Literally Murder (A Pepper Brooks Cozy Mystery Book 2)

by Eryn Scott

  I motioned to the other side of the door. "The Valdez men just left. Apparently Jewel hadn't told the police everything this afternoon."

  Liv slapped her hand down on her bed. "I knew she was hiding something," she said. Her face wrinkled into a pout. "And I missed it all?"

  I shrugged.

  "Did you hear what she told them?" she asked, eyes sparkling.

  I bit my lip, then shook my head. "Uh... nope, I was in my room."

  Liv's eyes narrowed. It was the first time I'd ever lied to her. I felt like I was going to throw up.

  After a second, she said, "Okay" and patted the space next to her. "I'm sick of homework, wanna watch something?"

  I smiled and nodded. "Absolutely."

  Liv started an episode of Project Runway, one of our favorites—Liv's because she loved fashion—and mine because even though I thought the clothing was pretty ridiculous, I adored Tim Gunn.

  From the way she glanced at me a few times, I was certain she knew about my earlier deception. But if she did, Liv didn't call me out and I didn't bring it up again. We "went through this fiction" the rest of the night.

  The next morning, Jewel thanked us with tight hugs and red rimmed eyes. We offered to skip classes and hang out with her, but she said her parents were coming to see her.

  Once Jewel had gone, however, I realized that I didn't feel like going to my classes.

  It wasn't like me, but having gone all last quarter without missing even one class, I figured it would be okay, especially after what I'd been through yesterday. Liv had a full load this quarter, so she couldn't, but I called up my sister, Maggie, and we made a date to take the kids out.

  Hamburger and I met them at the Pine Crest Park about half an hour later. Brooklyn, my four-year-old niece, ran up to me and gave me a squeeze before attacking Hammy with hugs and kisses. Hudson, born last November, was still learning to crawl, so he was limited to hanging from some sort of sling contraption strapping him to Maggie's front.

  My sister and I sat down on a bench as Brooklyn and Hamburger ran together in the park's clover-filled field.

  "So another body?" Maggie's voice was tight compared to the happy sounds of my giggling niece. I'd called both her and mom yesterday to fill them in on what had happened.

  I nodded, keeping my eyes on the field. I know I said I was going to stay out of this one—and I was—but I couldn't help but ask one question.

  "You took a few classes from Garrison, right?" I asked, turning toward Maggie.

  My sister—along with being a serious lawyer-to-be—had a special love for the theater and had a few small roles in some plays and musicals during her time on campus.

  "Yeah." Hudson grabbed onto Maggie's thumb and brought it to his mouth.

  "Was he ever... inappropriate with any of his students?"

  Maggie snorted. "The Music Man? I mean, I guess he was pretty flirty with the girls, but..."

  "Music Man?"

  "The man's obsessed with musicals, so we called him The Music Man."

  I chewed on my lip. "And he was just flirty or more than that?"

  Maggie shook her head. "I don't know. He was fun." Maggie pulled her finger from Hudson's mouth and asked, "Why? Have you heard something?"

  "Maybe." I paused for a moment. "You think he might ever do anything to hurt someone?"

  "You think he might have something to do with that girl?" When I didn't say anything, Maggie puffed up her cheeks and then exhaled. "Gosh, I don't know, Peps. Can you tell that about someone?"

  Thinking back to all of the people I'd been so sure had the capacity to kill last fall—all of them innocent—made me cringe. There I was, falling back into the accusation game. No. I shook my head. I was staying out of this.

  "Right." I nodded. "I'll leave it up to the police."

  Maggie patted my hand with hers. "I think that's for the best."

  I did, too.

  "So... how is it having Alex back home?" Her voice climbed up at the end in anticipation.

  I sighed. "Great. Terrible. Weird. Awesome. Confusing. I don't know."

  Maggie looked at me, her expression making anymore question unnecessary.

  "We're closer than ever and we kind of seem like we're together, if you don't mind that we don't kiss. Which, for the record, I really really really do mind." I sighed.

  Maggie wrinkled her nose and wrapped an arm around me. "Sorry, Peps. Maybe just get through this quarter and let him get settled. It's just weird timing for both of you."

  I hoped she was right.

  "You talked with Mom?" Maggie asked, her watchful eyes staying glued to Brooklyn.

  At the mention of my mother, my shoulders tensed. "I called her last night, but she was busy."

  Maggie's eyes left Brooklyn for a second and latched onto me. "Maybe we should stop by after this."

  I shook my head. "No way. She can barely make time for me when I'm alone. With you and the kids around, I might as well be invisible."

  Maggie sighed.

  "It's no use denying it, Mags. I'm not a lawyer like you and I haven't given her any grandchildren."

  "I was always jealous of what you and Dad had, if it's any consolation," she said quietly after a moment.

  A dull ache spread through my chest at her mention of our dad. I missed him so much. Emotion clogged my throat, so all I could do was nod in answer to Maggie. It took a few minutes for the blur to clear my eyes.

  We stayed for a few more hours. I went down all of the slides with Brooklyn, twice. She and I played lava monster on the big toy. Hammy was my mini monster, running around in the bark—er—lava at my feet. And then I snuggled with Hudson while Maggie pushed Brooklyn on the swings.

  It was a great distraction and I had a renewed feeling as Hammy and I walked back toward campus. My thoughts settled on the classes I'd skipped, on Evensworth's especially. I had left feeling defeated yesterday, but it had been the first day of the quarter and I'd only tried giving an answer once. I'd never been one to give up something after one try. Maybe if I kept at it, I could eventually chip away at the man with patience, and a little Hemingway.

  I eyed Bittersweet as the building came up on my left. Just because I hadn't gone to my classes, didn't mean I couldn't do some of my assigned reading. I found a shady table in front of the shop. After hooking Hammy's leash around my wrist, I pulled the book of Hemingway short stories out of my bag. Hamburger turned in a couple circles and then laid down on my foot, blinking up at me happily.

  Nate emerged from the café a few minutes later. His beady eyes were narrowed, but not in anger, it was something more like intense interest. He bowed down, almost bending his tall self in half, until he was looking under the table.

  "Good afternoon, furry companion," Nate said, addressing the dog first. "Good afternoon, Pepper," he added on his way back up.

  "Hey Nate. Thanks for coming out here. I didn't want to leave her by herself and I didn't think dogs would be okay inside."

  He nodded. "While I would be fine with it, I'm sure the health department thanks you for leaving her outside. Plus, it's no skin off my body to come take your order out here on such a pleasant day."

  As much as his "skin off my body" comment just about made me lose my appetite, I ordered a latte and a scone. Cracking open my book, I leaned back and started to read.

  I read all about Francis Macomber and his short life and then I followed Henry on his otherworldly journey to see the leopard frozen in the snows of Kilimanjaro.

  After a while, I moved the book into one hand so I could scoop Hammy into my lap. In this break from my reading, the surrounding sights and sounds came back into focus for a second. But it was the words "body" and "creek" that really caught my attention.

  I blinked up from the pages to see a pair sitting at the table in front of me. One of them, a younger man, was kicked back in a reclined way that spoke of someone who was completely intoxicated with himself. The other half of the pair was a woman my age with her hair pulled back into
a smart bun, her clothes pulled into a smart outfit, scribbling what I could only assume were very smart things into an equally smart notebook.

  I hadn't been on campus today, but I assumed people were probably freaking out, so the mention of those two words didn't surprise me. I almost went back to reading when she said, "Come on, Sam. I mean... your quote in that Frond article?" She arched an eyebrow at the man.

  Sam? The Frond? Sam Delaney? Okay, now this was interesting.

  I held my book up, but peeked over the pages.

  "What? You think I put that girl in the creek?" He laughed and shook his head.

  Goosebumps appeared on my arms and I pulled Hammy closer.

  His laughter cut abruptly and, while I could only see the back of his head from where I was sitting, I could tell he was fixing the young woman across from him with an intense glare.

  "It would be pretty dumb of me to kill her on the same day I knew they were running that story... wouldn't it?" I could see his shoulders lift and then drop, as if they were some sort of guillotine that might cut off her line of questioning.

  She touched the end of her pen to her lips. "Well... I guess now that you put it that way. But people are talking. You've gotta expect that."

  He nodded slowly. "Isn't it great?"

  The woman's face crumpled in disgust. "Great? Um... Sam, a girl is dead."

  "And people are finally giving the water quality issue the attention it deserves."

  The young woman's hand froze—stunned, I could only assume—after his blatant disregard for Katie's life. She finally scribbled something down, head shaking slightly as she did so.

  "And you're fine with us quoting you on that?" she asked, putting her pencil down.

  I saw his head bob up and then down. "Be my guest. Can you include a link to my group page? It just gives everyone information about the project and tells them how to get involved."

  The woman's jaw tightened and I thought she looked like she was going to be sick for a fraction of a second as he relayed the name of the site for her. When she glanced up again, she wore a fake smile and said, "I'll call if we have any other questions, but I think that'll do it."

  He gave her a salute as she walked away and then sat up and looked around. His eyes met mine, staring as I was. I felt like Santiago facing down that Mako shark in The Old Man and the Sea. "Everything about him was beautiful, except for his jaws."

  Sam winked at me and then turned back to his cup, seemingly nonplussed that I had just witnessed him saying some of the least humane things I'd ever heard a human utter.

  Before I could decide if I wanted to run or hide—or both—Nate strode through the café doors holding a tall to-go cup in both hands as if it were a prize. He walked right up to me, then pushed the cup forward.

  "Oh—I—you already brought out my drink...earlier."

  Nate wasn't smiling and his gaze hardened at the cup as his eyes swiveled back and forth between me and it. "I saw it on that internet." He pushed the cup even closer.

  I craned my neck to see inside the open cup. Decorative white ribbons of whipped cream filled the container. My face softened and I glanced back up at Nate.

  "For your..." he gestured to Hammy, still asleep in my lap.

  "Hamburger?" I pointed at her.

  Nate's head moved back slightly in confusion. He shook it. "Dog." He pointed a long finger and said the word slow and loud as if I were stupid.

  I couldn't help but laugh aloud at his misunderstanding. "Her name is Hamburger."

  Nate's face relaxed, but only slightly. "I see. This is called a 'puppuccino.'"

  Liv and I must call her "pup" too much, because at that Hammy woke up and lifted her head.

  "Aww, Nate. That's so sweet. Thank you." I took the cup.

  Hamburger stood in my lap and sniffed the treat as I held it in front of her. A smile curled across Nate's face as he watched her tongue lap up the cream. I couldn't help but watch the man instead of the dog. Despite the fact that his smile had a sly quality to it which made a few tiny alarm bells ring in my head, I couldn't believe I had once thought he could've been a murderer.

  "So trusting," Nate said, his dark eyes flashing up to meet mine. "Domesticated animals are by far the easiest to poison."

  Well, maybe there were one or two reasons I had suspected the man. I looked down at Hammy just as she licked up the last morsel from the cup and smiled up at me, just a tiny bit of foam still clinging to her nose. My stomach wrenched with worry.

  "If you were so inclined, of course," Nate added as I looked up at him in shock. Before I could even breathe a sigh of relief, he turned on his heel and walked over to the next table. "Can I get you anything?" he asked Sam.

  "I'll take some herbal tea. Do you have any licorice?" Sam asked.

  Nate nodded and disappeared inside. My already tumultuous tummy churned again at the mention of the bitter smell. It was then I remembered the licorice smell permeating the air around Katie when I'd found her body.

  I swallowed the hot, metallic taste gathering in the back of my throat. Hammy snorted around the empty cup for a few moments and then settled back down in my lap. I watched her, wondering if I should run her to the vet super quick, just in case, but she seemed to be fine. Right when my pulse seemed to be descending from heart-attack-level, Nate returned with Sam's licorice tea. The smell hit me like a punch to the gut and I worried my latte and scone might make a reappearance.

  Distraction. I need a distraction.

  I grabbed my coffee and stuck it under my nose, sniffing furiously at the bitter espresso, before taking a sip. After setting the cup down, I popped the last bit of my scone into my mouth and chewed like a maniac, waiting for the taste to take over.

  The nausea abated and I pulled in a few deep breaths before opening my book and reading Hills like White Elephants. And while my stomach settled, there was something decidedly unsettling about the licorice smell wafting over me as I read all about the couple sipping their anise-flavored drinks while they waited for the train.

  6

  I attended all of my classes the next day, but fervently wished I hadn't.

  People who didn't know me well sat back and whispered while the people who did, boldly asked question after question about me finding Katie's body. The campus was reeling with the news of the death of a student. By the end of the day, I felt slightly "destroyed but not defeated," like the old fisherman, Santiago.

  So when Mom texted me during my walk with Hammy that evening, I didn't even care that it was most likely Maggie's doing.

  "Hey, dear. Want to have dinner with me tonight? Yum Rosetti?"

  Okay, the woman had me. Food from one of the best restaurants in town and time with my mom during a pretty terrible week?

  "Yes, please!" I texted back. "Six thirty sound good? I can get there early and save a table."

  "See you there," Mom responded.

  Yum Rosetti was located in a small, vine-covered brick building off Second. It was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen. While they'd both been born in Vietnam, Mrs. Nguyen had been sent to live with the Rosetti family in New York and had grown up learning the family cuisine. She and Mr. Nguyen had met at Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago where his family had moved after the war. Their restaurant was a weird and wonderful mix of their Vietnamese and Italian backgrounds.

  The smell of spices and roasted garlic tingled in my nostrils as I walked into the quaint establishment.

  "Hello, Pepper!" Mrs. Nguyen said, walking forward and wrapping me into a tight hug. The woman was tiny—like under five foot—but she hugged like a boa constrictor.

  "Hey, Mrs. N." I beamed. They'd opened their place when Maggie and I were teenagers and we'd both worked as waitresses here during high school.

  She giggled. "Call me Mai, Pepper."

  My cheeks flushed. To this day, I still had a hard time seeing them as anything but my former bosses. "Sorry, Mai."

  "Just you tonight?" she asked.

  "Mom's coming, too," I answere
d as she grabbed two menus and then led me back to my favorite booth.

  The place was already packed and I was glad I'd come early. After filling two ice waters at the table, Mrs. N left me to my reading.

  Fifty-three minutes later and five check-ins from a nervous-looking Mrs. N and I was still alone, however. Two empty glasses sat in front of me at the empty table.

  I checked my phone for the twentieth time. Mom still had yet to respond to the many texts I'd sent her. They were all lined up, one after another:

  "Just checking that we're still on…"

  "You there?"

  "I'm here."

  "At Yum Rosetti, like we talked about."

  "It's 7:14."

  "?"

  And she hadn't picked up either of the two times I'd called. Even Kristen, her paralegal, wasn't answering. Unfortunately, this wasn't all that alarming. Mom was notoriously flaky when it came to me. The town? Her practice? Her clients? Maggie and the kids? With them she was the picture of punctuality. Me? Well, it was pretty obvious...

  Just as I was scooting out of the booth with an apology written on my face as I looked up at Mrs. N, my phone began to ring.

  "Hello," I said, trying to keep the annoyance from my greeting.

  "Pepper! Kristen and I got called into a meeting. I'm so sorry. Do you think we could reschedule for tomorrow night?"

  I rolled my eyes as I walked to the front of the restaurant. "Sure, I—"

  "Oh, wait," Mom interrupted me. I could hear someone talking in the background. "Oh, Kristen just reminded me I have that town council meeting tomorrow. Ugh." She paused and there was more mumbled talking. "Would you mind picking us up some dinner and bringing it here?"

  Sighing, I stopped in the foyer of the restaurant. I closed my eyes tight for a moment and then said, "Sure. What do you want?" I tried to ignore the pitiful looks Mrs. Nguyen kept shooting me while I waited for our takeout.

  About fifteen minutes later, my empty stomach rumbled as the delicious smells wafted up at me from the bag of food I carried to the center of town where Mom's building was located. Pine Crest centered on an ornate roundabout with a concrete fountain in the middle. It had always reminded me of some cute Swiss town because of this, especially with the giant mountains looming in the distance. Mom's building looked out on the fountain which bubbled energetically in the setting sunlight.