The Frosty Taste of Scandal_An Angel Lake Mystery

by CeeCee James

  “Someone is waiting for you,” Brad smirked, glancing up and seeing the cat. At that moment, the curtain pulled back even further, and a freckled face peered out. Lucy. The girl saw their car and waved, before disappearing back from sight.

  “And she opens the door in three… two…” Brad counted.

  The front door sprung open, and the tiny five-foot-two teenager stood in the doorway.

  “Hi, guys!” Lucy yelled.

  Elise chuckled. She turned to Brad. “The kids want our attention, I think.”

  “I guess so,” he said. Slowly, they both got out of the car, like they were stiff and sore.

  Truthfully, Elise was.

  One of the “kids” in question was living with Elise temporarily. The teenager had been homeless and on the streets when Elise discovered her, having run away to escape a horrible home life.

  But now things were changing. Lucy’s mom had entered a treatment program and had been there for the last few months. The teen had yet to visit her, but the time was coming soon. Elise could feel it.

  But for now, Elise had temporary custody. Poor Brad was dragged in by default. She glanced at her fiancé now, wondering how he really felt about that. He’d been very understanding at the time, but it couldn’t be easy for him, going from being single for so long to a ready-made family.

  And a teen to boot.

  Elise hooked her fingers through his and they held hands as they walked toward the front door. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. He returned it with a smile.

  “What’s going on in that mind of yours?” he asked, his eyebrow raising.

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “I can tell by your expression that your wheels are spinning. And not in a good way.”

  She laughed. “I was just curious if you’re happy.”

  He stopped dead in his tracks and pulled her close. “Happy doesn’t even begin to describe it, kid.”

  She rolled her eyes at his pet name “kid.” He was exactly one month older than her. “You goof. You’re the kid.”

  “I’m serious. I can’t even believe you’re mine. I’m still waiting for the moment you wake up and start screaming and run away.” Again, his eyebrow rose. He leaned in close and gave her a kiss that had her nearly forgetting everything.

  “You guys! Puke!” Lucy yelled from the doorway. The door slammed shut.

  Brad was undeterred, but Elise pulled away laughing.

  “Come on. Let’s go in. I guess I’m hungry after all,” she said. “I’m pretty sure I have frozen pizza.”

  “Mmm, frozen pizza. I’ve never had that before. I should give it a try,” Brad teased. Just then, his phone rang. He glanced at the number and immediately switched into his professional voice.

  “Carter, here.” He repeated a few yes’s, and mmhmm’s while Elise watched curiously. Then he said, “Thank you for letting me know.”

  He put his phone away. “That was the coroner. It looks like the cause of death is to be listed as broken neck. Most certainly brought on by blunt force, which the ice skate fits as the murder weapon. They’re doing blood work, and that should be back soon. He was identified as Roger Hamilton. Sixty-three, lives at Ravondale Heights. His family owns the Hamilton Securities Bank where he works as the General Manager.”

  “Wow,” Elise tried to digest the information. She reached for the door.

  “Looks like we have a case, my dear Columbo,” he said with a whistle.

  Chapter 3

  “Darlin’, I don’t know what to say. I feel like I can’t even let you out of my sight for a moment without you discovering a dead body.” Lavina frowned at Elise over her steaming cup of coffee. They were sitting in Kelli’s Diner having a quick sandwich during Elise’s lunch hour. It had been storming all day, making the light in the restaurant dark and gloomy.

  “I’m sorry. Wait, what am I apologizing for?” Elise laughed and took a bite of her BLT. Her appetite was more than making up for disappearing yesterday.

  Ignoring her, Lavina continued. “And thee Roger Hamilton. Loved by none, hated by all. The famous Ice-Man, loan shark himself. How do you do it?” She shook her head and rather daintily poked through her salad in search of a shrimp.

  “As if I wanted to find a dead body!” Elise was starting to feel a bit indignant. “It wasn’t exactly how I planned my date night, you know. Hair, check. Cute new hat, boots and gloves, check. Dead body, check.”

  “You have a skill,” Lavina said sadly, shaking her head. “Of course, coroner’s have skills too. Not ones most people want to excel in.”

  Elise rolled her eyes.

  “Speaking of skills, I’m sorry to have to do this to you…” Lavina grabbed Elise’s hand.

  Elise instantly became nervous. What was Vi about to say? “What’s the matter? Are you mad at me?”

  “No, no. I’m not mad at you. But, as your best friend and maid of honor…” Her penciled eyebrow lifted at Elise’s grin. “What’s so funny about that?”

  Elise hadn’t actually asked her yet, but trust Lavina to take her rightful place.

  “Something you want to say?” Lavina asked again. Her fork was held up in a rather aggressive way.

  Elise chose a diplomatic reply. “It’s just that I’m so glad you’re going to be my maid of honor. I’m sorry I haven’t formally asked yet.”

  Vi sighed. “Don’t you remember the summer we were fourteen? That sleep-over where we snuck the movie The Breakfast Club, which your mother said we were much too young to watch, and I brought over all the makeup I’d gotten from theater class? We did each other’s make up and then swore that we would be each other’s maid of honor. We sealed it with pinky promise.” Brows raised at her excellent explanation, Lavina waited expectantly.

  As Lavina had been talking, Elise did start to feel the flittering of that memory surface. “And Pogo…” she muttered.

  “That’s right. You had that darn beagle, Pogo. He ran off with my red lipstick. I think he ate it.” Lavina scowled.

  “He had red teeth for a week,” Elise said with a shake of her head.

  “I feel so sorry for him,” Lavina quipped dryly. As if that reminded her, she removed a tiny jeweled compact from her purse and inspected her own lacquered lips.

  Tucking it away, she continued, “Anyway, as I was saying, I’m sorry to do this, but we really need to firm up your wedding day. How can I possibly get everything together when I don’t even know when it’s going to be?” Her penciled-eyebrows drew together. “I just know you’re going to spring the date on me and expect a miracle. Tell me you’re not going to do that.”

  “No, nothing like that. I’ll give you plenty of warning, I promise.” Elise held up her fingers like a girl scout. “We’re honestly in no hurry.”

  Lavina looked at the hand sign, and the corner of her mouth quirked into a small smile. “I’m holding it to you then, lady.”

  Just then, a bright flash lit up the sky, followed by an explosion of thunder. The customers let out a collective squeal of surprise. Before they’d quieted, the power went out.

  “Oh, crap,” Elise said. Angel Lake wasn’t known for speedy repairs of power outages. “I’d better head back to work.” She pulled a twenty out of her wallet and slid it under her plate. “You know what the traffic is like when the power goes out. I guess I better stop at the store, too, for some TP and more candles.”

  Elise inched her way down the road, now filled with cars just as she’d feared, her windshield wipers beating back and forth in a losing battle against the heavy downpour. Where all the cars came from and why they magically seemed to appear the moment the traffic lights were out, she’d never know. None of them seemed to know how to navigate intersections without the green light telling them when to go. By the time she’d navigated through her fifth dead intersection, she was ready to scream.

  They’ve come out with picture aps that can turn you into a deer. Why can’t they come out with something for the lights when the power goes out? />
  The grocery store was crowded when she finally pulled into the lot. She found a space way in the back, and grumbled a bit, knowing she’d have to run in the rain.

  But there was nothing for it. After pulling her purse strap over her shoulder, she grabbed her jacket and held it over her head. Then, with a deep breath, she darted out of the car.

  The temperature had dropped. The rain was slushy and cold, and it seemed to laugh at her pitiful attempt to shield herself. Puddles splashed up as she ran through them.

  Outside the store’s entry were Christmas Trees wrapped in netting. The air smelled of fresh cut pine as she ran through the front doors. She nearly slipped on the slick linoleum inside. Yellow caution signs reminded her too late that the floor was wet.

  The power was still not back on and the light of the store glowed a strange orange from the quarter-output of the emergency generator. She reached for a cart and threw her jacket into the basket, grimacing at the wet twack sound it made. Her hair hung in wet strings. She rubbed her sleeve over her forehead in an effort to dry it.

  The aisles were filled with people scrambling to get last minute items. The last time the town had a power outage, the shelves had been stripped nearly bare. Elise could feel her anxiety raising.

  Just as she turned down the canned food aisle, a cart sharply connected with her ankle. Biting back a scream, she turned to see a grinning little kid.

  “Tag! You’re it!” he yelled.

  The mother came running up, her face flushed. “Danny, we don’t hit people. Say you’re sorry.”

  Elise was so upset, she couldn’t deal with an apology. She just gave a brief grin and walked away. Limped away, is more like it.

  She loaded the cart with some soup and chili—easy things to heat over a camp stove—and went to pick up hot dogs. Along the way she added her needed toilet paper, a few cans of cat food, and some candles. She also grabbed a few boxes of pop tarts. For Lucy, she reasoned. Her tiny inner voice chose that moment to question who was she going to blame buying snacks on when Lucy returned to her mother’s home, but she managed to squelch it.

  As Elise browsed the hot dogs, she overheard a sharp male voice. She looked up to see a couple arguing. They were half hidden down the hallway to the bathrooms, and seemed oblivious to anyone around them.

  It was the tall, pudgy, glasses guy from the ice-skate rentals. He was talking in a low voice to a woman, who was clearly upset.

  She threw her hands in the air. “Well I won’t have it! You know what happened!”

  Wincing, he glanced around to see if anyone heard, his eyes locking with Elise’s.

  Elise turned back toward the hotdogs. She grabbed a couple packages, not caring about the brand any more, just trying to get out of there. Quickly, she pushed the cart down the aisle, but at the end, she couldn’t help a glance back over her shoulder.

  They were gone.

  What a weird day. Shrugging, she got into line with Annie, an older blonde checker.

  “Little Elise, how are you doing today?” The checker drawled. Her name tag on her shirt was framed in tiny plastic Christmas ornaments. In her hand was a paper and pen. Next to her was a calculator and an old-fashioned credit card machine.

  “I’m tired and soaked. Traffic’s crazy.”

  “So I’ve heard. Everyone coming in here is about as mad as wet hens. Kind of look like them too.” The clerk pointed a skinny arm to the groceries. “Hon, just push your cart down here. Conveyer belt’s not working.”

  Elise did as she was asked, and the clerk reached for Elise’s items. Slowly, she wrote each item down on the paper and inputted it into the calculator.

  “You hear about the Hamilton murder?” Annie asked.

  Elise hadn’t planned to engage in small-talk, wanting to get out of the store as fast as she could. But the fact that Annie knew it was murder intrigued her. The checker was always good for some gossip.

  “I did hear about it. But how do you know for sure it was murder?”

  “Of course it was,” Annie smacked her gum. She looked at the toilet paper, and for one moment Elise thought she was going to tell her of a cheaper brand like she always did. Instead Annie must have felt pressure from the growing line because she just added the price without further comment. “Anyway, like I was saying, everyone knew his wife had it in for him.”

  “His wife?”

  “Pure gold digger, that one. She was married once and had a son years ago. Husband died, and the son disappeared. So, ever since she came into his life two years ago, well, we’ve been waiting.”

  “You knew Mr. Hamilton?”

  “Honey, I graduated with him. He was just as snooty back then as he was now. Couldn’t stand to be outside his rich little neighborhood up in Ravondale Heights except to work at his bank. And he stepped on us, stepped on the very people who he’d grown up with.”

  “What do you mean, stepped on?”

  “Well, rumor has it that he’s in bed with a dirty trade company.” She raised her eyebrows like Elise should get what that meant.

  “Wow, that’s horrible!” Elise said, faking.

  “Yes, and part of the trade was some yo-yo mortgages. I know Grandma Babe’s restaurant is about to go on the block because of one.”

  That bit of news made Elise gasp for real. Grandma Babe had brought her food like clockwork on every Wednesday from her restaurant for almost a year. The old woman always said she didn’t want to see the skinny neighbor starve.

  “She’s going to lose it? Her restaurant?” Elise whispered, holding out her credit card.

  “She certainly is, if Old Betty Lawrence is to be believed.” Annie accepted the card and, with a grimace, tugged it through the manual credit card machine. “And she’s never wrong.”

  Betty Lawrence went to The First St. Peters church and had been going for her entire life. She had her finger in every gossip pie and was known as Old Betty for as long as Elise knew her.

  Elise wondered if there was something she could do to stop the restaurant from being foreclosed.

  “Go ahead and sign, hun.” Annie pushed the slip over to her.

  Elise quickly signed it.

  Annie read it before tearing off the back copy. “Such a pretty signature. You’re lucky you’re right-handed.”

  “I am?” Elise said with a laugh, taking the receipt.

  “I just had someone in here who’s signature was so bad it looked like chicken scratch. They told me it was because of being left handed. Anyway, here you go, hun. You have a good day, now.”

  After thanking Annie, Elise loaded her bags back into the cart. The rain pounded the pavement as she neared the exit doors. With a sigh, she lifted out the soggy coat from the cart and held it over her head.

  Taking a couple deep breaths, she geared up to run. Here we go!

  As she raced across the parking lot, a car started to pull out of its stall. It slammed its brakes, horn blaring at her. She glanced up to see a man scowling through the windshield at her.

  It was the same grouchy man who’d been waiting at the ice-skate counter.

  Chapter 4

  Elise shivered as she pushed her rattling cart past the glaring man in the car. Slushy rain cut her visibility. Her breath fogged in the cold air. She glanced toward the passenger seat, but didn’t see the woman he’d been arguing with in the store.

  “Honestly, that guy needed to slow down,” she grumbled as she reached her car. She flung open the trunk and tossed in the bags, hardly caring when one spilled. Now that the fear was gone, adrenaline was fueling her anger. She was starting to feel done. Done. Done.

  The StraightenUp Chiropractic office was dark as she entered, but it didn’t register as she shivered inside the doorway. I’m completely soaked.

  Rubbing her arms, she hurried behind the desk and sat in her chair. Her damp clothes itched her skin. Lovely. This is going to be a long, four more hours of being chilled to the bone.

  Elise turned the computer monitor on and frowned for
a moment when it remained black.

  Oh! Duh. The power is still off.

  She smiled grimly. Well, this is going to be interesting, seeing how screwed up billing is right now.

  Sue, her co-worker, came running through the front door, jacket half buttoned and her arms full. Sue was a short, thin woman. Her hair was cut just above her shoulders and had a sassy swing to it whenever she turned her head.

  “Hey, lady.” Elise smiled. “How was lunch?”

  “Holy Toledo! It’s practically a hurricane out there,” Sue gasped. About ten years Elise’s junior, this seemed to be her first official job after leaving the Peace Corps. She hurried to the back room where Elise heard the tumble of packages onto the back work table. Moments later, she came running back out, sans jacket, and smoothing her hair back in place.

  The window panes shuddered. Elise looked to see the branches on the tree bowed in the wind. “It really is like a hurricane. Everything okay with you? We weren’t able to talk this morning.”

  Sue fell into her chair with a huff. “I know, I was late.” She tried to turn her monitor on and Elise giggled. Sue rolled her eyes. “Power’s out. Duh.”

  “That’s what I said,” Elise admitted.

  The girls laughed. “Anyway, it’s been a horrible couple of days,” Sue finished. She crossed her arms in front of her and tried to warm up.

  “Oh, no! What happened?” Elise asked.

  “My uncle died.” Sue sighed. “The family’s going crazy.”

  “What? I’m so sorry!” Elise said. Even as the words were tumbling out of her mouth, she suddenly had this sinking feeling.

  “Yes, and you’re not going to believe this,” Sue continued. “He was murdered.” She raised her brows, most likely expecting Elise to emit an expression of shock.

  Elise was shocked, but not for the reason’s Sue could expect.

  “Did it happen at the ice rink?” Elise almost didn’t want to hear Sue’s answer.

  Sue gasped. “Yes!”

  Elise squeezed her eyes shut. The memory of that moment flashed in her mind. “I was the one who found him.”