by J A Whiting
Sweet Avengers
A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 18
J. A. Whiting
Copyright 2020 J.A. Whiting
Cover copyright 2020 Susan Coils: www.coverkicks.com
Formatting by Signifer Book Design
Proofreading by Donna Rich: [email protected]
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, or incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to locales, actual events, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from J. A. Whiting.
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Created with Vellum
For my family with love
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Thank you for reading! Recipes below!
Also by J. A. Whiting
About the Author
Some Recipes From The Sweet Cove Series
Frozen S’Mores
Oat and Cinnamon Pancakes
Strawberry Shortcake
Chocolate Banana Muffins
Mexican Street Corn Salad
1
The warm June breeze lazily entered the living room through the Victorian mansion’s open window causing the long sheer curtains to flutter. Two five-month-old babies sat on the rug propped up with pillows giggling as Mr. Finch, on his knees, rolled a ball to each of the little girls.
Euclid, a big orange Maine Coon cat, sat beside Gigi, and Circe, the sweet black cat with a white spot on her chest, lay next to Libby watching the balls as they moved towards the children.
As Angie Roseland crossed the foyer and walked into the living room, Euclid used his paw to bat the balls back to Finch so he could roll them to the babies for the hundredth time.
“I see the cats are helping you babysit, Mr. Finch.” Angie hurried to her daughter and when Gigi heard the familiar voice, she turned with a happy smile and reached for her mother.
Before sitting down on the floor next to the babies, Angie placed a kiss on Gigi’s blond head before doing the same to blue-eyed, Libby.
“How are these wonderful girls doing?” Angie cooed. “Are you being good for Mr. Finch?”
Finch said, “They are always little angels.”
Circe and Euclid padded over to Angie to greet the young woman and received pats on their heads and scratches on their cheeks.
“Miss Jenna went to the kitchen to make tea and get the girls a snack,” Finch reported just as Jenna came into the room carrying a tray with a teapot, mugs, and a silver pot of cream along with a plate of cookies and two containers of pureed bananas.
Jenna was tall and slim with long brunette hair, and although she and Angie were fraternal twins, Angie was shorter and had honey-blond shoulder-length hair.
“How was the bake shop today?” Jenna sat on the floor next to her sister and passed around the mugs of tea before handing her sister a container of bananas for Gigi.
“It was a busy day. I’m back in the swing of things. It’s almost like I was never on maternity leave.” Angie sipped her tea.
Angie and Jenna gave birth on the same day and took four months off from their businesses to care for their infants. Angie ran the Sweet Cove Bake Shop which was attached to the side of the Victorian and Jenna was a designer of handmade jewelry which she sold online, at various shops in the area, and from her small studio and shop at the back of the mansion. Angie also had a second bake shop located in the town museum.
With the help of the two protective cats, Mr. Finch and a family friend, Orla O’Brien Abel, cared for the babies when their mothers were at their jobs.
“Miss Orla went to do an errand,” Finch told the sisters. “She’ll be back shortly.” The older man pushed his black-rimmed glasses up to the bridge of his nose and eyed the young women. “Orla knows we need to talk about things.”
Angie nodded.
“How are you feeling?” Finch chose his words carefully.
Angie and Jenna exchanged looks.
“Strong,” Angie said.
“We’re ready,” Jenna agreed. “It’s time we went to Boston.”
Early in the sisters’ pregnancies, Orla brought up how the sisters’ paranormal skills would grow stronger during the months after the children were born and Angie and Jenna had experienced enhancements to their special skills.
Courtney, the youngest Roseland sister, breezed into the room still wearing her blue apron from the candy shop she co-owned with Finch in the center of the cozy, quaint town of Sweet Cove, Massachusetts. “What’s cookin’? How are my sweet little nieces?” When Courtney leaned down to kiss the children, they each squealed with delight.
“I know, I know. I am your favorite aunt.” Courtney sat on the floor.
“I heard that.” Tall, with long, straight blond hair, Ellie was the middle sister who ran a bed and breakfast inn out of the Victorian. “I happen to know I’m the favorite aunt.”
Courtney winked at the babies and whispered. “We’ll let her believe her misguided notion.”
Ellie helped Mr. Finch off the floor and onto the sofa where she sat down beside him. “I spoke with Orla’s friend in Boston. She’s thrilled we’re coming to the city and is eager for us to stay in her home on Beacon Hill while she’s in Europe. She refuses to charge us a fee. I tried to change her mind, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”
“Will it be big enough for all of us?” Courtney asked.
In her late sixties with hazel eyes and auburn curls, Orla came into the house from the front door. “Maribeth’s place is huge. There are six bedrooms each with its own bath, a living room, dining room, high-end kitchen, den, library, and sunroom. There’s a nice, small lawn, a patio, and shade trees out behind the house surrounded by a fence. Even though the place is smack-dab in the city, the yard is very private.” The woman gave a pointed look at the others. “And the house has a fancy security system … which may come in handy.”
Courtney’s eyes widened. “From the sound of it, that house must be worth about ten million dollars. What does your friend do for work? Maybe it isn’t too late for me to make a career change.”
Orla chuckled. “Maribeth founded a law and financial services firm decades ago. She’s brilliant, works like a dog. She’s a generous person, giving millions to different charities and to educational and art institutions.”
“How do you know her?” Ellie asked carefully. “Does she…?”
Orla danced around the question. “I met her a long time ago. Maribeth has all sorts of skills.”
Circe trilled from her place on the rug.
“We’ll leave the day after tomorrow?” Angie asked.
“Maribeth is leaving for Paris tomorrow so the house will be empty and ready for us the next day,” Orla said.
“W
e’ll have to take two cars,” Jenna told the group. “Is there parking near the house?”
Orla gave a nod. “There’s a two-car garage and a driveway where two more cars can be parked.”
“Good,” Jenna nodded. “Tom and Josh plan to come and go.”
“The more, the merrier,” Orla smiled. “Mel will come down to visit, too.” Orla and Mel met when they both stayed at the bed and breakfast, fell in love, and married a year later. The two spent half a year traveling together around the world and then decided to buy a house in town and now lived right behind the Victorian.
“Chief Martin knows a Boston detective. We have an appointment to meet with him later in the week,” Angie explained.
“I have a couple of people I’d like you to meet as well.” Orla looked serious. “They’ll get us started on the investigation.”
Ellie’s eyes looked worried. “Are these people … friends of yours?”
“Very good friends. You don’t need to be wary of them. They are kind-hearted people. They knew your mother.”
Mixed expressions of sadness, worry, and concern washed over the four sisters’ faces. Years ago, their mother was killed by a hit-and-run driver on a Boston street. The incident remained unsolved, and the family had recently come to believe it wasn’t an accident that took their mother’s life. It was a deliberate act of murder … and the time had come to hunt for her killer.
“Do your friends have skills?” Ellie asked cautiously. She was the most reluctant Roseland when it came to their powers, and everyone knew if someone had the ability to take their special skills away from them, she would be first in line.
“These friends are powerful. They’re ready to help us,” Orla said with a nod. “They have some information to share.”
“Some of the information might come as a surprise to you,” Finch said gently.
Ellie looked horrified. “Will it be a good surprise or a bad surprise?”
“It’s all in how you look at it, Miss Ellie,” Finch told the young woman with a tone of encouragement.
“Do you know what they have to tell us?” Courtney asked Finch.
“I might know a little bit, but it’s best the stories come directly from the source.”
“Well, I can’t wait to get going.” Courtney smiled. “I’m looking forward to hearing some history about our family.” Suddenly, the smile dropped from her face. “I’m also looking forward to hunting down Mom’s killer. The person has been walking around, living his or her life even though they stole Mom’s life from her. It’s time the person met justice.”
Angie stood up with her daughter in her arms and began to gently rock the child. “It won’t be an easy task.”
“None of us are afraid of anything hard,” Jenna said. “We’ve dealt with hard plenty of times before.”
Orla spoke slowly, “This foe might prove to be very different from the ones you’ve handled in the past. It’s going to take all of us combining our skills and working together.” She looked each of the people in the eyes. “Are you sure you want to go forward with this?”
Angie let out a sigh and rested her cheek against her daughter’s head. “It has to be done. We don’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice,” Orla reminded the sisters.
Jenna stood up with Libby in her arms and went to stand by Angie.
Courtney got up from the floor and walked over to her sisters.
Wiping a bit of water from her eyes, Ellie swallowed, stood up from the sofa, and went to stand side-by-side with her three siblings. “Our choice has been made. We’re going to avenge our mother’s death … and make sure no one connected to her murder will ever be able to hurt one of us again.” She glanced lovingly at her two nieces. “It’s time.”
Euclid and Circe lifted their chins and howled, long, loud, and deep.
2
It was a beautiful, warm day when the family and friends made the trip to Boston in two cars and in only forty minutes, pulled into the stone-paved driveway of the Beacon Hill house where they would be staying.
“This is fantastic.” Angie’s husband, Josh, held Gigi in his arms as he admired the architecture of the home.
“Wait until you see the inside,” Orla told them.
Courtney helped Mr. Finch from the car and handed him his cane while the cats jumped out and began to sniff around the property.
Jenna’s husband, Tom, lifted Libby from her car seat and they all headed inside. “This place is incredible. Look at the woodwork, the details of the molding, the wood inlays in the floor.” Tom owned a construction and renovation company and loved old houses.
There was a bedroom on the first floor which was given to Mr. Finch so he wouldn’t have to manage the staircase. Five bedrooms, a sitting room with a wet bar, and two offices were located on the second floor. One of the offices was set up with two cribs for Libby and Gigi. On the third floor was an enormous space used as a family room that had huge windows overlooking the city. Each room was elegantly furnished with beautiful, comfortable sofas, chairs, and tables. Oil paintings of early Boston, sailing ships, and street scenes hung on the walls. The kitchen, located at the rear of the house, was twice the size of the Victorian’s kitchen back home. The cabinetry and countertops were high-end and was equipped with every appliance anyone could want. The room had large windows and a patio door that led outside to the private backyard.
“Gosh, we’re lucky to have this place for our stay,” Angie gushed. “It’s like a palace in here.”
“We’ll be making some tasty meals in this kitchen.” Ellie walked around the space looking at everything, opening the cabinets to see what was inside. When she opened the pantry doors, her eyes widened. “The pantry is fully stocked.”
Peering into the oversized refrigerator, Courtney added, “So are the fridge and freezer.”
Orla smiled. “Maribeth made sure we had what we needed. She knew we’d be busy and asked me for a list of things you’d want on hand. She had her housekeeper stock the refrigerator and pantry for us.”
“She’s incredibly generous,” Mr. Finch noted.
Euclid and Circe walked into the kitchen, spotted the refrigerator built into the cabinetry with a space above it. They jumped on the counter and leapt up to the top of the fridge causing the family to chuckle.
Courtney smiled. “Just like at home, isn’t that right, kitties?”
“There’s also a huge cabinet in the dining room that you can sit up on,” Jenna pointed out. “But you two have probably found it already and tried it out.”
Euclid trilled from his high-up perch.
Tom and Josh sat the babies into the high chairs Maribeth had rented for their stay and opened the cooler bag to retrieve the little girls’ lunch items. They pulled over chairs and began to feed their happy, wide-eyed daughters.
The sisters worked on making grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for the adults and they all gathered around the large wooden table set by the windows to eat.
“Our first appointment isn’t until tomorrow,” Orla explained. “So the rest of the day is free.”
“We’re going to take a walk after lunch,” Angie said. “We’re going to the location where Mom was hit by the car.”
“We’ve been there many times, but we want to look around the area with new purpose,” Jenna said.
“Libby and Gigi will need naps after they eat so Tom and I will stay here at the house with them.” Josh lifted his spoonful of soup to his mouth.
“Orla and I will go over a list of names together,” Finch informed the group. “There are some other people we think might be helpful to speak with. We’ll try to find contact information for them.”
When lunch was over, the four Roseland sisters headed out and walked towards the Boston Common. Tourists and locals were outside enjoying the beautiful late spring day, strolling around, playing games on the grassy lawn of the Common, walking dogs, sitting on blankets having a picnic, and laying on the grass soakin
g up the sun.
Ellie pushed a strand of her long hair from her face. “I remember the day like it was yesterday. That terrible phone call. It felt like a giant had punched me right in the stomach. I couldn’t breathe. I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to breathe again.”
Angie put her hand on her sister’s arm. “We all felt the same way.”
“It was unbelievable. One moment, Mom was walking to work, and in less than a second, she was gone.” Jenna brushed at her eyes recalling the emotion and shock of finding out their mother had been killed in an accident.
Angie and Jenna had graduated from college the year before and were working in the city. Ellie was at the end of her sophomore year at her university and was doing an internship in Boston, and Courtney had just completed high school and was looking forward to attending college in the fall.
“A whole lot has changed in seven years,” Courtney noted. “I wish Mom was here to see what’s been going on with all of us.”
“I think she does know,” Angie told her sisters. “I think she keeps watch over us just like Nana does.” The young woman took a deep breath and asked Jenna, “Have you seen Nana recently?”
Jenna shook her head. One of her special skills was the ability to see ghosts and the Roselands’ nana had appeared to Jenna several times since she’d passed away.
The foursome turned a corner and were face to face with the place where Elizabeth Roseland lost her life. They stopped and stared at the side street, at the cars driving past, at the sidewalk where their mother stood waiting for the cross light to change, at the sidewalk on the other side of the street that their mother never made it to.