Murder Made to Order

by Lena Gregory

  “What I—”

  “If not for Leo being kind enough to call and tell me what happened, I still wouldn’t know.”

  “Ah jeez, Savannah. I’m really sorry.” She shook her head. Sometimes she forgot how small Boggy Creek was. If you let something slide for an hour, chances were good someone else would beat you to it. “To be honest, I was so happy to be out of there, and then I just didn’t want to think about…well…anything.”

  An image of Marcia’s half-submerged body popped into her mind, and she blocked it just as quickly. She barely knew Marcia, but seeing her like that would still bring nightmares and stir memories better left untouched.

  “Ah, sweetie, I’m sorry.” Savannah gestured toward the paper Gia still held. “So, what are you working on?”

  “Work—oh, this isn’t work.” She handed the note to Savannah. “What do you make of it?”

  “Where’d you get this?”

  “I found it in my desk drawer. Do you think Marcia could have put it in there yesterday?”

  “I guess. I saw her go through the door to the office, so it was only a matter of a minute or two before I met up with her, but I suppose she’d have had time to drop this in the drawer, especially if it was already written.” Savannah frowned down at the paper. “What do you think it means?”

  “I have no idea. She didn’t mention any documents to me yesterday.”

  “Hmm…”

  “What?”

  “I’m just wondering if she didn’t want to talk in front of me specifically.”

  “What difference would that make?”

  “I’m not sure,” Savannah said. “But my brother does sit on the council, and if the documents are regarding the zoning error, she may not have wanted to take a chance on anyone from the council finding out.”

  “I guess. But what kind of documents could she be talking about?”

  “I have no idea, but Tommy called back a little while ago, and he said Marcia seemed to be the person most intent on shutting you down. At least, at first. He said lately she’s been pretty quiet on the subject.”

  “Huh…”

  “Yeah. It doesn’t make much sense for her to be so set on closing you down, then want to give you documents that would help you stay open.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” But it definitely seemed Marcia wanted something with her.

  Savannah snapped her fingers. “Wait. Maybe she was going to blackmail you?”

  “Blackmail?”

  “You know, she tries to get the café shut down, then offers a way to keep it open if you pay her.”

  “I don’t know. Why would she do that?” Savannah could be right; Marcia had seemed nervous. Then again, Captain Hayes had said Hunt and Marcia had rekindled their relationship. Maybe Marcia was trying to close her down so she’d run back to New York. Or maybe she’d invited Gia to her house so she’d walk in on the two of them together. Either scenario would be a good way to eliminate the competition.

  “Who knows.” Savannah perched on the edge of the desk. “Maybe she needed the money.”

  “Or maybe the documents have nothing to do with keeping the café open. Maybe it’s paperwork to shut it down.”

  “Maybe, but then why all the subterfuge?”

  Gia’s thoughts bounced back to Hunt. What could his involvement be? Gia wanted to ask if he’d been acting strange lately, but the last thing she wanted to do was ping Savannah’s radar. She was in no mood to answer a million questions about their seemingly nonexistent relationship. “Hunt was arguing with the captain at the crime scene.”

  “What about?” She turned Marcia’s note over and studied the back.

  “Searching Marcia’s house. Hunt wanted to search, but Captain Hayes said he had to wait for a warrant.”

  “So?”

  “That’s just it. I have no idea, but Hunt was hell-bent on getting into that house as soon as possible. Do you think he could know something about whatever she was doing?”

  “I don’t know. I guess it’s possible.” Savannah apparently gave up on the note and tossed it onto Gia’s desk. “Did Hunt get his way?”

  “Nope. The captain took him off the case and told him to leave.”

  Savannah’s eyes widened. “Seriously? I wonder why. Those two go at it all the time, and I’ve never seen Hayes do anything that drastic before.”

  Gia tried for a nonchalant shrug, but it probably came off looking more like a twitch. “He said it was because Hunt was involved with Marcia.”

  Savannah’s gaze shot to hers.

  So much for not pinging her radar. Heat flared in Gia’s cheeks. “He said the whole town knew about their bad breakup when Hunt found Marcia cheating on him.”

  Savannah leaned over and patted Gia’s clasped hands.

  Dang. She’d seen right through her. As usual.

  “It was a long time ago, Gia. Before you moved here. And believe me, it was nothing serious. Hunt doesn’t believe in seeing anyone else while you’re dating, even casually.”

  “He said everyone knew they’d rekindled their relationship.” She lowered her gaze, so Savannah wouldn’t catch the pain in her eyes.

  If she did, she let it drop. “Well, whatever documents she had, if they are related to the zoning, there should be a copy on file at the records building downtown.”

  “You think?”

  “I don’t see why not. All of the zoning information should be public record.”

  Gia shoved her chair back, stood, and grabbed her purse. “Do you have time to take a ride?”

  “You bet, but only if you promise to buy me lunch after we’re done.”

  “It’s a deal.” It took less than fifteen minutes to drive around the park and lake and reach the area of Boggy Creek Savannah referred to as downtown. Unlike the quaint, old-fashioned Main Street, the downtown area boasted several contemporary office parks. The records building sat in the same complex with the police station, and though she scanned the lot for his jeep, she saw no sign of Hunt.

  “Everything okay?” Savannah shifted the car into park and glanced over at her. “You’re uncharacteristically quiet.”

  “I’m fine. I guess I just have a lot on my mind.” She climbed out of the car before Savannah could question her further.

  She had no desire to explain how she’d been having second thoughts about staying in Boggy Creek, or even worse, that she’d thought she and Hunt had been moving toward some kind of relationship before he’d backed off. Savannah was Gia’s best friend, and she had no doubt Savannah would go to bat for her with Hunt. But Hunt was Savannah’s family, and Gia had no intention of saying anything that might cause a rift between them. Better to let the matter drop, at least until she had some idea about what was going on with him.

  They entered the cool lobby, and Gia shivered. “Why do they keep the air-conditioning on so high everywhere down here?”

  “Because it’s so hot out.” Savannah smirked and dropped her keys and purse into a tray, then strode through the metal detector.

  Gia followed.

  Once the guard searched their purses and handed them back, they walked down a long corridor. Gia checked her phone for the time. “Do you think they’ll be out to lunch?”

  “Probably not yet.” Savannah reached the end of the hallway and pulled open an unmarked door.

  A short, stocky woman with dark hair pulled into a bun looked up from the paperwork scattered across her desk. “Can I—oh, hey, Savannah. What’s up?”

  “Hi, Molly. How have you been?”

  “Good, and you?”

  “Can’t complain.” Savannah gestured toward Gia. “This is my friend, Gia. She opened the All-Day Breakfast Café in town.”

  Molly stood and reached across her desk to shake Gia’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Gia. I’ve eaten at the café a few times, a
nd I love it. Your home fries are amazing.”

  Gia shook her hand and smiled. Maybe if she wasn’t stuck in the kitchen all the time, she’d have already met Molly. “Thank you.”

  “So, I take it this isn’t a social call. What can I help you with?” Molly propped her glasses on top of her head.

  “We were wondering if it’s possible to check all of the records related to a specific address,” Savannah said.

  “Sure. What’s the address?”

  “1012 Main Street.”

  Gia held her breath while Molly closed the folder she’d been working on and set it aside in favor of her computer. Could it really be that easy to find out what they needed?

  Molly put her glasses back on and typed in the address. “Okay, let see. The house was originally built in the late 1800s, so a lot of the history was never put on the computer, but we should have the tax and sales history, at the least.”

  “What about the zoning history?”

  “Probably.” Molly smiled. “Though I can’t make any promises.”

  Gia envisioned boxes of paperwork piled high in a warehouse somewhere. “Is there a way to access it?”

  “Yup. The old-fashioned way.” Molly stood and grabbed a set of keys from a hook, then held open a swinging door that led toward the back of the office. “Follow me.”

  She led them into a huge room filled with file cabinets.

  Okay, a little less daunting than Gia had imagined, but not much. “How are we supposed to find anything in here?”

  “The actual records aren’t on a digital file, but we do keep a computerized catalogue of where to find them.” Molly looked something up on a computer sitting on a battered desk near the door, then headed deeper into the maze of file cabinets with Gia and Savannah on her heels. When she reached the row she was looking for, she opened a drawer and sorted through a number of manila folders. She pulled one out and opened it, then paused. “Wait a minute. That’s not right.”

  “What’s wrong?” Gia looked over her shoulder at the empty manila folder she held open.

  She put the folder down on top of the file cabinet, went through the folders in the drawer again, then opened the drawers above and below it and skimmed through their contents. “You’re not allowed to remove records from this building, and yet they seem to be gone.”

  “What do you mean?” Gia asked.

  “I mean, they’re not here.”

  Savannah picked up the folder from the top of the cabinet and studied a paper stapled to the front of it. She paled, and her finger shook as she pointed to the page. “What is this?”

  “The signature page. It contains a list of people who have signed out the folder,” Molly answered, distracted as she searched through the file cabinet once again. “But you’re only allowed to look at them here. You can’t take them with you.”

  Savannah’s expression went completely blank. She dropped the folder back onto the cabinet, turned, and walked out without another word.

  “Savannah?” Gia called after her.

  She kept walking without even looking back, then shoved through the door.

  Gia picked up the folder and looked at the page. A list of printed names followed by signatures and dates. The last name recorded was Marcia Steers, who’d signed the folder out a week prior to being killed.

  “Do you know what Marcia wanted with the folder?” Gia asked.

  “No, I’m sorry. I wasn’t here when she signed it out.” Molly slammed the file cabinet closed, then stormed off muttering to herself.

  Gia tossed the folder on top of the cabinet and started to turn, but the name before Marcia’s caught her attention. Howard Hayes. Captain Hayes? She ran her finger along the line until she came to the date. Twenty years ago? What would Hayes have wanted with this information twenty years ago?

  Another name jumped off the page. Sara Mills. Mills? The same last name as Savannah. Were they related? Was that why Savannah had acted so strangely? She checked the date. It seemed Sara had signed the folder out twenty years ago as well, only one week before Hayes. And someone named Sean McNeil signed it out two days after Sara. What was so important about this folder twenty years ago?

  She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the list, which only contained one other name. A Floyd Masters had signed the folder out a month before Sara Mills. Leaving the folder where it was, Gia shoved her phone back into her purse and went after Savannah. It was time for some answers.

  Chapter 5

  Gia hurried across the parking lot to Savannah’s car and found her sitting behind the wheel, staring out the windshield with the air-conditioning turned all the way up. She slid into the passenger seat.

  A million questions barreled through her mind, begging for attention, the most pressing of which was, “Are you okay, Savannah?”

  She shook her head and adjusted the vent until the cold air ruffled her hair. “I don’t know.”

  “Is the Howard Hayes from the list Captain Hayes?”

  “Yes.” She sucked in a deep breath, then blew it out slowly. “And Sara Mills is my mother.”

  Shock slammed through Gia like a punch in the gut. “Your mother?”

  “Yes. Apparently she signed that same folder out just days before she was killed.”

  Gia adjusted the vent on her side, letting the cool air wash over her. “And Hayes signed it out a week later.”

  “Seems so.” She finally looked at Gia. “Just days after she was killed.”

  Gia didn’t know what to say to comfort Savannah. When they’d lived together in New York, Savannah had mentioned that her mother had passed away when she was young, but until recently, Savannah hadn’t even told Gia her mother had been murdered. And she still hadn’t mentioned being the one to find her. If not for Hunt, Gia still wouldn’t know that part of the story.

  The memory of Hunt arguing with Captain Hayes flashed through Gia’s mind. “Do you think Hunt knows?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe, but I don’t see what difference it makes.”

  “Hunt wanted to get into that house awfully badly. I wonder why.” Gia pursed her lips and waited for Savannah’s line of thought to catch up to hers.

  “What do you think he’s looking for?”

  “I don’t know. He never said, but once he does search, whatever documents Marcia wanted to give me might be gone.” Another thought begged for attention. “Plus, Captain Hayes threw Hunt off the case, and now Hayes is in charge, and well…” She didn’t have to remind Savannah his name was listed on the paperwork right after Sara Mills.

  “And Captain Hayes, who was a detective back then, screwed up the investigation into my mother’s murder pretty badly. I know what you must want to do.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t play innocent with me, Gia. I know you too well.”

  Gia smiled. She was right. Sometimes Savannah knew what she was thinking even before she did. But not this time. The idea of checking out Marcia’s house had begun to niggle at her the instant she’d found out who Sara Mills was. “So… Do you want to help me?”

  “Help you what? Break into Marcia’s house?”

  “No. Not exactly.”

  Savannah held her stare.

  “Okay, yes. I just want to take a peek and see if I can find what she was talking about in the letter. If Hayes did have anything to do with what happened to your mother, once he gets into that house, any evidence will be gone forever.”

  “Are you out of your mind?”

  “No, listen. Hunt is off the case, which means Captain Hayes is in charge. And Hayes hates me. If Marcia had something I could use to keep the café open, Hayes would probably dump it in the trash first chance he got. And that’s the best-case scenario. If that paperwork has anything to do with him bungling your mother’s case, he’ll probably burn it.”

&n
bsp; “Well, I can’t really argue that, since you’re probably right. But still. If he finds us in there, we’ll be in jail for sure. Or worse, he’ll tell Hunt.”

  “So we’ll have to make sure he doesn’t catch us. Besides, I still have the letter Marcia left in my desk. Technically, we’re not breaking in since I was invited.”

  Savannah shook her head and started the car. “Marcia was pretty insistent they were closing the café. What makes you think she had anything that would help you?”

  “At this point, anything might help. Even knowing if the property was always zoned residential might be useful. You never know.”

  Deep lines bracketed Savannah’s mouth as she shifted into gear and pulled out of the parking lot, though Gia didn’t know if it was the thought of breaking and entering, concern about getting caught, or confusion over whatever involvement her mother had with the café that weighed on her so heavily. Probably a bit of everything.

  “Swing by the café for a minute. I just want to grab something.”

  “What?”

  Gia grinned. “Gloves.”

  Savannah laughed and shook her head. “You’re going to have us in jail. You know that, right?”

  “Nope. Not a chance. That’s what the gloves are for. Hopefully no one will ever know we were there.” Including Detective Tall, Dark, and Nosy.

  Savannah made a quick detour past the café.

  Gia ran in for two pairs of rubber dishwashing gloves, then jumped back into the car. “Do you know what the café was twenty years ago?”

  “The building sat empty for a long time before you opened the café. Last I remember before that it was a bar, but that had to close down.”

  “Why?”

  “Originally, it was a nice bar and restaurant where people went to relax and have a drink, maybe some appetizers. Parents could even bring their kids to sit at the tables and have something to eat. My parents brought us a few times. But then the clientele started to change, got rougher, meaner. It reached the point where no one else would go in.” Savannah hit the turn signal, then checked her rearview mirror before switching lanes and making a left onto a narrow road. “The cops were in there breaking up fights multiple times a night. It was a mess. Until someone, maybe the council, eventually managed to shut them down.”