by Lynn Cahoon
When she arrived, Ian was leaning against his truck, waiting. She kissed him on the cheek. “You could have met me inside. It’s kind of chilly today.”
“No worries. I wanted to soak in the sun as much as possible. I’m usually stuck in some office or meeting room during the day. And there’s not a lot of sun once I call it in for the day.”
“Just wait until February. We barely get any sun all month.” She nodded to the restaurant. “Ready?”
“Which is another reason I’m standing out here. I almost forgot, I’m supposed to tell you to call Allen. I guess he has an update on what we discussed on Sunday? I told him just to tell me and I’d tell you, but he wants to talk to you directly.” He held out his phone. “Here, you can use my cell and I’ll go in and get us a table.”
They walked into the lobby, and as soon as Sheriff Brown answered, Angie sat on one of the benches in the waiting area. “Hi, it’s Angie. Ian said you have something to tell me?”
“I’m glad you called. I’m in Boise, talking to the primary investigators, but I wanted you to know that Evan Morris isn’t on the job right now. He took an extended vacation a few weeks ago and hasn’t returned to work.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Why would he come here to check on one of his witnesses if he’s supposed to be on vacation?” The answer hit Angie fast. “He’s not working as a marshal here, is he?”
“Appears not. And worse, no one has talked to him for a few days.” Sheriff Brown paused, and even over the line, Angie could hear his thoughts grinding through his head. “It might not mean anything, but maybe you all still keeping Hope under wraps wouldn’t be the worst plan in the world. At least until we can find out why Morris is really here. And please, no more coffee dates with the guy.”
Without anything else to say, Angie cut the call short and made her way to the dining room. She filled Ian in on what his uncle had told her.
“So this guy takes personal time to come check out Daniel’s death?” Ian sipped his tea. “That sounds suspicious right there.”
“I know. But until they find him, it’s going to be hard to know why exactly he’s here. Unless he knows more about why Daniel was killed than he shared with the investigative team.” She glanced through the menu. “I guess we’ll find out more soon. Anyway, I’m starving. I took Dom on one last hike this morning, and I think I burned off all my breakfast before I got here.”
They were sitting drinking coffee and sharing a couple of desserts when Felicia called.
“Hey, how are things going?”
“How did you know I was at the mission?” Felicia’s question made her set her fork down.
“What do you mean you’re at the mission? I thought you were at the restaurant with Hope.” Angie was getting a bad feeling about this.
“I got a call from someone saying that Taylor had been hurt and needed me to come, but when I got here, he was fine.” Angie could hear the car start up on the other side of the line. “I swear the guy probably had one of his lackeys call me, but he swears he didn’t know anything about it. He called it a sign that I was supposed to come back to him.”
“So you’re not at the County Seat?” Angie saw Ian waving down the waitress for their check. He must have heard the panic in her voice.
“No. Why do you keep asking me that?”
Angie took a breath. Hope might be there alone, but it didn’t mean there was a problem. “Because Hope’s there alone. Let me give her a ring. Are you on your way back?”
“I’m downtown. I can be there in thirty minutes if traffic isn’t bad.”
“We’re closer. I’ll call you as soon as I talk to Hope.” She stood as Ian signed off on his credit card charge. “I’m probably overreacting.”
“Probably. But I need to go anyway.” He walked her out to her car as she dialed Hope’s number. The call went straight to voice mail.
She left a short message, hoping she didn’t sound as freaked as she felt. She unlocked her car and climbed inside the driver’s seat. “Sorry to cut this short, but I really don’t want to leave Hope alone for long. Even if this thing with Morris is totally explainable, I’d just feel better if someone was there with her.”
“I get it. Call me when you get there. I’ve got a meeting but I’ll have my phone on me, so don’t forget.” He leaned in and kissed her. “I’m going to be worried about you if you don’t call.”
Angie held up three fingers in an imitation of what she hoped was the Scout salute. It had been a while since she’d been in the club. “I promise.”
He shut the door and watched as she took off out of the parking lot. Angie waved as she turned onto the road and gunned the engine toward River Vista.
Over and over she told herself she was overreacting. She’d get there, Hope would be in the kitchen working on her recipe, and they’d laugh about her being so worried. That was the best scenario. Angie didn’t want to think of the worst-case scenario. Or any of the ones in between. She made it to River Vista in twenty minutes, and she’d tried to call Hope six times during the drive.
She rushed up to the kitchen door and checked the doorknob. It was locked. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door. Then she stepped into the kitchen and her heart sank.
“Come on in. I can’t believe how you’re always in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Evan Morris waved her into the kitchen with the handgun he held. “I was just telling Hope that she tends to take after you in that regard.”
“Where is she?” Angie stepped inside and tried to not shut the door all the way. It might signal to someone that there was a problem. One of Sheriff Brown’s guys did a walk through the business district at least once a day. Angie thought it was so he could get out of the station. Maybe he hadn’t been by yet. She glanced around the kitchen and found Hope tied to a chair by the table. “Are you all right?”
Hope nodded and burst into tears. “I’m so sorry to get you involved in this. I was working on the vegetables, then a knock came at the door and I figured it was Felicia, but then he pushed his way in. I don’t know what he wants, he won’t tell me.”
Angie took a step toward her, but Evan stopped her. “Now, let’s not get so hasty. You forgot to close the door.”
She shut the door and cursed herself for not asking Ian to come with her. Or calling Sheriff Brown with her bad feeling. Of course, had she been wrong, but she wasn’t wrong and now there was trouble. “Tell us what you want and then leave. I don’t want you upsetting Hope.”
“What I want is to clear up a few loose ends. This one,” Evan waved his gun toward Hope, “can put me at Daniel’s the night of his murder. And now you’re a problem too, since you walked into the middle of all this.”
“You weren’t at Daniel’s.” Hope shook her head. “When I left, there wasn’t anyone around the house or parked nearby.” Angie saw the blush on the girl’s cheeks. “I didn’t want anyone to see me leaving, especially since I went in for a drink. I didn’t want the rumors.”
“Not when you left the first time, when you left the second time.” He pointed toward the table. “Go over and sit by her. That way I can keep an eye on you.”
“How did you know I…” Hope shook her head. “I didn’t even stop the second time. I saw the car in the driveway and just turned around and went back to the game. The man was disgusting. He told me he wanted to be with me, and then an hour later, he’s with someone else? I dodged a bullet there.”
Angie flinched at Hope’s choice of words, but Evan either hadn’t noticed or was focused on the story. “You drive a red Honda.”
“I drive an old red Honda. It’s a piece of crap compared to the one that was sitting in Daniel’s driveway that night. I told the police this, or maybe I told my lawyer. I told someone.” Hope struggled against the ropes. “Look, you take off, we’ll stay here and give you time to make it over the border. All I want is to see tomo
rrow.”
“Sorry, even if you aren’t the one, I guess I’ve shown my cards too early. You two are going to have to—”
Before he could finish his statement, a hard-rapping noise came from the door. He looked at Angie. “This is a popular place today. Who else are you expecting?”
Don’t let it be Felicia. She chanted the mantra in her head three times before looking at Evan. “I’m not expecting anyone. They’ll go away if we ignore them.” Felicia would have used her key—it couldn’t be her.
As if to prove her wrong, the banging continued. “Open up, Angie, I know you’re in there. I’m looking at your car. I want to get ready for the staff meeting before everyone else shows up in a few minutes. And besides, I have a pot full of chili to warm up.”
“You’re having a meeting here?” Evan slapped himself on the forehead. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”
She watched as he considered his next steps. She could see on his face when he’d made up his mind.
“Okay, you’re going to open the door, let this guy in, and then I’m heading out. I guess killing you two just got moved down my priority list. I’m more interested in doing whatever it takes for me to keep this lovely money I made in my bank account rather than the government’s.”
“You want me to open the door?” Angie stood and walked to the door.
“Slow down just a bit.” Evan stepped next to her. “This is how it’s going to go. You open the door, motion whoever’s outside to go set the chili on the stove, and while you keep him busy, I’ll sneak out. I’m going to keep an eye out on the place for a while. If you follow me outside or the police show up, I’ll shoot whoever walks through that door in the next ten minutes. And once I start shooting, well, let’s just say my trigger finger can get a little itchy.”
“I’ll do exactly what you say. I want you gone and out of here more than you know.” Angie reached for the doorknob, keeping her face stone and her eyes on Evan’s gun. “Okay, ready?”
When Evan nodded and set up to run outside as soon as the door cleared, Angie closed her eyes and took three deep breaths. She opened the door and threw it open. When Ian walked in with a Crock-Pot filled with what did smell like chili, her heart stopped. What was Ian doing here? Then, because Evan gave her a long stare with a wave of his gun, she took Ian’s arm and led him toward the stove.
“Bring it over here.” She let Ian put the chili down and watched out of the corner of her eye, as Evan ran through the doorway, pulling it shut behind him.
When Ian heard the door shut, he took a breath. “Are you okay? Is the door locked?”
Angie ran back to the door and threw the dead bolts. “It is now.”
“Why on earth did you put yourself in danger?” She sank into Ian’s arms, but then motioned toward Hope. “You untie Hope and I’ll call the station.”
“No need, they’re out there now, picking up that piece of garbage.” He held on to her as they walked over to the table.
“How did you know we needed help?” Angie liked the way his arm felt around her. She’d been scared out of her mind from the time she’d walked into the kitchen. Now she could actually let the feeling show. “And why in the world would he just take off like that?”
“Probably because of my clever announcement that all the staff was showing up in a few minutes. I was afraid that he was going to try to take one of you with him. But my plan worked.” He untied Hope’s arms, then rubbed where the ropes had been. “Are you all right? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“I’m fine. I felt stupid. I can’t believe I just let him inside. Teach me to start using the peephole. This means it’s all over, right? I told him I didn’t see him at Professor Monet’s house, but he kept saying he saw my car.”
“Yeah, that was weird. You saw the car there when you came back?” Angie sank into a chair next to Hope.
“The car he was talking about wasn’t even my car. I saw it too when I went back to his place. I was stupid. I was going to sleep with him. But when I saw the car there, I figured he’d called someone else to meet him. He had said how lonely he was since he’d moved away from all his friends. And how he didn’t even have a car. He said he loved to drive. That he used to drive for a living. Which isn’t so weird—chefs do a lot of side jobs just to keep the money coming in.” Hope put her hand on her neck. “I’m done with men. From now on, it’s school and work. If Prince Charming wants to find me, he better come with a job and a list of references before I’ll even talk to him.”
“Sounds like a solid plan.” Angie looked up as Felicia came in through the dining room door. “Hey, there you are.”
“Are you okay? You wouldn’t believe it but there are police cars all around the building. I had to park at the Red Eye.” She looked at the three of them sitting at the table. “I missed something. What did I miss?”
Felicia’s questions were answered when Sheriff Brown came into the restaurant. Hope stood and quickly got him a cup of coffee. He sank into one of the chairs at the table where they’d all been huddled and took the cup she offered. “Thanks, Hope.”
Angie waited until he had a couple of sips in before she couldn’t help herself. “Do you need to interview us? He told us he killed Daniel. But why?”
“It’s a long story. Daniel was in witness protection. He’d been a driver for a Canadian mob, and one day when he was sitting outside a mansion in upstate New York, the house was raided by federal officials. Daniel was offered a deal. Testify, move to the States, and he’d be protected.” He drank more of his coffee. “Evan was Danny’s handler. But he’d gotten in too deep on some gambling debts, and all he had to do to wipe them clean was get rid of one person.”
“He said they paid him.” Angie pushed a plate of cookies toward the sheriff. He looked like he hadn’t eaten in days.
“I’m sure we’ll find a substantial deposit into Evan’s account. He’s trying to play it off as an inheritance from a rich uncle, but my guess is he got a bonus if he killed Daniel before he could testify.” Sheriff Brown picked up a cookie and took a bite. He pointed the cookie at Ian. “These are so good. Just don’t tell your aunt you saw me eating sugar. I’m supposed to be avoiding it.”
“Daniel wasn’t a chef?” Hope seemed more shocked at this revelation than any of the other things that had happened that day. “He was just pretending?”
“According to his peers, Daniel wasn’t a very convincing actor.” Sheriff Brown finished his coffee and stood, taking another cookie. “I’ll get your statements tomorrow. Right now I’m heading home to see my wife.”
Hope sat staring into her cup of hot chocolate.
“Are you okay? It’s over. You should be happy.” Angie reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “Smile.”
“I am happy. I’m just so upset over Daniel. Did you know he gave me a C on my last assignment? He said I wasn’t portraying the image of a professional chef well enough. And he wasn’t even a chef.” Hope’s eyes burned bright.
Angie picked up her cup and hid her smile behind the sip. Their Hope was back. Worried about grades and fairness in the world. She would be okay.
Chapter 23
“You’re not going to believe this, but someone’s here to talk to you.” Felicia came into the kitchen as the crew was getting ready for Thursday’s dinner service.
Angie set down the knife she’d been using to prep potatoes. “You sound like I’m not going to like this visit.”
“I don’t know. I mean, I’m not really sure why she’s here.” Felicia fell in step with her. “I’m kind of feeling like we should keep the doors locked on the County Seat until serving time. We’re getting way too many drop-ins.”
Angie hugged her friend. “The killer is in jail and Taylor has moved on. I don’t think we have to worry about random visits anymore.”
“You might change your mind.” Felicia nodded
to the hostess station where Tanya Livingston stood.
Angie hadn’t known she could stop dead in her tracks until that very moment. In fact, Felicia turned back and waved her forward. It was too late anyway, Tanya had seen her.
She made her way to the hostess station. “How can I help you today?”
Tanya looked pointedly at Felicia, who shrugged.
“I’ve got napkins to fold.” She left the two women alone.
“So anyway, I wanted to thank you for finding out who killed Daniel.” She took a tissue from her purse. “I know you think I’m horrible, grieving over a man who’s not my husband, but I loved Daniel.”
“It’s your life.” Angie had a hard time understanding how Tanya could have fallen in love in the less than two months Daniel had lived here. “It’s not my place to judge.”
“Well, you’re the only person who believes in that motto.” Tanya sighed and put her tissues back away. “Anyway, when Sheriff Brown told me that man had seen me leave Daniel’s and had thought it was that girl, well, it made me realize how close I came to being dead alongside him. I wanted to tell you that I’m going to fix my life. My marriage.”
“Again, not my business.” Angie wasn’t sure why Tanya was confessing and listing off her turning over a new leaf goals, but she really needed to stop talking. “I’ve got to get back to work. Thanks for coming by.”
Before she could turn, Tanya grabbed her wrist. “You don’t understand. If that guy had realized I was the one who left Daniel’s that night, I would have been dead. Over a little sex. It’s really not fair.”
Angie shook her wrist loose. “It sounds like you’re having trouble dealing with the whole incident. Maybe you should find a counselor to talk to. I find that helps me when I’m feeling overwhelmed.”
“Yes, I knew you would understand. Overwhelmed, that’s exactly how I feel.” She peered at Angie. “Do you really think counseling could help?”
It will get you out of my restaurant. Angie pushed away her first response because it was mean. The woman was having problems, and even though she was always a pain in the butt, this was a hard time for her. “Definitely. Now, I really have to get back to work. Lots of people to feed this evening.”
