Mission to Murder (A Tourist Trap Mystery)

by Lynn Cahoon

  Greg seemed to consider his answer for a long second, and I could feel Jackie’s attention focused on him, matching my own scrutiny. “I guess it’s not confidential, especially since the district attorney has decided not to file charges. He helped her cut the fence on the back of The Castle property so a group of kids could sneak in to swim.”

  I laughed. “That’s all?”

  Greg pulled the car under the screen and a valet approached his door. “The kid was pretty upset. He felt it violated his moral code. He said he might even have to surrender his Eagle Scout badge.” Greg handed the keys to the valet and walked around to the passenger door, where he opened the door for me. Then he helped me out, holding my hand until I got steady on my too-high heels. As he reached back to offer his hand to Jackie, I watched her consider slapping it away, but she accepted his help. Finally we were on our way through the entry door.

  Josh sat on a bench next to a tank filled with live lobsters, a bouquet of cut flowers in his hand. He glanced up at the door as it closed, then jumped up when he saw it was us. Pointedly looking at his watch, he approached us. “You’re late.”

  “Traffic.” Greg put his hand on the small of my back and started me forward toward Josh. “How are you feeling?”

  Josh glared at him. “Fine, no thanks to your department. I take it you haven’t found my attackers?”

  “Not yet,” Greg growled.

  “Pretty flowers,” I said, trying to change the conversation.

  Josh glanced down as if he’d forgotten he held them. He shoved them at Jackie. “These are for you. Thank you for accepting my invitation.”

  Jackie nodded and gingerly took the flowers like he’d offered her a live snake. A hostess approached.

  “Oh good, you’re all here. The table is ready.” She held our menus in her arms and led us deep into the restaurant. When we stopped at a table set by the window overlooking the bay, I sighed. I loved even looking at the ocean. I didn’t understand Amy’s surfing obsession, but I could sit on the beach and watch the waves for hours.

  “Nice,” Greg commented. Jackie harrumphed and quickly sat before Josh could pull out the chair. He squeezed into a space next to her and the wall, no view for him. I was starting to feel sorry for Josh since my aunt was being a total pill and he seemed lost in her female charms. If he liked her now, rude and obnoxious, I didn’t know what would happen if she was actually nice to the guy.

  We ordered a round of drinks and appetizers. Greg and Josh kept to soda, but Jackie and I both ordered a glass of wine. The restaurant specialized in seafood with a nice listing of fresh fish items. Since we’d ordered crab dip and stuffed mushrooms to share around the table, I decided to go with a blackened halibut for my main course. I couldn’t help notice my aunt ordering the lobster. I guess she thought if she had to be here, she was going to get what she wanted, no matter what the cost.

  “My shop’s doing well this quarter. I’m so glad I made the move to South Cove. My receipts are up fifty percent from my location in the city,” Josh bragged. I glanced at Greg and noticed his eyes glazing over. Out of the three double dates we’d had in the last month, the only one where he’d enjoyed the company was when Justin and Amy had come over to the house. And that hadn’t even technically been a date.

  I owed him big. Again. I reached under the table and found his hand. I rubbed the palm, as I answered Josh. “South Cove is known for quirky shops. I’m sure Antiques by Thomas will fit in fine. It’s nice having you as our neighbor.”

  “So what kind of business does your shop do? You pull in anything close to your expenses?” Josh shook his head. “I can’t believe you make enough to afford two employees.”

  Greg squeezed my hand. He knew I wanted to inform Mr. Thomas that asking what kind of money a store owner made was rude. And frankly none of his business. Instead of the things I wanted to say, I finally came up with, “We do all right.”

  “I don’t know how. And this new Cloaked in Mystery campaign. Really? You think anyone will even show up if they don’t know the draw? And at the beginning of July? People have lives, you know.” Josh kept pushing.

  Jackie’s face grew darker, but she didn’t respond.

  I put on my sweet, usually-saved-for-the-mayor smile and answered, “We see it as a great way to escape the summer heat and get your beach read autographed by a famous mystery author.” I nodded to my aunt. “Besides, the praise needs to go to Jackie. This is her brainchild.”

  Josh glanced at Jackie and his face went white. “Of course, I don’t know anything about book marketing or coffee stuff. Just normal sales, I guess.”

  “And books and coffee aren’t normal sales?” Jackie asked, acid in her tone.

  Josh was saved by the drinks arriving and, a few seconds later, the appetizers. When everyone started eating, the salads arrived. The waitress kept our table moving from one course to the next. And I noticed, Aunt Jackie’s wineglass got replaced and refilled several times. She’d be a blast on the way home. I hoped she’d fall asleep rather than rail the entire trip.

  Just as we were considering the dessert menu, Greg’s cell rang.

  “Sorry, I told them I was off the clock.” He stood and answered. As he walked away, I heard him greet Esmeralda. She worked the late shift on Fridays and Saturdays so she could schedule readings during the day for her clients. The woman had a knack for telling people want they needed to hear to keep coming back. Many of my drop-in customers were heading toward Esmeralda’s house for their weekly readings.

  “I’m trying the chocolate liquid cake. Molten Chocolate? Yum.” I glanced at Jackie. “What are you getting?”

  “Besides a headache?” she grumbled, then sighed. “Fine, I want the pumpkin caramel cheesecake.”

  “Bring two.” Josh smiled at the waitress. Then focused on me. “What would Officer King want?”

  “Greg, just Greg tonight.” I studied the menu. He loved his chocolate, so I ordered him the marble cheesecake, knowing if he didn’t want it, we could trade.

  We added a pot of coffee to the mix and then the table went silent. I’d just thought of a conversation topic when Greg sat back down.

  “Look, I’ve got to go to the harbor.” He glanced at Josh. “Can you give the ladies a ride home?”

  “Jackie,” Josh offered. “My Porsche doesn’t have a backseat.”

  “Besides,” I countered with my fork covered with the chocolate cake just delivered, “you drove my car. Or did you forget?”

  Greg considered me. “You have to stay in the car. With the doors locked. No tramping over the crime scene.”

  I took a bigger bite of the cake. “Scouts’ honor,” I mumbled around the food.

  “Did someone else get killed?” Josh appeared stricken. “Craig had a crate down at the harbor. Did someone break into that?”

  “Sorry, can’t go into details.” Greg regarded my almost-empty plate. “You ready yet? Or do you want to take my cheesecake, too?”

  “Great idea.” I waved down a waiter and asked for a to-go box. When the desserts were safely ensconced in pretty boxes, I kissed Jackie on the cheek. “Have fun.”

  “Wait, you’re leaving me here?” Jackie seemed like she’d just woken up. She leaned toward me and whispered, “I told you something was off about the crate.”

  “I’ll call you later,” I whispered back, then I nodded to Josh. “He’ll see you home.”

  As we walked away, I heard my aunt call after me, “This wasn’t part of the bargain.”

  Greg chuckled as he opened the door for me. He gave his number chip to the valet. “I thought I’d have another crime scene to clean up back there.”

  I climbed into the Jeep and pulled off my heels, slipping into some flip-flops I kept in the backseat. “She deserves it. The man was being nice, or at least as nice as Josh knows how to be, and she was a grump. Maybe on the ride home she can learn some manners.” What I wasn’t saying was that maybe Jackie could find out why Craig was paying Josh thousands of dollars
over market rate for appraisals.

  “If Josh isn’t our killer.” Greg shut the door and walked around the front of the car, tipping the valet.

  I waited for him to pull away from the parking lot before I spoke. “You don’t think Josh could—I mean, he loved Craig. A bit too much, if you ask me.”

  Greg smiled. “Just keeping you on your toes. No, Josh has an air-tight alibi for the night Craig was killed. When you gave me those receipts, I decided to take a second look. He was at an estate auction up north. He stayed over and I even have him on camera in the hotel at exactly the same time as we estimate the murder occurred. We cleared him days ago.”

  “You’re mean.” But I mulled Josh’s alibi around in my head. Why couldn’t I have been somewhere a camera could have proved I wasn’t the killer?

  Greg punched a new address into the GPS and Dora quickly routed him. He sighed and searched my face for something. “I don’t think you take this seriously sometimes. It’s not one of your books, Jill. People do bad things. And when they think they’re going to get caught, they do more bad things to hide their guilt.”

  I peeked up from the ring I’d been twisting. “I get it. I’m to stay in the car. Even if I have to pee.”

  That made Greg laugh. “If that happens, go to the nearest police officer on duty and ask to be escorted to a convenience store in the area. I won’t make you suffer.”

  “Thanks.” I watched the road pass by as we drove closer to the docks. I knew we were close when the lights from the police cars started brightening the darkening night. Then Dora instructed Greg to turn right, and we were at our destination.

  CHAPTER 17

  Greg had only been gone twenty minutes and it felt like hours. If this was a quick stop in, how did they get through stakeouts? No wonder Toby had fallen asleep the first time he’d played guard dog for me when everything was blowing up around Miss Emily’s death. I took the fake rock out of my purse and fingered the key, wondering if I should mention Jackie and I visiting the crate yesterday. But I knew exactly how Greg felt about me getting involved in police investigations, and besides, we hadn’t actually found anything that would point toward Craig’s killer.

  I’d read the new manual that came with the car, learning the new options including the fact I didn’t have to keep track of oil change time anymore, my car would tell me. And it would tell me if I was running low on gas. A handy feature since I didn’t like stopping and filling the tank. It was the one thing I missed about being married. My ex had been a fanatic about keeping the tank at least half full at all times.

  I watched the red and blue lights flashing on and off and thought of the ocean. I imagined waves coming in with every flash.

  Greg’s hand shook my arm, and when I opened my eyes, I didn’t see the flashing lights anymore. We were sitting in my driveway, the rock in my hands. I scooted up in the seat. “Wow, I guess I was tired.”

  “The SF cops were calling you Sleeping Beauty.” He nodded to the house. “You want me to walk you in?”

  “If I make coffee, will you tell me what we were doing there?” I stretched.

  Greg smiled and pushed a wayward curl out of my face. “Do you have cheesecake? Someone ate mine from dinner.”

  “And it was amazing, but yeah, I brought some home from the shop today.” I leaned my head on the headrest and watched him. “I thought maybe you’d want some for breakfast.”

  He chuckled. “Not tonight. I’m heading straight to the office after coffee and cheesecake. I think we finally have a lead.”

  That made me wake up. I opened my door and grabbed my purse. Crossing over to the fence, I opened the gate and stared at Greg, still sitting in the car. “What are you waiting for? Let’s get brewing.”

  He climbed out of the Jeep, grinning. “I don’t know whether to be insulted or proud.”

  Confused, I stared at him. “What?”

  He pulled me close and kissed my forehead. “You tossed aside the idea of a night alone with me for solving a murder case. You’re either the perfect match for a local cop, or a crime junkie.”

  Pushing aside the compliment—at least I thought it was a compliment—I unlocked the front door. An envelope fell to the floor when I opened the door.

  Greg reached down and peeked inside.

  “Hey, what if it’s a love note from my other boyfriend?” I teased as I clicked on lights and put my purse and keys on the front table. Greg absently turned the locks on the door and followed me into the kitchen, still reading.

  “You don’t have time for another boyfriend. Between being the South Cove primary crime stopper and seeing me, your days are pretty filled.” He tossed the letter onto the kitchen table and greeted Emma, who bounded into the living room, ready for human company after chasing rabbits and other wildlife out of the yard for the last few hours. “Besides, Emma wouldn’t like it if you brought someone else over. She’s bonded to me.”

  Pouring water into the coffeemaker, I laughed. “That dog can be bought with a dog treat. I’m sure she’d trade me in for two.”

  “Sad, but probably true.” He scratched Emma behind the ears. “You want me to help with the cheesecake?”

  “Stay there. I’m perfectly capable of dishing up two slices without brute force.” I grabbed two small plates with the rose design from my cabinet. Greg might complain about the tea party feel, but I loved this china and used it every chance I got. I set a fork and plate in front of him and then slipped into my seat. “What’s this?”

  “You said it was a love letter.” Greg started eating, not looking up at me.

  “Brat.” I took a bite of the cheesecake and the vanilla swirl hit my tongue. Heaven. Sadie Michaels was a genius. I started reading the letter. Looking up, I said, “This is from Justin.”

  “Yep.” Greg took another bite, but now he was watching my face.

  Sometimes the strong, silent type only goes so far. I kept reading. Then I froze. I reread a paragraph.

  Greg polished off my slice of cheesecake, too. The guy could eat through anything. “Someone could have planted the censer to throw us off track.”

  I grabbed the letter. “If Justin could put this together in what, a day, then the mayor’s going to be asking you what your malfunction is and why you haven’t arrested me.”

  Greg stood and reached for a to-go cup. “He already asks me that every day. Why should this evidence make it any different?”

  “Because this says Emma’s new chew toy was discovered missing from The Castle.” I shook the letter. “Then it winds up in my yard?”

  Greg set a cup of coffee in front of me, then pulled his chair closer so he could hold my hand after he pried the letter out of my grip. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

  I frowned. His question confused me. “No.”

  “I’d have to be pretty dense to see this as anything but a frame job. If you killed Craig”—he held his hand up to stop me from talking—“I said if. Why would you bring a souvenir from the crime scene, then give it to your dog to play with? That doesn’t make a bit of sense.”

  I thought about his logic for a few minutes. “But it does mean someone is trying to make me the fall guy for this. And the person who’s trying, isn’t thinking things through.”

  “Or is dumber than a box of rocks.” Greg smiled. “So do you want to know what was in the crate?”

  “I’d assumed Craig’s antiques?” I tried to sound casual, hoping something I owned hadn’t fallen out of my purse while I’d been sneaking around.

  He nodded. “The only unit broken into belonged to Craig Morgan. The harbor master verified the ownership before we entered the box. And yes, it had antiques.”

  I waited, but Greg seemed to be waiting for me to guess. “And what? Antiques, and what?”

  “That’s just it, nothing. What was there wasn’t as important as what was missing.”

  I sipped my coffee, but my body was beginning to betray me. I needed sleep. I covered a yawn, then asked, “What was missing?”r />
  “The drug dogs say cocaine from their reaction. Although how the trainer tells the difference based on yips and barks, I’ll never know.”

  I felt stunned. “Craig was importing cocaine?”

  “That’s what it looks like. Which adds a whole ’nother line of questioning to the witness interviews.” He glanced at his watch. “The crime techs from the scene are showing up at the station in ten minutes. I’ve got to get down there.”

  I followed him to the front door. “Look, be careful.”

  “I’m working with the geek squad, I think I’m fine.” He put a finger under my chin. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

  “Back door is already locked. Front will be as soon as you leave. Besides, why kill your best patsy?” I put my hands on my hips and posed.

  Greg laughed and pulled me into a hug. “Because you wouldn’t look like a murder. If this was my playbook, you’d be committing suicide or having an accident to keep you out of the picture.”

  My eyes widened as I studied this man I’d thought I’d known. “Sometimes you scare me.”

  “In a totally good and sexy way, right?” He kissed me again and then stepped out of the hug. “Stay inside. Tomorrow we’ll take the case apart piece by piece. Just you and me.”

  “Promises, promises.” I pushed him toward the door.

  He stopped inside the doorway. “I mean it, Jill. Stay inside.”

  I watched him pull away from the house and for once, I felt alone, vulnerable. But if I’d said that, Toby would be camped out on my doorstop and the last time that happened we both wound up in the hospital. Emma whined next to me.

  I bent down and wrapped my arms around the big golden retriever. Listening to her heartbeat made my own slow a bit. Wiping the back of my hand across my eyes, I stood and checked the locks again. “Let’s go to bed.”

  Emma trotted up the stairs behind me. When I reached my bedroom, I put the cell phone on my nightstand, propped a chair under the doorknob blocking the door, and turned on the shower.

  Half-expecting to be a leading lady in the Psycho movie, the warm water failed to do any magic on my tense muscles. If anything, when I got out and climbed into pajama pants and a tank, I felt more wound up. I opened the soda I’d brought with me and slipped between the covers. There was no way I would fall asleep anytime soon, so I reached for a gothic mystery and got lost in the creepy goodness.