Trouble in the Tarot (8 page)

“What? What’s wrong?” Granny followed my gaze and gasped. “Why that little floozy. She stole my idea!” Granny shrieked and then pushed her way through the crowd with me hot on her heels to make sure no more
scuffling
occurred.

“Gertie, fancy seeing you here,” Fiona purred, wearing a designer dress, with naturally tanned legs and normal-looking toes. A towering lemon meringue pie perched on the table in front of her. She sat on one side of the captain, and Granny plopped down on the other side of the captain. I nabbed the last seat across from him and between the two women.

His full-sized pan pizza had been devoured.
Wow, he sure has an appetite,
was all I could think as I stared at the size of the pizza. His gaze met mine with a
pleading, helpless look, distracting me. I gave him a look back that said,
Welcome to my world
.

“Fancy that, indeed,” Granny responded to Fiona. “You always carry around a pie with you?”

“Well, you obviously carry around cookies with you.”

“My daughter’s best friend owns this place. I was bringing her a plate of cookies in celebration of her engagement.” Granny shot me a look that said mum’s the word on bringing the cookies for the captain.

“Speaking of grandchildren,” Fiona said, then leaned in closer, “all six of mine are married and successful and live in big beautiful houses.” Her eyes cut to mine in a sheepish but determined look that said,
All’s fair in the battle of the bakeoff.

No words were necessary.

She was basically pointing out the obvious: I, Granny’s only grandchild, was single, didn’t hold a “real” job, and lived in an ancient, run-down, haunted monstrosity. But I was okay with that. I loved my life.

Except for this past week, anyway.

Bernadette chose that moment to walk out of the ladies’ room and head back to the captain’s table…
her
table. She stopped short when she saw all of us. “Wow, what a nice leaning tower of Fiona. Interesting meringue there, Ms. Atwater.”

“Why, I—”

“And Granny, I see you brought your cookies as usual. Not that they’re boring, or anything. Sometimes less is more.”

“Of all the—”

“Yes, well, if you’re ready, Grady. I don’t much care for the atmosphere here. Let’s go back to my place for some real dessert.”

The captain took one look at Fiona, another at Granny, and then gave me an apologetic smile as he bolted to the door, taking Bernadette by the arm and leading her outside toward his car.

“Look what you did, you nincompoop,” Granny snapped. “Scared him right into the competition’s arms. She’s a shoo-in for sure now.”

“Me?” Fiona shrieked. “You were the one who scared him half to death with your horrible driving in that hearsemobile.”

“I was in a rush to give Jo her cookies, that’s all.”

“Right,” Fiona said.

“That’s right. Everyone loves my cookies,” Granny added. “And Frank loved them the most.”

“Yeah, well, Phillip loved my lemon meringue pie more than anyone.”

“Then I have nothing to worry about,” Granny leaned across the table, “considering he left you.”

Oh, no, you didn’t, Granny,
I thought as Fiona gasped, gave me an accusing look, and then proceeded to throw her pie at Granny. Of course Fiona’s aim was off, and it landed in my face before she stormed out of Smokey Jo’s.

Why was it every time these two got together, I wound up a mess? I licked my lips and couldn’t deny the pie was really good. With a shrug, I winced at Granny as I said, “If I were you, I’d start worrying.”

“Ooooh, that horrible bakezilla! I’ll beat her if it’s the last thing I ever do,” Granny said, grabbing her belongings from my knapsack and huffing back to her car, limping all the way. She slapped the rain cap on her head, roared the engine of her Cadillac, and peeled away from the curb, the plastic ties of her rain cap flapping in the evening breeze in time with her annoyance.

I wasn’t the only one a mess; my life was a mess, and I’d had about as much as I could take. I was trying to save the carnival, but no one seemed to care, and my love life was nonexistent. Maybe it was time I did something about it. Forget everyone else; I was going to start thinking of me.

5

Saturday night was finally here. The auction had gone great, raising lots of money for Animal Angels. Granny wasn’t happy because the Knitting Nanas’ afghan pulled in a slightly bigger price than the Sewing Sisters’ quilt. Now all she had left was the bakeoff, and she’d be darned if she’d let either the Ninnies or Bernadette Baldwin win.

Needless to say, I’d never looked forward to a date more than I did that night, for many reasons.

“I passed Mimi Pots today in town. Looks like she traded in that old rusted truck of hers for a new car,” Mitch said.

“That’s not the only thing that’s new. You should see her. She’s had quite the makeover. She’s even made a friend in Bernadette.”

“Really? How did all of this come about?”

“Abigail and Chuck’s wedding.”

“Ah,” Mitch said, but at the mention of the word
wedding
, his face had paled dramatically. “You, uh, you look good,” he said in a deep voice, his intensely fierce dark gaze roaming over every inch of me and lingering on my features.

If I didn’t know him as well as I did, it would be intimidating. To me it was endearing because, like the cards had shown, he needed me to soften him up. To tame the beast. This was all new to him. He hadn’t dated in a very long time, and expressing his feelings didn’t come easily for him.

That’s why I was looking forward to this carnival week ending soon. Some time alone with no distractions or drama was exactly what we needed if we were going to give
us
a fighting chance.

“I like what you’ve done with your hair,” he added.

“Thanks.” I smiled warmly, pleased he’d noticed.

I’d let Jo talk me into darker blond lowlights, and I’d left my hair soft and natural instead of my gelled spiky style. She’d also convinced me to wear dangling, pale green stone earrings that matched my eyes, as well as a matching gauzy green cocktail dress. While it wasn’t my usual style, I had to admit I felt like a princess.

“It’s the truth.” He hoisted a shoulder and looked away uncomfortably.

“You look very handsome tonight,” I responded in kind.

I let my eyes drink in the sight of him. He’d semi-tamed his thick, black tresses and had even shaved his face, but the shadow on his cheeks was still somewhat there. And he’d replaced his usual jeans, dress shirt, and sport coat with black dress slacks and a burgundy-colored, silk shirt that caressed his impressive shoulders and chest, much in the way I was longing to do.

He gave me one sharp nod in thanks and then picked up his menu, saying casually, “Maybe we can go back to my place for a nightcap.”

“I’d like that,” I said softly. Morty had been in a mood when Mitch had picked me up. A nightcap at his place sounded perfect.

We’d chosen to eat at Papas Greek restaurant. The first case we’d worked together, we’d spent a fair amount of time there. And since the last guy I’d dated had taken me to Nikko’s Italian restaurant, that place was out of the question. Neither one of us wanted any negative memories intruding on our very first official date.

Like most of the businesses in Divinity, Papas had a theme. They’d chosen ancient Athens. I just loved the marble statues of godlike men and women, and the food was incredible. The night couldn’t be more perfect.

“Ready to order?” our waiter asked.

I was about to say something when Mitch’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and then frowned. “It’s Captain Walker. He wouldn’t call me unless it was important. I’d better take this.”

“Go ahead,” I said, and the waiter discreetly stepped away from our table to give us privacy.

“I hope this is important, Grady,” Mitch said into the phone. He and Captain Grady Walker were not just co-workers, they were friends. He was like a father to Mitch.

Mitch’s face changed from one of irritation to concern. His gaze met mine, and a feeling of doom swept through me. “Be right there,” he finished and then hung up.

So much for the night being perfect.

I sighed. “What is it? Let me guess. This has to do with Granny and Fiona, doesn’t it?”

He nodded slowly.

“That’s it. I have had it with the two of them. They are both going to be in serious trouble when I get a hold of them.”

“They already are.”

The tone in his voice made me pause. “What do you mean? What on earth have they done this time?”

“Granny Gert and Fiona Atwater have been arrested for the murder of Bernadette Baldwin,” he said gravely.

“Whaaat?” I shrieked, drawing stares from everyone around us. Karma was an angry beast, all right, but I hadn’t thought it was downright ruthless or that it would sink its ugly teeth into my granny.

Granny and Fiona had done a lot of naughty things this past week, including wanting to throttle each other, but murder? Neither one of them was capable of murder. There had to be a mistake, but I was afraid this was one mess even I couldn’t fix. My mother always said, family was family, for better or worse…ruined dates and all.

*    *    *

“There has to be a mistake, Captain,” I said. Mitch and I sat across from Captain Walker in his office with his desk between us at the precinct.

He steepled his fingers with a grim look on his face, reminding me of the King of Swords. “I have to admit it doesn’t look good for either of them. Granny hasn’t acted like her normal sweet self since Fiona came to town. According to Fiona’s friends, she’s been out of sorts since she found out Granny lived in Divinity. The whole town can see how they’ve been determined to outdo each other at any cost. I’ve had more calls of complaints against those two this week than I’ve had for anyone else all month.”

“I’ll admit they both have been behaving very badly all week long, but that hardly makes them capable of murder,” I said, wringing my hands. “There has to be something more.”

“There is. It all started at the auction earlier. Fiona’s afghan took in more money than Granny’s quilt, but Bernadette’s lace doilies, placemats, and tablecloths earned the most,” he said.

“Even I heard those two weren’t happy about that,” Mitch stated. “But disappointment doesn’t equal murder.”

“It went beyond not being happy,” the captain added. “Everyone there heard both Granny and Fiona arguing with Bernadette, telling her they’d make sure she didn’t
win the bakeoff. The baked goods were supposed to be delivered tonight to Trixie, who is not only the head of the sewing circle but is also in charge of the bakeoff. Only, the goods never made it.”

“What exactly happened?” Mitch asked, taking notes as always. He hadn’t complained at all when our date ended prematurely. Instead, he’d driven me here without a single word and sat strong and supportive beside me. I knew if anyone could help free Granny and get to the bottom of this, it would be Mitch.

“Well, Trixie said a bunch of the Sewing Sisters and Knitting Nanas showed up at the same time to deliver their baked goods for safekeeping and cataloguing. With all the commotion, Fiona’s and Granny’s pie and cookies wound up missing. Of course they accused each other of trying to sabotage the other person, but when a search of the premises didn’t produce their merchandise, they wondered if Bernadette had anything to do with it since she was nowhere in sight.”

“I can’t believe they actually agreed on something,” I muttered, still in shock over all that had happened.

“So much so that it appears they conspired to commit murder. Trixie said they went off in search of Bernadette and their merchandise. Meanwhile, I got an anonymous phone call at the office saying Granny and Fiona were seen getting into Granny’s car together and driving off. Not long after, we received a 911 call that Bernadette Baldwin had been hit by a big white Cadillac. I drove there myself only to find Bernadette beneath
Granny’s car with Fiona and Granny fighting over her BB’s Baked Goods box of turnovers.”

“That just doesn’t make any sense,” I said.

“That’s what I thought, so I asked them about it. I do have to say they both seemed surprised and a bit horrified when they discovered Bernadette was beneath the car. They both say they went outside, but Granny’s car was missing. When they walked down the hill a ways, they spotted it on the curb in the distance.”

“Why didn’t they call the police then?” Mitch asked.

“They had planned on it, but once they reached it, they found Granny’s cookies and purse as well as Fiona’s pie and handbag on the front seat. They got distracted with Bernadette’s turnovers about ten feet away. With more questions than answers, they were fighting over who was going to return the box of turnovers and speculating over what might have happened to her.”

“I’m sure they are telling the truth,” I said. “Someone else must be trying to set them up. Someone has been trying to sabotage the carnival from the beginning. That same person could have killed Bernadette, knowing the carnival would be cancelled for sure that way.”

“I understand this is upsetting for you, Sunny, and I promise we will look into every lead, but between the threats they were heard giving Bernadette earlier after the auction, the anonymous phone call saying they were seen together in the car, and me finding them at the scene of the crime, things don’t look good for either of them. Not to mention the note from Bernadette
addressed to me personally that was found beneath the turnovers in the bottom of the box.”