Chocolate With A Side Of Murder

by Meredith Potts

Staying outside and watching them through the front window of the restaurant allowed me to stay hidden from Melissa’s view. The only downside was that from the sidewalk, I couldn’t hear what she and Jake were saying. Unfortunately, lip reading was not a skill of mine.

  Even with the disadvantage of being out of earshot of their conversation, there was a surprising amount of information I could glean just from watching their body language. By the looks of it, the two weren’t just friendly acquaintances sharing a meal. There was a distinct chemistry between them. When I combined that with the flirtatious gestures they were making and the smoldering looks in each of their eyes, it was hard to escape the feeling that romance was in the air.

  At the moment, that was just a hunch on my part. It only took a little patience for my theory to be proven true. A few seconds later, Jake leaned across the table and gave Melissa a kiss. It was times like that when I was glad that I had quick reflexes.

  Thankfully, I was able to capture the moment with my camera phone. This was huge—not just that I had the picture, but that Jake and Melissa were an item. I was also so glad that I had hung back. If I had stormed into the restaurant, perhaps I wouldn’t have discovered this detail.

  As I looked at the photo on my phone, I couldn’t help but think that this new revelation had the possibility of blowing this case wide open. It was one thing when I found out that Melissa had been having an affair with her boss. Now, just a few days after Andrew’s death, I had caught Melissa kissing the man who wanted to buy Andrew’s business.

  My head was filled with so many questions. Had Melissa been conducting both relationships at once, or was this romance with Jake a recent fling? Did Jake know about Melissa’s relationship with Andrew? Had Andrew known about Jake’s affinity for Melissa?

  Part of me was chomping at the bit to get answers. But just as it had been wise to hang back instead of barging into the restaurant, I knew it would be smart to let Melissa and Jake finish their meals before approaching either of them.

  I remained in stake-out mode a little longer as Melissa and Jake finished their meal. Luckily for me, the couple parted ways in the parking lot. They moved off to their respective cars, pulled out of the lot, and headed off in different directions.

  That left me with an important decision to make. I could only tail one of them at a time. Without hesitation, I chose to follow Jake. As expected, the real estate developer headed back to his office complex. If I was going to get any information out of him, I knew I had to make my move before he had a chance to reach the front door of the building.

  I parked my car as close to the building as possible and rushed toward his sports coupe.

  “Mr. Williamson, I have to talk to you,” I said.

  Jake looked confused to see me at his workplace. The forty-nine-year-old had slicked-back hair that made me wonder if he knew the meaning of moderation. It looked like he had used a whole bottle of product to hold his brown hair in place. He wore a dark-blue Italian suit that was perfectly tailored for his tall, lean body. As I stared at his square, clean-shaven face, I saw a sharkish look in his blue eyes.

  “Are you here to sell your coffee shop to me?” Jake asked.

  Jake was a shameless opportunist—not to mention utterly predictable. When it came to business, he had no interest in subtlety. For the last few years, when it came to the businesses on Main Street, he had made his intentions perfectly clear. He had his sights set on buying every single mom-and-pop shop on the block.

  Never mind the fact that most of those quirky little family-run shops were brimming with character and had been around for decades. Jake didn’t care about things like tradition—the only thing that mattered to him was profit. Once he had gobbled up each of the mom-and-pop shops, he would close the place down then lease out the storefront to high-end chain stores. Talk about gutting the heart and soul of Main Street.

  Not surprisingly, he had run into a fair amount of opposition. Not just from Andrew Stewart, but from my family as well. Neither my mother, nor my grandmother, nor I had any intention to sell to him. Daley Buzz had always been a family-run operation, and it was going to stay that way. Even though my mother had already told Jake as much a handful of times, that didn’t stop him from trying to convince me.

  I turned him down. “No.”

  Jake shook his head disapprovingly. “Your family is too stubborn for its own good.” He groaned. “I don’t have time to try and talk sense into you. I have business to get back to.”

  He was more condescending than anyone I had ever met—and that was saying a lot. If my skin weren’t so thick, his last comment would have really gotten to me. Luckily, I didn’t take his insult to heart.

  “Before you do, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” I said.

  “I have nothing to say to you.”

  “That’s funny, because I have plenty to say to you.”

  He kept walking toward the front door of his office building. “I’m a busy man.”

  “I’ll make it quick then…I know you and Melissa Wilcox are together.”

  I thought that would make him stop dead in his tracks. That proved to be a mistake on my part. Jake didn’t even slow down. All he did was laugh and make a dismissive statement as he approached the building. “You’re ridiculous.”

  I scoffed. He thought he could just blow me off, huh? Jake had another thing coming. If he wanted to play hardball with me, I was up to the task. Let’s see him walk away from what I threw at him next.

  “I have a photo of you and Melissa kissing that proves I am anything but ridiculous.”

  He stopped and slowly turned, hesitating like he was having trouble coming up with a retort. Whatever excuse he had come up with immediately became moot when he saw me flashing him the photo of him and Melissa kissing on my phone.

  Jake tried not to panic, but the fact that he straightened his tie nervously gave away his level of discomfort.

  I arched my eyebrows at him. “I guess I have your attention now.”

  He replied with trepidation in his voice. “What do you want from me?”

  “The truth.”

  Surprisingly, he didn’t try to make up some excuse. “Yes, Melissa and I together. Now, are we done?”

  I stared him down. “We’re just getting started.”

  He smirked. “That’s what you think.”

  Not seeing me as a threat, Jake turned back toward the building, hoping to leave me in his dust.

  “I’m sure the police would enjoy seeing this photo, considering you’re both murder suspects,” I said.

  Jake whirled around again, this time with fire in his eyes. “Who do you think you are? You’re just some barista.”

  Arrogance was exuding from his pores. He falsely believed that belittling me would get me to slink away. While his barb stung a little, I didn’t let it throw me off my game. If anything, the meaner he got with me, the more it became clear that I was getting under his skin.

  Ultimately, he had failed to derail me, but he had succeeded in making me angry. Even though I tried not to let my irritation show, I found myself a little more worked up than I had expected.

  “Really?” I replied. “You can be as dismissive as you want, but your condescension won’t get you anywhere.”

  Jake’s massive ego was now on full display—so much that it began to cloud his judgment. “I don’t know what you think you’re going to get out of me.”

  “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about. Now, I just want the answer to a few questions.”

  He was full of bluster. “You’re way out of your league.”

  Jake was really testing my limits. It was almost like he didn’t care if I called the cops.

  Unfortunately, I was bluffing. If I involved the police, David would know that I was conducting my own investigation behind his back. The ramifications of that wouldn’t be pretty.

  Even though Jake had called my bluff, I didn’t let myself become discouraged. “I just wa
nt to know what really happened to Andrew.”

  He folded his arms. “You’re wasting your time with me, then.”

  Jake clearly thought he could intimidate me.

  I decided to double down on my bluff by dialing a few numbers on my phone. “I’ll make this very simple for you. You can either answer my questions, or you can talk to the police. I guarantee it’ll be easier to talk to me.”

  For the first time, panic came to his face. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

  “How long have you been with Melissa?”

  “Not long.”

  “When did you start seeing her?”

  “About a month ago,” he replied.

  “So she was dating both you and Andrew at the same time?”

  He shrugged. “I guess.”

  His noncommittal answers were driving me nuts. These were very direct questions I was throwing at him.

  “Did Andrew know you were sleeping with his mistress?” I asked.

  “I doubt it,” he replied.

  “But you’re not sure?”

  He shrugged again. “I don’t know.”

  In addition to his unhelpful answers, another thing about him frustrated me. The other suspects had become increasingly horrified as I connected the dots of their transgressions.

  Jake acted like none of the salacious details I had thrown at him were of much consequence. The annoyance that he did show appeared to stem from the fact that I was taking up his time rather than the actual content of my words.

  “You don’t seem very bothered by the fact that your girlfriend was seeing another man the same time she was with you,” I said.

  A smug look came to his face. “The only thing that matters to me is that I ended up winning out in the end.”

  “Didn’t it make you angry when you found out Melissa was with Andrew, too?” I asked.

  Jake had a better poker face than I had suspected. He shook his head, not bothered by my statement in the least.

  “Why didn’t it make you angry?” I asked.

  Jake’s response was drenched in cockiness. “Look at me. Then look at Andrew. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who Melissa was going to end up with.”

  I switched gears. “Melissa isn’t all you ended up with. Now that Andrew is dead, you will have an easy road to buying his chocolate shop.”

  A smile crept across his face. “I suppose I will.”

  I scoffed. “You suppose? Who do you think you’re fooling? Andrew was the only one who put up resistance to selling the place. With your biggest obstacle now removed, nothing is going to stop you from buying the chocolate shop.”

  “That’s just a lucky break.”

  I was appalled. “Andrew was murdered. What kind of a man would refer to that as a lucky break?”

  He opened his mouth to answer, but I didn’t give him the chance to reply.

  “How about the kind of man who would be willing to commit murder just so he could buy a chocolate shop?” I asked.

  “I would be offended if that wasn’t so ridiculous,” he replied.

  “Is it? Your difficulties with him weren’t just professional, but also personal. Is it just a coincidence that you and Melissa are together? Or did you use her as a pawn to try to sway Andrew’s opinion about selling his place? Then when Melissa wasn’t able to convince Andrew to part ways with his company, you decided to use more extreme measures to get Andrew out of the picture.”

  He glared long and hard at me. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You’re denying it, then?”

  “Of course I am.”

  “So you’re saying it’s just a total coincidence that you and Andrew were dating the same woman?”

  He nodded.

  I scoffed. “That’s one really big coincidence.”

  A smarmy expression came to his face. “Look around. I am a wildly successful businessman. Why would I risk my entire empire to kill someone as insignificant as Andrew Stewart?”

  “It is amazing the things people will do out of greed,” I replied.

  He shook his pointer finger at me. “There are people far greedier than I am.”

  I had a hard time believing that.

  Jake continued. “Sure, I wanted him to sell. But other people I know needed him to sell.”

  “By other people, you mean—”

  “His family. Look at his wife and son. They stood to gain a lot of money from the sale.”

  “It’s pretty convenient, pushing the blame on someone else.”

  He didn’t flinch. “That’s where it belongs.”

  I tried to send a retort his way, but he kept talking.

  “Face it, you have nothing on me,” Jake said. “All that photo proves is that Melissa and I are romantically involved. It in no way points to me being a murderer. Now, I have answered all of your questions. It’s time that I got back to work.”

  Jake turned around in a hurry and walked away. That put me in a terrible situation. I could have threatened once more to call the police, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. He had a swagger to him—an air of invincibility. Even though it didn’t sit well with me to watch it, I couldn’t think of any way to poke a hole in it.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  My discussion with Jake had not yielded the results that I was looking for, but all hope was not lost. Perhaps Melissa could fill in the gaps. There was only one way to find out. I headed back to the south side of town and pulled onto Melissa’s street.

  After she had slammed the door in my face the last time I had spoken with her, I decided to take a different approach this time. Now that she recognized my car, I decided not to park in her driveway, but rather farther down the street. My plan was to approach her place on foot as quietly as possible, so I didn’t draw attention to myself. Perhaps then she wouldn’t hear me coming.

  While my focus was squarely on how to get Melissa to talk to me, the universe apparently had other plans for me. After parking on the street and getting out of my car, I was confronted by a crazy surprise—this time coming from Melissa’s neighbor.

  At first, the sight of a couple kissing in the neighbor’s driveway while pressing up against the side of a car didn’t seem like much more than a public display of affection. It was only when the couple pulled back from their kiss that my jaw nearly hit the ground.

  The source of my shock could be summed up in two words—Ryan Davidson. The five-foot-nine twenty-eight-year-old still had the body of a lacrosse player even though he hadn’t played the sport in nearly a decade. His brown hair was trimmed at the exact same length that it had been the last time I had run into him.

  That wasn’t all. Even though he was ten years older now, he looked pretty much the same right then as he did when my sister had gone missing all those years before. I didn’t know what he had done to keep time from having its way with him, but it had worked wonders.

  Running into my sister’s old boyfriend in such a random fashion like this meant that I was completely unprepared to tackle the emotional baggage that inevitably came with seeing him. More than with anyone else I encountered in my life, whenever I spent time around Ryan, I couldn’t help but think of my sister. Forget about the murder investigation. At that moment, my thoughts were immediately transported back to the time of my sister’s disappearance.

  I couldn’t help it. That was always what happened whenever I ran into Ryan. While my mind drifted into the clouds, something distinctly different occurred in the driveway. Just as Ryan was saying good-bye to the woman he was with, I became the focal point of their attention.

  Of course, it didn’t help that I was staring at Ryan like some crazy woman. I wanted to dash away before Ryan spotted me so I could avoid having to make conversation with him, but my legs didn’t get that memo. My feet felt like they were stuck in cement.

  When the woman Ryan was with saw me staring so intensely at him, conversation was inevitable. Although it was a confrontation that I was worried about. The re
dhead folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at me like I was some crazy ex-girlfriend type who posed a threat to her.

  The twenty-seven-year-old had a lean body and wore yoga pants with a matching black tank top. She had pulled her long hair back into a ponytail, which made the freckles on her round face really stand out.

  “Can I help you?” the woman asked.

  Her remark had technically been a question, but given her aggressive tone, she had clearly hoped to scare me off.

  Until that point, Ryan had been so focused on the redhead that he hadn’t noticed me. That all changed when he glanced over at me in order to figure out what had caused the redhead to get so bent out of shape. When Ryan spotted me, a look came to his eyes like he had just seen a ghost. This had the makings of a seriously awkward conversation.

  While I had trouble untying my tongue, the same could not be said for Ryan.

  “Sabrina,” he said.

  The redhead went on even higher alert. “You know that woman?” She took an accusatory tone. “How?”

  The hostility was really ratcheting up in a hurry. I wanted to defuse the tension as quickly as possible and assure the redhead that I wasn’t a threat to her. “Ryan used to date my sister. He’s like a brother figure to me.”

  That last line really got the redhead to ease off the throttle, which was a relief to me as there was already enough awkwardness going around without her sour attitude making an even bigger mess of things.

  She replied with a far more congenial tone in her voice. “Oh. Ryan just hasn’t mentioned you before.”

  “It’s been a long time,” he said.

  I agreed. “It has been a while.” I held my hand out to the redhead. “I’m Sabrina.”

  She responded in kind. “Jocelyn Watson.”

  While I usually avoided platitudes, in this case, they were infinitely preferable than going deep by talking about my sister.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” I said.

  That reply was enough to get a smile out of Jocelyn. From there, the conversation seemed to stall. A lot of that had to do with the fact that Ryan and I both retreated into our respective minds. Ryan had mentioned that it had been a while since we had run into each other, but I couldn’t pretend that us not crossing paths wasn’t by design on both of our parts, whether consciously or not.