Death by Espresso

by Alex Erickson

  “I’m so sorry, Will,” I said, regretting making the call, despite the fact I desperately wanted to hear his voice. “I should have waited until morning.”

  There was a shuffle, and then, more clearly: “Hey, Krissy. I was asleep.”

  “I noticed.” I took a deep breath and then launched into my tale without preamble. Getting it out for Dad had helped. Telling Will about it finally lifted the dark cloud that had been hovering over me from the moment I’d found Cathy Carr’s body.

  When I was done, Will sounded fully awake when he asked, “Are you okay?” I knew he meant more than just mentally. I rubbed at my wrist, which was now aching in remembered pain. It seemed like something was always hurting these days—a product of all the times I’d run into a killer determined to escape. Most of the time, the pain was in my head, like now, but sometimes—like when I’d hurt my wrist originally—it was all too real.

  “I’m fine,” I said. “Well, as fine as I can be.”

  “I can come over if you want.” He punctuated that with a yawn.

  “No, not tonight,” I said, smiling. I’d woken him up, told him a horrible story about people he didn’t even know, and he was still willing to come all the way out here to make sure I was okay. How had I gotten so lucky? “But I’d like to see you soon, if that’s okay.”

  There was a long stretch of silence that made my smile slip away and some of the dark cloud return. “I think that would be a good idea,” he said, making it sound as if it was just about the worst thing he could think of doing.

  I swallowed back a lump that had grown in my throat. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, sure. I’m fine.” He sounded anything but. “I’ll let you know as soon as I’m free. It’s been crazy busy lately. I feel like I’m being pulled in a million directions half the time, and dead on my feet the rest.”

  Tell me about it. “Okay,” I said, sounding a little too wounded for my taste. The man was busy. I just had to look at his work schedule to know that.

  If Will noticed my gloominess, he didn’t say anything. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “Okay. Good night.” Again. That first call had felt like a lifetime ago.

  “Night.”

  He disconnected.

  I sat there, staring at my phone a long time. Something was up with Will, and I had no idea what it could be, other than thinking he might be done with me. We’d barely seen each other over the last six months or so, though when we did get together, it was always nice.

  But I couldn’t rid myself of the nagging doubts that he was too good for me and had finally realized it.

  I pushed away from the island counter, dumped the remains of my cookie and coffee, and dispelled any and all thoughts of Will and what could be bothering him from my mind. There was something far more important I needed to focus on.

  Cathy’s death.

  And Vicki’s wedding.

  If I was going to look into it, then I had to find a place to start. There was only one thing that stood out in the whole mess, and that was the fake necklace found on Cathy’s body. It was my only lead, and I was going to use it.

  But not tonight. I had to go in to work tomorrow and would need a decent night’s sleep to function anyway. I would let nothing stop me from making sure that if someone had killed Cathy Carr, they wouldn’t go unpunished. And I was going to make doubly sure that when it was all said and done, Vicki’s wedding would go on as planned.

  8

  “Have you registered these as deadly weapons?” I asked, gently tapping one pointy tip of Lena’s pink hair.

  She grinned. “I should. There’s this guy down at the park who keeps catcalling me and has been a nuisance to all the other girls. The guy’s a jerk, and a little bit of a pervert. I should run him through.”

  Her two-inch spikes wouldn’t be running anyone through, but I was sure it wouldn’t feel too good to be stabbed by them. I didn’t even want to know how much gel and hair spray it took to get hair that hard and pointy. It was all I could do in the mornings to make sure my hair wasn’t a tangled ball of fuzz.

  “Well, if you do, try not to leave any evidence behind.”

  “Might be hard since I’ll be stabbing him with my hair.”

  Jeff snorted a laugh, and then, looking as if he was appalled he’d made such a sound, he hurried to the back.

  Death by Coffee was surprisingly slow this morning, though I couldn’t say I was unhappy about it. I’d struggled to get to sleep last night, and waking up had been a chore. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Cathy’s lifeless body, felt the candlestick in my hand. When I had slept, I’d dreamed that the weapon was glued to my hand, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t get rid of it. Everyone was pointing at me and was shouting “Guilty!” over and over again.

  I shuddered and turned my mind back to more pleasant things.

  “Have you given much thought to school?” I asked.

  Lena shrugged and refused to meet my eye. “I don’t know. I keep wondering if it’s worth it.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean?”

  “Well . . .” She glanced around, as if looking for a way out of the conversation, before sighing. “I like working here. I like my life. What point is there going to college when all it’ll end up doing is putting me in debt for the rest of my life? I know a few people who went who are now working menial jobs that have nothing to do with their majors. They would have been better off not going at all, if you ask me.”

  “You wouldn’t want to work here forever,” I said. While I loved having her around, Lena deserved more. She was smart, had a good attitude. She really was the kind of person who could do anything she set her mind to.

  “I know.” She shrugged again. “I’m still saving and everything, but the longer it takes, the more I wonder if I’d be better off staying here, saving up, and figuring out what I really want to do with my life later. Nothing says I have to work for someone else. Maybe I could start my own business or something.” Her face turned a light shade of red, and she refused to look up. “I don’t know, it’s something to think about anyway.”

  “Well, don’t wait too long,” I said. “Life is shorter than you think.” I stopped short of saying she should definitely go to college, no matter how pointless it seemed, mainly since it wasn’t my place. If she decided her life needed to go down another track, who was I to judge?

  “I won’t,” she said.

  The sound of running water came from the back, as did the clank of dishes, which reminded me of something.

  “What do you think of us hiring someone else to help out around here?” I asked. While it wasn’t busy now, if we had a rush, Jeff would need to abandon the dishes to work upstairs in the books while Lena and I handled the coffee, leaving no one to deal with the mess in the back. One more person could really ease the burden.

  Lena looked surprised. “Is that your way of pushing me out the door?”

  “No!” At her mischievous smile, I laughed. “No. But Vicki’s getting married and you have your future ahead of you. It would make it easier on everyone if we had one more person who could help out or come in when someone couldn’t make it.”

  “It would be nice for rush to have another body around,” Lena said. “When someone is working upstairs, and there’s just one or two of us down here, it can get hectic.”

  I nodded, liking the idea even more. Sometimes, Death by Coffee could be more than two or three people could handle. And then, when something happened, like when Lena broke her arm a few months ago, there was no one else to come in to take their place, leaving us shorthanded.

  And then there was my penchant for chasing after murderers. It really did cut into my time around the shop. I also had no idea what Vicki would do once she was married. Would she stop coming in and working, choosing instead to focus on the business end of things? Would Mason pull her in another direction? Take her on constant vacations? Or would life go on like nothing had changed?

>   “I think we should do it,” I said, feeling good about my decision. Now, I just had to get Vicki on board.

  The door opened then, and Rita Jablonski walked in. She was dressed in all black, her makeup dark. Her dress went down to the floor, but I knew she was probably wearing black shoes as well. She kind of looked like a past-her-prime goth reject as she made her way to the counter. In all my life, I didn’t think I’d ever seen anyone look more miserable.

  “Hi, Rita,” I said, leaning on the counter. I already knew what the problem was, but I wasn’t going to bring it up myself.

  Rita heaved an exaggerated sigh, and then, instead of talking in a slow, depressed drawl like I’d expected, she burst into her usual high-speed, overzealous way of speaking.

  “Did you hear about what happened?” she asked, hand fluttering to her chest. “A murder! I swear, this place is coming apart at the seams.” She tsked. “But we are lucky, aren’t we? James Hancock is in town and can help solve the case like he did the last time he was here!” At mention of my dad’s name, she closed her eyes and just about hugged herself. “It’s just the thing to brighten my day.”

  I didn’t see how a murder could brighten anything, but didn’t say so. “He’s here for Vicki’s wedding,” I said. “I don’t think he’s going to be getting involved this time. And no one has said it was actually a murder.” Other than Chief Dalton, and I was still hoping she was wrong.

  “Oh, pah.” She waved a hand at me. “He just has to. I mean, he was on the same flight as that woman, wasn’t he? He might have seen something on the plane, a clue.” Her eyes widened. “Do you think he already knows who did it? He’s probably already put it together! I should find him and ask.” She started to turn as if she was going to do just that, but stopped. When she looked at me, her eyes were downcast.

  Must have remembered Laura. Poor woman. I didn’t much care for how she lusted after my dad, but darn it, I hated seeing her so down.

  The only thing I could think of that would make her feel better was to gossip. I mean, she did have a good point. If something had happened on the plane, then Dad very well might have seen it.

  I considered the possibilities.

  If Cathy Carr had been killed by someone who’d come with the Pattersons, perhaps something had happened that would point to the killer. It could be something as simple as a spilled drink or a rude word. There might have been an all-out brawl, though I figured Dad would have said something if there had been. He’d flown coach with Cathy, while the others had flown first class, so it was unlikely she’d interacted with anyone during the flight.

  Then again, how sure was I that everyone had flown first class? Just because Gina and Frederick had didn’t mean everyone else had. I’d have to ask Dad about that when I got the chance.

  “What have you heard about what happened?” I asked, knowing that word of the murder and its suspects had already made the rounds in Pine Hills. Rita, being the main culprit when it came to spreading gossip and rumor, would have the scoop.

  “Just that you are the prime suspect.” She sounded oddly smug about that, as if she blamed me for Dad dating someone else and having me accused of murder made up for it. “I don’t believe for one second you had anything to do with it, of course, dear. I mean, you’d have to have guts to murder someone! It takes a certain type to pull off something like that.”

  I wanted to protest, but if she thought I was too much of a coward to kill anyone, then it was probably best not to give her another impression. “It might have been an accident,” I said.

  “An accident?” She laughed as if that were the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. “How do you kill someone by accident, dear?”

  I felt myself flush, but pressed on. “It could happen,” I said. “She could have fallen awkwardly. She could have been surprised by something and tripped. No one knows what happened that night.” My mind went back to the light turning off as I knocked. I had a feeling that someone did know; they just weren’t talking.

  Rita gave me a flat look. “Well, how I hear it, that woman wasn’t anyone’s friend. Georgina heard that this Cathy lady came in and started demanding everyone do things her way! Upset Judith, if you can believe it.” She said it like she couldn’t imagine anyone getting on Judith Banyon’s bad side. All it had taken for me was to open Death by Coffee. Judith hated me for it, claiming I was trying to steal customers from the Banyon Tree.

  “And then she involved herself in the upcoming wedding, as if she had a right to do so,” Rita went on. “It’s no wonder someone decided to put an end to her meddling.”

  “Has Andi heard anything?” I asked. Georgina McCully, Andi Caldwell, and Rita were the three biggest gossips in all of Pine Hills. If anyone knew who had motive to kill Cathy Carr, they would.

  Upstairs, a customer headed for the counter with a stack of books in hand. Lena, who’d been listening to the conversation while trying to look as if she were simply wiping down the counters, headed up to take care of her without a word.

  “Funny you should ask,” Rita said, leaning over the counter so far she was practically face-to-face with me. “Andi heard it from her sister that one of the actors in town was up for a big role recently, but lost it to someone else. He wasn’t too happy about it, and made sure people knew.”

  I frowned, unsure how that could lead to Cathy’s death. “Did she say which actor?”

  “No,” Rita admitted. “But I’ll ask her. We’re due to meet and have a little talk in a few minutes.”

  The door opened and both Georgina and Andi walked in, as if summoned. Georgina looked the same as always, white fluffy hair, glasses perched at the end of her nose. She looked like someone’s grandma. Andi’s hair was steely gray, and the fine lines around her eyes had deepened, making her look even older than the last time I’d seen her. They both looked upbeat and anxious, as if they couldn’t wait to start gossiping.

  They paused just inside, saw Rita, and made for the counter. I was abruptly forgotten as the women began talking about local, non-murder-related things in between orders. I filled Rita’s black coffee order first, then grabbed Andi and Georgina’s iced lattes. They barely stopped talking even as they paid and headed for an empty table.

  I watched them for a few minutes, wondering if they would talk about Cathy Carr and her murder, or if they’d continue to discuss whether someone named Ruby would end up breaking it off with Stan and go after a man they called Tiger.

  Since no one else was looking to put in an order, and Jeff had returned to the front, I decided to get some other things done. I made my way to the office and picked up the phone. All this talk about Cathy and the actors made me want to check in with Vicki to make sure she was okay. I dialed, and she answered on the second ring.

  “How are you holding up?” I asked her.

  “As well as I can be,” Vicki replied. “Mom’s freaking out, and Dad’s trying to use it as an excuse to get me to go back home. I’m ignoring them both.”

  “As you should.” I hated asking what came next, but was hoping she would know. “Have you heard anything about one of the actors in town having lost out on some movie role lately?”

  Vicki sounded confused when she answered. “No, why?”

  “I don’t know. Rita said something about it. You know how she gets.”

  She laughed, though it sounded strained. “I do. Do you think it could have anything to do with Cathy’s death?”

  “I hope not,” I said. “I’m still hoping it was an accident of some kind.”

  Vicki was silent for a long moment before, “They’re saying that necklace Mom tried to give me was fake.”

  “I know.” I still couldn’t believe it. Or figure out how it fit in to all of this. If Cathy had been killed because of it, then the killer would have taken it, right?

  “Mom insists someone has stolen the real necklace. She was demanding the police search your place, saying they’d find it there. I told them they’d be wasting their time, but don’t b
e surprised if someone comes knocking before long. Mom can be insistent, and while I don’t think anyone believes her, I bet they do what she wants just to get her to shut up.”

  I groaned. Just what I needed; the police snooping around while Dad’s new girlfriend was in town. I was sure I was already making quite the impression on her, and having cops show up on my doorstep would only make things worse. It wasn’t like it’d be too hard for them to get a warrant, considering I was a suspect.

  “Could Gina be wrong about the necklace?” I asked. “Don’t movies often use costume jewelry in place of the real thing?” I didn’t mention that most of the movies and shows Vicki’s parents had been in were low budget—or that, when they were in something big, they were merely nameless extras no one would recognize if they happened across them in the street.

  “Maybe,” Vicki said. “But it sure looked real.”

  It had. And all I’d seen of the fake was the photograph Chief Dalton had shown me. Were the two necklaces one and the same? Or had someone replaced the real one with a fake, be it Cathy or someone else?

  And had it somehow led to Cathy’s death?

  There was no way for me to know for sure, not with me working. And that’s not to mention how bad I felt for talking about it with Vicki. She sounded stressed and tired, and I was only making it worse.

  “I’d better get back to work,” I said. “Take it easy today. You still have a wedding coming and you don’t want to have bags under your eyes for it!” I meant it as a joke, but it didn’t come out quite right.

  Still, Vicki laughed. “I’ll try.”

  “Oh!” I’d almost forgotten. “I was thinking about looking into hiring someone else to work at Death by Coffee to help fill in. We should talk about it sometime soon.”

  “Actually, I was thinking the same thing,” Vicki said, sounding better now that she wasn’t talking about Cathy or the murder. “I even bought a sign to hang in the window, just in case you agreed with me.”

  “Great minds think alike, right?”