Black Coffee, Biscotti & Murder Read online

  “I’m so sorry, Hunter.”

  “I swear to you, Kari. I am going to catch this son-of-a...I’m gonna catch’em.”

  “I know you are. Please let us know if there is anything that we can do.”

  “You know, I am pretty sure that I am the one who is supposed to say that to you.”

  “Hunter, you already do enough for everyone. Please try to get some sleep, and we’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for checking up on us.” She hung up the phone and couldn’t help but think about the case, now.

  Kasi started to play another video. “Okay, from now on, I am a rap fan. Who was that?”

  “Hunter.” Kari turned to look at her sister. Kasi finally looked up from the laptop. “We have to help him, Kasi.”

  “Yes! Finally! Alright, what are we tackling first?” Kasi put down the laptop and gave her sister her full attention.

  Kari hesitated. She tried to think about the suspects for the case, and how to go about interviewing them. But, nothing was making sense to her, right now. What are we thinking? We are not trained for this! What are we even doing? She looked up at Kasi, who waited attentively for directions on how they were going to proceed. “I don’t know, Kas. I just don’t know.”

  “But you just said we have to help him!”

  “I know. But, what do we know about this? Maybe we should just let the police handle this one.”

  Kasi harrumphed as she crossed her legs again and resumed the video on her laptop of the Fire Spitters last performance. “Whatever, sis.”

  Kari looked at her sister. She wanted to say something consoling, but she had no idea what to say.

  Chapter 12

  Hunter

  “I just can’t believe it, man!” Trey Horacek, better known by his stage name ‘Mayhem’, had drummed for the Fire Spitters on their two most recent tours, and—in stark contrast to his multiple tattoos of devils and skulls and shaved head—was proving to be a very emotional interviewee.

  It was the day after Jake’s body had been found, and the investigation was already in full swing. They’d gathered as many people as they could from the night before and were questioning them at the station. So far, they’d turned up exactly no leads.

  “He’s really…dead!” Trey put his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking.

  Hunter was not exactly having an easy time of it, either, but he was slightly embarrassed for Trey who couldn’t seem to stop crying. Pull it together, dude! he wanted to say. Be a man!

  However, he also knew that those words had been drilled into him at the police academy, and also by his father, who was an ex-military man. That deep down, he respected the drummer’s ability to be emotional. When he’d first seen Jake’s body, all he’d wanted to do was shut himself in a dark room and grieve for his friend.

  “Take your time,” he told Trey consolingly. “This has been a tough loss for a lot of people.”

  Trey looked up at him and said, “I know he was your friend, too. I’m really sorry for your loss.” He sniffed and seemed to finally get control over his emotions. “Okay, bud. I’m ready. Ask me whatever you need to. I want to help.”

  “Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt Jake?” Hunter asked him. “Even if it seems insignificant, anything can help. A run-in at a bar, an ex-girlfriend who won’t give up, anything.”

  Trey immediately shook his head. “No, man! Everyone loved Jake! He was like this small-town boy who was making it big, and he never forgot that. He treated everyone with respect. I don’t think I ever saw him say a mean word to anyone.”

  Hunter nodded. That tracked with what he knew of his friend. Jake was just an all-around good guy, which made his murder that much more difficult.

  “Did you see or hear anything suspicious yesterday? Either before, after, or during the festival?” Hunter took out his notebook, hoping that he’d have something to write down.

  Trey started to shake his head, but then stopped. “You know, there was something.”

  Hunter’s head snapped up; his pencil poised. “Yes?”

  “Well, I was walking by the dressing room, and I heard an argument.”

  “When was this?” Hunter wrote furiously in his book. An argument was good. An argument could definitely lead to some tempers flaring, and eventually to…well, he still had the image of Jake’s blue face stuck in his head.

  It was something he knew he’d be living with for many years.

  “It was after the Fire Spitters played, but I don’t think the festival was quite over yet. I needed to get into the dressing room to change, but when I heard the argument, I decided to just wait.” He shook his head and moaned, “Man, why didn’t I just go in? I could have stopped all of this!”

  “You can’t think like that,” Hunter told him. “Do you know who was arguing?”

  Trey shrugged. “There was a lot going on, and it was pretty noisy backstage. I know it was two dudes, but that’s about all I could tell you. I didn’t stick around to listen, figured it was none of my business.”

  “You’re certain they were both men?” Hunter asked. At Trey’s nod, he wrote it down in his notebook and underlined it twice. At least it was something.

  “You know, I was actually surprised when I heard it was two guys,” Trey said, causing Hunter’s head to pop up again.

  “Why’s that?” he asked.

  Trey looked uncomfortable. “Well, I hate to gossip, but…there’s been something weird between Jake and Maddy lately. They’re usually so happy and lovey-dovey, you know? But, lately, she’s just been…off. When I first heard that someone was fighting…my first thought was that it must be them,” Trey confessed.

  Hunter blinked. “Really?” As far as he could tell, Jake and Maddy were a happy couple. Was he missing something? “Do you have any idea what was going on between them?”

  Trey shook his head. “Like I said, I don’t want to gossip. But I don’t want to hold anything back, either.” Trey ran his hand over his head. “But, I mean, it was two guys arguing, like I said. So, I’m sure it has nothing to do with that.”

  “Anything else you can tell me, Trey?”

  The drummer shook his head. “I think I’m still in shock, man. I mean, just when he was about to make it big! How fair is that?”

  Not fair at all, Hunter thought, but when is life fair?

  The recent spate of murders in Mills Township had certainly challenged his belief in karma, the belief that most people got what was coming to them. What could Jake have coming to him, except for the big break that he so richly deserved?

  As Trey walked out of the interview room, Hunter caught sight of Russell and Maddy talking in the waiting area. Getting up heavily, Hunter dreaded telling them that they had so far uncovered very little that would help them find out who had killed Jake.

  He couldn’t save his friend, but, at least, he could put a swift end to the investigation and bring Jake’s killer to justice. He always felt the need to solve a case as soon as possible, but this one was especially pressing on his conscience.

  I’ve got to find who did this to you, buddy. I swear I will.

  “How you guys doing?” he asked when he approached Maddy and Russell.

  When Maddy started sobbing, he wrapped her in a big hug—but, part of him was wondering about Trey’s theory that they’d been fighting.

  There’s no way she could be this upset if she had something to do with his death, he thought. But then, I’ve been surprised before.

  “Have you found anything?” Russell asked. He was clearly holding back tears, and Hunter felt his heart going out to the man. Though they had never been close, he knew that Russell and Jake had become like brothers.

  This must be twice as hard on him as it is on me.

  “Not anything useful,” Hunter told him, knowing it was too early to tell them about the argument Trey had overheard. “But it’s very early. I’m sure someone had to have heard or seen something last night that will help us. It will just take time to find them.”
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  “The officers have already spoken to both of us,” Russell told him. “Neither of us can think of one single person who would want to hurt Jake.”

  “I just don’t understand!” Maddy wailed, accepting a tissue from Russell and wiping at her face. “Who could possibly want to hurt him? And, on the night of his big break?”

  Russell put his arm around her. “That’s what Hunter’s going to find out, Maddy. We just have to let him do his job.”

  Hunter nodded. “That’s right. We’ve got our whole team on this, and it’s just a matter of time before we turn something up.” He looked around the squad room and saw all of his officers busy questioning members of the other bands, cleaning crews, and spectators.

  He felt an overwhelming urge to get out of the station.

  “Hey, I think I’m going to take an officer with me and check out the dressing room again, okay? There may have been something we missed last night in all the confusion.”

  He gave Maddy another hug and shook hands with Russell before grabbing one of the junior officers who had just finished interviewing a back-up singer for The Neighboring Town.

  I’m going to turn that room inside out, he thought. I won’t stop until we find something—ANYTHING—that will point us in the right direction.

  Chapter 13

  Kari

  It was Monday morning, two days after the fatal incident at the music festival. Neither Kari nor Kasi felt much like going to work, but they really didn’t have a choice. Not only was there no one else to open the store, but they also had to conduct final interviews to decide who they would hire as their new assistant.

  “I’m not in the mood for this,” Kasi said gloomily, as she clicked through their online orders that had come in over the weekend.

  “Me, neither,” Kari agreed. “But maybe taking our minds off what happened to Jake is the best thing we can do right now.”

  Kari was brewing a new batch of black coffee, and, as the smell of it hit her, she began to feel a bit more alive. There was nothing like a good Guatemalan medium roast to wake up the senses.

  “Don’t forget all our pastries are 50% off until Christmas,” Kasi told her, printing off a batch of invoices. “Do you think we should have Rebecca do something with our sign?”

  Kari nodded. “Yeah, but for right now, I’ll just put it on our white board.” She carefully wrote the special in a cursive script and propped it up beside the pastry counter. “Hey, what time are the interviewees coming in?”

  Kasi clicked on their online calendar and said, “1, 2, and 3. Bubba’s last.” She looked over at her sister. “I’ve got to tell you, I’m really looking forward to having some help around here. I can’t believe we’ve handled it all by ourselves up until now.”

  “You’re telling me. It will be really nice to take a morning off, or not have to worry about our big rushes.”

  “Mmm-hmmm,” Kasi murmured her agreement.

  Kari turned to help a customer who had walked up to the counter. “Did you see all our pastries are half off until Christmas?” she asked. “The raspberry tarts are absolutely to die for.”

  She felt her face turn red as soon as the words were out of her mouth. It was a line she had used a thousand times to describe some of their more delectable creations, but it certainly wasn’t the time or place to use it now.

  After the customer took her black coffee and tart to one of the tables, Kari turned to her sister. “Ugh, I just can’t stop thinking about his face, Kasi. It was so awful.”

  Kasi grimaced. “I hate to say this, sis, but I’m sure glad I didn’t have to see that. I can’t imagine how terrible it must have been.”

  As the morning continued, the girls overheard plenty of conversations about the death of their local superstar. Reactions ranged from grief to disbelief, and everything in between, and theories behind the murder were avidly discussed.

  “Why does everyone think they’re Sherlock Holmes, all of a sudden?” Kasi asked after listening to a customer tell her, for nearly fifteen minutes, that Jake was the victim of a cult that was trying to eradicate rap music from the world.

  “You know a local murder brings out the detective in everyone,” Kari reminded her. “Remember all the stuff we heard after the fake nun case?”

  Kasi rolled her eyes. “How could I forget?” She turned her head when the door chime rang. “Oh, hey. Now there’s someone who might actually have a theory worth listening to.”

  Ted Gable, better known as DJ Mad Styles, was smiling widely at the girls as he ambled up to the counter. One of the DJs at the local radio station, Ted was the resident rap aficionado, and had been a longtime supporter of the Fire Spitters.

  “Hi, Kari! Black coffee and biscotti for me, please.”

  Trying to match the smile on his face, Kari said, “Coming right up, Mr. DJ!” but her voice fell flat.

  Ted’s smile faded, as well. “Yeah, I know. It’s tough to be happy on a day like this. If you tune into my station later, you’ll hear I’m playing nothing but Fire Spitters.”

  Kari nodded. “We’ll have to make sure we put it in the store,” she told him.

  Ted leaned over the counter and said in a low voice, “Hey, did I hear right that you and your sister were there when it happened?”

  “Yeah, we were backstage,” Kari told him.

  Ted shook his head, and sighed. “Such a shame. They had so much talent, and word was going around that they were about to get their big break.”

  “There was actually a rep from a record label there that night,” Kari said. “We all thought they were going to get signed.” She poured Ted his coffee and placed his biscotti on a plate.

  “You don’t know of anyone who would want to hurt him, do you?” she asked, sliding the plate over to him. “Everyone I’ve talked to said he was pretty much loved by everyone, but someone in that industry had to make enemies, right?”

  Ted leaned against the counter and took a sip of his coffee as he considered the question. “Well, rap is pretty competitive. And the more popular the Fire Spitters got, the more rivals popped out of the woodwork.”

  “Can you think of anyone in particular?” Kari asked. “I’m sure anything could help.”

  Ted snapped his fingers, and said, “I just thought of something! You, girls, ever hang out at Willie’s?”

  Kari looked over her shoulder at her sister, who shook her head. “Willie’s? What’s that?”

  “The bar over on 8th street,” Ted said. “In the last year or so, they’ve started a Saturday night rap battle contest.”

  “I’m surprised you aren’t there every weekend!” Kasi called out to her sister. “I can just see you layin’ down some rhymes.”

  “Ha!” Kari said, but she liked that there was a smile on her sister’s face for the first time that day. “I just listen, I don’t participate.”

  “Well, you should check it out,” Ted told her. “Lot of talent around here…You’d be surprised. Anyway, a few months back, Jake was in town and showed up. It was a really big deal because they normally don’t have any stars there. At first, no one would even challenge him, but then this guy named Razor Sharpe steps forward.”

  “Razor Sharpe?” Kasi asked, finally joining them at the counter. “Seriously, where do these people come up with these names?”

  Ted shrugged. “Anything’s better than Eminem,” he said with a snort.

  “So, this Razor Sharpe,” Kari said, trying get him back on track. “He challenged Jake?” At his nod, she said, “Did he win?”

  “Hardly! Jake murdered him!” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his eyes got wide. “I mean, he beat him. Badly. So badly that ol’ Razor actually left the building before the battle was even over.”

  “And you think he took it personally?” Kasi asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” Ted confirmed. “He was talking about it all over town, saying that Jake had no business doing that to him, that it wasn’t fair since he was a professional and all. He just couldn’t
let it go.”

  “Do you really think someone would kill over that?” Kasi looked doubtful. “It’s just a silly rap battle!”

  “It might seem silly to you,” Ted told her, “but it means a lot to these guys, especially to the ones who are trying to make a living in the business, like Razor Sharpe. And I never said he killed Jake, I just said he might be one of those rare people who wasn’t a big fan of his.”

  After Ted left, the two girls pow-wowed about what they’d just learned. “You think it’s worth telling Hunter?” Kasi asked.

  Kari shook her head. “I don’t think there’s enough there yet. But maybe we can look into it a little more.”

  Kasi raised an eyebrow. “The Sweet Sleuths, on the case?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t go that far. But we could at least keep asking around, see if we could turn something up about Mr. Sharpe.”

  “Yeah, okay, I’d be down for that.” Kasi looked at her watch. “Ten minutes until our first interview. We’d better get everything together.”

  The girls prepared their interview questions and went over a plan to determine which of the three would be the first employee at On Bitter Grounds.

  However, Kari’s mind wasn’t really on hiring a new barista. Instead, it was on tracking down Razor Sharpe and finding out if his embarrassment over the rap battle equaled a motive for murder.

  Chapter 14

  Kari

  “I think we should go check on Maddy,” Kari told her sister as they locked the doors to On Bitter Grounds and began their clean-up duties.

  They’d had a very successful day in terms of business. Not only were their sales way up due to the influx of Fire Spitters fans who had flocked to the town to pay their respects, but they’d also made the unanimous decision to hire Brandon ‘Bubba’ Mason as their first employee.

  He’d blown the other two candidates out of the water by creating a delicious and completely unique cinnamon graham cracker latté that he’d dubbed the ‘Bubba Bomb’. He had also agreed to start his first shift this week.