by Cole,Lyndsey
Piper held the bag out of Ariel’s reach so she could introduce Eli to her sisters. With Eli fielding all their questions, Piper sat on the couch with Ariel snuggled up with anticipation. “What’s in the bag?” she asked a second time.
Piper laughed. Maybe this wasn’t so bad bringing Eli. At least the attention was off of her.
“Please, please, please,” Ariel pleaded. “What’d you bring?”
“How do you know I brought you something?” she teased, holding her messenger bag close.
“You always do,” Ariel said, doubt crossing her face that Piper let her down this time.
Piper laughed again and told Ariel to close her eyes while she pulled the Wonder Woman mask and cape from her bag. “Okay.”
More screeching filled Piper’s ears as Ariel slipped the mask on and Piper fastened the Velcro strap of the cape around her neck.
Silas hung back trying hard to contain his curiosity and not act like the little kid his sister was, but with Ariel dashing around the room, he finally sat next to Piper. She handed him a pack of dog stickers and whispered to Silas, “Your mom won’t be happy with me but I thought these might help you decide which type of puppy you want. I know you’ve been hoping for one.”
Silas’s grin was reward enough for Piper. She loved being able to spoil her niece and nephew, even if Meadow disapproved.
Meadow’s husband, Aiden, walked into the room talking to someone.
“Here he is,” Piper heard Autumn say as she walked away from Eli and Meadow to pull Aiden’s companion close. “I think Piper knows you but I’m not sure if Eli does.”
Piper looked up to see Andy standing next to Autumn. Her date? Piper knew her mouth was hanging open but she managed to close it before she glanced at Eli. He stepped toward Andy with his hand out. “Good to see you.”
Andy squinted as he accepted Eli’s offered hand. “Do I know you? You look familiar.”
“Wyatt was my best friend. You probably saw me with him,” he paused for a couple of seconds, “somewhere.”
Andy’s face dropped and he pulled away from Eli’s hand like it was a hot potato. Piper sat frozen on the couch. This couldn’t be happening. Both Eli and Andy in the same place? Was it possible that Andy would go after Eli like he went after Wyatt on Thursday night?
Only seconds passed but time froze around Piper until Andy responded. “I should leave.” Without a backward glance, he slammed the door on his way out.
“What? No!” Autumn shouted. “Piper, what’s going on?”
Of course everyone would blame her, Piper thought before she even had time to react. She was glad the kids were distracted with their gifts so they wouldn’t see how she was being treated.
Eli shrugged into his coat. “Me too. Sorry Piper. I’ll catch up with you another time,” he said as he followed Andy.
“Piper?” Autumn’s voice was now low and angry. “This has to be your fault.”
“Why, Autumn? Isn’t it obvious to anyone else that there’s a problem between Eli and Andy? How about you ask your date what’s going on?” She finally found her legs and marched within inches of her sister’s face. “This is so not my fault.”
Meadow inserted herself between her two sisters. She cocked her head toward her kids and whispered, “Not now.” She lifted her eyebrows.
Piper glanced at Silas standing quietly at the edge of the room pretending to be completely engrossed with the dog stickers. She was sure it was an act.
Piper and Autumn nodded to Meadow but kept their eyes locked on each other.
“So,” Meadow said in a too cheerful voice. “Dinner is ready. Tonight I have a special treat for you kids. You can take your dinner and watch a movie in the family room while you eat.”
Ariel zoomed around with her Wonder Woman cape flying behind. “Wonder Woman wants pizza.”
Meadow rolled her eyes. “Not tonight, honey, but I have macaroni and cheese for you and Silas. So come on over and get your plate.” Meadow scooped macaroni and cheese onto two plates, added carrot sticks and cucumber wheels, and handed the plates to the kids. “It’s Ariel’s turn to pick the movie and I don’t want to hear any arguing.”
Piper was glad for the few minutes of inattention to get her thoughts organized and she barely noticed Silas’s feeble attempt to change Ariel’s mind from choosing 101 Dalmations. In the back of her mind, Piper knew Ariel would be begging for a Dalmatian after tonight. The challenges of being a parent, she thought. She much preferred her role as the favorite aunt.
“Piper, come help yourself. I’m not serving you as if you’re another one of my kids. Although that’s exactly how you act at times,” Meadow added. She handed Piper a plate and waited until she was out of the way before she helped herself and took her spot at the table, opposite her husband.
Forks clinked on plates. Piper kept her eyes focused on her food, counting the seconds until one of her sisters called her out on what happened between Andy and Eli. She barely made it to fourteen.
Autumn cleared her throat. “Andy told me he knew you, Piper. Did you guys date?”
Piper’s hand shot up to cover her mouth and keep her lasagna from spraying across the table. “Is that the conclusion you jumped to?” She picked up her dark blue cloth napkin covered with white snowflakes and wiped her mouth. “The answer is no. But wouldn’t that be ironic after I went on a date with one of your exes in December?”
Autumn visibly relaxed. “What happened with those two, then?”
“Apparently, your new date, Andy, didn’t mention the fact that he might be a suspect in the murder of Wyatt Brenan.”
Talk about dropping a bombshell. Autumn’s fork clattered on her plate. “Excuse me? How could I be dating a possible murderer and not know anything about it?”
Piper shrugged. “To be fair, my date is a possible suspect, too. But he isn’t the killer.”
“How about you start at the beginning and tell us all the details,” Meadow, the ever organized lawyer, suggested.
It didn’t take Piper long to fill in the background while everyone sat enthralled, nodding at all the appropriate places. No one seemed particularly concerned about Piper until she recapped what she overheard in the stairwell of Andy’s apartment. Meadow jotted notes on a legal pad while Piper talked.
“Amber said what?” Meadow asked, her face contorted with concern.
“Amber Choate said, ‘Ms. Foodtruck better be extra careful with all the snow and ice on the roads or she might find herself having an accident.’ Then she laughed an evil laugh.” As soon as Piper was reminded of her bike, she smacked the side of her head with the palm of her hand. “Eli left with my bike. I don’t have a way to get back to the Morettis’ house tonight.”
“I think that’s a sign of your luck changing,” Autumn said. “I’ll give you a ride.”
Meadow tucked her legal pad in the drawer of the hutch behind her. “I’ll look into Amber, and I agree with Autumn, no bike riding until we know she’s not planning to run you off the road. Or worse.”
Dinner resumed with the somewhat normal chatter about the kids and the weather. They carefully skirted around the facts of Wyatt’s murder that remained hovering above the table.
While Autumn and Meadow cleaned up, Piper kept her niece and nephew company. She turned her phone back on and texted Aria to beg for a ride. The last thing she wanted after this stressful day was to be cooped up in the car with Autumn and be trapped listening to a lecture during the ride to the Morettis’ house.
24
Aria picked Piper up at seven. “I was afraid you wouldn’t talk to me after I got my dad involved in your whereabouts.”
Piper slumped in the front seat, holding a container of Meadow’s leftover lasagna. “He was nice about it, I guess. At least, in his no nonsense way. Now my sisters are on my case, too. And Eli has my bike.”
“He stole it?” Aria shot Piper a quick sideways look.
“Hey, watch the road!” Piper automatically put her hand on the d
ashboard anticipating a crash. Aria quickly adjusted the steering wheel and kept her car on the road. “No, he didn’t steal my bike. He was my date,” Piper put finger quotes around date since she didn’t really know what the definition of their relationship was. “He left in, ah, sort of a rush and I forgot to get my bike out of his car.”
Piper was thankful that Aria wasn’t grilling her. She enjoyed the silence as the car sped past houses, snow banks, and not much else as they got farther out of town.
Aria stopped in front of the gate for the Morettis’ house and punched in the code which by now she was as familiar with as her email password, but probably easier to remember. With her dad as a detective, Aria was a stickler for personal security. She knew too much of what could go wrong, even if the chances were slim. As they approached the house, lights shone through the darkness. “Is someone here again?” Aria asked.
“There shouldn’t be. I left the lights on in the sunroom for the dogs since I knew I would be home after dark.” Piper opened the car door. “Thanks for the ride.”
“You aren’t inviting me in? The least you can do is tell me about your day.”
Piper groaned. “I thought you were giving me a pass.”
“Heck no. Not after learning that Eli was your date to dinner with the lions. I mean your sisters.” Aria put her car in park and turned the key. “I want to hear about your maybe-it-was-some-sort-of date with Eli and what made him rush out of dinner at your sister’s house making you forget your bike in his car.” She slammed her door shut. “How could you think I’d give you a pass on all that?”
Piper chuckled. “Sure. Come on in. A normal, nonjudgmental conversation will do me good. Especially if there’s wine.”
Ivory and Cherry yipped and yapped as soon as Piper opened the door from the garage into the sunroom. They ran in circles and jumped on her legs, delirious with happiness.
“I guess they got lonely,” Piper said to Aria. “I haven’t been gone for the whole day for a while.”
They walked toward the kitchen with the dogs constantly twisting between their legs. “Okay, hold your horses.” Piper pulled off layers of clothes as she maneuvered through the dancing Pomeranians. She dumped her clothes in a pile on the massive kitchen island where they would be easy to find in the morning.
She opened a container of the steak she prepared the day before and scooped a small amount of the shredded meat into each of the dogs’ bowls.
The next order of business was to clean their grass boxes. Who knew that she would be happy to clean out the boxes? It certainly beat hunting around the house for any dog surprises, or worse, stepping in a mushy mess.
Aria had her nose in the fridge. “Anything good to eat in here besides the dog food?”
“Probably not but you can have this.” She handed Aria the container of Meadow’s lasagna. “It’s delicious.”
Aria peeled the lid off and inhaled deeply. “This smells like garlic, tomato, and Italian seasonings. You sure you don’t want to save it?” Aria already had a fork in the container and was shoveling it into her mouth.
“You’ll probably bite my hand if I try to take it back.”
“It’s delicious,” she mumbled through a mouthful of food.
Piper poured two big glasses of wine and headed toward the living room. “Try not to spill anything on their furniture. I don’t want to spend my hard earned house sitting money getting anything cleaned.”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry.” Aria plopped onto the soft sofa. “Oops!”
Piper’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? You spilled something?”
“Just kidding. Trying to lighten up your mood a bit.”
Piper rolled her eyes. “Not working.” She held onto her own glass of red wine extra carefully. Why would anyone buy nice furniture if they had dogs?
Aria shoved the last bite of lasagna into her mouth and wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt. She leaned forward and set the empty container on a coaster on the coffee table. “Okay. Now you have my undivided attention. Tell me everything that happened today.”
Piper scratched her cheek, stretched her legs out in front of herself, and draped an arm over each dog nestled on either side of her; Cherry on the left and Ivory on the right.
“The important points that need more detail—according to Heather O’Brien, the owner of Spiced Up—someone was spotted in her food truck around the time Wyatt was murdered; Andy was seen lurking outside her food truck; Amber Choate, Wyatt’s crazy ex-girlfriend, is Heather’s niece; and Heather had to meet with Amber about some emergency this afternoon.”
“Here’s where you have some filling in to do.” Aria ticked off her points on her fingers. “One, who spotted Andy and why was he at Spiced Up? Two, what was the emergency meeting between Heather and Amber about? Three, are you going to see Mr. Blind-Date-Flannel again?”
Piper pitched forward on the couch, spilling the two Pomeranians to the floor. “What does Eli have to do with anything?” Ivory and Cherry yelped and danced on their hind legs while they worked their way back onto the couch and tucked back close to Piper.
“Mr. Flannel could be the key. He was Wyatt’s best friend. He knows Amber.” Aria crossed her legs and pinched her bottom lip. “Here’s what I’m thinking. He could approach Andy and find out why Andy was at Spiced Up. Maybe Andy saw other people there.”
“What if Andy’s the killer? Eli could be putting himself in danger. And besides, there’s definitely something bad between them, based on how they both left Meadow’s house so quickly after seeing each other.”
Aria shrugged. “Better Eli than you to approach Andy, don’t ya think?”
“We should just let your father do the investigating and not put any of us in danger.”
Aria snapped her fingers and pointed at Piper. “Finally. You’re saying something I can agree with one hundred percent. No more snooping and no more questions. Agreed?”
“I have to get my bike back from Eli.”
“Tell him to drop it off at Gone Fish’n. I’ll bring you to work tomorrow so you won’t need it until after you’re done.”
“I don’t have much of a choice since I don’t have any way to get around.” She slouched into the couch and crossed her arms. She did not like to depend on anyone to give her rides. Even Aria.
Piper’s phone buzzed.
Aria looked at her. “Who is it?”
Piper slid it out of her pocket. “It’s Andy,” she whispered as if Andy could hear her even before she hit the green button.
“Hello?”
Aria jumped from her couch to Piper’s, scattering the two yippy yappy dogs again. She held her ear close to the phone.
“Your place tonight?” Piper said into the phone. She looked at Aria.
Aria grimaced and shook her head no.
“Okay. I’ll be there in about a half hour.” Piper hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket.
“Are you crazy? Why’d you tell him you’d come tonight?”
“He’s leaving early tomorrow morning and has a few more things to show me about his plants. You’ll be with me so what could go wrong?” Piper said with the best carefree expression she could manage. “And, at the same time, we can ask him some questions about the night Wyatt was murdered.” Piper stood. “Ready to go?”
Aria remained seated. “Give me one good reason why I should give you a ride.”
Piper’s glance went to the table and she dove for Aria’s car keys a second before Aria launched herself off the couch.
Piper held up the car keys and jingled them. “How about two—I gave you my lasagna, and you don’t want me to go alone.”
“You wouldn’t.” Aria jumped toward Piper, but Piper anticipated her move and ran to the kitchen, shoving the keys in her pocket. She grabbed her pile of clothes on her way to the door and yelled over her shoulder, “I knew you’d come around to my plan.”
Piper refused to give Aria the keys and slipped into the driver seat. “I k
now the way. You can sit and pout. Or, we can figure out a plan.”
“Okay. You win, but I want it on the record that this goes down as possibly your dumbest idea ever.”
The drive back to town was a quiet ride. Piper wasn’t sure at all that Aria wasn’t right about the intelligence of this decision, but she was committed. “Hey, do you think Andy is even supposed to leave town? You know, since he’s a suspect?”
Aria swiveled in the passenger seat. “Good point. If we find out anything, I’ll have to tell my dad about Andy’s plans.”
“And have him know we’re out and about asking questions? Let’s sit on that idea for the moment.”
Piper parked in front of the apartment building and was glad she wasn’t having to do this trip on her bike. Or alone. She used Andy’s apartment key to let them inside. “Ready?”
“I guess,” Aria replied, the uncertainty clear in her tone.
Piper took the stairs two at a time with Aria right on her heels.
25
Piper knocked on Andy’s door. Since he was still home, she didn’t want to just barge in, even though she had the key to his apartment.
She tapped her foot and glanced at Aria. “Stay calm and let me do the talking.”
Aria rolled her eyes. “Are you sure? You look like you’re about to jump out of your own skin. Why are you so nervous?”
Before Piper could answer, the door swung open. Andy pulled her inside and tried to shut the door before Aria could squeeze in, too. “Who are you?” he demanded when Aria’s foot blocked the door from closing all the way.
Piper shook Andy’s hand loose from her arm and moved closer to Aria. “My friend. She gave me a ride. What’s so urgent I had to come over tonight, Andy?”
He ran both hands through his already disheveled hair. “Ah, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“About your plants?”
“Plants? No, I left all the written instructions on the kitchen counter. Come and sit down.” Andy turned away from Piper and headed toward his living room.
Piper glanced at Aria and frowned.
Aria shrugged, nodded toward Andy’s disappearing back, and gave Piper a nudge with her arm.