Chapter 14
“I’m starving!” I said for the third time since the caterers had set up all of the food.
Sam laughed. “You’ve eaten at least five cookies in the past hour. You can’t possibly be starving.”
“Come on,” I argued, “you can’t tell me all of those rich smells aren’t making you ready to quit and take a lunch break.” I put my hands on my hips and waited for Sam to deny it.
“Fine. Maybe I’m getting hungry, too.”
“Ha! I knew it.” I stuck my tongue out at Sam and grinned. “Now, let’s go get a plate and eat.”
The line of Breaking Chains employees had dwindled down to almost non-existent. Sam and I stepped behind the last two.
“What are you going to have?” Sam asked, eyeing the buffet arrangement of silver warming dishes that overflowed from the two rectangular tables. It was a self-serve setup; the caterers were to return later to do tear-down, clean-up, and collect the equipment.
I shook my head looking over the choices. Fried chicken, fried shrimp, green beans in a silky cheese sauce, skin-on garlic roasted red potatoes and bell peppers, salad greens, fluffy brown rolls, a Cajun rice, and creamy white gravy all vied for my attention.
“Earth to Piper,” Sam nudged me with her elbow. “I thought you were starving, so, what are you going to eat?”
“Everything!”
~
I pushed my empty plate away and groaned. “I’m so full! I’m never eating again.”
Sam hung her head and shook it back and forth with an exasperated sigh. “You didn’t have to actually have one of everything.”
“It all looked so good,” I said, crossing my arms and jutting my lip out in a pout.
“Knock-knock,” said a man, accompanied by tapping on the frame of the wide opening. Dressed in a dark business suit and geometric tie, he didn’t fit in with the rest of the group who were wearing casual jeans and shorts with short-sleeved shirts for the afternoon.
“I’m sorry, did you need something?” I asked him.
“I wondered, do you have any more of that Peanut Butter Pie?” he asked.
I didn’t even have to glance around the kitchen to know that answer. The Peanut Butter Pie had been our biggest hit. “No, unfortunately we don’t. Every last slice has been picked up.”
“Maybe you can find someone willing to trade,” Sam said. “We have a few Coconut Cream Hand Pies left still.” She handed him two plates through the opening in the wall.
“Maybe so,” he murmured a quick thanks and returned to the tables.
The front door of the cabin burst open and a strong breeze blew through the dining area.
“Storm’s coming!” Roy stood in the doorway, hollering. After several attempts, most of the dining room quieted and turned to pay attention. As the din of conversation and the clanking of silverware died down, a furious howling could be heard outside. Noise like sandpaper caught my ear as the wind tossed sand along the sides of the building in tiny spirals.
“A storm?” Sam asked. “I had no idea it was even supposed to rain today.”
The metallic ping of large raindrops pelting the metal roof began just as conversation took off again. The noise level grew outrageous as the rain strengthened and diners scurried from chairs toward the door. Where they planned to go, or why, didn’t concern me. Personally, I planned to stay nice and dry right here. Going to my cabin could wait until the storm moved on. That was the thing about the coast, storms popped up and blew in frequently. Some lasted longer than others, but most that blew through in the afternoon were small and short-lived.
“Sam, maybe we should bake more of the cookie dough from the fridge. If people are going to be stuck in here waiting out the rain, they may want more snacks.” I got up and headed to the fridge as I spoke.
“Good idea,” she nodded, also standing up.
The lights overhead flickered once, twice, three times before the kitchen and adjoining dining area were plunged into blackness. Unable to see a thing, I banged my hip on the corner of the worktable and let out a sharp cry of pain. Startled voices and a shriek or two sounded from the diners. Thin beams of sunlight flickered in and out of the windows between the rolling clouds. Dark outlines of people scuffling about, could be seen.
“Are you okay?” Sam asked me.
“I’ll be fine. May have a small bruise, otherwise no big deal.” I groped my way along the tabletop until I felt Sam’s warmth next to me and stopped.
“How long do you think the power will be out?” she asked.
“No idea. I hope not long.”
The door opened, another wild breeze stirred through the cabin, and the door banged shut. There was no way to tell in the dark if it had been someone coming or going. People began digging out cell phones, not as many as you would expect because evidently part of the wellness retreat was a break from technology; still, the few rebels in the dining hall switched on their flashlight apps and soon a fair amount of light filled the room.
Enough light to see the man face down in a slice of Peanut Butter Pie, not moving.
Chapter 15
“Kyle. Kyle, c’mon man!” a voice could be heard repeating in a panic.
Two or three others at the table noticed the eerie stillness of their dinner companion. Someone leaned in and felt for a pulse.
“He’s dead.”
Shocked whispers rippled through the crowd. A few screams shrieked above the thunder.
“Dead?” Sam asked me in a shaky voice. “Did someone say dead?”
“Yeah. It’s hard to see from in here, especially without the electricity on, but I think that’s the business suit guy who asked if we had any more Peanut Butter Pie.” I gulped. It was sad to think that only moments ago I may have spoken to the deceased man.
“I wonder if he had a heart attack or something?” Sam asked.
It took around fifteen minutes for emergency vehicles to arrive and by then the rain had stopped, the winds were calming down. Someone had thankfully dialed 911 and by the time they arrived the crowd had backed away, leaving ample space between them and the body.
“Why are the lights off?” barked a round police officer as he bumped into a chair.
“The storm knocked out the power,” a woman answered. I recognized her from the volleyball game, her name was Naomi.
“The power is on all over the city. In fact, the power is on all over this place; every cabin we drove past had lights on except this one.” The officer crossed his arms as people flocked to the windows to see the surrounding cabins.
Roy shined his light on the wall and flipped the switch. On. Off. On. Off. Nothing happened. “Nope,” he said. “We’ve got no power. Let me go check the breaker box.” Roy shuffled through the dining room, skirting chairs and tables one slow step at a time, and finally made his way through the kitchen.
I followed him to the back door. “Do you need any help?” I asked.
In the dimness I saw Roy nod. “You can hold this light,” he said, handing me his phone. Outside, Roy walked several feet down the side of the cabin to a large silver box was mounted to the exterior wall.
I held the phone’s flashlight pointed at the box, trying not to shine it in Roy’s eyes at the same time. Glancing around I saw patches of light streaming from cabin windows down the path. Roy’s grumbling caught my ear and my attention returned in time to see him flipping breaker after breaker, including the large main breaker at the top. Turning my head, I saw the interior of the kitchen and dining area remained dark except for the many phones bobbing around like oversized fireflies.
Roy rejoined me in the kitchen, shaking mud off of his feet. “Don’t know why it won’t work,” he said as I handed his phone back to him.
“Me neither Roy, but we better go tell everyone.”
Sam, Roy, and I stepped into the dining area with the others. With the clouds moving on and the large windows, the room was well-lit with natural light now. Several men and women were stacking chairs to t
he side while another group moved tables. They all worked to clear a path for the stretcher being rolled inside to collect the body.
Sam hurried to find and bring the police officer over to speak with us. I used the few minutes of waiting to observe the room. Soft sounds of the door opening and shutting accompanied those who were trickling out to return to their own cabins or wandering to see if the storm washed up any treasures onto the beach. A handful of others remained, eyes glued to the body at the table.
Landon had been standing near the body of business-suit-guy and walked over to where Roy and I stood to get out of the way of the coroner.
“Hey,” I put a hand on his arm. “How are you holding up? Did you know him?”
Landon drew in a long, deep breath. “I did. In fact, he trained me. He was my boss.”
“Your boss?” I shook my head in the hopes that if I rattled this information around it would make sense somehow.
Before Landon could respond, the police officer walked up with Sam right in step behind him.
“Show me the breaker box,” the officer barked. Talk about grumpy, I guess this guy really didn’t like getting out in the rain or something.
Our little entourage, Sam, Landon, Roy, myself, and Officer Grumpy, trekked back through the dark kitchen. I opened the door to do the honors. The rest of us leaned out the door and watched.
“Your boss?” I whispered to Landon.
“Yes, my boss. I work for Breaking Chains but it isn’t something I advertise.”
“What?” Sam asked trying to hear. “You’re going into advertising?”
“Get inside!” Officer Grumpy suddenly shouted. “Don’t make more footprints.” He got on his radio next. “Rawlins, secure the building. The power has been cut.” Crackling and a voice came back but the words were drowned out as Roy stumbled through the doorway, out of range of Officer Grumpy’s mood.
Unfortunately for Roy, and us, the officer came right back inside. “Get back to the other room,” he ushered us.
We high-tailed it into the dining area and stood to the side where he indicated. “Officer,” I squinted and was able to pick out the name on his shirt badge, “Officer Campbell, did you say the power was cut? As in, the electricity being out was on purpose?”
“Yes,” he said gruffly before going to the center of the room. An ear-piercing whistle sounded. After Officer Campbell had everyone’s attention, he stared hard at each face, saying at last, “Nobody is to leave until after statements are taken. If someone who sat at your table is not here, you need to give their name to my deputy so we can find and speak to them as well. This death will be investigated as a potential crime.”
A crescendo of whispers broke out.
“You can’t keep us here,” an outraged voice erupted from the crowd.
“I thought he had a heart attack,” a woman a few feet from my left whispered. I lifted my hands in a gesture of who knows and shook my head.
“Form a line,” Officer Campbell said. “My deputy will take your statement on the porch as you exit. One at a time,” he emphasized.
Chapter 16
I rubbed the raised chill bumps on my arms. It was June. On the beach. On the beach in the south to be specific. It wasn’t even close to cold outside, but still, I shivered. I couldn’t stop thinking of that poor man. Dead. Murdered? I didn’t know for sure, yet the police intended to investigate all possibilities.
I had given my statement to the deputy on the porch, followed in close succession by Sam and Landon. The questions had been brief and my responses even more so:
Did you know the victim? No.
Did you bake the desserts? Yes.
Did you serve the victim Peanut Butter Pie? No, we were out.
How did he get Peanut Butter Pie then? I don’t know.
Did you have any reason to harm the victim? No.
Did you see the victim arguing with anyone? No.
The deputy told each of us not to leave The Cove’s Cabins in case the police had any more questions. Landon made his way towards the rolling surf. Sam and I followed.
“Landon,” I put a hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” he shook his head.
“You said that man was your boss. What was his name?” I knew sometimes it helped to talk through things. I also felt more than a bit of curiosity at Landon's involvement with Breaking Chains. He certainly hadn’t mentioned it, not that we’d had a lot of time to chat since he turned up.
“Arthur. Arthur Cole was his name.”
“So, you worked for Breaking Chains?” Sam asked the obvious question for us both.
“Yeah, I’m not an office employee or anything, but my team reported to Arthur.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I told him.
“That’s the thing,” Landon said. “I didn’t even like the guy. Don’t get me wrong, he seemed like a good boss and I learned a lot from him. We weren’t exactly friends though. Breaking Chains is all about helping the victims but to Arthur, it was no more than a regular business. He didn’t have any real empathy or contact with the people we helped bring in off of the streets. The only reason he even sat at my table was that he wanted to trade desserts with me.”
“Everybody has their strengths,” Sam said with a light tone. “Maybe Arthur only felt comfortable with his skills for the business end of things?”
“I guess,” Landon conceded.
A scream, high-pitched and terrified, had us each whipping our necks down the beach to the left. A few other people heard and jogged toward a woman who kept screaming and scuttled backward in the sand like a crab as fast as she could go. She tried to stand but couldn't seem to regain her footing. She kept crawling backward, her eyes never leaving something in the edge of the waves.
"You think she saw a jellyfish or a shark or something?" I asked.
That theory evaporated seconds later.
“A body!” someone near her called. “Get the police down here, there’s a body.”
“Sam, hurry and get the police,” I told her. Our group still huddled closest to the dining cabin and she could get there fastest. She sped toward the cabin and the officers taking statements.
I took off toward the frightened woman and the body. Don’t ask me why; I spent the whole minute it took to get there asking myself what in the world I thought I could do to help. I could hear Landon’s steps thudding behind me and soon he overtook me with his longer stride.
When we got close, we saw someone attempting CPR on a woman. The figure sprawled too still, her ebony hair tangled with seaweed and spotted with sand. Up the shore a bit, the little round man who had led the prayer at lunch sat with the lady who spotted the body first. He talked soft and nodded, patting her arm every so often to try and comfort her. Given that the screaming stopped, I’d say he was doing a good job.
The man doing CPR rocked back on his heels, shaking his head in defeat.
I gasped at the first unimpeded sight of the woman’s face. I recognized her.
The girl from the cleaning crew!
Before I could react, Landon also gasped beside me. The blood drained from his face faster than water from my tub.
“Coco,” he whispered.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. I’ve gotta go,” Landon took off running again, this time up through the cabins.
“Wait, we aren’t supposed to leave,” I tried to catch him but a pain in my side pulled me up short. Geeze, I thought holding my left hand to my ribs. I’ve really need to start exercising, this is ridiculous.
Officer Campbell and his deputy passed me on the way to the beach. They slowed at the sight of me gasping; I waved them on down to the body.
“Piper, are you okay?” Sam came alongside me and asked.
“I am. I’m not sure about Landon though.”
“What do you mean? I don’t see him.”
“That’s what I mean. I’m worried. He is acting strange and, well, I hate to think it
but I’m wondering if he is into some kind of trouble.”
“How so?” Sam asked as we linked arms and settled into a much slower walk back to our cabin. The pain in my side was easing, thank goodness.
“He knew the guy, Arthur, who died in the dining cabin,” I wheeled through the worries in my mind.
“Right. He explained that,” Sam nodded.
“Turns out, he knew the dead girl on the beach, too. At least, he seemed to.” I explained about him saying ‘Coco’ before dashing off. “He became extremely upset and took off running.”
“What are you saying?” Sam asked. “Do you think we need to tell Officer Campbell?”
“Not yet. I’m saying it may be time to do some digging.”
Chapter 17
“This is a terrible plan,” Sam grumbled, unbuckling her seat belt.
I looked around the parking lot of the massage parlor. “Hey, at least it’s daylight. It’ll be fine, come on.”
“Why in the world did I let you talk me into this?” she grouched.
“Don’t you blame me; I told you that you needed to let me do this alone.”
“Fat chance I was letting that happen.”
I grinned. Sam might be mad at me, but she would do whatever it took to look out for me. Even if that meant going to chat with the people at the seedy massage parlor Landon visited in the sketchy neighborhood we had vowed to avoid.
We tried to act casual as we strolled to the door. Today, the neon open sign was flashing green in the window, though the blinds were still closed.
“Do we knock or just go in?” Sam hesitated at the door.
“They say open.” I grabbed the doorknob and turned. The moment the door opened I started coughing. “Apparently,” I said trying to get my breath back, “they let you smoke in here.”
The stench in the tiny foyer area had me breathing through my mouth. I’m not an expert, having never experimented with drugs myself, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t just cigarettes polluting all of the perfectly good oxygen around us.
Ooey Gooey Bakery Mystery Box Set Page 23
