by Eryn Scott
About to slide off the stool and head toward Pretty Jam Good, Hadley froze. Mayor Guy Whitmore from Cascade Ridge strode into the shop.
The man Hadley wasn’t supposed to know was having an affair with Simone.
He was even more fit and tanned than when she’d seen him last summer at the county fair. He was like an older leathery version of a Ken doll. And from the white teeth he flashed around, Hadley was sure he’d never sipped on a Beta-Carrot-King juice in his life.
She stayed put, not about to miss whatever was about to happen next.
Cutting alongside the line, the mayor sidled around to Simone’s register. He posed with a flashy smile while he waited for her to notice him. She did, a moment later, looking up after entering a customer’s order into her computer.
Upon recognizing him, Simone’s face clouded over, and her body stiffened just like it had when she’d been on the phone minutes earlier. She frowned and leaned close to him.
“I told you not to come,” she said in a way that should’ve been a whisper, but she had to project the words to be heard over the noise coming from the juicing machines.
So he had been the one on the other end of the phone call, Hadley thought, sipping on her juice as she watched.
Simone pointed back toward her register, saying she needed to get back to work.
The mayor—either unused to reading signs from people who didn’t want him around or unable to comprehend anyone not wanting his company—didn’t get the hint. He smirked and whispered something in her ear. Hadley’s gaze caught on a white envelope that he pulled out of his khaki slacks and slid toward her on the counter. It buckled slightly in the middle, as if the item it contained was thicker than an average letter.
As if the item inside was a USB drive. Maybe even one containing pictures of them together.
Hadley coughed as she breathed in juice, having gasped at the same time she sipped. Unfortunately, the sound brought attention to her. Both Simone and Guy looked her way, along with a few other locals. But unlike the locals’ faces, which were filled with concern, Simone and Guy’s were taut with suspicion.
By the time Hadley glanced back at their hands, she’d lost track of the envelope.
Simone shot a glare at the mayor. He leaned in to whisper one last thing before heading out the front door. His steely eyes lingered on Hadley as he passed by.
And just like that, Hadley knew that even if Simone had a fairly airtight alibi, it didn’t account for the other person affected by those blackmail photos. Simone’s gaze stayed on her, and Hadley decided it was time to leave. She slurped down the rest of the green juice, tossed one straw into the return bin, and took the rest to go.
Leaving proved to be a little difficult, as the line had only lengthened as the morning progressed. Once Hadley squeezed through the crowd, she smoothed down her ponytail and headed down Main Street.
Before she could get three steps away from the juice bar, a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist.
Gasping, Hadley’s attention shot over to her right. Mayor Whitmore stood just around the corner of the building. Tightening his grip around her wrist, he pulled her closer to her. The juice in her other hand sloshed with the awkward movement.
“Miss James.” He grinned, and instead of looking pearly white, this time, the only adjective she could come up with was sharp. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you or your brother.”
Hadley tugged her arm down, freeing it from his grasp. “It’s been a while since you’ve had reason to make the trip down from Cascade Ridge,” she responded tightly.
She wanted to add something like, “What are you doing here now?” But the memory of his grip tight around her wrist was too fresh in her mind. The memory of the red marks around Laney’s neck made her suppress a shiver. She glanced down at his hands. They were pretty average sized.
“I don’t know if you’re aware,” he said, as if there were just neighbors catching up next to the mailboxes, “but I’m keeping my eye out for my next sheriff.”
Even though the sheriff was an elected position, Hadley wasn’t naïve enough to think the mayor didn’t have pull if he was corrupt enough to use it.
He continued, saying, “McKay’s not going to be around forever, you know, and Paul would certainly be someone I would consider, that is, if he proved himself to be as loyal as McKay … to the people of Grande County.” Guy smirked in the same way a snake would if it could smile.
Hadley clenched her teeth together, holding in the worst of her inner dialogue. It was well known in the valley that the mayor, as well as a few other influencers from Cascade Ridge, had Sheriff McKay in their back pocket.
Is he threatening me? Hadley thought with a trilling alarm in the back of her mind. He’d seen her notice the envelope in his hand.
It could be a threat to not say anything. A “stay quiet, and I’ll reward your brother” understanding. It could just as easily be the mayor keeping up with his reputation for being slimier than a batch of pickled okra gone wrong. The few times she’d interacted with him over his last four years in office, she’d had yet to leave without having the intense need to wash her hand and lock all the doors behind her.
Taking a slow step back, Hadley nodded. “Sounds good. See you around.”
In a single move, she spun around and jogged back toward her jam shop. She hoped he wouldn’t follow her but didn’t have the strength to look behind her.
Gran’s smiling face warmed her to her bones as she stepped foot inside the jam shop.
“Morning, dear.” The older woman ran a feather duster over the jars of jam on display in the front window. She paused, watching Hadley in that way that always made her feel certain Gran could read her thoughts. “Is everything okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“No ghost.” Hadley shook her head, her voice small. But possibly a murderer, she added in her thoughts, hoping for good Gran really couldn’t read them.
And even though the front doors had to remain unlocked during business hours, Hadley locked the back kitchen doors behind her for the rest of the day.
11
A loud thump startled Hadley just after closing time that day. She looked toward the back door of the jam kitchen.
Suze stood outside, rubbing her face and glowering at the glass door.
Eyes wide, Hadley rushed over. “Omigosh! I’m so sorry. I forgot that I locked this earlier,” she explained as she opened it and let her friend inside.
Rubbing at her face still, Suze said, “I can’t remember the last time you locked that thing while you were here. That’ll teach me to walk in here like I own the place,” she said with a groan.
“I’m sorry. Do you need some ice?”
“No, thanks. My pride’s bruised more than anything.” She glanced around the dark retail portion of the shop. “At least you weren’t open when it happened.”
Gran had closed up and left for home ten minutes prior, so Suze was right, she’d been lucky.
“So what’s up?” Hadley asked.
“Uh ... nothing. Just came to check in on my friend. Is there something wrong with that?” She rubbed her arm and focused on anything but Hadley.
Pressing her lips together to hide a smile, Hadley said, “Nope, nothing at all, but you’ve got I need help with something written all over your face.” Hadley looked her up and down. “And your body language tells me that something isn’t going to be pleasant.”
Suze plopped down onto one of the stools, so Hadley pulled up one next to her.
“Spill, lady,” Hadley said.
Clearing her throat first, Suze said, “I was wondering if you had any expertise you wanted to lend in the area of fake apartment acquisitions.” Then she wrinkled her nose. “Or, you know, maybe just moral support.”
Hadley narrowed her eyes. “What happened? Did your sleuthing take a creepy turn too?”
“Too?” Suze’s lips parted as she pointed at the back door. “You locked the back door because you were
scared, didn’t you?”
“Yep.”
“What happened to you?” Suze leaned forward.
Hadley laughed at her friend’s distracted nature. “You tell me yours first.”
“Owen was super creeptastic.” She shivered. “He kept trying to show me different features of the bedroom and put his hand on my shoulder or back thirteen times. I mean, it was an empty bedroom, not even staged. How many ‘features’ are there to point out?”
Cringing as she listened, Hadley said, “I can think of maybe two, tops.”
“Right? And I got so flustered by him being gross that I ran out of there, saying you texted, and it was an emergency. I didn’t even get to ask questions. I will definitely have to go back, but I cannot go alone. Will you come with? Also, if anyone asks, you had a minor jam explosion earlier today, okay?”
“Gotcha. And, of course, I’ll go with you.”
“Thanks. So what was wrong with Simone? Was she super handsy too?” Suze asked with a grin.
Hadley didn’t feel like smiling when she remembered Guy jumping out and grabbing her. Her hand encircled her wrist. The redness hadn’t faded through the day, and she wondered if it would bruise.
Noticing Hadley’s hesitation, Suze glanced down at her wrist. Her smile faded. “Omigosh, she was handsy.” Suze grabbed at Hadley’s hand, examining the mark. “I mean, I guess I’m not surprised. The woman’s strong. I heard she’s competed in the Ironman multiple times.”
“It wasn’t her.”
Hadley paused, and Suze looked up, her frown deepening.
“Mayor Whitmore showed up, and I don’t know for sure what was inside, but he was trying to hand her an envelope holding something substantial, like a USB drive. They caught me watching, and I didn’t see what he did with it. When I was leaving, he ambushed me and told me to mind my business, and if I did, he might have ways of making Paul sheriff someday.” Hadley squinted. “And maybe he alluded to offing McKay in order to do so …? I’m not sure. It’s all a little fuzzy.”
“Okay, talking about rigging elections and getting rid of current public servants? That sounds like a murderer. Did Paul check into his alibi too?”
Hadley shrugged, starting to clean up from making jam earlier. “I’m sure he did. Whitmore had as much, if not more, to lose from that blackmail being leaked. I can’t stop wondering if they worked together.”
“Which would mean her alibi means nothing.” Suze’s eyes widened. She helped with the cleanup, returning dry ingredients to the shelves along the back wall.
“If the mayor doesn’t have one too. They’re not stupid; he could have covered himself just as well as she did.”
“True, but you said he might’ve had the envelope with the blackmail today? At the juice bar? That doesn’t sound like a criminal mastermind to me,” Suze said.
“Well, they aren’t aware we know about the envelopes, are they? For all they know, they could be the only two Laney was blackmailing.”
“All right. That makes sense.” Suze watched Hadley’s expression for a moment. “So what’s your plan?”
Smiling at the way her friend could read her and knew she’d just come up with an idea, Hadley said, “We need to see if that envelope is at the juice bar. If it is the blackmail file, that would be enough to prove to McKay that the two of them killed Laney to keep their secret.”
“Right.” Suze nodded, but the gesture seemed to lose steam as she thought through what she’d agreed to. “Wait ... so we’re going to break into the juice bar?”
“Not like breaking and entering break in, but …” Hadley chewed her lip. “It’ll be more of a have a look around kind of thing, when they’re not there, so they won’t know about it.”
“So breaking and entering,” Suze said flatly.
Hadley sighed. “For a good cause. To catch a murderer.”
“A possible murderer. And, honestly, possible seems loose for those two.” Suze shook her head. “Unless Laney warned them she was coming to drop off the blackmail package, or she hung around while they opened it, I’m not sure how either of them would know. And both scenarios sound out of the question for someone who was an agoraphobic.”
“I’ll give you that, but I saw what I saw, Suze. And the man threatened me. They have a motive to keep this thing between them hidden.” She raised an eyebrow. “Come on. We’ll just look.”
Suze rolled her eyes. “Okay, but only if you come with me this evening for the appointment I rescheduled with Owen to view this apartment I ‘need.’” She used finger quotes around the last word.
“Yes, great!” Hadley tapped her fingers on her lip. “Now, how do we get inside to the juice bar?”
She didn’t want to literally break and enter, so it would have to be a little sneakier than that. Snapping her fingers, she pointed at Suze.
“Do you think they’ve changed the locks since Ernie ran the antique shop out of that building a few years ago? Half of downtown has a spare since he used to lock himself out so much.”
“Yeah,” Suze said. “I heard Deborah telling the same thing to Simone when she was showing her the property. Simone said she would be sure to change the locks. Plus, Ernie didn’t have the shop a few years ago. It was a decade ago.”
Hadley sighed then sized up her best friend. “You’re pretty small. I wonder if I could shove you through one of those windows in the back of the building.”
“Hey, I didn’t agree to shoving.”
“You’re right. I don’t think we can make any real decisions until we do some reconnaissance; figure out the building’s weaknesses.”
Suze groaned. “What are you now, part of a secret spy sisterhood?”
Now that they’d cleaned up, Hadley took off her apron. They were about to head out when the back door jingled open. Hadley stiffened for a moment, forgetting she’d unlocked it for Suze earlier. Any sense of worry left her in an exhale when she noticed it was Luke walking through the back entrance of the shop.
Actually, walking wasn’t quite the word. It was a lot more like limping.
“What happened to you?” Hadley asked.
He groaned. “Hunk DeMuscles.” Stretching out his arms, Luke grimaced.
Hadley and Suze hid their smiles.
“Oh no, bad workout?” Feeling her grin breaking through, Hadley raised a hand to cover it.
“I don’t even remember Coach Wilson working us this hard during football drills. Serves me right for thinking I was still in decent shape. According to Hunk, I’m a wimpy noodle boy who couldn’t possibly lift a Jeep,” Luke said in his best, deep Hunk impression. “He didn’t even care when I told him I had no reason to lift a Jeep. After that, he said I was making excuses and added leg day on to the arm day I’d already done.”
“Gosh, maybe I got off easy with Owen,” Suze said with a snort. “At least I didn’t get hurt during my sleuthing.”
Luke’s face, already twisted in discomfort, distorted further. He turned toward Hadley. “You’re hurt?”
Covering her arm defensively, Hadley scoffed, “What? Oh, it’s nothing.”
His eyes locked on to her wrist. All muscle pain apparently forgotten, Luke covered the space between them in two strides. He took her hand in his, gently inspecting the mark.
“Simone did this to you?” he asked through gritted teeth.
Shaking her head, she repeated the details she’d told Suze minutes before.
For as bright light blue as his irises normally were—crinkled into a laugh or shining with a joke—Luke’s eyes clouded over considerably upon hearing her story. His face tightened. “I wonder how Cascade Ridge will function without a mayor … because I’m going to—”
“You’re not going to do anything to him,” Hadley said, interrupting his rant. “Besides possibly help us break into the juice bar tonight to see if we can find the blackmail and prove it was Simone and Guy working together.”
Still upset, Luke huffed. Then he settled onto a stool next to Hadley, slowly. As his an
ger ebbed, his muscle soreness seemed to return.
“Yes, help us,” Suze pleaded. “Hadley’s only idea had to do with shoving me through a back window.”
“Of the juice bar? That’s how you get in, though.” Luke blinked. When the women stared at him in confusion, he added, “I used to break in all the time when Ernie owned it.”
Hadley raised an eyebrow at him, so he raised a hand in defense.
“Ernie asked me to. He was always locking himself out of the place and that back window never locks properly. Simone probably changed the locks when she moved in, but I bet you she doesn’t know about the window.”
“Oh.” The word was small as it left Hadley.
Luke cringed. “I’m not in any shape to hoist myself up or through the window in my current state.” His gaze swiveled between the two women. “But I’ll give one of you a boost.”
“And we’re back to me crawling through a window,” Suze muttered.
Hadley rolled her eyes. “Or I can do it, if you’re so averse, even though I’m helping you out …” She mumbled the last part.
“Fine,” Suze said around an exhale. “I’ll help you break in. Please don’t make me talk to Owen alone.”
“Wait ... you’re helping Suze with hers?” Luke looked slightly crestfallen.
“You have to be kidding me.” Hadley let her head fall back in exhaustion. “You can’t go by yourself either? The only curls I’ve been doing lately are bringing Mickie’s scones up to my mouth. I haven’t even ridden my bike in a month.”
“It’s not Hunk I need your help with.” Luke rubbed the back of his neck and became very interested in his feet for a moment. “It’s ... well, did you know Jenny Thomas works there?”
“Jenny, like two years behind us in school Jenny?” Suze asked.
Luke nodded then gulped. “She won’t leave me alone. Followed me around for almost every workout. Kept cleaning the machine right next to the one I was on. She stares at me like she’s hungry.” He shivered.
