“Where’s Mocha?” River asked, grabbing a chair and sitting down at the nearest table.
“I left her with Gram.” What Liv didn’t say was that she left Mocha at home to watch Gram in case she wandered off again. She had already ordered a ‘doggy 911’ system that would let Mocha call her if she needed to. Mocha was an older dog, but she was smart as a whip, and she loved Gram.
It was a miracle of technology that let her set up a phone with a touchpad connected to it on the floor. If Mocha needed to summon help, all she had to do was press the touchpad and 911 would be called. Mocha had picked up on it quickly.
“How long do you think you’ll need me today?” River leaned back in the chair. Her apron was still hanging from its hook. She was in no hurry to put it on.
“Just for a couple hours?” Liv guesstimated. She technically didn’t need River for the work, but she wanted the company. The last thing she needed to do was go to Ryan’s and talk to her more. Or go to her office. Or anything like that.
Liv and River were getting the hang of things when the door opened and a familiar face stalked in.
Liv paled, her breath catching in her throat. “Charles.”
“What did you tell them?” Charles stormed over to the counter, throwing his hand down. “What did you tell them?”
“Nothing.” Liv forced herself to stay still, to not back down no matter how much she wanted to. She was strong enough to stand up to him. “You loved her.”
Something crumpled in Charles’ face, and the anger that had been shot at her slashed in half, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He really did love her.
“Did something happen?” Liv asked, her voice gentle.
The door rang again, and the tall man Liv had seen with Ryan once or twice strode in, followed by some uniformed officers. “Charles Mannigan, you’re under arrest for the murder of Cairo Levitt.”
“What?” Charles sounded more alarmed than Liv had expected, looking between the people as they handcuffed him. “I didn’t do anything.”
“We have a warrant for your arrest based on physical evidence retained in your house,” the man droned on. “Anything you say can and may be used against you in a court of law.”
“What physical evidence? They’re not mine!” Charles shouted. “I didn’t do it!”
Liv stood there, in shock, as he was led out of the coffee shop and into the police car waiting there.
“Liv.” River pointed to the small TV they kept in the back. It was another press conference, with the Police Chief standing there. “Thanks to the hard work of Detective Phillips and our forensic investigators, we uncovered evidence that allowed us to take a second look at what was thought to be a suicide. Further evidence has revealed that Ms. Levitt was tragically murdered, and her death staged as a suicide. A person of interest has been arrested in relation to this crime, thanks to evidence recovered by our forensic investigators.”
The man’s words droned on and on, while Liv just stared at the screen. What was he talking about? Where had that come from?
Ryan sat at her desk, fuming. She could see the Chief spinning the tale, how it had been considered a suicide until their ‘Hard Work’ had proved otherwise.
She snorted. By hard work, they meant someone had given them a tip and they had found incriminating evidence in Charles’s home. Ryan was much more interested in the tipster. Who had found that evidence in the first place? It wasn’t in plain sight.
Dane walked back into the room. He looked abashed, but Ryan could see a faint gleam in his eyes. There was prestige to being the Chief’s favorite. It could mean promotions down the road, and Dane needed the money for his family.
“I’m sorry, Ryan.” Dane did look truly sorry.
Ryan exhaled. “Thanks.” She didn’t know what else to say. Maybe it was time to follow up other leads on her missing persons cases. Go talk to some of their friends at school. It had been a few days since she had done that, having gotten caught up in Cairo’s case again.
Dane just nodded and turned back to his own desk. There wasn’t much she could do, not about that. Dane had dug his hole.
Her phone rang. Spotting Liv’s number, Ryan stood and headed out of the office. It wasn’t a call she wanted to take near anyone who was involved in Cairo’s case. If they hadn’t discovered someone had been at the crime scene, they would soon.
“Hello?” Ryan answered.
“They arrested Charles.” Liv sounded angry, and in disbelief.
“I know.” Ryan sounded bitter.
“At my cafe.”
Ryan had missed that part. That was what happened when you fell out of the Chief’s favor. “I’m sorry.” And she was. The words felt bitter on her tongue, and all she wanted to do was take out the Chief who had come at this case in such a ridiculous way.
“Why?” Liv’s voice was quieter.
“They found a noose and another deck of cards in his home.” Ryan’s voice was soft. She didn’t want to be overheard. “Forensics can tie them to the crime scene.”
Liv let out a sigh on the other end of the line. “He said he didn’t do it.”
Ryan didn’t know what to say to that. She’d heard several suspects say the same thing, even when faced with an overwhelming amount of forensic evidence. “Can I come over?” Ryan asked before she could stop herself. “Or you could come to mine.”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“I want to see you.” Ryan kept the words soft and non-confrontational, and they were true. Even if they didn’t talk about the case, even if Ryan just focused on everything else, she wanted to sit next to Liv and know she was there.
“Pick me up at the café at 6pm,” Liv said reluctantly.
“Perfect. I’ll meet you
