Crack the Code (Glock Grannies Cozy Mystery Book 5)

by Shannon VanBergen

  “It was definitely disturbing,” Kent agreed.

  We talked for a few minutes about what we had learned on the news, that John Asuza’s death was from a snake bite.

  I shuddered. “I just can’t believe we were all walking around out there with poisonous snakes.”

  “Well, technically they’re venomous snakes,” Aaron corrected. “If it bites or stings and injects its toxins then it’s venomous. If you eat it or touch it and get the toxins, then it’s poisonous.”

  We all looked at him surprised. He smiled. “My degree is in Wildlife Management.”

  “Well, whatever they are, it’s scary,” I pointed out. “That could’ve been one of us.”

  The table was silent for a while as we mulled things over.

  “So,” Kent said looking at me, “Is it too soon to ask if you’re geocaching with us next Saturday?”

  I managed a laugh. “Definitely too soon.”

  “I hope you come with us,” Annalise said. “We’ve been doing this for seven or eight months now and we’ve never had a single bad thing happen. We always have fun.”

  “Don’t let them talk you into it,” Les said chuckling. “It’s not my thing either.”

  “I’m surprised,” I said honestly. “Why don’t you like it?”

  He shrugged. “I just don’t enjoy the hunt I guess.”

  Piper was shocked. “That’s the best part! Well, that and seeing what’s in the cache.”

  “Speaking of which,” Kent said. “Have you had time to figure out what that code means?”

  Piper looked confused for a minute. “Oh!” She finally said. “That message in the bottle! Actually, I forgot all about it. It’s in my purse. Let’s look at it.”

  She rummaged around in her purse then pulled out the little bottle. She removed the paper and passed it around. When it got to me, I studied it.

  TMBA PIDM AWUM NCV

  “I have no idea what this could mean. Do you guys?”

  Kent took the paper and Aaron leaned over to look at it. “I have no idea,” Kent said. “But I’ve never been great with codes.”

  Aaron took a picture of it. “It can’t be too hard. Maybe we just need to Google it. Surely there’s a code decipher website or something.”

  Any of us could’ve picked up our phones and checked, but it seemed that none of us had the energy.

  After about thirty minutes we ran out of drinks and small talk and Piper pushed back her chair. “Well, guys, I think I’m going to head home. It’s been an exhausting day.”

  Aaron looked disappointed.

  “I think I’ll do that same,” I said, grabbing my latte. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything from Owen. I haven’t heard from him since earlier today. I’m sure he’s busy with everything.”

  We all stood up and walked to the parking lot. Our cars were all parked close together and Kent hollered at me from over his car. “I hope you come with us next Saturday. I promise I’ll protect you from the snakes!”

  Was he flirting with me? I was too tired to care. I’m sure I would obsess about it later. But for now, I needed to sleep.

  My phone rang at nine the next morning. Who would be so rude to call me so early? I looked at my phone and it was Owen. That was a surprise. I answered it, trying not to sound like I had just woken up.

  “I woke you, didn’t I?”

  “I should get up anyway. Who sleeps past nine on their day off?” Technically I slept in every day. Grandma Dean had hired someone to help at our store Hello Beautiful. Brittany worked in the mornings and I worked most afternoons. But Sunday the store was closed.

  “Not a morning person,” he said sarcastically. “Good to know. Anyway, since you’re up would you like to go have coffee at the coffee shop downtown? I can swing by and pick you up in ten minutes.”

  I was the kind of person who could easily go from bed to car in ten minutes, as long as Grandma Dean wasn’t around to catch me leaving the house like that. But she was at church, so I said yes.

  I got off the phone, threw on some shorts and ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Yikes. My curly hair was its usual mess. Suddenly I regretted saying I’d be ready in ten minutes. I put my hair in a low ponytail and cringed. Then I remembered that I had a baseball hat in my closet. Before I ran to get it, I put on some lip gloss and mascara. I didn’t use to wear either but living with a fashionista like Grandma had rubbed off on me a little. I grabbed the hat and did one more quick look in the mirror before someone was knocking on the door.

  “I’ve never seen you in a hat before,” Owen said when I opened the door.

  “Yeah, I’m not really a hat person. Just trying something new.”

  We drove to the coffee shop and he parked outside. “I’m just going to run in and get our things to go if that’s okay with you. I thought we’d drive around and talk. That way I don’t have to worry about anyone overhearing.”

  Hmm. That sounded interesting. I gave him my order then waited in the car, my head against the back of the seat and my eyes closed. I couldn’t seem to shake the exhaustion from the day before.

  My phone buzzed. It was a text from Grandma Dean. “I hope it’s okay. I gave a lady from the Peace Pointe Chronicle your contact info. Her name is Delores, she’s a sweet gal. She wanted to ask you some questions about yesterday.”

  Oh great. Interviewed by the paper. I wondered what Owen would think of that. If I told him, he might not tell me whatever juicy story I knew I was coming. But if I didn’t tell him…well, that didn’t seem to be the right thing either.

  Seconds later my phone was ringing, and it was a number I didn’t recognize. I had a hunch it was the woman from the paper. I answered and sure enough it was. She asked me some basic questions about myself and then about what happened at the park. Everything was straight forward until the end. “You’re friends with Detective Owen, right?” She didn’t even give me a chance to answer. “Has he mentioned anything to you about the snake bite? Was there anything suspicious about it?”

  At that moment, Owen opened the car door. He got in and started to say something, but I waved my hands wildly to get him to be quiet. He looked confused but he stopped talking. “Is that him?” the lady on the phone said. “Can I talk to him really quick? Just one or two quick questions…”

  I cut her off. “I’m sorry I have to go, and no, that wasn’t him, that was…my boyfriend. Have a nice day.”

  “What was that all about?” Owen asked when I hung up.

  I sighed. “It was some lady from the paper. I think her name was Delores.”

  Owen looked angry. “What did she want?”

  “Well, I thought she was just asking for my side of the story, but then she asked if you and I were friends and if you had told me anything.”

  Owen was furious. “That woman will not leave me alone. And now she’s calling you! How did she even get your number?”

  I told him that Grandma Dean had given it to her. “There was no way Grandma would’ve known that Delores had an ulterior motive,” I pointed out.

  “I know,” he said. “Delores just drives me nuts. I used to really like her, but lately I don’t know, she’s just really annoying.”

  “She asked if you had mentioned if there was anything suspicious about the snake bite. Why would she ask that?”

  Owen buckled his seat belt and took a deep breath. “Let’s go for that drive.”

  6

  Owen silently drove us through town. I could smell the cinnamon roll in the bag between us and even though I wanted to grab it, I stayed strong. Barely.

  After several minutes, he pulled into a park a few minutes outside of town. He drove down the winding road and past several signs that announced walking trails, and one sign that warned of alligators. I hope he didn’t expect me to get out and go for a hike – not after my last experience at a park.

  Owen pulled over at a picnic area, unbuckled his seat belt and moved his seat back. When he didn’t show any signs of getting out, I relaxed
a little.

  “Do you mind if we sit here and drink our coffee? I like to come here and think.”

  I looked out my window. It was beautiful, the perfect place to sit and think – especially if you stayed in your car. “This looks lovely,” I said, still looking out my window.

  I heard the ruffling of the paper bag and turned as Owen handed me a cinnamon roll. He laughed. “I can’t believe how much restraint you had. I expected you to tear into this before we even left the parking spot at the coffee shop.”

  Tear into it? What kind of a beast did he think I was? Who was I kidding. I totally had wanted to do that. “I was trying to be more ‘lady like,’” I said, grabbing a napkin and giving him a grin. “Grandma Dean is always reminding me I fall short in that area. But if you tease me like that again, that will be the last time I try that around you.”

  Owen laughed again. I was happy to see him loosening up a little. “You can be yourself around me,” he promised. “Your unladylike tendencies are entertaining.”

  “Oh, well, thank you,” I laughed back. “I’m glad I can provide some comedic relief.”

  We silently enjoyed our cinnamon rolls as we looked out the front window and into the wooded area in front of us.

  A bird with a bright red mark on its head flew in front of us. “The birds here are so beautiful,” I commented.

  Owen finished his cinnamon roll and reached in front of me to open the glove box. He pulled out a package of wet wipes. “I hate being sticky,” he said as he pulled one out. He sat an extra, I assumed for me, between us. “So,” he said wiping his hands, “I’m sure you want to know the latest on the case.”

  “Well, I’m definitely curious. Especially since you whisked me away to the middle of nowhere and got angry after that call from the newspaper.

  He shook his head and narrowed his eyes as he thought. “It wasn’t a snake bite that killed John Asuza.”

  “What?” I asked shocked. “But he had a snake bite on his shoulder, right?”

  Owen took a deep breath. “The coroner told me this morning it wasn’t an actual snake bite, it looked more like two injection sites.”

  I was confused. “So, a snake didn’t kill him?”

  “Well, venom killed him, but it looks like someone injected him with venom instead of a snake actually biting him.”

  “How could they tell?”

  “A bite from a rattlesnake and an injection from a syringe look like two different things. The murderer at least tried to make it look legit by injecting Mr. Asuza twice, side by side to make it look like a snake bite.”

  I sat there taking it all in. “So, someone injected him with rattlesnake venom…twice? Did this John guy not try to get away? Would it kill him that fast?”

  “It wouldn’t have killed him that fast,” he answered. “Had he been conscious he would’ve been able to get away or at least call for help.”

  “But you don’t think he was conscious?”

  Owen shrugged. “The coroner found alcohol and a muscle relaxer in his system. If you take those together, you could pass out.”

  “And then someone injected him with rattlesnake venom? But why? And who would do that?”

  He sighed. “Those are the million-dollar questions.”

  “Do you have any suspects?”

  “The list is growing by the minute. The guy wasn’t shy about ticking people off.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  He looked at me alarmed. “You can stay out of it!”

  “You wouldn’t tell me all of this because you wanted me to stay out of it!”

  He gently took my arm. “Nikki, I need you to stay out of this. Whoever did this is dangerous. I don’t want you or those crazy grannies involved.”

  “Then why did you tell me?!”

  He looked hurt. “I just needed to talk about it for a minute. And since you found the body, and you’re my friend, you felt like a safe person to talk to. But obviously I made the wrong decision.”

  He started the car and started to pull away from the picnic area. I wanted to reassure him – tell him I wouldn’t get involved and that the grannies wouldn’t either. But he knew us all better than that. There had to be a reason he told me all of this then. Or maybe it was just because he felt like he could confide in me.

  “I’ll tell you what,” I said, trying to smooth things over. “If I hear anything, I’ll let you know. But I won’t investigate this. If information comes my way, I’ll tell you. But I won’t just go searching things out myself.”

  He glanced at me and gave me a look like he didn’t believe me. I think we both knew that even if I didn’t search things out, things had a way of finding me. And that’s exactly what happened the very next day.

  7

  “You made the front page!” Grandma said the next afternoon, dropping the newspaper in front me of at the table.

  I picked it up and looked at it. “Visitor trips over body in park.” I felt a little insulted. “Visitor? I live here now!”

  “Well,” Grandma said, taking the paper back and pulling out the community events section. “You don’t have a Florida driver’s license and that old beat up truck of yours still has Illinois plates.”

  Hmm. She was right. Should I change that? Did I plan on living here long enough that I would go through the hassle of changing my driver’s license? That felt awfully permanent. Suddenly I started to feel anxious and sweaty.

  “Don’t get yourself all worked up,” Grandma said, skimming the page. “You don’t have to decide now what you want to do with your life.”

  I felt relieved. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine going to back to Illinois to live. Even though I had been here about six months, living in Illinois felt like a lifetime ago. And could I leave Grandma Dean? I looked at her sitting there, hair in a perfect silver bob, her makeup making her look ten years younger (at least) and her stylish outfit. She always looked like she just stepped out of a magazine. Always. She challenged me. She made me want to be better, to look better, to act better. Even if I fought it, which I often times did, I was changing for the better. She expected something out of me, but more than that, she was making me expect something out of myself.

  “So, what does the article say?” Grandma asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

  I scanned the paper. “Nikki Parker was geocaching in Peace Pointe Park when she tripped over a body hidden in the tall grass. The body turned out to be local celebrity, John Asuza. Police detective, and possible…” I gasped and could feel the blood drain from my face.

  Grandma looked up from her paper. “What’s wrong? What does it say?”

  I was in shock and stared back at the paper. That Delores really was rotten.

  “Nikki,” Grandma said a little louder. “What does it say?”

  I looked up at her, my mouth open, unable to speak. She took the paper from me and continued reading. “Police Detective, and Nikki’s possible lover, Owen Russell confirmed to the press that Mr. Asuza died of a snake bite, but many have reason to believe there is more to the story.”

  Grandma looked at me shocked. “Is there something going on between you and Owen?”

  “No!” I yelled. “Nothing! Why would she even put that in there?”

  Grandma stood up, furious. “I thought this was a newspaper, not a tabloid. I’m going to call Winston Gasby and give him a piece of my mind! He owns the paper and needs to know this is not acceptable!”

  Grandma Dean grabbed her phone and stormed off to her room. I sat there by myself for a minute until the door flew open and in walked Hattie and Irene.

  “Nikki’s got herself a boyfriend!” Hattie cackled.

  “I do not!” I protested.

  “Oh, don’t deny it,” Irene said, sitting across from me. “You two have been flirty-flirting your way around each other since you moved here!”

  “We have not!”

  “In her defense,” Hattie said. “She flirty-flirts with everyone.”

  “You two ha
ve room to talk! You’ll sleep with anything that has legs!”

  Hattie looked thoughtful for a minute. “Why would someone need to have legs to sleep with them? If you ask me, they just get in the way.” She looked at Irene. “Remember when you dated that guy…what was his name…”

  “Darryl,” Irene said smiling. “Darryl Mead. I’ll never forget him. Didn’t have legs and was missing an arm but I can tell you he did just fine without them.”

  This conversation was going downhill fast. I should’ve known better than to try to stick up for myself and outwit those two. Thankfully Grandma came back in the room.

  “Well, I had a nice little conversation with Winston, and he assures me there will be a written apology to you in the paper tomorrow.” Grandma walked to the sink and started to fill the kettle with water. “I just don’t know what has gotten into Delores lately. Did you see the piece in the paper last week about how the price of avocados keeps going up? Then she had the nerve to end the article with how Sam Gunthry’s grand-daughter is unmarried and pregnant because her fiancé left with that woman he met at a carnival.”

  “Well,” Hattie said, sliding the newspaper her way, “I heard it did wonders for his business. Everyone felt sorry for him and his grand-daughter and started shopping at Gunthry’s Market. I talked to him the other day and he said at first he was upset, but it ended up bringing in more business so maybe it was a good thing.”

  “Plus,” Irene added. “It prompted people to send a bunch of gift cards to his granddaughter. So even though Delores was being a rotten cabbage toot, something good came of it.”

  I laughed. “Rotten cabbage toot?”

  Grandma laughed too. “Oh yes, I forgot about that pact you made with Greta last week. How’s that going?”

  Hattie grimaced. “It’s hard. I don’t like it.”

  “What pact?” I asked. I always seemed to be the last person to know anything even though I felt like we were all together, all the time.