StrawBuried in Chocolate (Black Cat Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 2)

by Lyndsey Cole

  “It’s fine. I’m curious why you decided to let me know where she is. I thought you were afraid I’d spill the beans to Tyler.”

  “Not after you told me you aren’t talking to him anymore. I trust that he won’t be getting any information out of you.”

  The kitchen door swung open behind Annie. “Close your eyes,” Leona said in a sing song voice.

  Annie heard a gentle clunk on the table. “Okay, you can take a look at my masterpiece, a brownie strawberry shortcake.”

  Annie gasped at the beautiful dessert in front of her. Whipped cream and triangle slices of strawberries were layered in between three rounds of brownies. The top had chocolate covered strawberries artfully arranged in the center of more triangles of strawberries and dollops of whipped cream.

  “I hope you aren’t sick of chocolate and strawberries yet,” Leona said as she handed a silver knife to Annie.

  “Impossible.” She slid the knife through the layers and served a piece to Jason and one for herself while Jason refilled the wine glasses.

  Annie didn’t offer any to Leona but she helped herself and sat down at the table. With a mouthful of deliciousness and a glob of whipped cream on the corner of her lip, Leona brought the conversation back to Johnny Robbins.

  “Is there anything more on Johnny besides the fact that he was walking on the Lake Trail?”

  Annie exchanged a look with Jason that didn’t miss Leona’s sharp eyes. “What? Tell me.”

  “Were you in Jason’s house before Lacy went in?”

  Leona’s mouth fell open and her face blanched. “Who told you that?” she hissed through clenched teeth.

  “Were you?” Annie glared at Leona until Leona hung her head down.

  “No. And I didn’t kill her,” Leona said in a quiet voice with her chin resting on her hands.

  Annie sighed. “I believe you, but you aren’t making it easy for us. Johnny came to my apartment earlier and told me he was planning to follow Lacy inside until he heard a voice. He said it was you but I didn’t believe him. I’m not convinced he’s even certain about it, but he’s desperate to point the blame away from himself.”

  “What’s he got to worry about?”

  Annie sat back and smiled. “He admitted that Lacy had something over him. Any idea what?”

  “How did you get him to admit that?”

  “A big fat bluff that he took hook, line and sinker. Now, what could Lacy have on Johnny?”

  “Johnny has a liquor store. I’d look in that direction. Possibly something to do with Lacy’s husband. Maybe taxes or permits. Danny might know something. Unfortunately, he spends far too much time at the liquor store. Check with him.”

  Jason had been sitting quietly. “What about Lacy’s brother?”

  “Brad?” Annie asked.

  “Yeah. From what I know, he’s in a rocky relationship with his wife, Sherry, and when she kicks him out he has to hope Lacy gives him a place to stay. Might make someone resentful. Just saying.”

  “Hmmm. Good point. He likes to let people think he’s the grieving brother but he’ll make out as Lacy’s heir to her fortune. That’s a million dollar motive if I’ve ever seen one.” Annie patted her stomach. “I’m stuffed. There isn’t room for even one more crumb.”

  Jake returned to the dining room. “Are you done yet?”

  “Yes,” Jason answered. “You were extremely generous to let us have this romantic meal here. What’s the story with your house?”

  Jake smiled, finally happy to be the center of attention. “Come on. I’ll give you a tour.”

  Jason followed as Jake explained all the repairs and renovations that happened over the past five years.

  Leona moved to a comfy chair facing the dark windows. “I’m sorry I put you in this position, Annie. I should have told Tyler the truth from the start, but I panicked. I knew it was going to look really, really bad for me, whether I lied or not.”

  They heard a knock on the door. Leona stood up. “That’s probably Mia. Jason told her to stop by if she could get here without being followed.”

  When Leona returned, Mia was following her but there was a third, uninvited person, behind Mia.

  Chapter 14

  Annie stood up so fast her chair tipped over, crashing on the granite floor and making a loud noise that echoed through the house. “Tyler? Why are you here?”

  Tyler stood, a bit awkwardly, dressed casually in jeans and a warm parka instead of his police uniform.

  Jason rushed into the room. “I heard a crash.” He stopped short when he saw Tyler standing next to Mia.

  Mia held her hands up. “Don’t panic. Not yet, anyway. I can explain.”

  Jake was the last one to enter the room. “Oh great. What now? I thought this was supposed to be an easy, quiet dinner for Annie and Jason. Am I in some kind of trouble?”

  Leona laughed. “Why such a guilty conscience, Jake? You think Tyler is finally going to bust you for all your weed smoking? Get over yourself and think about other people in this room, you moron.”

  “Oh. I guess I’ve always been a little paranoid. So, what’s going on? Are Mia and Tyler here for some after dinner coffee?”

  Leona stood in front of Jake with her hands on his shoulders and her face an inch from his face. “Why am I here?”

  Finally, the situation dawned on Jake and his mouth fell open. “Oh. Tyler is here for you?”

  Tyler approached Leona. “Can we sit somewhere and talk? It’s not exactly what you’re thinking.”

  “I’ll make some coffee,” Jake offered.

  Everyone settled in Jake’s rustic living room filled with heavy oak and leather furniture. The atmosphere was pure macho, Annie thought, which clashed with Jake’s hippy artsy personality, but the glowing fire helped to make the room cozy.

  “This is the problem,” Mia started. “I went to my yoga class this afternoon. Since I was early, I waited in the hallway and I overheard some chit chat between Tess and one of the other women who was already warming up in the yoga room.”

  Jake returned with coffee, mugs, cream and sugar and the rest of the brownie strawberry shortcake. He had enough sense to keep his mouth shut and let everyone serve themselves.

  Mia got up and paced in front of the fireplace. “Of course they were talking about Leona. That’s all everyone is talking about lately. The other woman told Tess that she heard Leona ran away because Leona’s the one who killed Lacy McGuire. Tess said, ‘Yeah, she didn’t want Lacy to write her kiss and tell book since there was a whole chapter about Leona and Hank.’ And, her two cents is, if Leona didn’t kill Lacy, there’s still someone out there who will want Leona dead too. As soon as I walked in, their faces got red and they shut up.”

  Leona threw up her arms. “What I did isn’t murder worthy.”

  Tyler stood up. “Mia called me with a plan.” He looked down at his clothes. “As you can see, I’m not here on official police business. My goal is to keep Leona safe. And alive.”

  Leona relaxed slightly. “So, I’m not headed to the slammer yet?”

  Tyler continued. “Mia and I thought you might be safest in jail. Let everyone think you’re the murderer. Not much of a stretch since everyone but the real murderer thinks that already. I’ll arrest you tonight and get you safely in jail before anyone figures out where you are. If this is connected to Hank McGuire and Lacy’s book, the murderer will want to shut you up too.”

  “Wow. So you think I’m innocent, Tyler? That’s a huge relief at least. I’m much happier knowing you’re on my side.”

  “Don’t push your luck, I’m not happy with you. You lied to me about not touching anything in Jason’s house, Annie found your glove out in the snow, and Johnny swears he heard you inside Jason’s house after Lacy went in. You told me that you followed her in.” He inhaled a deep breath. “I’m trying to keep an open mind for now. That’s the best I can offer you.”

  Leona nodded. “Annie has some more information.”

  Tyler helped him
self to a cup of coffee and a big piece of the shortcake before settling down in a comfy chair. “I’m all ears.”

  “I wasn’t planning to tell you this, but since we all seem to be on the same page, here goes.” Annie curled her legs up on the couch. “I stopped in to visit with Thelma Dodd.”

  Tyler nodded as he sipped his coffee.

  “She keeps a notebook of all the people she sees walking on the Lake Trail; day, time, which direction they’re going.”

  “Really? She didn’t tell me about that,” Tyler said.

  “You probably didn’t help her with her crossword puzzle.”

  “I’ll have to remember that trick. Who did she see?”

  “Johnny Robbins and an unidentified woman wearing a black parka.”

  “I know Johnny was there. He told me he saw Lacy going into Jason’s house around two thirty, followed her and heard Leona’s voice inside so he returned to finish his walk on the Lake Trail.” Tyler looked at Leona. “So, either he’s lying about hearing your voice or you lied to me about going in after Lacy was already inside.”

  Leona was excited. “He’s lying about hearing my voice. It must have been someone else. The murderer. Here’s what happened. I did follow her inside but it wasn’t at two thirty. It couldn’t have been before two forty five. I don’t know, maybe she went in at two thirty, then came back out to get something from her car. So the first time she went in, someone was there and that other person is who Johnny heard.”

  Annie encouraged Leona. “Tell Tyler the rest of what happened.”

  Tyler’s eyebrows went up.

  “I followed Lacy inside, we argued for a minute, I tripped and fell against the kitchen counter and I left. There was a loud noise. I thought it was a door slamming and went back in and Lacy was dead on the kitchen floor. That’s it. The whole story.”

  “How did your glove get in the snow in front of Jason’s house?” Tyler asked.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “What about the unidentified woman in a black parka?” Tyler asked. “Any ideas on who that is?”

  “Tess was wearing a black parka when Jason pulled her out of the lake,” Annie said.

  “That’s a possibility, but black parkas are not uncommon this time of year. And what would she gain from Lacy’s death?”

  “Good point. Maybe she’s in the will since Lacy didn’t have any kids of her own,” Jason offered. “And on that subject, what about Brad being Lacy’s heir? We’re talking millions in that estate. That’s a hefty motive if you ask me. Especially for someone who has always been in his big sister’s shadow.”

  Leona jumped up. “That would put Tess and Brad at each other’s throat for all that money. We know where Johnny was, and Tess if it was her in the black parka. Where was Brad when Lacy was murdered?”

  Tyler answered, “He said he was at Lacy’s house. Alone.”

  “So he doesn’t have an alibi. How about Sherry?”

  “At Thelma’s house,” Annie said.

  “Okay. And what about Tess? Where does she say she was?”

  Tyler put his plate and mug on a small table next to his chair. “That’s interesting. She said she was at Lacy’s house too. Alone.”

  “Well, it is a huge house so it’s possible that Brad and Tess were both there and didn’t know they weren’t alone,” Jason said.

  “Or, someone is lying,” Leona stated. “My opinion is that Tess is lying. Brad has a money motive, but I always thought he and Lacy got along. Now, if the murder victim was Tess’s mother, Brad and Lacy’s youngest sister who died last year, I would suspect Brad. Those two never got along and maybe that’s where the tension between Brad and Tess comes from.”

  Tyler checked the time. “I need to get going. JC will be wondering where I am.”

  Annie smiled. “Back together, then?”

  Tyler gave a thumbs up. “For now. My fingers are crossed. Leona, are you coming with me?”

  “I suppose so.” She hugged Annie. “I’m counting on you, Red.”

  Leona walked out the front door while Tyler pulled on his coat.

  A gunshot and a scream pierced the dark night. Then silence.

  Chapter 15

  Tyler was out the door in a flash with his gun drawn.

  Nothing but the sound of tires crunching on the frozen dirt road disturbed the night’s silence.

  Jake turned the rest of his outside lights on and grabbed a couple of flashlights as everyone else searched for their coats in panic mode.

  Annie tripped and almost fell as she hurried to follow Jason out the door. Tyler aimed his flashlight at the ground following footprints from the front door and along the parked cars.

  Annie put her hands around her mouth. “Leona? Leona, where are you?”

  No response came back to Annie.

  Tyler pointed to one of the tires on his car. “Looks like someone came here with an agenda.” The rim was sitting on the snow, no air in the tire.

  “I think whoever was here shot at Leona and forced her into their car. See this?” He shined his flashlight on tire tracks behind his car and two sets of footsteps disappearing into where the driver side door would have been.

  Annie bent down, carefully digging in the snow around a tiny speck of blue reflecting in the flashlight. She gasped when she uncovered a beautiful sapphire stone. “I’ve seen this stone before. Lacy was wearing a sapphire bracelet the day she was murdered.”

  Annie held it up for Tyler to see. “Was a bracelet removed from Lacy’s body after she was killed?”

  Tyler studied the stone. “Not that I remember but I’ll check into it for you.”

  “Tess said she was supposed to inherit the bracelet when she turned twenty one. She accused Brad of pawning it.”

  Tyler looked at the cars parked in front of his. “I need to use someone’s car to go after whoever kidnapped Leona. They already have a head start but maybe I can catch them before they get back to the main road.”

  Mia’s car was in front of Tyler’s. “Take mine, it will be the easiest to get out first. I’ll catch a ride home with Annie and Jason.” With a deathly white face, she dug her keys out of her pocket and tossed them to Tyler. “Please find her before something I don’t even want to think about happens.”

  “Okay. So, that couldn’t have gone more wrong.” Jason said to the disappearing taillights of the car Tyler was driving.

  Mia stood with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. “It’s all my fault. I thought by bringing Tyler it would make Leona safer but all I managed to do was lead the killer right to her.”

  Annie put her arm on her mother’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault. Leona got herself into this mess by arguing with Lacy and then lying to Tyler. We have to put our heads together and figure out who has her and where they’re taking her.”

  Jason added, “Annie’s right. I’ll give you a ride home and we can all work on finding Leona tomorrow. I’m sure Tyler will do everything possible tonight.”

  “We’ll open the café like usual, but let’s keep it simple,” Annie said.

  ***

  Annie tossed and turned, dreaming that someone was chasing her. It was a faceless person, but it terrified her.

  The light in Jason’s house was on when Annie finally gave up trying to sleep. Soon after she turned her lights on, she heard a quiet knock on her door.

  Jason held a coffee carafe in one hand and the rest of the brownie strawberry shortcake in the other. “I rescued this from Jake before we left last night. Want a piece with some hot coffee?”

  Annie smiled as she looked at Jason’s handsome face. “Thanks. Just what I need to fire up my brain for the day. Come on in.”

  Roxy wagged her tail and Smokey twisted between Jason’s legs, almost tripping him.

  “I never told you how much I enjoyed your romantic dinner surprise. Well, at least until everything went badly and Leona disappeared. Was that another elaborate act to actually keep her safe?”

  Jason shoo
k his head. “I wish I could tell you she’s safely hidden away somewhere, but the truth is, I’m worried sick about her.”

  Annie carried the cake to her table and got out plates, forks and mugs for the coffee. “How did Leona end up at Jake’s house anyway?”

  Jason threw his coat onto the back of the couch and set the coffee on the table.

  “She knew she had a big problem and Jake has that remote house and isn’t social around town.” Jason shrugged as he sat at the table. “It seemed like an okay plan at the time.”

  “You were in on it?” Annie cut the cake and put a piece on each of two plates.

  Jason poured coffee into the two mugs. “Yes. She swore me to secrecy because she knew you couldn’t lie to Tyler. I didn’t like that part about not being able to tell you the plan, but I knew she was right.”

  “She knows me well.” Annie looked at Jason. “And you do, too.” She smiled. “It’s funny how Tyler came through to help her. He’s a genuinely good guy. Catfish Cove is lucky to have him as the police chief.”

  “I’ve been thinking,” Jason said after he took a bite of the cake. “I can help Mia at the café so you can make that hair appointment with Tess.”

  “I hope she can fit me in today. I’ll tell her it’s urgent since I have a hot date.”

  “You do? With who?”

  Annie poured coffee for them both. “I’ll never tell.”

  “Does your boyfriend know about this, or are you two-timing him?”

  Annie felt her cheeks heat up when Jason used the word boyfriend. Was that what he was, she wondered. Even though he traveled a lot, he did always make time for her when he was around.

  He rested his hand on hers. “I hope that’s how you think of me.”

  She nodded, unable to trust herself to speak without getting all choked up.

  “Okay then. Glad that’s settled. Now, don’t do anything foolish when you’re talking to Tess,” Jason advised.

  “Who, me? Of course not.”

  She finished her shortcake and put the dirty dishes in the sink. “Ready?”