Georgia Peach Truffle Murder (A Maple Hills Cozy Mystery Book 5) Read online

  Hawk looked up at Nikki's bed. He hadn't considered that fact. “That's true,” he said.

  “The shooter knew Jack was wearing a vest,” Nikki continued.

  “How do you know that?”

  “Hawk, if the shooter wanted Jack dead, he could have easily done it. Also,” Nikki continued, “Jack said Matting asked him to arrive at the construction site early, before anyone else. Now that seems logical if you want to kill someone... no witnesses right?”

  “Right.”

  “But what if you're staging a fake shooting?” Nikki asked Hawk. “The last thing you would want is a lot of workers around.”

  “So you're implying that Matting, Jack, and Norris are on the same team?” Hawk asked.

  “I'm not sure,” Nikki told Hawk. “What I do know is that we need to speak with Dr. Falton, and then drive to New York and see who this Matting character is while taking a look at Greg Packard. Also, Hawk, we need to speak with Jack's partner, Stan.”

  “Okay,” Hawk said, cringing at the idea of all the footwork involved, “we'll get moving first thing in the morning.”

  “Not tomorrow morning,” Nikki objected. “Hawk, if Jack ran on us, he's most likely going to assume we're going to begin questioning people. Let's give it a few days, and slowly ease into the investigation. We need to let Jack think we've gone cold on his trail. Also, you need to call Chief Daily. If Jack decides to check on you, I want him to believe you and I are back in Vermont.”

  “Smart woman,” Hawk told Nikki. “So what do we do in the meantime?”

  “Stay right here,” Nikki told Hawk. “Jack knows we chose this town at random. I doubt he thinks we'll remain at a random stop in the road. Besides, we have Edna's Home Cooking to feed us every night.”

  Hawk smiled. “Remind me to marry you.”

  “Someday,” Nikki smiled back. “Well, I'm exhausted. Good night, Hawk. Sweet dreams… you big lug.”

  “Sweet dreams, princess,” Hawk replied, and closed his eyes.

  Silence fell in the hotel room. Outside, the rain continued to fall and the wind continued to cry. Nikki lay with her eyes closed, listening to the wind. A few minutes later, she heard a low snore coming from Hawk. Smiling, she drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Six

  As Nikki and Hawk slept, William sat on the side of a gas station in a black sedan. “Hawk Daily,” he spoke into the cell phone. “The woman is most likely Nikki Bates, then?”

  “Yes, sir,” a nervous man replied. “We hacked into the security cameras in the hospital. The images of the man and woman we pulled from the cameras match the names. Stan eventually confessed that the man is in fact Hawk Daily. The newspaper archives we pulled from Daily's town show him with the woman. I've texted you the image. The woman is Nikki Bates.”

  “Why would Jack involve these two?” William demanded, looking out of a rain-soaked windshield. Reaching down with his right hand, William picked up a brown coffee cup and took a sip of black coffee.

  “From the information, we were able to acquire, sir, Nikki Bates was a well-known journalist in Atlanta. Daily is a highly decorated cop from New York who relocated to Vermont. The Chief of Police in the town Daily lives in is his father.”

  “Tight and snug,” William replied listening to the heavy rain fall on his car. “Jack calls on an old cop friend who just happens to be associated with a journalist.”

  “We believe Jack has talked to Nikki Bates, sir. Mr. Dellington and Mr. Haim fear the woman might make Jack's story go viral across the media outlets. Precautionary measures are being taken right now, but we can't control every media outlet. Mr. Dellington and Mr. Haim request that you focus your attention on Nikki Bates and Hawk Daily as well. They will reward you generously.”

  “Did you get a read on the Jeep?” William asked in a stern voice.

  “Security footage showed Jack leaving with Nikki Bates and Hawk Daily in a personal jeep, sir. We... were unable to get a read on the license plate.”

  William sipped on his coffee. “You can tell Mr. Dellington and Mr. Haim that unless I am provided with sound information, I will walk away into the night, are we clear? I will not waste my time chasing three people that could be halfway across the country by now.”

  “Yes, sir,” the man told William, becoming more nervous. “Sir, I will spend the night tracking them down. I will have solid leads for you come morning.”

  “You do that,” William said and ended the call. Staring into the dark night, William gritted his teeth. He didn't care about Nikki Bates or Hawk Daily. The only man he wanted dead was Jack. However, if Nikki Bates and Hawk Daily needed to be eliminated, then so be it.

  The following morning, Nikki awoke to Hawk shaking her shoulder. “Get up, Nikki,” Hawk said in an alarmed voice. “Nikki, wake up.”

  “What... huh?” Nikki mumbled, slowly opening her eyes. To her surprise, Hawk was already dressed in a green shirt and pair of jeans. “We gotta get moving. Pop called me. Somebody from Dellington and Haim called him and inquired about us. These people know who we are. If they know who we are, they can track our bank cards. Get up and get moving.”

  Alarm shot through Nikki's chest. How could she have missed such an obvious fact? Sitting up, she threw her legs over the side of the bed. “I'll be ready in five minutes,” she said, wiping the sleep out of her eyes with both hands, like a tired little girl does when she first awakes.

  Hawk had his gun out. He walked to the window in the hotel room and eased back the thick, brown curtain. Looking out into the rain, he examined the wet parking lot. He spotted his jeep, a white Ford Truck, a blue Honda, and a Gray SUV parked in the parking lot. Each of the vehicles was from out of state. Hawk had checked with the front desk clerk and inquired about the owners of each vehicle. The front desk clerk showed Hawk copies he made of the driver's license belonging to each owner of the vehicles. As far as Hawk could tell, no one seemed suspicious. He wasn't taking any chances, though.

  Nikki stood and hurried into the bathroom. Hawk kept his back to the room. After wetting her face and brushing her teeth, Nikki threw on a dark green dress, slammed her suitcase shut, grabbed her purse, and told Hawk she was ready. Hawk nodded. He picked up Nikki's suitcase and walked to the hotel room door. “We move fast,” he told Nikki, shoving his gun into a holster he attached to his belt.

  Nikki nodded. When Hawk opened the hotel room door, Nikki walked as quickly as she could to his jeep, ignoring the falling rain, and climbed in. Hawk handed Nikki her suitcase, slammed the passenger's side door shut, ran around to the driver's side, jumped in, and got the jeep moving. “We're staying on the back roads,” Hawk told Nikki, taking a hard left out of the hotel parking lot. “I want to stay away from the interstate. Use your cell phone to pull up GPS for me, okay.”

  Still half asleep, Nikki did as Hawk requested. “What is our destination?”

  “Dr. Falton. We need a back way into Atlanta. Eventually, we'll have to get back on the interstate, but for now, I want to use the back roads as much as possible.”

  “Hawk, we're going to have to use our bank cards sooner or later. Neither one of us has any heavy cash on us. All I have is my emergency twenty-dollar bill,” Nikki pointed out.

  “I took care of that. Pop is going to wire us some cash.”

  “Oh dear,” Nikki sighed, “Chief Daily must be very upset then.”

  “Nah,” Hawk replied, driving down a wet, two-lane back road, passing small country homes with neatly trimmed yards. “Well... he's worried,” Hawk amended.

  Nikki leaned back in her seat. Focusing on finding a new route back to Atlanta, she kept her eyes on the cell phone. “You can stay on this road for a few more miles,” she told Hawk. “We're driving north, but this road ends at a road that cuts straight west. From there we can start weaving northwest back to Atlanta.”

  “Good,” Hawk told Nikki. “Hey, I didn't mean to scare you out of your sleep. I'm sorry. My gut was telling me to get us moving.”

  “I trust you,�
� Nikki told Hawk. Hungering for a donut and hot cup of coffee, Nikki spotted a gas station. “Time to use my emergency twenty-dollar bill,” she said and asked Hawk to pull into the gas station. “Please? I'll be quick. I promise.”

  Hawk hesitated and then swung his jeep into the gas station. The gas station was privately owned from the looks of it, housed in a tan concrete building that appeared well kept. A red truck was parked on the side of the building. Nikki patted Hawk's shoulder. “I'll be right back.”

  Hawk watched Nikki jump out of the jeep, hurry into the gas station, and vanish. “You're going to give me gray hair,” he whispered. While he waited for Nikki, Hawk checked his gun. When Nikki came out of the gas station carrying two cups of coffee and a bag full of donuts, Hawk smiled. The truth was, he could use a cup of coffee and he was hungry. No sense in starting the day on an empty belly.

  “Breakfast of Champions,” Nikki announced, crawling back into the passenger's seat. Hawk winked at Nikki, pulled away from the gas station, and got back on the road.

  “Here you go,” Nikki said, handing Hawk his coffee while carefully putting her coffee down in the drink holder. Reaching into a paper bag she pulled out a pack of glazed donuts. “I've got glazed, chocolate, and powdered donuts, kind sir. Which do you prefer?”

  “Glazed,” Hawk told Nikki, taking a sip of his coffee. “Not bad.”

  Nikki opened the pack of donuts in her hand, took Hawk's coffee, put the cup down in a cup holder next to her own, and handed Hawk his donuts. After taking out a pack of chocolate donuts for herself, Nikki leaned back in her seat. “I didn't think about our bank cards being tracked last night.”

  “We were both exhausted,” Hawk told Nikki taking a bite of a donut. “The important thing is we're safe, and putting distance between us and the hotel.”

  A horrible thought raced through Nikki's mind. “Hawk, the desk clerk back at the hotel made copies of our driver's license.”

  Hawk nodded down at his pants pocket with his chin. “I took care of that. I have the copies in my pocket.”

  “Smart,” Nikki told Hawk. “Hawk,” she said trying to control her worry, “if Dellington and Haim called Chief Daily, they know who we are and where we live.”

  “Yep,” Hawk said eating a second donut. “Pop is sending a man to watch Lidia and Tori at your store.”

  “You don't seem too worried that these people know who we are and where we live?”

  “I'm worried, alright,” Hawk told Nikki picking up his coffee, “but as long as we're not at home, the people we care about are safe.”

  Nikki caught onto Hawk's meaning. “So, we stay away from home,” she said, taking a bite of her donut. “We stay away from home until we bring down the bad guys.”

  “That's about the sum of it,” Hawk replied. “Nikki, if we want to go home, we gotta bring down the bad guys. I'm really going to need your brains in this case, okay. You're the smart one.”

  “You're smart, too,” Nikki pointed out. “Hawk, we make a good team. We're a single book with different pages that fit together perfectly.”

  “I know,” Hawk agreed. Sipping his coffee, he looked over at Nikki. “You're so beautiful. I just wanted to tell you that. You deserve to be sitting in a fine restaurant with a guy who can walk you home without putting your life in danger. Sometimes I wonder why you want to be seen with a slouch like myself.”

  “You're a good, honest, decent man, Hawk. In today's world, that makes you a rarity.”

  “Maybe someday,” Hawk told Nikki, returning his focus to the road, “I'll be able to walk you home without putting your life in danger.”

  “Hey,” Nikki said putting her soft hand on Hawk's forearm, “we're going to solve this case and bring down the bad guys, I promise. And then, you big lug, you can walk me home every night and kiss me at the front door. And who knows, Hawk, maybe someday you might put a wedding ring on my finger. If that day ever arrives, I won't shy away. But for now, just being a couple is nice; being a couple is what I need. I feel safe with you, Hawk, and I feel... loved. Those two things are what any woman wants.”

  Hawk smiled. “All I want to is go home, sit in your kitchen, watch you make chocolate, and drink coffee.”

  “It's a date,” Nikki promised. “Now, let's focus on this case. We have to speak with Dr. Falton, Hawk. Chances are Dellington and Haim might suspect that?”

  “I don't think so,” Hawk disagreed. “Nikki, I think Jack, Matting, and Norris were working together under Dellington and Haim's radar. Somehow, though, they caught on. Don't ask me how. Anyway, that's my theory.”

  “So you believe it's safe to speak with Dr. Falton?” Nikki asked.

  “Yeah, I do,” Hawk replied. “Dr. Falton is a real doctor, working at a very prestigious hospital. My gut tells me this guy was pushed into a corner against his will, the same way we were.”

  Nikki thought about what Hawk has said. It seemed possible. “The question is how are we going to speak with Dr. Falton? Hawk, if I mention my name to him, he might know who I am. My reputation still lingers. Dr. Falton may recognize me.”

  “But not me,” Hawk pointed out. “I'll speak with Falton, Nikki. I know there are a lot of people in Atlanta who are not happy with you because of the two cases you cracked open back in Vermont; it's better if you remain under the radar.”

  “I was planning, too,” Nikki told Hawk. “If you noticed, I didn't have you post a big banner on your jeep announcing my arrival when we arrived in Atlanta and…” Nikki stopped talking.

  “What?” Hawk asked.

  “I could call my detective friend, the man you met in Vermont. I would be risking his life if I called him. Hawk, anyone we involve, we place in danger. We're truly alone in this case.”

  “We have each other,” Hawk said putting down his coffee. “Listen, we'll take this case one step at a time. First, we'll speak with Dr. Falton and then drive to New York.”

  “Okay,” Nikki agreed. Sipping on her coffee she grew silent. Staring into the rain she thought back to the cruise ship she and Hawk had taken passage on. The cruise ship had fought its way through a dangerous storm and came out still floating. Nikki felt like the cruise ship, fighting her way through one storm after another.

  Chapter Seven

  Miles down the road, William pulled into the hotel Nikki and Hawk had escaped from. Parking the black sedan at the front lobby, he studied the hotel parking lot. “The jeep is not here,” he spoke into his cell phone. “I will question the clerk inside.”

  “Sir, Hawk Daily's bank card was used at this location last night. He and the woman should be at the hotel,” a man replied in a worried voice.

  “Unless they know they're now being tracked,” William snapped. “Hawk Daily is a cop, after all, you idiot. And Nikki Bates is a journalist. I spent most of the night researching them. They are not stupid people!”

  “Yes sir, we understand that, sir. I will--”

  “You will wait for further instructions from me,” William hissed and ended the call. Gritting his teeth, he exited the sedan and entered the front lobby. Walking across the tan tiled floor, William stopped at a green guest counter. A young man who was plump, and obviously suffered from low self-esteem, stood up from a work desk behind the counter. “I need information,” William said, as he pulled out a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket.

  “Are you a cop, too?” the desk clerk asked.

  “Why, yes, I am,” William said, putting the one-hundred-dollar bill down on the counter. Fishing out his fake FBI Badge, he presented it to the desk clerk. “I am looking for a man and a woman.”

  “They left about an hour ago,” the desk clerk explained, eyeing the money.

  “Which direction did they go?” William asked, patiently.

  “Is that money mine if I answer right?” the desk clerk asked.

  William nodded. “Yes.”

  The desk clerk tossed his thumb back toward the interstate. “You're looking for a guy named Detective Daily, aren't you?”
>
  “Yes.”

  “He came in here asking a few questions… lame. I knew his badge was fake,” the desk clerk explained dismissively.

  “What kind of questions?”

  “Questions about the other guests staying here,” the desk clerk answered. “Anyway, he took off back toward the interstate. Said something about going to Los Angeles?”

  “Why Los Angeles?” William asked.

  The desk clerk shrugged his shoulders. “He didn't say. All the guy did was give me twenty dollars and told me if anyone asked about him to make up a few lies.”

  “Thank you for your time. The money is yours,” William told the desk clerk. Walking back outside, he climbed into the sedan and pulled out of the hotel parking lot, driving back toward the interstate.

  The desk clerk grinned, grabbed the one hundred dollar bill, and shoved it into his pants pocket. “I may be fat, but I'm not stupid. I can spot a fake badge any day.” Sitting back down at the desk, he pulled Hawk's card out of his pocket, picked up the phone, and dialed Hawk's cell phone number. “Detective Daily, this is Dan, back at the hotel. Some guy just came in asking about you. Don't worry, though, I sent him in the opposite direction on a wild goose chase.”

  Hawk thanked Dan. “Thank you, son. You're an amazing young man.”

  “No, thank you,” Dan told Hawk, “for making me realize that I'm not a loser. Can I call you sometime... maybe to talk?”

  “Anytime you need me, son, you call,” Hawk told Dan. “Before you hang up, can you tell me what this man looked like?”

  Dan described what William looked like. “He was wearing a black suit, maybe in his fifties, gray hair... real serious face. He was driving a black car... a sedan, I think.”

  “Dan, you're my hero. I'll be in touch, okay. You have two people sitting in this jeep who want to thank you personally.”