“But it just got interesting.”
“No,” I repeated, waving him away. “No, you don’t just read people’s text messages. It’s rude.”
“But how else was I going to know that you like the classic hero type? Which I am, evidently.” His smirk was so large they could have poured gravy on it and called it a country fried steak.
“No. No way, not happening, nyet, negatory, never, not really, no thanks, we’re nixing that idea, nope, negative, nay, no siree—”
“Ok, stop with the English lesson. Why do you do that?”
I sighed. I really didn’t want to explain all my stress responses right now.
Me: Please come out here and rescue me.
Lark: On my way.
I watched as Lark came out, locking the door behind her. Her natural golden-brown hair gleamed in the sunlight, nothing like my fake dyed blonde, and I sighed in jealousy. Lark was tall, thin, gorgeous and had the confidence of someone that everyone naturally loved. Not that she wasn’t weird, because she was. She just didn't let it get to her.
“Hey. How are you two doing today? Also, before I forget, thanks for sending the security guy over. I need to get on that,” she said, getting in the back seat. “Think we can talk Gran into making me some coffee when we get there?”
“I dare you to ask,” I replied.
“Ha. You are Jen. Just wanted to check because normally you’re at home working at this time of day.”
“We were searching her house,” Nic said with a shrug.
“Again?” Lark’s eyes widened, and she turned to me, waiting for an explanation. “And she isn’t there protecting her records like a guard dog?”
“I have nothing to hide,” I told her.
“You didn’t last time, too, but you still tried to guard them,” she reminded me.
I narrowed my eyes at them both at the memory. She was right, last time that didn’t stop me from trying to protect my customers. Just in case I had missed something. These last three weeks must have taken more out of me than I thought. Or it was Henry’s death. Or all of it. Whatever. The FBI could have anything they wanted. “I have nothing to hide.”
“What about your underwear drawer?” Lark asked with a smirk.
“Pish. Not even that. I actually shop for cute underwear, unlike some people.” I gave her a pointed look.
“Really? Tell me more…” Nic said, leaning into me.
“No.” Not going to happen, buddy. He had his government-mandated chance to snoop, although I kind of liked that he didn’t.
“Too bad.” His eyes unfocused and his lips curled up into a smile.
I glared over where he leaned towards me, his arm on the console between us. “Don’t mention my underwear.” Or think about it.
“Really?” His smile didn’t waver.
He wasn’t properly scared of me.
“Really. Do I need to find more words to—”
“Please don’t.” He held a hand up to hold me off, leaning back into his side of the car.
“We’re going to High Tea, right?” Lark interrupted. “Maybe we should head out?”
“Sure. Nic’s friend’s meeting us there.”
“Nic has friends?” Lark quipped from the backseat.
“My co-worker,” he corrected over his shoulder.
“Ahh…” she said, with a gloating smile.
Which made him realize what she said. “Wait. I have friends. Lots of them,” he defended himself before throwing his hands up in the air. “You know what? No, I don’t. I have the people I work with and… my brothers.”
“You hesitated a long time before you said brothers,” I pointed out.
“They’re assholes,” he muttered. “I love them, but they’re assholes.”
“Well, Dorothy would want me to mention that people who move to this town tend to gain lots of friends quickly.” I couldn’t help but gloat. Yes, I was a horrible person, but I just couldn’t stop myself.
“Like the woman we—”
I glared, and he cut himself off. Yeah, he almost let the chicken out of the bag on that one. I drove off quickly, jumping to the first subject I could think of that wasn’t Julia.
“Do we have any suspects in Henry’s murder?”
“No.” He looked at me like I was crazy.
Yes, I realized we had just talked about this. Go with it.
“Who would you go after?” He asked after a second.
“Tony,” I said confidently. “I would go after Tony. He is the only one who had any reason to kill him. Plus, he tried to kill a horse. That shows he has no morals.”
“He’s in San Francisco out on bail. I checked in with the local police. No chance of him being out here.”
“Well, there went the obvious. Dan? He’s in town, we have witnesses that say he threatened Henry the night before. He’s a solid candidate. Plus, usually the guilty are the ones screaming ‘railroading’ without any accusations.”
“Lindsey made some,” Lark told me, showing me her phone. “Evidently, she couldn’t find out where he was during the murder. And she confirmed the threats and had pulled a quote from someone back in the city that said he had been acting weird recently and meeting with unsavory characters.”
“Interesting,” I murmured before Nic frowned at me.
“What about some of Henry’s other clients? Are there any others that have ties to the area?” Nic adjusted his sleeve as he asked, a clear sign he didn’t want to talk about Dan. Why?
“I don’t know about them. I told you, I only stuck to mine. I didn’t even know Dan had any ties.” I decided to let Nic have his change in topic and ask about the other loose end that was bothering me. “What about good old fake Scarlett? From the emails?”
“We’ve got nothing on that either. We tracked the account but couldn’t find anything.” Nic sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I have no idea what the weather has to do with any of this. Even if the weather was hotter than it really was.”
“They were trading incorrect weather reports?”
“Yes.”
“That’s even weirder.” I sat for a second and thought.
“What about his son?” Nic asked, glancing at me.
“Frank?” Lark asked from the back seat. I was glad she did, because for a second I thought Nic was talking about Dan’s son. I had no idea if he had one or not.
“Yeah. He doesn’t have the best alibi,” I told her.
“Sucks to be him.”
“Not really. Henry had a lot of money. Frank is probably set for life,” I responded.
“Wow. That’s cold,” Lark told me, and a glance in the rearview mirror told me it came with a concerned look. “What brought that out?”
“He smiled at me.” I still wanted to punch him a little for being that callous.
“Wow. That bastard. We should string him up by his toes.” She was mocking me, but she might be right.
“Today,” I clarified. “He tried to get me to keep the business open with him taking over all of Henry’s cases until we found a new CPA from the approved candidates he had.”
“And he was smiling?” Lark asked with a frown.
“See what I mean?” I threw her a look. “It’s not okay. My business partner died yesterday, practically in front of me. I saw the body. I might be fully embracing denial, but it still hurts. Excuse me if continuing a business that is already struggling and going to be completely ruined when the news of his murder breaks in a real newspaper, pulling my reputation down with it, and is only going to attract—” dishonest clients. Was that what he was talking about with special projects? Shit. It had to be him. The insider trading had to be him. Why would Henry take the blame for his son’s crimes?
Oh, Henry.
He had always been a better person than people around him deserved. But now I was conflicted. Should I tell the FBI of my suspicions? Henry went to great lengths to protect his son. Were my suspicions a reason to negate that?
“Again, with th
e thoughtful silence,” Nic complained. “What are you thinking?”
I looked at him, with what I’m sure was a guilty expression before I looked away. “Nothing.” If Henry was covering for Frank, then Frank had no reason to kill him. Unless Frank thought Henry might flip? No, Henry wouldn’t. He was loyal to a fault. As this proved.
“Don’t ‘nothing’ me. You’ve had that expression several times and yet you won’t share the thought. It's frustrating.”
“What will you give me for it?” Did that really just come out of my mouth? I checked Lark’s expression in the rearview mirror and her mouth was dropped as low as mine wanted to be. Correction. As low as Nic’s was. Was that too flirty? Aggressive? I didn’t know what was wrong with me.
He tried a few times to come back from that one. “What do you want?”
“Why don’t you think it was Dan?”
“Why do you think I don’t?”
“Oh, please. He is the most obvious suspect and you haven't locked him up or even questioned him, despite Ellis saying you're railroading him. Lindsey would have reported that. And when I bring him up, you change the subject.”
“He will be locked up, don’t worry about it,” Nic waved away my comment.
“So, he’s guilty of insider trading.” I knew that, but I repeated it anyway. Facts were always applicable.
“Yes.”
“But not of the murder.” I licked my lips as I thought.
“I didn’t say that.” His brow arched and he looked out the window.
“You didn’t not say it,” I pointed out.
He swung his head back to give me a good glare.
“I don’t think you were supposed to point that out.” Lark added unhelpfully from the backseat.
“Oh look, we’re here!” Nic said, overplaying his excitement pointing toward the building in front of us.
I watched Lark’s eyes narrow on him in the rearview mirror.
“You’re a tea person, aren’t you?”
“Why do I get the idea that it’s a bad thing?” He asked, his eyes jumping from her to me.
“No. Liking tea is cultured,” I answered.
“Unnatural,” Lark countered.
“Sophisticated.”
“Psychotic.”
“Healthy.”
“Coffee has just as many benefits,” Lark exclaimed from the back seat.
“Oh, really? You sure about that?” I asked her, starting to warm up to our normal argument.
“Again. Look. There’s a parking spot. Right. There. Please let me out of the crazy-mobile.” That had both of us glaring at Nic, who glared back. “Also, I’ve been hanging out with you two too long if your conversations are starting to make sense. And that worries me.”
I guess he didn’t like our crazy. Sucked to be him because we were fabulous. My shoes told me so. I pulled into the space he indicated and turned off the car, rolling my eyes at how quickly he jumped out.
“Should we tell him that the whole town is probably here today?” Lark asked.
“Nope. Let him find out on his own.”
“Wait.” She pulled me back for a second. “You okay? No, that was a stupid question. Of course you're not okay. You still functioning?”
“I’m functioning.” Barely. “Nic is a good distraction.”
“Hmm, his butt isn’t too bad. But I don’t know if right now is a good time to get into a new relationship.” She gave his butt a good studying, though.
I did too. Just to make sure it was still as good as I remembered. It was.
“I’m not. I’m helping him get away from the town’s manipulations.”
“You sure? Because that doesn’t sound like you. You’re more likely to help the town.” She gave me a hard stare. “And we are here. Getting away from the town’s manipulations would not be bringing him here.”
“He wasn’t supposed to come.”
“Why did he?”
“His supervisor made him.”
“Really?”
“She’s awesome. She ripped into him earlier, too. I like her.”
“So, let me get this straight. The FBI is searching your home for evidence for insider trading—”
“Which they won't find since all my customers are clean.”
“—but Henry’s weren’t, I’m assuming, —”
“No.” I admitted with a disappointed sigh. “Well… what if I think it might have been another person who did it, but Henry is —was— taking the blame because he wanted to protect them?”
“You think Frank did it.” Lark rolled her eyes at me.
And she complained about me eye rolling. Also, was it that obvious?
“Maybe. Should I tell them? I mean, Frank might have done the crime. Helped with the crime.” I corrected. “He should be the one punished, right?”
“I don’t even understand what a CPA has to do with insider trading. I just know it does,” she admitted.
Good point. Lark might not have been the best person to ask about this.
“Are you two coming?” Nic yelled out the door. I could see the woman from earlier inside talking to him as soon as he turned back toward the tea house.
“We’ll be right there,” Lark called back, putting her hand on my arm to stop me from escaping. “No, seriously. Are you okay?”
“No. But I’m functioning. And quitting. My job. I’m quitting my job.” I hadn’t said it out loud yet. Not in a complete phrase like that. Not that it was correct. I wasn’t really quitting so much as… it didn’t matter. I was no longer going to be... me.
Hello chest pain, my old friend.
Then again, I hadn’t panicked since… when I got out of my car before I met Nic. When we walked into the resort together before Henry’s death. Well, excluding Henry’s death, but anyone would have an issue with that.
Huh. Did that mean that my anxiety quieted down around Nic? I wondered why.
Scratch that. I didn't want to know that answer. I couldn't keep Nic. Despite the town’s attempts.
Lark’s face loomed in front of me as she searched my eyes for the truth.
“I got drunk last night. There may have been a little crying. A lot of cake and romantic movies. Happy drunk Jen watched some things I’m not proud of.” Like teen movies. “I’m processing my grief. I’m... keeping moving,” I admitted.
“Why didn’t you call me?” she demanded.
“I texted. And because I needed to cry ugly tears and you would have tried to make me feel better. Then it would have gotten crazy because your antics are crazy, and I was happy drunk Jen, and then I wouldn’t have cried my ugly tears.” I wasn’t sure that even made sense.
“Okay then.” She turned and faced the Tea House. “Seriously though, you think they might break the rules and bring me coffee?”
“Are you going to bring them Brecken, wrapped up with a Barrow Bay Police Department badge on him?”
“Nope.”
“Then no. I‘m guessing no coffee for you.”
“He went on a case, I think undercover, and I haven't heard from him in a while.” Lark admitted, looking away, before her eyes flickered back. “Like, a long while.”
Huh. Well, a good friend would break confidence and tell her his family was here to move in and bring him with them, but I was pretty sure that would freak her out more.
“He’ll call,” I said, instead.
“Sure. I mean, it’s cool if he doesn’t. I will just tell everyone it’s his fault.” She pressed her lips together for a second. “I just don’t need Lindsey to know.”
“Would I ever tell Lindsey anything?”
“Yes.” She glared. “If it was good enough gossip, you would tell her everything.”
Damn. She was right.
“This isn’t good enough.” I assured her, and she looked relieved. “Now, can we go in and get this over with?”
“Remind me again… Why aren’t they making you make Nic stay? Why am I the only one with the magic relationship draw?”
“How did Lindsey not know this?” Lark pulled out her phone and started scrolling. “Nope. Nothing. I’m texting her. I’m so disappointed.”
“You do and I will kill you and make it look like an accident,” I told her as I set off into the Tea House. After she accused me of telling Lindsey everything.
“Please. You have no more defensive skills than I do.” She followed, hooking her arm into mine.
“I don’t need defensive skills. One well-timed honk at that monster you keep trying to convince me is a horse and it will be all over.”
“My daughter’s mare and I have come to an agreement. I let her attack people trying to kill me and she doesn’t try to kill me anymore.”
“You disturb me.”
She shrugged. “I’m a horse trainer. We’re flexible.” She winced. “That didn’t sound right.”
“Yeah, that sounded a little dirty,” I teased, as we walked in the door.
“Lark! Sweetie. How’s Brecken?” Lark’s Aunt Helen came forward to greet us, giving both of us a quick hug. Helen was in her fifties and ran the Tea House for Gran, who was supposed to be retired.
I tried to hold in my snickering because Lark hadn’t been kidding. They really had put the pressure on.
“I don’t know. You should ask him,” Lark said, rolling her eyes.
“Helen. It is so nice to see you again,” I interrupted before we could go down the Brecken path. I had heard the conversations and they were not pretty.
Helen blinked at me. “It’s been two days.”
Okay, so I was doing it badly. Sue me.
“Dorothy made reservations?” I asked to distract her, this time more effectively.
“Yes, and then this nice lady called to make them for four. Have you met Carrie?” She turned to Carrie with a smile. “She was just telling me how you met Nic.” She turned to me and whispered, “I approve. He’s a hunk-a-hunk-a-burning-love.”
Again, very loudly. We really needed to have a discussion about whispering in this town. Also, they hadn’t approved a few weeks ago, so I was confused. What had changed? Were they really that desperate for someone at the resort that Dorothy had called in reinforcements? Last time he was here, Gran gave Nic an epic setdown. He had come inside and tried to bring me in for questioning, but Gran had told him that no one, not even the police, could interrupt High Tea in this town. Given that Brecken and John hadn’t even bothered to get out of the car, Gran had won.
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