A Killer Latte

by Tonya Kappes

  “Are these all clues that you were in trouble?” I asked myself and tried to put the pieces together like a puzzle. “She called Bunny because she had a feeling something was going to go down, and if she called me, she knew I’d try to talk her out of it or go with her.”

  I bent down and picked up a couple of the files and started to thumb through them.

  Aunt Maxi had Daisy’s doctor’s phone number and a statement from him about Daisy’s cancer along with a signed consent form from Daisy. There were medical records listing how Daisy had been going through treatment, but she was terminal.

  I reached down into my bag and took Aunt Maxi’s phone to pull up the photos again. Daisy didn’t look terminal. She really didn’t look all that ill. Maybe underneath all her makeup was a different story.

  “What did she say in her interview?” I asked.

  “Bringing up interview.” Siri’s voice came across Aunt Maxi’s phone, scaring me half to death.

  “Interview?” I questioned under my breath before the voice memo on Aunt Maxi’s phone popped up.

  There was an excerpt titled Daisy Lemon’s Last Will and Testament. I pushed the arrow triangle to start the interview.

  Aunt Maxi: We are going to start the interview.

  Daisy: Perfect. I’ve got a lot to say. You know, this is probably the last interview I’ll be doing, so make sure you ask for a lot of money.

  Aunt Maxi: Why are you not going to be doing any more?

  Daisy: I’m dying. I have cancer.

  Aunt Maxi: (There’s an audible groan from Aunt Maxi) I’m so sorry. How long do you have?

  Daisy: What time is it? Don’t worry about looking. It’s today.

  Aunt Maxi: What’s today?

  Daisy: How long I have.

  Aunt Maxi: Honey, I might be old but not too old to see that you look fit as a fiddle to me. There ain’t no way you’re dying today.

  Daisy: What’s your questions?

  Aunt Maxi: Now that you know your husband had you kidnapped, then I kidnapped you for this interview, you made me bring you back here to where your first kidnapper brought you, Rodney Crenshaw. Why?

  Daisy: Rodney and his wife are about to have a baby. I want him to get his money from Stephen. Though I do wish Stephen had told me about the kidnapping. He’s almost foiled my plans.

  Aunt Maxi: Your plans?

  Daisy: Mm-hmm.

  Aunt Maxi: Are you mad at Stephen for trying to use you to get money? Illegally?

  Daisy: No. If I didn’t have terminal cancer, um, maybe. But all that’s water under the bridge.

  Aunt Maxi: I sure wouldn’t be so forgiving if my husband had had me kidnapped, deathbed or not. When they found me, I’d go to jail for killing him.

  Daisy: (Daisy laughs)

  Aunt Maxi: Tell me about the sculpture the production company is giving the town.

  Daisy: Stephen always gives the town a big bronze bust of himself. He’s a little egotistical, but most of us Hollywood types are. Anyways, there’s a little trick door in it. He does this to see if anyone ever finds it. No one ever does.

  Aunt Maxi: Trick door?

  Daisy: Mm-hmm. Sometimes he puts a couple hundred dollars in there or just some sort of movie memorabilia. So you be sure you go and look at the one he’s giving Honey Springs.

  Aunt Maxi: What did he put in ours?

  Daisy: I have no idea. He only tells me after we leave the town. Shame, you know.

  Aunt Maxi: What’s a shame?

  Daisy: That I won’t ever know what he gave Honey Springs in the trick door.

  Aunt Maxi: Oh, because you’re dying today? (There’s a little giggle from Aunt Maxi, like she didn’t believe Daisy was going to die.)

  Daisy: I am. I hired a sniper.

  Aunt Maxi: You what?

  Daisy: I hired someone to kill me. That’s why I’m wearing all of these jewels. It’s their payment.

  Aunt Maxi: Why on earth would you do that?

  Daisy: I don’t want to die a slow, painful death. This way, you get the big last interview, and I don’t suffer.

  Aunt Maxi: I don’t think you should do that, and I think we need to call the po—

  I jumped as the sounds of a shot rang out, then the interview stopped.

  “Oh my gosh.” I gasped and looked down at the phone. I was shaking.

  I put the phone on the table and held on to the end of the table to get some sort of feeling in my hands. It felt like all my blood had drained from my body.

  “Daisy planned her own death?” My mouth went dry. “Who did it? Who would take her offer?”

  I sucked in a few deep breaths before I got up. This was big evidence. With a couple of deeper breaths, I got myself together enough to retrieve my phone. I hit the contact button and slowly scrolled through until I got to Spencer’s name. Then I hit the call button.

  “What’s up?” he answered.

  “Daisy hired a hit man to kill her.” It was like ripping off a Band-Aid. I had to say it fast in fear I might have a meltdown.

  “Daisy what?” He sounded stunned or maybe not sure of what I’d said. I could hear in the background some shuffling and the sound of a door closing.

  “I said Daisy hired a hit man because her cancer was terminal and she never wanted to suffer. Aunt Maxi has all the consent paperwork from Daisy that states Daisy’s doctor could send it all to Aunt Maxi about Daisy’s illness. She also had a taped interview on her phone. Daisy wanted Rodney to keep her there because she’d hired the sniper.” It all sounded so Hollywood or like a movie, now that I’d said it out loud.

  “And how did the sniper know she was in Rodney Crenshaw’s cabin?” He asked a darn great question.

  “I don’t know. That’s now what you need to find out. You find the killer and you find Loretta’s jewels.” I continued to stare at Aunt Maxi’s phone. “Daisy said she told the sniper she’d pay him with the jewelry.”

  “Where’s this information? The consent? The phone?” he asked.

  “I’ve got them. I’m at Aunt Maxi’s. I’m getting ready to leave and go to Lexington. Why don’t I bring them to the station on my way?” I asked and gathered up the files in a pile, still not touching the phone.

  “I don’t think we need to look around Maxine’s house. I don’t think it’s part of the crime scene, so yeah. Bring them by. I was just interviewing the last of the movie production crew so they can get on their way.”

  “I bet they’re relieved.” I knew they’d been a little antsy, wanting to get to the next movie location now that they’d been paid.

  “They want answers like we do. Stephen Lemon and Rodney Crenshaw passed their lie detectors this morning.” He sounded exhausted. “Now I’ve got to find a sniper. Great.”

  We hung up the phone. I finished gathering all of the papers that looked like they had anything to do with Daisy before I grabbed Aunt Maxi’s phone and headed out the door.

  It was only nine a.m. The sun might’ve been bright and sunny as the rays penetrated my car’s windshield, but I felt none too cheerful. All the things were running through my head, making it hard for me to sort out.

  I truly believed Aunt Maxi had sent those photos to People magazine because it was the only thing she knew to do to get the photos out and online and let people know she was with Daisy.

  Somewhere.

  She had to have known that Bunny or Loretta was going to see them and tell me. Only it was Patrick who took me to the cabin to question Rodney.

  In my head, I heard, “If you’d been ten minutes longer…” The nurse’s voice haunted me over and over as I turned the car back onto Main Street. Central Park was on my right. The bronze bust was uncovered and glistened as the sun seemed to have focused all its rays upon it.

  I slowed down and noticed the covering had fallen off. I skidded to a halt when I noticed a pair of shoes, toes pointed up, and the body not moving.

  SIXTEEN

  “Well, I guess Daisy and Stephen can be in eternal peace together
.” Mom had wrapped her arms around me as we watched the coroner take Stephen Lemon away on the church cart to put in the hearse.

  “Mom,” I scolded her.

  She had run across the street from her office when she saw the police lights and heard the sirens. That was when she found me standing over Stephen’s body along with Spencer Shepard.

  “What?” she asked. “It’s true. Do you think she had the sniper get him too?”

  “I don’t think so.” I tried to rewind my mind and think about seeing Stephen at his guest room at the Cocoon Hotel. He never mentioned where he was going to go since Camey had kicked him out for stealing her phone books, even after he denied doing so.

  “I just got back from visiting your aunt.” Mom’s words nearly knocked me over. “Stop it. I care about her.”

  “And? Was she awake?” I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and checked to see if I’d missed a call from the hospital.

  “No, but they said her vitals are looking good and they expect her to wake up any minute.” Mom rubbed her hand down my back. “You gonna be okay? I’m worried about you.”

  “I’m fine now that you told me Aunt Maxi’s vitals are good. I don’t know what I’d do without her in my life.” For a second, I saw a little hurt on my mom’s face. “Or you. If anything ever happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do.”

  We stood there in silence, watching Spencer walk toward us.

  “Same bullets.” Spencer had dragged me away from Mom, pulling me off to the side of the investigation. “It appears our sniper got him too.”

  Mom would be pleased as pie to know she got something right in this investigation.

  “She didn’t say anything about that in her interview with Aunt Maxi,” I said while I dug deep into my bag and retrieved the files along with Aunt Maxi’s phone. “The interview is in her memo section. She doesn’t have a pass code and voice recognition, so you should have no problem finding it.” I handed them to him. “I talked to Stephen this morning. He didn’t say where he was going, but do you think he knew the sniper?”

  “Good possibility. Where else would Daisy find someone who’d do that?” He dragged his toe along the grass. “Three shooting victims in less than twenty-four hours and two dead. Not good. The mayor is going to call for me to resign.”

  “I doubt that. You’re so close to figuring this out.” I didn’t really believe myself, but he needed the encouragement.

  “Does that mean you’re not going to snoop around anymore?” he asked. His brows dipped, and the corners of his mouth turned down.

  “Are you telling me that you’re actually enjoying my help?” I questioned.

  “I’m saying that you have some sort of odd knack for discovering clues and things the entire department can’t seem to uncover.” He smiled. “Get out of here. You go see your aunt Maxi. I’ll catch up with you later if I need anything else.”

  “Do you have any leads?” I asked. He gave me the look. “I’m only asking because you know if Aunt Maxi wakes up, she’s going to want to know.”

  “Tell her it’s an ongoing investigation.” He hustled back to the group of officers crawling around on the ground, looking for evidence.

  “What was that about?” Mom asked.

  “Nothing. He just told me he hoped Aunt Maxi was well and wakes up soon.” I decided not to tell Mom anything. She was the type that was told on a need-to-know basis, because she would worry herself to death, which meant she would bug me to death.

  “Why don’t you come over for supper tonight? I’ll call Patrick, and he can grab the granddogs on the way over.” Mom did have a good plan.

  “I don’t feel like cooking.” That was a first for me. “I think I’m too worried about Aunt Maxi to even think about cooking.”

  Cooking, baking, and making perfect coffees were part of my creative side, and it seemed to be zapped. I knew it would come back as soon as Aunt Maxi was in the clear and I could hear her talk to me, but for now, I just might let my mom take care of me. And Patrick, of course.

  Mom and I looked over at the curb on the road when we heard a lot of doors sliding and slamming shut. The media had obviously caught wind of the death of Stephen Lemon as the reporters tried to outrun each other to get the better shot. Their cameramen hurried behind them, their camera cords dragging across the grass.

  “I’m getting out of here before this circus starts up.” I gave Mom a quick kiss and headed to the car, plucking the ringing phone from my pocket. “You won’t believe what’s happened,” I told Patrick.

  “I heard Stephen Lemon was found dead in the park,” he responded.

  “And Daisy hired a hit man to kill her.” I was still so shocked at her actions. There was no way I would be able to do that. I would be looking out the window in anticipation, chewing my nails and who knew what else. But I also wasn’t in her situation either. “I guess people do things when they are desperate.”

  “That’s a little too desperate,” Patrick said on the other end of the phone. There were clinks and voices in the background.

  “Are you at the coffeehouse?” I asked, hearing the familiar noises.

  “I am. Sassy and Pepper too.” There was a tone to his voice that made it seem he wasn’t too happy. “Bunny told me what you were up to. She said you were going to see Maxine, but I made a service call to the Cocoon Hotel.”

  “Oh.” I gnawed on the edge of my lip to stop me from talking. I bit down a little harder, waiting for him to respond to the silence.

  “Oh. All you have to say is oh?” Was he baiting me? “She said you had a little chat with Stephen before you ran out.”

  “I went to Aunt Maxi’s house, and that’s where I found the evidence that Daisy had terminal cancer, then the voice memo on her phone.” There was no reason to tell him about People magazine and how I’d found all that out. He didn’t want to hear that. He wanted me to say that I would stop snooping, and he was right. “I’m not going to snoop anymore.”

  “I’ll take a Killer Latte large,” I heard a voice in the background say.

  “You tell them there’s no such thing as a Killer Latte!” I yelled into the phone.

  “Settle down. It’s one of the production crew ordering to go. They said Spencer cleared them to hit the road.” I still didn’t like that they called it Killer Latte when it was supposed to be Star-Studded Latte.

  “I don’t care who it is. Now that Daisy and Stephen are dead, it’s not even funny.” I couldn’t believe the attention the coffeehouse was getting.

  “He adopted Callie.” What should’ve made my heart sing made my heart drop to my toes.

  “Oh, I was going to talk Crissy into adopting her. What about Callie’s life? Did Louise approve it?” I asked.

  “She was actually in here when he decided to adopt her. He filled out the paperwork. Louise did a quick background check, and he’s not on the road for a few months. Apparently, they work a few months then take off a few months.” Patrick and Louise knew better, so I guess things had worked out for Callie like they were supposed to.

  “Which crew member?” I asked and headed the car out of town for the drive to Lexington.

  “Wesley something or other.” At least he said it was someone that I knew and liked.

  “Wesley Miles, the key grip. He was nice, and he really liked Daisy.” I couldn’t help but remember the look on his face after Daisy was kidnapped. “I bet he got Callie in honor of Daisy.”

  “You know, I think he did call her Daisy and mentioned changing her name.”

  That made me smile and made me think Daisy would like that. “Video.” I smacked the wheel with the palm of my hand.

  “Video?” Patrick asked.

  “Nothing. I’ve got to go.” My mind suddenly clicked back into amateur sleuth mode, and I remembered Mom had installed a security camera on the outside of her office over the winter when business was down and she didn’t stay in the office much.

  She’d gotten it so she could watch from the luxury
of her home. If the camera showed someone at her office door, she could scurry over there in a second since she, too, lived in the downtown neighborhood.

  “Roxanne.” Patrick meant business when he said my full name. “What is going on in that brain of yours?”

  “Nothing. I’ll call you back.” I put the phone down on the passenger seat and jerked the wheel before making a U-turn in the middle of the road and heading right back toward downtown Honey Springs.

  SEVENTEEN

  Members of the sheriff’s department were still running around Central Park. Some of them were still on their hands and knees, going through the grass. A few more had cameras and snapped different photos while others were standing around talking.

  When I drove past, the news media were so focused on getting footage of their news reporters in front of the bust, as close as they could get without going over the police line, that they didn’t even pay attention to anything or anyone else around them. Including me.

  At the next light, I made a U-turn so I could park in front of Mom’s office, where someone had just pulled out.

  I grabbed my bag and hurried through her door, the bell signaling my entrance.

  “What are you doing back? Is something wrong?” Mom looked up from the desk, halted, and appeared shocked to see me. “Is Maxine okay? I know you didn’t get there this fast.” She pulled up her shirtsleeve and glanced at her watch.

  “Mom, settle down. Everything is fine,” I assured her. “Do you still have the security camera?”

  “Yes. Why?” A shadow of alarm touched her face. “You think the killer is on there?” She smacked the desk and jumped up.

  “Maybe. Did Spencer ask to see your footage yet?” I knew he would eventually go to every business in the area or have a deputy go around and ask for their security footage.

  “He hasn’t, but I’ll give it to him.” She readily agreed.

  “I want to see it.” It definitely wasn’t something I should’ve said or done, but the curiosity got to me.