by Lynn Cahoon
When she glanced at her watch, the morning was flying by. The group had already left and she still hadn’t gotten Seth’s breakfast. She hurriedly shut down her computer and sprinted down the hall to Seth’s room. Knocking on the door, it swung open. He wasn’t asleep on the bed. She stepped inside and looked in his bathroom. Towels were on the floor and she could smell the powerful scent of the bar soap he used. But no Seth. She grabbed the towel and absently hung it on the rack before heading downstairs to find him.
He was in the kitchen, dressed and looking normal. There was no indication that he’d even been hit by a flowerpot the day before. Cat breathed out and walked into the kitchen to join him.
“You just missed the gang. Shauna got everyone out of here fifteen minutes ago. She’s pretty efficient at moving people along. Of course, she bribed them with warm muffins she already had waiting in the car.” He pointed toward the coffeepot. “Can I get you coffee?”
“No, I’ll get my own coffee. I was supposed to get you breakfast. I guess Shauna took care of it?” She filled a cup and sat at the table next to him.
He leaned over and kissed her. “No, I told her I’d wait to eat. But I think we should go have breakfast at The Diner. I’m craving one of their Big Apple Omelets.”
“The ones with biscuits and gravy and hash browns in the middle?” Cat’s mouth watered, even with the carb overload warning signs going off in her head. “I’m game. We never get to sneak out on a retreat week. This will be our third date this week.”
“We’re delegating better.” Seth glanced at the clock. “Do you need to get something? We can walk. I feel like I need some light exercise after yesterday’s adventures. Or if you need to, we can take the truck.”
“You’re asking because I’m in worse shape than the guy who was in the emergency room yesterday? That makes me feel so special.” Cat sipped her coffee. “Are you paying? Otherwise, I need my wallet.”
“My idea, I’ll pay. And I’m only asking because I knew it would rile you up.” He stood and headed to the kitchen door. “If you don’t need anything, I’ll go lock up the front. Shauna and the guests will be gone for at least four hours and we’ll be back before then. I hate leaving the door open if no one’s here.”
Cat sipped her coffee as she waited for Seth to return. She had to admit, she kind of liked the slower pace of this retreat. Maybe she was getting better at relaxing and just letting things happen. The group discussion last night had proved that the production for the week had been just as high as prior retreats. The group had finally bonded. And there had been some breakthroughs in the writing for at least Tristin. Talking about writing with other writers let the ideas and the commitment flow. She always came away from these discussions excited to go back to work on her own projects. Somehow she felt like she should be paying the retreat guests for motivating her too.
But that wasn’t going to happen. Seth came back into the kitchen, moving slowly but already in his casual, but not work, coat. He paused at the door. “What are you smiling about?”
“Just thinking how much I love my life.” She finished off her coffee and put the cup in the sink. “Let’s get going before the phone rings or someone shows up.”
“Shirley’s with Shauna and the group, and your uncle is working Chance’s murder. I don’t think there’s anyone who would show up.” Seth moved toward the back door.
“Really? You want to tempt fate and not get your omelet?” She slipped on her coat.
He opened the door and waved her outside. “Sorry, I was thinking we were normal people. Hurry and let’s get out of here.”
Chapter 22
Cat’s phone rang just after they’d ordered. She glanced at the readout. “Shauna. I better take this.”
“Don’t tell me she got stuck.” He glanced over at the kitchen. “Maybe we could get it to go and you could drive so I could eat?”
“Let’s just see what’s going on before we get our food boxed up. It could be nothing.” Cat answered the call. “Hey, Shauna, what’s going on?”
“Just reminding you to feed Seth. He’s up and looked good today. But I don’t want him not to eat. He needs food to heal.” Shauna’s voice came over the cell loud enough that Seth heard her words and gave Cat a thumbs-up sign and leaned back. “By the way, his friend Joey pulled into Outlaw, just after we did. He said he was looking for Seth.”
“That’s weird. Why didn’t he just call? Do you think he followed you out to the site?” A bad feeling sank into her stomach and she saw Seth sit up in his chair. “Is he gone now?”
“Yeah, he took off right after talking to me. Archer was crazy excited to get some pictures, so we started our tour right after he left. But then I started thinking about it and Seth, and figured I’d give you a call just to make sure you’re aware.” Shauna lowered her voice. “Is he the one whom Pete’s looking for to question? Should I have called your uncle?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll call him.” Cat leaned back as the waitress set her breakfast plate in front of her. “When did you see him?”
“About nine thirty. It didn’t take us long to get up here,” Shauna responded. “Are you sure everything’s all right? We can come back. We’ve seen about half the town and now Archer wants to explore the blacksmith’s shop, but if you need us . . .”
“Actually, Seth and I are eating breakfast at The Diner. No need to come back. I’ll call Uncle Pete and let him know that Joey’s been spotted. If you feel safe, continue the tour. Archer’s probably having a blast.”
“He’s in ghost town heaven,” Shauna agreed. “Okay, but let me know if you need something.”
“Will do.” Cat hung up the call, then texted the information to her uncle. She set the phone away and started eating. When she realized Seth wasn’t eating, she waved her fork at him. “I thought you were dreaming about that omelet. What’s wrong? Not enough gravy?”
“You sure you don’t want to go up to Outlaw and check on Shauna?”
“You heard her. He’s already gone and besides, she has three guys there to help out if something happens. Besides, it’s not like Joey threw the pot. You pushed him out of the way. He probably just wants to thank you.”
“Without having to answer Pete’s questions. Yeah, I can understand that. I don’t know what Joey’s involved in, but I hope it’s not gambling. The guy was always looking for that next score, or bragging about how he just knew the right horse to bet on.” Seth picked up his fork and took a bite. “Wow. This is as good as I remembered.”
Cat watched amused as he dug in to the overstuffed omelet. She had ordered a normal ham and cheese omelet with a side of biscuits and gravy. With the hash browns on the side, she didn’t think she’d be hungry until tomorrow. Which was a bad thing since they had the end of retreat dinner tonight. Oh, well, she’d just have to force herself to eat again. Her life certainly didn’t suck.
They’d just finished eating and were waiting for the waitress to bring back Seth’s credit card when Cat’s phone rang.
“Shauna?” Seth sat up straight, looking around to find their waitress.
Cat shook her head. “Nope, Uncle Pete.”
“Really?” He waved over the waitress, who was refilling coffee cups.
“Hey, I just sent you a text.” Cat answered her uncle’s call directly without a fluffy greeting. He was probably calling about the text anyway.
“I saw it. Shauna okay?” Uncle Pete was just as direct as Cat was in her approach. Probably a family trait.
“Yep, they’re fine. And Shirley’s with them if something feels off. Where are you?” Cat finished off her orange juice as she watched Seth sign the charge slip.
“I am standing in front of your house. Your alarms went off about the same time as Mrs. Rice called in a possible break-in. Where are you? I take it you’re not in Outlaw with Shauna and the group.”
“We’re at The Diner.” Cat stood and directed her next words to Seth. “We’ve got to go. Someone broke into the house.”
Cat tucked her cell in her pants and dropped some money on the table. “How fast can you walk?”
“I’m not an invalid, Cat. I’ll keep up. Let’s just get going.” He motioned to the door and they left The Diner and headed out to the street at a fast pace.
Cat glanced at him as they crossed the street. He didn’t look out of breath, yet, but she’d keep an eye on his condition as they walked. She’d seen the way he’d sat at The Diner, like he’d been hurting from the original stroll into town. Now, he’d be pushing it. “Look, it’s not going to change anything if it takes us five or ten minutes longer to get there.”
He put a hand on her back. “Thanks for worrying, but I’m fine. Let’s just get home.”
They power-walked to the house and when they arrived, met Uncle Pete and Mrs. Rice in the kitchen. Cat watched as Seth almost fell into a chair, and grabbed him a bottle of water out of the fridge. Then she poured herself a cup of coffee. “I see you found the hide-a-key. What’s going on?”
“Well, I was coming over to talk to Shauna about the pages she’d given me this week and I saw a man trying to crowbar open your back door.” Mrs. Rice shook her head and then grabbed a cookie from the plate in the middle of the table. “These are good, but she really should learn to use a higher-quality chocolate chip.”
Uncle Pete rolled his eyes, but his voice was soft when he spoke. “Mrs. Rice. Tell us about the man you saw. Can you describe him?”
“Of course, I can.” She snapped at Uncle Pete. “Didn’t I just go through all of this with you? I swear, men don’t listen.”
“I mean, could you go through it so Cat and Seth could hear your description. They might know the person.” Uncle Pete rephrased the request.
“Oh, I get it.” She turned to Seth. “Anyway, the man was shorter than you. He had on jeans and a Wisconsin Badgers sweatshirt. I’m assuming that’s some sort of sports team? Then he ran away when I held up my phone and told him I’d called the police and he needed to leave.”
“Did you see his face?” Cat wondered if having on a Wisconsin sweatshirt was enough evidence, but she was already convinced that it was Joey. He’d been wearing the same sweatshirt yesterday when he’d talked to her at the hospital.
Mrs. Rice glanced at Cat, then turned back to Seth, answering the question. “No, I didn’t see his face. And he had his hoodie pulled up over his hair so I couldn’t even see that. If I hadn’t been on the phone with the station, I could have taken a picture with my phone. Did you know phones could do that now? My grandson bought me this smarty phone for my birthday. I can even look up recipes on it if I need to.”
Cat wanted to explain to the woman that she could have taken a picture and stayed on the phone with the police, but she didn’t have the energy. She looked at Uncle Pete. “You think it was Joey?”
“Could he have gotten back from Outlaw that fast?” Seth asked.
Uncle Pete turned to Mrs. Rice. “Thank you so much for your time. I’ll have one of my officers walk you home.”
“I need to get home to Mr. Peeps, anyway. He’s probably all worked up.” Mrs. Rice stood and moved to the door. Then she came back and pushed a pile of papers at Cat. “Give those to Shauna, would you?”
The room was quiet until after she left; then Uncle Pete leaned back into his chair. “The woman drives me batty and calls in everything that happens, but this time I think she saved your house from being broken into. Any idea what Joey might have been looking for?”
“How do you know it’s Joey?” Seth asked.
Uncle Pete picked up a cookie, then bit into it, enjoying the flavors. He looked at Seth after he finished eating the treat. “Really? Okay, because Joey was wearing that same sweatshirt yesterday at the hospital. It’s not like we have a lot of Wisconsin fans here in Aspen Hills.”
“I saw him in the same hoodie too.” Cat looked at Seth. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”
“Joey got in trouble before he went into the army. Some relative of his talked him into driving for a break-in. He’s always the first person authorities look at when things go bad.” Seth stood and got himself a cup of coffee, throwing the now-empty water bottle in the recycling. “He’s a good guy.”
“I’m not saying he’s not, but why would he be breaking into my house?” Cat studied Seth.
Seth shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s been weird. Terry and Joey were both asking a lot of questions about Chance and him living here. Hell, once I thought Terry was going to call me a liar when I said I had no idea Chance had holed up in the mountains. He’s right, though. I should have known. What kind of friend doesn’t know his buddy is living less than ten miles away?”
“A buddy who didn’t want to be found.” Cat rubbed his hand. “Look, even Sherry didn’t know until a few years ago when she hit the grocery store one night instead of her normal shopping time.”
“Wait, Sherry knew?” Uncle Pete turned to me, flipping through his notebook. “When did she say that? She told me she was unaware that he was living here.”
“When Shirley and I went to talk to her, she said that she’d run into him at the store. So they went to have coffee to talk.” Cat shook her head.
“Well, I’m going to have to have another talk with her.” Uncle Pete glanced around the kitchen. “I’m going to leave an officer here for a couple of days. Especially since you have guests in the house.”
Cat nodded. She didn’t want to have someone watching over them, but she didn’t want to put her guests in danger either.
“And there’s one more thing. We tracked the deposits into the Dwight Washington account. They were being made from a security company. One that has contracts in Europe. And the same one that Joey and Terry are currently employed at.”
“Joey works at a plant. And Terry? He’s working for a golf course,” Seth responded.
Uncle Pete shook his head. “Yeah, that’s true. But both also get a two-thousand-dollar deposit once a month from this same company. And according to records, they were on leave when the jewelry store burned down. The store put in a claim for over fourteen million in lost diamonds.”
“You think the three of them stole diamonds, then set the place on fire? Why would they do that?” Seth turned on Uncle Pete. Although even Cat could see his anger dissipating into grief and pain.
“I don’t know, but it might give us a motive for why someone would want to kill him. Maybe he was talking about giving the stones back. Maybe they thought he’d gotten a bigger share. There’s a whole bunch of maybes that I can’t ask about because I can’t find these guys. If you know anything, Seth, you need to tell me.”
“All I know is I don’t know my friends very well.” Seth sipped on his water. “Chance was friends with the jeweler. He took me there to buy a ring for Cat.”
“Maybe he didn’t have a choice, Seth. Either way, he’s seemed to have paid for that one mistake for a long time.” Uncle Pete stood to go. “I’ve got to get down to the station and get a BOLO out on this guy. Please keep your doors locked.”
“Will we see you tomorrow night for dinner, then?”
“Yeah, I’m hoping so. Although every time I try to make plans with Shirley, something comes up this week. I’m going to have to pay for her flight out here just to make up for the lousy week we’re having.” He stood and adjusted his hat on his head. “I’ll talk to you all later. If you remember something or find out something new, please call. I don’t want you forgetting something important that might get you all hurt. You’re just lucky that Mrs. Rice was heading over here to talk to Shauna. Things could have been a lot worse.”
Cat watched her uncle leave the kitchen; then she paged through the stack Mrs. Rice had left. “I never expected this
.”
“Expected what?” Seth leaned over and glanced over the top sheet. “It’s just a recipe with a few handwritten notes on it.”
“Exactly.” She glanced up at Seth’s and laughed at his confusion. “Fiction writers use beta readers to make sure their story is understandable and doesn’t jump the shark, so to speak. Cookbook authors use something like that. They have someone test the recipes before they publish them. Just in case. Shauna is using Mrs. Rice as her beta reader.”
“That’s a bad thing?” Seth still looked confused.
Cat shrugged. “It’s not good or bad, just surprising. I didn’t think Shauna was close enough to Mrs. Rice to ask her to get involved.”
“But according to my mom, Mrs. Rice was an amazing cook. Maybe Shauna just found the right button to push with the woman.” He glanced at the clock. “I hate to do this to you, but do you mind if I lie down? I’m beat after all the excitement.”
“Go lie down. I’ll wake you long before dinner so you can get ready. Are you driving tonight?”
He shook his head. “Nope, Shauna has taken over the designated driver role for the night. Just make sure she remembers when we get to the restaurant. The girl loves her margaritas.”
She watched as he made his way slowly out of the kitchen. He might not want to admit pain, but at least he was taking care of himself. Cat stood and locked the kitchen door, glancing out at the lone police car sitting in front of her house. Uncle Pete hadn’t been kidding.
Feeling a little spooked, Cat ran downstairs to make sure the cellar door was locked and then to the front door. She texted Shauna to let her know the place was locked up and if she needed to be let in, to text her. She watched the phone, but no answer. Either they were on their way back home and Shauna’s phone was tucked into her purse, or they were in a dead zone. Either way, she should hear from them soon.
Then she grabbed a book from the shelf, choosing carefully so that it wasn’t a mystery, and settled in the living room to read. The doors were locked. Seth was upstairs sleeping. And there was a police car in front of the house. She should feel safe. The problem was she didn’t feel that way.