Goddess, Guilted Read online

  Josie waved them over. “I got a pulse on the second try. He might have a chance.”

  “Who is it?” Cindy peered around Josie.

  “Jerry McIntyre from Corner Mercantile.”

  Cindy went to the other side of Jerry and gently lifted his face. She leapt to her feet as two paramedics bounded toward her. “Let’s get him in there, STAT!”

  While the paramedics worked on Jerry, Josie turned to her sister. She pulled out a small notebook. “Tell me exactly what happened.”

  I hovered around the steps, trying to stay out of everyone’s way. They were the proverbial well-oiled machine, however, and just worked around me. Josie interviewed her sister, her face a mask. Angelica, though not quite as beautiful as her big sister, had a quiet beauty of her own, though it was hard to see it right now. Her eyes were wide, her hair was a rats’ nest, and she breathed hard as deputies swabbed her hands for the blood evidence.

  Glancing at my phone, I realized Josie and I were not going to make it to the diner for dinner. Cindy, either, for that matter. I texted CeCe my apologies. She was not going to be happy with us, but there was nothing to be done about it.

  CeCe responded quickly as if she had been waiting to hear from me. We heard the news. No worries. See you at breakfast.

  I frowned at my phone. CeCe normally liked her world orderly and predictable, well, as predictable as it can be when one is hyped up on her shop’s caffeine. And how had they heard the news so fast? News practically travels by osmosis in small towns.

  I was still frowning when Neil appeared at my side. “Mariah, are you all right?”

  I nodded, clasping my arms around me in a hug, keeping my phone handy. “It’s hard to believe, though. I just talked to Jerry this morning at the store. He … never mind.”

  “Never mind, what?”

  “He seemed … sober. A lot different than last night at the pizza place.”

  Neil awkwardly patted my shoulder, then pulled a small notebook from his pocket. My eyes riveted to that teeny-tiny, infernal notebook.

  “Oh no, not again. Not the notebook. We’re doing this again?”

  Neil’s brow furrowed as he went into another pocket for a pen. “Did you walk into another crime scene?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “Then we’re doing it again. So, what did you see?”

  Tucking my phone back in my jacket pocket, I told him how we had come around the corner to find Angelica holding the knife.

  “She was standing over him with a knife?” He repeated the words, an incredulous expression on his face. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course, I’m sure, and her hands were bloody, but-“

  “But what?”

  “She didn’t look to me like she had just stabbed someone.”

  “Because you’ve seen how many people stab someone?” He raised an eyebrow as he scribbled in his infernal notebook.

  I fixed a cold gaze on him. “You asked what I saw and I’m telling you.”

  “You’re giving me commentary.”

  “Then go ask someone else.” I huffed out a breath. “Oh, wait, you can’t. Josie and I were the only ones there.”

  We both heavy-sighed at each other, then turned as one to look at the man on the steps. As the paramedics lifted him onto the gurney, a piece of paper fell from his hand.

  “Look, Neil. He had something in his hand.”

  Neil was already moving toward the paper, so I scooted behind him, so close I stepped on his heels. He turned to look at me.

  “Mariah, are you a law enforcement officer?”

  I bit my lip and shook my head.

  “Then stay out of the crime scene.”

  I pointed frantically at the piece of paper, which I could see was crumbled and damp. Neil pulled an evidence bag from his pocket, slipped on gloves and reached down with his pencil to pick up the paper.

  He held it up so I could see it, which I thought was a gesture of conciliation until I realized the paper was a flyer for Tamara’s “Find Your Goddess Within” workshop.

  Neil’s eyes met mine for a beat longer than necessary. I wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad, so I broke my eyes away and looked toward the ground. I spied a small red stone that was partly caked in dirt. I started to reach for it and stopped myself.

  “Neil.” I waved him back over and pointed to the rock. “That rock doesn’t look like it belongs here on the sidewalk.”

  Neil frowned at the rock then at me. “It’s hard to say how long it’s been there, Mariah.”

  “Perhaps your deputies missed it and it’s evidence.”

  Neil bristled, but instead of chewing me out, he reached into a pocket and pulled out an evidence bag. He calmly reached down and picked up the stone, pausing to consider it, then dropped it into the bag. He looked me square in the eyes as he sealed the bag. “There. Happy?”

  My shoulders dropped and my mouth fell open at his condescending attitude. “If it’s important, you’ll thank me.”

  “Anything else you want to tell me about the crime scene, Mariah?” Neil’s voice had just a touch of irritation. I wanted to hold back and not tell him anything else, but I knew he had to know what Jerry had said. I told Neil how Jerry had mumbled “goddess.”

  Neil blew out a breath. “You’re sure that’s what he said? Did anyone else hear?”

  “I’m sure, and no. Right after he said it, the paramedics arrived and it was too loud.”

  Neil stood deep in thought, one hand clasping the evidence bag and his notebook, the other covered his mouth. He quirked an eyebrow in my direction. “He said ‘goddess.’ You’re sure?”

  “You already asked me that. I’m sure. I wish I wasn’t. He said ‘goddess’.”

  As if on cue, the back door of the hotel opened. The Yoga Goddess stepped one foot out the door and looked quickly around as if she was seeing who was around. She stopped when she saw the crowd of people at the bottom of the steps and then jolted as Deangelo ran into her from the back and.

  A soft click behind me distracted me. Maya Anderson stood there, her smart phone zeroed in on Tamara and Deangelo. She saw me looking, raised her eyebrows and shrugged, then turned and walked toward Jerry’s body, her camera clicking along the way.

  “What’s going on?” Tamara stepped further onto the porch and gasped when she saw Jerry lying on the gurney, his face covered with an oxygen mask as paramedics fought to save his life. “Who is that? What happened?”

  Neil stepped smartly past the gurney and up the stairs. “It’s Jerry McIntyre, Tamara. Do you know him?”

  Tamara blew out a breath. “Of course,” she said in a voice that sounded much different than the breathy one she had used at my studio. “We used to visit here when I was a kid, remember? We talked about it last night. I went to their store a lot.”

  Neil eyed her and pursed his lips, then motioned for her to move down the stairs. She paused at the gurney, an odd expression on her face, then lifted her shoulders and turned away.

  “Anderson!” Neil’s bark brought everyone’s eyes toward him, except Maya’s. She was focused on the scene around the ambulance. Without looking at Neil, she tucked her phone into her purse and pulled out a notebook, looking at him expectantly.

  “No comment, Anderson. We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet. Go over to the sidewalk until we’re done.” Neil pointed toward where a small crowd of onlookers had gathered.

  “People have a right to know what’s going on, Detective.” Maya’s feet stayed where they were.

  “They will, as soon as we know. Now move, before I arrest you for obstruction.”

  Maya reluctantly backed up to the sidewalk, keeping her eyes on the scene before her. For a small-town reporter, she sure didn’t miss much.

  I scooted over next to her. “How did you get here so fast?”

  Maya shrugged. “I was in the neighborhood and saw the crowd. My nose always knows when news is happening.”

  “Do you know Jerry well?”

&nb
sp; She shrugged. “As well as anyone, I guess. He made the crime blotter enough with his ‘drunk and disorderly’.”

  Angelica was taken to the sheriff’s station as Tamara and Deangelo were questioned inside the hotel. Josie had maintained her usual firm demeanor maintaining the crime scene, but as her sister was driven off, her face crumbled. She ducked her chin toward her chest and turned away. She looked toward me with a half-hearted wave, then turned to walk down the street to the station, her head down.

  Neil pulled me back over toward the hotel steps and finished taking my statement. Then he peered at me straight in the eyes. “Mariah, you’ve been very helpful. Now go home. Let the Sheriff’s Department handle this.”

  My mouth fluttered open a few times as I tried to stammer out a response that I had been quite helpful in the last investigation.

  “Mariah, go home.”

  From Neil’s tone, it sounded like an order. I took it as a suggestion, however, and headed immediately to CeCe’s Coffee Shop. Maybe I could catch her before she left and we could still do dinner together and talk about Jerry’s assault. It wasn’t super late.

  Chairs were turned upside down on the tables at the coffee shop, but I could see CeCe through the windows. I tapped at the front door. She greeted me with a surprised look on her face.

  “What’s up? I thought you were being grilled over at the hotel.”

  She stood at the door, casually blocking the entrance. I made a face. “Ha ha. We just got done so I came to see if you still wanted dinner. Glad I caught you.”

  “Well, um.” CeCe turned to look over her shoulder. I caught a glimpse of her head barista, Paul, wiping down the counter. “I’m kind of busy.”

  Realization dawned and my mouth fell open. “What? You’re standing me up?”

  “That’s not fair. You stood me up first.” CeCe stood in the doorway, her hand on her hip. “So I filled in the blank. But I will see you in the morning.”

  She gently closed the door and locked it. With a little wave of her fingers, she turned back toward the interior of her shop.

  I closed my mouth, then sighed and wondered if I had any food at home.

  Chapter 4

  Right after the morning Sun Salutations class, I locked the studio and sprinted to CeCe’s. Eating before doing an hour of mostly Sun Salutations makes me nauseous, which means I’m typically starving by the time I finish this class. I was beginning to wish I hadn’t scheduled it for two days a week.

  I hadn’t heard yet from Josie this morning, but she and Cindy often met us for breakfast at CeCe’s. Cindy was the only one of the four of us married, so we made it a point to get together for meals when we could.

  CeCe looked in my direction as the door dinged over my head. She wiped her hands on the apron around her waist and bustled over to meet me at a table. She sat down quickly.

  “How are you doing? I can’t believe you and Josie found Jerry. Did you hear the latest?”

  “I’m fine. What’s the latest?”

  “He didn’t make it.”

  I closed my eyes and nodded. He had seemed so close to death last night that I could feel it.

  All of the small business owners on Main Street knew each other, including Sandy and Jerry. We all knew Jerry hadn’t been running the Corner Mercantile for the past few years, perhaps longer. Sandy had been holding down that particular family fort. I’d tried to get Sandy to take a break and come practice yoga with us, but she had not yet taken me up on my offer of a free class or two, even when bags hung under her eyes and large creases framed her face, her dish-water blond hair hanging behind in a limp pony tail.

  “I’ll try,” she usually told me with a weary smile. “It’s tough to get away from this place sometimes.”

  I leaned back, letting my head relax on the booth. “I feel so bad for him and for Sandy. How did she take the news?”

  CeCe unconsciously wiped at the table with a cloth and shrugged, then looked up as Josie slid into the booth across from me.

  “She took it as well as can be expected.” Josie answered my question as she sipped her coffee – straight up black – out of a to-go cup.

  “Why are you wearing your uniform? I thought you were on night patrol.”

  “Your sister put me on the front desk until the case against my sister is closed.”

  My mouth made a little “o” as CeCe and I exchanged glances.

  Josie just shook her head, spinning the cup with her fingers. “It’s okay. I get it. I mean, I don’t get it, but I get it. Ya know?”

  “Did you get that?” I turned to CeCe.

  “I got it.”

  Josie stared at us. Her expression said she was not amused.

  “It’s just like—”

  “Don’t even say it, Mariah.” Josie’s face turned sour as she held up a hand. “It is not just like when you were accused of murder and Cindy couldn’t help solve it. At least she got to keep doing her job. I’m stuck on desk duty.”

  She picked up her coffee fiercely, spilling some over the edge. CeCe leaned forward to wipe it up but stopped when she saw Josie’s expression. She backed up. “I’m just going to get you both some pastries. Sit tight.”

  She jumped up and scooted away, leaving me to handle Josie in a way that didn’t involve sweets.

  “To be fair, Cindy is an elected official, so she got to keep her job.” Josie turned her stone-faced gaze to me, so I sped things up. “What can I do to help?”

  Josie shrugged and shook her head.

  “Josie, you have been my friend since I moved here. You’re always there for me. You even come to yoga class when I know you don’t really like it all that much.”

  A smile played at Josie’s mouth. Then she turned serious again as she looked at me across the table, her dark eyes seeming even darker than usual.

  “I feel so helpless, Mariah. Neil has both Angelica and Deangelo in his sights and I don’t know how to stop him.”

  I remembered that feeling well. “Josie, remember satya. We talked about it in class the other day.”

  She frowned. “Satya. Like truthfulness?”

  “Something like that. Satya is being able to see the truth in situations without judgment, just seeing things as they really are.” I peered at her more closely. “Keep an open mind and eventually, truth will out. I really believe that.”

  “That seems easier to do than ahimsa right now.”

  “Why do you say that?” I was a little afraid of what her answer might be. Ahimsa, another of yoga’s guiding principles, referred to nonviolence.

  “Because when I find out who actually killed Jerry, it might be hard for me to stay non-violent.”

  I laughed awkwardly, hoping she was making a joke, but Josie didn’t laugh with me. I looked around the table for my usual mocha, then realized I had forgotten to order it in my rush to talk with CeCe. I looked toward the counter and mimed drinking coffee to CeCe. She nodded and reached for a coffee mug. I turned back to Josie, relieved that my coffee was on the way.

  “Will you help me?” Josie sat a little bit straighter and leaned across the table. “I cannot even believe I’m saying this, but seriously. You and CeCe were good at talking to all those people when Neil was focused on you. Maybe you can help me find a way to prove Angelica is innocent?”

  I reached across the table and covered Josie’s hand with mine. “Of course, we’ll do anything we can to help.”

  “We will?” CeCe stood by the table with a small plate with both plain and chocolate-filled croissants and a mocha for me.

  “Double shot? Extra chocolate?”

  CeCe brushed away my questions, her eyes on Josie’s. Worry lines creased her face as she sat down, sliding the croissants to the middle and the mocha in front of me. I sipped the mocha, relieved to taste the strong extra shot of coffee and the extra chocolate.

  “Weren’t you the one who said we should let qualified law-enforcement officers handle the investigation?” CeCe did not sound happy. “ ‘Don’t get invo
lved,’ you told us. ‘Stay out of Neil’s way,’ you told us. Now you want us to help you?”

  CeCe crossed her arms and stared across the table.

  Josie dropped her eyes toward her cup. “Well, to be honest, I was really only asking Mariah.”

  She reached for a croissant, but CeCe jerked the plate away.

  “You don’t think I can help?”

  Josie started laughing and I joined in.

  “She’s just messing with you.” I gently took the plate from CeCe and pushed it toward Josie, who quickly pulled off part of the croissant, then shoved it into her mouth before CeCe could snatch it back.

  “Of course, we’ll help, Josie.” I nibbled on my own piece of croissant as I made eye contact with CeCe. She nodded subtly, then uncrossed her arms and stared at the spot of spilled coffee on the table.

  “It’s killing you, isn’t it?” Josie spoke between bites.

  CeCe nodded.

  “Okay, you can clean it up.”

  Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, CeCe reached over and wiped the table as Josie lifted her cup so she could swipe underneath. The coffee house owner’s fits of neatness were fodder for jokes and pranks, but in the end, we did try to help her keep her business clean.

  I had been thinking as CeCe swiped at the table. “This is a good idea. We can totally help clear Angelica. We figured out who killed Patricia before the cops did.”

  “Sheriff’s deputies.” Josie quickly corrected me.

  “Whatever.”

  “You also almost got yourself killed.”

  I closed my mouth, biting back a retort and sitting back in my seat.

  “Yeah, that’s actually true.” I turned to CeCe. “We just need to figure out who did it, then get out of the way and let the cops handle it.”

  “So we don’t die.”

  “Yes, so we don’t die.”

  “Sounds like a good plan.” CeCe sat back, unconsciously folding the cloth into fourths and setting it on the table in front of her as Josie and I chewed and sipped in silence.

  “What is the evidence against Angelica, besides that she was standing over the body with the murder weapon?” I figured we might as well start gathering the details. “Which is a problem, by the way. Also, she’s really strong. I’ve seen her in class.”