Valleys, Vehicles & Victims: A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series

by Tonya Kappes

  My phone chirped a text. I ignored it because I wanted to have Wes’s full attention.

  “Yeah. They came to me the same day Tom was here giving his opening ceremony speech, which, if you ask me…” Wes brought one leg up to rest on the other and then sat back. “The convention should’ve had me open for them. Next year.” He winked. “This time next year, I’ll have both companies merged, and Misty Moon will be on a tropical island alongside her very rich son-in-law and daughter.”

  “They knew Shay was going to give Lewis the shares. They took the opportunity to make a deal with you while they were here.” It became very clear Dan and Lewis had conspired to kill Tom Moon, but by the looks on their faces, they had no clue about the new will.

  Now I wondered, who was next in line in the old will?

  “That’s why I had no need to see Tom Moon dead. I was going to own half the company.” Wes looked down at his coffee and then up at me. “Too bad, though. I’d have loved to see him squirm.”

  Even though what Wes had told me was cold and heartless, I had to strike him off my suspect list. But that only made me want to get out of there and tell Hank exactly what I’d found out so he could arrest them before Ava got to the district attorney and talked him into letting them leave town.

  “Hank, call me. I think Dan and Lewis killed Tom. I know, I know, I shouldn’t’ve looked into it, but Wes Millford of Awakenings Coffee is buying the shares from Lewis that Shay gave him as a wedding gift.” I was talking so fast that I didn’t realize I was also driving fast so I could get back to Normal. “Lena Malone said Dan and Lewis told her they’d rented a car and were driving to a meeting. I think they used that excuse to kill Tom Moon and...”

  Out of nowhere, another car came barreling right toward mine.

  SIXTEEN

  “That’s it.” Mary Elizabeth Moberly stood next to my hospital bed, putting cold compresses on my black and blue eyes. The silver bracelets on her wrist jingled each time she patted my arm with her free hand. “You aren’t staying in that campground until they find out who killed Tom Moon because you’ve put a target on your back.”

  Mary Elizabeth Moberly mothered me more than any adoptive mother did. She’d been so good to me since she moved to Normal after she found out I’d moved back to Kentucky.

  “I’m fine.” My hand shook when I lifted it up to get the Styrofoam cup of water. “I just want to get out of this emergency room.”

  “You’re shaken up like a good martini.” She grabbed the cup and held the straw up to my lips so I could take a nice long drink. “Do you know how it feels to get a phone call saying your daughter has been in a car wreck? Not to mention when I passed it on my way here, your car was a total loss.”

  “Is it?” I groaned and frowned. I didn’t have the extra cash going into winter to buy a new car.

  The door opened, and Hank walked in behind a big boutique of wilted flowers.

  “Get those off the side of the road!” I joked.

  “It was all the gift shop had.” He handed them off to Mary Elizabeth.

  “I’ll still get this in some water.” Mary Elizabeth grabbed the yellow water pitcher and took it into the bathroom.

  Hank and I looked at each other in uncomfortable silence.

  “I don’t even know where to start.” He gnawed on the inside of his jaw. “I want to grab you and kiss you because you’re okay, but I want to yell at you for putting yourself in danger when I clearly told you to not look into Tom Moon’s murder.”

  “Now, now,” said Mary Elizabeth, who had worked her magic touch on the flowers. She’d picked through the boutique and took out the really lovely ones to arrange in the plastic pitcher. “I know you’ve got to talk to her because what happened, but I won’t have you getting her upset.” She put the pitcher on the windowsill in the sunlight and turned to shake a finger at Hank. “Have I made myself clear?”

  “What does she mean you need to talk to me because what happened?” I wasn’t sure what they were talking about. I didn’t lose consciousness when I got hit, but I did notice the other car took off. “The hit and run?”

  “It wasn’t just a hit and run.” Hank had that look in his eyes that told me this was more serious than a driver looking down at a cell phone and swerving to hit me. “You were the target. I already pulled the footage of the nearby shops. Granted, you were speeding and you were on the phone talking into my voicemail, but it’s crystal clear the driver was aiming for you.”

  “Did you get a license plate?” I asked and tried to keep my cool so Hank couldn’t see my wheels turning.

  Who did I possibly get in the way of? I’d obviously gotten somewhat close to the killer.

  “Yes.” The look in Hank’s green eyes told me he didn’t want to say. “I know you’ll call Granny and do whatever you can to find out who the plates belong to, so I’m going to tell.”

  “Yeah...” I waved for him to go on.

  “Grassel’s Garage.” Hank didn’t just tell me who the car belonged really to, but he did tell me who was behind the wheel without telling me.

  “Lewis and Dan Malone.” I snapped my fingers. “I was at the coffee convention to see Wes Millford.”

  Hank opened his mouth to speak, but I continued.

  “He’s the Awakenings Coffee owner, and he’s doing a big thing at the coffee convention here. That’s why I’m here.” I took in a deep sigh and told Hank what I’d found out.

  “You mean to tell me Ava Cox wrote up a new will? The Malones were visibly on edge? And you’ve had the recipe and Amy Hill’s calendar this whole time?” His astonishment was genuine. “You do know this is against the law to hide evidence.”

  “I didn’t hide anything. It was in pure daylight... nighttime…” I muttered since it was night at the Laundry Club when I gave Gert the recipe. “And Gert Hobson has it.”

  “She’s got the recipe?” he asked in a very stern tone, taking me aback. He turned around, took a few steps toward the window, and raked his hand through his hair.

  “More importantly…” I had to get him back on the track of who actually tried to obviously kill me like they did Tom Moon. “I saw Lewis and Dan at the coffee convention. They have the most to gain from Tom Moon’s passing.”

  “I’ve got Jerry checking with Joel about the car. He’ll be able to confirm if it is Lewis and Dan.” Hank turned back around, resting his hands on his utility belt. “Where is the calendar?” he asked.

  “It’s at my camper. I left it there, but I was going to give it back to Amy after—” I started to say, but Hank was so good at finishing my sentences.

  “After you figured out who killed Tom Moon.” His brows lifted. He sucked in a deep breath and curled both lips over his teeth as if he were contemplating how to say something to me.

  “Just say it. Don’t think about how it’s going to sound when it comes out.” I sat on the edge of the bed. My feet dangled. “I’m pretty tough, in case you didn’t notice.”

  “Oh, I’ve noticed.” He walked over and stood in front of me with my legs between his. “In case you’ve not noticed”—he pointed to his heart—“I’ve fallen in love with you. Do you know what danger you put yourself in?” He put a finger on my lips when I tried to protest. “Let me finish.”

  I nodded.

  “I have no idea why you find it so hard to stay away from crimes when you don’t even have to go near them. I’m the one who is supposed to keep you safe and look after you.” He looked around the room. “We are in an emergency room where someone has tried to kill you.”

  “Lewis and…” I pinched my lips when he looked down at me with that expression.

  “You aren’t letting me love you, Mae.” He took a step back. “I can’t keep doing this.” Again, he pointed to his heart. “I’m so worried about you I can’t focus. I can’t do my job. You aren’t letting me do my job.”

  “What are you saying?” I was confused. “Are you telling me we can’t date?”

  “I’m telling you that
this stops right now or we can’t.”

  “But I clearly remember you asking for my help once before and you welcomed it.” I jogged his memory.

  “Today, you almost died. I can’t live with that.” He took a couple of steps back.

  His cell beeped. He looked down at the phone in the holder that was attached to the utility belt and read the screen.

  “I’ve got to go.” He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. It felt like one of those kisses you’d get from your father. “You stay here and let them check you out head to toe.”

  He didn’t bother waiting to see if I was going to respond. He simply walked around the bed and out of the door, passing Mary Elizabeth on the way in.

  “The Laundry Club girls are on their way.” Mary Elizabeth smiled at me. “They are all so worried. Since your accident was in Lexington, they didn’t get it on the scanner.”

  I threw the covers off my legs.

  “I’ve got to get out of here.” I swung my legs around to the side of the gurney.

  “No. No you’re not.” Mary Elizabeth stood in front of me and used her small hands to try to get my legs back on the mattress. “This sleuthing thing is over. Hank should’ve told you that.”

  “Unfortunately, someone tried to kill me.” I swung my body to the other side of the bed and jumped out before Mary Elizabeth could get over there to stop me. “I’m really close to figuring out who the killer is. I’ve gotten them really mad and angry enough to have wanted me dead.”

  “Maybelline West.” Mary Elizabeth tried her darndest to stop me from pulling out the IV in my hand. “You get back in that bed right now.”

  “Mom.” I realized I had no car to drive back to Normal. If I was going to get her to let me use her car, I would have to get her on my side. Calling her Mom hit her sweet spot.

  Her face melted into a smile.

  “Remember just a few short months ago, when you were a suspect? Well, Gert Hobson is still a suspect.” I put her hands in mine and closed my hands around hers. “Sitting here is doing us no good when our friend needs us. I’m not going to go and confront Lewis and Dan Malone. But I want to be there for my friend when Hank follows up on that text he got before he left here because I know it was Jerry telling him how the Malones had rented that car.”

  It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. And that was how I knew the Malones had rented a car from Joel Grassel. Lena Malone had told me they had rented a car so they could go to their meeting, which had to be with Wes Millford, after they killed Tom Moon.

  The only thing I wasn’t convinced of was whether they’d killed Tom with or without intent.

  The entire drive back to Normal saw Mary Elizabeth going the speed limit, giving me plenty of time to come up with exactly how the Malones killed Tom Moon.

  SEVENTEEN

  “You promise you won’t deliberately go and find trouble?” Mary Elizabeth pulled up to the office at Happy Trails, where I had her stop.

  I used my finger to cross my heart.

  “I’m going to go into work and let Dottie leave for the next few days.” I was so grateful Dottie had picked up my shifts at work, and I knew if I worked, then I could do what Hank and Mary Elizabeth wanted me to: stay away from looking for any more clues.

  But that didn’t keep me from thinking about all the clues I’d already gathered.

  “You’ll be by for supper soon?” she asked as I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the passenger door. “Bring Hank with you.”

  Dottie Swaggert walked out of the office with a cigarette tucked in her two fingers. The other hand clicked her lighter.

  “Okay. Love you.” I gave her a hug before I got out.

  “Glad to hear you’re awright.” Smoke billowed out of Dottie’s mouth as she spoke. “We was on our way until Mary Elizabeth called back and said you were fit to be tied up in that bed.” She smiled. “I reckon you were in fighting mode.” She sucked another drag in. “I’d be fightin’ mad, too, if someone tried to kill me.”

  “Anything going on?” I asked. “I noticed the Moons RV is still here.”

  “Yep. I think they just got word the jet was gonna be landing sometime soon.” She pointed to the office door with the fingers that held the cigarette. A line of smoke followed. “Carl is in there faxing over the new will Ava Cox had drawn up to the corporation to let them know Misty is in charge ASAP.”

  I shook my head.

  “That was a real shock,” I said.

  “Ava had her big meeting with them. You didn’t miss much. Carl did a lot of explaining. Amy told her everything she knew about Tom’s calendar. She said she lost it somewhere.” Dottie reminded me that I’d told Hank it was in my camper. “And Misty Moon paid for their stay along with a big tip.”

  “Did Hank stop by?” I asked.

  “Not that I noticed. I wasn’t lookin’ either.” She dropped the cigarette on the ground and snuffed it out with the toe of her shoe. “Gert is in there delivering her weekly coffee stuff.”

  Dottie still wasn’t sold on my basket idea, in which I offered all sorts of different baskets to guests. The morning brew coffee basket with Gert’s special blends and assortment of pastries from the Cookie Crumble was very popular.

  “With a new crop of guests coming in for the week, we needed to restock.” Dottie’s lips snarled.

  “I’ll be sure to put them in all the campers,” I told her, since it was the part of the job that took the most time. I liked to have the baskets waiting for the guests when they arrived if they’d added them to their vacation packages online. Some guests waited until they got here and bought them when they came into the office to check in.

  “I want to thank you for working for me.” I patted her arm. “You do so much for me. But I’m here now, so why don’t you take the next few days off? You take the big tip from the Moons. You deserve it.”

  Dottie looked at me with big eyes.

  “Now go on.” I ushered her across the gravel road toward her camper. “Go on and take time off.”

  “If you’re sure now.” She was only being nice because she was halfway home before I could tell her I was sure.

  With a smile on my face, I opened the door to the office.

  Gert Hobson was still filling the morning brew basket we offered for guests to purchase. Carl Rippin was standing over the fax machine.

  “Hey there.” They both looked at me.

  “Are you okay?” Gert gushed, rushing to my side. “I can’t believe someone tried to run you off the road.”

  “They didn’t try,” I corrected her. “They did.”

  “What?” Carl’s jaw dropped.

  “Someone deliberately slammed their car into my car, running me off the road.” I was so thankful I didn’t have any sort of broken bones. “I’m sure my back will be sore tomorrow.”

  “Why on earth would someone do that?” Carl walked over to my desk where his briefcase was sitting on top and open.

  “You can leave it there. I’ll help Gert,” I told him and followed her to Dottie’s desk, where she had her little packets of coffee spread out. “I think I got close to figuring out who killed Tom Moon and why.”

  “That’d be great if we could get this solved before we leave.” Carl shuffled through the papers in the briefcase.

  “What did you figure out?” Gert had opened one of the chocolate treats, snapped a piece off, and then offered me a piece.

  “Tom Moon went to Lewis’s room the next morning to talk to him about his shares. I can’t help but play in my head how Tom took it when Lewis and Dan told him how they were going to sell their shares to Wes Millford.” It was like a movie was playing out in my mind and I was reading the subtitles. I crunched down on a piece of the chocolate and said, “Tom got angry. There was a fight, and one of them killed him.”

  “What about my knife?” Gert brought up an excellent question.

  “Think,” I told her. “Are you sure Lewis or Dan Malone or even Lena Malone didn’t come into y
our coffee shop?”

  Anything that jogged her brain would be good.

  “No.” She shook her head and backed up, knocking the edge of Carl’s briefcase on my desk. Carl’s briefcase dropped on the floor. His papers scattered all over the place. “I’m so sorry,” Gert apologized.

  Automatically, I bent down to help him pick them up.

  “I’ve got it.” Carl insisted I not help, but it was in my southern manners for me to do so.

  “The only time anyone associated with Tom Moon who came into Trails was the morning you and Shay came in and I told you I couldn’t do it.” Abruptly, she stopped talking. “He was with Amy and Carl. My new knife set was sitting on my counter.” She let out a slight gasp. “When y’all let, I was so shaken up, I did notice the knife was gone…” Her voice trailed off like she was remembering what had happened.

  With a fist full of papers, I looked up at her and stood up. The color had drained from her face.

  “Gert? You okay?” I went to put the papers on the desk so I could go over and help her as she stood stiff as a board. My eyes focused on the paper’s black ink. “Last will and testament,” I read out loud and realized the document was Tom Moon’s old will before the one Ava Cox had drawn up. “Carl, you were going to get Tom Moon’s company?”

  I blinked a few times after reading the part in the will that said Carl Rippin was to get all fifty-one shares of Moonbucks.

  “I’m going to go get some fresh air.” Gert took a couple of steps backward toward the door.

  “Not on your life.” Carl Rippin pulled a gun from underneath his shirt from the waist of his pants. “No one is going anywhere.”

  “Carl, we can talk about this.” My heart pounded, and my hands started to sweat. I took a couple of steps back and kept my eyes on him.

  “Move over there.” He shook his gun at Gert and motioned for her to come back to where I was. “This isn’t going to go well. I’m just letting you know.”