Dead Man's Hand

by Lorraine Bartlett

  Dead Man’s Hand

  Lorraine Bartlett

  Gayle Leeson

  Copyright © 2021 by Lorraine Bartlett. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the author.

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents depicted are either the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  Publisher’s Note: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes included in this book.

  All recipes were tested in Fahrenheit.

  Created with Vellum

  Acknowledgments

  My thanks go to the members of the Lorraine Train: Amy Connolley, Mary Ann Borer, Debbie Lyon, Linda Kuzminczuk, and Rita Pierrottie for their continued support.

  Cover by Wicked Smart Designs

  Cast Of Characters

  Katie Bonner: owner-manager of Artisans Alley, the anchor on Victoria Square

  Ray Davenport: former homicide detective and owner of Wood U on Victoria Square

  Rose Nash: jewelry vendor at Artisans Alley and Katie’s friend

  Nick Ferrell: co-owner of Sassy Sally’s B&B on Victoria

  Seth Landers: McKinlay Mill’s only attorney and Katie’s friend

  Don Parsons: co-owner of Sassy Sally’s B&B on Victoria Square

  Moonbeam Carruthers: owner of The Flower Child gift shop

  Andy Rust: owner of Angelo’s Pizzeria and Katie’s former boyfriend

  Brad Andrews: Noted chef, hired to manage Tealicious tea shop

  Carol Rigby: Monroe County Sheriff’s Office detective

  Nona Fiske: owner of the Quiet Quilter on Victoria Square

  Vance Ingram: vendor at Artisans Alley and Katie’s second-in-command

  Gina Solero: gambler

  Connor Davis: owner of The Flower Patch florists and part-time gambler

  Jamie Seifert: Seth’s significant other, medical examiner, murder victim

  Gabrielle Pearson: owner of Calexia Industries

  Chapter 1

  Katie Bonner squirmed in her seat under the glare of a maniacal clown. Her friends, Nick Ferrell and his husband, Don Parsons, enjoyed embracing Halloween and making their bed-and-breakfast, Sassy Sally’s, look spookily festive for their guests, but this particular decoration was creeping her out.

  Shifting a Pirouette chocolate-filled wafer cookie in her mouth as though it was a cigar, Katize tossed a blue candy-coated chocolate into the pile in the middle of the table. “I’ll see your yellow and raise you a blue.”

  Because of the hand she’d been dealt, Katie felt pretty confident. In their current mode of exchange, yellow candies were worth a hundred dollars; blues were worth five hundred; reds were worth a thousand, and greens were worth a hundred thousand. Other colors were to be eaten as they were removed from the bag. So far, Katie was up three hundred and forty-two thousand. Too bad that, unlike poker chips, these candies couldn’t be redeemed for currency. Oh, what she could do with three hundred thousand dollars! Images of buying, renovating, and developing the abandoned warehouse behind Victoria Square played in her mind.

  As though reading her thoughts, Seth Landers said, “If the Merchants Association partnership is planning to buy that old warehouse, they need to make an offer. I got word yesterday afternoon that a developer from Rochester has been looking at the property.”

  Smiling, Katie said, “I was just sitting here counting my candies and deciding how I’d renovate that place if this was real money.”

  Seth grinned. “I could tell.”

  “I’ll get in touch with the Victoria Square partners,” she promised.

  It was funny how well the lawyer-turned-pseudo-big-brother knew her. She was glad Seth’s partner, Jamie Seifert, had been able to attend that night’s poker game. Even though the couple had been together for over a year, she hadn’t had the opportunity to get to know Jamie as well as she would have liked.

  Knowing Nick and Don had played poker professionally, it was obvious Jamie had studied their techniques. At last, he finally voiced it. “Guys, I’ve been watching you all evening, soaking up your poker moves.”

  “Do we have moves?” Don asked.

  “It was my moves that first attracted you to me,” Nick quipped.

  “Not those kinds of moves,” Jamie chided. “Katie, how long have you been playing with these guys?”

  “About six months.”

  “You’ve obviously picked up more than a few of their techniques.”

  “I’ll say,” Nick said, nodding toward the pile of candy that sat before her. “I won’t be getting fat on peanut M&Ms, that’s for sure.”

  Jamie let out a breath. “Wouldn’t it be awesome to win a pot like that in a real poker game in a place like Vegas? Wow, what a rush!”

  Katie saw Nick and Don exchange glances, but they merely smiled.

  “If I won, I’d book the two of us a luxurious vacation,” Jamie told Seth.

  “Good luck with our being able to schedule any significant amount of time off together,” Seth said diffidently. With his busy law practice and Jamie’s job in the medical examiner’s office, they were lucky to spend an entire weekend together.

  “I want to do it. Soon. Don’t you?” Jamie persisted.

  Seth shrugged. “Sure, but—”

  Jamie’s eyes widened as he drew in another breath and grimaced, then suddenly stood. “I’ll be right back,” he said and hurried in the direction of the bathroom.

  Nick elbowed Seth in the ribs. “Way to go, Mr. Sensitive. Looks like you hurt his feelings.”

  Seth frowned. “No, I didn’t. At least, I don’t think I did. Jamie’s had an upset stomach all afternoon.” Then he shrugged. “But just in case, I’ll apologize when he gets back.”

  “Instead of apologizing, maybe you should ask him where he’d like to go.” Katie popped a butterscotch candy into her mouth. “I’d like to go to Barcelona one of these days. I hear it’s the perfect place for someone interested in art and architecture.”

  “I’d love to go to Fiji sometime,” Don said.

  Nick wagged his eyebrows. “Yeah, the tropics are great, but how about the Black Forest?”

  “What’s so special about the Black Forest?” Seth asked.

  Nick laughed. “Besides the cake? Kidding! Spas, vineyards, charming villages.”

  “What’s your dream vacation spot, Seth?” Nick asked.

  Seth ducked his head, the shadow of a smile gracing his lips. “Anywhere with Jamie would be heaven.”

  Katie felt a sappy smile settle across her features. Oh, how she wished someone would feel that way about her. The fact that her boyfriend of almost two years had betrayed her by sleeping with another woman did not make her eager to re-enter the dating world, and so she felt more comfortable in the presence of her gay friends who were in committed relationships than in the proximity of heterosexual men. She’d feel differently one day, but probably not any time soon.

  Looking around the table, Katie realized that—not for the first time—she was the only woman in the room. She enjoyed being “one of the guys,” but she’d like to get closer to some of her female acquaintances. She made a mental note to invite Moonbeam Carruthers, the newest member of the Victoria Square Merchants Association
, to lunch the next day.

  “What are we talking about?” Jamie asked as he returned to the table.

  “Where we want to go for a lovely respite,” Katie said. “What’s your number one place?”

  “I don’t know.” He looked at Seth. “Where would you want to go?”

  “I’d be happy at home if we could spend an entire week alone together.” Seth’s cheeks flushed, which surprised Katie because she didn’t think she’d ever seen the man blush before. “But Hawaii would be nice, too.”

  With Jamie’s return, their collective attention turned back to the game. Those still playing showed their cards. “Gentlemen, read 'em and weep,” Katie said. As she’d anticipated, Katie won the round with a full house—three queens and a pair of tens.

  With considerable grumbling, the others tossed their cards to the middle of the table while Katie dragged her confectionery booty toward her.

  “Lady Luck is sure on your side tonight,” Nick muttered.

  Katie pointed to one of her cards. “Well, the Eagles told us the queen of hearts was our best bet,” she said and smirked.

  As Seth shuffled the cards for the next round, Nick casually said, “Don and I have been discussing fostering a child.”

  Don frowned and rested a hand on Nick’s forearm. “Not now. Please.”

  Nick held Don’s gaze, and Katie could tell a tense, silent conversation was transpiring between them. It was time to change the subject.

  “So, have you all met Rose’s new guy yet?” she asked.

  Seth seemed delighted to hop onto a lighter subject, while Jamie jumped up to return to the bathroom. With the situation defused, the players resumed their game.

  It was nearly one a.m. when Seth and Jamie dropped Katie off in front of Tealicious and waited for her to climb the stairs to her apartment. She’d assured them she could walk across Victoria Square to her home above her tea shop, but she was secretly glad Seth had insisted on driving her once she’d realized how late it was. Okay, she’d felt just a little vulnerable during the preceding weeks. Why…she wasn’t quite sure. Screw that. She knew exactly why she felt on edge—thank you, Andy Rust, for being a cad—she just felt she should feel more empowered. That she didn’t brought up a lot of negativity within her.

  Upon opening the door and waving goodbye to Seth and Jamie, she was greeted by Mason, her black-and-white cat. Della, her tabby, tail swishing, was too aggravated with her for coming home so late to bother rising up off the love seat.

  The studio apartment was small enough so that Katie could see every wall from the front door, with the exception of the bathroom. She loved it, though. It was cozy and beautifully decorated, and in a very short time, it had become home.

  Katie used her smartphone to fire off an email to the Merchants Association partnership informing them that they needed to make a decision soon if they intended to buy the abandoned warehouse behind Victoria Square. She included a poll about meeting times to see what worked best for the majority. She told them the meeting would be held at Tealicious. That was one good thing about owning a tea shop—she no longer had to scramble around to find a venue for impromptu meetings.

  She had an email from Vance, her assistant manager at Artisans Alley, the anchor business that was the glue that held the whole Victoria Square shopping district together, and which she owned. Vance had rented an upstairs booth to a vendor who specialized in metal sculptures. Despite her misgivings about leasing the space to someone whose sculptures could put hundreds of pounds of pressure on a floor that was beginning to need attention, she responded with a congratulatory note. She wanted Vance to feel as though she trusted his decisions. In his brief role as assistant manager, he’d already made some decisions she’d questioned. She’d even taken the vendors’ sides over Vance’s on more than one occasion. Now she felt it imperative that she show him that she believed in him. Still, that much weight on aging floorboards? Hopefully, Vance had considered that and felt it wouldn’t be a problem.

  After slipping into her pajamas, Katie climbed into bed. Mason snuggled up on her right side and, deciding she wasn’t so angry after all, Della cuddled up on Katie’s left. She knew she’d regret staying up so late when her alarm rang the next morning, but despite feeling exhausted, she couldn’t easily fall asleep.

  For one thing, she dreaded hearing from Andy. He’d been her boyfriend for just about two years. Recently—very recently—their relationship had fallen apart. And, yet, they were both still not only members of the Victoria Square Merchants Association, but also members of the partnership some of the merchants had formed to buy property on and around the Square. Facing Andy at the meetings wouldn’t be easy. But Katie was a professional—she could handle it.

  She wondered if she should get back up and take some melatonin. As it was, she needed to get up earlier than usual to power walk an extra lap or two around the Square to work off all the candy she’d eaten that evening at Sassy Sally’s. Her last conscious thought was that if she didn’t doze off within the next five minutes, she’d take the melatonin.

  The apartment was filled with light and Katie realized she must have slept through her alarm for it was after nine—two hours later than she’d planned to get up. After feeding the cats, she headed out for her daily exercise.

  After three circuits walking the Square, Katie took a shower before heading toward The Flower Child to see Moonbeam Carruthers.

  The Flower Child was an eclectic shop—fellow Square merchant Nona Fiske called it “that hippy place”—where Moonbeam sold not only bouquets of cut flowers and potted plants, but crystals, stones, tea blends, soaps, and candles. She also read tarot cards and did reiki massage. A bell above the door tinkled when Katie entered the shop. Two young women stood in front of the display case where the crystals were kept, and a man with a quizzical expression inspected the tea blends.

  “I’ll be with you in a second!” Moonbeam called.

  As she waited, Katie wandered around the shop sampling the scents of the new candles on display.

  Once she’d rung up her customers’ purchases, Moonbeam apologized to Katie. “Sorry about that. It’s always crazy in here on Saturday mornings.”

  Katie smiled. “That’s certainly nothing to be sorry about, and I didn’t mind waiting. I’m here to invite you to lunch.”

  Moonbeam’s face fell. “Is it Nona Fiske? Has she been badmouthing my shop again?”

  “No, of course not. I just thought it would be nice to sit and have a chat. That is if you feel comfortable closing your shop for an hour.”

  “That sounds great. When?” Moonbeam waved as a dowdy woman in a polyester top and pants entered the shop.

  “Hi. I’m here for my tarot reading,” the customer said.

  “I’ll be right with you.” Moonbeam nodded at Katie, indicating she was awaiting her answer.

  “What time would be convenient for you?” Katie asked.

  “Noon. Where would you like to meet?”

  Katie suggested Tealicious, and Moonbeam said she’d meet her there.

  As Katie walked to Artisans Alley, she hoped it wouldn’t rain that day. Although it was a beautiful sunny morning, the sky was beginning to darken to the west. A storm was definitely brewing.

  Chapter 2

  Katie entered Tealicious at a few minutes past noon, surprised to see Jamie at a table in a back corner. He must have gotten over his upset stomach, otherwise, he wouldn’t be out to lunch. Since he was seated at a table with a well-dressed, dark-haired woman with whom he was deep in conversation, she didn’t go over to say hello. Instead, she sat at an empty table near the door and waited for Moonbeam, hoping she’d make it before the heavens opened up. A rumble of thunder rattled the windows. It sounded as though the storm was going to be a bad one.

  Katie threw a look over her shoulder. Jamie and the woman leaned in over the table, as though speaking quietly so that they wouldn’t be overheard.

  Weird.

  Soon, Moonbeam came through the doo
r in a flurry of color. She’d thrown a purple, yellow, orange, and blue poncho on over her jeans and sweater, and carried a red umbrella.

  “That’s a beautiful poncho,” Katie said, after waving Moonbeam over.

  “Thank you. I got it in Peru.” She took the seat across from Katie. “So, what’s new?”

  “You know that eyesore of an abandoned warehouse behind the Square?” Katie asked. “Hopefully, it won’t be an eyesore for much longer.”

  “It doesn’t bother me. I burned sage in there just before the owner replaced the broken lock on the main door. I’m certain any negative energy there has been banished.”

  Katie knew Moonbeam was referencing the fact that someone had been murdered inside the warehouse just a few weeks before. All the more reason to give the place a makeover and turn it into something productive.

  After explaining to Moonbeam that either a developer or some of the merchants might be buying the warehouse, Katie asked, “Would I sound like a crazy person if I said I thought the building deserved some happiness?”

  Laughing, Moonbeam said, “Of course not. But, then, you’re asking me—Victoria Square’s resident bohemian.”

  Katie joined in her laughter and then said, “I’m glad everyone got the opportunity to get to know you during the Harvest Festival.”

  “Me, too. Even Nona peeped her head into the shop one day.” She spread her hands. “She ran back out almost immediately, but it was a start.”

  “That’s right. We women entrepreneurs have to stick together.”

  Before Katie could continue, the waitress arrived and took their orders.

  “Have you read Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes?” Moonbeam asked. “It’s an excellent book.”

  “I haven’t, but—” Katie broke off upon seeing Jamie stumbling toward the door. What is he doing? “Excuse me, Moonbeam.” She stood. “Jamie?”