Sweet Hide and Seek (A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 9)

by J A Whiting

  Angie’s heart skipped a beat. “If he went to all that trouble to change who he is, then I bet what he’s hiding in his past is pretty darned bad.”

  Ellie took in a deep breath. “And I bet he thinks Cora knows what he’s hiding.”

  They all looked at each other with wide eyes and worried faces wondering what lengths Richard Connors might go to in order to keep his secret a secret.

  24

  Business in the bake shop had been busier that usual and Angie and Louisa were like blurs hurrying from one customer to another, and the young women removed batter from the refrigerator that Angie had made that morning and placed tins of muffins to bake in the two commercial ovens so that they wouldn’t run out.

  The day was overcast with heavy cloud cover and during a lull in the morning rush, Angie went out to the porch to add some long white birch branches to the two decorative pots that stood on each side of the bake shop door and she could feel the moisture in the air foretelling of a coming storm.

  “Here’s a sight for my sore eyes.” Josh Williams came up the steps to the porch with a huge smile on his face and wrapped his arms around Angie. “I’m headed up to Portsmouth for a meeting and decided to stop into the bake shop to fortify me for the drive.”

  “You need some black coffee and a muffin to take along?” Angie smiled up at her sweetheart.

  “No. I needed to see you.” Josh winked. “Last night was great. I need to improve my card-playing skills so that I can beat Rufus one of these days.”

  Angie chuckled as she held Josh’s hand and led him into the bake shop. “It might take you a lot of practice if that’s your goal.”

  “Did you hear the weather report? There’s a big snowstorm coming tonight. I need to get back from Portsmouth before it starts.”

  “Louisa told me that the prediction is for ten inches of snow.” Angie shook her head. “Maybe it will blow out to sea.”

  Josh took a seat on the stool at the counter while Angie prepared his take-out coffee and a box of pastries to take on his drive up the coast. When she set the cup in front of Josh and snapped on the lid, she leaned forward and spoke softly telling him what they thought about the possibility that Richard Connors had assumed an identity. “Jack is going to start researching it this morning.”

  Josh’s eyes clouded. “I don’t like this. This guy is probably dangerous. I wish Mrs. Connors wasn’t staying here at the B and B. I don’t want them bringing trouble to your home.”

  Angie leaned across the counter. “Chief Martin wanted to talk to Cora last evening, but she’d gone out. She hadn’t returned by the time we all went to bed, which was late. Ellie knocked on her door this morning and she didn’t answer. Either she didn’t return at all last night or she left the Victorian very early this morning. The chief wants us to call him as soon as Cora shows up.”

  “Maybe she isn’t coming back. Maybe she’s gone home?” Josh’s voice held a hopeful tone.

  Angie shook her head. “She hasn’t checked out. She didn’t leave the key.”

  Worry lines etched into Josh’s forehead as he looked into Angie’s eyes and reached for her hand. “Be careful.”

  Ellie stepped into the bake shop from the Victorian’s connecting kitchen. She greeted Josh and then turned to Angie. “Are you still going to the market when you close up for the day?”

  Angie nodded as she packed a box of homemade donuts for a customer. “Want me to pick up some things for you?”

  “Could you?” Ellie handed Angie a list of items. “I don’t want to run out of anything in case that storm hits.”

  Josh stood up and leaned forward to kiss Angie. “I’d better get going. If the snow starts early, I don’t want to be on the highway in the dark with cars sliding all around.”

  “Call me when you get back.” Angie smiled at the handsome man.

  The rest of the work day went by in a flash as Angie and Louisa waited on the regular lunch crowd and the tourists who stopped by on their way north for skiing or heading south to other seacoast towns or to the Boston area. Everyone’s chatter was focused on the coming storm and whether or not it might reach blizzard proportions.

  Ever sense Josh had left for his business trip, a sense of unease and apprehension flooded Angie’s body and she felt distracted and on edge as she went about the end of the day tasks in the bake shop.

  After locking up, she pulled her apron over her head as she walked into the Victorian’s kitchen. She wanted to shower and change before borrowing Jenna’s car and heading to the market. Angie smiled thinking about the chaos she would encounter in the grocery store as everyone flooded the place in a panic over the storm about to hit.

  Ellie was standing at the counter cutting up fruit to make a fruit salad for the guests.

  “Any sign of Cora?” Angie headed for the hallway.

  “Nothing. Where did that woman go?” Ellie grumped. “Jenna and Courtney went to Jenna’s house to do more painting and Mr. Finch is at the candy store. Are you coming right home after the market? I’ve been feeling odd ever since last night.”

  Angie eyed her sister.

  “I feel sort of nervous and on edge.” Ellie sliced several oranges into pieces.

  The two sisters made eye contact and sensations of worry jumped between them.

  “Have you heard anything from Jack,” Angie asked.

  “Not yet.”

  Angie gave Ellie a slight nod. “I’ll be back as soon as I get the groceries.” As she stepped into the hallway, she attempted a reassuring tone. “The cats are here with you.”

  Ellie glanced up to the top of the fridge where Euclid and Circe sat at attention. “Thank heavens,” she muttered. “Don’t leave me, you two.”

  Ellie stood in the dining room placing the carafes of tea and coffee on the buffet table when Cora, bundled in a bulky winter coat, walked into the room from the hallway startling Ellie and causing her to whirl around.

  “Oh, you’re back. I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “I just got back.” Cora brushed some snow flakes from her coat. “I parked at the end of the driveway and came in through the back door.”

  “Did you go home?” Ellie asked.

  Cora nodded. “I needed to get some things. It’s starting to snow already.”

  “Is it?” Ellie bent down to look out the window.

  “Not hard yet, just flurries.” Cora set her small suitcase on the floor. “I’m going to leave my bag here for a minute. I’ve got some other things I want to get from the car.”

  Ellie called after the woman. “Chief Martin would like to speak with you. He’d like you to give him a call.”

  Cora looked over her shoulder with an expression of apprehension on her face. “Okay.”

  Ellie headed back to the buffet table when the front doorbell rang and she went to open it. A tall man in a black winter coat and a woolen hat pulled over his hair stood on the porch. “Hello. I wondered if you have a room for the night. I’d like to get off the roads with the storm starting.”

  Ellie stepped back to let the man into the foyer and as she did, a wave of anxiety washed over with such force that she almost lost her balance. The man closed the front door after him and turned around to see Euclid and Circe standing in the foyer a few yards away, their backs arched and their green eyes practically glowing. Ellie backed into the dining room, her heart in her throat.

  “I’m mistaken. We don’t have any available rooms.” Ellie’s voice shook.

  The man’s face hardened. “That’s okay. I’m really just looking for someone. I’d like to speak to one of your guests. Cora Connors.”

  Ellie heard footsteps in the hall behind her. Keeping her eyes on the man near the front door, she called out without looking back. “Stay back there, Cora. Don’t come out here.”

  It was too late. Cora stood three feet behind Ellie.

  “Hello, Richard.” Cora’s voice was weak.

  Ellie’s heart was in her throat as she whispered to the woman standi
ng at her back. “Get out of here. Go.”

  Cora hesitated, but Ellie shoved her. “Go!”

  As Cora rushed down the hall, Euclid advanced several steps towards the man, moving in a threatening sideways motion, his back arched.

  Richard’s hand moved to take something from his jacket pocket and was about to lunge in Ellie’s direction, when she held up her hands, palms facing the man, her eyes closed and her long blonde hair rising up to float around her head.

  Before Richard could take two steps, objects from the dining room and the foyer table shot into the air like cannon balls and pummeled the man in the head.

  Richard reached up flailing to protect himself, stumbled, and fell to the floor. Scrambling up, he stared at Ellie while thrashing his arms about trying to strike at the objects hurtling towards him, and with a look of horror, he half-crawled, half-ran to the front door. Flinging it open, he tumbled out onto the porch just as Euclid and Circe flew like orange and black missiles and plunged their front claws into the back of the man’s head and neck.

  Mel Abel, Mr. Finch, and Angie, holding grocery bags in their arms, stood at the bottom of the porch steps gaping at the howling man writhing before them.

  Ellie screeched from inside. “Don’t let him get away!”

  Mel’s hands released the bags and let them fall to the ground as he hustled up the three stairs and plopped heavily down on top of Richard. Looking back at Angie with a grin, Mel bellowed. “Sometimes it comes in handy to be the size and shape of a nearly three hundred pound pumpkin.”

  Angie couldn’t help but return Mel’s smile as she pulled out her phone and called the police. Mr. Finch pulled himself up the stairs holding his cane at the ready in case Connors tried to free himself from Mel’s custody. Leaning down Finch patted the two cats and praised them for helping to subdue the suspect. “We have many ways available to protect ourselves and our friends.” He grinned. “Unorthodox as they may be.”

  Ellie, drained from using her telekinesis to stop Richard Connors and feeling like she was about to faint, gripped the foyer table trying to steady herself. Something at the top of the stairs caught her eye and she glanced up to see Orla on the second floor landing leaning over the railing, staring down at her.

  Orla’s short, auburn curls bounced around her face as she nodded and smiled. “Nice work.”

  The color drained from Ellie’s face, horrified that someone had seen what she’d just done.

  Orla winked as she turned to go back to her room. “I only helped you a little.”

  25

  Richard Connors was taken into custody and several days later Chief Martin arrived at the Victorian to tell the Roselands, Mr. Finch, and the two cats the strange story of the man’s past.

  The chief rubbed his forehead as everyone gathered in the family room to hear the tale. “Richard Connors, real name Matt Brown, murdered a young woman in Rhode Island when he was eighteen and living in that state briefly on his own. Richard, as we know him, remembered hearing as a kid about a house fire in South Carolina that killed a family including their two-year-old son, Mitchell Waters. Richard, then named Matt, ordered the little boy’s birth certificate and took it to Ohio where he obtained a state identification card using the birth certificate as his own. Now he had a picture ID with the name Mitchell Waters on it. Next stop was West Virginia where he picked up a driver’s license using that name.

  “This is unbelievable.” Ellie shook her head.

  The chief went on with the story. “About five years later, he moved to Nevada where he petitioned the court to change his name from Mitchell Waters to Richard Connors. The petition was granted. Richard used the court paperwork to request a new social security card using his new name … and his transformation was complete.”

  “This is possible?” Angie was dumbfounded. “I can’t believe it.”

  Chief Martin shook his head and shrugged. “A clever bunch of actions. Richard worked for a while and obtained a GED diploma. He moved to Mill City and enrolled in the state university there where he met Cora.”

  “No wonder Richard freaked out when he discovered that Cora had been to an attorney. He must have been scared to death that the lawyer would find some information about his past.” Courtney looked at Mr. Finch. “This should be made into an episode of the true crime show we watch.”

  Finch’s face was sad. “A terrible story. From what we’ve heard, Richard Connors must be older than he claims to be.”

  “Yes,” the chief said. “Mr. Connors is probably about ten years older than he purports to be.”

  “His mother-in-law was right,” Jenna observed. “She told us she was sure that Richard was not one year older than Cora. She was sure he was several years older than he claimed to be.”

  “His mother-in-law was right.” Finch adjusted his glass frames. “So the man ran off and left his family because he was afraid that his past might be discovered.”

  Chief Martin let out a sigh. “Richard had fake IDs and a secret bank account, all obtained a few years ago in case he had to flee.”

  “Yikes.” Jenna just shook her head. The whole story was like some crazy television movie. “He came back to hurt Cora?”

  “It seems so. Mr. Connors doesn’t seem to be thinking clearly. He confessed that he wanted to kill Cora to keep her from revealing her concerns about his past. The mess of his life has taken a severe toll on the man. He is being evaluated by a team of doctors and psychiatrists.”

  Courtney frowned. “Things might have been easier for all of us if Cora had shared her concerns about her husband.”

  Cora revealed to police that she had harbored suspicions about her husband’s past for years and became alarmed recently when her husband’s mood and personality took a turn for the worse. He had become verbally abusive to her and she feared that whatever Richard might have been hiding was about to explode. Hoping that her worries were unfounded, she kept her suspicions to herself.

  Chief Martin looked over at Ellie and the cats. “My thanks to the three of you. I believe that it was very fortunate that Cora was here at the inn when Mr. Connors found her. Otherwise ….”

  Euclid puffed up his chest at the chief’s words of thanks and Circe let out a trill.

  Ellie’s cheeks tinged pink. The tall blonde had admitted to everyone that she was tired of being a wimp and had decided to secretly practice and hone her telekinesis skills in case she ever needed to defend her family and friends. “I think that our guest, Orla O’Brien, deserves some of the credit for stopping Richard Connors.”

  As it turned out, Orla O’Brien was staying at the B and B in order to obtain the necklace that had been the cause of the carriage house fire in the fall. Orla’s mission with the necklace was not revealed to the sisters, but she did tell them that she traveled the world for “special” reasons and used different IDs and credit cards to keep her identity a secret. “It was quite careless of me to let the other license slip from my wallet that evening,” she’d told the family.

  Because Jenna was a jewelry designer, Orla was sure that she was the “keeper” of the necklace and that was the reason why Orla was always questioning the young woman.

  Orla had sighed. “Perhaps, it’s time I retired.” When she told this to the sisters and Finch, Orla looked at Ellie. “You might like this job. Shall I recommend you to replace me?” When Ellie heard that offer, she practically fainted and Orla took that as a no.

  Ellie took Orla into her office, opened the safe, removed the necklace in its special lead case, and gently placed the box in Orla’s hands. Even though Ellie couldn’t wait for someone to come to collect the necklace from her and take it away, several tears rolled down her cheeks as Orla tucked the box into her carry-on case.

  The next morning Orla was packed and ready to go and as she said her goodbyes to the family, Mel Abel ambled down the staircase carrying his suitcase.

  “I’m ready to go,” he boomed, a broad smile across his face. He and Orla beamed at each other.


  The sisters and Mr. Finch looked from Orla to Mel with surprised expressions.

  “Mel and I have decided to travel together.” Orla blushed. “We’re tired of being alone.”

  Mel wrapped his meaty arms around each sister in a bear hug and shook Mr. Finch’s hand with vigor. “And guess what? Orla and I will be returning to the B and B in the spring. Orla will be retiring and we just love this little town.” Mel winked. “Not to mention the fine people in it. We’re going to buy a house here.”

  Jenna smiled. “Then you’ll be here for Tom’s and my wedding. We’ve finally picked the day.” She told them the date of the May wedding and Orla and Mel said they wouldn’t miss it.

  “Goodbye for now.” The two people were heading down the steps of the porch when Mel looked back to Courtney. “Tell that young Englishman of yours that when I return, I will whip his fanny at our next card game.”

  On the night that Richard Connors was taken away by the police, Mother Nature dumped over ten inches of snow on the quiet town of Sweet Cove turning the already beautiful haven into a glistening winter wonderland. The following Saturday afternoon, the sisters and their boyfriends and Mr. Finch and Betty bundled up and headed to the big hill behind the town common with snow sleds and toboggans.

  Everyone roared with laughter when Betty, screaming with delight, hurtled down the snow-covered hill with Mr. Finch hunched behind her on the sled, his arms clutched tightly around her waist.

  Tom pulled the sled up the hill with Mr. Finch sitting on it as Betty trudged through the snow beside them and when they reached the top, everyone cheered and applauded.

  Finch’s cheeks were rosy red and his eyes danced with joy. “It is most exhilarating!” he shouted in a breathless voice.

  Watching their humans from the front seats of Ellie’s van, Euclid and Circe trilled at their family’s happy antics.