A Sweet Death, page 12
part #3 of Stoneybrook Series
18
The next morning, Hadley could barely get out of bed. She and Cassie hadn’t gotten back too late last night, but it didn’t matter; she wouldn’t have slept more than an hour regardless of when she’d gone to bed.
She’d given Jaxon her number and had asked him to call her if he thought of anything else helpful, but she worried nothing would help at that point. Reality settled over her like a monstrous bag of canning sugar. Miranda was most likely not okay. Dennis had done something to her and then he’d fled with her or … possibly without. Hadley wasn’t sure which option scared her the most.
Paul and Sheriff McKay had sent Dennis Larson’s description to the state and border authorities, but Paul even admitted it would be like finding a single stone in the entire Cascade River.
Unless Dennis was sloppy enough to stop somewhere with security cameras or use any of his credit cards, he might slip right by them. His car was still parked at the candy shop, so there was no telling if he’d stolen something or hitched a ride out of town. Paul said he would put out the word for everyone to check their barns and garages for cars and trucks, even tractors. In a small farming town, people had all manner of motor vehicles sitting around which were only used at certain times of the year.
If Hadley hadn’t sorely needed to go into the kitchen and fill the online orders that had piled up over the weekend, she probably would’ve stayed in bed and wallowed in her sadness. As it was, she arrived at the jam kitchen an hour later than she normally would’ve on a Monday morning. Her regular energy and excitement trampled down by the depression she experienced at the realization they’d all been terribly wrong about Dennis Larson, Miranda Walters most of all.
Miranda must’ve figured Dennis wouldn’t find out if she took a little money here and there. Or maybe she thought he was too nice of a guy to do anything even if he eventually did.
Hadley’s stomach churned as she pulled into the alley behind the jam kitchen and turned off the van. Setting her forehead on the steering wheel, she sat there for a quiet moment, listening to the engine tick as it cooled.
A knock on her window made her jump in surprise. Looking to her left, Hadley’s heart calmed as she looked into the worried eyes of her grandmother. She let herself out of the van as the older woman stepped back to give her space.
“Gran, what are you doing here?”
“I came to help,” Gran said, as matter-of-factly as one might say the sky is blue.
“Help?” Hadley pursed her lips together.
“Of course, dear.” Gran took her arm and led her over to the front door, motioning for her to unlock the kitchen. “I was sure you’d want to help your brother find the missing girl, and I’m happy to help out with your jam while you do so.”
Unlocking the door—because it seemed easier than telling Gran the horrible truth about Miranda, how it was becoming less and less likely they would find her—Hadley led the way inside. Finally, setting her purse down on her office desk, she found her words.
“You haven’t heard, Gran, but the guy we think was responsible went missing himself, taking all of his money with him.” She glanced down at her naked fingernails, all signs of polish completely gone from the stress of the past few days.
Gran tsked. “Of course I’ve heard. The whole town knew first thing this morning. But that’s why she needs you and Paul more than ever now. You simply can’t give up.”
Looking up, Hadley met her gran’s intense gaze once more. The fire, the hope she saw, gave her a renewed strength. Just because Dennis may have gotten away didn’t mean they had to give up on Miranda. Now that Hadley had a better idea of where she’d gone missing, thanks to her talk with Jaxon last night, she could go look around for clues. She knew there had been search parties going through the area for days, but also knew one person seeing something no one else noticed could make all the difference.
Hadley pulled in a deep breath. “Of course you’re right, Gran.” Her fingers fumbled with her purse as she fought to place it on her shoulder. She turned toward the door, but then looked back. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with?”
Not only had her grandmother’s instincts been spot on, but she was enjoying the woman’s company.
Gran waved a hand. “I’ll leave the sleuthing to the two of you. I’m having fun with the jam and this colder weather is making my new hip act up a bit.” She shook her head, frustration written on her face.
“Did you take some of the pain medication the doctor prescribed?” Hadley raised an eyebrow.
Wrinkling her nose, Gran said, “No. With all of the talk about that poor woman in the hospital, I’ve got myself a bit scared of it, I’m afraid.”
Hadley couldn’t blame her grandmother for being cautious. Knowing Gran was a smart woman, Hadley trusted she would take care of herself and take the meds if things got bad enough.
“Okay. Love you. I’ll check back in a little bit.” Hadley waved.
“What flavors would you like me to make?” Gran asked, holding up a finger to stop Hadley.
Pulling in a thoughtful breath, Hadley squinted up at the ceiling. “There’s a recipe for my spiced pear chutney in the box on my desk.” Hadley pointed. “And those pears are just about at the perfect ripeness. That would be a fun one for you to try. Other than that, whatever you feel like making works for me.”
Gran nodded, smiled, and shooed Hadley out the door as she grabbed a clean apron out of a drawer.
As Hadley walked into the back alley behind the kitchen, she stopped a few steps from the van. It just seemed wrong to think about going anywhere to investigate without her best friend. Odd behavior or not, she and Suze didn’t do anything worth doing without the other right there. Swallowing her doubts, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, clicked on Suze’s number, and listened to it ring.
“Hey,” Suze said when she answered. Something rustled in the background.
“Whatcha doing?” Hadley kicked the toe of her shoe onto the concrete.
“Uh … just—you know—working,” Suze said, then quickly added, “From home. I’m working from home today. I’ve got a … big design job to finish and need my computer here to do it.”
Hadley’s eyes had been progressively narrowing in suspicion at the choppy nature of Suze’s sentences, but at the last sentence, they flew open in surprise.
“A big design job? That’s awesome, Suze! Who’s it for?”
There was a pause on the other end.
“Um … Oh, it’s for the distillery.” She cleared her throat.
“The distillery?” Hadley asked. She chewed on her bottom lip for a second as she thought. “Didn’t you just rebrand for Christine last year?”
“Yeah … but, you know Christine. Fickle as all get out. Already wants something new.” Suze laughed way too loud.
Hadley’s forehead wrinkled in question. Christine was just about the least fickle person Hadley knew. The woman had worked with Suze for six months before finally deciding on a design.
There was more rustling in the background. “Had, I better get back at it. Sorry I can’t talk more.”
Just then, the sound of a car horn made to sound like a cartoon awooga sounded from Suze’s end of the line. Hadley only knew one car that made that sound: Mr. Hite’s old Ford.
“Are you outside?” Hadley asked, unable to keep accusation from creeping into her tone.
“Yeah, just getting the mail. Hey, Mr. Hite,” Suze called. “Okay, gotta go. Bye.”
The line went quiet, and Hadley stared down at her phone for a few seconds. That was weird. But Suze was known to get manic when she had a big project due, so it made sense. And Mr. Hite did live down the road from her …
Shrugging, Hadley was about to turn toward the van when movement at the end of the alley caught her eye. It was Mr. Hite’s Ford driving down Main Street.
Hadley’s heart stopped for a split second.
She had just heard him honk on Suze’s end of the line. Which meant he couldn’t have been farther away than a few blocks down Main Street when it happened. A few blocks down … like just outside Suze’s studio space. Jogging to the end of the alley, Hadley peeked to her left around the brick building.
She flattened herself closer to the brick as she saw Suze carrying a long garment bag over one shoulder and heading to her car. The bag was white and had the words The Tulle Box scripted across the width in a bright, robin’s-egg blue.
Suze glanced in her direction, and Hadley slunk back into the alley, hoping she hadn’t been seen. Looking out once more, Hadley just caught Suze carefully placing the bag in the back seat of her Mini Cooper. She folded back the front seat and climbed into the car, but not before Hadley noticed a piece of white paper whoosh out from her car and land on the street, close to the curb.
Backing up as if she were on the run from the law, Suze quickly pulled a U-turn and drove down the other direction of the relatively quiet Main Street.
Hadley watched as the little car disappeared around the corner of Main and Spruce.
What was that all about? She almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all, but instead she was hit, full force, by the reality. The reality being her best friend had just lied to her, again. Looking around to make sure Suze was gone, Hadley left the alley and jogged down to her friend’s storefront. Stopping near the curb, she bent to pick up the piece of paper that had flown out of the car in the whirlwind of motion.
It was a credit card receipt from The Tulle Box, and the amount made Hadley gasp. The Tulle Box was a dress shop on the other side of the mountains from Stoneybrook. Other than its cute, punny name, Hadley always remembered it being where she and Suze had gone to buy their senior prom dresses.
She glanced down at the receipt. No way this was the cost for one dress. Unless …
The other thing she remembered about The Tulle Box were the gorgeous wedding dresses. And while they were a little more fluffy and elaborate than Hadley had wanted at her wedding, she remembered Suze saying when she got married, it was where she was going to buy her dress. Which would explain the high price on the receipt.
Sinking to sit on the curb, Hadley shook her head.
What had started as Hadley finding proof of Suze and Paul being together, alone, in his truck, suddenly morphed into something so much more. First, there’d been Suze and Christine meeting, then acting super awkward when Hadley had shown up. Then, there was the cake order at Mickie’s bakery. A three-tiered German chocolate cake, Paul’s favorite. No one ordered a three-tiered cake for anything other than—
A wedding.
She crumpled the dress receipt in her hand and stuffed it into her pocket, unable to look at it any longer. Were Suze and Paul getting married? Without inviting her?
Maybe Suze is pregnant, and they’re having a secret wedding, Hadley thought with a start. The rational part of her brain took over, reminding her it was the twenty-first century and shotgun weddings weren’t common anymore. She also reminded herself there was no feasible reason why Suze and Paul wouldn’t tell her if they were getting married.
There’s also no reason why they would keep their relationship from you but they did, didn’t they? The unhelpful, emotional part of her brain chimed back in.
Tires crunched to a stop on Main Street, and Hadley recognized Luke Fenton’s truck. The passenger-side window rolled down and Luke lifted his sunglasses.
“Had, what are you doing down there on the curb? You look like you’ve just lost your best friend.” He smiled at his joke.
Hadley didn’t find it funny. And she wasn’t sure if it was because of Suze, or Paul, or even Miranda, but tears sprang to her eyes, and she began to cry.
19
Hadley sniffed, running a tissue under her nose for good measure. The tears had only lasted a few minutes, but they’d been enough to convince Luke to pull over and sit next to her on the sidewalk, proffering tissues and asking what was wrong.
And while she hadn’t been trying to lure him into listening to her problems, she’d spilled everything.
“I was calling her to see if she wanted to go help me investigate up in Cascade Ridge because we can’t give up on Miranda, and now I don’t know what to do.” Hadley shook her head, finishing up her rant.
Luke cleared his throat. “I’ll go with you.” He watched her from the corner of one eye.
“Really?” she asked.
He bumped his shoulder into her. “Yeah. Come on. I know Suze and Paul are your normal sleuthing buddies, but I’m observant and I’m fantastic company. I might be able to help.” Luke winked.
She chuckled and then sniffed once more.
“Unless, of course, you’ve got a secret wedding to go break up,” he said.
The way his mouth pulled into his signature half smile made it hard for her to get mad at him for the teasing.
“You’re not making a case for being fantastic company, Fenton,” she said, swatting at his shoulder.
Luke put his hands up. “Sorry.” But she could see he was still working hard to suppress a grin.
“Okay.” After a deep breath, she pushed her shoulders back and peeled herself up off the curb.
“After you,” he said, opening the truck’s passenger door for her. He climbed in as she buckled up, and they were on their way.
“So what are we investigating?” Luke asked, keeping his eyes on the road as he navigated the rest of downtown Stoneybrook.
Hadley cringed. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I just … I don’t know. I thought maybe we could go search around in the woods where Miranda went missing, maybe visit Brenda in the hospital.” She shrugged, hoping Luke wouldn’t think she was silly for being without a concrete plan.
“Sounds good.” He nodded and turned off Main Street, toward the highway that would take them to Cascade Ridge.
The man didn’t seem too worried about Hadley’s lack of a plan. He turned on some music and sat back into his worn truck seat, looking completely content with going with the flow. That had always been part of Luke’s charm, though. His laid-back attitude had so often frustrated her as an adult, but she remembered it being one of her favorite attributes when they were growing up. She knew there wasn’t much that would ruffle his feathers, push his anger out of control, or throw him into a deep sadness.
Chewing on her lip in thought, she realized it also meant she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Luke deliriously happy.
“So … how’ve you been?” she asked. “Are you glad you moved back home?”
After living in Seattle for ten years after they graduated, Luke had recently moved back to town, citing a need to distance himself from the rush and a desire to be closer to family.
Luke smiled. “I am. Things are going well. I finally convinced Dad to use my new line of smart sprinklers next summer, and I’m adding a digital monitoring system to the greenhouses.”
“That’s impressive.” Hadley nodded in appreciation.
Luke’s company, GroWorks, combined his too loves: farming and technology. His father, Redford Fenton, was just about the most old-school farmer she’d ever met—she once saw the man taste the dirt to decide whether or not it was ready for seed. Luke getting him to concede to using any of his products was a miracle.
“And how are the renovations coming on the house?” she asked.
“Can’t complain,” he said, then laughed. “Actually, I can. I’m going on two weeks now without a kitchen.”
Hadley chuckled. “Well, it’ll be all the more worth it when it comes together, right?”
“Right.” Luke took the left turn up the hill. “What about you? How’s your new place?”
A warmth spread through Hadley’s chest at the thought of her home. It had a moss-covered fence that definitely needed rebuilding, a garden that could use a ton of work, and a leaky faucet in the laundry room, but it also had a perfect view of the Cascades, quick access to the river, and all the privacy she could ever hope for. She loved it more than she ever thought possible.
“It’s amazing.” She beamed. “The cats have officially claimed the deck. They won’t put more than a paw on the actual ground, but they love that big deck. They run around it as if standing on it somehow makes them king and queen of the whole valley.”
Luke nodded. “Once the renovations are complete, I’ve been thinking of getting a pet. It just wasn’t an option in my apartment in the city, but I think it’d be nice to have a little company.”
Hadley raised an eyebrow. “A cat?” she asked hopefully.
He clicked his tongue. “I think I’m more of a dog person, not to sound like an awful cliché.” Luke shot her a playful grimace.
“That’s okay.” She waved off his worry. “I maintain people who say they aren’t cat people just haven’t met the right cat. I’m sure the same goes for dogs as well, though.”
The truck climbed higher into the foothills and Luke cleared his throat. “So where are we going, exactly?”
“Right, um … just go ahead and park at The Ridge,” Hadley said.
“The Ridge?” Luke let out a low whistle.
Even though Stoneybrook teens usually didn’t dare venture into Cascade Ridge territory, the popular make-out spot was well known in the valley.
Cringing as she realized how it had sounded, she said, “It’s where Miranda and her boyfriend were right before he dropped her off on the side of the road. She went missing somewhere between The Ridge and Grande County General.”
Luke toned down his grin, but Hadley could still see whispers of it lingering at the corners of his mouth. The idea of the two of them at The Ridge together made her feel flustered in a way she hadn’t for a long time. To combat this, she decided to distract herself with the particulars of the case, and she explained what she knew so far to Luke, aware he wouldn’t be up on all of the clues she was.
He listened as she told him about Brenda’s drug problem—the whole town knew about her close call at that point—about Jaxon’s drug dealing, and Hadley’s conjectures about why Miranda had resorted to stealing from Dennis’s shop.
