by R A Wallace
Maya didn’t hesitate. She nodded her agreement as she stood and followed them across the room.
“Hey, Tucker,” Maya said as she took a seat next to him.
“You were pretty impressive this week,” Tucker said.
“Thanks. I did okay.”
Tucker laughed. “You did way better than okay. Your score beat nearly two thirds of the other players. You got into the finals.”
“We didn’t win though,” Maya said.
“There’s always next time,” Cole said. He looked across the room. “There’s a bar over there with drinks. You two want something to drink? Soda? Water?”
Julia watched as Cole and Tucker worked their way to the bar to get their drinks then shifted over a couple of sets to be closer to Maya.
“Isn’t your dad coming?”
The smile on Maya’s face drooped a little. She shook her head.
“I know the feeling,” Julia said. “My parents are always busy too. I’m not even sure they know I work at Togs.”
“Seriously? My dad isn’t quite that bad. He just doesn’t want anything to do with golf.”
“Why?”
Maya looked around the room. “He was like me when he was a kid.”
“A phenom?”
Maya nodded. “It just wore on him, you know? It can be tough.”
“Why do you do it?” Julia asked.
Maya gave a half shrug. “I don’t think my grades are going to get me into college. My golf scores might.”
“A scholarship.” Julia nodded knowingly. “Smart girl. You could pick your school.”
“Planning on it,” Maya said with a smile.
Julia saw Cole and Tucker returning to their table so she shifted over again.
“Look who we found,” Cole said.
As Cole and Tucker set the drinks on the table, Maya saw her father behind them.
“Dad?”
Sebastien looked around the table. “Mind if I sit?”
Tucker motioned toward his seat. “I’ll go grab another chair.”
“I thought you weren’t coming,” Maya said to her father.
Sebastien leaned forward. “Sorry about that. After I dropped you off, I went home and changed. I should have been here all week.”
She dropped her eyes. “You were working.”
“I should have been here anyway.” He looked around the table at the others sitting there. “Do they play golf?”
Maya laughed. “No. They’re friends from school.”
“Really?”
“Julia picked out my dress.”
Sebastien smiled. “It looks nice.”
“I even got my homework turned in,” Maya said.
He looked surprised again.
“Another friend is tutoring me,” Maya said.
Sebastien looked around the room.
“That’s one thing I never had. Real friends. The people that I knew around my age were just competition. They never let you forget it either.”
“Dad, that’s not my life,” Maya said.
“Good. That’s good to hear, Maya.” Sebastien sat back as someone climbed the stairs to the stage and lifted the microphone.
***
“Sounds like they’re starting in there,” Jerry said.
“Do we have eyes on everyone?” Erica asked Jerry.
“No. They haven’t located Gil Ressler yet,” Jerry said.
Erica made a noise of frustration.
“We need to find him,” she said, mostly to herself. “What about the target?”
Jerry talked into his radio. The responses they got back were all negative.
“We can’t just stand around and wait for them to show up,” Erica muttered as she pulled out her buzzing phone.
“Did you get him?” Megan asked when Erica answered.
“Not yet, we’re having trouble tracking him down. They’re both missing, in fact. Can you think of anywhere he might have taken him?”
Megan tried to remember everything the man had said to her all week.
“I don’t know. Obviously, you checked their rooms,” she muttered to herself. “You tried the restaurant?” Megan asked in a louder voice.
“Of course.” Erica didn’t try to hide the frustration in her voice.
“The only other place he mentioned to me was the tent on the eighteenth green,” Megan said.
“What? Why do they have a tent there?” Erica was already motioning to Jerry to get people moving.
“Drinks. For the end of the day,” Megan said. She looked down at her phone. Erica had already disconnected.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“This is nice,” Lauren said for the second time.
Caitlyn lifted Lauren’s drink and pretended to smell it.
“It’s only iced tea. It isn’t spiked,” Lauren said. “You just wait until it’s your turn.”
“A couple of hours off with adult friends feels like I’m cheating or something,” Erica said.
“You’re not cheating on your children, you’re re-energizing,” Lauren said.
“Whatever it is, it feels nice,” Erica agreed. “When I get home, I’m telling my husband it’s his turn to re-energize.”
“They must already have something planned,” Caitlyn said. “They set something up to meet here for drinks to celebrate Justin’s promotion.”
“That sounds nice,” Lauren said with a smile. “He deserves a celebration.”
“Just as we’re celebrating your new role as president of the town business council,” Erica raised her glass toward Caitlyn.
“They’ll be drinking adult beverages,” Caitlyn pointed out.
“Coffee with caffeine is an adult beverage to me,” Megan said.
“You’re almost there,” Lauren reminded her. “In the not too distant future, you’ll be able to drink caffeine while you’re wondering where all the diapers came from.”
“How is the addition coming along?” Erica asked.
“It’s getting there. That was one nice thing about being at the golf course all week. They started with plastering,” Megan said.
“That dust is horrible when they sand it,” Lauren said. “It goes everywhere.”
“Does that mean they’ll be painting soon?” Caitlyn asked.
Megan nodded happily. “I can’t wait.”
“It sounds like you helped Erica by being at the golf course all week,” Lauren said.
“Better her than me.” Erica picked at the remaining fruit on her plate. “It sounded like a soap opera out there.”
“It definitely kept me going in different directions,” Megan said. “There were a million different puzzle pieces, but none of them fit into my puzzle.”
“I wouldn’t have wanted to deal with all of that,” Erica said.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Megan said. “It was just life, you know? The tournament was full of couples and they were just all at different parts of their lives.”
“What do you mean?” Erica eyed Megan like she was talking crazy.
“Well, take Susan and Ross. They were having fun. I don’t think either one of them expected to win the tournament. They just both focused on enjoying themselves.” Megan reached for her water glass.
“They both said they had a blast and they were surprised they lasted through the first two days before being eliminated,” Caitlyn said.
“One of the couples found out they’re expecting,” Megan said. “A couple of the women tried flirting with other men there to make their own men jealous.”
“How did that work out for them?” Lauren asked.
“It didn’t,” Megan said. “Cole and his friend were afraid to tell what they knew because they didn’t want to get Wes into trouble.”
“He and I had a talk about that,” Erica said. “I doubt he’ll do it again.”
“He’s a good kid,” Megan said.
Erica nodded. “I agree. That’s why I don’t think he’ll do it again.”
“There was the
guy that had to buy flowers in the middle of the tournament to apologize to his wife for something he said,” Caitlyn added.
“The point is, they were all just people working through the everyday dramas that we all have. We just happened to take a snapshot of it during the times in question because of what happened. Then we put it under a microscope, thinking that it might be important. Ultimately, none of it had anything to do with the death of Jay Kerns or the attempts on Gil Ressler,” Megan said.
“It just made us all chase our tails,” Erica agreed.
“Why did Avery Chapman kill Jay Kerns?” Lauren asked.
“He claims it was a mistake,” Erica said. “Not that he felt particularly bad about it. He was really trying to kill Gill Ressler. That night when everyone was at the restaurant, Jay left the bar around nine and went back to his room. For whatever reason, and we will probably never know, he left his room sometime after midnight. The problem was, Gil Ressler was also on the move.”
“After midnight?” Lauren asked.
“He was using the hot tub,” Erica said. “Avery didn’t know about Jay being out and thought he was following Gil. Gil never knew what happened. He finished relaxing in the hot tub and went back to his room.”
“Why did Avery hate Gil enough to kill him?” Lauren asked.
“He actually hated all of the phenoms from that group,” Megan said. “He just hated Gil more because he’d actually made something of himself.”
Erica pushed her plate away. “We may have had a little assist on that also but we were already fanning out and looking for them. Officers already in that area reached the tent on the eighteenth green within a very short time after Megan’s clue.”
“I can’t believe Avery was going to try again,” Lauren said.
Megan thought about what Maya had told her. “Avery wasn’t well known in his field, but Gil used technology to his advantage. He’s at the top of his field but he’s the only one of that group that is.”
“Maya’s dad seems do to fairly well,” Lauren said.
“Hopefully, he’ll be more involved with Maya’s life now,” Megan said.
“Sounds like he’s headed in the right direction,” Lauren said.
“I’m just glad it’s all over with,” Erica said.
“Until next year,” Caitlyn added with a grin. “As the president of the town business council, I’m committed to convincing the tournament to return to Teaberry again.”
Megan’s Recipe
Spicy Florentine Tortellini Soup
1 can diced tomatoes with jalapenos, no sodium
2 (8 ounce) cans no sodium tomato sauce
1 (16 ounce) can white beans
1 box (32 ounce) chicken broth, no sodium
1 tablespoon table blend (salt substitute) spices, no sodium or spices to taste
4 cups baby leaf spinach, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package tortellini (4 minute cook time)
Combine tomatoes with jalapenos, sauce, beans, broth, and seasoning. Bring to boil. Add tortellini. Cook 4 minutes or until cook time on package. Add chopped spinach, cook 1 additional minute.
Books by R. A. Wallace
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R. A. Wallace is the author of two cozy mystery series:
Indigo Investigations Cozy Mystery Series
Callie Indigo is struggling to make ends meet with her private detective agency, Indigo Investigations, while juggling the complexities of an extended family and life in general. When she isn’t working a legitimate case, she’s often talked into helping out friends and family. Just when she’s wondering if she’ll ever turn a profit, her life becomes even more complicated with the appearance of Greyson Divine who has the uncanny ability to appear just as Callie is solving a case. Callie has to admit, however, that sometimes Greyson Divine may actually be helpful. This cozy mystery offers a clean read with a female sleuth, friends, and family.
Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy Mystery Series
Megan is the main character in the series but interacts with a wide range of other characters in the fictional town of Teaberry. A difficult first marriage ended in the accidental death of her husband. She supports herself with her bed and breakfast, produce from her farm, and her tech skills as a web developer. Over time, she discovers that the love of her life was in front of her all along. Main characters in the series are multigenerational.