Kelly's Koffee Shop (A Cedar Bay Cozy Mystey Book 1) (5 page)

“I’ve got some marijuana
at the station. I’m holding it as evidence in a pending case. I suppose we
could see if he reacts to it. I’m curious now, too. I’m going to go get it. Be
back in ten minutes.”

“Great. I need to put
everything in the oven anyway, so take your time,” she said, standing up and
opening the door. “See you shortly.”

Mike was back within
minutes, holding a plastic bag containing marijuana. As soon as he opened the
door, Rebel walked over to him and began growling. The guard hairs all along
his back were raised, creating a line of jet black. He sat back on his haunches
and continued to growl.

“Well, that’s about all
the proof I need. Only problem is, if he finds something, I wonder if it would
stand up in court. You didn’t train him and you don’t know whether or not he
was trained by some agency. Do you still have the name of the family you got
him from?”

“No. After the officer’s
death, they left the area. That’s why I got Rebel. They couldn’t take him with
them. I have no idea where they went. I don’t even know the agency the
narcotics officer was with. Sorry.”

“Well, it’s a start. Think
I’ll take him with me next time I go out to the ranch and see if anything
happens.”

“Mike, that’s not
realistic. What are you going to tell Jeff if Rebel suddenly runs out into the
acreage? No, we need to come up with something else. I’ve got an idea.”

He listened to her idea
and between them, they fine-tuned it. It wasn’t perfect and there was some
danger involved, but it was all they could come up with.

As they were finishing
dinner, Mike’s phone rang. “Hi, Doc. Is the autopsy report available? It is?
Great.” He listened for a moment. “Yes, I can come to your office. Be there in
about ten minutes. Thanks.”

“Sorry, Kelly,” he said,
pushing his chair back from the table. “Loved the meal, but it looks like
business calls. Hold the cheesecake. You know it’s one of my favorites. That
was the county coroner and he wants to give me the results of the report in
person. That seems odd. Wonder what he’s found out? Must be important if he
wants to tell me about it in person. If her death was caused by drowning and a
blow to the head, which we already know, I’d think he would have told me over
the phone. I’ll try and call you later, but it may be too late. If I can’t call
you tonight, I’ll check with you in the morning. Forget about our plan for the
Black’s ranch for now. We’ll try it another time. There’s no hurry and I sure
don’t want you going out there alone.”

Kelly stood at the window
and watched as Mike’s car pulled away.
Are you crazy
, she thought?
This
is the first time since this whole thing began that I can do something that
might be helpful.

She turned and looked at
Rebel. “Rebel, let’s go. We’re going to see if Mike’s right about what’s going
on out at the Black’s ranch.”

As quietly as possible, headlights
extinguished, Kelly drove the minivan up the long gravel driveway leading to
the Black’s ranch house. Even in the darkening light, she couldn’t help but
notice the magnificent view from the house and ranch. Sensor lights came on
almost immediately, bathing the entire area in a bright blue light.

“Well, Rebel, so much for
my grand plan to sneak onto the property and see if you smell any drugs. Don’t
think we’re going to get very far with that plan. Tell you what; I’ll let you
out on the side closest to where the trees are. Let’s see if you smell
anything. I’ll pretend that I stopped by to see how Brandon is doing.”

She got out of her minivan
and opened the passenger side for Rebel. He sniffed and just as he’d done
earlier in the evening, his hackles went up and he started growling. Kelly took
a deep breath and almost gagged from a revolting odor.

Good grief, how can they
stand that smell? I noticed it when I was here yesterday evening, but the
breeze from the ocean must have been blowing it away from the ranch. Tonight
it’s horrible. I read somewhere that marijuana really smells bad when it’s
getting close to the time to harvest it, but this is beyond what I might have
expected. I wonder what the workers do. Wear gas masks? At least the Blacks can
go into their house and turn on some kind of a filtering system if it’s not warm
enough for the air-conditioner.

Holding Rebel on his leash
with one hand, she pressed the big brass door knocker three times with her
other hand. The door opened so quickly she was certain that someone had been
notified the moment she’d entered the driveway.

Funny, I’ve been out here
several times during the day, but I’ve never noticed any type of alarm or
security system. I must have activated something when I entered the driveway.

Jeff stood at the open
door, looking from Kelly to Rebel. “Little late for a social visit isn’t it,
Kelly? And why the dog?”

“Well, I was driving by
and decided to drop in and see how Brandon was doing. Rebel always travels with
me. Since he hadn’t been here before and he’s so protective of me, I didn’t
want to leave him in the car, so I put him on his leash.”

“Not much you can do here.
Brandon’s in bed, asleep, and Marcy and I were just getting ready to do the
same. Thanks for coming. Understand the service for Amber will be Saturday
morning. See you then,” he said, closing the door.

Well, that didn’t go very
well
, she
thought. “Rebel, I’m going to pretend you got away from me. Go over to that
fence and see what happens.” She let the leash slide out of her hand. Rebel ran
to the fence and began growling. He put his paw on the fence and was thrown
back just as a gunshot rang out. She ran over to Rebel not knowing what had
happened to him. The door to the house flew open and Jeff rushed over to where
she was bending over Rebel.

“Kelly,” he said in a
menacing voice, “what’s going on? What was your dog doing over by the fence?”

“I have no idea. His leash
slipped out of my hand and he ran over there,” she said, checking to make sure
he hadn’t been hit by the gunshot. “Actually, Jeff, I’d like to know what
happened to my dog and why someone shot at him.”

Jeff smiled in a placating
manner. “Sorry, Kelly. We heard that some of the members of the Indian tribe
adjacent to this property have been rustling cattle so I hired a couple of guys
to make sure my cattle are safe and secure. Actually, I’d lost a few before I
hired them. Don’t want to point a finger, but sure is suspicious. They probably
thought the rustlers sent a dog out as a scout. Looks like he’s fine.” He
looked at the Rolex on his wrist. “It’s late, Kelly. Seem to remember you have
to get up pretty early. Here, let me open your car door for you. I’ll watch you
while you drive back to the main road. Make sure your dog doesn’t try to get
out, although he seems to be fine. Might want to keep a tighter grip on that
leash. Hate for something to happen to him.”

“Thanks, Jeff. See you
Saturday at the funeral,” she said as she got in her minivan and started
driving back towards the road.

Jeff, you think you’d hate
for something to happen to Rebel. Trust me, anything happens to this dog and
you will be suspect number one. Mike was absolutely right. Something suspicious
is definitely going on out here
.

She called Mike and was
immediately transferred to his answerphone. “Mike, it’s me. You were right
about the Black’s ranch. I’m going home and to bed. Tell you all about it
tomorrow morning and don’t worry, Rebel and I are fine.”

Kelly knew the residents of Cedar Bay
like the back of her hand, and it was just as she’d predicted, it seemed like
everyone in the small town managed to come by Kelly’s Koffee Shop the next
morning. She and Roxie never took a break from the time they opened until they
closed. It was one customer after another, needing a cup of coffee or something
more substantial. It was all they could do to make sure there was enough coffee
for everyone and get things in and out of the oven in a timely manner. 

While she was busy
working, Kelly thought back to her conversation with Chris earlier that
morning. He’d arrived at the coffee shop at his usual time and immediately
walked over to her, motioning that he wanted to talk to her privately. He
looked haggard, he’d missed a couple of spots when he’d shaved, and he didn’t
look like he’d slept.

“I couldn’t come by
yesterday,” he said. “It was all I could do to teach class. I’m devastated by
Amber’s death. I can’t understand why anyone would want to harm her. Do you
know anything?”

“No, nothing other than
what everyone else knows. I haven’t talked to Mike this morning. He and the
county coroner had a meeting last night, but I don’t know what he found out.
From what I hear it was pretty obvious that someone hit her on the head,
weighted her down with some heavy free weights, and then drowned her.”

“You say Mike met with the
county coroner last night? Kelly, I’d appreciate if you’d do me a favor. Amber
was one of my favorite students. Here’s my cell phone number. Would you text me
after you find out what was in the report?”

“I don’t know, Chris. I’m
kind of fuzzy on whether or not Mike can even give me information like that. If
it’s an important piece of the investigation, I doubt I’ll know anything.”

“Kelly, this is very
important to me. Please, if you find out anything at all, let me know.”

“All right, I will.”

Chris left without
ordering his usual two cups of coffee and ham omelet. She watched him as he
walked out of the coffee house.
That’s strange. He was her teacher, but she
had several others. They’re all upset that something like this happened to
Amber, but I get the feeling there’s more to it with Chris. He certainly seems
to be taking it harder than the others. It’s almost like he’s desperate to find
out what happened to Amber.

“Sure am glad you’re
addicted to those bacon and chocolate chip cookies,” Roxie said. “They saved
us. I can’t even begin to tell you how many batches I took out of the freezer
and thawed out in the microwave. Seems like everyone needed a little sugar,
fat, and chocolate to get through the morning. I know they’ve been your secret
addiction for as long as I can remember, but now that your secret’s out, you
better keep them on hand all the time to serve the customers.”

“Yeah, I was kind of
thinking the same thing. Guess I’m not the only one who likes them. I remember
developing the recipe after Mark died. Somehow, they soothed me in those early
days of trying to cope with losing him. Pretty soon I had a stash here and
another in the cookie jar at home.” She laughed. “I’m embarrassed to admit it,
but I even keep a private stash in the glove compartment of my minivan. Looks
like they soothed a lot of the customers this morning as well.”

Everyone who knew Kelly
well knew she was addicted to her special recipe of bacon and chocolate chip
cookies. There were always batches of them in the freezer and over the years, a
few customers had learned to ask for them. They weren’t on the menu, but after
today she figured she’d start listing them on the large blackboard that greeted
the customers as they walked in, letting them know what the daily specials
were.

“See you in the morning,”
Roxie said, as she prepared to leave. “Joe and I have a meeting with Dr.
Ramsey, the principal at Wade’s school. Looks like he’s been ditching his
classes. Gee, there’s a big surprise. I’ll start to train Madison when she comes
in tomorrow. You’re probably going to have to bake more than usual for the big
crowd that’ll be here after the funeral. Bye.”

Kelly decided it would be a lot
easier to serve the food buffet style the next day after the funeral rather
than try to serve the mourners individually. She looked around the cozy coffee
shop, mentally placing where the tables should be located and what she’d put on
them. The coffee, cups, napkins, plates, and silverware would work well on a
smaller table. Next to it she’d have a larger table for the food and coffee.

Okay, better have plenty
of comfort food on hand. Maybe that will help everyone deal with the tragedy.
No matter how terrible things are, food always seems to help. I can make the
sausage casserole, a French toast casserole, a couple of fruit platters, and I
better have a big platter of the bacon and chocolate chip cookies. Probably
ought to add a chocolate cake to that as well.

She’d almost finished her
mental list when there was a knock on the door. Kelly pulled back the curtain
on the small French window and saw Mike standing there. She could tell from his
set jaw and the hard look in his eyes that this wasn’t going to be a
romance-in-the-storage-area meeting. 

“Mike, come in,” she said,
standing on her tiptoes and lightly kissing his cheek. “I’ve been waiting to
hear from you since early this morning. I’m so curious about what you found out
from the coroner and I need to tell you about my visit to the Black’s ranch and
the strange conversation I had with Chris. How about some coffee or can I get
you something else?”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll
take an iced tea, pretty lady. Seem to remember you keep a pitcher of it in the
frig. Actually, I’ll help myself. I’ve been working at my computer all morning
and I need the exercise.”