A Ghostly Affair: A cozy mystery series (Death by Chocolate Book 3) (9 page)

“I did up a sample,” Heather replied. “But I didn’t get any printed because you haven’t had a chance to look at it yet.”

Dam, she was good. In another life maybe she could come back as a Heather. Of course that might affect her cooking. Better not to take the chance. Right now she gave the brochure Heather pulled up a quick glance and then said, “let’s print out a few here as a sample and then if we’re still happy with it we’ll do a larger printing through Staples.”

She switched the printer to color and quickly ran off five. “I’ll use one when I talk to the Field and Stream people.”

“I could come along,” Heather said eagerly. A little too eagerly.

“Isn’t there work here at the shop?” Maxine said frowning.

“Sure, but I can stay late tonight. I’ve never had a chance to play detective before.”

“We’re not playing detective,” Maxine said with a sharpness she didn’t mean. “I’m checking a few things out, but if you want to come I don’t see the harm. Maybe we should take a few samples of our chocolates then.”

“I have a small sample tray ready to go,” Heather said quickly.

“How could you know we’d need one,” Maxine said. “I didn’t even know we’d need one until a minute ago.”

“It makes sense for you to have a sample tray ready to go,” Heather said. “I was putting together one to show you. It’s not full size but it’s got an assortment of store favorites. You could put one together every morning and if you don’t have a need for it give out store samples to customers later in the day so they aren’t wasted.”

“It’s a good idea,” Maxine said pleased. “Even if we do use the sample tray we should probably make a practice of giving free samples to customers coming in for coffee in the last hour. It could be a form of happy hour for us.”

“Chocolate always makes me happy,” Heather said.

A sentiment Maxine shared as they made their way to the Field and Stream offices, a mere five minutes away in Fernwood. The office was on a side street just off Fernwood Square.

The front portion had a large number of pictures of men and women wading through streams, some holding salmon, some picking up trash. On the coffee table in front of seriously sad looking seating, were an array of magazines focusing on environmental issues and a counter stopped them going any further. They rang the bell on the counter and were rewarded minutes later when a woman in her sixties or seventies came out.

“I’m sorry. I was in the middle of something when you came in. How can I help you?” Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt that said, ‘Save Our Salmon,’ she didn’t look as if she suffered fools gladly.

Maxine stepped forward. “I have a chocolate shop in Victoria and am doing trays for fundraising events or personal. When I have some time I like to drop by local businesses and community offices to let you know what we can do for you.”

“Do we look like an organization in need of chocolate?” the woman asked with the twinkle in her eyes taking the sting from her words.

“Everyone needs chocolate sometimes,” Maxine said without thinking. “Also as part of our marketing we give you a chance to enter to win a free tray for your next event. Travis Dent said you might be interested.”

“Oh, did he?” the woman said. “He left us for a more radical group so I’m surprised to hear that.”

“Oh,” Maxine said. “He probably put your name down when he was still involved with you. And just because he’s left doesn’t mean you won’t get the chocolates.”

“Good. Our annual fundraiser is coming up in a few weeks and maybe chocolate will loosen some of our donors’ purse strings. Lord knows we could use it.” She gave them a broad smile. “My name is Lee. Lee Merriweather – would you like to know more about what we do?”

“If you can tell us in a short time,” Heather said. “Where did Travis go?”

“Oh, he’s with Environment First. Too bad, he’s a nice kid and those guys are trouble.”

“How so?” Maxine asked.

“They’ve been known to do things like spike trees so that when loggers go to cut them down they end up getting seriously hurt. One even got killed a year ago. They believe the ends justify the means. It’s stupid. I told him not to get involved with them but he was determined.”

She scowled as she took one of the chocolates. “Field and Streams work to protect the environment and make sure the fish stock stay healthy and plentiful but we’re a peaceful group. God, these are good! You make these yourself?”

“From scratch,” Maxine said beaming. “With only the best ingredients. The chocolate raspberry is our shop favorite. Try one of our salted caramels too,” she said pointing to one.

“Travis didn’t strike me as a radical, just your ordinary high-school student.”

“He wasn’t,” Lee said scowling. “We do an outreach program with his school. You know, get them involved with caring for the environment young. The kids come out a couple of times a week to Goldstream park and help make sure the salmon are getting upstream, nothing disturbs their natural habitat.”

“That sounds perfect,” Heather said.

“It’s been a good program,” Lee said. “Except this year some yahoo spilled a truck-load of oil when he turned his truck over on the highway going through Goldstream park. A lot of the fish died when it got into the water. We won’t really know the damage until the salmon start returning from their spawning in a few years.

Travis took it bad. He said we should be doing more, the government should be doing more. And then I guess he ran into someone connected with Environment First. I warned his mother, but she didn’t seem too concerned. Said when she was younger she’d been involved in social causes too.” Lee shook her head.

“I don’t know what else you could have done,” Maxine said sympathetically. “How does someone find Environment First?”

“You don’t,” Lee said darkly. “They find you. Although I’m pretty sure they have someone in our group who was able to point Travis in their direction. If I find out who it is I’ll personally kick his butt so far out the door he won’t know what hit him.”

Heath was working on a rotating stand complete with small engine that allowed the top layer, or in this case coffin, of the cake to open and a bony skeleton to come up while ‘A Graveyard Smash,’ started to play. The skeleton was refusing to cooperate.

“So what did you find out,” he asked as they came in.

“I don’t know,” Maxine said shaking her head as Heather gravitated to the computer. “Travis was involved with Field and Stream through his school and then ended up working with Environment First, a radical environmental group.”

“They do stuff like spike trees,” Heather said helpfully.

“I’m not sure how that connects with Eagle First Nations but he’s in pictures on their website. Or how that connects with everything else,” she shook her head. “I’m more confused than ever.”

“Maybe ask his mom,” Heath said. “See what she knows.”

“No wonder she looked worried the other day,” Maxine said. “Environment First sounds scary. I’ll bet she didn’t want him to have anything to do with them.”

“Not necessarily,” Heather said softly. “It looks as if that’s the group Karin was involved in herself when she was younger.”

Maxine’s eyes grew wide as she looked at pictures of a younger Karin holding placards and read some of the accompanying headlines. “Looks like that’s how she met George. When he defended her.”

“Maybe they’re still involved?”

A shiver ran down Maxine’s back. Somehow everything tied together. She was sure of it. But how?

Maxine gave Jake Jones a call. She wanted to see why he felt the area behind AZK’s development was so important and find out what he knew about his brother. Heath was going with her.

Something that made her feel a lot better about going off into parts unknown with Jake Jones. “You know I’ve got your back,” he’d said when she asked him. “Does Patrick know?”

“He knows I’ve talked to Jake,” she said evasively. “And if I find anything the police need to know I’ll tell them.”

He gave her a look that told her he knew she wasn’t telling the whole story. To change the subject she asked him about his weekend.

“Rad,” he said. “This is their best game over. It’s a shooter game. Victoria is almost like a pre-launch. Their big roll-outs will come when they go Vancouver and then the gaming con in Seattle in November.”

“You sound really psyched about this.”

“I am!” He paused for a moment. “You’ve probably noticed I’ve been busy a lot at night lately.”

“I was thinking a girlfriend,” she said playfully.

He smiled. “No girlfriend. I’ve been working with Rohan a lot. They liked what I did with the game pit for the New Years’ party so they got me to build a lot of candy holders for their gaming centers.”

“Oh.” Just oh. She couldn’t think of what else to say. She knew she didn’t want to lose Heath. But how could she compete against a gaming company? “I understand if they’ve made you an offer,” she said not wanting to stand in his way.

He nodded his head as if he’d known she’d say that. Then he surprised her. “I said no.”

“No,” she said in shock.

“I liked the challenge of designing the candy holders and helping with their game pits. But that’s already done. Now it’s moving them around and getting them set up in the different venues. I like my job here better.”

He grinned at her. Besides you have a way of keeping things interesting.”

“That’s me,” she said. “I like to make things interesting.” Hopefully not too interesting.             

Since she’d agreed to meet Jake Jones at his band office she was headed out to an area between Metchosin and Sooke. She turned off the Sookahalla, as it had come to be known by locals, onto a small side road. As she wound her way down the road, forest giving way to a small grouping of houses, many in need of repair she wondered if they’d made a wise choice.

“Depends on how badly you want answers,” Heath had answered calmly as the road went from paved to dirt with more than one pot hole. Whatever the tribe was spending its’ money on, it wasn’t roads.

“Tanya needs to know what happened,” she said sharply. And more and more so did she. But she still didn’t see how Travis and dognapping had anything to do with the Indians and the Eagle First Nations tribe.

Hopefully she’d find some answers today. Before anyone else got hurt. A truck coming the other way left them in a cloud of dust. When the dust died down she couldn’t help but notice the ocean on the other side of the road as meadows sloped down toward the sea, stands of trees showing off fall foliage in the October sun.

Some cows and horses grazed in the pasture and she could see round circles of hay waiting for the winter months when grass would not be so plentiful. A trailer park filled with trailers appeared while on the other side a large, beautiful school with Indian carvings out front, took pride of place as a sign welcomed them to Eagle Village.

The band office was around the corner. It was by far the nicest building, with the exception of the school, she’d seen so far. She pulled into the parking lot. Multi-purpose, with signs telling where to find the Native Health Center, Day Care and After-School Care, Registry, Business office, Social Planning and Business Development the band office was clearly a community center as well. It wasn’t hard to see why the building was so big or why it was the busiest place they’d seen so far.

As she stood in the large reception area wondering where they would find Jake Jones he came out of the Health Center laughing and talking to January Stevens. Whatever his feelings towards his brother it was clear he got on well with her.

“Hi, I’m glad you took me up on my offer to show you around,” he said now as he greeted them. “I’ve been talking to one of our Nurse Practitioners’ January Stevens. She’s been active in preserving Indian healing traditions and ceremonies as well as modern medicine.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Maxine said smiling at her and shaking her hand. “What Jake told me the other night was fascinating.”

January gave her a polite smile while Maxine couldn’t help wondering if that was her real name. “Native ways are beginning to get more respect,” January said. “It doesn’t have to be one or the other.”

“That’s wonderful,” Maxine said. “Are you coming with us?”

“No, but I was suggesting different plants and herbs Jake might want to show you. Things that make the land important to preserve for everyone, not just First Nation.”

“We’re looking forward to it,” Maxine said but she was glad when January went back to the Health Center and they got in Jake Jones’ Hummer. It practically screamed testosterone and probably had a gas mileage of one mile per gallon she thought sourly.

Jake Jones caught her eyes with his. She could swear he knew what she was thinking when he said, “the Hummer isn’t as impractical as it appears. It can go over pretty well any terrain, has enough room for me to sleep in overnight if I’m travelling and is actually not that bad on gas. Not as good as your Smart car,” he said with a smile, “but it can go a lot of places your Smart car can’t.”

She smiled at him. “Feel better now?”

“Feel-“

“That sounded like guilt talking. You don’t owe me an explanation for the vehicle you drive Jake.”

He gave a good natured shrug. “I guess I’m kind of used to it. Look around the reserve and you don’t see a bunch of fancy houses. The housing is pretty basic and even then there’s not really enough of it. That’s just one of our problems. I’d say my brother’s doing a pretty good job with what he has but it’s never enough to make everyone happy.

My father was a hereditary Chief, the title should’ve been passed on to me. Instead I took off and studied medicine. A lot of our band members wonder where the money for my fancy education came from, say my brother gets more than his fair share. After a while, explaining every purchase becomes second nature.”

They headed up Triangle Mountain and over the backside where the new housing development was. The Hummer took them off road onto an area of trees and rocks. He went down a small hill, around a corner and drew to a stop under a stand of trees.

She could hear the sound of blasting from the latest round of construction, of hammering and trucks going and coming and yet from here she saw nothing. She looked at Heath, sitting quietly in the back, at Jake.

“I can’t believe it,” she said quietly. “It’s as if we’re in another world.”

“Believe it,” he said coming around to her side of the Hummer and helping her down. Heath jumped down behind them.

Jake said, “it doesn’t take long to get away from ‘civilization’ does it?”

“No,” Maxine said and for the first time felt a hint of nervousness. What were they doing out here with a man they knew next to nothing about? And what they did know could give him reason to kill. Just how far would he go to protect the land, his people?

But somehow she couldn’t make herself feel he harbored bad feelings for her. His eyes filled her with peace, a feeling of – she wasn’t sure what. She shook her head.

“These are my people’s native lands. When I was younger I used to come here with my brother, with members of my tribe to hunt sometimes. I came with my grandmother as a young child to harvest plants and seeds.

And there are many my people use. Devil’s club,” he said leaning forward and capturing a large green-leafed plant, “is useful for gout, for regulating blood sugar. She used the sap from the Sitka Spruce trees when we cut ourselves wrapping it in gauze to help heal and stop infection.

Stinging nettle got boiled down and used for teas to help build up people’s blood, it was considered a superfood. Dandelions can be made into teas. There’s so much for us to use, so much to learn.”

He turned to them, speaking passionately, “We know so little and yet we are tearing down our trees, ripping apart our forests without a thought to what we’re losing.”

He pointed up to the top of a tree. “You see that. That’s an Eagle nest. There’s at least a dozen in this area that we know of. We’re disturbing their habitat for what, to build houses my people can’t afford.”

“But it’s not part of the reserve,” Maxine said confused. “They had to have ownership of the land before they built.”

“Reserves are an unnatural divvying up of our land. But First Nations have been here for centuries before the white men showed up.” He was striding through the trees now leading them to where Maxine had no idea.  He stopped in area filled with what looked like piles of rock overgrown with bush.

“Burial cairns of our ancestors,” he said, his voice taking on a tone of reverence. “I’m not sure our people had a chance to go over the development area to make sure there were no burial cairns there. It wouldn’t be surprising. Many cairns were quite large and it’s thought some of our most important elders may have been buried at the top of the mountain so that they would be able to look out over the water, over the lands below for eternity. Or until their remains were dug up for a housing development,” he said. His voice filled with anger.

“I’m sorry,” she said hesitantly, meaning it. “I didn’t know, I can’t believe AZK developments knew. At least not Zak. From what little I knew of him he seemed a good man.”

But Jake’s eyes were filled with pain and sorrow when he looked at her. His voice when he spoke was bitter. “I wish I could be as sure.”