Must Be Murder
Page 21
So Toby was trying to throw the investigation off by feeding the reporter lies. It was a wildly illogical plan—the kind of plan that an awkward, scared kid would come up with.
He must have been her source.
I thought about telling Angelia what had transpired that evening. She would find out eventually. I had to tell Fitts, and word was going to get back to Angelia and Shane somehow. But right then and there, I couldn’t find the words.
I let go of her, and we walked to the curb where we sat down. Holly sat next to me. Nico and Stella, having an intense discussion in hushed tones, joined us a moment later but remained standing.
In the distance I heard sirens.
***
I woke to the smell of bacon the next morning. When I opened my eyes, I found myself snuggled under the covers in my bed in Carlsbad with light streaming through the blinds, beckoning me to join the conscious world.
It took me a moment to remember why I was at home and what had happened—and why the smell of bacon would be filling my home.
But then before I could stop myself from remembering—because really, I would have rather forgotten about the last twelve hours—it all came back to me. Toby catching Marlo messing with the wine and then leaving her there to pass out from the carbon dioxide and drown. Toby trapping me in the apartment. Nico coming in and cracking Toby on the back of the head with a bat. And the following hours being alternately questioned and berated for my stupidity by the lovely-and-talented Detective Fitts at the police station.
The only part of yesterday I wanted to remember was Nico.
Which brought me back to the smell of bacon.
I threw off the covers and padded out to the front of the apartment. Nico stood at the stove, transferring strips of bacon from a cast iron skillet to a paper-towel lined plate next to the stove. He looked up and grinned.
“Hey, how’s my girl?” He set down the tongs and strode across the kitchen toward me. With a wonderfully intense hug and kiss from him, I was finally awake. A little weak in the knees, but all the same feeling grateful, content, and safe—and hungry.
He motioned to the breakfast bar for me to sit down and then crossed the kitchen to the fridge.
“I’m still on Italy time, so I’ve been up for a while. I found a grocery store this morning and got some breakfast celebration food. He pulled out a pitcher of orange juice and a bottle of champagne. Twisting the cage off the champagne, he said, “Mimosa?”
“Sure,” I said. “Are we celebrating you being here early? I’m so glad you’re here. Greatest surprise ever.”
He popped the champagne cork and poured it into two flutes, following that up with orange juice. “We are celebrating your being alive.” He handed me a glass and held his up for a toast.
I clinked my glass with his and sipped the drink.
I probably wasn’t ever really in that much danger. It was scary, yes, but would Toby actually have hurt me? I still didn’t think he had it in him. He was just scared.
But it was probably better to keep those thoughts to myself. Really, I just wanted to move on. Nico was here, and it was time to move on.
“So,” Nico said after sipping his drink. “Stella and I have been texting this morning. She said we should head up to the festival whenever and not to worry about helping with set up. The sisters from that inn—” his eyebrows furrowed as he paused “—Snap flower?”
“Snapdragon?”
He pointed at me and nodded. “That’s it. Snapdragon. The sisters from Snapdragon offered to take care of setting up at D’Angelo this morning.”
I couldn’t keep my eyebrows from rising in surprise. “Whoa, really?”
“They said they owed you one.”
I halfway shrugged my agreement and sipped my drink. “That’s true.”
“And your friends,” he paused again, then continued slowly, “Livy, Jules, and Amy?”
“Yeah?”
“Oh good, I remembered all of them. They’re helping, too. And they’re glad you’re okay.” He sipped his mimosa and then grabbed two strips of bacon from the counter. Handing me one, he said, “So I was thinking maybe we would have breakfast, then go for a walk on the beach, and then go up to the winery. Sound good?”
I smiled at my ridiculously cute boyfriend wearing his backward baseball cap and standing in my kitchen. Well, I guess it was our kitchen now. He was here. Finally.
“That sounds great.”
I looked out the patio door and took a deep breath.
In a newspaper article, Lucy Argyle had suggested that Marlo’s death must have been murder. I knew that Toby hadn’t told me the whole story yesterday, particularly when it came to the injuries Marlo sustained, but I was pretty sure Lucy was wrong. Would I ever know for sure what happened the night Marlo drowned? Probably not. After yesterday’s encounter with Toby, I really, really was going to mind my own business. I wasn’t even going to call Detective Fitts to find out what happened after we left the police station last night. Maybe I would talk to Shane or Angelia at some point, but I wasn’t going to call them. They needed some time to process what had happened, and they needed to do that alone.
And if Lucy Argyle published another article about OV, I wasn’t going to read it—no matter what it said.
Yes, it was time to move on.
Tomorrow would officially start the school year. I’d have to face Dr. Stevens and 160 new students. Nico would begin commuting to OV everyday for his new job. Eventually we’d have to figure out whether we wanted to stay in this apartment or find a new one—possibly one closer to OV. There were a lot of unknowns in front of us, but it was exciting. He was here, and we were facing those unknowns together.
And nothing coming our way could be nearly as scary or traumatic as last week’s events.
Right?
We were blessed, and I was grateful.
Thank you for reading Must Be Murder. If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review. Just a couple WORDS would be greatly appreciated.
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Coming Soon!
Fired and Inflamed is the second book in the Otto Viti Mystery Series and will be available Winter 2016!
Also by Jen Carter
Chasing Paris
Amy Chase is no stranger to mysteries. In fact, back when she was Amy Winthrow, the mystery of a long-lost grandmother is what brought Will—her future-husband—into her life. See how their paths crossed and how the mystery of Elizabeth Hathaway changed both of them in Chasing Paris:
https://amzn.com/B008M7UCFQ
Remembering Summer
Long before Livy moved to Otto Viti, she grew up in a coastal California town known for its annual Shakespeare festival. Growing up there, she learned to make the products eventually sold in Mortar and Pestle, and she fell in love with Hunter. See how her story unfolded in Remembering Summer:
http://amzn.com/B00EFYI626
The Sarafina Series
for Young Readers Ready for Chapter Books
When Mother Nature gets sick, her sister Sarafina must take over. What happens when she makes mistakes, like mixing up the colors of a rainbow and making a volcano erupt bubbles?
I am a mom. Find out why I wrote the Sarafina Series here: www.sarafinabooks.com
Sarafina Series Volume 1: Books 1-4 https://amzn.com/B01FYMS3KM
Sarafina Series Volume 2: Books 5-8 https://amzn.com/B01FYMS3R0
Individual Books:
Sarafina and the Mixed up Rainbow (#1) https://amzn.com/B00QZHHJ0Q
Sarafina and the Muddy Mess (#2) https://amzn.com/B01BFURKSS
Sarafina and the Bouncy Island (#3) https://amzn.com/B01BJUN9IY
Sarafina and the Bubbly Volcano (#4) https://amzn.com/B01C68BC8M
Sarafina and the Protected Pyramid (#5) https://amzn.com/B01E1PHHM8
Sarafina and the Bamboozled Countryside (#6) https://amzn.com/B01E1PZKV8
> Sarafina and the Raging Rainforest (#7) https://amzn.com/B01FBE5UYK
Sarafina and the Broken Rules (#8) https://amzn.com/B01FBE6HC4
About the Author
Jen is a teacher and writer who loves writing for both children and adults, including the Sarafina Series for school-aged children and the new Otto Viti Mystery Series for adults. She lives with her beautiful family in the San Diego area. In her free time, she enjoys running, practicing yoga, and reading.