A Gift for Murder

by Capri Montgomery

  His lips turned up in an involuntary smile. “I read more about the crime news, the hockey news and the event news. Knowing about events help me plan for them.”

  She nodded. “For your day off. I get it. Even cops need breaks.”

  “No. I keep up on them so I have an idea where I might need to stay close to so I can investigate faster than the 49 will get me there.”

  Megan shook her head. Merck was apparently all crime business all the time; it would seem that way anyway. But he was right about Roadway 49. It was always cluttered; making a ten minute drive take an hour. Fortunately for her, she didn’t have a car to get stuck in traffic with. Sidewalks were a relatively smooth. The odds of sitting dead on one would only happen if a car accident straddled across the sidewalk.

  “So how long do you think this spa investigation will take?”

  Merck winked at her. “You want to go to dinner to get all the details of today?”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “No. I’m just asking because I would like to get out of here and go home so I can either cook something for dinner or chop up veggies for a salad. The later I stay here, the less likely I’ll eat tonight. I try to make it my healthy goal not to eat before bed.”

  Megan could imagine everybody was ready to go and Merck still had one woman in the room he had yet to speak with.

  Merck patted her on her thigh, leaving his hand longer than it need to be left there. “Probably about an hour. The locker room still needs to be searched before anybody gets to take anything out of here.” His hand rubbed a little north on her thigh before he patted it as if promising her something of it.

  Merck’s hand didn’t move uncomfortably high. He did have some sense of gentleman, but he was full out flirting even if she was trying to ignore him of it. The need for getting out of this spa was about a lot more than a late lunch or dinner. Her move home was becoming more of an Olympic course obstacle than she thought it would. First full relaxing day out was not ever supposed to include a murder in the building she was suppose to be relaxing before her café opened at.

  People she knew always had their nose in the air about her desire to be a stay-in. Part of it was the juvenile and adult sized bullies but part of it was she loved being home. She grew up watching her mother dressed in stylish skinny pencil skirts, fitted sweaters and knitted tops ranging from royal blue and purple to flamingo pink and plumb red. The heels, boots or pen loafers just felt like it was meant for her mother. She always had her hair pulled back in a bouffant. “Nobody, not even family, wants to eat strings of your hair.” Her mother was right. She always kept herself classy and beautiful so Megan understood where some of her love for fashion was born from. Most of her taste was one hundred percent her though.

  The other part for Megan always staying inside if not enjoying nature alone was that it was just who she was for the most part. If she could have done volunteer natural disaster work fixing houses remote she probably would have done that.

  She knew working without a day, or even an hour, off at her café might seem crazy but when in Venice she worked with the owner of a pastry shop who worked the exact same way. He was happy that she found him and pushed for a chance to work with him, the Cordon Blue educated chef skilled from food to pastry making. He needed a break, or at least a helping hand when his father insisted he take over the sweet treat section too since his sister was slacking and business had started lacking. He had made a deal with his father that if he took over the dinner restaurant they had that he would buy, one hundred percent the sweet and baked foods restaurant. Megan guessed he didn’t realize that part would be busier than the dinner segment. The sweets were all day. Dinner was only served in the evening. But he, like she, liked baking sweets for the delicious beauty.

  Megan knew people who loved being in the streets all day could never understand why she didn’t feel the need to be there too. She didn’t care. All humans wanted different things and all humans needed to mind their own business and stop trying to alter everybody else’s mind of living.

  Of course now really wasn’t the time to think about her standard living procedure. Right now she was supposed to be paying attention to the detective sitting in front of her working the case for the murder they discovered just this morning in the spa. Another reason she should have stayed home today.

  Megan turned her attention back to Merck. He had been lost in thought himself so he couldn’t complain that she was too.

  “Some of the other officers talked to the few female officers here early for their work schedule. They say Sterling was kind of a standup guy but he liked women in all shapes, sizes and flavors.” Merck shook his head. “Then they proceeded to discuss who should have died instead of him. Apparently some woman named Lena Howard tried to still the masseuse, Kitty Townes land. She said she paid for it and the witch tried to steal it and sell it. ‘I mean you cannot sell what’s not yours, right?’ she had asked Officer Hollis. Then the facial lady, the one who does the faced work, said she thought Salina Gonzales should have been killed because she stole her boyfriend right there on her twenty-fifth birthday. She’s going on fifty now. Seriously this spa is a magnet for workers and spa visitors with issues.” He shook his head. “Not you, of course.” He patted her leg again.

  “I should hope not. I’m relatively sane.” She really was.

  “For sure,” he nodded before patting her leg again. The thigh, actually, and it didn’t startle her a bit so she placed her hand atop his. Her fingers bended softly curved down to hold his hand where he laid it even though he had a moment of “sorry” in his eyes.

  “Murders are insanely crazy, Merck. Make sure you take time off sometimes to recoup from the insanity.” She smiled at him. “Just not at a spa.”

  He chuckled at her words which made her giggle too. Megan never giggled. At least she never heard herself doing it these days. A giggle was a sign of flirting but Merck placing his hand on her thigh and chuckling that was so out of place considering what happened in this spa seemed a little like fun flirting too.

  Why on earth was she feeling kind of thrilled about the good detective’s man up vibe? He knew he couldn’t do more but he was sending clear signals that this murder would not be the end of them. She wasn’t looking to fall in like, lust or love with Merck but some part of her heart was betraying her functional mind.

  Megan thought about it. They would be done after today because Merck wouldn’t really need her anymore anyway. She told herself to enjoy the moment but remember to let it go once she was allowed to get out of the spa.

  “I have to get back to the investigating thing,” he stood and looked down into her eyes. “I’m looking forward to getting to know more about you.” He gave a nice rub to her shoulder before he took a steady stride away.

  Dude. You are so going to push me into the line of trouble. Given the way the women in the room were gawking at her she could practically read the vicious thoughts parading through their mind.

  Forest Springs really could create an epic, unforgettable and unavoidable stroke of chaos.

  After the dead body was discovered in the spa and what was to be just an unordinary relaxing day became a morning of police and murder investigating, plus getting first contact with Merck since she moved back to town, Megan needed to take a walk to get her mind out of murder.

  Fresh air alone was a good thing because she didn’t have to keep explaining anything to anybody. She would have to admit that trying to pick up a late lunch from Froger’s Grocery closer to home was a good idea before the mistress of the store snuck up on her complaining about stupid stuff she had explained a million times already.

  “No Mrs. Froger I do not know when the city dog catchers will catch your neighbor’s unsheltered dog.” She had said yet again. If Megan didn’t need food she would do her best to stay out of stores here.

  “We only have one here on this side and he is still in the hospital after the last dog took a chunk out of his hip. I do know the rules mandate to hav
e their dogs on leashes when out in the yard, and leashes that are the correct size when walking the dog but people seemed not to listen.” That was not her fault. She didn’t have a dog, she was not Mrs. Froger’s neighbor and she didn’t find one to let poop on her lawn.

  “You girls are so evil. You uppity snits.”

  Girls? Really. She was a grown woman and she did not have a dog to let poop on her lawn. She had even helped Mrs. Froger fill out the paperwork on the computer. She shouldn’t have done that because trying to explain time and time again how to check her file and how to wait for an alert that the pet catcher would be there was exhaustingly annoying.

  Mr. Froger tried to tame his wife but that didn’t work. Megan decided to go to the park closer to her home. Lavender Park was a nice two mile roundabout with a small waterfall and pond. She loved it because most people ran to the bigger city for the larger parks and Italian restaurants which meant the runners, bikers and ball players were rarely here.

  Megan padded along the lavender lined trail thinking about the murder. She still wondered why anybody would risk moving a body. Maybe she needed to know when they did it. Did they move it this morning before everybody came in? Did they move it last night? Last night would mean while everybody was still there but this morning would mean they needed a key to get in; didn’t it?

  All she really knew right now is that everybody in the spa were suspects. Merck had told her, “anybody here still breathing is a suspect until I find otherwise.”

  “I didn’t even know the guy.”

  “And you aren’t a suspect. I know you didn’t kill him. If you had you would have been smarter. Plus, the owner admitted it was your first time there. She was sure you won’t come back.”

  She wasn’t planning to go more than once anyway. She hadn’t expected to win the spa day voucher but going before opening her café seemed to be a good option.

  Megan figured she would do better staying away from a lot of people right now. She had so much to do for her café that maybe she should just get it all done and forget about taking a break before opening.

  The jogger who paced up beside her slowed down to her walking pace. She had a swift walking pace that it was still slower than coach john king case for why he have to stop she cannot understand. He looked at her as he walked beside her and smiled with naturally pink lips.

  “My name is Mitch. Actually it’s Mitchell but my friends call me Mitch.”

  Megan nodded and tried to return the smile that she gave to children because she did not want him to think that she was flirting. He seemed like the kind of young man who probably thought every woman in the world was flirting with him.

  “I didn’t realize there was anybody out here jogging around the towns about when they got here. I didn’t see any bikes at the bike rack.”

  Mitch nodded with a smile brightly the sun. “Actually add a ride a bike very often anyway. I am more of a lot to jog and then run economy and myself. But I saw you walking over here from the bike rack so I called my car into a park and decided that it just get a workout in over here in the park. It is fresher than the gym I actually signed up for ever and the west district.”

  Megan could understand that because while the gyms had air conditioning and sanitizing wind spurts in modern day workout environments but the air was still full of the smell of sweat so outdoors was always a smidge fresher depending on the outdoor environment. In the event of wild fires, which were rare here, the smell of tree and brush smoke was dangerous to breathe in and smelled sickening horrible too. The air out today did smell fresh like rain had washed away any pollutants even though it hadn’t rained.

  “I didn’t catch your name.”

  I didn’t throw it. “Megan,” she kept walking while hoping he would finish his two mile jog and get back to his car, stretch and leave. After the morning she had just had she couldn’t take much more.

  “I know I haven’t met you before, Megan. But I am new here. We have the same start to our first name.”

  Not really she thought. He did not look familiar to her but that seemed normal right now. Once the café officially opened she would get to see more people when she brought the baked goods out to the closed dish cabinets. She would be kitchen bound but she would get somebody to handle cashier work.

  “M&M like the candy. We match. That is rare.”

  No. No and no. She did not want to match with anybody. She wanted her space. Maybe she loved working in the kitchen because it was her private space and she could get away from everybody by being in there.

  “Not really rare. My boyfriend’s name starts with an M too. He gets his workout in at the precinct.” She lied but since she left out Precinct 745 this guy would never have to find that out. She should question herself as to why she had Merck Holmes on her mind as her knight in hiding armor here.

  “Oh.” He looked afraid. “A cop. Yeah, I don’t mess with women dating cops. If you two amicably breakup maybe we’ll catch up again.” He set his pace to more run than jog this time. She would laugh if she wasn’t trying to hide her deceit.

  Megan kept walking along at a brisk walking workout pace. She loved getting up and getting moving for workout. Working out helped her relieves stress and also give her new ideas while she was doing it. She always had been a mover of her body and she would guess after all this time it was why she was still in good shape. Relatively good shape anyway.

  Riding her tricycle helped too. Of course with the big basket with the battery taking up too much space she could load it with some foods for her personal refrigerator and turn the battery on if the ten pound bag of potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, extra emergency water bottles and washing powder got too heavy to handle on her own she could let the batter help her home.

  Smart workouts that are functional were always good to do. Plus, she could order a lot of her café kitchen needs online. Getting flavors and spices was heavier when shopping for a month of café needs. She was used to her flow. When she lived in Venice she did more walking than bike riding and more bike riding than gondola riding. Of course she couldn’t walk on water and she couldn’t ride a bike on it either.

  “I think any of those women could have done it,” she said as she treaded along. “Apparently they were all claiming they were dating the guy. No,” she shook her head. “Sleeping with him. There is a huge difference in dating and shagging. One of them could have been angry that this Sterling guy was playing more than one string on the harp.”

  She still didn’t know what the man looked like but the ladies liked him. When they were allowed to go back to the lockers to get their stuff under supervision, the women seemed to be fighting over who had him first and who had him now. Megan loved that she wasn’t caught up in what was like The War Of The Worlds turned into The War Of The Women. Something as juicy as what was happening in that spa could probably make a money making reality show. She hated those not so real reality shows but they sure did take over the TV waves and never seemed to sizzle out. The drama going on in that spa could bring an honest meaning to reality TV drama. It was kind of a who slept with whom and why weren’t any of them pregnant yet?

  The officers watching what they took out of their bags seemed to be disgusted at the mess in front of them. One of the male officers, the one standing by her as she showed him what was in her bag mumble, “I wouldn’t want any of them. Too damaged. Too used.” He silenced his voice not even realizing she had heard him clearly. He was medium height, blond, attacked with muscles and a flat stomach. He also had on his vest so part of the firmness under his shirt could have been the suit of armor he wore. The green eyes were a snatch and the dimpled cheeks could tempt a woman. The women of the spa were too busy fighting over a dead man to see the living men in the room. Except for the one who was stuck on Merck. She noticed him.

  “The day is near over. Let Merck worry about solving the crime and you focus on getting the café ready to open.

  She was ready to open the doors and let the world, hopefull
y the sane no fighting, no murdering world, inside. She loved her recipes and baking so much that she just knew others could love her café treats too. Sweet Sensations was going to be a great stop point even for the fittest workout self proclaimed workout experts could enjoy her sweets on the go. Sit for a while and then work it off running, walking or biking home could be fun. Or they could just do a buy and go. The café was going to be set up for a smaller stay a while amount but she knew, with the extra space she was thinking of donating to her love of all things art she just might have to expand the stay here and eat a while section. She would have to wait to see so she wouldn’t completely close herself off to the idea of expanding the section she thought of setting up for art shows to putting tables and chairs over there instead of a room full of local artists welling their art or just showcasing it.

  Megan had a plan and loads of ideas but she knew her primary dream of café ownership was her dream to make a reality. She had come so far and she couldn’t imagine letting it go for any other adventure.

  Her café was going to open by the end of the season even if she had to camp out in the hall of the document signing slowpokes to get them to finish their work up. All of her papers were documented, signed and turned in. She just had to wait on their official signature and okay to open the doors to customers.

  Chapter Three

  Reflections

  Merck sat in his home office located in the back of his house. Typically he liked taking a ten minute break after a day of researching, investigating and interviewing witnesses but this murder was different. Too different.

  Megan was even more beautiful after years of aging she still looked young. He was a cop and he checked on new arrivals out of instinct. He might be closer to the west district, a line away actually, but he still liked to stay on the know of new people who could be a potential threat to the neighborhood even if he was linked to the next district for police work.