by Susan Harper
Monte rested his head on the counter, and he gently knocked his head four times against it to emphasize his boredom to himself. He felt useless. Jefferson, one of his best friends, was sitting down the street at the local police station in trouble, and he wasn’t really doing anything to help. True, someone needed to watch the shop, but knowing it was the dead hour, surely Felicity could have just put up a sign?
The door opened, and Monte jumped up, expecting to see one of his friends returning from their assigned mission. Instead, he saw a middle-aged woman and what looked to be her teenaged daughter enter the shop. He smiled and hurried around the counter. “Welcome to Overton’s Events. How may I help you?”
“I heard you guys do pretty awesome parties,” the young girl said while the mom awkwardly wandered over to one of the display walls.
“You heard right,” Monte said. “Felicity Overton is an astounding event planner. What sort of party are you ladies looking into throwing?”
The mother turned, a slight smile on her face. “A sweet sixteen party.”
“Fun!” he exclaimed.
“She’s lucky she’s getting one,” the mother teased. “This is her reward. She’s had straight As since the first grade. We told her when she entered high school, if she kept it up, we’d do something special for her.”
“And the girl wants a party, right?” Monte said with a wink. “Awesome. And good for you for keeping your grades up. So what are your interests? Maybe we can cater to that?”
“We’re just window shopping today,” the mother said.
Challenge accepted, Monte thought with a smile. “Oh, I understand. But I can still show you some different options we provide.”
“I really like music,” the girl said.
“That’s right up my alley,” he said. “I happen to be the official DJ for Overton’s Events.”
“A DJ? That’s’ so cool!” the girl exclaimed.
The next thing Monte knew, he was wrapped up in a conversation with the girl about her favorite music, the instruments she liked to play, and her plans to go to school for music. Monte really liked this kid. A thought occurred to him, and he hurried over to the sample books. He located the newest book on the shelf and flipped to an event done at the Brooks ballpark—his and Dawn’s engagement party. Dawn had elected to make a Monte-themed engagement party as a surprise to him, and as a DJ, music had been a major theme.
“Whoa! The decorations are awesome!” the girl exclaimed as she looked through the pictures. “Mom, look at this cake!”
The mother looked at the unusual cake that had been on display. “What an unusual cake design,” the woman said with a laugh.
“They designed it to incorporate all the interests of the groom,” Monte said. “But the design flowed together really well.”
“Do you think they could do something like that for me?” the girl asked. “I mean, music is my first love. But I also do volleyball. I’m on the chess team, and I love dogs.”
Monte hurried behind the counter, pulling out a notebook that Felicity kept on hand. He went to sketching, and when he was finished, the girl was overwhelmed with excitement. “That is so cool!”
“I’m sure the cake decorator could come up with something better, but this gives you an idea at least,” Monte said and ripped out the page, handing it to her. “The caterer we use is incredible.”
The next thing Monte knew, he was filling out paperwork with the mother to officially book the event. He set up a day for the mother to meet with Felicity, and he also worked with the daughter to create a music list. When they left, he was feeling quite accomplished. Maybe Felicity knew what she was doing when she asked me to stay here after all, he thought.
More time went by, and no other customers entered the shop. He decided he needed to do his part for the investigation, so he started up Felicity’s computer. To prevent his own boredom, he chose to do a search on the names of everyone involved. Jefferson, Whitney, Whitney’s father, her sister, Kristopher, and of course, Nick. Most of the searches didn’t pull up anything too interesting. When he typed in Nick’s name, however, he found something.
Nick had recently gotten an award after breaking up some drug smuggling that a group of Navy veterans had been involved in. “Whoa,” Monte muttered. Nick had gone up against some men with connections, and he had won. The Navy veterans had been using government ships to smuggle drugs in and of the country, and they had a number of enlisted men working for them—all of whom were now behind bars. One of the convicted veteran’s names kept popping up in the articles, so Monte decided to run a search on Jim Johnson. He found information on Johnson’s old troop. “This can’t be a coincidence,” Monte said to himself when he read off the names of Johnson’s fellow troop members. Whitney’s father, Gregory Lull, had served with the man Nick put behind bars. Could Mister Lull have tried to kill Nick as revenge for his Navy brother? The thought seemed like a bit of a reach, but it was certainly probable.
“Wait a minute,” Monte muttered and typed in Jim Johnson’s name again. After a bit of searching, he found information on Johnson’s family. And his son? Kristopher Johnson, Nick’s Navy buddy. “Dude, you put your best friend’s dad in prison,” Monte said under his breath. “And his dad happens to be your father-in-law’s old Navy buddy… This doesn’t look good…”
The door to the shop opened, and Monte jumped. He smiled when he saw Felicity. “Hey, Monte,” she said as she dragged her feet. “Anyone come in the shop while I was gone?”
He grinned. “Yeah, I booked you a sweet sixteen party.”
“Really?” Felicity smiled. “That’s awesome!”
“Oh, and I think I made a breakthrough on this case too,” Monte said perkily as he turned the computer monitor around to face her. “Get this: Nick recently broke up a drug operation that was taking place within the Navy. A guy named Jim Johnson, a Navy veteran, is now in prison for leading up the operation. Guess who Jim Johnson is?”
“Who?”
“Kristopher’s father and Gregory Lull’s former Navy buddy,” Monte exclaimed.
“Whoa,” Felicity said, clearly looking impressed. “That’s heavy. Looks like they both have motive.”
“Looks that way,” Monte said.
“But apparently so does Jefferson,” Felicity mumbled. “We need to piece this together fast. I don’t like the idea of him having to sit in jail for something he didn’t do.”
“Me either,” Monte said. “Once everyone gets here, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure this out together.”
Monte eyed Felicity. Her eyes seemed a bit watery. “You’re really worried about him, aren’t you?” Monte asked
“Of course I am! He’s my best friend,” she said.
Monte shook his head. Why are you even with Brian, Felicity? he wondered. “We’ll figure this out,” he promised.
“Thanks,” she said. “Okay, I’m going to run down to the Senoia Coffee Shop. What’s your poison?”
“A regular coffee but with a double shot of expresso,” he said.
“Easy there, tiger,” she said.
“Standing here for two hours was emotionally draining,” he said. “Double shot, please!”
“Coming right up,” she said and headed out the door.
A few minutes after she left, Jack arrived. He entered the shop looking frustrated as always. The girls arrived next, with Autumn leading the way for Dawn and Veronica. Dawn gave Monte a quick kiss as the group started circling around the lounge area of the shop. Felicity arrived with the coffee right around the same time as Brian.
Felicity placed the coffee down on the table and put her hands on her hips. “Okay, everyone. Let’s figure this out. What do we know?”
Chapter 11
Felicity sat herself down on one of the cushioned chairs across from the small sofa. Her friends were gathered, each gripping a coffee in their hands. Veronica had taken her usual place on the bean bag chair, and Brian stood, pacing slightly as he listened.
&
nbsp; “Okay, I’ll go first,” Felicity said. “I honestly didn’t learn a whole lot from Kristopher when I spoke to him. He was very distant and seemed to be in a hurry to get out of there. Kristopher seemed convinced that Jefferson is the one who tried to kill Nick. He even tried to tell me that Jefferson used to hurt Whitney back when they were dating.”
“I can tell you why he was in a hurry,” Veronica grumbled. “Show everyone the recording, Dawn.”
Dawn pulled out her cell phone and handed it to Felicity. “As soon as Kristopher got to the hospital, Whitney bailed on us. And this is why.”
Felicity watched the video and was appalled to see a recording of Whitney and Kristopher making out in the hospital parking lot. “Seriously? Her husband is inside that building dying, and she’s in the parking lot swapping spit with one of his friends!”
“When I spoke with Whitney’s sister, she confirmed that Whitney cheats on Nick a lot,” Jack said. “Not just with Kristopher. Just mostly with him. Apparently, there was even a brief period of time in high school when Nick and she broke up, and she dated a cluster of boys before they got back together. Sounds like Whitney has some problems when it comes to relationships.”
“Unbelievable,” Veronica said. “We’ve been friends with her for so long and had no idea she was even like that!”
“So there is a good chance that Whitney and Kristopher both have motive, then,” Felicity said. “If Kristopher was desperate enough to get with Whitney, then he is a plausible suspect. And if Whitney wanted to get rid of her husband to be with Kristopher…”
“I have a hard time believing that Whitney would want to leave Nick,” Dawn said. “I mean, they seemed to be so in love.”
“Seemed to be,” Felicity said. “What did Jefferson tell you, Brian? How is he doing?”
“He’d be doing a lot better if half the station wasn’t friends with Nick and Kristopher,” Brian said. “I honestly need to get back over there soon. I don’t like leaving him over there without me present; they’re all acting really sketchy. They want to pin this on him quick. Let’s see… Jefferson told me he had brought his gun to the party and had left it in the event van.”
“Why?” Felicity griped.
“That’s my fault,” Jack said. “I invited him to go to the shooting range with me after the event, so he brought his gun.”
“What else do you have, Brian?” Felicity asked.
“Not much,” he said. “He told me he and Whitney dated in eighth grade and a little bit into their freshmen year of high school, before he found out she was cheating with Nick. He told me that at the event, he went inside because Whitney was making fun of him to Dawn and Veronica, and he went inside to cool off. He said he was in the kitchen when he heard the gun go off—nowhere near where the shooter would have taken the shot.”
“Now I feel bad,” Veronica said. “Whitney was picking at Jefferson a little bit about back when they had dated. We didn’t think anything of it at the time. We just thought she was giving him a hard time.”
“How did Whitney seem when you two talked to her at the hospital?” Felicity asked, looking toward Veronica and Dawn.
“Well, at first she looked really upset,” Dawn said. “But…honestly…she seemed a lot more worried about herself than about Nick. She said she felt guilty for thinking that way, but it was pretty obvious.”
“I can attest to that,” Autumn said. “When I talked to Doctor Roberts, he said he felt like if Nick survived the surgery that Whitney seemed like the type who would leave him at the thought of having to take care of him.”
Felicity noticed Dawn and Veronica slump in their seats. She could imagine that this was hard for them. They were all friends with Jefferson, but these two were also friends with Whitney and they were learning a lot they probably didn’t want to know about their friend. Autumn continued, “Apparently, she said something along the lines of thinking it would have been better if he had just died. I mean, you could write that off as a wife just not wanting her husband to suffer, but I’m not so sure.”
“You got anything else for us, Jack?” Felicity asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “Not sure if Brittany is a potential suspect or what, but she is clearly jealous of Whitney. She doesn’t think Jefferson is the attempted murderer, though. In fact, she offered up her phone number because she wants to help if there is anything we need to know. Brittany gave me a lot of information on Whitney, though. Says her sister was obsessed with becoming a military wife… Oh, and she is really close with her mother.”
“Why is that weird?” Monte asked.
“Because her mother is in prison for the attempted murder of their father,” Dawn said, clearly having heard this story before. “Yeah, Whitney used to visit her mother all the time.”
“Brittany says their mother is a bad influence on Whitney. That whenever she visits her, Whitney always comes back acting unusual. I mean, if Whitney is always talking to someone who stabbed her own husband to try to get money from his life insurance policy, I can’t imagine there wasn’t any influence there,” Jack said. “I also spoke with their father briefly. Apparently, his stutter comes from when his ex-wife tried to stab him. Anyway, I definitely picked up on the fact that the man doesn’t really care for Nick. He wanted Whitney to marry Kristopher. While I was there, he even tried to convince Brittany to start dating him.”
“You know what?” Felicity grumbled as she stood. “When I spoke with Kristopher, I asked him about that—about why he and Gregory Lull were so close. He tried to tell me that Lull was close with their entire little gang—Whitney, Nick, Kristopher, Logan, and even Jefferson before the breakup—but I didn’t buy that. He said something strange. He said that Nick just doesn’t get how things work in the Navy. When I asked him what he meant, he blew me off.”
Monte had a big grin on his face. “Oh, I think I know,” he said.
“I think you do,” Felicity said, nodding approvingly. Monte had already filled her in on what he had learned, and things were starting to piece together for her.
“What do you know?” Dawn asked.
“I did a little research on everyone. Nick was recently awarded for breaking up a drug ring that was taking place within the Navy. It was headed up by a Navy vet who was having enlistees do his bidding. Anyone care to guess who that Navy vet was that Nick locked up in prison after exposing him?” Monte teased the group with a grin.
“Spit it out, Monte,” Veronica said.
“Jim Johnson. Kristopher’s own dad and a former Navy buddy of Gregory Lull,” Monte said.
“Whoa,” Brian said, and Felicity noticed he had been taking notes the entire time much like herself. “Talk about motive.”
Felicity smiled. “Okay, we’ve got some puzzle pieces here. Time to start putting it together.”
“There’s something else,” Dawn said, looking down. “We’re not addressing the elephant in the room here. Whitney showed us this nasty scar on her leg… She said Jefferson gave it to her the night they broke up. She told us he broke Nick’s nose and that he stabbed her with a lawn sprinkler in the leg.”
“I don’t believe it,” Jack said. “Jefferson isn’t that type.”
“Wait,” Felicity said under her breath. “Logan… When I talked to him…he told me he wasn’t sure exactly what happened, but the night of their breakup, Whitney was admitted to the hospital.”
Brian grunted. “You’ve got to be kidding me! As his lawyer, he should have told me about that! If this thing goes to court, I need to be prepared to address any abusive situation that—”
“I’m going to stop you right there, Brian!” Jack shouted, standing. “I don’t believe it for a second! Jefferson would never hurt anyone!”
“If you say so,” Brian said. “But someone is accusing him of it. I need to talk to him about this so that we can be prepared to defend the accusation.” Brian looked to Felicity. “Anything else you learned from this Logan guy?”
“Not much. Logan told me he used to
have a crush on Whitney, so he kept the fact that she was cheating on Jefferson a secret for her. Logan and Jefferson used to be best friends, but he chose Whitney’s side during the breakup and cut Jefferson off. He says he chose the wrong side,” Felicity said. “Oh! I almost forgot. He said that Kristopher knew that Jack and Jefferson were planning on going to the shooting range after the party. I just figured Jack told him that, though.”
“I didn’t,” Jack said. “I don’t know how he would have known. The whole reason we were going today was because some guys from the station invited me, and I invited Jefferson to tag along since we have been going together.”
Brian jumped slightly. “Which guys?”
“Officer Lincoln and Officer Monroe,” Jack said. “Why?”
“So the guys who are buddy-buddy with Nick and Kristopher? That’s probably how Kristopher knew you guys were going,” Brian said, and Felicity could see his gears turning.
“One more thing,” Autumn said. “Doctor Roberts pulled a forty-caliber bullet out of Nick. Not sure how much that helps, but—”
“Forty-caliber!” Brian exclaimed. “According to the police reports, the type of gun they found on the scene that belonged to Jefferson would hold a nine millimeters!”
“What?” Jack exclaimed. “That’s great! As soon as the police get the reports from the hospital, they won’t be able to hold Jefferson. His gun wouldn’t match the bullet!”
Felicity felt some relief. Brian nodded. “Maybe,” Brian said. “But the police will still think Jefferson has motive. When they trace the bullet, if it turns out to be an unregistered gun, they’ll be able to hold onto Jefferson a little longer. The evidence will be circumstantial, but as far as the police and detectives are concerned, Jefferson has motive.”