by Jessica Beck
“That sounds like a plan to me,” Jake answered. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“You’d better. And Jake?”
“Yes?”
“I’m truly thrilled that you’re finished with that part of your life, now that I know that you are happy about it as well.”
“Thanks, Suzanne, because I plan on spending all of the next part with you.”
“Now I can’t stop smiling,” I said. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Now go get some rest, and we’ll tackle this thing tomorrow after you finish up at the donut shop.”
“Given the time constraint that we’re under, shouldn’t I just close my doors tomorrow so we don’t waste any precious moments when we could be investigating?” I asked him.
“No, if it were up to me, I’d keep Donut Hearts open. You never know who might come through your door, or what they might have to say about what happened to Rick Hastings.”
“Okay then, that’s what I’ll do.”
After I hung up, Grace asked impatiently, “What was all of that chatter about Stephen?”
“Well, it seems that his tenure as interim police chief has been extended,” I said.
“I didn’t even know that he’d been promoted in the first place,” Grace said, clearly a little hurt that he hadn’t immediately passed the news on to her.
“Don’t be too hard on him,” I said. “He’s probably got a lot on his plate at the moment.”
“I don’t doubt it,” she said. “Okay, I’ll take it easy on him. Suzanne, are we really throwing in the towel tonight?”
I glanced at the clock on the dash and saw that I still had a little less than an hour before my bedtime, one I shared with grade-schoolers everywhere because of my early morning work hours. “I suppose we have a little time left. What did you have in mind?”
“I was wondering if we shouldn’t talk to Emma herself,” Grace said softly, clearly bracing herself for my response.
My first reaction was to say no, but after a moment or two of further consideration, I decided that it was as good an avenue to pursue as any. “I’m all on board, but let me call Sharon first and see what she thinks.”
Grace smiled as I dialed Emma’s mother’s number.
I hesitated before I dialed the last digit. “Why are you smiling?”
“What can I say? I just love it when you follow my suggestions.”
“I do it all of the time,” I said. “Don’t I?”
“We’re a good team, Suzanne, with just the right balance. I just hope that nothing changes now that Jake’s back.” Her smile, for the moment, was gone.
“Nothing has to change,” I said. “Think of him as just another asset.”
“I’ll try,” she said. “No go ahead and finish that call.”
After punching the last number, I waited for an answer. When she came on the line, I said, “Sharon, is there any chance that Emma would be willing to speak with us about Rick now?”
I could almost hear the frown in Sharon’s voice as she answered. “I was afraid you’d call.”
“If you think it will be too much for her, we can push it back another day.”
“That’s not it. You see, Emma has been begging for a chance to speak with you both all afternoon, but I’ve been refusing her request.”
“May I ask why?”
“Suzanne, I know that it might help your investigation, but I’m just concerned with trying to protect my daughter.”
“I can respect that,” I said, ready to give up.
Sharon surprised me, though, as she added, “I can give you ten minutes with her, if you can get over here right now.”
Fortunately we were close. “Don’t go anywhere. We’ll be right there.”
I brought Grace up to speed as I started driving toward Emma’s place.
I just hoped that Ray wasn’t there.
The last thing I wanted to do was talk to my assistant while her father, the journalist, was hovering nearby.
Chapter 11
Sharon met us at the front door, and it opened before we even had a chance to knock. Instead of inviting us in, she stepped out onto the porch. “Wow, you were telling the truth. That was really quick.”
“It was lucky that we were in the vicinity,” I said with a slight smile. “How is she doing?”
Sharon looked exasperated as she tried to answer my question. “I don’t know what stage of denial she’s going through right now. Anger, maybe? She wants whoever did this to her boyfriend caught and prosecuted, or worse. Ladies, please take it easy on her, could you?”
I put a hand on Sharon’s shoulder. “I shouldn’t have to tell you that I love your daughter almost as much as you do, and I’d never intentionally hurt her. You realize that, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” she answered, a little flustered by my frank admission. “Forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” I said with my brightest smile. “We all want what’s best for Emma. Now, let’s go see her. By the way, does your husband happen to be around?”
It was Sharon’s turn to smile. “No, he’s out chasing down a wild tip he just got from his hotline.”
“That call wouldn’t have been placed by you, would it?” I asked, grinning in return.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said in a disguised voice that I hardly recognized.
“Got it. Sharon, would you like to come in to make sure we don’t overstep our bounds with Emma?” I asked her.
“No, I trust you both. Besides, I want her to feel free to speak in front of you, and my presence might make her filter her comments a little.”
“Thanks for allowing this,” Grace said.
“I should be thanking the two of you. I know for a fact that her boyfriend wasn’t much, but he was taken from my daughter before she could see him for what he truly was and dump him by choice. I’m afraid that she might give him more credit than he deserved now that he’s dead. Wow, I just heard myself say that, and I’m not very proud of how it must have sounded to you. I’m not evil, and there’s no way that I’m happy the man’s dead. I’m just sorry for not expressing it better.”
“No apologies necessary. We understand how you feel,” I said. “Like I promised before, we won’t be too long.”
“Thanks, I really appreciate that. If you don’t mind, I’m going to bundle up and sit out here until you’re finished.”
Grace and I walked into the house, but Emma wasn’t in sight.
“That was intense, wasn’t it?” Grace asked in a whisper.
“Maybe, but it’s perfectly understandable,” I said. “Rick wasn’t any mother’s dream of the ideal man for her daughter.”
“You two don’t have to whisper on my account,” Emma said as she walked out of the kitchen and joined us in the living room. “I’m not stupid; I know what Rick was. I would have probably gotten around to breaking up with him sooner or later, but I’m furious that I didn’t get the chance. He might not have been much of a boyfriend, but he was mine, you know? Does that even make sense?”
I hugged her as I said, “Emma, that’s what we’re trying to do, make sense of this mess. We’ve been speaking with your mother outside. I hope that’s okay with you.”
“I encouraged her to help you, Suzanne. She was never one of Rick’s biggest fans, and I don’t guess I can blame her. He wasn’t always the nicest guy in the world.”
“Do you mean to you?” Grace asked softly.
“No, he treated me like a princess, but I saw his dark side at times, too. My mother always told me that we’re judged by the company that we keep, and some of his friends were really bad news.”
“She happened to share a few names with us earlier,” I said.
“Who exactly did she tell you about?” Emma asked.
“Travis Wright, Kyle Creasy, Amanda Moore, and Denny West,” I said, naming them all without a moment’s hesitation. Emma’s insights could be valuable to our investigation, s
o it was important for her to know what names had made it onto our list of suspects as soon as possible so she could offer her own take on the relationships they’d each had with her late beau.
“Wow, my mother was really paying attention,” Emma said with obvious respect. “That about sums up my list of Rick’s enemies as well.”
“Can you give us anything specific about any one of them?” Grace asked. “Don’t filter what you tell us. The slightest thing might be important.”
“I’ll do what I can. Have you managed to track any of them down yet?” Emma asked me.
“Actually, we’ve spoken with all four of them, however brief the conversations might have been,” I answered.
Emma’s expression looked instantly troubled. “Maybe you shouldn’t have done that.”
“If we’re going to find out who killed him, we have to speak with our suspects,” Grace said.
“I understand that, but none of them are particularly nice people, though some are worse than others. Would you mind giving me your impressions of them so far?”
I thought about it, and then I decided that it couldn’t hurt. “Travis claimed not to know that Rick was even dead, but he told us that your boyfriend was trying to extort money from him over a phony assault case. There’s something else, too. Did you know that Kyle had a crush on you?”
“What? No. That can’t be true,” Emma said haltingly. Was she blushing slightly at that news?
“It’s true,” Grace said. “He clearly wants you all to himself.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Kyle has barely said ten words to me in the past six months,” Emma said.
“Maybe he’s just shy,” Grace offered.
“Maybe,” Emma said thoughtfully. “Still, that’s not enough reason to kill Rick, is it?”
“He also said something about Rick being too nosy for his own good, whatever that might have meant,” I offered.
“I don’t have any problem believing that someone felt that way about him. Rick was always looking for his next opportunity. I wonder what he secretly might have known about Kyle?”
“We don’t know yet,” I said, “but we’ll do our best to find out. Also, we found Amanda and Denny in Union Square. First, we tackled Amanda, but she just stonewalled us. Then we tracked Denny down, and he claimed that Rick owed him money. He was pretty convincing when he told us that now he’d never get any of the money back, so why would he kill him? The oddest thing we saw all night was that we found Amanda and Denny together by the time we finally managed to track him down. The DeAngelis women warned us that the pair of them weren’t all that nice, and it turns out that they were right.”
“That’s the understatement of the year,” Emma said. “If Amanda or Denny had something to do with Rick’s murder, you’ll never get either one of them to admit it. They just respond to violence, and that’s something that you two can’t threaten.”
“Maybe we can’t, but Jake might be able to convince them that it would be in their best interests to share,” I said.
“Is Jake actually working with you on the case?” Emma asked, suddenly brightening.
“So far he’s just agreed to act as a consultant,” I admitted, “but I’m beginning to think that we need him to play a more active role in our investigation. If Grace and I keep working on Travis and Kyle, maybe Jake can shake something loose out of Amanda or Denny.”
“I’m still not sure that’s a good idea for him to pursue them, even considering his background. Suzanne, maybe it would be better for everyone if you just dropped the investigation before someone else got hurt.”
“Is that what you want us to do?” I asked her. It would be hard to just stop, but if that was Emma’s desire, how could I say no?
“I don’t know,” she said haltingly, and then she began to softly cry. “I’m sorry that I’m such a mess. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”
“If you ask us, you’re just about perfect in our books,” I said as I hugged her again. “There’s nothing wrong with shedding a few tears, even given the circumstances.”
Sharon chose that moment to come in. Great. Here her daughter was crying in my arms, and I’d promised to do my best to protect her.
She was about to speak when Grace touched her arm and shook her head slightly. I wasn’t positive that Sharon would comply with staying out of it for the moment, but she kept silent and didn’t make a move toward her daughter. How long that would last I could not say.
As I pulled away from Emma, I asked her, “Are you okay?”
“Not yet, but I will be,” she said after wiping a few tears from her cheeks. “Hi, Mom,” she said the moment she spotted her mother. “Thanks for inviting them over. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re most welcome,” Sharon said with a brave smile. “Emma, you look positively worn out. Do you need to rest?”
“Maybe. All of a sudden, I’m flat-out beat.”
I knew firsthand that emotional turmoil could take its toll like nothing else in the world could. “We’ll leave you both and let you get some rest,” I said as I nodded to Grace for our exit.
As we started for the front door, Emma said, “Keep looking for now, but don’t take any chances. The second any of you feel threatened, shut the investigation down. I can’t bear the thought of something happening to one of you because of me.”
Once upon a time George had been badly hurt while helping me during one of my investigations, so I knew exactly how she felt. The memory of that incident still haunted me, even though George had made a complete recovery.
“Be careful,” Sharon echoed as we walked out.
“Always,” I said, giving the mother and daughter my brightest smile.
“Now what should we do?” Grace asked me as we got back into my Jeep.
“I don’t know what your plans are, but I need to get some sleep,” I said as I stifled a yawn. “Just don’t do anything without me,” I added a few minutes later when I dropped her off at her place just before reaching my cottage.
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m done sleuthing for the night if you are. I have a pile of paperwork that I have to put a dent in before morning, so I’ll be busy until it’s time for you to wake up to make donuts again.”
“Sorry about pulling you away from your day job,” I said, “but I really do appreciate your help.”
“You know that I’m happy to do it,” she said. “Good night.”
“Night,” I said, and then I drove up to the empty cottage.
Only it wasn’t empty after all.
There was a light on in the living room, one that I knew with complete and utter certainty that I’d turned off that morning.
Clearly someone was inside.
Chapter 12
“Chief, someone’s inside my house,” I said as soon as I got my stepfather on the phone. I’d forgotten that he wasn’t our chief of police anymore, and I’d dialed his cell number out of habit more than anything else.
“You’re going to have to start calling me Phillip sooner or later, Suzanne,” he said. “I’m not the chief anymore, remember?”
“You seem awfully calm about an intruder being in your stepdaughter’s house, whether you’re still the chief of police or not,” I said, a little agitated by his calm demeanor.
“That’s because I know for a fact that it’s not an intruder. I dropped your mother off there not ten minutes ago, and I’m due to pick her up again in five more. She baked you another pie, cherry this time, and she wanted to drop it off for you.”
“Thanks,” I said, feeling the tension leave me.
“You know she’s really just checking up on you, don’t you?” he asked me.
“Hey, as long as she’s bringing me pie, she can do whatever she wants to. I’m surprised that you’re so calm about giving something that wonderful up without a fight, though.”
“There’s no mystery there. She baked one for me, too. By the way, it’s delicious.”
I got out of the
Jeep and walked up onto the porch. “I would be shocked to hear that it was anything but superb,” I said as I got out my keys to unlock the front door.
I didn’t need to, though.
Momma opened it before I could. “There you are! Suzanne, who are you talking to?”
“Your husband,” I said. “Hi, Momma.”
“Hello yourself.” She gestured for my phone, and I willingly handed it over to her. To her husband she said, “Give me ten minutes, and then swing by and pick me up.” Then she hung up before he could respond.
“I hear there’s pie,” I said as we walked back into the cottage we’d shared for so long together. I took off my jacket and hung it up, happy to have such a snug and cheerful place to call my very own. While the pie hadn’t been baked in my oven, I could still smell its delightful aroma wafting its way toward me.
“I thought you might be able to use a treat, especially since Jake’s on his way back to April Springs.”
“How did you hear about that already?” I asked as I offered her a smile.
“Honestly, men are worse gossips than we women ever dreamed of being. Jake called George, who in turn called Phillip, and he relayed it all to me. So, it appears that your fiancé has joined your little investigative team, hasn’t he?”
“Only on an extremely limited basis,” I said. “I’m happy to report that he’s finished with the state police, once and for all.” I frowned a moment before I continued. “Do you know what? It just occurred to me that we are both going to have retired law enforcement officers in our lives very soon.”
“Three, if you count our friendships with George,” she said. “Don’t forget, he’s a retired officer as well.”
“Maybe so, but he’s the mayor now, so he doesn’t count.”
“Don’t ever let him hear you say that.”
“Aren’t you worried about having your new husband underfoot all of the time, Momma?”
“Suzanne, I’d be lying if I said that it hasn’t crossed my mind a time or two, but as long as no one is trying to kill my new husband, he can do basically whatever he wants to and I’ll be perfectly happy about it. Don’t you feel the same way about Jake?”