Plotting for Murder (Cozy Mystery Bookshop Series Book 1)

by Tamra Baumann

  Dylan switches his plate with mine as he says, “I’m counting on it.” He digs into my former meal with a grin.

  “Clever.” I take a big bite as well to prove my food isn’t tainted. The truffle mac and cheese has gotten even better overnight. “I read once that poisoning is more commonly a woman’s crime. Do you think that’s true?”

  Dylan lifts a shoulder. “Not necessarily. Women do tend toward less violent crime in general, but there are always exceptions to the rules. Sneaky way to ask me if I think a man or woman killed Chad, though.”

  Busted.

  “My chef’s reputation is on the line here. I’m in a hurry to clear my name. So, have you ruled anyone out yet?”

  “I can’t discuss that. I promise, you’ll be the first to know after I arrest the person who did it.”

  “’Kay.” Silently chewing and thinking at the same time, I finally ask, “If I guess what you’re looking for in my mom’s office, will you blink twice?”

  “Nope.” He throws his napkin at me and then puts his plate in the dishwasher. “The crab cakes needed more salt.”

  That I knew. “How about the rest?”

  He picks up my cell phone. “Perfect.”

  My happy chef’s heart swells a little at that.

  He sets the phone down and says, “I put my numbers in for the station and my cell. Call me if you need anything. Day or night. Even if you’d just like some company.” His brows hitch.

  “Luckily, I have a new dog for company. Keep me posted on the investigation, please.”

  “Will do.”

  As he’s walking down the hall, I say, “Hey. How did you know my phone’s unlock code?”

  “Some things never change. See ya, Sawyer.”

  I hate that he’s right. I’m changing the code right now. But then I might forget it. He’s a sheriff. I guess I can trust him not to spread that piece of information around.

  After I clean the kitchen, Cooper and I head upstairs to my mom’s study. It’s a big room with lots of built-in wooden bookcases, a large old desk where my grandfather made his millions developing real estate, and some nice windows whose views extend to the ocean. And it’s as messy as the storeroom in the bookstore.

  I open the top desk drawer and start in.

  A few moments later, Wade flops into one of the torn leather guest chairs in front of the scarred desk. “Hey, Sawyer? Got a second?”

  Shoving the papers that want to escape back into place, I shut the drawer and give my carpenter my full attention. “Sure. What’s up?”

  Wade’s forehead crumples like he’s struggling with something. I hope he’s not going to ask for a raise.

  He clears his throat. “I need a woman’s advice about something.”

  Oh. That I can do. I instantly relax. “What can I help with?”

  “Before we get to that, what do you think of this molding pattern? It’s as close as I can find to the original.” He sets a piece of wood on my desk.

  I pick up the little sample and shake my head. “I’d really like to find something closer than this. I don’t want to have to replace the molding throughout the whole house. Can you keep looking?”

  “Okay.” He slips the sample back into his pocket. “I’ll see how much it’d be to have it custom-made to match.”

  “That’d be great. Thanks.” I fold my hands and wait for whatever else he wants to discuss.

  He chews his bottom lip for a few moments like he’s gathering his thoughts before he finally says, “I didn’t tell the sheriff something about Chad and Crystal last night. I’m sure it doesn’t have anything to do with what happened to Chad. So, do I keep a secret Chad shared with me in confidence? Or do I tell? Chad was my best friend, you know?”

  This makes me sit up taller. “Do you think you know what they were fighting about?”

  Wade cringes while he nods. “I figured Crystal would tell Dylan when he spoke to her, but she didn’t. She told me this morning it wasn’t anyone’s business. I’m afraid it might affect Julie too if the sheriff figures out that Chad and Julie have been dating secretly so Crystal won’t find out. It’ll make Julie look guilty.”

  Oh boy. Things are heating up now. A love triangle? What was it I’d read people typically kill for? Love, greed, and money? “Were you helping Julie and Chad cover up their relationship?”

  “No. They’ve been sneaking around for a while, but Crystal was just asking Chad to do the right thing.”

  Do the right thing? I could take a few guesses here, but the one at the top of my list was “So Crystal’s pregnant? And wanted Chad to support the child?”

  Wade blinks rapidly. “I don’t want to say, but Chad and Crystal were broken up when he started dating Julie. They’ve tried to keep their new relationship on the down low because of Crystal. You know what a psycho Crystal can be when she has her sights on a guy, right? From back in high school with Dylan? Borderline stalker.”

  “Yeah. I know very well.” What was I going to do with this information? “I think you should tell Crystal to tell Dylan, or you will. It’s the right thing to do.”

  Wade’s brows scrunched together. “Would it be okay to tell Crystal that I confided in you for advice? I bet then she’d cave and tell Dylan before you could. She’d hate to see you appear to know more than she does.”

  Too true that.

  I smile and nod. “I think that’s an amazing plan. Any idea when my staircase will be done?”

  Wade smiles as he stands. “Maybe when the amazing food runs out.” He winks at me again before he walks out the door.

  I lay my head on the desk and moan. My mother knew our hungry carpenter was going to be practically living with me after she was gone. Had she hired Wade as a backup in case I didn’t get back together with Dylan? Or fall for her handsome lawyer, Gage? Who knows what crazy things my mother cooked up, but she was famous for her fall-in-love schemes.

  As I ponder my life for a few minutes, I think about that envelope again. Maybe it’s time to pull the trigger. It might shed some light on how my mother planned to meddle in my love life, so I can make it stop.

  I walk down the hall with Cooper right on my heels, to my old bedroom that’s the same as I left it fourteen years ago. Purple walls, bedspread, and curtains. A white desk and a corkboard filled with blue ribbons from math competitions across the country. My acceptance letter to MIT is still pinned underneath my acceptance letter to culinary school in Chicago. I smile as I open my desk drawer and pull out the sealed envelope my mom left for me. My life was so simple back when I was in school, but I didn’t know it. Everything had seemed so dramatic.

  I hold the envelope in my hand, stalling and thinking maybe not much has changed. I have a murder to solve to save my chef’s reputation, and a tricky trust game to play to beat my uncle. Two men are giving my hormones a headache, and I have a dog now to care for twenty-four seven.

  I work up the courage to run my finger under the flap and pull out the folded paper inside. It’s been printed out from the computer because my mother’s handwriting is sometimes impossible to read. As tears form in my eyes, I begin to read her heartfelt note. When I turn the page, my bruised heart nearly stops.

  Stunned, I blink away the tears and reread the whole letter just to be sure I’m comprehending the words. My mother was a heck of a lot smarter than I ever gave her credit for. And the Admiral might not be as crazy as I thought. Though if he has a big mouth, it might have something to do with why Chad is dead.

  I pick up my cell and look for the number Dylan just input.

  When Dylan answers, I say, “I think I just found what you were looking for.”

  Chapter 4

  With Dylan due back at my house any minute to see the letter, I grab a quick shower. The small bathroom attached to my mom’s bedroom where I sleep now is so steamy, I crack the door open to let the hot air out. I really need to see about fixing the exhaust fan.

  After wrangling my thick hair into a ponytail, I wipe a circle of ste
am off the mirror with the sleeve of my robe. Then I dial my sister’s cell and hit the speaker button, so I can put my makeup on and talk at the same time.

  Megan answers with “You’ve got three minutes. I’m heading into surgery.”

  It seems my sister is always in the middle of an emergency of some sort, be it at the hospital or home. I’m lucky she answers my calls at all, but since Mom died, she always picks up. She worries about me here in this big lonely house by myself.

  I quickly say, “This is going to take more than three minutes. Mom left me a letter that says she hid some valuable things for us to find. Something here at the house and another thing at the bookstore. And of course, she wants me to reconsider being with Dylan again.”

  “We all want you to reconsider being with Dylan again. But what could she have hidden of value for us? She had no money beyond the pittance the trust allowed.”

  I’m going to ignore the Dylan comments. “I don’t know. She said they’re worth enough to start any kind of restaurant I want. It might change your mind about giving up your share of the trust. Can you guys all come to dinner tonight?”

  “I’m not changing my mind about the trust. It’s been nothing but a carrot dangled in our faces that we’ll never get. I’m not playing the game anymore. It’s all yours. Especially if you’ll make a succulent pot roast with those caramelized potatoes, baby onions, and carrots that suck up the juices in the same pan, and then your famous blueberry crumble for dessert, you got a deal.”

  Succulent? Caramelized? My sister never talks like that unless she’s dieting. Usually, she talks about gross stuff like cranial hemorrhages. “You’ve been drinking protein shakes instead of eating real food again, haven’t you?”

  “Been busy. Don’t nag. Just feed me. Please?”

  How can my chef’s heart refuse? “Only because now I’m concerned for my niece’s and nephew’s eating habits too. Six o’clock work?”

  “Probably can’t round Lance and the kids up until six thirty. And FYI, Alexandra has decided she needs to be called Alex. And she’s a vegetarian this week. Gotta run. Love you.” Megan hangs up.

  “Love you too.” I tap my phone to disconnect the call and shake my head as I lean closer to the mirror to apply my mascara. Guess I’m making “Alex” a vegetarian meal along with my sister’s caveman cuisine.

  Dylan’s deep voice calls out from far away, “I love succulent pot roast. And I haven’t seen Lance and the kids in weeks. Can I come to dinner too?”

  Great. If my sister only knew I’m rarely alone in my house anymore, she could stop her worrying. Lately, my home has been crawling with men. And so much for my watchdog. Cooper didn’t even bark.

  I cap my mascara and go for the lip gloss. “Knocking would have been nice. What if I hadn’t been decent?”

  A slightly muffled response says, “Then my day would’ve been complete?”

  “Or you’d have to arrest yourself for breaking and entering along with being a Peeping Tom.”

  Dylan laughs. “Wade let me in on his way out to get more wood and said you were up here. And I did knock, but then I heard you talking to Megan from out here in the hall, so I was waiting until you finished. Can I stop screaming through the door now? Are you decent?”

  “Mostly.” I wipe the rest of the fog from the mirror. “Come in. The letter is on the bed. I’ll be out in a second.”

  “So, is that a yes or a no? For dinner. Hi, Cooper.” The bed creaks, so I assume he sat on the edge to read the letter and to pet my dog. He says, “Why would Alexandra decide to be a vegetarian all of a sudden? Used to be all she’d eat were hot dogs and hamburgers when she and Collin spent the night. I’ve been trying to get them to try real food for years.”

  My lip gloss stops midswipe. “They spend the night with you sometimes too?” My sister and brother-in-law live in a cool restored Victorian on a hill in San Francisco. It’s a forty-five-minute drive from there to Sunset Cove. I assumed he’d go there to see them. And that I was the one the kids loved to have sleepovers with. “And you cook for them?”

  “Sometimes. Or we go out. They love to stay with me when Lance and Megan go away. I’m a fun guy. Remember?”

  We did have some fun times way back when. “I’ve blocked all memories of you, so I wouldn’t know.” I shut the bathroom door all the way and then slip into my jeans and pull a T-shirt over my head. I suddenly have the day off, so it’s casual for me today.

  I join Dylan on the side of the bed and tie my sneakers while he reads the letter. Cooper is snoozing with his white chin on Dylan’s boot. “The letter says the Admiral knew about the things my mother hid. Do you think he told anyone else? Like Chad? Not to be rude, but he’s a few cards short of a full deck.”

  “He said last night he hasn’t told anyone else, yet clearly he helped your mom orchestrate all this.” Dylan’s rubbing the back of his neck like it hurts.

  He’s probably at the part of the letter where my mom said men could be immature boneheads sometimes, and Dylan had been young, so I should forgive him for leaving me at the altar after he’d developed cold feet. Later, I’d found out he’d chosen the army over a life with me. Mom says he left as a confused boy and then returned to Sunset Cove a changed man.

  I changed in all those years too. Into someone who will think long and hard before giving my heart to anyone else again. It can take a long time to heal.

  Dylan hands me the letter and frowns. “You just left this on your bed? Wade could’ve found it.”

  “If that’s your sneaky way of asking if Wade is allowed in my bedroom, the answer is no. I’m just stuck with him in my hallways until my termite-infested woodwork can be replaced. All over the house.” I fold the letter and stick it in my pocket to show my sister later. “So, what do you think? Was Chad looking for whatever my mom hid at the store? Could he have found out somehow before I did? And if so, maybe he told someone else, who killed him before he could find it? Like Crystal, who he was arguing with?”

  Dylan’s eyes cut my way, and I can almost see the wheels turning in his head. He’s deciding how much to tell me. It’s annoying.

  Finally, he says, “It’s possible. Your mom hid something here too, though, so start locking your doors at all times until we figure out who else knows.”

  “Tell that to my new roommate, Wade, who clearly grew up in a barn.” I chew my thumbnail as I think about the letter. “Gage told me yesterday that Uncle Frank has to approve any spending over five grand. So, maybe the Admiral bought whatever is hidden and my mom paid him back in little chunks, so my uncle wouldn’t find out?” The money to buy them had to have come from the trust somehow. I’ve been through all her banking records, and she’s never had more than a few hundred bucks at a time, as was my grandparents’ plan evidently. I can’t figure out how she could buy such expensive things without my uncle finding out.

  Dylan nods. “Maybe. Or she disguised it as something for the business or house expenses. She did that expensive kitchen remodel last year with a firm out of San Francisco, so maybe look at those bills.”

  “I will. I found some in a file last month.”

  “The Admiral says he left instructions in his will regarding the items in case he dies. Your mom told him to tell you where the hidden pieces are only if you declined to live here and thereby officially surrender the trust to your uncle. So you’d find whatever they are before he got the property. The Admiral says your mother hid the items well so you’d stick around for a while.”

  Of course she had. “I’ll either have to actually move away for the Admiral to tell me where to look or stay and find the mystery things myself? And let me guess. Gage is the Admiral’s lawyer too?”

  Dylan taps his nose.

  “So, Gage knows what and where the things are hidden too if it’s in the will. Could he or a paralegal have told someone?” And is Gage interested in me because whatever my mother hid for me is worth a ton of money? Enough to open the most elegant restaurant I can imagine, according t
o my mom. But my sister should have half when I find whatever these mystery items are.

  “I’m going to go ask Gage that question right now.” Dylan pats Cooper goodbye. “What was the verdict on dinner? Am I invited or not?”

  He loves being with Megan, Lance, and the kids as much as I do. And I’m stuck with him until this mystery is solved anyway. “Fine. If you’ll tell me what Gage says, I’ll double the size of the pot roast to accommodate your appetite.”

  Dylan smiles. “We’ll see.”

  So irritating. “If you don’t spill, you’ll get whatever vegetarian thing I make for Alexandra.”

  “I’m sure that’ll be incredible too.” He pulls out his wallet and hands me eighty bucks. “After reading that letter from your mom, I think I should pay for dinner tonight. I really am sorry I hurt you, Sawyer. Your mom is right. I was an immature bonehead back then. See you later.”

  I stand in my bedroom with the money in my hand and a big lump in my throat as I watch him walk away. Mom’s letter must’ve gotten to him.

  I should run after him and give him the money back, tell him he can’t fix what he did with cash. Yet I know deep down he also gave me the money because he knows I’m basically broke right now. It was a nice thing to do, to apologize and save my pride at the same time.

  I guess I’ll get enough pot roast for him too.

  After I’ve got Cooper settled in the laundry room with a treat and some chew toys Bert sent along, I head down the hill to the grocery store. First, though, I want to check in with my bestie Renee at her ice-cream shop. She’d been away all week at a confectioner’s conference but is due back today. Who knew they even had those kinds of things, but man, I bet it’d be fun to tag along and sample the goods.

  I pick up the pace when I hit the town square because everyone will want to know about the events of last night if I give them a chance to stop me. As I pass by Bang Bangs, the beauty parlor, I’m relieved to see Pattie Smith’s hands buried deep in a head full of shampoo. She lifts her chin in greeting so I wave and keep moving. Mr. Martinez, who runs one of many art galleries on the square, holds up a finger to stop me but I smile and tap my wrist to indicate I’m late. Thankfully, The Daily Scoop, Renee’s ice-cream shop that sells amazing sweets too is next door. I duck inside and draw the lovely familiar aroma of sugar, cinnamon, and chocolate deep into my lungs. I used to work here in high school for Renee’s parents, who’ve since moved to Hawaii to retire. The unique mixture of sweetness never gets old.