A Whole Latte Murder

by Caroline Fardig

  We made it through the dinner rush (rush being a heinous overstatement) with no problems, even with being short staffed. Soon after, Pete returned from a long workout session at his gym, although I couldn’t imagine he was able to do too much with a broken wrist. At least he seemed to be in better spirits. Trevor and Ryan had come in for an after-dinner snack, so the four of us hung out for a while, relaxing in the comfy chairs and sofa by the front window.

  “Did you guys end up going to the funeral today?” I asked.

  Trevor said, “Yeah. It was nice. Sad, of course, but a really nice service. The whole town must have come out for it.”

  Ryan nodded. “They packed the funeral home. It was standing room only. It took a good half hour for the parade of vehicles to drive the two miles between the funeral home and the cemetery and get parked. Cool town, though. Reminded me of Liberty.”

  I smiled. I hadn’t been home in a while.

  Just then, Kira approached us and said to me, “I’m heading out.”

  “Okay. See you tomorrow,” I replied.

  Once she was out of earshot, Pete grumbled, “Where’s she going?”

  “Study group.”

  Ryan’s eyebrows shot up. “Study group? She dropped out of her study group last month. My buddy Shawn is the group’s leader, and he’s in Daytona right now, so there’s no study group at all.”

  Pete and I exchanged a worried glance. I raised my eyebrows and gestured toward Kira. Pete nodded, and we both took off after her, leaving our confused young friends in our wake. We grabbed our jackets from the office, and when we got outside, we spotted Kira walking into the alley out back.

  Pete said under his breath, “You’d think, after she’d been kidnapped or whatever the hell happened to her, she’d be more careful about running around alone after dark.”

  “At least this time we can watch out for her.”

  Pete and I followed her as she headed north, trying as best we could to stay in the shadows.

  “So that was pretty sweet back there how we read each other’s minds, right? It was like we were both using the Force or something,” Pete said quietly, grinning. “Let’s see if we can do it again. What am I thinking about right now?”

  I wasn’t much in the mood for games. “I don’t know. Food? Big-breasted women?”

  He gasped. “You’re amazing. That’s exactly what I was thinking about.”

  “Pete, focus.”

  I was getting a little edgy about what was going on with Kira, and while Pete’s nonstop banter was normally endearing and at the moment a good sign he wasn’t dwelling on Brooke’s attack, right now it was irritating. Once we got to Magnolia Boulevard, Kira crossed it and Seventeenth and kept heading north.

  “Where is that girl going?” I murmured, as much to myself as to Pete.

  “You got me. I would think if she were headed to campus, she wouldn’t be taking Seventeenth. It’s all Music Row stuff and offices over here. Something’s up, or she wouldn’t have lied to us about her study group. If she’s hooking up with some loser who’s abusing her, I’m going to take care of it.”

  I looked over at him dubiously. “No, you’re not going to take care of it. You’re going to call the police, because I’m not bailing your ass out of jail again.”

  “You’d do it in a heartbeat,” he scoffed.

  Suddenly, Pete grabbed my arm and yanked me off the sidewalk and onto someone’s lawn, pulling me against him behind a tree.

  “What the hell, Pete?”

  “Kira turned her head and looked back. I didn’t want her to see us.”

  “Oh.” I rubbed my shoulder where it felt like it had been yanked out of the socket. “Thanks, then, I guess.”

  He peered out from behind the tree and then hopped back onto the sidewalk. “We’re good.” He pulled the hood of my jacket up over my head and retrieved a sock hat from his pocket and put it on. “We need to be a little more incognito if we’re going to play spies.”

  “Good idea.”

  Kira had gotten another half block ahead of us while we were hiding, so we quickened our pace to catch up a bit. She wasn’t walking particularly fast, likely due to whatever injury she’d sustained. We closed the extra gap with only a few strides.

  Turning off the street, Kira entered the driveway of a massive two-story colonial redbrick house. The structure was like most of the others in the Music Row area, a lovely former home that had been converted into a welcoming commercial office space. Kira continued around to the back of the building, into a tiny parking lot where a couple of vehicles were parked. Pete and I darted through the next-door neighbor’s side yard and down the alley, coming around the back of the parking lot, finding the perfect place to hide behind some trees and garbage cans. We watched Kira as she approached the rear door of the building. The door swung open as she approached, but the hallway was dark, so we couldn’t see anyone inside. She disappeared into the building.

  “Well, now what?” Pete asked.

  “Stakeout?”

  He wagged his finger in my face. “I see the sparkle in your eyes. You’re loving this. Juliet the sleuth, back in action.”

  I crossed my arms, huffing, “That couldn’t be further from the truth.”

  “Liar.” He took out his phone. “The coffeehouse was dead when we left. I’m going to tell the guys to close up shop.”

  While Pete made his phone call, I mulled over why in the world Kira would be coming here in the first place. Leaning against the trees, we watched the door for a good fifteen minutes, and absolutely nothing happened.

  Pete said, “I’m bored. Do you think we should go try to peek in the windows or something?”

  “We need to do something or I’m going to fall asleep standing up.”

  We hurried across the parking lot toward the rear door of the office. Luckily for us, aside from a streetlight a short ways down the alley, there were no lights near the back of the building, so we weren’t likely to be seen. There were only two windows that didn’t have their blinds closed, so we crept to those, just to the right of the door Kira had entered. Cupping our hands around our eyes, we peered inside, and as our eyes adjusted, we could see that the small room was crammed full of medical equipment, like defibrillators, IV carts, gurneys, and patient monitoring equipment.

  “What is this place? The building used to be a recording studio back in the day.” Pete whispered.

  I shrugged, heading over to the next window to have a look. This room was a neat and tidy office, an expensive-looking desk in the center with two fancy chairs facing it.

  “Doctor’s office, maybe,” I said, glancing toward the upper floor. There were only two windows on the second floor lit from within. The rest of the building was dark. “We have no way of knowing where Kira went once she got inside. She could be in any one of these rooms. Let’s go around to the front and see if there’s a list of occupants anywhere.”

  Deciding it was best to pose as people out for a walk rather than spies, we went down the alley and back around the block, slowly strolling past the front entrance. Most offices in the area listed the inhabitants on a sign outside, but this one only had a small brass plate next to the front door that read Genesis Building.

  “That sign is not helpful,” I said.

  “Nope.”

  We couldn’t exactly peep in the front windows in a fairly busy neighborhood like this, so we kept on going down the sidewalk, rounding the corner of the next block. Pete and I kept up our ruse of being out for a walk, trying for a nonchalant pace. We came back down the alley and entered the parking lot, ending up behind the building where we’d started.

  “This was a waste. Now what?” I said.

  Pete went over and tried the back door. Not surprisingly, it was locked. “I vote for going home and getting a good night’s sleep.”

  I kicked at a rock on the ground. “Yeah, I guess so. I was hoping to find something out about what Kira’s been doing instead of study group.”

  “Come
on,” he said, pulling me with him to head back. “Cheer up. We know where she’s been going, at least tonight anyway.” He got out his phone and started typing as we walked. “I’ll just Google ‘Genesis Building, Nashville’ and see if we can’t find out a little more about this place and who’s inside. The building is huge. It could have several smaller offices within it.” He scrolled through the hits he got. “Check it out. It’s got a lawyer, a talent agent…an escort service. Whoa.”

  “You’re making that up. Let me see.” We stopped walking, and he held his phone up to my face. Sure enough, it was a website for an adult escort service located at this address. “I stand corrected. Continue.”

  We kept on walking back up Seventeenth and he kept on scrolling. “Bail bondsman, STD testing clinic—”

  “Pete.”

  “I’m not kidding! It’s like the office for misfit businesses. Although, what better place for an STD testing clinic than in the same building as an escort service, right?”

  I chuckled. “I suppose that’s true.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  “What?”

  He stopped and turned to me, his face serious. “You’re really not going to believe this one.” He handed his phone to me.

  The next hit was for the office of Jack Beaumont, MD.

  Chapter 20

  I gasped. “That’s too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence.”

  “No shit.”

  “Jack’s Lexus wasn’t there, though….There was only a truck and a sports car in the lot if I recall.”

  Pete nodded. “I think you’re right. So maybe Kira didn’t go there to meet up with Jack. Now what?”

  “I don’t know. This whole thing is really confusing.”

  He started walking again. I fell into step next to him. He turned to me with a troubled frown. “You don’t think she’s working for the escort service, do you?”

  “At this point, nothing would surprise me.”

  We walked back to Java Jive in silence, both of us unsettled by the possibility of Kira’s questionable after-hours activities. The coffeehouse was dark and quiet when we got there, all locked up for the night. Pete and I both got in our cars and drove our separate ways. It was unheard of for me to be home before nine any night of the week except Sunday, when Java Jive was closed. Unable to settle down, I rattled around in my empty apartment until I couldn’t take it anymore. The only soothing thing I could think of doing was playing some music, and after learning last week how thin the walls were in my apartment, I opted to go back over to Java Jive. There I could play as loudly as I liked, and no one would ever hear me.

  I let myself in the front door, absentmindedly humming a new tune that had been bouncing around in my head lately. At some point, I would need to write it down or it would drive me nuts. I hadn’t written a song in a while, and it excited me to have a new idea, as well as the chance to collaborate with Pete again. Writing songs with him was something I greatly missed, but since I was no longer performing, there wasn’t much of a reason to create more material, so I had let that part of my life fall by the wayside.

  I got out my guitar, a lovely gift from Pete for my thirtieth birthday, and took a seat on the small stage. After plugging in my acoustic-electric and turning on the mic, I hummed my melody again, trying to put a few chords with it. It sounded okay, but my progression was boring and uninspired. That was why I needed Pete. He could take any old melody and turn it into a catchy, unusual song simply by the types of chords and strum patterns he used. I wished I was better at it, but he was always eager to help me, so it hadn’t mattered that I didn’t possess the talent myself.

  Frustrated with my insipid attempt at my new song, I switched over to an old favorite. My very favorite song, actually. “You Are Mine” held so many memories for me. I’d originally written it about Pete when I was back in college, but of course I never told him that. It was also the song he sang to me on my birthday last year, on my first day as Java Jive’s manager. After strumming the first few chords, I got lost in nostalgia.

  From the moment we met,

  You invaded my soul.

  With you, I’m home, and yet

  I’ve lost all control.

  I am yours; take my hand.

  Put your fears aside and take a chance.

  I am yours; take my heart.

  Join me on this journey: a brand-new start.

  I’ll be waiting for the day when I hear you say

  You are mine.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a movement over by the door and jumped down off my stool, heart pounding.

  “I’m so sorry. I snuck up on you again, didn’t I?” asked Stafford, an apologetic smile on his face.

  I heaved out a pent-up breath. “Yes, you did.” At least I was clothed this time. Suddenly a thought more horrible than being seen naked popped into my head. “How long have you been in here?”

  “Um…I heard a verse and a chorus, I think.”

  He’d heard me? I couldn’t breathe.

  Stafford walked over to me. “It was really good. I haven’t heard the song before. Who’s it by?”

  I was trying to speak, but nothing was happening. Instead, I was making odd grunting noises.

  “Are you okay?”

  I set the guitar down and took a breath. “I, um…don’t sing in front of people. Ever. Well, except Pete, but he doesn’t count.”

  “Why the hell not? You’re fantastic.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate the compliment, but that part of my life is over. No more performing for me.”

  Frowning, he said, “It’s not really fair that you’re keeping your talent from the rest of us. What makes Pete so special?”

  Where did I start? “Long story.”

  “So, your boyfriend has never heard you sing.”

  “If you mean Ryder, he’s not my boyfriend anymore. I don’t think. It’s kind of complicated. But no, he hasn’t.”

  A slow grin spread across his face. “And I have.”

  I looked at him thoughtfully. “You two don’t get along too well, do you?”

  “Not at all. So are you going to finish your song or what?”

  “Not now.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because singing in front of you is way more embarrassing for me than when you saw me naked.”

  At the mention of that incident, his cheeks flushed adorably. “You’re joking, right?”

  “I’m afraid not. Stage fright is one ugly bitch.”

  “So you really don’t want to perform again?”

  “Sure, I’d like to, but I can’t.”

  “How about if you turn your back on me and pretend I’m not here?”

  “It doesn’t work that way.”

  He wasn’t giving up. “So why can you sing in front of Pete, then?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. Because he’s my best friend? Because I know he’s not going to judge me? Because I wrote most of my songs with him? I’m not sure I have a real reason.”

  “I would never judge you, I promise,” he said, and I believed him. “Did you write the song you were singing just now?”

  “Yes.”

  He smiled. “I’d really like to know how it turns out. Are you sure you can’t finish it? I’ll go hide in the kitchen or something, far out of sight, but still in hearing distance, of course.”

  “No.”

  “Please?”

  “No.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “I’ll let you drive my squad car with the lights on.”

  “No you won’t.”

  Sighing, he said, “All right, you got me. I won’t. How about this—you’d like to perform in front of people again someday, right?”

  “Right,” I replied warily.

  “And I want to hear the end of your song, right?”

  “Right.”

  “So take this baby step and make us both happy. Who knows? Maybe singing in front of someone other than your BFF will magically cure your stage fright.”r />
  “I doubt it.”

  “It’s worth a shot, though, right?”

  “Well…”

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” Crossing over to the stage, he picked up my guitar and handed it to me. “Sing it, sister.”

  Trying to stave off the wave of panic rising inside me, I retorted, “You know, if this police thing doesn’t work out for you, you could become a motivational speaker. Or a used car salesman.”

  The corner of Stafford’s mouth pulled up, but he managed to give me a stern order. “Quit stalling.”

  “Fine,” I said, sitting down on the stool again and placing my guitar on my knee. “Turn around.”

  “I thought it didn’t work that way.”

  “Do you want me to play or what?”

  He held up his hands in surrender and turned his back to me.

  I took a shaky breath and started on the second verse just before where I’d left off.

  The sparks between you and me

  Aren’t all in my head.

  With you is where I need to be.

  Don’t leave a word unsaid.

  I am yours; take my hand.

  Put your fears aside and take a chance.

  I am yours; take my heart.

  Join me on this journey: a brand-new start.

  I’ll be waiting for the day when I hear you say

  You are mine.

  My mouth was dry, and my stomach was doing flip-flops, but my voice was staying surprisingly strong. On the guitar interlude between the chorus and the bridge, I stopped staring at my fretboard long enough to sneak a look at Stafford. He hadn’t run away, so that was a plus. It was a much different experience singing for someone other than Pete. On one hand, it was nerve-racking because even though Stafford said he wouldn’t judge me, he was still forming some sort of an opinion about my singing. On the other hand, it was a little easier because I wasn’t worried that some phrase in a song would suddenly click for Pete and he’d say, “Is this song about me?” Narrowing my focus back onto the song, I took another breath and finished it out.

  You pull me in and I fall

  Deeper and deeper.

  I’m drowning in you.

  I am yours; take my hand.

  Put your fears aside and take a chance.