Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 1) (12 page)

A chill shook me.

Was Bertie dead?

I knew right then I had to find a way to talk to the police and see if any John Does had shown up lately. But that wasn’t going to be easy. As far as they knew, I had just moved here. What authority did I have to be asking about missing-persons reports and unclaimed bodies? And if the Ellinghams were as on top of what was happening in this town as Greyson said, would they even allow the police to release that kind of info?

It had to be logged somewhere, right? Just because they were vampires and this town was full of supernaturals didn’t mean crime didn’t happen or get reported. No one was above the law.

Maybe Cooper could help. As a firefighter, he had to know people. At the very least he could point me in the right direction.

And I had to do all that without Toly getting a whiff.

I scratched Spider’s belly. “Today is going to be very interesting.”

With a sigh, I reached for a fourth donut. Something told me it was going to be that kind of day. And not just because I had to be extra nice to Cooper.

I was so distracted by the thoughts in my head that I almost went down to meet Cooper without my purse. At the last second, I threw the strap over my shoulder, double-checked that I had my phone and locked up.

I was three minutes early.

Of course, he was already there. Hands in his pockets, he greeted me with a grin. For a moment, I was standing outside my dorm hall. I shook off the memory as he spoke. “Nice day, huh?”

“Sure is. Blue sky, sun is shining—”

“And I have a pretty girl to keep me company.”

I smiled. So sue me. “Thanks.” I chewed on my lip. I needed to say something back. “You look nice.” He did. Jeans and T-shirt on some guys could look schlumpy, but on Cooper, they highlighted his casual good looks and exceptional physique.

“Thanks. You look nice, too.”

I’d warred between looking cute enough to encourage his attention and not so cute that he thought I was into him. Considering I needed his help, I’d leaned toward more cute rather than less cute. But I was still just in jeans, a floaty top and a cardigan. Nothing fancy. Although I’d gone with ballet flats instead of boots. It just wasn’t boot weather. “Where are we off to today?”

“First a tour of the town, then a stop for something sweet—or several somethings sweet—then a different way home to see some more of the town.”

“Sounds good. Lead the way.” As we walked toward Main, I hoped there would be plenty of openings for me to ask the questions I needed to. Seeing the town was great, and might give me more insight into the whole situation, but my head ached with the amount of unanswered questions I had.

There wasn’t much chance for small talk initially. Cooper took the tour-guide role seriously, pointing out all sorts of things along the way, telling me about the shops and the shop owners, including a jewelry store owned by a fae woman who’d apparently given up the crown of her kingdom for the love of a gargoyle.

“She really walked away from becoming queen in the name of love?”

Cooper looked pleased to have shared such a story with me. “Sure did.”

“Wow.”

His brows lifted. “You seem shocked. Wouldn’t you do the same?”

His question threw me for a second, and I had to remind myself he didn’t know who I really was. “Of course I would.”

He made a face. “Some women wouldn’t. I know that.”

Maybe I was being paranoid, but that sounded like it was aimed at me. The real me. “What makes you say that?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing. Something that happened a long time ago.”

“But you were obviously affected by it. Or her.”

He frowned, and a few moments of silence passed between us. “I was in love with someone once. But we didn’t work out because of the choices she made. Choices based on what her family might think about me.”

“That’s not—” I was about to say
what happened
. Then I caught myself. “Right. Just not right.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

Clearly we had different memories of what actually gone down. But this was neither the time nor the place to remind him that he was the one who’d flaked on me right before Christmas break, refusing to come north with me and meet my parents.

And that he’d been the one who’d broken things off. He’d been the one who’d decided he couldn’t handle being involved with a
princess
. I scowled, unable to forget the way he’d said that word to me, calling me that like it was my fault for being next in line for the winter throne.

As if I had any say in who my family was.

“Hey, you all right?”

I glanced over at him and his stupid handsome face. “What?”

“You look like you ate a bad fig.”

“Oh, no, I was just…” Think fast. And lose the attitude. “Remembering I have to work tonight.”

He laughed. “I thought working at the shop was a big deal. That you had to be on a waiting list to even get the job.”

“It is. And you do. But Toly’s kind of…” I glanced around like I was hoping no one could overhear us. “Mean.”

Coop nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard from the other workers he can be tough sometimes.”

“I get it, he’s the manager and the responsibilities are all on his shoulders, but I didn’t expect him to be such a task master, you know?”

Cooper mulled that over. “You’ll probably end up leaving too, then.”

“What do you mean?” This could be the opening I was looking for.

He shrugged. “People don’t stay at that store. Sure, some do. Juniper and Buttercup have been there awhile.”

“And Owen?”

“I don’t know him very well. He doesn’t come out much. Actually, I don’t think he’s ever come out after work with us.”

“Yeah, he strikes me as pretty serious. I bet Toly loves him.”

We both snickered, and before I could ask another question, Cooper pointed to the park ahead of us. “We’re going to detour through there.” He leaned in. “The gargoyles that work the fountain are real gargoyles, but the tourists think they’re animatronic.”

“Cool.” And it was. But I wasn’t ready to drop the original subject. “Hey, did you know any of the employees that left?”

We crossed the street at the light. “Not the last one, but the one before him, Nora, I knew her. Nice lady. A little older, but she loved to hang out with us at Howler’s. She made me cookies on my birthday.”

“That was sweet.”

He smiled, his eyes filled with the memory. “Yeah. I can’t believe she left without saying goodbye.”

“I take it that seems unlike her?”

“Very much.”

“Did you have any idea she was thinking about quitting?”

“Not a clue.”

It was a pattern then. If two could be considered a pattern. They might have been leaving Toly notes, but they weren’t telling anyone else they were quitting. Or why.

We made our way around to the front of the fountain. Tourists were gathered in a semi-circle around the gargoyle. He was talking to them and making jokes and spraying water at them unexpectedly. It was a riot. And very clever.

We watched for a while, not saying anything, just taking in the show. I surreptitiously studied Cooper. The years had been kind to him. Sure, we were elves and time was generally kind to all of us, but we did age.

Cooper looked better now than he had in college. More sure of himself. Less lost puppy, more alpha dog. And he wasn’t nearly as cocky as he had been in those days, although to be honest, I’d been attracted to that kind of blatant confidence back then. Still was to some extent.

It took a man with a solid sense of who he was to date the Winter King’s daughter. Cooper just hadn’t had enough of that sense back then to stay.

In light of our ages and the bad decisions most people make during their youth, I should have forgiven him a long time ago. But he’d broken my heart.

More than that, he’d taught me that I was always going to be judged because of the family I came from and my position in that family.

That had hurt worse. Because there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about that.

He looked over. “What?”

I shifted my gaze back to the fountain for a moment. “Nothing.” I met his eyes again. “I could eat, though.”

He grinned. “You’re gonna love the next place. C’mon.”

We crossed the street again, back to Main, then up a few more blocks until we turned down Black Cat Boulevard. The smell of sugar and coffee hit me the second we rounded the corner.

“I like it already.”

He laughed. “You have no idea.”

“Is that the place?” I pointed to the storefront bearing the name The Hallowed Bean. I wasn’t a huge coffee drinker. Dr Pepper was definitely my beverage of choice, but I wouldn’t turn down a cup of java either. Especially if it was a mocha or a caramel latte.

“Nope. But that place is really good too.” He stopped and pulled open a door. “Here we are.”

The wave of chocolatey, sugary goodness that washed over me almost took my breath. I stood for a moment inhaling. It was transcendent.

Cooper nudged me. “Don’t pass out now, there’s more to come.”

I stepped inside with him right behind me. The shop was so thick with delicious smells I swear I already tasted chocolate on my tongue. “Is this heaven?”

He grinned. “No, this is Delaney’s Delectables.”

The shop was bustling and I could see why. A horseshoe of glass display cases showed off trays of truffles and other chocolates, cakes, cookies, cupcakes, candied apples, and confections I didn’t even know the name of.

“I should have gotten a job here.”

“Pretty sure hiring a winter elf would end up costing them money. What do you want to try?”

I looked at him. “Are you kidding? All of it.”

We got in line. Two attractive women hustled behind the counter, filling orders. Both of them—one tall with straight dark hair and a vine tattoo on one arm, the other shorter with wavy brunette hair—were definitely supernaturals. What kind, obviously, I had no idea.

I leaned in toward Cooper. “What are they?” I whispered.

“Taller one is a werewolf, shorter one is a vampire,” he whispered back. “Ivy, the werewolf, is the wife of my chief’s brother. The vampire is Delaney. She owns the shop.”

“How is she here? It’s daylight. I thought vampires couldn’t be out in the sun.”

He shrugged. “They can’t, but she’s an Ellingham. They have some family secret that makes them immune.”

I nodded, more interested to taste the goods than ever.

When it was our turn to order, I let Cooper go first because I wasn’t ready. Ivy greeted him like an old friend.

His selections fit in a small box. Mine…didn’t. Ivy handed me a full-size shopping bag. Hey, I wasn’t eating it all here. Although I did wonder if that particular charge to the credit card was one my father would question.

Well, you know what? He was just going to have to suck it up. There was no way I was leaving any of this behind.

Cooper’s brows rose as he looked at my haul. “You know you can come back, right?”

“I know. I got some for Juniper.” Well, I’d been planning to share, but now I was definitely giving her some.

His amusement didn’t fade. “You want to find a spot to eat some of this stuff?”

“This will probably seem odd coming from me, but we should have some actual food first. Is that okay? When do you have to be back to the firehouse?”

“Not until tonight. And yes, let’s get some lunch. How’s pizza sound?”

“Perfect. I can’t work my shift tonight on sugar alone. I need some healthy veggies to balance things out.”

He gave me an odd look. “So are you going to get a salad?”

“No, I meant the tomato sauce.”

He snorted. “All right. We’re off to Salvatore’s for some health food then.”

I love pizza, who doesn’t? But I was really hoping that sitting down to a meal would give me a chance to get back to my questions about the employees and how I might find out if the police had any reports.

I could stop by the police station on my own, but what were the odds of that working? No, right now, Cooper was my best bet.