A Darcy Sweet Mystery Box Set Six

by K. J. Emrick

  That was then, this was now. She hoped. Because Grace was right… there was no getting out of Thanksgiving with the whole family this year.

  Over in the kitchen, Zane slapped his pudgy little hand against his forehead, too, imitating his mother. She did it again. He did it again.

  Mother and son, bonding over her emotional merry-go-round life.

  “Um,” she hedged. “I will be ready for Thanksgiving, yes. That’s the one with the turkey, right?”

  Grace sighed. “Darcy, so help me God, if you back out on this and leave me and Aaron to fend for ourselves with Mom, I will hunt you down and I will personally pull out each of your toenails.”

  “Wow, Sis,” Darcy laughed again. “So violent.”

  “Well, you know this is important to Mom. So. Just get everything ready, and we’ll all have a great time at your place, okay?”

  “Heh. You sure there’s not another reason why you wanted the dinner at my house instead of at your apartment?”

  After a moment, Grace cleared her throat. “Mom’s been getting pretty insistent about having more grandchildren. Every time we talk now, she asks me when I’ll have another kid. I figure being at your house will give me some cover so I don’t have to sit through another lecture about my biological clock.”

  “Oh.” Darcy hadn’t heard that one yet! Their mother did love her grandkids, but Grace’s life was full already, what with being a police officer and raising a pre-teen daughter at the same time. For some people, one child was enough.

  Darcy couldn’t imagine having stopped at just one. In fact she and Jon had talked to each other, deep in the night, about maybe having a third. Someday. That was just a dream, though, and the reality was how much time and money they had to devote to their kids. There was only so much of both to go around. If it was unlikely that Grace could find space in her life to have more children, then it was even less likely that the town police chief and the bookstore owner would be able to handle having three!

  “Sis,” Grace said. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got some paperwork I need to finish up. Can I help you with something or not?”

  “I really needed Jon…” She didn’t want to say straight out that she was hip deep in another mystery, because Grace’s opinion of her sister’s amateur sleuthing was only a few pegs higher than Jon’s. Her sister was a smart one, though, just like Jon. Even without saying anything Grace figured it out.

  “What are you into this time, Darcy?”

  It was getting to a point where it was impossible to keep secrets in this family.

  With a sigh, Darcy gave Grace the basics, and even let on that she might have talked to the ghost of the victim already, although she didn’t mention it was by means of a spirit communication.

  “And you haven’t told this Anthony guy that you know the sister’s dead?” Grace whistled, and then lowered her voice. “I wouldn’t let that one sit for too long, Sis.”

  “What am I supposed to say? Your dead sister’s ghost was visiting with us while we had coffee the other day? Yeah, that one always goes over well.”

  “I’m just saying.” Grace’s voice trailed off for a moment as she took the phone away from her ear, and then brought it back. “Jon just walked in. Hang on. I’ll transfer you to his office. And don’t forget about Thanksgiving!”

  The line went on hold before Darcy could say anything, and she listened to a saxophone version of Frank Sinatra’s You Make Me Feel So Young until Jon picked up.

  “Darcy, did you forget we’re having Thanksgiving with your mother this year?”

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake. Not you, too.”

  “Hey, anytime I can get a plate of turkey and mashed potatoes, I’m there. Just make sure you don’t forget about it again. My senior detective gets cranky when she has to remember family events all by herself. That would be your sister I’m talking about by the way, in case that slipped your mind, too.”

  “Jon, give me a break. It’s not like I haven’t had a lot on my mind recently, what with breaking my leg and everything else. So. Enough about Thanksgiving for now. Tell me what you found out from the accounting place. Did they say that Marcia used to work there?”

  “Yup. She was working there right up until her disappearance three years ago, actually. Good employee, according to them. Never missed a day of work, never called in sick, never even asked for a raise in the two years she worked there. They had no idea why she would have left.”

  “So… that’s a dead end?”

  “Well, depends on if you believe the manager of the accounting place, one Miss Akalia Bastion.”

  “I see. And, I’m guessing you don’t trust Miss Akalia Bastion?”

  “No,” he said firmly. “I do not.”

  “Okay, super cop. Why don’t you believe her?”

  “Because. When was the last time you knew anyone who worked somewhere without taking a day off, for any reason, Ever? Or never ask for a raise? No employee is that dedicated. Not you, not me, not the Pope. Nobody.”

  Darcy saw what he was getting at. “That’s a good point. Everybody needs a day off for something eventually. A dentist appointment or the season finale of Game of Thrones or whatever.”

  “Or when they break a leg,” he added.

  “Shut up,” she told him, although she said it through a smile. “So, we think there’s something going on at the accounting place?”

  “I do, actually. Especially since they’ve been investigated by the IRS twice in the last ten years.”

  That raised Darcy’s suspicions quite a bit. “Well, well, well. Money is the root of all evil. Can you find out why the IRS was looking into them? Are you going to interview this Bastion woman?”

  He didn’t answer right away and she could almost picture him rubbing a hand at the back of his neck. “It really is outside of my jurisdiction. Even the phone call today was pushing my luck. I had to tell them that I was a friend of Anthony Faber’s and the call was just a favor to him. Going out there to talk to someone directly… that might be crossing a line I can’t cross.”

  “Since when has that ever stopped us before?”

  “Since…” He didn’t finish that thought and Darcy was left to wonder what he might have said before he changed the subject entirely. “I got a letter from Mayor Donnie Wasson today, right here at the police station. You remember him?”

  “Of course.” Darcy doubted she would ever forget the gregarious mayor of Bear Ridge. “It’s been forever since we’ve heard from him. What was the letter for?”

  “He just wanted to remind us that the invitation to use the resort cottages up there is still open, anytime we want.”

  “Oh, that’s sweet.”

  “Yup. Some people appreciate it when you save their lives.”

  Darcy remembered the vacation they’d taken up at Bear Ridge. It had been a lot of fun… until they fell into another mystery. That was where they first met Ellen Gless, actually, and her son Connor. “It might be nice to go back there,” she said, “once this cast is off. We could bring the kids with us and stay for a day or two in the winter.”

  “Or, maybe longer,” he suggested.

  “Sure,” she said. “As long as your job can spare you.”

  He sighed. “Right. I guess there’s always the job to consider.”

  The change in his tone was abrupt, and unexpected. “Jon? Is everything all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. Just daydreaming a little, I guess. Anyway, Darcy, that’s the scoop so far on Marcia Faber. Just wanted to let you know. I’ll try to get home early tonight, okay?”

  Darcy knew there was something he wasn’t saying, but she also knew from years of loving him that he wasn’t going to tell her until he was ready. Whatever it was had nothing to do with the mystery of Marcia’s death, to be sure, and she knew there wasn’t any troubles here at home to worry about. It must be something to do with work, she decided. Every once in a while, the pressures of his job really got to him. She would just have to be a good listener for
him tonight, when he decided he was ready to talk.

  They said their goodbyes, and Darcy hung up the phone. Smudge and Tiptoe waited for the call to be over before wandering back over to the stairs. Darcy was sure that Tiptoe would rather be outside on a beautiful day like today but instead, she took the stairs one at a time with her father, keeping to Smudge’s slower pace, just being there with him.

  Darcy took out her cellphone from her back pocket and snapped a picture of her two cats, walking side by side, so she could preserve the moment forever.

  Chapter 4

  Another day, another attempt to prove she could get along fine on her own even in a cast.

  Darcy looked down at her stiff leg cramped into the passenger compartment of Izzy McIntosh’s car. Even with the seat all the way back she had to twist her broken leg under her other leg and sit half in and half out of her seat to make herself fit.

  Who was she trying to kid?

  “Thanks for the lift, Izzy,” she said as they turned onto Main Street. It was still very early and the town just hadn’t come awake yet. The school bus had picked up Colby, and Izzy had been there right after to pick up Darcy.

  In a couple of hours there would be tourists up and down the sidewalks, mixing in with the permanent residents to do a little shopping. Misty Hollow had become quite the spot to visit over the years, and sometimes Darcy was embarrassed to remember that a lot of that had to do with her own exploits being reported in newspapers and on television. She would much rather have remained anonymous and unknown, but even now she and Izzy had people come into their bookstore asking if she was really “the” Darcy Sweet.

  Yes, she was, but she usually just smiled and directed them to the romance section.

  Izzy smiled at her while she turned into the little drive that led to the parking area out behind the shop. It had taken a special permit to get this added, but it had definitely been worth it.

  Izzy was trying yet another new hairdo, feathering her honey blonde hair back to a dovetail which Darcy really liked. It looked super cute and somehow managed to take off ten years. Not that Darcy thought she could pull off that look herself.

  There had been several changes to Izzy’s looks in the last couple of months. Her amazing boyfriend was making her act like a teenager. It was nice to see her in a stable long term relationship, especially after Izzy had been alone for so long.

  “When do you need to pick Zane up?” Izzy asked once the car was parked.

  “Aaron is actually going to bring him back tonight after Addison gets home from school.” When she had called her brother-in-law last night to ask him to babysit, Aaron had jumped at the chance to hang out with Zane and do all that man stuff that he didn’t get a chance to do with his daughter Addison. Zane loved his uncle Aaron. Those two always had a good time together. “That will give Addison and my Colby a chance to hang out. Those two might be cousins, but they act like real sisters sometimes.

  Izzy nodded to that as she reached behind to the backseat where her purse and her lightweight purple hoodie had been tossed. The forecast was finally calling for chillier weather in the coming days, maybe even snow, and it paid to be ready for it in this part of the country. Although, Izzy had never minded cold weather. If she didn’t have work today Darcy had no doubt that she would be wearing shorts and a t-shirt instead of those beige slacks and that sleeveless top.

  “Can you make it out of the car by yourself,” Izzy asked, “or do you want me to help? The most I’ve ever broken was my pinky finger. I have no idea what it’s like to have your leg in a cast.”

  “I can manage it,” Darcy promised, and opened the door to put her crutch out first, and then her broken leg, and then her good leg, and then the rest of her. Even getting in and out of a chair was a process. This was going to be a very long day.

  Especially with what she had planned for this morning.

  When Jon had gotten home last night there had been very little talk about Anthony’s dead sister. He had explained more about the accounting firm in Rose Lake, the Lockbox Firm, and about how they seemed to be keeping the books for several big companies in the state.

  Questions like how a business in the middle of nowhere like Rose Lake had been able to land such big contracts was one of the reasons why the IRS had investigated them. Twice. If you followed the money trail far enough, according to what Jon had found out, those businesses each had ties to one man. That would be a Mister Amicus Bodeen, a man who had been arrested for every white collar crime known to man. He’d skated free on each charge brought against him.

  So that was who Marcia Faber had been working for, just prior to her death.

  That begged the question of whether Marcia had maybe gotten herself tangled up in something illegal and gotten herself killed, either by accident… or intentionally.

  After helping Colby with her homework and kissing Zane goodnight in his crib, Darcy had spent the rest of the night wondering if the people at the Lockbox Firm were killers as well as criminals.

  It was one theory to work with. She might have another before too long.

  The Sweet Read Bookstore had been her Great Aunt Millie’s business. It had done fairly well for years, and when Millie passed away she left it to Darcy. It was just one story high and inside, from front to back, she had found a way to cram in shelving units full of the latest and the most well known books from every genre. Even so there had been a year when the store had nearly closed up for poor sales.

  She’d turned it around, with the addition of e-books and other merchandise and the good business sense that her Great Aunt had taught her. For the last few years, she’d been doing very well. The bookstore hosted a book club and just a few weeks ago Izzy had started an adult education class teaching lessons on everything from how to use Microsoft Word to basic reading classes for a few people in town who didn’t know how.

  It was hard to imagine that in the twenty-first century there were still people who couldn’t read, but it was a fact, and Darcy was proud of her friend for creating something that could help people make a better life for themselves.

  Which reminded her.

  “How’s Lilly doing in college?” she asked. “She should be coming home for Thanksgiving break soon, shouldn’t she?”

  “Mm-hmm,” Izzy answered. “That daughter of mine picked up smarts somewhere along the line. She’s acing her classes, on track to be a child psychologist and make far more money than her mother ever did at any job I’ve ever had, including this one!”

  “True, but she’ll never have as much fun as we have here.”

  “I dunno. If Connor follows through with that engagement ring he gave her, I have a feeling those two will be unstoppable.”

  Connor and Lilly. Darcy had called that one early on. Nice to see young romance take root that deeply.

  She and Izzy went in together through the front door, turning the lights on, flipping the sign from “CLOSED, the end,” to “OPEN a good book today.” Usually they didn’t open to the public for another hour but they each had things to do today and it was just going to be easier to leave the door open now. Izzy had to go over the week’s inventory so they could get started on a book order.

  Darcy had to make a phone call.

  She stood in the middle of the room for a moment, looking up at the spot over the cookbook section where the wall was damaged. That’s where the ladder and the pulley track had broken away and dropped Darcy down hard on her leg. She could still feel the pain of that break. Her bones throbbed under the cast just thinking about it.

  “You okay, Darcy?” Izzy asked while she started the coffee pot. “Maybe you should have stayed home. You’re going to be exhausted by the time the day’s over.”

  “Maybe,” Darcy hedged, although she could already feel the strain in her back and shoulders. She was hobbling her way to the back office and already wishing for her nice soft couch at home, but she wasn’t about to let Izzy hear her say that. “I’ll just do paperwork and try to stay out of your
way. I really needed to get out of the house. You know how it is.”

  Izzy eyed her suspiciously. They knew each other too well for her to get away with such an obvious lie. “What are you up to, Darcy Sweet?”

  She smiled innocently at her friend. “You know me.”

  “Uh-huh. I do. That’s how I know you’re here for more than just getting out of the house.”

  “Well. I did have to call the winner of our contest so he can come down to the bookstore and collect his twenty-five dollar gift certificate.”

  “Our winner? Darcy, we haven’t been running any contests. Why are you calling someone to come to the store?”

  “Well, I can’t exactly go to them.” She patted her leg cast under her gray jogging pants dramatically. “I’m injured, you know.”

  With a smile that spoke volumes, here among the stacks of books, Darcy turned and made her way to the office at the back of the store. It was a small space, crammed with a couch and a desk and a tiny cube refrigerator, a couple of filing cabinets taking up the far corner. Books and folders and notepads covered the desk. And the tops of the filing cabinets. And the shelves above the desk. Even after converting most of their records to computer format, there was always a never-ending clutter of stuff in this room.

  “There’s a phonebook in here somewhere,” she muttered to herself. Easing down into the chair at the desk she began pushing aside folders and bits of mail she hadn’t read yet. Where was it?

  A small sound above her drew her attention. Looking up at the shelves, she watched a thin yellow book pushing itself out from under several paperback novels. The phonebook was tall enough that it didn’t fit between the shelves Jon had installed for her and she remembered, now, that she had laid it down on its cover to give it a space up there.

  Now it inched forward, squirming from corner to corner until it flopped over the edge, out from under the rest of the books, and then tumbled down with its pages flapping like an angry bird. It landed flat on the desk in front of her.