Crumbling Deception, page 7
“It’s for Sam. He told me he loves banana bread. So I baked it at home to return the favour. He said you’d take it to him.”
This time, I can clearly see that he is failing at controlling a smile. “Awfully chatty, wasn’t he?”
“He was perfectly fine.” Unlike you, I add inside my head.
He finally grins. And I get why he doesn’t go around flashing it to just everybody. It deserves to be a rare sight at a museum somewhere. Deep dimples peek out from beneath the light stubble on his cheeks, and his eyes crinkle adorably at the corners.
For the first time, it hits me how handsome he is.
“I’ll personally take it to him, Miss Grayson, don’t worry.”
I open my mouth to thank him, but what comes out is, “You better.”
Still smiling, he picks up the bag and sets it on the coffee table in the corner of his office. Come to think of it, that’s the only empty surface in his whole office. I see no empty food containers. Where does he eat?
“Don’t your eyes hurt?”
“What?”
Exactly— what? Why did I ask him that?
“Umm, you know,” I struggle with my words, “because of how dark it was when you were reading.”
“It helps me focus.”
“Oh.”
A whole wave of awkwardness wraps me up. More so, when I notice the smile on his face is gone and he is back to being the stoic detective. I shuffle on my feet while stepping back.
“I should get going. I’m sorry to have kept you from work.”
“No worries,” he nods.
I nod too. Then turn around to leave.
“Miss Grayson?”
I turn back rather quickly. “Yes?”
“Close the door on your way out.”
Embarrassment flushes my blood with heat, but a twinge of anger replaces it within a second.
“Sure,” I give him a saccharine smile. “Anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
Still smiling, I open the door wide open, and leave it open behind me as I walk out into the hallway. The only con is that I can’t see his face after. As I’m leaving the station, I bump into Sadie.
“Lily?” She steps back, surprised.
“Hi.”
“What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I reassure her. “I’ll tell you later.”
She looks around at the prying eyes, then gestures for me to come with her. I follow her to her office. It is indeed not in the same corridor as the chief. She unlocks her door and switches the lights on. Her office is neat and meticulous, unlike the other one I was just in.
“Any lead on the break-in?”
She shakes her head, her eyes downcast. “I’m sorry Lily. The place was forensically swiped clean. Not one single print, not even yours. I don’t think there will be a lead.”
Even though my heart breaks that I will never know who trashed my kitchen, I put on a brave smile for her.
“Don’t beat yourself up. Let’s just focus on finding the killer.”
She nods, but her guilt is evident.
“Did you do it?” I ask her about the text I sent her this morning to divert our minds.
I told her about Cora’s probable financial problems, and how her family is deep in debts because of their father’s gambling habit. She gestures for me to sit down. Once I am seated in front of her, she leans forward on her desk to whisper.
“She has a pretty solid alibi of that morning. I can’t get into it without breaking a lot of laws, but please trust me on this. She found a way to make a lot of money and could do pretty well for herself if she didn’t have to look after her father too.”
I file away what she says to align everything about the Reynolds in my mind. It would be better if I could bring myself to not care.
“I talked to Polly today. She is Frank’s ex-wife. They were married for about four years and got divorced because—”
“Hannah and Frank were secretly seeing each other?” She fills in, shaking her head. “I don’t know why but I can’t bring myself to believe it.”
“I know right!” I lean in, glad that someone else feels the same as I do. “Something seems off about it. But Polly confirmed it today and I don’t think there’s a better source than her.”
“I’ll ask Aiden to look into this as well since he’s the one working on Frank. Meanwhile, try your best to stay away from him because he’s the prime suspect in my opinion.”
Discomfort overcomes my senses. She’s the second one to warn me against Frank today. I hope I don’t have to see him any time soon.
10
Chapter 10
Cups & Cakes is officially closed until further notice.
I have newspapers taped from top to bottom of the windows so no one can peek inside. The secret project will take some time but I am confident that this is the best time to do it since we had no customers regardless. I told Max that I’m closing the shop temporarily but he can still drop in whenever he likes.
So now it’s just me and a task that I should’ve completed ages ago. With all the doors locked and the surveillance up and working, I feel safe enough to work with my headphones popped in. I move to the beat as I dip the roller in fresh paint. My jumper is a mess by now but I don’t care. Even if I had the money to hire professionals, I wouldn’t have done it. Because this is something that I have wanted to do myself since I opened the bakery.
The second day, Stella joins me with her laptop to complete her work while I do the same.
“I feel high as a kite. I coded four apps in one hour.” Stella proceeds to explain the coding to me and I’ve known her long enough to know that it is time to stop listening.
“I think it’s the paint,” I say, grinning at her, when she finally ends her rant. “I can’t believe you’re high on paint.”
She yawns out her reply, tugging at the collar of her shirt. “And I can’t believe you’re remodelling the shop on your own.”
“I’m not doing it on my own. Dad will be here later today to redo the ceiling. Once that’s done, I’ll hire someone to change the tiles. While they do the floor, I’ll spray paint the furniture to match the theme.”
“What about your kitchen?”
“I’ve sold a few things from home,” I admit in a rush, hoping she doesn’t berate me for it. “It’s not like I have guests over often, I don’t need so much furniture.”
“Did you get a good deal?”
“Wait,” I blink, “you’re not going to school me about my ‘pride’ like everyone else?”
She rolls her eyes, “Unfortunately, I happen to know you. Also because I know why you are the way you are.”
I stop painting and keep the roller down, before turning to her.
“Sadie told me that Cora still takes care of her deadbeat father.”
Her brows pull down together and I wait for the penny to drop. She gasps when it finally does.
“What in the blazes did Charlie do with your money then?”
I shrug, “The last I heard, he was gallivanting with his third twenty-year-old girlfriend in Florida.”
“Who does he think he is? Leo DiCaprio?”
Smiling at her reference, I pick up the brush again.
“Seriously, Lils, can I please just mess up his life just once? You know I can.”
“Hacking your way into his measly life is way beneath your capabilities, Stel. I don’t want you to do that.”
The messy knot of blonde hair wobbles on top of her head as she furiously shakes her head.
“Lily, he stole your hard-earned money for years. The least I can do is put him on the no-fly list.”
“According to the court, it wasn’t stealing if it was from a joint account. They don’t care that I thought I was helping him support his father. Besides, it was almost six years ago. I wouldn’t even be thinking about it if I wasn’t in such a pickle right now.”
She sighs and turns her laptop towards me. The colourful screen draws me in and I go to take a closer look.
“It’s for the bake sale. I figured if we want people to buy your products again, we need to show them what they’re missing. So I made this brochure with all your best-selling desserts and I added the deals you sent me on the back.”
I tap the key to turn the page to the back, where all the discount offers are mentioned in block letters. I only came up with the idea for a bake sale last night. Sure enough, the first person I called was Stella since she was the one who had ignited the thought process.
The bake sale—with all the proceeds going into the repair of the clock tower—is my way of taking the narrative back into my hands. Fingers crossed, I’ll be able to engage the town in a good way. Plus, if it all goes as I expect it to, Cora will be pissed to not be the centre of attention.
To see my idea so attractively packed into a pamphlet encourages me more than I imagined it would. But at the same time, it scares me too. What if no one shows up? What then?
“Before either of us starts panicking, tell me the date I should write on this.”
“Tomorrow?”
She stares at me, eyes wide and unblinking.
“What?”
“The day after is your birthday,” she speaks slowly and clearly.
“So?”
“So heaven forbid tomorrow doesn’t go well, you’d be setting yourself up for the worst birthday in the history of thirtieth birthdays.”
I chuckle at her visible horror. “I’ll be fine, Stella. It’s just a bake sale.”
The sudden sound of the lock being opened jolts us both. I hold up the paint roller in front of us as a weapon. The door opens and in walks Frank. Keeping in mind all the warnings I’d gotten against him, I don’t lower the roller.
Frank smirks and lowers his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose, enough to peek over them.
“Preparing to send me wherever my friend is?”
I glare at him as I put down the roller and cross my arms.
“The shop was locked for a reason. You can’t just use your key whenever you want.”
He puts the said key in his pocket, and tugs at the lapels of his suit jacket. Stella powers off her laptop and stands up too. Though she doesn’t look threatening at all in her polka-dotted shirt, he notices her backing me up and his neck tenses up.
“I only used my key because soon it will be the only one being used in this door. If you don’t pay all the remaining rent within two weeks, that is.”
I shake my head, “I had a deal with Marco—”
“That died when he did. Now, you have to deal with me. And I’m not Marco.”
My gut tightens. He is right. He isn’t Marco. He is far more cut-throat than Marco could ever be.
“I need some time.”
“You’ve had enough time and coddling.” He sneers at me, his moustache curling up. “I’m fresh out, so you ain’t getting none from me. Clear this shit up and get to work. I need my rent in two weeks’ time. Got it?”
Not wanting to provoke him any further, I just nod. A sigh of relief builds up when he goes to leave, but gets stuck in my chest when he turns back again with a wicked grin on his face.
“Nice security system by the way. Would be a shame if something were to happen to pretty girls like you.”
Something creepy crawls up my spine as he looks us both up and down. I swallow the disgust and pick up my roller again, ready to whack him in the face.
“What’s going on here?”
Stella and I bump into each other as we jump at the voice behind us. I am shocked by Max’s sudden appearance. We didn’t even hear him come in. It’s like watching a movie when he crosses us to get into Frank’s face. Not that he has to, Frank is a short man. The top of his head doesn’t even reach Max’s chest. A second later, Frank moves back, ending the glaring contest.
“Two weeks,” he points a pudgy finger at me before leaving.
When the door slams behind him, rattling the windows, I take out a chair and plop down onto it, burying my head into my hands. A hand rubs at my back.
“It’ll be okay, Lil,” Stella tries to calm me down.
When? I ask myself. When will it all be okay? And how? I don’t see anything changing in the near future. If it does, I’m sure it’ll only get worse. The chair across me is pulled out, Max’s knees bump into mine as he takes a seat.
“Lily, can we talk about it now?”
I lower my hands to look at him through the tears in my eyes.
“Talk about what?”
He glances behind me at Stella then looks at me again.
“About me being a partner?”
I immediately shake my head. He throws his hands up.
“Hear me out, Lily. Let me help you, financially at least!”
“Max, I appreciate you. I really do,” I repeat when he narrows his eyes at me. “But I do not want your money.”
“Setting up a restaurant with you won’t even make a dent in my inheritance. You need to reconsider,” he says while standing up. “And soon, by the looks of it.”
The windows rattle once again as he slams the door too. Silence descends in the shop until Stella speaks.
“Have you considered installing a pneumatic door closer?”
I laugh in spite of myself before getting to my feet and continuing painting again.
***
With all the arrangements made for the bake sale, I finally start hearing about it on the streets. Mom was the one who took the council’s permission to use the space in front of the clock tower in question. It is the central landmark of Hillgrove and I’ve never seen it work in the two years I’ve been here. My family and Stella’s have been distributing pamphlets all day. They even drove around town to slip it beneath people’s doors. In the meanwhile, I shopped for groceries for tomorrow.
Now that I’m heading back home, I find people holding the pamphlets, discussing and whispering about. A part of me wants to slow down and listen to what they have to say. But it is smaller than the other part that is telling me to pedal harder.
I stop at the bookstore on the way back. Mr. Williams looks up as the bell on the door announces my arrival. I smile as he perks up when he sees it’s me.
“Lily! Where have you been, kid?”
I shrug, not having the words to explain. But I know he knows either way. Nothing in this town is ever a secret. I take out a pamphlet from my bag and hand it to him. He instantly lowers his glasses and starts reading.
“It’s for the clock tower,” I explain though it is mentioned.
“This is brilliant!” He exclaims after a moment of reading, and I let out the breath I was holding.
“Do you think it will work?”
“Even if it doesn’t, I think it’s bloody amazing of you to be willing to fight and prove them wrong.”
I look to the side as heat rises to my face at his compliment. It doesn’t occur to me what I’m looking at, until the very second I’m about to look away. It’s the book, the very same book, I saw at Cora’s. I walk to his desk and pick it up.
“Mr. Williams, where did this book come from?”
He pulls up his glasses to look at it from so far away, while my heart gallops in my chest.
“Cora returned it just today. It is part of the library, you see.”
I open it, and sure enough, there is a record slip at the back. Countless names are listed on it. Cora’s being the latest. The book wasn’t hers after all. I look at the list of names again. Hannah’s name stands out. She borrowed it a whole year ago. I put it back down.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”
He gives me a smile and a thumbs up, “Definitely.”
***
While I’m unpacking the groceries in the kitchen, my phone rings. I pick it up without checking the screen.
“Hello?”
“What part of keeping a low profile did you not understand?” Sadie gets straight to the point as always.
“You didn’t tell me to keep a low profile. You told me to stick to my usual routine,” I remind her.
“So jog up my memory please, because I can’t remember a single time your usual routine included a bake sale for the whole town.”
“Sadie there’s someone out there trying to frame me for a murder of a person I cared about. Tomorrow is the best chance they’ll get to sabotage me. So if you’re really worried about me, worry about how to catch them when they do.”
I check the screen to check if the call is still going on when she stays silent for a while before speaking again.
“I’ll set my eyes on the ground. It is indeed a good setting for the killer to slip up. But I still want you to be as careful as you possibly can. Only let the people you trust with your life to look over your products. We don’t need another frame job on our hands.”
“Thanks Sadie. I’ll be vigilant.”
11
Chapter 11
I rush inside once all the boxes are loaded up in Dad’s truck. Loki follows me around, on edge because of everyone scuttering around my house. I scoop him up into my arms while refilling his food bowl. Luke takes the packet from me and does it. When he is done, he gestures to take Loki. I hand him the anxious cat, knowing they both calm each other down.
“What else is there?” Dad asks, walking back in with Mom.
Max and Polly follow them in too. I asked Stella to sleep in, knowing Hazel kept her up all night. She’s already in the loop and knows what I’m about to tell everyone else. Sadie told me to only keep the ones I trust with me. So here they are.
“I have to tell you all something.”
They gather around the kitchen counter. Luke comes to stand beside me. With all of them looking at me so attentively, this moment feels bigger than it is.
“I have a feeling that whoever killed Marco, will attempt something again today.”
They all suck in a breath and anxiously look at each other.
“I don’t want you all to be worried. I just want you to be alert. If something seems off, tell me. There will be police all around us, they will help. Okay?”
