper nodded. Maybe turning down Aunt Viv’s offer would have been the better option. This work environment was going to make Piper’s blood pressure rise. Or turn her hair grey. Or both.
“You can count on me,” Piper said, stowing all of her extra layers under the counter and getting her work space organized. Her mother used to do that, but with her new arrival time of half an hour before opening, Piper arranged everything for the fish tacos and fish and chips herself.
Aunt Viv scoffed. “You’ve got to prove yourself, Piper. We used to be able to count on you. But lately you’ve really let things slip.” Aunt Viv’s voice rose and Piper knew she wasn’t finished. “Everyone makes mistakes, I get that. But you seem to attract mistakes to you. How is it that you’ve had something to do with the last two murders in Emerald Island?”
Piper thought it was a rhetorical question so she didn’t answer. She stayed busy with the fish taco ingredients.
“Some people attract drama to themselves, and you seem to be doing that lately. So tell me, are you trying to find Wyatt’s murderer instead of letting Detective Bankston do his job?”
This didn’t sound like a rhetorical question so Piper answered. “I guess you could say that.”
“Is that what you did on your day off yesterday?” Mitcheline asked, her voice just as harsh as Aunt Viv’s.
Piper nodded but neither of the older women was looking at her. Everyone was absorbed in getting everything just right before they opened.
“Yes. There are some people with motives to want him dead. I may have talked to one of them. And I may have found out enough details about others to think they’re possible suspects.” As Piper told her mother and aunt that she was looking into Wyatt’s murder, she heard just how crazy that sounded.
After a slight pause, Aunt Viv said, “You know, I’ve lived here long enough to know almost everyone in Emerald Island.” She paused again but Piper suspected she was going to offer to help uncover the truth. “Who did you talk to?”
Mitcheline spun around. “Not again,” she threatened her sister. Her finger pointed at Aunt Viv threateningly. “You tried to help Piper look into a murder in the past—”
“And how did that end up?” Aunt Viv challenged. “My ‘in’ might not have been helpful in the long run, but Piper solved the murder. She may not be as reliable as I want as a food truck employee, but she sure can crack a murder mystery wide open.”
Mitcheline backed down.
“So, I’ll ask you again,” Aunt Viv said, turning to Piper. “Who did you talk to yesterday?”
“Mariah Thorton,” she said quietly. Her mother was right. Looking into a murder was better left to the cops.
But Aunt Viv was right, too. Piper solved one murder case. Could she solve a second one?
“Over at The Sunday Voice,” Aunt Viv stated, surprising Piper. She didn’t expect her aunt to know anything about the tabloid. Or Mariah Thorton.
“Yeah. At The Sunday Voice,” Piper confirmed. “She used to work at the Bulletin, but Wyatt got her job. She claims she quit. Lydie Jackson, who is still at the Bulletin, claims differently.�
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Aunt Viv shook her head. “Why would she quit and go work at The Sunday Voice. That’s a huge step backwards in terms of journalistic credibility.”
Piper threw her hands in the air triumphantly, spraying breading crumbs in the air around her. “That’s what I thought, too. Okay, good. She’s still a pretty viable suspect then.”
“What about an alibi?” Aunt Viv was really getting into this.
Piper shook her head. “I don’t know. She just has a motive. And lied about it. So she’s definitely hiding how she lost her job at the Bulletin.”
“Good. This is good. What else do you have?” Aunt Viv asked. “Hang on. I have to open the window.”
Piper’s aunt stepped outside, opened the food truck window, and returned inside. The first person in line ordered fish and chips and Piper’s work day officially started.
Piper glanced through the open window and saw the line stretch halfway to the next block. If they had a slow season, it was February. Everyone was sick of winter, and standing in the cold, raw air was enough to keep them away.
But today’s unseasonably warm weather was enough to encourage anyone dying for the best fish tacos—the only fish tacos—in Emerald Island to come out to Gone Fish’n.
“So, who else?” Aunt Viv asked, jumping right back into their conversation as if it had never stopped.
“Amber Choate.”
Aunt Viv shook her head. “I don’t know that name.”
“Yes you do,” Mitcheline said without breaking stride in taking orders.
Piper looked from her mother to her aunt while continuing to make fish tacos. She waited for her mother to explain or for Aunt Viv to remember who Amber was.
“She used to work in Mayor McCarthy’s office. We worked with her at least two years in a row to secure city contracts,” Mitcheline finally said.
Aunt Viv’s face lit up. “Oh right. Good thing nothing gets by you. Where is she now? We worked with Jane for our last contract.”
“Yeah. I think Amber’s been gone for over a year. I heard she went a little crazy and moved back home. I have a feeling she’s not working.” Mitcheline passed tacos, lobster rolls, and clam chowdah through the serving window.
