“Would you really want pumpkin spice during the dog days of summer?” I joked.
Shannon shrugged. “Maybe.”
I squinted. “Really?”
“I’d certainly like the option of being able to order one all year round,” Shannon said.
“You realize why you can’t, though, right?” I asked.
“Because coffee shop managers like you won’t serve them,” Shannon cracked.
“I have to admit. It’s nice to be referred to as a coffee shop manager rather than a sleuth,” I said.
Shannon chuckled. “I’ll bet. You’ve been doing a lot more of one than the other lately.”
I looked behind the counter at Vanessa Hargrave, who was the front end manager at Daley Buzz.
“I’m glad Vanessa is here. She’s a great manager. Besides, with all the investigating I’ve been doing lately, I have been spending less time here than ever.”
“Go figure. It’s hard to be a super sleuth and keep an eye on your family’s coffee shop at the same time,” Shannon joked.
I blushed. “I’m not a super sleuth.”
“Tell that to all the criminals you’ve put behind bars,” Shannon said.
“I couldn’t have done it without David. We’re a team.”
Kelly spoke up. “A great team.”
“More like a team who could use a vacation,” I said.
“What are the chances of you taking one soon?” Kelly asked.
“About as likely as you having a craving for pumpkin spice in the middle of summer,” I joked.
“Very funny,” Shannon said.
“It wasn’t a joke. I don’t see David and me taking a vacation anytime soon,” I said.
“That’s a shame,” Shannon said.
“You’re telling me. I’d love to be on a beach in Hawaii right now, living it up. But since that’s clearly not happening anytime soon, I’d settle for a prolonged stretch of peace and quiet in Treasure Cove,” I said.
Shannon chuckled. “Good luck with that.”
“Unfortunately, luck isn’t what I’m known for. All I have to do is look at the pile of losing lottery tickets that I have at home to see that,” I said.
“I’ve been telling you for years that you need to surround yourself with more citrine. It is the prosperity crystal,” Kelly said.
Shannon held her pointer finger up. “Speaking of lottery tickets. And citrine. If you have the inside track on how to gain prosperity, then why haven’t you helped us pick out some winning lottery numbers over the years?”
“Just because I know that a citrine crystal can lead to prosperity doesn’t mean that I can predict the future. Specifically, what six lucky numbers will be drawn on any given evening,” Kelly said.
While Shannon became discouraged, I focused on a different topic.
“But you’re always telling me about these visions you have,” I said. “Have you had any lately, specifically relating to how peaceful life will be around here?”
Kelly grimaced. “I have not had any specific visions, but cosmically-speaking, this is not traditionally a serene time of year.”
“Well, isn’t that disturbingly ominous?” Shannon cracked.
“Sorry,” Kelly said. “I’m just being honest. Would you rather I lie to you?”
“I’d prefer if you didn’t. Even when it’s tough to stomach, I think it’s important to know the truth,” I said.
Kelly let out a sigh. “So you’re saying we should be on the lookout for trouble?”
“Don’t get me wrong. I have been meditating for the astral tides to not crash so turbulently against our shores, but like I said, tranquility is a rare commodity this time of year,” Kelly said.
I grimaced. “Now I really wish David and I had the money to take a family vacation to Hawaii.”
Shannon took a deep breath. “Unfortunately, there’s never a winning lottery ticket around when you need one.”
Chapter Five
That night, David and I got a babysitter to watch our daughter while we headed over to Antonio’s Ristorante for a nice dinner. Antonio’s was the most upscale Italian place in town. So for David and I to be dining there was a real treat. After all, even though millionaires like Jake Williamson were regulars at Antonio’s, middle class folks like David and me typically only went there on special occasions.
But it wasn’t a birthday or anniversary that brought us to Antonio’s that evening. Instead, Gavin Zeller and his girlfriend, Angela Hummel, extended an invitation to us. We happily accepted their invitation—even before we found out that they planned on treating us. When we discovered that they were going to foot the bill, it made the evening even more special.
As expected, the food did not disappoint. My chicken parmigiana was delicious.
A look of sheer delight was on my face as I ate my entrée. “What a meal,” I said.
Gavin and Angela both smiled as they sat across the table from me.
Meanwhile, David sat beside me and took a bite of his lasagna. “Talk about a treat for the taste buds.”
“I’m so glad you like it,” Gavin said.
“Was there any doubt that we would?” I asked.
“You can never be too sure,” Angela said.
“Especially in this town,” Gavin added.
“Don’t remind me,” I replied. “That said, when you pair a relaxing night on the town with great food like this, it’s hard to go wrong.”
“I can’t agree more. But as great as this food is, the peace is what makes this evening so special,” David said.
“I’ll bet. This town hasn’t taken it easy on you two,” Gavin said.
“It sure hasn’t,” David said.
“You probably don’t get a lot of nights out on the town either,” Angela said.
“No. This is a rarity,” David said.
“I had a hunch you were going to say that,” Angela replied.
“You have good instincts,” David said.
“That’s quite a compliment, coming from a detective,” Angela said.
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s nice to have good instincts. I just wish that I didn’t have to use them so much,” David said.
“Hey, peace has finally come to Treasure Cove. Let’s appreciate it while it’s here,” I said.
“You’re right. Especially since we don’t know how long it will last,” David said.
A playful expression came to my face. “I hope it lasts long enough for me to order some cake.”
Gavin laughed. “I’m pretty sure you’re in the clear. I don’t think trouble is in danger of breaking out in the next minute or two.”
I gritted my teeth. “Gavin, don’t jinx it.”
Gavin grimaced. “Sorry.”
“Peace is a very fragile thing,” I said.
“In that case, we’d better order that cake on the double,” Gavin said. “So, what kind should I order for you?”
“Let me stop you right there. It turns out I can order for myself,” I said.
“I know. But we’re treating you, so I figured I’d do the ordering for the whole table,” Gavin said.
“Actually, David and I will take care of dessert,” I said.
Gavin shook his head. “No you won’t.”
“Are you sure? I mean, you and Angela were already nice enough to treat us to dinner. The least we can do is cover dessert,” I said.
Angela cut in. “No. The whole meal is on us. We insist.”
“Okay. Well thank you,” I said.
“That’s very kind of you,” David added.
“It’s our pleasure,” Gavin said.
“So what will it be?” Angela asked.
“I’m going to go with the cherry cake,” I said.
“Good choice,” Angela said.
I smiled. “It’s hard to go wrong with dessert.”
“I like that philosophy,” Angela said.
“That has been one of my mottos in life,” I said. “Which is why I’ve spent so much time a
t the gym over the years.”
“So have I. But I don’t let the threat of time on the treadmill deter me from having a good time,” Angela said.
“Nor should you,” I said.
“Now let’s indulge,” Angela said.
I looked at Gavin. “I like the way your girlfriend thinks. She’s a smart woman.”
Gavin gazed at Angela. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Angela smiled. “That’s so sweet.”
“It’s just the truth,” Gavin said.
David chuckled.
Gavin’s forehead wrinkled as he stared at David. “What’s so funny?”
“You two just remind me a lot of Sabrina and me when we first started dating,” David said.
Angela’s eyes lit up. “Ah. What a nice compliment.”
“Yeah. You two have been married for what, fifteen years?” Gavin asked.
“A little over sixteen, actually,” I said.
“And you’re still going strong,” Gavin said. “So being compared to you is quite the compliment.”
“Thanks for saying that,” I said.
“I’m just being honest.” Gavin took Angela’s hand and gazed at her again. “If we’re in the same place as you two are sixteen years from now, it would make me so happy.”
Angela squinted. “Well, maybe not in the exact same place.”
Gavin’s forehead wrinkled. “What place would you rather be in?”
“A place where murder investigations are unheard of,” she said.
I held my glass up. “I second that thought.”
David stared out into the distance. “Talk about a peaceful life that would be.”
“A great life, you mean,” I said.
David took a deep breath. “If only we could make that happen.”
“I pray about it every night,” I said.
“Keep praying,” David said.
“Trust me. I will,” I said. “But enough about investigations.”
“Of course. I’m sorry to have even brought up the subject,” Angela said.
I decided to take the conversation in a different direction. “So Gavin, what’s going on with your TV deal?”
Gavin grimaced. “Right. The TV deal.”
“Uh-oh. Should I not have brought it up?” I asked.
Gavin took a deep breath before responding, “Well, the thing is, there is no TV deal.”
My eyebrows rose. “Wait. Since when?”
Gavin looked down. “Since the TV producer decided to go in a different direction.”
I winced. “Oh.”
“Apparently, he has elected to produce some reality show instead,” Gavin said.
“Because we don’t have enough of those already, huh?” I deadpanned.
“Apparently, he thinks there’s enough room in the market for one more singing competition,” Gavin said.
David groaned. “I strongly disagree.”
“It’s a shame you aren’t a producer,” Gavin said. “Maybe then my TV show would still have a shot.”
I looked at Gavin with sympathetic eyes. “I’m so sorry that things didn’t work out.”
“Thanks, but I know what you’re thinking right now. After all, you warned me to be wary of Hollywood,” Gavin said.
I shook my head. “That isn’t what I’m thinking—”
“You were right, though,” he said.
“Gavin, you have it all wrong. I didn’t want this to happen,” I said. “I wish that things had turned out differently.”
“So do I. But I’m not going to let this get me down. At least, not too much,” Gavin said.
“It’s good to hear that,” I said.
“Aside from this little bump in the road, things are going really well in my life. And I’d like to focus on that,” Gavin said.
Angela smiled at Gavin. “I think that’s a good call.”
Gavin gazed at his girlfriend. “I have you to thank for that.”
Angela shrugged. “What, the positive attitude? Or the fact that things are going well?”
“Both,” Gavin said.
Angela blushed. “That’s sweet of you to say.”
Gavin and Angela kissed.
While they were busy lip-locking, my taste buds got the best of me.
“Speaking of sweet, how about that cake?” I asked.
Angela pulled back from her kiss and looked over at me. “Let’s order.”
Chapter Six
The cake was so fantastic that my taste buds ended up thanking me for the remainder of the evening.
The next day, I went about my usual routine. My morning began by taking my pet corgi, Sebastian, out for a brisk walk around the neighborhood. When we returned home, I woke up Jessica and told her to get ready for school while I prepared breakfast. I also sent Gavin a text message, thanking him and Angela for treating us to dinner.
A few minutes later, David, Jessica, and I sat down to eat. We had a quick, but pleasant breakfast, then I gave David a kiss good-bye. From there, Jessica and I hopped in the car. I dropped Jessica off at school and then headed over to my family’s coffee shop to do some work in the back office.
For the longest time, paperwork was the bane of my existence. But in comparison to all the murder cases I had investigated over the years, doing a few profit and loss reports wasn’t so bad. There was nothing like a little perspective to reframe my thinking.
Besides, I would be done in a few hours. Then I could go about the rest of my day as normal. Or, as normal as a day could be in Treasure Cove. I was beginning to believe that there was no such thing as ordinary in my hometown. So maybe this would be the closest that things would get.
***
After working on profit and loss reports for two hours, my perspective wore off a little. The number crunching grew tiring to the point where I just wanted the paperwork to be finished. Unfortunately, I still had about another half an hour of work left to do. Even worse, my coffee cup was empty. It was time to take a latte break before wrestling with my reports again.
Before I had a chance to foam the milk for my latte, my phone rang. I checked the caller identification screen and saw Gavin Zeller’s name listed. I figured that he just wanted to have a chat about our outing to Antonio’s the night before.
So imagine my surprise when I took the call and heard Gavin sounding desperate on the other end of the phone line.
“Sabrina. You need to come here right now,” Gavin said. “And make it quick.”
His tone took me by surprise. I replied as calmly as possible. “Why? Where are you? And what’s going on?”
“She’s gone,” he said.
My forehead wrinkled. “Who is?”
“Angela,” he said.
My heart sank. So much for having a normal day. Apparently, the universe had decided to go haywire again.
While I was lost in thought, Gavin became even more concerned.
“Sabrina, are you still there?” he asked.
I came out of my daze. “Yeah. I was just trying to make sense of what you said.”
“Good luck with that. None of this adds up.”
“Can you at least clue me in a little bit?” I asked. “Tell me what happened.”
“I have no idea.”
I squinted. “I’m not following you. Did you two get into a fight or something?”
“No.”
“So Angela just walked out on you and left for no good reason?”
“Sabrina, you have it all wrong. When I said that Angela’s gone, I didn’t mean that she left me.”
I shrugged. “Then what happened?”
“She has disappeared.”
My heart skipped a beat. “As in, she’s gone missing?”
“Yes.”
I clutched my chest. This was far worse than I first thought. I tried my best to calm my breathing down, but my pulse was racing like crazy.
Gavin panicked when I didn’t respond for a number of seconds. “Sabrina. Did you hear me?”
I took a few deep breaths and managed to restore my breathing to relative normal.
“That’s horrible,” I said.
“That’s why I need your help,” he said.
“Of course. I’m going to call David. We’ll be right over.”
“Come quickly. I’m in front of Angela’s place,” Gavin said.
Chapter Seven
I called David and filled him in on the news. My husband immediately jumped into his car and headed over to Daley Buzz to pick me up. We then rushed over to Angela’s place.
On our way to Birch Drive, it was hard to keep my mind from wandering. But my thoughts weren’t able to go very far. David saw to that. When he noticed how quiet I was being, he did his best to pull my head out of the clouds.
“Are you thinking about your sister?” he asked.
It was incredible how well David knew me. It was as if he could read my mind. Not that my thoughts were shrouded in mystery. Even though I wasn’t outwardly a wreck, it was logical to assume that the mention of someone going missing would bring back old painful memories of my own sister’s disappearance.
You see, a number of decades ago, my older sister disappeared one morning after she went out for a jog. Despite a frantic search, no one had any luck finding her. For eleven years, my family had no clue what happened to her.
Then one day, a local real estate company started building a new tract of homes in the northeast corner of town. As the crew was digging, they stumbled across a set of human bones. A number of forensic tests were conducted and they all came back with the same result. Without a doubt, the bones belonged to my sister Jessica.
After a thorough investigation, Kyle Lipinski was identified as the killer. Kyle was currently in Treasure Cove Penitentiary serving a life sentence for the murder. But while justice had been served, my sister was gone forever.
It didn’t seem to matter how many years passed by. Whenever I thought about Jessica, I became emotional. And I had a feeling that would never change.
That said, with Angela Hummel suddenly missing, I needed to hold myself together.
“I’m trying not to think about Jess,” I said.
Mysteries of Treasure Cove Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 38
