Play That Funky Music White Koi (A Lemon Layne Mystery Book 2)

by Dakota Cassidy

  But if the evidence said otherwise, I guess I could chalk up another mystery unsolved by Lemon Layne. Ah well, you win some, and in my case, you lose more, I suppose.

  Then why was I so uncomfortable with the possible conclusion?

  With a sigh, I turned to go find Mom and Coco. I was whooped at this point, and my head had begun to ache a little. I’d follow this uncomfortable niggle home to my sofa, Jessica, a cup of tea, and my laptop, where I could bury myself until I figured out why Thea being hauled off for more questioning wasn’t sitting right with me.

  I located them across the room, in the midst of a group of Mom’s senior friends, their hands flying wildly, their voices excited.

  I tugged on Mom’s sweater. “You ready to go?”

  Her eyes were wide, her face surprised. “You’re ready? You sure you don’t have more sniffing around to do?”

  Fighting a yawn, I nodded. “I have a date with some aspirin and a nice hot cup of tea. I’m pretty tired.”

  Mom cupped my cheek. “Okay, Sugarsnap. Let’s get you home. Coco, you ready?”

  Coco held up her keys and nodded with a wink. “Let’s roll, Mama May.”

  We made our way to the parking lot, passing people who whispered in hushed tones about Thea, but I ignored them and headed straight for Coco’s car. By now, my head pounded out a rhythm to rival a heavy metal band.

  I didn’t see Rupert on my way out, but we’d exchanged numbers and I could only hope he’d call me or text if he needed someone to lean on for support.

  Climbing in, I buckled up while Mom and Coco chatted amicably, lost in my own thoughts.

  “Hey, Lemon—you okay back there? You haven’t said a word and I know that can’t be right. They hauled Thea off to the hoosegow. Surely you have something to say about that,” Coco coaxed.

  Leaning my head against the cool window, I shrugged. “I guess I really don’t. I can only tell you, I feel really uncomfortable about this questioning and the idea Thea killed two people, but my head’s kind of banging around right now, and that’s all I can think of.”

  “Poor baby,” Coco sympathized. “Let’s get you home then and get you settled. I have another big day ahead of me tomorrow with the Fran business.”

  I perked up a little then. “Do you know something you can’t tell me, Coco Belinski?”

  She giggled. “I know nothing, Jon Snow. I only know what you’ve surmised. That there’s another piece of evidence the police have. I didn’t see the reports because Vern’s become suspicious of your snooping and me being your BFF. But I heard you talking to Justice, young lady—so I got the general gist.”

  “Am I jeopardizing your livelihood? Because I’d hate that.”

  Coco flapped a hand at me just before she pulled into the front of our house. “Nah. Vern seals everything he finds in an autopsy anyway, and we send it by courier to the station. He’s just acutely aware of our relationship and the fact that you like to snoop. But who doesn’t know that about you?” she teased as I popped open the back door.

  “Look at me. I’m a famous snoop. Anyway, I’m going in to lie down. Thanks for bringing me tonight. Call me later, okay?”

  “Always,” Coco said, as she kissed my mother on the cheek and watched us as we passed the two officers guarding the house until we were inside.

  Mom pulled me down to peck my cheek and run a hand over my forehead. “I’m gonna go make that tea for you, Sugarplum. You go get our varmint and get comfortable.” Mom wandered off into the kitchen and I headed upstairs to grab JF and change.

  I took JF from her cage and set her on my bed while I pulled on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. Yanking the tie from my hair, I shook it out, running my fingers through the tight curls to make for easier brushing later.

  “C’mon, you. Let’s go get some snacks and a big bucket of aspirin. Mama’s got a headache.” I pointed to my shoulder and Jess dutifully scampered upward until she sat, her tiny arms around my neck.

  I knew I should just let things go, but as I’ve said before, easier said than done. I snatched my laptop from my dresser before I headed back downstairs.

  The teakettle was sounding off just as I entered the kitchen, looking forward to the hot liquid and some quiet time. There’d been a lot of activity tonight and my brain screamed its protest.

  Mom set the tea in front of me on the kitchen island along with two aspirin, which I promptly downed without hesitation. “Saw you talkin’ to those bunch of Thea’s friends tonight. Find anything out?”

  “I wish. There’s something someone’s not telling anyone, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

  “You don’t think Thea did this, do you, Sunshine?”

  Groaning, I clenched my eyes shut and nodded. “The more I think about it, no. I sure don’t, and I don’t care what kind of evidence they have against her. Either she’s being framed, or wrong time, wrong place has come into play. But what do I know? I’ve made plenty of blunders—just ask anyone about Myron’s murder. It’s not the same as watching with Dad on TV. It’s a lot harder.”

  Mom patted my hand in sympathy, her blue eyes full of love. “You’re not a police officer, Cupcake. You were an accountant with a penchant for mysteries. Not the same thing.”

  We hadn’t talked about my former career in a long time. Not since I’d come home to help take care of the Smoke and Petrol. That was my profession in Seattle, and how I’d met Troy. He’d come to the big company I worked for, looking for someone to handle his assets. We’d bumped into each other in a luncheonette in the lobby while I was grabbing a salad, and the rest, as they say, is history…

  Life had been so different back then. Now, I managed the Smoke and Petrol, handled the books and worked on old cars whenever the chance presented itself, and it was all so much simpler.

  “I know you don’t want to hear this, Lemon, but I say it with nothing but love. It’s time to move past Troy and move on to something else.”

  Maybe I was just feeling overly raw at this point, but her words astonished me. “How can you say that? You haven’t moved on past Dad.”

  She clucked her tongue. “But I’m not in my thirties, honey. I’m in my seventies. I’m doing a different kind of moving on, and I’ve tested some waters since your dad died. Myron was one. I’ve experienced plenty in my time, but you haven’t. So it’s about time you started. Don’t waste your life and live to regret it. I regretted not finding your father a whole lot sooner, but I found him, and I did plenty of lookin’ before him, believe you me. I lived, Lemon. Really lived.”

  I wasn’t sure where this conversation was leading, but it felt like the “it’s time to get back on the dating horse” speech. She hadn’t given me one so far, and neither had Coco, but I sensed this was at least a partial preview.

  “I know you did, Mom. I just don’t live quite the way you do. I’m mellower. Less likely to jump out of a plane and more likely to spend the day at a car auction or in the library.”

  She brought my hand to her cheek and nodded her electric-blue head. “And that’s fine. You can live as quietly as you’d like. Just start doing it, for Pete’s sake. We have enough money to allow us to hire a couple of other employees and give you some time off. But you don’t take it, and no girl o’ mine’s going to make her job her life—that’s no life at all. You don’t have to skydive, but you can surely do somethin’ other’n make brisket sandwiches and tend to this little miss here, much as I love her.” She tweaked Jess’s tail, and JF chirped lovingly back at her.

  “You just think about that while I go grab a nice long soak, okay? My piggies are oinking after standing for so long tonight serving food, and I have to go into town tomorrow and do some shopping. So, I’m gonna make it an early night, if you don’t mind.”

  I fought a rush of tears, but I managed to suck them up because my mother behind the wheel of a car and tourists galore always made me nervous. I didn’t mind when she went to places on the outskirts like the senior center or hot yoga, but the heart of Fig and
my mother had seen a run-in or two.

  “You want me to drive you?”

  She made a face at me. “I’m not a child, Lemon. And I know what you’re thinking. But it was only one incident—”

  “Two, Mom. It was two,” I corrected on a laugh.

  “Two, ten, whatever. He was wrong and he knows he was. That’s all that needs to be said. I can only be so nice to the tourists before I don’t give a rat’s beeee-hind if they ever buy even a drop of gas from us when they behave like that knucklehead did.”

  I didn’t want to get into it with her. Suffice to say, Mom’s all about confrontation and playing the “I’m old enough to be your grandmother, you little pissant! Would you run your own grandmother over like she was some kind of roadkill?” card.

  “Okay, I’m just offering. But promise me you’ll be careful and not get into any brawls.”

  “It was his fault!” she yelled as she left the kitchen and headed upstairs to take a bath.

  Jess grabbed either side of my face and made me look at her, her eyes darting back and forth to read my emotions.

  I Eskimo kissed her, rubbing our noses together until my tears passed. “I think your favorite senior thinks I need a boyfriend, JF. What do you think?”

  She squawked at me, letting my face go, jumping up and down on the kitchen island and clapping her hands with glee.

  That made me laugh. Sometimes I felt like Jess knew me better than anyone, because in my darkest hours, she was who I confided my deeply rooted fears to.

  Shaking off my sadness, my head finally feeling a little better, I pointed to the living room. “You wanna go mess around on the Internet with me? I feel like that’s the closest thing to getting a life as I’ll come tonight.”

  Jess hopped off the countertop and made a dash for the living room while I grabbed her some grapes and actually began to ponder what I’d do if I wasn’t at the Smoke and Petrol for the better portion of my day.

  Maybe I’d go with Coco and get mani/pedis. Maybe I’d become a lady who lunched. Maybe I’d take the ferry to Seattle and shop till I dropped.

  Or maybe I’d rather have my eyes gouged out with a dull knife.

  So there’s that.

  * * * *

  The next morning, after I’d spent another two hours last night staring at pictures on the college group’s Facebook pages then gave up and went to bed, I woke feeling a lot better. A good night’s sleep was just what the doctor ordered. I decided a trip to Gabby’s Grind was in order for a cup of coffee and maybe even a banana nut muffin.

  I left Mom and JF still sound asleep and snuck out of the house on tiptoe, waving at the two of officers still posted outside our house.

  “I’m off to Gabby’s. You guys want something?”

  They smiled, but shook their heads and thanked me for thinking of them. So I hopped into Lou-Lou and put the top down just to feel the early-morning warm breeze on my face.

  I wondered what was happening with Thea at this point. She’d been enough of a wreck as it was before she’d been hauled off to the station. Today had to be a nightmare for her.

  That I was feeling these pangs of sympathy for her still led me to believe they had the wrong person, but someone with the ability to kill surely was capable of pulling off all sorts of theatrics. Maybe Thea was just that good.

  I managed a pretty good spot closer to Gabby’s than I’d expected due to the tourists taking up most of the spaces. Parking, I hopped out and adjusted my green Fig Harbor T-shirt, smoothing out the wrinkles before I headed inside.

  Jumping on the end of the small line, I turned around and watched the early-morning windsurfers enjoying the less-crowded water, and smiled. Looking at the water always brought me peace. Which was one of the reasons I’d put a koi pond in my backyard—because I loved the soothing sounds.

  My hope was Justice would clear this mess up soon, and I could get back to enjoying my koi fish and maybe a sunny afternoon spent reading by the pond without a bunch of forensics guys and cops hanging around.

  “Lemon?”

  I turned around just as Rupert’s sister, Sheila, was entering Gabby’s. As attractive as Rupert and younger by only two years, she glided into the shop with grace. She smiled warmly at me in greeting. “I knew it was you from your hair. Oh, to have all those luscious curls.”

  I reached for my tangled mass of a bird’s nest self-consciously. “It’s the bane of my existence,” I joked.

  She took my hand in hers and enveloped it with warm fingers. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did for Rupert the other day. He’s so broken about Josiah, and I can’t seem to help him other than just be there for him. But he told me how your words helped…tremendously, in fact. Thank you for that.”

  Often, words of gratitude make me uncomfortable, but this time, because it had eased Rupert’s pain, I didn’t struggle with them at all. I gripped Sheila’s hand before letting go.

  “It’s no problem at all, Shelia. I guess the only people who can truly understand are those who’ve been through it. I’m happy to help.”

  She looked at me for a moment, her shoulder-length dark hair almost covering her eyes as it fell like a curtain over her cheek. “I’m so glad. He’s experienced so much loss. First back in college, and now Josiah. How much is one guy supposed to bear?”

  Her words stopped me cold and sent a chill along my spine. “College? He lost someone in college?”

  She nodded, tucking her hair behind her ears. “It was traumatic to say the least. He wouldn’t talk about it much. I don’t even know who it was. All he would say is he was someone he loved deeply who just couldn’t come to terms with who he was.”

  I settled back down a bit. Maybe she was talking about a bad breakup? Those happened aplenty in college. “Bad breakup?”

  Her eyebrow rose as we moved up in the line. “Oh, no, no. They didn’t break up. He died. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t want me to talk about it out of respect for the man he was so desperately in love with. He wasn’t out of the closet, as they say, and that was a problem for Rupert because we’re all so accepting of whomever he chooses to love. But apparently, not even this boy’s family knew about his homosexuality or about Rupert. Though it was so long ago now, what does it really matter?”

  Every bone in my body trembled as a wave of horror washed over me. Now was the time to gather my wits and tread carefully—very, very carefully. “Was it his first love?” I’m not sure why that mattered, but it was a way to keep the conversation going, I suppose.

  “It was, in fact. Aren’t they always the most tragic? He was the one who taught Rupert all about art and literature. He said they had the most amazing conversations about all sorts of things. All I know is he was an older guy and he didn’t want the same things Rupert wanted.” She shrugged her toned shoulders, lifting the spaghetti straps of her mint-green camisole. “I didn’t push because he was so eaten up, but he did tell me it was only a brief affair. Those are always the ones with the most impact, though. The ones that burn hot and fade fast. No disrespect intended, of course.”

  It was all I could do not to visibly shake. Inhaling, I fought to keep my head on straight. “How very sad for him. He didn’t mention that at all.” And I had to wonder why the heck not?

  Maybe because his boyfriend, his first love, was Matthew Miles?

  And this thing about art—hadn’t Albert, or was it Ivan who said something about Matthew being a starving artist?

  I got a really bad feeling in my gut just then. A big zing of churning acid swirled in my stomach, making me decide against putting some coffee in it.

  Pretending to look at my calendar on my phone, I clucked my tongue. “I’m so sorry, Shelia, but it looks like I forgot an appointment. I’ve got to run. It was wonderful to see you.”

  She gave me another warm smile and said, “You, too, Lemon.”

  I raced out of Gabby’s and back to my car, my brain on fire. I had to know if Rupert and Matthew had once been involved. It was too coinciden
tal that he’d been in love with someone who was not only older, but enjoyed art and was afraid to come out to the people around him. Rebecca herself had said there was someone else—that Matthew had broken up with her because he was gay and someone else was in the mix.

  But if that was true, if Rupert had been in love with Matthew, how did that tie him to this group of college friends? He didn’t even hang out with them at the time. They’d all said he didn’t meet Josiah until an alumni reunion.

  Climbing into my car, I gripped the steering wheel and let my forehead rest on my hands.

  It was time to go over the common denominators here.

  What did everyone have in common?

  And then it hit me—it hit me hard.

  Eastern versus western, that’s what.

  Their belief in self-healing and their love, particularly Abby’s love, of unconventional medicine.

  And Rupert’s hatred of it all…

  Chapter 14

  I turned the ignition in my car the moment after I left Justice a voicemail. He needed to know what Shelia had told me. It was all circumstantial, but it made sense.

  Rupert had hated Abby’s approach to Josiah’s cancer. He hated that Josiah had chosen that path rather than the path of conventional medicine until it was too late.

  Matthew Miles had a heart condition—had he chosen the same path of healing that Josiah had? It made sense that Rupert would be furious with Abby for encouraging Josiah to take a different route…and it also made sense that she’d likely encouraged Matthew if he’d chosen not to address his heart issues.

  That’s certainly a motive for murder. But why kill Fran? Did she know something? Find something out?

  As I passed the shops in town, I saw Mom’s car and slowed a bit to check on her whereabouts. No murder investigation, no matter how juicy the clue, is going to keep me from making sure my mother’s not engaged in a cage fighting match with some poor tourist.