could get a way hotter chick than Rhonda.”
“Thank you,” I said dryly. “Now do you want me to tell you where I found the pendant?”
“Nope. I’m having too much fun guessing. How about…buried in the backyard with a treasure chest full of booty, me hearty? Arrr.”
I rolled my eyes at Pete’s bad pirate impression. “No. And I don’t think pirates ever got this far inland.”
“Right. So I’ve only got one more guess?”
“Yep. Make it count.”
“Okay. You found it tucked away in the kitchen somewhere, by someone trying to make sure that no one else found it.”
Startled, I replied, “Yes, actually. Do you know something you’re not telling me?”
“Yeah, Dave bought this necklace last week to give to Charlene for her birthday.”
“If you knew all about it, then why did you play my guessing game?”
“Because I like to make you laugh.” He looked down at the pendant and frowned. “He was so excited about this. He found it at an estate sale a couple of blocks away and ran back over to show it to me. Evidently Charlene would always tear their house apart looking for her birthday presents, so he said he was going to keep it here in a safe place. Where was it?”
“In this container.” I gestured to the cornstarch tub. “In the freezer.”
“Strange place, but I guess it was well hidden. Until you found it, of course.”
“That’s not all I found. Take a look at the rest of the stuff that was in the tub. There’s mail belonging to three students at Vanderbilt and a handwritten note.” I handed him the papers. “What would Dave be doing with college kids’ mail?”
Pete shrugged. “Hell if I know. And it’s really none of my business.” He set the items down on the desk.
I replied thoughtfully, “Not normally, no. But since we’re looking for reasons as to why Dave went and got himself killed, I’d say everything’s our business. Look, this was obviously Dave’s secret stash, which he didn’t want found. The tub was on the top shelf of the freezer, wedged behind a bag of crabmeat, which we rarely use. If you consider how well he hid this stuff, it all seems like it could be pretty important.” My eyes grew wide. “Do you think any of it could have something to do with why he was killed?”
He blew out a breath. “That’s kind of a stretch, Jules.”
I knew that, but it was also intriguing. After all, Dave
had
been killed outside, mere steps away from his stash. These were the only physical clues we had. Maybe it wasn’t such a stretch after all.
Putting the items back into the tub, I said, “I need to get back and help Brandon, but I’m going to take another look at these things later.” I stopped at the pendant and instead handed it to Pete. “You should take this to Charlene. Dave probably would have wanted her to have it.”
He took a step away and held up his hands. “Oh, no. I’m not going back over there to that nympho!”
“What will you do, keep it?”
He hesitated for a moment, and then took the jewelry box from me. “I’ll mail it to her.”
“Chickenshit.”
“You know it.”
Pete got his lunch to go, promising to return later to help. It had to be hard on him to work all day and then come over here and work all evening. I was used to working all hours from running my own place, because you pretty much had to be there every minute your restaurant was open in order to keep things working smoothly. But Pete was used to sitting in his control room, calmly turning knobs and listening thoughtfully to music. These last few months must have been stressful on him, because he looked like he had aged since his father’s funeral. That was another reason I wanted to make Java Jive a success again—so Pete could go back to doing what he loved and quit worrying about this place.
I was never so happy to see some college kids than when they arrived for their evening shift. Now that Logan and Shane were here to help Brandon, I was off kitchen duty,
“Thank you,” I said dryly. “Now do you want me to tell you where I found the pendant?”
“Nope. I’m having too much fun guessing. How about…buried in the backyard with a treasure chest full of booty, me hearty? Arrr.”
I rolled my eyes at Pete’s bad pirate impression. “No. And I don’t think pirates ever got this far inland.”
“Right. So I’ve only got one more guess?”
“Yep. Make it count.”
“Okay. You found it tucked away in the kitchen somewhere, by someone trying to make sure that no one else found it.”
Startled, I replied, “Yes, actually. Do you know something you’re not telling me?”
“Yeah, Dave bought this necklace last week to give to Charlene for her birthday.”
“If you knew all about it, then why did you play my guessing game?”
“Because I like to make you laugh.” He looked down at the pendant and frowned. “He was so excited about this. He found it at an estate sale a couple of blocks away and ran back over to show it to me. Evidently Charlene would always tear their house apart looking for her birthday presents, so he said he was going to keep it here in a safe place. Where was it?”
“In this container.” I gestured to the cornstarch tub. “In the freezer.”
“Strange place, but I guess it was well hidden. Until you found it, of course.”
“That’s not all I found. Take a look at the rest of the stuff that was in the tub. There’s mail belonging to three students at Vanderbilt and a handwritten note.” I handed him the papers. “What would Dave be doing with college kids’ mail?”
Pete shrugged. “Hell if I know. And it’s really none of my business.” He set the items down on the desk.
I replied thoughtfully, “Not normally, no. But since we’re looking for reasons as to why Dave went and got himself killed, I’d say everything’s our business. Look, this was obviously Dave’s secret stash, which he didn’t want found. The tub was on the top shelf of the freezer, wedged behind a bag of crabmeat, which we rarely use. If you consider how well he hid this stuff, it all seems like it could be pretty important.” My eyes grew wide. “Do you think any of it could have something to do with why he was killed?”
He blew out a breath. “That’s kind of a stretch, Jules.”
I knew that, but it was also intriguing. After all, Dave
had
been killed outside, mere steps away from his stash. These were the only physical clues we had. Maybe it wasn’t such a stretch after all.
Putting the items back into the tub, I said, “I need to get back and help Brandon, but I’m going to take another look at these things later.” I stopped at the pendant and instead handed it to Pete. “You should take this to Charlene. Dave probably would have wanted her to have it.”
He took a step away and held up his hands. “Oh, no. I’m not going back over there to that nympho!”
“What will you do, keep it?”
He hesitated for a moment, and then took the jewelry box from me. “I’ll mail it to her.”
“Chickenshit.”
“You know it.”
Pete got his lunch to go, promising to return later to help. It had to be hard on him to work all day and then come over here and work all evening. I was used to working all hours from running my own place, because you pretty much had to be there every minute your restaurant was open in order to keep things working smoothly. But Pete was used to sitting in his control room, calmly turning knobs and listening thoughtfully to music. These last few months must have been stressful on him, because he looked like he had aged since his father’s funeral. That was another reason I wanted to make Java Jive a success again—so Pete could go back to doing what he loved and quit worrying about this place.
I was never so happy to see some college kids than when they arrived for their evening shift. Now that Logan and Shane were here to help Brandon, I was off kitchen duty,
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