by Lynn Cahoon
“Save your apology. I’m only telling you because it makes me mad when someone does something wrong and uses my place to do it. If Heather called you that day, she needs to be held accountable. If it’s really bad, tell me and I’ll fire her.”
“I don’t know yet,” Mia hedged.
“Well, let me know. I need to get rid of her anyway, I’m paying her way too much for what she does. I can get a kid out of high school for a lot cheaper.”
Mia hung up the phone and stared at the notepad where she’d written the number.
“What was that about?” Grans asked. Muffy now was sitting on her lap, and they were both watching Mia.
“I’m not sure, but Priscilla might have just given us a lead.” She glanced at the clock. “I need to go wake up Christina and get the deliveries going.”
“What about the call?”
Mia tucked the paper on which she’d written Heather’s number and tucked it into her jeans. “I’ll call her when we’re loaded and on the way. Maybe we’ll be making an extra stop today.”
It was almost ten by the time they got the van packed. Christina had mapped out all the stops, so they had a plan. Mia let her drive while she pulled out the scrap of paper and dialed the number. When the phone was answered, she dove right in. “Hi, my name is Mia Malone. I believe you or someone who was with you at the winery called me on Saturday.”
There was a pause, then the girl on the other end told her everything. When Mia hung up, Christina glanced over as she pulled into the first driveway for delivery. “What was that and do I want to know?”
“I need to talk to Bethanie. Can you call her and have her come over to the school this afternoon? Maybe at about two?”
“It’s Tuesday; she’s probably working.” Christina picked up the clipboard and took off the first order sheet.
“Well, whenever she can get off. We need to talk.” Mia piled out of the van and headed to the back to grab the first delivery. She packed it into a Mia’s Morsel’s delivery bag, then tucked in the receipt Christina had used to pull the correct foods. She added next week’s menu and a pen and headed to the door. “And tell her it’s important. I’ll handle this delivery. You call Bethanie.”
When Mia came back, an order for next week in her hand, Christina was sitting in the driver’s seat watching her walk toward the van. “She’ll be at the house at two thirty. She didn’t even ask what you wanted to talk about. So, what’s going on?”
“Let’s just say I have a hunch.” She dropped the order into the plastic tote they kept upfront for orders and checks. “Where to next?”
By the time they were finished with deliveries and the totes were cleaned and back in the kitchen, it was almost two thirty. Christina glanced around, looking for something to do to keep her downstairs until Bethanie showed.
Mia glanced around the kitchen, then headed to the door. “Let’s lock up for the night. Tomorrow we start on the luncheon for the library. I want everything to be special, so we’ll have a lot of detail work to do. You go upstairs and relax.”
“I was just going to say hi to Bethanie.” She followed Mia out of the kitchen and paused as she locked the door.
“I’ll let her know you said hi. I’d rather talk to her alone, if you don’t mind.” Mia grabbed her laptop from the office desk and sat at the couch in the lobby. “I’ll see you at dinner.”
Christina left and headed upstairs. As soon as the door to the apartment closed, Mia heard the front door open.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” Bethanie called out, still standing outside.
Mia stood and walked over to the door. “Come on in. I’ve been expecting you. I’ve got cold water in the office if you need something.”
“Actually, I’m fine. Christina said you needed to talk to me? I hope this isn’t about that prank I pulled on her with Levi. I know he’s crazy about her and he really didn’t even give me the time of day.” Bethanie sat on one of the chairs facing the couch, her Coach purse tucked on her lap. Mia assumed the stylish boots the girl wore were probably designer as well, but she didn’t know for sure.
“No, not about that. Honestly, Christina and Levi’s relationship is in their hands. Although it wasn’t very nice to do, especially for someone who calls herself Christina’s friend.” Mia let that statement soak in a bit. She could see Bethanie was uncomfortable. Her left foot tapped nervously on the area rug under her chair.
“Then why am I here?” She glanced around the room.
Mia closed her laptop and sat on the couch, watching Bethanie. “I wanted to ask you why you called the school last Saturday.” She held up her hand as Bethanie tried to deny it.
“Heather already told me what you did, she just didn’t know why.” Mia tilted her head, showing her confusion. “So, why did you call the school and hang up just as someone was trying to break in?”
She blew out a breath. “I didn’t want you to be hurt. And I wanted to warn you. I hoped, by calling you, you would see him trying to break in.”
“But Bethanie, one thing confuses me. How did you know he was going to break in? You and he definitely don’t run in the same circles,” Mia said, pointing out the obvious.
“Look, I overheard John talking to this guy. He’d send me for muffins, then he’d leave. Then, a few days later, he’d do it again. I thought maybe he had a girlfriend, and I was going to tell Carol. She’s a really nice lady. He doesn’t deserve her.”
Mia thought Bethanie might actually have been looking for some blackmail evidence to use against her boss, but she’d give her the dignity story. “You overheard John telling the guy to rob my house?”
“No, he just kept telling him about the money. He never said he should break in, just that there was money laying around. Then the guy called him ‘the muffin man,’ and started singing this song. From like a nursery rhyme, you know?” Bethanie shuddered. “It was totally weird, but I knew this guy was going to try to break in. I could see it in his eyes when he asked John about the money. So I called you to let you know.”
“Except you didn’t let me know, you just hung up,” Mia reminded her.
“I know; that was brilliant, right? That way it got you thinking about what was happening. So you could figure out the problem yourself.” Bethanie grinned. “And I won’t get fired for saying anything.”
Chapter 19
“All you have is evidence that maybe John Louis tried to fool this guy into breaking into your house. And he’s probably behind the rumors that you’re closing. I’ll admit, he wants this property. But there’s no evidence, circumstantial or not, that he hired Denny Blake to kill you.” Mark Baldwin sat at the table upstairs in the apartment with Grans and Christina. Cindy was missing from the discussion. She’d told them she had a headache and had gone to bed when Baldwin arrived.
Mia didn’t blame her; talking to Baldwin was giving her a headache too. “Look, I know it’s not much. But you know Cindy didn’t kill Denny and you don’t have another suspect. Why not look into John Louis?”
Baldwin sighed, took off his hat, and rubbed his hand through what appeared to be thinning hair. The job was stressing him out. She needed to make him a potion to reverse the process before all he had was memories of hair. “You’re going to give him reasons for a harassment suit if you don’t watch out. I know he attacked you, trying to get you to sell the school, but in the eyes of the law, he’s done his time for that. Not that I agree with that.”
“He did part of his sentence, not the full one. And the judge gave him a slap on the wrist. You know if it had been anyone else, they would have gone to prison for a long time.” Mia took a breath and held up a hand. “Anyway, this isn’t harassment, I just have a feeling it’s John. Again.”
“Well, I have a feeling it’s your new roommate who got into a lover’s spat with her wild online boyfriend, and she set him straight. If it was an accident, all she has to do is say that, and the judge will take it into consideration in the sentencing.” Mark Baldwin stood and put
his hat back on. “I’ve got to go. Sarah’s having the church board over for dinner tonight, and if I’m late, she’s going to have my hide.”
“Thanks for coming by to talk to me.” Mia stood and picked up Muffy and his leash. “I’ll walk you out. It’s about time for Muffy to go outside anyway.”
“Look, I’ll keep my eye out, and I’m definitely talking to him about this homeless guy. If someone else besides Bethanie saw them talking together, it would go a long way in the DA’s eyes. Bethanie has a bit of baggage with her dad and brother, you realize.” He nodded to Grans. “Mrs. Carpenter.”
“Give Sarah my best,” Grans said as Baldwin and Mia walked out of the kitchen.
“I will, ma’am.” He opened the door for Mia and they went downstairs.
When they reached the lower level, she put a hand on his sleeve. “You really aren’t going to charge Cindy in this, right? There’s no way she could have killed someone.”
“You wouldn’t believe how many times I hear that about people who really did kill someone. Especially over matters of the heart.” He tipped his hat and went to his cruiser.
Mia walked Muffy for a while, then looked back at the house. “The only problem with your theory,” she said to the now-absent police chief, “is Cindy doesn’t have a heart to break.”
She and Muffy went back to the house, but instead of going inside, Mia went to a bench she’d set up in the backyard for students taking breaks during classes. She settled into the space, opened up her hands, and quietly announced, “I’m here if you want to talk to me. We need to know who killed you. Baldwin is going to charge Cindy if we don’t.”
Muffy let out a long growl, and Mia opened her eyes to see—nothing. No one stood in front of her. She turned to the left, then the right. No one there at all. She frowned at Muffy. “Now what are you doing, scaring me like that?”
A pile of fur jumped into her lap from the left side, and Mia tried not to let out a scream. She glanced down and saw Mr. Darcy staring at her with an amused look on his face. Or at least as amused as a cat could get. Lately, his look seemed to be one of long-suffering patience. Probably the cat dealing with Dorian’s sharing his body with him. He meowed and rubbed up against Mia’s arm.
“Sorry, buddy, but you scared me. I’m trying to reach out to the other side and having no luck at all.” She glanced around the empty backyard. If Denny was still around, avenging his death wasn’t on his mind. She stood and nodded to the house. “Let’s go inside. Grans will be wondering what happened to us.”
Mr. Darcy jumped from her lap and ran to the edge of the yard. Right where she had planned to put the herb garden. She followed him over. “Look, we need to go inside. I don’t like you running around all night. It’s not safe.”
He looked at her, then darted to the other side of the tree, where Denny’s body had been found.
“What’s going on, Mr. Darcy?”
A loud meow told her she’d guessed wrong. Dorian was in charge of tonight’s adventure.
“Sorry, Dorian, but we need to go in.” She crossed the rest of the way over the lawn and paused at the tree. She put a hand on it and felt a faint pulse. “What the heck?”
She leaned down and looked at the area Mr. Darcy, or Dorian, was patting.
“It’s just dirt.” She brushed off the loose dirt on top to show him, and her hand caught on a St. Christopher’s medal. She pulled it out of the dirt and frowned. The only person she knew who wore this medal was Trent. She’d teased him about his divided loyalty for his gods, but he’d shut her down. What had he said again?
The words came back in a rush. She could hear him as he’d told her, “Being a witch is what I do; what I believe is my own personal business.”
She pulled her phone out of her jeans and keyed in a number. When the call was answered, she didn’t introduce herself. She just asked one question. “Do you know where your St. Christopher’s medal is?”
* * *
Trent met her outside the school a few minutes later. He’d still been at the grocery store, working on next week’s order, when she’d called. Mia showed him the dirt-encrusted medal. He swore aloud as he glanced at it, his other hand raising in an unconscious movement to double-check that the medallion wasn’t on his chest. It wasn’t. “I don’t understand why this is here, unless I lost it the day we were measuring out for the garden.”
“That’s possible.” She sat back down on the bench and watched emotion run through his body, and the stages. “When did you notice it was missing?”
He sighed. “Yesterday. I thought the Goddess had taken it as payment for how well the training for new staff at the store had gone.”
“Someone’s trying to get me not to trust you. First the shoe prints and the open door at the library. Now your medal shows up right where the dead man was found? It’s awfully coincidental, right?” She glanced up at him, but he was still staring at the medal. “Trent?”
He tucked it into his jeans pocket. “You know I didn’t have anything to do with Denny’s death, right?”
“Of course you didn’t.” She glanced around the empty backyard. Mr. Darcy had gone inside when she’d taken Muffy back upstairs. “I’m just getting tired of someone messing with me. Baldwin says he knows John is spreading the rumors that I’m closing, but there’s nothing that points him to this murder.”
“He’s still focused on Cindy?” Trent leaned back against the tree. He was watching the edges of the yard as well. Both of them were on edge over finding this trinket.
“Yeah. I’m afraid he’s going to arrest her. And so is Dorian. He’s the one who led me to the St. Christopher’s.”
“That’s great, but one, I didn’t do it. And two, Mr. Darcy, or Dorian, can’t speak up and tell us what he’s thinking.” Trent’s phone buzzed and he glanced at the text. “This is why I like running the store and staying out of the magic stuff. It keeps me from having to deal with things like proving a cat right.”
“Well, if Dorian’s the one who’s trying to prove Cindy’s innocence, it’s not really a cat or Mr. Darcy you have to prove right. It’s the ghost inside him,” Mia explained, but then stopped when she saw Trent’s face. “And that’s what you’re trying to tell me.”
“Exactly. I like my peaceful life, Mia. The less it’s about magic, the better for me.” He pulled her into a hug. “And yet I’m here with you. You’re making things complicated for me.”
“Sorry?” Mia rested her cheek against his chest. She wasn’t sorry at all. She liked him in her life. And the magic was a part of her. She’d hidden that side of her for too long when she had been with Isaac. She wouldn’t, no, couldn’t do it again.
He pulled back and met her eyes. “Don’t be. I’m more alive since you moved back. And if that means I have to deal with messy magic, I’ll take the hit. Dorian must think this medal will help prove that Cindy’s innocent. Any idea why?”
“Maybe he was saying that there are things we don’t know. Or that Baldwin hasn’t taken into account.” Mia turned and walked toward the front door.
“As long as the answer isn’t that I killed the guy, I’m fine with the new explanation.” He paused at the front door. “I’ve got to run back to the store. Bakery emergency.”
“Too many cooks in the kitchen?” She reached up and touched his face. “You look tired.”
He took her hand and kissed it. “Not sleeping well. I’m worried about what other surprises your school has for us. We found a library we didn’t know existed. What’s next?”
“I’m hoping a pile of cash, so I can pay off the remodel loan and get this company in the black.” She checked the time on her watch. “Sorry to cut this short, but I’m going upstairs. Call me if you want to talk on your way home.”
“Not sure when that will be, but I’ll text first. If you don’t respond, I’ll know you’re asleep and I’ll just come by in the morning. Maybe we can figure out something to help Cindy.” He leaned in and kissed her. “Thanks for returning the medal
. It was my grandfather’s. I would have been heartbroken if it had been lost for good. Thank Mr. Darcy and Dorian for me as well.”
She nodded, then went into the building. She watched as Trent jumped into the delivery van and started the vehicle. Then she double-checked the locks and headed upstairs. Better to be overly cautious about the locks than too relaxed. She needed some time to think about how to clear Cindy from being suspect number one in Denny’s death.
When she reached the third floor and her apartment door, her gaze was diverted to the door that led to the library. She hadn’t had time to even think about what she was going to do with the area or what was in store for her if she did. The house already had two ghosts coming and going, her guardian and Dorothy. Did she need to open up the house to a third? And one that apparently had a grudge against the local coven for killing her.
History would have to stay in the past. At least until she figured out the current mystery and got Cindy cleared from the suspect pool. The woman wasn’t the nicest person, but she was Dorian’s daughter, and he’d been important to her grandmother. She ignored the pull from the library and unlocked the apartment door. She was going to make a timeline with Cindy. Maybe things would start to make sense after that.
Two hours later Mia had her timeline done, but she still hadn’t heard from Trent. Cindy hadn’t come out of her room after Baldwin left, so Mia decided she’d finish up the project tomorrow, when she could get her input. She didn’t see any glaring red flags that would lead her to the killer’s identity. But then again, she was certain John Louis was involved. Somehow. The lyrics to the muffin man nursery rhyme kept running through her head. It was a clue, maybe the one that would finally lock John Louis up for good.
At least she hoped so.
* * *
“Sorry about not calling last night. We had an oven go down and I was trying to get it back up without calling the emergency repair guys. In the end I had to call anyway. So, not only did I pay double time for a repair, I lost four hours of sleep.” Trent poured his second cup of coffee. “I’m not sure I’m going to be much help in the creative thinking department today.”