Pawsitively Fatal (Silver Springs Cozy Mystery Series Book 4)

by Ginny Gold

  Maggie wonders again what Ginger Rae, Winona and Erline told Anya to get her to come in, or if she’s here all on her own. Her accusations make Maggie think she might have come on her own.

  “Sorry for my outburst. My brother was here this morning,” Maggie remembers Thomas LeClair’s face and she’s surprised she didn’t notice the resemblance earlier, “and he was upset with your answers.”

  Maggie nods while she makes her own tea—raspberry. “I can’t make an exception to our policies without my sister here to agree to it,” she explains.

  “I was upset at first, too, but I understand.” They sit in silence for a moment, Maggie unwilling to push the conversation along. She wants Anya to get to the point of her visit without any prodding or detours. “Tommy is hoping to take over Travis’s role with James’s estate,” Anya finally says matter of factly.

  Maggie sees the business card sitting on the table between them and reads beyond his name. Probate Attorney is neatly printed beneath Thomas LeClair.

  “Does Kami know about this?” Maggie asks.

  Anya’s face falls. “I haven’t spoken to Kami in years. We used to be close. When James and I lived in New York City. But when we split and both ended up in Silver Springs, Kami didn’t think so highly of me.”

  Maggie can understand why. James and Anya’s divorce sounds anything but cordial. As James’s sister, Kami would have been obligated to choose his side, even if their relationship later fell apart as well.

  “So Kami doesn’t know?” Maggie asks to clarify.

  Anya shakes her head. “No.”

  “Don’t you think there would be a conflict of interest if Thomas were to get involved?”

  Anya chuckles and Maggie raises an eyebrow in question. Anya notices the movement and explains, “No one has ever called him Thomas. He goes by Tommy.”

  “Okay. Wouldn’t it be a conflict of interest with Tommy involved?” She emphasizes his name out of frustration.

  “I suppose some would see it that way. But you can’t please everyone.”

  “No,” Maggie agrees. “But Kami seems like an important person to please in this particular situation.”

  Anya rolls her eyes, her earlier anger bubbling to the surface. “Kami has her own antiques. There’s no reason she deserves what James had.” Maggie notices Anya’s choice to use the word deserve.

  “And you do?” Maggie asks.

  “I already told you that after everything he put me through, yes, I do deserve something from his estate.”

  The conversation threatens to run in circles so Maggie makes an abrupt change. “Where were you Saturday afternoon?”

  Anya looks up with a threatening glare in her eye. The front door of the shop opens and a group of women come inside, their chatter and laughter a stark contrast to the building tension between Maggie and Anya.

  “If you’re implying that I might have had anything to do with James’s death, then you are way out of line, Ms. Boothe.” A small spray of saliva flies out of Anya’s mouth as she spits the words out. The sun coming through the windows makes it look like a sprinkler is turned on.

  Maggie leans back and holds up her hands defensively. “I wasn’t implying any such thing. I just wondered where you were. If I asked around, would anyone place you in or near Flower Power around the time of James’s death?”

  “Being seen there would be rather amateur, don’t you think? There’s a back door into the cooler that the killer probably used.” Anya’s voice turns from attacking Maggie to growing defensive.

  “So you know about that door then?”

  “Of course I do. Kami does too,” Anya adds, as if she wants Maggie to focus her attention on her former sister-in-law instead.

  “Why would James’s estranged ex-wife know about the back door into his business’s cooler?” Maggie asks, tapping her chin with her index finger. She continues to ignore the cheerful chatter from the new shoppers.

  “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to find that door. It opens into the alley between Flower Power and The Coffee bean.”

  “So James never told you about it? You found it yourself?” Maggie asks.

  Anya doesn’t answer the question, sending Maggie’s senses into overdrive. “I think we’re done here. You’ll be hearing from my brother. James had no right to leave his possessions to Two Sisters when I should be getting them.”

  Maggie stands and makes a move to escort Anya to the front door but Anya turns her back and heads off at a brisk pace. Instead, Maggie turns toward the group of women touching each and every scarf on the display from India. She can tell that they’re window shopping so sets herself up behind the cash register on the off chance they want to buy something.

  As she watches them browse, Maggie can’t stop thinking about Anya’s accusations. There has to be something else below the surface that she’s just barely started to scratch yet.

  CHAPTER 25

  By one o’clock, Maggie’s stomach is rumbling, her hands are shaking, and the store is buzzing with customers. She expected Drew by now with lunch to share and she’s growing frustrated that he hasn’t shown up.

  Just as she’s about to call him and ask when he’ll be here, the door opens and she’s relieved to see him carrying a big brown paper bag. Lunch has arrived.

  “Sorry,” he says as he kisses her cheek. “I got held up at work. You wouldn’t believe how unreliable millennials are sometimes. Three twenty-somethings work for me and two didn’t show this morning.”

  Maggie barely responds. She opens the bag roughly, a tear splitting down the side in her desperation to get food into her mouth, and pulls out two cartons of Chinese food and a side of rice.

  “I hope you like sesame chicken and garlic broccoli.” Drew gives her a pleading smile.

  “I’d eat anything right now,” Maggie answers, not exactly an endorsement. She opens the cartons and digs in with one of the plastic forks. “I hope you don’t mind me eating straight from the box,” she mumbles around a mouthful of chicken.

  Drew smiles. “Only if I can eat straight from the other.” He takes the broccoli and adds some rice, eating much more slowly than Maggie. She doesn’t have time to feel self-conscious about stuffing her face; she’s far too hungry to care if she’s not being ladylike.

  Maggie inhales her food and doesn’t think about Anya, Kami, Mona or even Tess’s disappearance until she has to pause to drink some water. She looks up and sees that Drew is staring at her.

  “What? Do I have food on my face?” she asks after she drinks from her water bottle.

  He shakes his head and laughs. “I’ve just never seen you so hungry. Sorry I was late.”

  Maggie smiles. The food is just starting to hit her stomach and her mood is improving drastically. “I wanted to complain but I was just so thankful you were here. With food.”

  Drew laughs again. “How was your morning?”

  Maggie’s mind is quickly brought back to all of the morning’s activities and conversations. She tells him about Mona coming to Two Sisters in tears and how they found Tess’s car next to the river.

  “Was Tess there?” he asks.

  Maggie shakes her head. “And it didn’t look good. I’ll have to call Daniel later to see if they found her. Or her body.”

  “Whatever happened with finding out about her relationship with James?”

  “Nothing. I wanted to ask her about it, and James wouldn’t tell me anything when he called this morning, but I obviously haven’t been able to talk to Tess.”

  Drew asks about Anya, and Maggie gives him a thorough update about their conversation as well. “And Kami?” Drew asks.

  Maggie shakes her head. “I haven’t seen her. Ginger Rae should be sending her here this afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed.”

  Drew crosses his fingers on both hands and holds them up to show his support. He checks his watch and puts down his fork. “I’ve gotta get back to work. Sorry to eat and run.”

  “That’s allowed when you�
�re the one providing the food,” Maggie consents, taking her first bite of broccoli. “Want to take some with you?”

  “Nope. I can always get something at work if I have to. You clearly need this more than I do.” His smile is teasing.

  “Thanks,” Maggie says, her mouth still full of broccoli.

  Drew chuckles and leaves the shop. Maggie listens to the conversations of customers, everyone happily chatting about potential buys. She is able to continue eating, keeping an eye on everyone, but not having to get up and attend to questions or issues. This kind of customer service she can handle.

  Maggie’s cell phone forces her to finish lunch. She’s full anyway but would have kept going. It’s delicious.

  The call is from a number she doesn’t recognize and picks up hesitantly. “Maggie Boothe,” she answers formally.

  “Maggie, it’s Clem,” her sister’s voice responds. Maggie can hear the relaxation and imagines the smile Clem must wear on her honeymoon and she can’t help but smile at the thought.

  “How’s your honeymoon? Why are you calling? You should be off snorkeling with Denis.”

  “I know, and I will. We’ve been having such a great time. I hope it hasn’t snowed too much or the dogs haven’t been too wild for you. How’s Two Sisters?”

  Maggie looks around. Everything is as it should be. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it at all. You’re supposed to be on vacation.”

  Clem pauses and Maggie’s heart flutters. Why is her sister calling from her honeymoon in Costa Rica? “I heard about James. Why didn’t you tell me on Saturday?”

  Maggie should have figured that out as soon as she answered the phone. She can’t go back in time and change her actions from Saturday so she comes straight out with the truth. “I didn’t want it to be what you remembered from your wedding day.”

  “Thanks,” Clem says quietly. “Now it’ll just be what I remember from my honeymoon.” There is no malice in her voice but Maggie still feels guilty.

  “I hope not.”

  “It won’t be the only thing,” Clem admits and her voice is breezy once again.

  “How did you find out?” Maggie asks, sitting down in one of the antique chairs by the register. She crosses her legs and wants to undo the button on her jeans. She ate too much. Good thing Clem called to make her stop eating.

  “I checked my email and I had some from Travis Kirsch about James leaving antiques from his estate to Two Sisters. What’s that about?”

  “I’m not really sure. But Travis is out of the picture. He was conspiring with Josh, Mitch and Karl to get at the keys and time travel pieces Mom and Dad and their friends had.”

  Clem doesn’t respond right away. Maggie has had a few days to learn all of this information and digest it slowly. Clem is getting it all in a long distance phone call. While on her honeymoon.

  “Thomas—Tommy,” she corrects herself, “LeClair is taking over maybe. It’s a long story,” Maggie says, not wanting to get into the details of James’s murder investigation.

  “I imagine it is. Are you okay with everything until I get back this weekend?”

  “Of course. Don’t you dare come home early,” Maggie threatens.

  Clem laughs. “I wouldn’t even think of it. But I might have been able to make calls from here so you wouldn’t have to deal with James’s estate while there’s plenty more for you to do. You’re trying to find James’s murderer, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” Maggie admits. “Daniel asked me to.” But Maggie would have investigated anyway.

  “I know that’s what you really want to be doing. If you have to close Two Sisters to work on that, don’t worry about it.”

  Maggie wonders if this is Clem’s way of finding out if she’s been closing early or opening late. She decides not to fall for her sister’s possible trap. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Maggie hears Clem whisper something, her hand probably muffling the phone, and then says, “I’ve gotta go. Denis booked a boat to go swim with dolphins.” The smile returns to Clem’s voice and Maggie is happy for her sister.

  “Have fun. I’ll see you this weekend.”

  Clem is gone as quickly as she called and Maggie returns to the reality of Two Sisters and what happened to James Vaughn.

  CHAPTER 26

  Business maintains itself for the rest of the afternoon and Maggie even has to hustle the last of the customers out of the store at five o’clock. She tries not to be too pushy but she has plans, just like every Tuesday since September. Maggie is going to Bingo at the community center at seven with Ginger Rae, Winona, Erline and Drew. She used to fight it, but now she enjoys the socializing.

  After making sure everything is in order for tomorrow morning and locking up, Maggie heads for home. She’s mildly annoyed that Daniel hasn’t called her with any news about Tess’s whereabouts, but Maggie’s afternoon was so busy that she didn’t have a chance to call and ask either. She suspects his afternoon would have been equally busy.

  Instead of calling Daniel after hours, Maggie tries Mona’s number while her car heats up. If Tess suddenly turned up at home, Mona would be the first to know.

  Mona’s phone rings and rings. Maggie is sure voicemail will pickup, but just before it does, Mona’s voice greets her.

  “Hello?”

  “Mona, it’s Maggie.”

  “Oh. Hi Maggie.” Mona’s voice holds no emotion. “I didn’t have your number. I almost didn’t pickup.”

  “No problem. I was just calling to see if Tess came home.”

  Mona pauses and Maggie is immediately sorry to bring up Tess’s disappearance. “No,” Mona finally answers, her voice quiet and tear filled.

  “Have the police searched your apartment yet for any clues about what happened?” Maggie pulls out of the parking lot and turns toward home.

  “Not that I know of. I only just got home.”

  Maggie hesitates before asking her next question. “Could I come check it out?”

  Mona hesitates again before agreeing. “Sure.” She gives Maggie the address and Maggie turns around. Mona and Tess live on the opposite side of Silver Springs, which isn’t really that far away. They hang up and Maggie calls Drew to let him know that she might be late for Bingo.

  “What are you going to eat for dinner?” Drew asks. Their time together today seems to revolve around food.

  “I still have leftovers from lunch. I can eat it in the car on the way from Mona’s to Bingo. Thanks again for bringing me lunch. I don’t know what I would have eaten otherwise.”

  “Of course. I’ll save you a seat at our table.”

  “Thanks.”

  Maggie hangs up just as she parks in the small parking lot next to Mona and Tess’s apartment building. She throws her green and tan handbag over her shoulder and walks inside and up the single flight of stairs to the second floor.

  Mona told her on the phone to come straight in since she might still be in the shower, so Maggie doesn’t knock. She opens the door slowly and calls out, “Hello?” just before a heavy object hits her on the head and knocks her out cold.

  ***

  Maggie comes to slowly. She is first aware of the pain in the back of her head but can’t place what it came from. She tries to raise her hand to check for a bump but finds that her wrists are bound behind her. She’s sitting in a chair and her shoulders are pulled at an angle that causes her to wince in pain with any movement.

  Maggie’s eyes open and her surroundings slowly come into focus. Mona is in the room, sitting on a chair, head leaning forward. Her dark hair is disheveled and falls in front of her chest, obscuring much of her face. But Maggie knows it’s Mona and her blood boils.

  Mona lied to Maggie. She tricked her into coming to her apartment. Thoughts race through Maggie’s mind, convincing her that Mona is guilty of not only James’s death, but Tess’s too.

  But why is she unmoving on her chair? Why isn’t she looking at Maggie now that she’s regained consciousness?

  Maggi
e knows her brain isn’t functioning at full capacity because of the heavy blow she took that’s giving her a headache and blurry vision. She can’t make sense of what’s going on.

  “I didn’t think you’d ever wake up,” a female voice says from behind Maggie.

  She tries to turn her head around, but her movement is too rapid and the throbbing begins again. She hears footsteps and then the owner of the voice is standing in front of her.

  Tess Shea.

  Maggie’s head reels even further. What is she doing here? It looked like she was dead when Maggie found her car, abandoned, beside the river.

  “You’re . . . not dead,” Maggie whispers. She isn’t sure Tess hears her until she laughs. It’s a maniacal laugh that wakes Mona and makes Maggie’s blood boil again.

  “I must have hit you harder than I meant to if you still haven’t figured it all out yet.” Tess smiles and her teeth glint in the overhead light, making her look like a villain.

  A villain! Tess is the villain!

  “You killed James?” Maggie asks.

  Another burst of laughter fills the room and Maggie’s head pounds. “I did.”

  “But . . . then . . . you were killed . . .”

  “Come on, Maggie. You can do better than that. If I’m here, how was I killed?”

  Maggie thinks it over but her head is pounding too hard for her to get all the facts into place. She starts thinking out loud. “Your car was abandoned. Your blood was in the snow. Your keys were in the car . . . You faked it.” Maggie looks up and feels like a schoolgirl looking for praise.

  Tess paces in front of Maggie, momentarily obscuring Mona from view who still hasn’t said anything since she came to. “That would have been good, but no, that’s not what happened. I did leave the keys in my car on purpose, but it was never meant to be part of faking my own death.”

  Maggie can’t come up with another explanation. She stares up at Tess, questions burning in her mind.

  “Kami. I killed Kami,” Tess says triumphantly. “And you were the only person who could have put all of the pieces together. You wanted to talk to Kami today—I knew everything you were up to,” she adds when Maggie’s eyes ask an unspoken question. “And when she never showed, you were going to start investigating. I had to get to you before you led the police down that path. And thanks to Mona going to you for help, it was all too easy.”