Lyndsey Cole - Lily Bloom 03 - Roses are Dead

by Lyndsey Cole

  Lily tried to snatch it away from Vinnie. “No, that’s mine.” It fell between them and all the contents spilled on the floor.

  She watched as her personal items were violated by Vinnie’s rough hands as he sorted through her belongings, shoving them back into her tote. He seemed to get some pleasure out of manhandling her things.

  Ryan walked with Lily to the parking lot. “We need to talk, but not here. I’m sticking around to see what else I can find out. It should be my investigation but for some reason Vinnie is trying to block me out. At least Adam is trying to keep me in the loop.”

  Ryan started to head back upstairs but remembered something. “Did you forget about Jennifer’s grand opening for her café today?”

  Lily smacked herself. “I’ll head over there now. Meet me there when you can?”

  “Sure. Can you bring her a bouquet from me? Something colorful and happy.”

  “Great idea. I’m so excited for her. Misty Valley needs something like this. Wholesome breakfasts and lunches. I think it will be a huge hit. And now that I’m thinking of food, I’m starving.”

  Lily made a quick stop at Beautiful Blooms and made a bouquet of sunflowers, pink larkspur, lavender delphinium and a few yellow roses. When she tried to pull up in front of the Sunflower Café, all the spots were taken and there was a line of people waiting to get in. Sunday was the perfect day for an opening. Word must have gotten out and everyone wanted to check out the new café. Lily saw Iris tapping on the window and motioning for her to come in. Great, Lily thought, they have a seat for me.

  Lily carefully squeezed by the waiting line with the bouquet. Jennifer saw her immediately and Lily brought the flowers to her. Jennifer put her hand on her heart and smiled. “These are absolutely beautiful. Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. They’re from your brother. He’ll get here as soon as he can.”

  Jennifer put the flowers in a vase next to the cash register to oohs and aahs from the customers waiting to pay. Lily thought it might be good advertising to keep fresh flowers here for people to see when they came to the café.

  Lily slid into the booth next to Daisy with Iris sitting on the opposite side. Iris primped her hair.

  Lily nearly choked when she saw the purple streaks in Iris’s gray curls. “What have you done to your hair?”

  “It’s all the rage now. Vinnie said it makes me look hot,” she said seductively.

  Water sprayed out of Lily’s mouth. “He what? That guy has some kind of ulterior motive.”

  “Oh, Lily. Don’t be so negative. I can’t be too picky at my age.” She leaned in closer. “Did you see the tattoo on his arm?”

  “I missed that detail. I must have been too busy trying to keep him from arresting me every time I turn around. Have you heard what happened this morning?”

  She got surprised looks after that comment but the waitress arrived and she had to make a decision about her order. Lily knew that everything would be delicious since she had eaten Jennifer’s cooking in the past. “Two blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup please, a small orange juice and coffee.” Lily put her menu down, looked quickly to see who was nearby, and sighed as if she hadn’t had a good breath all morning. She whispered, “Adam May’s room at the Cozy Motel was trashed last night.”

  “Adam May?” Daisy couldn’t place the name.

  “He was Ryan’s best friend. They went through the police academy together. Ya know, the one Carla ran off with? Remember? He was at the chicken barbecue yesterday.”

  “Oh yeah. Really good looking.”

  Iris watched Lily. “So, how do you know this? I’ve got a funny feeling I won’t like the answer.”

  Lily grimaced. “I met him this morning. He wanted to talk to me about Carla.”

  The waitress, Marcia, arrived with plates of delicious smelling food, which brought an abrupt halt to their conversation. Pancakes for Lily, spinach omelet for Daisy and home fries with two eggs over easy for Iris. “Congrats on your win at the barbecue yesterday, Lily,” Marcia said. “You taught that guy a thing or two, didn’t ya? Enjoy the food.”

  They all dug in with hearty appetites. Jennifer slid in next to Iris. “I have a few minutes. How’s everything?” she asked a little nervously.

  They all tried to answer at the same time with mouthfuls of food. What came out was a combination of “fantastic,” “delicious,” “awesome.”

  Jennifer smiled. Lily swallowed and said, “You must be extremely happy with the turnout. This town needed something like this and your cooking is amazing.”

  “Thanks. And thanks for the flowers. They’re beautiful. I’ve had several people already ask me where they can get such gorgeous blooms. Do I get a commission?” She laughed as she left to get back to work.

  Lily wanted to lick her plate it was so delicious, but she decided she should show better manners than that. She sat back, finishing the last sip of coffee. “Let’s go to my house and figure out what’s next.”

  Daisy finished her coffee. “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t just sit around and wait for Mom’s heartthrob to arrest me. We’ve got some snooping to do.”

  Ryan walked in just as they were getting up to leave. “Sorry it took me so long. How was the food?”

  Lily raised her eyebrow at Ryan. “Really? You have to ask? Don’t let your sister hear you. Are you getting something to eat?”

  Ryan shook his head. “I don’t have time to eat now. I’ll walk out with you.”

  They all walked out into the bright sunshine. The line of people waiting to get in wasn’t too long anymore but Jennifer would be busy for quite a while still.

  Lily hung back with Ryan. “What did Adam tell you?”

  “He was working on a case investigating some people Carla was involved with. He hadn’t figured out much yet but he mentioned he had talked to her father. He was a cop and he’s been in jail for the last six months for intimidating a witness. It sounded like he’s ready to talk in exchange for a lighter sentence.”

  “Does the bulldog detective think I’m involved? And why is he here anyway?”

  “Adam is working with Vinnie. Vinnie got called in because of the connections Carla had and Adam came in on the case because he had background information on Carla. Vinnie isn’t telling me much and I wouldn’t know this if I hadn’t swallowed my pride and gone to see Adam last night.” Ryan held Lily’s arms and looked at her. “Don’t start poking around. These are dangerous people. I don’t want to worry about you putting yourself in danger.”

  Lily’s arms tingled where Ryan was holding her. “Danger? Me? Not on your life.” She gave him her most flirtatious smile and winked. “Just a nice leisurely Sunday for me.”

  Ryan studied her face, not believing her coy attitude.

  Chapter 8

  Lily was happy to have some time to spend at home, although she would prefer to sit outside in the sun with Rosie reading a good mystery instead of searching her computer for information about Carla. She had to make progress on her only day when Beautiful Blooms was closed or suffer Daisy’s wrath for being stranded on her own at the shop. First, she had to fill in Iris and Daisy about Adam and the Cozy Motel. Iris thought it sounded like a thrilling adventure, searching for information on prisoners, but Daisy was a bit apprehensive. She had always been the more timid female in the family.

  Lily brought her laptop and got comfortable outside. It wasn’t going to be a relaxing day but she could, at least, enjoy the sunshine. Iris and Daisy pulled over chairs with their glasses of ice tea.

  “First, Adam May. Let me see what I can find on him. He’s acting all cool and friendly but I still think he has a darn good reason to have killed Carla. And he’s staying right at the Cozy Motel where she was murdered. Too big of a coincidence in my mind. Here’s some information: Graduated from the Police Academy ten years ago; is currently a state detective; single; age 32. Nothing too interesting.”

  Lily sipped her iced tea. “What are we even looking f
or?”

  Iris grabbed the computer. “Connections between all these people. Who knows whom and why. I’m going to search through Vinnie Stewart’s Facebook page.”

  Lily took her computer back. “You’re Facebook friends with him? Jeez, Mom, isn’t that a little stalkerish?”

  “Just because I agreed to go out with him doesn’t mean I can’t do a little background check. It’s only smart in this day and age.”

  Lily quickly scanned his personal information. “He’s only forty five? Isn’t that a little young for you?”

  “Nope. Haven’t you two heard about cougars yet? And besides, I don’t look a day over forty nine. Look through his friends.”

  “The only names I recognize are Carla and Adam. I wonder why Ryan isn’t friends with him.”

  “Click on Carla’s name,” Daisy suggested. “I wonder what happens with your account after you die.”

  Lily clicked. “It should still be here unless someone else closed it. Here she is and it’s all public. Big ego or what? Here’s tons of photos of Carla with lots of different cops. I’m guessing she had a thing for that blue uniform. And it still says she’s engaged to Ryan Steele. Ick. Creepy. I’m glad I never knew this before.”

  Daisy added, “Or maybe a daddy substitute since her father’s a cop. See if you can find anyone with Sullivan for a last name. We could start with her father.”

  Lily scrolled through Carla’s friend list. “Ryan Steele. Adam May. Vinnie Stewart. Here’s a Wade Sullivan, maybe that’s her father. And here’s another Sullivan, Ty Sullivan.” Lily looked up. “That could be a brother or cousin. Jennifer would know.”

  Iris nodded. “Ryan would know too. After all, he was engaged to Carla.”

  “I can’t ask him. He’d get suspicious. I bet we can do an online search. Ryan told me that Carla’s dad is in prison so let’s see if we can find him.”

  Lily found the online offender locator which let her do a search by state. “This will be easy. I’ll try Wade Sullivan first.” She typed in the information. “Look. Here he is. At the state prison.”

  Iris sat forward. “Type in that other name, just for fun.”

  “Ty Sullivan. Nothing.”

  “Try Tyler Sullivan.”

  “Nothing.”

  Iris chewed on her lower lip. “I think we need to visit this Wade Sullivan and see what he’ll tell us.”

  Lily shut her computer. “Are you crazy? We need to figure out another way to get information.”

  Iris stood up excitedly. “I’ve got it. One of the options for a training session for Poppy is at the prison since some of the other foster parents are prisoners. Why don’t you come with me and maybe we can do some digging and find someone who has connections to Wade or Carla.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yeah. There should be guards. Maybe you can chat with them while you watch.”

  “Is that allowed?”

  “We’ll find out. Wear something sexy. That always helps.”

  Iris stretched. “I’ll pick you up at five?”

  “Okay.”

  Daisy gathered her things too. “I’ll wait for a phone call in case I have to bail you two out of jail.”

  They laughed. “Such an optimist.”

  Lily leaned back in her zero gravity chair after Iris and Daisy left, soaking up the warmth of the sunshine. “What do ya think Rosie? Doesn’t this feel relaxing?” Rosie’s tail thumped. Lily took that as a sign that she agreed.

  Lily jerked out of her sunshine coma and grabbed her computer. Talking to herself she mumbled out loud, “I need to search through Carla’s Facebook photos before someone closes that account. I should start with the most recent ones to see who she had been hanging around with. If she had a passion for cops, there might be some jealous boyfriends out there.” Scrolling through Carla’s photos, Lily searched by date. “This looks interesting. Carla and two other guys she has tagged as Chris Pierce and Larry Burke. There are a lot with these two guys a few months ago, then just Chris recently. Oh, and look at this Rosie.” Rosie raised her head but wasn’t interested. “Vinnie is in some of these photos too. It looks like it’s some kind of police event so maybe that’s not strange. But these recent photos of Chris and Carla certainly look like there could be something going on between the two of them.”

  Suddenly Carla’s Facebook page disappeared. “Crap. Well, I got something at least. Someone must have closed her account. Come on Rosie. Let’s take a walk. I need to clear my head so I can organize all this information.” Rosie perked up when she heard walk, her favorite word, or maybe second favorite word after food.

  Lily got Rosie’s leash and let Rosie decide which way they would go. Lily didn’t care, she was just walking and thinking and following behind Rosie’s meandering route. Ryan startled her when he stopped next to her on his mountain bike.

  “Where are you going? Want some company?”

  Lily did but she didn’t at the same time. She hadn’t decided how much of these new developments she wanted to share with him. Oh what the heck, she thought, he might know something about the two cops she saw in the photos with Carla. “Sure. Aren’t you working?”

  “I’ve got the rest of the day off. I just went to your house and couldn’t find you so I figured I’d take a bike ride.”

  “Go ahead with your ride if you want.” Problem solved.

  “No. I’d rather walk with you and Rosie. I’ll leave my bike here and get it when we come back around.” He leaned his bike against a tree, mostly out of sight. “You looked like you were deep in thought. Not thinking about Carla, are you?”

  Lily hesitated. “Actually, I found some interesting photos on Facebook. It looked like she was involved with a lot of different cops and there were lots of photos of two in particular from not long ago. Also, Vinnie was in some of them.”

  “That was a clever place to do some snooping. Want to show me when we get back?”

  “I can’t. Her Facebook page disappeared. But I got two names. Chris Pierce and Larry Burke. Ring a bell?”

  “Vaguely. Adam might know them better.”

  Lily stopped and turned toward Ryan. “About Adam. Don’t you think it’s odd that he’s here in Misty Valley and was staying at the Cozy Motel?”

  “He has a good explanation for all of it. I believe him. For now.”

  Rosie lurched forward, almost pulling Lily off her feet. Jennifer and Katie were walking toward them. “Are you already done at the café?”

  “It was a fantastic first day. Marcia offered to close up so I could spend some time with Katie. We were heading to your house.”

  Katie was bouncing around like an energetic five year old. “Is Poppy at your house?”

  Lily crouched down to be at Katie’s level. “No, but I’m sure Rosie will be happy to play with you. How’s Posie doing?”

  “She sleeps with me and purrs in my ear.”

  Lily chuckled. “She’s a lucky kitty to have you in her life.”

  They turned back toward Lily’s house, retrieved Ryan’s bike on the way and watched Rosie and Katie explore the backyard. Ryan went in to get some snacks and drinks for everyone.

  Lily had a few minutes alone with Jennifer to pick her brain about Carla. “Hey Jennifer, did Carla have any siblings?”

  “Yeah, she has a brother, Ty, but they never got along. He was quite a bit younger, very quiet, kept to himself. Carla was the outgoing one. Always the center of attention, a bit of a daredevil.”

  “What about her parents?”

  “What’s all the interest in her family?”

  “Oh, you know, just curious. Trying to understand the big picture.”

  Rosie ran around the two women with Katie hot on her heels, laughing and screaming with delight.

  Jennifer laughed at them, then turned her attention back to Lily. “Her father was not a nice guy. I was always scared of him when I was at their house. He was loud and kind of mean to Carla and to Carla’s mom. I heard he’s in jail,
and as far as I’m concerned that’s where he belongs. Her mom was a sweet quiet woman but she died a few years ago. Cancer, I think. Ty took after the mom and Carla took after her dad.”

  Ryan came out with a tray filled with cookies, dog bones and lemonade. “Anyone ready for a snack?”

  Katie ran over. “Me. Me. Me.” She guzzled a glass of lemonade and took two chocolate chip cookies that Jennifer had made.

  Ryan teased her. “Don’t tell your mom I let you take two. She’ll get mad at me for letting you ruin your dinner.”

  “Okay, Uncle Ryan.” She held the cookies behind her back so Jennifer couldn’t see them. “Can I give Rosie a dog bone?”

  “Definitely. Tell her to sit first.”

  Lily and Jennifer sat at the table with Ryan and Katie. Jennifer poured herself some lemonade. “I’m a little nervous about how busy I’ll be at the café. Do you think Iris would mind watching Katie sometimes?”

  Lily grinned. “I don’t think she’d mind at all. Katie can help train Poppy. I’m going with Iris later to a training session in Waterfield.”

  Ryan cocked his eyebrow. “Waterfield?”

  Lily mumbled sheepishly, “At the prison.”

  Ryan scowled. “Isn’t that a coincidence?”

  Chapter 9

  Iris arrived at Lily’s house at five on the dot, raring to go. Lily hopped in the VW and said hello to Poppy who was in a crate on the back seat. “Let’s go. Are you sure I’m allowed in with you?”

  “I checked. You can come but you’ll have to stay in an observation area. The woman I spoke with was thrilled but surprised I wanted to come to this session. She said non prisoners rarely feel comfortable joining this group. She said there are usually other people watching so maybe you can get some information.”

  The prison was unattractive cinder blocks with barbed wire around the outside wall. They were directed to a building not attached to the main facility that looked a bit more inviting. Iris was babbling away about how excited she was to be participating in this program but Lily was only half listening. She was wondering if she was getting into something over her head. If there were cops involved in Carla’s death, she had to be careful not to stir that hornets’ nest.