Daisy McDare And The Deadly Secret Affair (Daisy McDare Cozy Creek Mystery Book 7) (2 page)

Chapter Three

She awoke on the groggy side and set off on her trip.  She was determined to have a good time and told herself she wouldn’t let a silly nightmare ruin her adventure. 

Being in Vancouver again brought back a lot of memories for Daisy.  She’d gone to college there.  It was a simpler time back then.  When the hardest thing she had to deal with was getting up for her eight o’clock classes.  When pizza was an acceptable breakfast, lunch, dinner, or after midnight snack.  A single cupcake didn’t go straight to Daisy’s thighs then.  Attractive, single men were plentiful and only a few dorm rooms away.  Even more, the party didn’t seem like it would ever end.  Things she stressed out about back then seemed so trivial in retrospect. 

Then again, Daisy knew what it was like to tackle real problems now.  That easy-going college life in a bubble burst on her when the real world came calling.  The rest of Daisy’s twenties were filled with an assortment of both choppy waters and smooth sailing. 

Daisy’s thirties were much better.  She had plenty of joy in her life now, both from her decorating business and Gavin.  At the same time, there were plenty of complications.   

Given that, Vancouver would always hold a special place in Daisy’s heart.  The city was teeming with familiar landmarks—from the noodle bar just off campus to the retro clothing boutique, verdant Stanley Park, and the dance club that Daisy used to cut loose at. 

During her years away, the city had lost none of its luster.  If anything, it was as vibrant as ever.  That made Daisy as excited as ever to be back. 

***

When Daisy’s cousin, Addison McDare, said she wanted to meet at Toast of the Town, a hip breakfast place in Yaletown, she assumed it was so they could grab a meal.  When Daisy walked in and saw Addison waiting a table however, she realized something far different was going on.  Addison had moved to Vancouver to make it as a songwriter.  By the looks of it, she had a ways to go. 

“Addison,” Daisy said. 

Addison spotted Daisy, and then gave her a hug. 

“Daisy, it’s so good to see you,” Addison remarked. 

“What’s going on here?”

“I thought I’d be finished up with my shift by now, but Benji is late as usual,” Addison bemoaned.

Daisy meanwhile was baffled.  “I think I’m missing a piece to this puzzle.”

“Give me a few minutes and you’ll have all the answers you need.”

Just then, Benji Gifford, a slender, tattoo-covered man in his early twenties, stumbled in—looking wildly hung over. 

“Benji, where have you been?” Addison asked. 

“Living the dream as always,” Benji replied, sarcastically. 

“Your brother wants to see you in his office,” Addison said. 

Benji shook his head.  “Great.  Here comes another tongue-lashing before I’ve had a chance to have my coffee.”

“You know, a lot of people would feel lucky that their family opened a successful restaurant and that they had a guaranteed job,” Addison hinted. 

Benji scoffed.  “You obviously haven’t lived in the shadow of an older brother your whole life.  Lucky is not the word I’d go with.”

Benji then trudged off, muttering to himself. 

“Something tells me I don’t want to know what word he’d go with,” Addison said. 

“If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably a four letter word,” Daisy added. 

Addison sighed.  “What an interesting way to end my shift.”

Chapter Four

A few minutes later, Addison came out from the kitchen with two containers.  Addison and Daisy then walked to Daisy’s car with two distinctly different things on their minds. 

“Talk about nepotism gone to waste,” Addison said. 

Daisy cut straight to the chase.  “Will you tell me what’s going on?”

Addison counted some money as she walked.  “A bad tip day is what’s going on.  If you can afford to eat here, you should be able to afford to tip here too.”

Daisy was tired of being in the dark.  It was time to get some answers.  “Addison, seriously.  I’m completely in the dark here.  What are you doing waiting tables if you’re so close to a record deal like you told me?”

“Don’t get me wrong.  The record label loved the first song Jeff and I submitted to them.  But they want to make sure we’re more than one hit wonders.”

“I know you are.  You’re the most talented songwriter I know,” Daisy said. 

“Just how many songwriters do you know exactly?” Addison wondered. 

“Just you.”

“Doesn’t that make me the best by default then?”

“Technically, but you know I love your song.”

“Thanks.  Unfortunately, you don’t work for a record label.”

“Yeah.  It turns out there’s never any nepotism available when you need it.  If you ever decide you want to get into decorating though, I’ll get you set up like no other,” Daisy said. 

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m kind of set on this whole songwriting thing,” Addison replied.

“Speaking of, how are you and Jeff doing?” Daisy asked. 

“Great.  We make such a great team,” Addison answered. 

The universe knew how to turn a person’s life upside down.  Addison knew that from experience.  She’d spent years as a personal assistant to a washed up rock star, hoping to get her foot in the door of the music industry, only to have it go nowhere. 

When she quit that job, things weren’t looking good for her dream.  Then she moved to Vancouver.  Up until that point, everything had come so hard to her.  Apparently, life was ready to give her a break. 

Addison ended up meeting her boyfriend Jeff in the mail room of her apartment complex.  She heard him humming the tune of a famous pop song.  They got to talking about their love of music.  That’s when Jeff revealed that he was the lead singer of a cover band.  When Addison told him she was an aspiring songwriter, a light bulb went off in their heads.  It turned out they were exactly what the other needed.   

Jeff had a great singing voice, but was awful at writing his own songs.  Addison was great at writing songs, but had a terrible voice.  They seemed to be a match made in musical heaven.  When they started collaborating on songs, it wasn’t long until they realized what a great match they were romantically as well.  Ever since then, it appeared that things were looking up for Addison. 

Daisy wanted to make sure that was still true.  “I meant, how are things romantically?”

Addison couldn’t help but smile.  “Better than ever.”

“That’s so good to hear.”

“Tell me about it.  Love changes everything.”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy.”

“Because I don’t think I have been.”

“Waitress job aside of course,” Daisy said. 

“It’s actually surprisingly tolerable.”

“Really?”

Addison nodded.  “I look at it as just a pit stop on the road to success.”

“That’s a good attitude to have.”

“A lot has changed over the last six months.  I never used to think this way—especially not when I worked for Mr. Washed Up Rock Star.  Back then, I didn’t believe things happened for a reason.”

“And now?”

“I feel like everything that’s happened in my life has been leading up to Jeff and I meeting, falling in love, and becoming successful together.”

“I hope you’re right,” Daisy said. 

“Hey, you’re not the only one with hunches around here,” Addison joked. 

Chapter Five

Addison’s boyfriend Jeff Morrison gave her a big hug the minute she arrived back at her apartment.  He then kissed her like he hadn’t seen her in a month.  They had a puppy dog kind of love.  Normally Daisy hated fading into the background in social situations, but this time she didn’t mind.  Addison and Jeff were just so cute together.  Besides, it was clear Jeff was mad about Addison.

After a wretched run of bad luck with men, Addison deserved a man like Jeff.  On top of that, being around such a happy couple was infectious. 

When Jeff and Addison pulled back from their embrace, they saw Daisy standing off to the side. 

“Sorry.  We got a little caught up,” Addison said. 

“I’d tell you to get a room, but this is your apartment,” Daisy joked. 

Jeff outstretched his hand.  “Jeff Morrison.  It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Daisy shook his hand.  “The feeling is mutual.  Addison has told me a lot of good things about you.”

“They probably aren’t half as good as the things she’s told me about you.”

Daisy turned to Addison. 

“What did you tell him?” Daisy teased. 

“The truth,” Addison replied. 

“That you saved her life,” Jeff revealed. 

“That’s a little extreme,” Daisy replied. 

“Having a police detective wanting to arrest me for a crime I didn’t commit—that was extreme.  You finding the real killer and saving my bacon in the process—that was a real life-saver to me,” Addison explained. 

“You should have never mentioned bacon.  Now I wish I had a BLT for lunch,” Daisy said. 

“You can deflect all you want.  If you hadn’t have cracked that case, I wouldn’t have met Jeff—nor would I be here right now,” Addison insisted. 

“You know what?  Why don’t I cook you up a BLT right now as a thank you?” Jeff suggested. 

Daisy smiled as she shook her head.  “You’re a bad influence.”

“That, and I’m hungry because I skipped lunch today,” Jeff revealed. 

Daisy and Addison laughed. 

Daisy then turned to Addison.  “Look, family takes care of each other.”

“I hate to let my stomach do all the talking, but does anyone else want a BLT?” Jeff asked. 

“It’s just you,” Addison said. 

“Alright.  I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.  It was nice to finally meet you Daisy,” Jeff said. 

After he went off, Daisy turned back to her cousin.

“It looks like you’ve found a keeper,” Daisy said. 

“Oh yeah.  I plan to keep Jeff around for a long time,” Addison replied. 

“By the way, thanks for letting me stay at your apartment,” Daisy said. 

“Are you kidding?  Like you said, family takes care of each other.”

“So, are you two going to come to this book launch party with me tonight?”

“You know McDare’s rarely turn down a chance to party, but Jeff and I have this great idea for a song, and we want to try to lay the track down before our inspiration dries up.”

“Alright.  Have fun then.  I’ll try to smuggle a few pigs in blankets out of the party for you,” Daisy laughed. 

Chapter Six

Daisy had never been to a book launch party before.  She didn’t quite know what to expect.  As she walked into the lobby of a trendy downtown hotel, she could hear dance music playing and bass thumping.  It sounded like one amazing party.  As she followed the source of the music into the hotel bar though, she quickly realized the party wasn’t for a book launch.  Instead, it was a bachelorette party—and it was raucous as ever. 

After making a stop at the front desk, Daisy was directed to the banquet hall on the other side of the hotel where the book launch party was being held.  It was the understatement of the year to say the book launch had a completely different vibe. 

***

Before Daisy even had a chance to set foot in the banquet hall, she got front row seats to some serious drama.  Down the hallway from the entrance, two middle-aged men were chewing each other out like it was nobody’s business.  That never made sense to Daisy.  It seemed ridiculous to have very public blow ups about very private topics. 

Yet, it happened all the time.  Daisy had lost count of how many times she overheard people talking about sensitive matters in elevators on their cell phones.  Seeing the two men argue that night, she felt like cringing. 

The taller of the two men, Hank Hammond, was in his fifties with short black hair, a slender build, and brown eyes.  The shorter man, Jonah Ball, was also in his fifties, but had brown hair, a rotund midsection, and blue eyes. 

Daisy stood beside a fern and pretended to look down at her phone as she listened to the men arguing. 

“This place is a sinking ship, and I refuse to go down with it,” Jonah said. 

“You’re wrong,” Hank replied. 

“About which part?” Jonah asked. 

“Both,” Hank responded. 

“You’re completely delusional.”

Hank got full of bluster.  “You can’t talk to me that way.  I’m the legendary Hank Hammond.”

Jonah shook his head.  “I can’t believe you.”

“You should talk.  You’re the one with a lot of nerve.”

“Not as much as you.”  Jonah scoffed.  “You talk like you’re the Hank Hammond of ten years ago.  Sure you were a big shot at Trillion Dollar Publishing.  Ever since you’ve gone out on your own, you’ve done nothing but strike out.  Even worse, you refuse to admit it.”

“I’m always going to be a legend,” Hank insisted. 

“In your own mind maybe.  In reality, this publishing company is limping along until someone finally puts it out of its misery.”

“You can’t talk to me like that and get away with it.”

Jonah didn’t back down.  “I’ve been holding my tongue for twenty years.  I came over from Trillion Dollar Publishing with you because I thought you were going to do groundbreaking things.  I was dead wrong, and it has cost me.  If I’d have stayed at Trillion, I’d be running my own department by now.”

“Now I see what’s going on.  You think you’re some big shot.  That you should be running your own department.  That you should have your own corner office.”

“I don’t just think, I know that I’m destined for more than this.”

“Not at this company,” Hank insisted. 

“You’re right.  That’s why I’m leaving this company.”

“This is the biggest mistake of your life.  You’ll never work in this town again.”

“That’s where the joke is on you.  I already have a new job working for Clifford Daniels.”

Hank snickered.  “We’ll see about that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Cliff and I go way back.  My opinion means a lot to him.  Which means I just have to make one phone call to him and you’re screwed,” Hank said. 

“Are you threatening me?” Jonah asked. 

Hank shook his head.  “I’m just being honest.  Face it, you’ve betrayed the wrong person, and now you’re going to have to suffer the consequences.  Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Hank then walked away. 

Jonah tried to fire one last shot across the bow.  “This isn’t over.”

Hank just kept walking. 

Daisy meanwhile stayed off to the side, pretending she was looking at her phone.  Really, she was in shock.  The whole scene was like something out of a trashy reality show.  Amazingly enough, both Jonah and Hank were too caught up in their own thoughts to notice Daisy.  Go figure. 

If that was any indication of how things were going to go, it would be an explosive night.