“Then we’ll remove her,” Violet said.
“What do you mean?” Hank asked.
If Olivia’s hair had stood on end before it was positively rod straight now. They wanted to remove her? Alvira’s jaw had dropped.
“I mean we get rid of her. We report her to the police. I’m sure that detective guy won’t take kindly to someone interfering with his investigation. He didn’t look like the friendliest man around,” Violet said. “It should be easy enough. I’ll just call and complain about her bothering me.”
“Wait,” Hank said.
“What?”
“We have to be careful. If people think you’ve been involved –”
“Why would they? It’s just a random complaint about some woman sticking her nose where she doesn’t belong,” Violet replied. “No one will care.”
“Keane knows that the woman investigates these cases and she’s solved three of them so far.”
“What?!”
“Exactly,” Hank said. “If she’s asking you questions it might make Keane take a closer look at your personal business and mine too. Put the phone down, Vi.”
A clatter and another sniff from Violet. “Fine. But if she comes back I’m going to kick her out.”
“No,” Hank said, and his voice dropped lower. “Be nice. We need her oblivious, not angry.”
Violet huffed a sigh. “Fine,” she said. “But I don’t like any of this. I wish we could just act normal.”
“Give it a month,” Hank replied.
“A month?! Are you serious? Hank, I can’t wait a month to be together. I’ll lose my mind living here. Besides, what am I supposed to tell people? They won’t understand why I’m staying for longer than I have to. Once the funeral is over, people will expect me to leave.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Come on, let’s order some take out and –”
“Oh, that’s fine, is it? We can get pizza and sit around in this horrible room but we can’t go out to dinner because you’re afraid someone might realize that we’re more than just friends.”
“Violet –”
“Just leave,” the model replied. “You don’t know how lucky you are to have me. Get out before I have you thrown out.”
“By who?” Hank asked, and guffawed. “Security?”
“Go!”
“Fine,” he replied. “Call me when your hormones are in check.”
Olivia grimaced. That was one of her least favorite things to hear about a woman – even if that woman might be the murderer in this case.
The door inside the motel room slammed and Violet’s weeping resumed. A car started around the front. Olivia and Alvira waited until the coast was clear, then hurried back to the road, crouched over until they were in the clear.
They didn’t speak all the way back to the Block-A-Choc Shoppe. Olivia needed time to process what they’d just heard and Alvira had gone pale and thin-lipped.
Had they just overheard two conspirators discussing their planned murder?
CHAPTER NINE
O livia tucked her feet under her butt and settled on the sofa. Dodgy lay in the hall that led into the living room, snuffling and scratching in his sleep.
It was a Sunday evening and after the strange occurrence that afternoon Olivia needed a break. And just when she’d thought she’d get it, a visitor had arrived to dash her hopes. To be fair, it wasn’t all that bad to have Mr. Morgan hanging out in her living room.
“You’re sure about this,” Jake said, and adjusted on the armchair opposite her. “You’re absolutely sure.”
“Of course,” Olivia replied. “I heard it with my own two ears. Alvira heard it, too. And yes, before you come at me with all that law mumbo jumbo, I know that this isn’t permissible in court.”
“It’s not,” Jake said, and lifted his mug from the coffee table.
“But it’s a lead. And that’s what counts. We’ve got a lead on two potential suspects.” Olivia took her phone out of her pocket and placed it on the sofa beside her.
“What about Van the Man?” Jake asked. “We’ve got to pursue him as a lead too. He’s the one who had the most motive to murder Lilac in the first place, after all.”
“That we know of,” Olivia said. “Clearly, Violet and Hank are hiding something. They want to avoid notice, which means we have to pay them even more attention. It’s paramount that we find out what they’re hiding and why.” She’d bet her last chocolate drop that what they had hidden was something to do with finances.
And if they had financial motivation, that put them one step closer to the murder.
“I don’t know, Olivia,” Jake said. “I don’t want us to get too hasty here.”
Olivia shrugged. “You said you had news?” She asked. He’d called to tell her he was on his way a half hour ago but he’d refused to tell her this news over the phone. The curiosity had finally gotten the better of her.
Dodger flopped his tail in his sleep, then rolled over and barked.
“Shush,” Olivia said.
The dog flipped back onto his stomach and sat upright, ears alert. He yawned and shook his head, tinkling the tag on his collar.
“It’s nothing super important,” Jake said, at last. His face had gone red. “I – uh, yeah, so the police didn’t catch the person who put up Lilac’s picture on the screen at the service.”
“The party,” Olivia replied. There’d been way too much merriment at the event to class it as anything else. “And that’s disappointing.” But it certainly wasn’t a reason for Jake to rush over on a Sunday evening, unless he’d come for another reason.
It was Olivia’s turn to blush. “Thanks for coming here to tell me. I enjoy your company.”
Jake reached up and tugged at his collar. He loosened the top button. “So do I,” he said. “You’re fun to talk to, even when it’s not about case stuff.”
“You’re saying you enjoy talking to me about murders?” she asked.
“Olivia,” he groaned, and hung his head. “You know what I mean.” He rose from his seat and circled to her side of the room. He sat down beside her and took her hand. “I enjoy spending time with you no matter the circumstance. Whether it’s hunting through the freezing cold forest for clues or talking in your living room over coffee and chocolates. Admittedly, I like anything better if it has chocolates.”
Olivia pressed her lips together but she couldn’t hide the flush of pleasure. Jake still gave her those teenage girl butterflies in the pit of her stomach. She’d thought she’d never feel anything like that again.
She’d pretty much given up after –
Dodger bounded to his feet and barked.
The moment shattered and Jake withdrew his hand. “What’s wrong, boy?” He focused on Olivia’s doggy pal.
“Dodgy?” Olivia stood up and took her phone with her. She slipped it into the front pocket of her jeans.
Her dog darted toward the gate at the top of the stairs, which separated the store from the apartment. He barked all the way, his entire body shaking from the effort.
Olivia and Jake followed him. Heck, even Alphonsine stuck her head out of her bedroom door as they passed. Dodgy wouldn’t quiet down no matter how much Olivia asked. Jake held the dog back while Olivia slipped onto the staircase, intrigue and fear tugging her forward and back at the same time.
What would she find downstairs? Or who?
CHAPTER TEN
J ake followed her a few seconds later and locked the gate against Dodger, who’d officially gone into red zone on the bark-o-meter. He’d always been an intuitive dog – Olivia would never forget the day she’d picked him up at the shelter.
It’d been years prior and she’d arrived fully intent on getting something small; a cat or a bunny perhaps. She’d laid eyes on Dodger and the puppy had absolutely lost it for her. He’d bounded around inside his enclosure, barking on repeat.
They’d been destined for each other.
Olivia focused on the task at hand.
She reached the base of the stairs and clicked on the lights in the store proper. The door was still locked, the alarm light blinking as usual, and nothing was out of place.
Had Dodger lost his touch?
She strode past the front counter and stood beside the tables, scanning left and right for any sign of a disturbance.
“Anything?” Jake asked, over Dodger’s continued barks.
“Not that I can see,” she replied.
A car passed in the street outside, its lights strafing across the tar and reflected in the windows of the building opposite. Still nothing. “Goodness, I don’t know what –?”
A terrific crack rent the air. Jake yelled and scrambled away from the stairs just as the air conditioning unit clunked from the wall and landed right where he’d been a second earlier. The plastic groaned and creaked.
Fine white dust settled on the floorboards and the crack in the plaster on the wall threatened to spread. Dodger stopped barking upstairs. He whined once, then his paws clicked off back to the living room.
As usual, Dodger knew best. He’d sensed something was up and he’d been right.
“Well,” Jake said, and coughed into his fist. “That was close.” A coat of that powder covered his shirt and jeans.
“Gosh, are you all right?” Olivia asked.
“I’m fine. I promise I won’t sue,” Jake replied.
“Ha-ha, very funny.” But nothing about this situation amused her. Georgie Ryan, the repair dude, had been in last week to sort this out and now the thing had fallen off the wall? She’d never been one to chew people’s ears off with complaints, but heavens, this accident had almost cost her friend his life.
If Jake hadn’t move in time he’d have been less investigator and more pancake.
“I’ll have to call that repairman back tomorrow,” Olivia said. “He must’ve done something to invite this scale of destruction.”
“I don’t know,” Jake said. “It looks like the wall is cracked here. Look at the plaster. It’s damp too. Do you think the unit leaked on the wall?”
Olivia stifled a groan. The last thing she needed was to shut down the store now. They’d just entered another busy season and she’d lose a lot of money if she was forced to close her doors because of construction work.
“Problems, problems,” she said. She had half a mind to call the guy back now to sort this out. But it was a Sunday evening and that wouldn’t have been fair. “I’m going to have to clean this up.”
“Now?” Jake asked, and quirked an eyebrow. “Surely it can wait until the morning.”
“I doubt it. We won’t have enough time to make the morning chocolates and prepare the store if I leave it until then,” Olivia replied.
“I hate to burst your bubble here, Olivia, but I don’t think you can serve chocolates in a store with a half-broken wall. It’s not legal.”
Olivia huffed. “Darn it. I know you’re right but gosh, this is going to set us back. I guess I’d better call the other A’s and let them know tomorrow is a no-go.” She wormed her cell out of her pocket, forcing her frustration aside. She’d have to get this looked at by a proper contractor before she called Georgie back, and that would cost even more money.
The day had held endless frustrations, but at least there’d been a few leads. If she could just get –
Olivia’s phone rang in her palm and she jumped. The device flew upward. Olivia snatched it out of the air before it could smash to pieces on the floorboards.
Her heart pounded against the inside of her rib cage and she turned the phone to look at the screen. A number she didn’t recognize flashed along with the Gold Dust Woman ring tone.
“I love this song,” Jake said, and bobbed his head in time to the music.
Olivia answered the phone. “Hello?” She raised a finger to silence Jake.
“Olivia? Is that you?” A man rasped into the phone.
“W-who is this?” She asked. The heart-pounding didn’t cease.
“We haven’t officially been introduced,” the man continued. “As far as I remember, unless it was at the event, but everything’s a blur after that.”
“Who is this?” Olivia repeated, and forced herself to calm. Murderers didn’t usually ramble on about meetings – did they?
“Van the – uh Van Washington,” he said. “I’m a radio show host at Chester Radio TODAY!”
“I know who you are,” Olivia replied.
“Good. Then you know I need your help,” he said, and gulped. “I’m afraid for my life.”
Too many questions cropped up in Olivia’s mind. How had he gotten her number? Why had he called her instead of the police? “How may I help you, Mr. Washington?” She had to keep herself from calling him Van the Man. She wasn’t a big fan of the guy, he’d done nothing but seek out attention after Lilac’s death.
But she wasn’t the type of person who turned away someone in need.
“I’m afraid there’s someone watching me. I see someone moving around in her house,” he said.
“Who’s house?” Olivia asked.
Jake frowned across the room, his brow creasing the fine layer of powder atop it.
“Lilac’s. Her house is right next to mine. I’m sure there’s someone inside.”
“Have you called the police?” Olivia asked.
“No. And I’m not going to. They think I did it. Me. Can you believe that?”
She didn’t say ‘yes’ even though she wanted to. “And you’re calling me instead.”
“Yeah. We did a special on you on the station. I’m surprised you didn’t hear it,” Van said, and the fear in his voice dropped a little. The swagger of the personality rather than the man.
“You think there’s someone after you?”
“Yes,” he said, and the fear resurged. “Please, come quickly. I know you’ll be able to help. No one else will.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
O livia couldn’t keep her eyes off the building next door. She gazed at it all the way up the drive to Van’s home – a miniature mansion flanked by a fence of golden spears – and even as she strode up the marble steps and to his front door. That was Lilac’s home. It was just as ostentatious as Van’s but the lights were off, the curtains drawn.
Jake tapped her on the shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” she said, but she still couldn’t take her eyes off it.
“Are you ready?”
“There’s nothing to be ready for, Mr. Morgan.” Except for a scared radio personality. But did he have a point?
Jake knocked on the front door, then dropped his hand and stepped back so he was in line with Olivia. The backs of his knuckles brushed hers and she sucked in a breath. Jake shifted away but the tingling butterfly sensation remained.
Ugh, she had to get a hold of herself. She couldn’t investigate and deal with her strange feelings for Jake.
Footsteps thumped on the other side of the door. The knob turned and finally, Van ‘the Man’ Washington appeared… with curlers in his hair.
Olivia snorted a laugh and barely managed to turn it into a cough.
Jake remained dead still. Somehow, he kept a straight face, whether it was through sheer force of will or supernatural power, Olivia had to admire him for it.
“Mr. Washington,” Olivia said.
“Yes, it’s me,” he replied. “Come inside, quickly; before they see you.” He hurried back into the cavernous depths of his home.
Olivia and Jake exchanged a glance, and this one didn’t have anything to do with the curlers in Van’s hair. “They?” Jake asked.
“Let’s find out more about that.” Olivia followed the radio star into his home.
Van hovered just inside the door. He switched his weight from one foot to the other, grasping the knob. “Hurry, hurry.”
Jake hustled inside and took up a spot beside Olivia. He barely missed the edge of the door as Van slammed it shut. The personality double locked it and checked the chain twice. “There,” he said. “There.
” But his shoulders still didn’t relax.
“Mr. Washington, what’s going on?” Olivia asked. “If you’re this alarmed you really should call the police.”
“Speaking of alarms.” Van hurried to a keypad beside the door. He keyed in a code, keeping his back to them, then hit enter. Three shrill beeps rang out. Finally, the tension leaked from the big guy. “That’s better. All right, you two come with me.” He strode down the corridor, his bare feet thumping on the polished boards.
Jake and Olivia followed him and entered the kitchen. It could’ve graced the covers of lifestyle magazines – plural. It was that big. They sat down on a chaise lounge in the corner, beneath a full-length portrait of Van the Man himself.
The real life version paced in front of them. He withered by whatever it was he’d seen that’d brought him to call Olivia in the first place. “I’m too afraid to talk to the cops. I know they won’t believe me.” He tugged on one of the curlers and grimaced. “Too soon,” he muttered.
“Let’s start from the beginning,” Olivia said. “What did you see?”
But Van wasn’t interested in gentle guidance. He narrowed his eyes at Jake. “Who’s this guy? I didn’t invite this guy over. Are you working for them?”
Something had pushed Van over the edge.
“This is my assistant,” Olivia said. “Jake Morgan.”
“I’m not an assistant,” he replied, firmly. “I’m a private investigator. If you have a problem I can certainly help you with it.”
“That’s good,” Van said, and clicked his fingers. He pointed at Olivia. “You are good. You knew I’d need this kind of help so you brought him with you. I knew this was a smart idea.” He turned that finger on himself and tapped his temple. “It’s all going to work out.”
“Mr. Washington,” Olivia said. “Would you care to explain what’s going on?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said. He hurried to the kitchen windows and twitched the curtains aside. “Someone’s in Lilac’s house. More than one person I’m sure. I can feel them watching me.”
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