William Jarvis - Sky Valley 01 - Coffee, Cupcakes & Murder Read online

  “What I really want to know,” Troy said, “is who killed her. Who would do that? And why would someone do that in Time for Coffee? It’s like, whoever did that does not have any respect for the shop and for our name. And poor Annabeth…”

  “Sorry, dad,” Emmy said.

  “No, darling, I’m sorry,” Troy said, “I never wanted you to deal with this. You just came back for heaven’s sake."

  Just then, Audrina arrived and sat down on the pavement beside Emmy. “I feel so tired,” she said, “They questioned me like I was such a criminal, just because I’m the one who’s supposed to be in the kitchen all the time,” she went on, “Troy, I didn’t do it, just so you know.”

  “Don’t worry,” Troy said, “I trust you, Audrina. I know you would never do that.”

  “They don’t, though.”

  “It’s not just you,” Emmy said, “McMahon questioned me like I knew what was going on here all the time when I kept saying that I’ve been gone for so long and that this really isn’t my world anymore."

  “There are no other suspects, that’s why,” Audrina said, “That woman could be such a bitch, and now--”

  “Did you just call my daughter a ‘bitch’?” Tripp Meyer asked. Apparently, he was listening to their conversation the whole time.

  All of them stood up. “Tripp,” Troy said, “My condolences,” he went on, “but Audrina right here is just in a state of shock, like we all are. We were all questioned, you know."

  “Maybe, the suspect is just right under your nose.” Tripp said.

  “You should be careful with your accusations,” Audrina said.

  “And you should be careful with your words,” Tripp said, “You were all questioned for sure,” he went on, “but my darling Annabeth is gone! Gone forever!” He cried loudly. “She won’t ever come back!”

  “Tripp,” Troy said.

  “It’s great that your coffee shop was shut down,” he said. “Maybe other people will get killed because of it! No other person deserves to be killed because of you and your lack of policies!”

  “That is out of line--”

  “Stop it!” Emmy said, “Tripp, we’re really sorry about what happened to Annabeth, but I can assure you, none of us had any reason to kill her, or even hurt her. And you have no right to talk to my father like that. I knew you worked for him before, too, before you became the Tripp Meyer, so you should at least show some respect for him. You should go home. Please.”

  “I can assure you, too,” Tripp said, “that I’ll find whoever did this and he or she will be put to jail for the rest of his life.”

  He then walked away, with some of his bodyguards in tow. No one spoke until they were sure that Tripp was really out of the way.

  “Darling girl,” Audrina said, “Nothing’s darling and sweet about Annabeth."

  “Audrina, will you please calm down?” Daniel said.

  “I just don’t like his tone,” she said. “He’s accusing us.”

  “He lost his daughter,” Emmy said, “It’s normal…but yeah, he’s awful…”

  “Where’s Matthew, by the way?” Daniel asked.

  “I don’t know,” Emmy said, “We’ll figure that out soon.”

  “I don’t know what we’ll do now,” Troy said, “It’s a small town, people will know about this and our other businesses may be put at risk. They’re holding investigations now, but I don’t know…what if—“

  “Relax, dad,” Emmy said, “Don’t worry. We’ll manage. We could still bake stuff at home, I could put up an online store or something, they won’t have to know about its connection to Time for Coffee. And besides, it’s really not your fault. Audrina can work at our other stores-”

  “No one will trust me there,” she said, “They’d think of me as the girl who works for Time for Coffee and--”

  “Fine,” Emmy said, “We’ll work something out. You could stay at home, if you want,” she said, “You can sleep in my room…I don’t sleep there, anyway, I basically sleep at the office,” she laughed.

  “Yeah, that could be good…” Audrina said, “I’ll just…I’ll just get my things at home first…”

  “Alright,” Emmy said, “See you later.” She went on. “Dad, you should go home, too. Or I don’t know, get some air or something…”

  “How about you, darling?” he asked.

  “We’ll be there in a bit, too,” Emmy said, “We’ll probably just be at the office…”

  “Okay,” Troy said, “Sorry again.”

  “It’s okay,” Emmy said, “You have nothing to be sorry about, daddy.”

  But the truth was, she was worried herself, too.

  CHAPTER 6

  THINKING THINGS THROUGH

  “I feel soooooo tired,” Emmy cried out as she slumped down on the couch inside her home office. “God, I hate to blame Annabeth, but even from the grave, she’s dragging us down like this,”

  Daniel looked at her and they laughed, “Sorry," he said.

  “Oh God,” she said, “If the police were around, they’d really think I’m deranged already. Is it wrong to laugh about this?”

  “I don’t know,” Daniel said, handing her another bottle of water from the mini-fridge. He then sat down beside her, “That’s good, though, at least you’re not letting things get to you so much…”

  “I don’t know what to think anymore,” Emmy said, “the thing is…that coffee wasn’t even for her…”

  “What?” Daniel asked, confused.

  “It was meant for me,” Emmy said, “I couldn’t tell the police, or dad, because he’d be even more worried. But, Dan, it was for me.”

  “What do you mean? How could that be?”

  “You see, Annabeth actually ordered French Vanilla Coffee, and Matthew and I both ordered Irish Coffees. Then, at the last minute, she decided that she doesn’t want to drink the Irish Coffee anymore, so she wanted us to switch our coffees and I relented because you know how Annabeth is.”

  “She could be a brat,”

  “Exactly,” Emmy said, “And next thing we knew, she just couldn’t breathe. It was scary, Dan,” she said, “I was so scared…we didn’t know how that happened, and imagine, if she didn’t ask to drink my coffee, I’m probably the one who would have died. And the thing is, I don’t know who hates me that much to want to kill me. You know what I mean?”

  “Or kill Matthew,” Daniel said, “That could be the case, too, since you both ordered those coffees…”

  “And Audrina’s the most obvious suspect, but somehow, I don’t think she did this…” She said, “She seems tough, sure, but she’s nice…”

  “She is nice,” Daniel said, “I trust Audrina.”

  “Really,” she said, “why?”

  Daniel took a deep breath, “Shortly before Ruby and I broke up…Audrina, well…let’s just say that I got so drunk one night and you know, I went to the coffee shop to try to drown my thoughts down in coffee so…you know, I really did not want to go home reeking of alcohol, Em, I just couldn’t. I was drunk because I felt like Ruby and I were going nowhere. I felt that, too. But I didn’t have many friends. Even before, you knew, I was never into the whole social life thing, and that night, I just felt like I was going to blow up and I had to talk to someone about how I felt about everything…and Audrina was there…I told her about my feelings for you--”

  “What?”

  “Well, yeah, Em, I still had feelings for you at that point…I can’t really deny that now,” He went on, “I knew it’s stupid. I mean, we were kids, we were in high school when we were together so…it seemed silly, and I never really got to talk to you while you were in Paris but…Emmy, I still loved you. That’s what I told Audrina. I forgot about the other things that I told her about, but that one I’m sure of.”

  “You loved me."

  “Still do.”

  Emmy laughed, “Nah…Dan…we’ve both changed."

  “I know,” he said, “but that’s one of those things that clearly haven’t changed
.”

  “You don’t know me anymore.”

  “Yeah,” he said, “but I could get to know you again.” He went on. “I’m not saying we should be together right way. I know you, Emmy, you’d just keep running away from this, literally and figuratively.”

  Emmy chuckled, “You still do know me, Dan."

  “See?” he smiled, “but you know…we could take things a day at a time."

  “I can’t promise you anything.”

  “Then don’t,” he said.

  She smiled, “You’re a good man, you know?”

  “So they say,” he said, and held her hand, “I’m here for you, Emmy, all the time, anytime.”

  “Thank you…” she said, “And Dan…” she went on, “I like you, too,” she said, “but…”

  “Ssh,” he said, “Just rest, you don’t have to say anything. Let’s just…make cupcakes tomorrow? Would you like that?”

  “That would be good,” she smiled, “Dad always stocks up on fruits so…”

  “Awesome.”

  “Awesome,” she grinned, “see you tomorrow?”

  “I’ll see you,” he said, “Good night.”

  “Good night, Dan…”

  CHAPTER 7

  SHE BLEEDS

  The following morning, Daniel and Emmy decided to make cupcakes just to lighten the situation. Emmy said that they should make walnut-zucchini pancakes. Daniel sliced the walnuts, while Emmy sliced the zucchinis.

  “This is weird, you know,” Daniel said.

  “What?” Emmy asked, “Using zucchinis for cupcakes?” she grinned, “hey, it’s healthy!"

  “Never pegged you for a health buff…”

  “Just because I love my chocolates doesn’t mean that I don’t care about my health.”

  “Whatever you say…”

  Emmy pre-heated the oven then went on to combine the zucchinis and walnuts together with baking powder, egg, salt, flour, and baking soda in a bowl, “The key is to make sure that they’re all well-blended so that it would taste well, too. You’re right, Dan, this isn’t your usual cupcake and that’s why you have to make sure that you mix the ingredients well…” She smiled and poured the batter onto cupcake pans.

  “Where did you learn all these?”

  “By myself,” she said, “Paris does that to you. Or I guess, any place where you’re alone,” she looked at Daniel, smiled, then placed the cupcakes inside the oven.

  “Do you miss Paris?”

  “Yeah,” she said, “I don’t know…I miss being away, but I guess I have to be here now."

  “Maybe, we’d travel together one day."

  She smiled at him, “Maybe..."

  “Hi?” Audrina said as she went inside the kitchen, “Oh wow, you guys are baking early…” she said, “What do we have for today?” She wore a gray, long-sleeved top, and some shorts, “You should have woken me up so I could cook for you…”

  “Nonsense,” Emmy said, “You’re not working here, per se, Audrina,” she went on, “We’d have that online business all set up soon, but for now, just relax…We’re all just trying to lighten up the situation here…” she smiled.

  “Sorry,” Audrina said, “so…what’s that?”

  “Walnut-Zucchini cupcakes,” Daniel said, “I don’t know, Emmy here has weird taste,”

  “Shut. Up.”, she playfully shoved Daniel.

  “You two should have gotten married."

  “Maybe someday,” Daniel said, and looked at Emmy who blushed, “Kidding,” he said, “or not!"

  “Don’t listen to him,” Emmy said, “Probably didn’t get too much sleep last night…well…I didn’t, either.”

  “Yeah, same here,” Audrina said, and brewed some coffee on the pot, “Hopefully I didn’t lace this with cyanide,” she said, poking fun at herself.

  “Hey…” Emmy said.

  “Kidding,” Audrina said. After brewing coffee, she poured some in the cups on the table, and Emmy noticed some wounds on her left arm, because the sleeve of her shirt rolled up a bit.

  “Audrina,” Emmy said, “what are those?”

  “What?” Audrina said, then noticed that Emmy was looking at the wounds on her arms, “Oh, these…don’t…don’t mind them,” she rolled down her sleeve, “I just…I--”

  “Were you hurting yourself?”

  Audrina sighed, “I’m not proud of it,” she said, “I just have no idea how to release stress sometimes…I’m…sorry…”

  “Oh dear,” Emmy said and hugged her, “You have us now, okay?”

  “I know,” she said, “thanks…it’s just…it’s not easy to let go of all these feelings…I don’t know anymore…”

  “I understand,” Emmy said and took out the cupcakes from the oven, “go and eat, you’d feel better."

  “Thanks, Em,” Audrina said, “Your dad left early, by the way,” she went on, “I think he’s going to the resort, just to check how things are. He’s still pretty much affected and scared of what people would think about the whole franchise."

  “I see,” Emmy said, “So…you were up earlier, too?”

  Audrina seemed to be taken aback by this. It seemed like she was hiding something. “Uhm, yeah, I couldn’t sleep,” she said after a few seconds.

  “Oh. Yes,” Emmy said, “of course."

  Audrina took a bite of the cupcake, “This is good, though."

  “Thanks,” Emmy said then turned to Daniel, “I told you, it’s good!"

  “I like your lemon cupcakes better,” Daniel said, “but these aren’t bad…”

  “Aww, I’m hurt,” Emmy said in mock indignation.

  “Hey, I was only kidding,” They laughed then Emmy spoke, “Audrina,” she said, “so…I just want to know…did Matthew ever…did he ever hurt you while you were together? Do you think he’s capable of that?”

  “No,” she said, “he didn’t…Matthew’s not like that,” she said, “but he plays around a lot."

  “Yeah, he does,” Emmy said.

  Audrina nodded her head, “I did love him,” she said, much to Daniel and Emmy’s surprise, “You know, if you take away the fact that he cheats and that he’s such a liar some days, he actually is a good man. I tried to understand him,” she said, “but…I couldn’t. He hurt me, yeah, because he slept with all those women, but that’s it. He never really hurt me physically...but well, there was that one time--”

  Audrina never really got to finish her sentence because at that moment, Matthew went inside the kitchen, “You should lock your door, Emmy,” he said, “Or wait, maybe the killer’s here.” He was obviously drunk, and it seemed like he also wasn’t able to go to sleep last night.

  “Matthew, what are you doing here?” Emmy asked.

  Matthew didn’t answer here. He readily went towards Audrina and pushed her towards the wall, “Tell them.”

  “Matthew, stop!” Daniel said and tried to pull Matthew away from Audrina, but he was determined to make a point.

  “Don’t tell me to stop, Daniel,” he said, and turned his attention to Audrina once more, “You tell them what you did, Audrina,” he said.

  “You’re insane!” Audrina shouted at Matthew.

  “Yeah?” Matthew said, “Or maybe you are. You tell them what you did, Audrina. Tell them how you killed Annabeth. Tell us why you killed Annabeth. You’re the only one who could do it!”

  “Matt, stop!” Emmy spat, “Goddammit, this isn’t helping--”

  “But she killed Annabeth,” Matthew said, “I know. Tell them now, Audrina. Tell them why.”

  CHAPTER 8

  TWISTED TRUTHS

  “Tell them, Audrina!”

  “Oh for heaven’s sake, Matt,” Audrina said, “Stop it. You’re drunk. And I’m not telling them anything because clearly, there’s nothing to tell.”

  “Yeah?” Matthew said, “but you hated Annabeth with a passion!”

  “Why are you so keen on making me the suspect here?” Audrina asked, “Are you hiding something?”

  “What would
I be hiding, Audrina?”

  “Guys, enough,” Emmy said, “Matt, you can’t just barge in here like that, especially with those accusations. This isn’t your house!”

  “And it’s not her house either!” Matthew said, “But why is she here? Are you hiding her?”

  “You are so sick, Matt,” Emmy said, “Instead of accusing us of all those things, why don’t you just help us try to find out who really did this?”

  “But what if it’s one of you?” He said, “What about you, Daniel?” he said, “You’ve been so quiet trying to stay here and help Emmy out, but really, are you helping? Or are you just hiding something?”

  “I don’t know how many bottles you drank last night, Matthew,” Daniel said, “but I have no reason to hurt or kill Annabeth. I mean, seriously, what would my angle be?”

  “I don’t know,” Matthew said, “Maybe you wouldn’t want Emmy to talk to her, or talk to us, because it would take a lot of her time.”

  “Pretty stupid reasoning,” Daniel said, “You know what? You should drink some water, go home, and take some rest. You’re acting like an idiot.”

  “Don’t you dare call me an idiot,” Matthew said, “You don’t even have a life!”

  “And what life do you have?”

  “Enough!” Emmy said.

  “What about you, Em?” Matthew said, “You could be a suspect, too."

  “You’re not a detective, Matt."

  “Yeah, but you have a lot of reasons to hate her,” Matthew said, “You have always been frenemies. I know that. You know that. And…yeah, yeah she’s such a brat and she could annoy the hell out of you but she was pregnant…and…I don’t know, maybe you hated her a little too much that you thought it would be better if you just, you know, ended her life like that…”

  “Oh Lord,” Emmy said, “Can’t you hear yourself right now, Matt?” she went on, “I would never think of hurting Annabeth like that. I’m no saint, sure, but I would never do that to her. And besides, maybe you’re the one with the angle here. I mean, come on. Maybe you’re not ready for the baby and that’s why you thought of killing her, didn’t you? You knew she’d want to trade coffees with me, is that it? Is this how you want me to think?”