All Bark and No White Knight

by Stella St. Claire

  Olivia wanted to point out that Larry was hardly rich, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.

  The old woman was on a roll. “She was going to have a pool—and horseback riding! She even told my son that she wanted to go into business together and make this a second set of rooms if he helped her and she helped him. Helped him! As if Larry knows anything about running this business. I do all the work around here. Does he ever thank me? No. Of course not.” She finally ran out of breath and wheezed for air.

  Alarmed, Olivia leaned forward. “Mrs. Silverman? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine! Everyone is so ready for me to die. I’m not dying today, dearie.”

  “Mrs. Silverman, you do realize that Hannah is dead, right? She was murdered.”

  “Murdered! And you think that I killed her? I’m not going to jail, missy! I know all the depraved things that happen in that place. I’ve got a stack of sleeping pills for just an occasion.”

  For the love of . . . “Mrs. Silverman, no one is accusing you of murder! There’s no reason to take your sleeping pills. I’m just trying to figure out about the bed and breakfast.”

  Larry’s mother narrowed her eyes. “How did you know my name? If you already knew that Hannah was dead, why are you pretending to be looking for her bed and breakfast? Who are you? Another one of Larry’s floozies!”

  Someone was far sharper than she appeared. “No ma’am. Just interested in this bed and breakfast. So Larry doesn’t help you at all? That’s awful. How long has he owned this place?”

  At the idea that Olivia was on her side, the old biddy relaxed. “Oh, I guess he bought it about five years ago. He was supposed to fix it up, but does he?”

  “No,” Olivia guessed, trying to hide a smile. Larry seemed like a lazy bum, but if his mother rode him this hard, she could understand why he wouldn’t be around much.

  “No, he’s too busy chasing his—” the old woman stopped talking abruptly, interrupted by coughing.

  “Floozies. Got it. Well, I’m sorry for bothering you, Mrs. Silverman. I’ll make sure to call next time.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” The old woman immediately turned and slowly started back to where she had come from.

  Olivia waited until she was out of range before peering over the desk. Another thing Larry had failed to do was update to a computer-based record system. It looked as if all the reservations were done on paper. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Olivia flipped through the pages.

  She could see a spattering of reservations, maybe enough to keep them afloat. If Hannah really had been planning on building such a gorgeous bed and breakfast, it would have easily put Whispering Haven out of business.

  That was a motive, especially if Larry was as lazy as his mother portrayed him. He might rather kill the competition than maintain his own business.

  As she walked back to her car, Olivia wondered just what sort of marketing plan Hannah had put together. She had been a waitress. How had she gotten the money for the bed and breakfast?

  Maybe she should collect just a little bit more information before heading to the sheriff’s station.

  She wasn’t investigating.

  She just didn’t want to waste his time.

  That was all.

  Heading back to the town square, Olivia stopped to pick up some groceries. She wasn’t much of a cook, but her junk food drawer was diminishing, and she could use some more chips.

  Jingling her keys in her hand, she was just about to head into the market when a shout of alarm stopped her. Turning her head, she saw the mayor hurrying toward her with a look of alarm on his face. “Olivia! Olivia!”

  “Yes?” she asked slowly. She’d never seen the mayor run, and his face was so red that she was concerned he might have a heart attack.

  “Come with me! Quick!”

  “I was just going to get some chips . . .” She didn’t get any further before he grabbed her arm and jerked her down the street. Surrendering to the inevitable, she gasped, “Okay, I guess I’ll come with you! Can you at least tell me what’s going on? Do you have some sort of doggie emergency?”

  “Dog? No, Olivia. I don’t have a dog,” he panted, sounding annoyed at her denseness. “I followed your advice and got some flowers for Lady Celeste!” The mayor yanked her around the corner and pulled her into Celeste’s psychic shop.

  The front room was empty.

  “Uh huh. Did she not like the flowers?”

  “No, she loved them! So much that she brought them right up to her face and inhaled!” Still frantic, he led her to the back of the shop and opened the door to the bathroom. There Olivia saw poor Lady Celeste sitting on the closed toilet seat with tears running down her red face.

  “Lady Celeste!” Olivia gasped as she bent over the woman. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  The woman sneezed several times in quick succession, and Olivia groaned. “You’re allergic to the flowers?” She looked up at the mayor. “How long as she been like this?”

  “Fifteen or twenty minutes? I was on my way to get some allergy medicine when I saw you instead.”

  “What? You thought that I would be more helpful than allergy medicine?” Olivia shook her head and dug into her purse for her emergency stash of medicine. Luckily, she always made sure she carried a couple of antihistamines on her just in case she encountered someone who was violently allergic to dogs. “Celeste, have you ever gone into anaphylactic shock?”

  The woman shook her head and grabbed at the pills, shoved them into her mouth and swallowed with a gulp, just before going into another series of sneezes. Olivia yanked off a length of toilet paper and thrust it into Lady Celeste’s hand, and the woman nodded her thanks, too miserable to speak. As it was, Olivia and the mayor hovered on either side of Lady Celeste, anxious, seeing her through a few more sets of sneezes before the reactions started to subside.

  When she was sure that the woman was breathing okay, Olivia pulled Mayor Henderson out of the bathroom. “Someone needs to keep an eye on her and make sure that her throat doesn’t start to swell up.”

  He nodded his head emphatically. “I’ll stay with her all night!”

  “I’m sure that you will.” At least one relationship in this town was heading in the right direction. Sighing, she stuck her head back into the bathroom. “Lady Celeste, the mayor is going to stay with you tonight to make sure that you don’t get worse. I’ll leave the rest of my allergy medicine with you just in case, okay?”

  Lady Celeste nodded. As Olivia dropped off the pills, she gave Mayor Henderson one last look and headed back outside. It didn’t seem all that surprising that it would take a horrible disaster to get the mayor and his crush to spend some time together.

  Mentally, she added more allergy medication and cookies to her list of things to pick up. The mayor and the psychic had a more solid relationship than she did, and it was going to take more than chips to lift her spirits.

  The next morning, Jackie stumbled into the diner with her hair a disheveled mess. She glared at Olivia as she slid into the booth. “You better have a very good reason for waking me up this early on a Sunday—otherwise, Nick is going to have to arrest me for your murder.”

  “I ordered you Bananas Foster French toast,” Olivia said brightly as she pushed the large cup of coffee she’d ordered for Jackie in her friend’s direction. “With extra bourbon sauce.”

  A dreamy expression crossed Jackie’s face as she picked up the cup, took a gulp, and cradled the cup between her palms. “I take back everything I just said. I now officially love you.”

  Olivia picked up her own coffee cup and grinned. She knew from experience that Jackie was a monster first thing in the morning, but she could be as docile as a kitten if you knew how to treat her right. As Jackie continued to drink her coffee, Olivia filled her in on what she’d learned. “It seems that Hannah was a bit of a loner, so I’m hoping that some of her coworkers will know more about her business plan.”

  “Can we back up to the part where Andrew is
dating Larry?”

  “Be nice, or no French toast for you,” Olivia grumbled. She’d stayed with Janelle last night in another desperate attempt to avoid Andrew, and her phone had gone strangely silent. Andrew had given up on getting in touch with her, and she didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  “There she is! I thought she was making you up,” their waitress teased as she refilled their coffee cups. Sandra was the only waitress that Olivia could see working the breakfast shift in the diner who appeared to be around the same age as Hannah, so she hoped that they might have bonded a little.

  “Unfortunately not,” Jackie grumbled, but she sat a little straighter. “She did tell you extra bourbon sauce, right? She didn’t make that part up.”

  Sandra laughed. “Yes, she was very specific about that. Food should be up shortly. Was there anything else that I can do for you right now?”

  “It’s a shame about Hannah,” Olivia jumped in, nudging Jackie’s leg under the table.

  Jackie glared at her but played along. “Yeah, it’s such a shame. I’d heard she had such big plans, too. Such a bright and shiny future.”

  Bright and shiny future? Jackie was playing it up a bit much, but Sandra didn’t seem to mind.

  The waitress pressed a hand over her chest and shook her head. “She did. We all talk about leaving this place and getting something more stable, but Hannah was actually going to do it. She’d inherited her grandmother’s entire fortune and estate and was going to open her own bed and breakfast. She was even going to hire me and some of the other girls who work here.” She looked toward the warming shelf by the kitchen. “Oh! That’s your food. I’ll be right back!”

  “Well, no wonder she could afford to go big on the bed and breakfast. She certainly had the money to do it.”

  Jackie leaned across the table eagerly. “Does that help you figure out who did it?”

  “I’m not working on the case,” Olivia protested before she sighed. “But if I was, not really. It’s just confirming what we already know. Larry has a lot to lose, but it’s just circumstantial. Hell, it could be the owner of this restaurant, who didn’t want Hannah seducing away half his wait staff for a better job.”

  “So what are you going to do now?”

  “Let Nick know what we found—and then get ready to face the music with Andrew.”

  Sandra reappeared with their food, but instead of digging in, Jackie just studied Olivia with concern in her eyes. “Have you found out who my vandal is?” she asked abruptly.

  Olivia snorted. “Way to naturally transition right into that.”

  “Seemed like a safer subject.” Jackie picked up her fork and licked her lips. She didn’t seem all that concerned about the course of the mystery, and Olivia narrowed her eyes.

  “This is a real case, right? You didn’t just make this up in an effort to take my mind off things?”

  Her friend widened her eyes in mock horror. “I would never! Well, that actually is something that I might do, but I wouldn’t ruin my own inventory over it.”

  “Okay. I don’t have any more leads. Has anything else happened?”

  Jackie shook her head. “Nope. I’ve been checking the books randomly, too, just to make sure. Nothing else. Maybe it really was just some kid playing a prank. Think I should report it to Nick? Maybe some other businesses have been hit, and this isn’t personal at all.”

  “Maybe.” Olivia bit into her toast and munched thoughtfully as melted butter oozed onto her tongue. After swallowing, she added, “Actually, I think I have a better idea. Why don’t I mention it to Derek when I go talk to Nick? He can come by to check it out, and we can ask him to check out the other businesses, as well.”

  “Like Delilah’s Silks?” Jackie said dryly. “You might be bosom buddies with her, but I have no desire to play matchmaker.”

  “She did me a huge favor.”

  “She tried to steal your boyfriend for two years.”

  “She’s our neighbor, and we should be nice.”

  “She tried to steal your boyfriend for two years.”

  “She—”

  “She tried to steal your boyfriend for two years.” Jackie shook her head. “You’re going soft on me.”

  Olivia chuckled. “Maybe, but I’m still going to do it. Besides, if I hook her and Derek up, then if Andrew and I don’t make it, at least I don’t have to worry about her dating him. How humiliating would that be?”

  Jackie lifted an eyebrow. “Is that really what you’re worried about?”

  “If I joke about it, I don’t fall apart.”

  “Makes sense.”

  12

  Where are you? We need to talk?

  Olivia contemplated ignoring Andrew’s text message, but she knew that wasn’t going to solve anything. Stopping by the sheriff’s station to talk to Nick and then running a few errands.

  His response was immediate. Is this case related or Tucker related?

  Narrowing her eyes, she glared at the phone and hoped that Andrew could feel her frustration. Here he was, dating other people, and he expected her to give him all the details about her life?

  I’ll text you when I get back.

  There was no angry return text, and Olivia shoved the phone in her pocket as she walked to the police station. Mentally, she rehearsed everything that she wanted to say to him, only every scenario that played out in her head ended badly. They were both at fault, her for not trusting him and him for whatever secrets that he was keeping, and those were two difficult obstacles to overcome.

  Deputy Derek Jameson was manning the front desk. He looked less than happy to see her, which wasn’t all that unusual for him. Despite his crush on Olivia, he had previously caught her and Jackie and Janelle in awkward situations. Like breaking into a rival bakery. Although it hadn’t really been breaking in since they’d had the owner’s permission. She had just happened to be in jail at the time.

  “Are you here to report a crime or talk to the sheriff about his dog?” he asked suspiciously. “Because I happen to know you’re not supposed to be investigating Hannah’s murder.”

  Olivia flashed him her most winning smile as she leaned across the desk. “I am here to report an act of vandalism that occurred at Shelfie a week ago. Maybe a little longer.”

  Derek scowled and leaned back in his chair. “Two questions. One, why isn’t Jackie, the owner of the bookstore, reporting this? Second, why did it take you this long to notify us?”

  The first question stumped her so she turned up the flattery. “The truth is that Jackie asked me to look into it, and I failed to solve the case, so I thought I should turn it over the professionals.”

  “Uh-huh.” Derek crossed his arms. “And?”

  “And . . .” Olivia bit her lower lip. “I told Jackie that I would report it. She believed in my abilities to solve this case for her, and I clearly let her down, and I really didn’t want to inconvenience her any longer. She’ll be happy to answer any questions, and while you’re at it, you should probably also talk to Janelle and Delilah to see if they experienced any vandalism as well. You know, this could be the work of a gang.”

  “A gang,” he echoed skeptically. “In Lexingburg.”

  “You never know.” She motioned with her head to the stack of papers on his desk. “Well? Are you going to give me a form to fill out?”

  Derek still didn’t look convinced. “Wouldn’t you know if Janelle’s place had been vandalized? You work and live there.”

  “Have you actually talked to Janelle lately?” Olivia said with a grimace. “She’s got a lot going on, and it’s very difficult to get anything out of her lately. Besides, she throws a fit if she thinks I’m investigating anything.”

  “Uh-huh. And since when do you care about Delilah?”

  Olivia brightened. “You know, I think Delilah and I just really got off on the wrong foot.”

  “You’ve known her for fifteen years.”

  Pretending that she hadn’t heard that, she pushed
on. “And really, this isn’t a personal matter. It’s a professional one. Delilah, my professional neighbor, and I think we should all look out for each other. Besides, she’s so pretty and business-savvy, and she’s got great taste in fashion.”

  Derek blinked. “What is happening here?”

  “Hey!” Olivia leaned in and grabbed the form herself. “Don’t make this personal. I’m here to file a complaint. It’s your duty to see it through!”

  His jaw dropped open, and he stared at her as she sat down in the hard plastic chair in front of the desk and filled out the form. She knew that Derek would follow through; he really was a good deputy, and he was the best choice for sheriff when Nick retired, so she just had to make sure that Delilah would be ready for him when he came around.

  She only felt a little guilty about manipulating Derek. It was good for him. He’d had a string of girlfriends, but none of them had stuck.

  Why she hadn’t thought of this sooner was a mystery.

  “All set.” After signing the bottom of the form, she picked it up and slapped it down on the desk in front of the deputy. “Now I need to see Nick.”

  “I thought you were just here to report a crime.”

  “I may have some information on the Maclin murder.”

  “Olivia!”

  “Thanks, Derek!” Without waiting for him to motion her toward the back, she slipped past him and down the hall to Nick’s office.

  The sheriff was elbow-deep in paperwork and munching on a slice of pizza.

  “Is that your breakfast? I don’t think Mary would approve.” Nick’s wife had been hassling him to lose weight and be healthier. To his credit, he did try, but whenever things got a little stressful, he fell back into old habits.

  Tucker recognized her and got up from his dog bed in the corner to greet her enthusiastically. She scratched at the dog’s velvet ears and waited for Nick to situate himself.