A Ghostly Affair: A cozy mystery series (Death by Chocolate Book 3)

by Pat Amsden

“I’m not a child,” Maxine said with a touch of exasperation. “I deal with people all the time. From all walks of life,” she said as Patrick started to say something. “And you don’t have to tell me these people are dangerous. I read everything I could find about them on the internet. I know they’ve had members go to jail for doing things which have seriously hurt and killed people.”

  “If you know all that, why are you getting involved,” Patrick said roughly.

  “I’m not! I’m going to a lunch to learn more about them,” she said in answer to Patrick’s look of disbelief. “That’s because I want to find out what Travis is doing with them.”

  “I wouldn’t mind knowing the answer to that myself,” he said with irritation. “Wait a minute. How do you know he’s involved?”

  “I dropped by Field and Streams, the organization Travis volunteered with in school – until he decided they weren’t doing enough.”

  “And joined up with Environment First?” Patrick said in disbelief.

  The lady in the office figures they’ve got someone in their organization who tipped them off when Travis became disillusioned. To quote her if she figures out who it is, she’ll personally butt kick them out the door.”

  He gave a deep sigh. “Makes a lot of sense. It’s the type of organization kids get involved in before turning to an organization like Environment First.”

  “You make it sound like a gate way drug to environmentalism.”

  He grinned. “That’s actually a pretty accurate comparison. Nobody starts off deciding to be an environmental terrorist. But somewhere along the line they decide more peaceful means aren’t doing enough. If someone from a group like Environment First gets them then -,” he shrugged his shoulders.

  She shook her head. “I can’t see Travis being involved. He’s a nice kid.”

  “And idealistic,” Patrick said grimly.

  Maxine shivered slightly.

  They pulled into the parking lot of the Five Mile. A Tudor style building only the sign proclaiming it to be the Five Mile Pub indicated it was a pub. They entered into a room that had a good half dozen people at the bar with several TV screens set on the latest soccer game as well as several tables of people talking and eating.

  “We’re meeting up with some friends from Environment First,” Patrick said leaning over the bar to make himself heard.

  “To the back and right into the ‘library,’ the bar keeper said with a grin. “There’s a few people there already.”

  They made their way back into a small room that had book cases covering one wall and lace tablecloths on all the tables. Several of these had been joined together to form one large table.

  There were six other people there including an older gentleman who looked like a favorite uncle, not an eco-terrorist. But then again what did an eco-terrorist look like? Still she was five foot seven and he hardly towered over her. Five foot seven, eight or nine to her untrained eyes and he was hardly in tip top shape. Not that he was fat, she thought critically, but definitely well-padded. He came towards them now.

  “So you’re Maxine Peters and this is your guest-,”

  “Ric, Ric Walker,” Patrick said stepping forward and introducing himself. “When Maxine told me she was meeting with you I realized it was a golden opportunity for me as well.”

  “Ah, so you might be interested in donating as well? I’m glad you came.” He guided them gently over to a couple of places at the table. “I think you’ll be very happy to hear of our good work. For right now I’ll introduce you to Clare Rivers and her husband Don. A pleasure to meet you,” he said leaving before he’d introduced himself. She suspected that might not be a coincidence.

  She smiled at Clare and her husband now. “This seems a strange place to host such a meeting.”

  Clare shrugged. “Environment First doesn’t like to waste money on expensive dinners and lunch. One of our members knows someone who works here so this seems the best way.”

  “A friend told me they do good work but I don’t remember hearing much about them.”

  “And you won’t. Environment First doesn’t like to draw attention to itself. We work behind the scenes if at all possible.”

  “Often with other environmental groups,” Don chimed in.

  Within minutes they’d met the people sitting with them. “We still have a couple of ‘sponsors,’ we’re expecting Clare said. One of them is supposed to be the richest man in BC.” The last was said in a whisper. “We’re not supposed to know that though.”

  It was more of a surprise when he appeared though and she recognized Ethan Kelly of AZK developments. Huh…what was he doing here? And she knew he was supposed to be rich, but the richest man in BC? She did her best to blend in with the woodwork, or maybe the tablecloth. He probably wouldn’t recognize her anyways and if he did so what? She hadn’t lied.

  Fortunately now that he’d arrived the presentation got underway. There was much talk of the work they’d done and continued to do to stop the pipeline as well as oil tankers travelling their pristine waters. She knew proponents claimed it was safe as safe could be. But in her mind she only saw images of birds and other wildlife covered in oil during the Gulf of Mexico fiasco to say nothing of shorelines covered in thick black oil.

  “We know Prince William Sound in Alaska is still suffering the effects of the Exon Valdez spill from decades ago,” their host said now. “And we’re doing everything we can to stop this happening anywhere in BC!” He leaned forward pounding the table in his passion.

  “We’re working with local environmental groups, groups such as the Eagle First Nations who are as passionate about this as we are.”

  Maxine shuddered at the thought. By the end Maxine was ready to donate except that her bank account wasn’t as fat as she’d led them to believe.

  Patrick, aka Ric Walker, surprised her by writing a check on the spot for $5000.00. She threw him a look of surprise. “But darling, I thought we’d agreed to stop impulse spending.”

  “And we have sweetheart, we have. But this is for the environment, not some new fancy car or a piece of jewelry.”

  “My sentiments exactly,” their host said, shaking his hand enthusiastically. “Perhaps we could arrange another get together in a few days when you’ve had more time to think about it?”

  “An excellent idea,” Ric said seriously.

  Back in the jeep she turned to him. “What was that about? And why were you using a different name? And five thousand dollars? You don’t have that kind of money to throw around.”

  He gave her an enigmatic grin. “There’s more going on here than you know. If you can, keep out of it OK? I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  He leaned over giving her a long, passionate kiss that made her heart race and her body melt. She didn’t want him to stop but as he pulled away his attitude changed.

  “That should satisfy anyone watching,” he said and put the jeep in gear. She wanted to smack him.

  “How are you involved in this,” she asked instead. “I only asked you to be my guest an hour ago.”

  But he only shook his head and pretended to zip his mouth shut while pointing to cute little bug she’d placed in the jeep herself one day for his nephew.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Maxine arrived back at Au Chocolate to find Heath doing a major repair on a Halloween cake that was going to be the centerpiece of a United Way Fundraiser.

  “We hit the edge of the cake taking it out of the shop and into the van. I figured it was faster to bring it back up and fix it here.”

  She looked at it in dismay. “How?”

  “I’ve figured out a way. It’s supposed to be a globe cake which it still is except that one part of it is crumpled in. Fortunately we’ve got a back-up cake so we’ll take out one piece and replace it with the other. Most of the damage is over the ocean so redoing the decorating for that’s easy.”

  “You’re going to stack layers and then cut it so it’s circular?”

  “Ah, ye
a of little faith. Since we had a moon cake, and an earth cake that were both big event cakes, as well as other cakes that take some engineering I decided it would be smart to have an extra round cake. So it’s not that hard to fix. And I’ve got a couple of graves that I can use the cake ‘crumbs’ and other bits for.”

  She shivered slightly. “All this talk of graves is a little morbid isn’t it?”

  “Good clean fun,” he said enthusiastically. “How’d the lunch go?”

  “It added another layer of confusion,” she said irritated. “I think I’ll go talk to Karin, woman to woman. Travis is in over his head with this group.”

  “My car’s in the shop. If you can give me a ride that saves me busing it,” Heather called out.

  “I hope you haven’t been doing that all week?”

  “Just today,” Heather said. “And they offered me a loaner. I figured it wasn’t worth the bother for one day.”

  “I’m happy to have someone with me tonight so you’ll be doing me a favor. Let’s see? Everyone likes black and whites and I’ve got some brownies, oh – and chocolate caramel! That should do it,” she said arranging them with practiced speed on a tray and wrapping them carefully.

  “I called ahead and left a message on her voice mail saying I was dropping something off and wanted to talk to her for a minute. Hopefully she’ll be there.”

  “Did you tell Patrick their home was ground zero for all the missing dogs?”

  “I got sidetracked,” she admitted. Had she ever! That kiss had been a scorcher. And then he’d acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened while signing they’d been bugged. Lunch had turned into something out of a spy novel.

  A little thrill went through her. A spy? She’d grown up watching reruns of the Avengers with Dianna Riggs along with Charlie’s Angels, Uma Thurman in Kill Bill and Angelina Jolie in the Tomb Raider. Of course, by now, they’d have probably solved the mystery. And black leather or pleather poured over her wasn’t a practical look for the kitchen.

  “Jillian’s dog, just up the street from me has disappeared. I asked her about it and she went all close-mouthed and silent on me. I’d love to have some time to explore their house,” Heather said.

  “It might take more than a plate of cookies to get them away from the house long enough to search it.”

  “Mm,” Heather said, “too bad we couldn’t drug the cookies.”

  She looked at Heather in shock. “You want to drug them?”

  “Not anything that would cause lasting harm. Just something that would give us half an hour, an hour tops.”

  “Well, unless you have knock-out drops on you that’s not going to happen. And if you do I don’t want to know about it,” she said hastily pulling into the Dent’s driveway.

  She was beginning to think Karin wasn’t home when the door opened. “Hello. I got your message but I’m not sure what you’re dropping off.” She appeared nervous and less sure of herself than usual.

  Maxine entered with Heather following closely behind. “I wanted to thank you for your help the other day and give you a tray of cookies as thanks.”

  “That’s really not necessary,” Karin said.

  “And I wanted to talk to you about Travis.”

  “Travis? Why?” She sat down abruptly motioning for them do the same.

  “I’ve heard he’s involved with an environmental group,” she said carefully.

  “Field and Streams,” Karin said. “They do good work.”

  “Yes,” Maxine said slowly. “Except he wasn’t happy with the work they were doing. He wanted to have more impact.”

  “I still don’t see the trouble,” Karin said, her words short and clipped.

  “He’s joined a group called Environment First,” Maxine said softly.”

  “So?” Karin said but she was visibly shaken.

  “Karin, they’re a lot different than Field and Streams. You should know that.”

  “Why? Why would I know that?” she snapped. She jumped off the stool she’d been sitting on, pacing the kitchen nervously, face visibly pale beneath her make-up.

  “Karin, you were a member of Environment First,” Maxine said softly.

  “So, this is my fault? You think I got him involved in Environment First?”

  “I never said that.” Maxine paused not sure to phrase her response. “But you know I’ve been looking into all the missing pets-”

  “What has that got to do with Environment First,” Karin said shrilly.

  “I don’t know,” Maxine said. “I just know when we started researching Environment First came up. And Travis seems to be involved with them somehow. If he were my son I’d want to know.”

  “OK. Thank you. I appreciate it, I really do. But I’m not sure what you expect me to do about it.”

  Maxine slipped off her stool. “Just talk to him Karin. That’s all.”

  “Fine. I’ll talk to him,” she said, arms crossed in front of him. “Now if you don’t mind I’m very busy tonight. I don’t want to be rude but-“

  “We were just leaving,” Maxine said. From somewhere she could hear dogs barking. It was a coincidence she told herself

  Heather asked, “do you have a dog?”

  “No,” Karin said, clearly annoyed.

  “Because if you did you’d realize how important these dogs are to their families. For some pet owners they are the only family they have-“

  “That’s enough Heather,” Maxine said sharply as they reached the door. “I’m sure Karin would tell us if she knew anything.”

  “Well, I’m not so sure,” Heather said as she buckled up.

  “Neither am I,” Maxine admitted. “But I do know she wasn’t going to tell us anything more if we stayed.”

  “Drive around the block,” Heather said.

  What she expected to find Maxine had no idea but she drove around. The house behind the Dents looked deserted. It wasn’t because piles of newspapers were piling up or mail coming out of the mailbox, but it didn’t look lived in.

  Heather pulled out her tablet and pulled up her map. “Bingo! Ground zero for missing pets in Oak Bay.”

  “Which means nothing unless we can figure out how Travis is involved and what that has to do with Environment First.”

  “I guess not,” Heather said. But she didn’t seem so convinced. Maxine started to say something and then stopped herself. She knew that Heather was just itching to explore the house and not so long ago she’d have been just as eager. But she’d learned to be more cautious.

  “I’m going to go home and soak in a hot bath tonight,” Maxine said firmly. “I suggest you do the same. We’re going to be busy tomorrow.”

  Tired though she was, it was hard to stop thinking about everything that had happened that day. Tanya, she noted, looked better. Grandma Ellie just smiled when she asked how their day had been. Maxine gave her a quick hug.

  “It was busy today. I’m going to have a quick bath and then I think there’s some chicken I can make for dinner. I thought we could watch movies tonight.”

  The hot water and bubbles made Maxine feel human. She could feel muscles unknotting as she sank into the lime and coconut bubbles. Breathing it in she imagined herself on a hot tropical beach drinking a cool drink and being fanned by the cabana boy. She sighed and closed her eyes relaxing, to the point of falling asleep.

  She emerged to find dinner ready with Tanya and Grandma Ellie looking smug.

  “You didn’t have to make dinner.”

  “It was fun,” Tanya said. “It gave me something to do besides mope around. It’s my signature dish,” she said proudly.

  “You have a signature dish?” Maxine said in surprise.

  “It’s pretty much my only dish. But it’s good! Especially if you have wine with it.”

  “Are you sure you should be drinking wine?” she asked trying not to sound like a nag. But Tanya had been doing so well…Until Zak’s death had sent her over the edge.

  “Relax, I’m sticking to
sparkling water. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a glass of wine. I mean how long am I going to be able to go if no one can have a drink around me?”

  “I really don’t mind,” Maxine said.

  “Well I do. I refuse to be a wet blanket,” Tanya said. “And I found the perfect wine to go with my stir fry.” She brought out a bottle of white chardonnay.

  “I didn’t know I had any white wine,” Maxine said, surprised.

  “Because you didn’t. But I wanted to do something nice to thank you for saving me when I needed help.”

  “I didn’t do anything special,” Maxine protested. “I was just being a friend.”

  “And I wanted to let you know I appreciated it. Grandma Ellie helped me pick the wine.”

  She looked at Grandma Ellie in surprise.

  “We all have our weaknesses,” Grandma Ellie said. “I could easily go overboard on chocolate but I’ve learned to control myself.” She gave a wry smile.

  “I wouldn’t want to give it up entirely though.”

  “Well, no…” Maxine said. The wine was excellent, along with the stir fry. Luckily she had a chocolate mousse that made the perfect desert. By the time they were finished so was the wine.

  Maybe that’s why she told them about the house.

  “We need to check it out!” Tanya said as if this were the most logical thing in the world.

  “How are we going to get there? We’ve been drinking so we can’t drive.”

  “But I can,” Tanya said smugly.

  “I’ll bet Patrick would be happy to check it out for you,” Grandma Ellie said.

  “How many times do I have to tell you he’s busy. He’s working on a big case right now,” Maxine said with a sigh.

  “We could check it out. If there’s nothing there we won’t have wasted his time. If there is we can call him.”

  “Or 911,” Maxine said. “

  Grandma Ellie and Tanya looked at her. “What? He’s working undercover. He can’t just drop everything and come.”

  “Mm, I suppose you’re right,” Grandma Ellie said. “If we all stick together we should be fine. What could go wrong?”

  Maxine could think of a dozen things. “Are we getting out of the car?”