Previously in Niceville: Carrie Cooper discovered her friend and local business owner, Sylvia, dead on Sylvia’s coffee shop floor. With a request for investigative help from the local police, Carrie and Mandy set out to question citizens of Niceville. After a rough night, Carrie learns some news about the local Chief of Police. The following day, she has a date with Connor. While on the date, she gets a text from Mandy, who thinks she’s being followed. Upon arriving at Mandy’s house, she finds a mess.
Season 1: Caramel Macchiato Murder
Episode 11: Helpless, Hopeless, and a Little Romantic
Time is weird. When we want it to go slow, it speeds away. When we want it to go fast, it seems like it takes forever for a minute to tick by. The real conundrum is when we want it to go fast and slow at the same time.
I was in a hurry for Danny to get over to Mandy’s place, but I also didn’t want time speeding away because we had no leads yet on Mandy’s whereabouts.
I sat in tense silence for several long minutes. Connor’s big hand was wrapped around mine, and I didn’t even mind that he was probably reading my every thought. In a way, it made me feel less alone.
The sort of hopelessness that was settling into me was the type of defeat. Feeling defeated is a scary thing when you’re technically still in the game. It can mess a lot of things up.
I think that’s why Connor suddenly reached up and cupped my face in his hand. “Carrie, you have to listen to me. We can do this. We can get her back. Stop letting your mind race away from you. Do you hear me?”
I looked into his handsome face, and I nodded. Our eyes locked, and he slowly leaned in. As his lips brushed mine, I felt a shock of awareness pass between us, then everything was still as he gently moved his lips against mine. It was a magical moment really. He laced his fingers through the back of my hair at the base of my neck. I leaned into to it, praying for the moment to never end. But it did. But for the first time in my life, I understood why some people say that a kiss can stop time. I was pretty sure that kiss stopped the world turning on its axis.
As he eased his hand back out of my hair, he trailed his thumb across my jawline in a surprisingly tender manner. “I won’t leave your side, as long as you want me here.”
“Thank you.”
He just nodded. “Let’s go over the important details again. Maybe we missed something.”
The spell broke, and I was pulled back into the moment. “Uh, yeah. Suspects first. There’s Becky and Chief Jefferson.”
“Right,” Connor said. “Let’s go over both. If you’re okay with that?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I’m always more put together than now. Mandy is like my sister. And then, Sylvia and I were close, too.”
“It’s more than reasonable to be a bit rattled in your current situation. That’s why you aren’t supposed to work cases this close to home,” he said gently. “I’m just trying to keep us on track.”
“Thanks. Yeah, Becky was fired. Why? Great question. She was stealing money from the cash register. Sylvia finally caught her, but I guess she’d suspected her for a while.”
“Whoa. That’s pretty big motive. If Sylvia had documentation, she could have pressed charges.”
“Exactly. But then there’s Chief. He intentionally hid information knowing what that looks like for a cop. I don’t know why he wants that corner lot, but it just feels icky that he didn’t say anything about it.”
“I agree with that. A bit suspicious. Like either he had something to do with it, or he knew how bad it would look if he told. The thing is, keeping it to himself looks worse than if he would have owned it immediately. I’d say maybe he did, but I’d think that Danny would have known if that was the case. Did he?”
“If so he didn’t act like it. I can’t be positive that he wouldn’t have kept that knowledge to himself, but I think he would have brought it up when I did and was so worried about it.”
“Right. That would have been the moment the he wasn’t breaking Chief’s trust. You know, because if you already knew then there wasn’t a reason to keep it a secret anymore,” Connor said.
“Exactly,” I replied.
“Huh. That does make this hard.”
“I know,” I said. “I just don’t know what to do about all this. I’m analytical, but Mandy is a patient genius. I can’t do it without her.”
I felt the sadness and overwhelming sense of hopelessness wash over me. “She’s so screwed. You know the funny thing is, the only time Mandy isn’t patient is with overly emotional people. Tears are a no for her. They make her so uncomfortable,” I choked out.
Connor used the pad of his thumb to brush a couple tears off my face. “It’s going to be okay.”
“How do you know? And why haven’t you bailed yet? This has got to be the world’s worst first date.”
“First, I guess I can’t make that promise, but I can do my best to make it so. Second, I’ve enjoyed every second I’ve been with you. The circumstances could have been better, but trust me, I’m not in a hurry to leave.”
For the billionth time that evening, I felt heat creeping up into my cheeks. The flush causing a heady sort of sensation that didn’t match the moment. This man was doing all the things to me.
“Gosh. You are just adorable when you blush like that,” Connor said. He grinned at me, showing me his adorable smile.
“Thanks, I think. Oh look, I bet that’s Danny coming,” I said as a patrol car came cruising down the road. It pulled up along the curb, and sure enough, Danny got out. He was dressed in a nice Polo shirt with dark jeans. He’d been in his nice clothes for his and Kelsie’s date.
I hopped out of the car and walked to meet him. I felt, rather than saw, Connor walking behind me.
“Hey,” I said as we approached and started up the driveway again. “See,” I said, pointing to the purse. “That’s her purse.”
“Okay. Let’s see about looking inside,” Danny said.
As he put on a pair of rubber gloves that he pulled from his pockets, I had to notice he was unusually quiet. Quiet Danny made me nervous. He talked. A lot.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I just don’t like it. Not one bit. I can’t even imagine how this isn’t connected to Sylvia’s case in someway. Chief had no business bringing in amateurs on a murder investigation, no offense.”
“None taken,” I said. “I honestly don’t know why he did, but I’m banking on that he didn’t think he would be one of two prime suspects.”
Both Connor and Danny laughed as we entered the house. Danny’s laughter died away as he took in the scene. The living room was a real mess. A broken lamp. A chair knocked over, and even the coffee table was on its side. It looked like Mandy put up one hell of a fight.
“Didn’t go easy, did she?” Danny said quietly, almost more to himself than anyone else. “That’s my girl.”
I felt pride swell inside me. She hadn’t been an easy target. That was clear. That could be a good or bad thing considering. Bad because the person might be furious. Good because they might be reluctant of her. I wasn’t sure with one was the case, but I was keeping my fingers crossed for the latter.
Danny carefully walked through the house, but he too seemed to think that only the living room has seen any action. Everything else was just too tidy. Especially considering the shape of the living room. It as unlikely that other rooms wouldn’t have been wrecked the same way.
“Too much to hope for that she has security cameras?” Danny asked after a few minutes of looking around.
“Not that I’m aware of, but when this is all over, we both need to get some.”
“Agreed,” Danny said. “If you are gonna help with any cases, you both need cameras in your house.”
I nodded. “See anything helpful?”
“No, but with this struggle, chances are we are talking someone that was similar in size and stature. I mean, if it was someone significantly larger, they could have gotten her a lot easier than this. I mean, Mandy isn’t a big woman.”
“True. I didn’t think about that. I mean, Becky is almost identical in size to Mandy,” I said.
“Wait. The cashier from Sylvia’s? What am I missing?”
“She was fired the day before Sylvia died. Apparently, according to Ms. Pinky, she had been stealing money from the cash register. There was a big blow up and Sylvia fired her. On the other hand, when Mandy and I ran into Becky, she didn’t mention any of this. We found out later from Ms. Pinky.”
“That’s suspicious. Also, she has a motive,” Danny said.
“I know. That’s what I thought, too.”
“Okay, let’s get out of here. We need to leave this scene intact. I’m going to take some pictures of that door and the purse. I will move the purse after that.”
“Okay. Should we take some pics of inside here too, just in case anyone comes back to tidy up?” I asked.
“Smart. Thinking more like a pro,” Danny said, smiling sadly at me. “We will get her back. I promise.”
I noticed he didn’t say alive, and that was what terrified me. I helped him snap photos inside while he handled outside. We text each other what we’d taken so we both had copies. That was also a good idea in case one of use got ourselves into trouble. There were backup copies of the pictures.
A few minutes later, we were standing by the curb outside.
“Do you want to come to my place to try and work some of this out? We can decide if we need to read the chief in or not, together.” I said.
“Fair enough. I think we will have to, but we should talk about it and rule out as much as possible before we do,” Danny said. “You joining us?” He asked Connor.
“Of course. I’m not leaving Carrie until this is wrapped up.”
“Perfect,” said Danny, visibly pleased as could be.
“Let’s go then,” I said.
We all headed in our separate ways. And by all, I mean Danny went to his patrol car, and Connor and I went and got in his car.
“Connor,” I started.
“Stop right there,” he said, “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Fine,” I said. “I just don’t want you getting mixed up in this just because you feel obligated. I can keep you updated if you want to just drop me off at my place.”
“I’m not obligated. I just want to help. In anyway I can. If that means moral support, I’m here for it. If that means making hot tea, then I think you should know that I make a mean cup of tea.”
“What about coffee?” I asked.
“I make a mean cup of coffee, but we will have to stop at the store and grab some. Hope they aren’t closed.”
“Deal.”
So we headed out. I sent a text to Danny letting him know we would be five minutes behind him and to let himself in. We stopped at the little convenience store, and much to my pleasure, found they had a few small cans of ground coffee. We snatched one up and paid.
Then, we were back on the way to my house. As we approached, I notice there were two police cars parked at the curb. My stomach turned, and I was filled with fear.
Had they found Mandy and came to tell me? After all, I was listed as her next of kin and emergency contact on almost everything, even though we weren’t really related.
“Do you see that?” I whispered to Connor.
He glanced my way. “Yeah. Is that Chief Jefferson? What the hell is he doing here?”
And then, I realized that the shit was fixing to hit the fan.
Just ups the stakes!
So the chief is included, whether they like it or not. Oh well.