Cocoa Crush

by Jessica Beck

  “Not particularly. She’s been dead for years,” Lara said simply.

  Okay, that was strike two.

  Jake saved me from striking out yet again by jumping into the conversation, or at the very least, diverting it. “Henry, I understand you and Jason grew up together,” he said to the stranger.

  “Yes, we were inseparable as kids,” the man said wistfully.

  “Sometimes the past should be left in the past, though,” Lara said sternly. “I still don’t know why we are here, after the way he swindled us both.”

  “I’ve told you a thousand times, Lara, everybody lost money on that deal. We can’t blame Jason for things going badly. You keep forgetting that he lost a great deal of money, too,” Henry said, clearly tired of repeating the explanation to his wife.

  “Don’t be such a fool, Henry. Look around you. Does it look like your old buddy lost money on any deal he ever made? He played you for a fool, and you’ve proven that his assessment was true by coming here at all. To make matters worse, you dragged me here with you. Unless he has a check in his hands to replace our life savings you so foolishly squandered, I’m not interested in hearing his apologies.”

  “Lara, you need to look at it from his point of view,” Henry started to say as his wife simply turned and walked off. “She’s just a little tired from the trip,” Henry said, trying to justify his wife’s behavior. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go check on her.”

  “Of course,” I said smoothly.

  After they were gone, I started looking around for Jason. It didn’t even surprise me to see that he was having an angry conversation with a striking blonde who couldn’t have been more than a few years into her twenties. She looked as though she were about to explode and make a real scene, but then Elizabeth suddenly appeared, and things somehow found a way to get dramatically worse. The two of them began shouting at each other, and neither one of them did anything to keep the rest of us from hearing them.

  “You don’t need to be here, Cheyenne,” Elizabeth said loudly. “I want you gone, and I mean now!”

  “I was invited by your husband,” she said defiantly. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “He didn’t clear it with me, so as far as I’m concerned, you’re not even here,” Elizabeth said.

  “Dear, I explained it to you earlier. I need her here for some work we need to do later,” Jason said, trying to step in between the two angry women. It was a risky move, especially given the state of their tempers. “It just didn’t make sense not to invite her. There’s no reason to be suspicious. After all, Joan is here, too.”

  “Do you think that helps matters any? She’s nothing more than a smokescreen, and we both know it.”

  “You don’t know what you’re saying,” Jason said, trying to mollify her.

  I could have told him it wasn’t going to work. “We’ll discuss it later,” Elizabeth said in a cutting tone. “I have to be sure the staff is ready to serve dinner.”

  Another woman I assumed was Joan—the other invited employee—took Cheyenne’s arm and led her away before anything else happened.

  It was quite a warm-up to dinner.

  Little did I know that it was just the beginning of what was about to turn into a deadly weekend.

  CHAPTER 6

  “If I could have your attention,” Elizabeth said a few minutes later, “dinner will be served promptly in thirty minutes. We have requested formal attire for the evening, so we will see you all back here then.”

  With that, we all broke up into groups and headed to our suites.

  “That’s some crowd your friend has gathered out there,” Jake said as he sat on a chair by the bed. “I kept waiting for a fight to break out at any second.”

  “Don’t you think what we’ve already witnessed could be categorized as fighting?” I asked him as I got undressed. I wanted to take a quick shower before I got into the gown Momma had bought me. “Do you mind if I go first?”

  “Be my guest,” Jake said. “I might just catch a quick nap while you’re showering.”

  “I know you are normally good about being able to fall asleep quickly, but do you honestly think you can do it right now, given the circumstances?” I asked him, envious about his ability to sleep almost anywhere at will.

  “I don’t know. Let’s see,” he said with a grin as he spread out on the bed and shut his eyes.

  By the time I got out of my shower, he was fast asleep. I knew that he didn’t need much time to get ready even wearing the rented tuxedo, so I waited until I was dressed and started applying my makeup before I woke him.

  All it took was me whispering his name. “Jake,” I said softly.

  He came awake instantly, alert and clearly ready for action. It was fascinating to watch.

  “Wow. Suzanne, you look even more beautiful than usual,” he said as he gave me a long, low whistle after studying me carefully.

  “Thank you, kind sir, but I haven’t even put on any makeup yet.”

  “In my opinion, there is no need to gild the lily,” he said with a smile. “I like you better just the way you are.”

  “I appreciate that, but you’ve lost your mind if you think I’m going out there without my full makeup on. I’ve picked up enough tips over the years from Grace to dazzle you. Just you wait and see.”

  My husband smiled as he embraced me, crinkling my dress a little in the process, but the moment that bothered me was the day I knew that I was in serious trouble. “You should realize by now that you always dazzle me, Suzanne.”

  “I appreciate the sentiment, but hadn’t you better start getting ready yourself? You’re taking a shower too, aren’t you?”

  It was clear that he hadn’t given it much thought, but after a moment, he nodded and smiled. “Of course I am. How much time do I have?”

  I glanced at the clock. “If that’s accurate, you have approximately eleven minutes.”

  “That’s fine, but what are we going to do with the seven minutes I’ll have left after I shower and change?” The sad part about that was that he wasn’t even kidding.

  “I’m not sure what you’re going to do, but I’m going to need every second I’ve got to make myself pretty,” I said. Before he could reply, I added, “You know what I mean.”

  “I honestly don’t, but do whatever you feel you need to do.”

  After Jake showered and dressed in his tuxedo, it was my turn to whistle. “Why, if it isn’t James Bond, international man of mystery.”

  “No, thanks. I’m plenty happy with being plain old Jake Bishop,” he said with a grin.

  “There’s nothing plain about you right now,” I said, and then I kissed him soundly.

  “I thought you were running short on time,” he said, smiling, after we broke it.

  “There’s always time for a kiss,” I told him. “Should we talk about what we’ve seen so far while I finish getting ready?”

  “I thought you had to focus on the task at hand?” Jake asked me.

  “I can still chat while I work,” I said. “What do you make of our dinner companions?”

  “Every last one of them seems as though they are a single match away from becoming a bonfire,” he admitted, “with the exception of Jennifer and Hazel. I can’t speak for their husbands, since we haven’t met them yet. I’ll say one thing, though. Elizabeth is wound tighter than a clock spring at the moment, isn’t she?”

  “Can you honestly blame her?” I asked as I worked on making my eyes look more alluring. Grace could have accomplished it in two minutes, but I was having a devil of a time with the technique she’d shown me a few days before. “Her marriage is shaky, her husband is not only a cad, but he’s in trouble financially, and he can’t even seem to get along with his oldest and best friend. I still can’t believe Jason swindled Henry and Lara out of their life savings. Some friend he must be.”

  “You need to remember that we have only Lara’s word that it was all a con,” Jake reminded me.

  “Henry didn’t
contradict her, though, did he?”

  “Not out loud, but I doubt that woman would take to being crossed lightly,” Jake said. “Still, I think she’s the only one in the family holding a grudge.”

  “Maybe so. What about the others?”

  “Bernard Mallory and Candida are a real pair, aren’t they? Tell you what. I think it’s time that I call in a few favors and see what I can find out about them.” As Jake took out his cell phone, he frowned. “I thought they had a signal booster or something here.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t get a single bar on my phone,” he said.

  “Maybe it has something to do with the storm,” I said as I glanced outside. We were high enough, and it was dark enough outside, that I didn’t have a clear view of the ground. All I could see was the windowsill and spots of the thinnest ice beginning to accumulate in areas already. “It appears that the rain is starting to freeze.”

  “It’s a good thing that we’re safe and inside, then, isn’t it?” Jake asked.

  “I think so,” I said. “So, what do we think about Bernard and Candida in the meantime?”

  “He’s a little too slick for my taste, if you know what I mean. As for her, sometimes when she speaks, it’s as though she’s playing a role instead of being herself. I wonder what her real story is? I have a feeling beneath that frosty veneer is nothing more than a frightened little girl.”

  “Really? I didn’t get that at all. The truth is though, it might be worth our while to find out,” I said.

  “What about Cheyenne? She’s pretty blatant about her attachment to Jason, isn’t she?” Jake asked, pursing his lips as he considered the administrative assistant.

  “They were clearly arguing about something before Elizabeth even approached them,” I said. “I thought the two of them were going to come to blows at one point.”

  “They may yet before the evening is over,” Jake said.

  “I hope not. I hate seeing Elizabeth this stressed.” I studied Jake for a moment before I added, “This isn’t much fun, is it? I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”

  “You don’t have to apologize to me, Suzanne. While it’s true that I’m not sure I’d call it a laugh a minute, at least it’s not dull,” Jake said as he kept fiddling with the cuffs of his shirt under his jacket. “I hate these monkey suits.”

  “Does it help any that you look spectacular wearing it?” I asked him.

  “Maybe a little, but I still can’t hold a candle to you. You’re the one really shining. If your customers at the donut shop could see you now, they’d forget all about your delicious treats and focus solely on you.”

  I smiled as I thanked him for the compliment, applied a few more touches to my makeup, and then I put everything down on the mirrored dressing table. “I’m afraid that’s the best I can do.”

  “I want to ask you something, and I’m dead serious,” he told me.

  “What is it? You know that you can ask me anything.” If Jake really wanted to go home before we had a chance to even eat dinner, I wouldn’t argue or fight him about it. Elizabeth was my friend, but my husband meant everything to me.

  “Would it ruin your makeup if I kissed you again?” Jake asked me.

  “I don’t know. Let’s try it and see,” I answered with a grin.

  It took a minute to repair the damage that we did, but it was worth every second of it.

  “Are you ready for dinner?” I asked Jake.

  “I suppose it would be rude not to show up at all, wouldn’t it?”

  “Besides the fact that we wouldn’t have anything to eat, yes, it would be rude,” I reminded him.

  “You twisted my arm. You know me. I can’t stand the thought of not being polite.”

  “Or missing a meal, either,” I said with a smile.

  “I won’t argue the point. Come on. Let’s go.”

  We walked into the main dining hall, me with my arm in my husband’s and feeling like a fairytale princess.

  Apparently we were again the last ones to show up, and as everyone stood there waiting for us, I heard a woman scream from the back of the room.

  CHAPTER 7

  To my surprise, it turned out that it was Joan who had screamed, the nondescript employee who had pulled Cheyenne out of the room earlier.

  “What is wrong with you?” Cheyenne asked her harshly as she turned to stare at her.

  “This,” Joan said as she held a cocktail napkin out with a trembling hand toward her coworker, who was quite obviously not a friend, based on her treatment of the woman.

  From where I stood, I could read the note before Cheyenne took it from her.

  It said, “DO US ALL A FAVOR AND JUST DIE!”

  “Who would write such a thing to you?” I asked Joan as I stepped forward.

  “I can’t imagine! I’ve never hurt anyone in my life! Why would someone say such a horrid thing to me?”

  “Are you sure that it was meant for you?” Jake asked her. He’d moved closer to stand beside me, but I hadn’t even noticed him step up, I had been so focused on Joan. I wasn’t the only one. Jake plucked the note from her fingertips before Cheyenne could secure it for herself. It looked as though she wanted to protest his behavior, but one look at my husband’s expression must have told her that it would have been pointless to complain.

  “What do you mean?” she asked him, clearly confused by the question. “Who else could it have been meant for?”

  “He wants to know exactly where you found it,” Jason said firmly. He’d been a few steps away from her himself, but unlike my husband, he’d made no move to acquire the note. “It’s a perfectly reasonable question at that. Where did you get it, Joan? And what exactly have you been up to?”

  “I didn’t do anything!” she squealed, getting riled up again after just starting to settle down. After she took a moment to compose herself, she answered Jason’s original question. “It was on the bar over there. I found it when I made myself a drink,” she said, gesturing to the wet bar in the other room. “I didn’t have a coaster, and I was afraid of putting a ring on the table.”

  I headed straight for the bar, and the moment I got there, I started turning over cocktail napkins at a furious pace to see if there were any companion pieces to it.

  None of the rest of them had messages on them.

  Had the true intended recipient failed to notice the message and left it for Joan to find, or was someone indeed gunning for the most innocuous person at the party?

  At that point in time, I honestly had no idea.

  “What exactly is it that you do for Jason?” I asked Joan as I pulled her to one side and did my best to keep her calm.

  “I’m the firm’s chief accountant,” she said. “Actually, the most exciting thing that usually happens during my day is when everything balances out nice and neat.”

  “If I may ask, why are you here?” Henry Jackson asked her as he stepped nearer himself, with Lara just a few paces behind him. Everyone was dressed elegantly, but this wasn’t a party in any way, shape, or form. There was so much tension in the room I could almost taste it in the air.

  “She’s an invited guest, Henry,” his wife said. “Don’t be rude.”

  “It’s not rude at all,” I said. “I was wondering the exact same thing myself.”

  Oddly enough, Bernard Mallory and his date, Candida, hadn’t seemed at all surprised by the accountant’s presence. Was it possible that Joan was there upon their request? If Bernard wanted to get to the bottom of Jason’s ability to repay at least the interest on his loan, why wouldn’t he want an accountant there? I had to wonder if he could trust Joan, though. Shouldn’t Bernard have brought an accountant of his own? Or was that another one of Candida’s other hobbies?

  “I’m not exactly sure why I was invited myself,” Joan confessed in a mousy voice. “I got an email two days ago saying that my presence was required here this weekend. That’s all that I know. The truth is, I’m as much in the dark as any of you.”
She sounded as though we’d been browbeating her, which we hadn’t, but I’d known some generally passive people in the past who would shut down upon the first hint of an attack, whether it was real or not.

  “It’s not exactly a mystery as to why you are here,” Jason said. “I’m getting ready to do some restructuring within my firm, and I need answers to my questions instantly. Besides, Joan has been a good and loyal worker for me for years. I thought the weekend might be a nice reward for all of her toils on my behalf in the past.”

  “Some reward that turned out to be,” Cheyenne said sarcastically.

  “That napkin wasn’t meant for you by any chance, was it?” I asked her.

  The administrative assistant whipped her head around as she stared at me. “Why would you even think something like that, let alone say it?”

  “Well, proximity for one thing. You’ve been beside Joan since you arrived, at least when you haven’t been near Jason,” I explained.

  I hadn’t meant it to be biting, but the observation was true enough. Cheyenne had been hovering near her boss since we’d arrived, with the single exception being when Elizabeth was nearby. At least the personal assistant seemed to have some kind of survival instinct.

  “I always stand nearby in case I’m needed,” Cheyenne said formally, not making eye contact with any of us. “It’s my job.”

  “If that’s your job, then you do it a little too well for my taste,” Elizabeth replied, her voice growing louder as she spoke.

  Jennifer and Hazel had both stepped closer to their friend, as though they were trying to protect her in some way. On the other hand, I seemed to be leading the charge, asking embarrassing and uncomfortable questions of everyone, including our host and hostess, if necessary. After all, they couldn’t be immune to my interrogation, or the rest would flatly refuse to answer our questions. I didn’t know that for a fact, but I was certain of it, nonetheless.

  “At least he needs me,” Cheyenne said pointedly, this time looking directly at my friend.