Peppermint Chocolate Murder (A Maple Hills Cozy Mystery Book 2) Read online

  “I don't hate you,” Nikki told Hawk in a soft voice, finally understanding the truth. “Where were you last night?”

  “I went to the lodge...and, well, broke the law. I couldn't get a search warrant from the judge, so I trespassed onto private property,” Hawk said, shaking his head in exhaustion.

  “You think Mr. Snowfield is the owner of the truck?” Nikki asked.

  “That was my hunch, but I came up empty-handed. But let me say this, the back of your SUV is smashed pretty good, so the front end of the truck that hit you has to be in pretty bad shape, too,” Hawk explained. “The sorry part of this story is that there isn't a truck registered to the Snowfields.”

  “On the American side,” Nikki pointed out to Hawk. “Mr. Snowfield could have driven the truck over the border.”

  “I thought about that,” Hawk said impressed with Nikki's quick thinking. “Nikki, listen, my hunch is that the Snowfields stole whatever money was in the suitcase. But that still leaves a killer...and a very serious question: Why didn't the killer take the money?”

  “Maybe the killer wanted the money to be found?” Nikki asked and took a sip of her coffee. “Henry Greendale worked for a security firm. He was working in a major bank at the time of his death. His car was stolen by a man who remains a John Doe.”

  “But why would the killer want our John Doe caught with the money? I can't even find out who the guy is!”

  “Maybe the identity of our John Doe, Hawk, was in the suitcase,” Nikki suggested.

  Hawk stared at Nikki. “You're as brilliant as you are beautiful,” he said without worrying if Nikki accepted the compliment or not. “So we need to find the money, which leads us back to the Snowfields.”

  “What was the name of the security firm Mr. Greendale worked for?” Nikki asked, sidestepping around the Snowfields for a few minutes.

  “Prestige Security, why?”

  “Well,” Nikki said, thinking, “it wouldn't hurt to get a list of all the employees, anyone who knew Mr. Greendale personally and—” Nikki paused.

  “What?” Hawk pressed.

  “What about his wife? What about Mr. Greendale's wife?”

  “They were separated at the time of his death,” Hawk told Nikki and then added, “Ah, I see. We need to track down his wife.”

  Nikki smiled. “Partners?”

  “If you get shot, I'll kill you myself,” Hawk said, drained his coffee, and then shook Nikki's hand. Standing up he walked to the back door. “Okay, stay in town today, and I mean it. Tonight we'll sneak back out to the lodge and look around and—”

  “Hawk,” Nikki said, drawing in a deep breath, “I talked with Zach yesterday. He was the first person into the room.” Nikki explained her conversation with Zach to Hawk. “He swears that he didn't touch the suitcase and didn't even step foot back in the room, for that matter.”

  “Yeah, I kinda figured I was being lied to. It was pretty obvious that the Snowfields had coached that boy into acting stupid, too,” Hawk told Nikki. Taking everything in, he focused on what Nikki had said about seeing Mr. Snowfield carrying a shovel back from the lake. “If Mr. Snowfield buried the money—and he probably did—man, it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

  “I know,” Nikki agreed. “Hawk, I need the list of the members of that women's club that's supposed to be arriving at the lodge. I need the names of all the guests.”

  “Unless I get a warrant, which I can't—the judge is really being stubborn on this one—I don't see how we can get that list.”

  Nikki stood up from her chair. “Hawk, I bet ten dollars that Mr. Greendale's wife is a guest on that list.”

  “I'll find out,” Hawk promised. “In the meantime, you stay in town, okay? You put a few gray hairs on my head last night.”

  “I promise I'll stay in town,” Nikki told Hawk. “I have a feeling I'm going to have a cop following me around like a shadow all day, anyway.”

  “That's right, you are.” Hawk smiled and opened the back door. “I'll be back after dark, and we'll go to the lodge together. I doubt we'll find anything, but maybe?”

  “We have to find that money,” Nikki warned Hawk. “Without the money we're sunk.”

  “I know,” Hawk agreed. “See you later,” he said and closed the back door.

  “It's a date,” Nikki smiled.

  Chapter Eleven

  After waking Tori up and taking a hot shower, Nikki dressed in a dark gray dress and walked outside onto her front porch. With her SUV in the shop, she was dependent on Lidia. Spotting a cop car parked across the street, Nikki bit down on her lower lip. “Play it nice for today,” she cautioned herself, “and do as Hawk asked. There is no sense in making an old man use you as target practice.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Tori asked stepping out onto the front porch.

  “Oh, just the voices in my head,” Nikki joked turning around. “No,” she said examining the small t-shirt Tori was wearing. “Come on, honey, back inside.”

  Twenty minutes later Tori stepped back onto the front porch wearing a soft pink dress. “I feel funny,” she told Nikki in a nervous voice.

  “You look beautiful,” Nikki beamed. “Now, this is the way you should always look. Tori, you're a very beautiful young woman.”

  Tori looked down at the pink pumps Nikki had given her. “No one has ever told me that I'm beautiful before.”

  “Someday the right man is going to come along and fall in love with your beauty,” Nikki promised. “You make sure he falls in love with your heart even more.”

  “You really think I'll actually fall in love someday?” Tori asked, feeling her cheeks blush bright red.

  “I do,” Nikki smiled and hugged Tori. “Now, your job today is to consider my offer. I think it would be great if you moved in with me. It's obvious to everyone that you're not happy living with your aunt.”

  “I'm not,” Tori confessed. “Nikki, I...what if you get sick of me and ask me to leave?”

  “That will never happen,” Nikki promised. “Tori, you're a very special young lady. You don't deserve to be unhappy. I'm not going to promise that living here will be exciting, but you'll be safe and have security. So if you're willing to tolerate me, I think it would be wonderful.”

  “Me, too,” Tori smiled happily. Hearing a car, she looked out at the driveway and saw Lidia pull up. “I hope she likes my dress.”

  “I'm sure she will and—” Nikki stopped talking when she saw Zach get out of the passenger's side of the car. Out of instinct, she eased Tori behind her back and slowly backed up to the open front door. “Inside,” she told Tori.

  Tori did as Nikki ordered. When she saw Lidia get out of her car and wave an 'it's okay' hand at her, she relaxed. “I found him walking. He said he had to speak with you,” Lidia called out to Nikki as Zach walked up onto the front porch.

  “Inside,” Nikki said glancing at the cop car parked across the street. She waved at the cop car in a way that told the officer watching her that everything was okay.

  “Yeah, whatever,” Zach said walking through the front door. As soon as he saw Tori his jaw hit the ground. “Hey again,” he said.

  “Oh brother,” Tori said, but she still blushed at the way Zach was looking at her.

  Closing the front door, Nikki approached Zach. “How did you know where I lived?”

  Zach looked at Tori and then at Lidia. Lidia folded her arms over a dark blue shirt. “You two ladies lied to me yesterday...cool, I guess.”

  Nikki examined Zach's black t-shirt and jeans. He looked like the type of guy who knew who to ram someone off a road with a truck. “I want an answer.”

  “Cool it,” Zach told Nikki, “I know what you're getting at. I wasn't the one driving the truck.”

  “Your grandfather then?” Nikki asked.

  Zach walked over to the living room couch and sat down. “Real nice place...too feminine for my taste, though.”

  “Don't make me hit you over the head with a baseball bat,” Lidia
warned Zach.

  “Cool it, Granny,” Zach told Lidia, “I come in peace, you know. I'm here because I want to do the right thing, so get off my back, okay?”

  “Doing the right thing means showing respect to your elders,” Nikki pointed out to Zach.

  “Yeah, okay...sorry,” Zach apologized to Lidia.

  “You can make it up by helping me at the store later,” Lidia told Zach, “and afterward I'll buy you lunch.”

  “Kinda hungry now,” Zach confessed. “I skipped breakfast.”

  “There's some breakfast food in the kitchen,” Nikki told Lidia.

  “How do you like your eggs?” Lidia asked Zach.

  “Well done...please.”

  Lidia smiled. “Now see, was that so hard? I can tell that you're going to be just fine, honey. Let Lidia go cook you a good homemade breakfast.”

  “Uh, sure,” Zach said, taken back by Lidia's sudden surge of warmness toward him.

  “I'll help,” Tori told Lidia. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Zach nervously put his hands together.

  “Okay,” Nikki said, sitting down, “what's going on?”

  “The old man was the one driving the truck, but don't think for a minute he's stupid.”

  “The truck is in Canada, isn't it?” Nikki asked.

  “Yeah,” Zach confessed. “I saw the old man drive the truck up the back trail. Man, I thought he killed you from the damage I saw.”

  “How did you know your grandfather was coming after me?”

  “I heard him talking to the old woman,” Zach explained. “I wanted to warn you, but how could I? I almost called the cops, but...that was a red light, too. I felt pretty bad all night. Anyway, I had to make sure you were alive.”

  “I appreciate that,” Nikki told Zach. “Now, tell me what you heard your grandparents talking about.”

  “The old man saw you leave yesterday,” Zach explained. “He grilled me about who you were. I played stupid and said you were just somebody looking for a room, but he saw your license plate. Local plates, not smart, you know.”

  “I know,” Nikki agreed. “Keep going, please.”

  “Well, your name was in the paper...some hotshot reporter from Atlanta who cracked a pretty big case around here a couple of weeks back.”

  “I see,” Nikki said, “so your grandfather thinks I'm a nosy reporter, then?”

  “That's what he told the old lady. He said he was going to scare you off,” Zach finished. “But let me tell you, he wasn't happy last night. He was angrier than a wet hornet. I heard him tell the old lady that they had to move fast, whatever that meant.”

  Nikki nibbled on her lip. “Zach, where do your grandparents think you are right now?”

  “They told me to take a hike...go for a walk...in other words, to get lost for a few hours,” Zach replied raising his eyes. “Hey, no sweat, right? I wanted to check on you anyway. I found out where you lived by asking a few people in town. Good thing your friend came along. Man, it’s a long walk.”

  “Okay,” Nikki said, grateful for Zach, “here's what I need from you, Zach. I need the names of all the women that are due to arrive at the lodge.”

  “You mean that women's club?”

  Nikki nodded her head. “Please.”

  “Yeah, sure, I guess I can get you the names.”

  “I also need you to keep your eyes open and call me,” Nikki said giving Zach the number to her cabin and the store. “Memorize the numbers.”

  “I got them,” Zach said, proud of his memory. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.”

  “The old man, whatever was in that dead man's suitcase, he stole it, didn't he?” Zach asked.

  “I think so, yes.”

  “I kinda figured he did, too, just by the way he forbade me to go back into the room,” Zach told Nikki. “What was it, money? What am I asking? The old man has always been a money-hungry wolf.”

  “Why?” Nikki asked. “The lodge should bring him in quite a bit of income each year.”

  “The lodge,” Zach said lowering his eyes, “the lodge is a really cool place, you know. I like it. I don't mind the whole living out in the woods like a bear type thing. And yeah, the old man and the old woman are doing pretty good for themselves, if they played by the rules, but...”

  “But what?” Nikki asked.

  “Oh come on,” Zach said keeping his eyes lowered, “you're the reporter. Put two and two together.”

  “Drugs?” Nikki asked.

  “Let's just say that the lodge isn't for guests only,” Zach told Nikki finally looking up at her. “The dead guy was probably a drug dealer or something, and the old man was more than happy to steal his money. Who knows, maybe the old man killed the guy himself?”

  “I don’t think so,” Nikki assured Zach. “I do believe your grandfather stole whatever was in the dead man's suitcase, which I do believe was money.”

  “You might as well kiss that money goodbye,” Zach told Nikki standing up from the couch.

  “I saw your grandfather walking back from the lake carrying a shovel yesterday,” Nikki dared to confess. Patiently, she waited for Zach to react.

  Walking to the fireplace, Zach examined the mantel. “That sneaky snake,” he finally said. “I knew it...I knew he was up to something. That's why they put me in the lobby. They wanted to keep me grounded inside, and like a dope I played along.”

  Nikki walked over to Zach and put her hand on his shoulder. “Don't get any funny ideas about finding the money for yourself and then trying to disappear into Canada.”

  Zach turned his head and looked at Nikki. “You're pretty good at reading people's thoughts.”

  “Give me your word, okay?”

  “No can do,” Zach told Nikki easing toward the front door. “Listen, I'm glad you're alive and all, and I did the right thing by coming here, but I'm not going to promise that if a fortune falls into my hands, I won't split with it.”

  Instead of going after Zach, Nikki stood still. “So run with stolen money,” she told Zach in a disappointed voice, “but you will never be a man, Zach. Real men stand for the truth; cowards take the easy way out.”

  “Yeah...uh, tell your friend thanks for breakfast, but I gotta run,” Zach said, opening the front door.

  “Good luck with your life,” Nikki told Zach in a voice that struck Zach as if someone punched him in the face.

  “What do you mean by that?” he asked.

  “You can run away with a dead man's money, but you won't get far, Zach. Inside you'll always be a criminal. And when the money runs out, then what will you do? Steal again...and again...always looking for the easy door to take?”

  Zach looked down at the doorknob attached to the front door. “Some people just have to do what's right for themselves. No one cares about me, lady.”

  “I do,” Nikki said.

  “I do too,” Lidia said walking into the living room carrying a plate of delicious eggs, turkey bacon, toast, and jam.

  “You seem like a nice guy if you want to be,” Tori added, holding a cup of coffee. Walking up to Zach, she reached out the cup of coffee to him. “Friends matter,” she smiled.

  Zach looked from Tori to Lidia, and then back at Nikki. “Man,” he groaned, “a bunch of women melting me down like butter on a hot stove. Yeah, sure,” he said, closing the front door, “I'll live like a poor man the rest of my life if it makes you three happy.”

  “What would make me happy is knowing how you know where your grandfather buried the money,” Nikki told Zach, “but for now, you need to eat.”

  “Come on, honey,” Lidia smiled at Zach and walked him into the kitchen.

  “He's pretty beaten down, isn't he?” Tori asked Nikki.

  “If I had an extra guest room I would give it to him,” Nikki answered. Putting her arm around Tori, she walked into the kitchen. A long day awaited her, but at least she had a secret weapon. Maybe she and Hawk wouldn't come up empty-handed after all.

  In the distance, cl
ouds began to form. A dangerous storm was brewing.

  Chapter Twelve

  Zach eased into the front door of the lobby. He was sweaty from walking three miles to the lodge after Lidia dropped him off. That had been Nikki's idea, because she wanted Zach to return to the lodge appearing as if he had been out walking. All he wanted was a glass of cold water. Instead, he was met by a mean-faced old man wearing a brown buttoned shirt tucked into a pair of old jeans. “Where have you been, boy?”

  “Around,” Zach fired back, shoving his hands down into the pockets of his jeans. “You told me to get lost, remember?”

  Jason Snowfield glared at Zach with angry eyes. “You were gone too long.”

  “Oh, back off,” Zach said, standing his ground, “I met this chick on the side of the road,” he lied. “She was driving up into Canada with another cute chick. I took them down the old back trail to Frostline Lake.”

  Jason examined Zach's sweaty face. It wasn't unlike his grandson to meet up with strange girls and sweet-talk them for every penny they owned. “Norma is in town. Watch the lobby for me. I have business to tend to out on the property,” he ordered Zach, buying into the lie hook, line, and sinker.

  “Why did she go into town?” Zach asked, walking to the front counter. To make sure his question didn't seem suspicious, he added: “I wouldn't have minded a break from this rat hole.”

  Jason ignored Zach's insult. He had far too much on his mind. Dealing with a smart-mouth brat took too much time and energy. “Norma went into town to ask around about that nosy reporter. If you see her back here, you come get me, you hear?”

  “Sure,” Zach said leaning against the front counter, “I'll run quick like a bunny, Gramps. In the meantime my reward is all the wonderful trees to stare at,” he finished.

  Jason pointed a cold finger at Zach. “Don't push it, boy,” he warned and hurried outside.

  Zach rolled his eyes and walked behind the front counter. Sitting down at the check-in desk he began to shuffle through papers. “All right, lady,” he said referring to Nikki, “let's see if I can play your game, play everybody's game.”