Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 1) (23 page)

Google took me to the home page for Star Brite Cleaners. The business had been established in 2009 and listed an address in a town I didn’t recognize. A map search showed me that town was right outside of Nocturne Falls. Close enough to be local. I browsed through the site but found nothing that might explain why Toly had stopped using them.

Even their online reviews were good.

I typed in Thrifty Maids next. No website, but there was a Facebook page with only a handful of likes and a smattering of posts that were all a couple years old. I poked around without finding much. The owner of the company was listed as Elena Frye. A search on that name turned up nothing.

Why had Toly switched to this company? I held on to my belief that they had to be cheaper, but were they any good? They had no online reviews.

“Spider, this is a lost cause.” I glanced down at him. He was passed out cold and snoring softly. “I’m glad it’s not keeping you awake, though.”

I shut my laptop, picked him up and carried him to bed. As I lay there, whipsawed by trying to figure out what was going on, I finally gave up and shifted my thoughts to Greyson.

And Cooper.

And how very different life was when I wasn’t Jayne Frost.

Dr Pepper was really the only thing keeping me upright behind the counter the next morning. I hated that I was such a slug because Juniper had to pick up my slack, but these late-night investigations were putting a serious freeze on my beauty sleep. Something I needed desperately.

It didn’t help that Toly had been in and out all day, back and forth between his office and the store. After the massive sales of Snowy Saturday, he was all fired up about getting inventory done and making a list so we could restock.

That would be fun. Ugh. I knew it needed doing, but I’d have rather just spent the day behind the counter with Juniper, chatting up the customers and helping the ones who needed it. Restocking was
actual
work. I yawned for like the fiftieth time. Loudly.

Juniper looked over from changing the register paper and shook her head. “How late were you out with Count Chocula?”

“Almost eleven.” But it had been after one in the morning by the time I’d actually gotten into bed.

“So?” she prodded. “How was your date?”

I smiled. How could I not? “Good. Really good. We went to this great little French restaurant and ate the best food and talked about nothing and everything, and it was perfect.” Oh boy. I definitely sounded infatuated.

Her eyes went all twinkly. “Really? Perfect? Does that mean he kissed you?”

“Yes, and you know what else?” I waggled my head side to side. “I kissed him right back.”

She let out a high-pitched noise and clapped her hand over her mouth. Thankfully, the only customers in the store were in the back and probably hadn’t heard her over the Christmas music. “What was it like?”

“Oh, you know…” As good as kissing Cooper had been once upon a time, before he’d decided he couldn’t handle
us
. Maybe better. My grin might have become permanently affixed. “Amazing.”

Her eyes went from twinkly to shocked. “Could you feel his fangs? Did he try to bite you? You didn’t let him, did you?”

“No, no and no. I get the sense that a vampire doesn’t bite someone casually.” Or at least Greyson didn’t.

“Good.” She seemed relieved.

I laughed. “Why? You think he’s going to try to sway me to the dark side?”

She swatted my arm. “Don’t even say things like that. Besides, I don’t think we can be turned, seeing as how we’re already supernaturals.”

“I have no idea.” And I doubted I’d ever find out. At some point, I’d be back in the NP and Greyson would be taking some other lucky woman to Café Claude. I sighed. What a depressing thought.

I was about to go check on the customers in an attempt to keep myself awake, when a woman I didn’t recognize stuck her head through the warehouse door. “Excuse me, have you seen Toly?”

Juniper leaned to look past me. “He’s in the remote-controlled vehicles sections doing inventory.”

“Thanks, Juniper.” The woman walked into the store and made a beeline for the area Juniper had mentioned. She had the tall, slender physique of most elves and the traditional, elegant good looks, including the bright white hair of someone with significant power.

As she disappeared into the back, I nudged Juniper. “Who is that?”

“That’s Cookie. Toly’s granddaughter.”

Interesting. “She has a key to the warehouse?”

Juniper’s mouth bunched to one side. “Huh. I never really thought about it, but she must.”

“How else would she have come through the back door?”

“Right. Well, she is Toly’s granddaughter.”

“I guess that puts her on the permanently approved list.” Made sense, her being family and all. “She’s the one that owns the bed and breakfast?”

Juniper nodded. “Yep. When she was going through the divorce and the place was in trouble, she was here a lot more. But I guess things have picked back up.”

“What makes you say that?”

She shrugged. “She only stops by once a week now. If that.”

“I’m sure she needed someone to talk to during the divorce.”

Juniper’s expression was filled with compassion. “Oh, yeah. It was pretty awful. She thought she was going to lose the B&B in the settlement. She even had to take a second job for a while.”

“The threat of losing her home and business must have been super stressful. But I guess she could have come to work here if it had actually happened.”

“Probably. But…it wouldn’t be the same.”

“Not at all.” Made me think that leaving Cooper and Greyson behind might not be such a bad thing. It was scary to me how relationships could go so wrong. My parents were a great example of the opposite of that, as were my uncle Kris and aunt Martha. But there was no guarantee I’d end up that well-matched.

Cooper had already proven that once. I wasn’t keen on giving him a chance to do it again. Greyson, however…I might be willing to let him break my heart a little.

Half an hour later, Toly presented me with the restocking list, and my time for mulling things over was gone. By the time five o’clock rolled around and Buttercup and Owen rolled in to relieve us, I was done.

Like, in need of a nap done. But I couldn’t nap, because as I walked into my apartment, my thoughts returned in full force.

I had work to do. I got a hold of my dad on the snow globe. He was at the dinner table. I gave him props for keeping that snow globe with him all the time. It felt like a warm hug to know he was that concerned about staying in contact with me. “Hi, Dad. Sorry to interrupt your dinner.”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart.” He wiped his mouth and set his napkin aside. “What’s going on?”

“First of all, what did Mom make?”

“Chicken pot pie.”

I groaned with jealousy. I could practically smell it and taste the flaky pastry she used. “I love her chicken pot pie.”

He smiled. “I probably shouldn’t tell you she made French silk pie for dessert.”

I clutched my heart. “You’re killing me.”

My mom stuck her head next to my dad’s. “Hi, honey. I’ll make you this dinner when you get home.”

“Now I really want to get this thing solved.”

My mom waved and disappeared as my dad’s brows pulled together. “Are you closer?”

Maybe, but I wasn’t ready to share my speculations just yet. “I’m working on it.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Any chance you could get me the file on Toly’s granddaughter?”

He pushed back in his chair. “I’ll go to the records room right now.”

“No, no. Sit down and eat. It’s not that important. This isn’t even a hunch. I just want to know more about her in hopes of learning more about Toly.”

He sat. “You’re sure?”

“Yes. Mom’s chicken pot pie versus the endless, dusty pit of the records room? No contest. Plus, I could use a nap.”

“All right. I’ll go as soon as I’m done. Give me an hour. Two, tops.”

“Good enough. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Love you.”

“Love you too.” I pressed the button and ended the conversation. A two-hour nap sounded blissful.

I was halfway to the bedroom when someone knocked on my door. I opened it, and Juniper smiled at me.

“Hey, you want to hang out and get some pizza? I’d ask if you want to go to Howler’s, but based on how many times you yawned today, I thought you’d rather stay in.”

I’d rather be in bed, but I could sleep anytime. My days here were limited. “That would be great.”

“Good, because I already ordered two pies from Salvatore’s. A king and an extra cheese. Cool?”

“Nicely done. You would be the perfect wife.”

She laughed. “They’re about half an hour out, so come over when you’re ready.”

“I’m going to change into something more lounge-y, feed Spider, then I’m there.”

“Okay. See you then.”

I shut the door and called my dad right back. “Hey, I’m going across the hall to eat pizza with a friend. Take your time on that file.”

He smiled like he was pleased to hear I’d made a friend. For a moment, I felt about eight years old. “You got it. Have fun.”

I shut the globe down and went to change. Once I was in my yoga pants and a big sweatshirt, I fed Spider, grabbed a couple of Dr Peppers, stuck some cash in my bra, and locked up.

Juniper answered her door right away. “Hey, come on in.”

“Wow, your place is so much…homier than mine.” Colorful art decorated the walls, while more color adorned her couch in pillows and throws. She’d added area rugs and little knick-knacks and a bright tablecloth on the kitchen table.

My apartment looked like a hotel room. Hers looked like a home.

She shrugged. “I’ve been here longer. You tend to accumulate stuff.”

“This is more than accumulating stuff. It’s really nice.”

“Thanks. I got most of this stuff at garage sales.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded, smiling. “You’d be amazed at what you can find. I’d be happy to take you.” Her smile vanished. “Except that since we’re down a worker, the chances of both of us getting a Saturday off together are pretty slim. We can still go, but you’d have to get up early. Like six a.m.”

“Ouch.”

She laughed. “You’re not an early riser, are you?”

Not when I spent my evenings trying to find out where the employees were disappearing to. “I can be. If properly motivated.”

“Good to know. Hey, you want to watch a movie? That new Tom Hardy movie just hit On Demand. You know the one where he’s a genie who ends up falling for the woman who finds his bottle on the beach?”

“You mean that gender-swapped
I Dream of Jeannie
remake? Oh, I’m down for that.
I Dream of Jimmy
it is.” I made myself at home on the couch and twisted the top off one of my Dr Peppers. “Thanks for inviting me over, by the way.”

“No problem. I’m happy to have the company.” She grabbed a Coke for herself out of the fridge, then joined me on the couch and turned on the TV to find the movie.

The opening credits were rolling when someone knocked on her door. She hit pause and jumped up. “Pizza’s here!”

I dug into my bra for a twenty. “Here.”

She took it. “I’ll have change for you in a sec.” She paid the guy, took the pizzas and we were chowing down to the visual delights of Tom Hardy in harem pants in no time flat.

I was about to reach for my third slice when a thought occurred to me. I picked up the remote and hit pause instead. I looked at Juniper. “The pizza guy came right to your door.”

“Mm-hmm,” Juniper answered around a bite of king pie.

“So he’s on the approved list?”

“Yep.” She washed it down with a slug of Coke.

“How many people are on the approved list?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea.”

I hit play and took my third slice in hand. Looked like I had another trip to Toly’s office in my future.