Beware the Orchids (A Shady Acres Mystery Book 1) (6 page)

10

I
took a deep breath, left my cohorts at home, and marched down the flagstone to Heath’s cottage. I rapped three times and waited, hoping, praying, Dave hadn’t returned. If he had, I’d think of some silly reason for the late visit.

Heath answered the door, buttoning a shirt over six pack abs and arms to make a girl swoon. I yanked my thoughts away from his physique. “Is Dave home?”

“No, why?”

“Great.” I pushed him inside.

He stumbled back before getting his footing. “What’s going on, Shelby? Somehow, I don’t think you’re here for a make-out session.”

I wished. “Dave took something from Maybelle’s cottage today, and I think I know what it is. I just need to find it. Come with me to his room.” I headed for the guest room.

“We can’t snoop through his things without permission.” He limped after me.

“Just keep a watch out. It’s a little slip of paper…” Where did I look first? The man hadn’t unpacked. Boxes lined the walls. Seriously? This much stuff for maybe a week’s work? I headed for the dresser.

Business cards, receipts, and a tiny folded square of paper. Bingo! I slipped it into my pocket. “Heath, I found—”

Dave entered the cottage, a puzzled look on his face. “Hello?”

“Yeah, uh, hello, I’m, uh, here to see Heath. Yeah, that’s it.” I needed to think of something fast. I grabbed the collar of Heath’s shirt and yanked him close, pressing my lips against his. He stumbled, taking us both to the floor. His elbow connected with my ribs, knocking the breath out of me. At least, I think it was the elbow. It might have been the kiss.

“Should I leave again?” Dave’s question pulled me to my senses.

“Help me up,” I whispered harshly to Heath. When he did, I painted on a smile. “That was fun. We should do it again sometime.” I sailed out the door. It wasn’t until I got outside that I realized my comment could be completely misunderstood by Dave. No help for it now. I had what I’d come for.

“Hold up.” Heath caught me halfway home. “What was that all about?”

“I had to think of something.”

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close. “You should hear what Dave is saying. He’s making you out to be quite the naughty girl.”

“Really?” My gaze landed on his lips.

“Yeah. I have a question.” His husky voice sent shivers through me.

“Yes?”

“What is a real kiss from you like, because that one was pretty hot.” He cupped my face and kissed me with such tenderness tears sprung to my eyes. The kiss deepened, making my blood boil and my knees weak. “That’s how I kiss someone,” Heath said with a wink. He turned and sauntered down the sidewalk, whistling.

Back at the cottage, I waved the square of paper, ignored Grandma’s and Cheryl’s questions, and strolled as if in a trance to my room. I didn’t want to share what had happened. Not until I had time to process the kiss.

~

After a sleepless night of reliving the kiss, then deciding it was nothing more than a teasing gesture in response to my clumsy roll on the floor kiss, I crawled out of bed and headed to the kitchen for a glass of green tea. I’d need extra caffeine to function that day.

“Hey, woman who strolled in last night like she was hiding something.” Cheryl popped up from the sofa. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

“I’m thinking the bushes around Bob and Myrna’s cottages need trimming.” I poured tea from a pitcher into a glass. I held it up to see if Cheryl wanted some. She shook her head no, so I continued. “Which means skipping breakfast.”

“Oh, goody. Snooping. You get started. I’ll run to the buffet, grab some things we can eat with our hands and find you.”

“Perfect.” Other than hanging around those two cottages for a bit, I had no idea where to go from there. The paper I’d taken from Dave’s room burned in my pocket. What did I do with it since I didn’t have the watch? Sometimes, I didn’t think far enough ahead.

The responsible thing to do would be to turn it over to Officer Lawrence. Which I would do as soon as I made a copy. I spread it out on the kitchen table and snapped a picture of it with my phone. Ta da. I was now ready to be responsible the next time I saw the gruff police officer.

I was waylaid by Alice the moment I stepped from my little home. “Is there something you wanted me to do?”

She lifted her chin. “I expect a certain…decorum from my employees.”

Ah. Dave snitched. “It isn’t what it looked like.”

“Rolling on the floor with the handyman isn’t what it looks like?”

“No, ma’am.”

She made a noise in her throat. “Make sure it isn’t. Discretion, Shelby, please.” She whirled and marched away like a drunken cow. I really wanted to teach her to walk in heels.

Reputation ruined, but one step closer to finding out who killed Maybelle, I went to the storage shed and grabbed shears and a rake. I might have a mystery to solve, but I was also getting paid to do a job.

Heath stepped out of his cottage, a brace on his leg, and tossed me a wave.

I ducked my head and increased my pace. There was no way I was ready to face him in the light of day.

“Ah, something happened between the two of you last night,” Cheryl sang on her way past me toward the dining room.

My face heated, and I kept on my path, not breathing until I reached Myrna’s cottage. Her kitchen curtains were parted a bit and I was able to peek in as I worked.

She glanced up from washing a mug and screamed, then slammed the window open, catching me in the forehead. “What are you doing?”

A lot of people seemed to be asking me that question lately. “Trimming the bushes.” I put a hand to my head, relieved there was no blood. I didn’t handle blood well.

“There’s no need to stare in windows while trimming.” She slammed the window shut and closed the curtains.

Great. No clues coming from her. I quickly finished the work there and moved to Bob’s cottage where he and Alice argued in the living room. Lucky for me the window was open. I trimmed the bushes just out of direct sight.

“I’m telling you, I’ll get my rent caught up next week,” Bob said. “My account’s been cleaned out. If I catch who did it, I’ll kill them.”

“One more week, Bob. If I don’t have the full amount due, I’ll have to evict you.” Alice stormed outside and slammed his door.

Bob followed. “Don’t threaten me, Missy. My garbage disposal has been broken for a week! I have grounds not to pay.”

She shook her head and continued on her way, passing Mr. Weasley.

He approached Bob. “I have a leaky faucet. Ever since the handyman got hurt things are falling apart around here. I thought we had a substitute.”

“I haven’t seen hide nor hair of the man if we do. Come on in for coffee.”

I’d hoped the invitation would warrant a bit more information, but all they did was complain about the lack of repairs. Yep. I’d have to fire Dave. Better yet, I’d try to get Alice to do it. She was the manager, after all.

I finished at Bob’s cottage and headed for the dining room. Since Cheryl had yet to bring me my breakfast, and my stomach was letting me hear about it, I needed to search for my own food.

Most of the buffet had been cleared, but there was a blueberry muffin and one cold sausage patty. I grabbed both and headed for Alice’s office.

Her door was partially open so I gave a soft knock and entered. Alice had her head down. She sighed when I entered.

“I guess I should close the door if I want privacy.” She glanced up. “Yes, Shelby?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, but there are complaints about the lack of repairs. I want you to fire Dave Mason. Since Heath is no longer using crutches, he can handle small repairs. Dave didn’t do anything anyway.” I gripped the back of a chair.

“You hired him.”

“You’re the manager.”

“Very well. Find him and send him to me. Anything else?” She straightened and crossed her arms. “The grounds are starting to shape up by the way. Oh, and the greenhouse will be repaired today. The two functions you’ve headed up have been a great success. You’re an asset to our community.”

“Thank you.” Warmth infused me. I’d rarely gotten compliments at my teaching job. I knew I’d done well because of my reviews, but to have someone call me an asset gave me the warm fuzzies. “I’ll try and find Dave.”

“See if you can’t get those cleaning girls to hurry up with Maybelle’s cottage, would you? I have an interested tenant.”

I nodded. Just like that, she gave me another of her jobs to do. Was I the gardener or her assistant? I turned to leave and ran into Officer Lawrence, literally. “Sorry.”

He shook his head. “Miss Johnson, do you have a minute?”

“Seems everyone wants a minute,” Alice said, waving a hand for me to leave.

“Miss Hart, don’t go far, please.” Officer Lawrence gave me the look that said stay. “I have questions for you, too. Please wait in the lobby.”

I did as ordered, sitting on a faux leather loveseat and twiddled my thumbs. Maybe I’d get really lucky and Dave Mason would stroll through the door and I could send him to Alice. No such luck. No one came through the front doors. I didn’t know who was more bored; me or the receptionist who filed her nails. A plaque on the desk said her name was Teresa Givens. Did Shady Acres really need a receptionist? It seemed as if Alice could do the job well enough. She was pretty good about putting off her responsibilities on me.

I jumped to my feet when Office Lawrence came my way and pulled the folded piece of paper from my pocket. “I think one of the watches in Maybelle’s box that you have belongs to Bob Satchett. This paper, his bank information, should have been inside the watch, but was stolen by Dave Mason, our temporary, soon to be fired, handyman.”

When I stopped for breath, he took the paper. “How did you come by this?”

“You don’t want to know.”

He gripped my elbow and pulled me behind a plastic fichus tree. “I don’t know how you came by this information, Miss Hart, but meddling in an active police investigation is dangerous. I must ask you to stop.”

“But Birdie asked me to solve her friend’s murder.”

“There is more going on here than you know. Stop snooping.” He released me. “Thank you for the paper, and yes, the watch belongs to Mr. Satchett. We’ll be returning the stolen items soon.”

I crossed my arms. “You had a question for me?”

“Not really a question.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Your friend, the tall gal? She’s been hit over the head. She’s in your cottage refusing to go to the hospital.”

“Define hit over the head.”

“Someone hit her on her way back from breakfast.” He narrowed his eyes. “This is what happens when two clueless young women meddle where they have no business. Walk with me.”

We headed toward the cottage, me walking as fast as my short legs would go.

“Your Grandmother is with her,” Officer Lawrence said. “I have one more thing to ask.”

“Shoot.” I reached for the doorknob of my cottage.

“Do you happen to know where Dave Mason is? No one has seen him since before daylight.”

11

“F
ind him and send him to me, Miss Hart. I’ll be around.” Officer Lawrence turned and headed out the back door of the main building.

I’d been ordered by two people to find Dave Mason. I had a strong urge to bop him upside the head once I did. First, I wanted to check on Cheryl.

She laid on my sofa and held an ice pack to the back of her head. “I guess you heard,” she said, keeping her eyes closed.

“Officer Lawrence told me. Why don’t you tell me what happened?” I sat on the coffee table while Grandma handed me a glass of tea.

“I dropped our breakfast.” She opened one eye. “I had my hands full and was headed out to find you when I rounded the corner of the building and found myself face down in the petunias.”

“Better than face up under the daisies,” Grandma cackled.

“I am not in a humorous mood.” Cheryl closed her eye again. “When Shelby finds out who hit me, I’m going to clobber them.”

“Aren’t you still going to help me solve this mystery?” I glanced between the two of them. “I also have a job to do.”

“I thought it would be a lark,” Cheryl said. “A misunderstanding. I didn’t expect to get hurt.”

I wisely left out the thought that snooping might very well get us killed. “Fine. You can ramble around here bored for the rest of your vacation.” I got to my feet. “There’s ibuprofen in the medicine cabinet in the master bath.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to help.” She opened an eye again. “I just didn’t expect to get whacked.”

“Don’t be such a big cry baby.” I took a sip of my tea, grimaced at the over amount of sugar, and headed for the door. “I’m glad you’re okay. I’ve been ordered to find Dave Mason.”

“Be careful,” Cheryl called. “Grandma, maybe you should go with her.”

“Good idea. We’ll lock the door behind us.” Grandma grabbed the large sparkly bag she called a purse and followed me. “Don’t be cross with her. I gave her a pain pill. They affect her in a weird way. She’ll be excited to be singled out by morning.”

“I should never have told Birdie I’d look into things. I’m getting nowhere, anyway.” I led Grandma to Heath’s cottage. We might as well look in the obvious place first.

We knocked and got no answer. Either he and Heath were off working, my guess was only Heath was working, or Dave was wandering the grounds in an attempt not to be found. “Let’s walk the perimeter, then check the hiking path. I’d finally finished going through all the papers Alice had given me and studied the map included there. We had a fishing lake on the premises, a bike and hiking trail, you name it, Shady Acres had it, and the residents paid the high price of living there.

“I don’t think he wants to be found.” Grandma pulled out a few pieces of hard butterscotch candy from her purse and offered me one.

I shook my head. “He’s a lazy one, for sure. Heath!” I spotted him limping toward the pool area.

He stopped and waited for us. “What’s up?”

“I’m looking for Dave.”

“Aren’t we all?” He scowled. “I asked him to clean the pool filter. He carried the tools here, but there’s no sign of him and the filter is still clogged. What’s weird is his hat is here. He never goes anywhere without that ratty thing.”

True. I scrunched up my mouth and did my best to figure out where he could have gotten off to. “He was at breakfast, right?”

“No, he was gone when I woke up this morning.”

“That’s a couple of hours ago,” Grandma said. “Someone is bound to have seen him unless there is a part of this community closed off to the residents.”

I glanced at Heath. “Is there?”

“A couple of private storage sheds, an old koi pond in need of repair, and the dock which is sagging. All on my to-do list.”

“Let’s check the dock. Maybe he took the day off to go fishing.” I waved Heath ahead of us. “How’s the knee?”

“Better. It’ll be sore by night, but improving each day. That’s a good thing. There’s a lot to do around here. Alice might like to shuffle her work off on others, but she’s doing a good job getting this place up to snuff after the last manager.”

“Who was the last manager?”

“He retired. The owner offered him a place here, but he wanted Florida. The community was in sad shape and losing residents before Alice was hired.”

My opinion of her improved somewhat. Shady Acres was a lovely place. With a combined effort we could make it a showplace...if I could ever focus on my job and not hunt down killers and lazy employees.

As we walked, I spotted plants that needed replanting, mulch that needed replacing, some juniper bushes that would make wonderful topiaries, the list went on. Tomorrow, Cheryl could spend more time recuperating. I was going to focus the entire day on the grounds. “Do I have a gardening budget?”

Heath glanced down at me. “I imagine. You’d have to ask Alice.”

“Who mows the expansive lawns?”

“She hired someone to do that and the edging. You’re only responsible for flowers and bushes.”

And anything else she could think up, but he did relieve a bit of my anxiety. While Shady Acres had thirty cottages strategically placed around the grounds, I felt I could keep up with the work load given the chance.

As we walked, Heath’s hand kept bumping mine until I finally realized it was a subtle gesture to make physical contact. I narrowed my eyes and mouthed, “No.” After all, the kiss I gave him was to cover up for my being in his apartment snooping through Dave’s things, not because I wanted in a relationship. That’s the last thing I wanted right then, despite Heath’s handsomeness.

He gave a playful pout and shrugged. “There’s the dock.”

“Dave?” I stepped next to the rickety dock and glanced up and down the rocky, tree-lined shore. Several small rowboats in need of paint jobs bobbed in the water. There was no sign of Dave. “Is there a building or anything he could be hiding in?”

“Nothing. If I hadn’t found his hat, I’d think he’d left.”

“Is his truck here?” Grandma planted fists on her bony hips. “That’s the first thing you should have checked.”

I hadn’t thought to check. “Heath?”

“His truck is here.” He looked at Grandma as if offended that she would challenge his intelligence.

“Then, he’s here somewhere.” She turned and sauntered back the way we’d come.

“Why do you need to find him so badly?” Heath asked, his hand brushing mine again.

“To fire him and Officer Lawrence wants to talk to him about stealing the paper from Bob’s watch.”

“I’d hide, too.” He chuckled. “We should go on a date sometime.”

I stopped. “I just got over a bad breakup. I need some time before even thinking about such things. Don’t we see enough of each other at work? We’re both here twenty-four seven.” At least, I was.

“You need to get away once in a while.”

Today was Sunday. My day off. Drat. I’d gotten roped into working. “You’re right. I’m supposed to be off work today. Once I find Dave, I’m going to town to visit my mother.” That’s the only way Alice couldn’t infringe on my free time.

“You get Sunday and Monday,” he told me. “Don’t let Alice rob you of those days.”

Even better. Cheryl and I would spend the night with Mom, popcorn, chick flicks, and sparkling Moscato. “Let’s hurry up and find this man.”

We increased our pace as much as Heath’s bum knee would allow and caught up with Grandma. “I thought I was going to have to double back,” she said. “No more dawdling. I have things to do.”

“Like what?” I grinned.

“I have a date with Ted.”

“Who’s that? Another resident? You sure get around.”

She gave me ‘that look’. “It’s Officer Lawrence, I’ll have you know. I do not date around. I date a lot, but only one man at a time.” She tossed her hair back and marched ahead of us.

“Feisty.” Heath laughed. “That’s how you’ll be at her age.”

“Please.” I rolled my eyes. “She’s way more fun than me, and I would not be caught dead in animal print leggings.”

“No, just frilly dresses, short shorts, and rain boots in every color of the rainbow.”

He noticed what I wore? “A girl likes to look pretty.”

“You’d be pretty in a flour sack.”

I opened my mouth to speak, then clamped it shut. For once, I was at a loss for words.

“The koi pond is right ahead. See the non-working fountain of Venus? Getting it working again is a top priority of mine. Maybe you could help by procuring some water plants.”

I nodded and rushed to where Grandma waved frantically for us to hurry. “I found him!”

“Where?” I couldn’t see anyone.

“There. Peering up at me from the algae.” She pointed into the pond.

Eyes wide open, a red film skimming the water around him, was Dave. Someone had slit his throat and dumped him. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Officer Lawrence. “He’s in the koi pond.”

“What do you mean he’s in the pond? Is he drunk and taking a swim?”

“No, sir. He’s dead.”

“Stay there. I’ll be there in a second.” Click.

“The calvary is on its way.” My stomach heaved and I sagged against the goddess Venus. So much…blood. I turned and threw up.

Heath put an arm around my waist and led me to a nearby bench. “Way to hold it together until you phoned the police.”

“Yeah, I’m good during the emergency and fall apart afterwards.” I bent over and put my head between my knees.

“Here.” Grandma thrust a bottle of water at me. “I’m always prepared.”

“Thank you.” Her bag must weigh a ton. I’ve never needed anything when with her that she couldn’t provide.

“I guess you won’t have to fire him now, bless his heart.” She unwrapped a piece of candy and handed it to me. “Take it this time. It will help with your sour mouth.”

I popped the candy in my mouth and kept my gaze averted from the pond. Not that I could see any part of Dave. No, he was covered with water and slime, and…stop it! I switched my mind to thinking of flowers and butterflies.

“Who do you think would want to kill him?” Grandma moved back to the fountain. Nothing ever seemed to bother her. “Bob, I suppose, but he would be the first suspect so it doesn’t make sense. Do you think the same person killed him is the one who killed Maybelle?”

“It’s a good assumption. Both of them seemed to have a talent for being where they shouldn’t.” Of course, Dave was supposed to be cleaning out Maybelle’s cottage, but he wasn’t supposed to take anything.

“I hope they don’t try and pin his death on me, too. After all, I was the last one to see him alive.” Heath sat next to me, his shoulders sagging.

“That’s a very good assumption, Mr. McLeroy.” Office Lawrence marched to our side. “I will definitely have some questions for you.”

“See?” Heath sighed.

I actually felt sorry for him. “I don’t think Heath would have hit Cheryl, Officer Lawrence. It’s quite possible that the person who hit her, killed Dave, don’t you think?”

“A good possibility.” He pulled a small notepad from his pocket. “Now, Mr. McLeroy, when was the last time you laid eyes on the victim?”