Murder on Wheels (19 page)

“You two still fighting?”

I wheeled the cart toward the soup aisle. “I guess. I wish I'd just ignored her request to spy on Esmeralda. Or I could have agreed and then ignored it.”

“You tend to say exactly what's on your mind. That's why I love you so much.” He must have covered the phone because I heard mumbled conversation. “Look, I need to go. Don't forget a six-pack.”

“Do I ever?” I clicked off my phone and slipped it into my purse. I started checking things off my shopping list. The good thing about living alone: You got to eat whatever you felt like for dinner. The bad thing: You got to eat whatever you felt like. I'd decided to try to eat at least a little healthier on nights when Greg didn't come by, and I thought stocking my shelves with a variety of soups might convince me to heat up something rather than finishing off a bag of chips in my cabinet.

It was a theory at least. I finished my shopping and went to get some tacos.

I'd missed the lunch crowd at Jose's Hangout, so it took me just a few minutes to be back on the road to South Cove. I had just unwrapped a taco when my phone rang. “Yep?” Or at least that's what I tried to say with a mouth full of amazing fish taco.

“Hey, boss. You okay? You sound weird.” Toby's voice echoed through my Bluetooth.

I chewed fast, then swallowed. “I'm trying to eat.”

The line went silent for a minute. Then he came back on. “Aren't you driving? You know it's not safe to be distracted while you're driving.”

“I wasn't distracted until you called.” I slowed for a turning car. “So, what's up?”

“Josh just dropped off an envelope with a citation for the water station yesterday. Man, if I'd known what was in the stupid thing, I probably would have wrung his neck. If my hands would fit around it.”

“Put it on the office table and forget about it. I've already talked to Bill, and the committee has no power to be citing people. It's an advisory committee, and he's had plenty of complaints about Josh's heavy-handedness. Give it to Jackie when she comes in to work.” I looked at the taco and my stomach growled. “Oh, Greg's coming by to pick up a cheesecake. Take one out of the freezer for him.”

“Yes, ma'am. You're kind of calm about this whole water citation thing.”

“Not my first envelope.” I said my good-byes and clicked off the phone. Then I picked up the taco and scarfed it before anything else could happen to stop me. By the time I'd made it home, I'd eaten both tacos, a serving of seasoned fries, and drank most of my frozen lime soda. Just call me the queen of emotional eaters.

I had a few hours before Greg would show up, so I made good use of the time. I put away the groceries, made a quick pasta salad and put it in the fridge to cool, then I set a new jar of sun tea out. Filling my glass with the last of the tea from the previous pitcher, I took a book out of my tote and Emma and I went to the porch to read.

Six on the dot, I heard Greg's truck pull into the driveway. Toby had arrived earlier and had his truck parked by the garage. I assumed he was asleep since he started his Saturday shift at nine. Tim was technically on all day Saturday with Greg filling in when needed, but in the off season, nothing much happened on the weekends, so the guys played a lot of
Halo
in the station's break room.

Greg came up on the porch, the cheesecake box in his hand, and kissed me. “Let me put this in the kitchen. You got a cold beer in there?”

“Of course. Bring me out one, too.” I hurried to finish the few pages I had left in the chapter and then slipped a bookmark to keep my place and set the book on my side table.

When Greg returned, he nodded to Toby's truck. “Did the Jeep break down?”

Confused at the question, I took the beer. “No, the Jeep's fine, why?”

“So why is Toby's truck parked in your driveway? Shouldn't he be getting some shut-eye before his shift tonight?” Greg leaned back on the swing, his arms hung over the edge.

“I told you before.” I pointed to the shed. “I have a new neighbor.”

“That's right, Toby's living here. I hope he's out before we start on the exercise gym this summer.” He grinned, staring at the shed that now held his number two, who was postponing his hope for a home gym.

“Maybe. Anyway, he won't be there forever. When he moved out of Elisa's, he needed a place to stay until the sublease on his apartment is up.” I shook my head. “What do you guys talk about at work?”

“Work.” He grinned. “And basketball. What do you talk about at work?”

“Mostly we gossip about what's going on in town. Now we talk about Jackie and Harrold and when Josh is going to get a clue. As long as Aunt Jackie's not in earshot, that is.” I avoided the subject of who killed Kacey. Greg didn't need to be upset at Toby for keeping me involved in the investigation. Or worse, order him to stop telling me things.

“Well, you can bet that we'll be talking about the rules. Like not intruding on our time together.” He reached down and tickled my foot. “You are charging him rent, right?”

“We haven't talked about that yet.” I shrugged. “It's not like I need the money. The place is paid off and the shop's doing good.”

“You need to charge him something. You can put the money toward the gym once he moves out. Do you want me to talk to him?”

I slapped his hand away from my feet and sat up straighter. “No. I'll handle my own business, thank you very much.”

“Doesn't sound like you're handling it.” He shrugged and put his hands up when I opened my mouth to let him have it. “Let's get off the subject. The information just surprised me, that's all.”

“Why don't you start up the grill? I'll get the steaks and the rest of the stuff ready.” I headed quickly for the kitchen door.

Greg followed me and took me into his arms. “I'm sorry if I'm grumpy. This case has been crazy, and I'm still no closer to locking it up than I was the night we found Kacey's body. I don't mean to take it out on you.”

I relaxed into his arms. “Let's only talk about fun things tonight. Like where we're going on the next trip.”

“Or how we're going to set up the home gym once Toby moves out?”

I furrowed my brow at him.

Laughing, he held up his hands. “Fine, I surrender. Hearts and flowers conversations only. Can we at least talk about tomorrow's outing? I can't believe Justin conned me into another day of hide-and-seek, techy-style.”

“He's trying to fix things between me and Amy. So what if his technique is a little off? He has good intentions.” I paused at the kitchen door. “You going to start that grill or what?”

He threw me a mock salute. “Yes, ma'am.”

Laughing, I went into the house to get the rest of dinner ready to go. I loved our times together. Fighting or not, I felt comfortable with Greg, more than any man I'd dated or even the one I'd been married to. It was like all my relationships had had something missing: a solid friendship. Greg and I truly liked each other, which made the love part easy. I shivered at the word. Love. It felt like such a big commitment. I pulled out the steaks and started tenderizing them with my meat mallet, hammering in the seasoning and thinking about our relationship with each swing of the mallet.

T
he parking lot was crowded on Sunday with vehicles owned by the Coastal Geocache Club and a few hikers who'd chosen the wrong venue for their quiet Sunday stroll. Greg parked the truck near the edge of the lot, and as I climbed out, I scanned the area for Amy and Justin. “Maybe they didn't come.”

Greg locked the truck and came to stand by me. “I think you're avoiding fixing this with Amy. The two of you have been friends too long to let a misunderstanding ruin your friendship.”

“I know.” I thought about the exchange we'd had on the stairs to her apartment. “I'm just not sure she's ready to talk to me yet.”

“It would help if she didn't think you were trying to get Austin arrested for Kacey's murder.” Greg took my arm, and we walked toward the booths the club had set up for registrations.

“I wasn't trying to get Austin arrested.” I sighed. “I guess you've heard that I wanted to talk to him about Kacey's friends.”

“I did.” He held me back as a compact car whizzed by us, going way too fast for the speed limit in the lot. “Idiots.”

“Maybe you should have Toby come and hand out speeding tickets. I bet you'd make enough money here to pay for his overtime this month.”

“Not our jurisdiction.” He hugged me. “But you're trying to change the subject. What did you want to know from Austin?”

I told him about Austin coming into the coffee shop that night to offer the food truck for sale to Aunt Jackie. Then I told him about what he said about Kacey's friends. “I met Ginny Dean at Linens and Loots a few days ago. She's convinced Kacey was murdered.”

“I know. She's been in the station a few times, demanding to know when I'm going to arrest someone. The woman is a pain in my behind.” He pointed to a grassy hill where Amy and Justin stood. “There they are.”

Justin waved at us and Amy turned away, looking in the other direction.

I sighed. “This is not going to be a fun day, I can tell already.”

“Just be your cheerful, bubbly self. She'll come around.” He kissed me on the head. “Let's go into the lions' den, dear.”

When we reached them, Justin gave me a hug and slapped Greg on the back. “Welcome. Thanks for coming out, guys. This means a lot to the club. They are donating the profits today for Kacey's funeral costs.”

“Now, if someone could just find her murderer,” Amy muttered. Justin had his arm around her and he squeezed her tightly, in what appeared to be a warning. She rolled her eyes, then sighed. “I mean, I'm sure you're working hard to solve the case, Greg.”

“We're not here to talk shop, right? I've been looking forward to today all week.” Greg nodded to Justin. “You ready to get started?”

Justin's head bobbed like a two-year-old who had just been offered ice cream. “I sure am. But first, I got us all a present.” He dug into the bag and handed each one of us a device with a
South Cove Rocks
lanyard.

I stared at the item that looked like a cross between a cell phone and the old pager I'd found in Miss Emily's desk drawer. “Thanks, but what is it?”

“It's a handheld GPS locator. I know, we can all get an app on our phones, but this way, you can keep your phone free, like for Greg, and still be on the hunt. Cool, right?”

“This is great. I'm sure it will come in handy when we come out to these events. But you didn't have to buy us each one, I'm sure we could have just followed your directions.” Greg hung the cord around his neck.

“What if one of us gets separated? Or you want to come up and do your own search without me? No, each of us needed our own, it's only logical.” Justin grinned like he'd just given us the keys to the bank vault.

“Thanks again.” I put the item around my neck, hoping that this would be the last time our double date would lead us out to the forest to find caches. I'd rather be sitting on the beach getting a tan and reading a book than doing this. Once I ran, I was done with my workout for the day.

Justin beamed. “I knew you all would love them. Taylor helped me pick out just the right model, but I don't think he realized I'd be buying us all one. The guy should get a commission from the company on this sale alone.”

A woman ran up to me. “I'm so glad you're here.” Ginny Dean stood by my side. “I wanted to talk to you about Kacey's murder.”

I glanced at Greg, but he and Justin had headed over to the registration table. Amy stood off to the side, ignoring me. I took Ginny by the arm and led her a few feet away from the group so we wouldn't be overheard. “Do you know who killed Kacey?”

Ginny nodded solemnly.

“Can you tell me?” This chick was getting on my nerves. She needed to be telling this to Greg, but apparently she'd been causing so much trouble at the station, who knew if he would even listen to her at this point.

“I've left all the clues.” She handed me a slip of paper. “I'm trying to save my own skin here, you've got to understand. If he knew what I really knew, I'd be dead just like Kacey.”

“If who knew?”

She started to walk away and pointed to my hand. “Follow the clues. I've left a clear path.”

This was stupid. “Look, you need to just tell me what you know.” As I watched, Ginny's eyes widened and she skirted away through the crowd. I muttered, “Total nutcase.”

“You got that right,” a male voice said from behind me. I twirled around and found Taylor Archer standing behind me. Way too close for my comfort. I wanted to take a step backward but decided not to give him the satisfaction.

“That's not a nice thing to say about one of your members.” I hated that he'd heard the “nutcase” comment.

“You said it first. The girl was always hanging out with Kacey. I warned Kacey that she was mentally unhinged and to be careful, but she never listened.” He widened his eyes. “You don't think Ginny killed her, do you? I hate to say negative things, but the girl is certifiable.”

“Who's certifiable?” Greg stepped between us, and Taylor took a step back. Intimidating women must be more his style. I wrapped my arm around Greg's, thankful for the comfort and the interruption.

“He thinks Ginny killed Kacey.” I knew it sounded blunt, but I wanted to see if Taylor would stand behind his statement or if he was only blowing smoke.

Greg cocked his head and considered Taylor. “How did you come up with this theory? Are you a member of the Bakerstown police force?”

“I'm not with the police,” Taylor said. “And I'm sure I didn't say anything like that. She must have misunderstood me.”

Taylor was apparently one of those men who didn't like talking to women at all if he could help it. I bet to him, women were second-class citizens and should be seen but not heard. I tucked Ginny's slip of paper into my pocket and looked at Greg. “Are we ready to go?”

“Yep.” He nodded to Taylor. “We'll talk soon.”

Greg's words sounded more like a threat than a salutation. As we walked toward where Amy and Justin were waiting, I relaxed. “Thanks for saving me. The guy gives me the creeps.”

“Why do the crazies always find you to play with? I swear, Jill, you must have a beacon built into your system that only the insane can hear.”

“You tell me and we'll both know.” I stopped for a minute before we reached the other couple. “Ginny says she knows who killed Kacey.”

“Yeah, did she tell you?” Greg looked through the crowd, trying to find the woman.

I pulled out the paper and looked at it. It was just a string of numbers. I showed it to Greg. “She gave me this.”

He took the paper, looked at it, then gave it back. “Give it up, Jill. The woman is crazy. Taylor might be a jerk, but he's spot-on in his description of Ginny.”

I stuffed the paper back in my jeans pocket and walked with Greg to meet up with Amy and Justin.

The boys were chatty as we hiked up the trail toward our first cache. Amy and I were behind them, but she kept three steps ahead and anytime I tried to catch up, she'd go faster. As a team-building event, today was failing. When we reached the first cache site, she paused next to Justin.

“You could talk to me, you know.” I put my hands on my knees, trying to take a deep breath.

Amy shrugged. “You were the one who decided we didn't need to talk.”

“No, I was the one who said I wouldn't be a rat for the water conservation committee. Since when are you so gung ho about one of the mayor's programs?” I stood, finally able to breathe from the climb. “Who's paying him to sponsor this committee in the first place? You know he doesn't do anything without knowing what's in it for him.”

“This time he is.” Amy rolled her eyes. “I was the one who convinced him to participate in the regional water conservation committee. Some of my friends from college are involved, and they reached out to me a few months ago. All I wanted was some support. I knew it would be hard to get people on board, but I never questioned your commitment. I guess I didn't know you quite as well as I thought.”

“Amy, I didn't know this was your project. Why didn't you tell me?” I felt like a heel now. Not only did I tell my best friend her idea was stupid, but I'd compared her group's goals to those of Nazi Germany.

She pressed her lips together. “I would have thought you would have guessed. No one else in City Hall gives a darn about clean drinking water. You shouldn't have to beg people to do the right thing.”

“I really am sorry. You're right, we should have supported it based on the fact it was a good idea, not who brought it to the table.” I saw Greg and Justin giving each other a nonverbal high five behind our backs. Or they were, until Amy spoke again.

“I just don't know you anymore.” She turned to Justin, who ran a hand through his hair, trying to keep Amy from seeing his celebratory dance with Greg. “Take me home. I'm not having fun.”

I watched her walk alone down the path toward the parking lot. Justin hurried after her, stopping for a second. “She'll get over this. She can't stay mad at you forever. I guess this just wasn't such a great idea right now.”

I kissed him on the cheek, wondering if I'd ever see him again. I'd loved our double date nights, or at least the ones that didn't involve geocache searching. “Go take care of her. We'll work this out later.”

Greg stood by my side and we watched Justin disappear. He hugged me quickly. “Well, there is a bright side to all of this.”

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. “There is?”

He nodded. “We can go home now and we don't have to search for hours for one of these trinkets.”

As we walked down the hill, following the path that Amy and Justin had just taken, we talked about other ways to fill our Sunday afternoon and decided to go sit on the beach outside South Cove with a basket of Diamond Lille's fried chicken and a six-pack of beer. We'd even bring Emma along to play in the surf. The day sounded wonderful. Or it would have, if I didn't have to think about losing the best friend I'd ever had.

As I got undressed that night, I pulled Ginny's note out of my pocket. Looking at the numbers, I realized that I'd seen them before, or something like them. I ran to my purse and found Justin's handheld GPS coordinator. I keyed in the numbers and got a location. Twelve miles north and five miles east would put me right back into Los Padres National Forest. It made sense in a twisted way. Ginny had hidden her clue in a geocache, and I was supposed to use her clues to find the stash. I picked up my phone and called Greg.

“Hey, thinking about me?” His voice felt warm and inviting in my ear. I shook off the tingles he was giving me.

“Nope.” I cleared my throat and pushed away the mental image of him lying in his bed. “I was looking at the note Ginny gave me, and I think these are GPS coordinates.”

“Seriously? That's what you called at ten thirty to talk about? I've got a meeting at eight in the morning to evaluate other possible murder suspects, and you want to talk about geocache stuff?” The warm tenor in his voice had disappeared. Now he just sounded mad.

“Hear me out.” I repeated my words. “So I just keyed them into the GPS thing Justin gave me, and it's coming up as a place in the forest where we were today.”

“Jill, listen to me carefully. Ginny's been hospitalized in the past for issues with mental illness. That's even how Kacey met her, she was volunteering over at the state psych ward a few years ago and Ginny was in the facility because she was a danger to herself. The note is just her way of keeping herself involved in Kacey's murder investigation. I'm pretty sure she's going off the deep end again.” Greg's words floored me.

“So Taylor was right, Ginny's crazy?” My voice fell to almost a whisper.

Greg yawned. “Well, she was crazy. I don't know what her mental stability is these days, but I'm sure losing Kacey had to have an effect.”

“So you think the note is just a wild goose chase.” My heart sank as I considered the entire scenario.

“Exactly. She isn't playing with a full deck on the best days.” He chuckled. “I need to get some sleep if I'm going to have to listen to John try to drown out the rest of us as he makes a case to arrest Austin again.”

“I'll let you.” I hung up, not feeling great about waking Greg for no good reason, according to him. But I also felt like if I didn't at least try to figure out Ginny's note, I'd be wondering forever. Just because someone had been in a mental institution didn't mean they were totally bananas. There had to be some truth in there somewhere.