Mixing Up Murder

by Emmie Lyn

  “I hope everyone likes tuna melts,” I said cheerfully as I set the platter on the table. I didn’t dare look at Lily or we both might double over in a fit of giggles.

  Ava slipped the biggest one onto her plate. “My favorite. How did you know?”

  Neither of us saw that coming, and I almost choked on my snort. Lily poked my back and slipped something into my back pocket—a dollar I assumed.

  Luke patted the chair next to him and nodded toward me. “Pip saved your spot.”

  Sure enough, she was sitting in the shade of my chair. She knew where she belonged. Plus, it was out of sight of Ava!

  “This looks delicious, Dani,” Rose said as she helped herself. “Ava and Marty have been telling us about all their sightseeing adventures around town.”

  I took my seat, trying to keep my voice light and breezy with our guests. “Been having fun? What have you liked best so far?”

  I filled my glass, thinking I’d need several refills to get through this lunch.

  “Well,” Ava said after she dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “Yesterday morning we decided to focus on downtown. I discovered the best craft shop with stunning, locally made items. Everything was so reasonably priced compared to New York City. I have to admit, I went a little crazy on my shopping spree.” She glanced at her husband. “Marty was bored with it all, of course. He wandered around outside until I finished. Shopping isn’t his thing.”

  I peeked at Rose; she had a satisfied grin on her face.

  Me? Well, I had to down a glass of wine cooler. Goosebumps popped up on my arms as an awful realization hit me. There was only one way to analyze Ava’s tidbit of information. I was sure that Rose and I were both thinking the same thing – the location of the craft shop, Creative Designs, was directly across from the diner.

  How convenient for someone to follow Ray into the diner, whack him over the head, and leave—all in a matter of minutes.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Lunch on Rose’s patio with her new neighbors was a bigger success than I ever would have expected. Even Luke seemed relaxed and ready to dig for information from Ava and Marty.

  Of course, the revelation that they’d been right across the street from the diner when Ray was murdered made us all a little bit giddy. The question remained—had either of them lost that earring in the diner? Ava had more piercings along the outside of her ears than I thought was possible, but I wouldn’t know if one was missing. Besides, she’d been in the store shopping. Marty didn’t have any ear piercings, which Rose would approve of, but it made it unlikely that he lost the earring.

  When the conversation moved to Blueberry Acres, Luke’s chair bucked a little and scratched along the patio stones like he’d been jabbed with a hot poker. His profile said it all—clenched jaw and eyes on Marty like a predator about to pounce. He gripped his chair until his knuckles were as white as Rose’s linen napkins. I thought he might just rise up and bolt out of there he seemed so disgusted with Marty all of a sudden. But he stayed put, at the ready.

  “You know, Luke,” Marty said, “even if you don’t want to sell, I could give you some ideas to keep that amazing property profitable. I mean I’d love to buy your dad’s farm, but I can see that it provides an important product for this area. Great branding with all the tie-ins to blueberries.”

  Luke furrowed his brow at me. His grip relaxed as he leaned toward Marty. “I’m trying to add events to bring in more people and their dollars. What are your ideas?”

  “Well, originally, I thought it would be the perfect spot for top-end condos for anyone wanting to escape the city to this lovely town on the bay. The problem with that idea is the influx of people would ruin the town. Right? I’d be killing the main attraction.”

  We all nodded like sheep. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad after all.

  “Here’s the thing,” he continued with his elbows on the table and his eyes fired up with excitement. “Instead of condos, you convert the farmhouse into a bed and breakfast. Right? With a complete inside and out remodeling, you’d be booked solid. I mean months ahead. I’m talking, bedroom suites, a game room, a modern kitchen with an adjacent dining area for your guests and room for the locals, too, if you want. Outside, you’d have to have gardens … walkways, flowers, shrubs…maybe a pool and tennis courts…I’m just thinking out loud here. You wouldn’t have to do everything I’ve suggested but make a plan so you could expand in the future to meet your guests’ needs. You could have a shuttle bus to the beach or make bikes available for the exercise minded guests. Honestly…the sky is the limit.”

  Marty picked up his wine cooler and drained the glass in one long drink. Ava helped herself to a second tuna melt. She already looked bored to death with the talk centered on something besides her. The rest of us? Silent. I know I was stunned at Marty’s idea. Stunned and impressed. It was an awesome plan, in my opinion. Luke could keep his blueberry fields but expand in this new direction. Perfect.

  Except, with his wife on the west coast, he probably wasn’t planning to stay in the Blueberry Bay area forever. The plan wasn’t something he could easily manage from three thousand miles away.

  “It’s a lot to think about,” was Luke’s reply as he sat back in his chair. If disappointment had weight, I heard a ton of regret buried in his tone.

  Ava had her hand out, studying her nails. She’d only taken one nibble from the second tuna melt. Maybe she planned to wrap it in Rose’s napkin and save it for later. “Marty? Isn’t it time for that meeting with Rhonda Lemay? I like her much better than her brother, Ray. You know, I’m not sure anyone will be missing him.”

  Lily’s face hardened.

  Before she had a chance to hurl any threats in Ava’s direction, Rose took control of the conversation. “Ava, you haven’t been in town for long, have you?”

  “Long enough to know who I like and who doesn’t deserve my respect. Right Marty? You never liked Ray either, did you?”

  “And why is that, Ava?” Rose filled Ava’s glass with the last of the wine cooler from the pitcher. “I’ve known the Lemay family for generations. They are an important family in the Blueberry Bay area.”

  “I suppose you might be blinded by that history, Rose, but I have a talent for reading people. Ray Lemay showed his phoniness right from the get-go.” She sipped the cold drink. “This is delightful.”

  “Takes one to know one,” I mumbled under my breath. I caught Luke’s smirk from the corner of my eye. “And yet you did business with him, Ava, and were hoping he’d find more prime real estate for you and Marty.”

  She waved her hand as if she were shooing a pesky greenhead fly away. “Sometimes business trumps values, but now we have Rhonda working for us on our restaurant plans.”

  Lily slowly rose to her feet, keeping her hands flat on the table, unable to contain herself any longer. “I hate to burst your bubble, Ava, but I’m in charge of Bayside Real Estate now. I’m sorry to tell you, but it won’t be business as usual anymore. As a matter of fact, I’m taking over all of Ray’s deals.” She held her hand out. “Lily Lemay, Ray’s widow. I guess I should have introduced myself properly before lunch started.”

  I had never felt more pride for my friend than right then when she stared at Ava, and with quiet finesse, put that insult of a woman in her place.

  “Well …” Ava drained her wine cooler, “we’ll see what Rhonda has to say about that. She said she was now the acting president of Bayside Real Estate. That’s who I want to work with.”

  Lily smiled sweetly, but I knew it was forced because her eyes seethed with a dark blue anger. While her focus remained squarely on Ava, I held my breath, eagerly anticipating what would happen next. Lily had found her stride, strength, and supremacy in the Bayside Real Estate hierarchy.

  Lily sat down and lifted one eyebrow revealing her skepticism of Ava’s comments. “Is that so? How interesting. I always knew Rhonda disliked me with a passion. And the jealousy she harbored for her brother could be seen by
some,” she tapped the table with her fingernails, a sound like a doom and gloom intro for a bad horror film, “as a motive for murder. I’ll be sure to share this information with Detective AJ Crenshaw.”

  I was close enough to Ava to hear her sharp intake of breath. “Oh, well,” she said with a nervous giggle, “our conversation with Rhonda was all just a friendly chat.” She looked to her husband for some backup and then back at Lily. “I’m sure you know all those details better than I do and we,” she placed her trembling hand on Marty’s, “would love to work with you, Lily.”

  This whole exchange left me with more questions than answers. The first one that popped up was if Lily was taking over the Bayside Real Estate business, who was going to be the short order cook when the Little Dog Diner reopened? That thought pretty much pushed everything else out of my brain for the moment. I couldn’t do it all by myself. Was I supposed to put an apron on Pip and teach her how to serve customers? I wished that were an option.

  But I didn’t have time to dwell on my problems. Lily hadn’t finished showing everyone there was a new sheriff in town. “The first order of business,” she said directly to Ava, “before you’re planning gets ahead of you, is to let you know that the three buildings you have your eyes on: the Blueberry Bay Grapevine, the Little Dog Diner, and the Bayside Real Estate building are not for sale. None of them. Today or in the future. So, get your prime location for an upscale restaurant idea right out of your brain. Are we clear?”

  Ava nodded and actually looked a bit contrite. On the other hand, Marty, who had been a silent observer through all this, threw his napkin on the table as if he were issuing a warning.

  “Anything is for sale if the price is right. That’s what Ray understood, and I think you’ll have a battle on your hands if you plan to back out of the deal I made with your husband. I will have my upscale restaurant with or without your help, and the Little Dog Diner will be swallowed whole when I open for business.”

  He stood and yanked Ava’s arm. “Let’s go. I’ve lost my appetite for dessert.”

  Pip growled. Her input was too little, too late, as far as I was concerned, but I patted her to let her know her opinion was appreciated.

  “What have I done now?” Lily asked. She looked around the table at the three of us still with her.

  “Exactly what you should have done, dear,” Rose said with a gentle pat on Lily’s hand. “I’ve known bullies like Marty Fontaine my whole life and do you know what they hate more than anything?”

  Lily shook her head.

  “Someone who questions their ability to carry through on a plan.”

  It would be an uphill battle for Lily but with Rose and me by her side, we’d run those two out of town with their tails between their legs. Or, if they killed Ray, tell AJ to throw the key away after he locked them up.

  “You’d better find out what Ray was up to as soon as possible,” Luke advised Lily. “You’ll need the upper hand with someone like Marty Fontaine.

  Luke was right of course, and we kept reminding her of that as the four of us—Rose, Lily, Luke, and me—enjoyed huge slices of blueberry pie with a healthy dose of ice cream before we cleaned up the dishes.

  Then we thanked Rose for lunch and after saying goodbye to Luke, headed straight to Ray’s office at Bayside Real Estate. It was beyond time for Lily to understand what Ray had his fingers mixed up in. We planned to search through all of his papers, emails, texts, and anything else that could be lurking in what had been his domain.

  Lily was taking control of the reins.

  Rhonda would be furious.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Main Street, running through Misty Harbor was quiet this afternoon compared to the past couple of days. After Ray’s murder and the closing of the Little Dog Diner, our little town looked like a film shoot for a cop show with all the uniforms and crime scene tape. Now, it was filled with tourists spending their dollars everywhere except the Little Dog Diner. It broke my heart to think about all the meals that weren’t being served and the pies that weren’t being baked.

  But right next door, at Bayside Real Estate, it was a different story. Several cars filled the parking spots out front.

  “It looks like Rhonda hasn’t wasted any time getting her greedy self over here,” Lily said. “What trouble is she stirring up?”

  It was more of a statement than a question, and I could tell she didn’t expect a reply. We both knew the answer: plenty.

  “And isn’t that Frank Wilde’s car?” I asked Lily as Pip’s wagging tail led us to the front door.

  Lily grinned at me. “What do you want to bet that we’ll catch the both of them up to no good?”

  “A dollar.” I fished the dollar I won from Lily out of my pocket and held it up to show her. “Here, I’ll just give it back to you now.”

  Before Lily had a chance to pull the door open, Nick Wilde barreled through, almost knocking us off the step. He managed to get a hold of both of us and kept us from landing in a heap. “Sorry. I guess I wasn’t paying attention like I should have been. Are you okay?”

  I pushed my hair out of my face. “Yeah, fine, Nick. What’s up?”

  He rolled the cuff of his sleeve up, probably embarrassed about the blue stain that I noticed. Nick lived alone and evidently couldn’t be bothered worrying about laundry. “Frank and I were hoping to talk to Lily about the status of our building, but Rhonda barged in and said she was in charge.” He shook his head with a hint of disgust. “I wish she’d mind her own business.”

  Lily placed her hand on Nick’s arm. “Listen, Nick, this isn’t a good time to talk about any real estate deals. I’ve got a lot to sort through and get myself up to speed with this business. Everything is on hold for now.”

  “I understand. Call when you’re ready for an offer.” He smiled and hustled down the steps. “Oh, I almost forgot, but did you do anything about that earring you said you found? Frank is still checking every drawer and pocket he can think of. He even crawled around on his hands and knees in his office but with no luck.”

  “Actually, I turned it over to Detective Crenshaw, so if Frank thinks that it’s his, he can go to the police station and identify it.”

  “Such a big deal over that little bit of vanity,” Nick muttered before continuing to his car.

  “I wonder if Frank will ask AJ about the earring,” Lily said as we walked up the steps.

  “If he bashed Ray over the head, it’s the last thing he’ll be doing,” We reached the front entrance of the converted old home turned into a realty office, and I held my hand out. “You first.”

  Lily pulled the door open with the new power she’d recently discovered. I leaned close. “How are you feeling, Lil?”

  “Ready for a battle that I should have fought long before now. I never even realized how Ray drained my confidence. Now I’m asking myself why I ever considered a reconciliation. I can’t wait to find out what he’s been hiding in his papers. I suspect it will be eye opening.”

  I certainly wasn’t the person to disagree with her conclusion.

  On the heels, er, paws of Pip, acting as if she owned the place, we marched through the entryway and reception area, and headed for what had been Ray’s office in the back. No one said a word as we passed by a couple of agents at their desks pretending to be hard at work.

  Voices drifted into the hallway as we got closer to Ray’s office. Lily turned her head, her pinched eyebrows letting me know she was as confused as I was about who belonged to the voices.

  I pulled her up short, picked up Pip, and put my finger to my lips. With a nod toward the wall, I inched us off to one side, staying out of sight but within earshot. Better to know what we were walking into than having an unpleasant surprise, I told myself as a way to justify our eavesdropping.

  We heard a woman say, “Where did he put those contracts?”

  I stared at Lily, finally recognizing Rhonda’s hushed but clear voice. We crept closer to the wall in an effort to hear more of what
she had to say. When Rhonda said next, “I searched her friend’s place, too,” I wanted to swoop in with guns blazing, but Lily held me back and we just continued snooping.

  “. . . just in case Ray’s sneaky wife found them,” she continued, “and needed a hiding spot. That was a waste of time. All Dani has is old beat up furniture and second hand clothes. If it wasn’t for her grandmother, she’d probably be living on the street.”

  Lily squeezed my arm, stopping me from charging inside and doing something I would surely regret. At least I had a name I could give AJ for the lawbreaker who trashed my apartment.

  We held our breath waiting for what came next.

  “Are you sure all the signatures were in place?” Frank asked. “How did Ray ever convince Lily to sign off on my building?”

  Lily’s hand flew to her mouth, but a tiny squeak still escaped. I held my breath.

  Rhonda laughed. “Don’t worry about that, Frank. As long as you have the tickets for our honeymoon all set, the rest of our plan will fall into place perfectly.”

  “I don’t know.” The doubt in Frank’s voice came into the hallway loud and clear.

  “Oh, Frank.” Then silence.

  Lily and I took great care to peek around the corner of the partially opened door, wondering what had captured their attention.

  My hand flew to my mouth at the sight of Rhonda wrapped around Frank in an embrace that left no room for the imagination. Lily pushed me out of the way, which made the door swing into a coat stand. The coat stand tipped and crashed onto a chair. Pip jumped from my arms straight into this scene.

  No point trying to hide from that ruckus. I barged right in.

  Frank’s eyes popped open, seeing us before Rhonda had a chance to turn around. He shuffled away from her and picked up a big set of keys from the desk. “I’d better get back to work, Rhondy. Nick will be wondering what held me up here.”