Kelly's Koffee Shop (A Cedar Bay Cozy Mystey Book 1) (11 page)

When Kelly got home, the first thing
she noticed was the blinking red light on her answerphone. “Kelly, it’s Roxie.
Sorry I bailed on you today. Give me a call when you have a chance. I need to
talk to you.”

The events of the last
week had taken their toll on Kelly’s house and on her newly planted spring
garden flowers. Both called out for attention and Kelly had mentally promised
herself that today was the day she’d take care of them. After hearing Roxie’s
message, she wasn’t so sure she’d be able to keep her promise.

Kelly changed her clothes
and called Roxie. “Hi Roxie, I got your message. Is everything okay?”

“Yes and no. I told you
the fire was out at the Black’s ranch. From what Joe told me, looks like some
dry brush caught fire and the fire was probably intentionally set by someone.
The cattle herd Jeff has on the ranch is just for show. His real business is
the marijuana he was growing. The fire spread to the back part of the ranch
where he was growing it. The marijuana caught fire and everything burned to the
ground.”

“Oh, my gosh!”

Roxie continued, “The only
things that were spared were the cattle and the ranch house. Joe says it’s like
scorched earth back there. Nothing left but ashes. Not a single plant was left
standing. They were just incinerated by the extreme heat of the fire. The barn
and everything else completely burned to the ground. Mike arrested Jeff Blake
for having an illegal marijuana farm on his property and put him in the county
jail. I understand he’s trying to make bail. Mike told me he’ll be arraigned
tomorrow and then a trial date will be set or he can do some type of plea
bargain, but for now he’s in jail.”

“You said Mike told you
that. When did you see him? You didn’t go out to the Black’s ranch did you?”

“No,” Roxie said. “Here’s
the next part of the story. Brandon heard that Wade had been suspended from
school for having marijuana in his locker. You know how fast news spreads in
this town, particularly among school kids. Anyway, he also heard that Wade had
purchased the marijuana from one of the guards out at Black’s ranch. He told
Jeff about it and Jeff was furious. He called the guard into his office and
fired him. Evidently he was worried that someone could trace Wade’s marijuana
to his ranch. The next part is pretty hard for me to understand. Brandon told
Mike that he’d known for a long time that his dad was growing marijuana on the
ranch, but Jeff justified his actions by telling him he only sold it to medical
marijuana shops and that it was perfectly legal.”

“Mike’s suspected that
Jeff was growing it for a long time, but couldn’t prove it. Looks like he was
right,” Kelly interrupted.

“Yeah, but here’s what I
started to tell you. Even though he grew it and probably made a lot of money
from it, he was completely opposed to anyone using it for recreational
purposes. That’s why he fired the guard.”

“That makes no sense at
all. You’re telling me he didn’t want kids to use it, but it was okay for him
to make a profit from it?”

“Yep, that’s what I
understand. The guard Jeff fired died in the fire. Mike thinks he started the
fire to get back at Jeff and then the fire got out of control. Evidently he got
trapped and couldn’t get out. The county fire department has called in some
experts to see where the point of origination was and to confirm if it was
arson.”

“Okay, but I still don’t
see why and how Mike told you all of this.”

“I’m getting to it. Give
me a minute. When Joe came to the coffee shop, he told me Mike wanted to meet
with us about Wade and the kilo of marijuana they’d found in his locker. Sorry,
Kelly, but that was more important to me than staying at the coffee shop.”

“No apologies needed. I
would have done the same. Well, what happened?”

“Mike met us at our house
and asked us to get Wade. He said he wanted to talk to all of us. Today was the
first day of Wade’s suspension, so he was in his room. The four of us sat down
in the living room and Mike told us what he had learned. He said the principal
contacted him late yesterday about Wade having marijuana in his locker. Mike
also said it was kind of ironic, because he was planning on going out to the
Black ranch this morning to talk to the guard and Jeff about it. He asked Wade
if he was using drugs. Wade said no, but he had sold some of the marijuana to
other kids at the school.”

“Well, I know it happens,
but I’m sorry Wade got involved.”

“So am I, then Mike asked
Wade a few more questions. He wanted to know what made him start selling pot to
the students. Wade said that for the first time he was getting some attention
from the other kids. He told Mike that no one cared about him, not his mother,
his father, or me. He said it was nice to finally have someone pay attention to
him. Kelly, I couldn’t help myself. I started crying and telling him how much
Joe and I loved him and that I didn’t know why he felt that way. I guess in his
eyes I haven’t been a very good stepmother. I think all the kid wanted was to
feel accepted by us and since he didn’t feel that we accepted him, in some
crazy way I guess he thought if he sold pot to the kids, they’d accept him.

“Anyway Mike said if Wade
promised him he would never sell it again and if the three of us got family
counseling, he had the authority, as county sheriff, not to file charges
against Wade. He said he would get in touch with the principal and Wade could
go back to school tomorrow. He told all three of us that if we didn’t go to
counseling, or if he even heard that Wade was dealing or doing drugs, he would
not only make sure he was prosecuted, but he would talk to the authorities and
strongly suggest that he be sent to juvenile hall.”

“Oh, Roxie, that’s
wonderful. I’m so happy Wade’s not going to be prosecuted, but what are you and
Joe going to do about Wade to make him feel better about being part of the
family?”

“The three of us had a
long talk after Mike left. I was honest and I think Joe and Wade were as well.
Bottom line is Wade didn’t think we wanted him to live with us. His mother had told
him that Joe had left her for me, so he resented me for stealing his father and
breaking up his parent’s marriage. Joe and I never knew that. Now that we do, I
think we understand why he’s acted like he has and he probably thought the kids
would think he was a big deal because he sold pot.”

“Wow! Well, the whole
thing was probably a blessing in disguise. Now you know how he’s felt all this
time and why he’s been a pain in the neck to you. Kind of makes sense. His
mother didn’t want him and he thought you and Joe didn’t want him. At least you
know where you’re going now.”

“Kelly, you’re always the
optimist. Do you ever see the glass half-empty? Don’t answer. I know you don’t,
but that’s why everyone loves you. Do you know a good family counselor in the area?
Think I’d better go out of town for this. Sure enough, if we even went to the
one in town once, someone would see us and everyone would know in minutes. Wade
doesn’t need that now. He’s got enough to deal with.”

“So do you, my friend.
Yes, there’s a man who comes to the coffee shop from time to time. He lives up
in Sunset Bay. He gave me his card once. Here it is.” She gave Roxie his name
and telephone number. “Tell him I referred you. He seems like a good man. Well,
spend some time with your stepson and try and relax. You’ve had a stressful
day. Do you need to take a little time off? If you do, I can get someone to
cover for you.”

“No. I think that might
make Wade feel there was something really wrong with him if I had to stay home
from work. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, and Kelly, thanks for being my friend
and so understanding.”

“Roxie, I’m always here
for you. You know I believe that family comes first. See you tomorrow.”

She hung up and sat for a
few minutes, digesting what Roxie had told her.

Well, guess this means
that Jeff Black isn’t a threat to me or Rebel at the moment now that he’s in
jail. Wonder if Amber knew about the marijuana farm on the back of the
property? If Jeff fired his guard for selling marijuana to someone and was
afraid they would find out it was from his farm, who knows what he might do to
someone to keep the authorities from finding out about it.

Kelly had just begun to water the
neglected plants on her deck when she heard her phone ring. She laid the hose
down and went inside. “This is Kelly.” She listened for a moment. “Hi, Mike.
Heard from Roxie that you did a wonderful thing for her family today. Sounds
like the fire was really something.” She paused. “I’ll see what I can come up
with. See you in a few.”

Well, so much for the
plants and the house. Oh well, think it was Scarlett O’Hara who said “tomorrow
is another day.” Tomorrow I’ll clean the house and finish the watering. Now I
need to fix some dinner for Mike, but I’ve got to turn off the hose or it’ll flood
the deck.

She walked out onto the
deck to turn off the hose. Rebel had never been a dog that chewed up furniture
or anything else like that, but there was something about a garden hose he
couldn’t resist. He had the hose in his mouth, shaking both his head and the
hose. Water had sprayed all over the deck.

“Well, Rebel, looks like
you did a better job watering the plants than I did. Inside, boy.”

A few minutes later Mike
knocked on her door and then let himself in.  Mike looked about as tired as
she’d ever seen him.

“Welcome, Mr. Sheriff,”
she said with a smile. “You look like you need a friend and some food.”

He kissed her lightly on
the cheek. “At the moment I would welcome both along with a glass of wine. This
has been some day.”

She poured him a cold
glass of Chardonnay and said, “Mike, before you start telling me about the
Black’s ranch, I need to tell you something and you may not be too happy about
it.”

Kelly told him about her
trip out to Doc’s ranch, starting from when she’d left the coffee shop and
ending when she’d pulled out of Doc’s driveway, leaving nothing out.

“Why didn’t you tell me
you were planning to do something like that? It could have been very dangerous
for you and still might be.”

“Well, Mike, for one
thing, it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. For another, I knew you
wouldn’t want me to do it, and I didn’t want to get in an argument with you.”

He frowned and was quiet
for several moments. “Kelly, do you know the danger you could be in?”

“Mike, Doc is a really
nice guy. Life hasn’t been particularly kind to him. Maybe I’m being naïve, but
I believe him. He told me everything, even though he didn’t have to. I think he
trusts me.”

“You realize now you know
everything there is to know about Doc and all about his past. If Doc is the
killer, what makes you think the same thing won’t happen to you that happened
to Amber?”

“You’re overreacting. I’m
sure Doc didn’t do it.”

“Glad you are. I’m not. He
had a motive for doing it – a very powerful motive – keeping his past secret
and not having his cover completely blown. The autopsy showed that Amber was
pregnant, not that she’d had an abortion, so obviously he didn’t make that
mistake again. However, he’s just gone to the top of my list of suspects.”

“What are you talking
about? I thought Jeff Black was high on your list, although if he’s in jail,
he’s probably pretty harmless at the moment.”

“I had a long talk with
Brandon after I arrested his father and took him to jail. I went back to the
ranch and asked Brandon if Amber knew about the pot being grown on the ranch.
He was very emphatic and said she didn’t have a clue. He was so ashamed of it,
he’d never told anyone. He told me Amber claimed she hated drugs. Evidently her
cousin, Ginger’s sister’s child, died from a drug overdose. She’d started out
using pot and kept going up the drug chain ladder until she overdosed on
heroin. It seems to be pretty popular with young people right now. He told me
how much Jeff liked Amber and that he’d even told Brandon that if the two of
them got married, Jeff would buy them a ranch of their own. He certainly could
be the killer, but I think Doc has a stronger motive.”

“Can’t say I feel the same
way. Jeff’s still pretty high on my list of suspects. How’s Brandon doing?”

“Better than I would have
expected, but Marcy is not doing well at all. She was packing her clothes while
I was there. She’s leaving Jeff and taking Brandon with her to her sister’s
home in Portland. She told Brandon they would come back to Cedar Bay so he
could deliver the valedictorian speech, but she wouldn’t stay in the ranch
house and she wouldn’t see Jeff. She was on the phone with an attorney when I
left and from what I overheard, it had nothing to do with posting bail for
Jeff. Poor Brandon. First Amber, then the fire, his parent’s headed for
divorce, and now being uprooted from the only home he’s ever known. I hope
he’ll be okay in college. That’s a lot of emotional stuff for anyone to deal
with. He’s had too many changes in his young life, but I can understand how
Marcy feels.”

“Do you think she knew
Jeff was growing marijuana?”