Page 9 of Vows of Murder

Amanda studied the menu carefully. “A double shot mochawith caramel?”

“Sounds good.” I waited for Evie to finish with the customer before stepping up to the register. “Have you been busy all morning?”

“It’s been steady since I opened. The best news is that I’ve sold a book with every coffee.” She smiled at Amanda. “You must be Greg’s mom. You havethe same eyes.”

“I’ve never heard that before.” Amanda smiled at Evie. “But yes, guilty as charged. Maybe I should grab a book while we’re here. I finished the one I broughton the plane.”

“What do you like to read?” I asked. I had sent her books during her treatment, but I’d been working off a list she’d sent me. And the list had been all over the place. Women’s fiction, fantasy, mystery, nonfiction, and even some lawyer mysteries.

“I think I need some fantasy. Where’s your young adult section? I’ll go grab a couple while you’re getting our coffee.”

Evie pointed out the section to Amanda and reached for travel mugs. “You want yourcoffee to go?”

I nodded. “And put this and the books on my account. What’s in the back? Any good advancereader copies?”

The publishers sent out advance copies of books to bookstores to entice them to order the titles. The staff and I tried to make sure every book was read and reviewed for Deek’s newsletter, but we also wrote Staff Pick cards on one new release a month that we fell in love with when we were reading. We all had different favorite genres so we had a lot of variety in the bookswe recommended.

“There’s a new women’s fiction from that author who came here last January. The one that writes books set in New Orleans. And a mystery. I think everyone’s been leaving those for you.” She handed over the cups and held up a finger. “Hold on, I’ll go get them.”

“See if there’s any new fantasy back there too,” I called after her.

Deek had set up a table in the back that held all the advance copies when they came in. They each had a sheet. If you took one, you wrote down your name and made a check if you wrote a review. That way, not everyone reviewed the same book. Although a lot of the popular books got several reads on the sheet before Deek rotated the bookoff the table.

When Evie came back, she had four books in hand. She tucked them into the bag along with the books that Amanda had brought to the counter. Then she handed the bag over to me. “Do you want any treats to go with the coffee?”

“None for me.” I held out my hands to ward off the sugar. “My final fitting is done. I don’t want to gain an ounce between now andnext Saturday.”

“I don’t think it works that way.” Amanda gave me a sideways hug. “But I’ll have one of those snowflakes if you don’t mind.”

“Bag up two, just in case you get hungry on the drive.” I turned toward the door and saw Molly Cordon hurry into the shop. She came up to me and grabbed my arm. “Molly,what’s wrong?”

“You need to help me. The other guy, Deek, told me that you are married to the head cop. That you could help me.” She glanced at Amanda and Evie, who were watching the exchange. “I need to talkto you alone.”

“Come over and sit down. Evie, would you get Molly a cup of coffee? Or would you like cocoa?” I put my arm around her and led her to a tablenear the wall.

“Do you have tea? I’m a little chilled. I’ve been waiting outside for you to show up.” She sank into a chair. “I parked my car behind the bed-and-breakfast where I’m staying and walked into town.”

“Okay.” I still wasn’t sure what she was saying. I turned back to the counter and told Evie to make a hot tea instead. I sat down and waited for Molly’s breathing to slow a little. When Evie brought the teapot and cup, I pushed the basket of tea bags toward Molly. “You pickwhat you want.”

Molly grabbed a cranberry herbal tea out of the pile and took it out of the package, letting it steep in the hot water. She pressed her lips together and looked up at me. “I think someone’s trying to frameme for murder.”

* * * *

I called Greg, and he sent Toby over to take Molly’s statement since Greg and the crew were still out at the mission. She had toldme the story before Toby arrived and kept the same points when she talked to him as I sat there and listened.

“When they kicked me out of the open house on Friday, I left a note for the head guy, Kane Matthews. I told him that I was Carlie’s mother and I just wanted to talk to her. To make sure she was all right. This morning, I got a call from a man. I don’t think it was Kane. He said Mr. Matthews would meet me at the old mission and gave me an address. I asked if Carlie would be there, and the man said that Mr. Matthews wanted to talk with me first. To see if my heart was pure. If it was, he’d let me on the compound to see my daughter.” Molly was on her second cup of tea and her hands had stopped shaking.

“So you drove to the old mission. What time did you get there?” Toby’s voice was calm and warm. Like all he wanted was to hear her story. No worries.

She nodded. “I arrived a few minutes before nine. He said he’d be in the old graveyard. That there was a bench inside the walls where we couldsit and talk.”

“The graveyard. Did you consider that you were being pranked?” Toby hada sweet smile.

This time Molly laughed. “I did a little. But on the off chance that he would let me talk to Carlie? I was going to take the chance. She’s been gonesince October.”

“Okay, so then what happened?” Toby asked.

“I ignored the sign to pay for parking. I want to be completely honest, even if it costs me a fine for not paying the charge. I parked and found a map of the trails. I followed a wooden sign and went over a tiny bridge, then headed to the large building. The graveyard was in a courtyard at the end of the building.” She closed her eyes for a minute. “It was foggy and I could barely see the trail in front of me. I just followed the map. Soon, the adobe wall came into view, and I headed to the far left side and the first opening in the wall.”

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