Nosy Neighbor: All 7 complete Nosy Neighbor cozy mysteries PLUS: 2 short Christmas stories (A Nosy Neighbor mystery)

by Cynthia Hickey

  “When do we get to meet him?”

  “It’s too soon.” She flashed a grin and reached for the door handle. “You’ll meet him when it’s time.” She sashayed into the house.

  Which sounded like a very good idea. Tiredness coated my shoulders and the cold was starting to seep to my bones. My bed called my name loud and clear.

  I stood and stretched.

  A cry from the street startled me. I peered through the dark.

  Melody stood hunched over on the opposite sidewalk, the streetlight showcasing her misery. Carol, in a dark-colored van, was stopped next to her.

  “Get in right now!” Carol pounded the dashboard.

  “I want out. Please.” Melody shook her head.

  “You know the consequences, Melody. Get in the van.”

  Melody glanced up, her gaze clashing with mine. Even though I ducked out of sight, I didn’t miss her silent cry for help.

  4

  After tossing and turning for hours, I’d finally fallen asleep when I dreamed of being kissed and of Matt spooning me while I slept. I smiled and rolled over, then realized I wasn’t dreaming.

  I shrieked and shoved against him. “If Mom sees you, she’ll have a fit!”

  Laughing, he slid from the bed. “Get up. I’ve missed you.” He yanked the blankets away. His gaze roamed over the shorts and tank top I slept in. “Cute. Come on. I cooked breakfast.”

  My hero. I leaped from the bed and followed him to the kitchen.

  A stack of pancakes sat in the middle of the table. Next to it was a plate of bacon, a bowl of powdered sugar, and a stick of softened butter.

  “You’re the best!” I threw my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his, murmuring how much I loved him.

  He wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me off my feet. When our kiss deepened to the point of danger, he set me on the floor and pulled out a chair. “I don’t have a lot of time.”

  “Why?”

  “My case has moved here. I’m still working.” He wrapped a pancake around three slices of bacon, dribbled syrup over the lot, and took a bite. “If my supervisor finds out I’m here, he’ll have my head.”

  “But everyone in Oak Meadows knows who you are.” I slathered butter on my pancakes. “It will be hard to blend in.”

  “These people don’t know me, and I have a disguise. If you recognize me, act like you don’t.” He kissed me again, tasting of bacon and maple syrup. “I’ll try to sneak over tonight. Love you.”

  “I’ll be up. I have something I need your help with. Something important. A child might be in danger.”

  He got serious, then gave me a curt nod, knowing without me saying a word that I had another mystery to solve. One he probably wouldn’t be happy about. What had I done to deserve such a patient man? Not only did he have to deal with me getting into dangerous situations, but my entire family. Sometimes, we went so far as to accidentally impede an investigation. We were quite well known among the local law enforcement.

  I finished breakfast, wrapped up the extra pancakes for the others to eat later, then headed to my office to jot some notes. A face appeared at the window. I screamed, then relaxed as I recognized Rusty. I held up a finger to signify he stay there, then rushed outside and around the house.

  “Stop doing that. You scared me.” Thank goodness I was fully clothed.

  “I’m going to mow now.”

  “Okay.”

  “Other house.”

  I nodded, wondering where he was headed with his comments. It didn’t do any good to second-guess or rush him.

  “She doesn’t have a mower.”

  “Oh, right. You may use mine.” While I was used to his meandering ways of getting to the point, others weren’t as accommodating. Someday, I hoped to find a way to communicate to him that it was best to get to the point. “Come back here when you’ve finished. And, don’t forget my tools.”

  I wanted to get any news he dug up out of him right away. Rusty headed for my tool shed, and I went to the front of the house. Mary Ann pulled into the driveway.

  “Hey. Matt’s home.”

  “I saw him this morning.”

  “But we have to act like we don’t know him. He’s staying in one of those rent by the week places on the highway.”

  I shuddered, imagining him sharing a room with hundreds of roaches and eating fast food three times a day. My poor Matt. “Any idea what his case is about?”

  “Nope. That man is as tight-lipped as a … well, I can’t think of anything that isn’t a cliché. Are we going for coffee?”

  “Let me get dressed.” I raced into the house, leaving her to follow and took the stairs two at a time to my room. Nothing got me moving as fast as the promise of one of Norma’s delicious coffees. That, and I wanted to ask her to keep her ears open as to the goings on at the home of Carol Forbes. With Tyler having graduated high school this past spring, he might still have an “in” with the young crowd. At least she hoped so.

  Ten minutes later, my legs encased in skinny jeans, my feet in ballet flats, and me wearing a red, long-sleeve tee shirt, I tied my hair into a messy bun and hurried back downstairs to where Mary Ann stood at the kitchen window.

  “Rusty sure is digging through your shed.”

  “He’s borrowing some tools to use on the foster home yard. Ready?”

  She nodded. “He takes out one thing, puts it back, then takes out another. He really is the strangest thing.”

  “But harmless. He’s keeping busy. He’ll make it to his job soon enough.” I rubbed my hands together. “Now, let’s go get that coffee.”

  “Oh, I see. He put back a rusty rake and took a fairly new one. He’s a picky gardener.”

  I guess I needed to buy some new tools for him to use. Or, better yet, buy him his own. After all, other than the inheritance left by his mother, he lived off what he made doing lawns.

  “Now, he has a box.”

  I peered over her shoulder. “That’s not mine.” I’d never seen the small cardboard box before. From between the flaps hung what looked like long black tresses. I opened the kitchen door. “What’s that, Rusty?”

  “Nothing.” He hunched over the box and lumbered out of sight.

  “I’ll figure out what he’s up to later.” I locked the door, set the alarm, and followed Mary Ann to her car. Things like coffee and gossip took priority.

  I waved at Tyler and made a beeline for Norma’s table. I’d long ago quit trying to figure out why she preferred doing her work in the business of the coffee shop over her quiet office. When I wrote, I didn’t need, or want, any distractions.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey,” she answered, closing her laptop. “What questions can I answer today?”

  “You know me so well.” I sat down. “I’m actually asking your permission to have Tyler do a bit of snooping.”

  “He’s eighteen. He doesn’t need my permission. Is it dangerous?”

  “I’m not sure.” I told her of my feelings toward Carol Forbes and her charges.

  “This can’t be good. Considering my former profession and what I learned there, I’m warning you to be careful.” She tapped her pencil against a pad of paper. “Want me to ask some of the girls if they know anything?”

  “Sure.”

  “If it’s what I think it might be, the prostitutes won’t be too happy that Forbes moved to town.”

  “What do you think it is? Something other than abuse?” My blood chilled.

  “Oh, it’s definitely abuse. I don’t want to say more until I know more. Give me a few minutes to make a couple of calls.” She pushed away from the table and headed to her office.

  Just great. Now she wanted privacy.

  Mary Ann brought our drinks over and pulled up a chair. “Where’d she go?”

  “To make some calls.”

  A few minutes later, a very grave Norma returned and stared across the table at us. “Ladies, the girls wouldn’t talk. Said they valued their lives too much to s
ay anything other than a young man with lots of money could find out more than we can.” She glanced at Tyler. “You can ask my son, but I’m going to pray that he says no.”

  “Then I won’t ask him. Whether he’s an adult or not doesn’t mean I want to go against your wishes. I’ll find out what I need to know another way.” Through Rusty or my own sheer nosiness and reckless way of heading straight into trouble. “Do you have a gut feeling?”

  She took a deep breath. “Ask your boyfriend what’s going on.”

  “You know he won’t tell me.” I set my drink down hard enough to splash some through the hole in the lid. “Especially if it’s part of his investigation.”

  It bothered me to learn that the quaint little town of Oak Meadows had the same evil lurking behind its closed doors that the larger cities did. Perhaps prostitution and drugs were more rampant outside our boundaries, but they managed to make their presence known as I had discovered all too well a few months before. As more and more people moved to the Ozarks, crime increased. Soon, if it hadn’t already, the very things we encountered elsewhere would rear their ugly heads on our vintage-styled streets.

  I wished Norma would tell me, but once she decided not to say anything, not even torture would get the information out of her. I sighed and sipped my drink, trying to decide on our next move. Dakota would be happy to nose around, but I feared he was already involved and if it was as dangerous as Norma acted, I didn’t want him in any deeper.

  I turned my head and gazed out at Main Street. The bright autumn day had lost a lot of its brilliance. Instead, a cloud covered the sun, casting the town in shadow. Fitting for what seemed to be creeping steadily closer to our fair city.

  A car I didn’t recognize parked in front of Mom’s bakery. Two men in expensive suits climbed out.

  I jumped to my feet. “See you. Let me know if you decide to tell me anything.” I motioned my head toward the door for Mary Ann to follow and chased after my instincts.

  I barged into Mom’s shop as the two gentlemen stepped up to the counter. Mom’s grin blinded me from the door.

  “Welcome to Heavenly Bakes. How may I help you?”

  The oldest of the two, a man with silver hair slicked back from his face, leaned just a tad closer to Mom. “We’re hosting a party at the end of the week and are hoping we can hire you to cater the dessert table.”

  Her smile widened. “For how many?”

  “Two hundred.”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh. Well…”

  “We’d love to.” I stepped forward and offered my hand. “Stormi Nelson, and this is my mother and partner, Anne Nelson. Please, take a look at our catalog and let us know what appeals to you.

  His gaze swept from my head to my feet, sending a chill over my spine. “If anything in the catalog looks as delicious as you, then we’ll have no problem choosing.”

  I sincerely hoped we were talking about desserts. The look in his eyes said otherwise. “Is there a theme to your party?”

  “Formal. We ask that our servers also dress befitting the occasion.” He handed me a business card. “Please be ready to set up at five. Party begins at seven. There is no need for us to look at the catalog. We trust the judgment of professionals.” He winked, smiled at Mom, then he and his silent sidekick left the shop.

  “That has to be the weirdest order I’ve ever received.” Mom shrugged and opened the catalog. “It’ll be easy enough to make mini eclairs and petits. Maybe we can ask Norma to supply coffee to go with the desserts. I think things that can be eaten with fingers are best, don’t you?”

  I nodded, and glanced out the window. The silver-haired man stood next to his Volvo and stared. When our eyes met, he nodded, then slid into the passenger seat. Again, I felt as if someone had stomped on my grave.

  I read the card in my hand. Nicholas Bomberg of Bomberg Enterprises. On the back of the card was written “Where fantasy and life meet”. Why did I have a sudden need for a shower?

  5

  “I need your help.” Dakota grabbed my arm later that evening as I strolled around the corner of the house after taking out the garbage.

  “A little rough.” I yanked free. “Use your words.” I saw the roll of his eyes in the light from the kitchen window.

  “I think Heather is in some big trouble. She’s always out at night, always needs money…” He shook his head. “I help her when I can, but what if she’s into drugs and I’m enabling her?” He leaned against the side of the house. “I really like her, Aunt Stormi. Have you found out anything?”

  I didn’t know much and wasn’t sure what I should say about what I did know. “We’re looking into the alleged abuse like you asked.”

  “You think she stays gone all the time because Mrs. Forbes is mean to her?” Hope leaped across his face.

  “It’s a possibility.” I didn’t want to go where my mind seemed to be straying. Something about the horrified look on Norma’s face after she made a phone call still bothered me. Now Matt was home, in disguise, because his case moved here. Whatever was going on was not good. In fact, my gut told me whatever it was would turn this town upside down.

  “I thought so, too, at first, but now…” he shrugged. “I don’t know what to think.”

  “Just keep being her friend.”

  “I will, but it’s hard. She said we have to keep it a secret that she spends time with me.”

  “Maybe she isn’t allowed to date.”

  His eyes widened. “We aren’t dating. Why would I want to be tied down like that?” He shook his head and bounded into the kitchen.

  I watched through the window as he grabbed a pint of ice cream from the freezer before heading for the living room. Kids. They bounced back so quickly.

  A hand clamped onto my shoulder.

  I screamed and whirled.

  Rusty grinned, his teeth white through the light of dusk. “I brought your tools back.”

  “Don’t scare me like that.” I crossed my arms. “Tell me what was in the box you took out this morning.”

  “A wig and dirty clothes.”

  Okay. Not sure I wanted to know why those things were in my shed. “What did you hear or see at the foster house?” I hated to sound demanding, but if I wanted to get information from Rusty, it had to be stated very clearly and concisely or the conversation went in circles until I was ready to pull my hair out.

  “Cars come and go. Girls come and go. Girls hand money to lady. Girls cry a lot.”

  “Did you see the lady hit the girls?”

  He shook his head. “When I peek in window, lady close curtains. She looks mean. She scares Rusty.”

  “She scares me, too.” I bit the inside of my lip. “Can you do more work there tomorrow?”

  “I trim bushes tomorrow.” He turned and walked away.

  I guess the conversation was over. I sighed and headed for the house. The night was cooling off and I still needed to walk Sadie and make our rounds of the neighborhood.

  I glanced at my neighbor’s house, the Salazars. The windows were still dark. They couldn’t return from vacation soon enough to suit me. I needed help with the Neighborhood Watch program. If people didn’t see me consistently monitoring the streets, they’d have no inclination to join. I shoved aside the fact that it was almost a year since I’d started the Watch, and we only had four members; Me, Mom, and the Salazars, and Mom rarely fulfilled her obligation. She was either busy concocting new creations for her bakery, or spending time with her banker boyfriend, Robert Smithfield.

  I went into the house, grabbed Sadie’s leash, and called her away from where she begged for a bite of Dakota’s ice cream. The television was tuned to one of those reality channels about cars driving too fast and crashing. Not my idea of entertainment, but then, I wasn’t a teenage boy.

  “Come on, girl.” I bent over and clicked the leash onto her collar. “We both need a walk more than we need dessert.”

  “The view looks just fine from where I’m standing.”

  I jer
ked upright and turned to see Matt standing in the doorway. “Don’t stare at my rear end! It’s the biggest part of me.”

  “Just the way I like it.” He gave me a crooked grin that set my stomach to fluttering. “Mind if I walk with you?”

  “Don’t you need to keep a low profile?”

  “I’m not in disguise. It won’t hurt for folks to see me with you once in a while. In fact, I want people to know your knight in shining armor is back.” He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me.

  I immediately melted into him.

  “Now that I’m officially grossed out, I’m going to my room.” Dakota turned off the television and took his ice cream with him.

  I laughed. “I’d love to take a walk with you.” I handed him Sadie’s leash and slid my hand into his free one.

  Once we were outside, I asked, “Can you tell me about your case?”

  “No. Will you tell me about yours?”

  I knew he’d say no, but it never hurt to try. I filled him in on everything I’d done over the last couple of days, starting with Dakota’s request of help and ending with my conversation with Rusty.

  Matt stayed quiet during and after my monologue. I stared at his profile, just making out his features in the light of street lamps as we passed. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but experience had taught me he’d only tell me when he felt it safe. No amount of cajoling would get him to utter a word.

  His hand tightened on mine. “I want you to step back from this.”

  “But, Melody asked for my help. I know she did.” I stopped and faced him. “Those girls are in trouble, Matt.”

  He put his hands on my shoulders. “You have to trust me on this. Your involvement will be dangerous to your entire family, especially Cherokee. Please, stay away.”

  “What do I tell Dakota? Oh.” Nausea rose as my heart plummeted to my knees. “You’re talking sex slavery, aren’t you?”

  “I can’t say anything, Stormi. You know that.”

  I was more determined than ever to help those girls. I’d send my sister and her children to the mountain cabin. They’d be safe there. I was too old to be worried about abduction, right? Tears burned my eyes. It seemed as if every month I had a reason to send my family away for their protection.