Kelly didn’t blink. “Yes, I do.”
I stared into her eyes and was amazed to see that they were full of conviction.
I shrugged. “But how can you know that?”
“Timothy and I both prayed for you.”
“That’s very kind of you, but I have prayed plenty about this case.”
“This is about more than just prayer,” Kelly said. “I also had a vision.”
I squinted. “Really?”
She nodded.
“Of what?” I asked.
“Of you solving the case,” she replied.
There had always been a New Age side to Kelly, but this was really out there, even for her. That said, David and I had a shortage of leads. I decided to indulge Kelly’s mystical tangent on the off chance that it might provide me with some usable information.
“When you had this vision, did you happen to see who the killer was?” I asked.
She shook her head.
I tried again. “Did your vision happen to include how I uncovered the killer’s identity?”
She grimaced. “I’m afraid not.”
My forehead wrinkled. “Then how do you really know I solved the case?”
“Because in my vision, you were celebrating.”
I let out a sigh. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s nice that you had this premonition of me solving the case, but I just wish this vision of yours contained a few more details.”
“I know what you mean. But unfortunately, visions don’t work that way.”
“You’re right. That is unfortunate.”
“I’m sorry that I don’t have details to share with you. But I can definitively tell you this—you and David are going to catch the killer soon.”
“I sure hope so.”
Kelly shook her head. “Sabrina, you have to understand something. This is about more than hope. Before I met Timothy, I had a vision that the man of my dreams would enter my life soon.”
“You did?” I asked.
She nodded. “A few days later, Timothy and I had that chance meeting at the crystal shop. Now, my vision may have been short on specifics, but it still showed me a glimpse of the future.”
“I can’t disagree with that.”
Kelly put her hand on my shoulder. “Hang in there. You’ll discover the truth soon enough.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
I didn’t have much time to think about what Kelly had just told me. A few minutes later, Jake Williamson’s girlfriend, Daphne Lipton, entered Daley Buzz.
Normally, I was delighted to see the successful real estate agent. But after my confrontation with Jake a few days ago, I worried that he might have badmouthed me to Daphne. It was too early to tell if that was the case, but I kept my guard up.
Thankfully, Jake didn’t appear to be with Daphne that morning. But just because I didn’t spot him didn’t mean he wasn’t in his car, finishing up a phone call before joining her inside.
I stared at the front door of the coffee shop, nervously wondering if Jake would be following closely behind her. When a few seconds passed without any sign of Jake, I directed my attention to Daphne.
The tall, trim brunette was in her late forties. She had hazel eyes, a square face, and a great sense of style. Right then, however, my focus was on her demeanor.
Since I was filled with such trepidation, I decided to let Daphne set the tone of our conversation by allowing her to get the first word in.
“Good morning,” Daphne said.
Phew. She appeared to be perfectly happy to see me. I responded in kind.
“Morning,” I said. I went digging for information. “No Jake today?”
She shook her head. “He’s already at work.”
My muscles loosened up. “Go figure. He doesn’t even slow down during the holidays.”
I could have gone with a much harsher reply, but I decided against it. As much as Jake’s behavior troubled me to no end, Daphne and I got along just fine, and I wanted to keep things that way.
“He sure doesn’t,” Daphne said. “During the holidays. Or any time of the year, for that matter. Jake only has one speed.”
“You mean full speed ahead?” I joked.
She chuckled. “That’s a good way of putting it.” Daphne ran her hand through her hair. “I, meanwhile, love rest and relaxation.”
“Is that what you have on tap for today?”
Daphne shook her head. “I wish. My day is going to be filled with some stressful last-minute shopping.”
“You have my sympathy.”
“I should be the one saying that to you. After all, you’re the one who has been going toe to toe with murder suspects. You’re a brave woman.”
“You call it bravery. My mother calls it being foolishly stubborn.”
“What do you call it?”
“Frustrating.”
“I guess I shouldn’t ask how the case is going then, huh?” Daphne said.
“Why don’t we talk about some lighter subject matter?” I replied.
“I was about to order an eggnog latte for myself, but you look like you could use one more than I can.”
I laughed. “Daphne. I said lighter subject matter. Nothing will weigh you down quite like an eggnog latte.”
She chuckled. “You’re right. I’ll go with a peppermint latte instead.”
“Now you’re talking.”
“Although with the amount of walking I’m going to do today, I could probably burn off a whole cup of eggnog by the end of the afternoon.”
My eyebrows rose. “Do you really have that much shopping to do?”
“It’s complicated.”
“How so?”
“I won’t bore you with the details.”
“I wouldn’t have asked the question if I didn’t want to know the answer. Besides, you have me curious now.”
“Are you sure? I mean, considering that you are in the middle of a case—”
“Daphne, if you’re asking me whether I’d rather talk about murder or shopping, I think the answer should be pretty clear.”
“All right. It’s not that I have a lot to buy. It’s more that I don’t know what to buy for Jake.”
“Oh.”
“I’m still mulling over a number of different options,” Daphne said.
It was harsh to think, but the first gift idea that came to my mind was a lump of coal. Thankfully, I just kept my highly opinionated musing to myself.
I went with a much less controversial answer. “I think a nice tropical vacation would make a great gift.”
“Sabrina. This is Jake we’re talking about. The man never takes vacations.”
“True. Which means he’s long overdue. Not to mention, you can book a vacation online from the comfort of your home, which means you don’t have to set foot in the mall on a day like this.”
Daphne squinted. “You’re not just suggesting that because you’d like Jake to leave town for a couple of weeks, are you?”
“No. It’s also a great gift. If David bought me a tropical vacation for Christmas, I would be over the moon,” I said.
Daphne held her pointer finger out. “Wait a minute. Also? So you would like Jake to leave town for a few weeks, then?”
Uh-oh. I hadn’t even realized that I had made that slip of the tongue until Daphne called me out. I was suddenly reeling. I carefully thought about how to respond to her.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I said.
She stared me down. “No. I think you did.”
Tension filled the air.
I opened my mouth to reply, but Daphne got her thought out first.
“But I don’t blame you,” Daphne said.
My eyebrows knitted. “You don’t?”
She shook her head. “After the way he talked to you, I’m actually surprised that you’ve managed to show such restraint during this conversation.”
My eyes widened. “Wait. Jake told you about the argument that we had a few days ago?
She nodd
ed. “Oh yeah. He came home that night and went on a big rant about you.”
My pulse quickened. “Does that mean that things are going to be awkward between you and me now?”
“No.”
My nose crinkled. “Really?”
“Sabrina, things are fine between you and me,” Daphne replied.
I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Daphne continued. “Jake’s rant just made things awkward between me and him.”
“Oh.”
“I can’t believe he talked to you like that,” Daphne said.
“I wasn’t a fan of it, either,” I replied. “But I know how to hold my own.”
“You sure do. But that doesn’t excuse how rude Jake was to you. Or how he could close down a business like Stacey’s Smoothies.”
“Don’t forget Treasure Cove Seafood.”
A look of longing came to her eyes. “You’re right. How could I forget their surf and turf?”
“Don’t even get me started. You’re going to get my mouth watering.”
Daphne put her hands on her hips. “I have to admit, I have strongly considered putting coal in Jake’s stocking this year.”
I snickered. “There’s a gift he won’t forget.”
“I mean, I’m not going to do it, but I can’t pretend that I haven’t thought about it.”
“I’ll bet. That said, after what he did, I’m kind of surprised that you’re going to get him anything at all.”
“I briefly considered that, too. But then yesterday Jake apologized to me and bought me a hundred roses, a mega box of chocolates from Zabrinski’s, and a full-weekend spa package.”
“Wow. He really went all out.”
Daphne nodded. “He sure did. But now I’m left in a weird position. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to figure out what to get him for Christmas. I mean, what gift says ‘thank you for apologizing, but I have still have some lingering anger about what you did?’”
I shrugged. “I have no clue.”
“Exactly.”
“But I do know that a tropical vacation is out.”
“I’ll say. If anything, he should be taking me on a vacation.”
“Talk about a wonderful gift.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t turn down a diamond necklace, either.”
“Who would? You can’t go wrong with diamonds,” I said.
Daphne’s eyes lit up. “You sure can’t. Although dreaming about diamonds doesn’t get me any closer to figuring out what I’m going to buy Jake.”
“I wish I could help you, but I’m busy trying to solve a mystery of my own,” I said.
“Well, here’s hoping that we both find the answers we’re looking for.”
I nodded. “And in the meantime, maybe an eggnog latte isn’t such a bad idea.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Despite Kelly’s vision and Daphne wishing me luck, the answer I was looking for continued to remain elusive. Another twenty-four hours went by without a single break in the case.
The next morning, I woke up in a panic. This case was turning into a real beast. If that weren’t bad enough, Christmas was inching closer.
Naturally, the most important thing was finding Julie’s killer. But doing so before Christmas Day would be a great relief. It would be impossible to enjoy the holiday if I knew that the guilty party was still at large.
Unfortunately, I felt like the investigation was stuck in neutral. And with the self-imposed deadline of trying to crack this case in the next few days, it meant that the pressure was on. The problem was that solving a murder was hard enough already without added stress.
That said, I had to find a way to power through. Despite my frustration, I had the sense that David and I were just one break away from cracking this sucker. As if we were staring at a puzzle that only had one piece missing.
The suspects weren’t helping. They were all very quiet, both online and in real life. They appeared to be lying low.
Instead of giving myself a headache from stressing out too much, I decided to get some fresh air. Snickerdoodle didn’t complain. He was always up for a walk. Most days, the little guy practically begged for one.
It ended up being a good plan. The crisp winter air was refreshing. In addition, it felt good to stretch my legs.
Not surprisingly, halfway through the walk, I ended up running into my friend, Melissa Wilcox, and her West Highland terrier, Butterscotch. Melissa only lived a few blocks away, so we frequently crossed paths when taking our dogs out for walks.
The tall, thin angular-faced twenty-nine-year-old had her long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail.
But it was Butterscotch’s appearance that really stood out that morning. After all, it wasn’t every day that I saw a dog wearing such a cute Christmas sweater.
“Look how adorable you look,” I said.
“Butter didn’t like it when I was putting the sweater on, but he doesn’t seem to mind it now that he is outside,” Melissa replied.
“I’ll bet. It’s brisk out here.”
“Yeah. The weather seems to know that Christmas is almost here.”
“That works for me. Remember a couple of years ago when it was unseasonably mild? Even for Treasure Cove? It made it hard to get in the spirit.”
“Well, it’s hard not to be in the spirit now.”
“Sounds like someone is excited for Christmas.”
“Who isn’t?”
I put on a good face to avoid talking about the homicide investigation. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be able to see past my forced smile. “There’s no holiday quite like Christmas.”
I quickly changed the subject before she could tell that anything was wrong with me.
“What? No matching Christmas sweater for you?” I asked.
“It turns out they weren’t selling matching holiday sweaters for dogs and humans,” she joked.
“What a shame,” I wise cracked. My eyes were drawn to Butterscotch again. “By the way. Where did you get that sweater? I might want to pick one up for Snickerdoodle.”
“You’re not going to believe this, but I bought it at a mini-mart.”
My eyebrows knitted. “Seriously?”
“I know. I was shocked,” she said. “A couple weeks ago, I stopped in there to buy a pack of gum. But when I spotted the sweater on a rack, I knew I just had to get it for Butter.”
“What a find,” I said.
“That’s not all. It turns out that mini-mart has some amazing eggnog, too.”
I gave her a wary look. “You bought eggnog at a mini-mart?”
“I know what you’re thinking—have I lost my mind? But I haven’t.”
I bit my lip and remained silent.
“Sabrina, I’m not crazy. I promise. Just go see for yourself,” Melissa said.
“I just might have to—for the dog sweater, at least,” I replied. “I can get incredible eggnog from Daley Buzz whenever I want.”
“By the sound of things, what you need is a cup of spiked eggnog. Is it true that you are investigating Julie Lambert’s murder?” Melissa asked.
So much for being able to keep my investigative efforts under the radar.
I nodded.
“I’m so sorry about what happened to her,” Melissa said.
My emotions swelled as thoughts about the case raced through my mind.
I winced. “I would actually rather not talk about it.”
“Fair enough,” she replied.
“How about you? What’s new in your life?” I asked. “Other than surprising trips to the mini-mart, that is?”
“Now that you mention it, I met a guy.”
“At the mini-mart?”
She shook her head. “No. At the gym.”
“You have been keeping up your gym schedule during the holidays? I wasn’t planning on stepping onto a treadmill again until the holiday-eating season was over. I mean, that’s why New Year’s resolutions were invented, weren’t they? To burn off unwanted Christmas weight?”
I joked.
“I have been actually going to the gym more, knowing that holiday-eating season is here. And it has paid off in more ways than one.”
“I’ll say. What’s this guy’s name?”
“Eric Horton. He’s a smart, handsome, and kind cardiologist.”
My eyes lit up. “A doctor? Good for you.”
Melissa smiled. “I know, right? It feels like I’ve hit the romantic jackpot.”
“It definitely sounds like you have,” I said. “It’s not every day that you meet a man who specializes in matters of the heart.”
“It sure isn’t. And I should know. Look at my dating history.”
“In your case, I think it’s better to look forward.”
She chuckled. “You’re right. All it takes is a quick peek into my past to make me appreciate how far I’ve come.”
Melissa wasn’t kidding. As recently as three years ago, she dated Andrew Stewart, who became a tragic murder victim. Next, she was romantically involved with Jake Williamson, the cold business tycoon who had his sights set on owning all of Treasure Cove. When things went south with Jake, she dated William Bolton, who was now in jail for conspiring to commit murder.
“The way I see it, you were long overdue for a good relationship,” I said.
“And one has found me. Just in time, too. I’ve been alone at Christmas before. It is miserable. I can’t tell you how delighted I am to have a boyfriend to celebrate the holidays with this year,” she replied.
“I’m really happy for you.”
“I honestly don’t care what gifts I get this year. Just having Eric in my life is enough of a present to make me smile from ear to ear.”
I gazed into her eyes. “You know, I can honestly say that I’ve never seen you this happy.”
“That’s probably because I haven’t been.”
“Good for you.”
I heard a ringing sound coming from Melissa’s pocket. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and looked at the caller identification screen.
“Speaking of, that’s him calling me,” Melissa said. “I need to take this. But it was good talking to you, Sabrina.”
I remained quiet as the gears began turning in my head. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a thought popped into my mind that refused to be ignored.
Daley Buzz Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 85
