Killer Run (18 page)

So if it wasn't Lille, who could be behind Harrold's troubles? My memory flashed to the scene at the restaurant earlier that night. Could her new boy toy be trying to help and hadn't got the memo on the change-of-business plans? I shook my head. That seemed unlikely since every time I saw Lille outside of the diner, he was at her side. You would think they'd talked about Lille's plans for the diner and the food truck at some time or other.

I heard a knock at the front door and quickly closed the notebook. No need to get Greg worked up about my snooping. Checking through the window, I saw my aunt standing on the porch with Greg holding her overnight case and the envelope from Madeline at the county courthouse. One glance at his face told me that I couldn't be so lucky that when he found the packet in the car he hadn't seen what was inside. So much for my promise to stop sleuthing.

I opened the door to face the music.

“Y
ou seriously need to stop disrupting my life.” Aunt Jackie pushed past me and into the living room, where she turned on the television. “I'm in the middle of watching
The Hero Next Door
.”

I turned back toward Greg, who had set the overnight case on the floor and was holding out the envelope for me to take.

I put on a very big smile. “Thanks for bringing those in.” I reached out to take them, but he didn't let go. “I'll trade you these for the cheesecake,” I offered.

“You are in so much trouble,” he whispered, finally releasing the papers. I took them and then put the envelope on my desk.

“Let's talk in the kitchen so we don't interrupt the show.”

As we left the room, my aunt called out, “Is the coffee ready yet?”

I looked at the pot just finishing and lied, “Not quite. I'll bring you a cup when it's done brewing.”

Greg leaned against the doorway. “So, why are you still looking at the business filings for the dead woman's company?”

I grabbed the cheesecake out of the fridge and cut two big slices for him and Toby. I found a plastic Tupperware container big enough for the treat, then sealed it up and handed the box to Greg. “I told you Aunt Jackie and I were looking at these. She needed something to do to take her mind off things.”

“I thought you were done. No wonder Adam thinks you know something. Why are you always involved in things that you should stay out of?” He took the cheesecake container.

“Look, I didn't plan to do anything. I was just trying to answer some questions I had about Sandra and Michael's business.” I shrugged. “Besides, I figured you'd have the killer in chains by now. Do you really think this is about the business?”

Greg shrugged. “Honestly, I don't know. It feels more personal than that. But you need to stay out of things while I figure this out.” He nodded to the living room. “And keep that one close. She likes pretending she's a private investigator. Remember what happened when she tried to help out Mary a few months ago?”

I totally remembered, and just thinking about the situation made my heart race. My aunt had broken into an office, been arrested, and stolen a ledger that proved the travel agent was a fraud. Of course, then he'd broken into her apartment, looking for the book. The woman was lucky she wasn't in jail. Or dead.

“I really thought it would be a dead end.” I sank down into one of the kitchen chairs, my legs unable to hold me up.

Greg's face softened. “I know. Just try to stay out of things until I find whoever did this to Sandra, okay? I'd hate to think of something happening to you.”

I followed him out to the front door.

“Lock up,” he said, then disappeared out the door.

I closed the door and turned the locks like he asked. As I did, I heard Aunt Jackie stir behind me.

“That boy is in a snit tonight.” She lowered the volume on the television. “I suppose those papers are the ones you picked up from Madeline this afternoon? Can I take a look?”

I walked into the office and took the envelope off the desk. Returning to the living room, I dropped the packet onto the table. “Knock yourself out. I'm getting Emma then heading up to bed. It's been a long week.”

My aunt opened the folder and scanned the front page. “Can you bring me a cup of coffee and whatever sweet you sent Grumpy off with?”

I returned to the kitchen and let Emma in, locking the back door, as well. Then I poured my aunt a cup, plated a slice of cheesecake, and put both on a tray. I carried the treat into the living room and set it on the coffee table. “I'll see you in the morning. I can drive you back into the apartment before your shift or whenever Greg tells us that Adam isn't a threat.”

“I don't know that Greg is going to be able to clear him off the suspect list that quickly,” my aunt observed. “Haven't you noticed the steady increase in money from the Mission Society to the public relations business for the last five years?”

I shook my head. “I didn't even compare the numbers,” I admitted.

She smiled. “And that's why you have me helping to run the coffee shop. Face it, dear, you're impossible when it comes to the business side of the store.”

As I climbed up the stairs, I realized she was right. If anything, digging into the financial records of the Ashfords' business had taught me I needed to learn more about running a business. And not just researching what books to order and taste-testing new coffees and dessert treats. I promised myself I'd look into the local business schools. Maybe there was an online MBA that I could work on from the house. As long as Aunt Jackie was around to help me with my homework, it might not be so bad.

 

I woke Saturday morning to my aunt banging on my door. I really needed to get her back to her own apartment sooner than later. “I'm up,” I lied through the door.

“Good, because Sasha needs our help for the teen book club meeting today. She tried to reach you on your phone, but all she got was voice mail.” She opened the door and peeked inside. “You aren't even out of bed. Come on now, time's a wasting.”

I waited for Aunt Jackie to close the door, then threw myself back on the bed. I'd totally forgotten about Sasha's group. When the cruise got cancelled, I'd opened my mouth and volunteered to help. Now I had to finish the bed, seal the floor, and help manage twenty or more teenagers who might or might not want to talk about a book I hadn't even read. My day couldn't get any more complicated.

I pulled on my running clothes, determined to take just a quick break for myself before the crazy hit. Emma was already downstairs, sitting in the middle of the kitchen and staring adoringly at Aunt Jackie, who was telling the dog our plans for the day. She jerked and shut her mouth when she saw me in the kitchen doorway. I reached down and patted Emma's head as I passed and got a slurpy kiss on my hand for my effort. I grabbed a bottle of water and drank down half of it, looking longingly at the coffeepot and the chocolate brew my aunt had started.

“Do you really think you have time to run?” Aunt Jackie looked at the clock. “The group starts at eleven.”

“And Sasha has everything ready for them. All she needs is for us to man the front and deal with any issues.” I glanced at my watch, calculating the morning schedule. “Emma and I will run for thirty minutes. I'll go finish the bed frame, which will probably take me until ten. Then I'll shower and we'll drive in to the store, arriving at ten thirty, which gives us plenty of time.”

My aunt took a sip of her coffee. “If you say so. I've always thought it better to be early than just on time.”

“We are going to be early.” I held up my hand. “Let's not argue. Keep the doors locked while I'm gone, don't let anyone in, and we'll talk about what you found in the stack of papers while I'm working on the bed frame.”

Honestly, I hoped the frame wouldn't take as long as the first one had and I'd be able to fit in the first coat of sealing the bedroom floor, too. But I wasn't going to tell my aunt that or she would probably explode in front of me.

I clicked Emma's leash on her collar and stepped onto the porch. I pulled the door closed behind me and checked the doorknob to make sure the lock had engaged. My aunt made a shooing motion with her hand.

I laughed and headed to the road toward the beach. Running helped clear my head, and with a jam-packed day like this Saturday was developing into, I needed some downtime right up front.

Returning to the house after the run, I finished off the rest of the water and grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl. My aunt was settled on the couch reading a Princess Diana biography. I poked my head into the living room. “Come get me at ten if I'm not back in by then.”

“Ten,” she repeated and went back to her reading.

An hour later, Greg found me covered with old paint, stripper, and sweat in the garage. I heard his truck in the driveway, and when I looked up, I jammed the putty knife into my finger. “Crap.” I shook it off, checked it for blood or a cut, then shook the hand again, hoping to stop the pain.

“Hey, sunshine.” Greg leaned against the garage door watching me. He looked all sharp in clean jeans and a pressed shirt. He'd probably also had a shower, something I was looking forward to, too, as soon as I finished the last six inches of the bed frame. Six inches that might as well have been six miles.

“What time is it?” I sat back on a stool that I kept in the garage and surveyed the project.

“Ten to ten. Why, you have a hot date? I thought you were focusing on projects at the house today.”

I rolled my shoulders back and forth trying to loosen the knots. Ten minutes? There was no way I could do six inches of paint stripping in ten minutes. I started putting my tools on the bench and closing lids on jars and cans. “I told Sasha I'd help with the bookstore today. I'd forgotten, but she got ahold of Aunt Jackie, so we're due there at eleven.”

“Tough break. Another hour or so and you might have finished this.” He squatted down to the still-painted section of the frame. “You really had a mess here. This must be ten different types of paint.”

“Tell me about it. The only thing I've accomplished is running Emma. This will have to wait until we get back from the store.” I looked at him, hope filling my veins. “Tell me you found out Adam isn't a killer so Aunt Jackie can return to the apartment tonight.”

“Sorry, can't say that.”

I stopped mid-stretch and straightened to look at him. “Adam is a killer?”

Greg shrugged. “Can't say that, either. The only thing I can say about Adam Truman is that before five years ago, he didn't exist.”

“Whoa. That's not what I was expecting to hear.” I took off the shirt I'd been working in and hung it on a rack. I could see the sweat beads on my arms.

“Exactly. Now you know why I want to keep you out of investigations like this.” Greg looked at his phone as a text came in. “Toby just found where the guy lives and he's heading there now. I'll let you know what we find out as soon as we're done.”

“You'll share the information?” My smile got a little wider. “Great, I've got a lot of questions about—”

Greg held up his hand. “Easy, hon. I'll let you know if I think it's safe for Jackie to go home. That's all I meant. You need to keep your pretty little nose out of this thing.”

“I'll try.” At least that was a promise I could keep. Somehow I always got dragged in, and most of the time, it wasn't because I wanted to be there.

“That's all I can ask for.” He stepped closer and kissed me quickly on the cheek. “You going to shower before you go?”

“No, Greg. I thought I'd go to my place of business smelling like paint stripper and sweat. I'm not an idiot.”

He held his hands up, warding me off, and took a couple of steps backward. “Forget I even said anything.” He walked back to his truck and paused in the doorway. “My offer to help tomorrow morning still stands.”

I waved him off. “I'll call you if I need rescuing.” I swear I could hear his laugh above the roar of the truck's engine when he turned the ignition.

 

As I promised, we pulled into the parking lot behind the shop at exactly ten thirty. I'd had to drag myself out of the shower long before I'd started to feel human again. But at least I smelled like my floral shampoo and conditioner mix rather than the horror I had a few minutes earlier. We walked in the back door without talking.

A buzz of sound echoed in the back room, and when we entered the counter area, my jaw dropped. There must have been thirty people, well, teenagers, milling around the area, joking and laughing. Some carried the book we'd ordered; some had library copies. Sasha turned and squealed when she saw us.

“Thank God you're here. I didn't expect this many to show up, especially on a summer Saturday.” She looked at the line in front of the cash register. “Can you start taking orders and I'll get caught up on the drinks?”

I nodded and stepped up to the counter while my aunt stepped behind me to wash her hands and put on an apron. We worked side by side, and with ten minutes to spare, had all the drinks and eats served. The number of books sold was twice that of a normal Saturday. And that was just in the last thirty minutes. I nodded to Sasha. “You're on. Go knock 'em dead.”

My aunt watched as Sasha took off her apron, smoothed her hair, and grabbed the book she'd tucked under the counter. She'd set up a podium at the children's side of the bookstore and had lined up chairs and floor pillows. From what I could see, every chair was taken, and there had been several tables moved over to the area from the dining room.

I looked at the almost-empty display case and nodded to Aunt Jackie. “I'll handle this if you want to watch the front.”

She nodded and leaned against the counter, sipping on a bottle of water.

I pulled out three new cheesecakes and a box of cookies from the refrigerator section in the back. Then I replaced those items with frozen ones so that if we needed to restock again, we wouldn't be waiting for the treats to thaw.

As I brought the last cheesecake out to cut, I noticed the guy I'd seen in Lille's heading out the door. “Hey, he showed up.”

My aunt closed out the register, then looked at me. “Who showed up?”

“The guy I gave my business card to for the discount. What did he buy?” I slipped the slices onto plates and put them on the last rack of the display case.

“A travel book about the area and a large coffee.” My aunt looked at me. “Why are you so interested in the guy?”