Once the veggies were chopped, she dumped everything except for the spinach and the squash in a Dutch oven and began cooking them in butter. The savory scents of the cooking were beginning to fill the kitchen. She would definitely be setting some of this soup aside to take home that evening.
When the vegetables were softened, she added in chicken broth along with the squash and spices and turned the heat up until it boiled. She kept an eye on the bubbling soup as she helped her employees with the tail end of the breakfast rush. In less than half an hour, the squash was tender and ready for the next step.
Being careful not to spill any, Moira poured half of the soup into her largest blender and pureed the mixture. She added the creamy mix back into the Dutch oven and turned the burner up again, adding the beans and the spinach. The soup was all but done now, and smelled heavenly. She couldn’t wait to taste it, and more importantly, couldn’t wait to see what her customers thought of it.
While the soup boiled, the deli owner sat down at the counter and pulled out her tablet. It was long since time to update the deli’s website. She hadn’t even looked at the thing since before leaving for her honeymoon. Darrin, she knew, had been updating it with the specials, but that was about it. There was a whole page of unread emails in her inbox. About a third of them were people who were asking about her catering service. She had put the catering portion of the business on hold while she was gone, but it looked like it was time to get it up and running again.
Reading through the emails and looking at the reviews made her think again about what Candice had said when she had mentioned working as David’s assistant. Did she want to open a second deli in another location? It wasn’t a very simple question to answer. If she had been single, with no children, the answer would probably have been yes, but she didn’t know how she could leave Candice behind and ask David to move to another town so she could start up a second deli.
We may not have to move, she thought, pondering the idea. I could build it in another local town, or even see if Darrin would be interested in managing it. If she did end up expanding the business, she would want to choose a location further to the south — somewhere with a higher population and more major roads going through it. A city like Traverse City might be too expensive for the time being, but if she could find a nice, smaller town on the outskirts of some place like that, she was sure she would get a lot of business.
“Hey, Ms. D, a customer is asking for soup. Are we ready to start serving lunch?”
The deli owner returned her focus to the present, where she was supposed to be in charge of making the soup of the day. She got up and dipped a ladle into the bubbling pot. The spinach was cooked through, which meant that the soup was ready to eat.
“We’re ready,” she told Darrin. “Take the order, and I’ll bring out a bowl. Do they want that for here or to go?”
Moira clocked out for the day after she finished helping with the lunch rush. She planned to stop by the office and bring David a to-go bag before heading home and doing some reading. It was getting easier to take a step back from the day-to-day operations of the deli, and she found it extremely rewarding to see how well it was doing without her micromanaging everything. Darrin was really shaping up to be a phenomenal manager, and all her other employees were hard-working and reliable. It had taken her a few tries, but she seemed to have finally found the perfect team.
With the doggy bag on the passenger seat, Moira pulled out of the deli’s parking lot and turned towards home. She had made the drive a thousand times, and was on autopilot as she drove down Main Street. It wasn’t until she was passing the last block in town that she saw them. Police cars were lined up outside of the little corner cafe that she and Candice had eaten at the day before.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
* * *
“There was another robbery,” David said over the phone. She had pulled into a gas station’s parking lot to call him and ask what had happened. “No one got hurt, but he stole an expensive necklace from one of the employees.”
“Oh my goodness,” Moira said “David, Candice and I ate there yesterday, and the guy from the pawn shop was there. He was probably planning this while we were having lunch!”
“That was my first thought, too,” the private investigator said. “I’m on my way to town now. I’ll have a drive around and stop at the pawn shop while Jefferson and his men are busy searching the immediate area around the cafe.”
“Be careful,” Moira said. “I hope you catch him, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I know,” he said. “I love you. I’ll see you tonight.”
He hung up, leaving Moira to sit in silence in the parking lot, her mind racing. She knew that she couldn’t just go home while her husband was in town looking for a dangerous criminal. The waiting would drive her crazy. She decided to go back to the deli; that way, she’d be kept busy, and if something happened at least she would be close by.
“Hey, Ms. D, forget something?” Darrin asked when she walked back into the deli a few minutes later.
“There’s been another robbery,” she told him.
The smile fell from his face. “Where? Did he shoot someone else?”
“No, I was told no one got hurt this time,” she said. “But I think I’m going to hang out here for the next couple of hours. There’s a police search going on, and I want to be around in case anything happens.”
“Gotcha. I hope he gets caught this time. I can’t believe he’s hit four different stores in just a couple of weeks.”
“Me either,” she said. “No one’s safe.”
She was suddenly struck by worry for Candice. If this guy kept holding up different shops in Maple Creek and Lake Marion, then the candy shop was bound to be on his list eventually. Eli’s ice cream shop could be in danger too. I hope David catches him red-handed, she thought vehemently. We’ve all had enough of him terrorizing us.
The next few hours inched by until she finally got a call from David. Going into the kitchen to answer it, she crossed her fingers for good news.
“Sorry, but I’ve got nothing,” he sighed over the phone.
“Oh.” The deli owner felt a surge of disappointment. “You didn’t find him?”
“I found him all right,” he said. “He was sitting behind the counter of the pawn shop like nothing happened. There was no evidence that he had left the shop, and it’s been open since this morning. After Jefferson finished up at the cafe, he stopped by and questioned the guy as well. I don’t know if he’s the one that did it, but if he did he’s definitely a good liar.”
“There’s nothing you can do?” she asked.
“I’ve got one more trick up my sleeve,” he said. “I’m not sure if it will pan out, but if Jefferson and I work together, I think it might.”
“All right,” she said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I don’t think so, but I’ll call you if there is.”
They hung up, and Moira set her phone down. She was proud of her husband; he was such a smart, driven man. She had no doubt that between him and Jefferson, they would be able to solve the case. I really did get lucky when I met him, she thought. She hoped that he knew how she felt. They had both been so involved in their own personal lives since they got back that it felt as if they had lost some of the closeness that they had on their trip.
“Ms. D, Meg had to clean up a spill. Can you get this order?” Darrin asked, poking his head through the door that lead to the kitchen. “We’re slammed out here, I can’t leave the register.”
“Sure thing,” she said, taking the order slip from him. She tied on an apron and washed her hands. Her husband was doing his job, and it was time for her to focus on hers.
By the time that they closed that evening, all three of them were exhausted. It had been an unusually busy day. Belatedly, Moira realized that they must have gotten a good portion of the customers that normally frequented the cafe. It had probably closed for the day after the robbery. S
he wasn’t complaining; the extra sales were always nice. She was glad that she had decided to come back to be closer to the action. The extra business would have been a lot for her two employees to handle on their own.
“You two can get going,” she said. “I’ll finish up closing. I don’t think we’re going to get much more business in these last few minutes.”
“You sure? Thanks, Ms. D,” Meg said. “I’m beat. I’m glad I have tomorrow off.”
“I’m opening tomorrow,” Darrin groaned. “I’m going to need an extra cup of coffee in the morning.”
Moira laughed and ushered the two of them out the door. “You two had better hope that cafe never closes down, or we might be this busy all the time.”
Alone in the deli, she looked around fondly at the familiar walls before heading back into the kitchen to finish doing the dishes. She was still waiting on a call from David to hear whether or not whatever he and Detective Jefferson were working on panned out. She had a feeling that it would be a late night for the two of them.
She had was just about to put last plate on the drying rack when she heard the front door jingle open. Wondering which employee had forgotten something, she pushed through the swinging door to the dining area to see who it was. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the man from the pawn shop. The plate she was holding slipped through her fingers and shattered on the floor.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Are you okay?” the man asked. He began walking towards the counter. He had a limp, one that Moira hadn’t noticed at the pawn shop.
“I’m fine,” she muttered. She glanced down at the shards of the broken plate on the floor. She didn’t want to take her eyes off the man to bend down and clean it up. “It just slipped.”
“It happens. One of your employees will clean it up for you, I’m sure. The benefits of being a boss, eh?”
“How do you know I’m the boss?” she asked. She was careful not to mention that she was there alone. He might not try anything if he thought there was someone in the kitchen who would call the police.
“Your website,” he said. “It’s got your picture on it. I sent you an email about catering, but I haven’t heard back. I’m glad to catch you here at last. I just came in for a cup of coffee and a sandwich, but if you’ve got time I’d like to talk to you about my daughter’s party.”
She looked blankly at him for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. He wanted to talk about catering. He wasn’t here to kill her. Or was he just trying to get her to let her guard down?
“Um, okay. Let me put your order in, then we can talk about catering. You’ll be one of our first orders of the new year.” She forced a smile and walked up to the register. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“Just a black coffee and whatever your sandwich of the day is,” he said. “I usually grab something at the cafe on the corner on my way home, but it was closed. I like this place, though. You’ve got good food.”
She punched the order in, hoping he didn’t notice her shaking fingers. Was it just a coincidence that he had mentioned the cafe, or was he baiting her? She wondered if he realized that she had been there yesterday at the same time that he was. Was he here to tie up loose ends?
“Will that be cash or credit?” she asked.
“Cash. I think I’ve got exact change, hold on…” He reached into his coat pocket. As he did so, the jacket pulled away from his body enough that she could see the grip of a pistol poking out of the top of his waistband. She felt as if she had been doused in ice water.
“I’ll — I’ll go put the order in,” she said quickly. Before he could respond, she had slipped back into the kitchen and was leaning against the swinging door. She pushed in the floor lock, but knew from experience it wasn’t very sturdy. She looked around frantically for something to block it off, but there wasn’t anything heavy enough in the room. Besides, the door opened both ways, so he’d be able to get in even if she had pushed a table in front of the door.
He has a gun, she thought. That has to mean he’s guilty. What do I do? She pressed her ear against the door to see if she could hear what he was doing, but she couldn’t make out any sounds. Was he still standing at the register, or was he sneaking around the counter? At any second he could throw his body against the door, and she didn’t want to bet her life on the flimsy lock. She patted her pockets, trying to remember what she had done with her phone. The last time she had seen it had been when she was talking to David. Her eyes landed on the counter on the far side of the room. Sure enough, her phone was right where she had set it.
“Is everything okay in there?”
Moira cleared her throat and tried to sound convincing as she shouted back, “Fine!” She knew that she was doing a terrible job of acting normal, but at this point she had the feeling that it didn’t matter.
She hurried across the room and seized her phone off the counter. Returning to her spot with her back against the swinging door, she dialed David’s number from memory. It rang through to voicemail. She swore and tried again with the same result. What was going on? It had been hours since she had heard from him. Even if a murderer hadn’t been waiting in the other room, she would have been worried. Last she had heard, he and Detective Jefferson had some sort of plan up their sleeves to catch the man responsible for the robberies. What if it had gone terribly wrong? What if the man from the pawn shop had done away with them both, and was now here to get her? She let out a squeak of fear as a loud knock sounded on the door to the dining area.
“I’m just going to get going,” he said loudly through the door. “Sorry, but I’ve had a long day. I didn’t know it would take this long.”
She didn’t reply, but kept her ear pressed to the door, listening for the jingle of the bells on the front door. When her phone rang, she nearly jumped out of her skin. The caller ID told her it was David. She let out a sigh of relief.
“Hey,” he said when she answered. “We know who it is.”
“I know,” she whispered. “He’s here. He has a gun. I need help.”
“Where are you?” he asked sharply. “At the deli?”
“Yes. I’m in the kitchen. The pawn shop guy is in the front room. He said he was leaving, but I don’t believe it.”
“Wait, the pawn shop guy? Ewan? Moira, it’s not him. It’s —”
She heard a muffled swear, then a clattering sound and the line went dead. David’s phone went straight to voicemail when she tried calling back. What’s going on? she wondered. And what does he mean that the guy from the pawn shop isn’t the killer? Who else could it be?
She didn’t know the answers to any of those questions, but one thing she did know was that she trusted David. She also knew that she had just made a huge fool of herself. If the guy from the pawn shop really was innocent, then she had probably just confused the poor man half to death.
Moira shoved the cell phone into her pocket in case David called back, then steeled herself and opened the door. The dining area was empty. True to his word, the man had left. She felt a rush of embarrassment. He must think she was psychotic, the way she had acted towards him.
What about his gun, though? she wondered as she began picking up the pieces of the broken plate. She tried to think logically, like David would. Well, he does own a pawn shop. He probably keeps it for self-defense. Plenty of people have a license to carry concealed. It’s likely that he wasn’t doing anything wrong at all.
She was glad that he had gone, purely so that she could be embarrassed alone. She resolved to find his email and offer him a great deal on catering. And in the future, she needed to remember to think things through before she overreacted.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
* * *
By the time she got the broken plate cleaned up, it was time to lock up and call it a night. She had to admit, she was going to be glad to get home and forget about this day. She flushed with embarrassment whenever she thought about how she had acted around the man from the pawn shop, and she didn’t thi
nk she’d ever be able to look back on this night without turning red.
She tried calling David again as she locked the deli’s front door behind her. It had only been about ten minutes since the dropped call, but that should have been plenty of time for him to get to an area with better service and call her back if the call had been dropped. She was starting to get worried, but was trying not to let herself go into full blown panic mode. At the back of her mind, images of David in a car wreck kept flashing through her mind, but she did her best to ignore them. If he didn’t call her back within another ten minutes, then she would begin to worry.
Moira fumbled with her keys for a moment before getting her SUV unlocked. She put the to-go container of soup on the passenger seat, then walked around the back of the car to avoid the puddle of slush by the front wheels. Her nerves were already taut, so when she saw a dark shape walking down the sidewalk, she almost let out a scream. It took her a moment to recognize one of her regulars, Luis Hewitt.
A Quiche To Die For: Book 17 in The Darling Deli Series Page 6