“Because it is.” Jasper gives my ribs a tweak. “Now let’s get to bed. I vote tomorrow night we start there to begin with. I’ll bring takeout.”
“Ooh, a picnic underneath the sheets? I’m in. Hey, maybe we can watch a movie?”
“Or we can find another way to entertain ourselves.”
“I like how you think.” I laugh, but Jasper doesn’t join me on the endeavor. Instead, his expression grows hard as he stares straight ahead.
“What in the heck is that?” He flashes his phone over the front door, and in red lipstick against the crisp white paint it reads, You didn’t listen. You’re next.
I jerk back at the sign, causing Annabeth’s head to swivel around until she’s looking right at me, and she gives a solid wink.
A killer, a haunted doll, and a stalker.
How could this month possibly get any worse?
Chapter 9
“I want to tell Emmie tonight,” Leo Granger says the words with a marked conviction as we stand just outside of the Country Cottage Café.
Tonight? Fish groans in my arms. You’ve waited all these years to tell Emmie your secret. Surely there must have been less hectic moments in your life to do so. I think I’m going to veto this idea.
Leo chuckles as he gives her a quick scratch on the head.
“Think about it, Bizzy,” he says, and those dark eyes of his plead with mine.
I take in a full breath as I look to the ocean then to the clouds up above which look dark and looming. It’s icy out with a biting wind. The Atlantic churns with anger. The unknowable deep is the color of the darkest sapphire this afternoon. The sand is heavily gouged as dozens of happy children and their caretakers prance around inspecting all of the orange globes dotting the vicinity. And as Leo and I speak, another batch of pumpkins is being unloaded onto the sand. Just beyond that, I spot Emmie standing under the reception tent where the register is housed.
There’s a long table in front of the counter filled with exotic gourds in every shape and size, and Georgie is there plucking her way through them. But it’s Emmie I focus in on, that cheerful smile of hers as she goes around from customer to customer offering up the jack-o’-lantern hand pies from the platter she’s holding. She’s dressed in a red cape and looks every bit the adorable Little Red Riding Hood.
“Why tonight?” I look back to Leo with a sigh while Sprinkles and Sherlock run loose underfoot. I’m holding Fish close to my chest, and she’s warming me right through my peacoat. “I mean, the Fall-oween Festival is going strong. And we’ve got the frightmare starting a little earlier in the evening tonight. People are loving it, they’re demanding more hours. Emmie is really the one running this show. Don’t you think she’s overwhelmed enough as it is?”
Sherlock runs up and barks. Bacon, Bizzy!
I don’t hesitate reaching into the little baggie in my hand and tossing both him and Sprinkles a few bits of the savory treat. I figured this was the only way to keep them from running up and down the cove. There are so many people here—so many small children. All of which would love to pull their tails and ears while trying to love them to death. Not that I could blame the kids—Sherlock and Sprinkles are both exceptionally cute.
“Bizzy”—Leo glances her way—“Emmie was just telling me that the Montgomerys’ staff is filling in all the blanks around here. They’re running the festival, top to bottom. She and Jordy wanted in on the action so they could monitor things for you, for the inn. And”—he winces as looks back my way—“I know that it’s you who’s overwhelmed. You came back from your honeymoon to this circus, not to mention there was another murder on the grounds. And now that you’re questioning suspects, the killer is onto you. I saw the note they left in your bedroom, and the lipstick on your door this morning. Where did you sleep last night?”
“At home,” I say.
Fish shudders in my arms. And I hated it. I didn’t feel safe, not even with Jasper and his weapon, or Sherlock and Sprinkles snuggled on either side of me. I had to sleep with one eye open. I hope the sun comes out today, because a nap in the sun is certainly in order.
A tiny laugh brews in me, but the situation is so dire that laugh doesn’t make it past my throat.
“Jasper had a few deputies stationed outside on night watch,” I tell him. “And he’s enlisted round-the-clock protection. He has three different security teams here installing new cameras. He already changed the lock to the cottage the other day, and he’s having a whole new alarm system installed this afternoon. I guess the wires were frayed in the last one. And as for the lipstick, it’s being washed off as we speak.”
“Lipstick.” Leo lifts his belt a notch. “Do you think the killer is a woman?”
“Maybe. But it could be a man trying to throw me off.”
Fish burrows her head against my chest. I hate killers.
Sprinkles runs up and lets out a sharp bark. I’m going to help find whoever did this, Bizzy. If I can be of any help at all, I’m willing to do it. Just say the word bacon, and I’ll give you a hand.
“Thank you,” I tell him. “I’m going to take you up on that.” I toss out a few more pieces of bacon to prove my point.
Leo tucks a smile in the corner of his cheek. “I’d ask how the killer knew about your super sleuthing skills, but Cider Cove is a small town. Word gets around. And the word about you has certainly gotten around. Be careful, Bizzy. Jasper has told me more than once he’s worried about you.” The wind picks up, and he tightens his coat around his body.
Leo
