Coffee & Crime (30 page)

I shook my head and put up my hands. "No! I don't want to talk about this, Zee. Not with you or anybody."

Zelda sighed. "He'd come back if you called him. I know he would."

I jabbed my finger at her. "I'm not kidding Zee, zip it!"

She got out of her seat and said, "Okay then, you just think about it." She headed for the kitchen, walking backwards. "Okay, Scotti? Think about it."

What Zelda didn't know is that I'd never stopped thinking about Ted.

I lay in my bed trying to think of a reason to get up. It was ten-thirty and I still hadn't convinced myself that facing a new day was worth it. Zelda had gotten up hours earlier, and when she knocked, I pretended to be asleep. She finally gave up waiting and went off to Joe's alone. I should've been over there, helping them clean up the mess, but the guilt wasn't enough to make me throw back the covers and stumble into the shower.

I needed time to think. Alone time. The clock ran out in two and half weeks, and I was no closer to getting the money I needed to buy the diner. All the sneaking around and scheming and plotting had gotten me nowhere and exacted a hefty price
—
Ted, my peace of mind, and my hope for the future. I couldn't remember the last time I'd slept through the night. Or the last time I got in my car without checking for a tail. I stumbled through my days either confused or pissed off
—
who was I?

But lying in bed would change nothing, so I threw back the covers and crawled out. I showered and dressed, fully intending to get in my car and drive to Joe's. Instead I grabbed Boomer and went for a drive.

The sunny winter day boasted a clear blue sky, and though it was too cold, I drove with the sunroof open. Zelda makes fun of my Camry because it's not pretty and can't go really fast, but it's a comfortable ride and tools around just fine on city streets. Boomer loved it too and stood with his head out the back window
—
nose sniffing and ears flapping.

We wandered locally for a while, sputtering down surface streets and main drags. Eventually we graduated to freeways and became one with the road. Hair flying and classic rock blaring on the radio did a lot for my morale and managed to turn off my non-stop thinking. I'd been so obsessed with getting the diner and having things my way that I thought of nothing else. Was that who I wanted to be? The woman who'd give up everything to get what she wanted?

My cell buzzed continually but I ignored it. I didn't need to look at the phone to know it was Zelda wondering where the hell I was. But the thought of going to Joe's and facing them made me gasp for air. So I drove. I just drove. We drove through Burbank. Then North Hollywood. Then to Glendale.

My heart danced in my chest as I approached Ted's shop. My mouth went dry, and I gripped the steering wheel like I was bracing to run a red light. But I drove right past — checking in the rearview mirror for a glimpse of him. Since he didn't have his desk in the parking lot, there was no glimpse to get.

I continued up Pacific for a few blocks and turned around. All the while telling myself that I should stop and talk to Ted. He might still be mad, but he might also be happy to see me. Whether I was too chicken or had too much pride, I just couldn't stop on the second pass-by either. And when the guy behind me laid on his horn because I was driving ten miles an hour, I hit the accelerator without looking back. I turned up Glenoaks but as I approached the college, I took Mountain to get on the freeway. Instead of heading home, I drove to Pasadena. I felt like I was on a treasure hunt with no clues — just intuition guiding me. And then I was on George's street, heading for his house.

I parked on a side street, leashed up Boomer and got out of the car. We stood on the corner of Del Mar and Orange Grove for five minutes while I ran through a list of reasons to ring Maggie Manston's doorbell. Since I was struck with nothing brilliant, I opted for the direct approach. For weeks I'd avoided confronting the woman, and it

had gotten me nowhere. Was it possible that explaining the situation and asking her to honor George's agreement would work? I didn't know. But it was a hell of a lot easier than trying to solve a murder
—
and definitely less dangerous. Too many people had already gotten hurt because I'd been to proud to just ask a simple question. It was time to stop being an idiot and act like a grown-up.

"Okay Booms, we're going in." Sucking in a deep breath and patting down my hair, I marched toward the Manston house. My boot heels clicked with confidence as I strode toward my goal. I’d worked so hard to avoid confronting Maggie that I was twisted in knots. But now that I strode toward that confrontation, the knots loosened and I felt free.

The buzz of steady traffic on Orange Grove seemed to egg me on, but my head jerked at the sound of a familiar rumble. I quickened my pace then stopped at the sight of Manny’s red Trans Am backing slowly down Maggie's driveway.

Stock-still and staring I said, "Manny?"

Manny didn't see me because he was watching traffic for an opening. I could've screamed my head off to get his attention, but the Cuban salsa thumping inside the car made everything else white noise. He hit the gas, and I ran toward the rumbling muscle car screaming at him. But my legs were no match for the Trans Am, and he shot out onto Orange Grove and sped toward Colorado before I could get near him. "You son of a bitch!"

<<>>

I slammed through the door and the stack of papers in Joe's hands shot up into the air, then fluttered to the floor. "Dag nabbit Scotti!" He bent over to pick up the papers. "You trying to give me a heart attack?"

Zelda mopped up a her spilled soda with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "Damn it, Scotti. Where have you been?" Surrounded by stacks of paper, she sat cross-legged on the floor. "I've been calling you for hours."

I tossed my bag on the floor and frowned at the place. "This is worse than I remember it."

Zelda got up on her tippy-toes, careful not to disturb her stacks and stepped out of the circle of papers. "Maybe if we had more help, it wouldn't look so bad to you."

Crouching, I scooped up folders from the floor. "Where do these go?" I looked for a place to put them, but there were stacks everywhere I looked.

Zelda waved an arm. "Wherever. We still haven't figured out the right starting point." She blew a strand of stray hair out of her eyes. "What's with you? You look weird. What happened?"

I continued to scan the room for a place to put the files. "Where do you want these?"

Zelda took the stack out of my hands and set it on Joe's desk. "You just asked that question." She nudged me into a chair, then leaned her butt on the desk. "Scotti tell Zelda what's wrong."

I rubbed my face and groaned. "So, guess who the other buyer is? It’s Maggie Manston."

Zelda slid off the desk and dropped to her knees. "What?"

I nodded. "That’s right, you heard me."

Joe dropped his stack of papers on the desk. "And you know this on account of what exactly?"

I slouched in my seat. "On account of I went for a drive and sort of ended up at Maggie Manston's."

Zelda sighed and dropped her head to her chest. "Why did you go there?"

I turned to Joe. "I went over there to talk to her. Woman to woman? Just explain things?" I shrugged. "What could it hurt, right? So, as I'm walking up to the house, I see Manny pulling out of her drive!" I groaned. "Son-of-a-bitch!"

Zelda wrinkled her nose. "Are you sure? Why would Manny be there?"

I flailed my arms at her. "Well, he's not giving her salsa lessons."

"Still…"

I barked at her, "Still, nothing! No, it all makes sense now. Remember that envelope I found from Sessions law firm in Manny’s garbage? And how Manny looked at Lily when she was in the diner, then acted like he didn't know her? She's the go-between." I shook my fists. "No wonder she's been hanging around. The little spy."

Zelda punched a fist in the air. "That bitch!"

Joe shook his head. "That don't work."

I frowned at him. "Yes it does. Why not?"

Joe plopped in his chair and pulled a legal pad and a pen toward him. "When did Manny tell you there was a another buyer?"

"The day we found out George was dead," Zelda said.

Joe wrote that down. "And after that you went to see Maggie, right?"

I nodded. Joe wrote that down. "And she didn't know you from Adam? Thought you were the help?"

I nodded again. Joe wrote that down. "And the lawyer told you George left you that money when?"

I shrugged. "A few days after that."

He tapped the notepad with his pen. "So why would Maggie want to buy your diner? Be honest now, what reason could she have?"

I looked at Zelda then back at him and shrugged. "Spite?"

Joe nodded. "Uh-huh. For what? She never met you 'til a few days ago."

I waved a hand at him. "Because George left me all that money and she’s pissed about it." Joe looked at me and waited. "What?"

Joe sighed and stroked his chin. "If Manny had a buyer before you ever set eyes on Maggie and she ever set eyes on you
—
how could she be the other buyer?"

I slumped in my chair. "Right because she didn’t know about the will until after that." I thought for a minute. "Except we don’t know that she didn’t know about the will. She was George’s wife, she could’ve known long before me. That has to be it, right?" I looked at them for agreement. "It’s the only thing that explains Manny being at her house."

Joe stared at his legal pad and frowned. "Maggie ain't the only one that lives in that house is she?"

I raised my head. "Lily and Lauren live there too. So?"

Joe held out his hand and shrugged. "So maybe he went to see one of them."

Zelda shook her head and grunted. "Lauren is clueless and Lily doesn't have any money of her own."

Joe laughed and his belly shook. "Her daddy was a wealthy man. You mean to tell me that he didn't set her up with a trust fund or a big old bank account?" I rubbed my neck and sighed a lot but said nothing. He rocked in his chair. "Truth is, we don't know what Miss Lily's got up her sleeve or bank account, as the case may be." He picked up his legal pad and tapped it against the desk. "Dang good thing I got somebody running a background check on her though."

Zelda moved some files off a chair and sat down. "How’d you do that? Don’t you need her social to do that?"

Joe waved a pocket notepad at her. "Well, Lily's lab report had plenty of information. And before it conveniently disappeared, I took down a few notes."

Zelda leaned her elbows on her knees. "She could’ve lied on that too."

Joe squeaked forward in his chair. "Thing is, even when folks are lying they put some truth in there anyways. I got a friend in Michigan where she's from looking into things."

I raised my head and my eyebrows. "Michigan?"

Joe chuckled. "Now see, y'all didn't know she was from Michigan did you?" He slapped the desk with his palm. "If woulda read your own files, y’all would've known that. And that's what detecting is all about ladies
—
the details."

We spent the rest of the afternoon putting Joe's office back together. Eventually files found homes in cabinet drawers, papers were filed in their rightful folders, and a list of missing items was compiled. Most of our notes and copies had been stolen as well as

the hard drives to Joe's and Eric's computers. Joe was most concerned about missing data from cases that had nothing to do with George. The burglar did the equivalent of a smash and grab
—
taking more than he probably needed.

Fortunately, Eric had the flash-drive and George's phone with him during the break-in. He’d also installed a self destruct program on the hard drives so if anyone tried to get into them, they’d come up empty. But a program is only as good as the hacker who creates it, so we didn't know how much data was compromised. After the break-in, Eric installed new hard drives and restored their data from the network backups, but the paper files didn't have such an efficient system.

Meanwhile, I ruminated on Joe's timeline theory. We met Lily several days after we met Maggie, so why would Lily be a more likely buyer? George had told Lily about me and the diner, so it didn't make sense that he wouldn't have also told Maggie and Lauren. I believed they all knew who I was the moment they saw me. And as to the spite angle, Maggie could be buying the diner to spite George. What better way to pay back an unfaithful spouse? Buying the thing that represented his fresh start away from her? That was classic revenge.

By early evening, the office was back to normal. The backup copies I'd given to Marge could replace the originals, and our notes could be reconstructed, but the real problem was that the thief knew what we had, and therefore could anticipate our next moves. And we didn't know who the thief was – Lily? Maggie? Jake? For all we knew it could've been Daniels and Davis acting on the Mayor's orders.

Zelda and I slouched in the visitor chairs while Joe surveyed his kingdom proudly. "Place looks shiny as a new penny. And I thank you."

"Thank us? It's our fault this happened to you."

Joe flapped a hand at me. "Oh pish."