by Jessica Beck
“That must be it,” I said. “If you’re heading home, why don’t you take Phillip a few treats? It might pick his spirits up.”
“If your confections ever fail to do that, that’s when I know that he’s in serious trouble,” Momma agreed.
I bagged up a nice assortment for him, and when I turned back to hand them to my mother, I saw her hand instinctively go for her purse. With my brightest fake smile, I said, “Momma, if you try to pay me for doing something nice, you and I are going to have a real problem.”
Her hand pulled back immediately. “I was going to do nothing of the sort.”
I grinned at the obvious lie, and I was happy to see that Momma’s smile was nearly as broad as mine.
“We’ll be in touch,” I said as I kissed her cheek.
“I look forward to it,” Momma said as she returned the gesture. I could tell that Phillip’s cancer was weighing on her, and honestly, how could it not? But for at least a moment or two, I’d made her smile, and that was something I could be proud of. My mother was the toughest, smartest, bravest woman I knew, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t be worried or scared sometimes too, especially when it came to the people she loved. I’d try to find more ways to be there for her in the coming months.
After all, it was only fair.
She had always been there for me, so it would be nice to be able to return the favor in any way that I could.
In the end, that was what being part of a family was all about.
Chapter 19
I HAD HALF-EXPECTED Lionel Henderson to make an appearance at the donut shop, but he never showed up. That just meant that Jake and I would have to track him down later. I wanted to ask both Lionel and Maxine about their money woes and the chances that they had access to a credible source of paper for counterfeiting. By using bills that were from the old design, they wouldn’t have to use the fancy embedded plastic strips and watermarks, but they still had to be at least credible, and I had to imagine that would take a special supplier. How anyone would go about finding one was beyond me, but I knew Jake had access to resources that I couldn’t even imagine. Until I finished up at the donut shop for the day, it would just have to wait, but I had some time to myself as my customers started tapering off, so I thought about all the facts we’d gathered so far.
Jake came in ten minutes before eleven, looking more than a little bored. “How’s your morning been, Suzanne?”
“Better than yours, by the look of you,” I said. “I’m sorry the flip house burned down.”
“Not to mention Curtis Mason dying in the process. I’ve been going over it again and again in my head, and I have to believe that he saw something last night and got curious about it. Investigating it is what probably got him killed.” Jake hesitated a moment before asking, “Suzanne, is it my fault he died in that fire last night?”
“What? Of course not,” I said, doing my best to reassure him. “You can’t think that for even a minute.”
“Come on, you said something to that effect yesterday yourself when you tried to warn me about using him.”
“Jake, you didn’t make Curtis do anything. If he died because he was snooping around our project, that’s on him, not you.”
“I know you’re probably right, but I still can’t help feeling responsible about it. Have you heard from Chief Grant by any chance?”
I looked around at my three customers, all lingering over their coffee and staring at their phones. No one was paying any attention to us, but I still didn’t want to go into too much detail, at least not where they could hear us talking. “Let me get you something to nibble on,” I said.
“I’m good,” Jake said, though I saw him staring longingly at the sour cream cake donuts.
“Go on, you burned off plenty of calories yesterday,” I told him.
“I shouldn’t,” he said with some hesitation.
“Eat part of one, and then you can always throw the rest of it away,” I told him as I wrapped a donut up in a napkin and handed it to him.
“Sure, like there’s any chance of that happening,” Jake said with a wry smile as he took his first bite.
“How about some coffee to go with it?”
“Sold,” Jake said as he moved behind the counter to be closer to me. In a softer voice, he said, “Tell me what’s happened so far.”
In a brief recap, I brought him up to speed about my visits from Maxine and Momma and what we talked about. Jake nodded as I spoke and asked just enough questions to show that he was paying attention. “I have some ideas about how to track down that paper,” he said after he polished off the donut in his hand.
“I keep thinking that I should have kept at least one of those bills,” I told him.
“Suzanne, you don’t want to be caught with counterfeit currency; trust me on that.”
“I know what you’re saying, but having some might help us track down the source,” I told him.
“We’ll just have to figure out a way to manage without it,” my husband said. “How soon can you get out of here?”
I sighed heavily before I answered. “Unfortunately, I have a pile of dirty dishes, plates, cups, saucers, bowls, and utensils waiting for me,” I said regretfully.
Jake looked around. “Where’s Emma? I thought she was supposed to work today.”
I didn’t want to tell him what had happened, but I knew that it would come out sooner or later, so I realized that I might as well get it out of the way. “She was already here this morning when I showed up, but I sent her home.”
He took that in, and then he said gently, “I’m sure you had your reasons.”
“Jake, she let her father inside. He was sitting with her, and he wanted to grill me about the fire. I made him leave, and then I sent Emma home right after I threw him out.”
Jake nodded. “I get that completely. You didn’t have any choice.”
“Are you sure I didn’t overreact to the situation?” I’d been feeling bad about Emma’s punishment all morning, and I really wanted Jake’s take on the matter.
“The way I see it, you did the only thing you could do,” Jake said as he put his mug down and patted my shoulder. “I’m proud of you. It’s one thing to stand up to people you don’t like, but you did it to one of your best friends. I doubt she’ll make that mistake again.”
“If she ever comes back at all, anyway,” I said. “Barton has been after her for months to come work for him at the restaurant, and this might just be what sends her straight to him.”
Jake shook his head. “She’ll be back at Donut Hearts. I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I told him. I really was concerned about Emma leaving me for good, and saying it out loud to Jake somehow just made it more real.
“Okay, you’re right. I can’t promise you anything that I don’t have control over, but I know how much she loves working here with you. Unless I badly miss my guess, she’ll be back.”
“I hope you’re right,” I said a bit sullenly.
“In the meantime, let me step in and help,” my husband said. “I’ve done plenty of dishes in my life. Let me do them while you’re working up here.”
“I love you for making the offer, but you don’t know where anything goes,” I protested, using the same excuse I’d used with my mother. “I’ve already turned Momma down when she made me the exact same offer.”
“The difference between her and me is that I’m not about to take no for an answer. Don’t sweat it, you can fix whatever I mess up,” Jake answered with a grin. “Come on. I won’t even charge you for the labor.”
“Unless we count the donut and the coffee you just had,” I replied with a slight smile.
“Hey, those were going to be on the house anyway.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “No more protests. I’m doing this.”
“Okay. I appreciate it,” I said.
He laughed at me. “The truth is that I thought you’d protest a bit more than that.”
; “What can I say? You made a persuasive argument, and those are a lot of dishes,” I told him.
“I’m happy to do them.” Jake headed back into the kitchen, and I suddenly felt better, though not because he was taking some of the work off my plate. Just having my husband nearby always buoyed my spirits.
We were a team, and I was so happy that I’d found him that I never took his presence in my life for granted.
Five minutes later, the police chief came by the shop. I was nearly ready to close anyway, and since no one was there at the moment, I flipped the sign to CLOSED and locked the door behind him. “Thanks for coming by, Chief.”
“You’re welcome. Do you happen to know where Jake is? I need to speak with him.”
“He’s in the kitchen, doing dishes,” I said.
Chief Grant smiled at me. “Suzanne, if you don’t want to tell me, don’t, but you don’t have to make up excuses. I’m a big boy, I can take it.”
“Did I hear voices out here?” Jake asked as he came out of the kitchen wearing Emma’s apron. It was clearly too small for him, but he managed to pull it off anyway. Backing up my earlier statement were soap bubble fragments still clinging to his hands and wrists as he wiped them with a towel. Jake had clearly used way too much soap, and I hoped that he’d at least rinsed everything properly, or I was going to have to do everything again. If I did, I’d never mention it to Jake, though. I didn’t want anything to taint his kind offer.
“Were you really doing dishes?” the police chief asked my husband.
“It’s really therapeutic,” Jake answered. “You should try it yourself sometime. It gives you time to think about all kinds of things.”
“Thanks, but I’ll have to take your word for it. I’m more of a paper-plate kind of guy myself.”
“Suit yourself,” Jake said. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been looking for you,” the chief said.
“Hey, what about me? I’m part of this, too,” I protested.
“You didn’t let me finish,” Chief Grant said. “I was going to ask Jake to join us here so I could tell you both what we found at the same time.”
“I appreciate that,” I said. “What’s going on?”
The chief looked a little abashed. “It turns out that you were right after all, Suzanne. The autopsy was expedited by the Secret Service. Evidently Agent Blaze is back in town, making things happen.”
“It doesn’t surprise me one bit,” I said. “What did they find?”
“Someone hit Curtis Mason in the back of the head with a shovel. The blade was uncovered in the fire, and it’s a perfect match to the indent on the back of his skull.”
“So he never even saw it coming,” Jake said soberly.
“No, I don’t think he did. There was also evidence that it happened outside. We found blood on the scene and what appeared to be scuff marks in the dirt where someone dragged him inside the house.”
“That means that he was snooping, and he got caught red-handed,” I said. “I’m sure Lionel Henderson is capable of doing it, and I don’t doubt that Maxine Halliday could have done it, as well.”
“What did she want when she was in here earlier?” the chief asked.
“You saw that?” I asked him.
“No, but I got a tip that you two were having some kind of argument in the donut shop around six o’clock this morning,” the chief said. “What was she so upset about?”
“She threatened to sue me for telling you about her yesterday,” I said, “but Momma talked her out of it. It might interest you to know that both Maxine and Lionel are in financial straits.”
“I know that already,” the chief said. “I’m surprised you found out so quickly, though.” He paused a moment and turned to Jake. “Was that your doing?”
“No, Jake didn’t tell me, Momma did,” I interjected. “We’re wondering where the counterfeiter found the paper they used to make those fake bills.”
“Well, at least I can ease your mind on that score,” the chief said. “We found the source.”
“Really? Who was it?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Come on, Chief, we won’t tell anyone,” I protested.
“I can’t tell you because I don’t know. Agent Blaze made the arrest, and they are sweating the suspect for the name of their buyer even as we speak. I don’t think it’s going to do much good, though.”
“Why not?” Jake asked. “Blaze is very good at what she does.”
“Evidently the suspect has a long history of never even knowing the identity of whoever is paying for his services. He uses go-betweens exclusively, and if he should happen to know anything more than that, he keeps his mouth shut, no matter how much pressure is applied. Unless I miss my guess, it’s going to be a dead end.”
“Who’s to say that the person under arrest isn’t the counterfeiter, as well as being the killer?” I asked.
“It’s doubtful. From what I was told, this guy is strictly a supplier, not an end user of what he traffics.”
“Okay,” I said. “That still leaves us with our main two suspects.”
“You’re not going after them again, are you?” the chief asked us. “That’s really why I’m here. I’ve been told to officially discourage you both from looking into this any further.”
“Did Blaze send you?” Jake asked softly.
“She happened to mention that if she caught anyone meddling in her case, they’d pay dearly for it. The funny thing is that I think she was talking about me as much as she was about the four of you. I’d leave this one alone if I were you, Jake.” After a moment of contemplation, the chief added, “I don’t have to tell you the woman’s history. From what I’ve been able to find out, she never bluffs.”
“I know that all too well myself,” Jake said.
I looked at both men and scowled. “We’re not just going to give up, are we?”
“Suzanne, you heard the man,” Jake said. “We have to stay away from both of our suspects, or we’re going to get ourselves into a jam that we can’t get out of, even with my connections in law enforcement.”
“Okay, I get that,” I said, “but that doesn’t mean we have to drop it altogether.”
“What else is there for us to do?” Jake asked.
Instead of answering him directly, I turned back to the chief. “Do you still have the house cordoned off?”
“We’re finished with our investigation there, if that’s what you’re asking, and so is the arson inspector. There was no doubt about the accelerants used, or the cause of murder, but Suzanne, there’s nothing there to see. That place is too dangerous to walk around in.”
“We won’t go into the house itself, and besides, we’ll be careful,” I said.
“I’d strongly advise against it,” the police chief said solemnly.
“Is that your official position or just one friend looking out for another?”
The chief looked more than a little bit frustrated. “You know that I can’t keep you from going back. After all, you both are part owners of the property, but I can’t protect you if Agent Blaze catches you there nosing around, either.”
“I would never ask you to do that,” I said. I saw him glance in the direction of one of the leftover boxes of donuts I was about to discard. “Would you mind doing me a favor?”
“If it’s within my power, you know I will,” he said.
“I’m just going to have to throw these out. Would you take them to the station and give them to your officers as my way of thanking them for a job well done?”
“I don’t know if I should do that,” the chief said. “You know I don’t like to accept things of value that are free.”
“These are all discards,” I told him as I shoved the boxes into his hands. “If you don’t take them off my hands, then I’ll just have to chuck them into the dumpster. Don’t make me do that. I hate to see good treats go to waste.”
“Well, if it will help you out,” he said with a quick grin,
“I’m willing to pitch in and do my part.”
“You’re a real prince,” I said with a grin as I held the door open for him.
After he was gone, I looked behind him, where I found Jake shucking his apron.
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
“Like you said, I’m heading to the building site,” he said.
“Okay, I guess I’ll meet you there when I’m finished here,” I said as I started cleaning up the shop.
“You aren’t coming with me?” Jake asked, clearly surprised.
“I’d love to, but I have work to do,” I told him.
As he donned his apron again, he said, “I’ll stick with it too, then.”
“You don’t have to, but if you’re going to insist on going alone, you need to at least take Phillip with you.”
“No, like I said, I’ll wait for you.” As he vanished back into the kitchen, he called out, “Just hurry, will you at least do that for me?”
“Chances are good that I’ll be finished before you will be,” I said.
“If that’s a challenge, you’re on,” Jake answered.
“Take your time and do them right,” I replied.
“You know me. I’m quick and efficient. What a lucky woman you are to have found me.”
I returned his grin with one of my own. “You don’t have to tell me that.”
Chapter 20
“YOU WANT THEM TO GO? Really?” Trish asked me as I ran into the Boxcar Grill to collect our burgers. Jake and I had decided to eat once we got to the house. I didn’t account for Trish’s reaction, though I should have anticipated that was how she would feel. “Suzanne, was it something I said or did? If it is, I’m truly sorry.”
“Trish, it has nothing to do with you,” I explained. “Jake and I just don’t have a lot of time.”
“Suzanne, it takes just as much time to eat in your Jeep as it does at one of my tables. Besides, the food isn’t nearly as good if it’s not served hot.” I knew Trish didn’t like take-out orders, but I’d never really tested her on it myself over the years.
“Would it make things right between us if Jake and I ate here?”
She pretended to be indifferent to my suggestion as she avoided my gaze. “I wouldn’t want to hold you up.”