by Lyndsey Cole
She looked at Annie.
“You’ve had some time to digest your day at the café. Do you still want to make a go of it?”
Greta kept her back to Annie and leaned her hands on the counter. “I don’t know. It’s a huge change for me, my routine, my alone time.” She turned around. “When Leona made the suggestion yesterday, it sounded better than the reality turned out to be.”
Annie nodded. “It is a big change. You either want to take the leap or you don’t. It’s your call.”
They stared at each other.
“I’m not sure you want me there, Annie. Leona made the offer but you’ll be running the café. You should have the freedom to hire who you want.”
“I meant what I said to you this morning. You already came up with some great suggestions for changes at the café. You quickly learned everything we showed you. You didn’t complain about a thing. We can make it work if you want to but I’m not going to beg.” Annie leaned her ear close to Lucky. “What was that? You think Greta needs to get out of the house more? It will give you some freedom for more napping?”
Annie kept her ear near the cat but she raised her eyes to Greta. “You have an amazing cat. He might even like to hang out on the deck at the café during nice weather.”
Lucky’s tail slapped through the air. “That’s a yes? A new view sounds good?”
By the time Annie finished her conversation with Lucky, Greta was laughing. “I can’t believe you used my own cat as leverage. Okay. I’ll take the job. But don’t ever tell me I didn’t give you a chance to say no.”
Right on cue, Lucky jumped off Annie’s lap and wound his slim body between Greta’s legs. “You need some dinner now that we’ve solved that problem?” She poured dry food in his bowl and freshened his water. “There you go. Now, I need to think about something for my own dinner.”
Annie stood. She suspected that was Greta’s polite way to ask her to leave. “Before I go, I wonder if you remembered any more details from Halloween night. I had a conversation with Brian’s girlfriend, Rachel.” Annie raised her eyebrows, wondering if Greta would respond.
She did. She flinched. “What does she have to do with me?”
“Rachel came to Kitty’s party looking for Brian. She parked her Jeep on the street and saw Brian walk to your house.”
“I already told you he walked over.”
“Yes, you did. Rachel also said that she saw someone walk from the front door where you told me you were talking to Cody, to the side door where Brian waited at your kitchen door. The two men argued. Are you sure you didn’t see that, too?”
Greta’s eyes went wide. Her hand cupped her chin. In a breathless whisper she asked, “Did she see Cody kill Brian?”
“Is that what happened, Greta? Are you protecting him?”
Greta remained silent, her eyes staring at the floor.
“What else did you see that night that you haven’t told anyone?”
With her hand over her mouth, Greta’s fingers muffled her words. “I saw Cody smash that awful chocolate cake with orange frosting into Brian’s face. It was a mess; a big gooey orange and black mess. I almost ran out to break up their argument but I didn’t. I thought, finally, Brian is getting humiliated like he humiliated me. If I had gone out—”
Tears streamed down Greta’s face, through her fingers, and disappeared into Lucky’s black fur. “If I went out, maybe Brian wouldn’t be dead,” she managed to finish.
“You saw Cody stab Brian after that?”
Greta’s head shook back and forth. “No. Like a coward, I turned away and decided to let those two brothers work it out without my interference.” She gave one sharp laugh. “I thought I would make it worse if I went out.” She finally lifted her red swollen eyes to look at Annie. “I can’t believe I turned my back when he needed me. I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”
Annie walked back to her car at the Cove’s Corner parking lot. She slid into the driver’s seat and rested her head on the steering wheel.
With her eyes closed, Annie imagined Brian and Cody standing outside arguing as Greta watched through her kitchen door window and Rachel watched from her black Jeep parked on the street.
She imagined Cody picking up the birthday cake, in a fit of anger or frustration, from Greta’s porch and shoving it into his brother’s face.
She imagined orange frosting and chocolate crumbs covering what must have been a shocked expression on Brian’s face.
What she couldn’t see, and desperately wanted to know, was, who took advantage of Brian’s vulnerability, grabbed the pointed walking stick that had been part of Annie’s costume, and thrust it into his chest?
With all the people next door at Kitty’s party, someone must have seen something in that tiny window of opportunity when Brian breathed his last breath.
23
As soon as Annie opened her car door and began to step out of her car at her house, she heard the sound of Roxy’s barking coming loud and clear from inside. It wasn’t her I’m-happy-your-car-just-drove-in bark, it was her I-see-someone-I-don’t-know alarm.
The hairs on Annie’s neck rose. She scanned the distance between herself and the lake as she hurried to the kitchen door. Nothing.
As she rummaged in her bag for her house key, a loud crunch of footsteps on the gravel sounded behind her. She fumbled with her key, almost dropping it.
“Annie.”
The voice penetrated to her core. Her heart pounded. The key finally slid into place and the lock turned. She cracked the door open far enough for Roxy to come charging out before she faced her visitor.
“Sorry to show up like this but I was hoping we could talk.”
Roxy leaned against Annie’s leg, the hair on her back raised, a low rumble coming from deep in her chest.
“Have you been waiting for me to get home?” The adrenaline surge had her body ready to flee but with Roxy at her side, she felt her terrier provided some protection if needed.
Cody shifted from one foot to the other. His arms were crossed and tight against his chest. “I guess I was sitting on your porch for about twenty minutes. From the sound of your watchdog, she was pretty upset.” He crouched down and held his hand out, his fingers curled toward his wrist.
Roxy looked at Annie. “It’s okay.” Her words were more for herself than her dog. Was she safe standing here with Cody? Having Roxy at her side gave her a sliver of confidence. Roxy sniffed Cody’s offered hand but her tail didn’t wag. She must have sensed Annie’s nervousness.
“It must be important if you’ve been waiting for so long.” Annie hoped Cody would give her a clue about what he wanted to talk to her about. Her mind raced through her options.
Should she invite him inside? If she stayed outside, at least someone might see them together.
Should she just ask him to leave, rush inside with Roxy, and lock the door?
Or, should she hear him out? She knew from Greta that Cody did smash the birthday cake in Brian’s face so that would explain why the orange frosting was on the floor and steering wheel of his Jeep.
Should she give him the benefit of the doubt that he would explain what happened after he shoved the cake in his brother’s face?
What would Jason want her to do? She almost laughed at herself with that question. She could hear his voice telling her to lock herself in the house. Now.
While her mind was busy with all the possibilities and her body remained frozen in place, Cody helped her make a decision. “It’s about Brian. I haven’t been truthful about what happened the night he was killed.”
“Oh?” That statement didn’t exactly surprise Annie but it did stoke her curiosity. She led the way inside. Roxy stayed close to her side.
Cody wandered around the big dining and living room that gave a view of the lake. “Nice place. I was never included in any invitations when Brian and Jason hung out here. You know, I was the annoying little brother.” His voice was more matter-of-fact than angry, but Annie couldn
’t help but assume there was some bitterness behind the words.
He stopped at the door to the porch that had the best view. His fingers ran over his short-cropped, sandy blond hair. “I sat out there before you got home. Nice lakeside front porch. You guys are lucky. I suppose there are no money worries in your life, are there?”
Where was this conversation going? Annie nervously flicked her thumbnail over her top teeth.
“Not that it’s any of my business,” Cody added.
“Why are you here, Cody?” Annie forced herself to relax her tense muscles. It didn’t work.
“Greta told me to talk to you. Apparently, she thinks you might help me.” He turned to face Annie and took several steps closer to her.
Annie stepped backwards, away from Cody. She stopped when she hit the kitchen counter. “Help you with what, Cody?” One hand rested on Roxy’s head, the other gripped the counter behind her.
Cody took several more steps closer. “Greta told you about the cake.” His eyes bored straight through Annie.
The rumble in Roxy’s chest started again.
“She did, and it makes me wonder if it led to another action.” Annie challenged Cody with what she hoped was a confident voice. Inside, she trembled like one of the last leaves hanging by a thin stalk to one of the oak trees outside.
“I asked him about the farm. He held my future in his hands. You know what he did?”
Annie shook her head.
“He laughed at me; called me a loser.”
Annie felt behind her on the counter, hoping her hand would find a knife or anything that could be used as a weapon. Just in case. Her hand touched nothing but a smooth, cleared off space.
Roxy stepped toward Cody.
“What did you do, Cody? When he laughed at you?” Annie inched sideways to the end of the counter and moved to the opposite side. Her hand found the drawer that held her knives.
“You know what I did, Greta told you. I smashed the cake in his face.” Cody’s body deflated before Annie’s eyes as if, with his retelling, he relived his whole confrontation with his brother.
“Did you tell Detective Crank?”
He shook his head. “She never asked me. She’s not talking to me and I want to fix this. That’s what Greta said you could help me with.”
“Did you kill your brother, Cody? Did you stab him after you smashed the cake in his face?” The words slipped out even though Annie wasn’t sure she wanted to hear his answer.
“I don’t think so. What has me really scared is that I remember seeing that glittery walking stick in his hand. He had jabbed me with it when we were still at Kitty’s house. And when he laughed at me, it was like something snapped inside. From picking up the cake until I got out of my Jeep at my house, I can’t remember those fifteen or twenty minutes. It’s truly scary, this black hole of memory loss. Who will believe me?”
“There’s frosting in your Jeep. I saw it today,” Annie said. “If Detective Crank sees it, what will she think?” Annie knew exactly what Christy would think—the same thing she thought when she saw it.
And what did Annie think now? Did Cody pick up the walking stick and block out stabbing his brother? Was that even possible?
“I cleaned the frosting before I came here. I thought it might trigger a memory but it didn’t.” Cody looked at Annie, desperation etched in his face. “The last thing I can remember is Brian laughing at me and it was like someone else controlled my arm when it picked up that cake and shoved it in his face.”
“Why are you telling all this to me, Cody? I barely know you.”
“Greta told me that you believed her when she said she didn’t kill Brian.” His eyes pleaded with Annie. “She said you would help prove she didn’t kill him. Can you help me, too?”
“But what if you did kill him? You say you don’t remember, but what if that’s where the evidence leads?”
He covered his face with his hands. “I don’t know. I’m not a violent person. I can’t believe it’s even possible.”
“But you do remember shoving the cake in his face? Or is that what Greta said she saw?”
“I do remember. The cake was on the kitchen porch step, right next to Brian. He stepped down, close to me, dressed in that light blue suit with his cocky smile and leaned on that walking stick like he owned the world. I admit, he made me angry and I’m not proud about the cake, but he did deserve it.”
“I can’t promise you anything. If you didn’t kill Brian, there is someone out there that does know what happened. There’s a very small window of time after you shoved that cake into Brian’s face and when he was stabbed with the walking stick.”
One detail in Cody’s story gave Annie pause. If Brian was leaning on the walking stick, it would have been hard for Cody to take it away. Maybe he was innocent. But who else rushed in during that brief interval?
“Tell me what you know about Rachel.”
“Brian’s girlfriend?” Cody shrugged. “Not much.”
The tension in the room disappeared. Even Roxy walked closer to Cody and finally let him pet her. Now that Annie didn’t feel threatened by Cody, she busied herself by getting out some crackers and cheese. “Want something to drink?” she asked him as she held out a bottle of beer.
“That would be great. I need something to calm my nerves.” He settled onto the stool at the counter. “These last few days have been a nightmare that doesn’t end. And the worst part is that Christy won’t answer my calls or call me back. You know what that tells me?”
Annie shook her head even though she did suspect what it meant.
“She thinks I may have killed my own brother.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to know what you know at this point. But, back to Rachel. She told me she talked to you about how to work out her problems with Brian.” Annie hoped that would get Cody talking and remembering something helpful about Rachel. She had the opportunity to confront Brian when his face was covered with cake, but did she?
Cody twisted off the cap and drank a healthy amount before he set the bottle on the counter. “Yeah, Rachel did stop by but the weird thing was, I had the impression she was checking out the house and the land. It made me really uncomfortable, especially since Brian had already told me he wanted to talk about the farm when he was home.”
“Do you think Brian had any idea that Rachel followed him?”
Cody’s shoulders rose. “No clue. Brian didn’t exactly confide in me about much.”
Annie poured dog food into Roxy’s bowl. “There you go. I’ll take you out soon.”
“Sorry I upset her. I’d like to be friends. I’m a dog kinda guy. Cats? They’re okay but they’re a little too independent for me.” He took another long swallow of the beer. “Annie?”
She turned and looked at Cody.
“Thanks for not stabbing me with one of your kitchen knives. I’m sure you had no idea what to expect from me. I guess my presentation could have been better.”
Roxy ran to the door with her tail wagging.
“Is Jason home?” Annie asked. She walked to the door, trying to remember if she’d left it locked or unlocked. She pulled it open but it wasn’t Jason who stared back at her.
“Hello, Annie. Can I come in?” Detective Christy Crank asked.
“Ah, no. Not tonight.” Was that a bad answer? She didn’t know but she did know that she didn’t want to be in the middle of Cody and Christy’s discussion about Halloween night.
“It’s okay, Annie. I’m just leaving.” Cody squeezed by Roxy and Annie. He looked at Christy. “We need to talk.”
Christy nodded. “I agree. Let’s go.”
24
Annie took Roxy for an early morning walk along the Lake Trail. It was cool, calm, and quiet, which was just fine with Annie. She needed to think.
Greta and Cody shared the same details about events leading up to Brian’s murder. Were they working together to protect one or both of them? Or should she believe their story to be true? How likely
was it that Cody would actually block out what happened after he admitted to pushing a cake into his brother’s face? Did he block out murdering Brian, too?
Rachel might know more than she already shared. Plus, there was the interesting angle of what was going to happen to Brian and Cody’s farm. Did Rachel benefit from that somehow?
By the time Annie returned to Cobblestone Cottage, Jason had the house filled with the mouth-watering scent of French roast coffee, toast, and scrambled eggs.
“You’re just in time. Everything is hot and ready to be devoured.” He filled two mugs, already waiting on the table, with the steaming coffee. “Sit down, I’ll bring breakfast over.”
Annie’s stomach let her know it was happy with the food. “I didn’t even realize I was hungry but after my visit with Cody last night, I guess I lost my appetite.”
“I can’t believe you let him in the house when you thought he might be the murderer.”
“Roxy had my back. Besides, I wasn’t planning to let him in until he said he had more information about the night Brian was murdered.” She focused on her food instead of Jason’s stare.
Jason sighed and picked up his toast. “Cody’s a good guy. I don’t think he killed his brother, but sometimes people do the unexpected. He told you he was so angry he can’t remember what happened. That’s not good.”
Annie carried her dirty dishes to the sink. She had managed to inhale her whole breakfast while Jason talked. “Cody left with Christy last night so my hope is that he unloaded his story on her. She’s the one who needs to sort through what’s true and what’s false.” She picked up her bag and keys. “I think Cody really likes Christy and, if that’s the case, he’ll tell her everything he knows in the hope that he can smooth over their relationship.”
“I hope you’re right, Annie. I’d hate to find out that Cody killed his own brother. With the future of the farm on the line, he certainly has a strong motive.”
Annie mulled that thought over as she drove to the Black Cat Café. That and how she would find out more about Rachel. Between Greta, Cody, and Rachel, they all saw different angles of Brian the night he was murdered. Did they all see the same things? One of them might have seen something they didn’t even know was important. Or, one of them was keeping details secret on purpose to protect someone.