by Ginny Gold
Ibis remained well behaved throughout the whole evening and Kori was relieved. She didn’t want to leave early, as she was thoroughly enjoying herself. It could have been thanks to the spiked eggnog, but she thought the cheer in the room also had something to do with it.
After nine, Kori and Ibis finally made their way outside into lightly falling snow. She looked at her phone and saw that Zach was finished with work and wanted to spend the night. After the epic morning they’d shared, she didn’t think it’d be right to turn him down. She happily told him to meet her at the café and she drove home.
Zach’s car wasn’t there when she arrived so she left the door unlocked and headed upstairs. She fed Ibis, who hadn’t complained once all evening about her late meal, and put her cookies away. She pulled a bottle of wine down from a cupboard and opened it so it could breathe before Zach arrived. She wanted to finally celebrate their engagement, and with no work tomorrow, she was excited about a late night.
Kori put the bottle of wine on the counter and stopped dead in her tracks, almost dropping the two wine glasses from her other hand.
CHAPTER 16
Kori knew she hadn’t kept a dozen gingerbread men, so where did these come from? Each cookie had been broken in two, the head severed from the body, and left artfully on a plate. It was a gingerbread man graveyard.
When she heard the door open from the café, she jumped. She was still standing in the kitchen, staring at the plate when Zach came in and found her.
“I locked the café door. I thought I could spend—” He cut himself off mid sentence and Kori finally looked up. “What’s wrong?”
Kori found her voice faster than she thought she would. “I came home from the cookie exchange and found these.” She tilted the plate of damaged gingerbread men in his direction.
Zach came closer and placed a bottle of champagne on the counter. Champagne! Kori chastised herself for only having wine.
“Are these your cookies?” he asked calmly, still not comprehending what he was looking at. “You always tell me that if it’s broken it doesn’t count. For calories,” he added when Kori didn’t react.
Kori shook her head. “No. I only kept two of my own gingerbread men. I don’t know where these came from.”
“Why are they all broken?” Zach picked up a head and inspected it, sniffed it.
“I don’t know. I just found them like this. It wasn’t like there was a note explaining it.” Kori’s voice was harsher than she meant for it to be but Zach didn’t seem to notice.
“Kori, have you been talking to anyone about Donnie’s murder?” His voice had a warning edge to it. This wasn’t the first time he’d warned her to keep her distance from a murder investigation and then received a cryptic threatening message.
Kori carefully placed the two wine glasses she was still holding on the counter. “Maybe,” she said quietly, looking up to meet Zach’s eyes. “But only Addie Winter and Cecilia Blake. Do you think one of them could have done this? How did they get into my house?”
Zach shook his head and looked down at the cookies. “I don’t know. But I’ll have to take these in to test them.”
“You think they’re poisoned?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can it wait? We should enjoy Christmas Eve together.” Kori turned around to get two champagne glasses and was relieved to see that Zach hadn’t made a move to leave.
“It can wait. But I’m not going to be okay leaving you alone. When’s the next time the café is open?”
“Not until Monday. A whole weekend off. I can’t even remember the last time that happened.” Kori smiled and tried to lighten the mood but could tell she was failing. Zach was disappointed she hadn’t listened to his warning to stay away from Donnie’s murder and now he was worried about her safety. “Champagne?” she asked him, holding up the bottle.
Zach started to relax and took the bottle from her, untwisting the top and gingerly removing the cork. He poured two glasses and they each held one up. “To our future,” he said.
Kori looked at her ring and smiled. “To us.” They each drank and then Kori asked, “How did you know my ring size? And pick out something I love so much?”
Zach smiled knowingly and winked. “I know you better than you think.”
***
“Merry Christmas,” Zach whispered the next morning as Kori slowly woke up. After the bottle of champagne and the bottle of wine, she’d slept terribly and finally after two in the morning had fallen into a deep sleep.
She rolled over and smiled. “Merry Christmas. What time is it?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Kori knew it was later than her usual wake up at four because light was coming in through the windows. “I have to take Ibis out.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Zach got up and Kori could hear Ibis’ toenails trailing him to the top of the stairs. She leaned back into her pillow and closed her eyes, enjoying the knowledge that Ibis would become a shared responsibility soon.
Kori tried to clear the fog from her mind and remember every minute detail from last night—her first Christmas Eve with her fiancé. It still felt weird thinking of Zach that way.
Kori must have drifted off while Zach was outside with Ibis because suddenly she felt him slip back into bed. “I thought I’d make you breakfast so you don’t have to think about food today. What can I make you?”
“Mmm. Anything with bacon. There’s some in the fridge.”
Zach planted a kiss on her cheek. “You got it.”
She felt him leave the bed again and decided she didn’t want to stay there alone. It was colder when she was the only one in the bed. She wanted to spend the whole day with him so she got up and joined him in the kitchen. “Pumpkin latte to go with the bacon and whatever else you’re making?” she asked. He nodded and Kori started pulling things out of cupboards. She didn’t want to go downstairs to the café so she’d have to improvise. She didn’t have as many gadgets in her apartment.
Kori suddenly noticed that the gingerbread men from last night had been moved. She searched for them and found them in a Ziploc bag near the door on a small table. “Should you check for fingerprints?” Kori asked.
“I did last night. Don’t worry.”
Kori was surprised. “When?”
“After you were three glasses of alcohol in.” The both laughed.
“Well, I’m glad you kept your head about you. Clearly I didn’t know what was going on.”
Zach turned back to the stove and flipped the bacon. He turned on another burner and brought out some eggs. “I want to bring them to the station this morning. Just so they’re there. I won’t analyze them, don’t worry.”
Kori wondered if he’d tell her more about the case now that she was inadvertently in the middle of it. “Whose do you think they are? Analyzing them wouldn’t be such a bad idea. At least we’d have an answer about who broke in.”
Zach didn’t turn around but Kori noticed his shoulders tense up. There was a long pause before answering and Kori thought he was going to ignore her so she continued working on the lattes. Finally he said, “Honestly, I think they’re Chip Gordon’s.”
CHAPTER 17
Chip Gordon? Kori had thought about him plenty since Donnie’s death, but she hadn’t actually been able to talk to him yet. Had she missed a huge lead, another suspect? She’d been so caught up in Cecilia, the DeLeons and Thomas that she hadn’t made time to talk to Chip.
“What makes you think he was here? I’ve never even talked to him before,” Kori said, her worry about her own safety growing.
Zach paused again before answering. He put the bacon on a plate with a paper towel to absorb some of the grease and Kori finished the lattes, taking a sip of her own. It wasn’t quite as good as if she’d gone downstairs to make them, but they would do.
“He’s our main suspect.”
Whoa. Kori had missed a huge lead if the police were following Chip and she didn’t even know what he
looked like.
“Why? What about the gun? It was Thomas Worth’s.”
Zach nodded and turned around. “Have you met him?”
Kori nodded. “Well, not really. But I know he’s in a wheelchair. And Cecilia Blake works for him.”
“So you know Thomas couldn’t have killed Donnie then.”
“I mean . . . he could still shoot,” Kori defended, though she wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to be proven wrong so quickly.
“But he couldn’t have driven the truck away. And when we searched the truck, Chip’s fingerprints were all over it. His and Donnie’s.”
Kori nodded. “What if they switched trucks sometimes and he hadn’t even touched it that day?”
“It’s possible.” Kori could tell there was something else going on and she wasn’t sure Zach was going to tell her. “But he was also working with Donnie with the drug running according to Addie. Our working theory is that things went bad with the side business, so to speak, and Chip had to get rid of Donnie.”
Kori considered this. She hadn’t pursued the drug lead at all. Maybe she should have stayed out of this since it now looked like she was in danger. “But if Chip is guilty, how would he know that I was even looking into any of this? I don’t know him and didn’t know he was even involved.”
Zach turned back to the stove and cracked eggs into the hot pan. “I’ll get the results of the fingerprinting and see if my theory holds. But for now, sit down and eat the breakfast I made for you.”
Kori smiled at his mock bossiness and did as she was told, sipping her latte. Her stomach rumbled as the smells of eggs and bacon mingled together. When the steaming plate of food was in front of her, her mouth watered. Zach sat next to her with his own plate of food and took the first sip of his latte.
“Mmm. This is good.”
“Thanks.” She picked up her fork and piled it high with eggs, then used her fingers to pick up a piece of bacon. “So is this,” she said through the food in her mouth.
“It’s easy to do when there’s bacon.”
They shared a leisurely breakfast, with Ibis enjoying a few treats, and then headed to the police station with the collected evidence in tow. Zach didn’t want to leave Kori alone after her house had been broken into, and they were heading to Gale and Lucas’ right after.
Kori followed Zach into the station, keeping Ibis on a short leash. As much as she didn’t really want to go inside, she didn’t want to stay alone in the car even more.
“This will be quick. I wasn’t going to run the prints today but I really want to know who was in your house. Give me a few minutes,” Zach said before closing the lab door behind him.
“I guess it’s just you and me, Ibis.” Kori sat in a chair in the hall and Ibis happily lay down at her feet. Kori unconsciously stroked her head, relaxing herself as she thought about everything that had happened since Wednesday.
She mentally scrolled through all of the information she had once again, hoping to find some tidbit of a clue that she’d overlooked. Chip was looking guilty, given the presence of his fingerprints in Donnie’s truck and their drug smuggling scheme. But how would he have gotten Thomas’ gun? Was there a connection there?
Victoria and Jordan DeLeon had motive, but Kori thought Victoria would have gone after her cheating husband instead of his illegitimate son. Maybe Jordan had taken Donnie out because he’d gotten greedy after Jordan paid him off to keep quiet. But again, did they know Thomas to get the gun?
Cecilia Blake certainly had access to Thomas’ house. And she had a motive. Could she be the killer? Zach hadn’t talked about her at all.
Kori felt like she needed more information from Zach to help him track down the killer before she was put into even more danger. Would he be willing to share that with her?
“All set,” Zach said, coming quickly into the hall.
Kori looked up at him, waiting for him to tell her about the fingerprints and who had been in her house, but he didn’t offer anything. So she asked, “Whose were they?”
Zach shook his head. “I don’t know. Not Chip’s.”
CHAPTER 18
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Kori asked, getting up and walking quickly behind him back out to his car.
“They weren’t a match for anyone we have in the system. So they weren’t Chip’s,” Zach explained without turning around.
Kori was disappointed. She wanted this whole thing to be over. “Were Chip’s fingerprints on the gun?” she asked.
“Yes, but not in the places we’d expect. It was more like someone had wiped it clean and then planted his prints. That’s why we haven’t arrested him. It’s the biggest hole in the case.”
They reached the car and all three of them got inside. Zach started it and turned up the heat, then headed to Kori’s mother’s house.
That wasn’t really where Kori wanted to be going but it was Christmas after all and she did love spending it with her family. She would just rather figure out who broke into her house and who killed Donnie. And find out if those were the same people.
When they arrived, Gale came outside, arms outstretched, and embraced Zach and Kori at the same time. “I’m so happy you’re engaged! I can’t wait for the wedding. I just love weddings,” Gale crooned, then turned around and led them inside, still rambling about her happiness.
Inside, Kori greeted Lucas with a hug. “Merry Christmas.”
He returned the sentiment and then took a seat in the living room where Jay was already enjoying eggnog.
“Merry Christmas, big brother,” Kori called and waved, then headed to the kitchen for eggnog of her own.
“Merry Christmas, little sister,” he called back. She heard him fall into easy conversation with Lucas.
When they were all sitting together, Gale asked, “So, is this Donnie investigation all closed up now?”
“Mom, it’s Christmas,” Jay scolded her. “Zach doesn’t want to talk about work.”
Zach chuckled. “You’re right, I don’t. But no, it’s not closed yet.”
“Well, I was telling Kori that Victoria DeLeon might be guilty. Have you looked into her story yet?”
Zach chuckled again, trying to keep the conversation light and end this line of questioning. Kori came to his rescue. “Mom, Zach is doing everything he can to find out who did this.”
“I know, I know. I just can’t imagine what you must be going through, having found the body—”
Kori quickly interrupted her, not wanting to relive that morning again. “Well, isn’t this the perfect Christmas. Cheers to family,” she said, raising her glass of eggnog and wishing she’d put in some rum even though it was still before noon.
“To family,” Gale chorused back. “You won’t believe what Lucas got me.” Her voice rose with excitement. Everyone looked over at her expectantly since she never waited for anyone to guess. “We’re going to Paris next month! He had the tickets before we were even married last month. Isn’t he the best?”
Everyone murmured their agreement that he was indeed the best and smiled at their happiness.
Christmas lunch at Gale’s was always a glazed ham and Kori helped Gale with all of the preparations and sides while the men chatted in the living room into the early afternoon. In the kitchen, Kori was trapped and couldn’t escape her mother’s questioning.
“I know you said Zach’s doing everything he can, but what about you? Are you trying to find Donnie’s killer too?” her mother asked Kori.
She was slow to respond. “Sort of. I’m trying to stay on the fringes because Zach is really worried about what else might have been going on. But I wasn’t able to talk to Victoria.”
“Well, with the holiday, it’s gotta be hard to track people down. Do you think the killer might have fled? This would be the perfect cover—Christmas out of town.”
Kori hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know. As of yesterday it seemed all of the suspects were still around.”
Gale raised an eyebrow.
“It looks like maybe you won’t be the one to catch this killer. You’re too distracted with Zach’s proposal.”
“Hey, as long as he’s caught, I don’t care who catches him. Or her,” Kori added quickly. She decided it was finally time to talk to Chip, if only she could get to him without Zach knowing about it.
***
By late afternoon, with everyone still sitting around the table enjoying each others’ company and too full from the meal to move, Kori knew there was no chance she was going to be able to talk to Chip today. She decided to let it be and enjoy the rest of the evening.
Growing up, the Cooke family always spent Christmas Eve driving around Hermit Cove looking at the holiday decorations. Once they’d grown up, and Kori had left the small town for training in New York City, the tradition had died. But Kori thought it was worth bringing back, with the slight modification of driving around on Christmas night since they’d spent Christmas Eve at the town’s cookie exchange.
“Anyone up for a drive around Hermit Cove?” Kori asked as it started to get dark outside.
“You know, I was thinking the same thing,” Gale said, getting up and grabbing her keys. “I’m not sure we’ll all fit too comfortably in one car, though.”
“We’re all family, we can squeeze,” Zach offered, pulling Kori to his side.
Jay and Lucas didn’t offer opinions but joined everyone in putting their winter layers on. “I’ll go warm up the car,” Gale said and headed out.
Ibis got excited about an adventure somewhere but Kori had to kill her dreams. “Sorry, I don’t think we have room for a sixth body in Mom’s car,” she said, patting her dog. “I’ll take you out when we get back.”
Once they were all in the car, Kori squeezed in the back between Jay and Zach, and everyone warmed up quickly. “Where to?” Gale asked.
“What about the loop we used to do as kids?” Kori suggested.
“All the way out to Red Clover Farm? Okay, whatever you want. You guys have enough room back there?” Gale put the car in reverse and slowly made her way out onto the road. Zach, Kori and Jay assured her that they were fine.