Murder on Wheels (14 page)

“Can't a girl just come in to see her beau?” I drawled as I sank into one of the chairs across from him.

Greg leaned back and put his arms behind his head. “Come on, spill. I know that look. What did you find out? Is the mayor head of the crack cocaine mafia? Or does Amy have a secret boyfriend Justin doesn't know about?”

I frowned. “Neither. Why would you think Amy would cheat on Justin?”

“Just throwing out ideas, since you're not very chatty yet.” He looked at the clock again, my clue to get talking or get out.

“Okay, so Aunt Jackie and I went in to Bakerstown yesterday.”

He groaned. “I should have known.”

“What, can't we go into town?” I knew I was bluffing, but hey, he didn't have to suspect me all the time. Even if he was usually right.

He raised his eyebrows. “Continue.”

“Fine. We went to Resting Acres and there's this woman there, MJ, but we think her name is Mary Jane and she's the one Austin is protecting from the Feds and why he changed his name.” I stopped for breath, then added, “And he's been sending her flowers for years.”

“What?” He put his head in his hands. “You're giving me a headache. Who's been sending flowers for years?”

“Austin. He's been visiting this woman in the nursing home and sending her flowers. Sadie thinks she's the reason he went underground in the first place.” I paused, watching Greg's face to see if he believed anything I was saying. After I explained Aunt Jackie's and my trip into Bakerstown, Greg took out a pad and wrote down something. “The florist's name is Allison?”

“Yep. So is this important?” I leaned forward, trying to read what he'd written, but he snapped the notebook closed before I could see much more than the name of the nursing home.

He looked at the clock a third time. “Sorry, honey, I've got to run. I'll try to stop by this evening. If you're lucky, I'll bring by pizza from Godfather's.”

“And if you're lucky, I'll have a few cold beers in the fridge.” I let him pull me from my seat and we walked out into the lobby together. “Are you going to tell me where you're going?”

He kissed me, letting his lips linger a bit on mine, then swatted me on the butt. “Nope.”

I watched him disappear through the station's back door, where he typically parked his truck. As I turned toward the other exit, Esmeralda laughed. “You two are so cute together. He's all business and you're always messing with his karma.”

I paused at her desk. “I don't mess with his karma, do I?” I wasn't quite sure what messing with karma meant, so I didn't want to totally deny the charge if it was true.

“Girl, you are at the center of all the important stuff going on here in South Cove. I would think the mayor should be paying you big bucks for everything you do instead of that measly salary for running the business committee.” She filed her nails, not looking at me.

“You know how much I make?”

She shrugged. “The city budgets may cross my e-mail from time to time.” Now she leaned forward and squinted at me. “Have you been on a treasure hunt?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“Something in your aura.” She considered me closely. “You need to be careful when you go out alone to seek the treasure. There's something guarding it and it's not friendly.”

“Seriously, I'm not going on any treasure hunts.” I smiled at my neighbor. “Hey, your lawn looks terrific. What kind of seed do you use? Is it drought-resistant?”

Esmeralda smiled as the phone rang. “The grass is always greener when it's been watered.” She picked up the phone, spun her chair so her back was to me, and answered, “South Cove Police Department, how may I help you?”

W
hen I returned home, a letter was taped on my door. The envelope's printed return address was for South Cove City Hall. Maybe Amy had come by after the meeting and left me a note. I ripped it off the door, and waited to open it until I'd unlocked the door and let Emma out. I dumped my purse on the table and sank into a chair, opening the letter. Instead of a handwritten note from my friend, though, telling me she'd forgiven me for slighting her about Esmeralda, there was a printed letter from the South Cove Water Commission.

I read down to the important part. I was being fined a hundred dollars for watering my lawn. A lawn I hadn't watered in months. Sue me, I wasn't the best landscaper. Greg mowed my lawn more often than I did. I didn't like getting my hands dirty. The way it caked on my hands creeped me out, so I didn't do anything without donning a pair of gardening gloves.

Scanning the letter, I knew they'd made a big mistake. Esmeralda was watering, she'd told me so, and I got fined? Amy must really be mad. But when I saw the signature, I knew the problem.

Josh Thomas had signed the letter. This was retaliation for Aunt Jackie and Harrold. I put the letter on the counter. I'd take it to work tomorrow and have Aunt Jackie take care of it. She caused the issues; she could handle the fallout.

I went upstairs and changed into my running clothes. I needed a taste of the sea air and to run off this bad energy.

When Emma and I returned, there was a message on my answering machine. I punched the button and Greg's voice filled the small kitchen. Emma barked and looked around to see where her friend was hiding.

“Hey, you're in luck. I'll be there just after five with two large pies, so chill the beer.” I looked at my dog sitting at attention, waiting for Greg to appear out of the small machine.

“He'll be here soon.” I opened the fridge and pulled out lettuce, tomatoes, and what was left of my deli turkey meat to make a salad. Even with the second run, if I didn't make up for the calories I'd be consuming tonight, I'd feel bloated in the morning. Emma sniffed the air and, realizing I wasn't cooking anything on her top-ten list of begging menus, crossed the kitchen to her bed, where she circled three times before lying down with her head on her newest stuffed raccoon.

I finished the salad, dressed it with a raspberry vinaigrette I loved, and poured a glass of sun tea I'd made last weekend. Cleaning up the counter, I moved my lunch to the table and took out my notebook and a pen.

I stared at the list of possible suspects in Kacey's murder, which right now included one person. Dustin Austin. I knew Kacey had died of a severe reaction to a wheat allergy, but the girl was smart. She knew how to keep herself safe, and I'd seen an epi pen in her purse, so why hadn't she used it?

I started writing down the questions that bothered me. Kacey knew about her condition, and as her husband, so had Austin. But it wasn't like she was shy about talking to others about her allergy. I'd had a brief conversation with her at the food truck, and I'd learned more than I'd ever known about gluten allergies. Of course, we had been talking about the new business. I wrote
food truck
in big letters in the middle of the page. If getting her to close or sell the truck had been the motive, I knew of three people who would be suspects: me, Sadie, and Lille. I circled
Lille
a few times, but really, my heart wasn't into suspecting her. The restaurant owner was more into her bad-boy boyfriends and holding a grudge against anyone who'd ever slighted her. Now if Homer Bell, the guy who'd sold the truck out from under me and Lille, had come up dead, Lille would be top of my list. She hated that guy.

I sighed and wrote down Sadie's name under the food truck. Not only had Austin stolen her recipes by sucking face with her and pretending to be her boyfriend, she might have lost business for Pies on the Fly if the food truck had been successful. Although that logic didn't completely ring true, as the customer base for the two businesses were totally different. Thinking about Sadie reminded me of the women who'd asked for gluten-free treats at the shop last weekend. I'd never asked Sadie if she could make up something special.

I dialed Sadie's number and got her voice mail. She got up about three to do her baking, and I'd forgotten this was her nap time, when she turned off her phone. “Hi, Sadie, it's Jill. I wanted to talk to you about some different menu items for the shop. Don't kill me, but I need something gluten-free. Give me a call when you get this message.”

One thing off my to-do list. I turned a page in the notebook and looked at the week's schedule. I added
Pizza with Greg
and
beach run
to today's list, crossing off the beach run right after I wrote it. Then I wrote
Gluten-Free Menu Items
on the page for tomorrow. I wanted to talk to Aunt Jackie about her thoughts on the change, too. She could probably estimate how many items we might sell using one of her business school models. I paused, then wrote on today's list
explore back-to-school options
.

If the murder investigation was leading me back around to one of my best friends, then I needed to do something else to occupy my mind. I knew I was missing something, but I kept thinking about that book of recipes now in Sadie's kitchen with Kacey's handwritten changes in the margins. I picked up the phone to call Amy, then realized she was still miffed at me.

Finishing the last of my salad, I rinsed the bowl and fork and put it into the dishwasher. Then I powered up my laptop, turned the notebook to a clean page, and started figuring out what I needed to do to go back to school next fall and get a business degree.

I'd made a plan for my first semester, listed off all the steps I needed to complete before I could apply for admission, and ordered materials to be sent to the house. I had a month before the admissions due date and there were many steps to complete, including an essay on why I wanted an MBA degree. Of course, since my bachelor's had been in political science, I also had several prerequisite classes I had to take just to be provisionally approved.

Worse, there was a placement test. I put a note on my to-do list to order a study guide for the GMAT. I'd ordered several guides for the undergrad test earlier that fall for seniors at the high school, but I didn't have any for graduate school on hand.

Maybe going back to school wasn't such a great idea. After passing the bar, I'd sworn I'd never take another test again. But according to the website, the LSAT test that got me into law school wasn't accepted for the MBA program, so it looked like I'd be sitting at a computer for the next month, getting my student groove back on. Maybe Sasha would help me study.

The knock on the door came at ten minutes after five. I was still in student mode, making choices of what classes I wanted to take which nights. If I went four nights a week, I'd be done in three years, even with the extra classes I needed to boost my business knowledge. How hard could Math for Business Decisions be?

Emma beat me to the door and as I unlocked it, I peeked through the side window to make sure it was Greg. I'd been surprised before by a crazy stalker who thought I held a package from a dead woman. Don't ask, but now I always kept the doors locked and checked before I opened up, even if I was expecting the South Cove police detective. Greg approved of my new habit, which kind of got me off the hook for all the bad ones he didn't like so much.

He was leaning against the doorway, holding the screen open with his foot because in his hands were two boxes from Godfather's. My stomach grumbled as the smell of deep-dish pepperoni and a super garbage supreme pizza hit my nose.

“Come on in. I'm starving.” I held open the door, then relocked it after he entered. A little overkill in my view, but it made Greg feel like I was taking my protection seriously. I'd even started carrying pepper spray when I ran, although whoever would mess with me while Emma was around was just plain stupid.

“What, did you only eat one of Sadie's cheesecakes for lunch?” He kissed me on the cheek and moved to the kitchen. “Sorry about pizza again, but we really didn't finish that impromptu dinner and a movie night.”

Following him, I answered, “For your information I had salad for lunch. And I don't think I had anything for breakfast.” No wonder I was starving, now that I thought about it. I really needed to start eating earlier. Coffee didn't replace real food, although it made a valiant effort in my book.

He set the pizza boxes on the counter and pointed to the table. “You working on the shop's books today? I thought your aunt handled most of that.”

I scrambled to close up the notebook and put away the laptop before he went thumbing through the pages and found the
Who Killed Kacey
page. I knew Greg wasn't stupid enough to think I wasn't investigating, but I didn't want the proof to be so obvious. “I'm going back to school for my MBA. Aunt Jackie thinks I need to know more about how businesses run, seeing as I own one.”

Greg got plates from the counter and set them near the boxes. Then he took two beers out of the fridge and opened them. “You want a glass for your beer?”

“Waste of a glass. I can drink out of the bottle. Besides, I don't want to run the dishwasher until Friday.” I pointed to the letter on the counter. “I'm already in trouble with the committee for watering my lawn. I don't want to waste water on cleaning dishes.”

He picked up the letter, read the fine, and laughed. “Seriously? I don't think you've watered the lawn in a year. That's my job since you tend to forget.”

“I know, right?” I helped myself to a plate. “I'm turning it over to Aunt Jackie tomorrow and she can rein in her attack dog. Besides, I don't think Josh is upset over the water. I think Harrold's got him worried that Aunt Jackie's going to dump him.”

Greg filled his own plate and took it to the table with a couple of paper towels. “I can see why he'd be worried. Harrold would be a perfect match for your aunt. They both like traveling and theater. I don't know why we didn't think of introducing them before now.”

“He is more her style.” I took a swig from the bottle, letting the cold beer race down my throat. Setting it down on the table, I smoothed my paper towel over my lap. “I don't know, I just feel a little sorry for Josh.”

“Don't tell me you want him to marry your aunt?” He picked up his pizza and folded it in half before taking a bite.

“No. I don't want her to marry anyone.” I picked off a mushroom and ate it. “That sounded really selfish of me, huh?”

“You're protective. That's a good thing.” Greg wiped his mouth. “Of course, dragging her to Bakerstown to follow up on a crazy lead isn't protecting her very well. What were you thinking?”

“I don't think Austin killed Kacey.” I held up a hand before he could respond. “I know, not my circus, but just because he was hiding out from the law for over forty years doesn't make him a killer. He sends the woman flowers every week for goodness' sake.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Now you sound like Amy. Pro-Austin and not able to see anything but the nice guy he portrays here in town.”

“Believe me. I know Austin's a royal jerk. Look what he did to Sadie. I'd like him thrown in jail for breaking her heart, but I don't think you'd get away with it with the DA.” I took my first bite of the pizza, wanting to change the subject so I could eat, but not wanting to cut Greg off. He might tell me something about what he discovered the more we talked.

Greg laughed. “I don't know. John's ready to go to court on this guy. If I added reckless endangerment of Miss Sadie's heart, he might just go for the kill. I've never seen him so sold on one person, even if all the evidence seems to prove Austin's innocence.”

I thought about that statement. “Any chance John knows what happened to Sadie?”

“Everyone knows what happened to Sadie. I'm surprised Austin wasn't run out of town for the crap he pulled. But it's not illegal to be a jerk.” He finished the slices on his plate and looked at my still full one. “I thought you were hungry?”

“I'm worried about Sadie. Amy isn't talking to me. And Aunt Jackie asked me to cover her shift Friday night, which means I'll have to lie to Josh again about where she is instead of at the shop.” I took a bite of the pizza, but it didn't taste as good as I'd hoped.

“She shouldn't ask you to lie. Tell her to come clean with Josh.” He stood up and took two more pieces of the pepperoni. “Justin called me on the way back from Bakerstown with a plan to get you and Amy talking again.”

My stomach tightened. “What's his plan?” I never liked it when the boys interfered in our stuff.

“We're going out to do that geo-whatever stuff again on Sunday. Justin is getting really involved in the group, and he thinks doing an active double date will let the two of you work out your angst while we hike in the woods looking for hidden treasure.” He took the crust off his pizza and gave it to Emma, who didn't even seem to chew or taste the buttery bread.

“Wait, what did you say?” I thought about the fortune-teller's earlier comment. “Did you tell Esmeralda we were going out?”

“I haven't seen her since I left the building. I told you that Justin called while I was driving back to South Cove. Callers like him are why I love my truck's Bluetooth. I can't ever get him to shut up.” He looked at me. “You look a little green, are you sick?”

“No, I'm not sick.” I told him about how Esmeralda had asked if I'd been looking for hidden treasure and told me to be careful. When I finished, Greg shrugged.