“And how many did Collette bring in?”
“None. She was too busy sleeping with the boss.” She waves past me and excuses herself.
Jules King. That’s the woman I saw arguing with Collette that night. Huh. I do a quick sweep of the room but come up empty.
Everett pops up—ironically along with his Pops.
“Hey, Everett? If someone stole a position of honor at your courthouse, you wouldn’t consider murder, would you?”
“I wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean someone else with far more rage would do the same. Why? Did you find the killer?”
“Maybe. But I don’t see her here. I still have some investigating to do.” I glance to his father and blink a shy smile.
“Well, Lemon, once you set your mind to something, you are determined.” He looks to me sternly. “As is my father. I saw you glancing to my side. He’s here, isn’t he?”
“Rest assured, he’s always here.” I shrug. “And, believe me, I have no idea why.”
Everett threads his arm through mine and flashes that rarely seen smile my way, scant and brief as it may be. “Brace yourself, Lemon. We’re about to find out.”
Chapter 46
Everett hustles us right out the door, into the windy afternoon and around to the side of the building where there’s a patch of grass and a small fountain. It’s secluded and socked in between the church and the hall, so there’s a bit of a reprieve from the blustery weather.
“Let’s have it, Pops.” Everett looks around every which way. I point next to the fountain to orient him. “What’s going on? Were you here to warn us of Collette’s passing?”
The older, far more determined version of him offers a solemn nod.
“He says yes.” My adrenaline kicks in because I’ve never actually had anything even close to a conversation with a ghost before.
“Okay.” Everett lets this soak in a moment. “Are they going to arrest me? Am I going to be wrongfully sentenced? Sent to the electric chair?”
“Geez, Everett,” I hiss as I take a step back. “You’re going to be fine. I’m this close to finding out who the killer is. Please do not fill your head with thoughts of the electric chair of all things.”
His father offers another solemn nod.
“And he agrees with me.” I point hard toward the fountain. “Everett, I get that you’re worried, and I don’t want you to be.”
“I called Noah last night. He let me know it wasn’t looking good. Fairbanks had something on me, and he wouldn’t say what.”
“That must be what he was keeping from me. Everett, I’m so sorry.” My heart plummets to middle earth just thinking about how terrifying this must be for him.
“Anyhow, one problem at a time. Ask my father what he wants. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to be here any more than I want him here.”
“What’s his name?”
“Edward.” He casts his gaze to the ground. “His name was Edward. He was a judge in Fallbrook for decades. That bench was his wife. It was his family. We hardly saw him. One day he and my mother went at it, and he simply moved out. He was hardly interested in us. In fact, he died doing what he loved. Had a heart attack.”
“Edward,” I say, looking right at the handsome spook. “You heard your son. Is there any way that you can communicate what it is you’re doing here?”
He glowers at the building a moment before gliding his forefinger across his neck and pointing hard at the church.
“He just slit his throat and pointed to the church,” I relay to Everett. “So you were here to warn us, me, about Collette’s impending doom. Is it because she didn’t have pets?” I realize how ridiculous it sounds, but hearing it makes it feel twice as unbelievable.
He offers a hearty nod.
“He says yes,” I say. “And what about her relatives? Did you volunteer because you wanted to somehow communicate with your son again?”
His chest expands as if he took a ghostly breath, and he nods slowly as he looks to Everett.
“He said yes, Everett. He’s come back for you. I’m guessing the two of you have unfinished business?”
Everett’s blue eyes tear up in an instance, and he gives a hard sniff as if to avert any further emotions. “Okay. Let’s have it. What unfinished business?”
The older version of him takes a step in close to his son. He shakes his head and touches his throat as if highlighting his inability to express a thing. He lays his hand over Everett’s head, and Everett closes his eyes as if he can feel him.
“Is this about the way he left my mother, my sister, and me?”
He nods, and I relay it to Everett.
Everett takes a breath. “He wishes it never happened?”
He nods vigorously, and I relay it again.
“He’s here to apologize, make amends.” Everett pushes the words out as he comes to a sorrowful conclusion.
The older version of him doesn’t nod this time. Instead, he wraps his arms around his son, and a spark of light fills his ghostly body.
Everett returns the gesture, embracing his father as if he was solid, and his chest bucks silently as they hold one another like that for a good long while.
“I forgive you,” Everett whispers as his father steps back and looks at his son with all the love and affection a father can.
“I wish you could see how he’s looking at you,” I whisper.
“I can.” Everett continues to look into his father’s glowing eyes, and ever so slowly that older version of him begins to dissipate. He points to himself, then folds his arms across his chest before pointing to Everett. “I love you, too, Pops. I really do.”
And just like that, he’s gone.
“Lemon.” Everett’s chest expands as he glances to the sky. “We won’t speak of this to anyone.”
“Never.” I hop over and wrap my arms around him. “You’re so very lucky, Everett. You don’t know how many people would give anything to have just one more chance, one more moment.”
He leans in and sniffs into my hair. “I couldn’t have done it without you. I guess it was divine intervention we met that day.”
“I guess it was.”
A set of footsteps clop over. “Well, look what we have here.”
I pull back as if jumping out of a fire, only to find Detective Fairbanks and a wild-eyed Noah.
“Lottie?” Noah looks a little hurt, and my heart squeezes tight in my chest just witnessing it.
Ivy turns to him. “I guess she didn’t leave you after all, Fox. But it looks as if she might be leaving you in a less proverbial way.” She looks to the parking lot before hightailing it out of here. I bet that’s where she parked her broom.
“I’m not leaving you.” I avert my eyes at the thought.
Everett looks to me, then Noah. “Look, it’s not what you think. The funeral stirred up emotions about my father that I didn’t expect, and Lemon followed me out here. She was simply comforting me in my time of grief.” He nods my way. “Thank you for that,” he says as he takes off for the lot himself.
“You’re a good friend, Lottie.” Noah reels me in, and I relax over his chest as if it were my new home. “I just wish you weren’t such a good friend to my former brother.” He frowns at the fountain behind me. “I’m sorry. It’s silly of me to say.”
“No, I get it.” I hike up on the balls of my feet and brush a kiss over his lips. “If I’m being perfectly honest, I’m not entirely thrilled you have to spend so much time with Ivy—and never mind how insane it makes me that the two of you are keeping secrets.”
A dull laugh rumbles through him. “Only because you want the upper edge on the investigation.”
I’m about to tell him that I’m pretty certain I have the upper edge but think better of it.
“Never mind that.” I pull him in closer by the tie. “Did you find the answers you were looking for?”
“Maybe. But, in truth, I think we only came away with more questions. And you?”
“Um
—same.” I shrug. There’s no way I’m handing Jules King to Ivy on one of my delicious cookie platters. When I’m good and certain, I’ll tell Noah and he can make the arrest. And then Keelie’s father, the captain of the sheriff’s department, will see what an asset he is and take him off probation—and if I’m lucky, he’ll fire Ivy for being useless.
Noah tips his head into my line of vision. “You have a naughty look in your eye. Am I going to like what you’re thinking?”
“I think you are very much going to like what I’m thinking. I have the bakery staffed for the rest of the day. How about we grab a pizza and cuddle up with Pancake and a movie at my place?”
“You’re right. I very much like what you’re thinking.” His brows bounce, and that crooked grin graces his face.
“Well, Detective Fox, I think pizza is my new favorite food group.” I give his tie a tug as I touch my nose to his.
“I think I’ve got a hankering for something a little sweeter.”
Noah lands a kiss over me that’s far sweeter, far more demanding and exciting than anything I could whip up in the kitchen.
Noah’s kisses taste a lot like love.
* * *
We pull up to Country Cottage Road and are immediately greeted with the strobe of the flashing lights on top of at least a half dozen police cruisers. I look over to where they are and gasp.
“They’re at Everett’s house.”
Noah and I park in haste, facing the wrong way, and we hop out and run over to the two-story home that sits next to mine.
“Everett!” I call out as he stands next to a sheriff’s deputy.
He excuses himself and walks our way.
“What hap—” I don’t even finish the question before my eyes land on the malfeasance. Scrawled in dripping red paint across his white double door entry is the word murderer. The window next to the door has a giant hole in it and shattered glass sparkles over the porch. “I’m so sorry.”
“Just kids, probably.” He looks indifferently toward the damage. “They tossed a brick inside before they left. No one saw anything. Apparently, the entire neighborhood was at the funeral.”
“Any security cameras?” Noah’s eyes shoot at the four corners of the house at once.
“Not yet.” Everett sighs. “I’m having them installed Tuesday. It looks like I was off by three days.”
“I’ve got ’em.” Noah gives my hand a squeeze. “I’ve got one pointed at Lottie’s just in case. I’ll go see if it caught anything.” He takes off to speak with the deputies, and a couple of them head across the street with Noah.
“You’re right. It was probably just kids—teenagers,” I say it with all the angst I can muster. “Your name is going to be cleared very, very soon.”
“Not soon enough. The city council contacted me yesterday and asked me to step down until I’m no longer a suspect.”
I suck in a quick breath. “Everett! I don’t know what to say.” My hands cover my mouth, and I take him in like this, stoic, strong even in the face of adversity.
He pulls back and swallows hard. “It’s okay. Although, I will confess, I wish my father would have hung out a little longer. Now that we’re no longer locked in a feud, I’d rather prefer he was with me.”
“That’s very sweet.”
“I guess I’ll have to opt for the next best thing.”
“What’s that?”
“A girl by the name of Lily Swanson invited me out to dinner.”
“No!” My voice resonates a little too much punctuation for someone who’s just friends with Everett, and I hate that.
“I did say no. I’m going to dinner with Fiona instead.”
“Fiona Dagmeyer?” I’m not feeling so great about her either. Fiona is a defense attorney that works down at the courthouse with him. And she also happens to be one of his infamous exes. She’s a gorgeous brunette, smart as a whip, and quite possibly Everett’s last hope—that is, unless I come through for him.
“They don’t call her The Dagger for nothing. I figure I’d better stay one step ahead of the sheriff and lawyer up as they say.”
“I’d hate for you to bear the expense, especially since your name will be cleared in no time.” Like as soon as I get my hands on Jules King.
“Don’t worry about that. Fiona doesn’t charge me. At least not in dollars.” He gives a quick wink as he heads toward the sheriffs.
Noah comes back shaking his head. “The camera is too high and square on your house. I’ll have to get another one and point it his way.”
“Aren’t you the knight in shining armor. Hey, Everett just told me the city council asked him to step down while the investigation was underway. Is there any possibility you can clear his name by Monday?”
Noah winces. “I wish I could. Lottie, what I’m about to tell you is for your ears only. Do not, and I repeat, do not say a word to anyone, least of all Everett.”
“I won’t say a word, I promise.” My heart drums into my throat as if he were about to give me devastating news, and I think he might be.
“We have solid evidence that Everett placed a powder-like substance into Collette’s mug that night.”
“What?” My entire body tingles with disbelief. There’s no way it’s possible. I was with Everett for most of the night—with the exception of that big argument he had with Collette. My God, he didn’t really have it out for Collette, did he?
“I wouldn’t kid about something like that. We have it on tape.”
“Did you ask him about it?”
He looks past me at Everett. “We just reviewed the evidence yesterday. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but we got the footage off a cell phone of someone who was at the ceremony that night. A few people voluntarily turned in their phones because they had been taking footage of the event. Unfortunately, that’s what we stumbled upon.”
“He’s not guilty, and we both know it.”
Noah closes his eyes a moment as he looks over to Everett. “He sure as hell looks it.”
A heavy sigh expels from me.
He sure as hell does.
Chapter 47
Baking requires both common and uncommon ingredients. I’ve secured some of the more exotic ingredients all the way from Italy, and others can be purchased at the local grocery store. Every ingredient needs to be measured carefully so it can best accomplish its purpose, and I’m betting that’s exactly how the killer went about preparing the wolf’s bane.
Keelie leans over my shoulder. “What’s wolf’s bane?”
“Would you shush?” I seal my laptop closed and glance at the customers seated around me at the Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery. The paper turkeys and cornucopias brimming with pumpkins give this place a fun festive feel for the upcoming holidays, and I’d hate to break the spell with talk of poison of all things. “Noah thinks that’s what they used to kill Collette,” I whisper.
“It sounds deadly.”
“It is. According to the information I was able to find, the proper name is Aconitum, and it stems from the sunflower family. You can only grow it in certain climates—and just a little can be deadly. Whoever was able to slip this into her drink knew exactly what they were doing, and they are most likely a gardener or have had access to this plant.”
“Maybe we should go to that garden club our mothers belong to?” She slides into the seat across from me, her eyes never leaving mine. “I want to help you catch this killer.” I shared with her all about Everett’s predicament, and I was about to share some far more intimate things regarding Noah and me, but we were interrupted.
“The Horticulture Hotties? I think if I showed up out of the blue and began asking about poisonous plants, I might raise an eyebrow or two. Discovering three bodies in three months has sort of put a pox on me socially. I’m lucky the bakery hasn’t been affected.”
“Speaking of hotties”—Keelie bubbles with laughter before she can get the words out—“I do believe you were about to tell me all about your special
night with a certain detective. Did things get steamy? Is my best friend officially over her self-imposed dry spell?”
“Yes—I mean no. Noah and I are officially together now, but we’ve chosen to take things slow.”
“What? I think a spell of another kind has been cast on you. Are you feeling well? If you take things any slower, we’ll be rewinding time.”
“We agreed we think it should be special. We’ve decided on early December. That way we can get Thanksgiving out of the way—and I might have included Black Friday in that scenario.” I wince. “But only because I love a deal.”
“Amen, sister.” She fans herself a moment with her fingers. “So December, huh?”
“Early December. Right before the holiday hustle and bustle. I’m thinking about taking a weekend off from the bakery.”
“An entire two days off in a row?” she teases. “You do realize you’re the only person in the bakery who’s worked seven days a week since opening day.”
“It’s my baby. Nell put me in charge, and I don’t want to let her down.”
“You’re letting me down—by scheduling sex. You’ve managed to take something exciting and spontaneous and turn it into something akin to a doctor’s appointment.”
“And I’m sure the doctor will be very, very thorough with his examination.” I blink a wry smile. “Keelie, this is what works for us, and it’s going to be great. Noah is great.”
“Just remember, if you overthink something, you might actually ruin it. Trust me, spontaneous is the only way to go. But since you’re insistent, I’ll buy you a calendar for Christmas, and you can pencil him in to your heart’s content.”
“Make it a calendar filled with kittens and I’ll be more than content.”
“Sex kittens.” She waggles her brows. “So, what’s next with the investigation? Any more strip clubs, mobsters, or Jungle Rooms to explore? I think your homicide hustle is far more interesting than what you don’t have going on in the bedroom with Noah. And just for the record, that boy really is a fox.”
Murder in the Mix (Books 1-3) Page 36
