by Paula Lester
Paige opened her mouth to ask him if he knew who had killed Cash, but the bells over the door rang, and a family of three came in. Paige mentally cursed. She should have locked the door and given herself more time with Jordan while the truth serum was working.
Close on the heels of the little family, more people began pouring into the shop. It didn’t take long to find out that the treasure had been found. Someone was going to keep the money and auction the movie part off to the highest bidder on Tuesday. People with no intention of bidding were gearing up to head out of Comfort Cove, and they were buying postcards and picking up any newspapers and magazines they could find related to the town, Oz Wilder’s treasure hunt, or the murder as souvenirs.
Paige and Jordan were so busy neither of them saw Didi breeze through the front door. She didn’t fly under the radar for long, though. Hurrying over to Jordan, she pulled on his arm, interrupting a conversation he was having with a customer.
From where she stood in the sitting area talking to a woman about Comfort Cove’s history, Paige heard the agent say, “We should bid on the contract with Wilder on Tuesday morning. It would be a great role for you.”
Jordan murmured something to his customer and pulled Didi aside a bit, not answering her. She continued, leaning in and speaking in a stage whisper near his ear. “You could dedicate your performance to your dear, unfortunate friend, Cash Conway. That will get you some amazing publicity.”
Jordan looked uncomfortable, and he still didn’t respond. Paige thought about rescuing him by asking the attorney to leave and do her business with Jordan when he wasn’t working, but the bells on the door rang again, and Paige was surprised to see Scott enter. He strode straight over to Jordan. “I need to talk to you about Vanessa Flowers,” he said in a low tone.
“What is this about?” Didi stepped between Jordan and Scott, her messy red bun bouncing a little as she moved.
Scott raised an eyebrow at the woman, whose lips pressed into a thin line. She whipped out a business card, and Paige wondered if she just kept the things tucked up under her sleeve at all times like a magician, ready to make one appear out of thin air anytime she needed it. “I’m his attorney,” she said, raising her chin. “Didi Lambert. What do you need with my client?”
Scott glanced at the card and stuck it in his back pocket. “I have a witness who has placed your client and Miss Vanessa Flowers together, leaving the beach bar the night of Cash Conway’s murder.”
Didi’s jaw dropped like a weight was tied to it. She recovered quickly, clamping her mouth shut like a snapping turtle. She glanced over her shoulder at Jordan, who didn’t look surprised at all, and then turned back toward Scott. “My client won’t be answering any more questions until he and I have a chance to confer.”
Scott nodded. “You can both come down to the station this afternoon to answer some questions for us,” he said. Then he gave Paige a little wave before heading out the door. Didi and Jordan swept past Paige toward the back of the shop, the lawyer pulling the actor along behind her by the arm.
Paige checked out the remaining two customers in the shop. It was really too bad she and Jordan had been interrupted before she could question him further while the truth serum was still working. Enough time had gone by that she wouldn’t expect it to still be having an effect on him.
Several magazines and newspapers were out of place on the table she kept them on near the front window, so Paige crossed over to fix them. Casper darted out from the back room and began weaving himself in and out of her legs, yowling like someone was stabbing him. She knelt down to pet him. “You okay, buddy?”
The cat ran a few steps away from her toward the storeroom and then dashed back to her, yowling again.
“Silly boy. It’s not lunchtime yet.” Paige straightened and continued toward the magazine table. But Casper wasn’t having it. He continued to weave in and out of her feet, making her trip. “What in the world?” Paige looked at Casper again, and he was staring straight into her eyes, crying mournfully. He ran a few feet away from her again, glancing back to yowl. A light bulb went off in her mind. The cat wanted her to follow him. Paige trailed behind him until he got to the back door of the shop and jumped up to place his front feet on it. “Is there something you want me to see out there, bud?” Another yowl made it clear she was right. She cracked the door open and peered out. Didi and Jordan stood about ten feet away, talking.
“Just lay low right now, okay?” Didi leaned forward and touched Jordan’s arm. “I’ll take care of everything.”
“What should I do about the auction?” Jordan asked.
Didi waved a hand between them, and Paige couldn’t hear what she said. Then the attorney headed off down the beach, and Paige quickly pulled the door closed before Jordan saw her. She hustled back up front.
She heard the back door open and close again and looked up when Jordan reappeared in the main area of the shop. “I’m worried about Vanessa.” He looked miserable. “It sounds like she’s a suspect in the murder now too.”
Paige nodded, trying to look sympathetic. “There’s more pie,” she suggested gently. When Jordan nodded, she pulled the dish out and served him another piece. He tore into it like it might grow legs and run away, pausing only to say, “I know she’s innocent. We were in my motel room all night after we left the bar.”
Paige nodded, willing him to eat faster so she could trust the truth potion and ask more questions. But he put the fork down and looked at her with an intensity she hadn’t seen before. “The press got it wrong,” he said softly. “Vanessa wasn’t cheating on Cash. He was cheating on her.”
“Did you tell my brother that?” Paige questioned. It seemed like something important for the investigation.
Jordan shook his head. “I don’t want them to know. It will just make Vanessa a bigger suspect.”
Paige understood what he meant. Cash being a cheater gave Vanessa Flowers a bigger motive for murdering him, for sure. “You’re trying to protect her.” Paige didn’t need to know the serum was working—or even see the pure white aura that shone brightly around him—to recognize the truth in Jordan’s eyes.
He nodded. “I’m just a kid from Oklahoma, ma’am. I was raised to stand by my friends, and I want to protect Vanessa.”
Paige leaned closer to him and spoke urgently. “But what if doing that makes you the main target of the investigation?”
He looked down, pushing the pie around his plate.
“Jordan, you need to tell the police everything you know. Cooperate. Just tell the truth, and they’ll figure out what happened.”
Jordan shook his head a tiny bit.
“Scott’s a good man,” Paige insisted. “Nothing is more important to him than getting down to the truth and arresting the right person. You telling him everything you know is going to help him do that. Vanessa has you as an alibi.”
Paige realized how weak that sounded: two suspects were each other’s alibi. Scott didn’t have the benefit of the Truth Sniffer and the serum to help him with the investigation. Maybe Jordan could volunteer to take a lie detector test, although she doubted Didi would allow that.
“Could you please help me?” Jordan asked out of the blue. “You’re so smart, and I’m not.”
Paige pressed her lips together. “Your agent will help you. She’s your lawyer.”
He shook his head. “All agents are crooks. That’s what my mama says, anyway.”
“So why did you hire Didi?”
“I need jobs. She can get them for me. I didn’t think I’d really be investigated for murder.”
Paige sighed, but she nodded at him. “I know you didn’t do it,” she said. “I’ll help as much as I can, but I really think if you just tell the truth as you know it, everything will work out fine.”
“I will. Thanks.” He finished the pie on his plate. “I’d like to go over and thank Lucy for this pie.”
“Good idea. I’ll go with you.” Paige locked up behind them as they exited thr
ough the front door.
They weren’t in the bakery for more than a few minutes, waiting for Lucy to have a minute to talk to them, when Jane, the reporter from Net News, blew in the door and walked straight over. She didn’t say hello to either of them—just began talking, looking directly at Jordan. “I hear the Comfort Cove Police Department is after both you and your friend now.”
Jordan didn’t answer, but the reporter didn’t appear to need any confirmation. “I have something that just might help you out of this bind,” she said. “Not sure it will help Miss Flowers, though.”
Jordan raised an eyebrow. Paige saw a muscle tremble in his jaw as he clenched it. He still didn’t answer Jane.
The reporter sighed and grinned. “I’ve spoken to a woman who says she’s your alibi. Said she was with you at your motel the entire night that Mr. Conway was killed and that you never left.”
Paige glanced at Jordan, and he looked confused. He finally spoke, and his voice sounded hoarse. “Who?”
“Oh, she wouldn’t tell me her name,” Jane answered with a small smirk. “But I was able to snap a quick, somewhat blurry picture of her. Will you confirm you were with her that night?” Jane held a photo in front of Jordan.
His face blanched so quickly and completely that Paige thought he might pass out. Then she noticed the slightly green tinge to his skin, and he bolted across the room to a large trash can and emptied the contents of his stomach into it.
Chapter 12
Grabbing a big wad of paper towels, Paige hurried over to give them to Jordan. “Maybe it is the apple pie,” she said.
“No.” Jordan straightened up and wiped his mouth. “It’s the picture she showed me.” His hands shook as he tossed the towels in the trash can. Lucy was bustling here and there, chattering brightly with customers as she went, and Paige noticed she was somehow getting everyone to leave the bakery.
Jane started across the floor toward Paige and Jordan, but Lucy deftly intercepted her, chattering excitedly, “Did you do that interview with Jack Stevens and Courtney Night a year or so ago, dear? It was just fantastic.”
“Yes,” Jane said. “I—”
“Oh, I just knew it.” Lucy clapped her hands. “You are so talented. And you obviously work hard at your craft too. It really shows in your reporting.”
Paige noticed Lucy was herding Jane toward the shop’s door as she rattled on about the article and Jane’s writing prowess. The reporter didn’t even seem to notice she was being handled. She smiled and ducked her head, obviously enjoying Lucy’s lavish praise.
“I look for your byline every day when I get on Net News,” Lucy said as she opened the door and propelled Jane gently through it. “You’re my favorite reporter since . . . since . . . well, ever. Goodbye, dear!” Lucy shut the door and locked it in one smooth movement, quickly pulling the blind down when Jane tried to move forward and peer in, a bewildered look on the reporter’s face.
Lucy grinned and wiped her hands together as though she’d just thrown out the trash. “There. Now we can have some peace and quiet.”
Paige turned back to Jordan. “I thought that girl was your friend. She’s been by the bookshop looking for you.”
“That’s Audrey Lanton. She’s my stalker. I have a restraining order against her, but she’s crazy enough that it obviously didn’t stop her from following me here from LA. I should have known.”
“You have a stalker?”
“Yeah, and she’s a real doozy. She’s stalked some major stars before, but somehow, she always manages to quit and move on before she’s arrested.”
Lucy offered Jordan a glass of water. “So you weren’t with this Audrey woman when Cash was murdered?”
“No way. I wouldn’t be caught anywhere near that psycho.” A strange look came over Jordan’s face, and his eyes widened. Paige could see they were red-rimmed and a tiny bit puffy. He must not be sleeping well with everything that was going on. “What if Audrey killed Cash?”
“Why would she do that?” Lucy wondered.
Jordan shrugged. “As a warped way to help me? Maybe she thought with him gone I’d get offered more parts. Audrey’s nuts. I wouldn’t put anything past her, especially not if she thought it would make me let her into my life.”
“I need to tell Scott about this.” Paige pulled her phone out. Jordan looked apprehensive, but he didn’t try to stop her.
Scott picked up on the first ring but didn’t let her get a word out. “I can’t talk. I have a new witness to interview.” Paige heard rustling, and then Scott’s voice was more muffled, as though he was covering the microphone with his hand so others around him wouldn’t hear. “We finally found Old Pops and brought him in for questioning.”
Paige hung up, wondering where the homeless man who first found Cash’s body had been hiding for the past few days. Lucy and Jordan both wore questions on their expressions. She knew she couldn’t tell them about Old Pops directly, so she chose her words carefully. “I think everything’s going to be fine,” she said. “The police may have a witness to the murder. You’ll be cleared.” She smiled at Jordan. “We’d better get back to work. I don’t want to keep the store and the bakery closed up too long. Thanks, Lucy.”
Jordan offered Lucy a forced smile. “Thanks for the pie. It was delicious.”
Paige and Lucy exchanged knowing looks behind Jordan’s back and Paige gave her a thumbs-up. Hopefully, the baker recognized that to mean the truth serum worked.
They hadn’t been in Beachside Books for more than five minutes when Didi Lambert stormed in, rushing past Paige in a cloud of perfume. Though she didn’t really care to talk to the woman, Paige was also beginning to be annoyed by the lawyer’s habit of acting like she didn’t exist.
“I have flights out to LA for both of us tomorrow evening. We’ll leave right after the auction.” Instead of a messy bun, the agent’s dull red hair was pulled into a severe high ponytail.
“So soon? Why?” Jordan rubbed a hand over his eyes.
“Because that’s where you belong, and I’m tired of being in this Podunk town.” She looked around, wrinkling her nose. “You’re better than this. I have some auditions lined up for you.” She smiled, but Paige thought it looked more like the snarly grin of a predator about to make a kill than anything else. “We’re going to do great things together.”
Jordan shook his head and adjusted a book on the shelf next to him. “I can’t leave town, remember? That’s what Detective Murphy said. Also, I’ve committed to be in a play—”
Didi waved a hand in the air dismissively. “You know who appears in plays? Has-beens, that’s who. Also, I’m your lawyer, remember? You don’t have to listen to these backwoods lawmen.”
Paige felt a flash of anger at the term the woman used for Scott and the other cops. She couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “You know, if you ask me, I’d say you’re not really looking out for Jordan’s best interests.”
Didi’s head snapped around to stare at Paige. She looked totally shocked, as though she’d had no idea anyone else was even in the room. “Who are you?” She shook her head and waved a hand again. “Never mind. I don’t have time.” She turned back to Jordan. “You should listen to me, kid. I’m your best hope of ever making something of yourself.”
Paige saw movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up to see that Casper had jumped on top of the shelf Jordan and Didi stood next to.
Paige stepped forward and cleared her throat, drawing a deep sigh and a glare from Didi. “I don’t think a skilled attorney would advise a client to leave town during an active investigation. Seems like that could get Jordan arrested and jailed.” Paige crossed her arms and met Didi’s glare with one of her own.
“And where did you get your law degree, honey?” Didi snarked. “On YouTube?”
Paige felt her blood pressure rising, and above her, Casper hissed at the red-haired agent, making Didi jump and look up sharply.
“I don’t need to be a lawyer to recognize blatant b
ad legal advice when I see it. And I’m definitely seeing it right now.”
Didi’s aura began to turn purple. Her face mirrored it, and she was clearly fuming, but she kept glancing up at Casper, who growled and sat crouched as though he might jump down onto the woman’s head at any second. Didi started to back away, keeping her eyes on the cat. “Meet me at the Devine Hotel tomorrow before the auction.” She glanced at Jordan. “I’ll be waiting for you there.” A few feet before she backed into the door, the woman spun around and bolted out of it, heading down the sidewalk like she was being chased.
Paige turned to Jordan, anger still pumping through her. “I really don’t think you should listen to her about leaving Comfort Cove. In fact, you asked me to help you, and my take is that you should dump Didi Lambert.”
Jordan winced. “I signed a contract for her to be my agent. I don’t think I can get out of it.”
Paige groaned. “At least don’t follow her legal advice. Don’t meet her at that hotel. I know it won’t go well for you.”
Jordan nodded. “You’re right. I won’t meet up with her.”
Paige glanced at Casper. “Thanks, cat,” she said, winking at him and smiling when he purred back at her.
The bells over the door drew her attention. A young woman entered and asked about a book she was having trouble finding for a college class. Paige led her to the proper bookshelf.
After a few more customers had come and gone, Paige’s pounding heart had slowed to a normal speed, but she was still feeling upset about Jordan and Didi. When Marco came through the door, she greeted him warmly, but he immediately bent his knees into a crouch so he could peer directly into her face. “Bella? What’s wrong?”
She waved a hand. “Nothing. I just have a lot on my mind right now.”
Marco’s eyes narrowed and then moved past Paige to fall on Jordan where he stood shelving some books. He jerked a finger toward the actor. “Is it him who’s upsetting you?”
