Hot Stones & Homicides

by Jenn Cowan

  I nod slowly, not totally believing him, but I can see his logic.

  He sighs. “Autumn, I didn’t kill anyone.”

  “So, you don’t own VF Enterprises? Wasn’t your grandfather’s name Vincent Fox? Your mom’s dad, right?”

  He cocks his head to the side and raises an eyebrow. “Yes, but he was a poor farmer. Rented the land. Died before he had enough money to buy it. He never had any sort of enterprise or ever really owned anything and neither do I…not anymore.”

  I frown. “What do you mean? What about your body shop?”

  “The bank just foreclosed on my shop and my house. I’m broke, Autumn.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’m leaving Daysville. Starting over in Alaska with my brother. He’s got a body shop there. He’s giving me a job and a place to crash until I can get back on my feet.”

  I bite my lip. At least now, I can cross him off my list. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

  He smirks. “It’s not something I like to share. My gambling habit took everything, but I’m in a better place now. Starting over will be good for me. Wish I could have won the money to pay for my travel expenses, but it’s ok. I’m going to be ok.” He says it like he’s recited it over and over.

  I reach out and pull him in for a hug. He hugs me back then flips my braid over my shoulder. “Take care of yourself, Autumn.” With that he gets in his truck and drives away.

  Can I tell you a secret? I didn’t think he did it. I just wanted to be sure. I’m extinguishing all my options before I confront who really killed Jamie, Mrs. Walls, and Caleb. Why? Because I don’t want to be wrong again. There’s too much on the line, including mine and Josh’s lives.

  I hurry toward SJ’s Bakery tent and find Josh and Scott laughing about their high school days.

  Scott spots me first and pulls out a cinnamon roll for me. “I saved you the last one.”

  “How sweet.” I take it, but don’t take a bite. “Scott, did you ever get a hold of anyone from VF Enterprises?”

  He shakes his head. “No. Why?”

  “Just curious.”

  The cinnamon roll is making my mouth water, but I still resist the urge to take a bite. “Josh, can you hold this for me?” I plop the cinnamon roll in his hand. He stares down at it then back at me. “If you guys will excuse me for a moment.”

  They both give me confused looks, but I ignore them. Travis is walking with Cat by the lake and I need to talk to him.

  I hurry over to them. “Hey, you two.” I wave to get their attention.

  Cat bounds up to me in jean shorts and a yellow tank top. Her red hair is blowing in the wind as she talks a mile a minute. I just barely catch what she’s asking me. She’s talking about some sort of dance competition and wants me to attend. I agree to go and she squeals. I resist the urge to cover my ears. She gives me a quick hug then takes off to find her Aunt Regina.

  “She likes you.” Travis grins at me. His red hair is tamed today and slicked to the side. He’s not in a suit, which seems strange since that’s all I ever see him in. His jeans, t-shirt and sneakers make him look like a normal festival goer.

  I smile. “I like her too.”

  We stare at each other for a moment before he says, “Violet’s been released. We can’t find anything to tie her to any of the crimes and nothing concrete on Adam either.” He studies me for a moment. I flush under his scrutiny. “You lied to me. Why?”

  “I got a phone call from the killer telling me to or they would…”

  His jaw flexes and his eyes narrow. “They would what?”

  “Kill Josh…and me.”

  His hand goes to his hair and it’s no longer tame. Maybe I’m going to make him bald before he’s thirty-four. “Autumn, why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” He growls.

  “Death. Fear. I thought those were good reasons to keep it to myself.”

  Travis takes my hand and tugs me to the bench by the water. “Autumn, tell me everything you know.”

  I shake my head. “Give me ten minutes then come find me.”

  His brows pinch together. “Ten minutes? Where are you going?”

  “Promise me. Ten minutes. Meet me at the spa or look for a dark van with the words VF Enterprises on the side.”

  He frowns. “I’m going with you.”

  “No. Ten minutes. Promise me.” I stick out my pinky.

  He growls and rolls his eyes, but links his pinky with mine before starting the timer on his phone. “Ten minutes then you tell me everything.”

  I nod and rush toward the spa. It only takes me three minutes to get to the spa from the park so I still have seven minutes to find out if my theory is correct. Instead of going to the spa, I head toward Harold’s Hardware. There’s no van in sight and the glass on the window has been replaced with a new logo and name. I shake my head. Why I didn’t piece this together sooner is beyond me.

  “Autumn, what are you doing here?”

  I turn and face the killer.

  22

  “Why’d you do it?”

  His face turns from confused to angry in a split second. “How’d you figure it out?”

  I shrug as if it’s no big deal, even though my heart’s beating like a bass drum in my chest. “Did you tell Jamie what you were planning?”

  Nothing.

  “Or did she figure it out? She and Harold were friends. Maybe he told her about the strange things happening to him and pieced it together.”

  More silence.

  “You killed her to shut her up then tried to frame Josh. You loved Jamie and couldn’t stand her being with him. Kill her. Frame Josh. End of story, right?”

  His jaw clenches along with his fists.

  I glance down at my watch. Five minutes. “The stones were to scare Harold into selling to you, right?”

  His jaw tightens and I can practically hear him grinding his teeth.

  “Harold told me strange things had been happening to him over the past month. Things in his shop were moved around, strange messages on his windows, even notes left on his windshield with weird symbols. He was too paranoid to report them to Travis so those fell through the cracks. When Jamie found out about them, I bet she threatened to tell Harold. You couldn’t let that happen. You worked too hard to secure his space. It is a great location with lots of room.” I glance down the street. There’s no one in sight. Everyone’s at the festival. I can hear the music blasting from the speakers on the main stage. No one will hear me scream. I better keep talking.

  He takes a step toward me while I take a step back.

  “You had to convince Harold someone was out to get him. Particularly, Josh, although I’m sure poor Harold had no idea why. Josh and Harold have been friends for years. Did you spin a tale to make Harold think Josh had gone crazy? He killed Jamie and was out to kill all his friends. Poisoning me just made him believe it even more, right? You also wanted me to believe Josh was guilty, but that didn’t work, did it? Josh would never hurt me or anyone else.”

  His jaw ticks. I know I’m on the right track.

  “Mrs. Walls was best friends with Harold so I’m sure she knew all about your antics. She figured it out, didn’t she? What did she do? Confront you? Threaten to go to the police? She didn’t realize you were behind Jamie’s murder, just thought you were trying to scare her friend into selling all his properties. So, she had to go, didn’t she? It was no accident the rock came flying through the window the moment she stood up, was it?”

  Another twitch of the jaw.

  “Somehow, you found out Adam was a suspect. So, when Josh was in jail for poisoning me, you had to shift the focus onto someone else. Adam made the perfect scapegoat. He had access to the spa and dated Jamie. You made Mrs. Walls’s death look like an accident and pinned it all on Adam. You forced him to write the note confessing everything, drugged him, and hid his vehicle somewhere no one could find it.” I pause and point behind me to the garage where Harold used to store his old car because he was afraid someone would steal it. “T
hen you tied Adam up and put him in the church’s storage shed. Decided to burn it down to keep him from identifying you, but your plan didn’t work, did it?”

  “No, thanks to you,” he murmurs.

  “Now, Caleb. I’m assuming you didn’t plan to kill him, right?”

  Silence.

  “What happened there?”

  “Enough. I warned you. First, the antifreeze in your cup and then Caleb’s body. I tried to get you to let this go, but you wouldn’t. I really liked you, Autumn. It pains me to have to kill you, but don’t worry Josh will be right behind you. I may even kill that detective boyfriend of yours just for kicks,” he sneers as he leaps toward me.

  I duck and hold up my arms in an attempt to fend him off, but nothing happens. I hear a crackling sound on the ground and look down. He’s shaking violently from the Taser gun Travis unleashed on him.

  “Autumn, are you okay?”

  I glance at my watch. “You’re a minute early.”

  He smirks at me. “More like right on time. He was going to kill you. What were you thinking?”

  “I wanted to be sure.”

  “And are you?”

  “One hundred percent.” I beam up at him.

  He groans.

  “Take him away, Detective.”

  Another groan.

  Josh rushes up to me and engulfs me in a rib crushing hug. “When I saw Travis hurrying toward the spa, I knew you were going to confront the killer. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?

  “Josh, I can’t breathe.”

  He loosens up slightly, but still doesn’t let me out of his arms. “Why do you put yourself in these situations?”

  Travis mutters something along those lines. I can’t really hear him due the fact Josh has me in a vice grip.

  “Josh, I’m fine. Can you please let me go now?”

  He releases me, but still stays close. “I can’t believe James was behind all this.”

  “I’m pretty sure Caleb did most of the dirty work for him. I think he broke into your garage and stole your antifreeze to ensure it had your prints on it. Probably poured a little in a vial and planted the container in your car. When he’s delivering flowers to the church, he dumps the antifreeze into Jamie’s water bottle while she’s helping Eva and Ryder. She drinks most of it then when Violet gets choked, she offers her a drink. Violet takes it and gets poisoned inadvertently.

  “Why would Caleb do that for James?”

  “I’m sure James offered him some serious cash or maybe the opportunity to run the Villsboro floral shop since James was going to run the one here. Who knows? He was a kid. James probably spun a good tale about him just wanting to make Jamie sick because she broke up with him. Caleb saw it as doing his boss a favor. Didn’t realize it would kill her. When it did, he got scared. James took advantage of the situation and blackmailed him into doing more of his dirty work.

  “Wait. Jamie was dating James?”

  I nod.

  “So, I was framed because Jamie broke up with him to date me?”

  I shrug. “That’s my theory.”

  Josh frowns. I can tell he’s questioning his taste in women.

  “Caleb also threw the stones through the windows then planted a stone in your house to add another nail to your coffin, and used the last stone to kill Mrs. Walls. He also kidnapped Adam and burned down the shed.”

  “So, James really did have him doing all the dirty work?”

  I nod. “Caleb was in over his head. Probably decided to go to the police after Adam was rescued and that’s what got him killed.” I shake my head and glare at James, who is still convulsing on the ground. “James had to ensure no one suspected him so called and threatened me. Told me to accuse Adam and Violet. Since I saw a guy running away from Harold’s, Adam could be blamed for the stones and Mrs. Walls’s murder and Violet for the stabbing and poisoning.”

  Josh shakes his head as Scott comes up next to him.

  “How did you figure it out?” Scott asks, looking at James like he wants to punch him. I can’t say I blame him.

  “Actually, you helped me.”

  “I did?”

  “Yes, you gave me the piece of paper with VF Enterprises on it.”

  “So…”

  “So, VF stands for Villsboro Floral Enterprises. I remember seeing the abbreviation on the back of Caleb’s hat the day he delivered flowers to my shop and then again when I found him in my kitchen. It took me a little bit to put all the pieces together and I wanted to be absolutely sure before I accused anyone else after the whole Adam debacle.”

  Travis joins us. “James must have overheard me talking to the captain about picking up Adam to question him. He was at the nurse’s station inquiring about Violet’s room number when I was on the phone. Probably sent Caleb to kidnap him and put him in the shed. I never suspected Caleb or James for that matter.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know how you do it, Autumn.”

  I shrug. “It’s a gift.”

  He rolls his eyes. “Next time leave it to the professionals, please.”

  Josh raises his hand and says, “I second that.”

  I scoff as a shadow looms behind me. I turn to find the guy I’ve been trying to get a hold of.

  “I hear you caught our guy,” Eddie or Walter says, staring at me with the same brown eyes as his mother’s.

  I ignore his words and ask, “Did you get my message?”

  He frowns and says, “I need to borrow Autumn for a moment. Please excuse us.” He leads me away from the group. “I got your message.”

  “And?” I gesture to the spa. “Can I show you now?”

  He shakes his head. “I’m not ready to go back in there yet, Autumn. I was the one…” His voice cracks and realization dawns on me.

  “You found her.”

  He nods. “I promise you when I’m ready, you’ll be the first to know.”

  I smile even though I’m kind of sad I don’t get to solve another case today or semi reunite a son and mother, if you can do that sort of thing from this world to the next. “I understand,” I pause. “What should I call you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know you as Walter, but you don’t go by that name anymore. Do you want to be called Walter or Eddie?”

  “Eddie. That’s who I am now.”

  “Eddie, it is then.”

  He grins and walks away as Josh joins me.

  “What was that about?”

  “It’s a story for another day.” I link arms with him and tug him toward the festival. “I’m starving.

  “Me too.”

  “Pizza?”

  He grins. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  The End.

  A Note from the Author

  Thank you so much for reading, “Hot Stones & Homicides”!! I so appreciate your support. Fun fact: The original title of this book was “Hot Stones & Hostages.” I scrapped it after the first few paragraphs when I figured out who the killer was going to be. I wanted to keep you guessing until the end so I hope I did a good job at that. If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review at the end. I love reading them. Whether they’re good or bad, they make me a better writer, so thank you for taking the time to leave one.

  Stay tuned for “Reflexology & Revenge” coming out in August. Autumn and Eddie are going to dig into his mother’s case and find out what really happened on that fateful day she was murdered and why. Josh and Travis get a little jealous over all the time Autumn’s spending with the new PA in town, not to mention Violet. She seems to have forgotten all about Josh, and now, only has eyes for Eddie. Get ready to strap on your seatbelts for another book full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.

  Writing a book is a commitment and not something that can be done alone. I have a few people to thank for helping with this book.

  Mariah Sinclair is the queen of Cozy Mystery Covers and I absolutely adore this cover. Her work is incredible and I’m so thankful for her c
reative vision on this cover.

  I would also like to give a huge shout out to Kelly for being my eyes on this book. Helping me spot plot holes, punctuation errors and ensuring this book is flawless for you to enjoy.

  My family is also amazing. Shouting out character names when I need one, bringing me food and drinks when I’m busy typing away and just encouraging me to follow my dreams. Without them, I would struggle. They’re my rocks and I love them dearly.

  Another huge thank you to you, my reader, I so appreciate you and your support. If you would like to follow me on social media or check out my blog. Here are the links:

  Sleuth Mama Website (Blog)

  Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest

  Until next time…

  Happy Reading,

  Jenn

  About the Author

  Jenn Cowan is the author of several genres and has pen names under Jenna Richert and J.R. Cowan. When she’s not writing you can find her in her massage office working on clients, cooking up a storm in her kitchen, hitting her yoga mat, singing and dancing with her hubby at a concert, cheering on the sidelines for her kiddos or cozied up by the fire reading a good book. She loves a good mystery and a happily ever after.

  Find out what Jenn is doing next

  www.sleuthmama.com

  jc.cnh@hotmail.com

  Other Books by the Author:

  Massage & Murder

  Massage Basics: A Step by Step Guide to at Home Massage

  Love at the Manor

  Fate at the Manor