Tea Cups and Carnage (19 page)

“I’m glad it’s going well.” Someone should be happy during this planet thing.

He stuffed his changed into his wallet then rubbed his face. “It’s way too soon to tell, but it’s starting out good. Now if I can just stay awake today through my gigs, I’ll be happy.” He held up the cup as I handed it to him. “Thanks for the caffeine.”

Blake walked away in his tight, worn jeans and an old Lennon tee. Nick stood next to me and we watched Blake leave for the beach grandstand. “I heard his band play over at the winery. They’re really good.”

“How did you get into the winery?” Maybe there was more to Sadie’s fair-haired boy than I knew. “Don’t tell me, you have ID that says you’re twenty-five?”

He grinned. “You really think a fake ID would work here? All they’d have to do is see me walk in and I’d get booted out and there would be a call down the church phone tree to have the women’s group pray for my soul.”

“Then how are you hearing Blake’s band?” Now I was curious.

“No big deal. Darla lets the kids sit outside at the tables when there’s a band. That way, we get to enjoy the music. She’s been doing it since last fall.”

I was about to ask more about the arrangement when Lille walked up to the truck. “Hey, Ms. Ramsey, how are you?” Nick leaned over the counter to greet his former boss. I didn’t know if I’d ever heard Lille’s last name before. I guess sometime someone would have had to mention it, but I wasn’t sure that was even true.

“Did you come for coffee?” Stupid question, but I didn’t understand why the restaurant owner would frequent my shop, unless she wanted a book, which we didn’t stock on the food truck annex. Yet.

“Sure. Make me one of those chocolate things. I want it hot, not frozen like some ice cream dessert thing. Stupid way to ruin good coffee.” She directed her order to Nick. Then she crooked her finger at me. “Come outside for a second, I need to talk to you.”

I met her over near the stairs leading down to the beach. The area was still quiet even though there were people starting to arrive. Lille had lit up a cigarette while she waited.

I stood upwind and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Your biker isn’t from around here. In fact, the local guys want to talk to him about his antics in the area. Seems his bad acts are causing the cops to crack down on their members. And the club leaders aren’t happy with being watched so closely.” Lille took a drag from her cigarette. “I was told that they know he’s from down south somewhere.”

“Mexico?” I frowned, the guy hadn’t looked Hispanic. Of course, I hadn’t gotten a good look at anything but his back as he sped away.

Lille’s jaw dropped a bit and then she rolled her eyes. “Our south. Like the ones who started the Civil War? Georgia, Alabama, Texas. You know, states in the south?”

Now I felt dumb. “Oh.”

Lille threw her cigarette on the ground and then put the fire out with her booted foot. She picked up the filter and threw it away in the nearby trashcan. “Anyway, I’ve got people looking at the clubs down there to see if the mascot on the back matches. It’s a long shot. Nothing stops a guy from wearing a cut from a club he’s no longer a part of, but at least it might give your boyfriend a clue.”

From her tone, I could tell she thought Greg needed a clue in many areas of his life, but I didn’t take the bait. I wondered sometimes if Lille just liked egging people on to see what kind of reaction they gave back. “Thanks, I appreciate your help.”

The look of surprise on her face told me I’d been right. She shrugged then looked at the food truck. “He’s doing all right? You’re giving him good hours and paying enough?”

“More than he probably wants right now, but he says he’s saving for some overseas program.” I paused, wondering if my next question would push our newfound detente. “Why are you so interested in Nick? I can’t believe you watch out for all your ex-employees so carefully.”

Pain flashed across Lille’s face and for a moment, I thought I’d seen the beginning of tears. Then just as quickly as it was there, the normal Lille scowl was back on her face and she glared at me. “You just go on sticking your nose in other people’s lives and leave mine alone.”

I watched as she stomped back to the truck, paid for her drink, and then disappeared down the stairs to the beach. When I got back to the truck, Nick held out a twenty-dollar bill. “I think Ms. Ramsey got confused when she left the tip. She must have thought it was a one. Should I go find her?”

I was pretty sure that Lille had meant to over-tip so I shook my head. “Put it aside and if she doesn’t come back before the end of your shift, put it in the tip jar. I’m sure she’s very aware of what she does.”

“I don’t know. She’s careful about money things. When I worked for her she’d come talk to me about where I was going to college and financing stuff. She was as hard on me about grades as Mom.” He put the twenty by the side of the till and looked around the truck. “So what do you want me to do now?”

I let him handle the front of the shop while I checked supplies and ran the first cash drawer deposit process. I’d just finished when Ivy came up to the window. She saw me in the back and waved me closer after she’d ordered. “How are you today?”

Sometimes people meld the lines between great customer service and friendship. And most of the time, I didn’t mind, but for some reason, Ivy’s attention felt fake. If Lille was all dark and broody, Ivy was sweetness and light—but it felt like the dark and broody was hidden behind some mask. “Great. The festival is almost over and I have a day off coming tomorrow.”

Ivy nodded with my words, silently commiserating. “My uncle always said a regular routine is best for both customer and proprietor. He never had the shop open on Sundays because he said God gave the world a day of rest and who was he to second guess the maker.”

The town Ivy and Kathi grew up in must be tiny. “Well, weekends are our bread and butter here in a tourist town, so Monday’s our rest day.” I handed her the coffee she’d ordered from Nick. “What are you doing today? It’s a great day for the festival.”

Ivy’s eyes darted toward the beach and the activities. “Actually, I’m taking a quick trip back home to check on Daddy.”

“Quick? That must be a ten or twelve hour drive? You’re flying right?”

She shook her head, sipping the coffee. “Nope, I’m driving. It’s just under twenty-two hours. I should be there early Tuesday.”

“Well, I guess I’ll see you in a couple weeks when you get back.” No way would I drive that long just for a quick trip.

“I should be back Friday. Daddy has a doctor appointment Tuesday afternoon, then I’ll start back Wednesday morning.” She took another sip of her coffee. “I hope I can keep caffeinated during the trip. Your coffee’s the best.”

I wasn’t sure what to say so I tried to change the subject. “Have a nice trip. Oh, have you talked to Kathi? I hear from Blake that their date went awesome.”

Ivy frowned and shook her head. “What date?”

The sisters apparently didn’t talk about much. That’s another problem in a small town, there aren’t many secrets, especially when people see you day in and day out. “Oh, she probably didn’t mention it since it was so casual. But from what I can tell, Blake’s a great guy. Your sister’s lucky.”

“She’s playing with fire, that’s what she’s doing.”

“It was only a first date. I know I probably shouldn’t be gossiping, but he was so happy about meeting her.” I wondered if I should have just kept my mouth shut.

Ivy started walking to her car, apparently done with our conversation. She turned back and shook her head. “You don’t understand. The guy isn’t the problem. My sister is. Kathi’s engaged to be married.”

I was surprised when I found Greg on my doorstep with a grocery bag filled with supplies that evening. While he grilled steaks for dinner, I recounted my conversation with Ivy. When I finished, he closed the grill and didn’t meet my eyes. “Don’t get all bent out of shape, I didn’t ask for her to tell me all this.”

“I wasn’t even thinking about the case.” He came and sat by me in the swing, putting his arm around me and scooting me close. “Sorry I was a grump last night.”

I leaned my head into his body and drank in the smell of him. “I think we’re both a little ragged lately.”

“No excuse. I swore I wouldn’t let the job get between us ever.” He didn’t say anything else and I wondered if he was thinking about how his first marriage had dissolved.

I shook the image of him and Sherry together out of my head and returned to the subject of Ivy and her impromptu road trip.

“Don’t you think it’s weird though? Kathi didn’t say anything about being engaged when we were talking about Blake. Maybe Ivy doesn’t know the updated info. Couples break up all the time.” I cuddled into his side and watched my dog wander the back yard looking for rabbits or maybe a bone she’d buried a few months ago.

“Couples
not
like us, right?” He tickled my side just to see if I was paying attention. I slapped his hand for good measure.

“Why would we break up?” I thought about the look of dread that had come over Ivy’s face as she almost sprinted to the car. I’d been expecting her to turn up Main Street toward Tea Hee, but instead, she turned left and north toward a highway that should take her home to Texas. Even though I didn’t like the girl much, I worried that she was taking such a long road trip by herself. And then turning around and coming right back. The girl was cray-cray.

“If I broke up with you, I wouldn’t know all the gossip or be able to keep you out of trouble when you go sleuthing without my permission. I guess I’m stuck with you forever.” He kissed the top of my head. “I suppose I can deal with that.”

We sat in silence for a while, the awkwardness gone after our last conversation. Finally, I pulled myself up. “I’ll grab the salad and set the table. I can smell that those steaks are almost ready.”

He held out his iced tea glass for me to take inside. “Can you get me a refill? I think the steaks should be perfect by the time you’re finished in the kitchen.” He stood and grabbed one of Emma’s tennis balls. He called out to get her attention, then threw the ball out past the shed.

I paused at the doorway, watching him. “How is the investigation going? Are we still on track for the Mexico trip?”

“As long as I get this case closed in the next week or so, sure. Otherwise, I’m probably losing another deposit.” He took the wet, slobbery ball from Emma and threw it again, wiping his hand on a towel. “Either we need to stop planning vacations and just take off one day or people need to stop dying.”

“Maybe both.” I smiled as I went back into the kitchen and got the rest of dinner ready. In a few minutes, Greg pulled open the screen and he came in with the steaks on a plate. Emma followed closely behind, a look of rapture on her face. I’m pretty sure she was trying to use ESP powers to get Greg to drop the plate. Unfortunately for her, dog telepathy didn’t work on the guy.

Greg sat the plate on the table and went to the sink with the tongs. He washed his hands, then pulled me into a hug. “So what do you know so far about the murder? I want to keep myself in the gossip loop.”

“Why would you think I know anything?”

Greg laughed so hard, we almost didn’t hear his phone chirp with the incoming call. He groaned as he pulled the device out of his case, staring at the still-steaming steaks. “Hello?”

The longer Greg went without talking on an incoming call, the more likely it was something bad. This time, when he hung up, I pointed to his plate. “Do you need a to-go box?”

He shook his head. “Nope, I’ll walk back to the beach with you when you go shut up the annex.”

My blood chilled as I thought of the possible issues that could be behind that statement. Aunt Jackie’s accident had taught me one thing. Stuff happens when you least expect it. “Why? Did something happen to the truck? Or was it Sasha and Nick? Tell me they’re all right”

“They’re fine.” He put his fork down. “I don’t want you to jump to conclusions here, so just listen to me, okay?”

I nodded, knowing I was already in the jolly land of conclusions and had filled in the blanks with my own form of crazy town guesses. “Just tell me it’s not something with Aunt Jackie. Or Amy. Or Sadie.” My heart rate increased with each name.

He put his hand up. “Hold on, I told you I’d tell you the truth. Just stop filling in the blanks without knowing the story.”

“Okay.” I put my head down, trying to slow my breathing. When I looked back up at him, he held out my tea glass.

“Take a sip.” He waited until I had then took the glass from my hand and sat it on the table. “The reason I’m not leaving is there isn’t a dead body. I’ll have to go over to the hospital later, but right now, the EMTs are out at the beach with Toby. They’re handling the situation.”

My brain was trying to wrap around the words he was saying, but even with the calmer breathing, I was still freaked out. “So what’s the situation?”

He nodded to my plate. “Start eating and I’ll tell you.” When I stared at him, he waved his fork at me. “I’m serious.”

I picked up my fork and knife and started cutting my steak. I took a big bite, then pointed at my mouth. “So what happened?”

Greg paused between bites. “Someone beat up Blake after his set at the beach. He was loading their stuff into his van and he got hit from behind.”

“Don’t tell me his equipment was stolen too.” That would be the end of Atomic Power. The band wasn’t making enough to live on, let alone deal with a theft.

Greg buttered a fresh roll, studying it like it held all the answers to the world’s problems. “That’s just it, nothing was taken. Blake just got the crap beat out of him for no apparent reason.”

As we quickly finished our dinner so Greg could return to the beach festival and talk to Toby, I thought about all the bad stuff that had been happening in our little town. All since one specific woman had moved here. Well, I guess I couldn’t blame her for the motorcycle guy who had almost hit Aunt Jackie, nor for Josh’s strange disappearance. But her cousin dying here in town, that was too coincidental. And what was that stuff about Kathi being engaged? Too many questions were rolling through my mind. Questions I couldn’t voice to Greg or he’d tell me flat out to stay out of it. And as long as he didn’t tell, I didn’t have to listen.