Sliced Up: A Cozy Murder Mystery

by Cole,Lyndsey

  She sure hoped she wasn’t late. She knew running late was one of her major downfalls but she didn’t want Eli to discover her bad habit so soon into their potential relationship.

  Piper only had to pedal for a few minutes to get to her destination. She leaned her bike out of the way against the Giggling Goose storefront and entered her favorite store. She didn’t like to buy stuff for herself but she admitted it was hard to resist treating her niece and nephew to something fun. Even if she really couldn’t afford to spend much of anything. She’d cut back somewhere else.

  The bell tinkled when she entered and her eyes were immediately drawn to a big display of cape and mask combinations. Perfect.

  Knowing she didn’t have a ton of time to make a decision, and since she brought them both a gift the day before, she selected a Wonder Woman cape and mask set for Ariel. How could she go wrong with that? Ariel had a whole basket of dress-up clothes, but no superhero capes.

  The best part was the price—three dollars, even. Unfortunately, Silas was probably too old to want one, too. She scanned the display at the checkout and found a pack of stickers for Silas; another bargain. The two gifts together only set her back five dollars, not much of a dent in her money situation. Well worth the price for their happy faces.

  Back outside, Piper carefully tucked her package into her messenger bag and pedaled to Gone Fish’n. It would be best to talk to Aunt Viv without Heather around, but either way, she was determined to find a way to get some information about the owner of Spiced Up. Heather had to know something.

  Piper coasted her bike around the back of the food truck and chained it to the light post. She took her time while she planned how to ask her aunt about Heather. The back door opened.

  “Piper, it’s about time. I’ve been texting you for the last forty five minutes. Don’t you ever check your phone?” Aunt Viv scolded. “Get inside. We need your help.”

  So much for any strategy or keeping the peace at work. Piper knew she didn’t have long before her Tuesday knocking-off time of four o’clock to make it to dinner at Meadow’s.

  Piper wondered how she missed all the texts but then remembered she put her phone on silent when she was lurking in the stairwell of Andy’s apartment building.

  She unzipped the pocket of her pink windbreaker and looked at the phone. Yup, five missed messages. Great, just when she had sort of been on the same page with her aunt, she managed to screw up. Again.

  She followed Aunt Viv inside. The warmth in the crowded food truck blasted her chilled cheeks. Even the warm spell in Emerald Island wasn’t enough to keep her toasty while riding slowly around town. Only when she was pedaling hard to get to work on time this morning had she truly been warm.

  She quickly yanked off her gloves, beanie, scarf, pink windbreaker, fleece-lined sweatshirt, and stuffed her clothes under the counter out of the way.

  Her mom shoved an order of fish tacos through the window. She wiped her hands on her apron and looked at Piper. “Finally. We thought we could count on you to come back if Heather didn’t stay.”

  Piper opened her mouth to defend herself but decided it was futile. Two against one, and one—Piper—always lost. She took her place in the food truck and got back to work.

  “How long was Heather helping here? I rode by earlier and saw her through the window. I figured you were all set without me.”

  “Everything was going great until she got a call from her niece. She dropped everything and left just like that; said it was some sort of emergency.” Mitcheline shrugged. “She’s pretty screwed however you look at it with Spiced Up closed for the foreseeable future.”

  Piper took some cod out of the deep frier and waited for it to cool slightly before placing it on the flour tortilla. “Did she give you any information about Saturday night? Like, what was Wyatt doing inside Spiced Up?” She added their top secret taco sauce, shredded cabbage, corn, and house-made salsa.

  “That’s exactly what she wants to know. And the police.” Mitcheline swiped a card through the machine. “She went to her food truck in the middle of the night because her niece called her and told her someone was inside and Andy Hayward was lurking outside.”

  “Who’s her niece? Anyone I know?”

  “You know the name at least,” Aunt Viv said. “Amber Choate.”

  Piper dropped the plate of tacos she was about to send to the window for a customer. “Are you kidding?”

  “Piper! Look what you did!” her mother scolded. “Pay attention.” Mitcheline squatted down quickly to pick up the mess.

  “Amber Choate?” Piper repeated, standing frozen in place. “You’d heard she went a little crazy,” she reminded her aunt, remembering their earlier conversation. “I just met her, and yeah, she’s completely nuts. And she’s Wyatt’s ex-girlfriend. What was she doing at Spiced Up in the middle of the night?”

  Both Mitcheline and Aunt Viv stopped working to stare at Piper, concern in her mother’s eyes. It might have been Aunt Viv’s idea for Piper to track down Amber or Andy during her unexpected afternoon off, but it seemed Mitcheline didn’t actually expect anything to come of it.

  Detective Bankston’s voice filled the small interior of the food truck. “Piper? I need to talk to you. Now.”

  Piper was immediately on high alert from the detective’s tone. What had she done to attract his attention this time?

  “Can’t it wait? I’m kinda busy.” Talking to the detective was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment. How would she explain where she was for the last hour if that was what he was going to ask about?

  “No. It can’t wait. Meet me in back of the food truck. It won’t take long.”

  Piper looked at her aunt and mom and shrugged. “Sorry. You heard him. It won’t take long.”

  Aunt Viv whispered as she walked by, “Don’t say anything about Heather helping us this afternoon.”

  Piper’s eyebrows shot up. “Okay.” She quickly pulled on her warm fleece-lined sweatshirt before she opened the door to face Detective Bankston.

  “Aria was worried about you. She said you haven’t been answering her calls.” He looked in Piper’s eyes with his eyebrows raised.

  “Oh. My phone was on silent. Aunt Viv doesn’t like me talking or texting when I’m working.” She shrugged. “No big deal. I’ll catch up with her when I’m done work.”

  Detective Bankston tilted his head. “Earlier she came by the food truck to find you and you weren’t here. Aria told me about you and this Eli guy.” He put his hand on Piper’s shoulder. “Listen, Piper. There’s a murderer out there. You can’t just be gallivanting all over asking questions or you’ll find yourself in some trouble. Understand?”

  Piper nodded. Inside she was fuming at Aria. How dare she rat her out to her detective dad? That wasn’t the kind of friend she was normally.

  “I know what you’re thinking. I had to pry the information out of Aria and I’m glad I did. Be careful, Piper.”

  “Okay.” Saying less was her safest bet instead of getting into an argument.

  “And one more question.” His eyes never left Piper’s face. If he forced her to lie, she prepared herself to put on her best poker face. “Where have you been for the last hour if it wasn’t at Gone Fish’n?”

  “I went to the library.”

  “And?”

  “I’ve got a new house sitting gig and I needed to check it out.” She didn’t look away. So far so good. No lie.

  “At the Emerald Apartments?”

  “Uh, that’s right.”

  Detective Bankston rubbed his chin. “I saw your bike chained up outside the building. Were you there to talk to Andy Howard by any chance?”

  Piper choked back a laugh. How did he know? “He wasn’t home.”

  “But you were inside for longer than it would take to go up to his apartment, knock, and come back down. If he wasn’t home.”

  Piper was annoyed. No, angry. “Why are you asking me all these questions? I feel like you’re stalking me o
r something. Am I a suspect?”

  Again, he put his hand on her shoulder. “Nothing like that Piper. But somehow you’re always showing up when I’m keeping an eye on someone else.”

  “Andy Howard?” She felt her eyes open wide with surprise.

  Detective Bankston nodded. “So, will you tell me what happened while you were at Andy Howard’s apartment building but not talking to him?”

  She let her body relax. He was on the same side with her, wasn’t he? Maybe her information could help them—no, help him, she reminded herself—find Wyatt’s killer. “I never even got to Andy’s door. Someone was already there ahead of me.”

  Detective Bankston stood and waited.

  Piper shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

  “You’re not making this easy, Piper. Who was there?”

  “Amber Choate. But I didn’t know it was her until Eli told me.” As soon as she blurted out Eli’s name, she regretted giving that extra bit of information.

  Detective Bankston nodded as if this information didn’t surprise him one bit. Of course not, he must have been watching the building and knew who went in and out. He must have seen her leave with Eli.

  “Thank you, Piper. Be careful who you hang out with, okay?”

  What was that supposed to mean, she wondered. “Should I be worried about Eli or Andy?”

  “Keep your phone on from now on,” he said as a non-answer response.

  Piper had no idea what Detective Bankston’s warning was supposed to mean. Did he think that Eli or Andy murdered Wyatt? What about Amber? All she figured out was that she must be getting closer to something important or he wouldn’t have bothered to have his little safety chat with her.

  She checked the time on her phone—four o’clock. She only had a half hour before she had to meet Eli. If she stayed an extra twenty minutes at the food truck, to make up for some of the time she was gone, it would give her the ten minutes needed to get to the library by four thirty.

  At least she picked a public meeting spot but what about getting into his car? Was she missing something about him?

  She pushed those thoughts out of her mind when Aunt Viv poked her head out of the back door of the food truck. “Coming back inside? We need to finish telling you about Heather.”

  23

  Piper followed Aunt Viv inside and threw her fleece-lined sweatshirt under the counter with the rest of her layers. “Okay. What’s going on with Heather?”

  “First, tell us what Detective Bankston wanted,” her mother said. She didn’t even turn around to face Piper, but she could hear the tension in her voice. She meant business. No chance for Piper to hem and haw and try to throw up a smoke screen. For one, she didn’t have much time, and two, she wanted to hear what they found out about Heather and what happened at Spiced Up the night Wyatt was murdered.

  Piper shared her conversation with Detective Bankston with her mother and aunt, glossing over his warnings and trying to be as vague as possible. “I’ll be at Meadow’s house for dinner tonight so you don’t have to worry about me.” She conveniently left out the fact that Eli was her date and that he’d be giving her a ride. “Heather O’Brien?” Piper tilted her head and waited. Her heart thumped under her t-shirt and she hoped her mom didn’t notice.

  Mitcheline took an order at the window and got busy filling a bread bowl with their mouthwatering clam chowdah.

  Aunt Viv turned her back to the window and lowered her voice. “Heather didn’t say too much but she sure was a nervous wreck. It seemed like a big waste of time until she got the call from her niece.”

  “You’re positive her niece is Amber Choate?” Piper asked.

  “Positive. Heather tried to keep her voice low when she was talking to her niece, but,” Aunt Viv grinned and raised her eyebrows, “you know how good my hearing is.”

  Piper nodded. That was an understatement, but this time that hearing ability was not being used against Piper.

  Aunt Viv continued. “She told her niece not to talk to anyone, especially Andy Hayward or Eli Smith-Michaels who she said she saw near Spiced Up. Or you. Then, Heather tore off her apron and told us she had an emergency to deal with. She had to meet her niece, Amber, at home. What’s going on, Piper?”

  “Honestly, Aunt Viv, I don’t know. Wyatt was Eli’s best friend and I don’t think he could be the murderer. Andy had an argument with Wyatt the night of the murder and I’ve heard that he blames Wyatt for the breakup of his marriage and for losing his job. Amber is Wyatt’s crazy ex-girlfriend and supposedly doesn’t want that ex in front of boyfriend. According to what Eli told me,” Piper quickly added. She didn’t want Aunt Viv to interrogate her about how she knew anything about Amber firsthand.

  She started to get her layers back on for her ten minute bike trip to the library. If she kept busy, it made it easier to hide her anxiety.

  Piper’s mom finished with the customer and turned around to face her daughter. “Call us when you get to Meadow’s house. I don’t want to be worrying about you all night out on these messy roads on your bike. Maybe Autumn will be able to give you a ride back to the Morettis’. Did you talk to Dad yet about looking for a car for you?”

  “Yes to the call and no to talking to Dad.” She wrapped her scarf around her neck. She couldn’t afford a car, and her mother knew that. “Gotta go.” The heat in the food truck and the eyeballs on her were starting to suffocate her. She had to get away before one of them asked any more questions. She started to pull the door open to freedom.

  “Wait, Piper,” her mom said.

  Piper froze.

  “Tell Meadow that Dad and I will be over later in the week.”

  “Ten-thirty tomorrow. Don’t be late,” Aunt Viv warned Piper.

  “You’re going to Meadow’s,” she confirmed, making eye contact with her mother. “And I won’t be late.” Her eyes moved to her aunt’s cold stare. Apparently, their teamwork seemed to end as soon as Piper finished work for the day.

  Piper rushed out and sucked in a deep lungful of cold air. The warmth from the morning hadn’t lasted and she was glad she wouldn’t have to ride all the way to Meadow’s house.

  One crisis was averted. What else was in store for her from the rest of her family?

  Her fat bike tires turned easily through the slush at the edge of the road. She felt chunks of the cold wetness smack her back and she knew her sisters would give her grief for arriving in such a mess. Nothing she could do about that.

  A car whizzed by, too close for comfort, and sprayed her legs with more of the road mess. The car also reminded Piper of Amber’s comment about being careful on her bike.

  A shiver went up her spine. And it wasn’t from the cold air.

  Piper jumped the curb and stopped in front of the library. She didn’t see Eli’s car and, for once, she patted herself on her back for being early. He had told her not to be late; was Eli standing her up?

  She scanned the street. Nothing.

  She checked her phone. Nothing.

  This was a fine mess to be in. If she waited too much longer, she’d be late getting to Meadow’s house if she had to bike there.

  Just as Piper made the decision to start pedaling, Eli’s car screeched to a stop at the curb. He hopped out. “Sorry. Work took longer than I expected.”

  He opened the back of his small SUV and Piper maneuvered her bike inside. “I almost gave up and left. You could have let me know.” She heard her words come out with an edge of annoyance—not how she wanted to start her evening with Eli. She knew her sisters would give him plenty of grief for even considering Piper as a potential girlfriend. She had to reassure him that she was on his side.

  She slammed the door and started to walk around to the passenger side. Her phone vibrated with a text before she opened the door. She checked the message before she got in the car.

  Sorry about my dad but you had me worried. Where are you?

  Piper texted Aria back. Heading to Meadow’s house.

  Be care
ful!

  Piper looked at Eli waiting inside his car. The radio was turned up and his fingers tapped the steering wheel to the beat of the music.

  Everyone was telling her to be careful. What did they think she was, careless and stupid? Even Aria? Aria always had her back.

  Annoyance growing in her stomach, Piper turned her phone off and climbed into his car. She didn’t need anyone else looking over her shoulder.

  Piper gave Eli directions to Meadow’s house as they drove through the darkening streets of Emerald Island. The winter sun was already on its way down and street lights came on as they passed beneath them.

  Music filled the car instead of a conversation and Piper questioned her decision to invite Eli to dinner. What did she know about him? She did have to admit, though, that it was nice to be inside of a car instead of worrying about biking at this time of day.

  Eli pulled into Meadow’s driveway and parked behind her Honda Odyssey van. Autumn’s car was behind Aiden’s Subaru which meant Piper and Eli would be walking into a full house. Whatever, she thought. She could do this with Eli by her side.

  “Are you still sure about this? I could take my bike out and just tell my sisters that a friend gave me a ride.”

  Eli twisted sideways in the seat. “Are you sure you want me to come in with you? You keep trying to scare me off from meeting your family.”

  Maybe having Eli with her would be a good distraction from her sisters focusing on her shortcomings. Piper already knew there were plenty, she didn’t have to be constantly reminded.

  “Yeah. I just want to give you an out if you need one.”

  “I don’t. I’m looking forward to it.” Eli kept his eyes focused on Piper’s face.

  She had to look away first, diverting her attention to retrieve her messenger bag with the gifts for her niece and nephew. “Let’s go then. The hardest part will be when we first walk in.” Well, maybe the hardest part for Eli since he would definitely get the, who-is-the-poor-guy-Piper-dragged-along, pity look from her sisters.

  As soon as Piper opened the front door of her sister’s house, the conversation stopped. For a long three seconds. Then, Ariel screeched and launched herself at Piper. “What’s in the bag?”