He’d known Maddy almost from the moment she’d met Jake, and he’d always thought the two of them made a great couple. He simply could not fathom what would make Maddy so angry that she would write those words.
“We’re sure,” Kari had told him. “It looks like she thought he was cheating on her.”
“No way. Absolutely not,” Hunter had said emphatically. “Jake would never do that.”
“I’m just telling you what we read.”
After he’d promised to check it out, he’d thanked Kari for the information and hung up. He couldn’t get the letter out of his head and wished he could see it for himself.
Would Jake really cheat on Maddy? It didn’t even seem in the realm of possibility, with what he knew about his friend. Of course, fame could do funny things to a person.
Just then, the captain’s door burst open, and two very red-faced officers rushed out.
“Houston!” he heard the captain bellow from inside. “Get in here! It’s your turn!”
Hunter sighed and wearily walked into the captain’s office, gently closing the door behind him.
“Good evening, Captain Spinelli,” he said, taking a seat in front of the man’s desk.
“What makes it good?” Spinelli asked with poorly contained rage. “We’ve had a high-profile murder in our town, and we don’t have a single lead? How is that even possible?” He jumped up and started pacing around the desk, his face getting redder with each lap.
“You know, I—” Hunter started to tell him about Razor Sharpe and Maddy, but the captain interrupted him.
“I don’t think I want to hear it, Houston! You were working security detail at the concert! You should have seen what happened, or at least seen something suspicious! And, weren’t you friends with the deceased?”
“Yes, I—”
“Then why, in the name of everything that’s holy, don’t you have a laundry list of suspects for me? The man was famous! He had to have enemies coming out the wazoo! Yet, I still don’t have a single person to put on our murder board! How do you think that makes me feel, Houston? Huh?”
“Like you want to go see your anger management counselor?” Hunter said, watching as his captain’s face went one shade darker.
He was one of the only officers who ever challenged Spinelli, and that was only because he realized he got treated the same whether he stood up to him or not. Deep down, he thought Spinelli might even appreciate the fact that he dared to talk back to him.
“It makes me feel like a LAUGHING STOCK!” Spinelli shouted, knocking a stack of papers from his desk to the floor. “It looks like the rinky dink Mills Township police force can’t even solve a murder that happened right under its nose!”
As Hunter watched his captain rage on, he wondered, as he often did, if Spinelli picked up some of his more spirited moves from watching Law & Order.
“Do you understand what I’m saying, Houston?” Spinelli hollered, finally sitting down heavily at his desk, his chest heaving.
When Hunter didn’t reply, he raised an angry eyebrow. “I asked you a question, Houston!”
“Oh,” Hunter said. “Sorry, I didn’t know it was my time to talk.” Almost out of spite, Hunter decided not to tell the captain about Razor Sharpe or Maddy.
He decided he would investigate them first to see if Kari’s theories carried any weight. Only then would he qualify them as legitimate suspects and add them to murder board.
“Get out of my office, Houston!” Spinelli was back on his feet, and he started rummaging around in his desk for his ever-present bottle of high blood pressure medication. “And the next time you come back, you’d better bring me a suspect!”
Hunter stood up and snapped a brisk salute before striding back into the squad room.
“You got it, too, huh?” Pete Michaels asked from his desk. “The whole ‘murder under our noses’ spiel?”
“Yep,” Hunter confirmed. “How many different shades of red did he turn with you?”
“Oh, about six,” Pete said with a rueful smile. “He turned a lovely shade of crimson, which I have to say nicely matched his I’m with Stupid shirt.”
The two of them shared a laugh, then Hunter told him about the Razor Sharpe rap battle.
“You think it’s a legitimate lead?” Pete asked when he’d finished.
Hunter shrugged. “Worth checking out, I’d say. You want to come with me to have a little conversation with Mr. Dreyfuss?”
Pete stood quickly. “You don’t have to ask me twice. But if something’s there, you gotta let me come in and tell the Captain with you.”
“You want to share my suspect, huh?” Hunter asked with a smile. “C’mon, you just don’t want to get yelled at again.”
Pete shook his head. “If I didn’t want to get yelled at again, I would find a different job. I just really want to help out, Hunter. I know Jake was your friend, and he seemed like a really nice guy. He didn’t deserve what happened to him.”
Hunter clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks, Pete. Now let’s go find out if Razor’s not-so-sharp rap skills caused him to commit a murder.”
Chapter 17
Kari
“And now, for our very favorite Fire Spitters song…Welcome to Mills!”
Kari turned up the radio, which she had tuned to DJ Mad Styles’ radio show. Though the sisters usually tried to play easy listening in the shop to appeal to the widest array of customers possible, they figured that a tribute to Jake was in order.
Mills is where I pay my bills
Mills is where I honed my skills
“Everyone seems to be enjoying the music,” Kasi whispered to her from the counter. “I even saw the retiree over in the corner bobbing her head to the beat.”
Kari smiled. “I think even those people who don’t like the music liked Jake,” she told her sister.
Ever since Jake’s death, she’d heard story after story from her customers about what a nice guy he had been. He’d kept a house in Mills Township even though he was on the road majority of the year, and he always made sure to support the town by giving money to charity organizations, speaking to youth groups, and volunteering.
“Well, we know someone didn’t like him,” Kasi pointed out, clearly referring to whoever had killed him.
The girls had chatted more that morning about their two possible suspects, and Kari assured her that Hunter was checking out both leads.
“I seriously doubt that person is in our coffee shop right now,” Kari told her. “If the killer is smart, he or she would be thousands of miles away.”
“Yeah, we all know that’s not usually how things work out.” Kasi looked at her watch. “Bubba should be coming in for his first training shift this afternoon. I, for one, am incredibly excited for the help.”
“Me, too,” Kari agreed, though she was even more excited for the distraction he would provide.
She was getting tired of thinking about the murder all the time, especially when they still didn’t seem to have any really viable suspects.
Kasi put on a bright smile and offered biscotti to the customer who had just walked up.
“You enjoying this music?” she asked as she slid the order across the counter.
“Oh, I love it!” The customer, a heavy-set woman in her 50s, was tapping her fingers on the counter to the music. “I’ve never understood any of this rap stuff before, but my daughter’s been listening to it non-stop since the festival. I have to say, it’s pretty catchy!”
Kasi nodded. “I have to agree. Did you know Jake personally? He was a pretty big fixture in town.”
The woman shook her head regretfully. “No, we just moved here last year. I think we may have seen him around a time or two, but I never talked to him.” She took a nibble of her biscotti. “It’s too bad. My daughter would have just loved to get a picture or an autograph with him. She was a huge fan. What do you think will happen to their band now?”
As if in response, the door opened, and the other half of
the Fire Spitters walked in.
“Funny you should say that,” Kasi told her. “There’s Jake’s partner right now. I think we’re all hoping that he continues to make Fire Spitters’ music, though it definitely won’t be the same without Jake.”
Russell gave Kari a wave when he saw her, though he was distracted by whoever he was talking to on his cell phone. He took a seat at one of the far tables and continued to talk in a low voice.
“Nice of him to stop by,” Kasi whispered to her sister. “Do you think we should ask him about Razor Sharpe? And if he knows anything about Jake cheating on Maddy?”
“We might as well,” Kari replied.
When she saw him finally hang up his phone, she decided it was the perfect time to approach him.
“Hi there,” Kari greeted him as she walked up to his table. “I’m glad you stopped in. Can I get you something to drink or eat?”
“Hey, Kari,” Russell said with a sad smile. “A black coffee would be great.”
Kari looked back at her sister, who had heard the order and gave her a nod. “Kasi will get that right up for you. How are you doing?”
Russell shrugged. “It’s tough, ya know? He was my bud, my partner in everything. Nothing is ever gonna be the same again.”
“I sure wish we could get whoever did this,” Kari said. “I know it won’t bring him back, but I think it would make everyone in this town feel better.”
Russell nodded. “Yeah, man, I know. With all the cops that were at the show, you would have thought someone woulda seen something. But, nothing, right? Hunter doesn’t have any leads?”
Kari was about to bring up Razor Sharpe when Russell suddenly reached into his bag and produced a flash drive.
“Speaking of Hunter, would you mind giving this to him? I just recorded it this morning. It’s about Jake. I thought he would appreciate it since the two of them have been friends for so long.”
Kari accepted the drive. “Oh, sure. I’m sure he’d be happy to listen to it.” She put the drive in her back pocket and tried a different approach. “Um, have you seen Maddy today? We visited her last night, and she seemed really upset.”
Russell shook his head. “I haven’t gone to see her yet today. I was planning on dropping by this afternoon. I think Jake’s brother made it into town last night, and we were all going to go over the…arrangements.”
“How do you think she’s doing?” Kari asked. “I mean, they were such a good couple, right? Were they as happy as they seemed?” Kari cringed. Her interrogation style could definitely use some work, but Russell didn’t seem to notice.
“Yeah, yeah, they were happy,” Russell said, bobbing his head. “I mean, sure, they had their moments, but who doesn’t, right?”
“What kind of moments?” Kari asked.
He looked baffled. “Uh, you know…moments.” His gaze turned to the door when it opened. “Oh, hey, Max! My man!”
Kari turned to see Max Watson walk in, and she hurriedly made her way back to the counter, murmuring something about getting Russell’s coffee.
“Isn’t that the record exec guy?” Kasi whispered as they watched Max sit down at Russell’s table.
“Sure is,” Kari replied, trying to hear what they were saying. Unfortunately, their table was too far away, and the other customers were making too much noise for her to make out any words.
“Don’t you think it’s a little odd they’re meeting this soon…after?” Kasi hissed. “Isn’t it kind of disrespectful?”
“I don’t know,” Kari said truthfully. “I mean…life goes on, right? Don’t you think Jake would have wanted his partner to have success? That he’d be proud of him?”
Kasi didn’t look so sure. “Sure, but give it a week’s grace period, at least. I mean, the body isn’t even in the grave yet.” She made a face. “Wow, that sounded pretty crass. But you know what I mean.” She wiped at an imaginary spot on the counter. “Did you ask him about Razor?”
“No, I didn’t get the chance. I did bring up Maddy, though.”
“And?”
Kari shrugged. “I didn’t get a whole lot other than they had their moments just like any other couple.”
“What kind of moments?”
“He didn’t say. It doesn’t seem like he paid much attention to their relationship.”
“That’s a man for you,” Kasi said dryly. “Ask any woman who knew them, and I bet she could give you twenty examples of why they were a good couple or not. But, a dude? No way. They just don’t pay attention to those sorts of things.”
The girls watched Russell and Max talk for a few more seconds before Kari took his coffee over to the table.
“Can I get you anything?” she asked Max, noticing that their conversation ended abruptly when she’d approached.
“Nope, I’m good, thanks,” he said, clearly impatient with the interruption.
“Thanks, Kari,” Russell said without looking up. “What do I owe ya?”
“Oh, on the house,” Kari told him. “In tribute to the Fire Spitters.” She stood for another moment, but when neither man replied, she walked back to the counter.
“That seemed to go well,” Kasi commented.
“They’re clearly pretty interested in their conversation,” Kari replied. I just wish I could hear what they were talking about.
Chapter 18
Kari
“Well, I think that was a perfect first day,” Kari said. It was five o’clock, and Bubba had left ten minutes earlier after his very first shift as a barista at On Bitter Grounds. “What did you think?”
“I love him!” Kasi said, clapping her hands together in delight. “He was helpful, the customers loved him, and I actually didn’t feel guilty leaving you alone every time I had to go to the bathroom!”
Kasi danced around the shop, using her feather duster on the shelves and counters. “He’s even funnier than I remembered. I was seriously laughing all afternoon, and you know that we could certainly use the laughs these days.”
“And, did you try this?” Kari asked, holding out a frozen mint mocha macchiato that Bubba had whipped up before he’d left. “It’s like the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted. It definitely needs to go on our specials board soon.”
Kasi took the drink out of her sister’s hand and took a sip. “Whoa! Okay, yeah. We made a good hire. Next, we need to try him on food. He was telling me today that he cooks for his family a few times a week and is always experimenting with new dishes.”
“We should definitely let him come up with a food and coffee special in a few weeks. We can give it a fun name, like Bubba’s Brunch!”
“I just wish we could have persuaded him to stay late and clean up for us,” Kasi said, putting down her duster so she could pick up the mop. “This is definitely one of my least favorite things about being a business owner.”
Kari laughed. “Not on his first day, Kas! We don’t want to run him out of here.”
The girls began straightening the shop and washing their equipment so they would be ready for a fresh day in the morning. As they worked, they shared the rest of Bubba’s macchiato, and continued to exclaim over how amazing it was.
“Hey, do you think we should drop in on Maddy again?” Kari asked as she gave the counters a final wipe down. “You know…to check on her?”
Kasi gave her sister a skeptical look. “By ‘check on her’, you mean, ‘interrogate her about the letter to Jake’, right?”
“I think interrogate is too strong of a word,” Kari told her sheepishly. “But, yeah, I was thinking we could have some girl talk and see if we could figure out why she wrote that. She was obviously really upset with him. It’s possible she just let out a bunch of emotion, and then never did anything about it.”
“What about this?” Kasi asked, holding up the flash drive that Russell had given them. “I thought we were going straight home and listen to it?”
“It can wait until after we talk to Maddy, don’t you think? I mean, I doubt there’s anyth
ing groundbreaking on there. I think it’s just a tribute to Jake.”
Kasi nodded. “Okay, to Maddy’s, then home to listen to Intricate’s new cut. Maybe you can whip up some of your special pesto pasta for dinner, and I can recreate that garlic bread I made at Mom and Dad’s?”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Kari confirmed. “Nothing like some classic Italian food to go with rap music!”
As Kari locked the door and ensured that the shop’s ‘closed’ sign was up, she heard her sister gasp. She spun around and saw her Kari’s eyes lock on a man walking toward them on the sidewalk.
“Isn’t that Razor Sharpe?” Kasi whispered, grabbing her sister’s arm and squeezing.
“It sure looks like him!” Kari hissed back. “What in the world is he doing here?”
“Let’s find out,” Kasi muttered before stepping onto the sidewalk and directly into the man’s path. “Well, hi there!” she said brightly. “It’s Razor Sharpe, isn’t it?”
“Uh, hi?” The man stopped and looked at them nervously. Dressed all in black with dyed black spiky hair and dark eyeliner, he looked more like a goth kid than a rapper. “Do I know you?”
“We saw your rap battle with Dragon on YouTube,” Kasi said. “Whoa, he really got mean, didn’t he? I mean, I’ve seen 8 Mile and everything, but I didn’t realize that kind of stuff actually happened in real life. How did you react to that? I mean, I would have been really mad!”
Kari smacked her sister’s leg to let her know she was going overboard.
“I…what?” Razor was shuffling from foot to foot, a frantic look in his eyes. “Um…I gotta go.” Razor pushed past Kasi and hurried down the street, glancing back once at the sisters as he went.
“Well, that wasn’t strange at all,” Kasi said as they watched him rush down the street.
“That’s how a suspect acts,” Kari told her. “Why would he be so nervous unless he had something to do with Jake’s death?”
Kasi shrugged. “Well, I did kind of come at him from out of nowhere,” she said thoughtfully. “Maybe he’s just the nervous type who doesn’t like being recognized in public?”
“Then why would he be trying to start a career as a rapper?” Kari asked. “Isn’t the whole point of that so you will be recognized in public?”
Black Coffee, Biscotti & Murder Page 8