Murder at Jade Cove (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 2) (12 page)

Mike simply looked at her.
She squirmed under his gaze for a moment, then said, “Why are you looking at me
like that?”

“You just thought you’d
take her cookies and express your condolences? Kelly, be honest. We both know
the reason you went out there wasn’t to give her some cookies. Well, spill it.
What did you find out?”

She told him about her
conversations with both Marcy and Gabe. “Mike, two things bother me. Number
one, it sounds like Marcy has no idea Gabe’s in financial trouble, if he is. I
sure would like to find that out. And secondly, I don’t think this is a good
time for Brandon to be making a major decision like whether or not to build a
hotel and spa on the ranch property. It almost sounds like Gabe is trying to
strong-arm him. Do you think Gabe is doing this to try and get his hands on
that three million dollar life insurance policy? I don’t know. Maybe he’s
trying to convince Marcy that the money should be used to build the project
instead of saving it to pay for Brandon’s education. I know it sounds crazy,
but she sure seems to be under his influence.”

“Let me think about it,”
Mike said. “I wonder when he found out she was the beneficiary on the insurance
policy? I suppose I could ask her, but that would alert her to the fact that
I’m becoming suspicious of Gabe and I’m not sure I want to do that. I’ll eat
dinner and sleep on it. Maybe the answer will come to me in the middle of the
night.”

“Marcy told me she’d told
him about the insurance money when he brought up the subject of helping to
finance the hotel and spa. Mike, one more thing. When I left I walked by a
silver colored car in the driveway. I assume it was Gabe’s and it had a bumper
sticker on it that read, ‘Oregon Needs Lumber.’ I remember seeing that same
sticker on the silver colored car that was in Marcy’s driveway the day I
visited the old shack and then in Portland when I saw them at the hotel. Do you
think he could be the one who wrote the threatening note that was left on my
windshield?”

“Could be, Kelly, could
be. Don’t know how I can get a sample of his handwriting, but I’ll keep it in
the back of my mind. Now I’d like to seriously think about dinner.”

“Okay, let me see what
kind of a rabbit I can pull out of my hat tonight!”

The next morning Kelly quietly got
out of bed and went into her office. The more she thought about her
conversation with Marcy, the more curious she was to find out if what she had
read on the Internet was true – that Gabe Lewis was in serious financial
trouble. The only thing she could think to do was visit the kennel his wife
owned, since she couldn’t think of an excuse she could use for visiting the
lumber mill. Maybe someone at the kennel could tell her something.

She turned on her computer
and booted it up. She remembered that Gabe’s wife raised both yellow and
chocolate Labrador Retrievers. The chocolate labs were known for being superb
hunting dogs, particularly for pheasants and ducks, and while the yellow labs
were also fine hunting dogs, it seemed like more and more people bought them to
be family pets rather than for their hunting ability.

Kelly pulled up the Lewis
Kennel website on her computer. The picture at the top of the site showed a
chocolate lab in a marshy area with a duck in its mouth. Beneath it were the words
“World Champion Hunting Dogs.” The site showed dogs that were currently
available, their lineage, the awards the sires and dams had won as well as the
dates that future litters would be available. There was even an application
form on the website. It was an expensive and impressive site. Below the
accomplishments of the hunting dogs were pictures of yellow labs and their
contented family owners. There were a number of favorable testimonials from
happy owners. Kelly wrote down the telephone number and the address of the
kennel, along with the manager’s name.

*****

A few hours later while she was at
the coffee shop, Kelly said, “Roxie, I need to make a phone call. It looks like
this is a pretty good time to do it. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

“No problem. Take your
time. Enjoy the quiet before the lunchtime crowd hits. I can handle it.”

I don’t know what I’d do
without her. It’s been ten years now and she’s the best waitress anyone could
ask for. The customers love her and she has such an infectious warmth about
her, I think half of the customers come here just to see her. I’m so glad she
and Joe were able to work out their problems with Joe’s son, Wade.

She thought back to when a
kilo of marijuana had been found in Wade’s school locker and he’d been expelled
from school, not only for having the marijuana, but for selling it to other
students.
It had not been an easy time for Roxie and Joe.

Kelly walked into the
storeroom, took her phone out of her purse and called the kennel. “Hello, this
is Kelly Conner. I was wondering if it would be possible for me to come to the
kennel today. I’m thinking about getting a dog for my fiancè for Christmas and
I have a number of questions. I’ve never owned a hunting dog before.” She
listened to the voice on the other end for a moment. “I can be there about
three this afternoon. Would you give me directions to the kennel? I’ll be
coming from the south.”

She wrote down the
directions, said goodbye, and walked out into the coffee shop. Just then the
front door opened and Doc walked in. “Doc, what are you doing here? You always
come at noon and it’s only 11:30.”

The grizzled retired
doctor bent down and scratched Rebel’s ears, then took a seat at a table.
“Kelly, I wanted to talk to you before the crowd got here. Got a minute?”

“For you Doc, sure. What’s
up?”

“Well, first of all I want
to tell you how honored I am that Mike wants me to stand up with him when you
two get married. That’s special to me.”

“We’re both happy you
agreed to do it. You’re one of our favorite people, but I have a feeling that’s
not why you wanted to talk to me.”

He rubbed his hands
together and looked out the window, clearly agitated. In a few moments he
turned back to her and said, “No. Something very strange has happened. You know
I don’t have a television out at the ranch and I rely on my computer to keep me
up on the news and current events. You also know all about my past and how the
California State Medical Board revoked my license to practice medicine after I
was acquitted in the criminal trial for manslaughter in a case involving the
death of a young teenage girl who I had performed an abortion on. You also know
that the girl’s parents sued me in a civil trial and won a three million dollar
judgment. I told you how I didn’t want to lose all of the antiques and the
other assets I’d inherited from my family, so I came up here to live off of the
grid. I wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be able to find me and so far they
haven’t.”

“Yes. I remember you
telling me about it.”

“Well, for some reason
last night I was playing around on the computer, kind of bored on a Sunday
night, and I pulled up the California State Medical Board site. Evidently they
have a new chairman who feels there’s a critical shortage of doctors. He went
through the files of every doctor whose license had been revoked in the last
ten years and reinstated two hundred and thirty-three doctors.” Doc became very
quiet. “Kelly, I was one of them. According to the web site, my license has
been reinstated, and I’m free to practice medicine again.”

Instinctively, Kelly
jumped out of her seat and hugged him. “That’s the most wonderful news I’ve
heard in a long time. I am so happy for you! Now what happens?”

“I don’t know. It never
occurred to me that something like this would ever happen. After I read it
several times not believing what I was seeing, I pulled up the requirements for
physicians to practice medicine in Oregon and guess what? Because I now have a
valid license in California, a state which has some of the toughest qualifications
in the United States for a physician, I can be licensed to practice medicine in
Oregon without any problems. It’s pretty much a reciprocity thing. All I have
to do is fill out a couple of forms and submit them. I guess I’m in shock. I
really don’t know what to do.”

“Doc, have you ever told
Liz about your past?”

He looked away from her
and rubbed his forehead. He paused and then said, “No. I told her I was a
retired physician. She never asked me for any details.”

“You like Liz, don’t you?”

“Yes. Actually, I like her
a lot. Why?”

“Doc, you need to tell her
everything you’ve told me. If your relationship is going to develop, she needs
to know about your past.”

“Kelly, I’ve been afraid
that if I told her, she wouldn’t want me at the clinic any more, and she
probably wouldn’t want to see me outside of the clinic on a personal basis.”

“From what I know of Liz,
I really think you’re underestimating her. She’s not a shallow person. Do you
think she’s developing some favorable feelings for you?”

“I think so, although our
relationship has never gone beyond kissing and hugging. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t
like it to become more than that. I feel I don’t have much to offer a woman. I
mean how many women want to be with a grizzled old man who failed as a doctor
and a father?”

“First of all you didn’t
fail as a doctor. I’m sure you were a very good doctor and you told me that
what happened to the young woman wasn’t your fault and wasn’t a result of the
abortion you performed on her. Secondly, you didn’t fail as a father when your
wife divorced you. Your children went with their mother after the trial, but
since you’ve been living off the grid, you haven’t pursued finding them and
developing a relationship with them. Maybe it’s time to do that.”

“Kelly, want to hear a
crazy pipe dream of mine?” Doc said with a faraway look in his eyes.

“Shoot.”

“Well, last night after I
found out about it, I thought, wouldn’t it be something if Liz and I could
operate a clinic together? I could be the general practitioner doctor and she
could be the psychologist. Then…” he said, as his voice drifted off.

“What’s the then… Doc?”
Kelly asked.

“Well, maybe we could kind
of make the partnership one that wasn’t just work related. Anyway, that’s part
of the pipe dream.”

The door opened and Kelly
looked up and saw Liz coming into the coffee shop. “Doc, think your pipe dream
just walked through the door.” She waved Liz over to where they were sitting.

“Liz, Doc has been telling
me some wonderful news. He told me you were the next person he wanted to share
it with.” Doc stared at Kelly with a thunderstruck expression on his face.

“Doc, I was with a client
when you left and I didn’t get a chance to thank you for meeting with that very
difficult woman I asked you to see. Thanks. And what is this wonderful news?”
Liz said, sitting across the table from him.

“Uh, Uh,” Doc stammered.

“I’ve got to go. Roxie’s
waving at me. See you later,” Kelly said, winking at Doc as she got up.

“Roxie, don’t take Liz and
Doc’s order for a little while. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“No problem. It’s your
coffee shop. I just follow your orders,” she said, grinning.

After Doc and Liz had been
sitting at the table for an hour and a half, Kelly told Roxie it was probably
time to go over and take their order. She walked back to Kelley and said, “Doc
wants to talk to you before he leaves.”

“Did he say what it was
about?”

“No, he just said and I
quote, ‘tell her she’ll be real proud of me.’ He was grinning when he said it
and so was Liz.”

Doc and Liz stood up and
walked over to the cash register as the last diner left the coffee shop. “You
two better get out of here. Don’t you have patients to see?” Kelly asked.

“Kelly, Liz and I’ve been
talking all this time. I told her everything and she said she already knew all
about it. She told me she’d Googled me before she took me on as a volunteer.
Can you believe she knew all about me and never said a word?”

Liz smiled up at him and
said, “Did you really think I would take someone on to be a volunteer and
counsel patients at the clinic I’ve worked so hard to build up without checking
them out? I’ve known about you right after the first time we talked.” She
turned and looked at Kelly. “I understand I have you to thank for this and I
do. Doc and I’ve decided he should work at the clinic as a general
practitioner. Doctor Amherst has been talking about retiring forever, but he
always felt he had a duty to the citizens of Cedar Bay and worried about what
would happen to them if he quit. The nearest doctor is up in Sunset Bay. I
think he’ll be very happy to have a new doctor here in our town.”

“That’s absolutely
wonderful,” Kelly said, hugging Doc and then hugging Liz.

“Uh, Kelly, there’s a
little more to it,” Doc said grinning. “Liz, mind if I tell her?”

“No,” she said slipping
her arm through his. “Actually I know Kelly and I know how intuitive she is. I
don’t think you need to tell her anything about us. I think she already has the
big picture. Thanks, Kelly. I was being way too subtle with Doc. Anyway, I just
decided he should be taken off the eligible bachelor list.”