“Yeah, but…” Jessie stopped. “Hang on. You’re talking about this trip? The one you just got back from.”
He nodded slowly. “Sure. What other trip would I be talking about? Jessie, I’ve got to admit, I’m pretty confused.”
Jessie’s heart raced. She took a deep breath. “Mike, look. I told you I didn’t have a problem with you running for congress. And I don’t. But Aunt Bee’s message was accurate. I will miss you like crazy. I didn’t want to say anything in case it influenced your decision.”
He reached across the table and took her hands in his. His strong grip was so reassuring she wanted to close her eyes and sigh with contentment.
She knew she needed to stop thinking like that. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t been elected yet—he was the most popular mayor Springdale had ever had and she felt sure he’d easily win that seat in congress.
He was leaving.
“Jessie, I’ll be right here. Why would you miss me like crazy?”
Jessie shook her head. “Don’t be so modest. I know you haven’t even announced you’re running, but you’ve got this. I know you’ll be elected.”
Mike’s eyes were wide as saucers. “Jessie, thanks for your vote of confidence, but even so—why would that be a reason to miss me?”
“Because you’ll be in Washington,” she blurted, wondering why such an intelligent man was suddenly so incapable of understanding.
She was even more surprised when he threw his head back and laughed.
“Jessie, where did you get that impression? I never said I was moving to Washington.”
“But Congress…”
“No,” he said, shaking his head and never taking his eyes off her. “Representatives can live in their districts. It’s often a requirement that they do. If I win, I’ll have to spend quite a bit of time in Washington, sure, but I’ll live right here in Springdale.”
Jessie’s breath caught in her throat. “I see,” she said lamely.
Mike grinned. “I’m glad we cleared that up.” His expression grew serious. “Do you think you can handle the pressure of a campaign? It’ll be full-on. I was hoping you’d stand by my side…”
Jessie nodded, thinking if her heart swelled any more it would pop right out of her chest. “I think I can handle the pressure,” she smiled. “You’re more than worth it. Can you do me one favor though, Congressman?”
“Anything,” he said, eyes twinkling.
Jessie grinned. “Can you pass a law that prevents any criminal—any potential criminal—from moving within ten miles of Springdale?”
He quirked his eyebrow. “I’m not sure how leg—” He caught the look on her face. “I’ll see what I can do,” he laughed.
***
Jessie was still beaming two hours later when she saw a familiar figure approach the café. After the murder, she had removed the festive decorations from the door, even though the front window was still almost fully blocked by reindeer and snowmen.
“Hi Chief Daly,” Jessie smiled. “How are you?”
“Good, Jessie,” he said, taking off his gloves. “Good. Unless you’ve got another crime to report?”
Jessie shuddered. “No, thank goodness. Everything is as it should be. Mel and Bee are over at the butchery helping Lottie go through her stock and remove anything that’s spoiled. She’s busy on the phones trying to find a new turkey supplier at short notice.”
Ray Clintock had been arrested on fraud charges. Police accountants were still wading through the accounts, but it looked like the business had been an elaborate front for a smuggling empire. Ray had been foolhardy enough to believe he wouldn’t get caught, and he hadn’t bothered to scrub his inbox of incriminating messages from foreign suppliers wondering how best to mask their products to beat customs. With that information, US customs had been able to intercept an illegal shipment from Asia.
The downside was a shortage of turkeys for Springdale, but it sounded like Lottie had the situation under control. Jessie had ordered a round of beef just in case. She liked turkey, but her first festive meal since moving to Springdale wasn’t an experience she wanted to repeat.
“I hope she manages it. Christmas dinner is my favorite part of the holidays,” Chief Daly said, patting his belly.
Jessie smiled. “I’d put my faith in Lottie if I were you. You know how important customer service is to her.” She reached for a to-go cup. “What would you like, Chief? The usual?”
He nodded. “Sure. I need some coffee to get the cold out of my bones.”
“Some cinnamon syrup for an extra kick?”
“Sure.”
She turned and put two squeezes of syrup into his cup. “How’s it going with the Lainey case? Sorry I didn’t stop by, I just couldn’t bear the thought of watching her interview. She’s so cold. Anyway, you don’t need me—she’s already confessed. I just hope things aren’t delayed too much because of holiday closures?”
Chief Daly shook his head. “As a matter of fact, it couldn’t have come at a better time. Anything that delays her from applying for bail is good in my book.” He sighed, looking contrite. “I’m sorry—that doesn’t sound very fair, does it? I know she’s supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but…”
Jessie rolled her eyes. “Isn’t it different when you catch somebody in the act? Besides, they can’t let her out, can they? She killed two people and attacked Lottie.” She gritted her teeth as she remembered the look on Lottie’s face as she described the letter she’d received from Lainey’s attorney that morning. Given the timing of it, it must have been the first thing the murderer had ordered her attorney to do. “Do you think she actually has a case against Lottie?”
He sighed. “Certainly not a criminal case—Lottie acted in self-defense. But a civil case? I don’t know.”
Jessie pursed her lips. “Why is she doing this? Isn’t it enough that she murdered two people to try and ruin Lottie’s life?”
Chief Daly took the steaming cup. “I wouldn’t waste your time trying to rationalize it. She’s so consumed with hatred for Lottie that she’s capable of anything.”
“But why?” Jessie asked. “I know Lottie bugs some people, but driving somebody to murder?”
The chief took a sip of his drink and sighed. “Seems to me like it was more about Lainey than it was about Lottie. Even though Lottie thought they were friends, Lainey envied her. Lainey didn’t have many friends no matter how pleasant she tried to be. Lottie, on the other hand, has plenty of friends even though she’s never bothered to hide her true feelings on anything.”
“I don’t understand how she pulled it all off. It must have taken nerves of steel.”
“Or a hatred so strong that she couldn’t think rationally anymore,” the chief said with a humorless laugh. “The problem is, Lottie thought they were friends. Lottie sees herself as a private person, but just you try asking her a personal question. She might not volunteer information, but she has no problem sharing it when asked. Lainey took advantage of that. She masked her immense dislike of Lottie and spent a lot of time at the butcher store. Lottie thought they were chatting, but Lainey was really finding out her routine.”
“It’s alarming to hear. The way she figured out exactly what kind of attachments Lottie would open so that she could infect her laptop with keystroke tracking software, right down to the way she monitored Lottie’s movements so she’d be able to gain access to Lottie’s home when it was empty.”
He shook his head as if he was struggling to believe it. “Of course, she stopped talking as soon as we got her back to the station and she was safe from Lottie’s wrath, but we’ve been able to piece a lot together from the other evidence. Like, she used a program on her phone to remotely access her home computer which was connected to Claudia’s Wi-Fi. That’s how she sent the email.”
Jessie shook her head. “That explains why I was so sure she’d never left the café that morning. But how did she do it? I’m sure we would have noticed if she spent the whole morni
ng on her phone.”
“That’s the thing,” he said. “She didn’t need to. Remember how we thought it was weird that the Clintock’s Meats email had been sent in the morning and Lottie only received it later? Well, the tech guys found something interesting. The email Lottie received came from an email address similar to the one for Clintock’s Meats, but not identical. Lainey must have seen the email in Lottie’s inbox and deleted it immediately. It wouldn’t have taken her long to make up a new address. She knew Lottie well enough to know that an issue with a supplier would steal all her attention away from just about everything else.”
“Wow,” Jessie said, shaking her head. “How on earth did she think of all that? I mean, I’d call it ingenious if it wasn’t so deranged.”
Chief Daly nodded. “Whatever it is, it’s lucky we caught her and put her behind bars before she could hurt anybody else.”
“What about the Santa suit?” Jessie asked suddenly. “It made sense when I thought Karen was the killer, but Lainey?”
The chief sighed. “Now, that’s the one thing she was more than happy to brag about. Her plan was to plant it behind the trash cans. It was her insurance policy—if the blame didn’t immediately fall on Lottie, then we would have combed every inch of this place. One way or another, she was determined to lead us to Lottie. But then little Ricky got overexcited at the meal and announced he’d seen Santa. Lainey pounced on that—she’d seen him at the butchery. She knew he was dying to speak to Santa. So she wandered past and whispered to him to watch out for Santa. All she had to do was take one of the Santa hats from the wall and poke her head out from the bathroom corridor just enough for him to see. It was a risky move, but at that stage I think she would have taken any opportunity to pile more incriminating evidence on Lottie.”
“Poor little Ricky. I can’t believe she used an innocent child like that,” Jessie sighed, picturing Ricky’s protective mother and imagining how angry she’d be if she knew. The thought of Karen’s unhappy face made her heart sink. “Karen. Has she left town for good? I feel guilty.”
“Why?” Chief Daly frowned. “You’ve got nothing to feel guilty about. Sure, we went to her home and asked the boy some questions, but it was nothing we wouldn’t do on any other investigation. No,” he said thoughtfully. “It sounds to me like she’d been deeply unhappy since she moved back. Think about it—she left this town a young, single woman and moved back with a young child. Her family here has drifted away through those years. Her support network was gone. Her moving back to the city had nothing to do with you. Or Lottie.”
“I can’t imagine why anyone would want to leave Springdale. It’s the most perfect place on the planet.” Jessie frowned. “Except when things like this happen. You know Chief, I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep properly for a long time. Isn’t it scary to think that our friends might secretly be plotting our downfalls?”
To her surprise, the chief laughed. “Look,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “Don’t you worry. Lainey is safely behind bars where she belongs. And you saw Lottie—with her on your side and your detective skills, I’d say you’re safe.”
Jessie grinned. The truth was, she’d never felt more secure or protected than she did in Springdale.
Chapter 36
Jessie hurried along the dark street with Toby racing along beside her. Bee had called her the night before and told her to come for breakfast. She’d given no more clues than that. Still, Jessie didn’t want to be late. Or worse—the last one to arrive.
The street was quiet—it was still only six fifteen in the morning and it wasn’t anywhere near to being light out. In another town, Jessie might have worried about walking around in the dark, but not in Springdale. She had thought about driving her rust-bucket little car, but she decided against it. It seemed to only start on alternate days. Besides, it was a good opportunity to give Toby some exercise. She didn’t want to fall behind on exercising him during the busy festive season.
She was amazed at how many parties and events had been lined up in Springdale over the holidays. It made her laugh at the way she had once been concerned that her social life would take a tumble when she moved from the city to a small town.
It hadn’t—if anything it had flourished.
Up ahead, Jessie recognized a figure in a fluorescent running jacket. She hurried ahead as quietly as she could until she was almost on their tail.
“Boo,” she yelled, wrapping her arms around the person’s waist.
Jessie almost keeled over from laughter as Melanie flailed and screamed for a couple seconds until she saw it was Jessie. Mel shook her head, grumbling.
“You almost gave me a heart attack,” she muttered. “What were you thinking?”
Jessie shrugged. She wasn’t sure—some kind of light-hearted silliness had taken over. “I don’t know. Sometimes when I’m around you it’s like I’m a big kid again.” She held up her hands. “Now, please don’t take that as an excuse to terrify the life out of me.”
Melanie grinned in the faint light. “Oh, cousin. Seriously? Challenge accepted. From now on, you’re going to watch horror movies for comfort I’m going to scare you so bad.” Giggling, she stepped back and linked her arm through Jessie’s. She bent to stroke Toby’s head—he’d been barking like crazy ever since Jessie snuck up on Mel.
“There, there, boy. It’s okay. Your momma is just a big silly child trying to frighten me. You should know that about her by now.”
They walked on to Bee’s house, heads bent together and giggling. Jessie’s heart soared. It felt good to completely let go.
***
“Ah, there you two are,” Bee said when she opened the door, even though it was a shade before six twenty-five and she’d told them to be there at six thirty. “Come in. Wipe your feet.”
They compiled and made their way into Bee’s cozy home. When they reached the kitchen, they saw that it wasn’t a family get-together. Chief Daly and Mike were already sitting at the kitchen table, looking bleary-eyed.
“Wedding task force,” the chief sighed. “She made me swear I wouldn’t tell you until you got here.”
Jessie looked at Mel and frowned. “Task force?” she repeated. “I usually associate that term with the war on drugs. Not pleasant occasions like weddings. And why so early?”
Aunt Bee picked up a tray of pancakes and bustled to the table. It was already groaning under the weight of cups, ornate tea and coffee pots, and several plates laden with sweet treats. “Because we’re all busy people. I made you breakfast to compensate.”
“Are you having the wedding right here right now?” Jessie asked, surveying the food. There was enough for twenty people.
Aunt Bee shook her head and laughed. “No, silly. Of course not. Who would have a meeting of their task force right before the wedding?”
Jessie shrugged. “Not you, I’m guessing?”
“No,” Bee said, returning to the kitchen and carrying one last plate to the table. “Certainly not. Why don’t you two have a seat and we’ll get started?”
Jessie drew closer to the table and saw that what she’d assumed were placemats were actually soft-back notebooks. Each setting had a pen neatly laid beside it.
“Right,” Bee said, clearing her throat. “So you all know why you’re here. You two will be my maids of honor. Mike will be Charles’s best man. We’re all busy people so I thought it best to sit down together and run through our rough plan so far.”
“Sure beats being consulted about card stock ten times a day,” Mel muttered.
“I heard that,” Aunt Bee scolded. “But yes, you’re right. Charles and I are fed up trying to nail down the details.”
Chief Daly rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. “You bet. I didn’t even know there were different shades of white until we started talking about our plan for the big day. I had to put my foot down.”
Three heads snapped around to watch Bee’s reaction. They were surprised to find her staring adoringly at the chief.
&n
bsp; “It’s true,” Bee said coyly, opening her book, which was brimming with notes and pages torn from magazines. “He did. So. Now. Let’s go through it. Invites: here are the options.” She passed a stack of paper around the table. “I have my two favorites, but if you could all choose one. You have thirty seconds.”
Jessie flicked through the sample invites. She held up a simple cream card embossed with a retro typewriter font. She looked around the table. The others seemed to favor the same one.
“Unanimous. Good,” the chief murmured. “Hopefully this won’t take long.”
“It’s the most important day of our lives,” Bee whispered.
He rolled his eyes. “It is. For different reasons. I don’t care about the invites or the décor.”
Bee smiled girlishly. “And that’s why we’ve called in the cavalry to help us make some fast decisions. So we can get on with the most important business in your eyes—the honeymoon.”
Jessie tilted her head. “I thought you’d already decided on a cruise? After all, we have a free trip for two after the drama on our cruise vacation.”
Bee grinned across the table at the chief. “Well, seeing as that’s complimentary and given the antics last time, we’ve decided to add on some time in the Florida Keys just in case we’re in need of further relaxation.”
Jessie grinned at Mel. “Sounds like a good idea.”
“We thought so.” Bee looked at her watch. “Moving on. Chair covers.” She passed them all a sheet printed with nine different seat options.
“What if I don’t have an opinion?” Mike asked, looking bewildered.
Aunt Bee stared him down. “Everyone has an opinion. Just choose your favorite.”
Jessie caught his eye. She shrugged as she held up the page and pointed to a plain cream linen. Mike did the same.
“Okay, the cream linen wins,” Bee said. “Flowers next.”
They spent the next half hour running through floral arrangements, cakes and favors, until finally Aunt Bee jotted down her last note and closed her notebook with a flourish. “Well, thank you so much everyone. You have no idea how helpful that was.” She grinned at the chief. “Now Charles can stop scolding me for constantly discussing that infernal wedding.”
Mistletoe is Murder Page 16
