Murder Made to Order

by Lena Gregory

  Trevor approached and took both of her hands, his smile warm. “It’s great to see you, Gia.”

  “You too, Trevor. Thank you so much for coming.”

  “You bet.” He looked around at the crowd and the people still entering the building. “Hard to believe so many people came out on such short notice.”

  Gia shook her head, overwhelmed at the show of support. “I don’t know what to say.”

  Trevor grinned. “Just say thank you.”

  She laughed, still having trouble regaining control. “I will, thank you.”

  He squeezed her hands, then released her and winked. “I’m going to work the room and drum up any extra support I can get.”

  The young woman—even younger than Gia had realized—who’d spoken to Gia the night of the fire approached, her toddler on her hip as he had been that night. “Hi, Gia. I’m Nancy, and this is my son, John.”

  “Nice to meet you, Nancy.” Gia shook her hand, then said hello to John.

  “Listen, I just wanted to say I’m sorry I was snippy the night of the fire.” She shook her head, her cheeks red. “There’s no excuse for that, it’s just… When I woke up and saw the sky lit up with that orange glow, I was terrified. John and I live alone out there, and I was so scared I wouldn’t be able to get him out.”

  “Don’t be silly. Of course, I understand. I would have felt the same way.”

  “Thank you. And thank you for coming out and speaking about the fire road. I think I’ll sleep better at night once it goes in.” Nancy laughed a little and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “On a brighter note, after you said your dog woke you the night of the fire, I waited for the sun to come up, then took John straight to the shelter and waited outside for them to open. We got a little female Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, just like yours. Debby assured me she’d be great with John and still protect him if the need arose.”

  “Well, if she’s anything like Thor, Debby is a hundred percent right. Good luck with her. And if you ever run into a problem out there, you are always welcome to knock on my door.”

  “Thank you, again.” Nancy gave her a quick hug with one arm, then hugged John closely as she walked away.

  Gia strolled through the room, many people greeting her by name, wishing her luck, promising their support. Many more people talking about the storms and the damage done. The fact everyone agreed it was rare to get such bad tornadoes did little to ease Gia’s fears, but at least she wasn’t alone.

  Scott walked up to her. “Gia. It’s nice to see you again.”

  “Well, if it isn’t my knight in shining armor.”

  They both laughed and shook hands.

  Scott gestured to the woman beside him. “This is my wife, Meredith.”

  Gia shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Meredith. I hope you’ll both come in for breakfast one day. My treat.”

  “Thank you, we’d love to,” Meredith said.

  They both wished her luck and moved on.

  Gia watched them walk away, realizing nothing united a community the way tragedy did. It seemed the need to help others brought out the best in people.

  Maybelle walked out of the ladies’ room and stopped short when she almost ran into Gia.

  Gia tamped down her feelings. Maybelle did sit on the council after all. “Hello, Maybelle.”

  Maybelle glared hard at her, then turned her nose up and crossed the room to Hank. She whispered something in his ear.

  He looked over at Gia, frowned, and slung his arm around Maybelle’s shoulder.

  Jeez. So much for being civil. What had she done wrong this time? All she’d said was hello.

  “That woman better hope we don’t get any more storms. With her nose turned up that high, she’d be lucky not to drown.” Willow hugged Gia. “Gia, this is my mom, Skyla.”

  “Hi, Skyla.” She extended a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Skyla shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve heard so much about you from Willow. Thank you so much for sending the sandwiches; they were delicious and very much appreciated. You’re a good role model for my daughter.”

  “Thank you so much. Willow is a great kid. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

  They chatted for a few more minutes. Skyla was everything Gia would have expected from Willow’s mother. A free spirit. The kind of woman that encouraged her child to be herself despite what anyone else might think.

  Savannah interrupted to let her know the meeting was about to start.

  “Well then, I’ll see you inside.” Skyla wished Gia luck and went to find a seat.

  “Are you ready?” Savannah rubbed a hand up and down Gia’s arm, practically vibrating with nervous energy.

  Gia took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I think so.”

  “Come on, then, we don’t want to miss the beginning of the meeting.” Savannah started into the meeting room.

  “Savannah, wait.” She held her back. “I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you for this.”

  She smiled. “You just did.”

  “I mean it, Savannah. How in the world did you get these people to come?”

  “Actually, I didn’t have to coax them at all. I simply let it be known the council would decide the fate of the café tonight, that they’d vote to adhere to the residential zoning or allow the exception. From there, it took off on its own. And people came.”

  “I can’t even believe how many people came.”

  “Boggy Creek is a small town, Gia. We take care of each other. You supported our community in our time of need. Now they’re here for you. It’s that easy.”

  “Well, thank you just the same.”

  “You’re welcome, hon. Now, come on, or you’re going to be late. And you need to discuss adding fire exits to some of these developments first.” She leaned close and pitched her voice low. “Did Cole find anything?”

  Gia glanced around the almost empty lobby. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him.”

  Savannah chewed on her lip and looked around for a minute. “Well, we can’t wait. They’re starting.”

  Gia slid into the room just as a frail blond woman took her place at the podium, her hand trembling wildly as she adjusted the microphone to accommodate her short stature. “First I’d like to thank all of you for coming. I’m Brenda Cohen. I’ll be standing in as the interim council president until we have time for a vote.”

  A small round of applause followed.

  “Now, if I might, I’d like to ask for a moment of silence to honor Marcia Steers, who served as our president for many years.”

  Everyone bowed their heads.

  Gia’s heart ached. Marcia had probably died because she’d been trying to help Gia. The guilt sat like a rock in her gut.

  Brenda lifted her head and held her hands up for everyone to remain quiet. “I’d also like to take a moment of silence to honor those of our residents who tragically lost their lives in the devastating storms that affected our area.”

  Again, everyone remained silent, heads bowed in honor of the dead.

  This time, when Brenda stepped back to the podium, a low hum started through the crowd.

  She held up her hands, which had steadied a bit, for quiet. “We wanted to postpone tonight’s meeting, in light of the recent tragedy, but many of our citizens requested we allow the meeting to go ahead. Would our first speaker please step forward?”

  Gia pushed through the crowd at the back of the room and down the aisle to the podium. By the time she reached the front and Brenda had ceded the microphone, the hum had reached an incredible volume. Seemed many residents of Boggy Creek were unhappy with the current fire escape situations.

  Gia unfolded a sheet of printer paper she’d jotted her notes on and adjusted the microphone. She cleared her throat, hoping everyone would quiet down withou
t her having to ask. Her insides quivered. She’d never been much of a public speaker, but when Cole had asked her to begin the discussion, she hadn’t had the heart to say no. She nodded toward the council members seated at a long table in the front of the room. “Thank you, council members, for allowing me the opportunity to speak on behalf of my community.”

  The room finally fell silent.

  “And thank all of you for coming.” She paused and concentrated on the message she wanted to get across before continuing. “I’d like to address a problem that plagues many of our residents, the lack of fire exits at the back of developments.”

  Chaos exploded: people talking over one another, yelling, demanding action.

  Gia waited them out.

  Once they realized she wouldn’t continue until they settled, they began to quiet down.

  “I’d like to ask the council to vote in favor of allowing a fire escape route to be built in the back of Rolling Pines, as well as several other developments. We had people stranded in the middle of bad storms, unable to reach their homes because trees fell or emergency vehicles or accidents blocked the entrances. That’s unsafe.”

  Applause thundered through the room.

  “Last week, we had a fire in Rolling Pines. It was brought under control quickly, thanks to local residents and the quick response of the fire department.”

  Applause and cheers echoed.

  “But the situation could have ended in tragedy. A fire at the front of Rolling Pines could trap many of our residents in their homes. We have approximately nine hundred families living in our neighborhood at the base of the Ocala National Forest, where fires are a common enough hazard, and no effective evacuation route.”

  Maybelle stood and glared at Gia, not even bothering to mask her hatred. “What about the dirt road the park rangers use? Leads up into the forest out the back of Rolling Pines?”

  Gia started shaking her head before Maybelle had even finished speaking. Thankfully, Cole had prepared her for that argument ahead of time. “First of all, it leads through miles and miles of forest, and oftentimes it’s not passable due to flooding, downed trees, overgrown brush. We need a safe, well-maintained, clearly marked evacuation route.”

  She searched the crowd for Cole, knowing full well what was coming next and having no counterargument.

  Maybelle sneered. “Well, perhaps you should have done your research before wasting everyone’s time.”

  She finally spotted Cole near the front of the crowd. He held his cell phone up discreetly and shook it back and forth.

  Maybelle pressed her hands against the table and leaned forward. “You dragged everyone down here at a time when our community is still dealing with one tragedy, when there’s no way to build an access road out the back of Rolling Pines even if we wanted to. That’s all protected land back there.”

  “Actually…” Cole stepped forward and Gia shot him a look of gratitude. “There is one section of land toward the back corner on the east side that isn’t protected land. It’s owned by the town, and as such, the town council has full say on how it’s used. So, at this time, we are petitioning the council to use that land as an evacuation route.”

  Murmurs spread through the crowd.

  Maybelle’s face paled and she turned to the other council members.

  Floyd Masters stood. “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to decide on that now. We’d have to look into it further before putting it to a vote.”

  Savannah’s brother, Tommy, stood and addressed Cole. “Would you mind dropping off a map marked with the proposed route you’d like us to consider?”

  “Not at all. Thank you.”

  “Thank you.” Gia nodded to Tommy and refrained from shooting Maybelle or Floyd any dirty looks, though it wasn’t easy, then returned to stand beside Cole in the back.

  Brenda resumed her spot at the podium. “The next order of business is a discussion of the zoning laws regarding the building and property located at 1012 Main Street.”

  Chapter 24

  After hearing person after person speak in favor of keeping the café open, starting with Savannah, Gia declined to make a statement. She figured everyone knew she wanted to keep it open, and there was no sense irritating Maybelle again.

  The council members were finally ready to vote.

  Brenda glanced repeatedly at Gia, wringing her hands, shuffling through papers, anything to avoid making direct eye contact.

  Gia could only assume she wouldn’t get her vote. The way she figured it, Brenda, Maybelle, and Floyd would vote against changing the zoning for sure. Tommy would vote in her favor, as would a couple of the other council members Tommy was friendly with. The rest, she had no clue what they’d do.

  Brenda approached the podium. “All those in favor of changing the existing zoning to allow the All-Day Breakfast Café to remain open?”

  “Aye.” All the council members seated at the table raised their hands, including Floyd.

  Maybelle glared daggers at Gia, then shot Floyd a dirty look, but she still held her hand up.

  Brenda scanned the room. Her gaze caught somewhere in the back corner and held for a moment, then darted away, and she lifted her hand as well.

  Cheers went up.

  Cole slapped Gia on the back. “Congratulations. You did it.”

  “Thanks to all of you.” Tears spilled over. She couldn’t help it. The stress of the past couple weeks had weighed heavily, and now that weight had been lifted thanks to all the people who’d come out to support her.

  Earl and Willow made their way through the crowd to offer their congratulations as well.

  As happy as she was, Gia couldn’t help but wonder what had made everyone vote in her favor and what had caught Brenda’s attention before she’d voted.

  She searched the crowd for Savannah, hoping she’d have an explanation for the sudden influx of support, and spotted an older man toward the back of the room she was almost positive was Sean McNeil.

  Brenda looked around before skulking through a doorway at the front of the meeting room and disappearing into a dimly lit hallway.

  McNeil, if it was him, followed a moment later.

  Gia caught Savannah’s attention near the front of the room and gestured toward the doorway.

  Savannah frowned but followed her silent directions.

  Gia went after them, accepting good wishes, thanking people, and offering coffee on the house for everyone the next day.

  When she finally reached the corridor Savannah had entered, Savannah had already disappeared. Gia followed the corridor, stopping at each intersection and looking down the other hallways before moving on.

  She finally spotted Savannah at the end of a long hallway, bent over, her ear pressed against a closed office door.

  “Savannah?” Gia called softly, not wanting to startle Savannah, yet not wanting to alert anyone to her presence either.

  Savannah pressed a finger to her lips and gestured Gia forward.

  Gia crept as quietly as she could, careful to keep her heels from striking the floor. When she finally reached the door, she leaned her ear against it beside Savannah.

  An angry man’s voice came through the door loud and clear. “I don’t care. You were supposed to vote to shut it down.”

  “What difference would it have made? Everyone else voted to keep it open.” The woman she assumed was Brenda spoke quietly.

  Gia had to press one ear against the door, cover the other with her hand, and hold her breath to hear her.

  “He knew.” McNeil’s voice raised even louder.

  “Who knew what?” Brenda said, her voice trembling.

  “Masters. He knew it was me trying to shut it down and buy it. Why else would he have voted in favor of keeping something open he’s been trying to shut down for the better part of twenty-two years?” Something crashed.
“He had the support he needed to win the vote. He made all his supporters vote in favor of rezoning. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “So you killed Marcia for nothing.” Brenda sobbed softly.

  “No, I killed Marcia because she was flip-flopping, and I got you on the board in her place. And what did you do?”

  He’d killed Marcia. He admitted it. So the whole story about Floyd killing Sara was probably a lie. “Do you have your phone?” Gia whispered.

  Savannah shook her head.

  “I didn’t flip-flop. I had no choice,” Brenda cried.

  “Of course you had a choice.” McNeil’s anger was escalating.

  Gia had to do something.

  “What difference would it have made?” Brenda asked.

  “None. I would have lost everything anyway, but at least I’d have known you were loyal. Now, I have no use for you.”

  “No. Stop. What are you doing?”

  Gia stood. She had to get help.

  Savannah kept her ear pressed against the door and held up one finger for Gia to wait.

  The door ripped open, and Savannah stumbled into the doorway.

  A red-faced Sean McNeil grabbed her and shoved her into the room.

  Gia started toward them.

  Savannah smacked her head on the corner of a desk and crumpled to the floor.

  Gia whirled and ran. “Help! Help me!”

  McNeil’s footsteps pounded behind her, his ragged breathing growing closer and closer.

  Gia almost fell as she skidded around a corner without slowing down.

  Still, McNeil stayed on her heels.

  As long as he was following her, Savannah was probably safe. She chanced a quick glance over her shoulder and screamed. “Help!”

  “Shut up.” He was narrowing the gap between them, and Gia still hadn’t reached the meeting room.