by Tonya Kappes
“Oh.” I wasn’t so interested in his reasoning for being there, just interested in what Aunt Maxi was doing. “Did she say what she was doing?”
“No,” he shook his head. “Are you sure you’re okay? I mean,” he dragged his hand down my arm. I shivered. “It has to take some toll that you found Alexis. Which reminds me.” His face grew stern. “I’ll take you to the station today. Don’t get in that police car with Spencer.”
“My, oh, my.” Bunny did a little jig on her way over to the counter to grab a muffin. “Is there a little jealousy between you and Spencer?”
I noticed Morgan had stood there listening to everything we were saying.
“Ridiculous, Bunny. You keep your gossip to yourself.” Patrick rolled his eyes and disappeared back into the kitchen.
“It was nice to meet you Morgan.” I waved bye and went over to the coffee machines. She’d heard just enough to stroke her curiosity about Patrick and me, though there was really nothing going on. The bantering sure did make it seem like it even though Patrick had denied anything.
The rest of the morning went pretty smooth. Patrick had gotten the oven fixed in no time. No matter how much I tried, every second there was a moment without constantly doing something, images of Alexis’s shoes sticking out from underneath her desk popped up. Pepper had found interest in all the boats that passed along the boardwalk. He’d run along the coffeehouse windows and either bark or growl.
“That was fun.” Bunny rested her hip against the counter with a piping hot cup of coffee in her hand. “I could get used to this.”
“I have no idea how to thank you.” I helped myself to a cup of coffee.
It was the perfect time for a little break. There were a few customers sitting inside but more had taken their drinks outside. The morning chill had warmed from the early afternoon sun. The lake was buzzing with boats. The sound of hammers and saws from the contractors bounced off the trees. They were busy getting all the final touches complete for the grand opening. A few vendors had started to set up their booths in anticipation of the Honey Festival that was also taking place tomorrow.
“You know I’m retired and I’m more than happy to help out.” Bunny’s eyes grazed over the cup as she took a drink.
“Help out?” I laughed. “You ran this place while I was back there cooking.”
“I’m more than happy to help out every day.” She shrugged.
“What if I hired you?” I asked.
Her pushed her hip off the counter and stood up. She put her coffee on the counter, turned to me and smiled. Her cheeks balled. Her eyes sparkled.
“You’ve got a deal.” She stuck her hand out. She smiled like a kid who just got a lollipop.
Around here, a handshake spoke volumes.
Nine
“Good evening.” Spencer Shepard walked in the front door of the coffeehouse just as Bunny was filling up the coffee and tea bars for tomorrow morning.
I’d just gotten the last bite-sized assortment of muffins in the oven. I’d had a lot of leftover berries from the farmer’s market and combining them with a little honey was the perfect snack for festival goers. To keep my mind and hands busy, I’d also made some southern tea cookies for the council meeting and a few thermoses of coffee.
“I’d offer you a coffee, but there’s nothing fresh right now. They wiped me out clean today.” I made several notes throughout the day to make sure I didn’t run out again. I’d even made a schedule to brew fresh and extra coffee. “But I do make a mean Black Eye.”
I gestured over to the espresso machine. It was calling my name. I needed the extra boost to get me through the night since I’d yet to hear from Aunt Maxi and hunting her down was my number one priority when I got finished preparing for tomorrow. Her answering machine had picked up all twenty times I’d called.
“I don’t know what a Black Eye is but it sounds good for today.” He smiled. “I feel like I’ve got a black eye from not getting any further on who killed Alexis.”
He walked up to the counter and peeled off his jacket, his muscular arms wedged in a blue police tee-shirt. I gulped and forced myself to look away.
“It’s just a regular cup of coffee with a two shots of espresso.” I let the machine buzz and whiz underneath my fingers. It was a comfort that soothed my soul and calmed my nerves that Officer Shepard seemed to cause. “So you don’t have any more leads?”
“No,” he said and sat at the counter.
When I turned back around with his Black Eye, Bunny was seated next to him and took the cup I set on the counter. Spencer looked at her and smiled while I started a second cup for him.
“The video cameras weren’t working because the boardwalk hasn’t been in real heavy use with only a few shops open now, according to Cane Contractors.” His tone held a distinctive dissatisfaction. “They can do what they want since they own the property.”
“They own the boardwalk?” I asked knowing that Aunt Maxi owned the buildings with The Bean Hive and Crooked Cat Bookstore. “I thought Honey Springs owned it.”
“They did and it wasn’t making any money,” Bunny chirped up. She pulled back her shoulders, looked at me in the eye, and said, “They promised the council that they’d revitalize the boardwalk if we sold it to them. It was just sitting here rotting.”
“How does Aunt Maxi own the two buildings?” I asked as I finished Spencer’s drink and set it in front of him.
“I guess it was a grandfathered property along with the bait and tackle shop and the marina.” Spencer picked up his drink. It was funny seeing his large hands pick up a cup that was just too small for his fingers. It didn’t seem to bother him. He continued to sip it. “I’d like to take you down to the station for some questioning.”
Before I could answer, a woman with kinky copper hair barged through the front door. Her eyes occupied the space between her and Spencer. I heard her suck in a deep breath all the way across the room and above the hum of the machines.
“Why haven’t you got Maxine Bloom in custody?” The woman marched across the room.
Pepper jumped up and started to bark and growl.
“You better call that damn dog off now or I’ll give it something to really howl about,” She warned through gritted teeth and a clenched fist shaking toward Pepper.
“Here, Pepper,” I called for him to calm down.
“Leslie,” Spencer stood up. “I asked you to stay quiet about your accusations until I collected all the facts.”
“The facts are,” she curled her head around his massive body and looked at the espresso, “you are here with that woman, drinking these fancy coffees when you need to be finding her murderous aunt.”
“Okay,” I stepped out from behind the counter. “I don’t know who you are, but my aunt Maxi is far from a murderer, so stop throwing that around. And you can turn right around and skedaddle on out of here.” I walked two fingers in the air and then looked at Spencer. “I have a right to kick her out, right?”
I wasn’t sure of the law, but it seemed pretty darn reasonable to me.
“I’m Leslie Roarke, Alexis’s daughter and I’ve heard all about you and this little coffeehouse and your aunt not raising your rent, but she sure didn’t mind raising my mother’s rent.”
“You didn’t say anything about Maxine Bloom raising the rent.” Spencer stood up. “You said the two had a disagreement and I needed to ask Maxine about it.”
“So you aren’t doing your job.” Leslie said in more of a rhetorical tone.
“Can I see you for a second?” Spencer took Leslie by the arm and dragged her toward the door.
My internal alarm rang. They seemed to be more than just cop and concerned citizen.
“Those two.” Bunny tsk’d. “She’s meaner than a skillet full of rattlesnakes. They fight like a married couple.”
“Are they. .” I started to ask about the volatile sparks between the two.
“Together?” Bunny asked with a cocked brow. Both of us brought our e
spressos up to our lips, looked back at the two arguing in the corner up front, and we took a sip. “No. Sorta. No.” She wasn’t so sure, but the last no was pretty firm.
“It sounds like you aren’t sure.” The corner of my lip lifted, my curiosity peaked.
Not that I was in the market or even good at reading what men wanted, I was obviously far from it. But I did know when someone was flirting with me whether they had real intent or not, plus there was that little jealousy spark between him and Patrick this morning.
“It’s complicated,” Bunny said flatly.
When the bell over the door dinged and Patrick walked in, things got real complicated. Leslie looked between the two of them, scowled, and I’m not sure but I think she growled before she huffed out.
“Don’t let the door hit you,” I grumbled under my breath.
“How did the oven work today?” Patrick’s demeanor changed from eye glaring to smiling when he walked past Spencer, ignoring him and Leslie.
“Great. Thank you.” I narrowed my eyes as I pondered if I should ask, then I did. “Tell me what’s going on between you, you, and her.” I pointed to each of them before I pointed to the door.
“Nothing.” Both responded as though I was nuts.
Bunny chortled. “On that note, I’m going to flip the sign and head on home after I stop by All About The Details to see what they need help with.”
All About The Details was the event planning business where everyone was gathering to make sure the finishing touches were ready for tomorrow. From what I understood, it had enough space to accommodate everyone.
“I’ll be down there soon,” I waved bye to her. I had made plans to meet Louise down there to firm up our plans for our collaborative grand opening and adoptions tomorrow.
“You two be easy on her,” Bunny warned before she walked out the door.
“I’m fine.” I looked between the two men. “Thank you, Patrick. The oven worked great. Thank you for stopping by.”
Pepper danced around Patrick’s feet and finally settled down after Patrick gave him some attention. Spencer took his seat in front of his espresso and seemed to enjoy it a little too much.
“I think I’ll stick around and walk you over to All About The Details since there is a killer on the loose.” Patrick glanced over at Spencer.
“I can escort her over there.” Spencer took another sip. His eyes smiled at me over the top of his cup. He was enjoying this a little too much. “We’ve got some things to discuss. Isn’t that right, Roxy?”
“Roxy?” Patrick cocked a brow. “Only her friends call her Roxy.”
“Patrick, do you mind taking Pepper out for a walk to go potty? Then I’m sure we’ll be finished and I’d love for you to walk me over to All About The Details.” I handed him Pepper’s leash, though I’d yet to put Pepper on it.
With a bit of trepidation, Patrick took the leash and clipped it on Pepper’s collar. He slid a stern look toward Spencer before he finally took Pepper outside.
“You can’t possible think my aunt Maxi murdered Alexis.” I was ready to get down to business to clear my aunt’s name that woman had tried to tarnish, even though I’d heard Aunt Maxi say she didn’t really care for Alexis. “Just because she was going to raise the rent, doesn’t mean she killed her.”
“No, but when they’ve had major disagreements in public and it wasn’t a secret they were enemies.” He leaned his elbows on the counter. “Alexis did stand up at the council meeting and claimed that she’d leave the boardwalk over her dead body.”
“Oh.” I gnawed on my lip. “That doesn’t sound so good does it?”
“No and I do need to talk to your aunt. Do you happen to know where she is?” he asked.
I shook my head. There were some things you didn’t say to a cop when you were a lawyer. My aunt needed representation and lucky for her, I still had my license to practice. I could offer her some advice and I was sure there was a good lawyer in town.
It was time to turn the tables away from Aunt Maxi.
“I’m not sure if I can help, but Bunny and Mae Belle had come in and said they’d noticed Crooked Cat’s light was on. They figured Alexis was down there getting ready for the grand opening.” I looked around.
Bunny had done a nice job getting the shop ready for tomorrow’s big day. All the drink stations were filled and the merchandise was properly priced for sale.
“I left Bunny in charge so I could take Alexis some muffins and a coffee.” I left out the part about the peace offering it actually really was. “We’ve all been working hard down here to get ready for the big grand opening. No one wants to disappoint.”
The cup had a little bit of Black Eye left in it and I gulped it down while I waited for Spencer to finish writing away in that little notebook of his. I squinted to see if I could see exactly what he was writing. My lawyer paranoia kicked in.
“When I got there, the door to the bookstore was cracked open and Pepper ran inside.” I shrugged. “I walked in and called out her name. When she didn’t answer, I took a moment to reminisce about the time I’d spent there as a teenager.”
“Must be fond memories.” He looked up from his notebook. “It’s the first real smile I’ve seen since I met you.”
“I smile.” I let out a laugh.
“Not a real smile.” He stared at me as though he was watching my every move, quirk and action. “You’re guarded. Yeah, you put on a great fake smile, but that one.” He shook his finger at me. “That memory sure made you smile.”
“Anyways,” I brushed him off. “Pepper ran back through the door that had Alexis’s name on it and I followed him. That’s when I saw her feet sticking out from behind the desk. I checked for a pulse and was going to perform CPR but. . .” my voice cracked. I swallowed, hard. “That’s when I called 9-1-1 and ran out the door.”
“You didn’t see anything strange?” he asked going back to the notebook.
“No.” I shook my head. “I was baking and making the coffee. Nothing.” My jaw dropped. “But.” I stopped.
“But what?” His head popped up. “Did you remember something?”
My mouth opened and then I shut it, remembering that I was talking to a cop and Aunt Maxi seemed to be on his list of suspects, though I did remember Pepper barking his head off and the strange speed boat that zoomed off around the time Pepper was barking. All of this was just circumstantial of course, but it was enough for me to look into before I gave him any information. Besides, there was no way I wanted to implicate Aunt Maxi any more. I needed to find her.
“Hi do!” Louise called after she popped her head through the coffeehouse door. “You ready to go to the meeting?”
“Sure. Let me get the goodies.” I turned to walk into the kitchen but quickly turned on the balls of my feet back to Spencer. “We are done right? I mean, I told you my movements and how I found Alexis.”
His eyes lowered. I had a sneaky suspicion he knew I was holding something back. I smiled.
“Ahh,” he sighed. “That fake grin again.” He pushed himself up to stand. “If I have any questions, I know where to find you. If you talk to your aunt, tell her I’m looking for her.”
He and Louise gave the good old Baptist nod when they passed each other.
“I heard you found Alexis.” Louise grabbed the paper coffee cups I pushed her way when she walked up to the counter. “And with one of your doughnuts.”
“You did?” I gestured for her to follow me to the kitchen. “News travels fast.”
“Honey, gossip around here is just as hot as your coffee.” Louise stood over the cookies I’d made and picked one up before putting it in her mouth. “But I’ve assured everyone that your doughnuts didn’t kill her because I also heard she had a big ole goose egg on her head.”
I took the muffins out of the oven and set them on the cooling rack. There was no time to store them right now since they were still hot. By the time the meeting was over, they’d be nice and cool. I’d stop by and store th
em then.
“As in hit over the head?” I asked with a bit of relief.
The bell dinged and the sound of Pepper’s nails clicked across the floor.
“In here,” I called out. “Patrick took Pepper for a walk.”
“He did?” Louise asked with interest. “Your aunt told me about your past with him.”
“Yeah, well that was twelve years ago and an ex-husband later.” I gave her the I-don’t-want-to-talk-about-it look about the time Patrick and Pepper came into the kitchen. “Did Pepper’s past owner have a boat?”
“I don’t think so, why?” she asked.
“He is definitely interested in boats.” I grabbed the tea cookies and the plastic wrap, covering them and pinching around the edges.
“He was running along the boardwalk when one of the dinner boats from the Watershed went out,” Patrick said.
He laid the leash on the kitchen farm table that I knew would be perfect for little friend gatherings like this one. He sat down and peeled back the plastic wrap on the cookie tray and sneaked out a cookie. I gave him the wonky eye and he winked, making my heart drop. I quickly turned away and grabbed the coffee thermoses.
“Louise, can you get the cookies before Patrick eats them all? Pepper, let’s go.” I headed out of the kitchen and they followed me. “Have either of you heard from Aunt Maxi?” I asked, putting the thermoses on the counter in the coffeehouse so I could grab my keys.
“I haven’t. It’s strange too because she would’ve been all over the death of Alexis,” Louise said.
Louise’s words rang in my ears. She clearly knew about Aunt Maxi’s tiff with Alexis.
“She did leave a message for me to make sure I’d fixed your oven.” Patrick held the door open.
“What time was that?” I asked, untying my apron and laying it over the counter before I grabbed the keys to lock up.
“I told you earlier it was early,” he reminded me.
“I’m sorry. My mind has been all jumbled up.” I grabbed the thermoses.
“I can imagine finding a dead body can be stressful,” he said.