Thanksgiving Deli Murder (The Darling Deli Series Book 28) Read online

  Moira had almost forgotten that the dogs were with them. She glanced down at Keeva and Maverick. The leashes were clenched in her hand. Both dogs seemed befuddled by all of the activity, and she felt a stab of guilt. She was glad that she had been holding onto their leashes; if she had left them tied up, she probably would have forgotten them completely.

  “Okay,” she said. “Are you okay with that, David?”

  Her husband nodded. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it was hard with all of the blood on him.

  She waited until he was in the back of the police car, then went over to the SUV. With a jolt, she realized that her keys were in the pocket of the bloodstained jacket that was now in the ambulance along with the man. Her car was locked, and there was no way she could open it, let alone start it. She had a spare set of keys at home, but would need David’s house key to get them.

  She ran forward and managed to wave down Detective Jefferson’s car before he pulled out of the lot. After she explained the problem, he paged another officer and asked him to give her and the dogs a ride to her house. David handed her his set of keys, then she told him goodbye for a second time.

  Shivering, she stood by her car with the dogs and waited. Hopefully the police vehicle would get there soon. Without her jacket, she was freezing.

  As she stood there, she suddenly realized just how vulnerable she was. Whoever had shot the man was still out there. They might have done it by accident, but they still would probably want to hide their identity. What if the hunter came back to the parking lot and saw her there? She was glad she had the dogs with her. Anyone meaning to harm her would probably think twice about it with them there.

  At last, she saw the police cruiser pull into the parking lot. The young officer was one that she didn’t recognize. He had her put the dogs in the back seat, and let her ride in the front beside him.

  “Where to, ma’am?” he asked.

  She gave him her address, but had to direct him when they got closer. He parked in front of her house and waited while she put the dogs inside and grabbed a spare coat and an extra set of car keys. Feeling a bit better now that she had the dogs safe and had a new jacket on, she asked him if he’d been in touch with Detective Jefferson at all.

  “No,” he said. “He would call me if anything important had happened. I’m sure your husband is just fine. Ready to go see them?”

  She nodded.

  At the police station, she was directed to Detective Jefferson’s office. David had gotten cleaned up, and had on a fresh shirt from one of the officers. He looked much better, and gave her a hug when she came in.

  “Well, I think we have everything straightened out. I’ll just need to take a statement from you, Moira, then the two of you can go. Someone will drive you back to the park so you can pick up your vehicle.”

  “Did they manage to resuscitate the man?” she asked.

  “No,” he said. “Unfortunately, it was too late. There wasn’t anything that you could have done to help him, so I don’t want you to feel bad about that.”

  “Do you have any idea who shot him?”

  “Not yet. We recorded the license plate numbers of everyone who had parked in the parking lot, and we will be contacting everyone individually. We’re also putting out a reward for any information that is offered up. My hope is that whoever did this will turn themselves in. If it was an accident, that would be the way to go.”

  “It’s so frightening,” Moira said. “It could have been one of us, or the dogs. How could it have been an accident? He was wearing orange.”

  “Unfortunately, some people are just too trigger-happy. They see movement, and then they fire. To be responsible while hunting means not firing until you have a clear line of sight on your target, but some people just get caught up in the moment. There will be serious consequences for whoever did this. Like I said, our hope is that they come forward themselves. If they don’t, someone is bound to have some information.”

  Moira nodded. She was still shaken by what had happened, and she couldn’t imagine what David must be feeling. She wished that they had been able to save the poor man. At least he hadn’t been alone at the end. She would just have to hope that he had taken some comfort in that.

  After what seemed like hours, she pulled into their driveway. David had hardly said a word on the trip back to the park, and then back to the house. She turned off the engine.

  “Are you going to be okay?” she asked him.

  He nodded. “I’m just beating myself up. I keep thinking that if I had run faster, or if I had taken more first aid classes, I might have been able to save him.”

  “You heard what Detective Jefferson said. There was nothing we could have done.”

  “I know. But, it’s just hard. I watched a man die in front of me. I had his blood on my hands.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she said. “Whoever shot him is the one who should be feeling like this, not you. Come on, let’s go inside. We can start a fire, and I’ll make some hot chocolate or warm apple cider. If you want to talk about it, we can, or we can just sit together.”

  He nodded. She gave his hand a squeeze, then opened the driver’s side door. It hadn’t exactly been the relaxing day off together that she had envisioned.

  CHAPTER SIX

  * * *

  When Moira woke up Sunday morning, David was already awake and on his way out the door. He paused to give her a kiss and say goodbye, but she could tell that his mind was elsewhere. She didn’t ask where he was going. He had his own way of processing things, and her guess was that he would be spending the day at the brewery, experimenting with new drafts or just cleaning and tending to his equipment. He found it relaxing, something that she could understand; she felt the same way about working in the deli.

  She wasn’t scheduled for that day, and she knew that her employees probably enjoyed having some time without her there, so she didn’t want to go in on a day off and disturb them. She decided to turn her attention instead to Thanksgiving; it was less than a week away. She had already bought the essentials for the meal, and her fridge was full of food, as was her freezer. The turkey took up almost all of the room, in fact.

  As she looked at the wealth of food in her fridge and freezer, she realized that she had probably outdone herself. Candice and Eli would be spending Thanksgiving on their own, in their new apartment. She didn’t blame them; they were a young family, and wanted to do their own thing. Thanksgiving at her house would be just her, David, and Reggie, Eli’s grandfather. As far as she was concerned, the more the merrier, especially on holidays. They had invited David’s sister, Karissa, but she already had plans of her own.

  Looking at the food in the fridge, she realized that they definitely had enough for more than just the three of them. Who else could she invite? The answer was obvious; Thelma and Allison. She wasn’t sure if either of them had plans for the holiday, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

  She reached for her phone, then hesitated. She should probably ask David first, but she didn't want to bother him while he was trying to figure things out. She settled for sending him a text message.

  A few minutes later, she got one back. “It's fine,” he said. Something about the shortness of his reply made her wonder if it really was alright with him.

  Should I call and ask him again? She wondered. She decided against it. She didn't want to bother him. If he really didn't want Thelma and Allison to come for Thanksgiving, he would have said so. He was an adult, after all, and he could say what he meant if it was important to him.

  Still worried about her husband, she called Thelma. The older woman answered after a few rings. Moira got right to the point of her call.

  “Would you and Allison like to come over for Thanksgiving dinner? It's just going to be David and me, and Eli’s grandfather. Candice and Eli are doing their own thing for the holiday, and I have all of this extra food. I'd love it if you could come over.”

  “I'm not sure,” Thelma said. “I'd
love to, but Allison still hasn't told me what she wants to do for Thanksgiving. I mentioned spending it together, but she hasn't confirmed yet. If she is planning on it being just the two of us, I don't want to upset her.”

  “Do you mind if I ask her?” Moira said. “I should see her tomorrow at the deli.”

  “Go ahead, and let me know what she says. I just want her to be happy, the poor girl.”

  Moira said goodbye and ended the call, feeling even worse than she had before. Now she had both David and Allison to worry about. Both of them were struggling through their own problems, and neither wanted to talk about it.

  “What's happening with the world?” she muttered.

  Wanting the comfort of talking to someone who would understand, she dialed her daughter’s number. It felt wonderful to hear Candice's voice.

  “Hey, sweetie, how are you doing?” she said.

  “Good. Busy, though. I’ve been working a lot. Eli is doing well. How are you guys?”

  “I wish I could say good,” Moira said. “Do you have some time to talk?”

  “Of course. You have me worried now, Mom.”

  “Sorry, sweetie,” Moira said. “We’re all fine, it’s just a couple of things have happened recently.”

  She told her daughter about the man that she and David had found in the woods the day before. It was good to talk to someone about it. She wished that David would do the same with her. She was sure that he would feel better if he did.

  “Oh my gosh, Mom, that’s terrible,” her daughter said. “I’m sorry. Maybe I should come back. I could just tell Eli that I want to have Thanksgiving with you guys…”

  “No,” Moira said. “You should do your own thing together if that is what you want. We’ll be fine. I don’t want you to worry about us, I just wanted someone to talk to.”

  “Do you know who he was?” her daughter asked. “The guy who died?”

  “Yes. His name was Norman Maines. I didn’t know him personally, though.”

  “The name isn’t familiar to me, thank goodness,” her daughter said. “And everyone thinks it was a hunting accident?”

  “That’s what they’re saying so far,” Moira said.

  “It kinda makes you wonder if it was on purpose, you know? If it was an accident, you would think whoever shot him would be frantic and try to get help.”

  “While that is something that you and I would try to do, I think there are quite a few people out there who would rather save their own skins if they did something like that. It’s a sad truth about the world.”

  “I know,” her daughter said, sighing. “Do you know anything about him other than his name?”

  “I don’t. I suppose I could look him up online,” she said.

  “It’s not important, I’m just glad the two of you are okay. How’s Allison doing?”

  “She’s still processing everything,” Moira said. “I think it will just take her some time. Has she said anything to you?”

  “Not for the past few days, but like I said, I’ve been pretty busy. She keeps beating herself up that she didn’t know he was her father, but I keep telling her there is no way that she could have known. None of us knew.”

  Moira knew that emotions were rarely logical. She felt guilty about it as well; she had noticed the similarities between Allison and Candice back before Allison had even started working for her. In retrospect, she felt as if she should have guessed the truth, even though she knew that was ridiculous.

  “I just feel like everything is falling apart,” she said. “David’s upset, Allison’s upset, you live hours away, and I feel like I’m in a rut at the deli.”

  “Mom, that’s ridiculous. The holidays are coming up, and you’ll be busier than ever before you know it. Eli and I will be back for Christmas, and Allison just found out some pretty huge news. It’ll take a while for her to get used to it. I’m sure David will come around in a day or two, and everything will be fine. Just take a deep breath and relax.”

  “Thanks,” the Moira said with a wry smile. “Now that you mention it, I’ll do just that, and I’m sure it will fix everything.”

  “I know it’s easier said than done, but I’ve been trying not to worry about things I can’t control. You should try the same thing. It’s a good feeling.”

  “I’ll try.” “I love you, Candice. Thanks for talking. Tell Eli I say hi, I’m looking forward to seeing the two of you next month. I know that David is too.”

  “I will,” Candice said. “I love you too, Mom. Bye.”

  Moira had just sat her phone down when it rang. Thinking it was Candice calling back, she answered it without checking the number. It took her a moment to realize that the person she was talking to was Allison, not her daughter.

  “Ms. D., you should get to the deli right away,” her employee said. “Someone just tried to break into the kitchen. I called the police and they will be here soon.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  * * *

  Moira rushed to the deli, her other problems forgotten in her desperation to see what damage had been done. Allison hadn’t given her much information over the phone. She had been understandably upset, and Moira had been more concerned with getting to the scene of the crime than with pressing her for information. All she knew was that no one was hurt.

  The deli’s parking lot already had a pair of police vehicles in it when she pulled up. She got out of her car and hurried inside, coming face to face with Detective Jefferson.

  “There you are,” he said. “I knew you wouldn’t be long.”

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “Someone tried to break in through the side door,” he said. “Your employees called the police right away. You are lucky that they hadn’t opened for the day yet. I don’t know what would have happened if whoever did this had been able to just walk in through the front door.”

  “Why would someone try to break in during the middle of the day?” she asked. “It doesn’t make sense.”

  “I agree, it doesn’t. I’m concerned that they may not have been here to rob the place. Their actions make me think that they were there to hurt someone.”

  The words chilled Moira. Who would want to hurt one of her employees? She remembered the man dressed in black who had been there the week before. David was right; she should have told Jefferson immediately.

  “Someone was here last week acting oddly,” she said. “I saved the security footage from that morning. We can compare the tapes if the camera outside the side entrance caught them today.”

  With everything that had happened, she decided to keep the deli shut for the rest of the day. She locked the front doors, then she, her employees, and Detective Jefferson gathered to watch the security footage on her tablet. She brought up the footage from the week before and played it, pointing out the strange man to the detective. Then, she brought up this morning’s footage. There was a single security camera outside the side entrance. Fortunately, it had caught the perpetrator on tape; unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any identifying features. The person was dressed in black, and was wearing a ski mask. From the angle of the camera, it was impossible to compare the person’s height with the man who had visited the deli the week before.

  “Do you happen to have the man’s name?” Detective Jefferson asked.

  “No,” Moira said. “Unless Allison managed to get it. She was on shift when he was here.”

  The other woman shook her head. “Sorry, no. He only paid with cash, and he never mentioned his name.”

  The detective frowned. “Well, right now he is our only suspect,” he said. “I’ll take this footage and see what I can do. I’ll also have a car patrol outside the deli for the next couple of days. If anything feels off, don’t hesitate to give the station a call.”

  Moira thanked him for everything. Between the hunting accident victim and this, she had certainly taken up a lot of the police’s time over the past few days. What was going on? Things really did seem to be falling apart. First
Allison, then David, and now the deli? It seemed as if everything that could go wrong was doing so.

  “The two of you should go home,” she said to her employees. “Take the rest of the day off, and be careful. I’ll be here first thing Monday morning, and I’ll stick around all day in case anything else happens. Thank you so much for handling today. I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

  “It’s fine, Ms. D.,” Jenny said. “It was frightening, but I’m just glad that he didn’t manage to get in. For once, I’m thankful that the door locks automatically.”

  Moira chuckled despite herself. They had all been locked out at one time or another by the side door. She was glad that it finally came to good use.