Espresso and Evil (Peridale Cafe Cozy Mystery Book 6)

by Agatha Frost

  “We’re protesting,” Julia said, glancing at Barker out of the corner of her eyes as he continued to stare suspiciously at her. “On Saturday. How’s the shrimp?”

  “According to Neil, it’s now the size of a lime,” Sue said as she rubbed the small, yet definite bump. “He’s been reading books in the library, bless him, although it feels more like a melon at the moment. I have my twelve-week scan next week.”

  The conversation stayed firmly on Sue’s pregnancy while they stacked the chairs. As they left the bright lights of the village hall and walked out into the warm summer’s evening, it hadn’t gone unnoticed by Julia that Barker was unusually silent.

  “Don’t worry, Julia,” Dot said, squeezing Julia’s shoulders as she looked across the village green at her dark café. “We’ll fix this.”

  She smiled and nodded, turning her attention to the coffee shop, which was still illuminating the village green. Half a dozen people were lining up at the counter to get their drinks, some of them clutching white t-shirts in their hands.

  Sue climbed into her car, and Dot hurried across the village green towards her cottage, leaving the three of them standing outside the village hall. Julia glanced at her aqua blue Ford Anglia, which was still parked next to her café. She pulled her keys from her pocket and turned to Barker, expecting him to repeat his question from earlier.

  “Let’s get a takeaway,” Barker said, setting off towards Julia’s car. “I’m starving.”

  “I want Indian,” Jessie said, nudging Barker in the ribs with her elbow. “You picked last time. Can I drive home, Julia?”

  “You failed your test!” Barker said with a chuckle as he climbed into the passenger seat of the car. “You almost killed that woman!”

  “She was faking it,” Jessie mumbled with a roll of her eyes as she sat in the back seat. “I barely hit her.”

  Julia pushed her key into the ignition. Her heart fluttered as she breathed freely, glad he had chosen not to push the subject at that moment. She knew she had to tell Barker the truth about her divorce eventually, but the longer she left it, the harder she knew it would be to reveal the only thing she had been keeping from him.

  As she drove past Happy Bean, she dared to throw a glance in its direction. Her heart skipped a beat when she spotted Anthony staring out at them in the dark, his eyes trained on her car. A cold shudder ran down her spine. Even though she was hopeful, it felt like it was going to take more than a protest to turn her fortunes around.

  2

  Julia rose with the sun on Saturday morning. She had nervously baked four different cakes and over fifty cupcakes before Jessie’s alarm rang, which she subsequently ignored for almost ten minutes before finally dragging herself out of bed. She grunted at Julia as she stumbled into the bathroom, the hood of her black dressing gown pulled low over her scruffy hair and half-closed eyes.

  While Jessie showered, Julia made two cups of peppermint and liquorice tea. It had become a ritual for them to drink Julia’s favourite tea with breakfast as they discussed the day ahead, even if Jessie never finished a full cup. Julia’s hands were shaking with nerves, but she wanted to keep things as normal as possible for the both of them, even if the sky was falling in.

  She sipped the tea, and its familiar sweetness soothed her. Mowgli, her grey Maine Coon, squeezed through the open kitchen window and padded across the counter towards her, leaving behind a trail of muddy paw prints and bringing in the scent of lavender from the garden. He nudged her, before jumping down to his bowl and loudly meowing. She grabbed a pouch of food from Mowgli’s cupboard and squeezed half of the meat into his bowl. A knock at the door startled them both.

  Julia looked up at the cat clock above her fridge with its swinging tail and darting eyes. It was only a little after seven. She scratched the top of Mowgli’s head before walking down the hallway and to the front door.

  Through the frosted glass, she saw a tall, broad man. The lack of a red jacket let her know it was probably a little early for the postman. She pulled her soft dressing gown across her pink silk pyjamas, tucked her curly hair behind her ears, and unlocked the door.

  “Dad?” she said, the surprise loud in her voice. “What are doing here?”

  Julia’s father, Brian, smiled awkwardly down at her as he glanced back at his car, which he had parked behind her own. His expensive vehicle only served to highlight how dated her vintage wheels were.

  “Your gran called,” he said, reminding Julia that he rarely referred to her as ‘mother’. “She told me what was happening with Anthony.”

  “Oh,” Julia mumbled, unsure of what to say. “Do you want to come in?”

  He nodded, so she stepped to the side to let him into her cottage. He wiped his feet on the doormat as he looked around the house he had never visited before, despite Julia having been living back in Peridale for well over two years now.

  “You’ve got a nice place,” he said with a nervous laugh as he closed the door behind him. “Your mother would have loved this.”

  Julia’s stomach squirmed at the mention of her mother, but she smiled all the same. Her relationship with her father had improved in recent months, but it didn’t erase their years of being practically estranged after her mother’s death all those years ago.

  “How’s Katie?” Julia asked as she led her father through to the kitchen, avoiding referring to her father’s wife as her ‘step-mother’. “Tea?”

  “Yes, please,” he said as he took a seat in one of the stools at the counter, his head almost touching the low-beamed ceiling. “She’s doing really well. Recovered from all of that business with her brother.”

  Julia refilled the kettle. It felt like a lifetime ago that Katie’s brother, Charles, had been murdered during a garden party at their home. He had been protesting Katie’s plans to turn their family manor into a spa, and it had been Julia who had uncovered the culprit after falsely accusing Katie of her brother’s murder. Months had passed, and spring had turned to summer, but Julia hadn’t seen her father, or Katie since, which made his appearance at her cottage feel stranger.

  “I was surprised to hear from your gran,” he said as she handed him a cup of tea. “Did you put sugar in this?”

  “You’ve always taken two sugars.”

  “Katie’s got me on no-sugar,” he said with an apologetic shrug. “Thinks I’m at risk of diabetes because of my age.”

  Julia took back the cup and tossed it down the drain, not needing another reminder that her father was sixty-four, and his wife was thirty-seven, just like Julia. She quickly remade the tea before leaning against the sink with her own tea.

  “You know I don’t get into the village much, so I was surprised to hear what Anthony had done,” he said after taking a sip of the hot tea. “The rumour mill doesn’t seem to make its way up to Peridale Manor. I wanted to show my support and let you know that I’m here for you.”

  Jessie appeared in the bathroom doorway, a towel tucked under her armpits with her wet hair hanging over her face. Brian turned in his seat, causing Jessie to scurry off to her bedroom.

  “Still got the lodger?” he asked as he turned back.

  “She’s more than that,” Julia said, her tone sharper than she intended. “Jessie is like family to me.”

  Brian nodded and took another sip of his tea. Julia could have cut the tension between them with a knife. Despite the man in front of her being her father, they were practically strangers to each other. After her mother’s death, he had buried himself in his work, travelling the country hunting for antiques while Anthony ran the shop. Julia had learned very young not to rely on the man.

  “Why are you surprised Anthony would do something like this?” Julia asked, looking down at Mowgli as he chewed his food contently, unbothered by the presence of the stranger in his house. “We both know he’s always been a ruthless businessman.”

  “And not a very good one,” he said, leaning forward and clasping his fingers together. “The man conned me out of my share
of the business we built together, but last I heard he was almost broke.”

  “He must have come into some money,” Julia said, not wanting to admit she had researched the staggering amount it would cost to start a Happy Bean franchise. “You know it only takes a couple of decent antiques to turn things around.”

  “That’s just the thing. The man was completely useless,” he admitted, cupping his hands around the mug as he stared down into the golden surface of the tea. “Wouldn’t know a Shigaraki Kiln Soy Vase from a Zsolnay. It was always my knowledge that propped the business up. I told him how much things were worth, and he sold them with his charm and charisma. He was good at that. Always had the gift of the gab, that’s for sure.”

  “Well, he’s certainly doing his best to make sure he’s eliminating the competition,” Julia whispered after sipping her tea.

  Brian pulled his wallet out of his pocket and looked down at it for a second, weighing it up in his hands. He pulled it open to reveal that it was bursting with more red fifty-pound notes than Julia had ever seen in one place. He pulled them all out and pushed them across the counter.

  “Your gran said you were struggling,” he said, tapping a finger on the cash. “It’s not a lot, but it’ll tide you over.”

  Julia couldn’t decide if she was offended or flattered. She stared down at the money, her mouth ajar. It would help, but she couldn’t help but think the money had come from Katie’s family fortune and not his pocket. After all, he had admitted that Anthony had conned him out of his business and Julia knew he hadn’t worked since marrying Katie over five years ago. It wasn’t like he needed to. Katie was sitting on the Wellington fortune, and with her brother dead and her father wheelchair bound, it wasn’t going to be long before she inherited the family pot of gold.

  Before she could respond, Jessie came out of her bedroom dressed for work, already wearing her protest t-shirt. She hovered back before Julia gave her a supportive nod. She walked cautiously forward and sat at the counter, leaving a seat between them. She reached out for her tea, her eyes widening when she spotted the money.

  “I should get going,” he said, standing up and pushing his unfinished tea away as he checked his gold watch, no doubt designer. “Katie will be wondering where I’ve gone. She told me to invite you and your sister to lunch next Sunday.”

  “I’ll let Sue know,” she said, not giving him a definite answer as she wondered if it was really Katie who had asked that. “I’ll show you out.”

  She walked her father to the door, leaving Jessie with her tea in the kitchen. When they reached the door, he turned and opened his mouth, but closed it again.

  “I appreciate you coming to see me,” Julia whispered, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You’re always welcome here, you know that.”

  “I know,” he said, his fingers closing around the door handle as though he couldn’t wait to get back to his manor. “Just be careful today. Anthony won’t think twice about playing dirty.”

  Her father left her cottage and walked back to his car. Before he drove away, he waved, and she waved back. When he drove down the winding lane, she exhaled, hating how awkward things were with the man she had adored as a child. She looked out to Emily Burns’ cottage across the road. She waved with her rose pruning shears in her hands. Just like Jessie, she too was already in her ‘Choose Local Coffee’ t-shirt. Julia waved back a little less enthusiastically as Emily craned her neck to see if she recognised the car speeding away from them.

  “There’s five hundred quid here,” Jessie said, wafting the red notes in her hand. “He must be minted.”

  Julia sighed and took the money from Jessie. She hadn’t wanted to keep it, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to flat out refuse either.

  “I forgot to give it back,” Julia said, unsure if that was true. She flicked through the notes before rolling them up and stuffing the bundle in the biscuit tin with the custard creams. “Hopefully, we won’t need it.”

  “Save Peridale!” Dot’s voice crackled out of the megaphone and floated through the open café door. “This faceless coffee shop is destroying local businesses!”

  If Julia wasn’t completely rushed off her feet trying to keep up with her full café’s orders, she might have asked her gran to calm down a little. Even though things had started off quietly and it had just been Dot and a couple of her friends outside the coffee shop, there were now over twenty people there, all wearing the t-shirts, and holding signs written out in Dot’s handwriting.

  “If you want real coffee, go to my granddaughter’s café,” Dot cried out. “Real coffee, made by real people. Support local business!”

  “We’ve not been this busy in weeks!” Jessie whispered excitedly as she hurried past Julia with a tray of tea and scones for a group of women who were curiously staring around Julia’s café. “Dot’s nutty plan actually worked!”

  Julia took down another large food order and hurried through to the kitchen, where Sue was spreading butter on bread rolls as fast as she could.

  “Not how I thought I’d be spending my first Saturday off in months,” Sue said as she dabbed at her red face with a tea towel. “I bet they can hear her in Timbuktu!”

  Julia hurried back through to the café, pleased to see Barker pushing through the crowd and making his way towards her.

  “It’s nice to see this place full again,” he said as he approached the counter, his eyes darting up to the chalkboard menu behind her. “I’ll take a large Americano to go. I’m on the clock.”

  “It’s just one day, but it’s a good sign.”

  “Your gran is certainly determined,” Barker said with a chuckle as he pulled change from his pocket. “She needs to watch what she’s saying though. She’s crossing the line between protest and slander, and if Anthony officially complains, she could be arrested.”

  Julia pitied the poor officer who would try to put cuffs on Dot. Her gran might have been eighty-three, but she was the feistiest and most exuberant woman in the village. Her tongue may have been razor sharp, but the fact she had organised this protest to try and help Julia only proved how big her heart was.

  She quickly made Barker’s Americano and bagged up a chocolate cupcake for him to take away. When he reached into his pocket to grab more change, she rested her hand on his to stop him.

  “You more than deserve it,” Julia said, pushing the bag into his hand. “It’s the least I can do.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” Barker said as he peeled off the plastic lid from his coffee to add a sachet of brown sugar. “When Dot told me her plan, there was no way I wasn’t going to help. I know how much you love this place, and I love you, so it was a no-brainer.”

  He leaned across the counter to give her a quick kiss before pulling away with a playful smirk, his teeth biting his lips. He turned on his heels and headed for the door with his coffee and cupcake, making way for more customers to walk into Julia’s café.

  “Take these outside,” Julia said, handing Jessie a tray with an assortment of cupcakes on them. “Free samples. People might be in here today, but we want them to come back.”

  Jessie finished making a latte before taking the tray, hurrying through the café and out onto the village green. As Julia watched her approach the people to offer them free cupcakes with a smile, pride swelled through her. It hadn’t been that long ago that Jessie had been homeless and breaking into Julia’s café for her cakes. Julia didn’t want to take any credit for Jessie’s transformation, but she was glad she had given her a chance that she might not have gotten otherwise.

  “Who’s that boy talking to Jessie?” Sue asked as she appeared behind her with a plate of sandwiches for one of the tables. “He’s a little close.”

  Julia squinted into the sun at the boy. Even though she couldn’t see his face, the red tracksuit and baseball cap gave him away.

  “Billy Matthews,” Julia answered. “He’s quite smitten with Jessie. I don’t think she wants to admit that she likes him too. He’s
persistent.”

  “Is that the serial killer’s kid?” Sue asked on her way back, pausing to grab one of the cupcakes from the cake stand. “The one that Barker sent to prison all those years ago before he moved to Peridale and left that funeral wreath on Barker’s doorstep as a threat before a man was actually murdered? I’m surprised you’re letting her associate herself with people like that.”

  “Jeffrey Taylor was found innocent,” Julia reminded her. “He’s an okay guy. Barker and he have gone for a few pints in The Plough since. I think it’s more to prove that there’s no bad blood between them. Jeffrey is trying to set a good example for Billy.”

  “Didn’t Billy put a brick through your café’s window?” Sue mumbled through a mouthful of cake as she arched a brow. “And didn’t he try to steal your handbag too?”

  Julia watched as Jessie walked away from Billy, but he followed her like a lovesick puppy. Jessie tossed her hair over her shoulder and shouted something at him, which only made him laugh and follow her even closer.

  “He’s not been in trouble with the police for months,” Julia said tactfully. “You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Everybody deserves a second chance.”

  “Speaking of books, Neil got this book from the library that said my lime is going to turn into a small pumpkin,” Sue said uneasily as she rested a hand on her small stomach. “A pumpkin, Julia! I don’t think I thought this through.”

  “You’re going to be fine,” Julia reassured her. “If it were that bad, Mum would have stopped with me.”

  Sue looked like she was about to argue, but she appeared to think about it for a second before mentally agreeing with Julia. She hurried back into the kitchen to start on the next order, leaving Julia to continue to watch Jessie and Billy. Her heart stopped when she spotted Anthony marching out of his coffee shop and across the village green towards Jessie, his open shirt flapping against his bronzed chest in the summer breeze. He tiptoed awkwardly on top of the grass as though he didn’t want to get his expensive shoes dirty. Without a second thought, Julia abandoned her post and joined him in running towards Jessie.