Gia whirled toward the dining room. A scream like that could only mean trouble.
Alyssa huffed and waved a hand to stop her. “Don’t even bother. Those people have done nothing but argue with and scream at one another since they got here. The whole bunch of them. Whatever their latest problem is, they can work it out among themselves. I’m tired of playing referee, and I’m quite tempted, at this point, to just tell them to go somewhere else.”
“How many of them are there?” Savannah asked.
“Only four—the bride, Robyn, her fiancé, Jeremy, her son, Isaac, and her maid of honor, Mallory—but it seems like a lot more. Thankfully, one of them didn’t show up. Although, who knows? Maybe he would have been the voice of reason.” Alyssa’s jaw clenched, deep lines bracketing her mouth. “None of them can agree on a single thing, except that everything I’ve offered is not good enough.”
A pang of sympathy shot through Gia. Thankfully, the All-Day Breakfast Café didn’t often have difficult customers, but when they did…well, certain people just had a way of sapping every last ounce of your energy. At least when she’d worked for the deli in New York, she’d been able to pass those customers off to the owner. Here, she was the owner, so she had no choice but to plaster on a smile and make the best of it, which is what she was betting Alyssa would ultimately do with this group, when she was done venting.
With a quick glance toward the curtains, Alyssa sighed. “I just feel bad for Robyn, the bride.”
“I know what you mean,” Savannah said. “We saw her and her son arguing out front a few minutes ago. It doesn’t seem like she’s getting any joy out of her wedding.”
Gia patted her arm. While she felt bad for Robyn, her first concern had to be Savannah, and she wasn’t about to let anything interfere with her happiness.
“So, then…” Gia tapped the picture of the cake and grinned. “The mistletoe cake it is?”
A second scream erupted from the dining room, followed by a loud crash. A man’s voice demanding someone call 911 propelled Gia through the curtains into the dining room.
Robyn lay on the floor, a chair tipped on its side next to her.
Her son, Isaac, and two other people, one man Gia assumed was Robyn’s fiancé, Jeremy, and one woman—presumably Robyn’s maid of honor, Mallory, and probably the one who’d screamed—stood staring at her. No one made any attempt to move toward the woman, nor did anyone pull out a phone to call for help.
Gia dropped to her knees beside Robyn and felt for a pulse. Nothing. There had to be something, because the first aid course she once took seemed like a distant memory when confronted with an actual emergency. It would be so much better for Robyn to have someone who actually knew what they were doing.
She closed her eyes, trying to block out the heightened sounds surrounding her, a clock ticking, traffic passing on the road out front, the heavy breathing of a room full of people who appeared to be in a collective state of shock, Savannah’s strained voice as she called for an ambulance. Gia pressed her fingers against Robyn’s neck, concentrated on feeling for the flutter that would indicate even the slightest hint of life. Still nothing. She held a shaky hand beneath Robyn’s nose. She was no longer breathing. “Does anyone know CPR?”
Savannah was still on the phone, rambling off the address. She hit the speaker button, knelt beside Gia, tossed the phone on the floor beside her, and started chest compressions.
This woman was dying, and apparently none of her companions were going to step up to help. Gia fought off panic. She replayed the instructor’s voice in her mind, imagined the dummy they’d used in front of her. Okay, she could do this. She pinched the woman’s nose and tilted her head back as Savannah counted off compressions. When she paused, Gia leaned over to give the woman a breath, then froze. She’d almost forgotten to check her airway. “Does anyone know if she choked on something?”
Two “no’s” and a head shake were all she got.
She checked the woman’s airway and when it seemed clear started breathing for her, keeping watch to be sure her chest rose. When it did, she fell into an easy rhythm with Savannah. After each breath, she paused for Savannah to do compressions, and glanced around the room, expecting someone, anyone, to step in and try to do something to help.
Alyssa bent over Savannah, chewing on a thumbnail, her gaze riveted on Robyn.
Alyssa’s husband, Carlos, who was also her cook, stood against the wall behind her, arms folded across his barrel chest, a stern scowl marring his usually jovial features.
Isaac, who’d argued with his mother only moments before, glared daggers across the room at a tall man with shaggy dark hair and eyes so dark they were almost black.
The man didn’t meet his gaze. Instead, he inched closer to Alyssa and laid a hand on her back. Maybe Gia had been wrong about him being Robyn’s fiancé, though he was the only other man present.
Savannah paused.
Gia quickly gave the woman a breath. Come on, now, Robyn. Breathe. Please.
Carlos took two steps toward his wife, his jaw clenched tight.
At the sound of sirens, Alyssa shrugged off the man’s hand and hurried through the curtains to the front of the shop.
Carlos met Gia’s gaze, then elbowed the man aside, none too gently, and tied the curtains back behind his wife to allow the paramedics room to get a stretcher through.
Gia concentrated, careful to keep time with Savannah, pausing now and then to see if the woman had started to breathe on her own. She hadn’t. To check for a pulse. There was none.
Tears blurred her vision, then tipped over and rolled down her cheeks. They were losing her. In her mind, Gia begged the paramedics to hurry, because the woman had no chance if they didn’t get there soon.
Savannah paused and wiped tears from her face with the back of her wrist. Pain twisted her features as she caught Gia’s gaze.
They had to continue. Gia remembered that much from her course; once you stared CPR, you had to keep it up until help arrived. No way would she give up if there was any chance they could save Robyn.
“Don’t stop,” Gia huffed, winded from her efforts.
“I won’t.” Savannah shook her arms out and returned to doing compressions when Gia knelt back.
The other woman in the room, Mallory, a curvy blonde with big green eyes, wrapped her arms around herself and rocked back and forth sobbing softly. “Come on, Robyn. Don’t die. Please, don’t die.”
Gia echoed the thought, silently urging Robyn to breathe, to fight, to live.
“I’ve got her now.” One of the paramedics nudged Gia aside and took over.
His partner, a woman Gia recognized from the café, took over for Savannah.
Gia scrambled out of the way and held out a hand to help Savannah to her feet, then whispered, “Do you think she’ll make it?”
When Savannah stood, she smoothed her long hair back and kept her gaze glued to Robyn. “I don’t know. I hope so, though. What do you think happened?”
Though Gia had noticed the people in the room while she and Savannah tried to save their friend, she hadn’t noticed anything about her surroundings but the chair that had fallen beside the victim. She took a moment to survey the room as the two paramedics worked.
Plates of cake and cups of tea or coffee sat at each of four place settings. A fifth place setting sat unused on the round table. Three chairs were pushed back from the table, one still lay on the floor, and one stood in its place against the table in front of the unused place setting. Nothing seemed out of place, and Robyn didn’t have any injuries that Gia could see. Maybe the poor woman’s heart couldn’t take the stress and had just given out.
The paramedics loaded Robyn onto a stretcher and started toward the door.
Gia fell into step beside them and lay a hand on the female paramedic’s arm, then pitched her voice low. “Do you think she’ll be okay?”
Without breaking stride, the woman held her gaze for a moment then gave a quick glance around the room. She patted Gia’s hand, which still rested on her arm, and hurried out.
A couple of uniformed officers had already started asking questions, and Alyssa waved her arms animatedly as she explained the order of events.
Gia found Savannah sitting on a chair in a quiet corner of the small greeting area. “You okay?”
She nodded. “I hope she makes it, though. I feel so bad for her.”
“I know; me too.”
Detective Leo Dumont, Savannah’s fiancé, strode through the door. “Hey, Gia.”
“Hi, Leo.” Gia kept an eye on the door. Her boyfriend, Captain Hunter Quinn, wouldn’t be far behind.
Leo kissed the top of Savannah’s head. “You okay, babe?”
She smiled up at him and briefly gripped his hand. “I am.”
He studied her another moment as if to be sure she was being completely honest, especially with herself, then nodded. “What happened?”
While Savannah explained, Gia looked around for Hunt. As expected, she found him out front talking to the paramedics as they loaded Robyn into the ambulance. She watched him for a moment, his thick, dark hair beginning to curl over his collar, and her heart stuttered. Her relationship with Hunt had been slow starting. Between his promotion to captain soon after they met, and her trying to build her new business, they hadn’t had much time to spend together. And many of the evenings they did share ended with both of them falling asleep on her couch minutes into whatever movie they’d decided to watch. But somewhere along the line, they’d fallen into a level of comfort with one another, not the sparks that could sometimes herald the start of a new relationship, but an easy friendship that was beginning to evolve into something more. A solid foundation maybe? At least for Gia.
Hunt wasn’t big on sharing his feelings.
He looked over and caught sight of her, then frowned.
Unless he found her with his cousin at a crime scene, then he was all too willing to share exactly how he felt, loudly.
She smiled and waved.
He just shook his head and started toward her.
“Why aren’t you arresting him?” A man’s voice demanded.
Gia whirled toward the dining room.
Isaac stood in the curtained doorway, toe-to-toe with Regina Kenney, a uniformed police officer and another of Savannah’s cousins. He gestured toward the dark-haired man who’d stood a little too close to Alyssa while Gia and Savannah had tried to revive Robyn. “I already told you her fiancé, Jeremy Nolan, killed her.”
Jeremy reached around Regina to shove Isaac’s shoulder. “You’d better shut your mouth, boy, and watch where you’re hurling accusations.”
Staying between the two men, Regina held up her hands. “Enough, both of you.”
Gia gave Regina credit. The way those two were glaring at each other, practically foaming at the mouth, it was not a position she’d want to be in. Truthfully, if it were up to her, she’d probably just step back out of the way and let them go at it.
Hunt gave her arm a quick squeeze as he strode past Gia and approached Isaac.
Isaac’s face turned beet red, his hands balled tightly at his sides. “That monster killed my mother, just like he planned to do all along. He never loved her; he only loved the money she inherited when my father died.”
Savannah slid a hand into Gia’s as Leo hurried to help diffuse the situation. “She didn’t make it?”
The ambulance had just pulled away, and Gia’s attention was fully focused on Hunt since he stood talking to the paramedic. Surely, he’d have reacted, and the ambulance wouldn’t have left with the lights and sirens going, if Robyn had died. And he hadn’t taken any phone calls or spoken to anyone on his radio since the ambulance left. “I don’t know. If she did pass away, I don’t see how anyone could possibly know yet.”
“You spoiled little turd. What’s a matter? Afraid Mommy’s money’s gonna go to me now instead of you? Afraid you might have to go get a real job?” Jeremy taunted. “Afraid—”
Isaac took a swing, precisely aimed between Hunt and Regina, and landed a solid blow to Jeremy’s jaw.
He staggered back, but Leo caught him before he could go down.
Hunt hooked one of Isaac’s arms and wrestled him against the wall, keeping him pinned there while Regina pulled out handcuffs.
“Me?” Isaac used his shoulder to shove against Hunt’s hold. “You’re arresting me? You have got to be kidding. That man is a murderer!”
“I need you to calm down, sir.” Hunt nodded toward Regina. “I assure you I will listen to anything you want to tell me, but only if you calm down.”
Regina took hold of one of Isaac’s hands. “Turn around, please.”
“He killed my mother.” He glared at Jeremy, then pointed to Alyssa. “And the way I figure it, she’s his next target. He’ll off the old man and woo her into marrying him, then steal everything.”
“Oh, please.” Jeremy used the back of his wrist to wipe a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. “Give me a break and shut up before I sue you for slander, or defamation of character, or just kick your—”
“That’s enough!” Hunt pinned Isaac back against the wall. “Turn around. Now.”
Leo guided Jeremy into a far corner of the room. Probably for the best to get a little distance between the two before Isaac lost it completely.
“I know I’m right; I saw them together,” Isaac whined once more, then relented and turned to face the wall.
Alyssa’s cheeks flared bright red, and she turned and fled the room.
A husky man in jeans and a T-shirt hurried through the front door and stopped in his tracks.
Jeremy’s gaze focused on him. “Where have you been, Ethan? You were supposed to be here an hour ago.”
“Uh…” Ethan looked around, taking in the entire situation, then scratched his head. “I got held up. I’m sorry. I take it things didn’t go well?”
“And you!” Isaac screamed, his rage rekindled by the addition of the newcomer.
Thankfully, Regina had cuffed Isaac already, and she and Hunt each had ahold of one of his arms as he lunged toward the man, his face nearly purple. “This guy was here an hour ago. I saw him walking out when I pulled up out front. Where did you disappear to, huh, buddy?”
Ethan frowned and looked over his shoulder, then returned his gaze to Isaac. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just got here. There was an accident on the highway, and I got caught up in traffic. What is going on?”
“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” Isaac screamed. “This monster killed my mother, probably with your help.”
“Liar!” Jeremy took a step toward Isaac, but Leo and another officer were on him before he could take a second. They grabbed his arms and dragged him into the dining room.
“Wait.” Ethan hurried after them. “Robyn’s dead?”
Silence echoed through the shop as everyone looked around.
Hunt shrugged. “As far as I know, the victim is on her way to the hospital. Alive. Whatever happened here, no one has succeeded in murdering anyone. Yet.”
Jeremy’s eyes went wide.
Isaac slumped against the wall, every drop of color draining from his face.
Mallory, who’d remained in the dining room when Robyn was taken out, gasped and dropped onto a chair.
Ethan staggered backward, and Gia had to jump out of the way to keep him from plowing her over.
Her heart broke for Robyn. These were her closest family members and friends, those who should have loved her and cared for her above all else, and they’d already accepted her death, before she was even gone.