A Latte Difficulty

by Angela Ruth Strong

  Marissa did her staring thing again. Wow. Tough crowd.

  “Isn’t that cool?” Tandy prodded.

  “It makes a little more sense than just the elbow thing. I could have used some napkins earlier when Ranger flicked blood all over my wedding dress.”

  Tandy covered her mouth. “Oh no.”

  Marissa waved her worry away. How was she so chill about having a bloody wedding dress?

  “It’s fine. I’m getting a new dress. And I’m firing my wedding planner. You know what that woman did?”

  Tandy pursed her lips in thought. “Did she suggest you don’t wear heels in case you trip?”

  Marissa huffed. “Besides that?”

  Tandy scrolled through her mental list of wedding preparations. Food. Cake. Decorations. “Did she—?”

  “I’ll tell you.” Marissa planted her hand on a hip. “She’s dating the guy who tried to kill Randon.”

  Tandy’s jaw dropped. Cash had a local girlfriend? Who happened to be planning Marissa’s wedding?

  “Randon?” Zam repeated. That was one word he’d caught onto quickly.

  Marissa nodded. “And it gets better. Her last name is Evans.”

  Tandy leaned forward. Were all small towns like living in a soap opera, or had she stumbled onto the set for Days of Our Lives? “I didn’t know Randon had any family here. How are they related?”

  Marissa lifted a shoulder. “I have no idea, but I stopped at the police station and filled Griffin in. He’s going to investigate.”

  He wasn’t the only one. Tandy grabbed her laptop out from underneath the counter. This is where her previous career as a journalist came in handy. “Remember when he was attracted to you? Do you think that’s because you look like his ex-wife?”

  Marissa gasped. “No…”

  Zam’s eyebrows leaped toward his receding hairline. If the poor guy simply wanted to juggle drinkware, he’d obviously picked the wrong coffee shop.

  Both he and Marissa circled the bar to join Tandy on either side of the computer monitor. She typed in the name Moria Evans. A wedding shop popped up.

  Marissa pointed. “Type in Randon and Moria Evans.”

  Tandy clicked her tongue, but typed it in. If the two had once been married, what did that mean? “Could Moria have hired Cash?” She pressed enter.

  Headline: DNA Reveals Self-Made Millionaire to Have Secret Twin

  Tandy’s jaw dropped. The millionaire would be Randon. Could Moria be his secret twin? She scrolled down.

  Marissa pointed. “Moria is Randon’s twin.”

  How did they not know this? Since the article had been released publicly, it wasn’t a secret anymore.

  “When was this published?” asked Zam.

  Tandy scrolled back up. “Last summer.” She looked at Tandy. “When did Randon move here?”

  Marissa bit her lip. “I think I first saw him in the dunk tank at last year’s Americana Festival. It was a big deal because he was paying a thousand dollars to anybody who could dunk him.”

  “That’s one way to make a splash,” Zam deadpanned.

  Tandy had always wondered what brought Randon to the area. “Did Moria live here before then? Do you think he moved here to reconnect with her?”

  Marissa wandered back to the other side of the counter and sank onto a stool. Her heels had to be hurting her feet. It was amazing she’d lasted this long. “If he moved here for Moria, it’s crazy that we’ve never seen them together.”

  Zam watched their lips carefully. Tandy would have to consider learning sign language if he was going to keep hanging out and teaching her tricks. But for now, she’d look at him to make sure he didn’t feel excluded by his handicap. “When was As You Wish Weddings opened?”

  “Are you asking Zam?”

  Tandy flicked a frown at Marissa. “No. I’m asking you.” She turned back toward Zam. “I’m looking at Zam so he can read my lips and keep up with this insane conversation.”

  “Oh.” Marissa turned her stool to face Zam, as well. “I don’t think the wedding business is that old. Mom raved about it being the best thing to come to Grace Springs since the sternwheeler cruises.”

  Tandy arched an eyebrow. “What about our shop?”

  Marissa wrinkled her nose. “I’m pretty sure she specifically didn’t mention us on purpose.”

  Tandy sighed. “I’m sorry, Marissa.”

  Marissa waved a hand. “I’m used to it. Just look up the grand opening for the wedding shop. I’m curious.”

  Tandy typed and clicked. A huge headline announced As You Wish Weddings. The date underneath read August of the previous year.

  “Holy cappuccino, Batman.” Tandy stared, fearing the direction her thoughts were taking her.

  “What?” Marissa demanded.

  Zam shrugged as if there was no other explanation. “Randon moved here to be with his sister in July, she miraculously had enough money to open a beautiful new shop in August, then they were never seen in public or mentioned each other again.”

  Marissa covered her mouth. “Could Moria have scammed him? Could she have hired a doctor to lie or fudged the online results?”

  Tandy pressed her palms against her cheeks. “Maybe Cash wasn’t hired to kill Randon as revenge for his ransomware. Maybe Cash wanted to keep Randon quiet because Moria had scammed him.”

  Marissa leaned forward. “Where are Randon’s parents? Couldn’t they confirm this?”

  Tandy clicked back to the first article. “It says the babies were adopted by different families when their mother died in childbirth, and they didn’t know about each other until they both happened to take DNA tests to see if they could find any relatives. They then both changed their names to their birth parents’ name.”

  “Wow.” Zam held up three fingers on either side of his mouth to look like the letter W and opened his mouth into an O shape. Literally spelling out WOW.

  Marissa scrunched her nose. “If she’s not really his sister, she took advantage of an orphan.”

  Oh man. Tandy’s mind kept rolling with the possible implications. “Do you think he found out about the scam but was too embarrassed to tell anyone?”

  Zam crossed his arms. “Do you think he has a real twin sister out there somewhere?”

  “Whether she’s really his twin or not…” Tandy looked back and forth between the other two. Though Zam wouldn’t have to read her lips to know where their deductive reasoning had taken her. “…Moria is considered to be his only living relative and thus the heir to his fortune.”

  Chapter Nine

  Marissa limped after Tandy to her Volkswagen Beetle. Zam, their new unofficial employee, offered to watch the shop so they could go tell Griffin what they’d discovered, but Marissa’s feet were killing her. It was a good thing she’d tried out these shoes before the big day so she knew they would never last through a night of swing dancing. And they certainly wouldn’t allow her to run away should anybody else come after her.

  She thought of the new deputy’s beady eyes and shivered. “Can we stop at my house so I can change shoes before we go to the police station?”

  Tandy dropped behind the wheel and gave an amused shake of her head. “Would you just agree to wear cowgirl boots with your dress and be done with it?”

  Marissa sank into the passenger seat and kicked off her heels. She wasn’t that desperate. Yet. “I will consider it.”

  Tandy strapped on her seatbelt and started the engine. “If I stop by your house, are you going to change your whole outfit or only your shoes?”

  Marissa sulked. She’d bought this skirt to match the shoes. Maybe they could come up with a compromise. “If I can’t find shoes that match, then—”

  “Your gold flip-flops with the bows.”

  This was the worst part of having a best friend. Tandy was close enough to call her on her stuff. Except… “I bought those for the honeymoon.”

  Tandy pulled onto Main Street and headed in the direction of both Marissa’s house and the police
station. There was no commitment yet on taking her home. “You also bought those heels for your wedding. You can wear a pair of shoes more than once.”

  “I think I packed them in my suitcase already.”

  “Then unpack them. You’ve got a whole summer before you leave.”

  “It would probably take longer to unpack than it would for me to change.”

  “I know how long it takes you to change.” Tandy pulled to a stop at the corner. This is where she would either turn to go to the police station or head straight toward Marissa’s. “Do you agree to changing shoes only?”

  Marissa grunted. She should put on something really hideous to try to embarrass Tandy and make her regret this request. Except Marissa had dressed ridiculously before, and she was the only one embarrassed. Despite being comfortable. “Fine.”

  Tandy rolled forward. “Is Ranger still at your house?”

  “No. But there’s still blood all over that I need to clean up.” If only they had a local crime scene cleaner like that woman she’d read about in Virginia. It would be especially handy in her situation since Gabby St. Claire was also famous for solving mysteries.

  “You know this kind of thing only happens to you, right?” Tandy asked.

  “I know.” Not even Gabby St. Claire would have had to clean up blood from a dog’s happy tail. Marissa leaned her head on the passenger seat. “I witnessed an attempted murder and got chased by the hitman. My fiancé’s dog whipped blood around my house like Van Gogh gone wild. Then my wedding planner turned out to be the hitman’s girlfriend.”

  Tandy slowed and turned onto her street. “If he did it for his girlfriend, then he’s not a hitman. And she must be the one who tried to smother Randon at the hospital. They are both attempted murderers.”

  Marissa grimaced. “Yet my mom would rather have her for a daughter.”

  “That says more about your mom than about you.” Tandy sniffed and pulled to the curb. “But you’ve had your fill of drama for the day. Go change your shoes, and we’ll solve this case.”

  Marissa unbuckled and scooped up the beautiful strappy sandals she would never wear again. “I really wish you’d let me change so I could look good when solving a mystery.”

  Tandy looked at her watch. “You’ve got two minutes, then I leave without you.”

  “Ugh.” Marissa climbed out and swung the door shut. Who changed shoes in two minutes? She’d have to completely ignore the mess inside.

  She jogged toward the steps, took them two at a time, then froze.

  A switchblade held a note to the door.

  STAY OFF THE WITNESS STAND

  Fear gripped her belly in its fist. She took a step backward and looked around for anybody who could be watching.

  No Cash. No Moria. Only Tandy stared in impatience from inside her Bug.

  She rolled down the passenger window and leaned toward it. “You’ve got one minute left, Marissa. Hurry or I’ll go speak to Griffin without you.”

  Marissa wasn’t going inside her house alone, and she certainly wasn’t going to touch the door before the police dusted it for fingerprints. She glanced around the neighborhood for any movement she might have missed. A lace curtain fell into place two doors down. Was Opal watching her again?

  “Uh, Tandy? I’m not going to the station with you.”

  Tandy held her arms wide and shook her head. “Why not?”

  “I think Griffin is going to want to come here.” She pointed at her door.

  Tandy squinted to see from the road. Then she slowly lifted her phone to her ear. Marissa joined her in the car to await Griffin’s arrival.

  Within minutes he was at her curb again. He climbed out, hitched up his pants, and slammed the door. “This better be a real crime this time, Marissa. No more crying wolf,” he called, but his voice trailed off as he sauntered closer to her front door.

  Tandy smirked. “I think he means crying black lab.”

  Marissa bit her lip. “I wish I was crying wolf. Because if our suspicions are right, my wedding planner threatened my life.”

  Compassion softened Tandy’s eyes. “That’s pretty scary. Though you could take her.”

  Marissa popped her door open but didn’t climb out until she sent her friend a sardonic look. “I got taken out by the bench in her shop.”

  Tandy shook her head and followed. “Is your clumsiness all an act to make killers feel overconfident?”

  “I wish.” With all the killers that had come after her in the past, it was incredible she’d survived this long. Hopefully she’d survive the latest threat.

  Tandy made herself as comfortable as she could in the molded plastic chairs at the police station. She would rather be practicing more pouring tricks with Zam, but because of Marissa’s past of wild accusations, she was really needed here to back up the story about Moria Evans. Not to mention calming her friend’s nerves as they waited for Griffin to question the wedding planner.

  Marissa angled her body away from the desk at the back of the room where Deputy Romero sat, working on his computer. “Is he looking at me?” she whispered.

  Tandy slid her eyes sideways. The bald guy didn’t smile much, but she didn’t find him as creepy as Marissa did. “Why would he be looking at you?”

  “Because I don’t trust him. So, my presence will make him feel guilty over whatever he’s hiding.”

  Tandy pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. Obviously, Marissa had reasons to be afraid, but this seemed to be taking it a bit too far. “If that’s the case, I would think he’s probably going to try to avoid you.”

  Marissa leaned forward. “Maybe that’s why he doesn’t talk much.”

  Tandy nodded like she was going along with the conspiracy theory. “Which makes you feel all the more suspicious.”

  Marissa’s dark eyes widened. “Exactly,” she enunciated slowly.

  A door down the hallway squeaked opened.

  Marissa sat up straighter.

  Tandy crossed her legs and leaned back. Once Moria was taken to jail for collusion, they’d be safe to return to their normal lives. And hopefully Randon would be free to recover. Could it be that Moria had taken him for so much money that he’d felt pressured into using ransomware software?

  Heels clicked against cement flooring. Not the kind of heels Griffin wore, but more like high heels. Shouldn’t the woman wearing high heels be ushered back to the holding cell?

  Moria strode out from the hallway, looking ready for the runway in a pink suit with shorts instead of pants. She saw them and paused with a hip popped out to one side. “Marissa, you can consider our contract terminated. I’ve already ordered your bridesmaid’s dress, but other than that, I want nothing to do with you.”

  Marissa cocked her head. “You mean you’re free to go back to work? You’re not going to prison?”

  “Of course not.”

  Griffin emerged from the hallway and paused because Moria was in his way. Had he bungled this one? Had he been sucked in by Moria’s charms?

  “Griffin…” Tandy implored, motioning with an arm toward their only suspect.

  Griffin shook his head. “Miss Evans has a solid alibi. Ever since you left the wedding shop, she’s been working with the mayor’s wife on her daughter’s wedding.”

  Tandy twisted her lips. Could the mayor be in on this? Probably not. But someone had threatened Marissa to protect Cash, and who would do that apart from the man’s girlfriend?

  Marissa stood. “What about the fraud of claiming to be Randon’s twin sister?”

  Moria crossed her arms. “I really am Randon’s twin. No fraud there.”

  Griffin rubbed his jaw. “I’ll be looking into the DNA testing later when I don’t have attempted murder on my hands.”

  Moria lifted her chin. “Don’t worry. You won’t find anything. I didn’t scam anybody. Randon is my brother, and he co-signed on a loan for me.”

  Tandy narrowed her eyes. She had yet to see the evidence, and if the two crimes were connecte
d, it didn’t do anyone any good to let Moria go. Simply the fact that she was dating the guy who’d stolen Randon’s computer was a stronger connection than anyone else had.

  Marissa stepped forward with a grunt—probably from the pain of still wearing her strappy heels, but she covered the sound nicely by pointing her whole arm dramatically. “If you weren’t guilty of fraud, then why don’t you hang out with your twin? Why has nobody seen you together since you opened your wedding shop.”

  Moria tossed her hair, just as dramatically. If she was anybody’s twin, it should have been Marissa’s. “Because I found out about the ransomware he’d designed and told him it was going to get him into trouble. He doesn’t like it when people tell him what to do, so he stopped talking to me.”

  She sounded so convincing. It was true about Randon being a bit hardheaded, but it still all seemed too coincidental. Tandy crossed her arms. “How can you be okay with your boyfriend trying to end Randon’s life?”

  Moria sniffed before turning away and gliding toward the door. “Cash didn’t do it. He’s been framed.”

  “Right.” Tandy called after her. “What are the chances of there being another evil twin in town?”

  Moria pushed through the doors without looking back.

  Marissa, on the other hand, turned approving eyes on her. “That was a good one, Tandy.”

  Tandy rubbed her face. It had felt good in the moment, but it didn’t do any good. Rather than being closer to their goal of getting Marissa out of danger by putting another attempted murderer in jail, the first murderer’s arrest was being questioned.

  What if it wasn’t Cash at all? Moria had wanted him out of jail, but she claimed it was because he wasn’t guilty. And she hadn’t put the note on Marissa’s door.

  If Cash wasn’t the killer, the real killer was on the loose. Though he wouldn’t make threats against Marissa for testifying against Cash since he’d set Cash up in the first place. Or maybe he knew Marissa would take that threat to the police, which would make Cash look even guiltier.

  Or Cash was the guilty party, and he had someone other than Moria on the outside. “Did you check her alibi for the attack on Randon at the hospital?” she asked Griffin.