Manicures & Mischief (A Cozy Spa Mystery Book 6)

by Jenn Cowan

  Josh and I agreed to move into my house since it’s slightly larger and perfect for future kids. A kid that, I hope, will make an appearance by this time next year. I place a hand to my belly, thoughts of little kicks making me smile.

  “You okay?” Josh asks, his eyebrows pinching together.

  “Fine. Just thinking. Let’s go.”

  He studies me for a moment then opens the passenger side door before rounding the hood and sliding into the driver’s seat. As he backs out of the drive, he glances in my direction. “You sure you’re okay?”

  I pat his leg. “Yes.” I push away thoughts of the wedding and a baby because right now I need to focus on finding Cat and Allison. The thought of something happening to Cat makes my stomach churn. “Do you think Cat left willingly or…” my voice trails off.

  Josh frowns. “I don’t know. What about Allison? Do you think she ran? It doesn’t make any sense. She was really scared.”

  “I know, but it’s possible, right?”

  He shrugs. “Anything’s possible, but why run if she’s innocent?”

  I open my mouth to respond, but I honestly have no idea. When we pull into the hospital parking lot, several police cars are parked in front of the entrance with their lights flashing.

  “What’s going on?” Josh parks the Jeep and stares at the entrance.

  I push open the door. “I don’t know, but I plan to find out.”

  9

  The cold air washes over me when I enter the hospital. Several officers are huddled in small circles in the waiting room. The captain is talking to the nurse in charge. I decide he’s my best option for getting any sort of information. “What’s going on?” I ask when he’s finished his questioning.

  He turns, dark circles underneath his eyes and the florescent light gleams off his bald head. “Miss Fisher.” He nods to Josh. “Mr. Parker. What are you two doing here so late?”

  I shift nervously back and forth. There’s no way I’m going to tell him about Allison or Cat. Not yet. I have to find them first. “We came to check on Regina. She wasn’t answering her phone.”

  “Where’s Cat?”

  I glance at Josh, who shoots me a nervous look. I ignore the captain’s question and inquire, “What’s going on here?”

  The captain studies me for a moment like he wants to call me out, but seems to decide against it and says, “It’s Travis.”

  I stiffen, my heart practically skidding to a stop in my chest. “Wh-what about him?” I glance behind him in hopes to get a peek at the ICU, but several other officers are standing in front of the glass doors. “Where’s Regina?”

  “I’m here.” Regina hurries up to me and throws her arms around my neck.

  I stumble back, her actions surprising me. I pat her back as she begins to cry.

  “I was only gone for a minute. I was so hungry. There was a line in the cafeteria so it was probably more like ten,” she sniffles into my shoulder. “When I got back I thought the nurses took him to get a scan.”

  My heart starts to thunder in my chest. “Where’s Travis, Regina?”

  She shakes her head and breaks out into another round of sobs.

  I glance up at the captain.

  He mouths, “Missing.”

  My legs threaten to give out at his words and I stumble back into the nurses’ station.

  Regina releases her hold and reaches out to steady me then wipes her eyes and asks looking around the waiting room, “Is Cat with you?”

  My stomach churns because not only is Travis missing, but so are Cat and Allison. What’s going on? Why is everyone disappearing? There’s no way Travis could have walked out of the hospital on his own. Not unless he woke up and was disoriented, but where were the nurses? How does a comatose patient get out of the hospital? Someone on the inside has to be working with whoever is behind this. “Have you questioned the nurses? Aides? Custodians?”

  The captain frowns at me. “You’re thinking someone on the inside did this?”

  I shrug. “How else did Travis leave the hospital?”

  “It happened during a shift change. They’re short staffed and no one was in the ICU during the time Regina left.”

  Regina hangs her head. “I shouldn’t have left him.”

  I squeeze her hand. “This isn’t your fault. We’ll find him.” All of them.

  “Excuse me,” the captain says, heading to the ICU.

  My phone buzzes in my purse. I glance up at Josh and nod towards Regina. He catches on and grabs a tissue for her then walks her toward a waiting room chair. I pull out my phone and see a text from an unknown number. Travis’s House. Come alone. I bite my lip and eye Josh and Regina. They’re turned away from me so I could sneak out, but Josh has the keys to the Jeep. I take a deep breath and approach them. “Josh, can I have the keys? I want to grab a jacket.” I rub my hands up and down my arms like I’m cold. I’m not lying. The hospital is freezing and I always keep a jacket in the Jeep for times like these.

  “I’ll grab it for you,” Josh offers, standing up and reaching into his jeans for the keys.

  I shake my head. “I need some air. I’ll get it.”

  He frowns and studies me as if trying to decide if I’m lying. The problem with marrying your best friend is they can read you like a book. It’s not exactly a problem, but in this case, it kind of is. He reluctantly hands over the keys.

  I give him a quick kiss on the cheek and squeeze Regina’s hand. “We’ll find them, I promise.”

  “Them?”

  I hurry out the doors before I have to explain the slip of my tongue. Hopefully, Josh will cover for me. Regina’s going to blow a gasket when she finds out Cat’s missing too. I don’t want to be the one to tell her because I plan to find Cat before I have to explain how Allison and Cat disappeared from my house while I was trying to talk some sense into Violet. I slide in the Jeep and head for town. Within minutes my phone beeps and I know it’s Josh. There’s no way he was going to let me out of his sight for long. Then it starts to ring. I sigh. “Hello.”

  “Autumn, where are you?” Josh inquires, sounding annoyed.

  “I’m sorry. Someone sent me a text. I’m going to Travis’s house, but I have to go alone. Stay with Regina, please. Don’t tell her about Cat.”

  “Autumn, this isn’t safe. I should be with you.”

  “The text said to come alone. I’ll be fine. I have my taser.” A gift from Travis after my last close call. I hate guns, but a taser, I can get behind that. It makes me feel safer and it seems to ease Josh, Travis and my parents’ minds while I’m sleuthing. Truth be told, it makes me feel a little safer too.

  “Fine, but if I don’t hear from you in a half an hour, I’m sending over the entire police department.”

  I smirk, thinking of the whole police force showing up at Travis’s house. “Okay. Thirty minutes. Got it.”

  He sighs. “Please be careful. I actually want us to get married.”

  I grin. “Me too. Love you.”

  “I love you too,” Josh replies before hanging up.

  I envision him starting the stop watch on his phone. There’s no time to dally. I’ve got to get to Travis’s and figure out what’s going on before Josh sends in the Calvary. Who knows what will happen if the police show up? I step on the gas and make it to Travis’s in record time.

  There’s no vehicle in the driveway and the lights are off in the house. When I step out of the car, someone places a hand over my mouth and I feel the cold steel of a gun pressing into the small of my back. Well, I didn’t see that coming. There’s no way I’m going to be calling Josh back in twenty-eight minutes. This night just got a lot more complicated.

  “Don’t say a word and walk directly into the house,” a raspy voice instructs behind me.

  I glance around to see if any lights are on at the neighbors. Every house is dark. Great. That’s not going to do me any good. Well it is after one a.m. so everyone is in bed. Everyone, but me… and well Josh, Regina and the Daysville police
department. The gun presses harder into my back so I move toward the front door. “Where is Travis? Cat? Allison?”

  No answer.

  The person behind me reaches out and opens the front door. I step inside the dark entryway. The air smells like someone’s been baking. I sniff again. Is that banana bread I smell? I know Regina doesn’t bake and Cat usually comes to my house to bake with Josh. What is going on?

  No lights come on, but the gun continues to press into my back so I continue moving, praying I don’t trip on something and cause this lunatic to shoot me or anyone else inside.

  When we reach the hallway, light from the street filters in through the bedroom windows so the hallway’s somewhat lit. I gulp because it looks like something out of a horror movie, like I’m walking toward my death. Thoughts race through my mind and none of them are positive. Which room will be the room where they will find my dead body? Will they shoot me in the back or the head? Ugh. Stop, Autumn. You’re not going to die today. Not before you marry Josh and definitely not before you save Travis, Cat and Allison and find out who the real killer is.

  “Keep moving.”

  I drag my feet along the hardwood. The boards creak with each step until we reach the end of the hallway. I hold my breath, my heart beats wildly in my chest as I wait for what’s going to happen next.

  “In here.” The door to the master bedroom opens and I see Allison hovered in the corner, crying into her knees and Cat sitting on the bed next to her unconscious father.

  “Autumn!” Cat cries, but when she sees who’s behind me and the gun in my back, she freezes and clamps her mouth shut.

  Allison looks up and wipes her eyes. “Why are you doing this? I don’t understand.”

  I know Allison is talking to the person behind me and I wish I could turn around to see who it is. “Yes, why are you doing this? Why did you kill Wyatt?”

  No answer.

  I move to turn around and the person behind me shoves me toward the bed and slams the door. The lock clicks on the outside. I scamper up and try the handle.

  “It’s no use. The lock is on the outside of the door and the windows are sealed shut.” Allison sighs.

  I frown. “Why? Who is that?” I turn around and face Allison.

  She shakes her head. “I don’t know.”

  “You mean you haven’t seen their face?”

  Allison furrows her brow. “Didn’t you see them? They’re wearing one of those creepy grim reaper masks with a black robe.” She shivers and rubs her hands up and down her arms. “And the voice distorter is really disturbing.”

  “Have they said anything to you?”

  “Nothing. They don’t talk unless they’re giving us an order.”

  “They? There’s more than one?”

  “Two of them. I think one is a lady.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Smells like baked goods and flowers.”

  I give up on the door and glance at the windows then to the nightstand.

  “Don’t even think about it, Autumn.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “We already discussed it and if we all can’t get out of here together then we all stay here. There’s no way they won’t hear the window break and getting Travis out the window isn’t even an option. We’ll just have to wait here until…” Allison’s voice trails off and she looks down at her hands.

  I ignore the sickening feeling in my gut and head over to the bed to check Travis’s pulse and give Cat a hug. Then I focus on Allison. “Chase told me about your life in Chicago. About Wyatt being in love with you.”

  Allison snorts. “Obsessed is more like it. I was more like one of his properties as opposed to a woman. It was like he thought he ‘owned’ me and when Chase and I started dating, he went crazy.”

  I nod. “Chase said it got pretty intense.”

  She rolls her eyes. “That’s an understatement.”

  “Can you think of anyone in Wyatt’s life who would want him dead? Someone who wants to frame you for his death?”

  “Besides his mother and sister, no.”

  “Why would his mother and sister want him dead?”

  “They were leeches. Sucking Wyatt dry of money left and right. His mom, Margaret, is obsessed with the shopping channel and his sister, Ava, loves designer clothes. They always had their hand out. I overheard several of his conversations with them when he’d come into the shop to get his haircut. They even showed up a couple of times to hassle him when he would block their calls. It was like they were stalking him. No wonder he went a little crazy. I just wish…” her voice cracks and trails off.

  “What?”

  “I just wish things would have been different… for everyone.”

  I frown. “How so?”

  “I came between Chase and Wyatt. They were like brothers and I became the reason they were at odds. Wyatt had to go to a psychiatric hospital because of me.” She sniffles and wipes her eyes. “Sometimes I wish I would have never met either of them.” Allison drops her head into her hands. “So much for wanting to see the world and make my mark in the big city. I should have just stayed in Dayville. This town is safe… well it used to be anyway.”

  I can’t say I blame her for that remark. Dayville’s become anything but safe and now some outsider is trying to come in here and change it. A change I know will bring more crime. More murder. This developer, whoever he is, he’ll ruin our little town. I push those thoughts from my mind because the developer is the least of my worries right now.

  Travis’s leg twitches next to me.

  I jump up and check for any sign of him opening his eyes, but after several minutes, I chalk it up to a nerve twitch.

  “Do you think he’s going to wake-up soon?” Cat asks, quietly, her voice shaking as tears fall from her eyes.

  I reach out and squeeze her hand. There’s no way I can lie to her so I say, “I hope so, sweetie.”

  She gives me a weak smile then checks the bandage on her dad’s head. If Cat ever decides to become a nurse, she’ll be a good one.

  Allison mumbles something under her breath.

  “What was that?”

  “Oh, nothing.”

  I move around the bed and sit down. “Allison, you seem to be the link in all of this. Travis and Cat were going to be your family. I wonder if this person knew Travis proposed. Maybe that is why they kidnapped all of you. I think it’s pretty strange the day your husband comes to town is the same day his best friend is murdered and Travis is hit over the head. Do you think Chase could be behind this? Removing all the people who could cause problems for you two or come between you two? Could this be his way of winning you back?”

  Allison gasps and shakes her head furiously. “Never. Chase would never do this. There’s no way.”

  I narrow my eyes and study her. “Really? He seems pretty intent on getting you back.”

  Her face turns three shades of red and I can’t tell if she’s blushing or mad. “Chase didn’t do this. He was at his shop. You saw him leave.”

  “Maybe he’s working with someone?”

  Allison bites her lips and appears to be mulling over my words.

  “You’re thinking of someone who he could be conspiring with, aren’t you?”

  She hangs her head then mumbles something I can’t make out.

  “Who, Allison?”

  She presses her lips together as if she doesn’t want to tell me.

  “Who could be working with Chase?”

  Allison shakes her head.

  I fight the urge to roll my eyes. She’s acting like a toddler who doesn’t want to tell you they ate the last cooking in the cookie jar. “Allison, this person is dangerous. More people could die. We could die.”

  Her eyes grow wide then she blurts out, “My mother.”

  10

  I jerk back because that was not what I was expecting to hear. “Yo-your mother?”

  Cat scoffs and mutters something about Mrs. Cole being the worst.


  I try not to laugh because Cat isn’t too far off with her assessment. “Why do you think your mother is helping Chase? Why would she kill Wyatt?”

  Allison’s eyes fill with tears. “My mother loves Chase,” she says before lowering her voice. “She hates Travis.”

  Cat rolls her eyes and turns her back on Allison.

  I can’t say I blame her. “Why does your mother hate Travis?” I whisper because I know people in a coma can still hear what people around them are saying.

  “You’ve met my mother. She’s nosy, bossy and always up in my business. I’ve never been good enough. Never been successful enough. Never been smart enough. The only good thing I ever did was marry Chase. When I left him, she told me I was an idiot and should beg him to take me back.” Allison snorts. “Told me it was my fault that I lost the baby,” her voice catches in her throat and she swallows down the emotion before continuing. “She even moved to Chicago to be close to him. He’s the son she always wanted and never had. Instead she got me, a complete and utter disappointment.” Allison shrugs her shoulders like she’s resigned to the situation, almost numb to it.

  My heart aches for her. To have a mother who was so cold and so cruel, and then to lose a baby. I couldn’t even imagine. “I’m sorry.” I reach out and squeeze her hand. “You know that’s not true, right? You’re beautiful, sweet and so talented with hair and everyone has been raving about your manicures. The salon and spa wouldn’t be the same without you, not to mention this town.”

  Allison smiles at me. “Thanks, Autumn. You’re lucky, you know. Your parents adore you. You can do no wrong. Some of us just aren’t that fortunate in the parent department.”

  I nod because I’m not sure what else to say. I can’t imagine having a parent like Allison’s. Is her mother really behind all of this? It doesn’t seem possible. Sure, she could have killed Wyatt, giving Chase an alibi. Then she could have hit Travis over the head and kidnapped Allison. Then Chase could have kidnapped Travis and both of them could have kidnapped Allison and Cat. Speaking of which, there are some holes missing in this story. “How did you get away the first time and end up on my doorstep?”