by Jennie Marts
She drew her arm back. With all her might, she threw the boot at the bear, simultaneously letting loose a ferocious tribal yell.
She watched the hiking boot sail through the air and land with a dull thump right on the bear’s snout. Her fierce tribal yell turned into a high-pitched girlish shriek as the bear let out an annoyed grunt, and she pulled the door to the outhouse shut and threw the lock.
Outside, she heard the bear moving toward the door, then a group of excited hoots and hollers. Through the tiny window, she heard a cacophony of pots and pans being banged together from the cabin below, and she recognized the hollering of Jeremy and her boys.
“Hey, I’m in here,” she yelled out the little window. “Help!”
“We got you, Mom,” she heard Drew yell. She sank to the floor of the outhouse in relief, her worries about spiders now forgotten.
A few minutes later the door rattled, and she screamed again.
“It’s me, Jeremy. Unlock the door.”
“Is the bear gone?” she yelled back.
“No, we’re sitting out here sharing a picnic basket with it.”
“Not funny.”
“Yes, it’s gone,” he said. “Unlock the door.”
She pulled the latch back and cautiously eased the door open. Poking her head out, she looked around for the bear before throwing herself into Jeremy’s arms. Overcome with relief, she reached an arm out and pulled her two sons into a group hug.
Dylan’s eyes were bright with excitement. “That was so cool, Mom! Did you see how cool that bear was?”
She lifted her head from Jeremy’s neck and looked around the forest. “Where did it go? Are you sure it’s gone?”
“Yes,” Jeremy said. “It lumbered off up the side of the mountain. The racket we were making must have annoyed it enough to make it take off.”
The gravel of the path dug into her socked feet, but she didn’t release her grip around Jeremy. “Thanks for saving me. I accidentally dropped my cell phone down the hole.”
Jeremy peeked into the outhouse. “Do you want me to fish it out?”
“Nope. Not even a little.”
Half an hour later, she sat in the cabin, a cup of hot tea in her hands, and listened to the boys retell the bear tale a third time, the bear getting bigger with each version.
“Only my mom would think to launch a toilet paper grenade at a bear,” Drew said, holding his side from another round of laughter.
“Maybe the bear had to go,” Dylan said, then cracked himself up in true fourteen-year-old form.
Jeremy ducked his head slightly as he came through the cabin door, a flannel shirt held loosely in his hand. He sat on the sofa next to Maggie and wrapped a long arm around her shoulder as he set the red plaid shirt in her lap.
He looked sideways at her from below the lock of dark bangs that constantly fell into his eyes and squeezed her shoulder. “You sure you’re okay? I brought you a shirt in case you were cold. I would offer you my jacket, but you absconded with it last week, and I have yet to get it back.”
Maggie had pilfered his coat during their date the weekend before. She had acted like she was cold, but she really just loved the jacket. It was soft black leather and custom-made for Jeremy. A large emblem of his favorite video game, World of Warcraft, was embroidered onto the back, the vibrant threads of color standing out against the black fabric.
It was also her favorite, and she and Jeremy had originally met each other in the online world of the game. World of Warcraft had been her secret obsession for the past year, a fantasy world of dwarves and raids and a great release from the drama and stress of the courtroom. She had stumbled onto it by accident, then found she looked forward to her evenings shut up in her office, fighting dragons and mystical beasts. Embarrassed by the fact that she was playing a fantasy game loved by teenagers, she kept her game-playing habits a secret.
She had met Jeremy in person when he arrived to pick up her friend, Sunny, for a blind date. He was taking Sunny on a surprise date to play World of Warcraft. The surprise was on him, though, when it turned out she was terrible at the game. Left alone for a few minutes before the date, Maggie and Jeremy’s conversation had turned to the game, and somehow she found herself spilling her secret obsession to him. They realized they had been playing in the same group for months and knew each other through their online characters.
After it was clear that he and Sunny weren’t a match, he had approached Maggie in the game and in true nerd form—had his character ask hers for her number. He and Maggie had continued to play almost nightly, but now they were on the same team.
She had nabbed the coat last weekend and loved the jacket because of the symbolism of their favorite shared pastime. And because it looked cool. And because it smelled like Jeremy.
“I’m fine.” She smiled reassuringly at him. The last year, she had tried so hard to pull off this gruff, nothing-can-hurt-me-now attitude. But, as tough as she was, she still secretly enjoyed the way he always tried to take care of her. The way he thought of her needs before his own. So different from Chad and the way she was used to being treated by a man.
She shook off those bad memories and winked at Jeremy. “And I am holding your jacket hostage. I will let you know the terms of the ransom when I come up with them.”
“Are you kidding?” Dylan asked, oblivious to their flirtation. “My mom’s always fine. She’s totally awesome. She took out that bear armed with only a hiking boot and a roll of toilet paper.”
Jeremy laughed. “I agree. Your mom is fairly awesome.”
Their laughter was interrupted by the tinkling notes of the theme from Star Wars coming from Jeremy’s phone.
Maggie shook her head and smiled affectionately. “You are such a nerd.”
“I know.” Jeremy pulled the latest version of the iPhone from the clip on his belt and studied the readout on the screen. “That’s weird—the call is coming from the phone on my desk at the office. I told everyone to take the weekend off.”
He touched the little screen and held the phone to his ear. “Hello.”
Maggie watched the color drain from Jeremy’s face as he listened to the caller.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his shoulders drooping as he rubbed his palm against his forehead. “Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“What’s going on?”
Jeremy’s face held a stunned expression as he turned to her and clipped the phone back to his belt. “We have to go back to town. Jim Edwards is dead.”
“Jim Edwards? The guy from your office?”
“Yeah. Jim is—well, was—one of my programmers. He’s helping me create my latest game.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. One of my employees came into work today and found him slumped over his desk. They think he was murdered.”
Chapter Two
A little over an hour later, Jeremy and Maggie walked into Rogers’ Realms to a buzz of activity. Word had spread through the office grapevine, and several of the employees had come in and were milling around, generally getting in the way of the police officers.
Maggie looked around Jeremy’s business, her attorney’s eye looking for anything unusual or out of place.
The company occupied a large rectangular room. Glassed-in offices framed the perimeter, and four rows of cubicles ran the length of the room, separated by a large center aisle. Jeremy had the biggest corner office, complete with a basketball hoop and a row of big-screen TVs and gaming consoles. A large meeting room with a conference table ran the length of one wall, with a large bank of windows overlooking their small town of Pleasant Valley.
Jeremy headed directly for Jim Edwards’s cubicle, and Maggie followed in his wake. The small space looked fairly ordinary, except for Jim’s chair lying on its side next to his desk. Much to Maggie’s relief, the body had already been removed, and there was no blood in sight, but the area was cordoned off with yellow caution tape.
“You can’t be in here, buddy.” A young o
fficer held up his hand to stop Jeremy and Maggie.
“I’m Jeremy Rogers. This is my company.” He reached for his wallet to present his ID. He motioned to Maggie. “And this is my girlfriend, Maggie Hayes.”
Maggie inwardly cringed at the term “girlfriend,” but her attention was sidetracked as she saw two little white-haired ladies emerge from Jeremy’s office, hot on the heels of a tall police officer. What on earth were they doing here?
Her mouth fell open as she watched the officer turn back to the women and sigh as he ran his hand over his closely shaved head in obvious exasperation. Though Maggie couldn’t hear the actual conversation, the women, one wearing a bright red cardigan and the other sporting hot- pink bifocals, were all too familiar to her.
Edna, of the hot-pink glasses, was the senior citizen of their weekly book club, the Pleasant Valley Page Turners. She had been the one who originally tried to set Jeremy up with Sunny, another member of their book club, earlier that summer. Jeremy was the grandson of Edna’s best friend Mabel, who now stood behind her, playing Cagney to Edna’s Lacey.
Mabel was even shorter than Edna, who stood five foot two in her pink Keds tennis shoes. Mabel’s skin carried the tell-tale wrinkles of too much sun. She had the craggy voice and hacking cough of a lifetime smoker, the kind of woman you would see perched on a stool in a Las Vegas casino, a bucket of quarters beside her and a cigarette dangling from her lip as she pulled the slot’s handle in between sips of gin and tonic.
Maggie watched Edna pull a small notebook and pen from a huge purple purse and begin to scribble furiously onto the pad. Then, as if by some sonic-Batman-grandma radar, Mabel turned her head, and her face lit up as she caught sight of Jeremy.
She nudged Edna, who looked over, then waved enthusiastically at Maggie. Edna turned back to speak to the officer, who nodded and waved them off as they headed their way.
The young officer handed Jeremy back his ID. “Don’t leave. I’m sure someone’s gonna wanna talk to you.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.” Jeremy shoved the wallet back into his pocket.
“Don’t look now,” Maggie said quietly, “but Antique Batman and Robin are headed our way.”
Jeremy’s look of confusion turned to one of delight as he caught sight of his little grandmother coming toward him. With a few large steps, he covered the distance between them and bent his tall frame to engulf her petite body in his embrace.
He placed a kiss on her leathery cheek and chuckled. “What are you doing here, Gram?”
“Hiya, kiddo. You doing okay?” Mabel’s eyes searched his face for signs of stress or shock.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m shocked. I can’t believe this happened. But yeah, I think I’m okay,” he said. “That doesn’t answer my question, though. What are you doing here?”
“We were driving by your office on the way to our Zumba class at the Y, and we saw all these police cars. We came up to check things out and make sure you were all right.” Edna pulled Jeremy’s head down to plant a kiss on his cheek. “You all right, kid?”
“I’m fine.” Jeremy waved away the women’s concern.
“Hey, gals,” Maggie said on a rush of air as Edna threw her arms around her in a theatrical embrace. Maggie gave her a quick squeeze, the smell of lavender and vanilla filling the air as she nestled her chin in the cloud of Edna’s silver curls. Mabel reached out and squeezed Maggie’s hand.
Jeremy seemed to be pleased by the appearance of the two geriatric Nancy Drews, but Maggie’s eyes narrowed with suspicion at Edna. “It’s amazing how you always seem to be in the middle of whatever excitement is going on.”
Edna shrugged and gave her a look of mock innocence. “You know me, honey, if there’s a pile of trouble somewhere, I’ll find a way to step in it.”
Mabel cackled at Edna’s joke, then her laugh turned into a phlegmy smoker’s cough, and Edna turned to slap her on the back. “You’ve got to give up those cancer sticks,” she said in between slaps.
“Ahh, bite me,” wheezed Mabel. “I’m gonna die anyway.”
Ignoring the drama of the elderly women, Maggie pulled on Edna’s sleeve. “Who is that guy you were talking to? And what did you find out?” Regardless of her knack for finding trouble, Edna was good at ferreting out information and could usually be counted on to know the inside scoop.
“Do they know what happened to Jim?” Jeremy absently rubbed his tiny grandmother’s back, used to her frequent coughing fits.
Edna whipped out her notebook, holding it within inches of her nose. “Well, I haven’t had a chance to gather too much information, since we just got here and they won’t let us too close to the crime scene. I’m sure they’re dusting for prints and gathering DNA evidence. The evidence always tells the true story, you know.”
“OMG,” Maggie said, mimicking one of her son’s favorite terms. She tried to control her eyes from rolling into the back of her head as she listened to Edna’s CSI-esque interpretation of the scene. “What do you actually know?”
Edna huffed and lowered her voice. “Well, we know a man was murdered here.”
“Oh my gosh. You think? Maybe you should open your own ladies’ detective agency.”
“I don’t get why they think he was murdered,” Jeremy said, ignoring Maggie’s cheeky comments. “Maybe he had a heart attack or an embolism.”
“Can I help you folks?” Their questioning was interrupted by the arrival of the tall, bald-headed officer Edna had been speaking with minutes before.
“This is Officer McCarthy,” Edna said, aligning herself with the policeman and resting her hand on his arm. “He and I are old friends. I just call him Mac.”
His handsome face took on an amused expression as he looked down at Edna. He covered her hand, completely engulfing her small one in his. “Ms. Allen and I met on another case I worked on earlier this summer.”
“He’s the one who helped Sunny,” Edna explained, alluding to the attack on their mutual friend and fellow book club member several weeks back.
“This is Jeremy, my grandson.” Mabel puffed up her chest, not to be outdone by her more dramatic counterpart. “He owns this company.”
“Jeremy Rogers,” he said, extending his hand.
Officer McCarthy reached out his hand to shake Jeremy’s. “I’m Officer McCarthy. I’m the lead officer on this case. You can also call me Mac.” Edna held on to his arm like a little monkey clinging to its mother. He turned to Maggie and raised an appreciative eyebrow. “And who might you be?”
Maggie flushed at the obvious flirtation, both annoyed and a little flattered. Before she could respond, Edna stepped in front of her, taking a protective stance.
“She’s his lawyer,” Edna stated with authority.
Mac’s eyes cut back to Jeremy. “Do you think you need a lawyer?”
“No, of course not.” Maggie’s professional side leapt into action, and she stepped forward, extending her hand. “I’m Maggie Hayes. I am a lawyer, but I am here as Jeremy’s…” she paused, unable to bring herself to use the other term—“friend.”
Mac’s hand took hers in a grip of strength, his long, lean fingers wrapping around her hand and giving it a firm squeeze.
“My girlfriend,” Jeremy clarified, as he watched Mac smile at Maggie. “What do you know about Jim? What happened here?”
Mac stepped back, his face changing to a mask of professionalism as he filled them in on what he knew. “We got a call about two hours ago. A coworker had come in and found Mr. Edwards slumped over his desk. She called 911, but he was apparently already dead.”
“Who found him?” Jeremy asked.
Mac pulled a small notebook from his breast pocket and flipped it open. “A Charlotte Foster. I guess finding the body made her a little sick and she keeps going outside to get some fresh air. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet, but I assume you know her.” Edna had also pulled her notebook out again, and Mac sighed as she clicked her
pen, ready to record any pertinent information.
Jeremy ignored Edna. “Of course I know her. I know everyone here. Charlotte is one of my programmers. In fact, I think she and Jim have been dating.”
Mac scribbled a note down in his pad, and so did Edna. “That’s pretty personal information. How well did you know them?”
Jeremy sighed. “Look, it’s a small company, and we’ve all been together for several years. We work late together and occasionally some of us will go for drinks or a meal, especially if we are celebrating a completed project. Do we hang out together? No. But in a small office, you hear what’s happening with people, and I knew that Jim and Charlotte were romantically involved.”
“And you allow that in the workplace?”
“I don’t know. This field is very male dominated. We only have two women who work here and the other one is married, so I haven’t really had to worry about it. They’re both dedicated employees, and I hadn’t noticed it affecting their work, so yeah, I guess I ‘allowed’ it.”
“Did they work together often?”
“Sure. Everybody does. We design and build video game software, and we all work together. The programmers design the game, then the artists go in and build the world. They build every rock, tree, gun, and shoe of the game world. So everyone ends up working with everyone at some point or another to make sure we’re producing a cohesive product.”
Both Mac and Edna were scribbling notes on their pads. He looked down at her in annoyance. “Quit writing all of this down. I’m the policeman.”
Again, Edna’s face took on a look of innocence. “Who, me? I’m just jotting down some notes on a new recipe idea I’m thinking of trying.”
“Of course you are.” Mac turned back to Jeremy.
Before he could open his mouth, Edna asked, “Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt Mr. Edwards?”
Mac looked down at Edna, one eyebrow raised in amazement. “Really?”
Edna shrugged. “Sor-ry.” Though she didn’t actually look sorry at all.
Mac sighed and returned to his questioning. “So, uh, can you think of anyone who would want to hurt Mr. Edwards or any reason someone would want him dead?”
