Tea Cups and Carnage (6 page)

“Just a few minutes ago.” I introduced Kathi to the men sitting around the table..

Kathi just stared at Blake. He grinned and nodded to the beer in her hand. “You ready for another one? I’ve got to get something before our break ends.”

“Sure.” She looked down at the bottle like it had magically appeared in her hand.

Matt looked over at Greg and I. “Looks like you two are good. I’ll be right back with Blake.”

Kathi sank into a chair at the table. She took a long drink of beer. The bottle was almost full. “I can’t believe that guy. He looks just like this kid from my high school. I’ll admit, I had a huge crush on Aaron, but then he died in a motorcycle accident senior year.” She smiled at me. “I don’t think he ever even knew my name.”

“That doesn’t seem possible.” Greg held a chair out for me and we sat with Kathi. “You don’t seem like the kind of girl guys don’t notice.”

Kathi pushed a strand of hair back behind her ears. “Oh, you’re wrong there. You’re looking at the original Ugly Duckling. I was so gangly in school, no one even wanted to be friends with me. I only started doing pageants in college to help pay for tuition. By then, I’d kind of grown into my body and my looks.”

“And then you turned your back on your family.” An unfamiliar voice spoke from behind me.

I turned and saw the woman who must be Ivy Corbin. She didn’t have Kathi’s beauty, but you could tell they were related. Same hair, same eye color, same body type. But what worked in harmony for Kathi seemed to fight against each other in Ivy. Her eyes were too close together, her nose a little crooked, and her teeth seemed more canine than human.

“You aren’t supposed to be here. Who’s watching Dad?” Kathi didn’t look at her sister as she talked, keeping her gaze instead on the bar and Blake.

“Like you care? Seriously, I’ve come to try to talk some sense into you. You have to come back before it’s too late.” Ivy’s voice was suddenly several decibels louder and people at the tables around us started watching the show.

Kathi sighed and polished off her beer. She grabbed Ivy by the front of her shirt and pulled her close. Although she whispered her next words to her sister, I was close enough to hear. “Go wait outside. I’ll deal with you there.”

Ivy nodded, glancing at Greg who’d stood when Kathi had grabbed her sister and was monitoring the exchange. Now that she’d gotten her sister’s attention, Ivy scurried out the front door without looking back.

Kathi took one last look at Blake still at the bar and then sighed. “Tell him something came up but it was very nice to meet him.”

“So that
was
your sister who came into the shop?” I asked the
duh
question and to Kathi’s credit, she didn’t hand me a sign.

“Family, what are you going to do?” She paused before following Ivy. “You can’t control them and you can’t kill them.”

I sank back into my chair as I watched Kathi leave the winery. Greg was still standing. I put my hand on his arm. “You staying?”

“Just wondering if I should go out there and make sure there’s no cat fight.” The door to the tasting room was open and I could see Ivy and Kathi walking toward the road.

“Looks like their taking it somewhere private. Watching those two makes me glad I’m an only child.” I patted Greg’s chair. “Sit down and relax a bit. Remember, this is your night off.”

He sat, but kept his gaze on the doorway until the sisters disappeared down the hill. When they did, he focused back on me. “You should know better than that by now. The head detective never really gets a day off as long as we stay in town.”

Matt and Blake returned and I relayed Kathi’s message. Blake took a quick peek at the door then shrugged. “I guess I have two beers then.”

The rest of the evening sped by and we were just about to leave when Greg’s phone buzzed. He looked at the display and mouthed the word “sorry” to me as he walked away from the table.

Darla had joined us and raised an eyebrow. The woman was the local reporter for the
Examiner
along with owning and running the winery. She was always on the lookout for a good story. “Something going on?”

I feigned indifference. “Not that I know.”

“Not that you’ll tell me.” Darla laughed and leaned into Matt. “We’ve got to go make the last call announcement so people will start paying up and getting out of here. Jill, I’ll see you later?”

Matt followed Darla back to the bar. Alone at the table, I took a sip of my beer. I’d been nursing the second one for over an hour and the liquid had grown warm. Pushing the glass away, I watched Greg just outside the door where he could hear whoever had called. From his stance, I knew it wasn’t good news.

Leaving the tasting room, I paused outside in the patio area and watched as he finished the conversation. He walked over to me and put his arm around my shoulder. “Date night is over?”

He kissed the top of my head and angled me toward the parking lot. “Yep. Tim’s coming over to give you a ride home.”

“And you?” Sometimes he’d tell me what was going on if it wasn’t too bad. This time, I had a feeling it was bad.

“He’s taking me out to the Coastal Inn out on Highway One.” Greg watched the road for Tim’s lights. The Coastal Inn was a dive motel just inside South Cove city limits. The sign advertised rooms for rent by the hour, day, and week. And clean towels. Yep, it was classy.

“What’s happened?” I could barely see his face in the dark parking lot. We stood on the edge of the road, outside the glow of the overhead lamps.

Greg turned toward me and sighed. “They found a body.”

Thursday morning started off busy, mostly with commuter traffic, all wanting to talk about the upcoming weekend and the festival. No one had heard about the dead guy Greg had mentioned last night.

“I wish you’d bring the coffee truck into town and park it in front of my office.” A woman said as she handed Jill her credit card. “I bet we could keep you busy all morning. The office gives us coffee, but its crap. You would think they’d give us good coffee just for the added productivity of the caffeine buzz.”

“Robbie, that’s a great idea. Of course, we’d have to hire a full time driver and staff for the truck. Right now, just keeping it open for the weekend has proved a challenge.” I handed her back the credit card and her receipt with a smile. “I’m missing my reading time.”

“Jill, you should be happy the shop’s busy, you’re a successful business owner. Enjoy the sales.” She sipped her coffee and smiled. “Now I can face my day. I might have to drive back at lunch for a refill.”

“Well, the truck’s open at the beach so that would save you a little travel time.” I waved as she left the shop. Sasha came in right after Robbie left.

She dropped her purse off in the back area. When she returned, washing her hands in the front sink and then putting on her apron, she still hadn’t said a word.

“Not awake yet?”

She poured a paper cup full of coffee and drank greedily. “Sorry, I haven’t been sleeping well.” Her eyes looked swollen like she’d been crying, not from lack of sleep.

“Olivia okay?” Sasha’s daughter had started waking up in the middle of the night, wanting to play. The kid could get five hours of sleep and be wide-awake.

Sasha yawned. “Oh, yeah, she’s fine. I have her on a better schedule and she’s almost sleeping eight hours. I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.”

“Something you want to talk about?” Toby’s comment about Sasha cancelling Monday’s date echoed as she pulled a chocolate chip muffin out of the case. As she went to grab the employee purchase list, I took it out of her hand.

“Today’s breakfast is on me. Besides, you guys are going to be working crazy hours this week with the festival, I think you deserve a treat.” I put the page away. “So how’s the library event planning going? Everything going to be ready next week?”

She leaned on the counter and nodded. Swallowing the bite she’d just taken, she sipped on her coffee before answering. “Cat Latimer is confirmed for the event. She just launched the second book in her teenage witch series. The kids loved book number one, so I’m sure we’ll have a good turnout. Jackie wanted to go with someone more established, but I like the idea of spotlighting a new author. Of course, if ticket sales tank, it’s all on me.”

“I’ve sold quite a few just during my shift. I think we’ll be fine.” My aunt had mentioned that she wasn’t happy with Sasha’s insistence on the author to invite, but the girl had stood her ground. I supported Sasha’s choice, mostly because she’d been spot on with her decisions about the teen group in the first place. Since she’d started the afterschool book clubs, our young adult sales had tripled.

Sasha nodded. “Probably why I’m not sleeping. I just want the event to be successful. The library deserves a boost.”

“We’ll be fine. Between the sponsorship from the city, Darla throwing in the drinks, and Sadie and us taking care of the food costs, every dollar from the ticket sales will be a direct donation. Think of how many books the library can buy next quarter for the kids.” The thought of the lost check nagged at me. I knew Sasha wanted the event to be successful. Why would she spoil it?

“I don’t know how you do it.” Sasha finished her muffin and threw away the wrapper. “I get so stressed trying to make ends meet and you have your home and the shop to worry about. And now we’re doing this project. Don’t you ever worry about money?”

“It’s not something I stress about now.” Of course, I had the Miss Emily Fund to fall back on if I really needed something. Sasha lived paycheck to paycheck while she was finishing school. I predicted once she finished, she’d get a much better job and we’d be looking for someone new to hire, but I refused to think about that day until it happened.

“I wish I could do that. The financial aid office is running late and if the money doesn’t come in before the second week of school, I’ll have to push back classes until next semester.” She refilled her coffee cup.

“Won’t they give you a grace period if it’s their fault it’s late?” I was starting classes this fall and though I wasn’t getting financial aid, I’d been surprised at all the deadline warnings the school sent out, even though I’d already paid for my classes.

“I don’t know. I’ve talked to the office and they keep telling me not to worry.” She grinned, “Which makes me worry all the more. Enough about me, where do you want me to start today?”

“Hold on a minute, I need to ask you a question.”

Sasha paused, a clean bar towel in her hand. “Do I need to work more hours? I know I said I’d work full time in the summer, but it’s been hard keeping Olivia in daycare so long, especially since I had to register last week.”

“It’s not about the hours.” I jumped in. She was going to hate me either way, so I might as well rip off the band-aid. “Did you happen to find the check for the city sponsorship and deposit it?”

“Where would I find a check?” Sasha shook her head. “The only time I do bank drops is when Jackie sends me at the end of my shift. And I don’t think that’s happened in over a month.”

When I didn’t respond, she sank into a chair.

“Seriously, you think I might have messed up a deposit.” She looked into my face and awareness crossed her face. “No, that’s not it. You think I took the money.”

“No.” I sat in front of her and looked directly into her face. “I don’t think you took the money. Unfortunately it seems to have disappeared and as a business owner, I have to ask the questions. I’m sure this is just a bank mix up.”

Sasha bit her bottom lip. “I knew this was too good to be true.”

“What are you talking about?” Now I was scared. “Did you see the check?”

She shook her head quickly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She stood as a group of women entered the shop, chatting as they came in. “I’ll handle this, unless there’s something else you need to ask me?”

“No, that’s all.” I heard the challenge in her voice, but I had known going in that there was no way to get through this conversation without offending her.

I glanced at the clock. I still had to stop by the bank and Amy had set up a practice session at the gym for us on her lunch hour. It wasn’t a regular class, but the instructor would be there to help us work through the routine he’d given us the first day. My whole body still ached from Tuesday’s workout. Maybe I could call in sick. I sighed. Amy would just come and get me.

“We’ll talk more later. I’ve got to make a bank deposit then go torture myself at the gym.” I walked around the counter and slipped off my apron into the dirty clothes hamper. Sasha didn’t respond or look at me.

Arriving at the bank, Claire waved me over to her office as soon as I walked in the door. She closed the door behind us and gave me a quick hug before returning to her desk. “I know you’re probably here to see if we’ve heard anything about the check. Let me scan my email. I’ve been dealing with teller issues all morning. Seriously, don’t they teach math in high school anymore?”

“Someone’s till not adding up?” I sat in one of the chair and took the bank deposit envelope out of my tote.

“The girl can’t count. Her till’s fine, but she was all in a tizzy last night when she closed up and she couldn’t get it to balance. The computer does all the hard work, why she’s having problems is beyond me.” Claire typed on her keyboard, then looked over at me. “Preaching to the choir here, I bet. Or are all your employee’s college graduates?”

“That or attending.” I grinned as I leaned forward. “But I’m going to have to hire replacements as soon as they get a good job or decide to leave for bigger pastures. You’re working with people who want a career. I’m just providing second incomes for most of my guys.”

My thoughts went back to the less-than-successful conversation with Sasha that morning. If the one with Toby went as well, I might be hiring new staff sooner rather than later as I didn’t seem to be winning any friends.

“I’ll give you one piece of advice then. Never hire someone who’s related to your district manager.” The computer dinged and she turned back to her screen. After scanning a few seconds, she clicked open an email. “Here we go.”