Lyndsey Cole - Lily Bloom 03 - Roses are Dead (6 page)

Lily
puller out her phone and tried to hit Ryan’s phone number with her trembling fingers. Finally, she got it right and she relaxed a tiny bit when she heard his voice.

“We need your help. Someone stol
e Poppy from Iris’ car.”

“Lily?
Where are you?”

She took a deep breath
and blurted it all out at once. “We stopped for a bite to eat after the training session and were just leaving Waterfield and Poppy’s gone from Iris’ car.”

“
Slow down. Take a breath. Does Iris have the number for the program? A contact person? They should be notified. Did you see anyone lingering around?”

“No. We were inside having dinner with a mom I met at the session. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Lily? Be careful.”

Lily ended the
call and asked Iris, “Do you have a contact person for the program?”

Iris was stomping around, mumbling to herself, eyes blazing. “Good idea. I have the information in my bag.”
She called Darlene Bowman and explained what happened. Darlene tried to be reassuring and said as soon as the puppy was brought to a vet, they could trace it by the implanted microchip. She would notify all the vets in the area to be on the lookout.

Lily hugged Iris. “We’ll find her. Maybe someone wants us to stop coming to this training session. I think Lana and
maybe her mother could be important connections to Carla. I bet Lana knows something, or someone thinks she knows something. Hop in. I’ll drive.”

The thirty minute drive back to Misty Valley dragged on to feel like hours. Lily wanted to be home with Rosie
. Ryan was waiting at Lily’s house, pacing back and forth on her back porch. He ran to her car when she pulled into the driveway.

Ryan grabbed Lily’s arms and stared into her eyes.
“What took so long? I was worried. Who was at that training session?”

Lily
let herself melt into his arms for a few seconds, then she stepped back. “Let’s go inside. Mom, do you want to come in or are you going home?”

Iris looked form Lily to Ryan in a daze.
“I’ll come in for a few minutes.”

Rosie was all over Lily and especially Iris, sniffing all the other puppy smells. She looked up at Iris as if to say, where’s Poppy? Iris stroked her soft fur. “We’ll find her, don’t worry.”

They made themselves comfortable in the living room. Ryan broke the silence. “Care to tell me what happened?”

Lily hesitated
before she began retelling about Joanne and Lana. Ryan listened, without interrupting, nodding his head occasionally.

“Well, i
t sounds like Adam was doing his job when he found the drugs in Lana’s backpack. The question is, how did they get there? It could be that Lana is lying. It’s hard for someone to admit the truth when it’s a bad truth for them. And Joanne would want to believe that Lana is innocent.”

Lily stood up, pacing around. “I thought of that too. But it just seems that
Adam’s name keeps popping up whenever Carla was around and something bad happened. And those other two cops, what about them?”

“I
’ll check if they were in Misty Valley when Carla died. They might have been part of the investigating team. I’ll look into that. Was there anyone else sitting near you who might have heard your conversation with Joanne?”

Lily wracked her brain. “Maybe. One other woman was watching me but looked away when I made eye contact. I suppose she could have heard something. We were talking very quietly though.”

“Did she leave when you left?”

“Everyone left
at the same time. We followed Joanne to the restaurant but I was thinking more about what she told me than watching if anyone followed us.”

Ryan stood up. “Stealing Poppy might not be connected but you need to assume it is
and pay attention to everybody and every detail.” He looked at Iris. “You too. Was your car locked?”

Iris sigh
ed. “I usually lock it, but now I’m not one hundred percent sure. There wasn’t any damage from someone breaking in.”

Ryan stifled a yawn. “Let’s all get some sleep. Maybe you’ll think of something else tomorrow.”

***

Lily tossed and turned all night, sleeping fitfully. It was barely light out when she decided to get up and give up on getting any quality sleep. Rosie was all for that. She hadn’t gotten enough exercise the day before and she looked eagerly at Lily.

“I can’t help but feel better seeing your happy face. Let’s see what’s out in the world today.”

Walking helped Lily sort through this mess and try to get it into some kind of order. The birds were singing at the top of their lungs, especially a male cardinal that was always the first bird Lily would hear in the morning. She pulled her sweatshirt tighter against the chilly morning air, letting Rosie cho
ose the direction and speed they would take.

How di
d Adam May fit into all this, she wondered. Was it all coincidence, or was he the killer? He certainly didn’t fit the scary criminal stereotype but she knew that was just a myth anyway. Anyone, even the guy next door, could be something more than he seemed. Which made her shudder after she thought of who was living next door to her. Ryan? Involved? No, that was impossible. Or was it? Carla showing up, basically stalking him; could he have decided to take matters into his own hands? He would have known about her allergy.

Lily shook off those thoughts.
Everyone who knew Carla would know about the allergy. For crying out loud, Lily knew after meeting her for five minutes. Lily could think of logical explanations for everything but when she looked at the whole big picture, something smelled rotten.

Rosie was heading toward the small park
. They walked slowly around the pond, watching the ducks and a great blue heron at the edge of the water. Suddenly, Rosie pulled Lily toward a lone car parked in the parking area. “Slow down. What’s the hurry?” Rosie circled the car, then jumped up on the back door on the driver side, whining and pawing at the window which was cracked about an inch.

Lily felt the hairs on her neck prickle.
Her legs felt shaky as images of what could be inside flashed through her imagination. She took a step closer as Rosie whined louder. Something was wrong here. She hesitated, trying to decide if she wanted to take a look in the back seat, nervous about what she might find. Rosie was relentless and getting more agitated.

Finally, Lily cupped her hands around her face to shield the reflection so she could see inside. A dog crate.
With Poppy curled up inside. She almost collapsed with relief.

Lily
texted Ryan, not caring that it was early. “I found Poppy. Meet me at the park.”

She tried to open the doors but they were all locked. Poppy was yipping now that she knew she had company. Dog poop smell wafted through the window opening. “Poor thing
,” Lily said to Rosie. “I wonder whose car this is.”

Ryan drove in sending gravel flying
every which way. “This is Adam’s car. He’s got some explaining to do.” Ryan jimmied the door open and Lily pulled a wiggly Poppy out, putting her down to sniff Rosie and piddle in the grass. She looked no worse for the experience.

Lily texted Iris, telling her to come over to get Poppy. It only took her about fifteen minutes to pull in looking completely disheveled from a night of no sleep.

Iris picked up Poppy. “You gave me quite a fright, going off on that adventure.” She looked at Ryan. “What do we do now?”

“We?
We
don’t do anything.
I’m
going to have the car checked for prints and find out what Adam was doing all night.”

“
Adam?”

Lily explained to
Iris, “This is Adam’s car.”

Iris accused Ryan
, “That ‘friend’ of yours stole Poppy?”

Ryan was busy talking on his phone. When he was done
, he directed his attention to Iris. “We don’t know who stole Poppy. Yes, this is Adam’s car, but, maybe he has an explanation. I need to keep an open mind until all the facts are in.”

Iris mumbled under her breath
, “I hope you don’t let your old friendship cloud your judgment. It looks pretty straight forward to me.”

Ryan shook his head and got back to work.

It was only a matter of minutes before another police car arrived and another unmarked car pulled in next to Ryan’s cruiser.

Adam
got out of the second car. “What’s this all about? Did something happen to my car?”

Ryan took
Adam’s arm and led him off to the side. Lily moved closer so she could eavesdrop. She heard Ryan ask Adam, “Where were you last night?”

Adam
shook off Ryan’s arm. “It’s none of your business where I was. What’s this all about?”

“A stolen puppy was found in your car this morning.”

Adam’s face hardened. “I left my car here last night and went out with a friend. That’s all I’m telling you.” He got back into the car he had arrived in and left.

Lily walked over to Ryan. “
Was that Vinnie Stewart driving that car?”

Ryan ran his fingers through his hair as he frowned.
“Yup. Something feels wrong with this picture.”

Lily and Rosie walked home. All the peacefulness she had been feeling with her early morning solitude was replaced with feelings of dread an
d anxiety. Her stomach was in knots from trying to figure out who was watching her and what was the message being sent. She was confident that whoever stole Poppy didn’t mean to hurt her, but wanted Lily to back off all the questions. Was there something she missed at the puppy class? Someone she should have noticed? She realized that the danger could be from anywhere and she needed to be much more observant and careful. All these strange events just made her resolve tighten and she was more determined than ever to figure it all out. How was Adam involved? Or was someone trying to frame him? Lily shook her head. It would all come together if she gave it a rest and stopped obsessing.

Rosie was as cheerful as ever. Not a care in the world. Lily
was in awe of the life of her dog. Happy. Trusting. Faithful. Those soft brown eyes always looking to Lily for an explanation of what Lily needed and Rosie was glad to help out. “If only you knew all the answers, Rosie. I’m heading to work. Want to come with me today?”

Daisy was already at the shop getting everything organized for the day. She was busy making some cash and carry bouquets to restock the display cooler. It
wasn’t busy at the moment but Lily had a big wedding for the weekend. This was the wedding season, after all, and she loved being part of all the happiness surrounding the events. Dealing with the bride and bride’s mother could be challenging and test her patience at times, but in the end, everyone was always pleased with her work. She had her list all set and needed to check with Jack to make sure he could supply everything.

Daisy looked up when Lily walked in. “Mom texted me that you found Poppy.”

“Yes. Poppy’s safe and sound with Mom again.” Lily told Daisy everything from the night before up until Adam arrived in the parking lot.

Daisy listened but kept working and never looked up at Lily.
Her cell phone rang. Daisy turned away to answer it and told the caller she couldn’t talk.

Lily was watching Daisy
who was being unnaturally quiet. She was uncomfortable about something. “Daisy. What haven’t you told me?”

Daisy’s face turned red as the roses she was working with but she still wouldn’t look at Lily.

“I promised not to tell anyone.”

“I’m not
anyone
. I’m your sister. What’s going on?”

Daisy put the flowers down and leaned on her work table. “I was with
Adam last night.”

“Are you serious? He could be a killer.”

“I went to the Bar and Grill for a late drink with some friends and Adam came in. He was with a group of guys and they were pretty rowdy. He kept looking at me and, well, one thing led to another. We hung out for a while.”

“
What time was that?”

Daisy thought for a minute. “They came in around nine, nine thirty, I guess
, and we left around eleven.”

“Did he have his car?”

“No. He said something about meeting his friends at the park. He left his car and one of his friends was driving.”

“He already has friends here?”

“I think they were the detectives working on Carla’s case. That’s all I know.”

“Why did he tell you not to tell anyone?”

“I’m not sure, but maybe he didn’t want Ryan to find out? Because of how Adam broke up Ryan and Carla’s engagement? I didn’t ask him a lot of questions. We were busy doing other things.” Daisy grinned and blushed again.

Lily told Daisy she was going to Jack’s Greenhouse to check on her flower order
for the wedding for later in the week. She wanted to double check the colors against the fabric swatches. What she didn’t tell Daisy was that she was going by the Cozy Motel to see if she could track down Adam and get some answers.

Lily always had a little flashback of her close encounter with death at the greenhouse. She had foolishly gone into the storage
building to search for clues in a previous murder, and ended up being kidnapped. She used her wit, though, and got out of that hairy situation. She shrugged off that old feeling and went inside to find Jack, the new manager.

Lily and Jack
had always been friends, but ever since he got the job as manager of the greenhouses they saw a much more of each other. Jack grew the best specialty cut flowers around and Lily always used whatever he had in season. Sometimes it took a little convincing to get a bride away from the traditional roses but once they saw how vibrant and fresh using local flowers was, she could usually sway them to something besides roses. Jack had beautiful snapdragons, sweet pea, campanula, alstroemeria and dianthus plus a few small amounts of some other odd flowers. Lily was looking for a particular shade of pink which she matched with the campanula and sweet pea. Adding that to some white snapdragon and alstroemeria would be perfect for this bride. She gave him her list and said she would be back to pick up everything in a couple of days.

Lily headed north from Jack’s greenhouse and slowly drove by the Cozy Motel. There were
several cars in the parking lot and she could see two detectives standing around. She didn’t see the car that Poppy was found in. She realized she didn’t have a plan so she pulled into the gas station next door to get her thoughts organized.

Grabbing her tote, she left her car and walked the one hundred yards back to the motel. The two men in the parking lot stopped what they were doing to check her out. One was tall and broad and the other was about a head shorter but just as broad. She shuddered thinking she hoped she didn’t piss them off
just by being there. They’d be able to snap her like a twig if they wanted to. Putting on her best confident look, she strolled over to them.

“Hey boys, how’s it going today?”

They both smiled and tensed their muscles. “Hello to you. What can we do for ya?”

“Where can I find
Adam May?”

“You don’t need
Adam. Can’t we help you? We noticed you walking over. Did your car break down?”

Lily gave her best flirty smile. “No. My car’s fine. I just need to talk to
Adam for a minute. Is he here?”

The taller guy nodded his head toward the upstairs level of the motel. “He’s combing that room again for more evidence.”

“Oh that poor girl. Have you found anything yet? Such a shame to die like that.”

The shorter detective smirked. “Yeah. Real shame.” He looked at the other detective and winked.

Lily dug the toe of her shoe in the sand. “Did you know her?”

Another quick glance
passed between the two. “You have a lot of questions, don’t ya?”

Lily looked at them innocently. “Just curious. Not too much
excitement happens around here, ya know. It’s all everyone is talking about.”

The short guy looked around quickly. “Well, between you and me, we did know her. She was quite the party animal.”

Lily raised her eyebrows. “Really?” she gushed.

“Oh yeah. She liked hanging around when all of us were having a good time. Caused a few problems recently.”

“Maybe she pissed off a boyfriend?” Lily decided to gently dig as far as she could.

The tall
detective elbowed his buddy. “Speaking of one of her boyfriends,” he nodded toward Adam, “it looks like he’s coming down now.”

Lily winked. “
Thanks boys. Great chattin’ with ya.”

Lily walked slowly toward the stairs, making sure to give the ogling detectives something to dream about. She could feel their eyes burning holes in her butt.
Creeps
, she thought,
but I may as well use what I’ve got to get what I want.

Lily waved to
Adam. “Hey, could I talk to you for a minute?”

Adam
looked over with no emotion showing on his face except for a small flicker of his jaw muscles clenching. “I’m busy.”

“I know you
’re busy trying to solve this murder.” She noticed a slight flinch at the word murder. “But I need to talk to you about Daisy.”

“Daisy?” His voice softened a bit and he took Lily’s arm and steered her to the far side of the parking lot. Away from any nosy ears.

“She wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”

Lily glared at him. “I’m her sister, not
anyone
, and I want some answers.”

He peeked at his watch. “Okay, five minutes.”

“How did my mother’s puppy get into your car? Daisy said you didn’t get to the Bar and Grill until around nine thirty, plenty of time to drive to Waterfield and back and drop your car off at the park.”

“I didn’t go to Waterfield.”

“Where were you before you hooked up with Daisy?”

“I can’t tell you and you need to stop digging around before you get yourself into a bad corner you can’t get out of.”

“Are you threatening me, Detective May? What happened to Carla? You were staying in the room right next to her. Seems a bit suspicious to me.”

Adam
clenched his lips. “Not a threat, Ms. Bloom, more like a warning. You have no idea what’s going on and you’d better be careful, real careful, who you spout off to. You seem like a nice person. Ryan is obviously smitten with you and I’d hate to see him loose another girlfriend.” A car drove in and Adam walked away from Lily.

She hollered after him,
“Stay away from Daisy.”

Adam
ignored her. She watched as Vinnie got out of the car that drove in and he and Adam had an animated conversation. Unfortunately, Lily couldn’t hear any of it but she noticed them glance at her and she felt cold shivers run down her spine.