A Cauldron of Hot Coffee: Enchanted Enclave Mysteries Books 1-3

by Samantha Silver

  I had no idea if Rudy could understand me or not, but I figured it was a no. After all, even though Cleo could apparently communicate with all other animals, I had never had any indication that any other members of the animal kingdom could understand what I was saying to them. Instead, Rudy chirped away and tried to jump out of the shoebox, getting stuck on the edge, his little legs moving as he tried to scramble up and over.

  “No, no, you stay in here,” I told him, gently prying him off the edge of the box and back onto the tea towel. “I’ll take you home, and you can run around a bit there. How does that sound?”

  I closed the box, thanked Doctor Chiu again, and headed right on home. Cleo was waiting at the front door when I got there.

  “Did you get the new splint?”

  “I did. Rudy’s all set to heal up now.”

  “Good. His mother decided to come after all. She’s in the backyard.”

  “Oh, great. I’ll go and take him back there now,” I said, heading around the side of the house instead of through the front door.

  Cleo ran ahead of me as I walked around the side of the house to the backyard. When I got there, I spotted a little gray squirrel sitting on top of the patio table, chirping away. Cleo sat next to her, wagging her tail slowly.

  As soon as the squirrel saw me holding the box, the chirping got louder, and she stood up on her hind legs, reaching forward to see her baby.

  “I’ve got him right here,” I told the mother squirrel, carefully placing the box down on the table and opening it slowly. As soon as he saw his mother, Rudy started whining, wiggling his little butt as the two of them cuddled. I smiled warmly as I looked on the happy reunion scene.

  “Can you explain to her that he has to stay here for a few weeks?” I asked Cleo. “He can’t move around too much with the cast on or he risks permanently injuring his paw.”

  Cleo turned to the mother and explained it all to her. She looked up at me curiously, chirping away, and I smiled. The mother squirrel then jumped up onto my sweater, causing me to jump and let out a little cry of surprise, and curled up on my shoulder.

  “I guess that means she approves,” I said with a laugh.

  “She does. She doesn’t want to leave Rudy, but she understands that it’s the best for him. She would like to live here as well so she can be with him, though. He’s her baby, and she worries about him. She already had him late in the season, and most of the young squirrels have already been weaned by now, but she wants to give her baby the best chance at a safe life and wants to help him learn to grow up.”

  “Sure, that’s fine,” I said. “No problem.”

  I hoped my cousins were also going to have no problem with the addition of two squirrels into our household instead of just one.

  Cleo relayed the message, and the mother squirrel chirped away happily, evidently pleased with the new development. I was going to have to stop by the grocery store the next day and get some seeds to feed her if she was going to spend most of the day inside the house.

  We all went inside, and I let the squirrels explore together while I texted an update to Leanne and Kaillie before getting ready for my date with Ross. Even though it had only been a few days, it felt like I hadn’t seen him in forever, and I was really looking forward to the date. And not just because I was hoping for an update on the case. I really didn’t want to admit it to myself, but I enjoyed his company.

  And if I was completely honest with myself, that scared the crap out of me.

  There had only really been one man in my life up until now: my father. He had been my rock, my foundation, my only confidante in the world. And just like that, one day, he was taken away from me. A part of me didn’t want to get closer to Ross because I was worried the same thing would happen. Who was to say it wouldn’t? He worked in law enforcement, after all. Maybe one day a crazy nutjob would kill him at a simple traffic stop. Or maybe a suspect in a crime would decide to stab him rather than be taken into custody. Or maybe he would go to investigate a fire and the whole building would explode with him in it.

  Ok, I knew a lot of those fears were kind of ridiculous. The odds of Ross dying on the job were pretty low, especially in a small town like Enchanted Enclave where the crime rate wasn’t exactly sky-high to begin with. But of course, there were all the other non-job-related ways a person could die. He could be hit by a car or have an undiscovered genetic heart condition and drop dead one day.

  There were so many ways that someone I started to care for could be taken away just like my father had been.

  But I pushed all those thoughts aside, as I always did. It wasn’t like they were productive thoughts. And besides, it wasn’t like Ross and I were that close yet. This was an early, blossoming relationship. I didn’t have to worry about things like that for a while still.

  I spent longer than I was happy to admit trying to decide on an outfit, eventually going for a summer classic – a fun watermelon-print sundress with matching pink and green flats – and took the car back down to Main Street.

  It was easy to find parking – the day trippers from Seattle had all taken the ferry back home by now – and I walked up to the newest restaurant in Enchanted Enclave.

  Chapter 23

  L’isolotto was located in one of the older brick buildings in town, and the interior reflected that perfectly. The left-hand wall was made up entirely of exposed brick with a few watercolor scenes of the Italian countryside framed and hung up on the wall. The lights were warm and dim with more light coming from the low, thick candles set up on each of the twenty or so tables in the restaurant that were covered with white tablecloths. The sounds from the kitchen at the back were mostly muted by the classic Italian song playing over the speakers, loudly enough to be appreciated but not so loud that it would render conversation difficult.

  I had to admit, I was pretty impressed.

  I quickly spotted Ross sitting at one of the tables against the brick wall, perusing a menu, and I joined him. A moment later, a waitress arrived, a young woman who looked to be about my age with her dark hair pulled back in a bun.

  “Here is your menu, and I will be back in a few minutes to take your orders.”

  I thanked her and smiled at Ross. “Is this your first time here?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Kevin recommended it; he and his wife came here last week for their anniversary dinner.”

  I looked around approvingly. This place really did have an old-school Italian feel about it, and I liked it. Picking up the menu, I perused the options.

  The two of us browsed in silence, each picking out a main dish, until the waitress came by a few minutes later and we ordered. I settled on the penne all’amatriciana – a spicy tomato sauce dish that promised heat and flavor – while Ross went with the braised beef gnocchi. We decided to split a bottle of red wine which I let Ross choose as normally when I shopped for wine I looked not for the best quality but the best-looking label in my price range. It was a real hit-or-miss strategy.

  “So, how are things going with you?” Ross asked when the waitress left.

  “Not too badly,” I said. “I’ve taken in a mother squirrel and her baby, that Cleo found. The baby fell out of his nest and broke his leg, but the vet made him a splint, and now he should be able to recover fine.”

  “Oh, no,” Ross said. “I’m glad he’s going to be ok. So you’re taking care of the baby squirrel?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I got some milk replacement from the vet and everything. But his mother is around as well, which I think is easier. Although I need to buy squirrel seed for her now, too.”

  “What do your cousins think about the new pets?”

  “They’re ok with it so far,” I said with a nervous laugh. “We’ll see how things go in a few days.”

  “It’s a good thing Cleo didn’t kill that poor baby. I didn’t know she was an outside cat.”

  “She wasn’t, not until a few days ago. And you’re right, it was good. Cleo seems to be a very compassionate cat. She on
ly started wanting to go out a couple days ago, so I figured why not.”

  “Sure. Plus, there aren’t too many predators on the island.”

  “Exactly. And she’s not killing wildlife, so I’m fine with her being out.”

  “In fact, she’s saving them. That’s pretty smart of her.”

  “She is a pretty smart cat,” I replied. “It’s going to be an interesting few weeks with a squirrel around the house, though.”

  “I bet. Let me know if you need anything.”

  “Thanks, but I’m sure you’re pretty busy with your stuff, too. How are things going with your investigation?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light and casual, as if I cared as a girlfriend should but not as a fellow investigator.

  “Not great, to be honest,” Ross replied, running his hand through his hair.

  “Did Ariadne come to you today?” I asked, and he looked at me, confused.

  “Ariadne Stewart? No, why?”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t hear about it,” I said. “She confronted Sean Ingraham at the front of the coffee shop today.”

  “Oh, I heard about that. Is it true she slapped his coffee cup out of his hand and it all landed on her?”

  “It is,” I said with a grin. “She fully deserved it, too. She was being a cow to him because he banned her from his Facebook group.”

  “The local politics one?”

  “Yeah. Anyway, at the end, she said that if Sean didn’t let her back into the group, she was going to go to the police and tell them that she knew Sean wasn’t at home sleeping when Barry was murdered.”

  “Do you know if she was telling the truth?” Ross asked, immediately going back into work mode.

  “I don’t, sorry,” I replied. “She didn’t specify. But Sean seemed pretty shaken up about it. I think she got under his skin.”

  Ross nodded slowly. “That’s good to know. I think I’ll pay Ariadne a visit tomorrow.”

  “So Sean is still on your list of suspects,” I said, and Ross nodded, but this time looking a little bit more casual.

  “Yeah. He doesn’t have an alibi, and he has the best motive.”

  “Do you know what’s happening with the construction now?”

  “I know all of Barry’s assets have to go through probate, so it’s putting almost everything on pause for a while. But beyond that, it’s lawyer territory.”

  “So you don’t expect anything to go ahead with the site for a while?”

  “No,” Ross said, shaking his head. “Not a chance. Not for a long while. That’s going to be an empty lot for the foreseeable future, is my guess.”

  “Did Barry have a lot of investors?”

  “A couple of guys from what I can tell. I’ve spoken to a few of them. They’re being reasonable. None of them seem to be in a huge rush to get their money out. Disappointed, of course, but they’re businessmen. They know sometimes things go wrong in business, and they know eventually they’ll get something. If nothing else, that land by itself is worth a bundle, so they can just sell it to another developer who will do something else with it.”

  “Like Peter Toole,” I said. “I know he’s interested in it.”

  “Is he?” Ross said, his eyebrows raising. “I thought you weren’t investigating this.”

  “I’m not,” I lied hurriedly. “I just overheard a conversation in the coffee shop.”

  “I guess all the local developers are going to want a piece of the pie,” Ross said. “Whoever gets it, I hope they don’t bribe anybody to make sure they get their project approved despite strong opposition from everyone else.”

  “Agreed,” I said. “I can’t believe Barry got away with it.”

  “I can’t say for sure that’s what happened. I know there was an investigation. But I also know Chief Jones put himself in charge of the investigation so that he would get all the credit if it turned up anything…”

  Ross trailed off, and I finished the thought for him. “And you think Chief Jones is too dumb to find evidence of wrongdoing on his own.”

  “Hey, I didn’t say the words.” Ross laughed as the waitress came back with our food. I hadn’t realized how ravenously hungry I was until the warm aroma of the pasta mingled with a spicy tomato sauce wafted towards my nostrils, the side of garlic bread practically dripping with butter. The two of us dug in, and conversation was at a minimum until both of us had eaten at least half of our meal.

  “This is really great,” Ross finally said. “Do you want to try a bite?”

  “Sure,” I agreed, and he carefully scooped some braised short ribs onto his fork and stabbed a gnocchi. I ate the food off his fork, and the movement felt really quite intimate, more so than I had initially expected. When I pulled away, I felt a blush rise in my face, and I quickly turned the conversation to something else, the least romantic thing I could think of.

  “So how gross was the body when you found it?” I asked, and Ross looked a little bit shocked.

  “Ummm, I’m afraid that’s police information that I’m not at liberty to discuss.”

  “Sorry,” I stammered, immediately feeling like an idiot. But hey, at least I had totally destroyed any romance in the moment, right? I was my own worst enemy so much of the time.

  Ross looked at me carefully. “You’re sure you’re not investigating this in secret without telling me?”

  “Why would I do that?” I replied, carefully looking at the piece of penne I stabbed onto my fork. “I didn’t even know Barry.”

  “I don’t know,” Ross replied. “Maybe you figured after solving the other two murders here on the island that it’s a fun thing to do. But if you are, please stop. Killers are dangerous people. You should know better than anyone that a murderer will almost always be willing to kill again to hide their crime.”

  “Right,” I replied. “You don’t have to worry about me, though. Right now the only thing going on in my life is caring for a weeks-old squirrel.”

  “Good,” Ross said, and then his tone softened. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  I felt a little bit bad about misleading him, especially given the note of genuine fear in his voice.

  “I won’t,” I said with a smile, and he nodded but didn’t look convinced.

  “If you ever find yourself in trouble, for anything, please call me, ok? Any time. Day or night, I don’t care.”

  “Thanks,” I replied. It was nice to know Ross had my back. “If I can’t ask about your investigation, can I ask how Kevin is doing with trying to find the person behind the bank break in?”

  Ross shook his head with a gentle chuckle. “It’s crazy, that story. Honestly, it would be a little bit more annoying if whoever broke in had actually taken anything, but as it stands, I’m not sure the culprit is ever going to be found. It’s the strangest thing. It’s like they were a ghost.”

  “Weird,” I said. Aunt Lucy would be happy with that.

  “I’m kind of glad I’m not working on it, but at the same time, I like to give Kevin a hand where I can because it’s just so interesting. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Well, you never know, maybe one day you’ll get a break in that case.”

  “Maybe, but I doubt it. That one’s going to go down into the legends of Enchanted Enclave for sure. People are going to be talking about Glitterella and the bank robbery here a hundred years from now, I guarantee it.”

  “I think you’re probably right,” I replied. “It’s not every day someone dumps a booby-trapped bag of glitter on the bank manager.”

  “Exactly. I can’t be too mad since in the whole scheme of things nobody got hurt and nothing was taken. There are certainly worse crimes out there. But don’t tell anyone I said that. As a cop I’m supposed to think all the crimes are equally bad.”

  I laughed. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

  “Now, tell me some more about this little squirrel.”

  Before I knew it, two hours had passed. We had finished the pasta, shared some tiramisu fo
r dessert, and lingered just a little bit longer before getting the bill and leaving.

  Ross walked me back to my car, arm in arm, neither one of us speaking and just enjoying the warm summer air on our skin and the company of the other. When we reached my driver’s side door, he stopped.

  “Thanks for tonight. I hope we can do it again soon. The investigation should get less intense over the next few days.”

  “I hope you find your killer,” I said earnestly. “Stay safe out there.”

  “Thanks. You too.”

  I waved as I drove off, and I could tell from the look on his face that Ross was still worried about me. He was sweet, and it was nice to know that I could count on him.

  But I couldn’t let him know I was investigating this murder. I just couldn’t.

  Chapter 24

  As soon as I got home, I went to bed, waking up the next morning finally feeling refreshed and rested. Maybe a good date along with a good night’s sleep was what I really needed.

  Rudy’s mother was already waiting at the patio door when I got up, so I let her in and took the lid off the shoebox to show her Rudy before the three of us went to the coffee shop.

  It was the first uneventful day in ages, and after learning from Aunt Debbie that there was shepherd’s pie on the menu that night, the three of us decided we would have family dinner over there rather than bothering to cook ourselves.

  When we got back home, I did a quick check on Rudy and his mother – they were both happily scampering along the back of the couch, with Rudy obviously learning how to jump from piece of furniture to piece of furniture. It was also nice having his mother here as I didn’t need to worry about feeding him at all. She took care of all of that.

  I left dinner out for Cleo and some seeds I picked up at the grocery store for mother squirrel, and the three of us walked down the street to Aunt Debbie’s house for a delicious homemade meal made all the better by the fact that none of us had to make it.

  “We’re celebrating tonight,” Aunt Debbie said as way of greeting as we walked into the kitchen.