by Eryn Scott
“His name’s Michael,” Kevin added quietly to the women. “McKay dropped him off this morning, but I can’t tell if he’s doing anything helpful. He’s just clacking away at that keyboard.”
They waited in silence as Michael continued to do just that, clack away at the keyboard at what seemed like the speed of light. Actually, the speed seemed to accelerate until it stopped altogether. Michael turned around.
A huge smile split his pale face. “I got it.”
Paul set down his coffee and stepped forward, peering at the computer screen.
It was then that Hadley noticed a small rectangle hooked up to the laptop. Like Gran, she was no computer expert, but if she had to guess she would’ve said it was an external hard drive.
Michael looked from Paul to Kevin, then back at the screen. “She was blackmailing people. Three, to be exact.”
“Blackmail?” Kevin crossed his arms over his chest. “How do you know?”
“This folder here titled ‘Blackmail’ kinda tipped me off,” Michael scoffed.
Turning red, Kevin stepped back. “Right. Good.”
“Well? What does it say?” Paul asked. “Who was she blackmailing?”
Michael glanced at Hadley and Suze.
“They’re fine.” Paul waved a hand to dismiss his silent worries.
Nodding, Michael turned back to the computer screen. He clicked a few things. “The first person I found was a Mr. Hansen.”
Hadley and Suze inhaled simultaneously. Owen Hansen was the landlord of River’s Edge apartments where Laney lived.
Michael stopped and shot a discomfited look back at the women before Paul nodded for him to continue.
“Uh … since there are ladies present, all I’ll say is that your victim somehow found out that he had a taste for less-than-wholesome searches on the internet.” Michael grimaced. “We’re talking borderline illegal stuff.”
“And since he was her landlord. He could’ve gotten into the apartment and ruined the computer.” Paul ran a hand across his beard as he thought.
“Who else?” Kevin asked.
“Well, the next one is a little confusing. I wasn’t sure it was real at first. She has it in a file labeled Hunk De Muscles.” Michael turned to them, nose wrinkled.
But the four Stoneybrook citizens weren’t confused in the least. They knew that name well.
“It’s real,” Kevin said dryly.
“He’s a local.” Paul sighed. “His real name’s Fred. Went off to do the strongman circuit for a while and changed his whole persona, even legally changed his name to Hunk DeMuscles. He won the title of World’s Buffest Man two years in a row and is going for his third. He owns the gym here in the downtown: Hunk’s.”
“Apparently, he’s been juicing.” Michael shrugged.
Paul dipped his head. “Yeah, the whole town’s gone crazy over the stuff. It doesn’t surprise me that a health nut like him would’ve too. You think he was at the juice bar when our vic was killed?”
“No, not drinking juice. Juicing, like steroids.” Michael cocked an eyebrow.
Understanding washed across Hadley, the same mirrored in Paul’s widened eyes.
“Ooh …” Paul said.
If the competition found out he took steroids, they’d likely kick him out of this year’s running, not to mention potentially taking away his past trophies, Hadley pondered.
“And who’s the last one?” Kevin asked. “You said there were three.”
Michael nodded. “The last one is a person named Simone Grahame.”
Hadley shivered as a chill skittered up the backs of her arms. Simone. The very woman who’d been standing over Laney’s body when they found her.
“What’d she have on her?” Paul asked, doing a much better job at covering his surprise than Hadley.
“She was having an affair,” Michael answered.
Paul shrugged. “Doesn’t seem like enough to kill someone over.”
Michael set his thin lips into a grim line. “It does when that person is the very married mayor of Cascade Ridge.”
9
Later that day, Hadley flipped the sign in the front window of Pretty Jam Good from open to closed. She didn’t lock the front door, however.
Twirling her thumbs around each other, she paced by the glass doors, peering out at Main Street. Watching.
The back door of the kitchen opened with a jingle of the bells hanging on the handle. Luke walked in and came toward her.
“I wasn’t sure if you would lock those,” he said, pointing to the front doors.
She shook her head.
“Heard anything yet?” he asked.
Another shake.
The two of them paced in silence for another moment. It wasn’t long until the back door opened yet again. Luke and Hadley froze, eyes locked on the exit. At the sight of Suze, their taut shoulders relaxed.
She cringed. “I’m guessing by your puzzled expressions that you two don’t know why he asked us here either.”
“You’d be correct.” Luke ran a hand through his hair.
Suze walked over and slumped onto one of the stools around Hadley’s workstation just as more bells jingled. Another door opened, but this time it was the front door. It was Paul. Hadley knew she’d left that one unlocked for a reason. It must’ve been their twin connection; sometimes it almost felt like they shared a mind.
Hadley held herself from rushing forward, hoping Paul had called them here to tell them he’d caught the killer.
“So?” she asked. The expectancy in her tone was reflected in everyone’s faces.
Paul reached back and rubbed his neck. Hadley’s hope deflated. Paul only did that when he was frustrated. That meant he hadn’t gotten a confession out of any of the suspects.
“Hunk and Owen admitted to being blackmailed, but not to killing Laney. They recognized her but were afraid their secrets would get out if they did,” Paul explained. “Both of them received an envelope containing a USB drive. On the drive, there was a video of Laney explaining what she had on them and that she wanted money each month to buy her silence. And they both have alibis.”
“What about Simone?” Luke asked.
Paul sighed. “She’s maintaining that she’s never seen Laney and was not being blackmailed.”
“But she was having an affair.” Hadley raised an eyebrow.
“Right.”
Hadley chewed on her bottom lip as she thought. “So what if Laney was there dropping off the blackmail envelope, and she got caught?”
“I considered that,” Paul said. “But Simone didn’t have enough time to watch the video before strangling Laney, so she wouldn’t know she was being blackmailed. Neither she nor Mayor Whitmore would’ve known about the blackmail ahead of that to make it a motive for murder.”
Suze’s face had been wrinkled in question while Hadley and Paul went back and forth. Paul turned to Suze. “What’s got you making that face?”
“It seems like a terrible idea to show your face to the people who you’re blackmailing,” she said.
“It does,” Paul agreed.
Luke cleared his throat, stepping forward. “Not if you never expected them to see you anywhere other than the video. If this lady was a true agoraphobic, maybe she used that to her advantage. Showing your face on a video would show your targets you were serious and real, but you wouldn’t have to worry about them seeing you around town because you never leave.”
“Except to go drop off the blackmail packets,” Hadley added. “Which also seems counterintuitive for an agoraphobic.”
Paul scratched the side of his nose. “Yeah, money is a good motivator, though. And she asked for a lot of it each month. That would make people do things they wouldn’t normally do.”
“True.” Suze nodded. “So everyone has an alibi.” She exhaled.
“Yeah. Owen said he was fixing the faucet in one of his apartments. It was in Coach Wilson’s apartment, actually. Coach confirmed Owen was there at that time. Hunk clo
sed the gym early because his employee called in sick, and he had a session with his trainer he didn’t want to cancel. The trainer corroborated.” Paul sat on one of the stools. The way his body slumped forward told Hadley he’d probably been running on empty all day and was finally getting a much needed break.
“Is it possible that Laney was killed at another time and placed outside of Simone’s juice bar?” Luke asked.
“Good thought.” Paul tipped his head to the side. “The medical examiner up in Cascade Ridge came back with the time of death, and it matches up with just about the time you two found Simone standing over Laney’s body, so if someone strangled her and placed her there, it would’ve had to be very close to that time.”
“So why’d you ask us to meet you here?” Hadley asked. It wasn’t as if she was mad about her brother asking for her to help with a case, she just wasn’t sure how any of them might help after hearing that all three of the suspects were accounted for during the time of the murder.
Paul’s blue eyes turned icy. “I need your help to figure out who’s lying. Someone is, has to be. And they’ve already lied to us about knowing Laney, so we need to find who’s just a liar and who’s both a liar and a murderer.”
“Sure, but how can we help?” Luke leaned on the table in front of him.
“Ask around town if you can. See if anyone else can support their alibi or the opposite. Also …” At this, Paul stopped and studied his fingernails.
If he’d been wearing nail polish, Hadley was sure he would’ve started chipping it off like she had a tendency to do when she thought hard.
“Also?” Suze asked, the way the word came out sounded as if circular hand motions should accompany it.
Paul met their eyes one by one. “I hoped maybe you could do a little undercover work. You don’t have to say yes.”
Hadley put a hand on her hip. “How are we supposed to go undercover in Stoneybrook? Unlike Laney, everyone here knows us, and they know we’re close with you. We have just about as much of a chance of finding out secrets as you do.”
“True, but you’re still bound to do better than me,” he said. “Plus, we’re desperate. We have so few clues, and McKay’s breathing down our necks, especially with Mayor Whitmore involved.”
“How undercover are we talking here?” Luke asked.
“I thought you could each pick one suspect and spend a little more time with them; see what you can dig up. Luke, it makes sense for you to sign up for Hunk’s latest body-building class.”
Luke scoffed, “It does?” He frowned down at his biceps and flexed his pecs, then he returned his attention to Paul.
Paul laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that these two aren’t as into fitness as you are, so it would be more suspicious if they randomly signed up for a class like this.”
“Hey,” Suze and Hadley said at the same time.
But Paul was nothing if not truthful. Suze’s idea of a workout was painting large canvases. Hadley considered herself active, but she definitely wasn’t getting as much biking in since purchasing her new car. Even with his focus on technology, Luke’s time spent on his family farm each day kept him fit. That plus his background in football meant the guy was fairly buff.
Luke winked at Suze. “I’m sure it’s more about Paul not wanting you hanging around the town’s hunky body builder.”
Suze laughed. “Thanks for trying to save him, Luke.”
Paul put his hands up in surrender. “You’re the only one I could think of to fake interest in an apartment at Owen’s building, Suze. I swear there was more to my decision.”
“Why her?” Hadley asked.
“Everyone knows you just bought your house last year, Had. And Leo remodeled the place right before he sold it to you. Luke’s in the middle of building, sure, but the town knows he’s living in the old tenant house in the meantime. There would be no reason for either of you to be researching an apartment you could rent for a month or two. But Suze could plan to do some major renovations to her house. It would make sense for her to check prices, so she wouldn’t have to live among the construction.”
“So my house needs major renovations now?” Suze cocked an eyebrow, leveling Paul with a withering glare.
He covered his face with his hands, shaking it back and forth. “No, I didn’t mean that.” When his hands fell away, he wore a grimace that turned up into a smirk when he caught Suze’s playful grin.
She stepped forward, placing a hand on his chest before rising up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “I’m just messing with you. I’ll help in whatever way I can.”
Paul exhaled, relief evident in his features. He turned to Hadley. “That means …”
“That I have to get really interested in juice.” Hadley wrinkled her nose. “My undercover job is the most boring by far.”
Paul leveled her with a serious stare. “Yours was the person found standing over the body, and right now she’s our main suspect. Plus, we’re also looking for someone with medium to small hands, according to the medical examiner. The only one of our three suspects who fits that is Simone.”
10
Despite Paul’s pep talk, Hadley remained unexcited by her undercover mission. As someone who’d found many a body, she didn’t buy into the stereotype that people who find bodies should be prime suspects.
Which was why, as she stood in line for a juice the next day before the jam shop opened, she tapped her toe. Drinking juice wasn’t going to help the case at all.
The customer in front of her stepped aside, having ordered, and Hadley glanced up at the menu. Her mouth parted in awe. There had to be twenty different flavors. She should’ve spent her time in line deciding what she wanted rather than internally whining about drawing the short stick with her suspect.
Speaking of … Hadley let her eyes move down from the menu and she saw the smiling face of Simone. Her brown hair was short, making her look almost like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. She had tanned, taut skin, and from her fit frame, appeared as if she subsisted off juice alone.
“What can I get you? Hadley, right?” Simone smiled, her teeth big, white, and flashy.
Hadley nodded, wondering how Simone knew her name. Was it because she was also a business owner on Main Street? Because she was the twin sister of the deputy leading a murder investigation in which she was a prime suspect? Or because she’d been the one to find her standing over the body?
Remembering she needed to order, Hadley asked, “Um … what’s your favorite?”
Just then, her attention caught on a local walking away from the counter, sipping an orange juice. The woman’s skin was approaching a shade Hadley previously thought to be designated solely for Oompa Loompas.
Hadley’s eyes widened. She gulped.
“That’s the Beta-Carrot-King,” Simone whispered, leaning in close. “Your skin won’t turn that color unless you have two of those a day for a whole week like she has, but it’s okay if you want to steer clear of that one.” Leaning back and speaking at full volume, Simone said, “For first timers, I usually recommend Green Machine or the Citrus Lemon. They’re mild flavorwise.”
Hadley tapped her fingers on the counter. “Can I have a small of each?”
Simone beamed. “Sure can.”
After paying, Hadley stepped aside. She couldn’t help but watch Simone with wary concern. Was it just her or was the juice bar owner acting too nice? Maybe Hadley was officially living up to her Stoneybrook roots and sensing her general distrust of anyone new to town.
Simone looked over her shoulder at Hadley as she got the cups ready for the next order.
Or maybe I’m not paranoid, and there really is something weird about her.
Hadley hated to admit it, but the weirdest thing about Simone was how upbeat she was. It wasn’t as if Hadley had anything against happy people, but the woman had only found a person strangled right outside days earlier. Though the discovery hadn’t negatively affected the town’s obsession fo
r the juices, if the line wrapping outside the door and down the block was any indication.
The phone rang, and Simone picked it up. “Power Juice.” Her smile faded, and her eyes cut over to Hadley. “I can’t talk right now. No.” She looked away, but her shoulders remained taut. “Seriously. I’ll call you later. Bye.” Hanging up, Simone greeted the next customer, but she glanced at Hadley once or twice more in the moments that followed.
That was odd.
Maybe Paul had been right. Maybe there was more to Simone as a suspect than Hadley first thought.
“Here you go,” Simone said, handing Hadley two juices. “The cups are compostable, and we have reusable straws. If you put them in that bin behind you, we sanitize them for free.” She directed Hadley to a cup of colorful straws.
“That’s really cool,” Hadley said. “Thank you.”
She stuck a straw into each of her drinks and moved out of the way so other customers had room. Sliding onto one of the stools near the entrance, Hadley made sure she had a good view of the owner, still unsure of how this might help. Simone may have found the body, but multiple people had seen her heading out to Fenton Farms.
Frustrated, she put the citrus and lemon juice up to her lips and took her first sip. In that moment, she forgot every single worry. The only thing left was flavor—fresh, juicy, nutrient-packed flavor. Her eyes widened as if she were acting in a bad eighties gum commercial, and she’d just folded a piece into her mouth.
She blinked, feeling more awake after that sip than she did after a whole cup of coffee. Without hesitation, she tried the Green Machine. It was just as good. It was different, with a much more earthy flavor, but still refreshing.
Hadley saw, without a doubt, why Power Juice was so popular.
Sipping happily, Hadley sat back and observed as the line moved, and customers rotated in and out of the building. Her watch reminded her she only had twenty more minutes before she needed to open her own shop. She fervently wished Suze was up at this time of the morning, wanting to swing by her friend’s studio and share this amazing taste sensation with someone. But Suze was more of an afternoon, late-into-the-night worker. Gran might not be into fads, but Hadley guessed she’d make an exception for something this good.
