I’m hoping to be there no later than 6:30. If I’m late, go ahead and eat.
“Cade will be here around 6:30,” I told Agatha.
“Does he say if he found out anything new about Tori’s death?”
I shook my head. “No, he didn’t mention it.”
“Can I tell you something in private?” she said looking over her shoulder. The other guests were in the living room and no one was within earshot. “I have strong suspicions about Kayla Wright. Do you know her?”
“Wasn’t she last year’s president of the business owners association?” I asked.
She nodded. “She was president for a lot of years. She’s a lovely woman, but I’ll tell you something. When Tori set her sights on that presidency, she stopped at nothing to get it.”
“What do you mean?”
“She ran around town spreading rumors about Kayla. She said Kayla hadn’t been doing her job as president, and that she had been cheating people when cashing their payroll checks.”
Kayla Wright ran a check-cashing and payday loan business in town, and I knew her well enough to know that she was a nice person, but not much more than that. “Do you think it’s true?”
Agatha shrugged. “I guess I really have no idea. I don’t have need of a check-cashing facility since I have a bank account. I really doubt what Tori said about her cheating people is true. But honestly, when you go into one of those places and sign the contract, you’re pretty much begging to be cheated anyway, aren’t you? I heard they charge exorbitant interest rates on those so-called payday loans. Payday robbery if you want to know what I think about them.”
“I’ve never used one either, but I’ve known people who needed to use them in a pinch. I think the trouble comes when you get stuck in one and can’t pay off the loan and you have to use them week after week.”
“That’s the truth there,” she said, nodding. “Can you imagine? Paying that exorbitant interest rate and not having the money to pay it off each payday? It would cost a small fortune. Anyway, Kayla has been quite bitter about Tori winning the presidency and she knows she was spreading gossip about her. I really have no idea if she’s out and out cheated people, and it’s not my business anyway. But every time I see her, she’s so bitter she’s practically spitting vinegar when she brings up Tori’s name.”
“I guess I can kind of see why she would be bitter. How many years was Kayla the president of the business owners association?”
“I believe it was seven or eight years. She was voted in each year without much opposition from anyone. But this last year, Tori made up her mind she was going to have that job, and so she went to each of the business owners and said dreadful things about Kayla.”
“She came to you, too?” I asked and lifted the lid from the pot of boiling potatoes. I stuck them with a fork and was pleased with how tender they were. I turned the fire off beneath them.
“Oh, she tried to, but I wasn’t having any of it. I made sure she understood that I didn’t want to hear her rumors and gossip. I don’t have anything against Kayla even if I don’t care for the sort of business that she runs. I suppose people have a need for such a business or she wouldn’t be running it. But there was just something about Tori that I couldn’t stand when I first met the woman years ago. My opinion of her never changed. If anything, since she became president, it worsened.”
I nodded. “She did like to talk about herself, didn’t she?”
“You better believe she did,” Mom said coming into the kitchen from behind us. “I bet she stood in front of a mirror and admired herself every morning for at least twenty minutes before she left the house.”
I turned to Mom. “Now, that’s just being mean.”
“It may be mean, but I’m pretty sure it’s true.”
“I was just telling Rainey about Tori going to the business owners and gossiping about Kayla in order to win the election.”
“She did exactly that,” Mom agreed. “She came to me and told me that Kayla was stealing from her customers and that the IRS was investigating her.” Mom snorted. “How on earth would she know that? It’s not like the IRS is running around letting people know what they’re up to, and Kayla wouldn’t be spreading that around about herself, so it had to be an out and out lie.”
I picked up the pot of potatoes and began draining the water off, careful not to let the steam burn me. I didn’t mind boxed mashed potatoes, but I loved homemade so much more and Thanksgiving was a meal that demanded real potatoes. “No, I’m sure she wouldn’t tell people the IRS was after her. But do you think that was enough to get people to vote against Kayla?”
“Rainey, you know how things are. I’m sure there were some people who were inclined to listen to Tori’s gossip and Tori probably told those people even worse things than what she told Agatha or me. Personally, I don’t want to hear it. I may be nosy, but when somebody comes out and is clearly trying to railroad someone else, I don’t have the stomach for it,” Mom said, shaking her head.
“Well, let’s hope Cade will find the killer soon. I hope that it was simply a hit-and-run accident and not a targeted murder. Honestly, we don’t know at this point what happened.”
I heard a knock at the door, and then a moment later I heard my niece, Bonnie, cry out, “Cade!”
I grinned. “Just in time.”
Cade came into the kitchen looking haggard. He gave me a tired smiled. “Ladies,” he said nodding to my Mom and Agatha. “Something sure smells good in here.”
“It will be the best Thanksgiving dinner you’ve ever tasted,” Agatha promised. “I tell you what, Britain would make Thanksgiving dinner a tradition if they could just taste Rainey’s meal.”
I blushed. “Now Agatha, let’s not brag,” I said, and I gave Cade a quick kiss. I reached up and ruffled his hair. “You look exhausted.”
“I am exactly that, but I’m sure a turkey dinner will help me perk right up.”
“I bet it will,” I said. “Why don’t you get something to drink from the refrigerator and then have a seat in the living room? We’ll have dinner on the table in less than ten minutes.”
I didn’t want to try to pry information out of Cade with him looking as tired as he did. Besides that, I still needed to finish up with dinner. Stormy and Natalie came into the kitchen to help us, and we all brought out dishes and set them on the table. The table had leaves that extended, making it large enough for all of us to sit around. My mouth watered at the smell of all the wonderful holiday dishes and I couldn’t wait to eat.
Chapter Seven
“Are you going to sit there and play with that sweet potato pie all night?” I asked Cade. “Frankly, I’m a little disappointed there’s still some left on your plate.” The guilt trip was free of charge and I thought I’d put it to good use.
He grinned slowly at me and laid his fork down. He had been playing with that last bite for over ten minutes and I thought a little teasing was in order. “I guess if I hadn’t stuffed myself with the turkey, dressing, and yams I’d be able to finish it.”
“I didn’t want to say anything, but you sure did put it away. How about some coffee to wash it all down?”
He grinned. “If you hadn’t made everything so unbelievably tasty, I wouldn’t have put it away the way I did. And now I think I’m going to regret it,” he said, sitting up in his chair with a satisfied sigh. “I’d love some coffee.”
“It would be in bad taste not to eat up,” Sam said, patting his stomach. “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to fit my belly behind my steering wheel to drive home.”
I chuckled. “Sam, I do appreciate you coming to dinner.”
“I appreciate the invitation more,” he said and got to his feet. “I better get home though. It’s getting late and I’ve got an early morning at the diner tomorrow.”
I walked Sam to the door and gave him a hug before he left. Sam was a good guy and a great boss and I was glad he had come to dinner.
“Rainey, Bob and I hav
e got to get going and get the kids to bed,” Stormy said, getting up from the table. Everyone else had already left after devouring the Thanksgiving meal, along with most of the five different kinds of pies I had baked. Little Lizzy was asleep on Bob’s shoulder, worn out from the excitement of the day and the other kids were looking sleepy. “Are you sure you don’t want us to help with the cleanup?” She looked uneasily at the dishes on the table.
“No, I told you I would do it. I sure am glad you all came tonight.” I went over and gave them all a hug and a kiss before they left.
“Dinner was wonderful,” Natalie said, giving me a hug.
“I’m so glad you came home for the holiday. I’ve missed you,” I said, giving her a tight squeeze. After a few moments I released her and stepped back, thinking about Tori’s children who had opted not to come home from college. They would live with that for the rest of their lives and it made me sad.
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” she said. I followed them all to the front door and stood on the doorstep, watching as they piled into their SUV and drove off into the cold night. During dinner another light snowfall began, but it had ended quickly, leaving the neighborhood under a thin white blanket of snow.
Cade came up behind me and put his arms around me, kissing the top of my head. “You made a terrific dinner,” he said. “I’ll help you clean up.”
I turned around to face him and gave him a kiss. “No, I insist on doing it myself, you’ve been working all day. I’m so glad I got to spend Thanksgiving with you. Let me get you that coffee I promised you,” I said, and I headed to the kitchen.
“You’ve been working all day, too,” he pointed out.
“It’s fine, I got it,” I said over my shoulder. “Let’s have some coffee.”
“If I don’t have some coffee, I’m going to fall asleep on my way home,” he said, trailing behind me. “I really ate too much.”
“I’ll have a fresh pot done in a few minutes,” I said and got out the canister of coffee. “So Cade, did you figure out anything about Tori’s death?” I thought I probably shouldn’t press him with him being as tired as he was, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to know everything he knew.
He leaned against the kitchen counter while I made the coffee. “From what I saw in that alley, and with what her body looked like, the vehicle that hit her was going pretty fast. Like I said earlier, no skid marks and the area of her body that took the impact looked bad.”
I turned to look at him. “Do you think there’s still a possibility that someone hit her on accident, got scared, and left the scene? I was hoping maybe they’d turn themselves in after thinking about what they did.”
He thought about it a moment. “I’m not saying that didn’t happen, because there’s a possibility it did. It could be that someone had too much to drink and was driving down the alley and didn’t see her until it was too late. They may have panicked and ran off. Maybe they’ll come in to the station tomorrow and explain what happened.”
“I knew a guy in high school, he would get ahold of some booze, and then to avoid running into the police, drive down the alleys until he got home. It makes sense, doesn’t it? You have less chance of running into other cars or the police that way.” I poured water into the coffee maker, replaced the lid, and turned it on. I turned around to face him.
He snorted. “That sounds like something a kid would think of. But I guess it’s not a terrible idea.”
“How are you going to proceed with the investigation?”
“We’ll put out a request on the local news for information to see if anybody saw anything. And then we’ll ask around and see if anybody has any information. For now, there’s not a lot more I can do. The Medical Examiner will do an autopsy, of course.”
“When I delivered those meals to Tori’s husband, his mother was there, and just between you and me, she said she suspected that Agatha may have had something to do with Tori’s death.” I looked at him to see what his reaction would be.
His eyes went wide. “Agatha? Our Agatha?”
I nodded. “That was exactly my reaction, although I didn’t let on. I don’t know why she jumped to that conclusion so quickly. It could have been an accident.”
“I have a hard time believing Agatha would harm anyone,” he said, still looking surprised at the idea.
“I feel the same way. To be honest, Agatha was complaining about Tori yesterday, and then this morning on the way over to the community center. But Tori had a personality that grated on a person. A lot of people don’t like her.”
He shook his head and chuckled. “What exactly did she say? Why would she think Agatha would have something to do with Tori’s death?”
“Not much that was substantial, really. Only that Tori complained about Agatha, saying she was hostile toward her during their monthly meetings and that she was always trying to thwart her suggestions.” I shrugged.
“That doesn’t sound like a very strong reason to think Agatha would kill someone. I mean, murder isn’t some petty crime committed because over an insignificant disagreement,” he said.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking. I spoke to Agatha later, and she pointed out that she thought it might be Kayla Wright, the former president of the business owners association,” I said.
The smell of freshly brewing coffee filled the air as Cade looked at me wide-eyed. “You didn’t mention to her that Tori’s mother-in-law said anything about her, did you?”
“Of course not. We were just talking about things and she thought Kayla Wright was angry and bitter about losing the vote to be president of the business owners association. She’d been president for quite a few years and apparently, Tori went around to the other business owners telling them that Kayla was cheating her customers.”
“What kind of business does Kayla own?” he asked.
“One of those check cashing and payday loan places. I can’t imagine Kayla Wright stealing from her customers. I don’t know her well, but I know her well enough to get a sense of her personality. She just doesn’t strike me as someone that’s going to steal.”
He turned around and opened a cupboard and pulled out two coffee cups, and set them beside the coffee pot. “It sounds like a lot of he-said she-said at this point. I want to get the opinion of the medical examiner and see what he thinks happened.”
“I still wonder what she was doing so far away from the back door. Depending on the rate of speed, and how far she flew, wasn’t she standing quite a ways from the door?”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet,” he said. “We haven’t gotten far enough along in the investigation yet. She may have been taking out the trash to the dumpster.”
My mind was spinning with possible scenarios. I couldn’t help it. I needed to figure out what happened to Tori, and if there was a killer on the loose they needed to be arrested. “I’ll try not to get ahead of myself, but if I happen to hear anything, and you know I will, I’ll let you know what I learn.” I gave him a knowing smile.
He grinned. “I expect nothing less of you,” he said.
I moved in closer and kissed him again. We were both exhausted, and tomorrow was Black Friday. I didn’t know if I could get out of bed to get any shopping done, but I was going to try. And I hoped someone would have some information that would help Cade to understand what happened to Tori.
Chapter Eight
As it turned out, Black Friday shopping had to wait. I was exhausted and when my alarm went off the next morning I didn’t have the energy to roll out of bed. Stormy showed up at my door at 5:00 a.m. and when I didn’t answer it, she let herself in with the key I had given her. She tried to wake me and I whined and cried and she finally realized she had to go shopping with just Natalie. I hated to miss the opportunity to spend girl time with my sister and niece, but I just couldn’t drag myself out of bed. It was just as well because I had the lunch shift at Sam’s Diner and I don’t think my body could have handled shopping and then going to work af
terward. Thanksgiving Day had sucked the energy right out of me.
I set a cup of coffee in front of my mother as she sat at the diner counter. “Thanks Rainey, I’m freezing,” she said, wrapping her hands around the hot mug of coffee.
“Did you do any shopping this morning?” I asked her.
She nodded and took a sip of the coffee. “Not nearly as much as I wanted to, but I did hit a sale at the drugstore. I got shampoo and conditioner for 50% off.”
I chuckled. “I don’t think I would have braved the cold for shampoo and conditioner.”
Roast Turkey and a Murder Page 4