Pecan Flan Murder Plan

by Nancy McGovern

  Capability frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t remember coming over here at all. Maybe it’s the knock to the head.” He found a brave smile and a cheerful tone. “I’ll be all right.”

  “Something’s not right about this,” Krystle said. “It feels… fishy. You weren’t with someone, were you, Capability? See anyone?”

  “Honestly, dear? About all I know is that I’m seeing stars right now. And I don’t mean you guys. Although you all are stars, of course. Wait, I don’t know these people. Do I? Nathan, you’re Nathan. And you’re Faith.” He let out a weak giggle.

  Faith loved his humor in spite of his situation. She couldn’t help but giggle along as she made introductions. “This is Krystle Hatton, the editor at the county newspaper. And this is Robert Lewis Senior, the Democrat senator, and Robbie’s father.”

  Capability made a weak grin. “This is a very dignified way for me to meet important people.” He stuck out his hand right up above him. “Pleased to meet you, Robert Lewis Senior, senator, sir. And pleased to meet you Ms. Editor-In-Chief.”

  They both shook his hand, and soon everyone was smiling.

  “Let’s try and get you up now,” Robert Lewis Senior said.

  Nathan and Robert Lewis Senior hooked their arms under each of Capability’s and tugged, but the man still couldn’t make it up. He got stuck in a sitting position, and it took Faith and Krystle pushing on his enormous back to help him stagger to his feet. He lost his footing for a moment, and he had almost been right – he nearly did squish Nathan under him. Luckily they all pulled together and righted him.

  “Oops!” Capability said. “Ah, beached whale moment avoided.”

  “Oh,” said Faith, seeing blood trickling down the back of his neck. “You’re bleeding.” The red liquid was wetting his curls in the back.

  “Oh dear.” Capability looked at his hand – his fingertips were covered in blood. “Oh well, I’m alive at least. I wonder how this all happened.”

  They began to lead him back toward his deckchair, when they heard voices.

  Faith peered through the palm fronds and caught sight of Andrew Martinez, Max, Janice, Shane and Allen, walking up to the bathing area.

  “Capability!” Janice said, catching sight of them shuffling out of the bush. “What happened?”

  The cameraman was pacing, frustrated, like he was desperate to catch the drama on film, but wouldn’t dare disobey the senator.

  “We don’t know,” Nathan said. “We found him in the bushes, knocked out. Then he came to, and doesn’t remember what happened. He has some blood at the back of his head.”

  Capability grinned, looking at Janice. “Mommy, I don’t want to go to school today,” he said in a slurring voice.

  Everyone paused, looking at him, concerned.

  “He must have concussion,” Krystle said.

  “Haha! Gotcha!” Capability said. “Sorry, Janice, I couldn’t resist. I’m all right, really. I probably wandered off into the bush to tend to some flower or other, then knocked my head on something. Nothing to worry about.”

  Faith wasn’t sure. Krystle was right – there was something fishy about the whole thing.

  Shane shook his head. “I’ll bet someone popped you with a rock in the back of your head, that’s what I’ll bet. Or a gardening tool. You know what my dad taught me when I used to know him? He taught me that people suck, and if something bad happens it’s probably someone else that did it to you.” He nodded authoritatively. “Capability, someone doesn’t like you. I think they were trying to get you out of the game.”

  “What game?” Allen asked. “What game were you playing, Capability?”

  “Trying to kill him,” Shane said, exasperated.

  Capability laughed. “You should write movie scripts, young man. You certainly have a flair for the dramatic.” Then he winced and clutched the back of his head. “I think I should sit down.”

  Everyone came together and helped him down into his deckchair.

  He let out a satisfied sigh. “That’s much better.”

  “Trust me,” Shane said, “you need to watch your back.”

  Capability sighed, his patience waning. “All right, why don’t you be my bodyguard?”

  “Of course!” said Shane, his eyes lighting up. “Though it would be a lot better if I had a gun. Any bad guy came along, I’d be like Pop! You’re dead, sucker! Try again next time.”

  “How could someone try again next time if they’re dead?” Allen pointed out.

  Shane marched over to stand by Capability. “Don’t worry, buddy, I’ve got your back.”

  “Well,” Robert Lewis Senior said, “I hope we don’t have any more accidents today.”

  “Me neither,” Max chimed in. “It’s like World War Three around here. It’s all these bleeding heart liberals, soft on crime. Senator, if you really want to make a difference to crime levels, you should be a Republican.”

  “Please let’s not talk politics,” Janice said desperately. “Let’s talk flowers and gardens.”

  “Young man,” Robert Lewis Senior said, “it’s good that you’re interested in politics. Maybe you could come down to spend a day with me and watch my work. You’d see how we’re looking at both the causes of crime, to mitigate them, and at the prevention of crime, too. We need both long-term and short-term strategies to keep us all safe.”

  “That’s right,” Andrew Martinez said. Faith had almost forgotten he was there. He was standing a little way off from all of them, by the stone house, looking pensive and serious. “We have to take a realistic approach. Not an all-guns blazing one.”

  But Max wasn’t to be swayed. “We should use more of the death penalty. That would make these miscreants think twice.”

  “Actually, states with the death penalty generally have much lower murder rates,” Andrew Martinez said. “But let’s not get into that right now. We’re here to celebrate Robbie’s life.”

  “We shouldn’t have let all these kids in,” Max said, making a dismissive wave over Shane and Allen. “There’s been nothing but trouble since they’ve been there.”

  Janice looked distinctly uncomfortable. “I think everyone’s hungry and getting grouchy. Why don’t we head over to Eat With Faith?”

  “Good idea,” Faith said. “And we’ll all get to see how well JoJo and Alizee are doing.” She’d felt a prickle of hot indignation when Max had put the kids down. They were doing an awesome job.

  “Wonderful,” Robert Lewis Senior said. “I could sure use some cake after all this drama. Are you up to coming, Capability?”

  “If you think I’m going to sit here and miss out on Faith’s pecan flan just because of a little knock on the head, you’d be sorely mistaken,” Capability said with a grin. “Help me up and I’ll hobble along.”

  “I’m your bodyguard, remember,” Shane said. “You can count on me.”

  Faith felt a warm feeling watching Shane help Capability up. He had serious responsibility all over his face, and she couldn’t help thinking just how much potential he had. How much all the kids had. She felt flooded with pride for Laura, then, too. So many people would look at the kids’ pasts and behaviors, and write off their whole lives. But not Laura. She believed in them. She loved them. And Faith was starting to love them, too.

  *****

  Chapter 12

  Later that evening, Nathan, Laura and Faith were holding one of their regular traditions – dress up for pizza. It had started when they’d first renovated Grandma Bessie’s café into Slice of Paradise, and money was short. They hadn’t had any money to go out to eat, so they’d swung by the store to buy three frozen pizzas, and had showered and dressed nicely to eat them together and make a thing of it. They’d even had some sparkling wine on occasion, clinking their glasses together and laughing as if it were expensive champagne.

  They decided after the rough time they’d had, a dress up for pizza was on the cards, and before long they were out the back of the apartment building where Faith and Laura b
oth lived, at the cast iron dining table, each with a pizza in front of them. This time they’d bought real champagne – Slice of Paradise was doing so well they could afford to – and Cirrus and Nimbus wound themselves round their legs and the table legs, happy as anything to be outside in the warm evening.

  Nathan always cut his pizza into strips, then folded them in half to make something like a pizza sandwich. “So,” he said, mid-roll, “tell me. Do you really think that whole Capability thing was an accident, or was Shane right? Maybe someone really did hit him in the back of the head with a rock.”

  “I wouldn’t put it past Max,” Laura said with a shudder. “I don’t care how great the guy is at landscaping. He gives me the creeps and you shouldn’t have hired him.”

  Nathan made a grimace. “He doesn’t fit in with the place anymore. Especially now we’re focusing on hope and growth and all that.”

  “He never fit in in the first place,” said Laura. “I think you compromised your values by hiring him.”

  Nathan shrugged. “I only interviewed his mom before giving them the position. I assumed he’d be fine.”

  “Yeah, well, you shouldn’t have,” Laura said. She took the pizza cutter and sliced her pepperoni pizza into the tiniest slices. She always said it felt like there was more that way.

  “Look,” Nathan said, sounding tense. “Janice is cool. I expected him to be cool. That’s not rocket science to understand, is it?”

  “No, but when you realized what he was like, you should have just—”

  “We were on a tight deadline to get everything done!” Nathan said. “I couldn’t just—”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past Max,” Faith said, wanting to defuse the tension. “Not because of his political views or anything. It’s not that. It’s just the way he says things, and his whole general…”

  “Vibe?” Laura offered.

  “Yeah.” Faith nodded. She took a slice of her chicken and pineapple pizza, then put it back down as she was in thought. “But… I just can’t think of a reason. Let’s just assume that the person who killed Robbie is the same person who attacked Capability, and tried to kill him, probably. But then… I can’t think of a motive for either one of those. Let alone both as a combination – Robbie and Capability had nothing to do with each other. It just doesn’t make sense.”

  Laura and Nathan both shook their heads, at a loss for an idea.

  Faith grinned. “The only common denominator is you, Nathan. So, come on, tell us why you did it.”

  They all laughed for a moment, glad for some comic relief, but then settled into sighs.

  “I had been thinking Andrew Martinez,” Faith said. “Because the senate race is at the end of the year. Maybe if he murdered Robbie – or probably got someone else to do it for him – Robert Lewis Senior would have pulled out, leaving Andrew Martinez free to take the seat. He’s the second most popular, and he lost by a narrow margin last time.”

  Nathan’s eyes widened. “And he did go missing just before we found Capability.”

  “But why murder Capability?” Laura said. “As far as we know, they don’t even know each other. What does Capability have to do with the senate race? Nothing.”

  Faith thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Martinez was the one who got all the camera crews and stuff to come down, and it looked like Robert knew nothing about them. I was thinking that was to do with a photo op – looking like the good guy for supporting his opponent through his time of grief. But then he stayed off-camera the whole time. And then… is there any reason he could have wanted another murder to happen when Robert was touring the gardens?”

  Nathan shrugged. “To make it look like Robert was cursed, I guess. Full of bad luck. No one would want to elect a senator who had that kind of bad luck, would they?”

  “Hmm, I don’t know,” Laura said. “The people might feel sorry for him and like him even more. Especially if he handled it all with dignity. The people do love him. My dad says he’s the best thing to happen to the state in a long time.”

  Faith shook her head. “None of this makes sense. There’s something we’re missing. Something we don’t know.”

  They went silent for a while.

  Nathan looked uncomfortable. “Unless…”

  “Unless?” Faith said.

  “I really don’t want to say this,” said Nathan. “But I have to.”

  Laura took a gulp of champagne, then grinned. “You have no secret thoughts from us, didn’t you know that already?”

  Nathan stared resolutely down at his half-finished pizza. “Maybe Max had a point. This is a wild idea, okay? I don’t think it’s this, but we have to look at every possibility.”

  “Spit it out,” Laura said cheerfully.

  “Maybe… maybe your kids did have something to do with it,” Nathan mumbled.

  Faith watched Laura’s face drop. Devastation was the only word Faith could use to describe her expression.

  “I mean,” Nathan hurried to add, “I’m sure it’s not. But we have to be realistic. They have been there both times something has happened. And look at their pasts.”

  “Look at their pasts,” Laura said, in a low menacing tone. “Look at their pasts. What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Like… a lot of them are at your unit for criminal activity, aren’t they?” Nathan said. “You heard JoJo and Shane. Taking death so casually. Maybe they did it for fun.”

  Laura shot to her feet. “For fun? What? Nathan, I’ll tell you about their pasts.” Her chest was heaving and her voice dripping with feeling. “Mostly abandoned. Abused. Left to rot in the so-called ‘care’ system. Alcoholic parents. Drug abuser parents. Sexual abuse. Verbal abuse. Emotional abuse. About every kind of abuse you can think of. Suicide attempts. Watching their parents die, some of them. In violence. Or drug overdoses. You think these kids think death is fun?”

  “I didn’t mean that,” Nathan said. “It’s just… it seems death is so normalized to them. Maybe one of them did it, and didn’t know what they were really doing. How serious it was.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Laura said. “I just can’t. Haven’t you seen all the progress they’ve been making? How they’ve put their whole hearts into this thing to make the place be a memory of Robbie? I’ve been so happy, so happy watching them mature and take responsibility and learn new skills. I thought you were happy, too. But this is what you’ve been thinking all along, isn’t it? That they’re just good-for-nothing criminals, who will kill for fun?!”

  “No, it’s not that, but—”

  “But what, Nathan? But what?” She was on the verge of tears. “Now I know why you’re not that bothered about hiring Max. Because secretly, underneath all your supposed values, you’re just like him. Well, fine.”

  Laura took her plate and marched back inside.

  Nathan pushed his head in his hands. “I didn’t mean that.”

  Faith didn’t really know what to say. On the one hand, she saw Laura’s point, and she loved Laura’s passion. On the other, they had to consider everyone a suspect. But when she pictured Alizee, JoJo, Shane and Allen, in her mind’s eye, she just couldn’t imagine it. The kids had good hearts. She thought of Alizee, using all the emotional tools she’d learned at the unit on Faith. She thought of JoJo, skillfully calming Alizee down when Max had riled her. She thought of Shane, so eager to be Capability’s bodyguard, with the enthusiasm of a little kid. And she thought of Allen, desperate to show off his pencil collection. None of them were killers.

  She dragged her chair up next to Nathan and put her arm around it. “Never mind, babe.” She pushed some of his wavy hair away from his face. “But I think you know none of them are killers. Laura and her colleagues have been working so hard with these kids. To show them that life can be good. They’re not going to turn around and just kill people for no reason.”

  “I should have just kept my big mouth shut.”

  Faith sighed. Cirrus, as if sensing some comfort was needed, jumped up
on Nathan’s lap. Faith smiled.

  “Eat your pizza, babe, and try and feel better. I’m going to go after Laura and see if she’s all right.”

  *****

  Chapter 13

  Every day that went by, Alizee and JoJo were improving their skills in the kitchen, and Faith was getting to know them better. She’d realized two things about Alizee, which had made her uncomfortable at first – Alizee could read people’s feelings like a book, and she had absolutely no filter, saying anything that came into her mind as soon as it did.

  At first, this had been excruciating for Faith, a person who liked to process her feelings mostly by herself, in her own mind, and who valued tact and space in relationships. But as the days went by and they felt more comfortable together, Faith came to like Alizee’s manner. It was refreshing. And despite Alizee’s compulsion to ‘tell it like it is’, she was never once nasty or rude. Sure, she might come out with things like, ‘You’re very uncomfortable with teenagers, aren’t you?’ or ‘When I challenge your ideas you get secretly annoyed and hold it under the surface‘, she was also forthcoming with and transparent about her own feelings and shortcomings. Soon they were firm friends.

  JoJo was much more serious and reserved, but was coming out of his shell. Sometimes he even laughed, and Alizee and Faith’s gentleness with him was obviously making him feel more at home. It was clear they trusted each other. They were all becoming a team.

  Alizee was absolutely delighted when Faith gave them both a challenge: “Each of you come up with your own unique cupcake flavor, and we’ll serve them both on the grand opening day. Try to stick with the theme of the whole place – something that makes you feel inspired, and happy.”

  “Eeek!” Alizee said. “This is so cool. But I’m only doing it on one condition.”

  “Shoot,” said Faith.

  “That you go away and let us do it in secret, and then you can only come back when they’re done, for the tasting.” Alizee nudged JoJo. “What do you think, my G?”