Jasper leans in. “Are you saying Kaitlynn knew someone was angry enough to kill her?”
She shrugs. “It’s something people say all the time, isn’t it? If something happens to me, you’ll know why.”
My heart thumps wildly as if the answer to who killed Kaitlynn was about to bubble right out of her.
“So, who did she say she needed to watch out for?” I ask with bated breath.
“She was ambiguous about it. But she knew something bad was coming. She wanted to put it out there that she didn’t feel safe.” Someone calls her name from the oversized barn in the distance. “I gotta go. Try to solve this case, would you?” She glares at Jasper. “Kaitlynn deserves some justice.” Her chest rises with her next breath as she looks to the two of us.
Maybe I told them the truth. Maybe I didn’t. Maybe I’m not sure about it either.
She takes off, and I shudder in her wake.
“So?” Jasper stares me down with those white-hot spotlights he calls eyes. “What did you learn?”
My lips twist in protest, but in my heart I realize that withholding anything from him at this point would be petty. A woman was killed. This isn’t a game.
“I’m not sure if she was telling the truth, but she said Rissa and Kaitlynn were arguing that night because Kaitlynn’s best friend, Jeannie Branch, was trying to steal Rissa’s boyfriend.” I watch as his jaw becomes defined. “And that a girl named Hannah, who had a habit of irritating Kaitlynn, was trying to steal Chris. Heck, he was openly with her. Apparently, everyone in their circle knew about it.”
“That had to have been hard.” I should know. I’ve been there.
A breath catches in my throat.
“I’m sorry,” I say and he takes a partial step back. “I mean, I thought maybe you might be able to commiserate a little.”
“I can.” He takes a breath. “A lot. That deputy my ex was involved with happened to be my best friend.”
My gut cinches for him. “That’s so terrible. I’m sorry, Jasper. I can’t imagine how painful that must have been for you.”
“I’m over it. Being in Cider Cove is exactly what I needed.” He tilts his head, his eyes probing into mine. This is exactly what I needed.
I clear my throat. “Who’s next on your list, detective?” I run my tongue absentmindedly over my lips, and his gaze falls to my mouth. His lids hang low, and his breathing grows shallow.
“Who’s on your list, Bizzy?”
“Hannah, whoever she is.”
“Hannah Osmond,” he says it slow and low as if I had hypnotized the answer right out of him.
Did I just say that? His chest pumps. I have got to watch my mouth around this woman. She’d be liable to get the nuclear codes from me if I had them.
Nuclear codes? He has no clue he could do the same with me.
He takes a step in, and my feet duplicate the action until we’re a breath away.
His fingers hitch a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
“Do you know what I’ve always wanted to do in an orchard?”
My lips part, but not a word comes out.
He nods just once. “Taste something sweet.”
Jasper bows in and lands a soft kiss to my lips. Yes, indeed, she does taste sweet.
His mouth moves over mine as he kisses me senseless right here in the open for all to see as if he wasn’t simply laying claim to my mouth, but he was laying claim to me.
My stomach detonates in a fireball as Jasper pulls me in close, his kisses growing more intense by the moment. I try my best to pry into his mind, but he’s too far gone. It’s nothing but a jumble of white noise. But I can feel the emotion behind his every move as he roams in my mouth, and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.
Our kisses grow with ferocious intensity. I don’t know what’s happening between Jasper and me.
Could he really be using me to advance his case?
Or could this unimaginably handsome man truly be interested in a simple innkeeper like me?
Mackenzie Woods flits through my mind. As soon as she picks up on the fact that I’m falling for the good detective, she’ll do her best to sink her claws into him. My heart breaks just thinking about it. Mackenzie is an inevitable pitfall we’ll have to cross if things ever get serious.
Kaitlynn had a friend like Mackenzie, too—and I use the term friend loosely. I can already tell that Hannah Osmond isn’t the kind of person I’d call a friend. But that won’t stop me from pretending to be one in an effort to advance my own investigation.
I don’t know what Jasper’s intentions are, but one thing I know for sure. You can’t fake a heated kiss like this.
Can you?
Chapter 15
It’s a quiet afternoon at the Cottage Café. Emmie has just come in for the day, looking bleary-eyed and groggy.
Just past the patio the ocean surges in heaving, intense gestures as the waves wallop over the sand with incomprehensible heft. The skies are thick with purple clouds, and the winds are picking up. All of Cider Cove has their fingers crossed that this storm will blow over in time for the Harvest at the Cove Festival coming up this weekend.
Emmie pins me in against the bakery shelf I just filled with my apple walnut cinnamon rolls.
“You’re not going anywhere, Baker, until you spill every word of what happened at that orchard yesterday. And don’t tell me it was innocent, because judging by that goofy grin you can’t shake, I can tell it was anything but that.”
“Don’t you dare start without us,” an all too familiar female voice chimes from behind, and I turn to find Macy and Georgie speeding this way. The matching gleam in their eyes lets me know they’re equally hungry for gossip.
I can’t help but make a face at my sister. Her hair is slicked straight and glossy as if she just had it blown out, and she’s wearing a tight red dress that I let her borrow about six months ago and haven’t seen since—until now.
Georgie is clad in navy, a newer kaftan that has orange stitching running up and down the front in the shape of tiny arrows. Her gray curls are piled high on top of her head, and she has a wooden beaded necklace on that she happens to wear each fall. If anything, Georgie’s fashion sense is dictated by the seasons, which is something I totally appreciate about her. I’m sort of addicted to the seasons and the magic they bring myself.
“Okay, fine.” I pick up a dishrag and begin wiping down the counter just as Emmie takes it away from me. “We kissed again.” I shrug it off as if it were nothing.
Georgie gasps, “This is getting serious. The way he was strutting around town, snacking on your lips, you’d think the two of you were together.”
“We’re not together. With the exception, of course, when the two of us are in the exact same location. But other than that, we’re both very much free agents.”
Macy groans, “No, no, no. I’m the one that’s supposed to have the exciting love life. You’re sane and responsible. You’re supposed to have been engaged to an accountant who owns an entire dresser full of argyle sweaters by now.”
“But she’s not.” Emmie is quick to wag a finger at my sister. “She’s busy kissing a homicide detective from Seaview—who, for the record, she’s not dating.”
Georgie waves off the idea. “They’re dating. They just don’t know it yet. It’s a classic as far as romance stories go. They’ll be married by next fall. Mark my words.”
I gasp at the thought. Georgie is rarely wrong about these things.
“Take that back. I am not marrying that man. He’s far too controlling for my taste.”
Macy scoffs. “He’s hot and he’s controlling? My God, Bizzy, you just get everything, don’t you?”
“Stop.” I try my best to blink away the lunacy. “Look, I’ve got another suspect to question this afternoon.”
Macy gags. “We don’t care about your suspects. Back to the story. Once you left the orchard, did he try to take you to a second location?”
“Macy”—Emmie gi
ggles—“you make it sound like a kidnapping.”
My sister rolls her eyes. “It would have been if she was lucky. I can’t believe my little sister gets to live out every single one of my fantasies.”
“Your fantasies are depraved, by the way,” I say.
“Please.” Macy takes a moment to glare at the ceiling. “Do you want to know what I saw in the corner of my bathroom this morning?”
Emmie groans, “If this has to do with week old underwear, I think I can speak for all of us when I say we’ll take a hard pass.”
“No, not that.” Macy looks crestfallen at whatever is about to pop from her mouth next—and with my sister you never know what that might be. “I saw two daddy long-leg spiders going at it.”
Georgie leans in. “You mean they were fighting?”
“No.” Macy bats her away. “They were getting busy. Do you know what that means?”
Emmie shakes her head. “That you need to work harder to keep your house clean?”
“No.” Macy sighs. “That the spiders in my house are getting more action than I am.”
“Ooh, speaking of which”—I suddenly brighten—“you’ll love what I’m about to say next. Jasper has three brothers, and each of them is single.”
The three of them gasp so loud the few customers we have all turn to gawk our way.
“We’re fine.” I’m quick to shoo everyone back to their own business. “Everything is just fine.”
“It is now,” Macy balks. “And when do I get to meet these single studly brothers?”
Emmie leans in as if she were suddenly interested in procuring one for herself. “Are they all homicide detectives?”
“No. There’s Maximus, who owns a restaurant by the same name down in Seaview.” The three of them swoon on cue. “There’s Jamison, who practices family law like Huxley. And there’s Dalton, who happens to be the head football coach for Ward University.”
“Oh my God.” Georgie clasps her heart as if she couldn’t take it. “Each one sounds more delicious than the next. Please tell me he has a single father.”
“He does, I think. In the least he’s divorced.”
Macy gets that wild look in her eyes that she gets when she is clearly scheming.
“Tell him we’ll host a family reunion for his entire clan asap, right here at the inn.”
“I can’t tell him that. I’m not allowed to give away rooms for free.”
Macy clicks her tongue. “Nobody said anything about free. You’ll cover the cost.”
A laugh bubbles from me. “Nice try. But I can’t do that either. Anyway, I need to get going. I have to find out where I can speak to a girl named Hannah Osmond.”
Macy twists her lips. “If I track her down, do you promise to introduce me to at least one of the Wilder brothers? The cutest of the bunch, please.”
Emmie laughs. “I bet that would be Jasper, and he’s already taken.”
“You’ve got a deal, Macy.” I’m quick to take her up on the offer. “Heck, if you could tell me where I can find Hannah, I’d introduce you to all three and his sister to boot.”
Macy trots out of the café without bothering to say a word to any of us just as my phone bleats in the pocket of my apron and I fish it out.
It’s a text from Jasper. I step away from Emmie and Georgie as they strike up a conversation about the harvest festival coming up.
Hey, Bizzy, just wanted to let you know I have a significant lead in the investigation. Promise me you won’t look into things further. I’m closing in on the killer and don’t want you putting yourself in harm’s way.
My heartbeat ratchets up a few notches as I take in his words. Jasper must know who the killer is.
I quickly text back. Thank you for the heads-up. I’ll be sure to stay far away from your investigation.
I hit send just as Macy trots my way with a spring in her step.
“Guess what, my sweet, albeit slightly nosey, little sister?” she trills as if she were about to burst with good news. “I know exactly where you can find a girl by the name of Hannah Osmond. In fact, I know where you can find her right now.”
“Where?” It takes everything in me not to pull Macy in by her shirt.
“A place called The Rat Tat.”
“The Rat Tat?” I ask as I snatch my purse from under the counter. “Emmie, I’m going to step out for a bit. I’ve got Nessa up front. If you need anything, give me a holler.”
“Where are you going?” Emmie calls out as I make my way around the counter.
Georgie cackles and claps. “I bet that vampire told her to hurry down to Seaview because she’s about to get lucky!”
“Wrong,” I shout back as I look to my sister. “We’re not headed to Seaview, are we?”
“Nope.” She cinches her purse over her shoulder. “We’re off to Edison!”
Both Georgie and Emmie groan because we all know nothing good happens in Edison.
With the exception of today.
Today, Kaitlynn Zimmerman’s killer will be revealed to me in that seedy little town.
At least I’m hoping.
The Rat Tat is a skinny little building tucked between a cleaners and defunct flower shop. A large neon rat crawls high above the storefront with the words The Rat Tat glowing in an obnoxious hue of fluorescent green. The windows are decorated with all sorts of threatening artwork, and there’s a smaller sign that boasts fifteen percent off first tattoo! Inquire about our frequent buyer’s program. Dirty thirty is free!
Macy muses as we stare at the window together. “Do you think by dirty thirty they mean the birthday? Because I’m coming up on mine and I just might be feeling the need to commemorate it with a butterfly on my—”
“Okay, I don’t want to know,” I say, hauling her inside with me.
“What?” Her voice pitches to that faux innocent octave of hers. “I was just going to say my ankle.”
“Not the ankle,” a deep voice strums from behind the counter to our left, and we look over to find a tall beefy man, moderately handsome under all that guyliner and black lipstick. He’s got a full-on Mohawk going and looks to be about our age. “The ankle is one of the more painful places to land a needle. I should know. I’m Rod, the owner.”
“Ooh.” Macy’s eyes swirl like pinwheels at the punk rock cutie as she gravitates swiftly in his direction. I spot a girl behind the next counter, leafing through thick booklets as if she were on a mission, and I head over. She’s far more demure looking than Rob by a punk rock mile. Her hair is the color of black coffee, and her eyes are a pretty shade of teal that I’ve never seen on a person before, and it makes me wonder if she’s wearing contacts. Her nametag is secured to the lapel of her leather jacket, and I speed over in hopes to get a better look.
“Can I help you?” She glances briefly in my direction and her nametag flips, revealing the name Hannah written in large bold print.
Perfect.
“Oh yes,” I say, trying to catch my breath. Who knew Macy could come through for me so quickly? She never did out her source. Regardless, I owe her three single Wilder brothers on a silver platter for this mystery-busting move. “I, uh, am looking to get a tattoo. My friend died recently, and I just…”
Words escape me for a moment. I’m not really going to get a tattoo, am I?
My God, it’s as if this investigation has taken over my better senses. Not to mention the fact I came straight here after promising Jasper I’d stay out of it. But who could blame me? Macy went out of her way to procure this piece of investigative gold. And something tells me, Hannah, here, will be every ounce the precious metal—or better yet—the precious missing link to this murderous puzzle.
“I get it.” Hannah shakes her head. “I just lost a friend, too.”
Her eyes light up as if the thought thrilled her. And I can’t help but frown. This is the girl that Sammy likened to Mack. Not that Sammy knew she was drawing the analogy—but, trust me, I got it loud and clear.
She pushes the o
versized book in front of her my way. “How about something simple? There are tons of icons and symbols in this catalog that could serve as inspiration. Try to think of something that was meaningful to the both of you. That way, when you look at it, you’ll think of them.”
“That’s a great idea. How about you? Are you getting a tattoo to commemorate your friend, too?” I pull the book my way and pretend to peruse the offerings.
“I don’t think so.” She just about scoffs when she says it. “I’ve got more than enough memories, thank you very much.”
My eyes flit to hers. “It doesn’t sound like the two of you got along very well.”
“Oh, we got along plenty. My friend was actually murdered a few weeks back up in Cider Cove.”
“Oh my God.” I clasp my chest, but I don’t have to feign distress. The thought still very much horrifies me. “I’m so sorry to hear that. And I can see why you’d think twice before commemorating her. That might be a very painful reminder.”
“It would be—but for other, less obvious reasons.” She shrugs. “Kaitlynn was ticked at me before she died, and now there’s no way to go back and fix things. We were never that close to begin with. But I tried. God, I tried. Her friends weren’t exactly all that nice to me. Once upon a time, they were my friends, too, but Kaitlynn had a way of squeezing all the good things I had out of my world and into hers.”
Huh. That’s almost the opposite of what Sammy said. But then, I suppose perspective is everything.
“I’m really sorry to hear it. Maybe she didn’t realize what she was doing?”
A tiny laugh belts from her. “She knew. Kaitlynn always tried to make herself out to be the victim when it came to the two of us. That’s how she got all our friends to turn against me. But, the truth is, I dated all those guys first. That crazy fiancé of hers? I dumped him a week before they became a thing.”
Chris?
I shake my head in disbelief.
Kittyzen's Arrest: Cozy Mystery (Country Cottage Mysteries Book 1) Page 14