Mrs. Fix It Mysteries (5 Cozy Mystery Books Collection)

by Belle Knudson

  “Seems that way sometimes. I’m not related to anyone else. My dad moved away a few years ago. My sons are away. It’s just me.”

  Dean laughed, but the humor didn’t reach his eyes. Part of Kate wanted to reach out to him, but part of her wanted to mind her own business. She’d been involved in finding his girlfriend’s killer, but she’d hung up her detective hat after that.

  Now she wanted to build her business and get on with her life in the wake of her husband’s disappearance. She had to support herself since there would be no life insurance until she could either find him or declare him dead.

  “Maybe that’s why I like you, Kate.”

  Another woman might have read into that statement, but he was practically young enough to be her son. “No nepotism?”

  “None with you. Have a good day, Kate.”

  “You, too, Dean. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you get that job.”

  “Thanks.”

  She left him to finish his cinnamon bun, though he never left her thoughts as she climbed into her truck. She tried to start it, but it balked. She’d had it in the shop just a month ago. What now? She was calculating what she could afford to fix on it when it finally caught.

  “I thought you weren’t going to get her going,” Scott said, his hand on her open window.

  “You scared me,” she said.

  For a big guy with such a presence, he could be quiet when he wanted to be. Guess that came from patrolling the mean streets of the City of Brotherly Love. He didn’t need to do that in the not-so-mean streets of Rock Ridge.

  “Sorry. Beginning your day?”

  “Yes, at the mayor’s office. You want a ride to work?”

  The mayor’s office was in the same building as the Rock Ridge Police Department.

  “Normally I wouldn’t, but it’s hot today.”

  “I’ll even turn on the air conditioning.”

  Not that she was sure it was going to work. It had begun to be persnickety lately. Just another item she had to get fixed on this truck, but it was still cheaper than buying a new one.

  “Riding in style,” Scott said as he climbed into her truck.

  ***

  Kate wanted to park by the Rock Ridge Police Department since it was the quickest way to the mayor’s office. The complex was a maze, each part having been added on as an afterthought.

  The parking space was blocked by a utility truck that was working on a downed pole.

  “Guess I have no power to work by,” Scott said.

  “No generator?”

  “Only for the 911 Communications Center. The rest of us have to muddle along without computers,” Scott said. “I’m hoping that I can get another generator put in next year’s budget.”

  “You stepped into a mess, didn’t you?”

  “Sort of. Coming in halfway through the year means I have to live with someone else’s idea of a budget. And that person had clearly been coasting.”

  She thought about the last chief. He probably had been. He’d been chief for a decade and was two years past retirement when he finally gave his notice. After his last day, he’d immediately moved to North Carolina. Kate wondered if the man had something to hide.

  “You like a challenge, right?”

  He turned his light brown-and-gold-flecked eyes to her. He ran a hand through his snow-white hair. “I do, but I was hoping for a little less of a challenge.”

  As if this man couldn’t take on anything that came his way. Having been a star quarterback, he’d led the Rock Ridge High School football team to the state finals three times.

  “Oh well. You got what you got,” she said.

  She parked her truck by the front door of the complex. The employees were outside, but Kate didn’t see the mayor.

  “Why would they be outside?” she said.

  “Probably too hot. With no air conditioning inside, it gets steamy. The only thing wrong with building a square building is that some offices don’t have outside windows.”

  “Right. The square had been the cheapest option,” she said, remembering the debates that went on with the town council. The original offices had been in two different historic buildings. Both of them should have been knocked down. One fell before anyone could bid on renovating it. So someone was awarded the bid to clean up the site. A soccer field stood there now—a better use of the space, in Kate’s mind.

  She climbed out of her truck, but she didn’t want to gather any equipment until she knew exactly what she was fixing. She hadn’t given the mayor an estimate. He’d just hired her because he knew her work was good. She’d painted many rooms in his house and repaired other things. He was probably her best customer.

  She needed more customers like Dudley and his wife, Jessica. That would be her dream. If she had customers like that, she wouldn’t have to hustle quite as much to get new work.

  She shook herself. She should just be happy she made money doing something she loved, something that allowed her to keep her house and her bills paid. The money for some of her kids’ college tuition came from a savings plan that Greg had opened the day the two boys were born. The rest of the money came from loans that the boys would be responsible for upon graduation.

  “You free for lunch?”

  She sighed. Scott asked her just about every day to have lunch. No matter how many times she’d made it clear that nothing romantic was going to happen, he still asked. She admired his persistence.

  “Uh, I don’t know. We’ll see,” Kate said.

  She and Scott had been together in high school. Then he’d left for college and she had been forced to move on with her life. She married Greg Flaherty, a professor at the local community college where she had earned her associate’s degree.

  Now that Scott was back in town, he made no attempt to hide the feelings he had for her. Kate only wished he was less forward about his intentions. She had to look at herself in the mirror every morning. She still had to be an example for her kids.

  “I guess I’ll wait out here with everyone else. Can’t imagine Dudley’s inside in this heat,” she said.

  She pondered staying in the air-conditioned truck. Wearing overalls for work made her too hot to be outside.

  “I’ll keep you company,” Scott said.

  “Have you made any progress on finding Greg?” she asked to put some distance between them.

  He smiled as if he knew what she was doing and that it wouldn’t work. If she didn’t know he was a good guy, she’d be unnerved by him.

  “I haven’t. You know that I’d update you if I had something.”

  She did know that. No one wanted to find Greg as much as she did, except for Scott. She knew that he had a personal stake in finding out what happened to her husband. Scott wanted to find Greg so she could officially file for divorce. Or find his body, so that Kate could lay him to rest and move on.

  She had no idea why he was so persistent. She was just Kate: a middle-aged woman with two college-aged kids. She wasn’t a supermodel. She had a few extra pounds on her, and she didn’t wear anything but overalls most days.

  Having seen Scott’s ex-wife, Kate had no idea what he saw in her. The late Jackie York had been sex on a stick.

  “This delay is going to make me late to my next appointment.”

  Kate pulled out her phone then sent a text to Jessica that she would be delayed. Jessica sent a text back that it was okay. She wasn’t home at the moment anyway.

  Tucking her phone back into her pocket, Kate eyed the building. Hopefully the power would be back on soon. Time was money. If she could get to Jessica’s house and be done, she might fit in another job before dinner. Since she lived alone, she didn’t have to worry about anyone else’s schedule. She could eat when she wanted. Sleep when she wanted.

  Or do neither, which lately seemed to be happening more.

  Scott reached out and rubbed a thumb down the middle of her forehead. “You worry too much. You’ll get inside eventually.”

  “I wou
ld love to just switch the jobs, but Jessica isn’t home, so I can’t even start on her thing until I’m done here,” Kate said.

  “It will all be fine.”

  Scott had always been an optimistic. Like Winnie the Pooh, he saw everything in the best light. How could he do that after what he’d seen as a homicide detective in Philadelphia? And his wife had cheated on him. He still had a good heart, and Kate wished things were different—that she could love him.

  The lights in the building went on and a cheer went up from the crowd. Finally, she could get to work.

  The mayor was probably waiting for her, or would be now that the power had been restored.

  “Off to the salt mines,” Scott said, a grin on his face.

  “You have a good day.”

  He stopped then turned fully to her. “You, too, Katydid.”

  She wished he wouldn’t call her that. It had been his nickname for her in high school, and it implied an intimacy that wasn’t there. Thankfully, he didn’t do it often.

  Yet part of her was thrilled, even if she didn’t want to be. He’d remembered things about her. Things only a lover could know.

  She rolled her eyes at him, and then walked in the opposite direction to the mayor’s office. She tugged on her shirt. The air was stifling in the building. She hoped it would cool down soon. Wishing for shorts, she strode to the mayor’s office.

  Chapter Two

  Mayor Dudley Stuart had a secretary that he shared with the rest of the town council. She didn’t work full time and she wasn’t at her desk today. The older woman who had been secretary had retired a few months ago, and so Celia Johnson, the mother of Kate’s best friend, Carly, had taken the position for something to do since she’d retired as a nurse. Kate suspected she took the position because she wanted to know everything that was going on in the town. A lot of people had been surprised when the mayor hired her, given her propensity for gossiping.

  With Celia not at her desk, Kate wondered if it was okay to just knock on the mayor’s door. She couldn’t hear anyone moving inside, but that could mean he might not have returned to the building.

  A DPW guy walked past. Kate stuck her head out into the hallway. “Hey.”

  The young man stopped. “Yes?”

  “Have you seen the mayor?”

  “Not today. He wasn’t outside with us.”

  The man kept going. Kate frowned. She knocked on the door to the mayor’s inner office. No one answered. She pondered that for a moment, and then she walked toward another outside door. Maybe the mayor was out there. She poked her head out, but there was no one in that parking lot.

  With the power back on, everyone was back in the building.

  She sent a text to Jessica. I’m supposed to meet Dudley here. Is he with you?

  No, he should be at work. I think.

  Jessica Stuart was Dudley’s wife. Kate wondered if he had even contacted her about the power outage.

  I’ll wait a little longer, Kate texted back.

  She went back to the mayor’s office, and something told her to knock again. She did. There was still no answer. She wondered if she could spot what needed repair even without Dudley’s instruction.

  Kate wanted to begin her day. Her first coffee was long gone. She wanted her second after this repair. Her day was not going as planned.

  She looked down the hall, but no one was coming, so she decided to peek into his office. She took a deep breath, let it out, and then opened the door to see if she could find the repair he needed.

  She did. It was a set of shelves that were empty, and one of the brackets had fallen off. That’s easy to fix.

  She had brought brackets with her and would replace all of them. If one went, the others wouldn’t be far behind. Returning to her truck, she hoped Dudley would be back before she began her work.

  When he wasn’t, she opened the door fully so no one would question her presence there. That’s when she saw him. On the floor.

  “Dudley?”

  She knelt down to find a pulse, but there wasn’t one. Not again, she thought. The mayor was dead on the floor, his hand clutching his chest. She picked up the phone on his desk and called the police.

  She waited in the outer office, doubting the job would get done today. Or at all. She paced, trying to rid her mind of the sight of Dudley on the floor. He was pale and lifeless.

  Scott was the first one in with EMTs right behind him. He glanced in, and then looked at Kate with a grim face. “He’s dead.”

  She sighed. Another body that she had been the one to find.

  “I’ll need to get a statement,” Scott said.

  “Can I load my truck before we do? Clearly, I’m not getting in to make the repair.”

  “No, this might be crime scene,” Scott said. “You can load up your truck then meet me in the PD. I’ll have someone take your statement.”

  “Thanks.”

  She carried what she was holding back to her truck. Her day really wasn’t going as planned. She entered the police department, but the same woman from last time was not at the desk. She must have had her baby already.

  Today it was a man with a cast on his arm. He let her in since he knew her; he’d gone to school with her sons.

  “Tell Jason and Jared I said hello,” Officer Gunther said.

  “Not a problem.”

  She passed through the door and found Detective Ken Johnson, the father of her best friend, waiting for her. “You’re like Jessica in that old television show. She found dead bodies everywhere.”

  She appreciated his attempt at humor, but it fell short. “I guess.”

  He led her back to the same room he’d taken her statement in when she’d found Jackie York dead in Scott’s kitchen. She shuddered at the memory of being held against her will by the murderer.

  As she sat down, Ken brought her a much-needed cup of coffee. Kate couldn’t imagine what had happened to the mayor, but making a statement to the police meant it was being considered as a homicide. Ken took her statement then sent her into Scott’s office.

  “He wants to talk to you,” Ken said.

  She was going to get a scolding probably. He wouldn’t want her to interfere with the investigation.

  “I have no reason to have anything to do with this murder. If it is one.”

  “We have reason to believe it is, but I’m not telling you why. Stay out of it.”

  She put up her hands. “Of course. I only investigated last time because you were involved. I didn’t want you to get railroaded.”

  Scott smiled. “I know you care about me, Kate. One of these days you’re going to have to admit it.”

  “What feelings I may or may not have for you are irrelevant until I know what happened to Greg.”

  “Fine. Lunch?”

  She glanced at her phone. “If I stop for lunch, it won’t be until closer to one.”

  “Text me. I’ll meet you wherever.”

  She thought about sending a text to Jessica then decided to go see her anyway. Even if she didn’t fix the item today, she wanted to give her condolences to the woman. Her husband had just died.

  Apparently word had already gotten out about Dudley, and several cars were parked in Jessica’s driveway. Kate contemplated just calling Jessica to see if she still wanted Kate to come by.

  So she called.

  “Hello.”

  Jessica sounded distraught.

  “It’s Kate. Do you want to postpone my repair today?”

  “No, please come over. It’ll be nice to have a friendly face.”

  “I’ll be there in a moment.”

  Kate disconnected. She looked around at the cars and wondered what Jessica had meant by a friendly face. It looked to Kate like she was surrounded by people.

  Kate knew she had to fix a window in Dudley’s office. She brought the necessary tools with her when she rang Jessica’s doorbell. The woman answered, letting Kate in.

  “Dudley’s business associates are here. I’ve neve
r met most of them. Please do what you need to do then come and have coffee with me.”

  Kate nodded. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you Kate.”

  ***

  Kate followed Jessica inside. The living room sported several men in suits with coffee cups in their hands. Kate wanted to say something to them, but she didn’t know what. It didn’t seem right to her that strangers had descended on Jessica’s house in her time of grief. She should be surrounded by family and friends.

  Kate didn’t think Jessica’s family was close, but she must have friends. She was involved in so many things in the community. She wanted to shout at these men for invading her home.

  At least she had been invited in.

  “I’ll get that window fixed in no time.”

  Jessica smiled a feeble smile and Kate squeezed the woman’s arm.

  Upon entering Dudley’s office, Kate watched two men look up at her with guilty expressions on their faces.

  “Can I help you?” one said.

  She didn’t recognize either of them, but assumed they worked at Dudley’s trucking company.

  “I’m here to fix the window.”

  “Can you come back later?”

  “Mrs. Stuart has asked that I do this right now.”

  Kate wasn’t leaving. The men looked at each other and frowned. “Okay. We’ll come back.”

  They’d clearly been looking for something. Kate would have to mention it to Jessica. It was such rude behavior to be searching Dudley’s office. What could they possibly need to have right now? She put it out of her mind until she was done with the repair.

  The window had gotten stuck in the open position. It made things tough when you wanted to put on the air conditioning. She tugged on it and lubricated it with some grease. Finally it budged. A little. She wished for some more upper body strength to shove it back on track. She went out to her truck for a rubber mallet and a small board.

  With that, she was able to put the window back in its place. Jessica came in as she closed it.

  “You fixed it.”

  “I did, but I want to put a thin piece of wood here so it can’t jump the track again.”

  “We’re due to replace the windows on the back of the house in a month or so. I’ve already made the appointment, so no need.”