by K. J. Emrick
Cookie smiled at him.
Jerry’s eyes went wide. “Er, he wasn’t one of the crew?”
“No, he most certainly was not. He was pretending to be one of the crew. I’m sure he slipped in at the start of the cruise, as a real passenger or not, and then he stole some of the crew’s clothing. All he really needed was the black pants and one of those hideous red vests. After that, he stole a cardkey. Then he looked like he belonged and he could go anywhere.”
“I heard you say that when he was, you know, holding me,” Clarissa said, her eyebrows knitting into a frown. “How did you know?”
“For one thing, he didn’t have a walkie talkie. All of the crew and staff onboard have one. For another, he was just plain rude. Ever notice how the crew here bends over backwards to be nice? Not this man.”
Benjamin sighed heavily, but Jessica gave him a look and he fell silent. “All right,” she said, ‘then how am I supposed to recognize him, Cookie, if he isn’t in those photos?”
Cookie took out her cellphone and made a few swipes with her finger before turning it to show Jessica. “In this photo, of course.”
On the screen was a picture that Cookie had taken of the man while they were still in the hallway, when he was down on the floor, holding his chest and his stomach and his, um, private areas, grimacing from the pain that Clarissa had inflicted on him. She was considering setting it to her wallpaper but for now, she just used her two fingers to zoom in on the man’s face.
“Oh my sweet Lord in Heaven,” Jessica breathed. “That’s him? That’s the man?”
Cookie nodded. “You do recognize him, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. My step-brother would’ve too, if he wasn’t too busy hiding from everyone.” She shook her head and shifted over on the couch to lay herself up against Benjamin, like she needed him to support her. “That’s Jayce’s parole officer. Max Simpson. That man… there was always something off about him. Always asking too many questions. Always dropping in to check on Jayce three, four times a week sometimes for no real reason. Made a pest of himself.”
As soon as she said it her eyes went wide, and she sat up straight. “Oh. Now I guess we know why.”
“Exactly,” Cookie agreed, putting the phone down beside her. Now they knew why, and now they knew who. Max Simpson. Nice to have a name to go with the face of her son-in-law’s killer.
May he rot in prison for the rest of his life.
Jerry looked at her in confusion, then looked at Jessica, then at last he directed the same unspoken question to Benjamin. Shaking his head, Benjamin just shrugged. Men, Cookie thought to herself. You can lead them to water but you can’t make them drink. Or drown them, although some days she’d like to. She waited patiently for Jerry to break down and ask.
“All right,” he finally said. “I give up. Jayce’s parole officer was coming around to see him way too much because… why?”
“Because,” Cookie said with a smug smile that she just couldn’t help. It felt way too good to have the answer before Jerry and prove that she was just as good at this as she thought she was. “Jayce’s parole officer was trying to get the location of the stolen money. He figured Jayce would know, since he served time with Joseph. This is just a guess, but I’m betting Max was Joseph’s parole officer, too.”
“So why didn’t he just go to Joseph and ask him?” Jessica said.
“I think I understand.” Jerry had caught up to the same conclusions that Cookie had. She could see it written all over his face. “Joseph was in prison for white collar crimes. His parole was probably over and done with pretty quick. Jayce, on the other hand, went to prison, then committed another felony crime when he got out and went back in. He would have been on parole longer. This Max Simpson character would have had lots of time to talk to Jayce about this money but once Joseph was off parole, there was no way to get to him.”
“Short of killing him,” Benjamin said, bluntly.
Everyone in the room turn to stare at him.
He blinked at each of them in turn. “What?”
Jessica cozied up to him again. “I’ll explain it to you later, dear.”
Cookie cleared her throat and did her best to remember that Benjamin wasn’t guilty of anything except being a very, very rude man. “Imagine Max Simpson,” she said, “as an underpaid state employee. As a parole officer, responsible for two men who knew about thousands of dollars in unclaimed, stolen money. It was money that was just out there somewhere, waiting to be found. Imagine him desperate to find all that money, thinking he could bully it out of a couple of ex-cons.”
“Makes sense,” Jerry agreed. “No one is going to come to the aid of a parolee who complains that his parole officer is being too rough on him.”
“Exactly. Now, fast forward a dozen years or so. Jayce and Joseph have both gone straight. If he’s been keeping tabs on Joseph he knows that the money is still out there, somewhere. He never touched a dime of it after he got out of prison.”
“That’s right,” Clarissa said, nodding enthusiastically. “Joseph was always broke. Always working extra shifts. I could never figure what Mom saw in a man who was hardly around, but I get it now. Guess he really wanted to make a living the honest way.”
Cookie nodded back at her granddaughter, proud of how much she’d grown up. She certainly wasn’t that same bratty teenager who had first come to stay at her store two years ago.
“I still don’t understand one thing,” Jessica said. “Why didn’t Max go after Jayce? Now, I mean. On this cruise. He’s on this ship, too. I’m sorry for what happened to Joseph, Cookie. I really am. I’m just worried about my step-brother, you know? If there’s money out there somewhere and he knows where it is then what’s to stop someone else from coming after him?”
“I know the answer to that one, too” Jerry said with a wink aimed at Cookie. “Max didn’t come after Jayce because he knew it wouldn’t do him any good. For all the times he asked Jayce about it, Jayce never knew where Joseph put the money. He had to go right to the source. Right to Joseph, like Cookie said.”
“Exactly.” Cookie thought Jerry was being a bit of a showoff, but she loved him for giving her credit for solving a lot of this mystery. “I saw Jayce gambling in one of the ship’s bars. He was losing most of what he bet, but what he bet wasn’t much. Just five and ten dollar bets, mostly. Not exactly the kind of bets a man makes when he has a secret stash of stolen money.”
“I doubt your brother’s going to have to worry,” Jerry said to Jessica. “He doesn’t know anything, and no one’s coming after him ever again. Not about this. Max Simpson is going to prison for life.”
“Right,” Cookie said. She didn’t mind that Jerry had explained that part. After all, he was the police officer. She was just a baker.
A baker with a knack for solving mysteries.
“Well, that just leaves one question,” Benjamin said. “Doesn’t it?”
He had everyone’s attention as he refilled their teacups. “What question would that be?” Cookie asked him.
He kissed Jessica’s temple, but Cookie could see the smirk he tried to hide. He had thought of something the rest of them missed and he was being insufferably smug about it. “It’s a very simple question, Karen. All of this happened here on this ship, during our wedding. So, why now? Why would Max Simpson risk doing this now, and here, where there’s nowhere to run once the deed is done?”
Actually, Cookie had to hand it to Benjamin. That was a good question. “Well, he did say he wanted to confront Joseph out here at sea where there was no legal jurisdiction. No law, so to speak.”
Benjamin pursed his lips as he shook his head. “There must be more to it than that. If this theory of yours is correct, and I have to admit that it certainly sounds plausible, then Max Simpson has been searching for this money all this time. He’s been an incredibly patient man… up until this point. So. What made him risk going after Joseph now? Why risk, excuse me for saying it again, killing him?”
Valid questions,
one and all.
“It won’t matter in the long run,” Jerry pointed out. “He confessed, and we can tie him to both Jayce and Joseph. That will be enough for a jury. But… I have to admit that I’m curious about that too, Mister Roth.”
“Please,” Benjamin said to him. “We’ve certainly moved past formal titles, don’t you think? I mean, here you sit in our honeymoon suite drinking tea! The least you can do is call me Benjamin.”
The man could even make a compliment sound like an insult, Cookie thought to herself. That being said, Benjamin was right. There had to be some reason why Max Simpson had needed to risk killing Joseph now, of all times, to get the money…
That’s when she noticed the blank expression on her granddaughter’s face. Clarissa’s mouth was hanging open, and her eyes were wide, like some bit of information had just occurred to her that set everything on its head.
“Clarissa?” Cookie turned quickly in her seat, taking the teacup out of Clarissa’s hands before she could drop it. “Dear? What is it?”
“I know…” She had to clear her throat before she could continue. Blinking, she sat up straighter and her eyes focused on her grandmother again. “I know why this happened now. I mean, why it happened here. Now. I can’t… I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. Mom wanted to keep it a secret until she knew for sure that everything was all right but, yeah. I mean, yeah, it makes sense why Joseph would need more money now and why he would maybe go back for what he stole because we were sure going to need it. Yeah. This Simpson guy might have been worried Joseph would take the money after all, right?”
With a gasp, Cookie grasped what her granddaughter was having so much trouble explaining. “Oh. Oh, my.”
“What?” Jerry asked. “Clarissa, what are you talking about?”
Cookie would tell him in another minute or two, after she was done hugging her granddaughter so tight and making sure Clarissa knew that everything would be all right, somehow.
Joseph had needed the extra money for his family. Needed it so badly that he was finally willing to go back to the stolen money he’d hoped to forget all about. Now even stolen money was worth having. That’s what Clarissa had been trying to explain. Joseph’s family was about to get more expensive, because it was about to get bigger. By one.
Madison was pregnant with Joseph’s baby. Clarissa was going to be a big sister, and finances would be tight. What better time to go uncover a stash of stolen money that he had never wanted to see again?
Cookie knew she had to wait for the captain to arrive, so they could explain all this to him. He’d better get here soon, because afterward she was going straight to her daughter’s cabin. This was a moment when family needed to be together.
***
Madison took it better than Cookie thought she would.
The water glass from the bathroom went sailing through the air to smash against the opposite wall. Clarissa’s eyes were wide and staring as her mother began to rant uncontrollably. Cookie doubted that she’d ever seen her mother in this state.
“I’ll kill him! So help me God, I’m going to kill him.” Madison fell to her knees and beat her hands against the mattress of her bed and screamed until her face turned red. “I’m going to kill him! Where is he, Mom. You take me to him right now so I can kill that—”
“Madison, language please,” Cookie warned gently, tilting her head toward Clarissa.
“Grandma, seriously? I’ve heard worse than that at school.”
She snorted, but Cookie could see the shock registering on Clarissa’s face.
Madison threw her hands up in the air. “Fine! I don’t care what we call him. I just want to get my hands around his neck and squeeze until his head pops like a balloon. Where is he?”
“You don’t want to do that,” Cookie told her.
“Yes I do! Yes I do! Clarissa got to kick him to a pulp so why can’t I go and kill him!”
“Madison, I know about you being pregnant.” Cookie waited for her daughter to hear those words. “I didn’t understand everything you were dealing with. I didn’t understand how much pain you must be in. Oh, Madison. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, but nothing will be gained by you seeing that horrible man. Don’t let him turn you into someone you don’t like.”
“Mom.” That was all Madison said. It was obvious that she had wanted to say more, but her strength left her as she stood up and she fell back against the bed, sitting there with her head in her hands, sobbing and wiping away tears with the sleeves of her pajamas.
Cookie went to her, wishing there was more she could offer than just her words and a comforting arm around her shoulders. Madison clutched onto her tightly and it was a long time before she found enough breath to speak again.
“It’s a boy, by the way. Joseph’s baby is a boy. We found out last week. I wanted to tell you but there’s so many things that can go wrong in the first two months. We didn’t want to steal the spotlight from Jessica and Benjamin, either, so we were going to wait until we were back on land and then it was going to be this big event. We were going to ask you to cater it, Mom. I swear to you we weren’t trying to keep a secret…”
She faltered, and slumped against Cookie, like that had been all she could manage. Cookie read between those lines. Joseph had been keeping his secrets from everyone. Madison didn’t want her to think she was doing the same thing.
Cookie hugged her daughter. They might never be able to find the money that Joseph had kept hidden all this time. That didn’t matter. She promised herself that Madison’s baby would never want for anything. Even if she had to work her fingers to the bone, her family would be safe and taken care of.
If Cookie had anything to say about it, then nothing like this would ever happen again. Maybe that was asking too much. Maybe it was just the right thing to ask for. Either way, this was her family. She would never stop protecting them.
Epilogue
Cookie had one last goodbye to say onboard. Avery had met her at the dog park where Cream and Chaz had one last romp together while she explained that her love already belonged to someone. He was disappointed but accepting, and friendly even in defeat.
If only every man could be that understanding of a woman’s fickle heart, she thought. The world would be a much better place. Still, there was something about Jerry that no other man would ever be able to imitate. He understood her on a level that was so deep, Cookie hadn’t even known it was there until he came into her life. Even if there was going to be the occasional fight in their lives—like the one on this cruise—she knew they would always find their way back to each other.
Which was where they were now, one week later. Together, and happy. The cruise was behind them. Joseph’s funeral had been a simple ceremony that practically the entire town had turned out to see. At the end of it, Benjamin and Jessica Roth had presented Madison with an envelope. Inside was a document listing the information for a trust fund set up in her name. For the baby, Jessica had explained. For college, Benjamin had added.
Cookie had been too stunned to speak. However, Jessica found out the next day that her money was no longer good at the Kiss The Cook Bakery. There was a best friends discount that covered it, and always would.
This morning Jerry was the only one in the bakery with her. It was still an hour before opening, and he was leaning against one of the tables, tasting her latest blend of coffee, while she busied herself getting everything ready to open up the bakery for the day. He was in his uniform, and she kept stealing glances at him that he pretended not to notice. It was a work day for both of them, after all.
“Next month?” he asked her, taking a sip from his ceramic mug.
“Too soon,” she laughed, sliding freshly baked bread into the display case.
“I disagree. I think it’s not soon enough.”
Holding the bread tray under one arm, she kissed him on the cheek. “Anxious?”
“I’m ready to be married to you right now.”
“We’re already a couple,
” she reminded him. “What’s a quick wedding going to give me that we don’t already have?”
“My name.” He smiled at her, looking as cute as a grown man could. “Getting married will give you my name.”
“Hold on, now. Maybe I want to keep my own name.”
He took another few sips from his coffee while he thought about that. “Hmm. Guess we have a few more things to work out before we get married.”
“Exactly my point. We need a little more time. Trust me,” she said, patting his face, “I want to be married to you as soon as I can. I just want everything to be perfect when it happens.”
“Okay. So… next month?”
She smiled coyly at him. “All right. Maybe next month.”
“I’m holding you to that,” he promised. “By the way, this coffee is amazing. What is it?”
“Ethiopian Green,” she told him. “I had it shipped to the bakery before the cruise. I’d nearly forgotten about it.”
“So I guess things really are getting back to normal?”
“A little. I spoke to Madison last night. She sounded better. Hamish’s got a few weeks off from school now and he’s been staying there with them, helping out. He’s a good boy.”
“Ha. That’s not what you said when you first met him.”
“Hush. I thought he was trying to kidnap Clarissa when I first met him.”
“Good thing he didn’t. Clarissa would’ve broken his kneecap!”
As they laughed at that, they heard the sound of mail being dropped through the slot and hitting the floor. The town’s mailman waved to Cookie through the front windows on his way up the street. More bills, Cookie thought to herself. How wonderful.
From the kitchen, Cream came trotting out, barking madly at the mailman who had already moved on. Besides, he was outside. Cream was a very brave dog, under the right circumstances. Snuffing, proud that he had done his duty to protect the bakery once again, he went back to inspect the new envelopes that had just been dropped into his space. He sniffed at them, and pawed at them with one little foot, and then sneezed like the mail offended him. He went back the way he came, no doubt to lay back down and get in one more nap before any customers came in.