Pawsitively Swindled

by Melissa Erin Jackson

  Bianca Pace sauntered into the café then. “Well, isn’t this place quaint?” she said, giving the place the once-over. Bianca made “quaint” sound like “infested with disease-carrying cockroaches.” She wore sleek black slacks, a silk blouse, and her jet-black hair was down and shiny. She carried a thin black leather case that Amber assumed held the woman’s laptop.

  “Why don’t we get set up over in the corner,” Kim said in her best Festival Director Voice to Bianca. “Amber can take care of the drink orders.”

  Bianca sniffed. “Fine. I’ll take a venti soy mocha with double foam and one pump of sugar-free vanilla. Extra hot. And a sprinkle of cardamom if you have it.” Then she followed after a bewildered Kim.

  “She grows on you,” Amber said to Jack, though Amber wasn’t sure how true that was.

  “I have no idea how to make that drink,” he whispered.

  She laughed.

  His gaze shifted to her lips for a moment, then quickly back up to her eyes. “So what’s this little meeting about?”

  “There might be a plot by the Marbleglen police department to frame Bianca’s father for the murder of Chief Jameson,” she said in whispered rush. “Somehow, I think, this is all tied to a peppermint farmer.”

  Jack blinked at her. “I don’t even know how to respond to that.”

  “I know. We just got a lead from the peppermint farmer, so we’re running with it,” she said. “We figured we could work here for a little bit?”

  “Of course,” he said. “Do you … want help?”

  Her brows arched. “Really?”

  He shrugged. “Sure. Sabrina can run things, and I’ll just jump in to help her if we get another rush.”

  “That would be great.”

  “Cool, I’ll go grab my laptop and join you guys in a few.”

  It took fifteen minutes for them to get settled. Jack took orders, they pushed a few tables together, booted up their laptops, and Sabrina brought over a plate of scones. Amber was just about to ask Bianca if she had the list of party attendees when Kim, who was sitting to her right, gasped and clamped down on Amber’s forearm in vice grip.

  “Holy guacamole,” she whispered. “What is your cousin doing here?”

  Amber looked up and waved at Edgar, who stood awkwardly just inside the door. The strap of a messenger bag lay across his chest. He rubbed the back of his neck as he approached, taking in the scene. She knew he was warring with his fight-or-flight response, but when she patted the seat on her other side, he visibly swallowed, nodded in greeting to the group, and then slunk into the chair next to her. He didn’t remove his bag so much as clutch it to his chest like a life preserver.

  Two people sat a few tables away, but they were both working on their respective laptops with headphones on. Still, Amber kept her voice at a low volume as she got everyone up to speed, and then explained the task at hand.

  “There were six people in attendance at the dinner including Simon and Jameson. All four of the remaining attendees have signed written statements saying that they heard an argument between Simon and Jameson that got out of hand and resulted in Simon shooting him.”

  Bianca pulled a sheet of paper out of her bag. “These are the names of the remaining people at the party, based on the four signed eyewitness statements my father’s lawyer got copies of.” She laid the handwritten list in the middle of the table.

  Yvette Sable

  Nicolas Daniels

  Randy Tillman

  Victoria Sullivan

  “Bianca, do you know who Randy Tillman and Victoria Sullivan are?” Amber asked.

  “No clue.”

  “When Chief Brown and I talked to Wilma Jameson, she told us about Daniels coming to her apartment to grill her about any cases her father might’ve mentioned. The only one Jameson ever told her about was one connected to Joseph Cooper.”

  “The peppermint farmer?” Jack guessed.

  “Yeah,” Edgar said, relaxing a little. “On the night that four places in Marbleglen were hit with some kind of vandalism, Joe’s supply of peppermint oil—his livelihood—was destroyed in a way that implies the person knew exactly how to destroy it.”

  “A targeted attack,” Kim said.

  Edgar leaned forward slightly to look at Kim as he said, “That was Amber’s theory, yeah.”

  Kim went bright red.

  “What we don’t know,” Amber said, ignoring the very goofy smile Edgar had aimed Kim’s way for half a second before he caught himself and abruptly looked away, “is if the other three attacks in town were a distraction from what happened to Joe, or if they’re connected. We also don’t know, if Simon is innocent, to what extent the people in attendance at the party are involved in the cover-up.”

  “You really think Mayor Sable could be in on it?” Bianca asked, that rare glimpse of vulnerability returning to her voice.

  Remembering what Wilma had told her, Amber said, “The mayor was at that party, too. We can’t rule her out.”

  Bianca pursed her lips.

  “So the assignments are figuring out who Randy Tillman and Victoria Sullivan are, what Stone Gate Farms is, and who exactly was targeted in that string of crimes the night Cooper’s oil was ruined,” Amber said.

  Edgar took on the task of finding details on the crime spree, Jack took Randy Tillman, Bianca took Victoria Sullivan, and Amber and Kim would work on Stone Gate Farms. Amber booted up her laptop.

  A search for Stone Gate Farms brought Amber to a website for a Marbleglen-based flower farm that specialized, unsurprisingly, in rhododendrons. The site claimed that they had over one thousand varieties of rhododendrons for sale, including the famed marbled rhododendron endemic to the area. Orders for the marbled flowers, due to being in high demand, were only taken in April and May.

  The farm spanned ten acres, three of which were landscaped as demonstration gardens. There was a gift shop and a picnic area, and it was hiking distance from Lake Myrtle. Because of flower enthusiasts’ attempts to pick the sought-after marbled flowers, access to them had been significantly reduced over the years. The best place to view the flowers, the site claimed, was from across the shore of the lake, where at certain angles, the blue of the flowers was reflected in the water, giving sections of the lake itself a marbled appearance.

  Amber scanned the drop-down menu list, selected “news and events,” and found a blog post from the month before.

  Good news, Rhodies!

  We have just gotten word that we’re one step closer to starting construction on our two-acre greenhouse which will be exclusively devoted to growing marbled rhododendrons—making these uniquely beautiful flowers more available to more flower enthusiasts.

  In addition to the greenhouse, we’re so much closer to finally expanding the farm. There will be more rhododendrons for you all to love, a pumpkin patch, corn maze, and a whimsical fairy playground for the little ones. We can’t wait to share all these new attractions with you.

  Check back here soon for updates.

  - Your Stone Gate Farm Family

  “Click there,” Kim said, pointing to a link that said, “proposed layout for expansion.”

  Amber clicked it and a map filled the screen. “This is going to be massive.”

  “Not going to lie,” Kim said, “I sort of want to check this place out when it’s done. I might be a grown woman, but the fairy playground sounds fun.”

  Amber clicked away from the map. Below the link was another one labeled “job opportunities.” There were dozens of jobs already listed, and she could only imagine how many more would be added once the farm was given the okay to expand. “Seems like it would be a really good opportunity for Marbleglen.”

  “But, wait,” Kim said. “Joe said his problems started with Stone Gate Farms, didn’t he?”

  And then a horrible thought hit her.

  Amber hurried to click on the map again. She searched for Joe’s street, and there, in the middle of the proposed expansion, was Basil Road. “Stone Gate Farms wa
nts his land.”

  “Would someone from the farm destroy his crop so he can’t afford to stay?” Kim asked. “He claims the police have been harassing him, right? Are they trying to swindle Joe out of his farm so Stone Gate can expand? Ugh. I take back what I said about the fairy playground.”

  Amber frowned at the screen for a while, then glanced up to see everyone else was still working. Edgar had huge headphones covering his ears and was bopping along to something Amber assumed was very loud and metallic. Bianca had dainty earbuds in, the white cords snaking in front of her silk forest green top.

  Jack looked up then and smiled at her. “Any luck?”

  “I think so,” she said. “You?”

  “Nope. Randy Tillman is a really common name,” Jack said.

  Amber waved a hand in front of Bianca until the woman pulled put an earbud. When she had both their attention, she said, “Add farming, flowers, construction, land development, real estate—any of that to your searches.”

  They both nodded and got back to work.

  Amber sat back in her seat, arms crossed, and stared at the colorful rotating pictures of flowers and happy families on the Stone Gate Farms website. “Why do you think any of this would get Jameson killed?” she asked Kim.

  Kim mirrored her posture. “Wait … do you remember at that first joint meeting where Bianca was being horrible?”

  They both realized at the same time that Horrible Bianca was across from them, but when their attention snapped toward her, Bianca was focused on her screen, head bopping softly to her music.

  “Hoo boy!” Kim said, hand to her forehead. “Anyway, do you remember when Chief Jameson gave that really lame ‘pep talk’ and Mayor Sable kinda sarcastically called him out for being a ‘team player’?”

  “Oh yeah,” Amber said. “So maybe Jameson didn’t like what the others were doing to Joe? Maybe he refused to harass him?”

  Kim gave a full body shrug.

  The sound of Amber’s phone interrupted her thoughts, and she grabbed it out of her purse. The chief. Amber leaned toward her cousin and pried one of his headphones off his ears. He jumped.

  “I have to take this,” she said, jiggling her phone, “but maybe Kim can help you with your search since we’re done.”

  He gulped. “Okay.”

  Amber hit “Accept” on the call, said, “Hey, chief, one sec,” and got up to round their pushed-together tables. She gave Jack’s shoulder a squeeze as she did. As she reached the door to the café, she peered over to see Kim and Edgar now sitting next to each other. Edgar was explaining something to her, gesturing to his screen often, while Kim gazed at him, her chin propped up on her fist.

  The Dungeons & Dragons crew were still deep into their game. “Of course it exploded, you oaf!” someone shouted in an affected Irish lilt.

  Smiling to herself, she stepped outside. “Okay, hi. What’s up?”

  “I thought I was pretty clear about you not investigating on your own,” he said, instantly ruining her few moments of good cheer.

  Amber quickly scanned the parking lot, looking for his cruiser or personal car, wondering if he was here now. “Um …”

  “I got a call from a rather gruff Daniels asking me why Amber Blackwood and Edgar Henbane were seen leaving Joseph Cooper’s farm off Basil Road earlier today.”

  “Why was he out there?” Amber asked. “What was he doing, hiding in the bushes?”

  “Daniels claims that Cooper is growing increasingly upset about the level of harassment he’s been facing lately, not to mention the destruction of his crop a couple weeks ago, and would like to be left alone,” the chief said. “Daniels says he’s taking a personal interest in Cooper’s case, and has asked me, as a fellow chief, to assist him in making sure the residents of my town don’t meddle in the business of his.”

  Amber was momentarily speechless.

  “Still there?” he asked, and Amber honestly couldn’t tell if he was angry or not. “Care to explain what’s going on here when I thought you and I had an understanding about this?”

  Without preamble, Amber launched into it, starting with Alan Peterson’s earlier phone call and ending with what Amber had just learned about Stone Gate Farms. “Something really weird is going on here, chief.”

  She waited for him to scold her.

  “So there’s a possibility Mayor Sable is tied up in … whatever this is too. I was really hoping that wasn’t the case; I genuinely like Yvette,” he finally said. “Look, Amber, I’m not your keeper. I just want you all to be safe—and this Daniels guy is … something doesn’t smell right. Can I request that you don’t go out of your way to tick this guy off? At least without warning me first.”

  “I can do that,” Amber said.

  After a beat, he said, “Do you still feel like you need access to Jameson’s house?”

  Amber blinked so rapidly in shock that she nearly made herself dizzy. “It would help, yeah.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Really?”

  “I didn’t hear much from Jameson or vice versa because it wasn’t really necessary, but I have a feeling Daniels is going to be a different story,” he said. “If he truly is caught up in unsavory business and he thinks he can pull me in too, we’re going to have a problem. And if Mayor Sable—who is effectively his boss—is also involved in this?” She could picture him shaking his head. “If cleaning house in Marbleglen helps Edgehill in the long run, then I’ll happily pick up a mop and bucket.”

  “That was both very inspiring and incredibly cheesy.”

  “I like to think that’s my sweet spot.”

  Amber laughed.

  “Getting you into Jameson’s house will be tricky, so it may take some time. It’s not my town, Sable is compromised if not complicit, and breaking and entering on your part is still off the table,” he said. “I’ll put in a call to Juan Reyes and get a read on how he feels about what’s going on. If the rest of the corrupt cops haven’t turned him, he might be a good resource for us. I think he still has ties to friends in the FBI, too. If the corruption in Marbleglen runs as deep as I think it does, we may need all the help we can get.”

  Well, that was a sobering thought.

  “Stay safe for my sake, okay?” he said after she’d been quiet for several beats. “I don’t really have the time to find a new best friend.”

  When Amber stepped back inside Purrcolate, Jack was helping Sabrina behind the counter, and Bianca, Kim, and Edgar were in the midst of a heated discussion. Amber waited for the customers waiting in line to be taken care of before she approached Jack. Sabrina made herself scarce, but not before wagging her eyebrows very suggestively at Jack. The tips of his ears went pink again.

  Once Sabrina had disappeared into the kitchen, he said, “She’s my best worker, but I obviously have to fire her.”

  “Obviously,” Amber said, then motioned to the rest of the group. “Any idea what’s going on over there? Should I be worried?”

  “Oh, everyone gave up on research about ten minutes ago,” he said. “Edgar and Kim got into it about Vamp World, then Bianca chimed in. I’m a season behind so I fled the scene.”

  Amber gasped. “So you haven’t seen John Huntley’s season?”

  “I have not,” he said. “I fall asleep in front of the TV like an old man, remember?”

  “This cannot stand,” Amber said. “John—I call him John because we’re like this—” she held up her crossed pointer and middle fingers, despite the fact that she and John Huntley most assuredly had never even been in the same room together, let alone the same city, “might be here in a month, Mr. Terrence. What if one of the most famous heartthrobs in the country walks into this very coffee shop and asks what your favorite scene from last season is and you can’t tell him?”

  “I see your point,” Jack said. “It would be a national scandal.”

  “At the very least.”

  He rested his forearms on the counter. “What do you suggest I do?”

>   She rested hers on the counter too. “I may have a way you can watch it.”

  His gaze roamed her face for a moment, and he did his best to hide his smile. “I’m listening.”

  “Well,” she said in her most serious tone, “it’ll cost you.”

  “Another extra-large order of wonton soup?”

  Amber grinned at him and may have involuntarily fluttered her lashes like a southern belle. “You might have to add in a couple orders of spring rolls, too.”

  Jack flicked his tongue across his bottom lip, his voice lowering a fraction as if he was imparting a great secret. “I think that can be arranged.”

  A hand landed on the counter and Amber and Jack both flinched and stood straight. Larry Terrence stood to Jack’s left, one hand propped on the counter, and the other on his hip.

  “I see you two are back to being completely disgusting,” Larry said, smiling. “I, for one, am delighted to see it. The line of customers behind you, though? Not so much.”

  Amber whirled around to find no fewer than five people waiting behind her. Most looked amused, at least. “Oh gosh! So sorry. I uhh …” Amber turned back to Jack. “I’ll be … over there.”

  Thankfully, Kim, Edgar, and Bianca had been so wrapped up in their conversation that they didn’t even notice Amber had returned to the café until she plopped down beside Kim.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Edgar asked, eying Amber from around Kim.

  Bypassing the Jack situation entirely, Amber said, “Chief Daniels called our chief to more or less demand that Edgar and I never return to Cooper’s farm.”

  All three stared at her in silence.

  “This doesn’t bode well at all,” Bianca said. “Randy Tillman and Victoria Sullivan aren’t coming up in any of our searches. Edgar said the other crimes that happened around town were pretty random, right?”

  “Yeah,” Edgar said. “I mean I’ll keep looking, but at least on the surface, nothing connects any of the people targeted. That line of cars that was vandalized at the apartment complex seemed like they were chosen solely because of where they were parked, not who owned them.”

  Amber nodded absently.