The Frosty Taste of Scandal: An Angel Lake Mystery (Walking Calamity Cozy Mystery Book 6)

by CeeCee James

  “But he didn’t?”

  “Mr. Hamilton was just relieved the FDIC decided to close the investigation. He didn’t want to stir that all up again. Besides, he had some more exciting news on the horizon. The future was looking bright for him.”

  “You mean because of his son?”

  Mrs. Johnson arched an eyebrow. She studied Elise carefully. “Well, well. You certainly seem well versed in his life. Yes, that was it exactly.”

  “That’s what happened last night,” Elise said. “Mr. Bingham read the amendment to the will. You were the notary public?”

  Her gaze cut away again, and she started to twirl the pen. “I’m sorry, but that’s all the time I have right now. Thank you for your condolences, Ms. Pepper.”

  Elise stood to leave. “Thank you for your time.” She turned to go.

  “Oh, and Ms. Pepper?” Mrs. Johnson stopped her. “Be careful who you asked questions of. You might find yourself in a real tight place.”

  Elise shut the door behind her, wondering if that was meant more as a warning or as a threat.

  Chapter 15

  The rest of the day was a blur. Sue shooed her out of the office early, knowing Elise was supposed to meet Brad at Mama Mia’s. But first, Elise had an after-school meeting with one of Lucy’s teachers. The teacher was concerned that Lucy seemed to be more anxious than usual. Elise tried to explain about the meeting that was coming up between Lucy and her mom. She made a mental note to call the teen’s counselor.

  So she was in a rush when she got home. Tonight was their chance to make up for their failed date night at the skating rink, and she was already late.

  She called her parents to make sure they’d been able to get plane tickets. Her mom wanted to chat about their new house repairs, and Elise had an agonizing few minutes of trying to sound interested while running around looking for her shoes and slipping into a dress.

  She sent a text off to Lavina, thanking her again, fed Max, and threw a frozen pizza in the oven for Lucy.

  Elise checked her messages on her way to the car and got a voice mail from Tamara the florist telling her that, although there weren’t a lot of options this late in the game, she’d see what she could do and she’d make it beautiful. Then she was off for the restaurant, the one they’d planned to go to the night of ice skating.

  As she parked the car, she noted Brad’s jeep two stalls down.

  Trying to pull herself together, she took a few cleansing breaths. And then threw all that out the window running into the restaurant.

  The hostess smiled as Elise ran in. A huge potted poinsettia sat on the end of the counter. From the corner of her eye, Elise noticed a young woman in jeans and a white shirt seated on the bench normally filled with those waiting for a table.

  “Hi,” she said breathlessly. “I’ve got someone here already waiting for me.”

  “Are you Elise Pepper?” the hostess asked.

  Elise nodded.

  “Right this way.”

  Just as Elise turned to follow, the young woman tapped her on her arm. “Elise Pepper?”

  Elise nodded again, this time confused.

  The woman held out a note which caught Elise’s glance. Her glance cut from it quickly up to the young woman’s face.

  “Here, take it.” The woman pushed the envelope toward her.

  “What is this?”

  “Someone just pointed you out to me and told me to give it to you.”

  “Someone who?” Elise looked around to see if she could catch anyone watching. The restaurant was filled with bustling people. “Who was it?”

  “Look, I have to go. Can you just take it? Please?” The young woman’s eyes widened in a beseeching look.

  Elise reached for it. As soon as the paper touched her hand, the woman turned and ran.

  “Hey! Wait!” Elise called, but there was no stopping her.

  Elise studied the envelope, not at all sure she wanted to know what was inside. She tapped it against her hand.

  The hostess waited expectantly. With a sigh, Elise started after her. The waitress led her to the bar. “Your table will be ready shortly.”

  “Hey…” Brad said warmly as she walked up, his eyes doing that little dance up her body. He smiled. “Love your dress. You are a knock out.”

  She felt her cheeks flush, knowing she’d searched forever for this dress just for this reaction. “What? This old thing?”

  He laughed. “Yeah, whatever.”

  Elise snuggled up to his side and let him hug her tight. After a moment, she reluctantly pulled away.

  “How long were you waiting for me?” she asked.

  He shrugged and took a sip of his drink. Squinting at the glass, he held it up. “About that long.”

  The drink was half gone. She guessed maybe fifteen minutes.

  “Did you see a young lady around here?”

  His eyebrow raised. “Uhhh….”

  “One in a white shirt and jeans.”

  “I’m not looking at anyone but you.” He winked.

  “Brad. I’m serious. She stopped me when I came in and gave me this.” Elise held out the envelope.

  Brad took it. His brows lowered as he studied the front. The light was dim, but not too dim to read it. “Elise Pepper.”

  The bartender walked up.

  “I’ll have a lemon drop,” Elise gave her order.

  Brad handed the envelope back. “You ever see her before?”

  She shook her head.

  “You going to open it?” he asked.

  Elise hesitated. The girl had given it to her. What if it contained something for her eyes only? I guess that’s too bad then.

  She opened it up and pulled out the note. Carefully, she smoothed the paper.

  In bold print, it said: Check out the Thunderbolts winning championship.

  The bartender brought her the drink. Elise took a quick sip and then pulled her phone from her purse.

  “What are you doing?” Brad asked.

  “I’m doing what the note says. Checking it out.”

  He sighed and finished the rest of his drink.

  “What?” Elise asked. “You mad at me?”

  “Well, you’re late for one. And now, in the first alone time we get together, you’re on your phone.”

  “Just hang tight. Almost done.” Come on. Come on. The wheel was spinning. Then it came up.

  Thunderbolts defeat Lexington in an epic hockey battle.

  She clicked the article and turned her phone to examine the picture.

  There were approximately twenty faces. She zoomed in and examined them one by one. Her breath sucked in. Without a doubt, one was very familiar.

  And his name wasn’t Parker.

  Her voice raised in excitement as she read the name on the picture out loud, “Second-generation hockey player, Scott Daniels, shot the winning goal as the team’s forward. Brad! He’s not really the son. He’s a fake!” Elise shoved the phone toward him.

  “Wait. What?” Brad squinted and held the phone a little further away to read it. When he finished, he looked to Elise for an explanation.

  “The note,” she slid it over. “It says to search up the hockey winners. Well that guy right there,” her finger touched on Scott’s face, “is the guy I met at Sue’s mother’s house introducing himself as Parker. The illegitimate son of Roger Hamilton.”

  Brad shook his head. “How do you always get yourself right in the middle of these cases?”

  “I don’t know!” Elise exclaimed. “It comes naturally to me.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her.

  She held up her hands in an innocent gesture. “I swear, I’m not searching any of this out. I just stumble into it.”

  “You have the best luck when it comes to stumbling,” he noted dryly. He snapped a picture of the note and then forwarded the news article to his phone. After a bit more typing, he replaced his phone back in his pocket.

  “What did you do?” she asked.

  He grabbe
d a handful of peanuts from the bowl. “Sent it all to the proper authorities, the detectives on this case. So they can stumble into it.” He winked at her. “Now, can we have our date?”

  Just then, the hostess showed up to let them know their table was ready. Elise decided to drop it because she knew Brad really wanted this date. But all she could think about was texting Sue. Did she know?

  Chapter 16

  Unfortunately, Brad had to break the news to Elise that a blurry newspaper snap shot was not enough to identify Parker as Scott Daniels. “It’s muddied the waters, to be sure,” he admitted. “But there are a million people who look alike. And who wanted you to know this? What was their motive? Why wouldn’t they have just gone to the police themselves?”

  Elise had no answer for that. “Everything about this case is one step forward, two steps back,” she grumbled.

  Brad smiled. “It’s because you take every bit of circumstantial evidence as fact. Everything has to be proven. Hang in there. We’ll get our guy…or girl.”

  Luckily, the rest of the date was a success. Stuffed to the gills and completely relaxed for the first time in over a week, Elise had driven home to fall straight into bed. She needed to get right to sleep. Relaxing the next day wasn’t in the plans. She had to get up early in order to take Lucy to visit her mom, and then that night was the school’s Winter Formal.

  When the alarm clock went off, Elise had been dreaming of a crazed Zamboni plowing through the backyards of her neighborhood, knocking down fences and swing sets. As silly as it was, she woke up in a sweat.

  Shaking herself awake, she turned off the alarm and stared at the time. Then, with a groan, she stumbled into the bathroom for a shower.

  Early morning wasn’t kind to either Elise or Lucy. They both bumped around the kitchen silently while getting coffee, Elise, with her hair in a towel. Neither were morning people.

  Elise dumped some food in the cat bowl, which Max promptly ignored. She took her mug to her window seat and stared outside.

  There was frost in all of the window’s corners. It was getting colder every day. Her little cherry tree was stripped bare of its leaves, with some stubborn cherries still hanging on like ornaments. She took a sip, musing that she needed to get a Christmas tree soon.

  So much going on. So little time.

  She leaned back against the cushions and mused over last night’s note. If Parker wasn’t who he said he was, wouldn’t that be easy to prove? Just check his driver’s license? Passport?

  Like those can’t be forged. Vi had a fake license by the time she was seventeen.

  What about a plane ticket stub?

  She thought some more. But he didn’t even know his dad had died. Mr. Bingham had to track him down in England to tell him.

  She groaned. The hockey article has to be just a coincidence.

  “You ready?” Lucy asked. She was dressed in a long sweater and skinny jeans. Her face was pale, and her gray eyes looked worried.

  “Yeah. Give me five minutes.” Elise hurried back to her room. She pinned up her hair and found her shoes. Then they silently headed to the car.

  “You all right?” she asked the teen once they had settled in the seats.

  Lucy nodded, staring out the passenger window.

  “It’s going to be okay.” Elise said, hoping it was true.

  The drive was long and, except for a few switches through the radio, quiet. Elise could only imagine what Lucy was thinking about.

  The tree-lined driveway of the recovery center finally appeared. Elise pulled down the driveway and parked the car. The two of them sat there— neither one of them making a move for the door. The car’s engine began a slow ticking sound as it started to cool down.

  “You ready?” Elise finally asked.

  Lucy tucked her hair behind her ears. Elise was struck by the changing appearance of the teen. Some days, she looked so young. On others, you could clearly see the maturity in her eyes.

  Her eyes looked young today. Stressed. She nodded, but it was obvious she was reluctant to get out of the car.

  “I’m right here,” Elise said quietly. She gave the teen a smile. “You’ve got this. During track season I watched you pull out all the stops on the last quarter of a race and win. Remind yourself of who you are and what you’re capable of, Miss Take-no-prisoners.”

  Lucy snickered, and then her eyes widened as if she surprised herself with the sound. “I can do this, can’t I?”

  “You totally can. Your mom is on her path, and you are on yours. You’re a strong, young woman.”

  She shot Elise a worried look and Elise felt like she could read her mind. She hurriedly continued. “I’m coming with you, though. Because even on our own two feet, sometimes we need two more feet next to us.”

  She grinned then. Elise cringed at the teen’s poor chapped lips.

  “Do you have any lip gloss?” Elise asked.

  Lucy shook her head. She never carried a purse. Instead, she always jammed everything into either her pocket or her backpack.

  Elise frowned and dug through her purse. She found some chapstick. “Here, use this.”

  Lucy smoothed it on. She started to hand it back when Elise said, “Keep it. You might need it later.”

  Now, there was no more stalling. “You ready?”

  Lucy nodded and jerked the car door open. She climbed out, with Elise following on the other side. Elise grabbed her purse and then brushed her hair off her shoulder. Her stomach jumped with nervousness. Don’t freak out. You’re the adult here.

  The two of them walked through the parking lot scattered with pinecones and leaves. Near the sidewalk, the leaves had gathered in wet piles. The smell reminded Elise of winter walks with her dad through the woods. A deep, mouldering smell.

  The building in the distance appeared innocent. Christmas lights hung from the bordering trees. Snowflake decals decorated the windows.

  This place has helped heal a lot of people.

  Elise sincerely hoped Lucy’s mom was one of those people.

  They walked to the doors, and Elise opened one. Inside was painted in a light soothing green, with couches and chairs scattered in the common area, along with tables covered in books and magazines.

  There was a receptionist and what appeared to be a check-in desk. Elise walked over, with Lucy a few steps behind.

  “Hi,” Elise said as the receptionist gave her a welcoming grin. “We’re here to see—”

  “Mom?” Lucy interrupted.

  Elise turned to look. A thin woman stood up from a chair at the far end of the room, next to a window. The window’s light glowed around her, making her appear even frailer. Elise couldn’t make out the face.

  Lucy had already left her side and was hurrying across the room.

  The woman stood like a stone carving.

  Elise’s heart squeezed. Lift your arms. Say something! This is your daughter!

  Lucy stopped short before the woman. They stared at each other for a moment. They were nearly the same size. Slowly, Lucy wrapped her mom in a hug.

  Elise started forward. Indignity was building inside of her. You hug your daughter! As she got closer, she saw she’d misunderstood.

  Tears poured out of Lucy’s mom’s eyes. Her mouth was stiff with a silent cry. She was a picture of agony, shame. Gratitude. She dipped her chin down until her forehead rested beside her daughter’s. Carefully, she tucked one arm around Lucy, and then the other. They clung to each other, both of them quaking.

  Finally, Lucy’s mom straightened up. A hint of a smile curved her pale lips as she brushed the hair back from her daughter’s shoulders. “I like what you did with your hair.”

  Lucy’s face shone in a way that Elise had never seen before. “You noticed? I chopped it all off.”

  Her mom chuckled. “I can see that. And now I can see your face better. And it’s so beautiful.” The mom’s bottom lip quivered. Elise could feel her own throat tightening.

  “How are you doing?” Lucy
asked her mom.

  “I’m good. One day at a time.” Suddenly her mom was shuffling through her pockets. She pulled out a token. “Look! Ninety days.”

  Lucy took the token and hummed in admiration. “Great job, Mom.”

  “More importantly, how are you?”

  “I’m good. I’m doing real good. I have a job.”

  “Really!” her mom smiled. “And how’s school?”

  “School? We’re really going to start with that?” Lucy made a face.

  Her mom laughed again, thin and papery. “No. I guess we better not. Actually, there’s some stuff I’ve been wanting to tell you.” Her eyes caught her daughter’s. “But I’d like to talk privately.”

  At those words, Elise slowly backed away. Lucy was fine. She didn’t need her, now.

  The mom reached for her daughter’s hand. “Want to take a walk?”

  Together, they headed out the front door.

  Lucy never looked back, having forgotten about Elise. Even though Elise expected that, she didn’t expect the stab of pain. She shook her head as if she could shake the feeling away, chastising herself for being silly.

  For them to be reunited was always the plan.

  She just never expected to love the girl so much, herself.

  Sighing, Elise walked out to her car to give them space. Sitting in the driver’s seat, the car’s silence that had been bearable on the way here was suddenly thunderous. She flipped on the radio and searched through the stations, eventually settling on one. To distract herself even more, she started a note on her phone.

  Claudia seemed surprised when she met Parker. Can I find out why?

  Did the siblings benefit from their brother’s death? I’d say yes, with the old will. But not with the son in the picture.

  Claudia benefited.

  What about Grandma Babe? She couldn’t possibly be involved. Or could she?

  And what on earth are we going to eat at the wedding reception?

  Elise glanced at the go-fund-me and was pleased to see it was at eight thousand. Yesterday, the student government had placed flyers all around town. Lucy was a part of that. She glanced out into the lawn and saw Lucy with her mother, both of them smiling.