Raspberry Revenge (10 page)

Chapter 17

I
was out of my door
before I had a chance to tell Grace what I was doing. Truth be told, I didn’t know myself at that moment. I just wanted to confront Megan and Amber together before they had a chance to get their stories straight.

“Megan, fancy finding you here,” I said from afar, nearly out of breath in my rush to get to her before she had a chance to drive away.

She looked shocked to see Grace and me approaching. “Suzanne? Grace? Are you here to see Amber, too?”

“The real question is what are you doing here?” I said as I approached her. “After our talk this morning, this is the last place on earth I would have expected to find you.”

“I came to clear the air,” Megan said resolutely.

Amber was watching us from inside; at least the curtain fluttering said that much to me. What was she making of this? I’d have to ask her as soon as we moved on to her, but for now, Megan was in our sights.

“How did that work out for you?” Grace asked her.

“Not very well at all,” Megan said, and then she threw her arms around me and started weeping.

“Take it easy,” I said as I tried to disengage from her. Either this girl was on an emotional roller coaster, or she was trying to play on my sympathies yet again. Honestly, was this the only card she had in her deck? “We can’t help you if you don’t talk to us.”

“Suzanne, she was just awful. I asked her for an apology, and she just laughed at me. Can you believe that?”

What I couldn’t fathom was what had driven Megan there in the first place, if that had really been the purpose behind her visit. “It’s unfortunate, but there’s not much you can do about it,” I said.

“I can’t just stand out here like this,” she said as she broke free and got into her car before we could stop her. She tried to speed away, nearly running Amber’s mailbox down in the process.

I looked at Grace as Megan’s car disappeared and asked, “What do we do now?”

“Do you believe her?” she asked me.

“I don’t know. She’s really convincing, isn’t she?”

“All I can say is that if she’s acting, she missed her calling. She’s even better than Max.”

“I wouldn’t tell him that,” I said as I started for Amber’s front door.

I didn’t even have to ring the bell before she opened it. “What did she just say about me? Did she tell you that I killed Harley?”

“No, his name never came up,” I said, surprised that was where Amber had begun the conversation. “Why, did she accuse you of it just now?”

“Who knows what that fool was doing here? She started hinting around that I’d wronged her in some way and that the only way I’d ever find peace was if I begged her for forgiveness. Can you believe that? When I told her that she was barking up the wrong tree, she looked shocked that I wasn’t playing by her script. I told Megan that I wasn’t buying it and that she needed to get out before I threw her out. She looked outraged, but I was ready to do it. Harley didn’t suffer fools gladly, and neither do I.”

“Why did you bring up his name first?” Grace asked her from a step down off the porch.

“She clearly thinks I did it, the little nitwit. I ask you, why would I? Harley and I were going places. Someone killing him has ruined all of the careful work I put in on him.”

“So what happens now, do you look for another councilman and start grooming him to oust George Morris? What do you have against the mayor, anyway?” I asked.

“Nothing except for the fact that he’s a dinosaur. He wants to keep this town in the nineteen fifties, and I need to see some progress.”

“You could always move someplace a little more to your taste,” I suggested.

“April Springs is my home, and nobody’s running me out.” Amber took a step back, and then she had the satisfaction of slamming the door in our faces.

“That went well, didn’t it?” I asked with a rueful smile.

“I can’t imagine why she didn’t apologize to Megan,” Grace said.

We both laughed at that, and Amber came back out onto the porch. “Are you two laughing at me?” she asked us angrily.

“No, it was something Grace just said,” I replied.

“About me?” She looked mad enough to come off the porch after us.

“Believe it or not, the entire world does not revolve around you, Amber,” I said.

“You’d both better watch your steps,” she said ominously.

“Is that a threat?”

“Take it any way you’d like to. I’m just saying, you’ve been warned.”

Grace looked at her, fighting back a smile. “So noted.”

Amber didn’t know quite how to take that, so after a few moments, she went back inside, this time without the slam.

“We’re in trouble now,” Grace said the moment the door closed.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have gone out of our way to anger a murder suspect,” I said, the warning having a bit of a chilling effect on our conversation.

“Maybe not, but I refuse to tiptoe around, being careful not to offend anyone. April Springs might be her town, but it’s ours as well,” Grace said.

“Well said,” I replied. “I’m afraid that we’ve just run out of suspects. What should we do now?”

Grace thought about it for a moment, and then she asked, “Would you feel good about asking Jake what kind of progress he’s been making?”

“I don’t know. Would you call Stephen?”

“Probably not. Well, unless we can find a new witness or a new piece of information, I’m not sure what we
can
do.”

“Let’s go somewhere and think about it,” I said.

“Like the Boxcar?” Grace suggested.

“I don’t know. I love Trish and her diner, but right now, I could use a breath of fresh air.”

“We haven’t been to Napoli’s for a while,” Grace suggested.

“That’s true, and I’m always in the mood for Angelica’s food. Sure, why not? Let’s drop your car off at home, and I’ll drive.”

“It’s a deal,” she said. Our investigation might have stalled, but that didn’t mean that we couldn’t have something fantastic to eat, along with the best company outside of April Springs that I could ask for. Angelica and her daughters were just what I needed, a chance to be among friends and not focus solely on poor Harley Boggess’s murder.

Chapter 18

U
nfortunately, by the time we
got there, the parking lot was jammed, and there was a line of people outside waiting to get in.

“Should we go somewhere else?” Grace asked me.

“I kind of had my heart set on this,” I said. “Why don’t I drive around back?”

Grace grinned. “I love it. That way we can skip the crowd altogether.”

“If they aren’t too busy to feed us in the kitchen,” I answered.

We knocked on the back door, and Maria, one of Angelica’s beautiful daughters, opened up. She looked as frazzled as I’d ever seen her. “Is this a bad time?” I asked.

“No, of course not. Come on in. Momma’s cooking.”

We walked in, and Angelica’s frown turned into a smile the moment she saw us. “Ladies, how nice to see you both.”

“What’s going on out there?” I asked her as I took off my coat. “Are you giving food away or something?”

“Practically,” she replied, and then turned to her youngest daughter. “Sophia, would you care to tell them what happened?”

“I made a mistake, okay?” Sophia said. “I’ve already apologized like a dozen times, Mom.”

“I wouldn’t mind hearing it again,” Antonia said. “I’ve got to get back out there. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” we all sang out, and Antonia smiled, despite the hungry crowd that was waiting for her.

“Sophia,” her mother reminded her.

“I’ve been after Mom to try a newspaper ad to help fill some dead time in the afternoons between meals, so I placed a special between two and four this afternoon,” she said.

“It appears that it was a success,” I said with a grin.

“You don’t know the half of it. The only problem was that the paper moved a decimal place on me. I ask you, Suzanne, how is that my fault?”

“Let me ask you something, Sophia. Did you read through the ad?” Angelica asked.

“I thought I did.”

“Twice?” her mother asked.

“No, not twice.”

“There you go. Instead of offering a taste of Italy for $14.95, we’re offering it for $1.495. Where that half penny goes is beyond me.”

“Can’t you just post a notice and say that it was a mistake?” Grace asked her.

“Certainly,” Angelica said with a smile. “Better yet, why don’t you wade out there and tell them yourself?”

“No thanks,” Grace said.

“No matter. We’re making lots of pasta and sauce, and we’re not turning anyone away. If you’re here to allow me to feed you, you’ve both just made my day.”

“Forget that,” I said as I grabbed an apron. “If you are all in the kitchen, Antonia desperately needs help out front.”

Grace grabbed one as well. “Do we need order pads?”

“Hardly,” Maria said. “Everybody’s getting the special today, which is not all that much of a surprise, is it?”

“That makes it easier,” I said with a grin.

Angelica frowned. “I won’t let you two work when you came here to eat.”

“Angelica, what would happen if you came by Donut Hearts and I was being overrun with customers? Would you demand a donut, or would you pitch in and help?”

“She’s got you there, Mom,” Sophia said with a grin.

“Really, Sophia? Do you choose to tease me right now?”

“Why not?” her daughter answered, still smiling. “After all, you can only kill me once.”

Angelica’s face softened. “I would never do that. You girls are my life.” She then returned her gaze to us. “You ladies are a godsend,” she said.

“Come on, Grace,” I said with a smile, now that that was settled.

“Into the breach!” she shouted, and everyone started laughing.

Once we were in the dining room, the laughter stopped. Not only was every table full, but so was every seat. Antonia was working the room like a madwoman, and when she saw that we’d come to lend a hand, she smiled in relief.

“We’re here to help. What can we do?”

She made no bones about accepting our assistance. “Grace, take the drinks. Suzanne, would you mind bussing the dirty tables?”

“I’d be happy to do it,” I said. As we worked, Grace and I grinned at each other during those rare moments when we made eye contact. In a way, it was kind of fun, especially knowing that we were helping out friends in need. I stacked dirty dish after dirty dish and transported them into the kitchen, where the rest of the DeAngelis family worked in perfect harmony. As I ran the dishes through the dishwasher, I asked Angelica, “Are you going to lose much on this?”

“No, we should come close to breaking even, if we survive it,” she said as she labored over two pots of boiling water. “The taste they’re getting is heavy on the spaghetti, with a little lasagna and chicken Parmesan thrown in to round it all out.”

“You know, this might work out in your favor after all,” I said as I worked.

“How so?”

“You are getting a ton of good word of mouth from this. It looks like a publicity stunt that paid off instead of a mistake.”

“Do you really think so, Suzanne?” Sophia asked as she mixed up another batch of fresh spaghetti.

“You never know,” I said.

“See? I told you this would work,” Sophia told her mother.

“We’ll see,” Angelica said, and then she winked at me.

Promptly at four, Angelica locked the front door, and Antonia stood by to let people out as they finished their meals. It was half an hour later before Grace and I got to eat in the kitchen with the rest of the DeAngelis women.

“That was kind of fun,” Grace said as she finished eating.

“We couldn’t have managed without you,” Angelica said.

“You would have been fine, but thanks for letting us help out,” I said as I stood. “What do we owe you for lunch?”

“One hug apiece will be sufficient,” she said as the girls all swooped in on us to give us one giant family hug. Jake would have been envious if he’d seen it, as the DeAngelis matriarch was famous for raising beautiful daughters, and I couldn’t blame him. After all, he was only human.

“Ladies, we owe you a debt of gratitude beyond words,” Angelica said as she walked us out the back door.

“We were happy to help,” I said.

“I promise you both that the next time you come, I won’t make either one of you work,” she said with a grin.

Once we were out of earshot of her daughters, I said, “Admit it, Angelica, you had fun.”

“Of course I did,” she said with a smile. “I’m the luckiest woman alive, working with my family at something I love doing. Safe journeys,” she said as she added one last bonus hug for each of us.

Grace settled in beside me as we drove back to April Springs. “Wow, I don’t know how they do that day in and day out. I just worked a few hours and I’m ready to drop. I can’t imagine how you must feel, since you already put in a full shift at the donut shop.”

“That was work,” I said. “Napoli’s was fun. I love that we were able to lend a hand.”

“So do I, but we still haven’t made much progress on our case.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I say we take it back up tomorrow after I close the donut shop for the day. I’m kind of beat myself.”

“What are you and Jake going to have for dinner?” she asked.

“I’ll make eggs for him,” I said, “but I couldn’t eat another bite. In fact, I’m going to go home, take a hot soak in the tub, and go to bed early tonight.”

“I might do the same thing myself,” she told me, and then we both started laughing. I loved having a best friend like Grace. She was always up for anything, and I knew that I could count on her, no matter what. We’d had fun, we’d helped a friend, and we’d still managed to eat some of the best food our area had to offer. I’d say that was a pretty good time, even if we hadn’t advanced our case any.

Hopefully Jake had had more luck than we had.

“Let me get this straight. They all hugged you at once?” Jake asked later that night after I recounted my day’s activities with him in front of the fireplace.

“I knew that would be the part you’d envy,” I said with a grin. “Not that I blame you. It was a bit overwhelming being surrounded by that much beauty.”

“I’m sure that you more than held your own,” Jake said with a smile.

“Thank you, but we both know you’re lying,” I answered with a grin of my own.

“Suzanne, I wouldn’t trade the whole clan for one of you, and that’s the unvarnished truth,” he said.

“You know what? I actually believe you.”

“Why wouldn’t you? I’m an officer of the law, committed to the truth, justice, and the American way.”

“I thought that was Superman.”

“It works just as well for me,” he said, stretching out a little as he stifled a yawn. The poor thing was as beat as I was.

“Speaking of the law, did you make any more progress today than we managed to?”

“It’s still hard to say,” Jake replied. “You know how it goes. I plod along until I find something interesting that helps, but until then, I’m just gathering random facts.”

“That is the biggest understatement about what you do that I’ve ever heard,” I said. “You, sir, are a trained detective, outstanding in your field.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But if that were the case, why are small-town murders so much harder to solve than the cases I used to get when I was with the state police?”

“Could it be because back then, you didn’t know any of your suspects? You’d come into a case with fresh eyes and see what didn’t fit. Now that you’re in one place all of the time, your thinking process has to be influenced by the fact that you know a great many of these people.”

“You might be right,” Jake said. “I don’t think I gave Phillip enough credit when he had this job.”

“Neither did I, but we can’t tell him that now.”

“Why not?”

“Jake, I’m not sure the man’s ego could handle it. He’s just now settling into someone I don’t mind being around. If we puff him up any, he might go back to his old ways.”

“You like him, don’t you?”

“I’m beginning to,” I admitted, “but if you tell him I said that, I’ll just deny it.”

Jake laughed as it was my turn to yawn. “You look beat. Shouldn’t you be off to get some sleep?”

“I need to, but I hate leaving you out here all alone.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be there soon enough.”

After he kissed me good night, I decided that I’d give it five minutes. If he didn’t make it in by then, I’d get up and rejoin him out on the couch, no matter how much my body might protest the move.

The only problem was that I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

I woke up more on instinct than anything else, watching my alarm go off just as I opened my eyes.

The bed beside me was empty, though. Had Jake already left, even given the hour?