The Cheesecake Fake: A Culinary Cozy Mystery Set In Sunny Florida (Slice of Paradise Cozy Mysteries Book 2)

by Nancy McGovern

  Everyone went quiet.

  “I’m so sorry,” Krystle said quietly.

  “Your horse Jake will be fine,” Dr. Asante said, his voice much louder than it needed to be. Faith guessed that was his way of staying in control. “Absolutely fine. Don’t you worry about it, Graeme.” He put his hand on Graeme’s shoulder, then withdrew it quickly like Graeme’s shoulder was red hot. Faith saw his mouth tug down uncontrollably, like he was about to burst into sobbing. He said, “Excuse me,” barely managing to choke out his words. Then he made direct eye contact with Faith. “Please, come with me for a moment. I must speak to you.”

  “Me?” Faith said, taken aback. “Oh, sure, of course.”

  “Take care of yourself, George,” Graeme called out after Dr. Asante, who was now practically running back to his car.

  Faith struggled to keep up, but broke out into a full on sprint and managed to catch up with him in the gravel drive out the front of the mansion.

  Dr. Asante was panting, out of breath, tears running down his cheeks. “Faith. I heard something about you.”

  Oh, no. Faith’s heart sank. Was she going to be accused of another murder? “What is it, Dr.?”

  “You solved a murder before,” he said, his voice intense. “Now, I am looking into who murdered, yes, murdered Becky. My Rebecca.” He broke down in tears again, then slapped down his palm on the roof of his car. Then he swallowed and looked at Faith again. “Sorry.”

  “You don’t have to apologize.”

  “I am finding out who killed her. But I know that you have solved a murder. So I want you to find out, too. One person cannot do everything alone.”

  Faith opened her mouth, then closed it again. In truth, even though she knew it was selfish, it was the last thing she wanted to do. For one thing, it would put her back in the firing line of Deputy Sheriff Valdez, an opportunity she would certainly not relish. For another, she had so much on her plate with the open air Shakespeare and the tearoom. She hadn’t known Becky or liked her, either. In fact, Becky had been downright horrible. But despite all of this, when Dr. Asante looked imploringly into her eyes, his own brimming over with tears once again, there was only one thing she could say. “All right,” she said. “I’ll do what I can, Dr.”

  That was the first time she’d seen him smile that day. “Oh, thank you, Miss Faith, thank you.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight between his. “Thank you so much.”

  Before Faith could even process what she’d let herself in for, a thundering crunch of gravel sounded.

  Faith turned to see a tanned and handsome young man, about her age, up on a white horse, a cowboy hat low over his eyes. “Oh, Dr. Asante?” he said, taking his hat off. “Are you leaving?”

  “Yes,” Dr. Asante said. “I have to go back to my clinic.”

  “Oh.” The young man slid off the horse and held onto the reigns. “I just wanted to see if you could check Glacier’s hoof for me? It’s the front one on the right. I think something’s going on there. Just quickly, before you go?”

  “All right.” Dr. Asante went around to the front of the horse and began to pat it, talking to it gently. Faith could see that he deeply loved animals, and she couldn’t help but smile as she watched him work.

  “Hey, there,” the young man said, coming up to Faith. He had a wide smile and expressive dark eyes, just like Danica, and Faith knew instantly that she was his son, and therefore Graeme’s son, too. “I’m Yale.” He stuck out his hand confidently.

  “I’m Faith,” she said, a little taken aback by his confidence. “I’m here about catering for your parents’ open air Shakespeare.”

  “Oh, that.” He rolled his eyes comically, then grinned. “Yeah, it’s our own family eccentricity, I’m afraid. You into it?”

  Faith shrugged. “Did a little in high school. I quite enjoyed Romeo and Juliet, but I can’t say I know much more than that, I’m sorry to say.”

  “Don’t tell anyone I said this.” Yale leaned in and whispered. “As much as I enjoy acting in these things, I think Shakespeare is overrated.”

  Faith feigned shock and gasped dramatically. “How could you?”

  “I know,” he said, shoving his cowboy hat back on and his hands in his pockets. “My parents would disown me.”

  He had such an easy, friendly manner that Faith warmed to him instantly. He wasn’t her type at all – she preferred a more artistic, sensitive type, while he was bold and sporty and confident – but he might be perfect for Laura, she realized. She’d have to do a little digging to find out.

  “So do you work on the ranch, Yale?”

  “A bit,” he said. “But I teach Phys Ed down at the high school.”

  “Oh, right. That’s a coincidence. I met Molly yesterday at the little get together for the Paradise Gazette. She’s in your department?”

  “Sure, Molly’s great,” he said. “But it isn’t a coincidence. She got that writing gig through me. See, we’ve known Krystle forever, and she actually asked me to do it first. But I’m not a big writer, so I passed it onto Molly. She’s loving it.”

  Faith had so many thoughts in her head she didn’t know which one to think first, so they all tangled. Yale talked about Molly in such an affectionate way she wondered, with a little disappointment, if they were together. Also, she realized he might be a good source of information if she was going to try to crack this case, since he knew so many people at the party – Dr. Asante, his father, of course, Krystle, and Molly.

  “What about Tara Johnson, do you know her?”

  “Yeah,” he said, sounding unimpressed. “She comes to the Shakespeare things. Why’d you ask?”

  “Just wondering.”

  “Terrible what happened last night,” he said. “I didn’t know Becky, though. I don’t think she’s been here that long.”

  “You’re right, Yale,” Dr. Asante said, coming back over to them. “There’s some kind of infection going on there, but nothing too serious. I’ll bring back some medicine tomorrow.”

  “She can still ride?”

  “Sure,” Dr. Asante said. “She’s not in pain or anything.”

  “Great. Thanks, Doc,” Yale said. “Nice meeting you, Faith.” Then he swung himself back up on Glacier’s back. Tipping his hat, he was off toward the stables.

  “See you,” Faith said, watching him leave. Somehow she was sure he was going to be a part of her and Laura’s life over the next few weeks, but she didn’t quite know how.

  *****

  Chapter 6

  “Well, I think today was a much better day,” Krystle said with a sad smile. “You and Laura are all set to cater. Nathan’s got some work to do.”

  As it turned out, Mr. and Mrs. Trigg’s landscaper Darryl had to go north to care for his ailing grandfather, and they were desperately looking for someone reliable to put the finishing touches on their rock gardens and fancy stone planters before the open air Shakespeare event. Faith had hurried to recommend Nathan, of course, and once Krystle had showed them some of the promotional pictures of Slice of Paradise on her smart phone, the tropical garden heavily featured, they’d rushed to agree.

  Krystle held her smartphone up then, smiling. “And I’ve got all the info I need to go full steam ahead for my feature.” She’d brought her purple car to a stop outside Faith’s apartment building. Then she tapped the Tupperware box on the dashboard. “And I have my very own slice of pecan pie to round off the day. I’m going to slip into a nice bubble bath with a glass of wine and my pie on a plate, thank you very much.”

  Faith offered her a smile, though as the sun was turning golden and shadows were beginning to stretch, she felt a bit uncertain about everything. Sometimes that happened to her – she could be totally fine all day, and then when the evening came, everything seemed to come bubbling up to the surface. She was having fewer and fewer panic attacks these days, but on the very rare occasion she had one, it was usually at dusk.

  “And thank you, Faith,” Krystle said. “I never prope
rly thanked you for your catering yesterday.” Then she gasped. “Or gave you the check! Oh my gosh, why didn’t you say something?! I’m so embarrassed.” She scrambled for her check book in her purse. “Faith, you’re too polite! I hope you haven’t been sitting there thinking, this witch hasn’t paid me yet!”

  The truth was Faith had forgotten, too, since she’d seen Becky’s body. “No, no,” Faith said, “not at all. It slipped my mind, too.”

  As Krystle wrote out the check, Faith tried to plan what she would do for the night. She was looking forward to seeing her beloved kittens, of course. And she might snuggle down with her favorite Opal Templeton recipe book and look at all the pictures. Her Friends marathon idea now felt a bit lonely. Perhaps she’d invite Laura and Nathan over and they could order takeout Indian. Even if Tara didn’t rate The Mango Tree, Laura and Nathan and Faith certainly did. Faith didn’t quite get restaurant reviews, anyways, unless it was upscale gourmet dining. One thing was for sure, she dreaded getting a call from Tara to say she was coming to review Slice of Paradise. Faith could imagine it right then, opening the Paradise Gazette to read, “pecan pie slice slightly too sticky” or “donut holes just a millimeter too large”. The woman was impossible to please.

  “There you are,” Krystle said, handing Faith the check. “I’ve added on a bit more because of me forgetting, which was very unprofessional. But you should be more on top of things, Faith.” She said it encouragingly, not scoldingly. “You need to know what you’re worth and demand you get paid fairly and on time. People will take you for granted otherwise.”

  Faith nodded with a smile, though she really just felt like going inside and collapsing on the sofa. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.” There was no way she was going to think about work for the rest of the night. “See you then, Krystle.”

  “Bye, Faith. Get in touch if you need a ride up to the ranch again.”

  “Thanks!”

  Faith knew Laura would have closed up the tearoom by then and would probably be at home in her apartment. Rain had started to spit and the weather had turned unusually cold, so Faith hurried inside the apartment building. She couldn’t wait to see Laura and tell her everything that was going on. She just needed to talk, to vent, to get it all out of her system. And Laura was great at nodding, ‘mmhmm’-ing and saying nothing while she filed her nails or indulged in a little extra cleaning even though the apartment was already gleaming.

  Faith hurried up the stairs and knocked on Laura’s door. “It’s me!” She’d invite her over to her place so they could be with the kittens.

  But it wasn’t Laura who answered the door. It was Deputy Sheriff Tyler Valdez, in uniform and frowning.

  Faith grabbed the doorframe. “What happened? Is Laura okay?”

  “I’m here, you big worry guts,” Laura said cheerfully from inside. “Come on in.”

  Faith ran in and hugged her. “Thank goodness.”

  Laura looked bemused but happy. “Hey.” She had her thin wispy blonde hair up in a tiny little bun like she often did. Her ears stuck out quite a bit but only made her look more elfin or fairy-like than ever. She was at her kitchen counter, looking through takeout menus.

  “Oh, you read my mind,” Faith said. “I really want some Indian tonight.”

  The Deputy cleared his throat. “Miss Franklin, I was just asking Miss Edwards some questions about Rebecca Harris.”

  “Oh, okay,” Faith said. He was about the last person in the world she wanted to see right then – he made her feel so awkward and unsure of herself – but she certainly didn’t want to stand in the way of his investigation. He would be only too glad to turn the spotlight of suspicion firmly on her, she had no doubt about that. She didn’t understand why he was asking Laura questions. After all, the night of the incident he’d talked to everyone that stuck around. Only Tara had flounced off before he’d reached the scene. But she wasn’t going to question him. No way, no how. “Did you want me to go?”

  “No,” he said. “I want to know if you know of any next of kin. If she confided anything about her family or origins.”

  Faith shook her head. “All I know is she came from Ohio and used to swim in a team or something. That’s all. Can’t you find her family?”

  “Rebecca Harris is a very common name,” he said defensively, as if she had been insulting him. That had not been her intention at all. “Anyways…” He made a long, lingering glance in Laura’s direction. “I’ll be going now. You’ll let me know if you hear anything about her family. We need to inform them of death by accidental drowning.”

  Even the formal way he spoke rubbed Faith the wrong way, and she was too busy being annoyed for a moment that she didn’t notice… “Wait,” she said, realizing. “Death by accidental drowning?”

  “Yes.”

  “She was pushed,” Faith said.

  “We don’t really know that though, do we?” Laura said.

  “Well, she was a star swimmer, apparently, and barely had anything to drink. The boat wasn’t even far from the shore,” Faith argued. “She’d have been able to swim back to the boat or to Paradise Point, I’m sure of it. The water wasn’t rough at all. It was still as anything. She must have been pushed.”

  Aggravatingly, Deputy Valdez crossed his arms over his chest and said, “I don’t think so.”

  Faith waited for him to elaborate, which he didn’t. “I’ll bet on the autopsy you’ll find a blow to the back of the head or something,” Faith said. “She must have been knocked out, then pushed off.”

  “I cannot disclose details of an autopsy report to a civilian,” he said in a self-important tone. “Anyway, she was washed up on rocks. Anyone with any sense would hypothesize she would have abrasions and injuries all over her body. Please stay out of this, Miss Franklin.”

  Then he left, and Faith was very glad of it because she felt so hopping mad she was finding it hard to hold her tongue. “That guy!” she said, as soon as he’d closed the door behind him. Though she did have to concede that what he’d said about the abrasions and injuries was true.

  Laura shrugged. “He’s not that bad.”

  “Not that…” Faith let out a frustrated noise. “Look, I think I’m real hungry and I know I’m real cranky. Let’s order a big feast for us and Nathan and watch some trashy TV all night. That’s all I can even think of doing right now.”

  Laura grinned. “That sounds like a plan. I’ll call in the order now. What do you want?”

  “Garlic naan, chicken korma, that spinach and potatoes thing, what’s it called? Umm, sag aloo? And plain boiled rice. I’m just going to go home, feed the kitties and have a shower real quick. See you in a min, okay?”

  “Kay kay,” Laura said, and got dialing.

  Faith hurried down the hall, eager to see her babies. When they were little, they used to stay outside in an enormous caged playpen that Laura had converted her dad’s old monkey cage into. But they’d gotten big since and didn’t need so much coddling. So Faith had persuaded Mr. Edwards – landlord and Laura’s dad – to install a cat flap in her apartment door. Now Cirrus and Nimbus were free to roam as they pleased, through the apartment building and the large communal garden out back. But they always knew when Faith was going to be home, even if it was at an unexpected time, and were there at the door waiting from her.

  And sure enough, both cuddly Nimbus and boisterous Cirrus were ready to greet her. They both scampered over on their tiny paws to wind themselves around her legs.

  “Hey, lovelies,” she said. She had planned to rush through all of her chores super quick so she could be back in Laura’s apartment and snuggled in some comfy clothes as soon as possible. The kittens would come too, of course. But as their warm fur rubbed against her bare ankles, she felt an overwhelming sense of comfort, and she just wanted to sink down into one of the soft chairs and enjoy it for a moment.

  Predictably, Cirrus, leapt up on the back of the armchair and stalked along it, from armrest to armrest, mewing all the while. She imagined
he was telling her excitedly all the adventures he’d had that day, prowling and exploring around the apartment complex and gardens. With an affectionate smile, she reached back and tickled him under the chin, and he purred with delight.

  Nimbus was just as true to character, hopping up in her lap and snuggling down on Faith’s lap. She stroked him under his little bony chin, too, but when he looked up at her, she knew something was wrong. “Nimbus, baby, what’s happened to your eye?” His left eye looked all red and there was a patch of gunk gathering in one corner. “Oh, no, poor baby. Are you okay?” She peered at him, turning his chin from one side to the other. His right eye appeared to be fine, which was a relief, but she was still concerned.

  She turned to check Cirrus’ eyes, too, and thankfully they were both clear. She was about to panic, but Nimbus seemed to be happy enough, purring away on her lap. There was no way he was in pain – she’d have been able to tell.

  “I’ll call Dr. Asante now and book an appointment for tomorrow,” she said. She knew he probably wouldn’t appreciate being called after hours, but she just wanted to check everything would be all right until the morning, and also to see if she could get an early appointment. “Don’t you worry, Nim Nim. I’ll sort it.”

  *****

  Chapter 7

  “It’s just a very minor infection,” Dr. Asante said in his thick accent, coming back in from a back room with a tiny medicine box. “You’ll apply these drops to Nimbus’ eye twice a day until it clears up. Nothing more to worry about.” He talked with cool, collected professionalism, but his eyes were clouded over, like he wasn’t even there, and he barely made eye contact with Faith.

  Faith couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was going through. She cuddled Nimbus close and sat for a moment longer, expecting Dr. Asante to ask her if she’d found anything out. But it looked like he was firmly in ‘vet mode’. She guessed he had to put on a professional face throughout the day, and if he broke it for her he’d break down totally, so she didn’t press the matter.