Teaberry Invitational

XVIII of Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast

Wallace, R.A.

(2019)

Tags:
Cozy Mystery

Cozy Mysteryttt

As the town of Teaberry welcomes both players and spectators during a tournament, Megan is tasked with keeping the town web pages updated with information. When someone is murdered, she also begins working on the puzzle to find the killer. This mild cozy mystery offers a clean read with a female amateur sleuth and friends in a small-town setting. Main characters in the series are multigenerational.

Teaberry Invitational
A Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy Mystery

R. A. Wallace

2019

Author’s Note

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, dialogue, places, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.  Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Material in this book is not intended as a substitute for legal or medical advice from qualified professionals. The author has no connection to any software or website mentioned.

© 2019 R. A. Wallace. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter One

The final bells of the day brought with them the blissful chaos of high school students exiting the building for another day. It wasn’t that Renata disliked the students. On the contrary, she’d devoted her life to doing everything she could to support their success. It was just that some days presented more obstacles to that success than others. Today was one of those days.

It wasn’t all bad, of course. There had been moments here and there that had taken her by surprise in a good way. She received the happy news that one of the school’s most impressive prodigies had excelled on yet another standardized test at the national level. At only thirteen, Bella Prescott easily competed with students across the country who were years older.

“Try not to look so happy.”

Renata turned to find Gavin Jefferson, one of the math teachers. He was watching the students gather their things and exit the building, just as she and many others were doing throughout the school.

“Some days, the final bell seems to be later than others,” Renata said with a wry grin.

“Funny how it works that way, isn’t it?” Gavin nodded to a group of students as they passed.

“You heard about Bella?” Renata asked.

His grin was immediate. “I did.”

“Don’t pretend to take credit for that one.”

He knew she wasn’t serious. “I do not. There are days in my class when I have to beg her not to answer my questions.”

It was Renata’s turn to grin. “Tough problem to have.”

“Yeah, but some of the students act like they don’t need to know the answers as long as there are others like Bella to give the answers for them.”

Renata saw a young girl walking alone down the hall directly for them.

“Hmm. Looks like my day isn’t over yet,” Renata murmured.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” Gavin nodded to the young student as he began walking away.

“Dr. Engels, my father wrote a note for me.” Maya Lin held out the note.

Renata read it quickly. “Are you sure this tournament is important enough to miss your classes for a week?”

Maya’s response was both quick and silent. It wasn’t the first time Renata had seen that stubborn look on the young girl’s face. She decided to try a different tack.

“You understand that you will still be expected to submit your coursework even though you aren’t attending classes, right?”

Maya nodded but her eyes showed a hint of uncertainty.

“You’ve already been struggling in some of your classes, especially math,” Renata pointed out. “What about trying to attend some of the classes during the week? Would it be possible to sit through the first few classes or the last few classes during each day?”

Maya didn’t take long to consider and reject the idea.

“It’s not really possible to predict when another team is going to finish ahead of you or when you will be finished. I also have to keep track of what else is going on and they expect me to interact with the media.” Maya gave a shrug. “The other players will all be there.”

“The other players aren’t fourteen and still in high school.”

Renata had tried that argument before. She knew it wouldn’t work now either. The stubborn look returned.

“Have you considered trying to work with a tutor to help with your grades?” Renata asked.

She knew the girl was bright. Why it rarely reflected in her grades was something she hadn’t figured out yet. She watched as the uncertainty returned to Maya’s eyes.

“Please tell me you’ll at least consider it?” Renata asked as Gavin walked toward them again on his way out of the building.

Maya glanced at her math teacher as Gavin Jefferson walked by.

“Don’t forget that you need to turn all of your missing homework in by the end of next week, Maya. It’s worth fifty percent of your grade for this session,” Gavin said.

Renata saw Maya’s shoulders slump as the young girl turned to walk out of the building.

***

Caitlyn parked her delivery van and climbed out. As she walked toward the front door of Anderson Florist, she saw Ross McMann emerge from the next door over.

“All done with deliveries?” he asked as he pulled the front door of her shop open for her.

Caitlyn entered in front of him. “I am, thanks. You guys are good to go.”

Her mom tossed an empty water bottle into the trash can.

“I took a couple of phone orders for you while you were gone,” Susan said as she came from behind the counter.

“Music to my ears. You two have a nice game,” Caitlyn said.

“A few rounds of golf and dinner with friends on a beautiful spring day,” Ross said as he opened the door for Susan. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“Tell Mindy and Clive I said hello,” Caitlyn called to them.

“It does sound like a great way to spend an afternoon,” Susan agreed as she walked toward her car.

Ross got into the passenger side and fastened his seat belt. Once Susan was strapped in, he twisted around to watch for traffic.

“You’re good my way,” he said.

“Looks like traffic in town has picked up.” Susan signaled to enter the lane.

“Do you think the people from the golf invitational are showing up already?” he asked.

She looked around the sidewalks. “It’s possible. It’s the first year we’ve hosted it here. I’m not sure anyone knows what to expect with it.”

“I can see players wanting to check out the town in advance of the tournament,” he said.

Susan made a noise of agreement. “I understand the town is expecting quite a bit of people from this. It isn’t just the players. It’s also their families, then there’s the media, the announcers, and the spectators.”

“I’ll bet the golf course has hired a lot of extra caddies and other support staff.”

“No doubt. There are the bungalows there too and a hotel. I’m sure a lot of people involved with the tournament will be staying right there at the course so that probably meant hiring more temporary staff,” she said. “They have to be completely full up out there.”

“And the restaurant already did a good business under normal circumstances. I imagine they’ll be swamped for the week of the tournament.” Ross pointed. “Watch the guy over there. It looks like he’s lost.”

Susan slowed at a crossroad and watched as a car sailed past in front of her.

“Good call. He never even slowed down and he had a red light,” she said.

“Are we good for more practice tomorrow?” Ross asked. “I want to get in as much practice as we can before the tournament starts.”

Susan glanced at him quickly. “Are you worried about how we’re going to do in the tournament?”

“I’ve never been in one before,” he confessed.

She smiled as she made a turn. “That makes two of us. Maybe Mindy and Clive can give us pointers when we play with them this afternoon.”

“Good idea. They’re definitely the experts when it comes to competing. Clive has mentioned several different tournaments they’ve played in over the years.”

***

Wes Lowry looked at the group of kids entering the small shop at the golf course. Each year, the club hired a new group of employees to act as caddies for the season. Although some returned regularly and worked for the club every year, there was typically also a new group that needed to be trained before they could be turned loose.

Each year, that group was assigned to Wes. As the on-site golf instructor, he also took on the duties of training the caddies. When he’d first taken the job of instructor, he’d hated the idea of having to train the caddies. It didn’t take long for him to discover that it was actually one of his favorite parts of the job. In addition to teaching them the game of golf, he also had to instruct them on the nuances of the course, yardages, and how to advise the players.

The small group walking toward him now had just come straight from school. After greeting the group of young men and women, he passed out assignments. Most of the group dispersed to hook up with the names they’d been given. Wes turned to the two closest to him.

“Did you two have a chance to eat yet?” Wes asked. He knew the answer when the two looked at each other.

“I came straight from school,” Cole said.

“Me too,” Tucker added.

Wes pretended to scowl at them. “You aren’t going to be any good to me if you’re starving. Go see Pat and get one of those quick to-go dinners she makes up for you guys. I scheduled you both to caddy this afternoon. You’ll need to be on your toes.”

He followed them out of the Golf Shop and watched as the two joked with each other on their way over to the restaurant. He knew they would be back shortly with takeout containers that Pat had the kitchen make up for them. They would devour the contents and be done within minutes.

His attention was drawn to the parking lot as a vehicle pulled in. He recognized it immediately, of course. His partner for the Teaberry Invitational climbed out of the passenger side and waved to the driver as the car pulled away. Wes waited where he was until his partner joined him.

“Are you ready for a little practice?” he asked. “We need to whip another one of the new caddies into shape.”

Maya gave him a confident smile. “Sure. We’ll see if they can keep up with us.”

***

Cole entered the restaurant through the side of the building with Tucker following. He nodded to some of the staff as he passed through. He found Pat near the front station where she greeted customers.

“Hey, you two. How was school today?” Pat asked as she came from behind her station.

“Good, thanks.” Cole liked Pat. She was probably around his mom’s age but she treated him like just another employee.

“Here for some dinners?” She didn’t really wait for an answer. “I believe you have your choice of chicken or beef today.”

They both called out chicken as Pat went to the kitchen to get the takeout containers. When she returned, they passed over the few dollars they were charged for the meals. Both knew it was a steal given the amount of food they would find inside the container.

“I could get used to this,” Tucker said as they walked back outside.

They sat at a picnic table in the back under a tree and ate quickly. Cole was finished first and stood to toss his garbage in the can.

“Let’s go. We don’t want to be late,” Cole said.

He looked at his assignment. Ross McMann and Susan Anderson. He wondered if Susan was any relation to Caitlyn, the lady florist.

Tucker was right behind him. “Mine says Mindy and Clive Hostetler.”

They found the foursome a few minutes later.

“I hope we’re ready for this,” Tucker said under his breath.

Cole felt the same way. He didn’t want to make a lot of mistakes. He hoped whoever he was assigned to had patience.

The foursome was facing away from them as Tucker and Cole approached. As soon as they turned around, he knew which couple he was assigned to. The one woman looked exactly like Caitlyn.

“There they are,” Susan said. “It looks like we’re ready to go. Which one of you is assigned to Susan and Ross.”

Cole stepped forward and shook hands as the couple introduced themselves. From the corner of his eye, he saw Tucker shaking hands with the other couple. He was glad that he was assigned to the woman he assumed was Caitlyn’s mom. She had the same blue eyes that Caitlyn had and the same friendly smile.

“Clive, Mindy. How good to see you here. Trying to get a little extra practice in before the tournament?”

Cole turned toward the voice. He recognized the man by sight but didn’t know his name. He’d seen him around several times in the past week.

“Jay Kerns. Do you know Ross McMann?” Clive said as he motioned toward Ross. “I’m sure you’ve met Susan Anderson?”

“I don’t believe I have,” Jay said as he greeted the two.

“Jay is one of the sponsors of the Teaberry Invitational. We have him to thank for next week,” Mindy explained.

“Very impressive,” Ross said.

“And very good for the community,” Susan said. “The business owners appreciate your efforts.”

Jay raised both hands. “I’ve been trying to lure a tournament to Teaberry for years. I’m just glad we’ve finally managed to pull it off. We need those business people in town to make all of the visitors happy next week. That way they’ll be sure to come back.”

“I’ve no doubt the town will pull together,” Susan said. “This opportunity is too good to let go.”

“I’ll leave you four to your game,” Jay said with a wave. “I’m sure I’ll see you next week.”

Cole watched as Jay Kerns walked away. He heard Clive Hostetler talking to Tucker as they readied to get started.

“I understand Jay will also be one of the guest announcers next week during the tournament,” Mindy said to Ross and Susan. “Having a television crew here filming is going to be pretty exciting.”

“Or a little nerve wracking, depending on how you look at it,” Susan said with a laugh.

Cole couldn’t imagine having to play golf in front of a large crowd of people and television cameras to boot.

Chapter Two

Now that the framework and the walls were in place, it was easier to visualize what the addition would look like. Megan leaned back against Dan, her tea mug cradled in her hands.

“You were right. I wouldn’t have been able to deal with all of that,” she said. “I’m glad we’re staying upstairs until they finish.”

“They’ll be knocking that wall down altogether pretty soon.”

Dan motioned toward the exterior wall of their bedroom. The windows had already been removed. The holes that once held them were covered with plywood.

Megan took a sip of her decaf tea and imagined it. “Maybe we should put another shade tree back here when they’re all done.”

She straightened and turned around to look at him. He was studying the yard behind the house where the new addition was being built.

“Not a bad idea. Maybe put a swing set up over there.”

She smiled at the thought as she began walking slowly around the house to the kitchen door. He walked beside her and took her hand.

“I have some work to do on web sites today,” she said. “I’ve been wondering though. Do you think it would be a good idea to create one for Gabe?”

He paused for a moment. She saw the surprise in his face.

“For his garage?” He began walking again. “Well, yeah. That’s a great idea. He needs the advertising. Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”

“No, it would be fun. For me, developing a new web site is like opening a brand new box of crayons. I get that same feeling of excitement every time.” She laughed when he made a face at her. “I know. It sounds silly. But, to me, there’s nothing like a blank piece of paper and new box of crayons. The possibilities are endless.”

He opened the kitchen door. “I don’t understand your excitement, but I know from personal experience that your web sites bring in business.”

“I’ll probably need a lot of information for it. I don’t really know much about running a garage for one thing. What I was really thinking about was positioning him as the go-to place for the new off-road trail.” She set her tea mug down on the counter and slid his jacket off her shoulders.

“That would be great. He’s been talking a lot about custom truck builds and repairs. Whatever I don’t know, we’ll get from Gabe.” He helped her finish removing the jacket and slung it over the back of a chair.

“I might learn more about when the off-road trail will be ready. I have a meeting with Jessilyn today also,” she said as she turned to the kitchen sink to finish cleaning the breakfast things.

“I hope it’s soon. It isn’t something I plan to spend a lot of time with, but I know Gabe is pretty excited about it. I have to finish getting ready.” He slid behind her and kissed her neck. “Thanks for thinking of it. Making a web site for him is a great idea. I just hope he puts the effort in that’s needed to succeed at what he wants to do.”

***

Maya Lin walked slowly down the hall toward her next class. She wished she didn’t have to go to school. Maybe if she could do well enough with golf, her father would agree to pull her out and let her study at home.

It wasn’t possible when she was younger. After her mom had passed away, staying home by herself just wasn’t an option. But she was fourteen now. That was old enough to be alone. Maybe she could get by with just a tutor instead of having to go to school.

She bumped into someone but didn’t bother to slow down long enough to hear the apology. She heard a burst of laughter as she continued walking. She was sure they were laughing about her. Everyone else walking in the hall seemed happy to be there. They were usually in groups, talking, laughing, and having fun as they moved from one class to another.

Maya had never been that way. She didn’t seem to make friends easily. Maybe it was because she hadn’t been born in Teaberry. They had moved there after her mom died. Maya slowed even more the closer she got to her next class. She saw the math teacher, Mr. Jefferson, standing in front of his classroom watching as the students filed in.

She took a deep breath and pushed on. As she reached the classroom, he focused on her as though he’d been waiting for her.

“Maya, about that home work you need to turn in,” Gavin said. “You’re pretty behind with it. Now that you’re going to miss a week of class next week, it’s going to be even harder to make up. How are you doing with it so far?”

Maya shifted the books in her arms and shrugged. She saw Mr. Jefferson grimace. She started to walk around him to go into the classroom, but his words stopped her.

“Have you thought about using a tutor?” he asked.

She felt the hope in her well up. She would be able to quit school.

“It might help you with the homework that you need to turn in,” he added.

She realized he expected her to remain in school. He wasn’t thinking about home schooling.

“I don’t know of any tutors,” she said quietly as she slipped past him to take her seat. From where she was sitting, she could just see outside into the hall. Mr. Jefferson remained out there and began talking to another student. Maya recognized her. Everyone in school knew Bella Prescott. She was the genius that never had any problems with school.

***

Megan entered the front door of the administration building and walked down the hall until she reached Jessilyn’s office. As the Town Events Coordinator, she was either responsible for most of the events that occurred in Teaberry or she worked closely with whoever was. Megan tapped on the open door and entered when Jessilyn looked up from her computer.

“Hang on, I’ll let the mayor know you’re here.” Jessilyn pressed some buttons on her phone and used the intercom feature to connect to the mayor. When she disconnected, she sat back in her seat. “She wants to speak with you also.”

“How are things going with the off-road track?” Megan asked.

Jessilyn stood and retrieved a large roll of drawings from the credenza behind her. She unrolled them and flattened them on the top of her desk, using her stapler and other things to hold it down.

“They’ve already got this section of the proposed trail complete. They’re working over here now.” Jessilyn pointed at another section of the map.

“Looks like they’re making good progress,” Megan said as she studied the map.

“From what they’re saying, we’ll make our June deadline for opening.” Jessilyn rolled the map back up and returned it to her credenza as the mayor walked in.

“Did you tell her yet?” Barbara asked Jessilyn.

“No, we were talking about the new off-road trail and I was saving it for you.” Jessilyn sat back in her seat.

“As you know, the Teaberry Invitational begins next week,” Barbara said. “We’re hoping it becomes an annual event here. The town would really profit from all of the business we anticipate it will bring.”

“The whole town is planning to go all out,” Jessilyn added. “All of the businesses have agreed to be open on Sunday, even those that aren’t normally. We’re hoping that the spectators and players that arrive early for the tournament will take advantage of that.”

“It does sound nice,” Megan agreed.

“We want the town web site to also go all out and promote the tournament and everything that goes with it,” Barbara said. “That will mean keeping the content on the web pages as current as possible and as enticing as possible.”

Megan could tell the mayor was excited about the tournament.

“Maybe I could do some interviews of the players? Get some background information on them,” she suggested. “But I’d need access to them.”

Barbara turned to Jessilyn. “I knew she’d understand.”

Jessilyn pulled out a plastic ID card on a chain and handed it over to Megan.

“We were hoping you would say yes. This will give you all the access that you need for the entire week of the tournament.”

Megan flipped the ID card around. In addition to identifying her, it also identified the card. It was a press pass.

“You’ll want to touch base with Jay Kerns. He’s one of the sponsors of the tournament and he’s from here. He should be able to give you a lot of information,” Barbara said.

***

Caitlyn heard the bells on her front door. She left the workroom in the back of her shop to see who it was. She found one of the twins.

“Janice, what brings you by?” Caitlyn leaned against her counter.

“Are you planning to be open all weekend for the tournament also?” Janice asked.

“I am. You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. Hang on.” Caitlyn went back into her workroom to grab a print out. She returned to the front room and handed the paper to Janice.

“What’s this?” Janice glanced down at the page. “Oh!”

“I was wondering if we should make flyers with something like this?” Caitlyn said. “We could all pass them out for the week of the tournament.”

“It has ads from all of our shops on here with coupons for return visits,” Janice said. “I love it.”

“It was just an idea. I wasn’t sure how anyone else would feel about it,” Caitlyn said.

“Did you ask anyone else yet?” Janice asked.

“I haven’t been able to, but we’d need to get them run off now to be ready,” Caitlyn said.

“You’ve done the hard part. Let me touch base with the other businesses and see if they’re okay with the idea,” Janice suggested.

Caitlyn glanced at the time. “I can run into Vintage and check with Leah and Daryl.”

“I’ll get Tia in Tomes, Giselle in Togs, and the rest on the list.” Janice looked back down at the flyer. “This is such a great idea.”

Chapter Three

Dena flipped the page over and checked her calculations. She was used to doing it all on the computer but that wasn’t an option here. Instead, she was using the old ledger books that she wasn’t even sure were made anymore. She’d found the one she was using in a box on the floor of the office in the garage.

The box also had old receipt pads and she’d finally convinced Gabe to use them whenever he worked on a car. The tough part was to get him to take the next step and transfer the information to the ledger book so he could track the history of his transactions. It was his only hope for keeping on top of the taxes he’d need to collect and submit to the state. She stood from the old metal folding chair and walked over to the bay where Gabe was working.

“You’re good for now but you need to keep up with the ledger.” It wasn’t the first time she’d tried to have this conversation with him.

He remained under the car. She could only see from his knees to the bottom of his well-worn boots.

“Gabe?”

“Yeah, got it. Thanks.”

She heard a metal clank as he dropped one of his tools. There was a fumbling noise and some muttering before he found the next tool he needed.

She waited a few moments, but he didn’t say anything else. She was about to walk away when he called her name.

“You still there?” Gabe asked.

“Yeah.” She crossed her arms and waited.

“You don’t need to keep doing this. I’m guessing you’ve paid off whatever debt you might owe me for working on your car,” he said.

She shook her head. He still wasn’t getting it.

“If you want to run a business, you need to know down to the penny how much I owe you. Figure out a formula and stick with it. You have your cost for the parts and your time spent on the project. You need to be competitive with what others are charging, but you also need to make a profit.”

He didn’t respond.

“Gabe?”

“Yeah, I heard you.”

“Good,” she said. “Because then you need to think about things like insurance and gross profit margins.”

She heard him chuckle underneath the car.

“I’m thinking it will be a while before I really need to worry about any of that.” He pulled himself from under the car and sat up on the rolling creeper. “You look… different.”

“No doubt.” She looked down at her uniform. “I got a part-time job.”

“Another one?”

“Yeah. I need to go. You’re caught up for now. Just make sure you enter all of your new jobs in the ledger,” she said.

Gabe watched as Dena walked away, then rolled himself back under the car.

***

“That puts us up to ten part-time employees so far for the landscaping business,” Seth said.

“We’re probably going to need several more but it will be enough to handle the golf tournament and still keep up with the other contracts we have for now.” Jax scratched his chin as he read the report Trina had created for them.

“I’m glad we have Trina to handle all that.” Seth motioned toward the print out. “Can you imagine us trying to keep up on it?”

“There’s no way.” Jax dropped the print out. “Dealing with the paychecks, taxes, insurance, and all that other stuff she’s been doing?” He shook his head.

“Anyway, we’re good to go for today. We need to get our part of the work finished at the golf course early and clear out,” Seth said. “It’s all hands on deck time.”

“I think we’re in pretty good shape there. We have a lot of the landscaping already done,” Jax pointed out. “And the plants and flowers are all in. We just need to finish up and deal with the rest of the mulch.”

“Yeah, I guess I’m just freaking because the tournament is going to be televised.” Seth stood.

Jax chuckled. “I know what you mean. When they told us they were going to credit our company in their promotional materials… that’s a big thing there. Everyone is going to know who handled the landscaping for the tournament.”

“Exactly. I don’t want to mess this up.” Seth pointed at the print out. “We’re good?”

“Yeah. We know what we’re doing.” Jax stood and followed Seth from the office. His eyes automatically tracked across the room to find Trina at one of the cash registers.

“I’m going to go check on those other delivery orders. I want to make sure they’re all covered before we leave for the golf course. We’ll need a couple of the trucks to come with us for the mulch.”

“Sounds good.” Jax joined Trina at the register and waited until she finished with her customer.

“Hey. You guys get everything figured out?” Trina asked.

Jax laughed again. “Thanks to you. We’d be in over our heads if you didn’t keep everything straight.”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Trina said. “It’s all about the team work.”

***

Dena parked in the employee lot at the golf course and went toward the main office for the staff. The supply room was nearby. She didn’t have a resume showing experience with cleaning. She was lucky that the assistant manager in charge of the cleaning staff at the golf course was willing to give her a chance.

“Hey, Dena. How is the job going?”

“Oh, hi Pat.” Dena stopped. “I think I’m finally figuring things out.”

“Learning anything new takes a while. One of the things I like about working here is that the people are nice,” Pat said. “Whenever you get stuck, there’s always someone to ask.”

“How long have you been here?”

“About ten years now. I started out as the assistant manager in the restaurant,” Pat said.

“That’s the job that Emily has now?” Dena was still trying to learn all of the names.

“Yes, that’s right. You probably won’t see much of her most of the time. She usually works evenings until closing.”

“You handle the day shift?” Dena was pretty sure that was right.

“Yes. Things will be a little crazy during the tournament so you’ll probably be seeing a lot of people working extra hours.”

“I won’t complain. I’m hoping to be one of those people,” Dena said.

Pat looked at her watch. “I should let you go. I have to get back to the restaurant. Some of us just had a staff meeting about the tournament next week.”

Dena knew that’s where her supervisor was. She waved and kept walking to the supply room. After getting her cart stocked, she pushed it out and headed for the bungalows. It was what she had been assigned to clean. She knew that there were other employees assigned to cleaning the hotel rooms.

The bungalows were separate units and there were a lot of them. She pushed her cart to the very end of the units and tapped on the door to announce herself. Hearing no response, she used her pass to open the door and began her cleaning routine as she’d been taught. Once the bungalows were completely full during the tournament, it would take her much longer to clean them all. She was looking forward to the extra money.

***

Phoebe Gaines knew she was being an idiot but she couldn’t help it. She stopped in front of the Golf Shop and took a deep breath before opening the door to enter. There was someone standing next to the cash register but she knew immediately that it wasn’t Wes. She pretended to look at some of the apparel on the rack next to her. She was really looking around to see if Wes was nearby. She was vaguely aware that the front door to the shop opened behind her. The voice in her ear was familiar.

“I don’t think he’s in here,” Van Haskins said quietly.

Phoebe turned to grin at her friend.

“Don’t make fun of me. I’m already doing enough of it for both of us,” Phoebe said.

Van raised a hand. “I’m not making fun of you, I swear. I have no room to talk.”

“Uh, oh. That doesn’t sound good. I thought you and your lady friend were getting along?” Phoebe lifted a sweatshirt from the rack. With any luck, the weather would hold and she wouldn’t be needing anything heavy for the duration of the tournament. She hung it back on the rack.

“I thought so too. I have no clue what went wrong. One minute we were happy. The next minute she was getting back with her old boyfriend.” Van pointed toward the next rack. “That color always looks good on you.”

Phoebe smiled. Old friends were like gifts. They knew when you needed a shoulder. Van was trying to cheer her up. She put her hand on his back as the two of them walked out of the shop.

“Maybe you’ll find a nice lady at the tournament?” Phoebe said.

“You think?” Van asked.

“You never know.”

“Phoebe! Van! There you are.” Jay Kerns walked quickly toward them.

“Jay. We hear you’re to thank for this tournament?” Van said.

“I’m just one of the many,” Jay said. “Listen, are we ready for the announcing duties next week?”

“Phoebe and I know what we’re doing,” Van said.

Phoebe nodded. “I have your time slots in an email somewhere. I thought you were copied in on that?”

“I’ve been having trouble with my computer,” Jay said.

“I can print it out,” Phoebe offered. “I’ll bring it with me to the restaurant later.”

“That would be great, thanks.” Jay watched as the two of them walked away.

The sound of a car pulling into the lot made him turn. He nodded to the two guys who walked past him on their way back to their landscaping truck. The car that pulled in stopped next to the landscaping truck and a young girl got out. Jay scowled as the car drove away. He walked over to intercept the girl.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.

Maya’s chin rose a few inches. “I earned the right to be here.”

“You aren’t at the level needed for this competition,” Jay insisted. “Call your father. Tell him to come back and get you.”

“I’m staying,” Maya said stubbornly.

“Wait until the tournament is over. Then you can take your little lessons again,” Jay said.

She stepped around the man in front of her and walked away.

Chapter Four

He looked across the table and knew he’d never grow tired of the sight. His youngest daughter had fallen asleep during dinner. Baby Grace was snuggled against Lauren. He could hear Mia and Noah arguing over what to watch on television next. He’d promised them a game of kickball after the dinner dishes were done. Justin stood from the kitchen table and began clearing it.

“Do you want me to lay her down for you?” he asked.

Lauren nuzzled the top of Grace’s head with her chin. “No. I’ll bring her outside for a bit when you’re playing with the kids. The fresh air will be good for all of us.”

“I hear we’re supposed to have good weather for the golf tournament all next week.” Justin scraped the plates into the trash and stacked them on the counter.

“That will make it easier on me to deliver in the mornings. It’s no fun getting baked goods inside during a downpour.”

“I’ll be here to watch Grace in the mornings,” he reminded her.

“That’s the nice thing about you being on afternoon turns.” She began rubbing Grace’s back as the baby stirred. A moment later Grace settled again.

“My mom might be in and out to help.” He began putting the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

“She deserves the time off. She and Vince are going to have fun at the tournament cheering Susan and Ross on.”

“I’m hoping for a quiet week at work,” Justin said.

She looked across the kitchen at him. “Is something going on there?”

He closed the door of the dishwasher and leaned against the counter. He could hear the television in the living room. The kids were no longer arguing. They must have settled on something.

“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling,” he said.

She looked down as Grace stirred again. “What does that mean?”

“It probably just means I’m getting goofy,” he said with a wry smile. “It just seems like my supervisor is acting a little different.”

“Maybe she needs a vacation too?” Lauren knew immediately when Grace began to awaken. She turned the baby slightly in her arms to face her.

“Yeah. That’s probably all it is. Everyone has spring fever.” He could hear the kids in the living room again. It sounded like it was time to get them outside.

“I see pretty eyes,” Lauren said to Grace.

Justin crossed the room. “Hey, Princess.”

“You’d better stop calling her that,” she warned him, not for the first time.

He kissed the top of Lauren’s head. “I was talking to you.”

***

Caitlyn stirred the sauce one last time and turned off the heat.

“Can you hand me the plates, please?” she asked.

“I’ll get the pasta on them first. You can do the sauce,” Doug suggested as he set his wine glass down and reached for a plate.

“Deal.” She looked down at the sauce. It was a simple bolognese, but the salad was made and there was some crusty bread to go with the meal.

“How was your day?” he asked as he piled on the pasta.

She took the plate from him. “Good. I figured out what I’m planning to do for the closing ceremony of the golf tournament.”

“Yeah? I can’t wait to see it.” He took the plate covered with sauce from her and swapped it with a plate of pasta.

She ladled sauce on the second plate and carried it to the table to join him.

“That’s the part that worries me.” She sat down around the corner from him.

“That your arrangements will be seen on television when they cover the ceremony?” He picked up the cheese grater and ground a generous amount over her pasta.

“Thanks. Yes, and they’ll be listing Anderson Florist in the credits.”

“You deserve the credit.” He grated another generous amount of cheese on his own pasta.

“We’ll see how it goes.” She buttered a slice of bread and put it on his plate. “I’m hoping the tournament brings as much business to the town as expected.”

“The trick is pulling them in.”

“I had an idea about that.” She buttered a second piece for herself. “I created a flyer for the shops in my building and a few other places around town. I hope you don’t mind, but I listed your restaurant also.”

“What do you mean?” He pulled his salad bowl closer.

“I was planning to distribute them to the businesses tomorrow so we can start passing them out. It’s a flyer that promotes the different businesses. I’ve spoken to owners of the other places and they all seemed pretty enthusiastic about it.” She waited to hear his response.

“What you’ve told me so far sounds promising. We should work together to bring customers in.”

She expelled a relieved breath. “I think so too. I wasn’t sure how everyone would react at first. In addition to having our businesses on the flyer, there’s a message about a discount or some promotion. You know, mention that you saw this ad and you’ll get so much off or what have you.”

“Who’s paying for the printing costs?” he asked.

“That’s the thing. At first, I planned to. That’s why I was only going to run enough for each shop to post one copy this time,” she said.

“Sounds like that has changed?” he guessed.

“Yeah. Once we had a chance to speak with all of the shop owners today, they said they’d kick in and pay for part of the printing costs so we could hand them out.”

“Okay. Well, count the Station Pub & Grill in. I think it’s a great idea.”

“Good.” She lifted her glass of wine and grinned at him. “I already calculated your portion of the cost and we had the copies run off. I have some for you to take to the restaurant.”

***

Cole finished eating the boxed dinner he’d gotten from Pat in the restaurant and went to find Wes. Everyone at the golf course seemed full of energy. There were a lot more people there. He assumed it was players and others arriving in advance of the tournament.

He wound his way through people, both staff and visitors, walking from the restaurant to the Golf Shop as he searched for Wes to get his assignments. As he entered the Golf Shop, he found Wes speaking with Jay Kerns. He could tell that Wes was angry about something. Cole hung back and waited for the two men to finish their discussion.

“She’s just a kid,” Wes said. “You need to lay off her.”

“She shouldn’t be here this week. She isn’t good enough to compete in this tournament,” Jay insisted.

“I don’t agree, but that’s not the issue. She’s fourteen. You need to be encouraging her. Not telling her she isn’t good enough.”

Cole wondered if they were talking about Maya.

“She’s better off hearing the truth now.” Jay’s voice sounded reasonable, but Cole could tell that Wes was having none of it.

“Just do what I say and lay off,” Wes said.

“Or what? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the promoter of this tournament. I can revoke her invitation. It should never have been issued in the first place. The only way she slipped in was by being your partner. She would never have made it on her own accord.” Jay began walking away.

“I’m telling you, Jay. Lay off. She doesn’t need people like you trying to tear her down.” Wes remained where he was and watched as Jay walked out of the shop.

Cole waited a moment before approaching Wes. Wes was rubbing the back of his neck.

“Everything okay?” Cole asked.

“Yeah. I have your assignments.” Wes pulled a list from his pocket and handed it to Cole. “Have you eaten?”

“Yeah.” Cole glanced at the list. His first assignment was now.

“You’d better get going.” Wes walked outside with Cole.

Jay was standing in front of the shop speaking with Emily, the evening assistant manager at the restaurant. Cole nodded as he passed them and kept going. He approached a couple that he assumed was waiting for him.

“Mr. and Mrs. Russo?” Cole asked.

He assumed both were somewhere in their fifties. His assignment listed them as Paolo and Angela Russo.

“Yes, that’s us. We understand you’re going to tell us the secrets about winning at this course,” Paolo said.

Cole returned the man’s smile. “I don’t know about that, but I’ll tell you everything I know.”

Paolo laughed. “Fair enough.”

Cole waited for Mrs. Russo. She’d given Cole a brief smile when he’d first approached them but her attention seemed to be on another couple. Cole watched as Tucker introduced himself to the other couple then turned back to Mrs. Russo. She was scowling.

“I see Dee can’t keep her eyes from you,” Angela said with no attempt to lower her voice.

“Now, Darling,” Paolo said with a tight smile.

“Oh, just quit. I’m tired of hearing it all.” Angela stalked off toward the golf cart.

Paolo expelled a breath and offered Cole an apologetic smile. Cole lifted the golf bag and began following Paolo toward the Russo’s golf cart. As he set the bag in the back of the golf cart, he turned and saw the other woman staring at the Russos.

***

Phoebe stood near the beginning of the course where the players were gathering for a late afternoon game of golf. She could see Wes interacting with several of the caddies and players as they finalized their plans and began going out to play.

He looked good, she thought. It had been several months since she’d seen him last. Nearly a year, in fact. She’d made some excuse to stop in Teaberry on her way to somewhere else. He’d been just as curt with her then as he was now. She wondered why she kept trying.

Her focus turned to the couples who were going out onto the course. She’d studied up on them all, knowing as she did that the smallest tidbits could come in handy when she was filling air time. Knowing the habits of each could help predict what they might do next during the tournament. Those kinds of clues made for better announcing.

She heard an angry voice behind her just before someone slammed into her. She quickly regained her balance and turned to find Jay Kerns. He barely paused and didn’t offer her an apology for almost knocking her down. Instead, he turned back to one of the staff members.

“Watch where you’re going.” Jay motioned toward someone else and shot Phoebe a look of disbelief. “Can you believe some people?” he asked her.

Phoebe thought the same thing as she watched Jay walk away.

Chapter Five

Jack turned to his friends. “It’s good to see so many people here.”

“This tournament was a great idea,” George agreed. “Look, isn’t that the couple that just won over on the west coast?”

Dave followed George’s finger as he pointed. “It is. They look bigger in person.”

Jack laughed. “That’s just because we watched on one of the little televisions here in the restaurant.”

“Yeah. We should have watched it in the bar. The televisions are bigger there,” George said.

“Hey, there’s Jay.” Dave waved. “Jay, over here.”

“You three are a fixture here,” Jay said as he stopped in front of them.

“Have been for years,” Jack agreed amiably.

“We like it here,” George said.

“It has everything we need,” Dave added. “We play golf when we want to, eat when we want to, and there are lots of televisions.”

“You used to be a fixture here yourself,” Jack said. “Back in the day.”

“That was a long time ago,” Jay said as he glanced behind them.

“You made a name for yourself back then,” George said. “Everyone knew who you were.”

“You were something back then,” Dave said. “A real phenom yourself. You were what? Just a teenager at the time?”

“Like I said. It was a long time ago.” Jay brushed past them and continued on his way to the bar.

The three men shared a look and shrugged.

“Hey, I recognize her. Isn’t that the announcer on TV?” Jack asked.

“Phoebe something, isn’t it?” Dave said.

“Yeah, Phoebe Gaines. That’s it,” George said. “She usually works with that guy.”

“His name sounds like a car,” Jack said.

“Not a car. It’s Van,” Dave corrected him.

“Van Haskins,” George agreed.

“She’s walking over here,” Jack said. “Phoebe, hey hello.”

“Well, hello.” Phoebe smiled at the three of them. “Are you here for dinner too?”

“Nah, we’ve been here all day. We were just leaving,” Jack said.

“We figured we should let someone else have our seats,” George added.

“We know it’s going to get real busy here tonight,” Dave said.

“I think you’re right about that,” Phoebe said. “You gentlemen have a nice evening.”

Phoebe walked into the bar side of the restaurant and looked around. She hadn’t been able to find Wes outside. She wondered if maybe he might be in the restaurant getting his dinner. She finally spotted him in one of the booths on the other side of the room. She quickly crossed the room to join him.

“Hey, stranger. It’s been a long time.” Phoebe stopped next to the booth. She wasn’t going to sit down unless he asked her to.

Wes tossed his napkin on the table and began sliding out of the booth.

“Yeah. Good to see you.”

She watched as he walked around her and kept going. Jay crossed the room carrying a drink in his hand.

“Looks like he isn’t interested in talking about old times,” Jay said. “Why don’t you let me buy you a drink?”

“No, thanks.” Phoebe managed a tight smile before she walked out of the building.

***

Emily stood at the front entrance of the restaurant and greeted everyone as they arrived. The night had been every bit as busy as they had anticipated. Apparently, many of the players, members of the media, and the announcers had already arrived at the golf course.

They’d had a heads-up, of course. They knew that many of the bungalows and the hotel rooms were already occupied. The front doors of the restaurant opened and a group of several people entered. Emily quickly counted heads and checked her seating chart.

“Goof afternoon. How many?” Emily glanced around the group to see who would respond. When she got the answer she needed, she checked her chart again.

“Okay, Pat will take you to your table. Enjoy your dinner.” Emily watched as the group walked away following Pat, then turned to the next group that entered. She passed them off to another staff member who led them to their table.

“After this, we might need to make larger groups wait a while before another table frees up,” Pat said when she returned to Emily.

Emily nodded her agreement as she checked her seating chart.

“It seems like a lot of the players know each other. A lot of them seem to be coming to dinner together. What about the bar? Can we seat any more there?” Emily asked.

“We would be in better shape if we didn’t have some people camping out on a stool,” Pat said quietly.

Emily stepped away from her station and peered into the bar side.

“Is Jay still there?” she asked Pat with a shake of her head.

“Maybe he’ll clear out when the crowd gets a little bigger,” Pat said.

“Do you want to handle the station here?” Emily asked. “You wouldn’t have to walk around as much. You’ve already been here all day.”

“Sounds good to me,” Pat agreed as she stepped behind the station.

***

Jodie waited for Dion in front of the restaurant. He arrived a moment later, looking guilty for taking so long.

“Sorry. I ran into someone on my way over,” he apologized.

“It’s been happening a lot to me also. Funny how many people you get to know in our business,” Jodie said. “Are you ready to go in?”

“Yeah. If they don’t have any seats left, we can always try eating at the bar,” he suggested.

“Works for me.” Jodie opened the door and stepped inside.

There were several other people waiting. She flashed a look at Dion before working her way to the hostess.

“Do you have a table for two?” Jodie asked.

“I do, but it will be about a fifteen to twenty minute wait,” Emily said.

“What about the bar? Are there any open seats there?” Jodie asked.

“You can take a look. If there aren’t, I can take your name for a table,” Emily suggested.

Jodie took a few steps to look inside the bar. She turned and motioned to Dion. He stopped talking to the person next to him and joined her quickly. She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the crowd toward the two empty seats at the far end of the bar.

“Got it,” she said victoriously as she climbed up on a stool.

“Now we just need to get some menus,” Dion said as he tried to flag down a bartender.

“I think we know most of the people in here,” Jodie said as she looked around. “Except him.”

Dion turned his head to follow her gaze. He glanced back at her face to make sure who she was referring to.

“That guy?” Dion asked with a scowl.

“Yeah. You know him?” she asked.

“Wes Lowry,” Dion said. “He’s the golf instructor here.”

Jodie turned back to Dion. “Maybe I’ll have a chance to meet him this week.” She smiled when she saw him scowl then reached for the menus that the bartender passed to her.

“You two got the last seats in here,” a voice said behind them.

Dion looked up from his menu. “Avery. You snooze, you lose.”

“You would think media people would stick together,” Avery complained. “You should have saved a seat for me too.”

“Like that time on the east coast when you didn’t save a seat for us?” Jodie asked.

“Or last month in the south?” Dion added.

Avery pointed at them. “And now you see why I didn’t. I knew you wouldn’t save one for me.”

Jodie laughed as she spun around to get the bartender’s attention again.

***

Rudy Corbett watched his wife pick at her food.

“Is everything okay? Do you want me to send that back?” Rudy asked.

“What? Oh, no. It’s fine. Really. I just don’t feel like eating.” Lacey made a face. “Maybe it’s nerves. My stomach just isn’t agreeing with me.”

“You’re worried about the tournament?” Rudy asked.

Lacey shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s the only thing I can think of.” She began rubbing her arms.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

“Maybe. A little. Maybe that’s all it is. I left my sweater in our bungalow,” Lacey said.

“I can go get it,” Rudy offered.

“No, you stay and eat.” Lacey stood. “I’ll get it and be right back.”

Rudy watched her weave her way through the restaurant. Across the room, he saw a couple at another table watching her also. He recognized them immediately, of course. It was Shaun and Celine Brothers. He watched as Shaun stood up from his table. Celine looked angry and said something to Shaun that made him pause for moment. Then he shook his head at her and followed Lacey from the restaurant. Rudy flagged his waitress as she neared their table.

“I’m going to step out to check on my wife. I’ll be right back in. Please don’t give up our table,” Rudy said. He waited long enough to watch her nod, then followed Shaun out.

He expected to find Shaun talking with Lacey. Instead, he found him talking to Gil Ressler, one of the journalists. Rudy turned to fight his way back through the crowd and took his seat again. A few minutes later, Lacey returned with her sweater.

“Feel better?” Rudy asked.

“Much, thank you.” Lacey picked up her fork. “It doesn’t look like you ate much.”

“I was waiting for you,” he said with a smile.

***

Van sat at the bar and watched as Phoebe wove her way through the crowd to reach him.

“Thanks for saving my seat,” Phoebe said as she climbed up next to him.

“That’s what friends are for,” Van said. “I protected your glass of wine for you too. No one has touched it.”

“Oh, thanks.” She picked up the glass and spun around in her chair to do some people watching. She elbowed Van. “Is that the one?”

Van swung around and saw Pat checking out the bar side for empty seats.

“Yes. Her name is Pat. She seems very nice,” Van said.

“She does. I talked to her earlier for a couple of minutes,” Phoebe said. “Well, good for you.”

“Sorry you haven’t been able to talk with Wes yet,” Van said.

“He’s definitely avoiding me,” Phoebe agreed.

“Don’t give up,” Van advised.

Phoebe glanced at Pat again. It looked like she was getting ready to leave for the night.

“I’ll make you a deal. I won’t give up if you don’t,” Phoebe said as she finished her wine.

Van slid down from his stool. “Looks like she’s heading out for the night.”

Phoebe patted his arm as she slid from her stool.

“Don’t wait for me. See if you can catch up with her.”

Wes watched from the far corner of the room as Phoebe followed Van Haskins from the room. Phoebe and Van always had such a friendly camaraderie going on screen that Wes had figured they were friends. It looked like they might be very close friends. He set his glass down and called himself a fool. It was time to call it a night. Wes began working his way through the crowd to the exit.

Emily looked around the bar trying to figure out where else she could seat customers. She saw Wes leave the bar through a side door that only the staff use. Someone bumped her from the side.

“Excuse me,” Emily said as she turned.

She found Jay Kerns unsteadily weaving his way through the bar. He didn’t stop to apologize. She breathed a sigh of relief that he was leaving and mentally added his empty chair at the bar to her list.

Chapter Six

“What do you mean he’s dead? That’s not possible.” Even as she said it, she knew it was silly. Of course, it was possible. There were police everywhere. Susan turned to Mindy and Clive. “What have you heard so far?”

“Not much,” Clive said.

They stood in front of the Golf Shop watching the activity near the bungalows. There were a lot of others gathered around in small clusters near them doing the same thing. Susan could hear snippets of conversations from the different groups.

“When did it happen?” Ross took a step closer to Susan.

“No one knows yet. Someone on the staff found him when they arrived for work this morning,” Mindy said. “At least, that’s what we heard.”

Susan was about to ask another question when a group of four walked over to them. Mindy handled the introductions.

“Susan, Ross, this is Iva and Dee Kaptur.”

Susan nodded to the couple as Ross reached out to shake hands with Iva. They appeared to be about her age.

“And this is Phoebe Gaines and Van Haskins,” Mindy said. “Iva and Dee offered their services, but were told that they wouldn’t be needed.”

Susan lifted her brows and looked at each of them. “You’re doctors?”

“I am,” Iva said quickly. “My wife is a nurse.”

“Did you see the victim at all?” Ross asked.

“No.” Iva looked past Ross as another vehicle pulled in. “That must be the coroner.”

“I can’t believe anyone would kill Jay Kerns,” Phoebe said.

“Did you know him well?” Susan asked.

“We’ve worked with him over the years,” Phoebe glanced at Van.

Van nodded his agreement. “Not often, but there have been times. This tournament was to be one of them. Jay was going to be a guest announcer. Phoebe and I will handle most of the duties.”

“Did any of you see Jay last night?” Susan asked.

“We did.” Van looked at Phoebe to include her.

She nodded her agreement. “At the restaurant last night.”

“He was in the bar,” a woman said as another couple joined their group.

“Ross, Susan, this is Rudy and Lacey Corbett.”

Susan waited until all of the greetings were over to prompt them.

“Jay was in the bar last night?” Susan asked the young couple that had just joined them. She guessed they were in their thirties.

“We looked in there to see if there was any seating,” Rudy explained. “We ended up waiting for a table in the restaurant.”

“The place was pretty busy last night,” Lacey added.

“I hope the police figure out what happened soon,” Dee said. “Of course, it might have just been a medical condition of some sort.”

Susan glanced over at Ross but didn’t respond to Dee. She had already seen Erica and Jerry with the other responders. Based on their faces, it wasn’t a simple medical condition.

“Wes!” Clive waved him over to join their group. “Have you heard anything?”

Wes shook his head. “No one that I’ve spoken with knows anything yet. They are all waiting to hear from the police.”

Susan noticed that Phoebe’s focus remained on Wes after he finished speaking. Wes was watching the activity near the bungalows. Susan turned and saw a couple of men try to approach the bungalows. They were turned away. After a brief discussion between them, the men walked toward her group.

“Did you get anything out of them?” Van asked.

“No. They refused comment until they have more information,” Gil said. “We figured it was worth a try though.”

“When you’re in the media business, you have to,” Avery agreed. “Our bosses would never forgive us if we were this close to a story and ignored it.”

“Ross, Susan, this is Gil Ressler and Avery Chapman,” Clive said. “As you may have guessed, they both work in the media.”

“We still don’t know if there is a story,” Dee said. “It could have been a medical condition.”

Gil made a face indicating he doubted it. “That’s a lot of activity over there for something like that.”

“I heard it was murder.”

Susan turned toward the speaker as another couple joined their group. The couple appeared to be around her age. She noticed that Iva placed himself between his wife and the new couple.

“Paolo, Angela, this is Ross and Susan. They’re both from Teaberry and will be competing with us all this week,” Mindy said.

“Who told you it was murder?” Susan asked Angela.

Angela was staring at Dee when Susan asked. It took a moment for Angela to shift her focus.

“It’s what everyone is saying,” Angela said. “I’m sure whoever found the body works here. They’ve probably told most of the staff here what they found already. That kind of thing gets passed fast.”

“Who would want to kill Jay?” Gil asked.

“You have to admit, he had a knack for making people mad,” Wes said.

Susan noticed that everyone turned to look at Wes when he said it. No one disagreed with him.

***

Caitlyn thought the flyers came out better than she’d expected, especially given the quick turnaround time. She backed her van into the alley behind their building and stopped at Vintage first. She called them to ask for Daryl’s help. A moment later, the rear door of the antique store opened and Daryl appeared.

“How many boxes are we getting?” Daryl asked.

Caitlyn told him as she opened the back of the van. Daryl offloaded the boxes for Vintage and Anderson Florist while Caitlyn called Tia and Giselle. Within moments, their back doors opened. Daryl carried their boxes in for them as the women held the doors open. He then motioned for Caitlyn to go to the far end of the building and they repeated the process for Tea & Thyme.

“We make a good team,” Daryl said with a wave as he disappeared through the back door of Vintage.

***

Megan sipped her tea as she read back through the information on the web pages she had written for the Teaberry Invitational. She was able to find quite a bit about the couples who would be competing. This would not be their first tournament.

She wondered how stressful that would be for someone like Ross and Susan who would be competing for the first time. She doubted either of them would lose any sleep over it. She didn’t think they planned to do it on a regular basis. She was looking forward to watching them play. When she heard the doorbell, she glanced at the clock as she shifted her laptop to place it next to her on the couch. She wondered who might be stopping by on a Saturday afternoon.

The one person she didn’t expect to find on the other side of her door was Cole Vanderen. He stepped back when she opened the door looking uncertain about his decision to come.

“Cole? Is everything alright?” Megan asked.

He ran his hand through his hair. “I didn’t know what else to do. I know he didn’t do it. He couldn’t have.”

Megan could hear Dan enter through the kitchen. He must have come to the house when he heard a vehicle in the drive. He appeared behind her.

“Cole? What’s wrong?” Dan asked.

Megan opened the door wider. “Why don’t you come in and explain.”

She led him back to the living room and waved to a seat. After closing her laptop and setting it on a side table, she sat on the couch next to Dan.

“Okay. One more time, slowly. Who didn’t do it, and what didn’t he do?” Megan asked.

“Wes. Wes Lowry. He’s the golf instructor.” Cole glanced at Dan then looked back at Megan. “I’m working some hours at the golf course. They have the tournament coming up next week.”

Megan nodded to prompt him.

“The guy that was killed. The police are questioning Wes about it.” Cole looked like he was ready to jump up and begin pacing.

“Who was killed?” Dan asked.

“One of the sponsors. His name was Kerns,” Cole said.

“Jay Kerns?” Megan looked at Dan. “I was supposed to meet with him today.”

“What for?” Cole asked.

“The town web site. What have the police said?” she asked.

Cole shrugged. “They questioned everyone.”

“It sounds like they’re treating it like a murder investigation,” Megan said to Dan.

“If they questioned everyone, why are you worried about them questioning Wes?” Dan asked.

“The questioned the rest of us at the golf course. They took Wes downtown,” Cole said.

“The police are just doing their job,” Megan said. “If they learn something that warrants it, they need to ask some people more questions. It’s possible they may even be taking a statement from him. He may know something that will help them to find the killer.”

Cole looked uncertain. “You think?”

“It is possible,” she said. “It will start to make more sense as the police learn more.”

“I guess I shouldn’t have bothered you.” Cole looked sheepish.

Megan smiled. “You didn’t bother us. Besides, I have a press pass to get into the golf course. I’ll be there all next week.”

“You will?” Cole stood, a hopeful look on his face. “Then you’ll be there to help Wes if he needs it?”

“I will, but I’m sure the police will handle it. They probably already have leads that they’re following.”

***

Erica waited until Jerry closed the door behind them before she spoke.

“What do you think?” she asked him.

“About Wes Lowry? He sounds nervous about something.” Jerry leaned against the wall.

“I thought the same thing.”

“Could be nothing,” he said.

“Could be something. What else do we have?”

Jerry recited what he knew. “Victim is Jay Kerns, age forty. He was found outside of his bungalow by one of the grounds crew when they arrived for work early this morning. Mr. Kerns spent the previous evening at the bar on premises. From what we’ve learned so far, he drank rather excessively. He was seen leaving by several people.”

Erica ran it around in her head. “If he left the bar with other people still there, why is it that no one found him until the morning?”

“Good question.”

Erica tilted her head in the direction of the room next door.

“What do we do with him?”

Jerry shrugged. “We don’t have enough to hold him.”

She walked toward the door. “Not this time, anyway.”

“Early days yet,” he agreed.

Chapter Seven

He hadn’t said anything about taking her shopping. She’d waited all week, thinking he didn’t want to take her on a weeknight after school and that he was waiting for Saturday. But he hadn’t mentioned it at all yet. Maya wondered if maybe he’d just forgotten. Maybe if she reminded him? She could hear him working out in the garage. He’d mumbled something at breakfast about changing the oil in the car.

Maya went out through the kitchen and into the garage. She found him underneath the car. He had the front wheels up on ramps. She bent down and looked underneath. She could see a large pan. She knew he used it to drain the old oil.

“Dad?”

She heard a grunt and the sound of metal hitting the cement floor.

“What?”

“I need something to wear for the closing ceremony at the end of the tournament.”

“What?”

“I said…”

“I heard you. I mean, why did you wait until now to tell me?” he asked.

She could hear the frustration in his voice.

“I told you weeks ago. You said there was still plenty of time to worry about it.” She stood up and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Can’t you just wear something you already have?”

She heard him shift under the car, then the sound of a ratchet turning. She thought about the clothes she already had in the closet. She knew that most of them didn’t fit her anymore. She didn’t really buy clothes all that often.

“I don’t think I have anything that will work.” The clothes that did fit usually looked stupid on her. She couldn’t pick things out the way her mom could.

“Listen, Maya. I just can’t, okay? Why don’t you go into town and find something on your own? Okay? Just take a couple of twenties from my wallet.”

She could hear the frustration in his voice again.

“Yeah. Okay.” She retraced her steps and went back into the kitchen. He’d tossed his wallet and phone on the counter. She took the bills out and went into her bedroom to find her birthday money to add to it. Maybe Togs had something. She’d never been inside, but she liked the displays in the window.

***

“Do you want the receipt with you or in the bag?” Julia asked.

“I’ll take it, thanks.” Lacey reached for the receipt and tucked it into her purse before taking her bag outside. She found her husband sitting on a bench talking to Dion. She took the seat next to Rudy.

“You found something?” Rudy asked.

“I did.” Lacey looked around. She saw a few others from the golf tournament that she recognized. She was sure there were many more that she didn’t. “This is nice.”

“It is,” Dion agreed. “It’s my first time here.”

“We were talking about where to eat dinner tonight,” Rudy told her.

“The restaurant at the golf course was nice,” Dion said. “But a little crowded.”

“We were wondering what else they might have around here,” Rudy said.

“I might be able to help with that.” Lacey reached into her bag. “She stuck a flyer in my bag.”

Rudy reached for the flyer. He held it up so Dion could see it too.

“Barbeque sounds good,” Dion said. “I wonder where the Station Pub & Grill is?”

“There’s a map on the back.” Lacey pointed.

Rudy flipped it over. “It’s not far from here.”

“I’ll have to see if Jodie is interested,” Dion said.

Rudy turned to Lacey. “What do you think? Are you up for it?”

“I think you would like it,” Lacey said to him before smiling at the young girl approaching them. “Hello.”

“Hi,” Maya said as she passed them. She paused to check out the display in the window then quickly went inside.

“Hi, Maya.” Julia watched Maya look around the store. “Can I help you find anything?”

Maya looked surprised. “You work here?”

Julia laughed. She was used to the question now. “I do. What are you looking for?”

“I have to go to something at the end of next week,” Maya said.

Julia put two and two together. “That’s right. You’re playing golf in the invitational, aren’t you? Cole mentioned that there’s a dinner at the end of the tournament.”

She moved over to one of the racks. “Were you thinking of a dress?”

Maya took a few steps toward her. “I’m not really sure. I mean, I don’t know.”

Julia glanced at Maya as she held a sundress up. “I can imagine it’s pretty tough trying to figure out what to wear. I know there are going to be media people there. The tournament is going to be televised, right?”

Maya wrapped her arms around herself again and nodded.

“I don’t have much money,” she confessed.

“This one isn’t bad.” Julia showed her the price tag. “This time of the year, you might need a sweater or something to wear over it, especially for the evening. Do you already have one?”

Maya nodded and told her the color.

“Okay.” Julia hung the dress up and moved over to another rack. “This would probably match then. I think it would look really nice on you. What do you think?” She held up the price tag.

Maya looked hesitant.

“You should try it on.” Julia carried the dress to the back and waited for Maya to follow. After Maya went into the dressing room, Julia returned to the front of the store. Giselle was finishing a sale with another customer.

“Did she find something?” Giselle asked.

“I hope so. It must be hard learning how to shop by yourself,” Julia said.

“What do you mean?” Giselle watched as another group entered the store.

“Her mom passed away a few years ago,” Julia said before crossing the store to greet the new customers.

***

“Have you heard anything?” Gil Ressler stood next to Van Haskins and watched some of the players practicing their swings.

“Not much. I talked to the lady that cleans my bungalow. She didn’t seem to know anything,” Van said.

“I still can’t believe anyone would kill Jay,” Gil said.

“Really?” Van watched as Celine Brothers hit a fade.

“What? You’re saying that you can?” Gil kept his eyes on Celine to see if she repeated the shot.

“He wasn’t the nicest guy on the planet, but he wasn’t the worse either.” Van made a mental note when he saw Celine hit another fade. It would be something to discuss with Phoebe during the broadcast if the situation presented itself.

“That’s exactly what I mean. What if Jay wasn’t the target?” Gil asked.

“What?” Van turned to Gil.

“Someone was murdered. What if it was some random thing? The killer is still out there, right?”

“Good point.” Van looked around. “Maybe I should go check on Phoebe.”

“I think I saw her going to her room.” Gil turned back to the players.

Van walked toward the bungalows. It had taken a long time for the police to clear the area and allow them to return to their rooms. Van was almost to Phoebe’s bungalow when he saw her standing out in front of it with two of the players.

“Hey,” Phoebe greeted him.

“Hey. What’s going on?” Van joined the group.

“We’re talking about dinner,” Paolo said.

“It was so busy at the restaurant here last night, some of us were thinking about trying somewhere else,” Phoebe explained.

“I found a flyer in my bag when I got back from some shopping earlier,” Angela said. She showed him the flyer.

Van turned to Phoebe. “What are you thinking?”

Phoebe narrowed her eyes at him. “Why?”

Van knew she was too smart to fall for anything he might make up so he didn’t bother trying.

“Gil just pointed out that there’s a killer on the loose. I was thinking maybe we’d be safer in groups.” Van watched as Phoebe’s mouth opened for a moment before closing. He shrugged. “Just saying.”

“I think you have a good point,” Paolo said as he turned to his wife.

Angela nodded her agreement then gave a finger wave as she and Paolo walked away.

Van waited for Phoebe’s response.

“You’re right.” She put her hand on his arm. “Thanks.” Her eyes went past Van and saw Wes watching them from the other end of the sidewalk. She dropped her hand.

Van didn’t have to turn around to know what happened.

“Do you want to go somewhere else for dinner tonight?” he asked her.

Phoebe shook her head. “Your lady friend will be here. You won’t be able to talk to her if we go somewhere else.”

Van turned in time to see Wes walk away.

***

Jodie tried to stand on her toes and look over the small group of people in front of them. She gave up and turned to look at Dion. He didn’t have any problems looking over everyone else.

“How is the restaurant?” Jodie asked.

“It looks good to me,” Dion said. “There are a lot of players from the tournament here. We might have to wait a while to get a table for ourselves.”

“What are you thinking?” She could tell by the look on his face that he had an idea.

“We could ask to sit with some of the players,” Dion suggested.

“And interview them during dinner?” It was brilliant. “Who can you see?”

“The Corbetts are here. Rudy works for an online tech magazine,” Dion pointed out.

“So he’ll forgive us if we try to combine work with pleasure. Can you catch his eye?” Jodie asked.

Dion stepped around the group in front of them and waved to Rudy. He motioned to Jodie and the two vacant chairs at Rudy’s table. Rudy nodded. Dion reached for Jodie’s hand and signaled to the hostess that they were going to join someone else.

“Thanks, we appreciate this,” Jodie said as they took their seats. She set her small purse on the table in front of her.

“It looks like a nice restaurant,” Lacey said. “It’s pretty busy.”

“And it smells amazing,” Dion said.

He and Jodie placed their drink order when the waiter appeared by their table.

“Will you two mind if we ask you some questions while we eat?” Dion flashed them both a smile. “We could use a few quotes for the articles we have to turn in.”

Rudy and Lacey laughed.

“He told me you were going to say that,” Lacey said.

“We’ll let you relax a few minutes before we grill you,” Jodie teased.

“We were actually just talking about the incident this morning.” Rudy leaned back in his chair and draped his arm behind Lacey.

“There’s been a lot of that going on.” Jodie leaned back as their drinks arrived so the server could set the wine glass in front of her.

“It’s pretty scary.” Lacey cradled her water glass.

Jodie reached for the menu in front of her. When she lifted it, her purse slid to the floor. Before she could bend to retrieve it, someone swooped in.

“You don’t want to lose this,” Avery said with a chuckle as he passed the purse back to her.

“I do not, thank you so much.” Jodie set her purse between her and Dion on the table so it wouldn’t get in the way again.

“Have you heard anything?” Dion asked them.

“I haven’t but I can tell you it’s pretty upsetting. It’s going to be hard to focus on the tournament not that I’m using that as an excuse for my bad performance lately,” Lacey said with a grimace at her husband. “It’s a good thing you love me or I’d be worried you’d trade me in for another partner.”

Chapter Eight

Dena pushed her cleaning cart past the bungalows toward the far end to begin her daily routine. As she neared the bungalow where Jay Kerns had been found, she skirted around it, unwilling to run the cart over the same spot where the man had been found. She knew it was silly, she just couldn’t help herself. She’d seen the man several times since she’d begun working at the golf course. She still couldn’t believe that something like had happened.

The bungalows were mostly empty at this point in the morning. The occupants were either on the golf course for a last-minute practice session or had gone into town to do some shopping. It sounded like a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning. As she neared the final bungalow, she saw a couple of teens approaching her from the opposite direction.

“Hi, guys.” Dena stopped to position her cart in front of the bungalow.

“Hello, Mrs. Baker,” Cole said. “I didn’t know you worked Sundays too.”

“The boys are at their father’s this weekend.” Dena began gathering the supplies from her cart that she would need. “You haven’t heard anything more about the death here, have you?”

She watched as the two boys shared a look.

“No, ma’am,” they both responded. She wondered why they said it so quickly.

“Did you know the man?” she asked. Maybe the death had upset them?

“Not really,” Tucker said.

“We saw him here a couple of times, that’s all.” Cole shrugged.

Their eyes tracked past her. She turned and saw the golf instructor waiting for them.

“Maybe Wes knows something about the murder?” Dena said, mostly to herself.

“No, he doesn’t,” Tucker said quickly.

“There’s no reason why he should,” Cole added just as quickly then he motioned to Tucker. “Come on. We need to go.”

“How do you know her?” Tucker asked as they walked away.

“One of her kids is the same age as my brother. They go to school together.” Cole’s long legs ate up the sidewalk quickly.

“What should we do about Wes?” Tucker picked up speed to keep up with Cole.

“Nothing. There’s nothing we can do. Just keep your mouth shut,” Cole advised. “That’s the best way we can help him now.”

“But the police…” Tucker lowered his voice as they neared Wes.

“Have already questioned us. We’re in the clear. You just need to focus on your work now,” Cole said quietly.

“Good morning.” Wes zeroed in on Tucker as they approached him. “You’re with the Kapturs this morning. You’d better get started. They’re waiting for you.”

Tucker looked down at his assignment sheet before stuffing it in his pocket. Iva and Dee Kaptur. He hadn’t worked with them yet. He stopped in the supply room to grab his things and took off to meet up with them. He found a couple he guessed were in their forties or so. He could feel the tension between them as soon as he stopped to introduce himself.

“We’re hoping you know the secret to winning on this course,” Iva said as Tucker lifted the golf bag.

“I’ll try my best,” Tucker said as he matched steps with Mr. Kaptur.

Iva stopped and turned to look at his wife.

“Are you going to stand there and daydream about Paolo or are you coming with us?” Iva demanded.

Tucker turned without thinking to check on Mrs. Kaptur and saw her glaring at her husband. She started to say something then her eyes shot to Tucker and she stopped. After shaking her head, she began walking behind them.

“You need to keep your head in the game,” Iva shouted back at her.

Tucker thought the distance between them grew even more and wondered if she would change her mind and walk away from them. As they continued to walk, Mr. Kaptur began moving faster. Tucker figured it was going to be a long morning.

***

Jodie watched as some of the golfers met up with their caddies and headed off to play. She thought Wes handled the caddies well, much better than she would have thought given his background.

“He’s whipping them into shape,” Dion said next to her.

“Hopefully, everything will go smoothly for the tournament,” Jodie agreed.

“After a murder, it’s hard to go anywhere but up from there,” Gil said as he joined them. “Have either of you heard anything else about that?”

It wasn’t the first time Jodie had heard the question. She’d even asked it herself more than once.

“It’s a little spooky,” she said. “Knowing that someone was killed barely yards away from where you sleep.”

Dion shifted his focus to her quickly. “They’ve increased the security here. The police have also been patrolling the lots regularly. Look.”

Jodie followed his gaze. She watched as the patrol car cruised through the closest parking lot. She didn’t care. It was still spooky. Time to change the subject.

“What have you been up to?” she asked Gil.

“Before this?” He watched a group of tournament players touch base with each other as they met up for a practice game. “I’ve been branching out a little lately. I started lecturing at one of the local colleges.”

“Seriously?” Dion looked at Gil.

“Yeah. Maybe now that I’m in my forties people think I know what I’m doing,” Gil joked. “There’s a lot going on with sportscasting now. It isn’t like it used to be. The students are even taking classes to learn all about mobile apps.”

“That’s where it’s at,” Jodie agreed. “You have to keep up with the times.”

“Or you’re out of a job because your competition does,” Dion added. “And forties isn’t that old.”

Jodie grinned. “Said the guy who hasn’t reached it yet. Unlike me and Gil.”

“I’ll be there in a few years,” Dion said. “I’ve been focusing a lot on audience analytics.”

“Knowing what kind of stories to push out given specific circumstances,” Gil said with a nod.

Avery interrupted him as he joined the group. “It’s all a bunch of baloney. In our business, people just want to read about their star athletes, no matter what the sport. End of story.”

Jodie didn’t agree with him on the subject of sports journalism but also didn’t want to indulge in the futility of arguing with him.

Gil didn’t back down. “Social media is pushing the envelope. You have to be able to navigate the waters and know all the protocols.”

“Or be out of a job,” Dion repeated.

Avery laughed. “You fools can waste your time on all of that. I’ll focus on what the readers want.”

“How are you planning to deliver it to them if you don’t know anything about current technology?” Gil asked.

“It’s been luck that has gotten you the jobs you’ve had so far.” Avery waved to a foursome taking off for a game. “The only kind of social media you need to know about is the one where you can reach out to shake someone’s hand. You have to know the right people. That’s how you’ll sell your stories.”

“Speaking of stories,” Gil said. “I should go finish the one I’m working on before I go into town.”

“I was thinking of going to town too,” Jodie said with a glance at Dion.

“Might as well enjoy the time off while we can,” Dion agreed.

“I’m headed there also. Then it’s back to some old-fashioned writing. In the end, it’s what we all do, right?” Avery said before walking away.

***

Leah ran her hand over the arm of the rocker and then gave it the slightest push. It began rocking rhythmically.

“That is nice,” Lacey said as she admired the antique rocking chair.

“What are we going to do with a rocking chair?” Rudy stopped next to her to watch as well.

“I don’t know. I just like it. What do you think?” Lacey asked him.

“I think we’re going to have to figure out how to get a rocking chair home,” he said dryly.

Lacey laughed. “No, I haven’t made up my mind yet. I don’t know why it calls to me so much. It just does.”

“Maybe you should sit it in while you’re here,” Leah suggested as she moved away from them. “I’ll leave you two alone so you aren’t feeling pressured while you check it out.”

Lacey lifted her brows to ask Rudy a silent question. He nodded his agreement so she took a seat.

“This is nice,” she said as she rocked slowly.

“We can think about it over something to drink, if you’d like,” he suggested.

“The tea place at the end of the building?” she asked hopefully.

“We can check the tea place out and talk about the rocking chair.” He held out his hand to pull her up from the rocker. “It’ll give me time to figure out how we’re getting it home if you decide you want it.”

“Tea sounds good right now,” she agreed. “What are you going to get?”

“There’s a coupon on the flyer for an energy drink. I’d like to try it,” he said as they passed Leah on their way out. They nodded to the Russos as Paolo and Angela emerged from Togs.

“How did the antique store look?” Angela asked.

“Don’t buy the rocker,” Lacey said with a laugh as they stopped to speak with the others. “I’m still thinking about it.”

“I saw that rocker,” Phoebe said. She laughed when Lacey called from behind her not to buy it and continued her way to Tea & Thyme.

The door opened just as she reached it and Avery stepped out. “After you, milady,” he said.

“Always the gentleman,” Phoebe said as she passed into the store.

Chapter Nine

He lifted the top part of the plant box and carried it out of the shed. As he crossed the yard, Noah kicked the ball one last time and came running toward him.

“Dad! Dad! What’s that?” Noah asked.

His sister Mia ran over to join him. “It’s the box for the plants. Right, Daddy?”

“That’s right, sweetie. We’re going to try a little experiment this year.” Justin set the top part of the planter on the ground near the deck and walked back into the shed for the bottom part.

“What’s that for?” Noah asked.

“This is the bottom part. It holds water.” Justin carried it up to the deck and set it in a corner.

“Why do you want water?” Noah asked.

“For the plants, silly.” Mia hopped up the steps of the deck.

Noah scowled at her. “Dad?”

“Yeah, buddy. It’s for the plants.” Justin carried the top part up and set it on the bottom.

“They grow in water?” Noah asked.

“They drink the water,” Justin said. “They grow in dirt.”

Noah looked inside the empty planter box. “There’s no dirt in there.”

“We need to buy some,” Justin told him.

“We could dig it up in the yard,” Noah suggested.

“Mommy wouldn’t like that,” Mia said.

Justin laughed. “No, she would not.”

He walked back to the shed to close the doors.

“Where are we going to buy the dirt,” Noah asked.

“We’ll go out to the nursery where Jax works,” Justin said as he led the two of them into the house. “Remember? That’s where they sell the plants.”

Justin stopped at the guest bathroom and flipped on the light.

“You two need to wash your hands then watch a little television while I work on lunch,” Justin told them as he quickly washed his hands.

He left the two of them and passed through the kitchen into the addition they’d added for Lauren.

“How are you doing in here?” he asked.

“I’m about done. Good thing too. I think I hear Grace stirring,” she said as she lifted another mixing bowl from the soapy water and began rinsing it.

“I’ll try to get lunch ready first,” he said as he passed back into the other kitchen.

She joined him a few minutes later. After setting the baby monitor on the counter, she began setting the table.

“I’m going to grab a shower before I leave for work,” he said. “Are you all set for tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah, I think I’m good with what I could get done today. I have to deliver the baked goods pretty early. Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle that?” She set the utensils next to the plates on the table.

“It’s going to be a tough week. We’ll make it through,” he said.

“I’ll have to get up practically in the middle of the night to finish baking,” she reminded him.

“I know. I’ll be up to handle the kids.”

“How are things going at work?” She stopped what she was doing to watch his response. “Are they still asking you a bunch of odd questions?”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he said. “I’m probably just imagining that anything is going on.”

“You think?”

He transferred the food to the table then smiled at her.

“Sure. It’s nothing,” he said. “Can you call the kids?”

***

Justin clocked in and went out on the floor of the hospital. He nodded to several people as he walked toward the nurses’ station.

“Justin, do you have a minute?”

He turned toward his supervisor. “Valerie, sure. What’s up?”

“A meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday as soon as you come on shift. I’ll be waiting for you in my office.” Valerie didn’t wait for a response. She nodded to him then quickly went down the hall.

Justin took a deep breath before continuing to the nurses’ station. He nodded to the woman already there. She was finishing up her duties before going off shift.

“What was that about?” she asked.

“I guess some meeting was called,” he said.

“Really? I haven’t heard about one. Maybe it’s just for you,” she said before leaving the station. “Have a good one.”

***

Cole walked quickly to meet his next couple. The last couple had taken a little longer than he’d hoped and he’d barely had time to grab a boxed lunch from Pat at the restaurant and get it eaten before rushing to meet the next tee time. He found the thirty-something couple waiting for him but slowed his pace as he approached. He apparently was interrupting an argument.

The couple turned when they saw him. The woman put her hands on her hips and took a few steps away from them. Cole could tell she was angry by the stiffness of the back she turned toward them.

He quickly introduced himself to Shaun Brothers. He knew from his assignment sheet that the woman’s name was Celine.

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting,” Cole said.

“You didn’t,” Shaun told him. “You’re actually right on time according to my watch.”

“Is this your first time out on the course?” Cole asked as they began to walk.

“We managed to get in some practice swings yesterday around all the shopping,” Shaun said with a pointed look at his wife. “I think we’re a little rusty, if our performance there is any indication.”

“That’s funny. Gil Ressler told me he was very impressed with my performance yesterday,” Celine said as she stopped walking.

Cole could hear the chill in her voice. He saw the anger infuse a tinge of redness in Shaun’s face as he stopped and turned toward his wife.

“We should get moving. There are a lot of people waiting to tee off after us,” Cole said quickly. He breathed a sigh of relief when the couple behind him began walking again.

***

“How is business?” Ian asked Giselle as he handed her a napkin.

“Pretty phenomenal, actually.” Giselle wiped her mouth. “Thanks for bringing lunch.”

“My pleasure. I hope Julia likes pulled pork sandwiches,” he said.

“She can run out and get something else if she doesn’t.” She reached for her bottle of water. “It’s really nice having someone else to work with. I’m not used to having anyone to cover for me like this.”

“I was a little late getting here,” Ian said. “Sorry about that.”

Giselle grinned. “What did she do this time?”

He shook his head. “The couch.”

Her eyes widened. “She chewed the couch up?”

“Thankfully, it was just the throw pillows. I haven’t decided if I should get new ones or wait until she grows out of this phase.”

“I hate to say it, but that might not happen.” She stood up to throw the wrapper of her sandwich into the trash can by her desk.

“What do you mean?”

She turned to look at him. “She might be chewing up everything in your house because she’s upset about something. Like when you leave for work. If she forms the habit now, she might not stop when she gets older.”

He balled up his sandwich wrapper. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

She gave him an apologetic smile and shrugged.

He sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. What I don’t know is what I should do about it.”

“You could try taking her to a trainer,” she suggested.

“Do we have one around here?” He stood to toss the rest of their lunch things and then followed her from the office in the rear of the store.

Giselle walked behind the front counter to relieve Julia.

“Your turn. If you don’t like pulled pork, you can go out,” Giselle told her.

“Pulled pork sounds good to me, thanks.” She crossed to the other side of the counter and headed for the office in the rear. “I sold a lot while you were back there.”

“I wasn’t sure how business would be on a Sunday,” Ian said. “It seemed like a gamble to open all the businesses in town when some of them are usually closed today.”

“So far, it’s been seriously paying off,” Giselle said. “I think some of it has to do with the flyers.”

Ian picked one up from the pile to look at it. “That was a good idea.”

“Any word on the death out at the golf course?” Giselle asked.

“It was definitely murder,” Ian said.

“I know. Some of the shoppers have been talking about it all weekend. I heard some of them mention that they’re staying in groups for safety.” Giselle smiled as another group of shoppers entered the store. “Let me know if you need help,” she called to them.

“Staying in groups is wise,” he said. “At least, until Erica and Jerry track down the killer. Hopefully that will be soon. I should let you get back to work. Thanks for lunch.”

***

Jerry locked the front door of the house and slipped off his shoes. It felt good to get out of them after a long day. He saw a light on in the living room and went there first. Madison muted the television as he bent down for a kiss.

“More wine?” he asked.

“I’m good. Get some for yourself. You look dead on your feet.”

“That I am,” he agreed before moving into the kitchen. He was back in no time and slid onto the couch next to her. “Anything good on television?”

“A documentary on how prevalent big data is. I think we’re fast approaching the point where so much data has been collected on us all that everything we even think about doing can be predicted in advance,” she said as she moved a little to snuggle into his side.

“That would make it a lot easier on us. We’d be able to find killers a lot faster.” He briefly pressed against his eyes with the fingers of one hand. “Maybe even stop them before they do it.”

“Yeah, that would be handy. How did today go?”

“We learned a few things,” he said before taking a sip of his wine.

“Not enough?”

“Early days yet.” He glanced at the television. “Is that a scroll about the Teaberry Invitational?”

She set her wine glass down. “Yeah, they’ve been running it most of the day. It starts tomorrow and runs all week. There’s some sort of dinner at the end of it on Friday night.”

“With any luck, we’ll have found the killer by then.”

Chapter Ten

Lauren made sure that her new parking pass was visible on her rear-view mirror before she exited the van. She needed to get all of her baked goods into the tent and get back home to relieve Justin. Although he had managed to force himself awake in order to get the kids ready for school, she knew he would feel better with a little more sleep.

It took several trips with her cart to get everything onto the tables in the media tent. She was on her final trip when she noticed a couple huddled together closely in a conversation. Whatever they were discussing, it looked private. She knew the woman. It was her contact for the golf course. Pat was the day manager in the restaurant.

Lauren finished placing her baked goods out on the table as people began arriving. The comments she heard as they made a beeline for the things she had just set out made her smile. It was one of the reasons why she enjoyed baking. Pat was waiting for her when she emerged from the tent.

“You’re here early,” Lauren said.

“It’s all hands on deck this week,” Pat said. She waved toward the tent. “Everything okay in there?”

“I didn’t have any trouble. We should be good to go all week,” Lauren assured her.

“Excellent. Not having to worry about the media crew in the morning makes it a lot easier on me. I’m glad we thought of this,” Pat said.

“Me too,” Lauren said. “I think I recognized some of the people in there from television.”

“You did, yes. Some are the announcers or other media people. Others are ones who work behind the camera. To be honest, I’ve lost count of how many there are.”

“I’ll be back the same time tomorrow morning,” Lauren said before pushing her cart back to her van.

***

Dena waited with her supply cart for a moment and watched as couples emerged from the bungalows. They’d already been over to the restaurant for breakfast. She knew that they would be playing at different times throughout the week and that several of them would be teeing off within minutes. They would be coming and going all day throughout the tournament. She wanted to get in and out of their rooms as quickly as possible to be out of their way.

She could hear them talking to each other as they walked down the long row of bungalows on the sidewalk toward her. Some were quieter than others. Most of them resembled a combination of nervousness and excitement. For some, it must have been a little stressful. She could hear hushed conversations intermittently marked with sharp retorts.

Dena nodded to several as they passed her. She was beginning to learn some of their names. In some cases, it was because they’d actually taken the time to speak with her. In others, it was because she’d been monitoring the sports news to keep up on what was happening around her. It amazed her to know that she was cleaning the rooms of the people she saw on the news.

Angela Russo stopped briefly next to Dena to speak to the people behind her.

“Have you seen my husband?” Angela asked the Corbetts.

Dena watched as the couple shook her heads in the negative.

“Are you okay?” Rudy Corbett asked his wife as they neared Dena.

“Must be nerves. My stomach is bothering me,” Lacey Corbett responded as they passed by Dena.

“I thought I saw Paolo near the media tent earlier,” Celine Brothers called to Angela.

Dena wasn’t sure that Angela was close enough to hear her at that point.

“Why, was he with Gil?” Shaun Brothers said to his wife as they neared Dena.

Dena saw a flash of impatience cross Celine’s face as she picked up speed and stalked off. Shaun shook his head and followed his wife.

Dena kept the plastered smile on her face. Some of the players sounded like her when she was trying to carry on a conversation with her ex-husband. No matter how civil she tried to be with him, their conversations invariably ended in argument.

She knew that the last couple walking toward her were two of the announcers on television. They weren’t arguing. From what she could tell, they were just friends.

“Ready for another tournament?” Phoebe asked.

“If their behavior off the course is any indication, we might see a few fireworks between the players this week,” Van predicted. He nodded to Dena as he passed her.

“Wouldn’t hurt our ratings,” Phoebe said with a chuckle.

“Want to stop at the media tent first?” Van suggested.

“Yeah. We need to find out who is going to fill in for Jay,” Phoebe said.

“True. He was supposed to handle several slots in the production.” Van pointed. “Looks like a big group beat us to it.”

Phoebe stepped inside the tent and looked around.

“We don’t need to bother going to the restaurant for breakfast tomorrow if they’re going to lay out a spread like this,” she said.

“Maybe we should sample some of it first to see if it’s any good,” Van suggested.

He heard Phoebe chuckle behind him. Gil Ressler was standing at the table in front of him.

“What do we have here?” Van asked as he joined Gil.

“I guess one of the local bakers is going to bring something every morning,” Gil said. “Listen, do you have anyone filling Jay’s spots yet?”

“Not that I’m aware of. Are you interested?” Van asked as Phoebe and Avery came up behind him.

“I would love to,” Gil said.

Van turned to Phoebe and raised his eyebrows.

She nodded her agreement. “If the powers that be are okay with it.”

“Great. I’ll touch base with them.” Gil looked past Phoebe and Van. “There they are. Thanks again.”

Phoebe watched Gil for a moment then turned back to Van. He was holding a large pastry.

“Are you going to eat all of that?” she asked.

“I’ll split it with you,” he said with a grin.

“Hey, one thing we haven’t discussed,” Phoebe said as she took half of the pastry and grabbed a napkin.

“What’s that?” Van bit into his half.

“Are we going to talk about the murder during the broadcast?” Phoebe wiped Van’s chin.

“Good question.” He watched her take her first bite. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

She nodded agreement. “I’m thinking we should stay away from the topic until the police have solved it.”

“It is technically an active investigation. I think you’re right,” Van said before popping the last bite into his mouth.

***

Megan sat patiently in the front of the police station watching Martha work as she waited for someone to come out. Several minutes later, Jerry emerged from the back and waved her in. She crossed the reception area and began following him down the long hall to the main office area.

“Thanks for taking the time to see me. I know you’re busy,” Megan said.

“We were wondering if you were planning to stop by.” Jerry stopped as two other officers crossed in front of them from another hallway. Once the hall was clear again, he continued walking. Erica was sitting at her desk when they arrived in the office.

“I’m not getting the connection,” Erica said.

“What?” Megan stood next to her desk and tried to stay out of everyone else’s way.

“The connection. You know. You usually have some sort of connection to the puzzles you work on,” Erica said.

“Oh. Well, in a way maybe I do.” Megan watched as Jerry took his seat at his desk. “Cole Vanderen stopped at my place Saturday afternoon and asked me to look into the murder.”

“Really?” Erica glanced over at Jerry. “Why’s that?”

“Mostly, he seemed worried that you were going to arrest the golf instructor for it,” Megan said.

“We thought about it,” Erica said with a frown. “Wonder why Cole is worried about that?”

Megan shrugged. “I got the impression they were friends. You know Cole is working there, right?”

“We interviewed him,” Jerry said.

Megan hesitated for a moment. “Cole is a nice kid. I imagine he enjoys working with Wes.”

“What does that mean?” Erica asked.

“It’s got to be tough, not having a dad,” Megan said.

“You’re thinking he’s grown attached to the golf instructor?” Erica didn’t wait for an answer. “So why are you here?”

“I might be able to help.” Megan pulled out her press pass. “I’m supposed to hang out there all week.”

Erica sat straighter in her chair and she pointed at Megan.

“Do not do anything stupid.”

Megan smiled. “I’m not taking any chances. I’m just saying that I’m going to be there anyway and I might hear things.”

“Things that you will immediately pass along to us,” Erica said.

“Of course,” Megan agreed.

“And you will not try to handle on your own,” Erica insisted.

Megan understood that Erica was just worried about her and decided to change the subject.

“There is something else,” Megan said.

That earned a suspicious look from Erica.

“I did have an appointment to meet with Jay on Saturday.” Megan watched the disbelief form on Erica’s face.

“I knew it. I knew you were going to be tied up with this somehow. Why were you meeting with him?” Erica demanded.

Megan put her hands up. “The mayor asked me to. I’m working on the town web pages. That’s why I have the press pass.”

“You’re like a magnet for murder, I swear,” Erica muttered.

“What can you tell me about it?” Megan asked.

Erica shot an exasperated look at Jerry before answering.

“Not much. We know that the victim spent most of the previous evening in the bar at the restaurant out there. He had to be fairly intoxicated. Witnesses report he had trouble walking out of the place.”

“When was that?” Megan asked.

“From what we have ascertained, around nine in the evening.” Erica frowned.

“Do you have a window of time for his death?” Megan asked.

“It’s still a sizable window,” Erica conceded, the frown still on her face.

“But obviously after everyone else went back to their bungalows,” Megan guessed.

“It helps with the window a bit, but not as much as we’d like,” Jerry said.

“You’re trying to figure out what he was doing between nine and his death,” Megan said mostly to herself.

“We’re working on it.” Erica stood. “In the meantime, if you hear anything at all…”

“I’ll let you know,” Megan promised.

Chapter Eleven

“I don’t understand why you’re stressed about it,” Rhys said. “You did fine the last time, right?”

Ava looked down at her untouched lunch. She knew he was right. To a point.

“I could have done better,” she said.

“And you will. You’ll do a little better this time. You’ll do a little better than that the next time.”

Her eyes widened. “Next time? I just agreed to presenting in Ross’s entrepreneurial class because he’s competing in the golf tournament this week.”

“The first time you covered for him wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I mean, the students seemed to be okay with it. They asked a lot of questions after.” She frowned.

“What?” he took another bite of his sandwich.

“I didn’t get to cover as much as I’d originally planned to.” She reached over a picked up her drink.

“Because of the questions?” he asked.

“Yeah. Maybe if I plan for the same amount of time for questions, I could talk about the things I wanted to do the first time but didn’t get to.”

“That makes sense.” He lifted the sandwich to take another bite.

Her frown deepened.

“What now?” he asked.

“What if they were just asking questions because they were tired of listening to me talk?”

“You’re driving yourself crazy. That doesn’t even make sense. If they didn’t want to know the answers, they wouldn’t have asked.” He looked down at her food. “Are you sure you don’t want to eat something?”

She shook her head and reached for it to wrap it up.

“I’ll save it and eat after the class,” she said.

“I still don’t get why you’re so freaked out about being in a college class.” He cleared the debris from his lunch and threw it in the trash.

“It bothers me that they have more education than I do. I was lucky to get a high school diploma.”

“Would you feel better if you took some college classes?”

Her eyes widened again. “Take classes?”

“Yeah. Maybe Ross could recommend something that he thinks might help with running your business.”

When she didn’t answer him, he stood and leaned over the desk to kiss her forehead.

“Give it some thought. Okay?”

As she watched him walk out of her office, she was really glad she hadn’t eaten her lunch. The thought of taking college classes made her stomach churn just as much as taking high school classes had when she was younger. Maybe even more.

***

Susan spotted them in the crowd first and waved.

“There’s Bev and Vince.” She turned to Ross then pointed at the crowd.

He found them in the crowd and waved also then turned back to Susan.

“We have a few minutes before our tee time.” He took a deep breath. “Are you starting to question our sanity yet?”

She laughed. “Now’s a fine time to ask. Are you suggesting we make a run for it?”

He grinned at her. “The thought had crossed my mind.”

“No, we’re not taking the easy way out. I’m sure we aren’t the first tournament participants to have a panic attack at tee time.” She looked around them. “I’m actually pretty impressed with us for making it this far. I say we go out and do whatever we do and try to have as much fun as possible doing it.”

“Brave words. I like them.” He glanced behind them to see who else was lining up to tee after them. He saw a familiar face beyond the two players behind them. “Is that Megan?”

Susan turned. “Yes. She’s with the press. Oh, this is it! We’re up.”

“Okay. Go out and have fun. We can do this,” Ross muttered. “No panic attacks allowed.”

Susan laughed as he’d intended her to and stepped forward.

Megan watched as Susan and Ross moved into position. She could hear the next couple speaking to each other as they waited to tee off next. She knew there would be several minutes before that would happen. Based on what she had found online, she could tell that the next two were Wes Lowry, the golf instructor, and Maya Lin, the fourteen-year-old phenom. She knew that Maya hadn’t competed much in the past. It was only recently that she’d made her splash in the golf world. From what she could see now, Maya was suffering a serious case of nerves.

“I can’t do this,” Maya said.

“Yes, you can,” Wes said as he turned to face her. “You can do this better than most of the people on the planet.”

“I’ve never competed with a camera pointed at me the whole time,” Maya said.

“Forget about the camera. Just focus on the game. That’s what you need to do, Maya? Okay?” Wes glanced at the group in front of them as they moved off then turned back to Maya. “You and I are going to step up and tee off. Once you swing the club, you’re going to forget about everything else. I promise.”

“But…”

“No, buts. We’re partners. I need you to trust me on this. Okay?”

Maya nodded hesitantly.

“Just try to think about all the people who said you’d never get this far. You showed them all, Maya. You’re going to show them again. Ready?”

The nod was less hesitant this time.

“Okay. Let’s get our game face on.” Wes took a step forward. Maya quickly caught up.

“She’s too young to be here,” a voice beside her said.

“Excuse me?” Megan turned to look at the man next to her. He was wearing a press pass like hers. She could only make out the first name. It said Avery.

“The little melt down. It shows she’s too young,” Avery said.

“Oh, I don’t know. I think most of us have those kinds of moments and not just when we’re young. They sneak up on you when you least expect it. It’s one of the main benefits of having friends and family around us when it happens.”

He laughed at her. “You can’t be serious.”

“It’s also how you can tell your true friends. They never make fun of you for it afterward,” Megan said. She looked over his shoulder and saw two friendly faces in the crowd. “Excuse me.”

She worked her way over to Bev and Vince.

“Well, look at you. A press pass,” Vince said.

“I know. I feel very professional. Are you going to follow Susan and Ross?”

“We are. Do you want to walk with us a little way?” Bev gave Megan a worried look as they began to walk. “You aren’t planning to spend the whole day here, are you?”

“The nice thing about the press pass is that I can come and go,” Megan said. “I’m not planning to post any scores on the town web site so I don’t need to be here for every swing. I figure everyone already has their sports apps to track that.”

“Makes sense. You should get some rest,” Bev agreed. “It’s hard to be on your feet all day when you’re pregnant.”

“I was thinking about running over to Lauren’s to see how she’s doing.” Megan looked around to orient herself.

“Are you working on the puzzle of Jay’s death?” Vince asked.

“I did tell Erica and Jerry that I would report back anything I learned while I’m here,” Megan said. “Did you watch all the players who went before Susan and Ross?”

“There were quite a few. They have this thing seriously organized, that’s for sure. They were teeing off like robots,” Bev said.

Vince laughed. “Can you tell we were never serious players?”

“I think some people are more prone to take up golfing than others,” Bev said. “I can’t imagine Vince wanting to spend eight hours a day walking to deliver mail for the postal service and then go home to a couple rounds of golf.”

“By the time I was ready to retire, I couldn’t wait to get my feet up at the end of the day,” he said.

Megan smiled as she walked. “I’m not sure it’s for me either. It’s beautiful here though.”

They paused when they reached another group of players. Megan recognized one of the couples but not the other one.

“I think that’s Rudy and Lacey Corbett,” she told them quietly. “I listed them on the town web page. From what I can remember, he is an editor for an online technology magazine. She’s a doctor.”

They watched as the hole was played. Even from the sidelines, Megan could tell that Lacey Corbett wasn’t happy with her performance.

“She doesn’t look like she’s having a good day,” Bev whispered.

“Happens to the best of us,” Vince whispered back.

***

Lauren looked at the sink full of burnt cookies and began gently rubbing Grace’s back.

“It’s okay sweetie. Mommy can change her clothes. I know you didn’t mean to lose your lunch on me. I hope your tummy feels better now.”

Lauren wet the corner of a towel and began wiping Grace’s face. She was on her way to the bedroom when the doorbell rang. She glanced down at herself then headed for the front door. She opened it as soon as she checked the security video.

“You couldn’t have come at a better time,” Lauren said.

Megan looked at her cousin and automatically reached for Grace.

“No, let me get her changed first so you don’t get it on you. Then you can have her and I’ll get cleaned up,” Lauren said as she led the way to Grace’s bedroom.

“Do I smell something burning?” Megan asked as she followed.

“Yes. I heard her fussing over the baby monitor and ran to get her. When I remembered the cookies in the oven, it was too late. I dumped them in the sink so we’re good for now.”

Lauren laid Grace down on the changing table.

“There we go, sweetie. We’ll get you all cleaned up.” Lauren reached for the wipes that Megan passed to her. When Grace was in clean clothes, she handed her over to Megan. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Megan carried Grace through the house to Lauren’s work kitchen to check on the cookies. She held Grace with one arm and began cleaning up the burnt cookies with the other. She had them in the trash can when Lauren came in.

“I’ll get that. You can sit down. It will be easier on you to hold her.” Lauren rushed around the room to finish cleaning it. “I thought you were going to the golf tournament?”

“I was there. I’ll go back when I leave here. I want to see how Susan and Ross do.”

“It is pretty exciting out there. Not that I saw much as early as I was there.” Lauren turned the water off in the sink and crossed over to Megan. “Do you want me to take her?”

“No, I’m good.” Megan kissed the top of Grace’s head. “Did you see anything at the golf course this morning?”

“You aren’t working on another puzzle, are you?” Lauren stopped in the process of taking out more ingredients to start another batch of cookies.

Megan shrugged. “I am going to be there all week. I told Erica and Jerry I would pass along anything I learn.”

Lauren began working again. “I’m not sure I can help. Well, not really.”

“What does that mean?” Megan shifted Grace a little to make her more comfortable.

“I saw Pat with a man. I’m sure it wasn’t anything.”

“Pat?” It took Megan a minute to place the name. “She’s the manager at the restaurant there, right? I talked to her before when I was working on another puzzle. Who was she talking with?”

“A man. I didn’t recognize him.”

Megan pulled her phone out and pulled up the web site she’d created.

“Look at the pictures on here and see if you recognize him,” she said as she pushed her phone across the table toward Lauren.

“Seriously?” Lauren wiped her hands and crossed over to pick up the phone. She scrolled through fairly quickly. “Here. I think it was this one. It says his name is Paolo Russo. Oh.”

“Oh?” Megan repeated.

“It says he’s married.” Lauren put the phone back down on the table and returned to her work island.

“Yeah. To Angela Russo. So?” Megan asked.

“I probably misunderstood. It just seemed like Paolo and Pat were pretty, you know. Friendly.”

“Friendly?”

“Well, they were standing really close together. It looked like he was telling her a secret or something.”

Chapter Twelve

The crowd at the golf course was just as large, if not larger, than it was in the morning. Megan found a parking space and began working her way through all of the people. Most were spectators. Some were employees of the golf course, players in the tournament, or members of the press and television crews.

She definitely wanted to speak with as many people as possible during the course of the week. Not just for the town web site, but also for the puzzle surrounding Jay Kerns’s death. She was still confused about Cole’s behavior. She wondered why he was so worried that his friend, the golf instructor, would be arrested for murder.

Knowing that Wes had already played for the day, she opted to look for him first. It was no easy task. After walking what felt like miles, she finally tracked him down. He was with a group of spectators, watching another group of competitors play a hole.

“Wes? Wes Lowry?” Megan approached him from the side.

“Yes?” He turned and glanced down at her press pass.

Megan introduced herself. “I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

“Shoot.” His gaze returned to the course.

“How was your game today?” she asked.

He gave her a curious look. “You didn’t watch?”

“I saw you tee off. You were pretty impressive,” she said.

He gave a wry smile. “I was okay. Nothing spectacular.”

“I meant your pep talk for Maya.” Megan watched for his reaction. It was immediate.

“You aren’t going to write about that, are you?” His face showed concern.

“If I do, I would say that her indomitable spirit was evident in her game today,” she said.

“I like that.” His focus returned to the game, but he was smiling now.

“I’m glad to see so many people here for the tournament. I was worried that the death of one of the sponsors might keep people away. Did you know Jay Kerns well?”

He kept his focus on the game. “I knew him, sure.”

“Did you see him the night he died?”

“Who did you say you work for?” he asked.

“The town of Teaberry. The mayor asked me to be here.”

It obviously wasn’t the answer he was expecting. He turned to her again.

“Yes, I saw him. I told the police that. He was drinking at the bar in the restaurant here.”

“Were you there the whole time?” she asked.

“Yeah, unfortunately. I don’t usually hang out there like that but the management here made it clear that they’d prefer the employees to be visible once the players, media, and the spectators began arriving.”

“I can understand that. Did you notice Jay speaking with anyone in particular that night?” she asked.

Crowd noise caused him to turn back to the players to see what had happened.

“Oh, man. He’s going to have trouble getting out of that,” Wes said. He watched for several moments before remembering Megan. “What was that?”

“Did you see Jay…”

“Talk to anyone? Jay talked to everyone, even if they weren’t listening. I didn’t pay that much attention to him that night though. No more than any other time.” Wes turned to her. “Listen, I want to follow these guys to see how they do.”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks for talking with me.” Megan walked away from the spectators and headed to the restaurant. It was mid-afternoon. With any luck, they restaurant wasn’t as swamped as it would be during lunch or dinner. She found Pat at the front station when she entered.

“I remember you,” Pat said as she glanced down at Megan’s press pass. “Megan.”

“Yes. I was wondering if I could speak with you about Jay Kerns and the night he died.”

Megan glanced into the restaurant. It was pretty full. Another couple came in behind her. Megan waited until Pat led them to their table and returned to the front station.

“It was packed that night and he was in the bar. I was busy on the restaurant side. I’m not sure how much I can tell you.”

Given the number of people in the restaurant now, Megan could picture how crowded the place would be on the Friday night before the tournament.

“Are you normally here that late?” Megan asked.

“No, and I wasn’t here all the way until closing that night. I did stay a lot later than usual though. Management wants a visible presence of the staff during the tournament. There was an overlap of several hours when both Emily and I were here,” Pat said.

“Emily?”

“She’s the assistant manager that works evenings and weekends. She was here until closing that night.”

“The night Jay died was before the tournament began. Were there a lot of people from the tournament here that early?” Megan asked.

“Not nearly as many as there are now, obviously.” Pat took a stack of menus from a waitress and added them to the pile on her station. The waitress went back out on the floor.

“Can you remember any names of the players that were here Friday?” Megan asked.

“Not really. It wasn’t just the players, though. There were media people and announcers also.”

“Announcers?” Megan tried to remember the names.

Pat nodded. “In fact, Phoebe and Van sat at the bar. There weren’t any free tables on the restaurant side. You might want to talk to them. Van in particular. I noticed that he was here the whole time I was. He may have seen something.”

As another group of people entered the restaurant, Megan thanked Pat and left. She stood in front of the restaurant and texted Susan. She got a response almost immediately. She walked around the corner of the restaurant to the tables in the back. It looked like Ross, Susan, Vince, and Bev had just finished their meals and were lingering over drinks.

“Hey, how did it go today?” Megan took a seat at the table.

“We can honestly say that we had a lot of fun,” Susan said with a grin at Ross.

“I don’t think the golf world has to worry about us taking it by storm,” Ross agreed. “But we didn’t embarrass ourselves either.”

“Then it was a good day,” Megan said.

“How are you doing with your puzzle so far?” Bev asked.

“I was hoping Susan and Ross could help.”

“We were just talking about that,” Susan said. “We might have one or two pieces. I don’t think you’ll be able to solve your puzzle with them…”

“But they might help to see the overall picture,” Megan finished.

“I did see Jay in something of a discussion,” Ross said. “I wouldn’t call it an argument, exactly. But there was a little heat to it.”

“With who?” Megan asked.

“The golf instructor, Wes. Have you met him yet?” Ross asked. At Megan’s nod, he continued. “It was about Maya, the young player.”

“She seems to have her fair share of detractors.” Megan thought of Avery, the man she’d spoken with earlier.

“Apparently Jay was one of them. I heard Wes tell Jay to lay off her.” Ross shrugged. “Like I said, it might not help your puzzle.”

Megan turned to Susan. “I only have background information. I don’t know if you noticed, but Maya doesn’t have anyone around to support her.”

Megan had wondered about that.

“Her mom passed away a few years ago,” Susan said.

“Is her dad working?” Megan asked.

“That I don’t know. I can tell you that it’s been years since I’ve seen him here at the golf course. Other than dropping Maya off, Sebastien doesn’t have anything to do with her career.”

Megan saw the waiter heading toward their table. “I should let you go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As she passed through the outdoor seating area, she saw a group of men that she recognized. She’d spoken with them while working on a different puzzle. They recognized her also and called out greetings.

“Press pass? Have you turned from amateur sleuth to reporter?” Jack asked.

Megan stopped at their table. “I have not but I am on double duty. You wouldn’t happen to have any clues for me, would you?”

“You’re talking about the death of Jay Kerns?” Dave asked.

Megan nodded.

“We knew him, of course. We followed his career,” George said.

“Career? I knew he was going to be a guest announcer at the tournament. He was also one of the sponsors, right?” Megan asked.

“He was,” Jack agreed.

“But that’s now,” George said. “We’re talking about when he was young.”

“Back in the day, he was a phenom,” Dave said.

“He was? That must have been quite a while ago,” she said. She hadn’t found any recent articles on that when she was looking up information for the town web site.

“It doesn’t seem like a long time ago, but it was,” Jack agreed.

“Were you here the night he died?” Megan asked.

“Oh, sure. We’re here almost every day,” George said.

“We didn’t stay late though,” Dave added.

“It got real busy,” Jack said. “We figured we should give up our seats.”

“We left around the time Pat usually does,” George said.

“She stayed late that day,” Dave said with a nod. “She switched her schedule up.”

***

Ava felt her stomach churn as she walked slowly from the parking lot of the community college to the building that housed the classroom she was to speak in. It was a familiar feeling. As a child, she’d always hated going to school. She was glad that she hadn’t passed that trait down to Bella. Her daughter loved school and everything about it. Ava wondered if that was because Bella looked at things differently. Maybe she should take a lesson from her daughter. Bella loved learning. She was willing to ignore the odd comments that she got from other kids for being smarter than most of the people around her.

Maybe Ava should focus on the positive parts of going to school and forget about the rest. She still couldn’t believe that she was at a college or that anyone would want to listen to her talk about how she had started her business, Maid in Teaberry. As she neared the building, she saw a group of students gathered out front. She thought she recognized some of them. They’d asked her questions after her first presentation to the class.

“Hey, you came back,” one of the students said. She smiled a greeting. “I was hoping you would. I thought of some questions I wanted to ask you after you left.”

“That happens to me all the time,” another student said. “I remember what I should have asked hours later.”

“That’s good,” Ava said. “I planned for question time at the end of the presentation today.”

“I was wondering how you knew that you wanted to own a cleaning business,” one of the students said. “Maybe you can address that in your presentation?”

Ava laughed. “I will, but I don’t think you’ll find a formula for success. In my case, it was just a matter of finding a job that allowed me flexibility as a young single mother.”

“I think there are a lot of people who need that kind of advice,” another student said. “I just got married last fall and my wife is due at the end of the year. We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to juggle work and kids.”

“We’d better get inside,” someone said. “It’s almost time for class. Maybe we can talk about this more?”

“Sure,” Ava said. As she followed them into the building, she realized that her stomach wasn’t upset anymore.

Chapter Thirteen

“I can’t imagine that,” Dan said. “Why wouldn’t Sebastien want to be involved with Maya’s career? He’s her father.”

“I don’t know. I just thought it was sad that Maya was there on her own like that. It made more sense to learn that someone like Wes was defending her. She’s on her own whenever she’s at the golf course.” Megan reached for his hand to walk up the temporary steps into the new addition.

“It doesn’t make sense that someone like Jay would criticize her. I mean, he should have known better than to do something like that,” Dan said stubbornly. “He was a sponsor of the tournament. He obviously loved golf. Why would he be critical of the next generation coming into the game?”

“I don’t disagree. I didn’t know Jay Kerns well enough to understand why he would do it. I can tell you that he’s not the only one to do so.” She looked around to see what the builders had gotten done since the previous morning when they had last checked.

“What do you mean?” Dan stepped through an open doorway into the next room.

“After Wes got Maya calm enough to tee off, a man next to me said something. He’s one of the sports writers.” She followed him into the next room.

Dan shook his head. “Don’t they understand she’s just a kid?”

“I wonder what ours will be like?” Megan said. She watched the scowl on his face turn to a goofy grin just as his phone started buzzing.

He pulled it from his pocket and checked it.

“It’s a text from work. I should get going. We’re still a little short handed since Trina left to work at the nursery with Jax and Seth.”

“Have you placed an ad to hire someone else?” she asked as she began following him out.

“Yeah, and I’ve gotten a few applications.” He turned to help her back down the steps.

“But?” She walked next to him around the corner of the house.

“I don’t know. I don’t know why I’ve hesitated.” They climbed the porch steps and he opened the kitchen door.

“I know you said Cole is still working with you and also out at the golf course. How is he doing that?” She slipped his jacket from her shoulders and put it on the chair. Hers no longer fit her and it was easier to just wear his.

“He isn’t working with me this week during the tournament. They wanted him out there as much as possible. After that, he’ll have minimal hours at the feed store until school lets out. Then he’s going to be working more at both places.” Dan picked up his empty coffee cup and carried it over to the dishwasher.

“Wow. Two jobs plus school.” She put the water kettle on the burner and turned it on. “That has to be tough.”

“What are you doing today?” he asked.

“I need to stop at the nursery and touch base with Trina.”

“For the web pages you developed for the nursery?”

“Yeah.” She rinsed her tea mug and dropped another tea bag into it. “After that, I’ll be back at the golf course trying to talk with more people.”

He crossed the room and leaned in for a kiss.

“Promise me you’ll take it easy,” he said.

“I’m not doing anything strenuous. If anything, walking around the grounds there is good exercise.”

***

Trina lifted the bag of fertilizer and tossed it onto the cart.

“I’ll have someone take this to your car for you,” she said to the woman.

“Thank you, that would be helpful. I might be able to tuck some of those plants on the floor in the back seat.”

“I have some plastic you could put underneath them to help keep the floor clean.” Trina crossed over to the cash register and picked up the radio.

After requesting assistance at the register, she turned to ring up the next customer. When she saw one of the employees come in to answer her radio call, she pulled a couple sheets of plastic remnants that she kept behind the counter and handed them off to the employee as he went by with the cart of fertilizer.

“Have a nice day,” Trina called to the woman.

She watched as someone opened the door and held it for the cart with fertilizer. After her employee and the customer passed through to exit, Megan came inside.

“Hey, stranger. What brings you in?”

“I thought I’d stop and touch base with you about the web site,” Megan said as she reached the checkout counter.

“You finished it?” Trina turned to her computer. “I have to take a look.”

“How are things going here?” Megan asked.

“I definitely cannot complain. We’ve been doing better than any of us thought we’d be doing at this point. We had Sal’s old records to look at and we’re topping all his sales at this time in the year.” Trina clicked on the navigation links. “This looks awesome. You got the online ordering code done too?”

“I did. That’s what I wanted to tell you. I can make it live whenever you’re ready to handle any orders that you get. I set it up so that you get an email whenever an order is placed but I can also have a text message sent.”

Trina didn’t think twice. “I like the idea of a text also.”

“Hey, is that our new web site?” Jax asked as he walked in.

Seth was right behind him. “I want to see.”

“She has the online ordering system ready to go also,” Trina said.

“I’ll activate it now if you’re ready,” Megan said as she pulled out her phone. “I can log in and do it while I’m here.”

“Yeah, do it.” Trina motioned to a customer to go to the other side of the counter. “I can take you over here.”

Megan finished making the changes and tucked her phone away.

“It looks like you guys are keeping busy,” she said to them.

“We’re swamped in a good way,” Jax said as his eyes dropped to her press pass. “What’s this?”

“I’ve been watching your mom and Ross play golf,” she said with a laugh.

“Yeah? Does that mean you’re working on a puzzle?” Jax asked.

“Well, I did promise I’d keep my eyes open while I’m there,” she said.

“We might have a clue,” Jax said as he glanced at Seth. “Not a great one, but maybe a small puzzle piece.”

“Really? You guys were at the golf course?” She hadn’t thought to ask them if they might know anything.

“Yeah, we handled the landscaping,” Seth said.

“It looks really nice,” Megan said. “What’s the puzzle piece?”

“We saw the man that died having an argument,” Seth said. “But I doubt that the kid who was telling him off was the one who killed him.”

“A kid?” Megan pulled her phone back out.

“Yeah. She definitely wasn’t taking any guff from him,” Jax said. “I heard him say something to her first. It was something like she shouldn’t be there or something.”

“Was this her?” Megan asked as she held up a picture of Maya.

“Yeah,” they said in unison.

“Anyway, she told him that she had every right to be there and if he didn’t stop harassing her, she was going to file a complaint,” Jax said.

“Why do you think she couldn’t be the killer?” Megan asked.

Seth shrugged. “She’s just a kid.”

“We also saw some of the players going into town when we were there,” Jax said. “Maybe someone else in town heard something?”

***

Barbara Reynolds stepped inside Olde Tomes and tried not to sigh audibly. She’d always had a fondness for bookstores. She could spend hours in them if she had the time. She crossed over to the history section as Tia came in from the back room.

“I thought I heard the bells on the door,” Tia said. “How are you today, Mayor Reynolds?”

“Tia, I’ve asked you before to call me Barbara.” She waved the history section. “Matthias has been talking about a new book that’s out. I thought I’d pick it up for him as a surprise.”

Tia moved across the shop. “He’s probably talking about this one.” She pulled it from the shelf and held it up.

“That is it, thank you. It helps to be psychic, so you know what your customer’s want,” Barbara joked as her eyes automatically roamed the store.

Tia laughed. “Not psychic. I just know the books that your husband usually buys when he’s here.”

The bells on the door opened as a couple walked in.

“Let me know if you need any help,” Tia called to them.

“We got a flyer from one of the other shops,” one of them said. “We thought we’d see what you have.”

“As you can see on the flyer, there’s a coupon there for your purchase if you make one.” Tia turned to Barbara. “I’m telling you, that flyer idea that Caitlyn came up with has been amazing for my foot traffic so far for the golf tournament.”

“Flyer?” Barbara shifted her focus from the books to Tia. “Caitlyn, you say?”

“Yes. She designed it and had it run off for us. We all pitched in for the price once she told us the idea.” Tia crossed to her cash register and brought one back to Barbara.

Barbara glanced at the front then turned it over. “And a map? Clever.”

“I’ll bet all of us who are listed on the flyer can boast of increased sales from it. I’m hoping the whole week stays this way.” Tia saw the couple move toward the cash register with books in their hands. “Excuse me.”

Barbara continued browsing for a few more minutes then took her turn at the cash register to pay for Matthias’s book.

“Would you mind if I hold on to this?” Barbara asked as she held up the flyer.

“Not at all. I’ve been putting one in everyone’s bag,” Tia said.

Barbara smiled her thanks. After leaving Tomes, she walked down to Togs and spoke with Giselle. She heard a similar story about increased sales from her. A visit to Vintage Teaberry, the antique store, had the same results. Finally, she stopped down at Tea & Thyme. She didn’t have to ask them about sales. The addition that Ross McMann had put on for the twins to serve tea and desserts was packed.

Chapter Fourteen

Megan found a parking space a couple of blocks down from Caitlyn’s flower shop. Caitlyn wasn’t in the front of the shop when Megan entered, so she walked into the back where her friend created most of her arrangements.

“How are things going here?” Megan asked as she leaned against a counter.

“Not bad.” Caitlyn stood on the opposite side of an island working on a bouquet of flowers. “Are you headed out to the tournament today?”

“I am. Your mom and Ross did well yesterday.”

Caitlyn grinned. “Mom said they had a lot of fun.”

“They might be the only ones. Everyone else looked pretty tense to me.”

“I can’t imagine playing golf with a million cameras trained on me.” Caitlyn lifted the completed bouquet and walked out to put it in a fridge in the front area of the shop.

Megan followed her. “I’m checking with the shop owners to see if they’ve heard anything about Jay from anyone associated with the golf tournament that might have come to town.”

“Mom told me that too. Have you had any luck so far?”

“No, but I’m just starting. Have you heard anything?”

“No. Am I the first one on your list?” Caitlyn asked.

Megan nodded as she walked to the front door. “I’m going to work my way down the row.”

Tia was on a short ladder getting a book from a high shelf for a customer when Megan walked into Olde Tomes. Megan waited until after Tia had rung up the sale to approach her.

“You look happy,” Megan said.

“I am having a very good day. My sales are up and my order of a new mystery just came in,” Tia said.

“You’re reading it in between customers?” Megan guessed.

“My idea of a perfect day,” Tia agreed with a laugh. “Are you working on another mystery?”

“I did promise to tell Erica and Jerry if I learned anything.”

“I take it this is about Jay’s death at the golf course?” Tia asked.

“I was wondering if anyone associated with the tournament might have said something without realizing that word can get around quickly,” Megan said.

“That it can,” Tia said as she crossed the room to a group of comfortable chairs. She lifted her new mystery from the table next to one.

“Can you think of anything?” Megan asked.

Tia absently adjusted the bookmark she’d inserted to save her page.

“Not really. The Hostetlers were in. Do you know them?” Tia asked.

“I know they’re local to Teaberry and they’re competing this week.”

“Yes. They told me that tournaments can often include a little drama. I remembered them saying it as soon as I heard about Jay Kerns’s death. It seemed like such an understatement.”

The bells on the door rang as another customer stepped inside. Megan thanked Tia and left for the next shop in the building. There were several people browsing in Vintage Teaberry when she entered. She did a little browsing herself before going to the cash register where Leah was waiting.

“Looks like you got some new stock in,” Megan said.

“We’ve sold several things this week too. That means I’ll get to go to more estate sales to add more stock,” Leah said with a smile.

“I particularly like the rocking chair,” Megan said.

“That might be sold. I’m holding it for a couple who are playing at the tournament. She’s planning to pick it up at the end of the tournament,” Leah said.

“Are they playing in the tournament?”

“Yes.” Leah flipped through a small notepad next to the cash register. “The Corbetts. They were a real nice couple. There was another couple in here at the same time that looked like they were going to get in a fist fight at any second.”

“Seriously? Do you know their names?”

Leah started to shake her head then stopped. “I guess the Corbetts did speak to them. It was kind of an awkward conversation because the other couple was spitting mad.”

Megan pulled up the pictures on her phone. “There are quite a few couples competing.”

“The one name might have been Paul. No, it was Paolo. That was it.”

Megan scrolled down to the Russos and held her phone up.

“Paolo and Angela Russo?” Megan asked. She remembered what Lauren had said about Paolo and Pat, the day manager at the restaurant, looking as though they were having an intimate conversation.

Leah nodded. “That’s them, yes.”

“You couldn’t tell what they were upset about?”

“No, but I honestly thought we’d have to call the police. They were that mad.”

Megan left Vintage when a customer approached Leah to check out. She went into Togs next. Giselle was carrying an armful of clothes to a rack. She hung them on the far end of the rack then began putting them in the proper size area one by one.

“Looks like you’ve been busy too,” Megan said.

“They should have a golf tournament more often,” Giselle agreed. “Are you here to do some shopping?”

“No, don’t panic. I won’t put your skills to the test trying to outfit me. I was hoping you might have some clues that could help with Jay Kerns’s murder.”

“Me? I haven’t been out at the golf course.” Giselle separated some of the clothes on the rack and hung some more in the space.

“But the players and others from the tournament have been shopping here, right?”

“Definitely.” Giselle greeted someone else as they came into the store.

“It occurred to me that they might have said something about Jay or his death that could be helpful.”

“I can’t really think of anything,” Giselle said as she hung the last garment.

“Okay, thanks. It was worth a try. I stopped at Vintage first and Leah mentioned that one couple was so spitting mad she thought she’d have to call the police. Something like that sticks out,” Megan said.

“That couple must not have come into my shop,” Giselle said. “Sounds like that was a good thing.”

Megan still had her phone in her hand so she held up the picture of the Russos.

Giselle leaned in to look. “Actually, they were in here. They were really sweet though. They talked about how much the liked the town and what a good time they were having.”

“Really? Can you remember anything else about them?”

“Well, they’d already been to Tea & Thyme. I know that because she debated putting her tea in the same bag with the clothes she bought,” Giselle said.

“You think they started at the end with Tea & Thyme and were working their way down the row of shops?” Megan asked. “That would mean they left here and went into Vintage.”

“I can’t imagine how they went from happy to mad between the two places.” Giselle excused herself when the customer looked like they needed assistance.

Megan left Togs for the last shop in the building. When she stepped into Tea & Thyme, Janice was ringing up a customer. Megan walked around and picked up some of her favorite decaf tea and took it to the cash register to stand in line. From where she stood, she could see partway into the addition that had been built on the side of the building. All of the tables that she could see were full. She stepped up to the counter when the customer in front of her left with their purchase.

“You look pretty busy,” Megan said.

“We’ve been swamped. It’s been great.” Janice rung up the purchase and took Megan’s card.

“Do you think the extra customers are from the golf tournament?” Megan asked.

“I know they are. They’ve been talking about nothing else for days.” Janice handed Megan her card back.

Megan pulled her phone out and pulled up some pictures.

“Did any of them make any comments that might help with the murder investigation?” Megan asked.

“Is that one of your puzzles?” Janice glanced at the addition then leaned over the counter. “Someone did say something specific about Jay Kerns. I thought it was odd at the time.”

“What was that?”

“Well, it started out nice enough. She was talking about Teaberry and how pretty it was here,” Janice said. “But then she added something odd. I think it was something about how she didn’t necessarily like everyone in the town.”

“That is odd. She named Jay in particular?” Megan asked.

Janice nodded agreement.

“Do you remember what she looked like?” Megan asked.

“I can do better than that. Her first name stuck in my head because I had a girl friend with the same name when I was young. Phoebe. It was on her credit card.”

Megan pulled up Phoebe’s picture and held her phone up.

“That’s her,” Janice said. “She seemed like a really pleasant person. That’s probably why the comment seemed so odd.”

***

Maya didn’t want to answer her phone when she felt it buzz. She was pretty sure she knew who it was. Of course, if she didn’t talk to him now, her father would probably be twice as mad by the time he came to pick her up.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and accepted the call.

“Maya, I want to talk about the letter from the school,” Sebastien said.

“It’s nothing,” Maya said.

“It isn’t nothing. They’re saying you’re behind in your homework.”

“I’ll get caught up,” she said as she moved away from the people around her.

“Maya, you need to take this seriously. You do not want to repeat a grade in school.”

“I said that I would get caught up,” she insisted.

“How are you planning to do that? The letter said that you have to have it done by the end of the week. When is that going to happen, Maya?”

“I’ll find a way.”

“We’re going to talk about this more when I pick you up,” he warned. “I’ll expect to hear a better answer by then.”

Maya stared at the phone in her hand. He’d disconnected the call. It was just as well. She didn’t have the answer he wanted to hear anyway. She had absolutely no clue how she was going to get the work done. Not without help.

Chapter Fifteen

Rhys entered the police station and found Ian at the front desk talking with Martha. Based on the way Martha was laughing, Rhys assumed he was regaling her with stories about his puppy.

“New pillows on the couch every week could start to add up,” Martha said.

“Tell me about it. I just don’t understand why she thinks they taste so good,” Ian said.

“Do you have any good stories to tell about your dog?” Rhys asked. “So far, everything I’ve heard from you is bad.”

“Yeah, sure. Why do you ask?” Ian said.

“I’ve been wondering about getting a dog for Bella,” Rhys said.

“Choose your breed wisely,” Martha said. “That’s a big part of it.”

“Why is that?” Rhys asked.

“Yeah. Why is that?” Ian repeated.

“Your puppy is a Malinois. It’s an intelligent work dog. It needs to stay active or it finds something to chew,” Martha said.

“Now she tells me,” Ian said as he and Rhys began walking toward the main office area.

“I’ll have to ask her what kind to get for Bella,” Rhys said.

“I’m not sure it works that way.” Ian nodded to some officers as he passed them.

“Why not?”

“With kids, they usually go with the first one they see,” Ian said as they reached the office.

“I doubt Bella will be like that. She researches everything.” Rhys stopped to check the murder board.

“I should have asked her for help before I got mine.” Ian stopped next to Rhys and read the board also.

“Looks like they’re making progress,” Rhys said.

“Not enough,” Erica said from behind them.

Rhys and Ian turned around.

“Early days yet,” Jerry said.

***

It took Megan quite a while to track down some of the players at the golf course that she wanted to speak with. She knew that many were out playing. The first couple that she managed to find was Paolo and Angela Russo. They were standing in a crowd of spectators watching some of the other players compete.

“You’re done for the day?” Megan asked as she stopped next to them.

“We were one of the first to go out this morning,” Angela said with a quick glance at Megan.

“Would you mind if I ask a few questions?” Megan said.

“I see you have a press pass,” Paola said. “Megan, is it?”

“It is. I’m Megan Parker. I work with the Teaberry administration and maintain the web pages for the town.”

“It’s a very pretty town,” Angela said. “I wouldn’t mind working around here.”

Megan thought back to her research for the web pages.

“You’re in real estate, aren’t you?” she asked.

Angela looked surprised. “I am.”

“You’ve never been to the area before?” Megan asked.

“No, it’s our first time. We know a lot of the other couples competing though.” Angela turned to watch the players.

“But neither of you have ever been to this course?” Megan asked.

“No, first time,” Paolo said. “We’d definitely come back.”

“Even with the death of Jay?” Megan asked.

“That is troubling,” Paolo said. “But I don’t think the golf course or the town should be blamed for it.”

“Did you know him well?” Megan asked.

“We knew of him,” Angela said. “We’ve probably only run into him a few times over the years.”

“We knew him well enough to speak to,” Paolo agreed.

A noise from the crowd told Megan something had just happened.

“They finished this hole. I’m going to catch up with others,” Angela said. “It was nice meeting you.”

Megan watched as Angela moved quickly to join another couple in front of them. She walked more slowly with Paolo.

“I’ve heard really nice things about the restaurant here,” Megan said.

“They’re all true. As busy as they are, they’re even making the effort to serve a special dinner for our anniversary. Don’t put that in writing though,” Paolo grinned. “It’s still a secret.”

Megan stopped walking as Paolo moved to catch up with his wife. She looked around the crowd for any familiar faces. Finding none nearby, she walked to the restaurant. She found a different person at the front desk.

“How many?” Emily asked.

“I’m not here to eat, actually. Are you Emily?” Megan asked.

“Yes, can I help you?”

Megan introduced herself. “Pat mentioned that you usually work evenings and weekends.”

“I do. It’s all hands on deck this week though. Pat is handling the outdoor seating area at the moment.”

“She also mentioned that you were here the night Jay was killed,” Megan said.

“I think Pat mentioned you. She said you would probably make your way to me at some point,” Emily said. “Yes, I was here that night.”

“Does anything stand out? Anything in particular about Jay?” Megan asked. She wasn’t sure how much of Emily’s time she would be able to take up, so she got to the point quickly.

“The bar was pretty packed. That’s where Jay was. He started drinking around four or so I’d guess. Didn’t quit until around nine or so.”

“Did you see anyone talking to him?” Megan asked. “Was there anyone else at the bar that might know something?”

“A lot of people I’m sure. I was pretty busy, so I didn’t see much.” Emily glanced toward the bar area. “I remember Wes was there quite a bit. Management wanted us all to be pretty visible.” Emily smiled.

“What?” Megan asked.

“I saw Jodie Stratton there. I remember because she pretended to hit on Wes.”

“Pretended?”

“I was pretty sure it had something to do with her partner, Dion. Sometimes you have to slow down so the guy can catch up to you,” Emily said.

“You think Jodie was trying to get Dion’s attention?” Megan asked.

“That’s what it looked like to me. It didn’t work. Wes left around the time Jay did except he went out the side door that the employees use.” Emily’s looked over Megan’s shoulder. “Can I help you?”

Megan turned to see a man standing behind her.

The man looked a little confused at first. “Maybe I’ll sit outside.”

“Just go through there. Pat can seat you,” Emily said.

“Sounds perfect,” he answered with a wide smile before walking way.

“Have you seen much of him?” Megan asked. She knew from working on her web pages that his name was Van Haskins. He was one of the announcers. They must be on break to eat. The restaurant was probably going to be swamped soon.

“No, he hasn’t been in at night much that I can remember. Like I said. It gets pretty busy.”

“Did you hear Wes say anything to Jay?” Megan asked.

“Not that night. I did hear them going at it pretty good before that. I mentioned it to the police also.”

“About what?” Megan asked.

“Maya. She the youngest player in the tournament. Jay was saying some pretty negative things when I first got close to them. A couple of the caddies were there too but took off when they saw me. By the time Wes was done, Jay was apologizing to Wes. He also said that he would apologize to Maya. Based on what I heard, he needed to.”

“You’re saying they ended the conversation on good terms?” Megan asked.

“Yes. Jay agreed that he shouldn’t be so negative with someone so young. Both men had calmed down by then. They walked away talking about golf.”

***

Although the Jammin’T was busy, it was nothing like the restaurant at the golf course. Megan crossed over to the counter and took a seat next to Cy and Casey.

“How is that addition coming along?” Cy asked.

“I know they make progress every day and they’re on schedule, but it seems like it’s taking forever.” Megan leaned back when Tyler appeared next to her with a pot of hot water and a tea bag.

“Are you going to order lunch,” Tyler asked.

Megan glanced at the board on the wall. “I’ll take the special.”

“Press pass?” Casey asked.

“I’ve been out at the golf course.” Megan dropped the tea bag into the water.

“Have you heard anything about Jay Kerns?” Cy asked.

“A little. Did you know him?” she asked Cy and Casey. Both men shook their heads.

“Knew of him and enough to say hello in passing,” Cy added.

Tyler stopped to drop off some silverware for Megan.

“A lot of the people involved with the golf tournament have been coming into town. Have you heard any of them talking about Jay Kerns?” Megan asked the three of them.

“I haven’t,” Tyler said. “Not anything specifically about the man that died. Several of the people in here these past few days have been from the tournament. You can sure tell it’s a tournament of couples. There was one couple that bickered the entire time they were here.”

Megan wondered if that might be the Russos. Leah had mentioned them fighting also. She pulled her phone out and scrolled down to their pictures on the town web site.

“These two?” She held up the phone.

Tyler shook his head. “No, the two I saw were a decade or so younger. They had press passes also.”

Megan switched to a different web page and held it up again.

“Yeah, that looks right.” Tyler held up his pot of coffee. When Cy and Casey declined, he took off toward other customers.

“Did that help?” Cy asked.

“I have no idea,” Megan said honestly. She didn’t know Dion and Jodie, two of the sports writers. It sounded like she needed to add them to her list of people to speak with. It was getting to be a very long list.

Chapter Sixteen

By the time she returned to the golf course, it was afternoon. Megan parked in the first spot she could find and set off to look for anyone on her list of people to speak with. She saw a familiar face pushing a cart with cleaning supplies.

“Dena, hey. How are you?” She joined Dena on the sidewalk to walk next to her.

“I’m happy to say I found a job, even if it’s only part-time,” Dena said.

“Will you be staying on after the tournament?” Megan stepped behind Dena to let another couple pass.

“Yes, but my hours will decrease even more. I’ll try to pick up another job then.” Dena paused at a crossway.

“Have you thought about applying at Maid in Teaberry?” Megan asked.

“No. Do you think they’re hiring? That’s Ava Prescott, isn’t it?” Dena looked excited.

“I would stop by when you have time. She has an office in town now. You can find the address on her web site.”

“I will. Thanks for the idea. After this job, I think I’m qualified. I have to tell you, you learn a lot about people when you clean up after them. I never thought all of those stories about people staying in hotels were true.” Dena turned left toward some outbuildings. “I have to restock my supplies. Thanks again.”

“Would it be possible to talk to you after your shift?” Megan called after her. “I’d like to ask some questions.”

Dena called back the time. “I’ll meet you here.”

Megan nodded agreement and turned to continue walking.

“Oh! Excuse me.” She stepped back from the man she’d just shoulder bumped.

“No problem, as long as you’re okay,” Avery said. He had one hand on her arm briefly to steady her, then removed it.

“I am, thanks.” Megan looked down at his press pass and recognized the name. She’d spoken to him before. “Did I miss anything important when I was gone for lunch?”

He laughed. “Not really. So far, it’s been a pretty tame tournament. Speaking of lunch, though, I’m headed that way. I tried to wait for the crowd to clear out.”

He gave her a quick wave and took off toward the restaurant. Megan pulled up the schedule for the tournament to see who was playing. She saw that Susan and Ross were listed and tried to gauge where they might be on the course before heading in that direction. If nothing else, she wanted to watch them play for a bit.

The crowd positioned near the course told her that she’d guessed correctly as she reached her destination. She wove her way through until she found a spot that allowed her to see. Given the smile she saw Susan flash to Ross, the two of them were still enjoying themselves.

“They’re not supposed to be having that much fun.”

Megan turned toward the voice. She recognized the speaker.

“Mindy Hostetler, right?” Megan asked. “I recognize you from the television ads. You and your husband own a car lot here in Teaberry.” Megan introduced herself.

“We do, yes. We’re also friends with Susan and Ross. They’ve mentioned you.” Mindy tapped her husband to get his attention and introduced him to Megan.

“I know you two are competing also,” Megan said.

“We’re up later. We just wanted to see how the others were doing,” Clive said. “We went to school with Susan so we’re actually cheering her on even though we’re playing against her.”

Megan thought that sounded nice. “Did you know Jay Kerns?”

“Of course,” Mindy said with a glance at her husband. “Not as well though. He was younger than us.”

“By over a decade,” Clive agreed. “But we saw him here fairly often. Even had lunch with him a few times. He was pretty excited about getting the tournament here.”

“It was a positive thing for our community,” Mindy added. “We were pretty impressed when he pulled it off.”

“He talked about things like that a lot. He was an advocate for Teaberry,” Clive said.

“Were you here the night he died?” Megan asked.

“No. Since we live locally, we aren’t staying here like many of the others. We’re gone by dinner time.” Mindy turned back to the game when the crowd noise changed.

“What was that?” Megan asked.

“Looks like they’re reviewing something,” Clive said. “I wish we could hear the announcers.”

Megan pulled her phone out. She’d included a link to the broadcast on the town web pages she created. When she heard the announcer’s voice, she held the phone up so Clive and Mindy could hear it.

“I agree with Van,” Clive said.

Megan knew that was the announcer’s name. Van Haskins had just explained his interpretation of the rules for the play in question. A moment later, he confirmed the ruling.

“That’s pretty handy,” Clive said. “How did you get to that?”

Megan explained where the link was.

“They ruled in Susan’s favor?” Megan asked. She’d heard what Van had said. She just hadn’t understood it.

“They did. Van nailed it with his explanation,” Clive said as he began to move with the crowd. “He’s been around a long time.”

“I don’t know how he has time to announce during the tournament,” Mindy said. “I swear every time we’ve been in the restaurant, we’ve seen him there.”

Megan waved as they continued to follow the crowd then went in the opposite direction.

***

Justin shifted Grace over to one shoulder so he could reach for his coffee cup.

“How has she been?” he asked. She was currently smiling at him.

“She seems all better,” Lauren said. “She got sick that one time and then after that she was just fine.”

“Remember the first time Mia did that?” he asked.

“We were both pretty hysterical,” she said. “Funny how things change between baby number one and baby number three.”

“I remember you being hysterical,” he said.

“You called your mom and made her run right over here,” Lauren reminded him.

“Yeah, I guess I did.” He kissed the top of Grace’s head then finished his coffee. “I should start getting ready for work pretty soon.”

“How did your meeting go at work last night?” Lauren added flour to her mixing bowl.

“We need to talk about that,” he said.

She paused in her work. “What does that mean?”

“Remember I told you my supervisor has been acting a little different lately?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She was still watching him.

“Turns out, she’s been testing me. I wondered why she kept asking me questions about how I’d handle things.”

“Why was she testing you?”

“They’ve offered me a promotion,” he said.

“Are you kidding? That’s wonderful.” She frowned when she saw the look on his face. “Isn’t it?”

“There are some stipulations,” he said. “On the one hand, it would mean a bump in pay.”

“That sounds like a good thing.” She gave up trying to keep track of what she was doing and walked around her work island to take a seat next to him at the table.

“It’s the afternoon shift supervisor position. I’d still be on afternoons,” he said.

“Is that bad?”

His eyes dropped to Grace.

“I’d still be able to watch the kids in the morning before work. That frees you up a bit when my mom isn’t here to help,” he said.

“You’re saying you’d rather stay on afternoons?” she asked.

“For now. Don’t you think?”

“What else?” she asked.

“They want me to take some classes,” he said.

Her eyes widened.

“They would be online,” he added when he saw her response. “They would also be at the graduate level.”

“You would still be on afternoons, you’d have more responsibility, and you would have to take classes. All for a bump in pay,” she summarized.

“Yeah. Another factor is that the current day shift supervisor will be ready to retire around the time Grace starts school.”

“You would be considered for that position?” she asked.

“Makes sense. I’d have the experience.” He watched her consider it. “What do you think?”

“When do you have to decide?”

“By Friday. When I go in for work I’m supposed to give my response.”

***

Megan found Dena at the end of her shift.

“I called Ava and asked if she was taking applications. She said she is,” Dena said. “I’m going to stop there next. Thanks so much for suggesting it.”

“I hope it works out for you.” Megan motioned to a picnic bench near the outbuilding where Dena and the other cleaners kept their carts. “Mind if we sit?”

“Not at all. I remember what it’s like,” Dena said.

Megan explained that she was trying to help the police with their investigation.

“They’re okay with you doing that?” Dena asked.

“Not really, but we have an agreement that I tell them everything I hear. I know that you’ve already spoken to them.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t the one who found Mr. Kerns, but it could have been me. I did come in to work Saturday morning.”

“Did you talk to him at all before he died?” Megan asked.

“No, but I did see him around when I was working. I can’t say the opposite was true. He was one of those people who didn’t really see me.”

“What do you mean?” Megan asked.

“Most people at least are aware of me. Some of the guests don’t even notice I’m around. I haven’t gotten used to that yet. It’s like I’m invisible. They talk about things that you wouldn’t normally discuss in front of someone, you know?”

“Like what?”

“Well, like the one couple. They got into a huge argument over something. I’m not really sure what. I just know it had to do with going to dinner.” Dena made a face. “Don’t get me wrong. No matter how hard I try, my ex and I still get into the same kinds of arguments over nothing.”

“Do you know who it was?”

“I think I heard her call him Iva.” Dena frowned.

Megan pulled up their picture on her phone.

“Yeah, that’s them. He was really mad because she’d agreed to have dinner with another couple.”

“Another couple from the tournament?”

“Yeah.” Dena looked at her watch. “I should go. I want to talk to Ava about a job.”

Chapter Seventeen

Tia hung the sign on her door that she would return in ten minutes and locked it behind her before walking down the sidewalk to Tea & Thyme. Jill was at the front counter when she entered. She could see several people in the addition.

“Do you have a minute to make an energy drink for me?” Tia asked as she checked out the baked goods on display.

“I do. Are you going with the one you usually order?” Jill asked as she moved over to the other counter.

“Please. I’ll take a couple of these too.” Tia pointed to some cookies. There wasn’t much left in the case to choose from.

“I wonder how Lauren is holding up with her baking?” Tia said.

“Between the golf tournament and her regular orders like ours, she has to be swamped but she hasn’t complained,” Jill turned around to pass the energy drink to Tia.

“We aren’t complaining either,” Jill said with a nod of her head toward the addition.

“I know what you mean. The sales have been great all during the tournament.” Tia took the bag of cookies from Jill and crossed over to the cash register as she dug out her plastic.

“We hope the golf tournament becomes a yearly event,” Jill said as she passed the card back to Tia.

***

During the week, Megan had noticed that the regular announcers took breaks periodically and guest announcers took their turn being on air. She positioned herself near them when she thought a break would take place and waylaid Van Haskins on his way out.

“Would it be possible to ask you some questions?” Megan asked after introducing herself. “I handle the web pages for Teaberry. Everyone here is pretty excited about having the tournament. The web pages are getting a lot of traffic.”

“Sure. I was going to stop in at the restaurant and grab something real quick,” Van said as he began walking in that direction again.

“I’ll tag along, if that’s okay?” Megan asked. “They have a nice restaurant here.”

Van smiled. “That they do.”

“Pat, the manager, is really nice too,” Megan said.

Van turned to look at her more closely. “I take it my secret is out.”

“That I don’t know. I figured it out based on some of the comments people have made,” she said.

“Such as?” He seemed genuinely curious and not at all offended.

“Well, someone mentioned that they’ve seen you at the restaurant every time they’ve been in there. But they also said they’re only here during the day.”

“Okay. Doesn’t seem like enough of a clue,” Van said.

“I also spoke with the assistant manager that handles evenings and weekends. She says she rarely sees you,” Megan added.

“Ah. That might do it.” He stopped and turned toward her.

“In addition to web pages, what do you really do?” he asked.

Megan saw the corners of his mouth twitch, as though he would chuckle at any moment.

“I sometimes work on puzzles involving murder investigations,” she said.

“Hmm. Jay Kerns. I still haven’t figured that one out. How are you doing with it?” he asked as he began to walk again. This time, his pace was slower.

“Did you know him well?” she asked.

“I’ve certainly run into him over the years. When you’ve been around the business as long as I have, you get to know the players.” Van nodded toward the Golf Shop when they passed it. “I remember when Wes Lowry was one of the biggest names in the business.”

“The golf instructor?”

“Oh, yes. He was the phenom of his day though I think one reason he was in the headlines so much was because of his temper.”

“He has a temper?” Megan asked. It was the first she’d heard of it.

“He did back then. I believe he may have mellowed with age. Happens to the best of us.” Van opened the door to the restaurant and allowed Megan to pass inside first.

“Were you here the night Jay died?” Megan asked.

“I was, for a while. He was still here when I left,” Van said.

“When was that?”

Van stopped and looked at Pat as she led a group of people to a table.

“I left when Pat did.”

***

Dan got out of his truck and walked toward the open door of the garage where his brother Gabe worked. He could hear music blaring from an old beaten up radio that sat on a shelf. He was surprised it got any reception at all. One of the antennas was snapped off half way down. The other was bent. He walked up to where his brother’s feet stuck out from the underside of an oversized truck.

“Looks like something you’d see on an off-road trail,” Dan said over the music.

He heard a loud clang as something metal was dropped under the car followed by Gabe’s voice as he rolled out from under the truck.

“You could give a guy some warning,” Gabe said as he sat up on the creeper and reached for a rag.

“That’s one reason why I’m here, actually.”

“What, to give me a warning?” Gabe stood up as he wiped his hands.

“In a good way. Megan thought it might be helpful to have a web presence for the garage. She does that kind of work for a lot of different businesses, including mine.”

“I can’t really afford to pay for something like that right now,” Gabe said.

“Now you’re just trying to make me mad,” Dan said with a smile to remove some of the bite. “She’s not expecting you to pay her.”

Gabe didn’t hesitate. “Okay. It sounds like a great idea to me.”

“She was thinking you might promote work like this,” Dan motioned toward the oversized truck. “To establish yourself as the place in the area who handles this kind of work.”

Gabe looked interested. “That sounds great.”

“We might need some input from you though. She’s not real familiar with that kind of content.”

“I would be happy to help with that. It would be great advertising. Dena keeps telling me I need to do that,” Gabe said.

“Dena?”

“She’s been helping me get my books in order to pay off the work I did on her car. She can’t afford to pay me any more than I can afford to pay Megan,” Gabe said.

“She’s working it off on your ledger? That’s smart,” Dan said.

“She’s smart. She has a lot of experience with all that,” Gabe said.

“From running her husband’s trucking business all those years.” Dan looked around the garage. “Too bad you two couldn’t figure out a way to merge your talents into one business.”

“She might have the smarts for that,” Gabe said. “All I can do is work on the vehicles.”

***

Megan approached Iva and Dee Kaptur at the outdoor table behind the restaurant where they had just finished their meal. She introduced herself and asked if she could interview them for the Teaberry web site. She pulled a small notepad and a pen from her purse when she sat down.

“I have some information about you on the web pages already,” Megan said. “It’s the general information about your standings in other tournaments that you’ve played in the past.”

“What else would you like to know?” Iva asked.

“Have you ever played at this course before?” Megan asked them.

“First time,” Dee said. “We really like it.”

“It probably won’t be our last time here,” Iva said. “We’ve only bought out half the town on our shopping excursions. There’s still the other half to look forward to in the future.”

Dee laughed. “I haven’t been that bad.”

Megan thought her laughter sounded a little strained. She remembered what Dena had said about a man named Iva and his wife arguing over dinner plans with another couple.

“Do you know many of the other couples who are participating in the tournament?” Megan asked.

Dee and Iva shared a look.

“Many of them, yes. Some a little better than others,” Iva said.

“Some of us have pretty complicated past histories,” Dee said. “I’m sure you saw some of that online when you were checking us out for your web pages.”

Megan hadn’t looked for anything like that but nodded as though that were true.

“In some ways, our world can be pretty small,” Iva said. “Like with Dee and Paolo.”

“What can I say? We were young and got married when we shouldn’t have,” Dee shrugged it off. “That doesn’t mean we have to remain enemies forever.” She looked pointedly at her husband.

Megan remained silent and let them work it out between them.

“It doesn’t mean we have to have dinner with them either,” Iva said.

“It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t either,” Dee said. “We do it with other couples at tournaments all the time. Why should we avoid them?”

“I can see we aren’t going to agree with this.” Iva let out a sigh then narrowed his eyes at Megan. “You aren’t going to write about this, are you?”

***

Bella climbed the steps of the library and entered through the front doors. She paused at the entry, wondering which way she should go first. That was the trouble with libraries. Each one of the books called to her, wanting their fair share of her attention. She was more than willing to oblige them whenever she had the time to spare. Mentally flipping a coin, she decided to go to the history section when she saw a familiar form bent over a book at a table.

Maya had several pages scattered around the table and was chewing on a pencil. Even from across the room, Bella realized that she was struggling with her homework. She wondered what she should do. She didn’t want to bother Maya, but it was obvious the girl was struggling. Finally, she decided to simply offer her help. If Maya didn’t want it, she’d tell her.

Maya looked up from her work when Bella stopped at her table. It looked like Maya was ready to cry. Bella sat down next to her.

“Maybe I can help?” Bella said with a tentative smile. Not everyone at the high school was happy to share their classroom with someone younger than they are. At least with Maya, the age difference was only a year.

Maya looked hopeful. “My dad dropped me off after my game today. He said I can’t play at the tournament tomorrow unless I get this work done. I’m going to flunk out of school if I don’t turn it in by the end of the week.”

Bella looked at the pages on the table. It was already Wednesday. It was going to take a lot of work to get Maya caught up with the class by Friday.

“Well, we’d better get busy then,” Bella said.

Chapter Eighteen

Megan was on her way back to her car to leave for the day when she saw a familiar face. She’d run into him several times during the week. Avery was one of the media people there to cover the tournament.

“Do you have a minute?” she asked.

Avery glanced toward the restaurant but stopped. “Sure.”

“You seem like you know everyone here,” Megan said. “I was wondering if you knew Jay Kerns also?”

“Sure. I’ve been to more golf games that I can remember. I know just about everyone who plays or is involved in the game,” he said.

“Did you see him the night he died?” Megan looked toward the restaurant. “I know a lot of people from the tournament were at the restaurant that night.”

“Yeah, I was one of the many. I didn’t stay very late. I talked to Jay for a couple of minutes, but it wasn’t about anything in particular. It was about golf and the tournament.” Avery lowered his voice. “To be honest, the guy had too much to drink. He was mostly repeating himself.”

Megan wasn’t surprised.

“I told the police all of this,” Avery added. “I’m sure they’ll have it solved soon. You shouldn’t worry about walking to your car at this time of the day. There are a lot of people around.”

***

“Okay. Let’s run it again.” Erica was as tired as she knew she looked.

Jerry wiped his hand across his face as he gathered his thoughts. “The victim was last seen in the bar in the restaurant of the golf course. He was there from approximately four in the afternoon until around nine.”

“Several people witnessed him leaving. He stumbled from the room, bumping into several people as he left,” Erica added.

“A few others left around the same time that the victim did,” Jerry said. “The day shift restaurant manager, Pat. The announcers, Van Haskins and Phoebe Gaines.”

“Then there’s Wes Lowry, the golf instructor. He exited out the side entrance,” Erica said.

“No one reports seeing Jay from the time he left until he was found the next morning by staff.” Jerry looked at the murder board out of habit. He already had it memorized.

“The camera on the front of the restaurant shows him walking away from the building.” Erica walked over and pointed at the note indicating that on the board.

“We’ve spoken to everyone he interacted with. We know he had an altercation with both the golf instructor, Wes Lowry, and Wes’s partner in the tournament, Maya Lin. The assistant manager claims that Wes and Jay made up by the end of the discussion.”

Erica stood back from the board and crossed her arms. “We know that Maya Lin didn’t have access to the golf course during the window of time in question.”

“She also claims that there wasn’t an actual argument. He was apologizing to her as he’d told Wes Lowry in front of witnesses that he would.”

“She chose not to make it an easy apology,” Erica added.

“You look impressed.”

“She stood up for herself. I still don’t understand what the guy was so upset about. You would think he’d be happy to have a young phenom to help draw interest and pull in viewers.” Erica looked back at the board. “Maybe that’s what we need to look at. Why did the guy ride her so much? Maybe there was something in his past?”

“Maybe. From everything Megan is telling us, it sounds like a soap opera out there. There are those who are trying to hook up with each other.”

“We’d need a bigger murder board to map all of that out,” Erica said. “Some of the players used to be married to other players who are now married to someone else and they’re all competing against each other.”

Jerry picked up his notes. “Iva and Dee Kaptur. Iva is a doctor in private practice. His wife is the nurse in the same practice. She used to be married to Paolo Russo, a dentist.”

“I agree with Megan. I’m not sure any of it has any relevance to the case.” Erica pressed her fingers into her eyes.

“That’s just it. Nothing we’ve found so far seems to have a lot of relevance to the case,” Jerry pointed out.

“Yeah.” It came out on a sigh. “Megan said the same thing. We’re looking in the wrong direction.”

***

“Enjoy your dinner,” Pat said after seating another group.

She quickly returned to the front station and found Emily studying the seating chart.

“Hey, you ready to call it a day?” Emily asked.

“That was a long time ago,” Pat joked as she glanced across the restaurant. “One of the things that has worked in our favor this week was the players knowing each other.”

“Most of them have been very good about sharing tables,” Emily agreed. “Well, I have this. You have a good night.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

Pat turned toward the voice. “You don’t have to do that.”

Van smiled. “Safety in numbers.”

“I tend to agree with him,” Emily said.

“I’m going that way anyway,” Van said. “I still need to change for dinner.”

“Okay.” She couldn’t think of any reason to tell him no. Since Jay’s death, she didn’t feel comfortable walking around alone anyway. “I’ll grab my purse and be right back.”

He was still waiting for her when she returned. He raised his hand, motioning for her to lead the way. She gave Emily one last look before heading for the door.

“How did things go for you today?” Van asked as he opened the door for her.

“Busy, but in a good way. You?” She passed through the door and walked slowly beside him.

There were several other people walking around the grounds within view. She really shouldn’t feel uncomfortable going from the restaurant to her car, but she did. Knowing that someone had been murdered there, especially someone she had known, was troubling.

“The week is flying by, that’s for sure. It’s already half over now,” he said.

“You still have tonight,” she pointed out.

“But you’re already leaving,” he said.

She didn’t know how to respond to that.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” she finally said as she reached her car.

A police cruiser pulled into the large parking lot and drove slowly around.

“It’s good that they’re doing that,” he said.

“Have you heard anything?”

“About Jay’s death? No. You?”

She shook her head. “It scares me. I didn’t know him well, but I did know him.”

“The police are working on it,” he reminded her.

“I know.” She realized that she was keeping him there. She managed a smile. “I should let you go. Enjoy your evening.”

“Drive safe. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He watched her pull away before he continued on his way to his room. He nodded to some of the players going in the other direction as he passed by them. He only heard a small part of the conversation but saw the irony in the situation. It would seem he wasn’t the only one moving at a snail’s pace.

“You should just ask her out,” Rudy said to Dion.

“It’s easy for you to say. You’re married already,” Dion said.

“Yeah, because I asked her out,” Rudy said pointedly. “You need to man up. Just walk over to Jodie’s room, knock on the door, and ask her to dinner tonight.”

“Where is your wife, by the way?” Dion asked.

“She’s not feeling well and you’re prevaricating,” Rudy said. “I’m picking up food to bring it back to her.”

Dion stopped walking. “Okay. You’re right. I want to ask her out. It’s just that we’re friends, you know? What if me asking her out ruins that?”

“What if you’re friends because you two are good together?” Rudy asked. He threw his hands up. “You’re the only one who can make the decision.”

Dion debated it as he watched Rudy walk away. It was a long debate. Finally, he turned around to walk back to Jodie’s bungalow. When he got closer, he stopped. He could see Jodie talking to Gil. He stood where he was and debated what to do next. Maybe they were talking business? They all worked for the media, after all. He heard Jodie begin to laugh. Gil joined her and rested his hand briefly on her arm. Dion turned around and walked away. He had no idea where he was going. He decided to walk toward the restaurant. Jodie would probably end up there anyway, right? He didn’t really need to ask her out. When he reached the restaurant, he stopped again.

What was he doing? Rudy was right. He needed to man up. He would never know if there was more to their friendship if he didn’t take a chance. He turned and began walking back to the bungalows. He was halfway there when he heard a shout. He thought he recognized the voice but didn’t know why. Whoever it was, it sounded like something was really wrong.

Dion switched course again and began walking toward the swimming pool. He heard a splash and more shouting. When he reached the pool, he saw someone floating face down. Someone else was swimming toward him. Dion didn’t think twice. He jumped into the pool and started swimming toward the deep end too. Together, he and Van pulled the man out. Dion helped Van turn the unconscious man over.

“We need help over here!” Van shouted.

“Here!” Paolo said. “Is he breathing?”

“I don’t know,” Van said as he and Dion moved out of the way to let Paolo and Dee work on the unconscious man.

Dion stared down at Gil and wondered how he had gotten from Jodie’s bungalow to the pool and why he was unconscious.

Chapter Nineteen

Megan knew as soon as she got out of her car at the golf course in the morning that something had happened. There were police cars in the parking lot. Instead of patrolling the lot and leaving, these cars were parked. She knew that the staff at any business would be the ones to ask. She first considered Pat at the restaurant, then changed her mind. Dena was the one who moved around and was invisible to some by her own account. She found a cleaning cart parked in front of one of the bungalows. She waited until Dena stepped outside.

“Oh! You scared me.” Dena’s hand flew to her heart.

“I’m sorry. I was wondering if you knew what was going on?”

“Not really. I know that there was some sort of accident around dinner time yesterday.” Dena began moving the cart down to the next bungalow.

“What kind of accident?”

“That’s the thing. A man was pulled out of the swimming pool.” Dena looked around and lowered her voice. “He said he was pushed in.”

“Who was it?”

“They said he was one of the media people. His name is Gil something.” Dena knocked to announce herself on the next bungalow and called out.

This time, there was an answer. The woman answering the door looked tired.

“I can come back,” Dena said.

“No, that’s alright. Go ahead. I’ll stay out of your way.” The brunette stepped out of the bungalow and smiled at Megan as Dena carried some of her supplies inside.

“I hear there was some excitement here last night?” Megan said. She made it sound like a question.

“I’ll say. My husband was in the middle of it.”

Dena stepped out and took the vacuum from the cart.

“I’m Megan. I work with the mayor’s office to update their web pages.”

“I’m Lacey.”

“Lacey Corbett? Your husband’s name is Rudy?”

“That’s right. How did you know?”

“I created some web pages with information about the players in the tournament this week.” Megan watched as Lacey’s hands went down to her stomach. “You weren’t with your husband when he found Gil?”

“No. I wasn’t feeling well. He was going to the restaurant to pick something up for dinner.”

“I know that it isn’t fun but it passes. It just seems like forever at the time.” Megan laughed and her hand dropped to her stomach.

Lacey’s eyes followed Megan’s hand then she looked down at her own.

“Oh!” She raised surprised eyes to Megan. “I’m an idiot.”

“I just thought I wasn’t feeling well,” Megan said. “I didn’t make the connection either.”

“I’m a doctor. I’m supposed to know things like this.”

Megan thought she still looked a little stunned but she seemed to have a little more color in her face.

“Promise you won’t say anything,” Lacey said.

“I promise. Can I ask you some questions?” Megan could hear Dena running the vacuum inside.

“About the tournament?” Lacey asked.

Megan made a face. “I’m more interested in what happened with Gil yesterday. I understand your husband was involved?”

“He and Dion Pritchard jumped into the pool and pulled Gil out. Good thing too. The man was face down and floating. He would have drowned.”

“Did you treat Gil?” Megan asked.

“I checked him until the ambulance arrived. I wasn’t there when they first pulled him out.”

“Who was?”

“Fortunately for him, two people in the medical field, among others. Dee Kaptur is a nurse. The other guy, Paolo Russo, is a dentist but he knew enough to help Dee. They had him breathing by the time I got there.” Lacey narrowed her eyes at Megan. “Why are you asking?”

“Like I said. I work with the mayor’s office.” Megan figured it was technically correct. “Did Gil give any indication of how he got into the pool?”

Lacey hesitated. The vacuum in the bungalow shut off.

“I understand he mentioned being pushed. Did you see anything to indicate that?” Megan asked.

“He had a fairly nasty bump on the back of his head. I can’t imagine how it got there.”

“Do you think the hospital will keep him long?” Megan asked.

“I would keep him overnight for observation. I’m sure he’ll be released this morning.”

“Did you know him before this happened?” Megan asked.

“I’ve seen him around, sure. I definitely know of him. Anyone in golf does. He’s pretty well known. I’m sure that’s because he’s up on technology, you know what I mean?”

“He’s also online?” Megan guessed.

“Yes. He really caters to a tech-savvy audience. He has podcasts and does social media. All of that.”

“It’s what people are into,” Megan agreed.

“Know your audience.” Lacey turned as Dena emerged to swap supplies before returning inside. “I think I’ll sit inside. She’s probably working in the bathroom now so I won’t be in her way.”

“Yes, I understand. Congratulations,” Megan said.

Lacey laughed. “It hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Megan knew that Dion Pritchard was one of the media people. She doubted he would still be in his room. He’d need to keep current on the events. She also knew there was a tent setup for the television crew and media people. It was where Lauren brought her baked goods every morning. It seemed like a good place to start looking but she wasn’t positive what he looked like. She searched for him on her phone and got a lot of hits, several with photos. Half way to the media tent, she ran into him coming from the other direction.

“Dion? Do you have a minute?” Megan introduced herself.

He was bigger than she assumed he be from his photo. He looked more like an athlete than a journalist. He seemed like the type of person who always had a ready smile. He flashed it now but his eyes held curiosity as they dropped to her press pass.

“I’m local. I work with the mayor’s office here in Teaberry,” she explained.

It seemed like enough to put him at ease.

“I understand you had some excitement yesterday?” she asked.

“Yeah, that. I was just the backup guy. Rudy had it under control.” Dion nodded to someone who walked by and flashed his smile.

“You didn’t see anyone around when you first got to the pool?” Megan asked.

He made a noise indicating no. “Just Rudy. He was yelling for attention though. I didn’t really look at anything else. Rudy was in the pool by the time I reached it.” The curiosity was back in his eyes.

“Rudy Corbett was there first, then you?” Megan asked. When he nodded, she continued. “Dee Kaptur and Paolo Russo were the next ones to arrive?”

“Yeah. Then there were a lot of people after that. I know they got Lacey Corbett there really fast. She’s a doctor.” Dion shook his head. “That ever happens to me, I hope there’s all kinds of doctors and nurses around.”

“You’re saying Gil was lucky?” Megan asked.

“Oh, yeah. I don’t know about Rudy, but I wouldn’t have known what to do.”

“I guess I wouldn’t have either,” Megan said.

“I’ll stick to media.”

“Do you know Gil well?” she asked.

“We run into each other. I know him by reputation. He’s got a really good one for being on top of his game. These days, if you want to be recognized, you have to stay current.”

“You usually work with someone else, don’t you?” Megan asked. “What’s her name?”

She thought Dion looked uncomfortable at the turn of conversation.

“Jodie Stratton? We don’t really work together. We just end up at the same events all the time because we cover the same types of stories,” he clarified.

“You seem pretty close.” She’d seen them together more than once during the week.

Dion shrugged. “We’re friends. Listen, I have to go.”

As she watched him walk away, Megan wondered why talking about Jodie made him nervous. She continued walking to the media tent to look for Jodie. There weren’t a lot of people around. She looked over at the table where Lauren put her baked goods. The baked goods looked pretty well picked over. She didn’t recognize anyone in the tent. On a hunch, she searched for a photo of Jodie Stratton and checked the tent again. She wasn’t there.

Given the time of morning, she knew the players would be teeing off. That was where she went next. She was familiar with the routine now. She’d seen it several times during the week. After scanning the crowd, she spotted Jodie on the other side interviewing some of the players waiting to tee off. She waited until Jodie walked away from them and approached her.

“Jodie Stratton?” Megan introduced herself.

Jodie politely paused by Megan.

“I understand there was quite a bit of excitement here last night. I’ve been speaking to some of the people involved.” At Jodie’s curious look, Megan explained her role with the mayor’s office.

“You have a beautiful town here,” Jodie said.

“Thanks. There’s been a lot of excitement here lately,” Megan repeated. “And not just with the competition between the players.”

“That’s for sure. I still can’t believe I was talking to Gil one minute and the next he was floating in a pool.” She shook her head. “He could have died.”

“You were talking to him?”

“Just before all of that happened. We ran into each other in front of my bungalow. He went one direction and I decided to go back in and get a jacket before I went to dinner. By the time I came back out, I could see people running toward the pool and there was a lot of shouting.”

“You didn’t see anyone else?” Megan asked.

“No. The police asked that too. I mean, I saw Dion, but he turned and went back the other way.”

“Why do you suppose he did that?”

Jodie looked guilty. “Because I’m an idiot.”

Megan didn’t answer but felt her brows go up.

Jodie sighed. “I’ve been trying to prompt Dion to look at our relationship differently. I’ve just been going about it the wrong way, obviously.”

“What have you tried?”

“I tried flirting with Wes, the golf instructor. That failed miserably on both accounts. Not only was Wes not interested, Dion didn’t do anything about it.”

“And Gil?” Megan guessed.

“I think Dion was coming to see me about dinner and saw me with Gil.” She gave Megan a wry smile. “I blew it.”

“It doesn’t have to stay that way,” Megan said. “You could just tell him the truth.”

“Well, that’s something that should have occurred to me first,” Jodie said with a grimace.

Chapter Twenty

The sound of the bells on the front door of Anderson Florist made her smile. She passed through the door from the back to the front of the shop to meet him.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Caitlyn said. “It’s not every day I get surprised with a barbeque breakfast.”

“Like I said on the phone, it was Jim’s idea.” Doug leaned in for a kiss before following her back to her work area.

“Tell him I said thank you.” She reached for one of the bags and lifted out a pulled pork sandwich.

“That’s funny. That’s what my partner said to tell you.” Doug laid some napkins on her work island and spread out French fries on an open sandwich wrapper.

“Me? Why is he thanking me?” She reached for some fries.

“For including us on that flyer you made. Half the town must have been passing them out. We’ve been unbelievably packed all week.”

“I think something else came out of that also,” she said. “I’ve been asked to be the president of the town business council.”

“You have?” He dropped his sandwich and pulled her in for a hug. “That is awesome.”

“You think so?” She leaned back in his arms and looked up at him.

“Definitely. We’ll have to celebrate for real tonight. I’ll bring a nice bottle of wine home with me.” He studied her face. “You don’t think so?”

“Yeah. Celebrating sounds good.”

“You aren’t sure about being the president of the business council?” he guessed.

“I’m just not sure I have what it takes.”

“Obviously, no one else agrees with that. I know I don’t.” He turned her loose. “I think you have a lot to offer and I think they realized that.”

She reached for more fries but didn’t answer him.

“What does it take to become the president of the business council?” he asked.

“You have to be nominated and the group votes,” she said.

“My point exactly. They deliberated about it and came to the conclusion that you would fit the needs of the council,” he argued.

“Maybe.”

“No maybes about it. I know Jim would agree.” He motioned vaguely around them. “Ask any one of your business neighbors. One or more of them probably nominated you.”

“Maybe,” she said again, but this time she smiled.

“I think it’s awesome,” Doug said again. “You have a lot to offer them and they know it.”

***

Megan decided to see if Lacey was correct about Gil being released from the hospital. After speaking with several people, she finally learned which bungalow Gil was staying in. Her knock on the door was answered by a woman. Megan introduced herself.

“You’re Dee Kaptur, aren’t you?” Megan asked.

“I’m just here checking on him,” Dee said with a backward glance.

Gil was sitting up in a chair.

“She’s been amazing,” he said.

“Mind if I ask you both some questions about what happened?” Megan mentioned her connection with the mayor’s office.

Dee stepped back from the door to let Megan enter.

“I know you’ve already spoken to the police. Can you tell me what happened?” Megan asked Gil.

“Not really. I was taking a walk before dinner. I went over to check out the pool, thinking I might take a swim later. Something hit me on the back of my head. There was a lot of pain. That’s all I remember until I came to and saw Dee and the others standing around me.”

“You’re sure someone hit you?” Megan asked.

“I didn’t do this on my own.” He raised his hand to motion to the back of his head but didn’t touch the bandage that was there.

“There wasn’t anyone around the pool?” Megan figured there weren’t any witnesses or someone would have said something about it already.

“No. The tournament had ended for the day and it was dinner time. A lot of people were at the tent they set up with drinks at the end of each day over by the eighteenth green.”

Megan turned to Dee. “You were on your way to dinner?”

“Yes. I was walking with Paolo Russo.”

Megan remembered that Paolo and Dee used to be married.

“Your husband was somewhere else?” Megan asked.

“I don’t know where Iva was. I hadn’t seen him for a little while before that. At the time, I thought he was already at dinner. In all of the confusion, I forgot to ask him about it.”

“And Paolo’s wife? Angela?”

“Lucky for Gil, Paolo was running late for dinner. Paolo sent Angela on ahead of him with some others. I ran into him on my way to look for Iva.”

“I was lucky all the way around,” Gil said. “If Rudy, Dion, Dee, and Paolo hadn’t been in the right place at the right time, I wouldn’t be here.”

***

Megan knew from Dee Kaptur that her husband was waiting for her at the restaurant. She found Iva sitting alone at a table outside in the rear.

“Mind if I have a seat?” Megan asked.

“My wife will be here shortly,” Iva said as he glanced at her press pass.

“I just spoke with her,” Megan said before introducing herself. “Dee was with Gil when I left her, checking on his wound. She said she’d be here as soon as she was done.”

Iva nodded his understanding but didn’t say anything.

“Gil said he was lucky to be alive,” Megan said.

“I still can’t believe it happened.” Iva shook his head and pulled out his phone. He texted something quickly before setting it down. “I should just walk over there and get her.”

“You’re worried about her being alone?”

“I just texted her.” He picked his phone up when it buzzed. Whatever her response was, it made him smile. “She told me to stop worrying.”

“She mentioned that she wasn’t sure where you were at dinnertime yesterday,” Megan said. “She ran into Paolo on her way here to look for you.”

Megan saw him frown before he turned to look out at the golf course. The patio behind the restaurant had a beautiful view. They could see one of the small crowds in the distance, no doubt surrounding some of the players.

“I also understand that Dee and Paolo used to be married,” Megan added. “That can sometimes make things awkward. Especially when you’re always running into each other at events like this.”

Iva turned to study her. “That’s very perceptive of you.”

He absently wiped the condensation from the water glass in front of him. “I said some stupid things to her. I wanted to do something to apologize.”

“Did she accept?” Megan asked.

“She hasn’t gotten them yet,” Iva said. “I saw a florist shop in town when we were shopping the other day. I ran in and ordered some flowers.”

“That’s where you were yesterday?” Megan asked.

He nodded and picked up his phone again. “I think I’m going to get meet her. I’d feel better if I knew where she was.” He glanced back at the golf course. “We’re having a late breakfast together before it’s our turn.”

***

Megan had to wait until the afternoon to speak with Rudy Corbett. He and his wife, Lacey, had played what would be their final game in the tournament. She tracked him down at the restaurant. He was sitting in the front of the restaurant, out in the waiting area. She expected to find him in low spirits after learning that they would not be advancing. Instead, he looked elated.

“Megan? Are you the same Megan that spoke with my wife earlier?” Rudy asked.

“I did speak with Lacey, yes.” Megan took the seat next to him.

“I’d hug you but I don’t want to make you get up again to do it,” Rudy said with a grin.

“You look pretty happy for a guy who just lost,” Megan said.

“Are you kidding me? I’m going to be a dad. I guess I should have known something was up. I just didn’t make the connection.” He laughed. “I’m an idiot.”

“Why do you say that?”

“She hasn’t been feeling well. I thought she was faking it at first. None of her symptoms seemed to match up with anything.” He waved around the restaurant. “The first night we were here, she left in the middle of dinner to get her jacket. I actually followed her out of the restaurant to make sure that’s where she was going.”

Megan didn’t try to hide her surprise.

“I know, stupid, right? I ended up walking into an argument.”

“An argument?” Megan asked.

“Yeah. Shaun and Gil were going at it about something.”

“Shaun Brothers? Could you tell what it was about?” Megan asked.

“No. I was just glad I didn’t find Shaun talking to Lacey. They used to date before we got married. Shaun is a pharmaceutical rep. He and Lacey met where she worked at the time. I saw Shaun leave the restaurant right after Lacey did. That’s why I followed her out.” He looked sheepish.

“I wouldn’t mention that to her now. Being pregnant messes with your hormones,” Megan said.

“Good advice. I believe I’ll take it.”

“Isn’t Shaun married to someone?” Megan saw a waiter coming toward them carrying bags of food.

“Celine, yeah. From where I was sitting, it looked like she was pretty upset about something when Shaun left their table.” He stood when the waiter stopped in front of them. “I need to get this back to Lacey.”

***

Jerry disconnected the call and spun around in his chair. “Caitlyn confirmed it. A man named Iva Kaptur did stop in around the time that Gil Ressler was attacked to order flowers for his wife.”

“This just keeps getting more and more like a soap opera,” Erica said. “At least it explains where he was. When we questioned everyone at the time of the incident, no one could account for him and he wasn’t there so he didn’t get questioned.”

“We still don’t know why Gill Ressler was attacked,” Jerry pointed out.

Erica finished writing the note about Iva Kaptur on the timeline they’d created. It listed where everyone they’d questioned was around the time of the attack.

“Thanks to Megan, we also know that Jodie Stratton was trying to make Dion Pritchard jealous by flirting with other men and that Gil was one of them,” Erica said as she studied the timeline.

“Dion was one of the people that helped to save Gil,” Jerry said as he stood up from his chair. He walked over to look at the timeline. “That means he was close enough to have done it.”

“Could be. He could have hit Gil and walked away,” Erica agreed.

“When he heard the shouting, he had to turn around. Would have looked bad if he didn’t.” Jerry rubbed his chin as he considered it. “Sounds possible.”

“It does. We need to go back and look at where Dion was on Friday night when Jay Kerns was killed.”

Chapter Twenty-One

She realized as she walked toward her car later in the afternoon that she was moving a lot slower than she had in the morning. She’d walked around the golf course grounds quite a lot trying to find people to speak with about Gil’s attack. She was definitely feeling it now.

“Need help?”

Megan turned toward the voice. She recognized Avery Chapman, one of the other members of the media. She’d run into him several times during the course of the week.

“Just taking it a little slow.” Megan smiled her thanks. “How was your day?”

“Only one day left,” Avery said. “I’m going to miss this place. When I leave here, I have to go back to work for real. No more on-site restaurant, no more housecleaning. Worst of all, no more tent with drinks on the eighteenth green. It’s sad.”

Megan laughed. “I see your point.”

“Have a good one.” Avery waved and kept walking.

Megan stayed where she was and watched him walk away. A few minutes later, a group of young men walked toward her. She knew they had all just come from the high school and had been waiting for them. Two of them split off from the rest of the group and headed straight for her.

“Got a minute?” she asked Cole as he got close enough to her.

Another kid around the same age stopped with Cole. Cole motioned toward him.

“This is Tucker. Tucker, this is Megan Parker. I work for her husband. Sometimes she helps the police.”

Megan watched as the two of them shared some sort of look. She wondered what it meant.

“I haven’t seen you all week. Have you been avoiding me?” She was only half joking.

“No. Just busy,” Cole said.

“I was wondering if you’ve heard anything that might help with either of the puzzles,” Megan said. She watched Cole and Tucker share a look again. “I understand that you saw Wes in an argument with Jay just before he was killed.”

“He didn’t do it,” Cole said quickly. Tucker nodded his agreement.

Megan raised her hand. “Let me finish. You only saw the first part of their conversation. Another witness said that you walked away and didn’t see the men work it out. Is that why you were so worried that Wes would be arrested?”

“They worked it out?” Cole asked. He sounded hopeful.

Megan nodded.

Tucker shoved Cole’s arm. “We should have said something earlier.”

“Yeah.” Cole gave Megan an apologetic look. “Sorry. I didn’t want Wes to get into trouble.”

“Now that we’ve figured that out, maybe you can tell me if you’ve heard anything this week that would help,” Megan suggested.

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” Tucker said. “I swear, being a caddie is like being invisible.”

“People said things in front of you that you weren’t expecting to hear?” Megan asked. Dena had said the same thing.

“Yeah. There was this one couple that was really going at it. The husband was all mad because the wife wanted to have dinner with someone that she used to be married to,” Tucker said.

“The Kapturs?” Megan asked.

“Yeah. How did you know?” Tucker asked.

“I told you she helps the police,” Cole said.

“How about you? Anything?” Megan asked Cole.

“Maybe. You know that guy that was pushed into the pool?”

“Gil Ressler?”

Cole nodded. “I heard a couple arguing about him. The wife kept bringing up Gil’s name. The husband got all mad about it.”

“Do you remember their names?”

“Brothers. Celine and Shaun Brothers.”

***

The shower felt good. Afterward, Jodie stood in front of the closet and wished that she’d brought more clothes with her. It wasn’t something that she’d spent a lot of time worrying about before. As long as she had enough work clothes with her, she was good. Tonight she’d rather have something a little more girly, a little less office. She should have bought that sundress she saw at the little shop in town. Frowning, she reached in and pulled out a shirt. At least it had some color to it. She paired it with some slacks and quickly dressed.

Just as she finished, she heard a knock on her door. She peered through the security viewer first. It occurred to her that it was the first time she’d done that since she’d been at the golf course. Maybe she should have been doing it all along. She opened the door to Dion.

“Hey, what’s up?” She moved back into her room to put her shoes on.

“Are you ready for dinner?” Dion closed the door behind him and stood waiting.

“Yeah, just about. I should check my hair. It probably got half wet in the shower. You can go on ahead. I might be a few more minutes.” She finished putting her shoes on and stood then realized that he hadn’t answered yet.

“I’ll wait,” Dion said.

She shrugged and went into the bathroom. She was right. Her hair was a mess.

“I can’t believe there’s only one more day,” she called to him.

“It’s nice here but I’ll feel better when we’re out of here.” His voice was closer than she expected.

She finished combing through her hair then pulled it up in a messy bun. When she stepped out of the bathroom, he was checking the windows of the bungalow.

“What are you doing?” Jodie asked.

“Checking to make sure they’re locked.” He moved from one window and checked the next one. When he was done, he turned to her. His eyes started at her hair and worked their way down.

“What?” She raised her hands to her hair. Maybe her messy bun was too messy.

“Looks nice. Are you ready?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah. Just let me grab a sweater.”

She followed him out of the bungalow. He checked the door when it closed to make sure it was locked.

“What are you doing?” she asked again.

“Making sure no one can get in while we’re gone. I’ll walk you back here after dinner and check the whole place inside and out.”

She laughed. “You don’t need to do that.”

“Yes, I do. Jay was killed and Gil was almost next. I’m serious about this. Until we leave this place, consider me your shadow,” Dion said.

Jodie was about to argue with him, then wondered what she was doing. She’d been trying for years to get his attention.

“Okay.” She walked beside him toward the restaurant.

As they walked, she looked around at all of the people that were out. Many, like them, were headed for the restaurant. Some were walking the other way, including Van and the day shift restaurant manager, Pat. Jodie could tell from a distance that Pat was trying to dissuade Van from something. It wasn’t until they drew closer that she understood what.

“You really don’t have to walk me to and from my car all the time,” Pat said.

“Jay was killed and Gil was almost next,” Van said.

Jodie saw Pat nod and noticed that she didn’t argue. If anything, she looked relieved. Jodie flashed her a smile as they passed each other on the sidewalk. That was when Jodie realized that no one within her view was walking alone. As they neared the restaurant, she saw a police officer standing near the entrance.

***

Megan stepped off the sidewalk to the parking lot and headed for her car. The police cruisers were still parked in the lot. She saw Maya standing on the other side of the lot staring at her phone. Maya looked up when Megan approached.

“Are you okay?” Megan asked.

“My dad said he’s going to be really late picking me up. I was supposed to meet someone at the library,” Maya said.

“I can drop you off,” Megan said. “Can you text your dad and ask if that’s okay? Tell him I’m Megan Parker. My husband owns the feed store in town.” She held up her press pass.

“I know you. I’ve seen you around,” Maya said as her fingers flew across her phone. It buzzed a few moments later.

“He said yes. I really appreciate this.”

“I hope you don’t mind old trucks,” Megan said as she motioned toward hers. “I’m going to need to get something different when the baby is born, but I just haven’t gotten to it.”

“I like trucks.” Maya climbed in and buckled her seatbelt. “Cole said that you help the police sometimes.”

“Sometimes. They don’t really need my help, of course.”

“Have you been trying to find out who killed Jay?” Maya asked.

“Yes.” Megan glanced at her. “I did hear from someone that you were arguing with him. I also heard that he said some pretty stupid things to you.”

“He did. He apologized for them though.”

“Did you know him well?” Megan asked.

“Not really. I knew about him but I’ve never spent any time with him.”

“Can I ask what you argued with him about?” Megan slowed for a stop sign.

“I didn’t really argue with him. He apologized. I told him not to do it again. I just didn’t think he had the right to do that, you know?”

“I agree with that. He shouldn’t have said those things to you. You earned your place at the invitational, Maya. I think it’s impressive that you stood up to him like that.”

“I just don’t want to end up like him,” Maya said.

“It has to be pretty upsetting to know someone who died like that, especially when he wasn’t that old. But you shouldn’t let it get to you.”

“No. I mean, it is kind of scary that someone was killed. I hope the police find whoever did it soon.”

“But?” Megan asked.

“I don’t want to end up like him.” Maya looked at her. “He was a phenom too. Just like me, only not female.”

“He was?” Megan wondered how she’d missed that.

“Yeah, all those guys were. I don’t want to end up like they did.”

“What guys?”

“Wes, my dad, Jay.”

“Seriously?”

Maya looked at her. “Yeah. They all played against each other back when they were my age. Some of the other guys were too. That sports writer guy that just got hurt.”

Gil?”

“Yeah, and the other guy, Avery. He’s another one of the sports writers.”

“And you don’t want to end up like them? Why?”

“Well, my dad has a decent job. Not great, but decent. He just absolutely doesn’t want anything to do with golf now. He won’t even watch me play. Gil made a name for himself. He’s pretty well known in his field. But the rest of them? Not so much.”

“I didn’t know that they were all phenoms like you.” Megan turned down the street that the library was on.

“Wes is a really nice guy. I like him a lot, but he’s a golf instructor at a local golf course. Jay Kerns mostly got jobs because of what he used to be when he was a kid. He made a few connections with important people back then and he kept using them. The other guy, Avery, he just publishes stories in newspapers sometimes.”

Megan remembered Avery telling her that he was enjoying his time with food, drinks, and a cleaning staff. It was more like a vacation than a job.

“I want to do better than that. I love playing golf, but I don’t want it to be the only option in life.” Maya turned to look at Megan. “I want to have choices.”

“That sounds wise.” Megan stopped in front of the library.

Maya took a deep breath. “The problem is, I don’t do well in all of my classes.”

Megan looked at the library. “Looks like you’re trying to do something about that.”

“Someone from school offered to help me get caught up.” Maya unbuckled her seatbelt. “She’s tutoring me.”

“Is it working?”

Maya laughed. “Bella said we aren’t allowed to fail.”

“You couldn’t have a better tutor,” Megan said as Maya got out of the truck. “Is your dad going to pick you up?”

“Yes. Thanks for the ride.”

Megan watched until Maya disappeared inside the library before texting Erica.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Megan reached the kitchen just as Dan came in from the barn.

“Looks like another day of perfect weather for the final day of the golf tournament,” he said as he washed his hands.

“I won’t complain about that.” She filled the tea kettle and turned the burner on.

“Do you have a lot of people to track down today?” He poured another half a cup of coffee into his mug and sat down as she took some eggs from the fridge.

“There are definitely a few, at the very least. It kept getting easier to find them as the week went on and the couples were eliminated.” She cracked some eggs into a frying pan and moved over to the bread box on the counter.

“I’ll bet.”

“A lot of them did seem to go into town to do some shopping though. That’s a good thing but it did make it harder to find them.”

“They have an awards dinner tonight, right?” he asked.

“Yes. That’s the end of it. The remaining couples compete today. The winners get their trophy awarded to them tonight at dinner.” She cut two thick slices of bread and two thin slices.

“Are you any closer to solving your puzzle?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. I think I know what to ask and who to ask now.” She flipped the eggs in the pan and waited a few moments before transferring them to the bread slices.

“That’s something. As long as you’re careful.”

She carried the plates over to the table and set the egg sandwich with thick cut bread in front of him. Her sandwich was half as high.

“There are still a lot of people everywhere during the day. They have some police officers there too.” She returned to the stove to turn off the kettle and make her tea.

“You aren’t planning to stay there all day, are you?”

“No. I’ll go in a little later because the people I want to speak to aren’t playing today. I’m also craving that spicy tortellini soup. I’m thinking of that for dinner tonight.” She sat down with her tea mug.

“Sounds good. Just promise me you’ll take it easy.”

***

Phoebe stretched her back after standing. “I needed this break.”

“You and me both,” Van said. “We’d better get moving before we’re back on.”

“Gil has been doing pretty well with filling in,” Phoebe said as they walked.

“He seems to have a future with it, even with a bump on his head,” Van agreed. He nodded to Megan as they reached her.

“Do you have a minute?” Megan asked Phoebe.

Phoebe nodded to Van to go on without her.

“Van told me you’d probably want to talk with me.” Phoebe began walking again.

Megan introduced herself as she turned to walk with her.

“I was wondering what you could tell me about the night Jay Kerns was murdered. I know you already spoke to the police.”

“I did,” Phoebe agreed. “I’m not sure what else I can add.”

“Did you see who Jay spoke with that night?”

“He’d had a lot to drink and the place was packed. He offered to buy me a drink,” Phoebe said.

“What else did he say?” Megan stopped walking.

Phoebe paused with a sigh. “He made some comment about Wes not wanting to talk to me.”

“Wes Lowry, the golf instructor?”

“Yes.” Phoebe crossed her arms. “We used to date a very long time ago.”

“You tried talking to Wes that night?”

“Yeah. He got up and walked away. I ended up sitting with Van.”

“When did you leave?”

“When Van did,” Phoebe said.

Megan thought back to what Van had told her. “He left when Pat did?”

Phoebe smiled briefly. “Yeah.”

“What about Gil?”

“What about him?”

“Did you see him that night? Do you remember where he was, who he spoke with?” Megan asked.

Phoebe pulled her brows together. “The police didn’t ask that.”

“They questioned you about Van, but that was before Gil was attacked.

Phoebe nodded slowly. “I know he was there, but I can’t say that I remember seeing him at any specific time. I did hear someone else talking about him.”

“Who?”

Phoebe made a face. “It was two of the players. I don’t feel right repeating it.”

“It might matter.” Megan assumed whatever they said probably wasn’t nice.

Phoebe still looked hesitant. “It was Celine and Shaun Brothers. They were arguing about him.”

“Did you hear what the argument was about?”

“Celine said she should offer to buy Gil and drink and talk to him about their game. It didn’t sound bad, but Shaun got pretty upset about it.”

***

It didn’t take long to track down Shaun Brothers. Megan found him sitting alone behind the restaurant. He was staring out at the golf course and nursing a cup of coffee. She stopped by his table to introduce herself and motioned to a seat.

“Mind if I ask some questions?” she asked.

He gave her a wry smile. “Want to know what it feels like to lose the tournament?”

“You seemed to struggle with this tournament more than others,” Megan said.

Shaun didn’t offer any excuses for why that might be.

“Have you heard any more about Jay Kerns’s death?” Megan asked.

Shaun looked surprised. “Should I?”

“Just wondering. I know you were at the restaurant the night he died.”

Shaun played with his coffee cup. “Most of us were.”

“You went outside for a bit though, didn’t you?”

He looked up at her. “Yeah, so?”

“I’ve been trying to figure out if there is any tie between Jay’s death and the attack on Gil Ressler. I understand you spoke with Gil that night?”

Shaun dropped his eyes back to his coffee cup. “Yeah. I ran into him out front.”

“What did you talk about?”

“Not much. I asked him if he’d interview us.”

“Why is that?”

“His rep. He’s very well known in the business and he’s online. He has a much wider audience than most sports writers. He does podcasts and a lot of television segments besides.”

“You didn’t argue with him?” she asked.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “No, why should I?”

Megan watched him stand. “Just curious.”

“I have to go.”

She remained sitting as she watched him quickly walk away. She wanted to speak to Celine Brothers next but wasn’t sure where to track the woman down. A passing waiter asked her if she wanted anything. She declined the offer and was about to stand when she saw a woman walk up to the outdoor seating area from the opposite side of where Shaun Brothers had left. Megan waved her hand at Celine Brothers. The woman frowned but walked over to Megan.

“If you’re looking for your husband, he just left,” Megan said.

“Do you know where he went?”

“No, but he mentioned that you were interested in being interviewed before he left.” Megan lifted her press pass. “I have a few questions.”

Celine looked toward the exit but took a seat at the table.

“Your husband said that you were particularly interested in being interviewed by Gil Ressler. Can you tell me why?”

Celine glanced at the exit again. “I shouldn’t have to. Everyone knows his interviews get read. If you want your name to get out there, he’s the guy to talk to.”

“Yet, your husband didn’t seem as eager to have you spend time with Gil.”

Celine quickly turned to face Megan. “What?”

Megan thought about Jodie’s confession of using Wes to make Dion jealous.

“Sometimes trying to make someone jealous backfires.”

Celine’s shoulders slumped. “Sometimes.”

“You were using Gil to make Shaun jealous?”

Celine folded her hands on the table. “I was mad.”

“Because of Lacey?”

Celine’s eyes flew to Megan’s. “You know about that?”

“Shaun and Lacey used to date. You were worried about that, so you used Gil to get back at him,” Megan guessed.

“Not that Gil was interested. I never even spoke to him actually.” Celine looked at the exit again.

“If you hurry, you might be able to catch up with him.”

***

“Look at that. All five of them were phenoms back in the day,” Erica said over Jerry’s shoulder.

“We should have caught that,” he muttered.

“It was nearly three decades ago,” Erica said. “But you’re right, we should have.”

“There aren’t as many articles about them back then as there would be now,” Jerry said.

“Yeah. It was before social media.” Erica stepped away from Jerry’s desk.

“The Internet was around, but the World Wide Web was just getting started back then.”

“Still,” she said.

“We should have caught it,” he agreed.

“What does it tell us now?” Erica leaned against her desk.

“There could still be competition among them,” Jerry said.

Erica nodded and moved over to the timeline they had created.

“We’re looking at Sebastien Lin, Wes Lowry, Jay Kerns, Avery Chapman, and Gil Ressler,” she muttered to herself.

“Two of the five have been victims.” Jerry crossed the room to stand next to her. “One refuses to have anything to do with golf.”

“That leaves two of the five,” Erica said. “That we know of. Maybe there were others from that same era that we should be looking at.”

Jerry was already moving back to his computer. “I’ll check.”

***

Megan ran into Avery as she was leaving the restaurant.

“You look like you’re on vacation,” Megan said with a smile.

“It’s pretty much all over but the awards dinner,” Avery agreed. “They’re down to the final players.”

“I guess it is just a matter of waiting for the sports writers to post the scores,” Megan said. “Unless you’re juggling double duty like Gil Ressler. I hear he’s been pretty impressive covering for the announcers. He seems to have a knack for both writing and television.”

“He seems to enjoy that,” Gil said with a nod as he continued into the restaurant.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Megan slowed her steps shortly after leaving the restaurant and watched as several police cars pulled into the parking lot. She continued walking toward the bungalows because it seemed as though others were doing the same thing.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she passed others moving more slowly in the same direction.

No one answered her. She continued walking until she reached a barricade of police officers. She could see Dena with an officer she didn’t recognize. It was obvious even from a distance that Dena was upset about something. It was impossible to hear what was being said. Megan waited as others continued joining them. The crowd around the bungalows grew.

Most of the activity appeared to be centered around the farthest bungalow. Megan tried to remember whose it was but she hadn’t been in that one. The door was open and technicians were moving in and out. Her first thought was that someone else had been hurt. Then she realized that there wasn’t an ambulance.

She turned to scan the parking lot near the bungalows. More police cars pulled in. This time, she recognized the officers that got out. She could tell from Erica’s face that something serious had happened. Erica and Jerry went directly to the bungalow at the end of the row and began speaking to Dena. Dena’s gestures became more dramatic as she continued to answer them.

Other officers approached the crowd of people around the bungalows and began directing them to move back. Megan complied with the others and continued waiting to learn what had happened. A shout from the parking lot caused her to turn again. In the distance, she could see Wes Lowry being led away by two police officers. He was wearing handcuffs. After helping him into the cruiser, the car pulled away.

“Have you heard anything?”

Megan turned toward the voice. It was Gil. Megan shook her head.

“I was near him when the police came to get him. They said something was found in his room,” Gil said.

“You didn’t hear what?” Megan saw Erica scan the crowd.

“No.”

Erica said something else to Dena. Dena nodded and remained where she was. Erica walked back toward her cruiser in the parking lot. Megan quickly moved to catch up with her.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she reached Erica.

“Dena found a towel under Wes Lowry’s mattress when she was cleaning.” Erica looked past Megan. Jerry was walking toward them.

“A towel?”

“It had blood on it,” Erica said. “Try to keep a lid on that until we learn more.”

Megan nodded.

“Ready.” Jerry said as he walked around the cruiser to the passenger side.

“We’re going to go talk to Wes. Let us know if you hear anything.” Erica opened the driver’s side door. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

***

Rhys noticed that Ava was quieter than usual but at least she finished her lunch.

“Something on your mind?” he asked as he cleared away their lunch debris from the desk in her office.

“I’ve been thinking more about what you said.” She watched him toss some things in the trash.

“I say all kinds of things,” he said with a grin and he leaned against the doorway of her office.

She smiled as she leaned back in her chair. “About college.”

“Ah. You’ve come to a decision?”

“I don’t want to do anything right away,” she said. “The spring semester is almost over.”

“Yeah. I can’t wait for summer.” He grinned.

She smiled again at his enthusiasm.

“We’re getting married this summer,” she said.

“That we are,” he agreed.

“That seems like enough to juggle for the summer with our jobs.”

“You’ll be moving into the house,” he added.

“That’s definitely going to be enough to juggle with our jobs,” Ava said.

“You don’t have that much to move,” Rhys said. “Do you?”

“No, but it’s still going to be an adjustment,” Ava warned him. “Bella seems okay with it now, but things might get stressful when it’s actually happening.”

He thought about it. “A lot of changes.”

“Right.”

“How do you think she’d feel about a dog?” he asked. He watched her eyebrows go up. “It’s just an idea.”

She nodded slowly. “I’ll let the two of you figure that one out.”

“Okay. Back to college. What have you been thinking?” he asked.

“Maybe this fall?” She sounded uncertain.

“You’re thinking of taking some classes?”

“Maybe. Maybe one, anyway. I don’t want to set myself up for failure by taking on too much at once,” she said.

“Sounds like something Ross McMann would say.” Rhys straightened from the doorway.

“It’s exactly what he has said. It sounds like good advice.”

“It does indeed.” He crossed over and leaned down for a kiss. “I need to get going. Sounds like there’s a lot of activity down at the station. I want to see what’s going on.”

***

Julia waited in the hallway near Cole’s classroom. She saw him approaching with his friends, Brent and Emilio. They nodded to her when they reached the classroom but continued on in. Cole stopped.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“I just wanted to make sure that we’re still on for tonight,” she said.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t we be?” He stepped away from the classroom as someone else slid past them.

“I don’t know. It sounds like there’s something going on out there,” Julia said. “I heard something at lunch.”

“Heard what?”

Julia knew the bell was going to ring soon and she needed to get to her class.

“I don’t know. I just know that a lot of police were out there. Someone sitting across from me knows someone whose mom works out there.”

“You didn’t hear what it was about?” he asked.

“No. I have to go. I’ll talk to you after school. I just wanted to make sure we’re still going to the ceremony tonight,” she said as she began walking away.

“Yeah. Unless it gets cancelled, plan on it,” he said before slipping into his classroom.

Bella followed Julia down the hallway but stopped when she heard her name being called. Mr. Jefferson stepped out of his room. She turned around to see him.

“Bella, I just wanted to thank you,” Gavin said.

Bella glanced at the clock hanging in the hallway.

“I won’t keep you. I got Maya’s homework and it looks a lot better. She’s all caught up. I figured you had something to do with it.”

Maya began walking backwards. “She did all the work. I just offered some guidance.”

“I know that. She missed some of them. If you’d done the work for her, they would all be correct.” He waved. “Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks.”

She smiled when she turned around and kept walking. The bell was going to ring for the next class soon.

***

Megan was on her way to her truck when she saw a car waiting to pick someone up. She recognized the driver. It was Maya’s father. She changed course and walked over to his car. The windows were already down.

“Waiting for Maya?” she asked.

“She said you dropped her off at the library. Thanks.”

“The closing ceremony is tonight. Are you planning to be there?” Megan asked.

Sebastien shrugged. “Maya is old enough to go on her own. Besides, her partner will be there.”

“I doubt it. I just watched the police take him in for questioning,” Megan said. “Maya mentioned that you don’t like to be involved with her golf activities.”

“Why are the police questioning Wes?” Sebastien asked.

“It has to do with the murder that happened here recently. There has also been an attempt on someone else’s life. Maya hasn’t mentioned any of this to you?” Megan found it hard to believe.

Sebastien looked guilty. “I’ve been pretty busy at work.”

“Then you probably don’t know that your daughter has been playing very well this week. You should be proud of her. She has a really good head on her shoulders. She’s going to go places, no matter what career she chooses.”

Sebastien looked away for a moment.

“I don’t know what happened to turn you away from golf. I do know that Maya is good at what she does and that she’s your daughter. She could use your guidance, especially if she stays with golf. You know the politics involved in the golf world better than most.”

“You don’t have to tell me how to raise my daughter,” he turned back to Megan.

“Dad.” Maya approached Megan. “We need to go. I have to change and get back here for the ceremony.”

“Did the police really take Wes away?” Sebastien asked her.

“That’s what I heard.” Maya walked around to the driver’s side and opened the door.

Megan stepped back from the car and leaned down to look at Maya.

“Have a good time tonight. You deserve to celebrate after your showing this week.” Megan glanced at Sebastien as she straightened.

He started to say something, then put the car in drive and pulled away.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Caitlyn pulled into the parking lot of the golf course. She knew from past experience that she was supposed to deliver the arrangements at the pavilion. This wasn’t the first event she had worked for them. She was navigating her way through when she saw Megan in the parking lot. Changing course, she stopped next to Megan’s truck and pushed the button to roll her window down.

“Hey stranger. What’s up?” Caitlyn asked as she looked around the parking lot. “Why are there so many police cars here?”

Megan explained what had happened without giving too many details.

“Are you any closer to solving your puzzle?” Caitlyn asked.

Megan thought of the bloody towel found under Wes Lowry’s mattress. She hadn’t expected that.

“Not really. I’ve turned up a lot of clues, but most of them were for puzzles that had nothing to do with Jay Kerns’s death or the incident with Gil Ressler.”

“I don’t have anything to help, sorry. I already told Jerry that Iva Kaptur stopped to order flowers when he said he did,” Caitlyn said.

“Yeah. He got into trouble with his wife,” Megan said more to herself.

“Flowers will go a long way to getting him out of that,” Caitlyn said. “I don’t envy you for having to be out here all week.”

“It wasn’t bad but some parts of it was like being in a soap opera.”

“Yeah, I’m not surprised. Mr. Kaptur said something like that too.” Caitlyn checked her rear-view mirror to make sure she wasn’t blocking anyone.

“What do you mean? What did Iva say?”

Caitlyn turned back to her and made a face as she tried to remember.

“It was something about the old phenoms. He didn’t say who they were. He just said that he was surprised to see so many of them together now.”

“Did he say why?” Megan asked.

“He said they hated each other.” Caitlyn saw a car behind her. “I have to go. Be safe.”

Megan climbed into her truck and started the engine. Before she backed out, she texted Erica. The drive to Dena’s didn’t take long. She parked in the front of her house and rang the bell. She could hear kids playing in the neighborhood. School was over for the week.

“Megan.” Dena looked around as though expecting to see the police behind her. “Come on in.”

“Erica told me about the bloody towel,” Megan explained as she followed Dena through the house.

“That’s a relief. She told me I wasn’t allowed to talk about it yet. Do you have any idea how hard that is?” Dena opened the sliding glass door in the kitchen and stepped out onto her deck.

“I do. I’ve been having the same problem. But since we both know, it’s okay if we talk about it together,” Megan reasoned. “What happened?”

Dena glanced at her kids. They were playing catch in the back yard.

“I’ve been shaking ever since it happened,” Dena said. She held her hands out to show Megan. They were visibly shaking.

“You found it under his mattress?” Megan asked.

Dena nodded as she wrapped her arms around herself.

“Do you normally clean under the mattresses?” Megan asked.

Dena started to laugh, then stopped. “No. I was changing the bedding. You know that Wes lives at the golf course, right?”

Megan hadn’t considered it. “He does?”

“I heard from someone else that his housing is part of his salary. He doesn’t really make much, but he gets meals and housing, so it kind of makes up for some of it.”

“And free cleaning services.” Megan thought about what Maya had said. She didn’t want to end up like the old phenoms.

“Yes. I clean the bungalow for him. He stays in the one all the way at the end of the row.”

Megan nodded to prompt her. “You were changing his bedding.”

“Yeah. I do it all the time.”

“Something was different this time?” Megan guessed.

“I could see part of the towel hanging out.”

“Could you see the blood at that point?”

Dena shook her head. “I would never have touched it if I did. We get special training on that. Everything has to be handled differently if there is blood involved.”

“You pulled the towel out because you knew it didn’t belong there?”

“I did. That’s when I knew something was wrong. I called my supervisor right away. They called the police. You know the rest.” Dena rubbed her arms.

Megan moved the puzzle pieces around in her head. They still didn’t fit.

“Earlier in the week, you said something to me. I wondered what you meant, but I didn’t get a chance to ask you again.” Megan watched one of the boys lob the ball high in the air.

“What’s that?”

The other boy had to shift around the yard but managed to catch the ball.

“You said something about all those funny things you hear about people staying in hotels are true,” Megan reminded.

“I’m sure you have similar problems at your bed and breakfast,” Dena said. “In my case, it was the towels.” Dena turned to Megan and her eyes widened.

“What?” Megan asked.

“One of the towels was missing earlier in the week just before I said that to you. I was short on my count.”

“Whose towel was it?”

“I don’t know his name. I just know which bungalow it’s in,” Dena said.

Megan texted the information to Erica as Dena described it. As soon as she left Dena’s house, she called to make sure Erica had gotten the message.

***

Cole looked around the pavilion then turned to Julia.

“There are some empty chairs over at that table. Let’s see if our names are on the cards,” he said in her ear. “Tucker’s headed that way too.”

Julia nodded and led the way across the room. She saw Maya sitting over at a table that also included some of the other players. She wondered why there were two empty seats, one on either side of Maya. She looked lonely.

“I can’t imagine sitting all by myself at an awards ceremony,” Julia said.

Cole turned to follow her gaze. His hand went out to reach for hers. When she felt the slight tug on her hand, Julia stopped and looked at him. He nodded toward Maya. Julia changed course and began walking again.

“Hey, Maya. I was right. That dress looks great on you,” Julia said.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” Maya said.

Julia pointed toward Cole. “He begged me.”

Cole laughed. Julia was happy to see that Maya did also. She pointed over to the table on the other side of the room.

“I know it isn’t with the other golfers, but we’re sitting over there. We can make room for you if you want to move,” Julia said.

Maya didn’t hesitate. She nodded her agreement as she stood and followed them across the room.

“Hey, Tucker,” Maya said as she took a seat next to him.

“You were pretty impressive this week,” Tucker said.

“Thanks. I did okay.”

Tucker laughed. “You did way better than okay. Your score beat nearly two thirds of the other players. You got into the finals.”

“We didn’t win though,” Maya said.

“There’s always next time,” Cole said. He looked across the room. “There’s a bar over there with drinks. You two want something to drink? Soda? Water?”

Julia watched as Cole and Tucker worked their way to the bar to get their drinks then shifted over a couple of sets to be closer to Maya.

“Isn’t your dad coming?”

The smile on Maya’s face drooped a little. She shook her head.

“I know the feeling,” Julia said. “My parents are always busy too. I’m not even sure they know I work at Togs.”

“Seriously? My dad isn’t quite that bad. He just doesn’t want anything to do with golf.”

“Why?”

Maya looked around the room. “He was like me when he was a kid.”

“A phenom?”

Maya nodded. “It just wore on him, you know? It can be tough.”

“Why do you do it?” Julia asked.

Maya gave a half shrug. “I don’t think my grades are going to get me into college. My golf scores might.”

“A scholarship.” Julia nodded knowingly. “Smart girl. You could pick your school.”

“Planning on it,” Maya said with a smile.

Julia saw Cole and Tucker returning to their table so she shifted over again.

“Look who we found,” Cole said.

As Cole and Tucker set the drinks on the table, Maya saw her father behind them.

“Dad?”

Sebastien looked around the table. “Mind if I sit?”

Tucker motioned toward his seat. “I’ll go grab another chair.”

“I thought you weren’t coming,” Maya said to her father.

Sebastien leaned forward. “Sorry about that. After I dropped you off, I went home and changed. I should have been here all week.”

She dropped her eyes. “You were working.”

“I should have been here anyway.” He looked around the table at the others sitting there. “Do they play golf?”

Maya laughed. “No. They’re friends from school.”

“Really?”

“Julia picked out my dress.”

Sebastien smiled. “It looks nice.”

“I even got my homework turned in,” Maya said.

He looked surprised again.

“Another friend is tutoring me,” Maya said.

Sebastien looked around the room.

“That’s one thing I never had. Real friends. The people that I knew around my age were just competition. They never let you forget it either.”

“Dad, that’s not my life,” Maya said.

“Good. That’s good to hear, Maya.” Sebastien sat back as someone climbed the stairs to the stage and lifted the microphone.

***

“Sounds like they’re starting in there,” Jerry said.

“Do we have eyes on everyone?” Erica asked Jerry.

“No. They haven’t located Gil Ressler yet,” Jerry said.

Erica made a noise of frustration.

“We need to find him,” she said, mostly to herself. “What about the target?”

Jerry talked into his radio. The responses they got back were all negative.

“We can’t just stand around and wait for them to show up,” Erica muttered as she pulled out her buzzing phone.

“Did you get him?” Megan asked when Erica answered.

“Not yet, we’re having trouble tracking him down. They’re both missing, in fact. Can you think of anywhere he might have taken him?”

Megan tried to remember everything the man had said to her all week.

“I don’t know. Obviously, you checked their rooms,” she muttered to herself. “You tried the restaurant?” Megan asked in a louder voice.

“Of course.” Erica didn’t try to hide the frustration in her voice.

“The only other place he mentioned to me was the tent on the eighteenth green,” Megan said.

“What? Why do they have a tent there?” Erica was already motioning to Jerry to get people moving.

“Drinks. For the end of the day,” Megan said. She looked down at her phone. Erica had already disconnected.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“This is nice,” Lauren said for the second time.

Caitlyn lifted Lauren’s drink and pretended to smell it.

“It’s only iced tea. It isn’t spiked,” Lauren said. “You just wait until it’s your turn.”

“A couple of hours off with adult friends feels like I’m cheating or something,” Erica said.

“You’re not cheating on your children, you’re re-energizing,” Lauren said.

“Whatever it is, it feels nice,” Erica agreed. “When I get home, I’m telling my husband it’s his turn to re-energize.”

“They must already have something planned,” Caitlyn said. “They set something up to meet here for drinks to celebrate Justin’s promotion.”

“That sounds nice,” Lauren said with a smile. “He deserves a celebration.”

“Just as we’re celebrating your new role as president of the town business council,” Erica raised her glass toward Caitlyn.

“They’ll be drinking adult beverages,” Caitlyn pointed out.

“Coffee with caffeine is an adult beverage to me,” Megan said.

“You’re almost there,” Lauren reminded her. “In the not too distant future, you’ll be able to drink caffeine while you’re wondering where all the diapers came from.”

“How is the addition coming along?” Erica asked.

“It’s getting there. That was one nice thing about being at the golf course all week. They started with plastering,” Megan said.

“That dust is horrible when they sand it,” Lauren said. “It goes everywhere.”

“Does that mean they’ll be painting soon?” Caitlyn asked.

Megan nodded happily. “I can’t wait.”

“It sounds like you helped Erica by being at the golf course all week,” Lauren said.

“Better her than me.” Erica picked at the remaining fruit on her plate. “It sounded like a soap opera out there.”

“It definitely kept me going in different directions,” Megan said. “There were a million different puzzle pieces, but none of them fit into my puzzle.”

“I wouldn’t have wanted to deal with all of that,” Erica said.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Megan said. “It was just life, you know? The tournament was full of couples and they were just all at different parts of their lives.”

“What do you mean?” Erica eyed Megan like she was talking crazy.

“Well, take Susan and Ross. They were having fun. I don’t think either one of them expected to win the tournament. They just both focused on enjoying themselves.” Megan reached for her water glass.

“They both said they had a blast and they were surprised they lasted through the first two days before being eliminated,” Caitlyn said.

“One of the couples found out they’re expecting,” Megan said. “A couple of the women tried flirting with other men there to make their own men jealous.”

“How did that work out for them?” Lauren asked.

“It didn’t,” Megan said. “Cole and his friend were afraid to tell what they knew because they didn’t want to get Wes into trouble.”

“He and I had a talk about that,” Erica said. “I doubt he’ll do it again.”

“He’s a good kid,” Megan said.

Erica nodded. “I agree. That’s why I don’t think he’ll do it again.”

“There was the guy that had to buy flowers in the middle of the tournament to apologize to his wife for something he said,” Caitlyn added.

“The point is, they were all just people working through the everyday dramas that we all have. We just happened to take a snapshot of it during the times in question because of what happened. Then we put it under a microscope, thinking that it might be important. Ultimately, none of it had anything to do with the death of Jay Kerns or the attempts on Gil Ressler,” Megan said.

“It just made us all chase our tails,” Erica agreed.

“Why did Avery Chapman kill Jay Kerns?” Lauren asked.

“He claims it was a mistake,” Erica said. “Not that he felt particularly bad about it. He was really trying to kill Gill Ressler. That night when everyone was at the restaurant, Jay left the bar around nine and went back to his room. For whatever reason, and we will probably never know, he left his room sometime after midnight. The problem was, Gil Ressler was also on the move.”

“After midnight?” Lauren asked.

“He was using the hot tub,” Erica said. “Avery didn’t know about Jay being out and thought he was following Gil. Gil never knew what happened. He finished relaxing in the hot tub and went back to his room.”

“Why did Avery hate Gil enough to kill him?” Lauren asked.

“He actually hated all of the phenoms from that group,” Megan said. “He just hated Gil more because he’d actually made something of himself.”

Erica pushed her plate away. “We may have had a little assist on that also but we were already fanning out and looking for them. Officers already in that area reached the tent on the eighteenth green within a very short time after Megan’s clue.”

“I can’t believe Avery was going to try again,” Lauren said.

Megan thought about what Maya had told her. “Avery wasn’t well known in his field, but Gil used technology to his advantage. He’s at the top of his field but he’s the only one of that group that is.”

“Maya’s dad seems do to fairly well,” Lauren said.

“Hopefully, he’ll be more involved with Maya’s life now,” Megan said.

“Sounds like he’s headed in the right direction,” Lauren said.

“I’m just glad it’s all over with,” Erica said.

“Until next year,” Caitlyn added with a grin. “As the president of the town business council, I’m committed to convincing the tournament to return to Teaberry again.”

Megan’s Recipe

Spicy Florentine Tortellini Soup

1 can diced tomatoes with jalapenos, no sodium
2 (8 ounce) cans no sodium tomato sauce
1 (16 ounce) can white beans
1 box (32 ounce) chicken broth, no sodium
1 tablespoon table blend (salt substitute) spices, no sodium or spices to taste
4 cups baby leaf spinach, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package tortellini (4 minute cook time)
Combine tomatoes with jalapenos, sauce, beans, broth, and seasoning. Bring to boil. Add tortellini. Cook 4 minutes or until cook time on package. Add chopped spinach, cook 1 additional minute.

Books by R. A. Wallace

If you enjoy a book, please consider leaving a review.

R. A. Wallace is the author of two cozy mystery series:

Indigo Investigations Cozy Mystery Series

Callie Indigo is struggling to make ends meet with her private detective agency, Indigo Investigations, while juggling the complexities of an extended family and life in general. When she isn’t working a legitimate case, she’s often talked into helping out friends and family. Just when she’s wondering if she’ll ever turn a profit, her life becomes even more complicated with the appearance of Greyson Divine who has the uncanny ability to appear just as Callie is solving a case. Callie has to admit, however, that sometimes Greyson Divine may actually be helpful. This cozy mystery offers a clean read with a female sleuth, friends, and family.

Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy Mystery Series

Megan is the main character in the series but interacts with a wide range of other characters in the fictional town of Teaberry. A difficult first marriage ended in the accidental death of her husband. She supports herself with her bed and breakfast, produce from her farm, and her tech skills as a web developer. Over time, she discovers that the love of her life was in front of her all along. Main characters in the series are multigenerational.