Pawsitively Fatal (Silver Springs Cozy Mystery Series Book 4) Read online

  As if Daniel has read Maggie’s mind, she hears his deep voice back in the lobby. She turns, and through the open doors of the ballroom sees Daniel talking to Denis. Daniel is no worse for wear having just worked on his brother’s wedding day.

  Without missing a beat, Maggie starts spreading the word to get everyone in their seats. She ushers Denis and Daniel to their places and leaves the rest to Leah and Ginger Rae while she heads upstairs to get Clem.

  “Everyone is ready for you,” Maggie announces and Clem stands from the bed, putting her glass of champagne on the TV stand. “How many glasses of that did you have?”

  “Just the one.”

  Maggie smiles. The bottle is empty and Maggie only had a single glass herself. But it’s Clem’s day so she ignores her sister’s white lie.

  At the doors to the ballroom, Maggie leads the way down the aisle and takes her place at the front of the room across from Denis and Daniel. With neither of their parents alive to give Clem away, Clem walks confidently and happily between masses of admiring guests, mostly residents of Silver Springs where Clem has spent her entire life. She takes her place beside Maggie and the ceremony is underway.

  Maggie surreptitiously makes eye contact with Daniel, asking an unspoken question that she knows he understands. Was James killed?

  Daniel gives only the slightest nod and looks down at his feet before he’s asked to produce the rings for Clem and Denis.

  CHAPTER 3

  Maggie is distracted throughout the rest of the ceremony. She does all the right things at the right times—holding Clem’s bouquet and handing it back to her, adjusting her sister’s dress before she walks out toward the front door, keeping her smile firmly in place—but she doesn’t take in the details. She knows she should be focusing on Clem’s wedding rather than wondering what happened to James, but she can’t escape her past as a private investigator.

  Immediately after the ceremony, Maggie does as she’s told and keeps her smile plastered on her face for dozens of photos. Finally, she’s able to escape the organized chaos and find Drew.

  “Hey, there you are,” he says with a smile when she sits down next to him at the head table. Only two couples will join Clem and Denis here—Maggie and Drew along with Daniel and his date, who Maggie has yet to meet.

  Maggie offers a quick peck on his cheek.

  “You looked uncomfortable in front of everyone.” Drew laughs.

  “A little.” She is distracted and looking for Daniel. She wants to know what happened to James.

  “What’s going on? You’re not even paying attention.”

  Maggie turns her head to face Drew. “Sorry. Winona told me James Vaughn from Flower Power was killed this afternoon when she was picking up the flowers for the wedding.”

  Drew’s smile instantly fades into a frown. “What?”

  Maggie nods. “I know. It’s unbelievable. I didn’t tell Clem. I hope Daniel didn’t tell Denis either. Clem would feel somehow responsible. That’s just how she is.”

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know.” Maggie shakes her head. “That’s why I keep looking around for Daniel.”

  Finally, trailed by the happy newlyweds, Daniel walks into the ballroom. All eyes turn toward the door as Daniel announces their arrival and they make their entrance. Denis takes Clem’s hand, and with music playing, they dance their way between tables, chairs, family and friends to take their place at the head table.

  Maggie looks past her sister and brother-in-law and sees that Daniel is sitting with Leah Scott. She smiles, remembering back to her birthday in October when Leah was more interested in Daniel than he was in her. She’s glad that they’ve found some mutual admiration of each other and are giving a relationship a shot.

  Maggie is starving by the time dinner is served. Tess brings her a plate full of maple glazed salmon, a strawberry-arugula salad and a side of rice. Maggie’s stomach growls but she waits for everyone else at the table to be served before digging in. She satisfies herself with more wine until then instead.

  “When are Clem and Denis leaving for their honeymoon?” Drew asks once they’re finally eating and Maggie can focus on conversation instead of her empty stomach.

  “Tonight. They’re flying out just after midnight.”

  Drew’s eyes sparkle. “So you’ll have the house to yourself for a week.”

  Maggie smiles at him, reading his mind. “I’ll have the house to myself longer than that. Clem is moving in with Denis.”

  “I thought he was moving in to her house?” Drew asks.

  “He was going to. But they decided it didn’t make sense to make me find somewhere else to live. I’m buying Clem out since I’ve actually owned half of the house since our parents’ death,” Maggie explains.

  Drew’s smile widens. “Does that mean you’re planning to stay in Silver Springs long term and not move back to Denver?”

  Maggie shrugs. “I still have that house, too.”

  Silverware tinkling on glasses interrupts their conversation and they join in on the occasion, encouraging a kiss from the newlyweds. When Clem and Denis oblige, everyone cheers.

  Once everyone has eaten their fill, Clem and Denis make an event of cutting the cake—a traditional looking, three-tiered, red velvet cake that is to die for. One of the few planning pieces Maggie felt helpful offering an opinion on was the cake tasting.

  Instead of smashing pieces into each others’ mouths and smearing the frosting on their faces, Clem and Denis are nice about it and gently feed each other small bites.

  “Don’t expect that kind of kindness if we have a wedding,” Drew whispers in Maggie’s ear.

  Maggie blushes at the thought. “I didn’t know that was a possibility,” she responds.

  “Not today.” His smile is mischievous and she pushes his shoulder. Drew responds by pulling Maggie close and they enjoy the sight of her sister’s happiness.

  It’s not until late in the night when some guests have already departed that Maggie finally gets her chance to ask Daniel about James Vaughn’s death. Daniel is sitting alone at a table while Leah gets them both another drink. Maggie leaps at this opportunity and sits beside him.

  “Great day for our siblings,” she says, not wanting to jump right into the reason she’s talking to him.

  Daniel smiles. “Sure is.” He’s finally come to terms with Maggie’s rejection of him this fall and treats her more warmly ever since he started a relationship with Leah.

  “But it wasn’t a good day for everyone, I hear.”

  Daniel’s full attention focuses on Maggie, his eyes leaving Leah at the bar and meeting hers. “Traveled that fast, huh?”

  Maggie nods. “Winona told me when she got back here. I knew something was wrong. She was as white as a sheet.”

  Daniel seems to consider his next question carefully. “What exactly did she tell you?”

  “That she found James dead when he never came out of his cooler with another load of flowers for her car,” Maggie tells him.

  Daniel doesn’t react and Maggie thinks it’s so they don’t attract any unwanted attention from other guests. “Yeah,” he confirms simply.

  “Was he killed?”

  Daniel nods. “Sure seemed that way. A knife sticking out of a chest is usually a good indication that it wasn’t natural causes.”

  Maggie grimaces inwardly. If she’d known how gruesome the scene had been she would have offered Winona more comfort.

  “It was his knife, too. Used it in the flower shop,” Daniel continues quietly.

  “You know that already?”

  He nods. “I talked to Mona Fitch, his employee. She was about as helpful as Winona was. No one seems to have seen anything.”

  “How did someone get into the cooler without Mona seeing anything?” Maggie asks, her mind already coming up with too many questions.

  Daniel chuckles and Leah returns with two beers.

  “I would have brought you one, too,” Leah says to Maggie with a
smile, handing one glass to Daniel and keeping the other for herself.

  “It’s okay. I was just heading back to find Drew. I think I’m about ready to call it a night.” Maggie stands and Daniel follows suit.

  He leans in and says quietly while Leah looks around, maybe for her sons, “I can tell you’re already trying to solve this. Keep me updated on anything Winona tells you, or anyone else for that matter. I’ll do the same, as best I can.”

  “Will do.” Maggie heads off, finds Drew, and goes home for the night.

  CHAPTER 4

  Opal makes sure to be outside when Maggie leaves. With winter fully upon them, her window escape from the bathroom on the first floor is closed and she has to brave the house and passing two dogs to get out the dog door. She doesn’t like meeting the dogs face to face when Maggie and Clem aren’t home. There’s no telling what those fur balls will do.

  Opal hates the snow. The pads of her feet attract snowballs in her soft fur and she has to spend hours getting them out and warming up. But she’s putting aside those frustrations to meet the dozen other cats about a recent find she’s made in her house.

  The distance from Maggie and Clem’s house to the abandoned one where the cats meet in the basement seems to only have increased since the snow started falling months ago. Winter is longer in Silver Springs than it was in Denver and she’d do anything to leave. Never mind that she’d like to live in a house free of dogs.

  Suzie, an Australia shepherd, and Oscar, a golden retriever, force Opal to always be on her toes. She’s tired of being around them all the time. Especially now that it’s too cold and snowy to explore or sleep outside.

  Opal skirts around the board covering the basement window of the abandoned house and jumps down through it. Twelve pairs of cat eyes turn in her direction as if they’ve been waiting for her.

  “You’ve brought news, I presume,” Jester says, stalking toward her. His oversized body has intimidated Opal from the first time she met him. And his missing tail seems to be an omen for violence, though she’s never been on the receiving end of his nastier outbursts.

  Opal has only told her friend Luna about her discovery. She went against cat protocol and invited her into her house to see it. They’d had to be careful to avoid the dogs and the people, but they’d succeeded. Of course, Suzie and Oscar had detected Luna’s scent, but Maggie and Clem remained oblivious.

  “I have,” Opal confirms quietly. She’s never been comfortable in this group of cats. It took her plenty long enough to trust even Luna.

  “Luna reports that the black book contains stories of time travel left by your human’s parents,” Jester continues.

  Opal can’t read so she can’t confirm that. “What kind of stories?” Opal asks. She knows there are two ways this could go—the stories could support keeping time travel alive, something the cats don’t want because they don’t believe that the power would stay with only trustworthy humans, or the stories could be the disasters that could ensue from partaking in such risky behavior.

  Jester smirks, an expression that makes Opal’s fur stand on end. “Stories about the horrors of what can go wrong. Stories that could bring about the end of the world. Stories that would make your claws no longer retract and convince anyone who reads them to destroy the keys to time travel.”

  Opal can’t take her eyes off Jester and she feels all other cats staring at her.

  “It’s now up to you to make sure that Maggie finds these stories and does the right thing. The world is depending on you, Opal.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Sunday morning, Maggie wakes to a house empty of people but full of noise. Clem never came home last night, heading to Costa Rica for a week with Denis instead. While that means Maggie is officially living alone again, she is also solely in charge of Two Sisters Antiques and Imports this week.

  Getting out of bed, Maggie heads to the kitchen. Both Suzie, Clem’s Australian Shepherd, and Oscar, Clem’s golden retriever—also Maggie’s responsibility this week—are impatiently waiting for breakfast. They are taking their frustration out on Opal, Maggie’s calico cat who has found refuge on top of the refrigerator.

  “Hey,” Maggie shouts at the dogs but they don’t even turn to look at her. She’s never been a dog person and they seem to know it.

  Maggie opens the closet with their food and this breaks them out of their focus on Opal. The dogs charge at Maggie, ready for breakfast, and Opal makes a hasty getaway back to Maggie’s bedroom.

  With the dogs eating and chaos averted, Maggie makes herself coffee. While it brews, she sits at the table and is faced with the beer bottles that she and Drew emptied last night after the wedding. She smiles at the memory of their late night into early morning time together.

  The memory also brings back what they talked about—James Vaughn’s murder, among other things that are now overshadowed in her memory. Maggie caught Drew up on everything related to Ginger Rae’s niece’s murder last October and how it was related to the secret of time travel that wasn’t quite as secret as everyone thought.

  Since Maggie first came to Silver Springs last May to investigate her parents’ murder, Drew has been involved in keeping Maggie safe, along with the keys that Ginger Rae, Winona and Erline hold so dear. Whether he’s been directly involved in helping Maggie track down a killer or waiting for her to update him on investigations, he’s been kept up to speed about the secret of the supernatural powers they’re all working to protect.

  Maggie’s first thought yesterday after learning of James’s murder in the presence of Winona Landis was that whoever the murderer is wasn’t after James, but after the powerful key that belongs to Winona. Erline and Ginger Rae each have an identical one and have been targets of murders and theft in the past. Now it seems to be Winona’s turn.

  Drew and Maggie came up with an initial plan to track down any suspects. This morning, Maggie immediately puts that plan into action. She wants to know if there is someone connected to all three of the past men who have been going after the keys: Josh McMann, Mitch Cable and Karl Jacobs.

  She picks up her phone and calls Trista Voss, her trusty tech specialist in Denver. Maggie used Trista’s skills more formally when she worked at her own private investigation firm in Denver, but in October was able to tap into her talents while working a case in Silver Springs with the police. She has kept it secret from Detective Daniel Stevens and everyone else on the police force that she uses outside help. Trista’s methods may or may not be legal; Maggie doesn’t want to know so never asks.

  Maggie lets the phone ring until it goes to voicemail. Sunday mornings aren’t generally a good time to call a millennial. She suspects Trista is still sleeping after a wild Saturday night.

  Instead of pursuing that path, Maggie packs her handbag with everything she could possibly need for the day, including lunch, and heads out of the house. With Clem on her honeymoon—and moving out so the house is Maggie’s—Maggie has finally parked her car in the garage instead of in the driveway.

  And she’s thankful she did last night. It snowed six inches after Drew left, and it’s still coming down.

  The driveway has been plowed and Maggie backs out slowly onto the road. Her studded snow tires were her best investment since moving to the high mountains of Colorado and her small Prius has no trouble on the only somewhat clear streets.

  Maggie drives to Main Street and doesn’t pass a single car. Everyone else is using the snow either as an excuse to stay home on Sunday morning or to go skiing at one of the many resorts in the area. By the afternoon, Silver Springs will be teeming with visitors from Denver heading back home for the work week, but for now everyone is taking it easy.

  Maggie parks behind Two Sisters. She’ll open at noon—still a few hours away—and will want her car nearby when she closes tonight. She walks the single block to Flower Power and is happy to see Daniel already inside.

  The flower shop is not closed, as she thought it might be. With an ongoing murder investigation, she won
ders how anyone talked their way into keeping it open for business as usual. She also wonders who is in charge now that James is no longer alive.

  “Hi Maggie,” Daniel greets her when she walks in. “Who’s at Two Sisters if Clem is on her honeymoon?” His eyebrows furrow and worry lines appear around his eyes.

  “We only open Sunday afternoons now. It took some convincing on my part for Clem to take the mornings off, but they were so slow anyway. It just didn’t make sense to have the store open all day but only have customers in the afternoon.”

  Daniel nods. “Well good. I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Oh yeah? Find anything good? And why is Flower Power open if you have an open investigation here?” Maggie asks.

  “Mona is one smooth talker.” Daniel chuckles. “Since we had to empty the cooler, they wanted to be able to sell everything. You didn’t see all the sale signs outside?”

  Maggie was too preoccupied to notice them and she shakes her head.

  “Oh. Well, anyway, we have some leads to follow and I was hoping we could use you as a consultant again like with Clara and Felicity’s murders.” Daniel raises his eyebrows in question.

  “Love to.” Maggie hasn’t admitted this even to herself, but she’s not cut out for customer service or antiquing. Clem loves finding deals on old artifacts and art pieces that were thought to be lost to the ages, but Maggie gets excited about tracking down suspects and finding proof of their guilt or innocence.

  “Great.” Daniel leads her toward the cooler where crime scene investigators look like they’re wrapping things up.

  “We’ll be out of your way in a few minutes,” one of them says, stuffing filled evidence bags into a crate.

  Daniel nods but doesn’t address the investigator. He turns to Maggie and hands her a stack of papers that were sitting on one of the shelves. “I made you some copies of Flower Power’s bookkeeping. Take a look at them and tell me what you think. I don’t want to sway you one way or the other so I’ll let you make your own decision about what’s in there.”