Cast Iron Will (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 1)

by Jessica Beck

  “Sally? Do you accept his apology?” I asked her just as firmly.

  I knew that she wanted to continue punishing him, but it was just as obvious that Sally realized that I wasn’t messing around, either. After all, I had the power to ban her from ever eating at my grill again, and I knew for a fact that the woman couldn’t boil water with an instruction manual to help her. If I cut her off, she’d starve in a matter of days.

  “That would be acceptable,” she said primly, and then, with a wicked grin, she asked me, “Can I order a few things to go?”

  “You may not,” I said, but I winked at her to soften the sting of my refusal.

  To my surprise, Sally winked back. “Hey, you can’t blame me for trying.” She stood, and then, on what was clearly pure impulse, she leaned down and kissed Les soundly on the lips. After taking a moment to catch her breath, I heard her say to him softly, “If I’d wanted you, I could have had you at the drop of a hat.”

  She left to a round of applause, and after a moment, Les joined in as well with a grin of his own. He stood to leave as well, and for the first time I could remember, there was food left on his plate.

  “You don’t need to rush off,” I told him as he took both checks.

  “I can’t stay. There’s something I need to do,” Les said. I watched as he practically threw his money at Pat, and then he hurried out the door, no doubt in search of Sally to continue their conversation.

  I chuckled as I cleaned their spots away, wiped the counter again, and made room for two more diners.

  I’d learned a great deal from many of the earlier exchanges, and I couldn’t help but wonder what clues might come my way the rest of the day.

  CHAPTER 8: PAT

  Annie was a joy to watch as she worked at her grill. It was almost like watching a well-choreographed dance, the way she went from station to station in constant fluid motion. My twin sister had a real knack for taking the simplest ingredients and turning them into culinary masterpieces. Not that everything she made was perfect, especially when she was trying out new recipes. When that was going on, she needed every bit of power the massive range hood over her cooking station had in it to clear away the smoke at times. The truth was that I usually didn’t mind being her guinea pig. After all, it meant that I was often the first person to taste her new creations. Plus, I got to offer suggestions, and finally, when she made something for me to eat, I didn’t have to cook for myself, so I could head straight up to my apartment upstairs after everyone else left for the day. I knew Annie thought I was crazy to want to live above the Iron, but it was perfect for me, just as her cabin in the woods suited her ideally.

  I headed for the back door, vowing to be as quick as I could manage. It was time to see how Kathleen was progressing with her investigation, and after stationing Skip up front at the register, I felt fairly confident deserting my post, at least for the two minutes my task should take.

  Boy, did I underestimate that particular time line.

  “Stop right where you are! I want to talk to you!” I shouted as I rushed after the figure fleeing into the dense woods beside the shop. Though it was broad daylight, the tree canopy cut off a great deal of sunlight, and I couldn’t get much detail about who had been lurking there. I wasn’t even sure if it was a man or a woman. In all honesty, it might have been perfectly harmless, but if that was the case, why did the person run the moment I stepped outside? What had they been doing skulking about and, more importantly, had they achieved their objective, or had I scared them off before they could manage it?

  Kathleen came around the side of the building just as I started after the trespasser.

  “What are you yelling about, Pat? I heard you all the way up front.”

  “Someone was watching the Iron from the woods, and when I spotted them, they took off running.” I tried to keep going after whoever it was, but Kathleen put a restraining hand on my shoulder.

  “Forget it. Whoever was there is long gone by now.”

  I looked into the trees and saw that she was right. “Why would someone sneak around the Iron like that?”

  “Are you positive they were watching this place?” she asked me.

  “What else could they have been doing, and more importantly, why did they run away when I caught them spying on us?”

  “Pat, it was probably just someone too embarrassed about being caught creeping around a crime scene. You’d be amazed how many looky-loos we get. I’m sure that it was nothing.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” I conceded, though I still had my doubts. It had something to do with the murder; I just knew it, even though I didn’t have any empirical evidence to substantiate it. I wanted to snoop around among the trees just in case our visitor had dropped something, but I couldn’t do it with my sister, the sheriff, standing right there. “Have you wrapped things up yet out front?”

  “We have,” she admitted. “That was why I was headed inside. You can have the front porch of the Iron back.”

  I glanced at my watch. “Wow, that was an hour faster than I was expecting.”

  “I could always keep someone out there for another sixty minutes,” she said with a slight grin. “Funny, I thought you’d be pleased.”

  “I am,” I said quickly. “I guess this thing’s just got me spooked.”

  “I’d say that’s a pretty typical reaction to murder. How’s Annie holding up?”

  “You could always go inside and ask her yourself,” I said.

  “I could, but I’m not sure she would tell me anything. The two of you have had something between you since you were born. It’s an odd thing to feel like an outsider in your own family.” She said it almost wistfully, as though it was a sad truth that she’d come to accept a long time ago.

  “Kathleen, you know that we never meant to exclude you,” I said gently. My older sister could be rough around the edges at times, and she could be too quick to judge on occasion, but she had a good heart, and I loved her. The very idea that Annie and I had made her feel unwelcome in her own family was appalling to me.

  “I know you didn’t, and I love you both despite everything,” she answered with a smile as she patted my cheek. “How could you help it? You two have every right to be as close as two siblings can be. I never resented either one of you for it, but I wished that I’d been a twin myself more than once when we were growing up.”

  “I’m not sure the world could handle two of you,” I said with a smile.

  “Now that I think about it, neither am I,” she said, joining me with a broader grin of her own. “Keep an eye on Annie, okay? I’m afraid she’s going to get some kind of delayed shock when she realizes what she saw this morning.”

  “I’ll do what I can, but I’m not sleeping out in that cabin with her, no matter what,” I replied. “There’s only so much I’m willing to do for either one of my sisters.”

  “You’re a real city slicker at heart, aren’t you?”

  I shrugged. “What can I say? I like to be surrounded by civilization, and I enjoy the creature comforts of my home.”

  “You mean your attic?” she asked as she laughed. “Is it really that much different from Annie’s cabin?”

  “I think so. For one thing, there’s not much danger of a bear coming to my front door when I live here over the Iron,” I said.

  “To be fair, Annie’s never seen one out there, either.”

  “Not yet, anyway. It’s still early, so give it time. We were going to go our separate ways this evening, but should we change our plans? The three of us could have dinner together, if you’d like.”

  “Don’t you have to check with Annie first before you make an offer like that? What if she’s got a date?”

  “The last time she went out was New Year’s Eve last year, and that was such a disaster, she swears she’s giving up on finding anyone.”

  “Just wait. She’ll meet someone, and so will you.”

  “I’m about ready to throw in the towel myself. After Molly broke my heart,
I haven’t much felt like going out. First dates are too much like job interviews, you know what I mean? Besides, what about you? Boy, the Marshes aren’t exactly burning up the dating world these days, are we?”

  “I don’t have time to date,” she said tersely. “I’m married to my job.”

  “Surely there’s someone you’d like to go out with.”

  “I lock up most of the men I meet,” Kathleen said with a shrug. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to pass on your gracious dinner invitation. I’ve got a murder to solve.”

  “Sorry we can’t help you with that,” I said lightly, trying to keep my guilt about working on the case behind her back to myself.

  “You stick to what you know, and I’ll do the same.”

  As Kathleen headed back up front, I followed her a minute later to confirm that she and her deputies were actually leaving. When I saw the squad cars pull away, I headed straight for the woods beside us instead of going back into the Iron. I just hoped that Skip wasn’t giving away the entire store, literally.

  I was about to give up my search of the copse of trees and go back inside when I noticed that something was stuck to one of my shoes. Annie and I both wore running shoes at work, since we were on our feet all day. Besides, we didn’t have a dress code, or a boss to answer to, so we could pretty much wear what we wanted. I leaned against a tree and held up my shoe. It was a piece of paper, torn so that I only had part of it, but the fragment I found was enough to get my heart racing.

  In block letters printed in heavy pencil, it said,

  COME TO THE IRON BY SIX TOMORROW MORNING, OR I’LL—

  I had no idea what the note’s author would do, but I had a hunch that it had something to do with Chester’s murder.

  I had to show this to Annie and see what she thought about it. I knew enough not to handle the paper too much. If there were fingerprints on it, I didn’t want to smudge them and possibly ruin a clue. I tucked it carefully in my handkerchief, a blue paisley bandana, and I headed back inside.

  I wanted to show the note to my sister as soon as I got back inside the Iron, but she was busy cooking late meals for a dozen customers, and besides, it appeared as though Skip was having problems up front.

  I made my way to the front of the store and found Virgil Hicks, as ornery and contrary a man as you’d ever want to meet. “What’s going on?” I asked as I joined Skip behind the long counter.

  “He shorted me ten dollars!” Virgil snapped, “That’s what’s going on. I want my money, and I want it right this second, or I’ll call that big sister of yours and have this snotty kid arrested for theft.”

  “He gave me a ten for a nine dollar and eighty-seven cent purchase,” Skip said, a hint of a quiver in his voice. “I wouldn’t cheat him.”

  “If you’re already a thief, why should I believe that you wouldn’t be a liar, too?”

  “Virgil, keep your voice down,” I said in the calmest demeanor I could muster.

  “You can’t shut me up, Patrick Marsh!”

  I leaned over the counter. “Last warning. Either be civil or find someplace else to eat your meals, buy your groceries and hardware, and get your mail delivered.”

  Virgil didn’t like the implication that I might ban him, so at least he lowered his voice. “You can’t bully me. I won’t stand for it.”

  “I’m not bullying you,” I said. A few folks were watching us closely, waiting to see what would happen next. I had no interest in putting on a show. I reached for my wallet and pulled out a ten-dollar bill.

  As I handed it to Virgil, Skip said, “I didn’t cheat him, Pat! That’s the truth!”

  “It’s okay, young fellow,” Virgil said, clearly feeling pleased with himself. “Everybody makes mistakes. You’re only human.”

  “So are you, Virgil,” I said. There were two folks waiting to pay for their meals and shopping items. “Sorry for the inconvenience, but unless you’ve got exact change or you’re using a credit card, there’s going to be a slight delay.”

  “Why can’t we pay now, Pat?” Madeline Vance asked.

  “I have to run a report on the register and balance out my till,” I said. “It’s the only way I’m going to know who’s right. It won’t take long, I promise.”

  “Do what you must,” she said. “I wouldn’t say no to having a little more time to shop.”

  I started to pull out the till when I looked hard at Virgil one last time. “Fair warning. If the register balances out, you and I are going to have a problem, and I’ll be needing that ten back. Are you absolutely certain that you gave Skip a twenty and not a ten?”

  His face clouded up for a moment before he spoke. “I’m pretty sure,” he finally said grudgingly.

  “Well, I’m one hundred percent sure that it was a ten,” Skip said defiantly.

  “Not now,” I said to him in a hard voice. There was a time to stand up for himself, but this wasn’t it, not while I was making a point. I believed my employee. This wasn’t the first time Virgil had tried to pull something tricky over on us, but it was going to be the last if I had anything to say about it. If the register did indeed turn up to be balanced after I’d given him ten dollars out of my own wallet, Virgil was going to see what things were like looking in from the outside. I knew that I couldn’t ban him forever, but two or three days away from the Iron might be enough to teach him a lesson about trying to take advantage of me or my staff. “Virgil, it’s your call.”

  He frowned again, then he reached for his wallet and pulled out the ten I’d just given him. “Go on. Take it.”

  I left it on the counter where he’d just slammed it down. “No, thanks.” I finished pulling the till out so I could count the money, and then I reached for my cash register keys. I loved this register; I could run all kinds of reports on it, many of which I never used, but come the end of the day, I always matched my day’s take with what the register reported, and I was never off by more than a few pennies one way or the other.

  “I said take it,” Virgil insisted as he pushed it toward me.

  “If it’s not given willingly, and you’re not going to admit that you made an honest mistake, I don’t have any choice.”

  “I made a mistake,” Virgil said in a near whisper. “Is that good enough for you?”

  It wasn’t, not by a long shot. “Apologize.”

  “Pat, I’m sorry for the confusion. Sometimes I—”

  “To him, not to me,” I said as I interrupted him and pointed to my employee.

  “You’re kidding,” Virgil said distastefully.

  “It’s okay, Pat,” Skip cut in. “I don’t need it.”

  “Well, I think you do,” I said. “Virgil?”

  “I’m sorry.” He spoke the words as though each one cost him money.

  I looked at Skip. “Is that okay?”

  “Fine,” he said.

  “Good,” I replied as I put the till back in place. I hoped and prayed that when I cashed out the register at the end of the day, we weren’t ten dollars over what we should have had. If we were, Skip was going to have to make a pretty painful apology himself, but in the meantime, it was time to get business back to normal. Pretending nothing had happened, I smiled at Virgil and asked, “Can you believe the state legislature voted to increase the gas tax again yesterday?”

  It was an olive branch, and he knew it. I wasn’t sure that he was going to take it for a second, but then Virgil rose to the occasion. “Pat, I’ve told you for years, they’re all a bunch of crooks, with one hand out and the other reaching for our wallets. There ought to be a law against them.”

  “Maybe you could run for office and show them how it should be done, Virgil,” Skip said with a smile, getting into the spirit of reconciliation.

  That made Virgil grin. “Skip, they wouldn’t know what to do with me, I can guarantee you that, but I like the way you think, young man.”

  After Virgil was gone, Skip looked at me intently once we were alone again. “Thanks for backing me up, Pat.�
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  “It was the right thing to do. He had no right to come after you like that, and it’s not like it’s the first time Virgil’s tried something. I think he does it just to show the world that he’s still got a bite to go along with his bark.”

  “If anyone’s not sure about that, they can just ask me,” Skip said as he glanced at the clock. “Just ten minutes until we close.”

  “You can take off early if you want to,” I said as I busied myself straightening up the checkout counter. “It’s okay by me.”

  “Thanks, but if it’s all the same to you, I’ll stick around until the end of the day.”

  I noticed a worried look in his eyes. “You want to see how the report balances, don’t you?”

  “I’m sure that I’m right,” he insisted, “but I’d still like to get confirmation of it, if you know what I mean.”

  “I understand. Why don’t you stock the bread and the one-inch U-bolts? Both of them are getting low.”

  “I can do that,” he said happily.

  As soon as I had Skip out from under my feet, I raised all the shades we’d lowered earlier, walked around the counter, and opened the front door. It would be nice having our main access back, if only for a few moments. As I unlocked the door, I was surprised to find a man around my age in a three-piece suit standing there. I didn’t recognize him, and that was saying something in our little town. It wasn’t exactly tourist season, and even if it were, he wasn’t dressed like most of the folks we got who explored the mountains around us in the summer. “Welcome to the Iron! Come on in,” I said as I held the door open for him. “If we don’t have it, the truth is that you probably don’t need it.”

  “Are you Mr. Patrick Marsh?” he asked with a slight frown.

  “Guilty as charged,” I said as I offered my hand.

  “And your sister, Analeigh Marsh? Is she present as well?”