Double Dip Dilemma: A Cozy Mystery (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book 5) (2 page)

“Charlie, are you trying to kill us?” Stormi huffed and puffed.

“Of course not,” he replied. “You mean you can’t keep up with an old man?”

“Not when he’s strapped into a wheelchair with an engine I can’t.” Stormi replied as she opened the door.

“Nope! Close it!” Paige barked. She looked at Charlie. “Going to have to put that cigar out big guy. No smoking in the malt shoppe.”

Charlie took the cigar out of his mouth and promptly handed it to Paige. “Hang onto it for me won’t you.”

Paige grimaced as she reluctantly took a hold of the cigar between two fingertips.

“Can I open the door now?” Stormi asked, her eyes twinkling with glee.

“Sure…why not,” Paige answered as she bent over to stub out the lit end of the cigar on the sidewalk.

Charlie greeted the customers already in the shoppe. Almost everyone knew Ol Charlie, as he’d been a fixture on Main Street for decades.

“Stormi, could I bother you for a cup of coffee?” He asked.

Stormi walked behind the ice cream counter. “Don’t you want some yummy ice cream Charlie?”

“No dear, dairy hurts my stomach. A cup of coffee will do.”

Stormi grabbed a cup. “So you want that black right or with sugar?”

“A little creamer dear.”

Stormi gave him a confused look. “Wait…what? I thought…”

I grabbed her arm and shook my head. You don’t argue with Charlie…just do as you’re told.

“Ummm okay, creamer it is,” Stormi replied still shaking her head.

Paige walked through the door, put the now unlit cigar in a napkin and handed it back to Charlie. “Here ya go Charlie…save it for later.”

“Much obliged,” he answered. I could tell from the little smile that danced across his lips he liked messing with Paige.

Stormi brought him his coffee and he took a sip. “Wonderful my dear. Thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome,” Stormi answered. “Now are you sure you’re okay? You didn’t get hit by any flying debris from the accident?”

Charlie took another sip. “No…will the lady be alright?”

“You mean the one in the accident Charlie?” Stormi asked. Charlie nodded.

“She may have some cuts and bruises, but I think she’ll be okay.”

Other customers streamed through the door wanting to know what happened and ordering various ice cream concoctions like malts, sundaes and smoothies. The day went by quick as customers came and went. Charlie was allowed to mosey on back to his bench in front of the hardware store after the vehicles were towed from the scene.

Bruce and Paige went back to work in the building next door to mine. Bruce opened a financial planning business and Paige was helping out as part time receptionist. Sammy, their daughter, would come by after school to help Stormi and me with the evening crowd.

It was 4pm when Sammy and her boyfriend Colton entered the shoppe. Before Stormi and I could say hello, Sammy was asking about the accident that morning.

“So you heard about that huh?” I asked.

Sammy put on her apron as Colton sat down at one of the tables. “Yes we did. In fact the woman in the accident is the stepmother to Colton’s best friend Jeremy.”

“Oh wow,” Stormi exclaimed as she replenished the waffle and sugar cones on the counter behind the ice cream case. “Have you heard how she’s doing?”

“They released her from the hospital,” Colton answered. “She’s shook up and they told her she might be sore for a few days, but other than that she’s okay.”

“That’s good,” I replied. “She said something about her brakes not working.”

Sammy pulled her long dark tresses back into a ponytail. “That’s what Jeremy told us as well. The car was totaled so they were going to take it to the salvage yard, but now it’s at the police station. I guess they’re checking it over to see what happened with the brakes.”

Colton placed his ever-present laptop on the table and opened it. “Yes it’s odd because Jeremy and I took the car to the auto shop a week ago to have it serviced. You would think the mechanics would inspect the brake lines.”

I put a small scoop of my new flavor Chocolate Explosion in a cup and walked around the counter to give it to Colton. “Here, try my new flavor and see how you like it.”

“Thanks,” Colton answered.

I knew he loved ice cream so named him my new taste tester. “That is odd about the service call. I don’t think I would want to take my auto there for a maintenance visit if they aren’t that thorough.”

Sammy began emptying the trash receptacles scattered around the store. “Unless the brake line was cut.”

Stormi dropped the ice cream scoop she held in her hand back into the water bin installed into the ice cream case. “You sound like your mother.”

Sammy pulled the bag from the trash receptacle. “Is that a bad thing?” She smirked at Stormi.

“Not necessarily,” Stormi teased back. “Evidently you have her suspicious streak.”

Sammy tied the ends of the bag closed. “I’ve heard you have the same streak.”

“My dear, suspicion is my middle name,” Stormi answered with a smile.

“And she’s not kidding!” In walked the man who was becoming the love of my life. Stormi’s brother Brandon.

If you told me this one year ago, or heck even 6 months ago, I would have laughed hysterically in your face. Brandon and I grew up with one another and the idea of us being a couple didn’t hit me until a couple of months prior. I began looking at him differently. Not as the mischievous boy he once was, but as the man he’d become. Hard working, humorous, giving and caring. Everything I’d been looking for in a man and hadn’t found was right under my nose the entire time. We’d been dating for around a month now and even double dated a few times with Stormi and Greg. But mostly we loved to pick up a pizza, rent a movie, and curl up with Winchester on the couch.

So here he walked into the shoppe, his thick black hair tousled after a full day of work. His blue eyes danced as he walked over, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and sat down at the table with Colton and me.

“Listen brother, you’re the one that made me this way…you and your impish ways,” Stormi said as she wiped the counter.

Brandon ignored her. “So I heard about the excitement here on Main Street. Lucky that Ol’ Charlie didn’t become a hood ornament.”

“Brandon!” I admonished. “Actually the entire episode didn’t faze him in the least.”

Brandon leaned back in his chair. “Doesn’t surprise me a bit. The guy’s got nerves of steel.”

“Uh oh…” Colton said with his mouth full of Chocolate Explosion. He stared at his laptop screen.

Sammy walked over to him and looked at the screen. “What is it? Oh my gosh!”

Stormi tossed the dishtowel she was using to wipe down the counter over her shoulder. “Good grief younguns…what is it?”

Sammy pointed to the screen. “It’s the Caesars Creek Gazette online website. It says the police suspect foul play in this morning’s accident on Main Street.”

At that moment, Paige and Bruce walked into the shoppe. “So I guess you’ve heard,” Paige said as Bruce took a seat at the table next to Brandon, Colton and I.

“Just now,” Stormi answered.

A few customers came in and I walked around the counter to take their orders as the others carried on their conversation. Winchester decided it was too noisy not to get into the mix and rose from his bed and promptly jumped into Brandon’s lap.

Paige took a seat at Bruce’s table. “Mrs. Morgan said she had no brakes. I wonder if someone cut them.”

Sammy pulled another full bag out of the trash receptacle in the rear of the shoppe. “That’s what I said.”

“But who would cut the brake line on her car?” Bruce asked.

Colton wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I know who she’ll blame.”

Everyone turned to look at Colton. Stormi wasn’t much on patience. “Spill it kid.”

Paige rolled her eyes. “Did anyone ever tell you how subtle you are?” She asked.

Stormi looked at her as if she had two heads. “No.”

Bruce muffled a chuckle and waved a hand at Colton. “Proceed son.”

Colton turned off his computer and shut the laptop closed. “Jeremy Morgan is my best friend and Sandra is his step mom. His dad left his mom for Sandra several years ago. Jeremy’s mom wanted to move to New York, but Jeremy and his little brother Joshua didn’t want to be uprooted so they stayed on with their dad. Thing is, Sandra doesn’t like Jeremy although she will tolerate Joshua…maybe because he’s younger.”

“How old is Joshua?” Stormi asked.

“He just turned 13,” Colton answered. “Anyway there’s been a lot of fighting between Jeremy and Sandra. She keeps trying to talk his dad into shipping him off to NY but Jeremy wants to stay here, at least until he graduates. Caesars Creek is all he’s ever known. There’s no love lost between the two, so I’m betting she will blame Jeremy.”

Stormi stood up. “Maybe she cut them herself.”

Bruce shifted in his seat. “Storm, that’s crazy talk. You really think she would put herself in jeopardy like that. Pretty peculiar behavior if she did.”

“She’s kind of wacko,” Sammy said. “I’ve met her a few times when Colton and I have gone over to Jeremy’s house.”

“How do you mean?” Paige asked.

“She’s so hateful to Jeremy, but in the same instant, she’ll be all goo-goo with Joshua. It’s somewhat sickening. I think she’s trying to put a wedge between them.”

“Is she?” Stormi asked as she gathered the small vases of flowers I had arranged on each of my tables.

Sammy looked at Colton. “I don’t think so do you Colton?”

Colton stood up and took his now empty cup and plastic spoon to the trash bin. “No…they know what she’s up to and their bond is greater than anything she can toss at them. Although Joshua’s young, he knows what she’s up to.”

“That’s good,” Paige replied. “Onto a happier subject. Do we all want to sit together at the upcoming free concert around the courthouse Saturday night? We’ll bring a cooler of drinks and sandwiches.”

Every year Caesars Creek holds a free country music concert on the courthouse grounds, weather permitting. There’s only been one year it was moved to the school gym because of cold temps, but this year with the Indian summer looked to be a gorgeous evening. The music was provided by local and regional talent where they could sell their CD and get further recognition.

“Greg and I will bring potato salad, deviled eggs, and cole slaw,” Stormi chimed in.

“Brandon and I will bring the desserts…not ice cream though.”

“Bring the brownies with pockets of peanut butter on the inside,” Bruce said as he rose from his chair and rubbed his stomach. “I’ll have to diet the rest of the week, but it will be worth it.”

The gang left shortly after we determined a time and place to meet for the concert. Sammy, Stormi and I closed the store by 7pm. I closed earlier in the cooler months as not as many customers came in late. As I was closing up the shoppe Sammy turned to Stormi and said, “Think Greg will tell you what’s going on with the Morgan investigation?”

“He can if the information won’t hurt the case. If there’s something only the culprit would know, he won’t divulge that information to me,” Stormi said as she pushed the button on her key to unlock her car door. “Is there something you want to know?”