by Beck,Jessica
“What’s going on here, Suzanne?”
“I didn’t figure it could hurt anything,” I said. “Sorry.”
“What, the bedspread? Don’t be; it needed a good cleaning before you did that. Did you find something?”
I nodded and pointed to the note. After he read it, he said, “Apparently Tom wasn’t very happy about getting that note.” George flipped the pieces over and saw that it was one of Ray’s business cards. “I didn’t think anybody handwrote notes anymore, and now we’ve found two of them. Doesn’t everyone text or tweet or email these days?”
“Apparently not everyone,” I said. “What do you think it means?”
“It could be nothing,” George said. “We already knew that Ray was after Tom for a story. This doesn’t add anything to the investigation.”
“Maybe not, but it’s still an indicator that all was not well between the two men.” I gathered the remnants of the card together for safekeeping and asked him, “What did you come in here for?”
“I found something myself,” he said proudly. “Follow me into the kitchen.”
I did as I was told, and George led me to an open oatmeal cylinder, the type I got my quick oats in. “I’m guessing that’s not on the counter because you got hungry.”
“No. I found this inside,” he said as he handed me something. It appeared to be a roll of twenties, rolled into a cylinder of its own and held together tightly with a rubber band.
“How much is it?”
“It appears to be an even thousand dollars,” George said.
“Is that all there was?” I asked as I reached for the oats.
“Yes, at least in here. I searched every other container in the kitchen, but I couldn’t find any more money. It’s not that big a place to look.”
He was right. The bedroom, as small as it was, was still larger than the cooking space. It appeared that the only place to eat in the cottage was either standing over the sink or sitting down on the couch and using the coffee table as a serving surface. It wasn’t exactly a spot where you could entertain company, though apparently Tom had had his share of visitors while he’d been living there.
“I’m hoping we find more cash in the bedroom,” I said.
“I didn’t realize we were on a treasure hunt, Suzanne.”
“I’m not planning on keeping it. I just figured there would be more, given the way Tom was spending it.”
George shrugged. “Maybe whoever broke in found the rest of it and already took it.”
“If that were the case, then why wreck the entire cottage? You’d think they’d stop searching once they came across a lot of cash, if that was what they were looking for, and yet the entire place looks as though it has been tossed. It wasn’t a very professional job, was it?”
“No. If a real pro had done it, we wouldn’t even have known that they’d been here. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless they wanted us to think they weren’t pros,” he finished. “The question is, how clever is our thief and possible killer?”
“I don’t suppose we’ll know the answer to that until we catch them,” I said. “Do you want to help me finish searching the bedroom?”
“No, you go ahead. I’ll take the bathroom.”
I’d popped my head in there a few minutes earlier. It was the tiniest space I could imagine anyone using as a bathroom, and that included some I’d seen in recreational vehicles. “That shouldn’t take long.”
“You might be surprised,” he said.
I went back to the bedroom, but the only other thing I found tucked under one leg of the bed was what looked like the edge of a plain brown wrapper. What it had bound I did not know, but I decided to hold it out, just in case.
George came in just as I was finishing up. “Any more luck in here?”
“No, it’s a wash. I’d love to get my hands on his wallet and his cell phone, but I’m guessing the police have them both. How about you?”
“I wouldn’t mind seeing them myself.”
“I meant your search,” I said.
He smiled at me. “I know what you meant.” It was a good sign that he was joking with me again. “No, I wasn’t able to find any more cash, or anything else of interest, for that matter. Suzanne, it’s not going to hurt my feelings if you want to check behind me.”
“As a matter of fact, I do, but I expect you to do the same for me. This place isn’t all that big. It wouldn’t hurt having two sets of eyes checking it out.”
“Agreed,” he said. “Let’s do it.”
Chapter 10
After another half hour, we concluded that we’d found all of the clues we were going to at the cottage. George and I finished carrying the remains of junk outside, and once we were finished, the cottage felt quite a bit bigger with only a couch, a chair, a coffee table, a bed, and a nightstand in the entire place. It was amazing how open it felt as we walked through for one last check just as the town garbage collectors showed up with their truck. Tom hadn’t had much in the way of personal possessions, so George put them in the back of his truck, though I had no idea what he’d do with them.
“Last chance to stop them before everything is gone,” George said.
“No, I’m good. You shouldn’t have any trouble renting the place now, especially if you slap a coat of paint on the interior walls and have someone clean the windows.”
“The truth is, I don’t think I’m cut out to be a landlord,” he said. “While we were working, I decided to put it on the market.”
“Then it could use the paint and the cleaning, anyway,” I countered. “After all, you want to get top dollar, don’t you?”
“Sure,” he said, clearly distracted by how little we’d found in our search.
I touched his arm. “Don’t worry, George. We’ll figure this out.”
“I hope you’re right,” he said. “I’ll be happy to see the end of this mess.”
We went outside and found the truck backing up. After the crew greeted the mayor, they made quick work of collecting what we’d put out for them.
They were just driving away as George’s cell phone rang.
“Yes. I’m sorry. I got delayed. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Good bye.”
“Who was that?” I asked.
“An angry councilman, as if they came in any other flavor. I’m late for a meeting. I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go. Can I drop you off at your Jeep?”
“Why not? What are two more minutes going to matter?”
After the mayor was on his way and I was back at Donut Hearts, I decided the best thing I could do was go home and take a shower. Not only did I have the invasive scent of donuts all over me, including in my hair, but I’d added quite a few layers of dust and grime while searching and then cleaning out George’s cottage. I hadn’t heard from Jake yet, but I knew that he’d contact me as soon as he had the chance. I couldn’t wait to hear what Ray had so urgently needed to tell him, but I knew that I’d be in a more receptive mood if I were clean. If I was able to add a nap into the mix afterward, I’d be downright cordial.
That wasn’t going to happen though, at least not right away.
As I was getting into my Jeep, someone drove up and parked directly behind me, managing to cut me off so I couldn’t leave. I turned to look at the driver, prepared to argue if I needed to, but I found a strange man staring at me as he got out of his car. “Sorry about that. Do you happen to know who owns this place?” he asked as he gestured toward Donut Hearts.
“I’m Suzanne Hart, and it belongs to me,” I said, joining him cautiously. He seemed harmless enough on second glance, but I didn’t like being hemmed in like that. “You’re blocking me in.”
“What choice did I have? I didn’t want you to get away,” he said with a crook
ed grin. I was certain he’d meant it to be disarming, but there was something about him that I didn’t trust.
“I hate to be the one to tell you this, but this is not going to be your lucky day. Move your car now, please.” This time I asked him more forcefully. If I had to do it again, I’d have backup on my side, namely, the police.
“Sorry. My mom keeps telling me that I’m not nearly as funny and charming as I think I am. I didn’t mean any harm by it. Would you be able to spare me two minutes once I move my car into a proper parking place?”
“I can give you ninety seconds at most,” I said without smiling.
He grinned at me as though I had. After moving his car, he rejoined me, and I glanced at my watch. I’d said ninety seconds, and that was what I’d meant. “Your time starts right now.”
“How much do you want for the place, Suzanne?” he asked.
“Donut Hearts is not for sale,” I said flatly. “Sixty-eight seconds left. Are we finished here, or was there something else you needed?”
“Ma’am, we got off on the wrong foot, and I’m happy to admit that it was entirely my fault. Can we start over? My name is Daryl Lane. I’m looking at businesses and buildings around town that might be for sale.”
“Why would you want to buy my shop, or anyone else’s, for that matter?”
“Let’s just say that I represent a wealthy financier who wishes to remain anonymous at this time. He stopped by your quaint little town last month and decided that he’d like to own some of the property in it. He was especially interested in Donut Hearts. He said that you made the best fritters he’d ever had in his life.”
“Thank him for me, but please politely decline the offer.”
“You understand that you’d still have a job running the place, right? You’d just report to him. It’s actually quite appealing. You wouldn’t have any of the responsibilities of paying bills or worrying about profits and losses. You’d just be one of his many employees, punching a time clock every day. He’d handle all of the worrisome decisions.”
Wow! That was the worst possible thing he could have suggested to me. I didn’t take orders from anyone, not even my husband, and certainly not some stranger! I might not reap a financial windfall with my balance sheet, but I was my own boss, I did as I pleased, and I lived life on my own terms. “If he really likes my fritters, I can make them any day that I’m here, and with enough notice, I can have a dozen ready for him any time he’d like. He can buy all of the donuts he wants, just not the donutmaker.”
“I’ll let him know,” Daryl said. “By the way, I’m sorry for your loss.”
“What loss is that?” I asked him, realizing that he was now beyond my original time limit. I decided to be gracious about it, especially since his boss had liked my fritters so much.
“I understand a local man died this morning. John, was it?”
“His name was Tom,” I corrected him.
“Yes, that’s right. Tom. Did you know him well?”
“I suppose so,” I said. “Listen, you’ve made your offer, I’ve declined, and now what I’d really like to do is go home, take a shower, and maybe even grab a nap.”
“I understand. I’ll leave you to it, then.”
As I got into my Jeep, I asked him, “Since the donut shop isn’t for sale at any price, will you be leaving town now?”
“Oh, no. Not anytime soon,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m certain our paths will cross again. It was nice meeting you.”
“You, too,” I said, though I didn’t entirely mean it. There was something about the man that I didn’t like, not that my gut was necessarily always right. Still, I’d tell Jake about him the second I caught up with him again.
I finally managed to drive home unaccosted and jumped in the shower.
As the water started to cascade down on me, I heard the bathroom door slowly open.
Was Jake back home, or was someone else paying me an unexpected and most unwelcome visit?
Chapter 11
“I’ve got a gun!” I said loudly before I pulled back the curtain to see who might be out there.
“Well, unless it’s waterproof, you’re probably going to ruin it,” Jake said with a laugh as I peeked out.
“You could have at least announced yourself,” I said as I finished rinsing my hair.
“Sorry. Do you need any help with that?”
“No thanks, I’m finished,” I answered as I shut the water off and took the towel he offered me. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Funny, I thought I was gone way too long. After all, a little of Ray Blake goes a long way. Are you hungry? Because I’m starving.”
I remembered my lone donut a few hours earlier and realized that I hadn’t had a proper lunch, either. “I could definitely eat,” I said. “What did you have in mind? I know we have eggs, and there’s some of that frozen turkey chili I made last week in the freezer.” Jake prided himself on his own chili recipe, but it was spicy enough to give my mouth blisters, metaphorically at least. I’d gotten him to compromise, and now we alternated our chili recipes. Over time, I’d gone from ground beef to ground chicken, and lately I’d been happiest with ground turkey.
“No offense, but I was more in the mood for a burger,” he said. “After all, the Boxcar Grill is just a few hundred yards away if we cut through the park. What do you say?”
“Sure. Why not? Just give me ten minutes, and I’ll be ready to go. You can keep me company in the meantime. What happened with Ray?”
“There’s too much to go into right now. If it’s okay with you, I have a few phone calls to make before we go.” Jake kissed me quickly, and then he headed out to our main living space. He was being awfully cryptic about what he was up to. What had he and Ray talked about? I knew I wouldn’t have long to wait to hear the whole story, but it spurred me on to get ready even faster. Six minutes later, hair still wet, I was ready to go. I usually wore it up in a ponytail, but I’d give it a little more time to dry before I pulled it back when we got to the diner.
Jake was still on the phone. He held up one finger toward me, then said, “We’ll talk later. Okay. Got it. Thanks.”
“Who was that?” I asked him.
“I was just checking on something. Are you ready? Hey, your hair’s down.”
“Wow, you really are a detective,” I said with a smile. “I thought I’d let it air dry before I put it up.”
“Aren’t you worried about getting a cold? It’s still kind of chilly out,” he said as he touched my shoulder lightly. I still tingled at his touch, something I was eternally grateful for.
“Okay, now you sound too much like my mother,” I said.
“What can I say? We both love you. But never forget one thing: I love you more,” he said with a grin.
“What can I say? I just must be loveable.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s it. Are we ready?” he asked as he held my jacket out to me.
“I am if you are.”
As we left the cottage we shared nestled on one edge of the park and headed toward the diner, I marveled at how lucky we were to live in such a welcoming place. The leaves were in their full glory, and the park had transformed from a sea of green to a patchwork quilt resplendent in shades of red, gold, and brown. This was my favorite time of year, with a bite in the air and an explosion of color everywhere I looked. We’d just started having fires again in our fireplace, and the daylight hours were quickly slipping away as the darkness crept in more and more every day.
I zipped my jacket up and realized that Jake had probably been right about my hair. A cool breeze sent a distinct chill through me, and I decided to pull it back even if it was still a little damp. “Now, tell me about your meeting with Ray.”
“Funny you should call it that,” Jake said.
“Why is that?”
“Suzanne, I’ll be happy to tell you all about it, but is there any way we could just enjoy this short stroll through the park, hold hands, and not talk about anything more serious than how lucky we are?” he asked me.
It was a rare burst of overt sentimentality on my husband’s part, though he definitely had his moments. “You know what? That sounds really good to me,” I said as I felt my hand naturally fit into his. I knew that he was right; we were incredibly lucky, but that wasn’t the entire story. Marriages take work, no matter how good they are, and we did our share. I’d been jumpy because of my first failed marriage to Max, while Jake had lost his first wife, pregnant with his only child, in a car accident. Somehow we’d found ourselves thrown together, ironically enough by the murder of one of my customers at the donut shop. It was hard to remember the Suzanne I’d been before he’d come into my life; it was as though she were a stranger to me. “Let’s have a fire tonight.”
He grinned down at me. “I was just thinking the same thing. We really need to set up a fire pit outside. I have the fondest memories of camping in the autumn with my family as a kid and sitting out under the stars as the fire blazed away.”
“I’m good with that,” I said, though honestly, my idea of a fire was one in the fireplace while I sat on the couch sipping a cup of tea and enjoying a good book. But if it was important to Jake to do it outside, then that made it important to me. “We can get started on it today,” I said, though I’d had plans to continue my investigation into what had happened to Tom.
“Maybe we can push it back a little,” Jake said reluctantly.
“What are you up to, mister?”
“Let’s at least wait until we order,” he said. “Besides, we’re already here.”