Table of Contents

THE PUMPKIN PROBLEM

DEDICATION

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

Also By Beth Byers

Also By Amanda A. Allen

Copyright

The Pumpkin Problem

The 2nd Chance Diner Series

Book 12

By Beth Byers

Emily or Ethan. Just stay with us.

CHAPTER 1

The curving drive down from our mountainside home towards Silver Falls was winding and lovely. It was mid-October, and the leaves had turned, but it was also the Pacific Northwest and the majority of our forest trees were evergreens that didn’t lose their leaves. The rain had been steady for the last few weeks, but this morning had dawned crisp, cool, and sunny. The water droplets left over from the previous day’s rain glinted in the sunlight. I cracked the window to get the scent of water and autumn and grinned at Simon who was driving my Forrester.

I was huge and it was easier to lean my seat back and let the baby have a little more room than to sit upright and drive. We were going to see our baby again. We had been seeing him or her since nearly the beginning since our friend was the town’s main doctor and was happy to let us have look after look.

This time, however, was an official visit with my blood pressure being checked along with my weight and my blood work. Jane had kept an eye on my blood pressure every time she saw me. I was one of those solid types who bordered on the edge of overweight. Combined with my over-35 age, she was in the careful zone with me.

“Do you want to find out what we’re having?” I asked Simon. “If we find out what we’re having, then we’ll be able to just pick a name.”

“Don’t you think we need to meet him or her?” Simon asked. “Maybe whatever name we choose won’t feel right anyway once we meet the baby.”

“I don’t know,” I said, conflicted still which was why we were having this debate again.

I was pretty sure Simon desperately wanted a little boy and was afraid he’d feel sad about having a girl, so he’d rather just meet her. I think he had no doubt he’d love our baby, whatever the sex, once he met the baby. He didn’t want to carry any flash of guilt about having wished for something else.

I also loved the idea of going old-school and meeting our baby on the day they arrived without any preconceived ideas about our little person. I was in the camp of not caring what we had as long as they were healthy, but I had read too many articles about over-35-year-old women having babies. Being in the high-risk group was stressing me out.

And yet, I also liked the idea of getting the nursery fully ready. I was fixated on planes and teddy bears for a boy or fairies for a girl with a soft pink walls. So far, we’d bought a basinet for our bedroom, a cradle for the family room. We had a swing in our living room and a baby carrier ready to go.

We didn’t, however, have furniture or walls painted. We had an empty room with a few things that we’d have bought regardless of the sex of the baby. A soft cream teddy-bear that was, apparently, unsafe to put in the crib. That surprised me. It surprised me that drop-sided cribs weren’t safe and that blankets and pillows weren’t safe. How did you keep your baby warm?

Unlike me, Simon wasn’t feeling the need to get things ready. I’d cleaned our whole house, only stopping when Simon made me. Instead, he’d hired someone to come in and clean it heavily while we’d gone away for the weekend.

Matthew still came to take care of the dogs even though I was going in less and less to the diner or the adoption center since my feet were swollen and I was achy. I liked to walk the dogs, but now Matthew was with me, holding the leash of my monster great Dane, Goliath, who would no more pull on me than he would attack a child.

Simon was in protective mode to the extent that I’d have felt a little suffocated if I wasn’t so charmed by the daddy in him coming out. Boy or girl, our baby was going to be a lucky little thing. It was the thought of that daddy who wanted to meet his baby as a surprise that had me saying, “We’ll wait. I know you want to.”

He squeezed my fingers and I promised myself I wouldn’t bring it up again. “But we have to pick out names so I can try them out in my head.”

“Ok,” Simon said, twining his fingers through mine, “Deal. What shall we do today after our appointment?”

“I have to go into the diner. We’re having a special food day at the diner starting Friday. And I want to look for something fun to wear in the days around Halloween.”

Halloween was coming, and I was excited for it. Silver Falls had pulled out all the stops this year. There were bats and owls hanging from the street lamps. The street corners had pumpkins and bales of hay. My own restaurant, The 2nd Chance Diner, had the windows painted with pumpkins and witches. We had purple and orange lights lining the edge of every window as well as our dessert case.

We’d been offering special “Halloween” meals all month long as we tested and prepared options for our special Halloween weekend menu.

Silver Falls was having a trick or treating event on Main Street with a costume party, a band, and a pumpkin carving contest at the local park. We would open during the event selling special ready-to-go snacks and hot drinks as well as having loads of candy for the trick or treaters.

I had been carving and keeping pumpkins outside of my diner since the 15th. I was using them as prototypes for my entry into the pumpkin carving contest. I didn’t care about winning, but I was really looking forward to walking through the town park and seeing all the offerings for the contest lit up.

“You should take the afternoon off,” Simon said. “Az is back at the diner full-time, so you don’t need to go in, do you?”

“I’m going into play with Halloween recipes not to wait tables.” I grinned at him and stopped myself from rolling my eyes.

Simon was barely able to keep himself from constantly shoving me in a chair and putting my feet up.

“We’ll have pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, a pumpkin waffle…”

“Of course,” Simon said.

“Of course,” I agreed.

My addiction to waffles had turned The 2nd Chance Diner into a location of revolving, funky flavors of waffles. The highlights included a huckleberry waffles, a lemonade waffle, a blueberry extreme. I couldn’t even remember all of our wonderful flavors, though Az—the diner’s cook and my pseudo-brother—and I had been putting together a collection of recipes for a waffle cookbook.

“Anyway,” I said, “We’re thinking of a cauldron cake. Maybe some sort of butternut squash biscuit sandwich.”

Simon shuddered and I laughed at him. He hated trying anything different or unusual.

“The cake will be something really deep and dark chocolatey, so it looks black. Maybe something sort of horrifying in the scrambled eggs. Like scrambled brains or I don’t know. Az was looking into options there. Zee wants to make lady fingers that look gross. You know…Halloween stuff. It won’t be working, it’ll be playing.”

“You’ll put your feet up if you start hurting?”

“Yes,” I promised, again without rolling my eyes. I was a saint, I thought, an epic saint.

“Maybe I’ll go over and see Hank, then.”

“What a great idea,” I told him. “Grab a beer, have a man gossip or whatever, and afterwards we can pick up pizza on the way home.”

“Deal,” Simon said.

“Deal,”I agreed.

When we reached the clinic, Simon hauled my oversized pregnant body out of the car and we went in. Jane was there to look at the baby with us and take my numbers. It was only my daily walking and the fact that when I wasn’t eating waffles I was eating super healthy that was keeping me from gestational diabetes.

I didn’t really attribute it to those things, actually, I credited my lack of gestational diabetes to the craving I had for celery and peanut butter. Neither of those things were something that would spike your sugar and I’d been known to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The truth was that I kind of wanted some right at that moment and if I could have had a pizza spread with peanut butter and sprinkled with crisp celery, I’d have gone for it. I sighed as the craving hit me even harder and fiercer now that I’d imagined that perfect pizza. I told myself the diner would have everything I needed.

Jane got us right in and took a look at the baby. She was the only who knew the sex of our child, but she was good at keeping secrets and she’d kept this one before for other parents who chose to wait.

“Your baby looks great,” she said. “The child is measuring exactly where they should be and your blood work will be back soon. I’ll call you as soon as I get it.”

We chatted as she went over my weight—surprisingly low given my tendency to be thicker—my blood pressure and such.

“You’re looking good, Rose,” Jane said. “This baby is looking good. Simon looks haggard though. Are you running him ragged? I hope so!”

“I’m running myself ragged,” Simon told Jane. They were cousins and long-time friends, so sharing was natural. “I keep dreaming about terrible things. Something happening to Rose or the baby. Zombies attacking when Rose is going into labor. Another murder. I kind of want to put a cement wall around our house, top it with barbed wire, and invest in an arsenal.”

Jane was laughing too hard to respond but Simon waited long-sufferingly. He knew he was being over-the-top, but he couldn’t help it. I was used to it at this point since I’d woken up more than once to him checking my pulse or pacing the hallway.

“You could have Goliath accompany Rose everywhere,” Jane suggested.

“He already almost does,” Simon admitted. “That dog isn’t happy if he isn’t directly next to Rose.”

We chatted about the baby for a few more minutes and then I asked, “How are you?”

Jane was one of my best friends and her marriage had been struggling for the last six months. She shrugged and then admitted, “Things are up, things are down. We’re working on it. Honestly, we’ve probably never been more united in working things out between us instead of pretending everything was ok. But it still feels like we’re ripping open old wounds. I think we both wish we could go back and start over—only smarter this time.”

I squeezed her hand. “You’ve made it this far, Jane. If you were going to really implode surely it would have happened already? Like after Jordy died? How’s J.J?”

Jane smiled and said, “It helps having discovered he has sisters. They are able to talk about their deadbeat dad and understand where they’re coming from. The three of them go see Dr. Melton, together and separately. We’re going to family counseling too. Basically, we’re at the counselor more than anything but work or home.”

“It’s worth it,” I told her and she nodded. She grinned and said, “You all are good friends.”

I left my car at the clinic, because I needed to stretch my legs and because I wanted to check out the window displays for the shops.

I had to order Simon to leave me be when he was going to walk me to the diner.

“It’s no trouble,” he said.

“I want to shop on the way,” I told him for the second time. “I want to linger examining sweaters and maybe buy some ornaments and linger talking to Paige and Sarah and you’ll hate that.”

“I don’t mind,” he lied.

“I’m pregnant not dying, Simon Banks. Go away! I have my phone. I swear I will call you if I have an issue. But I am fully capable of walking.”

He frowned at me and I frowned back at him. It took him a minute to kiss my forehead and leave me to shopping. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. I needed new clothes, though, because of the baby.

I made my way into the Christmas store and grabbed a few Halloween decorations they had out for the diner and the 2nd Chance Adoption center. I lingered for a long time over Christmas ornaments before I went ahead and bought a baby’s first Christmas ornament frame. Our baby was due in January, so it was possible they’d be here at Christmas. I went ahead and decided we could put one of our ultrasounds in the frame if the baby didn’t make it by Christmas Day.

CHAPTER 2

The display at Paige’s boutique caught my attention. First just because it was so cute and then once I started examining the individual items because I wanted all of it. There was a skeleton sweater in the display. It had the bones knitted into the black, and it looked like it might have a big enough size for my pregnant belly. I went into the shop and ended up buying the sweater, black leggings, and silver chocker necklace that was linked bones and skulls.

I also found a sweater that would zip over my belly with room to spare. Maybe the baby would let me wear it for another month or two? More often than not, I was wearing a hoodie instead of a coat. It just didn’t get all that cold in Silver Falls.

I ended up chatting with Paige for a while, getting all the usual questions about the baby. Did we have a name picked out? Have we finished our nursery? Were we having a baby shower? How was I feeling?

I told her about my peanut butter and celery craving and she laughed like a loon until I finally left. As I walked out the door, she called, “You should check out the pumpkin display on the for corner before your diner. Someone took your pumpkins and mine and a few others and made a pyramid display, I was upset mine had been moved until I saw what they did with them. It’s pretty neat.”

“Will do,” I called.

I crossed away from the diner. Someone had stacked cinderblocks and wooden boards in such a way to make a pyramid with the pumpkins arranged on the makeshift shelving. I could imagine how it would look in the dark, but one of my pumpkins was missing—it had been a really large one. With a typical jack o’lantern face. I frowned. At first, I assumed it had been broken in the making of the display. But they would have put something else in the center spot. Instead, there was a perfect spot for the pumpkin but

I almost expected to see it shuttered all over the street, but we had been so lucky this year. The kids who usually pulled those stunts seemed to be enjoying the Halloween atmosphere as much as the adults. When I didn’t see the pumpkin, I shrugged and headed towards the diner. I glanced down the alley between my shop and the building over. My pumpkin was on its side down the alley.

I walked towards it, knowing I wouldn’t be able to lift it. Maybe if it were in pieces I could clean it up without help. I was having a harder and harder time seeing much below my belly these days. Simon even helped me shave my legs. People should warn women of things like this before they get pregnant. Though, perhaps, I had gotten warning about how uncomfortable it could be to be pregnant, and I hadn’t wanted to hear them. For the most part, growing a baby had been amazing.

I paused a moment later. The pumpkin had been set up in a little horror scene. In my opinion, someone had taken decorating Silver Falls way too far. This was downright grisly. I glanced down at the prop under the jack o’ lantern. Checkered shirt, big puffy coat, workman’s boots, jeans. They’d stuffed an outfit, used my jack o’ lantern for the head and even added a pool of fake blood.

I supposed the fake blood was why someone had decided to stage this scene in the alleyway instead of the street corner. It would have been way too much for the kids who were coming downtown every day to see the newest decorations.

The more I examined the scene, the more I frowned. This was a lot of work for an alley where only a few people would see it. And how weird was it that we had two rogue decorators? The ones with the pumpkin pyramid and this one? Because surely the folks who’d put together the pyramid scene wouldn’t have taken their center piece to use it in this secret horror scene?

This scene made me sick. There was so much detail in it. Though, I’d have expected them to make the blood redder than it was. It was more of a pool of dark blood than the horror movie red you’d expect. Which was when the smell hit me. Being pregnant made you far too aware of scents, and this scent…oh goodness. I lumbered out of the alley gagging and crying and crashed into a small body. My phone slipped from my hand and shattered and I looked up into the horrified gaze of a kid who was totally unprepared to deal with a pregnant woman who’d been felled like a tree and with a similar thump.

“Miss Rose!” The kid said.

I had to wipe my cheeks before I could stand and my side was hurting too hard for me to haul myself up. The kid was Jane’s J.J, and he looked was though he was about one breath from a panic attack.

There wasn’t anyone else on the street and young J.J. was glancing frantically around for someone to save him. I looked back towards the body. I felt as though there were neon signs pointing down on it, but J.J. hadn’t noticed. I signed and then tried to get up. My wrist screamed at me, and I bit back a shriek before I glanced up at J.J. Thank goodness the kid was here.

“I’m fine,” I lied. “Go get Az from the diner.”

J.J. nodded frantically and ran as though demons were chasing him. Seconds later, Az, Lyle, Zee, and Carmen poured out of the diner and came running for me. I’d have been embarrassed if I wasn’t losing it completely. I couldn’t seem to stop crying.

Az was my huge Jamaican brother of my soul. His hair was cut close to his head ever since he’d started dating my friend who loved to run her hands over his scalp. Lyle and Carmen were a mother-son team who’d come to Silver Falls together. They helped run our food-trucks pod during the summer and on the busy weekends and worked at the diner during the off-season.

And Zee was my best friend. Somewhere between ten and twenty years older than me, she was snarky, sarcastic, and often out-and-out mean. She also could run circles around me, was addicted to cats, and her knobby knees stuck out from under her uniform dress while she put her hands on her bony hips and stared at me like a naughty child.

I was weeping hysterically in the street, so I could see her point. But I also wanted to smack her for her utter lack of understanding. I was, after all, crying for someone’s baby lying dead in the alley, I was crying for the way my perfect Halloween was ruined, I was crying because my phone had broken, I was crying because our streak of nearly 6 months without a murder in Silver Falls was over, and I was crying because I hurt.

“I’m sorry!” J.J. was pacing and Zee snapped at him. I didn’t hear what she said, but I saw J.J. flinch and cried for that too.

“It’s not his fault,” I told Az who was squatting in front of me, watching my tears with horror. “I need Simon.”

“Are you having contractions, Rosie luv? Do you need an ambulance?”

I shook my head slowly as Az lifted me like a baby and carried me into the diner. “No,” I whispered, making sure that J.J. couldn’t hear me. “But someone does. Or did. There’s a dead guy in the alley.” The last bit was a wail, and I sniffled into Az’s shoulder.

Az clutched me close and then he said, “All right now, Rosie luv. All right now. I’ve got you.”

“Someone slap her,” Zee suggested dryly.

Az ignored Zee and said to Carmen. “Run over to get Mattie from the spa. She’ll be more comforting than our resident cactus.”

She nodded and went running.

“J.J,” Az said to the panicking kid, “This is a girl thing not a Rose is hurt thing. You didn’t do this.”

“Uncle Sy is gonna kill me dead,” J.J. said. “I didn’t mean to knock her down. Dad says he’s never seen someone so crazy protective as Uncle Sy over Rose. He’ll never forgive me.”

Az carefully set me down on the first booth and then said, “You didn’t, little man. Why don’t you stay here, and I’ll call your mom. She’ll come check out Rose, and you’ll see that she’s fine. Rose is crying about other stuff.”

J.J. nodded, biting his lip to hold back tears and I told Az, “Sugar J.J. up Az. A milkshake. Cake. Something. Anything.”

I could tell that my tears were freaking J.J. out, but I couldn’t stop crying. I really did hurt. My wrist mostly. But also my booty. Mostly, however, I was cringing inside. How could I have a baby in a world where people were slaughtered and just dumped where people put their trash?

Az took his phone out and called Simon from the safety of the hallway where he could ensure that no one could hear what he was about to say.

“Suck it up,” Zee told me. Her gaze followed mine to Az and she said, “What’s going on then?”

I shook my head. I’d have messaged her but my phone splattered on the sidewalk when I’d knocked J.J. down. I started crying harder and then said, “I…I…can’t explain.” I’d have pointed to J.J., but my wrist was hurting so bad, I was afraid to move it. My butt was hurting even more, and I needed to take a deep breath, but I couldn’t catch my breath and then Simon was through the door.

He took in the sight of me crying—something he’d gotten used to in the last few months. I had become a pregnant weeping well but despite how used to it Simon was, he was still across the diner and onto his knees a moment later. I curled into him crying as I tried to tell him. “Wrist…alley…I’m sorry…oh why is this happening?”

J.J. squeaked and his gaze was horrified as he glanced from me to Simon. We had both turned to the boy and Simon rose, holding out his hand for a shake, keeping one hand on me the whole time.

“Thanks buddy for being there when Rose needed help.”

“It’s my fault,” he said. “She tripped on me. I’m sorry, Uncle Sy. I…I was in the way.”

Simon shook his head and said, “She was crying before she saw you. I’m sure you were just walking innocently down the sidewalk.”

I nodded into Simon’s side, still clutching at him as though he could make it all better. I didn’t understand why I was being like this. It was…oh man, it was like when I was on my period and psycho and knew it and yet I still couldn’t stop it. That was what was happening. Except it was growing a baby that was making me psycho.

I snuffled and told J.J. “It’s just pregnancy hormones buddy.” I wailed the last little bit and then whimpered, “They make me cry all the time. Those stupid apple breakfast cereal commercials with the mom and dad at the table. The way the sun rises so beautifully. Why do they make me cry every time?”

J.J. nodded, eyes wide. I could see the panic in his face still and knew that my assurances weren’t helping. Simon’s acceptance, however, seemed to be slowly calming J.J.

“Lyle is blocking the alley off,” Az told Simon so low it was hard to catch what he was saying. “without going in.”

J.J. glanced between Az and Simon. He’d heard Az, but he didn’t do much more than glance out the window with his gaze widening. Whatever questions he had were frightened off by my reaction. I bet he’d be asking his dad later when he felt safe enough.

Simon nodded to Az, digging his fingers into my hair while I started to slowly win the battle over my emotions. Zee sat down across from me and handed me a steaming mug. Simon sent J.J. into the kitchen to cook with Az.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Hot chocolate. I’d like to put in a dollop of a slap, but Az and Simon won’t let me.”

“I kind of want to slap myself,” I sniffled, wiping my face on a napkin and then I almost wailed, “I was having such a good day.”

“You’ll have good days again,” Zee said, rolling her eyes and glancing up to the heavens. “You might have a good day today if you just let me slap you a little bit. Just one good wallop. What do you say?”

“I hate you,” I told her.

“I’ve never understood why people like me.” She sipped her own hot chocolate and shoved mine closer.

CHAPTER 3

“It’s like enjoying wasabi,” Carver—her fiancé and sheriff—said from the doorway of the diner. “Painful but good.” He put his hands on his hips as an ambulance and police car pulled up outside of the diner, blocking the alleyway off. I watched as Lyle spoke to the cop and then nodded a time or two before he came back inside the diner. He went into the kitchen, saw J.J. and left it without saying a word to clear tables.

Simon kissed my forehead, whispered that everything would be fine, and left with Carver to check out the crime scene.

She scowled at him too and then said, “The hot chocolate isn’t going to help you if you don’t drink it.”

I hated Zee a little but as I sipped the cocoa since she scowled at me the entire time. “What’s happening?”

Given J.J. had joined Az in the kitchen, I could tell Zee what I was losing it over. I did it while only crying a little bit. Well less anyway. “Dead guy in the alley. With my big pumpkin on his dead.”

Zee’s head cocked. “What?”

I nodded.

She narrowed her gaze at me, and said, “They put the pumpkin over his head?”

“I thought it was a gross Halloween decoration at first.”

Her gaze turned quizzical and she asked, “Did you touch him?"

I shuddered, shook my head, and had to wipe away a new flood of tears.

“How did you know then?”

“The smell,” I said and then gagged into my cocoa. I could almost taste the smell in the back of my throat and I had never needed to know what stale body and murder tasted like. The combination of pregnancy altered senses and what I’d seen was more than any person should have to handle.

“Hang on a second,” Zee said. She rose, glanced around the diner. No doubt she was taking in the entire state of the diner, making sure that nothing needed to be done before she stepped out.

I shuddered as she left and watched through the glass as she tried to enter the alley, got turned away by Officer Welsh, and then chewed him out. She called down the alleyway a time or two, and I could see her stiffen. Whatever—no doubt Simon or Carver—had said to her had infuriated her. She nearly stomped the entire way back into the diner.

“That’s some weird stuff,” Zee said almost idly. “I couldn’t get that good of a look though. Carver didn’t even respond when I called his name. Someone’s getting the couch. Possibly forever.”

“No wonder he bought a nice new couch,” I told her.

She grinned and winked before she looked back out the window and watched the professionals come and go. She seemed to be totally unaffected, but I knew she wasn’t. She hated when this happened in her town—in our town. She hated when Silver Falls was contaminated by the hatred and greed of the bigger world. She’d told me once, during one of our wine and gossip nights, that she’d come to Silver Falls because it seemed set apart from so much of the hate in her last town.

Even though we definitely had too many murders, I didn’t disagree. Our town was focused on service and kindness and things like this Halloween night. Thinking of the Halloween night made me cry a little more and Zee huffed and rolled her eyes.

My friend Mattie came in while I was crying, and she said, “Zee what did you do?”

Zee huffed and got up from the booth to deliver plates of food without bothering to do more than shoot Mattie and evil look. Mattie sat next to me, wrapped her arms around me, and clucked as I sniffled into my cocoa. I didn’t start to feel better until Az bought me a pumpkin waffle and a plate of celery and peanut butter.

“You’re so good to me,” I sniffled up at him, smiling through my tears. He backed away with a bit of a panic in his gaze. He didn’t even do much more than touch Mattie on the shoulder despite the fact that they were together.

“He’s never gonna want kids now,” Mattie told me. “Thanks friend.”

I laughed, sniffled again, and then started on the waffle. The plate was really one of our platters since it had hash browns as well as eggs, but I thought Az was trying to get me into a food coma both for himself and for Simon’s sakes.

Mattie chattered deliberately keeping her story light while I ate and by the time I was done with the celery, half the waffles and half the hash browns, Jane had arrived. She checked me over, wrapped my wrist, and told me, “You weren’t suppose to find any more bodies.”

“There weren’t supposed to be any more murders.”

“Are you so sure it’s a murder?” Jane asked quietly. Her gaze was concerned. It flicked from the kitchen where J.J. was to the alley where the EMTs were standing and watching and then around the diner where most people hadn’t realized what was happening. The ambulance didn’t have its lights on, no one had left yet. I was getting more sideways glances than the officials working outside.

I nodded, the tears of before being replace by anger. “Someone covered the face with a jack o’ lantern. I thought it was a holiday decoration gone too far when I saw it. If it were just an accident, no one would do that.”

“Who died?” Zee asked. “Do we know yet?”

She’d come back to the booth with coffee for both Mattie and Zee.

I shook my head in reply. I knew better than to disturb a body at a crime scene, and I had no desire to add a face to that terrible scene. It was already embedded into my memory.

Zee messaged Carver and got a ‘butt out’ reply. Her gaze narrowed out the window and I followed her gaze. Simon and Carver were facing the diner, watching us. Zee raised a brow and Carver crossed his arms over his chest. He looked a little bit like a stubborn toddler. If he intended to deter Zee, he was failing miserably. Surely he knew by now that he was essentially daring her? Surely he knew that he’d just made a bed he’d have to live in. Knowing Carver he’d done it on purpose because there was some game he wanted to watch without Zee harassing him.

My lips twitched, but I kept my thought to myself. I yawned, a jerking exhausted thing and Jane laughed at me, softly rubbing my back.

“Too much emotion for our girl here. I bet Simon would thank us forever if we took her home.” Jane suggested, but her gaze was caught by her son in the diner.

He met her gaze and came running out. He whispered into her ear.

Jane pulled back and examined J.J.’s face. He’d regained some color, but he still looked upset. She shook her head. “Rose found a body in the alley, honey. You aren’t the reason why she’s crying and her injuries aren’t a big deal.”

J.J. searched his mom’s face and then nodded. He glanced at me and said, “I really didn’t mean to hurt you, Miss Rose.”

“You didn’t hurt me,” I promised. “You were there when I needed you.”

He gulped and nodded and then whispered to his mom.

“Only if you don’t try to peek at the crime scene.”

J.J. crossed his finger over his chest.

“Let me call your dad.” Jane left with J.J. and the other two turned to me. Zee’s gaze narrowed and Mattie looked concerned.

Zee examined me as I yawned again and then told Mattie, “Simon will want us to stay with her if we take her home,” Zee said with a mean snort.

“I can do that,” Mattie said. “Rose and Simon stock good wine and good snacks. I don’t mind putting up my feet at their place instead.”

Zee rolled her eyes. “Normally somewhat protective Simon is downright suffocating these days. I feel like I can’t breathe just watching him hover over Rose.”

“It’s adorable,” Mattie said, nudging me with her shoulder.

I yawned and nodded while Zee scowled at the two of us and said, “Sickening.”

“I guess that means Rose won’t be trying to help with this murder investigation,” Mattie said. She raised a brow at Zee who scowled at me. Her gaze moved from my yawning face, to my big baby belly, to the crime scene and back again.

I shook my head. I wasn’t even tempted. I had enough burdens in my mind that colored my dreams from previous murder investigations. I had been handcuffed to a radiator and left in a house on fire. I had been attacked. I had been saved by dogs and certain I would die. I had lost my voice and damaged my lungs for months. I had experienced fear and horror, and it wasn’t a road I wanted to follow again. There was a reason my dream job had been to own a diner, not a cop or an FBI agent.

Mattie grinned as Az placed a plate of food in front of her and dropped a kiss to her cheek. They’d been dating for a while now, and I loved everything about it. Az might not really be my brother, but he was as close as I’d ever get and one of my favorite people. Mattie was the first friend I’d made in Silver Falls outside of Simon. The fact that the two of them were dating was one of my favorite things.

“I don’t want to help with those anymore. Was I even helping or just interfering?” I demanded.

Zee snorted and said, “Yes. You help. You get people to talk to you and you figure things out. Carver and Simon just gather the evidence and record what you find out and do the paperwork. They’re like your secretaries.” She was being mean, but I knew she was mad at her fiancé.

“But they would have figured things out,” I said. “We just side-stepped the appropriate process.”

Zee rolled her eyes and said, “Let’s be real here. Simon would murder me and trap you in the house if you tried to interfere while hauling around his kid in that belly of yours.”

I didn’t want to interfere. I didn’t want to be involved. I didn’t want that image in my head. I didn’t want to have anything to do with this stuff. We lived in Silver Falls for the love of goodness! We shouldn’t be having murders like this. We should be having rogue Halloween decorators, pumpkin carving contests, and an excess of candy. Not murder.

I shuddered and left the diner, my plans for the day ruined. Mattie drove me and my purchases home and stayed with me. I fell asleep on the couch worn out from my hysterics and woke to Simon chatting with Mattie.

CHAPTER 4

“It was Jerry Voe,” Simon told Mattie.

He was speaking low and in the kitchen. I slowly stretched. I was almost hot. It took me a second to realize that my dog, Goliath, had somehow wormed onto the couch next to me. He was a great Dane and I wasn’t a small woman. Was he hanging half off the couch? If so, it might account for the nearly nasty look he gave me as I stretched again. If it was possible to be both upset and utterly loving at the same time.

I nudged him a little, and he slowly stepped off the couch. Each move so slow and agonized, he made it seem as though I were electrocuting him instead of just trying to sit up.

“Do I know him?” Mattie asked, her voice sounded quizzical, “I feel like I should know him.”

“Oh my goodness,” I said, sitting up and yawning. They were standing not ten feet away in the kitchen while I had slept on the couch on the family room portion of our great room.

I turned to face them. Their gazes were almost trepidatious. Which was fair. I had been pretty crazy earlier. Now, I felt like a new woman, but a foolish one. Why had I cried like that? After so many dead bodies, I had lost it on this one. A part of me knew it was because I was pregnant and my hormones were out of whack. It was the same reason I kept crying in commercials, but I was still feeling like a fool.

“I know that name. That’s the produce guy for the diner. He runs DeVoe’s Produce with his friend, Henry Denson.”

Simon nodded and said, “We spoke to Jerry’s mother. She was really broken up. Henry Denson was out of town today, so we weren’t able to talk to him. Jerry is divorced, but his ex-wife, brother, and sister live around here. The brother in Lincoln City, the sister and his ex here in Silver Falls. We haven’t had a chance to speak to them yet. Sheryl Voe is telling them he died.”

“That poor woman,” I said. My voice cracked a little and the other two flinched.

Simon waited to see if would cry, but when I didn’t, he said, “We’ll interview them once we get a handle on the details.”

I frowned and then said, “How did he die?”

Simon didn’t want to answer, but I knew he couldn’t see why not to. Someone else would tell me eventually. “He was stabbed with your pumpkin carving tools. Az washed them and left them on the window ledge by the diner.”

I flinched as I didn’t like that one little bit. The pumpkin carving tool was a saw with a jagged edge and sharp tip. What a terrible, terrible way to die. I am sure I paled, but Simon said. “Look, Rose. The murderer used what was handy. If it hadn’t been those, it would have been something else.”

Goliath set his head down on my lap and looked up at me through big lashes. Mama Dog pushed her little body against my leg, making me feel the weight and warmth of her. My sweet Daisy, hopped up on the couch next to me and licked my face. Their awareness of my emotions was why I was such a dog woman. Our dog caretaker, Matthew, had brushed their fur and teeth that day. I was sure that he’d played them hard, because they were all drooping a bit.

I nodded, gently pushing the dogs aside, so I could stand and join them on one of the barstools in the kitchen. Simon crossed to me and kissed my head and then I admitted, “It helps knowing what happened. I can stop wondering about it. I think that perhaps seeing the body with the jack o’ lantern is worse than having seen him as he was when he died. Why would anyone do that?”

Simon shook his head, but he didn’t answer. It wasn’t something we could answer. A question for the murderer when we…when Simon…found the killer. Simon’s fingers tightened with his hug for a minute and then he released me. “Az said he’d bring chicken noodle soup over for dinner. Jane wants you to take it easy on your wrist and come in if it doesn’t start to feel better.”

Talking about it made my wrist pulse with pain. It had hurt before, but I hadn’t been paying attention to it. Once all eyes were on my poor bandaged wrist it was far worse. I tried a smile, but I could feel its tightness, and I knew Simon and Mattie knew me far too well for it to work.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine in a day or two,” I said instead of saying I was fine.

Simon opened the cupboard and handed me two Tylenol—all I could take while pregnant. He followed it up with a large glass of ice water.

“What did you find out about what Jerry was up to?” Mattie asked. She had made a pot of coffee and a pot of water for tea. I took my rooibos caffeine free tea with a frown. I wanted that coffee pretty badly, and might indulge except this late, after a nap, would be ineffable stupidity. The coffee would keep me up all night and probably give me heartburn too.

I frowned as I tried to imagine what had happened. If Jerry had been killed by my tools and near my diner, it must have been while he was delivering the produce. That happened between…what? Before we got there but not by much. We got to the diner around 5:30 am for a 6:00 am opening time. Well, Az and Zee did with someone else as well though who it was varied. So…the delivery must be between 4:30 am and 5:30 am? The murder hadn’t happened right behind the diner. Az would have seen it, of course, when he moved the produce into the kitchens.

Did the murder happen before or after the delivery? Surely Az would have mentioned that the produce hadn't arrived. Well, maybe not to me? Zee would have handled it, not me. She was the one who ran the diner on a daily basis. I messaged Zee with an old phone of Simon’s while we waited for my new one to arrive

I was playing with my tea while Simon and Mattie carefully changed the subject. No doubt they were hoping to avoid another pregnant hysterical woman fit. I didn’t blame them, but I also wasn’t letting myself think about who he mattered to. I wasn't saying that if I chatted with Jerry Voe’s mom, I wouldn’t cry with her, because I would. Without hesitation and regardless of what kind of son he was. I would break down and weep at the sheer idea that she’d had her child stolen from her.

But I could focus on when the murder might have happened without crying. I waited for Zee’s reply and she messaged she was coming over for some soup but that the produce had been delivered.

So, he must have been killed right after he delivered the produce. Why else would he be in that alleyway if not? I tried to imagine it again. The building for the 2nd Chance Diner was an old brick building with bay windows and it stood alone. It wasn’t one of those connected buildings with shop after shop. But the other side of the alley way was. Those four shops all had their own parking lot in the back and a place for their trash. We kept our dumpster in the alleyway, but no one else did. There wasn’t any reason for anyone but one of us to be in that alleyway. Often, however, we set our trash in the back of the building and walked it around at the end of the day. Especially if the orders were flying and we were busy.

If that was how the day had gone down, then the body could have been undisturbed until we’d taken the time to put the trash in the dumpster. So, I would have been the first one to see it. Maybe we hadn’t even filled our trashcans at the mid-morning point when I’d walked past the alleyway and been distracted by what I’d seen.

Ok, so if the murder happened during delivery time, why would he be in the alleyway? Maybe he parked in front of the diner and rolled the food over on a hand truck? That made sense. At that time of the morning, Jerry Voe would have paused his delivery truck in front of the diner, rolled the produce to the back, and then been walking back to the truck. Why hadn’t the hand truck been there when I’d found the body?

I recalled the scene and was certain it had just been the body, the dumpster, and the pumpkin. What happened to the produce delivery truck itself? Someone must have moved it. The killer?

“Were there prints on the weapon?” I asked cutting into a conversation about the price of gas these days. I hadn’t been paying much attention to what Mattie and Simon were talking about, but I could see that they were startled by my question.

Simon shook his head, frowning. “Rose, I don’t want you involved in this. I know you’re good at figuring the puzzles out, but…”

“I don’t want to be involved,” I told him honestly. “I have no desire to do that. It’s just the reason he’d have been outside of our diner was to deliver produce. Was the time of death around 4:30 am to 5:30 am?”

Simon scowled at me, but he nodded.

“He’s 2nd Chance’s produce guy, so if so…Simon…Jerry must have been delivering our produce when he died. And it must have happened after the produce was delivered because we got ours. What happened to the hand truck and the delivery truck? Someone must have moved them. If Henry was out of town does that mean that Jerry was delivering alone? Or did he have a partner? Either way, who but the murderer would have moved that delivery truck? And why if not to delay the discovery of what had happened?”

Were they trying to delay it or hide it entirely? What if they hadn’t been able to get rid of the body and hoped to disguise it until they could get rid of it later that day? Was that why someone had used a pumpkin to hide the body? Why not just use the dumpster?

I could see the inner cop take over Simon as he processed what I’d said. He’d have noticed the discrepancy, but he’d been distracted by telling Jerry Voe’s mom that her son was dead. I understood it. I was glad that wasn’t my job—just the thought of it made my eyes burn.

I messaged Zee again asking if the truck had been there in front of the diner when they’d arrived, but I was sure it hadn’t been. They’d have looked for the driver. They’d have tried to figure out why it had been left, and they’d have discovered the grisly scene that would plague my nightmares.

She responded. No, the delivery truck hadn’t been there.

“Why the pumpkin?”

Simon stared at me. I was sure he was wondering the same thing, but he hadn’t asked the question of me. Maybe to avoid my tears. Maybe because he didn’t want me involved. Whatever the reason, the pumpkin was a problem.

Az arrived, placed a massive pot of chicken noodle soup on the stove, set down a few loaves of homemade bread and kissed Mattie.

“Marry this one,” I told Mattie, “The scent of that soup is enough to convince any woman.”

Mattie laughed at me and then squatted down to say hello to our flock of dogs. In addition to Goliath, my great Dane, we had two near-full bred basset hounds, and 4 long-haired Dachshunds. Simon and I had met over the basket of basset hound puppies and each adopted one. Later, I’d saved Mama dog and her three sweet puppies from a fire, and finally, Goliath had saved me during one of Silver Falls’ too many murder cases.

Zee and Carver arrived next and the group of us sat down to our table.

“What’s this about the delivery truck?” Carver asked, ignoring Simon’s irritated glance.

I explained my theory that the killer must have moved it, and Carver rose from the table to call one of the on-duty police officers to look for it.

We ate and every time the murder was brought up, Simon changed the subject. Zee finally snorted meanly and said, “Rose is pregnant not stupid. Her mind works, and it’ll pick at this problem. Give her the details and she can wonder at it while she does mommy stuff.”

Az carefully looked down at his bowl, not a peep coming from that dark-chocolate honeyed voice while Mattie pressed her lips together to hold back a smile. Carver continued to eat, dunking his buttered bread in his soup and taking a large bite.

“You drag her in every time,” Simon told Zee. The accusation said Simon hadn’t forgiven or forgotten even if he loved her like I did.

“Even I’m not stupid enough to bring her out and about when she’s a lumbering behemoth,” Zee said idly ignoring Simon’s unstated censure.

“Whoa,” I said. “I only barely lumber.”

“Your feet are two sizes too big. You’re like the grinch’s heart but the opposite. You should drink more fluids. Flush that buildup out. It’s a disgrace.”

“It’s normal for women to have swollen feet while they’re pregnant,” Simon told Zee, shooting to my defense. “Rose is perfect. Carrying and growing a child is beautiful.”

I wasn’t, however, bothered. Zee was my best friend, but I knew her for the prickly wench that she was and I’d long since become inured to her little jabs. She was right, it was harder for me to get around. She might have used colorful language, but Simon knew she was right too. He had to haul me up more than once when I was trying to figure out my differentiated center of gravity.

“It’s normal for women to do a lot of things while they’re pregnant,” Zee shot back, “Like work, interact with their friends, walk places alone, even—and this might sound crazy to you—use their brains.” Zee shot me a humor-filled yet mean look when she said, “Even if they’re hormonal psychopaths.”

I took an easy bite of my soup. I wasn’t bothered by that truth. I had lost it earlier that day and looking back made me wince a little bit.

“Quit picking on Simon, Zee,” Az suggested easily. “He knows he can’t hold back Rose. It’s why he’s got that crazy look in his eyes. He was just hoping that no one else would be murdered.”

“Hear, hear,” I said. “I was hoping the same thing.”

“We all were,” Carver said. “This is long past ridiculous. So many people thinking murder is the answer.”

“Murder is never the answer,” Simon said, “Unless you try to drag Rose into danger while she’s growing a baby, extra-emotional, and having a little more trouble getting around.”

Zee’s answer was a mean snort and rolling her eyes at Simon’s threat.

CHAPTER 5

“You should go into the adoption center today,” Simon told me the following morning.

I was dressing for the day and my shirt was half over my face as he spoke, so he didn’t see my scowl. I was dressing in my new uniform: pregnant woman leggings, a long t-shirt, slip-on shoes. This was what I was being brought to. I’d woken with a craving for bacon and waffles, so I just smiled at him. I didn’t want him worrying about me, and I knew he wanted to keep me from Zee and her bad influence.

“I’ll stop by there for sure. I haven’t checked in with Shane in a while, and we still have that mean little chihuahua. It’s been too long. There has to be something we can do,” I said once again. “Maybe we could look into making some sort of reserve for unadoptable dogs and quit wasting the space at the center. It’s not like anyone is going to come in, meet a sweet little puppy and think, ‘No, I’ll take this tiny rat-like dog who I have to sign a waiver before I meet since it bites.’”

Simon and I had discussed that darned chihuahua more times than I could count. Possibly more than baby names which I really felt was saying something. Someone had surrendered the little beast after being terrible, terrible dog owners. The dog had learned to not trust people. Not even a little bit. He had bitten me, personally, at least four times. I was prepared for the bites and looking to avoid them and he’d still gotten me.

Simon eyed me as I slipped my shoes on and made him a thermos of coffee while I made myself a large tea. I had learned to love tea after messing up my lungs, but I didn’t like the option of not having coffee. Being caffeine free while pregnant was crappy. I didn’t miss the wine so much. But the sushi and the coffee was horrible.

I made Simon a breakfast sandwich. He watched me move through the kitchen, sipping my tea, and noting that I wasn’t making something for myself. I knew he had to head over to Lincoln City and didn’t have time to have breakfast at the diner, but I wasn’t so constricted. His mouth tightened as I handed him his food.

“I need waffles,” I told him.

He nodded and then said, “I just need you to be safe, Rose. You and the baby…you’re everything.”

“The baby is everything to me too,” I told him honestly. “There is no chance I will deliberately put our baby in danger.”

Simon nodded, wrapped his sandwich in foil and restrained himself—barely—from begging me not to let Zee suck me into her madness. I’d already told him a few times I didn’t want to, and there was no way that Zee was dragging me into her car to roar around town and try to manipulate our way into some possible killer’s home. Nope. Not again.

Matthew had just arrived to take care of the dogs when I was almost ready to go. He grinned at me. He wasn’t quite special needs, but he didn’t do well with office jobs or steady work, so he strung together a bunch of side-hustles like taking care of our dogs for Simon and I.

“Just take them for a really long walk,” I told him.

I got into my car taking Goliath with me. Zee messaged me about when I would arrive at the diner, and I told her I’d be over after I checked in at the adoption center. Then I took a picture of Goliath sitting in the front seat and sent it to Simon before driving down to The 2nd Chance Adoption Center.

It didn’t take very long to check in there, make sure thing were running well, meet the old lab who’d been brought in after losing his owner. I snuggled him for a long time. The look on his face was sad, and I didn’t blame him one little bit. He’d lost the most important person in his whole world and didn’t even realize what had happened or that he hadn’t been abandoned.

“Offer a scholarship for him and call around to some of the loving homes we know. He’s not young, and he won’t last for a long time,” I said. “Especially this sad. But maybe someplace like the Michaelson’s. They’re so good with dogs, and their boy might just be the perfect solution for this lab.”

Shane nodded. She was as upset by the lab’s melancholy given the way he was laying at her feet. “I was thinking of taking him home with me today rather than leaving him here.”

I nodded. I checked in about her nieces who were young J.J.’s half-sisters and then about the skunk those little girls had adopted when one had been left at the shelter.

“You know…” Shane stared down at the old lab. “With the scholarship, if it covered vet expenses, my nieces might be a better answer.”

“That’s fine with me,” I said. “If it gives this old guy some little girls to help him through his mourning. They can have all his expenses paid. Just bring them food and stuff from here. Give them a dog crate, bed, toys, all of it.”

Shane nodded and said, “I’ll call my sister. I think she’ll be game. She has been wanting to do something to repay you guys…”

I cut Shane off. Simon and I weren’t paying for the counseling for the little girls after losing their birth dad because we were saints. We were doing it because we didn’t want J.J. to get healthy while his sisters suffered. It was in the best interest of our family, and with my inheritance, the cost wasn’t even a sacrifice.

I left the adoption center when my stomach started to growl and made my way down to the diner. When I got inside, I walked as normally as possible, but I was too stiff, and Zee’s look told me I had been unsuccessful at disguising my lumbering. I put Goliath in the dog bed in the office and left him with a chew treat and then went back to the dining area.

“Did they find the delivery truck?” I asked as I made myself a cup of tea and asked Az for some waffles, hash browns, and bacon. Startlingly, I didn’t want the autumn supreme waffle with a pear and apple compote. “Add some jalapeño and cheddar cheese to mine. With regular syrup.”

Az’s head cocked and he said, “That might be a pretty good specialty waffle when it’s not Halloween.”

“Let’s test her out,” I said.

I found a booth and pulled out the notebook I had with me. Zee sat down across from me, taking the notebook. It held my notes on the murder and Zee smirked evilly at me as she realized what I’d written down.

“I couldn’t help it,” I told her. I sipped my tea and said goodbye to one of our regulars who was leaving.

“You have an addiction,” Zee told me. Her gaze was triumphant and evil. “Admitting it is the first step.”

“Even if I admit it,” I shot back, “That doesn’t mean I’m going to try to investigate a murder while also being six months pregnant, without weapon or backup. I nearly died once, and I won’t survive but lose my baby.”

Zee’s mouth pursed and then she admitted, “Even I think that’s a good call. I just want you to admit that you like the puzzle.”

My eyes inexplicably burned as I admitted, “I love it. Is that what you want to hear?”

“Yes,” she said.

“But I’d prefer the murder stay to the pages of a book or something. Not like this. Not finding a body in the alley. Covered in my pumpkin. I don’t think I’ll ever carve another one without wondering what other ways my poor jack o’ lantern could be used.”

“Then download the complete Agatha Christie library with your buckets of money and…”

I frowned and said, “Shut up. This murder is in my lap, isn’t it? I can just think about it, can’t I? Think and not interfere is all I’m doing.”

“You could…” Zee rose and delivered orders, keeping the diner running while I ate and stared at my list. The brother, the sister, the mother, the partner. Who was with Jerry Voe when he died? What kind of person had Jerry been? Was he some good, down-to-earth, business owning salt of the earth type? Or was he a jerk? Did people love or hate him? Was he simple or complicated? Perhaps everyone loved him and today was a day of deep agony for too many people?

Az delivered my breakfast with a couple of pieces of celery and a side of peanut butter. I debated for a moment and then spread the waffle with too much butter, peanut butter, and then drowned it in syrup. I crumped a couple of pieces of bacon over the top and took a curious bite. This might end up being the most amazing thing ever. Zee gagged as she walked by, watching me eat my creation.

“Oh. My. Goodness,” I told Az through the window the kitchen. “It’s amazing. Come try!”

He shook his head. I waved him my way until he reluctantly stared down at the mess I’d made of her perfectly plated waffle.

“Try it,” I said.

He was hesitant.

“Really,” I insisted.

“Rosie luv, your taste buds are off. You know that, right?”

I frowned at him, tapping my plate, until he took a bite. He chewed slowly, his head cocked as he paid attention to his mouth. Finally he admitted, “That’s legitimately good. Weird. But good.”

“I know!” I raised my hands over my head and waved them in triumph, vindicated.

Az glanced down at my notebook and then he said, “That’s a good question. Was Jerry alone? Usually, Jerry and Henry deliver the produce together. They’re partners, right? So if Henry Denson wasn’t around yesterday morning, who would know that? Did Jerry try to find help for when Henry was going to be gone? Was this a crime of opportunity? Finally Jerry was alone so the killer struck?”

“Did you and Mattie talk about the murder last night as you fell asleep?”

Az shrugged. Mattie had moved in with him over the summer. Az had bought a piece of property and built his own house with the help of friends to keep the cost low. We’d spent many a weekend up at his property with our friends and the house was truly lovely, full of the details you’d add when you were doing it yourself. Things like backsplash with fun designs in it. A cement patio with a mosaic. Copper bathtubs long enough for the massive Az to lay full out.

Speaking of, “I think Simon and I are going to redo our bathroom to get one of those big tubs. I want one like yours. All stand alone and stupid big. I can’t take baths since I’ll cook the baby or something right now, so we’re going to do it after he or she comes.”

Az grinned and said, “I’d be happy to help put it in.”

I shrugged. I didn’t care if Simon decided to do it alone or if he decided to hire someone. I was dumping it fully in his lap and spending my time buying the tray for mimosa, a candelabra for ambience, and bath salts and bombs and all the rest for the sheer fun of it.

“Do you know Henry?” Az asked me.

I shook my head. I hadn’t met either of them. A fact I was grateful for since I had seen Jerry Voe’s body. Since I hadn’t seen his face and didn’t have a face to imagine behind that jack o’lantern. Zee had switched to DeVoe Produce when one of them came by and offered to deliver before we opened and to ensure we’d always get the best of the produce. Picked over as if we were picking it over ourselves. I was sure that she’d threatened whoever had come in when they’d made the deal.

She also hadn’t complained, so they must have been doing a good enough job to keep her happy. Would everyone else say the same? I wondered if the coffeeshop across the way got their order? If they hadn’t…maybe they’d called? Maybe they knew who was with Jerry the morning he died? They opened earlier than we did, were they there when he came by?

I rose and told Zee, “I’m just gonna pop on over to Bella Coffee.”

She smirked as she asked, “Investigating?”

“I’m hardly at risk talking to Cole. I promised Simon I wouldn’t put myself in danger. Cole is a friend of Simon’s and mine. All I wonder is if he got his order.”

And maybe a followup question or two. Nothing dangerous. A simple brain exercise. That’s all.

Zee snorted and then grinned and left her orders with Carmen and Roxy to come with me. Silver Falls was pretty quiet. It was mid-week and the off-season, so we didn’t have many tourists. The occasional retired couple for the most part. Much of the town wasn’t around as we crossed the street.

“We need to be back by 1:00 pm,” Zee said.

I rolled my eyes. As if she really cared if we would be back or not. But, it was barely noon. Of course we’d be back by then.

CHAPTER 6

“Heya, Cole,” I said as I came into his coffee shop. He had a few people lingering over coffee, but he was slow.

“Heya Rose,” he said. “I suppose you’re here about Jerry?”

“You know her so well,” Zee said. “Interfering busy body who doesn’t let her husband do his job.”

I gasped and spun on Zee, stumbling back against the display case because I was a behemoth with no center of balance.

Cole laughed until I stumbled and then I heard his curse while Zee grabbed my arm and steadied me.

“You’re evil,” I told her.

“You knew that,” she shot back. “Did you get your produce yesterday?”

Cole nodded and then said, “They usually hit me first because our order is smaller. Something about how they put them in the truck.”

“Did you see them?”

Cole nodded again and said, “Well…I talked to Jerry. I usually only see one. Do the police think Henry did it?”

I shook my head and then said, “He was out of town. We aren’t sure who, if anyone, was with Jerry.”

“Well…” Cole winced a little as he finished his thought, “Someone was.”

“Yeah,” Zee said, but we all winced a little bit at just what that person had done.

“How long have we been using the DeVoe Produce?”

Zee considered and then said, “About eight months? Since they started up. The delivery service before that was pretty crappy. It was an easy switch. They’ve been pretty good. Don’t you think?”

We both turned to Cole who shook his head. “Actually…no. Our order has been messed up a lot. Our billing too. I’ve called them time and again. I was about to end it this last month, but the other delivery service couldn’t add us in right away.”

I blinked and glanced at Zee. She shook her head. We hadn’t been having the same problems.

“Are you sure?”

Zee nodded. “I double check the order and invoice every time. There was a problem like six months ago, but I called once and chewed them out. That was it.”

“You’re scarier than I am,” Cole said. He wasn’t even joking. He handed over two hot drinks. I winced and pointed to the belly and he said, “It’s an earl grey latte. I think you should be ok.”

Well that sounded delightful. Zee asked if he’d heard if anyone else was having a hard time and Cole said, “Look I went to school with Jerry. It’s why I signed up with him. He was a flake then, and he’s a flake now. He’s always been…iffy.”

“Iffy?” I asked.

“Iffy,” Cole repeated. “Look, I…well, I wouldn’t say I loved the guy, but we had enough history to give him a chance. I was better friends with his sister, and I still am. Janice is a good lady. Good friends with my wife. I hear about Jerry and his garbage through my wife. How much of is exaggerated? I don’t know. I wouldn’t place bets on it, because I’ve heard rumors coming the other way from Janice’s spouse and they’re always…more dramatic in the retelling.

“Dramatic like what?”

Cole sighed and then started an order for a guy who’d just come through the door. “Hey George. Same old?”

The man nodded, grabbed a paper and sat down after leaving a few bucks on the counter. It must have been something he did so often that Cole didn’t seem surprised. Just threw the change into the tip jar and went back to making the coffee. Cole delivered it and joined us back at the counter.

“So the gossip? It’s entirely unreliable, you understand?”

I nodded and Zee snorted meanly. Cole didn’t blink at Zee’s reactions and simply said, “Crazy stuff. Sucking his mom dry. Stealing from his siblings. Using drugs. Lovers on the side. Not paying child support. His sister despises him, and she gets all her anger out with my wife. The two of them walk together after the kids go to school.”

“That all sounds like extreme generalizations.”

“They are. I never cared, and I only half-listen when my wife re-tells it all. This is a small town. We know each other too well. I’d rather a few more of us had our secrets. You know? If you listened to every passing piece of gossip, you’d be swimming in the details of each other’s lives. It’s better to just not hear.”

Zee and I drew what gossip we could from Cole, but it all sounded a bit far-fetched. Drug using and fights in the street? Stealing from his own mom? Young women? I felt like Cole was repeating the plot of a soap opera, and you could see from the way he was saying it that he felt the same.

* * * * *

We went back to the diner and I was working with Az in the kitchen on a pumpkin flavored waffle with chocolate shavings and whipped cream. We were also going to make liege, to-go waffles, that were pumpkin flavored and dipped in chocolate shell. The halloween menu had been finalized with our pumpkin chocolate waffle, our scary waffle (my jalapeño creation) but we’d added , a butternut squash biscuit breakfast sandwich, green eggs and brains, and a candy corn layer cake.

“This should be a good time, Rosie luv,” Az said. “You’re going to dress up?”

I nodded. I was going to be a “mommy” mummy and Simon would be Frankenstein. We were all going classic monster movies for the diner. On Halloween, Carmen was going to be a werewolf and Lyle a vampire. Roxy was going to be a witch, and Zee said she’d bloodied up one of her old uniform dresses and was going to be a zombie.

We were pretty excited about the whole evening. We closed at 2:00pm, and were going to turn the diner into a mini-haunted room to scare the kids and lead them through the diner from the main entrance to the emergency exit with lots of candy on the way.

“Rose,” Zee called as I took another bite of the latest version of our waffle. I might have added way, way too much chocolate the first time around, but Az hauled me back.

“You know, Rosie luv, we could make a black waffle. A haunted one?”

I nodded and turned to Zee.

“Your 1:30 pm is here.”

I frowned. Az snorted one of Zee’s things—they were contagious. Az grinned at me. We both turned to the front door as a woman came through the door. She was large with a pixie cut that accented her high cheekbones and bright eyes. She wasn’t that much older than me, but Az choked.

“Who is she?” I hissed.

“Janice Voe-Jones,” Az said. “It’s Jerry’s sister.”

I felt a flash of fury, but it was followed by curiosity. I wasn’t going to go with Zee to investigate, but I wouldn’t be in danger in the diner. I knew, however, that Simon would be upset. I paused and then sent him a quick message about what was happening. I followed it up with a promise to not leave the diner with anyone.

I asked Az to make up something to offer Janice and then came out to struggle into a booth across from Janice.

“Hi,” I said awkwardly. I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten through interviews before. Tell me, a stranger with no authority, all of your family dirt. “I’m so sorry about your brother.”

Janice cleared her throat and then said, “Yeah. Well.”

It wasn’t so much that she didn’t seem upset but that she seem conflicted. I wanted to take her hand and wrap her up in a hug, but I knew that was my hormones and would be about as welcome as a punch in the nose.

I pressed my lips together and glanced helplessly at Zee who had just walked up to join us.

“Your brother sounded like a real jerk,” Zee told Janice.

I choked on my own spit. My eyes were watering as I tried to recover and Zee slammed me on the back while she said, “Don’t worry about preggers here. Her body is rebelling on her. She’s like a delicate flower who should have looked into a surrogate.”

I elbowed Zee and said, “Excuse me. I was shocked my friend would say something so horrible about your recently deceased brother. I’m just so sorry.”

Janice nodded once and said, “It’s…difficult. He’s…well…he’s my brother. Was. But he was also difficult. In a way…in a very, very terrible way it’s a relief.”

I held back my gasp.

“You have to understand. Jerry was…well…he was always troubled. He was abusive towards me when we were younger. He supposedly cleaned up when he set up that produce business, but in doing that—he took all the savings my mom had. And he hasn’t been paying her back like he promised. Yet, he just bought a new car. I just paid for my mom’s meds while he stole her money.”

Was Janice aware she was sharing a big fat motive for killing her brother? I wanted to know if they could expect someone like Janice to be capable of physically stabbing her brother in the back. I had no idea if she was the right height. What if he’d been tripped? Did she need to have a certain physical strength? I was well aware that just become someone was large didn’t mean that they were weak. She could be very strong with just a layer of chub over her muscles.

“Did you kill your brother?” I asked her.

She blinked at me as if I were some sort of alien and then said, “Why I…how could you…oh my goodness, what in the…”

“Do you realize that you just provided a huge motive ? If your mother is already suffering, how long until he talks her out of her retirement or social security?”

Janice paled a little, but she admitted, “It’s not like I haven’t thought about that. I have kids. In the morning, I get up, get them ready, make lunches, make breakfast, gather backpacks, and then as soon as I drop them, I meet my best friend at the beach for a long walk. I might have had a motive, but I didn’t have time.”

I seriously doubted that she was making lunches at 4:30 or 5:30 am, but it was a good story, and I was sure that she probably felt like it was an alibi. No doubt her husband was in the bed next to her.

“Are you married?”

She nodded.

“Was your husband home?”

She nodded.

That still didn’t tell me much. I knew all to well how easy it would be to get out of bed and leave Simon. If he wasn’t expecting it, I could probably get away with it.

“Who else would have a reason to kill your brother? Your other brother?”

“Dave?” Janice shrugged and said, “If you want to know whether we were both appalled by what was happening with the way Jerry was stealing from my mom, the answer is yeah. We were. We do what we can for her, and Jerry does—did—what he could to counteract our efforts.”

“What about his business partner? His ex-wife? Some person he might have infuriated?”

Janice accepted a cup of coffee from Carmen and glanced down at the platter of sandwiches that Az had made up. I was stuffed from my breakfast and the taste testing I’d done in the kitchen, but Janice took a sandwich and placed it on the empty plate in front of her. She didn’t eat though, but used it as a prop to play with while she considered the question.

“Honestly, Jerry was a real jack…mmm…piece of work.” Janice took a sip of the water. “Did his ex-wife hate him? Yes. Do his children hate him? Yes. Does his business partner probably hate him? I would guess after day in and day out with my brother that yeah, Henry does. You could throw all of our names in a hat and pull one out and we’d have a reason to kill Jerry. I’m not saying that any of us did. Just that my brother was a jerk.”

I had to admit to be utterly surprised by what she said. Why was she here? Why was she sharing her personal garbage and the details of her brother’s life. “Why are you here?”

Janice seemed taken aback.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Zee elbowed me, but I ignored her and Janice said, “Everyone knows that the murders that have happened in Silver Falls lately have been solved by you.”

I did not know that. I didn’t like that people thought that. I didn’t want the credit for them.

“I need this to be ended. I need to bury my jerk of a brother, miss the few good things about him, and help my mom get on with her life. My mom is devastated. This is her kid. Her baby.”

I teared up, trying to bite the inside of my mouth to stop the tears.

“My mom deserves it to be over quickly.”

I nodded. “I believe that.” I sniffed and Zee moaned under her breath as I said, “I’m not going to go out and investigate.”

Janice frowned at me and I said, “I’m six months pregnant and I have been attacked doing this before.”

Her face cleared up a bit and she said, “I’ll bring my family to you.”

I leaned back, utterly shocked.

“My mother needs this over.”

“Just message me, and I’ll make sure Rose is here,” Zee said. “She’s got pregnant woman brain, utterly focused on naps and food, but I’ll see she’s here.”

CHAPTER 7

I curled up next to Simon the next morning. It had to be 3:00am or so. He was sleeping deeply and I’d woken due to the usual frequent pressure on my bladder.

He was still sleeping and I could see how easy it would be to get up, leave the house and be back without him even knowing. The sky was black as pitch and I pulled away from him, padding out to the kitchen.

Even my constant companions, the dogs, didn’t follow me. I made myself a cup of chamomile tea and grabbed the notebook I’d started carrying when I realized I was forgetting things. Pregnancy brain was a real thing, and I’d become super absent minded. I flipped past the page of things we needed to order for the baby. I was having a hard time just ordering. I needed to read all the safety reviews. It was crazy how many things could kill a tiny human.

The next page was the list of people that Janice gave me who interacted regularly with Jerry. There was his ex-wife, his brother Dave, his sister Janice, her husband Herman. There was Jerry’s partner, Henry.

I had learned from too many murders in my life that the people who killed you were the ones who were supposed to love you. If someone ended up murdering me, Simon and Zee were the likeliest suspects. Maybe my employees if I somehow found them doing something shady. But, Simon was the number one. I knew he’d never hurt a hair on my head.

That didn’t mean the same of others who were married though. Jerry’s ex-wife had left him. Would she kill him now that they didn’t live together anymore? Maybe he was threatening their child in some way? Or trying to take her to court over something? Maybe she snapped?

Simon padded out to the kitchen and asked, “Are you ok?”

I nodded and then admitted, “I woke due baby Olympics on my bladder and then couldn’t sleep. If I were murdered, it would be you who did it.”

Simon knew me well enough to know I was thinking about Jerry’s death, not making accusations towards him.

“So you think his ex killed him?”

I shook my head and shoved the paper towards him. I went and got a cup of tea for him while Simon read it over.

“So Janice wants you to investigate because you figured out the other killers?”

I nodded and leaned down to kiss his cheek.

“And Zee arranged for Janice to come in and talk to you.”

I nodded again.

“You know that she could just be trying to control the investigation?”

I shrugged and said, “Well, she might be manipulating me, but she has to worry about the pros more than me.”

Simon tangled his fingers with mine as he sipped his tea, and I snuggled closed, taking his hand to put it over my belly where our baby was kicking me up one side. Simon grinned at me and then said, “It’s sad how something so miraculous is happening at the same time that something so terrible happened.”

“Why do you think someone killed Jerry?”

Simon shrugged and admitted, “I don’t really know. His mom thinks he was amazing. She was so proud of him. Talked about how far he’d come. How he was the child who needed her. She made him sound like her special gift from god.”

I winced and asked, “Did you talk to Janice today?”

He nodded. “Both Janice and Dave have very different stories of Jerry. Janice’s husband told me privately that Jerry abused Janice as a kid. Said she always had a hard time being around him. That their mom pushed them together and insisted that Janice ‘get over it.’

I winced and then rubbed my baby belly. I couldn’t imagine so thoroughly hurting my child like that. You weren’t allowed to tell someone when to get over their abuse. Healing happened at different rates. And then to see your mother choose the child who was in the wrong. Man, oh man.

“What about the business partner?”

“He was at a conference in Portland. He came back, but he has a pretty good alibi.”

I frowned and then suggested, “How was the produce business doing? Cole told us that his deliveries and billing had been pretty messed up. That he was thinking of switching businesses. Maybe there was company trouble?”

Simon didn’t say if he knew for sure. He just stood and pulled me after him as he said, “Rose, sweetheart, you need to sleep.”

He was right, and I let him wrap me up in his arms and hold me close until I slipped into sleep. I realized, however, that if Simon hadn’t been so aware of me because of the baby, I’d have gotten away with leaving the house and he’d never know. Just how hard did Janice’s husband sleep? Maybe he had years and years of experience with her unable to sleep?

If Simon weren’t so endlessly worried about me and the baby, especially with his bad dreams…it would have been easy to slip away and get back into bed before his alarm went off. It was a reality I couldn’t discount.

I wondered just what Dave’s alibi was. If the brother were as angry as Janice—maybe he’d been able to slip away and back before his wife even realized? Those alibis were shakier than either realized but so very reasonable. I wasn’t sure what to think. Poor Janice. For Jerry’s mom, Sheryl. The poor family in general. Murder was certain to mess with any bonds that remained from all that damage.

* * * * *

The next day was gray and cloudy with a constant drizzle. I drove down to the diner knowing that Janice would be bringing in someone to talk to me. I wasn’t sure why they were cooperating with Zee and her quest to get us involved in the murder investigation, but I suppose a part of me could sort of see how if you believed someone would be able to just solve things that you’d speed towards an end. Especially if you hadn’t killed your brother.

When I got into the diner, I took the green smoothie option for breakfast with wheat toast. I tried to alternate my waffle days with healthier things but the sight of the day’s offering was pretty tempting. Az had gone with a spice waffle topped with whipped cream, maple syrup, and a side of bacon.

I downed my smoothie before I could give into the waffle and then started making sugar cookie dough for the jack o’ lantern, bat, and witch cookies that we were going to be selling over the holiday weekend.

Zee told me that Henry Denson would be coming in soon. What was he thinking? Was he here because Zee threatened him about his account with us? Was he here because Janice asked him? Because he didn’t want to be the one who said no?

“What did you learn from Carver?”

“He doesn’t buy the alibis,” Zee said. “For Dave or Janice. He found out some shady stuff about Jerry Voe that gives a pretty good alibi, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was.”

“It might be what Janice referred to. That Jerry abused her as kids. I’m pretty sure from the way Simon said it that the effect of it has lingered into her adulthood and effected her capacity to even be around him.”

Zee’s brows rose and I knew we were both wondered just what kind of abuse. Statistically, he might have sexually abused her. I flinched at the idea of being abused like that and then having to see the abuser—who hadn’t changed—every time you were around your family. What a way to ruin holidays. Especially when you saw him taking advantage of your mother as well.

“Janice is on the top of my list for suspects,” I told Zee.

Zee shrugged and said, “I never assume anyone is innocent. Could a sister stab her brother in the back? Yeah, she could. Even without that history. Women aren’t delicate somethings and sometimes, the man kind of deserves it. He sounds like a likely subject for murder.”

I knew she meant that Jerry seemed like a guy ripe for the killing. The truth was there were lots of people who were ripe for killing. They didn’t end up dead though. Most of the time people in their lives just dealt with the issues caused by their terrible family members or coworkers. Normal people didn’t track down someone who was terrible in their lives, find some handy pumpkin carving tools, and stab them in the back.

So why had it happened in this case?

CHAPTER 8

Henry Denson was at least six foot four inches tall and broad. I was guessing that delivering box after box of produce kept him slim. He grinned at me, but the smile didn’t extend to his eyes. Perhaps I’d met someone who would actually miss Jerry?

“Hello,” I said, holding out my hand.

He shook my hand and we took a seat. Henry ordered chicken fried steak and a sudden craving hit me despite the fact that I’d just had a green smoothie. Zee joined us as she delivered his food and he said, “So Janice says that she’s asked you to help out finding Jerry’s killer.”

I nodded and then said, “The police are your best bet.”

He lifted his brows and said, “I didn’t expect that from you.”

“Simon and Carver are excellent investigators.”

Henry just nodded and then said, “You know…Jerry was my friend. He was a flawed man and Janice has good reason for feeling like she does about him. He could have been a better son. But he was my friend.”

I considered him for a moment and then I asked, “So you both invested in your business the same amounts?”

Henry shook his head and said, “Jerry couldn’t afford to do that. He helped, but he tapped himself out.”

“I understand he tapped his mom out.”

Henry cleared his throat and then said, “Look, I don’t know about where Jerry got his money.”

I nodded, but I didn’t believe him one little bit.

“I heard your service hasn’t been for others what it has been for us,” Zee told him. She hadn’t said the same to me, but I looked her way and watch her eyes flash. “The tearoom said you’ve been late and you’ve been billing her wrong for months. Cole at Bella wasn’t happy. Jose and Los Jalapeños isn’t happy. Beatrice McCallister isn’t happy.”

Henry winced and said, “We’ve been having some hurdles. But listen, I’m here to help you get a better picture of Jerry. He was my friend, and I have an alibi. I didn’t kill him.”

Henry was almost belligerent about his comment and I kind of wanted to prod him a little, but instead I said, “Tell me about his ex-wife.”

“What? Lane? They fought a lot. Jerry could have been a better dad. I don’t think she killed him.”

“Who do you think did?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Henry said. “Why does it have to be one of us? Couldn’t it have been some passerby? Jerry could be a real jerk to people.”

I had no idea what it could have been. But did I buy that some random person out about Silver Falls, Oregon—in the off-season—would have overpowered him and killed him? Yeah. No. No I didn’t buy that for a second, and I was sure that Carver and Simon didn’t either.

I had no idea what Simon and Carver were thinking about who killed Jerry Voe, but I was absolutely sure that it was not some random stranger.

Zee questioned Jerry about his business, and I watched his reactions. He was not happy at her questions, but I was guessing that he didn’t want to truly infuriate her. The 2nd Chance Diner account had to be one of the largest of his incomes given the way that we flew through food at the diner. If he was on the edge of losing quite a bit of business accounts, he probably needed ours pretty badly.

“How much money did he invest into this?” I asked suddenly. “He must have given something to be your partner? Or was he just your employee?”

Henry shot me a nasty look and said, “The finances behind my business are hardly…”

“It’s cool,” I cut in. “You don’t have to tell us. But, you’ll have to tell the police.”

“He does have to tell us,” Zee said meanly. “I’m in charge here, and I won’t keep doing business with a company that is wrapped up in a potential murder. You help us clear it, or we’ll go with Friday’s Produce instead.”

Henry’s ears turned a brilliant red and then he said, “I invested my entire life savings and 401k. It was about seventy thousand. Jerry provided as much as he could, about forty thousand. We negotiated that he would get paid less until he eventually base up the difference.”

I let Zee ask further questions and left it. I wasn’t sure I was much of a fan of Henry Denson, but he was in a hard place. He’d invested everything and something was going wrong with his business. Given that a lot of Silver Falls had switched to DeVoe produce, I was confused about why he was struggling. We paid a pretty good upcharge to have the food delivered and let the DeVoe business take care of our shopping for us.

The baby was pressing on my bladder, and I was done with Henry. I knew I might be behaving rudely, but I took Zee’s phone and messaged Janice asking her how much money their mom had given Jerry.

I didn’t necessarily believe that Henry was lying to me. More I believed that from what I’d heard about Jerry, he might have invested just as much as he could get away with to be a ‘partner’ while also taking his mom for as much as he could.

Janice messaged that she’d get copies of the checks for me, but that she believed her mom had about ninety-five thousand dollars in her savings account, and she was down to only five thousand dollars.

I flinched at that and then messaged Carver from Zee’s phone telling him that I though he should check into who was pulling their business from DeVoe and get a copy of their accounts. He seemed to know it was me rather than Zee. I didn’t read up their conversation, but knowing Zee she either had some weird pet name for him or she was always sharp.

I messaged him what I’d learned about the investment from Henry’s standpoint. I knew they’d pull the paperwork and see if it was worth looking into further. I wasn’t sure what I believed of Henry, but money was something people murdered over. What would he do if he knew that Jerry hadn’t invested as much as he could have?

Would that have been something to murder over? Zee asked him about his ex-wife, sister, brother, and mother, and Henry acted as though he didn’t know.

“Do you spend all day in a truck delivering together or do you have two trucks?”

Henry glanced back at me and said, “We deliver together.”

I nodded. Yeah, I didn’t believe he didn’t know more. I wasn’t sure why he was being cagey. His partner—potentially his best friend—was dead. Surely he wanted to help find his killer? Unless he was trying to sort of retroactively support him?

Henry left a few minutes later and Zee said, “You weren’t your normal self.”

“I don’t like him. I didn’t find anything he was saying…credible. It felt like if he wasn’t lying to us about Jerry, he was misleading us. You should ask your buddies about what was happening with his orders.”

Zee glanced at me and then said, “I have. I spent much of the morning doing that while you and Az were playing in the kitchen.”

“And?”

“Several of the accounts got past due bills in the last little bit for bills they paid. People like Cole provided proof of payment, proof of their order, and proof of what they got. But when I asked Josephine if she got one? She had, and she paid it. She didn’t realize that their paperwork was all messed up.”

My brows rose at that. “But we didn’t?”

“We had one weird bill once, and I called and talked to Henry. He took care of it, and it didn’t happen again.”

I leaned back against the booth and then messaged Simon for him to come and join me for a chicken fried steak lunch and walk. I bet he’d take a long one and spend some time with me. I wondered if Jerry had been stealing from his business. I could see that Zee was wondering the same thing.

“Embezzling a small business like that…it would all fall apart. Henry saved for his own business for years. If Jerry was doing that, it would be something to kill over.”

“So would abusing your sister and then making yourself the victim,” Zee countered.

“I don’t disagree,” I said to Zee. “I just think Henry is as much of a suspect as anyone else.”

CHAPTER 9

I brought two platters of chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes to the office booth where Simon and Goliath were. I told Simon about the money stuff, and he raised his brows.

“Why do people tell you stuff? Surely, Henry realized it could make him look like a suspect?”

I shook my head and then admitted, “Henry wouldn’t have. But, Zee threatened to pull our account. Given what we’ve been hearing about DeVoe Produce, it could have ended his business.”

Simon flinched a little for poor Henry. We’d completely blackmailed information out of him, and I didn’t feel bad about it. I wasn’t sure why you’d keep that stuff secret in a murder investigation. In a normal situation, yeah. But a murder one? Maybe to us. Zee and I were hardly the police, but Henry should have told Simon if things were shady about what was happening with his business. Maybe he didn’t know? Maybe—if my guess was accurate about Jerry being a thief—Henry might only discover it as he untangled the mess of his business. And really…what man would steal from his mother but not his business partner?

I reminded myself to ask Zee later if she’d only ever worked with Henry or if she’d worked with Jerry too. In fact…I messaged her and asked her to contact the folks who’d had messed up bills and see who they’d been working with. Simon watched my message and then said, “You two with your gossip train and Zee’s connections.”

“She does know everyone and for someone reason we all like her.”

Simon rubbed his hand down my back and said, “The prickly exterior hides the kindest woman you ever saw. However, we need to see if we can pick apart or firm up the alibi for Dave and Janice. The truth is—Henry has an alibi.”

“Where was he again?”

“Portland. He was at a conference about a new payment processing service. He has the receipts. We can clock the mileage on his car. It’s all very credible.”

I nodded and laid my head on Simon’s shoulder. The chicken fried steak was magical at The 2nd Chance Diner. Az was a brilliant cook. He deserved to be something more than a cook at a diner, but I knew he loved it. He didn’t want to be a fancy chef. He didn’t want to own his own place where he couldn’t be in the kitchen. He liked to turn the radio on and hum to the music while he cooked. I’d spent a lot of time trying to think up something better for him before I recognized that he loved his life and I was an idiot.

“Does the wound on Jerry make anyone not a suspect? Like you’d have to be a certain height or strength?”

Simon shook his head. “It seems that whoever killed him somehow knocked him down. Tripped? Pushed? There isn't a wound from it, but the killer stabbed downwards onto his back. They can’t narrow down the height of the killer from that.”

I frowned and then said, “What about whoever set up the pumpkin display?”

Simon shook his head. “Aaron Welch knew who it was. They did it around midnight.”

“Why did someone put the jack o’ lantern over his face?”

Simon sighed and said, “Probably because kids are downtown a lot. Or they wanted to obscure what happened. I don’t know? Sheer creepiness? I won’t look at a pumpkin again the way I did before I saw that.”

“Tell me something happy instead,” I said.

“Have you heard?” He grinned at me and said, “I’m gonna be a daddy.”

I laughed and said, “I have heard that. I’m thinking pretty seriously about going home after this lunch and cooking the baby some. Maybe in on the couch with my favorite throw. Maybe in our bed.

“I’ll take you home and lay with you for a while. Carver has the other boys out running your and Zee’s errands.”

“How did they knock him down?” I asked suddenly. “Did he fight?”

Simon shook his head and I said, “We should double check the alley.”

He shrugged, and we walked out to the alleyway. There was nothing. Our dumpster. Some leaves. Dirt against the walls since people didn’t sweep alleyways, but nothing that really explained it.

“I can’t see it,” I told Simon.

“Don’t try,” he suggested, “You’ll have dreams about it later.”

I nodded. There was nothing. No cracks in the cement. No debris. No rocks. Why would a full grown man get knocked down for no reason? So conveniently?

“Maybe the killer came up behind him and just stuck out their foot real fast?”

It didn’t make sense. I glanced down at the blood spot. I could see that someone had power-washed the spot. The chalk outline they’d made was gone. The blood spot was gone. The…dirt had been swept towards the dumpster.

I just couldn’t see it. The way the murder happened didn’t make sense. I stared at the dumpster and then asked, “Why didn’t the killer just pick up Jerry and put him in the dumpster? Why a pumpkin to hide the body?”

“Jerry wasn’t a small man,” Simon said. “With dead weight, they might have been unable to. Except for Henry, I can’t see that any of our suspects would have had a chance.”

I stepped towards the dumpster and stared at it. I wouldn’t have been able to get anyone into it.

“Even the brother, Dave?”

Simon nodded and I asked, “What about Janice’s husband?”

Simon’s head cocked and he said, “Maybe Whitey could. Actually, I’d bet he could.”

“Maybe the sheer reason that the body wasn’t put in the dumpster was because he could do it.”

Simon frowned at me, thinking it over. My gaze was caught by something, and I picked it up. Smooth and round, I played with it as Simon stated Whitey didn’t have any better of an alibi than Janice. Both of them had been together, they’d both been sleeping. Simon looked past me and I thoughtlessly put the item in my pocket.

I wondered about that. What if he’d watched his wife tormented for years by an an unrepentant abuser? Maybe he snapped? Could he have known that Jerry would be alone that morning? If so, maybe Whitey had decided enough was enough, and he wouldn’t watch his wife be harassed by her brother any longer.

“I’ll talk to Whitey again,” Simon said. He took my hand and pulled me to the car, driving me home while I yawned the whole ride. When we got to our house, Simon took the dogs out while I laid down on our bed. By the time he curled himself around me, I was half-asleep. I relaxed into his warmth and was only vaguely aware of his alarm later and the fact that he’d left to go back to work.

* * * * *

When I woke I messaged Zee and asked her to nicely ask Janice for the details of how her brother treated her. I didn’t want to know, but I thought it was relevant. If Janice’s husband had killed her brother for her, then…I wasn’t sure I had a problem with it. Someone should stand up for Janice. Someone should make her safe and comfortable. From what I could tell her own mother hadn’t.

Zee messaged me that she’d come get and we’d go see Sheryl. I couldn't do that. Instead I messaged her back.

Rose: I promised Simon I wouldn’t be going to a possible murderer’s house, and I won’t.

Zee: The mom? Really?

Rose: Probably not. But I’m still not doing it.

Zee. Gah! Fine. I’m coming with her to your place. Make snacks. I’m starving.

I rose from the bed and let my dogs out into the yard. It was late-afternoon and Simon had gone sometime around 1:00 pm or 2:00 pm, I guessed. I yawned as I started a pot of tea and then pulled out bread to make sandwiches.

I’d do a tray of cucumber and tomato sandwiches or turkey and cheese. If Sheryl didn’t like those, I couldn’t help her. I wasn’t all that pleased she was coming here. I kept seeing little Janice in my head and marveling at how hugely Sheryl had failed her daughter. What did you do when one child hurt another? So terribly?

It wasn’t like Sheryl had stopped being Jerry’s mother. I yawned again and then pulled out a package of grapes and added them to the tray. I added celery sticks spread with peanut butter and then waited. Zee showed up about twenty minutes later with Sheryl Voe.

She came into the house and she looked like death warmed over. My eyes immediately teared up as I took her in. Her child had been killed, and she was not all right. All of my judgement fled as I stared at her.

“Thank you for coming to see me, Sheryl,” I said.

She nodded and then said, “Janice said I had help. She’s so bossy.”

I blinked at that and Zee rolled her eyes from behind Sheryl. They crossed to the kitchen table. I started to get up, but Zee snapped at me to sit, so I did.

Zee was familiar enough with my kitchen to pour us all hot water for our teacups and then we went about doctoring our tea while Sheryl settled in.

“I…” I didn’t know what to say. I could see her pain, and I was a sympathetic weeper when I was pregnant. Just the thought of crying with her made me want to cry right at that moment.

I sniffed and Zee shot me a look that demanded I hold it together.

“Janice says that you gave your son quite a bit of money,” Zee said to Sheryl.

She harrumphed and then said, “She moans on and on about that money. It was mine to give wasn’t it?”

“It was. It just left you pretty tight, didn’t it?”

Sheryl’s lips pressed together and she said, “It’s been a little harder lately, but I believe in my boy.” She sniffled and then pulled out a crumpled handkerchief and said, “Janice had no business telling you about that.”

I ignored that and tried to focus on the facts. “But you gave Jerry about 90 thousand dollars?”

“It costs a lot to start a business,” Janice said, not denying the amount. “Jerry wanted to be a partner not an employee. I wanted that for him. That’s what mothers want. You’ll see when you meet your baby.”

I placed a hand over my baby and he or she moved under my hand as if aware that I was thinking of them. Or maybe it was the rush of anger I felt in the face of such…condescension.

“And Janice? Do you want her to be happy too?”

Sheryl paused, and I could see her realizing that we knew what Jerry had done—or at least that he’d done something. She didn’t like it. Her mouth pursed and her gaze narrowed.

“I see she’s telling that story again.”

I bit my lip to keep myself from smacking the woman upside the head. It took me a moment to gain control of myself and Zee’s daggered expression wasn’t helping at all.

“The story where Jerry hurt her when they were children.”

“Children is the key word there,” Sheryl said angrily. “She needs to get over it.”

“You don’t just shake off abuse like she endured,” Zee said flatly.

“I thought you were helping to find Jerry’s killer not to make him a monster he wasn’t.”

Zee cleared her throat and then said, “Perhaps Janice finally had enough of you choosing him over her. Perhaps your daughter was tired of the constant demands that she ‘get over it.’”

“It is long since over,” Janice said. “There comes a time when you stand up and leave behind the things that happened as children. They were, both of them, children.”

I couldn’t do this. I just couldn’t. I rose and left my own dining room. I wanted to puke. Whatever Janice said was going to be warped by her need to defend her child. What about defending her daughter? I love my little baby so much. I couldn’t imagine putting them at risk. Maybe it was better to just have one child. Simon and I weren’t young. The idea that our baby needed a sibling suddenly seemed like a bad one, and I hated that Sheryl and her mess was ruining that dream for me. I message Simon that I loved him and reminded myself that Simon and I were not Janice. Whatever happened to our children—we’d never choose one over the other. We’d find some other way.

CHAPTER 10

“You’re off your game,” Zee told me.

“This isn’t a game,” I shot back. “I just didn’t have it in me to talk to her any longer. She made me want only one baby. I wanted more than one before this. Maybe two. Maybe three. She was stealing that from me.”

Zee stared at me for a minute and then she said, “Jerry was a terrible human being. And it’s so easy to blame the moms. But in this case, I have to think she was part of it.”

I nodded. A tear slipped down my cheek.

Zee said, “You aren’t Janice.”

“I…I…know,” I hiccuped fighting for control over my emotions. I was so very tired of being a weeper.

“Your kids aren’t going to be the mess that her kids are.”

I stared at Zee and then I said, “Good parents have kids who are either jerks or who mess up big time.”

“That’s true,” Zee said. “No one is perfect. But the outcome wouldn’t go like this. Years of passive abuse and forced acceptance. Janice is lucky her brother is dead. Her mother is lucky he’s gone too. Maybe she can start parenting the child who kept caring when many people would have walked.”

I nodded. I was tired in my heart from all of this, and I wanted nothing more than to choose a baby name or two with Simon and to finally decide on furniture for the baby room. But I was also done. The protective mama in me was rising up and, I was going to do what I could for Janice. Except, I kind of thought Janice was the killer. Still though, I was done.

Zee left and I went to sleep before Simon got back. He messaged me that he’d be late and not to worry. I smiled at the phone. He was over-protective. It came from nearly losing me a time or two and then growing the baby. He’d settle down when he stopped having such bad dreams.

When I woke, I could see that Simon had been and gone. I was betting he’d be guzzling buckets of coffee today as he worked to wrap up this case. I had no doubt, he was trying to get it done before I ended up at risk again.

Too bad for poor Simon, it was too late to truly keep me out of it. I messaged Zee to join me and grabbed my leggings of the day before and as I did, I felt something in the pocket. I frowned as I pulled out a marble. What…in…the…world? I stared at it and then finished dressing, trying to remember why I would have a marble in my pocket. As I walked out to the front house, I took my sweet puppies out.

Matthew Morgan would be coming soon. I messaged him. We’d long since gone past actually needing help with the dogs, but Matthew needed good work, and he loved the dogs. Hiring him helped us all. I gave all the dogs a good rubdown and threw the toys for them while I waited for Zee to arrive.

Just before she got to my place, I went inside and made toast and tea for the day. We weren’t going to indulge Simon’s overprotectiveness today. When Zee came inside she crowed, “There she is!”

“Shut up,” I told her.

“I thought pregnancy brain might have turned off the personality I liked so much.”

I took a bite of my toast and repeated, “Shut it.”

“What mischief are we getting into today?”

“We’re going to meet Dave and Janice’s husband, Herman. And I want to know how many people were going to pull their business from DeVoe Produce.”

“A lot of them. Josephine said it didn’t matter if the bill was right or wrong, the way they treated her to her face as compared to the letter she received about her bill upset her. She’s already set up a new service.”

My brows rose at that and I adjusted my pants, feeling that marble in my pocket again. I pulled it out and frowned at it. Zee looked into my hand and asked, “Did you find one too? There was one on the sidewalk outside of 2nd Chance. It almost took down George Hennessy.”

I stared at Zee and then back down to the marble.

“Kids probably playing marbles,” Zee muttered.

“This isn’t 1940,” I shot back to Zee with a scoff. “This isn’t a kid’s toy. Our kids play laser tag and Pokemon Go.”

Zee frowned at my scoff and then asked, “Well what is it, oh wise one?”

“It’s part of the murder trap,” I told her. “Can’t you see it? I couldn’t imagine it before. But Jerry…he must have delivered the produce to Bella. He’d have been parked outside our diner. Why move the truck twice when it was just across the street? And we have that wide open spot.”

I could just see it. Park in the empty spots in front of The 2nd Chance Diner, deliver the smaller order to Bella. Go from there, load up a hand truck with our big order. Would it take one trip or two? I frowned. The killer would have to know. Otherwise, they’d lose their chance. Either way, the last trip is done. The killer had enough time to grab the pumpkin carving tools. Because they were convenient? The marbles told me the murder had been deliberate—which is what I had believed before this.

So, maybe the killer brought a weapon. But those pumpkin carving tools made it even more obscure. No need to track who bought the weapon—I had. So, Jerry delivers the last of the food, someone hides well enough to throw the marbles—making him fall. Then, while he’s down, he gets stabbed. It’s a killing blow. Maybe he dies immediately. Maybe he was incapacitated and bled out. Either way, with Jerry’s still warm body nearby, the killer cleaned up the marbles. Missing a few. And then…the killer had grabbed the pumpkin, placed it over Jerry’s head, and left the scene. He hadn’t just left though, had he, he’d taken the delivery truck and left it somewhere.

I explained my theory to Zee, and her brows rose. “It’s so weird. Why not put the body in the dumpster? Or drag him behind it? Why leave it out? Why your tools? Why the pumpkin?”

I frowned. I had no idea. The fact that the body hadn’t been dumped pointed to Janice. Zee called Aaron and asked what had happened to the delivery truck while I struggled to find the shoes I could wear without having to bend over.

When I did, I told Zee, “I’m pretty tired of not being able to see my feet.”

She laughed at me as she said, “You’ll probably be even bigger next time. You’ll be like those sweet chubby little moms with a baby on each hip.”

“Did you have to use the word chubby?”

“Girl, it’s not the words you need to worry about, it’s the waffles.”

“Thickish would have been fine.”

“Thickish implies you were just muscular. You’ve got some real chub there.”

“You’re a skin stretched over bones,” I told her. “Without an ounce of softness.”

Zee laughed and said, “Cuddly as a cactus.”

“And as kind,” I said. I scowled at Zee. It ruined everything when you were trying to insult someone back and they didn’t even care. “What happened to the truck?”

“It was locked and parked in the Safeway lot.”

Weird. The new day was as rainy and drizzly as the one before, but it was also the day before Halloween, and I was wearing my skeleton sweater and skull choker. The murder had ruined many things, but I was done being a hormonal mess. I was going to rise up, find this person, have a black waffle that Az had figured out and then I was going to give out so much candy the kids would be on a sugar high in a week.

“I want to talk to Herman,” I said. “I need to understand the relationship between Janice and her brother better.”

“Do you think it was Janice who killed her brother?”

“I think she had a lot of reason to, a massive motive. I think she knew her brother for what he was and was exhausted by their mom constantly choosing him over her. I think that she’s smart to have done what was done, you could have easily figure out her brother’s route, and I think she would have been as enraged at what Jerry was doing with her mom’s money and Henry would be, if he knew. What if Janice found out that Jerry didn’t invest it all? So do I think Janice did it? I don’t want her to have, but I think she probably did.”

Zee’s brows rose and she said, “Janice did hate him. I’m not sure I could do what she has done—stay involved in her family with the way her mom acts like it’s almost her fault that Jerry hurt her. Whatever he did—and it was bad—her mom doesn’t dispute it happened. There must be solid proof. Yet, somehow, Janice is at fault.”

I refused to take Zee’s car even though she’d blocked me in. So she moved her car while I snuggled the dogs and then put Goliath in the backseat. I wasn’t going to risk my baby being hurt. It wasn’t just Simon who was feeling overprotective. We’d been afraid I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant. I was older for a first-time mom, and so many couples struggled with having trouble conceiving. The fact that I had felt like a miracle.

I drove down the side of the mountain where Simon and I lived with Zee muttering machinations next to me. She wanted to get into trouble before my rational side re-employed.

“You let Simon protect you too much,” Zee said.

I rolled my eyes and said, “Protect me from what? He walks with me and might be a little paranoid about something happening to the baby. But it’s not like he locks me in the house.”

“He would.”

“He says he would. He says he’d like to. But think about Simon for a few minutes and tell me if he really would? By nature he’s a protector. That’s why he’s a cop. He doesn’t actually want to stop me from doing anything I want to do.”

“He doesn’t want you investigating.”

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t have the fear and love that Zee inspired in the entire population of the town of Silver Falls and I wasn’t a police officer. It wasn’t being suffocating for a cop not wanting a person like me interfering in their case. That was just normal, and it wasn’t worth arguing over.

Whitey Jones worked at a construction office just on the other side of Lincoln City. Zee and I parked outside of it, and I had to get her to help me out of the car.

“You still have months to go, girl,” Zee told me.

I growled at her, and she just smirked. I was unwieldy. We didn’t have to dwell on it. I could still get around. I could still fit behind the wheel of the car. I just wasn’t responding to the change in my center of gravity well. That was all—dang it!

CHAPTER 11

“Honestly,” Whitey said as we entered his office, “I expected you earlier. Janice told me all she told you.” He glanced at the office clerk and said, “Go get coffees for everyone, please. Take the money from the cash bin. Maybe donuts too. I’ll message you when we’re done here.”

She jumped up, nodding. It took her a long-silent minute to grab her coat, bag, and cash, and she was out the door. It was only then that Whitey invited Zee and I to sit across from him. His office was a single-wide trailer, and the large metal desk he sat behind was covered with schematics and plans.

“You think we should suspect you?”

Whitey shrugged. His ruddy face was hard. He looked like a man who laughed often, but there was nothing amused about him as he said, “If I were a killing man, Jerry would have had an accident a long time ago.”

I blinked at the sheer hatred in his voice.

He continued, “I do what I can to keep Janice away from her mother and her brother. The problem is that Sheryl calls Janice every time help is needed. We’d have moved away, but my business here…I couldn’t just start up again somewhere else. So we just agreed to keep our interactions to a minimum with her family. Janice can’t do it. When Sheryl needs help, my wife can’t stop herself from stepping up. It’s why I love Janice. It’s why I hate them. And endless circle of pain.”

“Do you think she killed him?”

Whitey frowned. I think he expected to be the suspect. But the truth was—I bought his simple answer.

“No,” Whitey said flatly. “But I’d lie to you without an ounce of regret about Janice, so I’m not sure you can buy what I have to say.”

Zee laughed and I just waited.

Whitey continued, “I don’t think he deserved to die for what he did. It’s a big jump from wanting to give him a solid beating and ostracize him to killing him. I think Janice and I should have done a better job about separating our lives from her family.”

“You should have,” Zee told him. “You failed big time there, buddy.”

Whitey nodded. He wasn’t bothered at all by Zee’s pointed telling of a truth we all believed. “However,” Whitey said, “Murder, death, that’s a big punishment. I hated Jerry. I hated him more than I’ve ever hated anyone. But I wouldn’t have killed him. And you must understand, Janice is far, far kinder than I am. Far kinder. Far more forgiving. Far more willing to continue to take his crap. So, do I think she snuck out of our house and killed him? No. But I also know she didn’t. Her car has been on the fritz, and I track mileage for my car for work.”

I cleared my throat. I thought Whitey was probably telling the truth. I thought that Herman—at the least—believed his wife was innocent.

“Motives are usually centered around love, abiding hatred, and money.” Zee had piped in. “Did Jerry love anyone?”

Whitey shrugged, “Jerry knew I hated him. The last time he willingly talked to me, he said something nasty about my wife, and I taught him a lesson with a solid beating. Since then, we just avoid each other at gatherings that I can’t talk my wife out of. I’m sure his ex-wife hated him as much as anyone. But she’s been taking care of her mom up in Tillamook. She wasn’t around when he died. I’m sure that’s verifiable.”

“No doubt the police have already taken care of it,” Zee muttered. You could tell she was mad that she didn’t know about that. She must have been grilling Carver about the case whenever she had the chance.

“If you could guess who killed him?”

Whitey shook his head and said, “Honestly, he could be charming when he wanted to be. It just made it worse later when you realized what a prick he was. I’d bet my lefthand that he was shady with that business of his. I know for a fact that Dave hated Jerry too. But Dave kept Jerry and their mom as distant as possible. He does way better than Janice and I, but of course, his wife despised Jerry and hates how their mom is so passive aggressive with Janice. It’s easier for Dave. It’s not like his wife wants to spend more time with either of them.”

“So you don’t think Dave would have killed him?”

“Yeah,” Whitey said. “Look, if Jerry had hurt one of Dave’s kids? Maybe. He has a pack of girls, and Dave is a man who believes in the right to bear arms. But Dave is also a man who just doesn’t let Jerry come around. So do I think Dave killed Jerry? No. Not in this case.”

“I don’t like any of our suspects,” I told them both frankly. “Sheryl didn’t do it. She thinks Jerry hung the moon, the fool.”

Whitey and Zee both snorted meanly.

“Dave and Whitey don’t seem to have an inciting incident that pushed them over the edge. Not unless we don’t know about something more that Jerry did to Janice or Dave’s family. So, motives abound there, but why now?”

I wasn’t even caring that Whitey could hear me muse over who could be guilty. It almost felt like we were conspirators in the same game.

“Janice is the mostly likely,” Zee said. “Like we thought before we even came here.”

“What about Henry?” Whitey asked suddenly. “He has a lot of money in that business with Jerry. He should have known better. They knew each other since their teens. Henry knew what Jerry was like.”

“He has an alibi,” Zee said, crossing her arms. “His business is falling apart though.”

I sniffed as Simon called and then answered, putting him on speaker. “Hey babe. We’re here with Herman.”

Simon was silent for a moment and then he said, “You shouldn’t be involved in a murder investigation.”

Zee started to answer and I held up my hand. “Yeah. I shouldn’t be. But Whitey isn’t dangerous. And this needs to be over.”

Simon was silent for a moment and then he said, “Whitey I will kill you slowly if you harm a hair on my wife’s head.”

Zee and I both rolled our eyes, but Whitey said, “I would never do that, man. How solid is Henry’s alibi? This crazy wife of yours thinks my wife killed Jerry.”

Simon’s phone sound changed, and I could tell he’d put us on speaker as well. “Apparently,” Simon’s dry voice, “We’re a committee investigation now. They want to know how solid Henry’s alibi is?”

“He was at a conference in Portland. We found witnesses for the first day. We’ve found for the breakfast the next day.”

“He could have driven from Portland to Silver Falls, been there when Jerry arrived to do the deliveries, and been back before breakfast.”

Simon and Carver were silent, so I was thinking they’d figured that as well. The question was had he?

“Does he have some sort of other alibi?”

“For the time frame in question? No.”

I sniffed and then Whitey said, “He drives fast. I helped once when Jerry was sick with their early route. He speeds everywhere. There are police camera between here and there. New ones he might not have known about.”

“You shouldn’t know about those,” Carver said. “They’re…”

“They’re out already,” Whitey said.

“But what car would you be looking for?” I wondered. “What if he was smart enough to rent or borrow a car? Or even to steal one. You’re at a conference in a hotel. Some of those people probably rented cars. Maybe he used one of those instead. I don’t think it would be that hard.”

“If,” Zee said, “All you’re looking for is a reasonable doubt. Well…he was out of town…he has witnesses…he didn’t use his car…he didn’t use his weapon.”

“He didn’t put the body in the dumpster. Of all the suspects, only the guys Henry, Herman, and Dave were capable of doing that. There’s no way Janice could have. Doing that would have ruled Janice out unless we assumed that she and Whitey killed Jerry together.” I frowned and pulled out my notebook.

“But Janice is pretty open about what happened to her. It’s a big motive. She is the easiest suspect in a lot of ways.”

“She’s our primary suspect,” Simon said. Whitey scowled at the phone. “For that very reason. But like you, I don’t quite buy it.”

“What if they were just trying to set her up? What if Henry knew all about their past? What if Henry was even aware that the money had been manipulated out of Sheryl? What if he found out that Jerry hadn’t put in all he should have?”

Herman’s head tilted and then he said, “Oh he knew that.”

Zee and I both turned on Whitey and we could hear Carver curse on the other side of the line.

“He was whining to me at the pub recently. How his business was suffering and it would have been better if Jerry had put in the full half. They could have had two routes instead of one. Instead, they were struggling with an old delivery truck. I told him I thought that they should be able to get buy on a truck that cost ninety grand.”

I whistled under my breath and then asked, “How long ago was this?”

“A week or two.”

“You two,” Carver said. “You two with your gossiping ways.”

“It’s because people like Rose,” Zee said, “And she isn’t going to end a conversation with an arrest.”

Carver cursed and Simon snorted a bit of a laugh.

“What do you think about the name Whitey for a baby?” The big ruddy man asked. “I think it’s a solid name. Not used nearly enough.”

Zee laughed at that and said, “They’ll be naming their little princess after me.”

“No one can carry the burden of your name but you, Zee,” Carver said.

I smiled and didn’t bother to respond to either of them. I didn’t know what we’d name our baby, but I didn’t see the point in telling Whitey that his name was terrible. The door to the office opened and Whitey turned to the door. His mouth snapped shut as he saw Henry in the door. He’d gone from looking angry and frustrated to disheveled.

I shot Zee a look and she reached casually out to the phone. Henry saw, however, and he said, “Don’t touch the phone.”

My gaze darted to the screen. It was still on and Simon and Carver weren’t saying a word.

“We should have guessed,” I said a little too loudly. “The biggest clue is the delivery truck. Who would lock it and put it somewhere safe but an owner? Why are you here, Henry? And with a gun?”

I didn’t need to hear the curses of Carver and Simon to know that they were swearing up a blue streak. Just as I didn’t need to know that they were coming.

CHAPTER 12

“You weren’t supposed to be here,” Henry said to Zee and I as we’d somehow tricked him.

“Why are you here?” I asked him softly, deliberately placing my hand over my belly to draw attention to the level of the crime his presence and gun threatened.

His gaze leveled on my belly and he said, “Whitey pays his day laborers with cash. He’s got a lot in that safe of his. I’d take some from my own business but Jerry already drained it.”

“But you have a family. A…”

“I have nothing left. Jerry took it. He…snorted it up his nose. He ruined me.”

I didn’t feel at all sympathetic. Henry had ruined himself. He’d gone into business with someone he’d known was shady but thought he’d escape unscathed when Jerry’s sister and mother hadn’t. It was sheer idiocy.

I kept my gaze on Whitey as he lifted his hands and said, “Hold on now. I’ll get your money. Let these two go.”

“They’ll call the cops. They’re staying right here.” Henry jerked the gun around and then said, “Hurry up now.”

My gaze darted to my phone again. I hadn’t heard a sound from the other side, so I assume that the boys had muted their end. Whitey shuffled his desk a bit, pushing a paper over the phone, so the ongoing call couldn’t be seen and then he said, “Let’s just all be careful here. Let’s all think this thing through. It’s just money, Henry. Of course, I’ll get it for you.”

Whitey carefully stood and crossed to the safe. He was moving slowly and precisely with his hands out, no need for Henry to feel threatened.

“May I ask you a question?”

Henry’s gaze darted to me and he nodded.

“Why did you kill him?”

Henry growled a little and then said, “He ruined the business. I had been picking the paperwork apart ever since I found out about the money Sheryl gave him. Then I followed him. I started to sort out the double billing, the over charging. I don’t even get how he did it. But I found him buying drugs.”

Zee shifted, catching both of our attention and I could just see a dark SUV that had parked on the other side of one of the big construction trucks. It was risky but Carver’s SUV wasn’t marked as a police one like Simon’s was.

“There is no recovering the business. My wife will never forgive me for having it fall apart. My kids are going to despise me when we lose the house. There’s nothing left. But I can start over somewhere else.”

I watched Henry as he watched Herman. Janice’s steady husband carefully emptied his safe into a paper bag and then approached Henry.

“If you hurt one of these two,” Whitey said, “The pregnant one is married to a cop. The other lives with the sheriff. You’ll never get away.”

Henry frowned and then pulled out his backpack. He dumped the money in and took a rope out.

“Tie them up,” Henry said to me. My heart jumped at that. He was either going to take me with him or incapacitate me in another way.

I did as Henry asked, tying Whitey tightly where Henry could see and deliberately not tying Zee very hard at all. Did Henry realize there were cops outside? Was he planning on making me his escape plan? There was no way I was getting into a car with him. I knew how that ended and it was with me dead in a ditch or a ravine.

Henry shoved a sock into each of their mouths and Zee’s expression said he’d pay for that.

After they were tied, Henry motioned me closer. I shook my head.

“Don’t fight and you own’t get hurt.”

“Is that what you told Jerry?”

“Jerry had no idea what was happening until it was over. He was lucky he died high instead of in withdrawals. The last favor I did for the lying piece of trash.”

I cleared my throat and said, “I’m not going with you.”

“Don’t make me hurt you.” Henry moved closer, he waved the gun as though it were a pointer instead of a weapon.

I frowned at him. Make him hurt me? As though I were somehow compelling his actions? Please. I took a deep breath. The feminist in me wanted to expound on his crappy actions and his crappy point of view, but I held it back.

Zee snarled something through her sock, and Whitey was shouting at him. I wanted to do some shouting of my own. I was sure that I wasn’t alone. But putting my baby too close to Henry? Was it worse than letting him point his gun at me across the way?

“Now!”

I slowly crossed to Henry and said, “Don’t be stupid.”

He grabbed my arm tightly and repeated my own words back to me.

Henry had parked just outside the trailer. The rest of the cars, including, where I was sure Simon and Carver were hiding were at least another thirty feet away.

“Open the door,” Henry ordered, squeezing my arm.

“No,” I said quietly as Simon stepped out from the side of the truck.

“I can’t let you take my wife with you,” Simon said, holding his arms out, no gun in sight. “You can take me instead.”

Henry’s grip tightened painfully, and I tried not to cry out. I didn’t want to set off the other cops I was sure were on hand.

“I don’t want you.”

“Then we’re at an impasse,” Simon said.

Henry pointed his gun at me and Simon shook his head. “Move it, Banks. Don’t make me hurt her.”

Simon’s gaze was fixed on mine, and I was sure he’d flip out later. Probably have a little bit of a meltdown and need some chocolate and the punching of things to feel better. But for the moment, he was utterly focused.

“The statistics say I won’t get her back. Choose. Take me. Or we’ll just sort it out here.”

“I don’t want your wife. I won’t hurt her,” Henry said. I could tell by his tone he was probably trying to for a charming grin. “I just want to get away.”

Simon’s expression told me just what he thought of that grin of Henry’s. I wanted to shake my head. I took immense comfort in the reality that they wouldn’t stop fighting for me. Henry moved the gun from my head to my belly and he told me, “Get in the car.”

I cocked my head at him.

“Did you really just point that gun at my baby?”

Simon carefully said, “Rose…”.

Simon knew me too well. I shrieked at Henry, “Did you really just threatened my baby?”

“Get in the car!” Henry shouted, and I jabbed out with all of my fury and punched him as hard as I could in the throat. The gun went off, but my punch had ruined his aim before he pulled the trigger. A second later, I was on the ground with Simon over my body and it was nothing but shouting.

There were voices all around us. Were they all cops? Construction workers? What was it?

“Let me up,” I yelled at Simon. “Let me up.”

He slowly pushed to his feet and hauled me to mine. I wasn’t done. I could see Carver trying to take control of the madness, but I was not near done. Not even close. I jerked out of Simon’s hands and crossed to the handcuffed Henry before anyone could stop me. Officer Welch was kneeling on Henry’s back which made kicking him in the side much easier. He couldn’t squirm away from me.

“You aimed your gun at my baby!” I wasn’t even sure that was my voice or the voice of a psychopath, but whoever it was—damage was going to happen.

“Get her away from me.” Henry tried to squirm and Aaron tumbled off.

I kicked Henry right in the side of his jaw, and before anyone could stop me, in the head.

Simon grabbed me and hauled me back, but it was hard for him since he was laughing. I turned my scowl on Simon and shrieked, “He pointed a gun at my baby!”

Simon hugged me close and whispered into my hair, “I don’t know why I was so worried about our kid. With you for a mom, my kid is as safe as it gets.”

I yanked back. “I’m not sorry.”

He kissed my forehead, his eyes grinning at me as he said, “Of course you aren’t.”

“I wish I hit him harder.”

“Me too,” Simon said trying to hug me again, but I wasn’t having it.

“My hand hurts.” I admitted and then glanced towards the trailer. “Whitey and Zee are tied up.”

“They’re fine,” Carver said with enough of an evil smirk to tell me Zee was still tied up. I winced. Not for Zee but for Carver when she found out that he didn’t rush to free her.

“Kick him again for me,” I told Carver and then straightened my Halloween sweater and necklace. “The jerk. Leaving his murder victims laying around. Molesting my poor pumpkin to hide the body. He probably thought a chick would do that and then did it to implicate Janice. As if. If Janice was going to kill someone, she’d do it like me or Zee.”

I put my hands on my hips and scowled at all the guys in the yard who seemed to be taking my tirade as a joke.

“And how would you kill someone?” Carver asked me.

I grinned evilly, channeling everything I learned from Zee as I answered, “Without getting caught.”

CHAPTER 13

My costume was white pregnant girl leggings and a long-sleeved white t-shirt, with pinned stretches of dirtied up linen. I’d wrapped much of my face in linen while letting my eyes peek through. Then I’d put on a dark smoky eye with black shadow, liner, and mascara and black lipstick on my lips. It was early and Simon had punched the bag in our garage far into the evening and then taken Goliath for a long run.

By the time he’d gotten back, I was already asleep and now he was sleeping through me getting ready. I had plans for the day, and they were very pregnant lady plans. To start with, I was going to have the dark chocolate waffle that Az had made with activated charcoal to make the waffle black. The waffle was going to be topped with molded chocolates, berries because I loved them, and syrup because apparently I was going to be indulging in a sugar coma nap later that day.

After my waffle, I was going to apply Az’s charcoal technique to make a two black layer cakes and two candy corn cakes. One of each would be for the diner. And one of each would be for Herman’s team.

After they’d freed their boss and Zee, they’d let me pace their construction site while I worked out my anxiety and then listened as I told each of them about one hundred times that the man had deserved far worse than he would get for pointing a gun at my baby. Not one of them had reacted when I finished my rage with a good cry and they’d helped Zee put me in a car and drive me to Jane’s. She had to re-wrap my wrist because I had jammed it with my punch. Then I’d gone swimming in her pool with J.J. before Zee took me home and poured me into bed. I’d woken to the sound of Simon punching the bag and fallen asleep to the steady thumping only to wake again when he’d told me they were going for a run.

Simon called as I was walking into the diner.

“Are you ok?”

“Just a couple bruised knuckles.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been crazy. I thought you were safe with Whitey and then Henry showed up.”

“You can’t protect me from life, Simon.”

He swallowed and then said, “Rosemary Banks. I’m nothing without you. All of my happiness is wrapped up in you.”

I laughed as I told him, “It’s a good thing I’m a mummy. I’m good with being wrapped up in things.”

Simon groaned at my joke and then I said, “Kai. That’s the name. Girl or boy. It means sea. And it was the sea that brought me to you.”

Simon cleared a suddenly husky voice and then said, “I like that.”

“Also, you are not nothing without me. I love you more than my life. And I will do whatever I can to be safe. But I won’t live wrapped in cotton. Or linen after today.”

“How do you feel about barbed wire?”

“How do you feel about the doghouse?”

“Will you be there?”

I laughed as I said, “I could never leave you in it for long. I love you back Simon Banks. You and me. Happy Halloweens and happily ever afters. We got this.”

I could hear the love in his voice as he repeated, “We got this.”

The End

Hello there! Another round of The 2nd Chance Diner is through, and it has been a joy. Like Rose, the writing life is my 2nd chance. Like Rose, I used to be a call center slave and love my life so much, so thank you for making it possible! Writing to support my family is not just my second chance but my dream come true! Almost as wonderful are reviews, and indie folks, like myself, need them desperately! If you wouldn’t mind, I would be so grateful for a review.

In case you didn’t know, I have a new 1920s mystery series about Violet Carlyle, a bright young thing! She’s fun and I have wanted to write 1920s mysteries since before I opened my first writing doc. If you’re interested, you can see more about Vi, her brother Victor, and their friends here!

FYI, I write under my real name, Amanda A. Allen, as well. If you like books with a paranormal twist, you’ll find I’ve written plenty! If you want book updates, you could follow me on Facebook by clicking here for Beth Byers. Or here for Amanda A. Allen. Books and updates for both names are available through my newsletter If you’d like to sign up, click here.

Also By Beth Byers

The Violet Carlyle Cozy Historical Mysteries

Murder & The Heir

Murder at Kennington House

Murder at the Folly (Coming October 2018)

A Merry Little Murder (Coming November 2018)

Murder Among the Roses (Coming December 2018)

The 2nd Chance Diner Mysteries

Spaghetti, Meatballs, & Murder

Cookies & Catastrophe

(found in the Christmas boxset, The Three Carols of Cozy Christmas Murder)

Poison & Pie

Double Mocha Murder

Cinnamon Rolls & Cyanide

Tea & Temptation

Donuts & Danger

Scones & Scandal

Lemonade & Loathing

Wedding Cake & Woe

Honeymoons & Honeydew

The Pumpkin Problem

The Brightwater Bay Mysteries

(co-written with Carolyn L. Dean and Angela Blackmoore)

A Little Taste of Murder

(found in the Christmas boxset, The Three Carols of Cozy Christmas Murder)

A Tiny Dash of Death

A Sweet Spoonful of Cyanide

Also By Amanda A. Allen

The Mystic Cove Mommy Mysteries

Bedtimes & Broomsticks

Runes & Roller Skates

Costumes and Cauldrons (found in the anthology Witch or Treat)

Banshees and Babysitters

Spellbooks and Sleepovers: A Mystic Cove Short Story

Hobgoblins and Homework

Gifts and Ghouls (found in the anthology Spells and Jinglebells)

Christmas and Curses

Potions & Passions (found in the anthology Hexes and Ohs)

Valentines & Valkyries

Infants & Incantations (Coming Soon)

The Rue Hallow Mysteries

Hallow Graves

Hungry Graves

Lonely Graves

Sisters and Graves

Yule Graves

Fated Graves

Ruby Graves

The Inept Witches Mysteries (co-written with Auburn Seal)

Inconvenient Murder

Moonlight Murder

Bewitched Murder

Presidium Vignettes (with Rue Hallow)

Prague Murder

Paris Murder

Murder By Degrees

Curses of the Witch Queen

Fairy Tales Re-Imagined

Song of Sorrow: A Prelude to Rapunzel

Snow White

Other Novels

These Lying Eyes

Copyright

Copyright © 2018 by Amanda A. Allen, Beth Byers.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

without the express written permission of the publisher

except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.