Soul of a Killer, page 22
“Sure do. No problem,” I said. “I’ll get you one.” I came from around the counter. “Let me walk you in the back and show you how we’ve got everything set up. I’ll have Pete, my assistant, get you some water.”
Before I gave her a rundown on how I planned for the evening to go, Koby rolled in with a cart of food, and like the Pied Piper of the kitchen he was, brought people in. The front door opened again. It seemed as if it was the draw of the food and not the author event that drew them near, but I didn’t care. I was happy to have attendees. That was, until I saw Katy Erickson.
She slithered in and wandered around the bookshelves. And just as I kept my eye on her once she arrived, she kept her eye on me.
What did she want? Following us around in her car and now she was here in the store.
“What is that?” Nicole was standing next to the food table watching Koby put the food out. “Strawberry shortcake?”
“It’s more like a cassata cake made with biscuits.”
“Oh,” she said, her eyes lighting up. “It looks delicious.”
When Koby looked up at her to smile his appreciation at her complimenting his food, I caught his eye and pointed to the stacks behind him. He turned, looked that way, then back at me. “Katy,” he mouthed.
I nodded. Someone else we might get more information from later tonight.
Taking them from the bottom of the cart, he put out the mason jars we served our sweet tea in. When he’d finished up at the table, he rolled himself and his empty cart back toward me. “What does she want,” he said, nodding his head toward our stalker guest.
It wasn’t a question, but I answered it anyway. “I have no idea,” I said.
“Well, maybe we should find out.” He looked at me. “You want me to go over and talk to her?”
“No, I will,” I said, getting up the nerve to confront her without giving it a second thought. As I approached her, another jangle came from the bell over the front door. It was Daniel Chow. His presence gave me more courage.
She had turned to see Chow come in just as I stepped into her personal space. She turned back to look me in the face.
“Hi, Keaton,” she said. She was back to acting as if we were friends. “I see you invited backup.” She nodded her head toward Detective Chow.
“Backup?” I frowned. “What are you planning to do?”
“Me?” She raised her eyebrows and put her hand on her chest. “I came to the author event. To buy books.” She pointed to one on the shelf.
“Really?” The disbelief showed on my face.
“Well, you know.” She gave a smirk. “And to see if the killer was going to show up.”
“And you’ll know the killer when you see them?” I said, letting my eyes meet hers.
“You never know,” she said and tilted her head. She never let her gaze leave mine. “You could, at any time, come face-to-face with them. And it’s only when they come after you that you realize who they are.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
DEACON BROWN ARRIVED later than we had arranged for him to come. Good thing Pete had already gotten everything for him set up and ready to go. The sun had already gone down for the day and there was a nice, cozy warm glow around the store.
Moses came in followed by an entourage—Lacey, Mother Tyson (in a Sunday-go-to-meeting hat) and a few others I didn’t recognize. They burst in with a lot of ruckus, wide smiles and eyes. And while he went straight to the table to check on his book display, Lacey, Mother Tyson and one other woman who’d come in with them lingered around the bookshelves. The others in the group that arrived with him hovered near the archway, eyeing the Biscuits side of our shop and licking their lips.
“Hi,” I said, walking over to Lacey and her grandmother. “Did you come back for your books?”
Lacey blushed and glanced at her grandmother from under lowered eyelids. “Not in my budget today. I’m just here to support my cousin.”
“That girl devours books,” Mother Tyson said. “She doesn’t finish the stack she has before she’s off buying more.”
I smiled. “I heard you had a lot to do with that.”
Now it was Mother Tyson who blushed. “Yes, I try to guide women around me in the right direction. Getting lost in books is better than getting lost in other things.” She gave Lacey a look. If I was left to interpret what “other things” she meant by her look, I would guess that Mother Tyson was referring to men. That made me remember that Lacey had been accused of seeing Austin James. “And I did spend a lot of time reading and talking with this one,” Mother Tyson continued, pointing to Lacey.
Lacey shook her head and gave a small smile before eyeing a book on one of the shelves.
“Oh,” she said, leaving our conversation. “I’ve been meaning to read this one.” She headed off.
“Don’t buy anything,” Mother Tyson said. Then she turned and smiled at me. “You know,” she said, “this was so nice of you to have my nephew come in as a featured author.”
I smiled and nodded. He wasn’t the featured author. Seemed like she’d gotten that wrong, too.
“I give teas for some of the women’s groups at church,” Mother Tyson continued. “You’ll have to come to one sometime. Especially now. You know, to thank you for helping out Moses.”
“Oh,” I said, and grappled for my next words. I didn’t want to say, “My pleasure,” because I’d not been happy when Koby invited him. But I didn’t want to be rude. “That isn’t necessary.”
“I know. I want to.” She took my hand in hers. “He thinks he can write and him being here just means the world to him. I like seeing him happy.”
I glanced over at him and he was that. Happy. He was working the room, a big grin on his face, shaking everyone’s hand.
“I spend most of my time helping the women in the church and often forget about him.” She winked at me. “I just want to show my appreciation. So, the next time I plan something.”
“Okay,” I said. “That’s nice of you.”
“And Lacey will be so happy to have you there. She’s always the youngest one there.”
I laughed.
“Meanwhile,” Mother Tyson said. “I’d like to ask a favor.”
“Sure,” I said.
“Lacey.” She cut her eyes over to look at her granddaughter. “Seems like Lacey has found her happy place here, so whenever you do see her, I was wondering . . .”
“Is there something wrong?” I asked.
“Well, ever since the day that”—she closed her eyes and blew out a huff—“that man died, she’s been off. You know. Not herself.”
I glanced over at Lacey. She was reading the inside flap of a book. She seemed fine to me, but I hadn’t known her before Austin James’ murder.
“Actually,” Mother Tyson said. “She seemed troubled even before that. He did a number on her, you know.”
“No. I didn’t know,” I said.
“I asked the pastor not to let him through the church doors, but he didn’t listen.”
Evidently.
“And you see how that turned out.” She gave a firm nod. I raised my eyebrows. “I knew it wouldn’t cause anything but trouble,” she continued her assessment. “And look, it has.” She pointed over to Lacey, who now had a couple of books cradled in the crook of her arm. “How can someone be so distraught over someone one day, boohooing with tears that wouldn’t stop, and all smiles after that?”
Hmmmm . . .
“Something’s not right with her.”
I nodded. “So, what’s the favor?”
“I was thinking you could talk to her. See if she’s okay.” She patted my arm. “You’re such a nice girl. Seem to have it all together.” She glanced around the store, then back at me. “Maybe you can see if something is bothering her. She won’t talk to me.”
“She won’t?”
“No. Thinks I’m old. I don’t understand.” She ticked off the reasons. “I already had my mind made up about him.”
“Him?”
“You know.” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “Dead guy. Never mind I’ve helped so many other women.”
“Oh,” I said.
“I just want her to get past it. Him. And be happy.” She looked past me. “Like Moses.” She chuckled. “I better go over there with him. He’s grinning so hard his face might crack.”
I smiled as she left, making a pit stop, then she went over and spoke to Katy. They hugged just like they did in church.
What was that about?
They spoke for a moment and then they both turned and looked at me. Well, I felt like they were looking at me. I did glance behind me to see if that look could have been for anyone else. When I turned back, though, they were ending their conversation and Mother Tyson was headed over to speak with her nephew.
But, even without the image of them staring at me without reason, my mind was spinning. I glanced over at Lacey. I wanted to see if I could notice anything off about her. It was weird to be so distraught and then turn around and be all smiles.
I shook it off. It wasn’t time to snoop. That time would come later. Afterward. I had an author event to put on. But my curiosity had been piqued. Koby and I hadn’t ever followed up on Lacey crying the day Austin James was murdered. All we were ever told was that his wife had said something to her. But was that true? And what could she have said?
And then I cocked my head to the side. Come to think of it, we hadn’t ever looked into Mr. James’ ex-wife. Kim. A woman with the power to make Lacey cry. Over Kim’s husband, it seems. Could Kim be a strong-enough catalyst to make Lacey commit murder, too?
Hmmmm . . .
My eyes searched the room for my brother. He had quickly dismissed Lacey as a suspect, saying that Kathryn Dionne’s book, Murder at the Holiday Bazaar, wasn’t anything like our real-life murder.
Maybe he had dismissed Lacey too quickly.
Maybe we needed to talk to Kim.
Then I cocked my head to the other side.
Maybe they were in it together. Two scorned women. I mean Kim must be scorned, right? She was the “ex” and evidently still bitter if she went after Lacey.
But maybe that was all a ploy. Make Lacey and her seem at odds so no one would suspect them. That might account for Lacey’s demeanor. She only pretended to be distraught . . .
And then, Koby and I hadn’t even discussed the conversation we witnessed at the pastor’s house where Kim had said she’d “made it right.”
What had that meant?
With that thought in my head, my eyes met with Koby’s. He gave me a slight nod. He couldn’t have known what I was thinking about. Still, I squinted my eyes and tried to send him a message, telepathically, telling Koby that we were going to have to look into Mrs. Kim James. Give her a ranking on our suspect list with a higher priority. Maybe even pairing her with Lacey . . .
And right with that thought, I heard a jingle over the door, and wouldn’t you know, Kim walked in.
Looked like my telepathy skills were stronger than I thought.
Chapter Thirty-Four
KIM JAMES HAD on a pair of cobalt blue Mary Jane–style shoes that were almost an exact match to the blue in her skirt set. They had four-inch heels but she walked as if she were gliding over water. She wore a wide smile on her face, her lips painted a crimson red, her eyelids covered with a smoky shade of gray.
And right behind her came Pastor Lee.
And then, Rocko Jackson.
And right behind him was Brother Ron. The guy from Grace Spirit Revival.
I’d almost forgotten about him.
I leaned my head to the side. Hadn’t he told me and Koby that he didn’t know Rocko? That he’d only gotten a phone call from him?
I hadn’t ever given a thought to questioning why Rocko had been the one to inform Brother Ron and why.
But it was Kim that got the majority of my attention. Only because she’d just come up in conversation.
Seeing her come to my bookstore made me even more curious. Mother Tyson wasn’t too keen on Kim and it made me wonder why she would be here for Deacon Brown—Mother Tyson’s nephew.
I tried to watch to see if Lacey and Kim made eye contact, but I couldn’t tell if they had. So I left my eyes on Kim.
She stood and waited for Pastor Lee while he spoke to someone I’d seen at the church.
Were they together? Why was she always with Pastor Lee?
I knew that Pastor Lee was married, although I hadn’t ever formally met—or seen—his wife. I also knew that he and Austin James were good friends. Well, at least had been good friends. Austin, it appeared, was a womanizer. Was Pastor Lee like that, too?
Sometimes birds of a feather flock together.
But then I decided against that notion. Mother Tyson had gotten upset and had had a falling-out with Austin when they’d attended his church. The man even went so far as trying to date Lacey. I didn’t think that Mother Tyson would attend a church of a man who was doing the same thing.
Maybe that was just Kim’s cover. A way to get in. Get to Lacey, her possible partner in crime. Lacey, after all, was Pastor Lee’s secretary. If Kim went to see the pastor, she’d have to run into Lacey and then they could talk. Make plans. Kill the man who had hurt them both.
I felt like I was in a plot from one of the books I sold . . .
* * *
* * *
“PUT AWAY YOUR cell phones and give an ear,” I said, standing in front of the podium after giving my welcome speech. I was happy to be in the business I enjoyed and right now I was not going to let my mind get overrun with murder. I probably wouldn’t have—no, I knew I wouldn’t have—let my mind even wander to murder tonight if Koby hadn’t told me that that had been his plan.
That was all I needed. First, I’d been obsessed with Katy waltzing in and then I conjured some conspiracy theory about Lacey and Kim.
I had shaken that off and was all smiles now as I spoke to the crowd.
“We want to take pictures,” someone from the audience said.
“There will be plenty of time to take pictures later,” I said.
While my brother and I snoop around to see if any of you were involved with murder . . .
“We just want you,” I continued, “to enjoy our authors and their readings.” I almost lost my smile when Ray Patton walked into the room. What did he want? He looked around before taking a seat all by himself. Had he been thinking that Mama Zola would be there? She wasn’t going to come. After she heard the church members would be there, she’d bowed out.
Geesh, I thought. The entire crew from the night of the murder is here. I glanced around and looked for Pete. He was standing near the doorway. Hands folded in front of him. I wonder had he noticed.
And then I noticed everyone staring at me. I had stopped talking.
I smiled and tried to regain my composure. “Please,” I said. “Let’s give our authors your full attention.”
Something I was going to have to concentrate on doing.
But the audience was back to being a crowd and not wondering what was wrong with me. Reluctance on their faces, I saw most of them comply and put their mobile devices away.
I made the introductions for Nicole. She was my featured author, and I wanted to make sure she got the most time presenting her book.
I wasn’t going to slight Deacon Brown. I had read over his book after he dropped them off, and it wasn’t bad. I was pleasantly surprised.
But I’d had the event all planned in my head and on paper before Koby brought him aboard. So I led with Nicole.
“I’ll read a short excerpt from my book and then I’ll take questions,” Nicole said after she spoke briefly about her journey to becoming an author. She did such a good job, she had everyone’s rapt attention by the time she opened up the book to read.
“The waitress,” she started, “a young hip thing who looked more like an actress than a college student (she was probably both), poured two glasses with water and lemon, then left them to view their menus. The menu was full of items Lisa could barely pronounce, even as a journalism major. The music was soothing and people of all shades were filling the room. She was impressed. If this was the first date, what in the world would he do on the second?”
Nicole was just hitting her stride when the lights in the room went out. In fact, I turned around and looked. All the lights and the power were out in the store.
Everyone in the room gasped.
And there, to my surprise, were a lot of people in the room. It had filled up. Whatever siren Mother Tyson had sent out to help her nephew for his appearance at the Books & Biscuits author event had worked.
But those gasps swiftly turned to panicked screeches. And then everyone seemed to get up at once. At least that was how it felt because I couldn’t really see anything.
People were bumping into one another, turning and bumping into chairs. Some even were knocked over.
“Keaton!” I heard Koby call out my name. Then I heard a crash. It came from the area where I knew he’d set up the food table.
“Oh no!” I screeched. “Koby!”
“I’m over here,” he said.
“What happened to the lights?”
“I don’t know,” he said just as another crash came. “I’m checking on them.”
“Get us some light!” someone yelled out.
“What is going on?” I recognized Nicole’s voice.
“I’m so sorry, Nicole,” I said and tried to make my way over to her.
“Hey, watch it!” I didn’t know who said that, but I agreed. I was getting bumped from every side.
Then there was a flash of light from somewhere behind me. I turned toward it and walked only a couple of feet before running into someone else. Having a crowd had been a good thing. Now it made me worried someone was going to get hurt.
