Sliced Up: A Cozy Murder Mystery

by Cole,Lyndsey

  On a whim, Piper picked two huge lollipops—one with three princesses on it, Cinderella, Jasmine, and of course, Ariel, and one with Star Wars characters on it for her nephew, Silas. Meadow might be annoyed that Piper brought so much sugar and food coloring into the house, but Ariel would love her best again. And Silas wouldn’t feel left out.

  “And these.” Piper placed the lollipops on the counter and paid for everything. The swipe of her credit card sent shockwaves down her spine as Piper wondered what the balance of her bank account was. It wouldn’t be growing any time soon. “I don’t need a bag.” Piper stuffed all of her gifts into her messenger bag and walked back outside to her waiting bike.

  Piper threw her leg over her bike and started pedaling. Hard. She wanted to warm up, and get to Meadow and Aiden’s house as fast as possible. With short winter days, she would prefer to get back to the Morettis’ before dark. A long shot at this point.

  While she rode, Piper’s phone rang. On clear roads, she would answer it and talk while she rode. But not after last night’s snowstorm. She let it go to her voicemail and then waited for the notice that the caller left a message.

  After a moment, she heard the new voicemail alert.

  Piper was tempted to stop and listen to it. Maybe it was a job offer. Or Aria. She could have gotten new information from her dad about Wyatt’s murder.

  But getting to Ariel was more important. Family came first, or at least her niece did.

  Piper’s phone rang again and she fought the urge to answer. Whoever was calling was persistent. It wasn’t until she put her bike on Meadow’s front porch that she took her phone out to see who she’d missed.

  Aunt Viv. Twice.

  Piper was stunned.

  Was she calling to apologize? To ask her to come back to work? Piper listened to her voicemail but it was just a hang up.

  Piper called Aunt Viv before she walked into her sister’s house. Ariel and her older brother Silas would be home from school by now, and their dad, Aiden, would be inside with them. If Piper went inside first, she’d never get a chance to call Aunt Viv.

  “Hi Aunt Viv,” Piper said when her aunt picked up.

  “Piper. Thanks for calling back.” Her voice was neutral. Piper still had no idea what to expect.

  “Sure.” She waited for her aunt to get to the point of her earlier calls.

  “Your mother and I want you to come back to work.” Aunt Viv paused. “You’ll get a fifty cent raise.”

  Piper was shocked into silence. She was late yesterday, was taken out of work to talk to Detective Bankston, and now they were offering her a raise? They must really want to avoid the hiring process.

  “What do you say?” Aunt Viv asked, her voice thick with anticipation.

  “I’ll do it,” Piper said. She was secretly relieved that she was being offered her old job. She wanted to ask for a bigger raise, or Sundays off. But she didn’t want to push her luck. If push came to shove, it would be easier for Gone Fish’n to find a new employee than it would be for Piper to find another job.

  “Great. New hours though. You have to come in at ten thirty from now on.” Aunt Viv didn’t leave any room for discussion.

  “Okay.” After yesterday’s unreliability, this was probably the best Piper could hope for.

  “We’ll see you tomorrow at ten thirty.”

  Aunt Viv hung up and Piper stood with the phone to her ear for another moment, still too surprised to move.

  “Piper!” Ariel shouted, taking Piper away from her thoughts of going back to work tomorrow. The front door was wide open, letting all the warmth out and the cold in.

  “Hey there, mermaid. Sorry about this morning,” Piper told her niece, stashing her phone back in her windbreaker and walking inside. “Let’s keep the house warm.” Piper closed the door behind her.

  “What happened this morning?” Ariel asked, taking Piper by the hand and dragging her toward the living room.

  Oh to be eight years old and forgive so easily. Piper wished she hadn’t brought it up. “I missed your dance recital,” she reminded her niece, unable to come up with something else to apologize for. She didn’t want to remind Ariel about her failure to show this morning if it was already forgiven, or at least forgotten.

  “Oh, that’s okay, Piper. Mom videotaped it. And I can dance for you now.” Ariel spun in a circle, falling on the floor in a heap of giggles next to her big box of dress up clothes. “I just have to put on my dancing shoes.” She dug a pair of sparkly blue plastic shoes that looked horribly uncomfortable from the box and then struck a pose in the middle of the floor.

  “Where are your dad and brother? How did you know I was on the porch?” Piper asked, suddenly concerned that Ariel shouldn’t be opening the door to just anyone.

  “They’re in the basement playing Star Wars. I heard your voice so I knew it was you.” Ariel launched straight into her dance routine without any music. By the end of it she was laughing hysterically and falling on the floor again.

  Piper laughed right along with her niece and opened her messenger bag. “I brought you something.”

  “Oh goody!” Ariel flew onto the couch and cuddled up next to Piper, barely able to contain her excitement.

  Piper removed the wall decals from her bag first. “These can go on your bedroom walls,” she explained.

  “Oooo, Cinderella. My second favorite.”

  Piper laughed as she watched Ariel admire the cover of the package. There was an example of a bedroom with Cinderella dancing across the walls in different poses.

  “Dad!” Ariel called without leaving the couch. “Piper brought me a present!”

  Within moments, Aiden and Silas joined them in the living room.

  “Hi Piper. I didn’t know you were coming over,” Aiden said.

  “What’d you bring me?” Silas asked, sitting on Piper’s other side.

  Piper pulled the two colorful lollipops from her bag. “I brought you both a lollipop. Ariel, this one’s for you,” she handed the princess lollipop to her niece, “and I got one with Star Wars for you, Silas.” She handed the second one to her nephew.

  “Don’t eat the whole thing in one go,” Aiden cautioned. He was much more lenient than Meadow but she could hear concern in his voice. “Mom won’t want you to ruin your dinner.”

  “This won’t ruin my dinner,” Silas said. “This will make my dinner.” He and Ariel threw their heads back in laughter and tore the plastic wrapping from their treats.

  “I have to get going,” Piper said, standing from the couch. “I have to get home before dark.” And she didn’t want to see Meadow. “I’ll see you tomorrow for dinner, though.” Every Tuesday, Meadow had Piper, Autumn, and whoever Autumn’s date of the week was over for dinner.

  “Thanks Piper,” Ariel exclaimed, hugging her waist. “I’ll put these on my walls tonight and you can see them tomorrow.”

  “Thanks Piper,” Silas echoed his sister. “I’ll try not to eat this whole thing today.”

  “Bye,” Piper waved, closing the front door behind her.

  It wasn’t yet getting dark, but Piper probably only had an hour of daylight left. Biking in the dark on such horribly maintained snowy roads didn’t sound appealing so she headed toward the Morettis’.

  Before she was even one minute into her long, cold ride, her phone rang. She used the interruption as an excuse to blow warm breath on her frozen fingertips before answering.

  Aria’s face greeted her when she pulled her still-ringing phone from her pocket.

  “Hi Aria. What’s up?” Piper asked, stuffing her free hand into her opposite armpit to keep it warm.

  “Hey. Do the Morettis have a hot tub?” her friend asked.

  Piper laughed. “They do. Want to come use it? I could use the company.”

  “I’m already on my way.”

  “Pick me up then. I’m about five blocks from Meadow’s house.”

  “I see you,” Aria said, surprising Piper. Piper turned her head up and down the
street but didn’t see Aria’s car until it was stopped alongside her. “Get in,” Aria said, rolling down the passenger window and hanging up her phone.

  Piper smiled. A ride in a warm car was much more preferable than a cold bike ride. She stowed her bike on top of the car and got inside.

  “Where were you coming from?” Piper asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

  “Took the day off. After last night, I didn’t want to get up this morning. I gave myself a personal day.” Aria smiled in Piper’s direction. “How was your personal day?”

  “I forgot about Ariel’s dance recital this morning and I got my job back,” Piper said, skipping over her lunch with Eli for now. That could be a conversation in the hot tub with a bottle of wine. The Morettis made sure to make Piper feel at home and they offered her everything in their house. Including the wine cellar.

  “Woops. Is Ariel upset?” Aria asked, addressing the more important part of Piper’s day first.

  Piper shook her head and pointed for Aria to turn. “Not anymore. Eight year olds apparently forgive more easily than thirty one year olds. She completely forgot about it by the time I showed up to bribe her with gifts.”

  Aria laughed. “You’re such a good aunt.” She paused and turned where Piper indicated, then asked, “Vivienne forgave you and hired you back?”

  “Yeah. With a raise. But I have to get there at ten thirty instead of eleven. I guess that’s probably a wise move. At least that gives me a half hour to be late before we open.”

  “Hah! I don’t think that’s how you should look at it.”

  Piper smiled, realizing the irresponsibility of her statement. “You’re probably right.”

  “And you got a raise? I should be late to work and see what happens. I guess you don’t need that recommendation for the raptor care assistant.”

  Piper pointed out the window again, reminding Aria to turn up the road to the gatehouse.

  “How much longer are you living here?” Aria asked.

  “End of March. They’re traveling for two months. They’re in Patagonia right now.”

  Aria pulled up to the keypad for the gate and entered the same code as last night. The gate opened and they continued toward the Morettis’ house.

  “Anywhere you live next will be a step down,” Aria teased. “You’re getting used to living too luxuriously.”

  Piper chuckled. “Yeah. By riding my bike in snowstorms and feeding the dogs better than I can afford to eat.”

  “Well, I guess there are those things.”

  Aria pulled into the Morettis’ driveway and Piper’s heart sank. The lights were on inside. Someone was in there.

  “I thought you said they were out of town until the end of next month,” Aria said, parking the car and staring into the lit house.

  “They are.” Piper couldn’t take her eyes off the huge front windows. “Did I forget to lock the house this morning?”

  “You think someone’s robbing the Morettis’ with all the lights on?” Aria scoffed.

  “Weirder things have happened.” Piper didn’t budge.

  “Come on.” Aria opened the driver door and got out of the car. Piper followed suit, worried for her reputation as a house-sitter in Emerald Island. If the Morettis’ house was broken into, that could be the end of Piper’s paid housing option.

  Piper unloaded her bike from the top of Aria’s car and stashed it in the garage. She led Aria through the garage, into the sunroom—where the dogs were noticeably absent—and into the main part of the house.

  “Hello?” she called cautiously.

  “Piper,” Jacqueline’s voice sang from the kitchen. “I wondered when you’d come home.”

  Piper liked that Jacqueline referred to her house as Piper’s home.

  “What are you doing here?” Piper asked, keeping her voice as friendly as possible.

  Jacqueline laughed and waved her hand through the air, brushing away Piper’s question. “We’re between trips. We have one night here before we head over to Italy.”

  Piper had completely forgotten that the Morettis’ time in Patagonia was only for a couple weeks before stopping at home on their way to Italy for over a month. She blushed at her mistake.

  “I thought someone broke in while I was gone and that’s why the lights were on. I was so worried.”

  Jacqueline’s laugh was high pitched and it brought Giovanni from the basement. “What’s so—oh, hi Piper,” he said, holding out two bottles of wine. “I was going to ask Jacqueline which one she wanted to open, but I guess we’ll need two if we have company.” He glanced from Piper to Aria and back.

  “This is Aria,” Piper introduced her friend.

  “Sorry, I should go,” Aria said, clearly uncomfortable suddenly.

  “Nonsense.” Jacqueline took Aria by the arm and led her further into the kitchen. “The more the merrier. We have the hot tub heating up. It’s the perfect night for wine in the hot tub, don’t you agree?”

  “I do,” Aria said, letting Jacqueline lead her by the arm. She looked back at Piper and raised her eyebrows. Piper smiled.

  Piper was left alone in the kitchen with Giovanni. The two dogs followed Jacqueline and Aria toward the back patio where the hot tub lived.

  “You forgot we were coming home today, didn’t you?” Giovanni asked. He attached some fancy wine opener to the top of the first bottle, pulled a lever, and removed the cork by pulling the lever back up.

  Piper stood awkwardly and watched him. “I did,” she admitted.

  Giovanni chuckled. “Jacqueline and I had a bet about whether or not you’d remember.”

  Piper waited for more but it didn’t come. “So who won?”

  “I did.” Giovanni met her eye and smiled. “Jacqueline was sure you’d remember.” Giovanni’s thick Italian accent was difficult to decipher.

  “I’m glad she gives me more credit than I deserve.” Piper didn’t love that they were betting on her forgetfulness.

  Jacqueline sauntered back into the kitchen, the dogs and Aria following her. “Piper, Aria tells me that Wyatt Brennan was killed on Sunday morning.”

  Giovanni looked up with fear plastered on his face. “Wyatt Brennan?”

  14

  “Yeah, Wyatt Brennan,” Piper confirmed.

  Giovanni’s face paled as Piper confirmed Jacqueline’s announcement. “You know him?” Jacqueline asked her husband, her perfectly painted face tilted to the side.

  He nodded slowly. “So do you. He came to the house and trained Cherry and Ivory.”

  Jacqueline raised her hands in the air. “I knew that name sounded familiar.” Her face didn’t register the same fear or concern that Giovanni’s still held.

  Giovanni turned back to Piper. “What happened?”

  Piper shrugged. “He was stabbed in Spiced Up, the food truck, sometime between two and four on Sunday morning.”

  “No suspects?” Giovanni’s whole body had stiffened at the first mention of Wyatt’s murder and he still wasn’t relaxed. The bottle of wine sat open on the counter but no glasses were full.

  “Eli Smith-Michaels,” Aria told him.

  “No, he’s not guilty,” Piper snapped.

  No one said a word. Jacqueline walked to the counter and picked up where Giovanni left off. She poured four very full glasses of wine, finishing off the first bottle.

  “Let’s continue this conversation in the hot tub. I’ll bring the glasses of wine. The last one of you into the tub will have to get the second bottle when we need refills.” Jacqueline carefully placed the four glasses on a silver tray and carried it outside.

  Piper watched her remove her robe through the window and step gingerly into the hot tub. Her black bikini stood out against her white skin and the fresh snow.

  “Well, I’ll make it easy on whoever of you is last,” Giovanni said with a smile. “I’ll bring the second bottle outside with the cork screw.”

  He left Aria and Piper alone in the kitchen. Aria stared after them blankly but
Piper couldn’t contain her excitement. “Did you see how surprised Giovanni was? Maybe he knows something about Wyatt that will help us figure out who killed him.”

  “Do you have an extra swimsuit?” Aria asked, finally turning back to Piper.

  Piper laughed and led Aria to her bedroom. “What were you planning to wear?”

  “My bra and a pair of shorts I was gonna borrow from you. But that was before I met Jacqueline and Giovanni. I thought it’d just be the two of us.”

  Piper waved away Aria’s concerns. “They won’t care what you wear. You could probably show up in your birthday suit and they wouldn’t bat an eyelash.”

  “Well, that is not happening.” Aria started riffling through Piper’s clothes in the dresser and pulled out two swimsuits—a bikini that she tossed to Piper and a tankini that she put on in the bathroom. Aria walked out of the bathroom carrying two towels. “You’ve really got it made here.” She rubbed a fluffy, oversized, lavender scented towel against her face.

  “I know. I don’t even have to do my own laundry. Their housekeeper is still coming.”

  Aria’s mouth hung open in surprise and she walked out of Piper’s bedroom. Outside, the stars were bright in the clear winter sky. There were no lingering signs of the morning’s blizzard—other than the drifts of snow all around the house. The heated patio made it easy to walk to the hot tub without shoes or freezing toes. Piper stepped carefully over the two dogs, waiting patiently for their humans to give them attention.

  “Looks like Piper’s in charge of the refills,” Giovanni teased, holding the second bottle of wine up from the tray balanced on the hot tub.

  Piper smiled. “I think I can manage that.”

  Jacqueline and Giovanni were already halfway through their first glasses of wine so Piper and Aria settled into the hot water and caught up. “So tell me what else you know about Wyatt Brennan,” Giovanni said, looking expectantly at Piper.

  “Oh honey, that’s not what they want to talk about,” Jacqueline said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “And neither do I. I want to relive the last ten glorious days of our lives.” She closed her eyes, leaned back, and sighed. “Piper, it was incredible. Unbelievable. I didn’t know what hit me. When we got off the plane, it was a different world.”