by Lynn Cahoon
“I’ll be right out,” Tammy called from the back.
“No worries. I’m just looking for military books,” Cat said.
“Go to the left under the windows. I don’t have many, but there’s some good ones there.” Tammy was used to Cat’s strange research requests. She didn’t always buy books from the store, not if they were available at the library and she wouldn’t use them again and again. But if she was going to dog-ear a book due to her need to keep referencing it, she purchased a copy. Like her book of spells she’d bought for Tori’s education at her new school. Cat didn’t want to drown the books in witchcraft knowledge, but she needed some to be able to craft the story and make it feel real.
The thought always made her smile since she was trying to make a book about a teenage witch feel real. The same thing would occur with the new boot camp book. Even if Seth wouldn’t give her information about the real-life experience, she’d find it somewhere.
She squatted next to the shelf and touched each book as she looked at the topic. Nothing that would have the information she was needing. She stood back up and, turning, almost ran into Tammy with a pile of books in her arms.
“Hey, Cat. I didn’t realize it was you. What are you doing here?” Tammy set the books on the table.
Cat reached out and took the first one off the pile. It was a new release from a famous thriller author. She’d never met the guy, but she’d heard rumors he wrote one book a year and always started writing on September first. She sat it back on the pile. “I’m looking for a book that describes the boot camp experience. Preferably in the army, but right now, I’d take anything. Even fiction.”
“Hmmm, let me think. If I remember right there’s a choose your career book about joining the army. I don’t have one in stock, but I could order it for you. I’ll look around and see if there is anything else that might help too. Boot camp, huh? Doing some research?” Tammy grinned. She was a true fan of Cat’s series, and they’d started meeting over coffee to talk about writing. Tammy wanted to write a novel and thought picking Cat’s brain might help her get started.
“Yep. You ready for your seminar on Friday? The guests are travel bloggers and historical writers, both general and romance.” Cat realized she still didn’t know what Brodie was writing, but he could stop into Tammy’s shop anytime.
“I wanted to tell you how much I’m loving these sessions. I learn so much just talking to other writers. It’s been amazing for my writing.” Tammy grinned. “And they’ve been good about buying books, so it’s been profitable too.”
“Best of both worlds.” Cat glanced at her watch. “I better get back. Shauna’s probably got lunch on the table. “Thanks for looking for me. I’m just trying to get a feel for the time even if what I’m writing doesn’t have to match up exactly.”
“I would hope not. You have such a lovely paranormal and young adult voice. I’d hate to see you go into a genre that didn’t match your style.”
Leave it to Tammy to be blunt and direct. Cat didn’t take offense. “See you Friday!”
“Looking forward to it,” Tammy called after her.
Cat wandered home, thinking about the new book and the scene she wanted to write as a reaction to the scene she’d written a couple of days ago. The writer’s mind. It stayed focused on a story until it was finished. The author may not be able to tell you what day it was, but they could tell you when a plot point happened and what they decided to do about it.
When she opened the door, Shauna was on the phone, her back to the door.
“Look, I told you I’d think about it. That means more than one day. Sorry if I’m not meeting your timetable, but I’m not rushing into this. I have to be certain on the investment before I decide to spend that much money.” Shauna turned and saw Cat in the doorway. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later this week.”
Cat closed the door. “Sorry if I interrupted.”
“Cat, it’s your house. You don’t have to apologize.” Shauna tossed the phone onto the table. “I haven’t wanted to bother you with this, but I’m a little fed up with my brother.”
“Jake? Uh-oh, didn’t the trip go well?” Cat walked over and sat at the table.
Shauna shrugged, then joined her. “I should have realized that my parents had told him about the money Kevin gave me. He was all about me getting it set up in a portfolio that would be making twenty percent.”
“What? He told you he could make that much? That sounds either impossible or really risky.” Cat shook her head. “My financial planner doesn’t even like mentioning double digits.”
“Yeah, he’s promising way too much. Either he’s delusional or he’s in some really risky investments. Either way, I don’t want my funds to be invested with family. It makes bad bedfellows.” Shauna tapped her fingers on her laptop. “I’m going to send him an e-mail directly stating that, because when I tell him no on the phone or in person, he doesn’t seem to understand the word.”
“I’m sorry. I know you were hoping for a better outcome.” Cat didn’t have siblings, but she knew Jake’s pushing would have kicked Shauna in the gut.
“Well, it is what it is.” She leaned back in her chair. “I’m surprised you didn’t ask for a chunk to buy into the retreat.”
“You’re already a full partner. How much more money do you want to put in? I guess we could build a pool out near the barn, but it would cut down Snow’s pasture.” Cat stood and grabbed her a soda.
“I didn’t put money in. You had the house. You should get something,” Shauna protested. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I could pay off the remodel loan.”
“Let’s think about that.” Cat held a hand out. “You need to hold off and not do anything with that money for a year. Let it sit while you’re dealing with the grief. Then, after a year, if you want to put some skin in the game, I won’t fight you.”
Shauna nodded. “I guess that’s fair. Just don’t let me slip and give it all to Jake. I have a feeling I’d be poor by Christmas if I did.”
“You’re smarter than that, even if he is family.” Cat glanced at the clock. “Do you want help with lunch?”
“Actually, I’ve already made sandwiches for French dip. All we need to do is heat up the au jus and make French fries. We still have about thirty minutes before noon. Unless you’re hungry now. Seth and Shirley are eating on the way back from the airport.” Shauna paused as she was lifting the cover on her laptop.
“No, thirty minutes will be fine. I’m going to run upstairs and check my e-mail. I’ll be down to help as soon as I’m done.” Cat stood, but Shauna held up a hand.
“Look, thank you for being a good friend. You could have just taken my offer of money and run.”
“I might still. Let’s see how our profit and loss statement holds up through the winter months.” Cat grinned as she left the room. The house was quiet with the guests all at the library. Since a couple of them were writing history, she’d bet that they would be spending as much time as possible combing the stacks while they were here. But evenings, she bet the living room would be filled with chatting writers.
The house felt happy when the retreat was in session. Like even the house enjoyed the warmth and comfort of a lot of people living inside. Maybe it was the yummy smells that came out of the kitchen all day and half the night while Shauna baked for the group, but mostly, she thought it was the people who made the retreat feel homey.
She powered up the stairs and worked at her computer until her timer went off. Then she signed off for the day. If the writers did word sprints, she’d use the laptop in the study. During retreat weeks, she saved her manuscript in the cloud so she could work anywhere in the house. On non-retreat weeks, she worked only in her office. That way she could close the door and call it a day rather than thinking she needed to work longer and longer hours—one of the bad habits she’d picked up when she’d been trying to teach and write at the same time. She’d had no life. Now that she was back in Colorado, she�
�d decided she would have a life as well as a career. Which made her work harder, and be more focused during the times she did write.
Going downstairs, she was met by her uncle. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Actually, I was looking for Seth, but Shauna already told me he was on his way back from Denver with Shirley. So I was sent to get you for lunch.” He followed her down the one flight of stairs.
“Why did you need to talk to Seth?” Cat had a bad feeling it was about Chance’s death. And when her uncle shook his head, she knew she’d been right. “You can’t just pop in and not tell me what’s going on. Frankly, you have to expect it’s the price of the meal.”
“You’re saying there’s no such thing as a free lunch?” He chuckled as he held open the kitchen door for her. “I guess I could give you a teaser.”
“After we eat.” Shauna set the last plate on the table.
Cat took in a big breath. The kitchen smelled like a roast had been slowly cooking all day long. Her stomach growled in response. “That works for me. I’m starving.”
They ate in silence for a few minutes; then Uncle Pete stood. “Anyone else need some iced tea?”
He refilled the three glasses when both Shauna and Cat held up their hands. Then he sat back down. Dipping a fry into Shauna’s special French fry sauce of ketchup and horseradish, he focused on her. “You haven’t told us about your trip. What did you get to see? Any shows?”
As Shauna listed off the shows and tourist spots she visited, Cat noticed she never said we, just I. Apparently Jake had been too busy to show his now-wealthy sister around the sights. And yet he’d just assumed she would invest in his projects. Cat saw a worried look cross Uncle Pete’s face and wondered if he’d figured out the same thing. Of course, he had. The guy was a trained investigator. Not an amateur like her.
But to his credit, he just nodded and then went into a story about how he’d seen The King and I with Yul Brynner on his one and only trip to New York City. “My wife always kidded me that it was that experience that made me love live theater. And she probably wasn’t wrong. I could feel the dance scene and wanted to learn to waltz, just like the king had.”
She smiled as her uncle told his story. He had a natural gift of storytelling, bringing you into the scene. To make you feel like you were sitting beside him in the darkened theater and watching the play with him back in the day. She knew where she got her love of story.
As they cleaned up the plates and Shauna put a brownie with a scoop of ice cream in front of each of them, Cat focused on her uncle. “Okay, tell us what’s going on with the case. Did you already find out who killed Chance?”
“You must think I’m a miracle worker. Or maybe the guy scribbled a note and put it in his pocket just before he died. Like ‘if you find me dead, look at Jim.’ ” Uncle Pete took a bite of the brownie. “Shauna, I don’t know how you do it. Your desserts are like heaven.”
“Just time and practice. Probably a lot like what you do when you’re investigating.” She slyly moved the conversation back to the subject.
“Well played.” He sipped his coffee, then leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know how much you’ve figured out already but . . .”
“I . . .” Cat started to tell him she wasn’t investigating, but from the look in his eyes, she stopped. He’d known she’d at least try to figure out more about Chance McAllister. Especially since he’d known Seth. “Sorry, go on.”
“Chance apparently had bought that gold mine claim and cabin before he enlisted. His folks didn’t know about it, so nothing happened to change ownership when the estate was settled. He was young, there wasn’t much of an estate except the insurance money.” He took another bite of the brownie. “So, after he apparently died in Germany, he came home, got into the country, and started living in the woods. From the people I’ve talked to in town, they’ve said Chance had been there for years. They couldn’t pinpoint a beginning.”
“He was that far off the grid? But what about bank accounts? Did he have a car?” Cat couldn’t imagine living so close to town, but so out of touch with reality.
“From what we found in his cabin, he had paper accounting on one bank account. It got a deposit once a month and he lived on a portion of that. Two thousand dollars on the first. At least that’s what we can see from his records. We’re trying to track the deposits down. The problem is the bank doesn’t have a record of Chance having an account. So we’re trying to figure out what the name on the account is. That’s why I wanted to talk to Seth. The grocery store had several charge slips from the last day he came in. I want him to look at them and see if the names mean anything.”
The room got quiet and Uncle Pete finished his brownie. “I guess I better go back to work and see if anything else came up from the computer scans.”
“That’s it? That’s all you have?” Cat was floored.
“Until we know who he was and why he was killed, yep, that’s all we got. A man living under an assumed name and being paid a nice chunk of change to stay under the radar.”
“It’s got to be the military or maybe the CIA,” Cat murmured.
Uncle Pete put on his hat and kissed both her and Shauna on the cheek. “Thanks for lunch. And keep your conspiracy theories down to a dull roar, okay? We work in fact here, not maybes.”
After he left, Cat and Shauna looked at each other. Then they said at the same time, “Definitely CIA.”
Chapter 7
Seth arrived home at two p.m. Alone. He grabbed a couple of cookies and sat at the table, where Cat and Shauna were sitting discussing the next few retreats. They turned and stared at him.
“What?” he mumbled through a mouthful of cookie.
“Did you forget why you went to Denver?” Cat asked.
He laughed and finished the cookie. “No, my charge had me drop her off at the police station to see Pete. Her bags are in the back of the car. I thought I’d see what room you wanted her in before I hauled them inside.”
“Did you talk to Pete when you dropped Shirley off?” Shauna asked.
“Yeah, we talked. You guys are starting to scare me.” Seth stood to pour a cup of coffee. “Why are you asking so many questions?”
“Just tell us.” Cat leaned back in her chair. “You know what we want to know.”
“Oh, you’re wondering if I knew any of the names from the charge slips.” He grinned as he set down.
“Yes, that’s what we’re wondering.” Cat looked at Shauna. “It’s always a waiting game with him.”
“And you love it.” He sipped his coffee. “Anyway, I found a name that I thought looked suspicious. Dwight Washington. Two of Chance’s favorite presidents.”
“Why would you purposely call yourself Dwight?” Shauna closed her laptop. “It’s been a long day. I’m going upstairs and reading for a bit before I have to start dinner. Let me know if you need anything.”
Cat watched her friend leave. “I’m worried about her.”
“I take it the family reunion wasn’t all she thought it should be?”
“Yeah.” Cat left the subject where it was. If Shauna wanted to tell Seth about her brother, it was her story to tell, not Cat’s. “So how’s Shirley?”
“She’s good. All tanned from Alaska’s summer is what she said, but I think she’s been hitting the tanning beds. And her hair is different. Highlights, I think.” He winked. “I guess she’s getting ready for visiting Pete.”
“If I can think of her as a writer, I’m okay. Thinking of her and Uncle Pete, I wig out just a little.” She remembered something she’d found that morning. “Did you know that Chance was studying local history and gold mines?”
“Part of being a good panner is knowing where the big hits were in the past. If I was trying to find gold, I’d be reading all the old texts written during the gold rush. Then I’d study the maps and see if I could land a perfect mining claim.” Seth grabbed a third cookie and broke it in half. “It would be hard, especially without GPS find
ers and the fact that streams don’t flow the same way as they did back then.”
“So you’d have to take into consideration things like mudslides and maybe even forest fires.” Cat pondered the idea.
“Exactly. Because your text may reference something that’s not even there anymore.” He finished his cookie and stood to take his cup to the sink. “So, where do you want Shirley?”
“I think Shauna set up room 210. The key is on the desk out in the lobby. Put it back there after you drop off her bags, and I’ll check her in when she decides to show up.” Cat glanced at the clock. She had a while before she had to play hostess to the writers. “I’m grabbing a book and heading to the living room to wait for the writers to come back from the library. Although they may not come back since it’s so close to dinnertime.”
“Well, after I drop off the bags, I’m going back to my apartment. Pete wants me to go through my stuff and see if I have anything of Chance’s. Or anything about his death. I’m sure I stuck the news report into my trunk.”
“You have a trunk filled with things from your time in the army? Don’t tell me you have a gun in there too.”
“If I had a gun, it would be perfectly legal and registered.” He let his lips curve into a smile that portrayed a lot more than humor. “You could come over and search me.”
Cat felt her body heat and she shook her head. “No time, the retreat is in session. And I’m sure you meant search your house.”
His eyes danced with humor. “Did I?”
“I’m going to go read. We can talk about what you really meant next week, when we don’t have five extra people in the house.” Cat met his gaze. “I love you, Seth Howard.”
“I love you too, Cat.”
