by Beth Byers
“So what happened with Jim ran into the professors from Reed?” Zee asked. I wasn’t bothering to ask questions because the kid was still afraid of me. Like was going to take the butter knife I was using to slice my salad up into smaller pieces and stab him in the throat or his leg or something.
“Well…a couple of them chatted him up. I wasn’t really paying attention until the chick dropped her glass of wine. She said something loud and several more crossed over. It was obvious then that Jim hadn’t received some sort of wire transfer he was supposed to get.”
Zee and I met gazes, but I still wasn’t sure I bought that whatever they were putting in for the Tidesman was going to be enough for professional folks to kill over.
“They were upset,” Jake said. “Real upset. It was super awkward. It didn’t help that they started half-drunk and ended up super mad.”
Zee and I glanced at each other and then back at the kid. He was working his way through a Philly cheesesteak cheeseburger, and the toppings were so excessive they had mostly slid off the bun and onto the plate.
“Look,” Jake said. He looked around as if he expected the mayor to leap from behind a potted plant, catch him red-handed with us, and fire him immediately. “I gotta go. My lunch is already over.”
Zee scowled at him and then said, “Don’t make me tell Simon what you think about him.”
The kid flushed cherry red and then paled.
“Simon talk to you yet?” I asked.
Jake nodded once.
“You tell him anything you haven’t told us?”
Jake wouldn’t look at me, so he turned to Zee and his comments shot out of his mouth like bullets, “One of the couples, I don’t know which, yelled at Jim. Then they stormed out of the wine night. They were pretty drunk, but they’d walked down from the Tidesman, so we let them go. After they left a few others left pretty upset too. They were talking about laws and who was responsible for the money. No one said who’d had it though. Or…they all knew that Frank had the money, but…he shouldn’t have been able to get it out on his own. I don’t know. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
Zee waited a long moment before she let him out of the booth. He had to ask twice more for her to move and promised several times that he didn’t know anything else. When she finally backed out of his way, she said, “I’m still going to talk to your Mama.”
EIGHT
Jake fled Zee. He ran away like a rabbit being chased by a coyote. It was a pretty accurate description, I thought. I wanted to know which one of the group of professors was the one who’d stormed out furious about the money and how they were going to recover it. Surely it was the money that caused the death.
“How much is the Tidesman going for?” I asked Zee.
“Mmmm,” she said. “I’d guess at least a million. If it were a beach town, maybe a few hundred grand less. Maybe 1.3 million depending on the state of the apartments.”
“Really? That’s more than I thought,” I admitted. “I was thinking it wouldn’t be enough for even normal people to kill over. But…”
“Normal people don’t kill,” Zee told me and I shot her an exasperated look. “But not normal people might risk killing over that much money. I wonder if they actually had it all or if someone was getting a loan. Maybe they formed some sort of corporation,” Zee said.
We were walking back to the Tidesman and our cars, but Zee headed towards the real estate office. I thought we should get back to The 2nd Chance Diner to at least close up and help with the chocolate tours, but Zee just laughed at me when I said that.
Jim was in and he was alone. He smiled widely at me and Zee and then turned to me to ask, “You ready to get a permanent place here?”
No, I wasn’t. I might move in with Simon. He wanted me to. I might buy the cottages from the rental place. I loved living a few steps from the ocean. But those tiny cottages were a bit small for me and my 5 dogs. I hadn’t decided, so I was in a holding pattern.
“Very possibly,” I lied.
He grinned like a shark and rubbed his hand together. He didn’t even try to hide it as he started asking me questions about what kind of place I wanted. I answered randomly and Zee snorted when I realized I’d said I wanted a place with four bedrooms but one bathroom was fine.
“Well, we’ll see if we can’t do a little better than that…” He laughed a smarmy laugh. I had worked with someone else when I bought The 2nd Chance Diner. Of the two, I’d work with the first chick again before I’d ever trust this guy to process a thing for me.
“Cut to the chase, Jimbo,” Zee cut in. “We don’t care about houses right now. I imagine the market sucks with the number of crimes we’ve had in Silver Falls. How are you gonna get someone to buy here when Neskowin hasn’t had a murder in forty years and Silver Falls just added two more to the list? Plus arson? Plus blackmail schemes? You need to drop the price of all of your houses by thousands.”
He flinched and then flushed and said, “You know those things that have been happening here don’t reflect Silver Falls, Zee. Besides, Ms. Baldwin already owns a diner here. Jenny tried to sell that place for years before Ms. Baldwin bought it.”
Zee scowled at him and at me before she said, “I can tell you right now, Ms. Baldwin won’t be buying a darn thing from you, if you don’t answer my questions.”
He narrowed his gaze on Zee and then turned to me as though I’d betrayed him. I shrugged and said, “I work with her every day, Jim.”
As if that had anything to do with who I’d use to buy a piece of property.
“She can pay cash, Jim. Just like for the diner.”
I shot Zee an infuriated look, but her mean glance told me to suck it up.
“Cash?” You could almost see him salivating.
“Cash,” Zee agreed. She crossed her legs, leaned back, and tangled her fingers together across her stomach. Her knobby knees jutted out from her shirt dress, and she eyes Jim as though he were a mouse and she the cat. It really wasn’t that far from the truth.
“What do you want to know?”
“Who had the Tidesman money?”
He cleared his throat and glanced around his own office as though he was looking for spy equipment before he said—speaking low. “It was in an account that had four of them on it. The only way to get the money out was with two signatures.”
“And everyone thinks that Jayla and Frank were the ones who took the money?” Zee tapped her fingers together as she thought.
I considered that it was all a little convenient. They could have taken the money. Or…their deaths could be hiding who actually took the money.
“Seems like it,” Jim said. “Carver said something about getting the withdrawal slip or wire transfer slip or whatever it was pulled. He talked to the bank. I shouldn’t be telling you this…”
“Too true,” Zee agreed. “Rose, let’s go see the real estate office in Lincoln City for your place.”
My lips twitched, but I tried to not let an expression cross my face. I just leaned down to adjust my shoes and grabbed Az’s keys off the desk in front of me.
“Wait…wait!” Jim called. “Wait! Let’s not be hasty.”
“Cash, Jim,” Zee said. “And I heard those cottages that Rosie rents were going on the market. That true?”
My interest perked at that. A place that could be my own and a place that I could easily leave to move in with Simon…I didn’t want my gaze on the door, but it wouldn’t be a big deal to keep my favorite for me and for my mom when she visits.”
“Those will go for a couple million, maybe? What’s your percentage on that?”
Jim’s gaze was so wide and so excited that I had to hide my exasperation with Zee. By the time we left here, I’d be putting in an offer without even thinking. I…did have the money. And I did love those cottages. So much. They’d bring income for most of the year. Hmmm. Zee and Jim might get their way if this continued.
“Ok, so this is what they were able to find out. The money got tr
ansferred out in person at a local branch. The receipt read Frank and Jayla’s names. It was wire transferred to a bank in New York and then from there to a bank in the Cayman Islands. They were pulling a copy of the receipt but…it looks like Frank and Jayla stole the money and then someone found out and killed them. At least that is what Carver said to Simon when they didn’t think I was listening.”
Zee and I glanced at each other. She rolled her eyes, and I hid my expression. It was a stunt both of us had pulled on those boys a time or two, so we could point fingers. Not that Zee wouldn’t, but I would…pretend I couldn’t understand how someone would do that.
“So…someone lost some money.”
“Yeah they were paying cash too. Some of them took it out of their 401ks. Other had emptied savings accounts. They were excited about turning the main office into some sort of lounge, library, and intellectual center at the beach. But with booze. Sounded boring to me, but those professors were excited about it.”
I winced for the people who had lost money. They were going to have to go back to work without their place at the beach, without their vacation spot to get ready. That did suck.
“You think it was the money?” Zee asked as we left. Jim followed us out and down the block promising to call the owner of the cottages I’d been renting and find out if they were really going on the market and the price. I smiled and nodded. What else could I do?
But as I did, Simon and Carver headed us off, and Simon heard what Jim had to say about finding me the price on my own place. Why?
His gaze narrowed on me. I hadn’t agreed to move in yet, and I knew he was patiently waiting for me to tell him I’d move in and he felt like he just got his answer.
“Simon…” I said. I was panicked and he could see it in my gaze. But he could think it was because he’d caught me moving beyond him which wasn’t the case at all.
“Oh geez,” Zee said. “Jimbo, go away!”
“We’re gonna be talking, Zee,” Carver told her.
Her gaze narrowed on his, but she ignored him until Jim had gone back into his real estate office.
“It’s an investment property that I set her up for,” Zee told Simon. “Not a house without you. Lady up, Rose, you should have just told him.”
Carver’s head swiveled and then he asked, “You sure you want to get wrapped up in these two, Simon? They’re nothing but trouble.”
Zee choked on sheer fury and she slapped her hands on her hips, kicking at Carver’s foot before she said, “You leave them alone. You leave Rose alone. She doesn’t have anything to do with…”
“She’s trouble because she doesn’t say no to you.” Carver snorted. His hands were on his own hips, but there was something in his gaze that told me that he was enjoying this confrontation a little too much. I narrowed my own gaze and then looked at Simon. A moment later I stepped closer to Simon.
He put his hand out to me, and we both walked about half a block down.
“Jim tell you everything?”
“Zee promised him I was looking for a place to buy, and he let a lot of stuff go that he probably wouldn’t have if there wasn’t money on the line.”
Simon nodded and then pushed a solitary index finger under her chin and tilted her face up to him. “I care about you, Rosemary Baldwin.”
I smiled at him. His eyes were crinkled as his gaze passed over my face, and his smiled was crooked as he found whatever it was he was looking for in my eyes.
“I love you even,” he added.
“I love you too.”
“It made me…real frustrated to hear that you weren’t going to be living with me.”
I licked my lips and then admitted, “This is fast for me. I’ve never…” I struggled because somehow since I was as old as I was, it made it seem like I was…lesser…that no one had loved me before him. I’d never felt that way before, but I sure did now. But I wasn’t going to be a coward, “I’ve never cared about anyone the way I care about you. It’s…scary to move fast. I don’t know what to expect.”
He kissed me lightly on my forehead and again on my nose before he said, “You can expect for me to be loving you.”
NINE
The sound of flesh hitting flesh had both of us spinning. Simon had pulled me into his arms, and we were hugging. I wasn’t one for public displays of affection beyond a light kiss on the forehead, holding hands, or a hug. Even still, I yanked myself away from Simon when Carver came stomping down the street. There was the mark of Zee’s hadn’t on his cheek, and the expression in his gaze could burn Silver Falls down.
“You…” Carver pointed his finger at me and Simon stepped in front of me.
“Let’s get going, man,” Simon said, protecting me from Carver’s wrath as though Simon were made to just that.
Carver cursed viciously and then sidestepped Simon to slam down the walkway between the buildings and towards the police station.
“Well…” I said. I looked past Simon towards Zee and then added, “You better go before you get fired. Also Roberta is talking crap about you to her staff. That you’re covering for my crimes since I moved here since you care about me.”
He cursed at that and then said, “At least Carver doesn’t think that’s true…”
It wasn’t true, and everyone but idiots knew it, but it wasn’t a good rumor to have flying around. Especially from the mayor.
“I’ll take care of it,” Zee said. “I’ll take care of Roberta, Carver, and this murder.”
Simon opened his mouth, examined Zee’s face and then said, “Well…”
You could see he wanted to object. That he wanted to slide into whatever Zee was planning and somehow get her sidetracked.
“It won’t do any good,” I told him. I reached up to kiss his cheek and then said, “It’ll be all right. You better go catch Carver before he decides to take out his anger at Zee on you.”
Zee smirked at that and Simon backed away as if he didn't trust her with his back. He probably shouldn’t really.
“What the heck, Zee? Why’d you slap Carver?”
“He deserved it,” Zee said righteously and then sniffed. She wrinkled her nose, examined her nails, and didn’t give me a single clue.
I shook my head and started walking towards the Tidesman. In fact…yes…I should rush back to The 2nd Chance Diner and beat Zee to the others. If I left Az’s car at the Tidesman and hurried, I should be able to tell Az and Roxy about the slap. I grinned, feeling as though I were channeling Zee with my evil. I was going to help shut the day down at the diner, prep for the chocolate tours, maybe try to avoid losing my newest employees, and—most importantly—tell on Zee.
With enough time, I’d be able to describe to Az the exact sound of the slap, the look on Carver’s face, and the way that Zee tried to pretend it was no big deal. I grinned evilly, once again, since she couldn’t see me and then rushed to the diner before she could beat me there and ruin my fun.
I had just enough time to describe Zee’s slap before she followed me into the diner. Roxy and Az were smooth enough to carry on working as if we hadn’t been gossiping about Zee, but Carmen and Lyle blushed and stumbled. Fools! I seated several tables as if I were innocent and Zee didn’t say a word. I knew that she knew what I’d been up to, but I at least could pretend innocence.
We had about an hour and a half left on the clock, the dishes were stacked up, and several tables needed to be cleared. My staff was all sweaty and several of our customers were frowning. Great, I thought, and then cleared the tables as quickly as I could. I checked the tables and was refilling coffee when Zee went striding past. She flicked me hard at the top of my ear, and I yelped.
She glanced around the diner, kept moving, and fifteen minutes later, the tables were cleared, the floor had been swept, Roxy was doing dishes, and Carmen was taking a break. I shook my head and told Zee, “You’ll need to find someone else to be mayor, we can’t lose you.”
“I make more than the mayor with tips,” Zee said. “People don�
��t short me.”
I certainly wouldn’t risk leaving Zee anything but a good tip. Any more than I would stop paying my rent or steal groceries. We cleared out the diner the moment closing time happen, cleaned up, and had our cookies coming from the oven as the first chocolate tour arrived.
They were a group of mixed people with families, couples, and a girl’s night from over in Lincoln City. The double mocha chocolate chip cookies were a hit, and about half of them bought extra cookies and most of them bought either coffee or wine. When that tour left, I stretched out my back and started the next batch of cookies for the oven. Carmen went home with a bonus and Lyle started prep cooking for the next day.
“How many complaints did we get,” I asked Az.
“A few,” he said mildly. “Lots of compliments too. The waffles were a hit.”
I sighed and stretched out my back. It was stiffening up but not as bad as the days before. It wasn’t so much pain as suffering the threat of pain.
“Did you find out why Zee got so mad at Carver?” I asked Az as I added stretching out my neck.
“Yeah,” Zee asked from behind me. “Did you find out?”
“Tell us,” I countered, turning around to face her. Her cheeks were flushed from pulling cookies and chocolate cake from the ovens. The desserts for the next day would be simple fruit pies from our freezer, sheet cakes, and possibly some pudding we whipped up in the morning. We were simply too busy to spend much time constructing and decorating more difficult desserts.
“He said something I didn’t like,” Zee said, twisting her mouth.
I raised my brows at that and then said, “Yeah…you’re gonna have to explain.” Her gaze narrowed on me, and I added, “You know everything about me and Simon.”
“So you’re a tell-all,” Zee said. “It’s hardly my problem if you can’t keep your information to yourself.”