On the Chopping Block (A Callie's Kitchen Mystery Book 1)

by Jenny Kales

  Jane looked Callie dead in the eye and held up her hand in a Girl Scout salute: “I never told anyone about the original rules and I’d have to go back and tally it up to find out who won third. It just doesn’t matter at this point. Okay, Callie – is that all? As I said, I really need to tend to my work today.”

  Desperate to get some helpful information of out of Jane, Callie gritted her teeth and braved one more topic. “I hear that Drew took out a large loan. It looked like he was in debt. I thought he was doing great. It just seems odd that he would need so much money when he appeared to be doing so well.”

  “Is this just going to be a gossip session? Who told you that? Wait, I know. I’ll bet it was Lucille. She is such a blabbermouth. That’s it, I’m switching banks. She ought to be reported. I wouldn’t tolerate that from one of my employees.”

  Callie realized she’d said more than she should have. Lucille had sworn her to confidence. Rapidly, she tried to backpedal.

  “You have nothing to fear from Lucille. You know how people love to talk. Just about everybody comes through my shop at one time or another. People talk about anything except anything that’s their own business, especially now, with Drew’s murder the talk of the town.”

  “Oh, come on. We all know Lucille means well, but she doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut and her busy little body out of other people’s business. I’d be careful around her if I were you.” Jane’s cheeks were growing pale and there were dark circles and lines under her eyes that makeup couldn’t hide.

  Callie stood up, defeated. This interview was clearly over. Despite Jane’s impatience, Callie did feel badly for her and was worried about her health. “I’m sorry I bothered you today. Please take care of yourself. Working out infrequently may pile on the pounds, but working out too hard following a miscarriage could cause serious health problems.”

  “So now you’re an OB-GYN in addition to a cook?” Jane said, but wearily. She sighed again and her voice softened. “Callie, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll get in touch if I learn any new details. And don’t worry about my working out. It makes me feel better. Exercise is going get rid of the belly I started to grow when I was pregnant so that every time I look at my body, I’m not thinking about what I’ve…” She gulped and finished her thought. “It helps me forget what I’ve lost.”

  Callie felt tears of sympathy spring into her eyes. She’d never thought about her belly flab that way, only been embarrassed by it. She reached across the desk and grabbed Jane’s hand. “It’s okay,” she said. “I know you’re upset. Listen, if you find out anything, will you please tell me? It would mean a lot.”

  Jane nodded and blew her nose in a fresh tissue. “I will.”

  “Oh, and I almost forgot. These are for you and your staff.” She handed Jane the baked goods assortment, squeezed Jane’s hand and walked out, closing the door behind her. She leaned against it for a minute, collecting her thoughts. Callie was already as tired as if she’d had a workout and she hadn’t even broken a sweat yet!

  Nine

  Callie debated going straight back to her kitchen to drown her sorrows in cookies and pita bread. Instead, she checked her new phone. Thank goodness! Samantha had returned her text: “In a meeting but I will get back to you ASAP!”

  Now what? Callie wanted to stick around and see how busy Jane really was. Since Sam couldn’t talk to her yet, she decided to stay and walk the treadmill. She was dressed for it, at least. Maybe walking would help her to think – and maybe she’d be able to watch Jane’s activities unobserved. Something was off. Jane was brisk by nature but usually eager to help others.

  Plus, Drew’s death was haunting Callie. She could barely close her eyes without seeing the knife in his chest. Add to that her emerging status as prime suspect and she wondered if she’d ever be able to relax again. Maybe the exercise would tire her out enough that she would get some real sleep for one night.

  Scanning the machines, most of which were filled with sweating, grunting exercisers of all shapes, ages and sizes, she finally settled on the treadmill as it seemed the simplest to operate and use. However, it had been a long time since she’d used fitness equipment. Pushing one button that made the incline too steep, then another button that made the treadmill go too fast, Callie saw Ms. Ponytail walking by and out of desperation, she called to her.

  “Can you help me program this thing? Sorry, it’s been awhile and I don’t want to go flying off into oblivion.”

  “No problem! Here’s what you do.” The girl punched a few buttons and the treadmill began moving at a reasonable pace. “Thanks,” Callie said, trying not to huff and puff. She took a closer look at the girl’s badge. It read “Piper Anderson.” Piper! This had to be “the” Piper. It wasn’t a name you heard all that frequently.

  “I’m Callie Costas of Callie’s Kitchen. My assistant, Max, said you’re a computer whiz and that you’re really good at social media, in addition to adjusting athletic equipment like a pro.”

  Piper’s rouged cheeks turned an even darker shade of pink. “Nice to meet you! Yes, I know Max.” She smiled brightly and Callie noticed perfect white teeth and how blue Piper’s eyes were. Yep, Max didn’t stand a chance. “How sweet of him to brag about me like that.” Piper lowered her thick eyelashes demurely.

  Callie’s breathing grew more labored as the treadmill increased speed. “I need someone to help me with my social media at my food business. Max said you might be interested in doing it for college credit. Can I leave you my card after I’m finished here?”

  “Absolutely! I work here part-time but I’d love something that tied into my marketing degree. I can talk to my college advisor about it.”

  Callie was beginning to perspire: Time to focus on exercise. “Where can I find you in about 45 minutes?”

  “I should be in the main office, right inside the locker room. That’s my usual station and I also monitor the equipment. Well, have a good workout!” As Piper walked away, she had a spring in her step, no question about it. That Max.

  The prospect of her social media problems being solved gave Callie a faint feeling of hope. If she was able to hang onto Callie’s Kitchen, that is. She watched Jane’s office out of one eye, but Jane did not emerge.

  Dashing self-pitying thoughts from her mind, Callie finished her exercise, followed by a walk around the track to cool down. Toweling off her sweaty face and neck, she headed to the locker room in search of her would-be social media savior.

  No one was in the office when Callie returned, so she waited a few minutes, scanning the walls featuring ads for exercise classes: spinning, Zumba and Body Pump all sounded good, if strenuous. When Piper didn’t return after a 10-minute wait, Callie decided to go to the desk and leave a note along with her business card. Since she didn’t have her purse with her, she started searching the drawers for pencils and notepads. The top drawer was open and right on top was a notepad with the Bodies by the Bay logo.

  Callie was just finishing her note to Piper when the young woman breezed in. “I was just writing you a note. Here’s my card,” Callie handed the notepaper and her business card across the desk to the young woman.

  “Thanks!” Piper beamed. “You can reach me here on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1-5, or Max can reach me too.”

  “Wonderful.” Callie discarded her towel in the bin outside the office as Piper followed her out. “While I was looking for something to write on, I noticed a few drawers were locked. I’m sorry if I disturbed anything private.”

  Piper glanced around her and noticing a group of women trooping toward the showers, she ushered Callie back into her office and closed the door. “It’s not what you’re thinking. We don’t have cash or anything in the drawers. But we’ve had an epidemic of another kind of theft.”

  “Theft? If you don’t have cash, what are they taking?”

  “Syrup of ipecac.” Piper opened the first locked drawer and removed a small bottle. Callie recognized it immediately; she remembered when the pediatric
ian had suggested she have it in the house for accidental poisonings. She‘d had a bottle when Olivia was very small, hadn’t bought any for years. In fact, she didn’t think you could get it over the counter anymore.

  “You know what this stuff does?” Piper made a face. “It makes people throw up. It’s supposed to be used in case of an accidental poison ingestion and we had it as part of our first aid kit – you know, just in case somebody mistook cleaning fluid for their sports drink or something. Teenagers and older women have been stealing it.”

  “What for?” Callie believed throwing up to be one of life’s worst experiences. “They are purposefully drinking it so that they toss their cookies?”

  “Yes,” Piper looked grim. “So many people who come here do so for the right reasons — to be healthy – but a surprising number of people want to binge and purge. Ipecac helps them to purge and they work out trying to lose even more weight. So we’ve started locking it up. I wanted to get rid of it altogether but Jane said no.” Piper shrugged.

  “It used to be recommended that all parents and food service people have it, but I’m pretty sure that my doctor said it’s not even available over the counter any more, just by prescription.” Callie shook her head. “It must be hard to get these days. If your doctor suspects you of an eating disorder, you definitely won’t get a script for ipecac.” She was thankful that she viewed food as something positive, but so many women did not.

  “I know. It’s weird,” said Piper. “Not to change the subject and I hope you don’t mind my asking, but how did it go with Jane? She seems really down. ”

  No kidding. “It went fine?” Callie realized she had made her statement sound more like a question. “Yes, well, Jane seems exhausted more than anything. I told her to take care of herself.”

  “I know. I heard she had a miscarriage,” Piper whispered. “It’s doubly sad because she’s been struggling with infertility. The pregnancy was a really nice surprise.” Piper blushed deeply. “I’m not supposed to know that, but working here, you hear things.”

  When Callie didn’t respond right away, Piper seemed to realize that she’d been indiscreet. “Please know that I wouldn’t tell just anyone about Jane, but you’re one of the only people who seem to have reached out to her, bringing her treats and everything. Even with all of the people Jane knows, I don’t think she opens up to most people.”

  Was Piper this insightful about everyone she worked for? Maybe she wouldn’t be an asset to the shop. The last thing Callie needed was a mind reading co-worker analyzing her behavior and relationships! Then again, it could be that Piper was simply thoughtful and cared about others. Desperate to find cheap labor for her Internet needs, Callie decided to believe the latter, for now. She thanked Piper again and headed out of the office to freshen up before heading back to work.

  After a brief shower, Callie slipped on a scoop neck T-shirt with her the Callie’s Kitchen blue-and-white logo and some jean capris before sliding her feet into ballet flats. In all of her preoccupation with Jane Willoughby and Piper’s revelations, she realized that Sam might be trying to reach her. She checked her phone, but Sam still hadn’t followed up on her original text. She must still be busy.

  Debating whether or not she should hunt Sam down at her office, Callie made a beeline for the exit, head down. Suddenly, she walked straight into what felt like a brick wall.

  “Jeff, are you OK?” Callie rubbed the spot on her shoulder that took the brunt of the direct hit. Her old college friend didn’t appear hurt but he did appear embarrassed. Once they had both apologized to each other several times and ascertained they had no injuries, Jeff laughed.

  “What are you doing here? I never see you at this time of day!” He was kind enough not to mention that no one usually saw her at the fitness center, no matter what time of day.

  “I just stopped by to see Jane and decided a workout might do me good,” Callie offered by way of explanation. There was no reason he would need to know about her private attempts at sleuthing.

  Jeff nodded slowly. “Great idea. That’s why I’m here, too. It sometimes helps to get moving. Figured I’d use my gym membership while I can still afford it.” He gave another mirthless laugh.

  Callie hugged her old friend spontaneously, grateful for his kindness after the last stressful, strange and tragic few days. “Thanks again for stopping by the other day.” She hesitated. “Can you tell me what happened to your shop? I’m really sorry to hear about it.” Minette had vented about her troubles, but Callie felt like she hadn’t heard the whole story.

  Jeff smiled sadly. “I’m hoping we can bring it back. I just applied for another loan, but you know how difficult loans are these days. I’ve decided to start looking at other options, too, like investors. Jane Willoughby said she might even invest. That would be great but still, she wants us to have a complete financial assessment first. I don’t blame her, but I hate to give up Minette’s Chocolates. It’s like giving up a huge chunk of my life – and Minette’s life, too, of course. She’s pretty upset about it, as you probably noticed the other day.”

  Callie nodded encouragingly, making sympathetic noises.

  Jeff looked at his shoes. “Even if we have to leave Crystal Bay and start somewhere new, as long as we can have our business, that would be fine with me. Minette says – well, that there’s nothing to keep us here anymore. In fact, I’d really like to get away if we could and make a fresh start. Maybe even head up to Madison — where we fell in love.”

  Wowza. Jeff was romantic and handsome, too. He was obviously a regular at Bodies by the Bay, if his muscled physique was any indicator. When she had hit his chest, it had been impressively broad and unyielding.

  “I’d miss you both. But whatever you decide, I’ll support you. We’re friends, we need to stick together.” Callie smiled at Jeff.

  “True enough. Well, I’ll let you get back to whatever it is you’re doing. I know you’ve been through a lot lately.”

  “Thanks. Keep in touch, okay? Have Minette give me a call when she’s up to it.”

  “You bet.” Jeff nodded. “See you, Callie.”

  Callie watched Jeff walk in the direction of the rock climbing wall – a fitness club amenity that Minette and Jeff loved and that she had always wanted to try but had never had the nerve to do. Then, she scurried out of the fitness center before she could bump into anyone else.

  Ten

  Despite her unaccustomed exercise routine, Callie faced another night of insomnia that had her straggling into work early the next morning. She felt lonely, scared and sad.

  Samantha had finally called her on her new cell phone the previous afternoon. For the first time, her friend and lawyer had sounded grave. “Callie, the fact that they want your knives is concerning me. Let me see what I can find out. There was nothing you could do if they had a warrant, but from now on, I want you to call me immediately before you speak to the detectives or give anything to them again.”

  “No problem,” she’d answered Sam. “But do you really think they’ll want more from me?”

  Sam had paused for a very long time. “I just don’t know. Let’s hope not.” Not reassuring.

  What Callie needed was some time with Olivia, Viv and George. A dinner at home with the family would be the perfect time to tell her daughter that Hugh and Raine were going to take her out of school for a few days. OK: she had a plan. Time to get cracking, as Viv would say.

  Callie decided to check her freezer for some prepared meals to take home to her family. Ironically, she was becoming her own target customer — someone with no time to cook for herself. After looking over what she had already made, she decided she would take some of Olivia’s favorite Greek chicken with cinnamon-scented tomato sauce and some lemon potatoes, plus a salad and some warm pita bread, a very similar dinner to the one she had offered Steve Willoughby the other night. Callie felt hungry just thinking about it. After eating almost nothing during the stress of the last few days, her appetite was returning.r />
  Looking around her warm kitchen filled with delicious cooking fragrances, Callie squared her shoulders with resolve. True, her clientele had dwindled to almost nothing. But if she could clear her name, she knew she could find a way to bring them back. They were afraid, that was all. And she didn’t blame them. Still, doubts pulled at the edges of her brain. Maybe she was delusional – she’d never known anyone in Crystal Bay to be in this position. She could be finished and just not know it yet.

  No! Those thoughts weren’t going to help. Just cook, she told herself. Cooking always helped her to think.

  Callie was crumbling feta cheese into a Big (Low) Fat Greek Salad to take home to her family that night, when her new cell phone started bleating.

  “I’m so glad I caught you. Something’s happened,” Samantha said in response to Callie’s greeting. Her friend sounded out of breath.

  An icy fist gripped Callie’s heart. “They’re going to arrest me? Or no, it’s not Olivia is it? Is she OK?”

  “She’s fine. So are George and Viv. And so far, no one is charging you. No, I’m calling about your client Lucille, from the bank.”

  Callie felt her sunny kitchen begin to spin as Samantha delivered her next phrase. “Lucille is in the hospital. Somebody tried to kill her.”

  As she took in this news, the rich scent of soup on the stove and lemon cookies made Callie feel queasy.

  “What? How? I just saw her yesterday!” Why did people always say that they just saw a dead person or victim of an accident?

  Samantha’s usual ebullience was subdued as she delivered the details. “A worker found her unconscious in the whirlpool at Bodies by the Bay. They think they scared off her attacker – she had been hit in the head and it looked like someone had planned to drown her – or boil her to death. The heat in the whirlpool had been set to dangerous levels. But whoever it was escaped before anyone at the fitness center could see them. You’d think in-shape people could run a little faster, wouldn’t you?” Samantha often turned to sarcasm when she was most upset.