by Tonya Kappes
“You’re…” Gert started to cry.
“This is why Tom was able to take your recipe and grow it to be the biggest coffee company ever.” Carl had completely confessed to Gert’s claim that Tom Moon had stolen her recipe. “It was priceless how we paid off Bree Palmer to erase her memory of you.”
“You paid her off?” I glared with complete disbelief that I’d not even suspected Carl, Tom’s right-hand man.
“Of course we did. After Tom and I talked about it, we never lied to Gert. She didn’t have a patent. For all anyone knows, the recipe could’ve been found on a corner in some crazy city. Tom just so happened to find it on the cash register.” Carl laughed.
“Why would you kill him?” Gert sounded like she suddenly cared, though I was sure it was because she truly wanted to see Tom Moon come to justice now that she had the recipe in her hand and in her handwriting.
“Tom had mentioned he felt awful after seeing you working so hard at the Chicken Fest and wanted to come clean. But I couldn’t let that happen. After all, I’d drawn up the papers to take over the company once he retired or even died.” A smile curled up and crossed along his face, lighting up his eyes. “I couldn’t let the little tiff between you two go to waste. It was then that I decided it was time for me to take over what was owed to me. I’d been at his side for all of it, and it was my turn to take over.”
He wagged the gun. Gert winced. My body tensed.
“You have the perfect motive. I took the knife without anyone noticing. For good measure, I fanned the flames about Shay’s little gift to Lewis letting them in on the little secret meeting between the Malones and Millford, knowing it was where I was going to kill him because I had been keeping an eye on you.” He jutted the gun toward Gert. “I took an Uber and followed you to the motel. That’s when I called Tom from Lewis’s room because I knew the cops would trace back his cell. If the little plan with you didn’t work for me, I could easily point the finger at Lewis and Dan Malone, which seemed to have worked out well.”
He looked at me. My insides clattered.
“You ran me off the road?” I blinked a few times, unable to understand how he did it.
“Gotta love Uber.” He pointed the gun at me. My jaw clenched. “Even in a small town like this.” His brows rose. “I knew the Malones had another meeting with Wes Millford while the convention was still in town. Now that I was out of the will, I figured I’d see what the Malones had up their sleeve, but I saw you and knew I had to get rid of you. As a lawyer, I look up everyone I come into contact with, and you sure have been busy around with your little notebook and girlfriends.”
My eyes bolted open.
“Don’t worry. I haven’t needed to hurt any of your friends.” He swung the gun toward Gert again. “Yet.”
“You stole the car the Malones had rented from Joel,” I said out loud as the pieces of the puzzle came together. “And you planned to run me off the road or kill me to shut me up.”
I was buying time, hoping I could think up some way to get that gun from him, but there was nothing, unless I wanted to wing some of Gert’s coffee bags at him.
“Stealing the car was perfect because it put the Malones at the scene. I put the car back where it belonged so it looked as if they drove back to the convention, leaving you there to die.” His face softened with satisfaction.
The roar of the big RV engine came through the walls of the office. Carl took a couple of steps backward, keeping his gun on us. He peeled back the curtain from the window to look outside.
“Looks like my ride is here to take us to the airport.” He took a step forward. “So our time here, ladies, has come to the final end.”
“Final end?” Gert sobbed.
“Carl, it’s time to go.” Amy Hill, of all people, swung the door of the office open, knocking Carl Rippin to the ground.
The gun skidded across the floor. Gert, Carl, and I scrambled to grab it. My boot slammed into Carl’s stomach, choking off his breath, giving Gert enough time to grab the gun and point it at him with a shaky hand.
“Hold it right there, buddy,” Gert said through her gritted teeth. Facedown, Carl put his hands on the ground.
“The police will be here in a minute,” Amy Hill said at the door. “I’m telling them about the recipe and coming clean.”
“Don’t do that, Amy,” Carl warned her but clamped his mouth shut when Gert jabbed the gun at him again.
“Amy, what are you talking about?” I asked and carefully moved around Carl and Gert.
I knew Gert meant business, so if Carl tried any funny business, I was sure Gert would take him down.
“I had the meeting with Ava and Misty. I told them how I discovered the recipe about six months ago, and I told Mr. Moon how he needed to make good by Ms. Hobson. That’s when he started to have Carl keep a close watch on me, and word got around he was going to fire me. All because I believed he needed to give Ms. Hobson credit.” Amy nodded toward Gert. “When I started working for Moonbucks, I thought the rumor about what he’d done was ridiculous—until I found the recipe. When we came to Normal, it took Mr. Moon off guard, and he started to really think about what he’d done to Ms. Hobson and how her life might be different,” Amy said in a cracking voice.
“Amy, shut up,” Carl said through clenched teeth. He was still sprawled out face down. “You know you’ll go to jail for this.”
“That’s where Ava and Misty come in, Carl.” Amy looked at Gert. “I told them I had the recipe, but now I’ve lost it. But I do know it was your recipe, and I have all the correspondence Mr. Moon and I had about it to prove what he’d done. Ava said if I go to the police, then I might get some sort of plea deal. Mr. Moon made me keep my mouth shut.”
The door of the office swung open. Jerry Truman and Hank Sharp had no idea what they were walking into.
Hank and Jerry both drew their guns. I planted my feet like I was a statue.
“Hold it right there,” Jerry said in a stern voice. “Gert, drop the gun.”
“Hell, why don’t I just hand it to you?” She held it out.
Jerry and Hank looked at each other. Jerry gave a slight head motion for Hank to take the gun.
“Carl killed Tom Moon,” I said in a low voice so as not to disturb all the mental processing Hank and Jerry were doing. “Carl was supposed to take over the company once Tom Moon stepped down or died, whichever came first. Apparently—stop me if I’m wrong, Carl.” I tried to piece everything together with what I knew, especially now that Amy had brought a lot more to the story. “Tom might’ve been coming clean with the fact he did steal the Moonbucks orginal recipe from Gert, which would probably make all the stocks go down and the company go bankrupt, so he killed Tom before he came clean. Amy can vouch for all of that.”
Carl hemmed and hawed with a few groans while Jerry started to put him in handcuffs.
“I asked Ava to call you to come here so I could confess that I knew about the recipe so you could help solve the murder.” Amy couldn’t bring herself to look at Gert. “I had no idea Carl killed Mr. Moon until now.”
“You just messed up. I was going to keep you on as secretary,” Carl said, snarling at Amy as Jerry took him out of the office in handcuffs.
“I have the recipe,” Gert told Amy. “I don’t hold you responsible at all, and I won’t file charges, but if there are legal issues, I will testify on your behalf.”
“I have your calendar.” I guess it was my time to ’fess up. “You gave it to Shay when she sent you back to get her money from the bungalow when we were going to get the manicures that morning.”
Amy sighed with relief, a much different reaction than I thought she was going to have.
“Amy,” Hank stepped up, “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to take you to the station to get your statement. I need it to clean up my homicide report, and then Jerry will let you know of any charges against you.”
“I’m sorry,” Amy said in apology to Gert on her way out.
Gert and I hugged each other tight as we watched Hank and Jerry put Amy and Carl in their vehicles.
“You know I couldn’t have done this without you.” Gert squeezed me tight.
“You can always count on me,” I told her. “That’s what friends are for.”
I squeezed her tighter. Joy bubbled up inside of me as I thought of how this little community had become more than just a group of friends. They’d become my family, something I’ve been longing for since the fatal fire that took my biological family.
EIGHTEEN
“Jerry never tells me anything about what’s going on at the station.” Emmalyn was fascinated with my story about how I’d brought Carl Rippin to justice. “I’m glad to hear Misty Moon is paying to get your car fixed.”
Her face was glowing from the candles in the middle of our table at the Red Barn, the rundown barn that had been restored into a neat restaurant with a picturesque view of the fall foliage spread out all over the Daniel Boone National Park.
“Yeah, me too,” I said and glanced around, taking in all the little touches that made the barn special.
If you’d told me that an old farm barn could be romantic, I wouldn’t have believed you, but this old barn was so charming. The old stalls, hay lofts, and dirt floor were long gone.
The inside was completely open with exposed wood beams. I wasn’t sure if they were original to the barn, but if they weren’t, someone had gone to great lengths to make it look like they were. Each wood beam had strands of small, round light bulbs that were turned down just enough so you could see what you were eating, but they made you feel as if you were dining in moonlight.
Tables draped with white linen tablecloths were scattered around with a romantic red candle in a lantern in the middle of each.
I glanced over my shoulder at the bar along the back wall where Jerry and Hank had gone to pick out one of the Kentucky bourbons and grab Emmalyn and me a glass of wine.
If Hank heard me talking about what happened in the office the other day with Carl, it’d send him into a full-blown tizzy. The night was going so well on our double date that I didn’t want to ruin it.
“You are a gal after my own heart.” Emmalyn nodded. “What’s going to happen with your friend’s recipe?”
“From what I understand, she’s going to be on the new board of directors under Misty’s reign. Shay and Lewis ended up not selling his shares to Awakenings Coffee.” I smiled, thinking about how happy Gert Hobson was now that it had been published, by our very own Violet Rhinehammer, that Moonbucks Original Blend was in fact her very own creation. “Misty also gave Gert so many stocks to make up for all the years.”
“Instant millionaire.” Emmalyn sat back, mouth gaping open and fanning herself with her hand.
“You’d never know.” I recalled earlier this morning when I’d gone in Trails Coffee. “She’s still behind the counter serving coffee.”
I knew no matter how much money Gert would receive from the scam Tom Moon had pulled on her years ago, she’d still be the humble friend I knew and loved.
Hank and Jerry walked back to us and sat our wines on the table.
“Would you like to dance?” Hank put his bourbon glass down and held his hand out to me.
The jazz band in the corner of the barn had started the next session with a nice slow tune that brought a lot of couples to the dance floor.
“You dance?” I was floored.
“Let’s see.” Hank brought me to my feet and guided me to the front of the room.
He took me into his arms and held me close. Over his shoulder, I looked at Jerry and Emmalyn, who were smiling at us from the table.
“I think your friends like me,” I whispered in his ear.
“Yeah?” His warm breath skimmed my ear, making goosebumps crawl all over my body. “I really like you. Though you had me scared.” There was a funny tone to his voice.
I pulled back and looked at him.
“Hank Sharp, are those tears in your eyes?” I couldn’t help but tear up myself.
“Promise me you’ll never, ever, ever, and I mean ever try to solve my cases again.” He tugged me closer. “You almost got killed twice this time.”
I pulled back again. I smiled before I planted a kiss on his lips—with my fingers crossed behind his back.
I knew I could never make a promise to him that I certainly could never keep.
RECIPES AND CAMPING HACKS FROM MAE WEST AND THE WOMEN IN NORMAL, KENTUCKY and HAPPY TRAILS CAMPGROUND
RV HACK #1
Take a square of sandpaper for easy lighting and waterproofing for matches.
Matches are an absolutely indispensable item when you’re camping, and always seem to be the first things that gets soggy or wet, making them unable to use.
Fine-grained sandpaper will fix your problem. Glue the sandpaper to the inside of the lid of a small waterproof container that will hold your matches.
The sandpaper provides a large, coarse surface for striking your matches and will be protected by the waterproof container. Perfect solution to any soggy match problem and your guaranteed to get a flame going!
Beer Braised Short Ribs:
Ingredients
3-4 plate short ribs, separated and trimmed
salt & black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 carrots, chopped
1 leek, chopped, white & light green parts only
4 garlic cloves, minced
64 ounces beef stock
24 ounces dark beer, stout or porter
12 ounces tomato paste
Directions
Get campfire good and hot
Rub short ribs with olive oil then thoroughly season with salt and black pepper.
Place pan on grill to preheat for 2-3 minutes. Add canola oil to the pan and brown the short ribs for about 2 minutes per side. Pull off and set aside. Dispose of any fat that had rendered inside the pan.
Brown the carrots, leeks, and garlic in the pan (about 2 minutes). Once browned, add beef broth, beer, and tomato paste. Stir and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Add short ribs back to pan making sure that the majority of the ribs are immersed in the broth mix. Cover the Fish Pan with tin foil and remove from heat.
Adjust campfire temperature to 350 F. Place the pan back on the campfire and let cook until beef ribs are soft and tender (about 4-5 hours). You can tell they are ready when you can easily pull the meat apart with just a fork.
Camping Hack #2
SILICA PACKS
Keep your camping cookware rust free with those little silica packs!
You know those silica gel packets that seem to appear in every product like shoes and we worry our animals will eat them or even our children?
They are actually suck up moisture. That’s why I suggest you collect them from whatever packages you buy and keep them away for your animals or children.
When in an RV or camping, cookware tends to get moisture and sometimes rust. You can put one of the little silica packs in your cookware between uses to help prevent any rust spots!
Amazing right?
Big Oreo Skillet Cookie
Ingredients
30 oz tube of pre-made chocolate chip cookie dough
14.3 oz bag Oreo cookies
Instructions
Take your Pillsbury cookie dough ( any type is good) and press into the bottom of the cast iron skillet.
Chop up one package of Oreo’s.
Press the Oreo's into the cookie dough.
Bake in a 350 degree over a campfire for 17-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
RV Hack #2
Often times I hear people complain about not enough storage in RV’s. Well, they’ve come a long way by coming up with creative ideas to help increase storage space.
But, if you’re still needing a little extra storage, I’ve found a great little tip on how to use those hanging shoe pockets!
Cut shoe holder racks and place
around bed frame for hidden storage. The cloth pouches are just the right height and size for smaller items. Try it! It’s great!
Sweet Potato Hash
Ingredients
1 pounds or 2 medium sweet potatoes
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon paprika
olive oil
Instructions
Cover sweet potatoes with water in a large pot and boil for 5 minutes or until they are tender, drain and remove the skin.
Dice sweet potatoes into half-inch pieces. Toss in the mixture of salt, garlic powder, paprika, and ¼ cup of olive oil.
Heat cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add a couple of tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet. Add potatoes and cook until browned on the first side, 3-5 minutes. Add peppers, onions, and garlic. Stir well to combine.
Cook, stirring often, until the veggies are browned on all sides
Also by Tonya Kappes
Magical Cures Mystery Series
A CHARMING CRIME
A CHARMING CURE
A CHARMING POTION (novella)
A CHARMING WISH
A CHARMING SPELL
A CHARMING MAGIC
A CHARMING SECRET
A CHARMING CHRISTMAS (novella)
A CHARMING FATALITY
A CHARMING DEATH (novella)
A CHARMING GHOST
A CHARMING HEX
A CHARMING VOODOO
A CHARMING CORPSE
A CHARMING MISFORTUNE
A Camper and Criminals Cozy Mystery
BEACHES, BUNGALOWS, & BURGLARIES
DESERTS, DRIVERS, & DERELICTS
