“Oh my God!” I hiss as I hit the floor in a crumbled mass of limbs. “Oh God.” My heart palpitates violent and strong like an elephant stampede—if that poor herd of elephants was subjected to a vast and unimpressive wooden dummy collection. This right here is B-rated horror movie action that I never wanted to be a part of.
Holy mother of all things good and evil.
I shine the light back onto the bevy of faces, and note that they’re all secured to the wall somehow. At least twenty across and fifteen high along the vaulted ceiling. A large pine desk sits in the center of the room, and I scramble to my feet and head over on pure adrenaline. All of these nonliving eyes feasted on me have me terrified, have my entire body beating along with my petrified heart. I sweep my flashlight over the desk. Nothing but a few books on ventriloquism, a book on indoor winter gardens, and a mug full of pens. I pull my sleeve over my fingers and glide the desk drawer open, and it lets out an egregious squeak. Even though it’s probably too late to cloak my fingerprints, it doesn’t hurt trying.
A few more pens stare back at me, an entire litany of paperclips tangled in the wild. I tap my fingers further inside and come upon a magazine clipping, and I pull it forward. I cast the light over it and gasp. It’s a picture of Ned and Dr. Ferdinand. They’re both dressed in formalwear, and there are plenty of other people in the background. The caption beneath them reads The Garland Gala’s guests show some flare!
“Huh.” The Garland Gala is a fancy charity ball they hold in Ashford every year. I pull the magazine closer to get a better look. There’s a man in the background, arms folded over an enormous chest, that scowl on his bearded face. He looks familiar. I’ve seen him somewhere, but I can’t quite place him.
Slowly, I slide open the three side drawers. Nothing but a bunch of clippings and magazines on the wooden creatures that are prone to kill him in his sleep. I shine the light to the small trash can near the desk, and I can hear Lainey hissing something my way. I unravel a few pieces of paper and nothing. I reach down and fish out the final one lingering against the liner as if it didn’t want me to touch it. I open it up and shudder. It’s an invitation to the Parks and Rec holiday celebration. There’s a splashy picture of a cartoon Santa surrounded by a bevy of sexy female elves. That sounds about right. Underneath the cartoon it reads Starring our very own Tanner Redwood as Santa! Tanner’s name is underlined in pencil.
Huh. I turn the page over to the roster of the other acts and scan down the list, surprised to see that Ned Sweeny’s name is nowhere to be found. But I was there. He had Darjeeling. He said they were going to go on, right? Why would he lie about that? Maybe he was added last minute. Maybe that’s why he underlined Tanner’s name, so he knew who to contact.
I shine my light to those stony faces staring at me on the wall and make my way over. My entire body thumps as if my soul were begging to be evicted. There’s a clothing rack to the right, a row of suits, and I pluck at a few of them before coming to the checkered one Ned was wearing the night of the murder.
“Lottie!” my sister squeals just as headlights pull into the driveway, and I nosedive my way right back out and into the holly bushes to the left of the window in hopes of a soft landing. Sorry to say, not so much.
A pair of footsteps head over at a quickened pace, landing both Lainey and me into a spastic tizzy. For a moment, I use my sister as a human shield until I remember that I’m the one that dragged her into this mess, and thus it’s me who actually deserves to die—so I reverse our places, my arms outstretched behind me in an effort to cage her in.
“Freeze,” a man’s voice gruffs into the night as he takes a defiant stance, the moon shining down on a black gun pointed in our direction.
“Dear God up in heaven, don’t shoot!” I squeeze my eyes shut tight and prepare for the worst.
“Lottie?” That deep, warm voice sounds far too familiar and I pry an eye open, hoping I’m both wrong and right.
“Noah?”
“Geez.” He tucks his weapon into his back and speeds over. “There’s a call out for a security system breach.”
“I can explain everything. It’s a total misunderstanding,” I belt the words out so fast it sounds like gibberish.
“Listen to me. I’m only going to say this once.” His face elongates in the shadows, and his stern eyes press into mine with an unspoken threat. “Get in your car and leave now. You have exactly one minute and thirty seconds before a squad car shows up and—”
He doesn’t finish his sentence before Lainey and I are back in my hatchback and halfway down the road.
Lainey smacks me on the arm. “I’m never getting into a car with you ever again. I don’t even care if you’re behind the wheel!”
“So, does this mean we won’t be driving to the Evergreen Manor together tomorrow night for the annual Honey Hollow Christmas party?”
“You’ll be lucky if you’re not spending tomorrow night in a jail cell! You crossed one serious line tonight, missy.”
“All right. I did. I’m sorry. I just got a little carried away. It was Meg’s fault for seeding the idea into my brain to begin with.” That’s always been my go-to—when the going gets rough, blame Meg.
“It’s not Meg’s fault, and you know it. You’re obsessed with finding these murderers. It’s all you think about!”
“Because I am trying to clear your name and your boyfriend’s! Who, by the way, has a very flimsy alibi. You both do.” I gasp as I pull onto my sister’s street. “Say, the two of you didn’t actually off Tanner, did you?” I stop the car in front of her house, and Lainey swings the door open, letting the icy wind have its way with us once again.
“No! Of course not.” She gets out and ducks back in for a moment. “And look, I do appreciate you going out on a limb for us, but you have to understand that we don’t want you ending up with a rap sheet over it.” Her eyes squint to nothing. “Wait a minute. You’ve been complaining nonstop over the fact you and Noah haven’t had your penciled in sexy date night yet. This isn’t about Forest and me at all, is it?” Her mouth falls open with the revelation. “This is about Noah’s woody!”
“Out.” I do my best to shoo her away. “Shut the door, Lainey, and goodnight. Let’s pretend this never happened.”
“Fine.” She takes a meager step back. “So, did you learn anything new? See any decent clues that can take you one step closer to a mattress?”
I think on it for a moment. “I already knew he was having an affair with Dr. Ferdinand.”
Lainey makes a face. “You mean, she was sleeping with both Tanner and Ned Sweeny? That’s quite a range. I guess that woman would sleep with anyone and his brother.”
Brother. Brother? It’s as if a light goes off.
“That man with the beard! It was Bella’s brother—Mason Carter.” A laugh stifles in my throat. “He was giving Ned Sweeny a look as if he wanted to kill him for having his arm around Dr. Ferdinand.”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about, but my uneducated guess is that the man with the beard was sleeping with her, too. What does any of this have to do with solving Tanner’s murder?”
“Everything and maybe nothing.” I shrug. “Sorry about the breaking and entering.” I’d say it wouldn’t happen again, but at this point in my life I can’t guarantee it.
“No problem.” She waves it off. “Meg is right. You’ve got the entire judicial system in your back pocket. Sure doesn’t hurt to have boyfriends in high places.” She shuts the door and takes off with a wave of her fingers.
I roll down the window and pull up a bit. “Boyfriend!” I shout over at her. “Singular!”
Noah comes to mind, and a devilish smile glides over my face.
That man should have arrested me, and he let me go.
He loves me after all.
Chapter 17
Usually on a frosty night like tonight, there’s nothing better than curling up with a good book, a cup of hot cocoa, and my cat, Pancake, by a roaring fire. But tonight
is no usual night.
After dropping Lainey off at her place and listening to her salty reprimands regarding that little breaking and entering faux pas, I’ve lost my ability to focus on reading a book. My cocoa is far too hot to enjoy, and both Pancake and I miss Dutch far too much for it to ever be reasonable. Not to mention the fact I can’t stand it when Lainey is upset with me. I tried to point out that I came by the break-in honestly. It was never my intent to encase myself in a room with a hundred haunted faces staring back at me. The breeze picked up, and I fell inside. And, honestly, there was no theft, no damage to the property as all of those wooden eyes that were feasted upon me can attest—and most importantly, we weren’t hauled down to the Ashford Sheriff’s Department and booked. And to her salty rebukes, I responded with the only way I knew how—all is well that ends well and every other maxim that is on my side.
No sooner do I stoke the fire than a gentle knock erupts at the door.
“Who could that be?” I ask, swooping up Pancake into my arms. I don’t know why I do it, but I’ve trained myself not to open a door without him when there’s a potential stranger on the other side. I think deep down inside I like the thought of Pancake providing a first line of defense in the event I’m attacked. Not that I would open the door to just anyone. I peer through the living room window and spot an all too familiar frame on the porch holding a couple of boxes of pizza.
I swing open the door, and Noah offers a defeated short-lived grin. “Pizza delivery.”
“How did you guess I was hungry?” I can’t help but bite down on my lip as I let him inside.
“Because I happened to see you work up an appetite.” His brows twitch as I take the pizzas from him and he removes his jacket. “You mind if I steal a slice?”
“You can steal a whole pie. You do realize you bought two, right? Is one for Ivy?”
“Funny.” He pulls me into his arms. “I’m off for tonight. I thought maybe since we can’t seem to make headway on our alone time that we might be able to put our great minds together and try to remove the obstacle that’s keeping us apart.”
“The case?” I inch back and examine him. “Are you, Noah Corbin Fox, inviting me, Lottie Kenzie Lemon, into your investigation?”
His lips twitch as if unsure of what direction to go in. “Not exactly. The detective in me that is on probation down at the Ashford’s Sheriff’s Department still very much does not want you in any way to jeopardize those nice paychecks he’s quickly getting used to.” He tilts his head to the side, and there’s an adorable boyishness about him right now. “But every other part of me is overriding that fool because I want nothing more than some serious alone time with my girlfriend.” His finger caresses my jawline. “I had an idea earlier. We both spill everything we know, no-holds-barred.”
“A wrestling term. Now that’s something I can relate to on a sibling level. What about Ivy?”
“She will never know. I can lose my job over this.”
“Then you must really trust me.”
“With my life.”
A breath hitches in my throat. “It sounds like you’re calling a momentary cease-fire.”
“Accepted?”
“Yes, now let’s get to solving this case.”
Noah and I land on the rug in front of the fireplace, noshing on pizza, washing it down with the few measly water bottles I had rolling around in the fridge, and talking about everything under the sun besides that aforementioned obstacle. The sparkling white twinkle lights on the Christmas tree add an aura of magic to the room, and the fire ensures that a romantic time will be had by all. Tanner Redwood flashes through my mind as if refuting the theory, and I have always hated it when Tanner is right.
“You know”—I toss my crust back on the coffee table and scoot in close to him—“you never did tell me much about your family. I think you mentioned a brother, Alex?”
“Yup. A Marine turned investment banker. He’s doing well for himself in Fallbrook. My mother moved to Florida a few years back, but we were never close. After my dad and she went their separate ways, my mom floated in and out of relationships. They were so bad my dad had us boys move in with him.”
“What about Christmas?” I give a cautious shrug. Noah spent Thanksgiving here with my family and me, so did Everett, but I would think Christmas might be different.
“Alex and his girlfriend will be with her family. I’m sure we’ll enjoy a rather nice phone call that lasts less than five minutes. Same with my mother.” There’s a touch of grief in his eyes as if he wished it wasn’t so.
“You’ll be with my family and me at the B&B and I won’t take no for an answer.”
He glides me over his knees until I’m seated on his lap.
“That’s very nice of you, Lottie. Invitation accepted. If you’re there, then that’s where I want to be.”
My insides melt at his kind words. “You’re my family, Noah. I mean it.”
“In that case, I’d like to make dinner for you after the holiday. Just you and me at my place as a way to say thank you. If you don’t mind, I’ll relegate dessert in your capable hands.”
“Aye aye, sir. I’m good at following orders.”
His brows pinch, amused. “I’ll remember that.”
He lips land over mine slowly and methodical, the kind of kiss you give when you know you don’t have anywhere to go for hours and you can take your time doing just this.
Noah pulls away slowly, his lids still hooded thick with lust.
“Is that a taste of things to come?” I give that scruff on his cheeks that I love so much a quick scratch. Noah’s warm cologne casts its spell on me the moment he walked through the door.
“Exactly.” A dark rumble of a laugh pumps through him. “Now let’s get down to business so—”
“So we can get down to business.” I spin around to face him fully. “First suspect.”
“Forest Donovan.”
“Forest is innocent, and we both know it.”
Noah winces. “He’s got a great motive, and he argued with the deceased just moments before you discovered his body. Ivy and I shook the poor guy down. He even volunteered for a polygraph.”
“Well, there you go. I mean, someone who is guilty wouldn’t volunteer to have their innocence legally questioned.”
“That’s the thing. A polygraph isn’t admissible in court. You may as well introduce psychics or pull out the tarot cards. It doesn’t mean a whole lot. And he might know just enough about the law to realize that.”
I shake my head. “Next?”
“Your sister, Lainey.”
“She didn’t kill him, but she should have. And before you get to the prime suspect, yours truly, I should have killed him, too.”
“Who’s your top suspect, Lottie?” His fingers dig into the back of my hair, and I’m about to say to hell with the homicide investigation, let’s open a whole new investigation—with each other.
“I don’t know. It’s a draw. There’s Bella Carter—the Bazingas’ waitress. She was having a fling with him, and things went sour. I saw him wearing her like an accessory just before the party got underway that infamous night. Then there’s Kelly Ferdinand, our favorite sex therapist.”
His dimples cinch in. His lids hood dangerously low. “Whose services we won’t be needing—I assure you of that.”
A dirty laugh gurgles in my throat. “Kelly attached herself to him like a barnacle when my sister caught them. It was a sizzling blur of emotions. I don’t know where Kelly took off to, but Tanner took off not long after. Kelly could have done it. She said some creepy things about her younger suitor when I met up with her at the gym.”
“You met up with Kelly at the gym?” His head ticks back a notch, and I can’t tell if he’s impressed or not.
“I suppose that’s below Ivy’s investigative standards. But that also happens to be where I met up with Mason Carter, Bella’s brother. It turns out, Mason wasn’t so happy that Bella had her heart broken. Maybe he did go b
erserk and kill him? Then there’s Ned Sweeny and all those strange wooden dummies. I still can’t figure out how he factors into this, but let’s face it, those wooden toys he plays with puts him on the suspect list whether he likes it or not. Plus, he was having an affair with Kelly. Maybe Tanner knew something? Maybe he was threatening to tell Ned’s wife?”
Noah takes an enormous breath as he looks to the ceiling. “Maybe. Have you checked out Tanner’s siblings?”
“Rachel is pregnant with her first child. Hook is busy with the family business. I don’t think either is responsible.”
Noah’s brows bounce. “You don’t think one of them offed Tanner? Rachel could be bitter that she was left out of the real estate business.”
“Maybe so, but she still collects a check from it.”
Noah gives a hard blink toward the fire. “The father only wanted his sons to run the business. Chauvinistic much? And now that Tanner is out of the picture, Hook is in charge.”
“I guess we need to talk to Hook again.”
“I did.” He shakes his head. “He actually seemed bitter he needed to give up life in the city but said he was taking one for the Redwood team. It doesn’t seem like a life he would have chosen, let alone killed for. It’s a great cover though if he did it.”
I make a note to speak with Hook again.
Noah nods my way. “What about Chrissy Nash?”
“The mayor’s ex-wife? What about her?” She and my mother have been friends for years. Chrissy is in on all of my mother’s shenanigans, including every book and travel club under the Honey Hollow sun.
“They were having an affair.”
“What?” I squawk so loud Pancake rawrrs right at us, and I’m suddenly fearing for Noah’s eyes.
“You mean the infallible Lottie Lemon was not privy to this information?” His chest rumbles with a laugh. “I’m questioning the validity of the claim.”
Gingerbread and Deadly Dread: MURDER ON THE MIX 4 Page 13