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

  “I'm all ears, because I'm coming up short,” Hawk said, cautiously maneuvering the jeep through the storm. “I can barely see...”

  “Go slow,” Nikki told Hawk and then began to explain her theory. “I began to wonder if Henry Greendale's real name was Jack Johnson. I was thinking about the security firm he worked for, so I spent some time on the internet doing some research.”

  “The security firm is legitimate. I checked.”

  “Maybe it is on the outside,” Nikki pointed out, feeling a strong gust of wind rock the jeep. “Did you know the security firm came under investigation for hiring ex-cons?”

  “No, I didn't,” Hawk said and focused his attention on Nikki while allowing his instinct to take over the driving.

  “I called my detective friend in Atlanta and had him run the name Jack Johnson through the Federal Prison System Database. I also had him e-mail an actual photo of Mr. Greendale. Mr. Greendale and Mr. Johnson have the same face. And,” Nikki emphasized, “as it turns out, Mr. Greendale was sent to prison for quite a long time for bank robbery in the early 1990s. Then, strangely enough, he was allowed an early parole and shortly after began working for the security firm in Atlanta. He was paroled from—drum roll, please—a prison in upstate New York.”

  “Remind me to marry you,” Hawk said, impressed. “What else you got?”

  “Four years later, Mr. Greendale, or should I say Mr. Johnson, married his current wife, who also happens to be an ex-con.”

  “Yeah, I have her background. I ran it. I was going to go into that tomorrow. She was also released from a women's prison in upstate New York.”

  Nikki patted Hawk's arm. “Now you don't have to worry about telling me,” she said, watching Hawk reach a stop sign and slow to a stop. “Mrs. Greendale was found guilty of forgery. Strangely enough, the same security firm that hired Mr. Johnson once employed his wife. I'm assuming that's where they met. So, where does that leave us? Well, Mr. Johnson is assigned to a bank. He's a thief, remember. So what does he start doing? He starts stealing...but not just from the bank, but from the security firm who, in my opinion, created Mr. Johnson's new identity.”

  “Mr. Greendale.”

  “Yes,” Nikki told Hawk, feeling the jeep move through the four-way stop as the tires worked through a deep puddle. “Hawk, in my opinion, the security firm put Mr. Johnson in a position that would allow him to steal millions from a very powerful bank.”

  “But Mr. Johnson starts stealing money he shouldn't?”

  “Yes, and his wife finds out. She comes up with a plan,” Nikki continued. “Kill her husband when the time is right. Only something goes wrong.”

  “What?”

  “Well, the security firm hired our John Doe to kill Mr. Johnson, I'm sure of that. They must have found out he was stealing from them. That's why the address on the driver's license matches up. Kill the real man, have another man keep him alive on paper. Somewhere down the line, our John Doe starts liking Mrs. Greendale, who, due to her past prison record, is determined to become part of the high society crowd. Somehow this woman found out her husband was stealing money...she can't have him tarnishing her reputation, right? After all, she's already struck out with the mayor.”

  “I'm all ears, Nikki, don't stop now.”

  “I'm sure the security firm Mr. Johnson worked for wanted both him and his wife dead, but our John Doe, well, has other ideas. Now here is where I get off into some muddy water, so what I'm about to imply isn't fact.”

  “Jump in the deep end.”

  “Mr. Johnson's body was supposedly found burned up in a house fire, right? But let's say he somehow escapes. Let's assume our John Doe thinks he’s dead but then finds out he's not. So he leaves Atlanta in haste—he's in some serious hot water because he went against his employer.”

  “Which means he didn't kill Mr. Johnson the way he was ordered to?”

  “Exactly,” Nikki said, “so he makes haste. But, that leaves Mrs. Greendale. She's still alive. Which made me start thinking about the women's club.”

  “Throw it at me,” Hawk told Nikki, pushing the jeep through another deep puddle. “We may not get back without a boat.”

  Nikki agreed. “The roads are low and flood easily.”

  “So what about the women's club?”

  “Mrs. Greendale needs to stay alive, right? If her new Romeo ran scared, she must be worried. I'm not certain if she knows her husband is still alive or not, but I am certain if our John Doe made haste to the lodge, Mrs. Greendale isn't sitting in Atlanta doing her nails. She and John Doe agreed to meet at the lodge.”

  “With her husband dead—or presumed dead—the security firm backs off of her because it can't look too suspicious, right?”

  “Possibly,” Nikki said, “and Mrs. Greendale uses her membership to guard her against further harm. What I mean is, she goes to the mayor, who wants his wife dead.”

  “Okay, you just lost me.”

  “It's a chessboard,” Nikki explained. “Mrs. Greendale kills the mayor's wife, and the mayor does her a favor—you rub my back, I rub yours. I know you said he dropped her like a hot rock, but that could have been for outward purposes. In the meantime, Mrs. Greendale has to get rid of her husband, who is threatening to ruin her reputation if he gets caught stealing, so what does she do? She romances the hitman who was sent to kill her, too.”

  “And the mayor's wife is still coming to the lodge; Mrs. Greendale will be where our John Doe will be waiting for her. He kills the mayor’s wife, Mrs. Greendale kills him, she returns back to Atlanta and what...gets put on a pedestal?”

  “Something like that,” Nikki agreed. “I know my theory is merely speculation, but it's all I have to go on. I guess our John Doe didn't know that Mrs. Greendale was planning on killing him. That explains why she chose a place so close to the border, too. Just in case anything went wrong, she could make her escape with the money she paid John Doe to kill her husband...money Mr. Johnson stole from the bank.”

  “I think you've hit the ball out of the park,” Hawk told Nikki. “So the only question is, who did our John Doe really kill in Atlanta?”

  “Who knows? My guess is Mr. Johnson knew he was about to be killed and was prepared,” Nikki said. “I think Mr. Johnson is hanging around the lodge waiting for his wife to arrive. I also think he knows who the killer is. My guess, Hawk, is that after he kills his wife, he'll leave us a clue as to who John Doe is.”

  “We're not going to let him kill his wife.”

  “I hope not,” Nikki agreed. “The women's group is due to arrive tomorrow. Zach called me from the lodge. He told me the reservation was pushed up.”

  Hawk looked at Nikki and then focused back on the road. “And you were going to tell me this when?”

  “Just now,” Nikki played innocent.

  Hawk pressed down a little harder on the gas. “Hold on,” he said, gripping the steering wheel harder.

  Nikki leaned back in her seat and grew silent. Watching Hawk speed through dark, wet streets and then through town, she felt as if she were in one of her favorite mystery novels. Even though she was scared out of her wits, she was also excited to the core. She was sitting next to a man who encouraged her to solve crimes instead of being married to a man who refused to support her career at all. Looking at Hawk, she saw a man who was slowly working his way into her heart.

  Hawk caught Nikki looking at him. Smiling, he nudged her with his elbow. “What are you looking at?” he asked.

  “You have a freckle on your nose.” Nikki smiled and looked away.

  “I guess I do,” Hawk chuckled to himself and then became serious. “When we get to the lodge, you stay at my side, do you hear me? I have my gun, and I'm going to shoot at the first person who threatens your life. I don't need you roaming off, understand?”

  “Understand, boss.” Nikki saluted Hawk.

  “I'm serious, Nikki. We're going to search for the money, and that's it. Tomorrow, after this storm passes, we'll go back out to the lodge
and wait for Mrs. Greendale to arrive.”

  “I understand,” Nikki said and apologized.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Forty minutes later Hawk killed the headlights on his jeep, pulled over to the side of the road and parked between a thick pair of trees. “Okay,” he said, “the lake is northeast of here about a mile. We're going through the woods and staying out of sight. I don't need Mr. Snowfield using my head as a target tonight.”

  Nikki nodded. Following Hawk out of the jeep, she stared into the wet darkness. The mystery novels she read never informed her that darkness—real darkness, soaked with rain—somehow empowered a killer and weakened the innocent. Feeling a strange fear grip her stomach, she eased closer to Hawk as strong winds ripped at her hair. “I'm ready,” she hollered over the winds.

  “Let's go,” Hawk hollered, backhanding Nikki a flashlight he had retrieved from the glove compartment. “Don't turn on the flashlight until we reach the cave.”

  “Okay,” Nikki hollered.

  Slowly, she and Hawk began to trek through the dark woods, one wet step at a time, as heavy rain and powerful winds attacked them. Keeping his head low and lifting his left elbow to shield his eyes, Hawk used his right hand to withdraw his service pistol from the holster attached to his belt. He had both humans and animals to worry about. The last thing he needed was to walk up on a bear. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Nikki fighting against the storm. “Not much farther!” he yelled.

  “You sure you know the way?” Nikki hollered over the winds.

  “If I don't, we can always swim back to town,” Hawk answered.

  Holding onto Hawk's shoulder, Nikki cautiously followed him through the dark woods, bypassing wet trees and heavy brush. And then, suddenly, the lake appeared like a dark smudge on the ground. Hearing the paddle boats and canoes crashing against each other, Nikki paused. “The cave should be that way,” she pointed, attempting to catch her sense of direction. “It's so dark...I can't really tell.”

  “I know where the cave is. Come on.” Reaching behind him, Hawk took Nikki's left hand. Following the lake around to the north end, he stopped and studied the woods. Nodding his head, he moved farther north into the woods. But before he could get too far, a dark shadow darted from behind a tree and started to run toward the lake. “Stop,” Hawk yelled and fired a warning shot into the air.

  “Don't shoot,” Zach yelled, throwing his hands into the air.

  “Zach?” Nikki hollered. “Hawk, that's Zach.”

  Grabbing Nikki's hand again, Hawk jogged over to Zach. “What are you doing out here?” he demanded.

  “They're...dead...both of them,” Zach said, violently shaking from fear. Soaking wet from the rain, he looked at Nikki. Nikki activated the flashlight and aimed it at Zach's face.

  “Who is dead?” Hawk ordered Zach to talk.

  “My grandparents. Their bodies are in the cave,” Zach said in a shaky voice. “It got dark. They were missing, so I went out and looked for them, you know?”

  “Zach,” Nikki yelled over the wind, “everything is all right now. No one is going to hurt you.”

  Hawk read the fear in Zach's face. The young man was scared stiff. “Son,” he said in a loud, calm, voice, “you better stay with us instead. There's a killer loose.”

  “I can't go back into that cave,” Zach yelled and started backing up. “You can arrest me and throw away the key. I can't see them like that again.”

  Hawk pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and raised it in the air. “No signal. I need to call this in from the lodge.”

  “Phones are out,” Zach informed Hawk, blocking rain from his face.

  Forced to make a difficult choice, Hawk decided to lead Nikki and Zach back to the lodge. “Okay, back to the lodge,” Hawk yelled and grabbed Nikki's hand. Looking over his shoulder into the dark woods, Hawk felt deadly eyes watching him. Nikki followed Hawk's eyes into the darkness. Somewhere in the darkness, she felt, a killer was grinning at her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Hawk locked the lobby door behind them as Nikki walked Zach behind the front counter and helped him sit down. Looking around, the first thing Hawk noticed was a door behind the front counter that opened up into a short hallway leading to a laundry and utility room. A wooden door stood solo in the middle of the hallway, allowing access to the second-floor apartment. “Lock that door,” Hawk told Nikki.

  Zach reached into his wet pants pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “You have to use a key,” he said. With shaky hands, he managed to identify the correct key.

  Nikki quickly inserted the key into the lock and activated the deadbolt. “What are you thinking?” she asked Hawk, holding onto the keys.

  “Wait until morning,” Hawk replied, rechecking the lock on the lobby door. “Son,” he said turning his attention back to Zach, “tell me what you saw.”

  “The old man, he took the money,” Zach confessed to Hawk, and as calmly as he could, he explained how he had found his grandfather’s body. “He buried that money in the cave, I bet my life on it. I figured that's where he and the old lady probably were. I was right, but they were...dead. It looked like someone took a hammer to their heads.”

  “Would make sense,” Nikki told Hawk, “no gunshots. A hammer is easy to get rid of.”

  “Jack Johnson is out there killing people, and I'm trapping myself in here,” Hawk said, feeling anger boil in his chest.

  Nikki walked over to Hawk and rubbed his shoulder. “It's not your fault, Hawk. We'll catch him. He's sure to go after Mrs. Greendale when she arrives tomorrow.”

  “I didn't tell you, did I?” Zach asked, forcing his legs to work. Standing up he looked directly at Nikki.

  “Tell me what?”

  “The reservation was canceled,” Zach told Nikki. “I got a call about three hours ago. Some woman who sounded real snotty called and canceled the reservation. She didn't say why, either. That was another reason I went looking for my grandparents. I knew the old man was going to hit the roof.”

  Hawk shot Nikki a confused glance. “What's going on?” he asked Nikki.

  Nikki shrugged her shoulders. “I wish I knew.”

  Before Hawk could speak, the lobby phone sitting behind the front counter rang. Zach ran to the phone and looked down. “What? This can't be right.”

  “What?” Hawk asked, running behind the front counter.

  “The call is coming from the Deep Woods room...it's an in-house call,” Zach explained. “Someone is in the Deep Woods room. Even with the outside phone line out, you can still make in-house calls.”

  “Stay here,” Hawk ordered Nikki and Zach. “This could be a trap.”

  “No,” Nikki objected. She followed Hawk to the lobby door. “We're partners, remember?”

  “I'm not staying here alone,” Zach said, running up to Nikki.

  “Oh, good grief,” Hawk complained. “All right, come on, but stay right behind me. If any shooting starts, just duck and cover.”

  Nikki nodded. Zach hesitated. The thought of being shot at didn't thrill him. After seeing his grandparents dead, he wasn't too anxious to join them. “I think I'll stay here in the lobby.”

  “Okay,” Nikki told Zach, “lock the door behind us, and don't open it for anyone.”

  Zach focused his attention on the ringing phone. “Yeah, sure,” he said.

  “Let's go,” Hawk said. Unlocking the lobby door, he prepared his gun, and then, with courage only a real cop possessed, he yanked the door open and ran out into the storm. Nikki followed behind like a faithful wife daring the dangers of death in order to remain united with her husband even though she was absolutely terrified. “Stay close behind me,” Hawk hollered, hugging the outside of the lobby with his back. With his gun at the ready, he eased to the edge of the lobby and scanned the guest walkway leading down to the rooms. “Clear,” he told Nikki.

  “I'm right behind you,” Nikki told Hawk, shielding her face from the rain and powerful winds. Grateful that the power was still func
tioning, she looked up at the set of flood lights mounted on the front corner of the lobby. Even though the lights made them an easy target, Nikki felt grateful for them. Knowing that two dead bodies were lying in a creepy cave in absolute darkness sent icy chills through her body. Following Hawk around the corner, she planted her feet on a pebbled walkway lined with dim but confident overhead lights hanging from the wooden roof. “Are you okay?” she asked when Hawk paused in his approach to the Deep Woods room.

  “Here,” Hawk said. Kneeling down he pulled a gun from an ankle holster. “This is an easy 9mm C-9 Model Luger,” he explained clicking the gun’s safety off and placing it in Nikki's right hand. “Don't hesitate, just shoot.”

  Nikki looked down at the gun. Familiar with firearms to a degree, she felt confident enough to defend herself with the Luger. “I won't hesitate,” she promised Hawk.

  Without saying another word, Hawk nodded, eased his way down to the Deep Woods room, motioned for Nikki to press her back up against the outside wall, and then, with all his might, kicked the door open and charged in. Nikki bravely followed. But instead of finding a dangerous murderer lurking in the shadows, waiting to pronounce death on two innocent people, she and Hawk found a woman tied and gagged, lying on the floor with the room phone beside her.

  “I know that woman!” Nikki yelled slamming the door shut behind her. “That's the mayor's wife. I've seen her before at press conferences.”

  Hawk ordered Nikki to untie the woman as he moved to the window in the room. Slowly, he pulled back the edge of a green curtain and peered out into the night. “Hurry it up,” he told Nikki.

  Kneeling down beside the woman, who was in her late fifties with short black hair, Nikki placed the gun onto the floor and quickly began to untie the thin ropes wrapped around the woman's wrists and ankles. “Goodness, these knots are tough,” she told Hawk. Taking her right hand, she pulled a piece of gray duct tape from the woman's mouth and then carefully removed a wadded up washcloth from between her teeth.