by Ann S. Marie
Dana’s eyes then swept across a cardigan hanging near the door. It was Grandma Rae’s and Katie had it washed and hung to dry yesterday. She was going to give it to the nursing home that was running a drive for the needy and needed old clothes.
She sighed. That was what she’d seen. A shadow of the cardigan with the arms dangling by the side.
Maybe it was all just her imagination.
Two hours later, Echo had finished up what he was doing and the power was back on. Dana had already tossed out the old batter and was preparing to make a fresh batch.
“Can I get you some coffee and some pastries, Echo?”
“Oh, no ma’am. I’m good, thanks.”
“I really appreciate what you’ve done, Echo.”
“No trouble, Miss Dana. Anything for you and your family. Ma Rae was a good woman. Always looked out for me, she did.”
“Good to hear. Yes, she was kindhearted, wasn’t she?” Dana missed her more with each passing moment.
“Say, you heard anything about that case there with Karla’s death?” Echo asked.
For some reason, Truffles started to hiss. Dana looked at Truffles and scooped her up in her arms. “Hey, what’s wrong, sweetie?”
“Aww, she’s probably tired.”
“Probably. It’s her bedtime. I’m going to get her something to snack on and then get her ready for her nap.” Dana took the kitty to the kitchen and grabbed some cat snacks and placed it in a bowl along with some milk and got Truffles all comfy by her basket by the fireplace.
She then went back to the kitchen to get two mugs of coffee for Echo and herself. “You were asking about the case?”
“Yeah,” Echo said, twisting his hat in his hands. He was often quite confident, but not this time.
“Why? What’s wrong, Echo?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s just a shame about that nice lady, you know. She was really nice, that Miss Karla.”
“Yes, she was. It’s shocking what happened to her really. But I believe my uncle is innocent. I think someone’s trying to…”
“Trying to what?”
“Oh, nothing…” Dana didn’t want to say too much.
After she finished pouring a cup of hot steaming freshly brewed coffee for Echo and herself, she held it up for a toast. “Here’s to new power, in the home,” Dana toasted.
“Yes to power. We all want power, don’t we?”
Chapter 6
Later that evening, Katie and Dana sat by the fireplace while Truffles slept in her cozy basket lined with cushions.
“So Echo asked about the case?” Katie said to Dana.
“Oh, he sure did. I’m actually going to add that to the…” Dana looked around for her laptop.
“What is it?”
“That’s strange?”
“What’s strange?”
“My MacBook. It’s gone.”
“Gone? Are you sure?”
“Well, I left it right…” she stopped. Her heart fluttered in her chest. Did Echo take her laptop? But why on earth would he do that?
Crap! She needed her laptop to do a mystery riddle for her blog tonight. And talk about a riddle? She couldn’t even solve the mystery of her missing MacBook.
Well, isn’t that great? She would have to scribble her thoughts down on a notepad and then enter it into a computer later.
Okay, she was not going to get herself paranoid right now. It must be somewhere around the house. It had to be.
“Are you sure it’s here? Maybe you left it at the café.”
“You’re right. I’ll go back tomorrow and get it.” Dana stifled a yawn and stretched her arms.
“You know, you should get some sleep. You’re tired, cuz.” Katie yawned, too, as if yawning was contagious and she’d just gotten it from Dana.
“Right back at ya, cuz.” Dana grinned. “You’ve been pulling in some serious hours at the café. You know, you could leave the staff to get on with things after your shift ends.”
“Oh, come on. You know I don’t mind sticking around to help out a bit. Besides, what else am I going to do?”
“Oh, I get it. You’ve got a little crush.”
“I do not.”
“Yes, you do. That cute delivery guy from Haston Supplies. He’s pretty hot,” Dana teased her cousin.
She could see Katie flush.
“Well, okay. Since you mentioned it, yes he is kind of cute. But there’s nothing going on between us.”
“Are you sure, cuz?” Dana teased. Deep down, Dana was thrilled for Katie, who had been through so much crazy hard times in her love life with getting married and divorced so early. Something she rarely spoke about.
Lord only knew they both could use a bit of love in their lives.
“Yes, I’m sure.” Katie rolled her eyes. There was a hint of color in her cheeks. “Anyway, let’s keep on the case, shall we?”
“Fine. We’ll keep on the case…for now.” Dana winked.
Chapter 7
The next day on Sunday afternoon, Dana took a jog on one of Berry Cove’s breathtaking walking trails by the stunning blue lake. She was happy that her MacBook showed up the next morning in the kitchen. But why had she missed it before?
Dana shrugged it off. She was not going to let her mind play tricks on her. She remembered studying a case once about how when a person was stressed out, sometimes they could miss things right under their noses. After a relaxing night of sleep, her mind was able to process things better.
Note to self: get plenty of rest all the time.
That had been one of Grandma Rae’s favorite sayings. Dana smiled at the memory and the beautiful morning ahead.
The water sparkled under the sun. The sun shone brightly on this afternoon and the leaves looked golden brown as the fell on the grass. She had one of her head phones plugged in her ear listening to her favorite classical music piece to relax her.
That sexy and gorgeous detective Troy Anders had told her once to never have both ears plugged while walking or jogging alone in case she was ever approached from behind. Good thinking.
Her heart fluttered just thinking about tall, dark and deadly handsome cop Troy.
The guy practically saved her butt, and her life last month. How could she ever repay him? Not to mention she thought she’d seen a spark there in his gorgeous ocean blue eyes of his.
Okay, she just couldn’t resist an opportunity or excuse to meet up with him again. He’d been so busy over at the police district and she’d seen him a few times. He was also quite busy taking care of his mother who was visiting in town. How sweet of him.
She sighed heavily thinking about him. A smile touched the corner of her lips. She wondered if he was in fact working on the Karla Sweet murder case. Wouldn’t that be something? She could actually work with him to solve this riddle—er, rather, this case.
And speaking of riddles, what a riddle this was turning out to be. Inga had step-daughters? She didn’t even know that Inga was even married. Talk about finding out new things. Inga rarely spoke about her own personal life. In fact, Inga rarely spoke at all. And Uncle Max’s secretary was Inga’s step-daughter? Well, it seemed as if there was certainly no loss of love there.
Could Inga be right?
Could her step-daughter have had anything to do with it?
Or was Inga having a case of sour grapes and eager to get some sort of revenge on her step-daughter for ruining her marriage?
Bump.
Dana crashed head on into a burly hard chest.
“Are you all right, Dana?” Detective Troy Anders deep, silky voice slid into her ears.
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”
Which was true, Dana was busy thinking of the scenario with Inga’s step-daughter, who didn’t waste any time in spilling the beans to Dana about Uncle Max’s wife. She was looking at the ground while thinking and did not see, Troy, jogging toward her.
Well, duh!
“No worries. Just as long as you’re okay.
” He regarded her with a warm smile.
Dana’s heart fluttered inside her chest. Heat climbed to her cheek and it wasn’t anything to do with the warm sun this afternoon.
The water from the lake rolled and crashed against the shoreline and the wind from the water whisked her brown tendrils into her face.
Troy looked positively stunning with his broad shoulders and sexy biceps which were nice and prominent in his light grey T-shirt. He wore blue jogging pants and Nike sneakers. And had a baseball cap on. God, he looked breathtaking. His ocean blue eyes and chiseled cheekbones with his dark skin and short dark hair caused waves of excitement to slide through her.
Oh, great. Now, she really lost her concentration.
Think, Dana. Think. What were you just thinking about? Oh, right. My uncle’s murder case.
“Um, Troy. I’m glad we…er…bumped into each other.”
“You are?” He arched his brow, his blue eyes penetrating her.
“Yes,” she said, trying to still the pounding of her heart. She kept trying to tell herself that she was taking a break from men after what her ex-fiancé did to her by running off with her ex-best friend from college. But, oh well. He’s in New York and she was in Berry Cove and that was her past. This was her future. Or, was it?
“Well, what I mean is,” she continued. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about the arrest of Max Sweet.”
“Oh, right,” he sighed heavily. He panted slightly as he settled down from jogging. She could see mild bead sweats on his face and on his moist skin. He looked stunning but she had to keep her attention focused on her case. Well, it wasn’t officially her case because she was an online mystery riddles blogger not a real life mystery solver, or was she?
“I’m sorry about your uncle Max.” His voice was firm and sincere.
“Thank you, Troy. But you’ve got to believe me. I don’t think he did it.”
Troy arched his brow. “We’ll have to leave that up to the courts to decide, Dana. You know how the law works.”
“I do. But he has a bail hearing coming up. I’m going to ask him a few questions. I think someone is trying to frame him, Troy.”
“Now, Dana. Remember what we spoke about last month.”
“I know. I know.”
“I don’t want you meddling in police business. It’s not a game, Dana. It’s not a riddle on your blog.”
She frowned and placed her hands on her hips. “Do you really think that’s all I’m about? Solving mystery puzzles?”
“Yes, I do,” he said, arching his brow, a grin touched the corner of his luscious lips.
“Okay, okay. So I like to solve puzzles. But this is not a game. I agree with you. It’s my uncle’s life and well, I really know he’s innocent.”
“You do? How do you know that, Dana?”
“Because I…” What was she going to say? That she possessed some sort of newfound psychic ability? “Well, I just have this feeling.”
“This feeling, huh?” He looked dubious.
“Yes, this feeling,” she defended herself. “Besides, I know what it’s like to have fingers pointing to you about a murder that happened.”
“Oh, right. I know it must have been pretty rough on you with what happened to Brad Jackson. But, Dana, this is not the same thing. Obviously, evidence was gathered at the scene.”
“Evidence? What evidence.”
He regarded her with his deep blue eyes and her pulse exploded.
“You know what I mean, Dana? Let the justice system do their job. And you do yours.” His words were soft and his lips curled into a warm smile but Dana could not help but feeling stuck.
She frowned again and bit down on her lower lip. She noticed his eyes dart toward her lips and she immediately stopped. What was he thinking?
“Listen,” he sighed deeply. “I’ll look into every aspect of the situation, as always. I’ll let you know if we come up with anything, okay? We wouldn’t want the wrong person charged. But in the mean while we go by proper procedures, got it?”
“Got it.”
Chapter 8
Later, that afternoon, Dana stopped by Uncle Merv and Aunt Nia’s house to see Aunt Mary, whom was released from the nursing home on a weekend pass visit.
“So how are you feeling today, Aunt Mary?” Dana said at the dinner table.
Aunt Mary was in her wheel chair at the table and had been accommodated by Uncle Merv and Aunt Nia.
Aunt Mary slowly looked up from her plate of mashed potatoes with gravy and sliced chicken, just as she’d always liked it from what Dana could remember or heard about through her grandmother.
Dana immediately felt sorry for her. Her lips were wrinkled and her face looked frail. Her blue grey eyes looked tired and weary.
Dana’s heart squeezed in her chest. She knew she had to help Aunt Mary and Uncle Max by helping to solve the murder.
“I’m fine, thank you, darling,” Aunt Mary said, her voice delicate and frail. “Of course, I’m worried about my dear Max. He wouldn’t harm an ant, you know…a fly, maybe, but not an ant.”
Okay.
“I know. I know, Aunt Mary.”
“It’s sad for me to lose another daughter in law, but now I feel as if I’m going to lose my son, too.” Her voice quivered.
“We’re going to do all that we can do to help him.” Dana’s voice was warm and assertive.
“Thank you, Dana. Please do. Your dear Uncle Max needs our support.” Tears watered her eyes and Dana felt her pulse stop. “You know there was a time that your dear Aunt Mary was up and about and could do things for herself. I used to do some dangerous adventurous work back in my day. Nothing could stop me. But now…look at me? I wish I could do more.”
Dana got up and moved closer to Aunt Mary. She picked up a clean serviette from the table and dabbed her eyes. “It’s okay, Aunt Mary. We’ll get down to the bottom of this. I promise.”
“I don’t for one moment think that Max had anything to do with it.” Aunt Nia dropped her fork on her plate. Her voice was defiant. “This is absolutely absurd.”
“I hear you, princess,” Uncle Merv chimed him. He held Aunt Mary’s hand at the dinner table as he was seated beside her. “It’s going to be all right, Aunt Mary.”
“Aunt Mary, I don’t mean to pry but is there anything you can tell us about…well, Uncle Max’s wife? Did she have any enemies?” Dana asked softly.
“She was a nice girl,” Aunt Mary said. “You know, all the girls he brings home are nice. They are kind to me. Although,” she hesitated for a moment. “I know Max and Karla were having some sort of trouble in the marriage in the beginning.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, you see,” Aunt Mary paused thoughtfully. “Well, I don’t want to say too much.”
“Aunt Mary, we know that Karla was cousins with his first wife, Lucy. It’s all right.”
“You know that?”
“Yes, we do,” Uncle Merv added.
“Well, then, I guess I should tell you everything.” Aunt Mary sighed heavily. “I know Lucy’s friends weren’t too happy about Karla marrying Max—and neither was the family come to think of it. She had a fight with one of them.”
“She did? With who?”
Aunt Mary swallowed hard. “He wouldn’t kill anyone. He’s a good man. Max always takes care of his mother,” Aunt Mary stared off into space. She ventured off into a different direction with the conversation... She sometimes would get off course in conversations. Her age was something she would blame it on when she realized.
Something rose up on the inside of Dana. She believed Aunt Mary. Of course, she didn’t think Uncle Max killed his wife. But Aunt Mary’s words were ringing true—a confirmation of what she’d already believed. It resonated with her like a bell on the inside. He wouldn’t kill anyone. He’s a good man. Max always takes care of his mother….
This gave Dana more ammunition to want to fight to get to the bottom of the truth.
Dana didn’t want to stop her right
now. She wanted so desperately to find out who had a fight with Karla. Was that person the murderer? Did the police know this?
But Dana couldn’t probe further right now. Aunt Mary was grieving. The loss of her daughter-in-law and now her son charged with the crime. It must all be too much for her to bear.
Dana just couldn’t imagine how she must be feeling right now?
“He takes such good care of me. He’s always there for me, you know?” Aunt Mary continued, a smile touched her lips. “What a wonderful son. Always there for me…”
She kept repeating it.
Dana felt so sorry for her. She knew what it was like to lose her parents and caregivers. Though this was a different situation. Max was his mother’s caregiver now. The roles had been reversed. And he’d done such a good job of it, too.
The horrible question was, what if Max’s bail got denied tomorrow morning?
Chapter 9
“So we’re no further to the truth then?” Katie said later that night as she and Dana sat in adjacent Parisian armchairs with quilted pink and peach-colored cushions curled up by the fireplace in Grandma Rae’s Victorian home. They each had a warm ceramic mug of hot chocolate piled high with whipped cream and marshmallows. One of their favorite comfort drinks—just like in the old days when they were little and Grandma Rae would make it for them.
Truffles, their ginger haired Persian kitty, was curled up by the warm fire in her basket. She’d just been pampered and had her evening snack and was cozy. It appeared that she might even be listening in on their conversation. Which was fine by Dana, since she believed that Truffles had some sort of psychic trait. Weird to think about. But Dana had seen Truffles in action before. Besides, whenever there was danger, Truffles hairs would stand up and she would hiss loudly. She was a lovely companion and one of Dana’s closest friends. But that was something that Dana kept to herself, of course.
It was Truffles that had alerted the neighbors to Grandma Rae’s ill health scare before she passed away and it was Truffles who helped Dana, well inadvertently helped Dana by showing her a sign on her laptop, to solve the Brad Jackson murder last month. It was as if there was a positive energy that lingered between them. Some sort of a protection. She would do anything to protect her little kitty that she’d inherited from Grandma Rae and she knew deep down in her heart, Truffles felt the same way.