“Wait a second.” Lila looked wide eyed at Amelia. “I know that guy.”
“You know Luann Jameson’s Todd? How?” Amelia gasped as she finished adding the glaze and one giant almond to the top of her apricot-walnut cupcakes.
“That bike you described is parked at Rusty’s several times a month. Rusty doesn’t like him. His full name is Todd Coz.”
“Really? Why not?”
“As if the testicles on the back of his bike weren’t enough. Rusty said he’s one of those guys that no matter what story you tell, he’s got one better. No matter what it is. He’s a know-it-all.” Lila took a drink of water. “He’s been in prison a couple of times. A lot of those bikers have. But unlike normal ex-cons, Todd likes to relive the stories that got him sent there. He likes to see people’s reactions. According to Rusty, he talks way too much. So how many of his yarns are factual is anyone’s guess. But no one likes a guy who doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.”
“So there’s a chance he might be at the Twisted Spoke.”
“I’d say it’s a pretty good bet. He’s more likely to show up when Rusty isn’t there because, well, you know how Rusty is. He won’t put up with some blowhard disturbing his customers.” Lila smiled devilishly.
“You really like that Rusty, don’t you. Talk about complete opposites.” Amelia winked.
“We aren’t really all that different.” Lila looked off in the distance. “He’s really just a scruffier version of my ex-husband. He’s ambitious and financially secure and has a charm about him that is darn near irresistible.”
“Irresistible?” Amelia teased. “Why, Lila, you really are twitterpated. Do you miss him?”
“Not enough to sleep on the ground for him. But yes. I can’t wait until he gets back. It’ll be about two or three more weeks.”
“Ever think that maybe you might like to be Mrs. Rusty Twisted Spoke?”
Lila laughed.
“I don’t think so. I’m having too much fun being Lila Bergman.”
“Well, Lila Bergman, since we have to wait for Dan before we can make any moves, how about we go over that job description.”
“Yes, one of my finest works thus far,” Lila joked as she grabbed her bag and pulled out a folder. “In my spare time, I typed up a rules and regulations sheet, dress code, our views on firearms in the workplace…”
“What?”
“Don’t worry, I had my lawyer look over it. It’s all legal.”
“You worry me sometimes, Lila.” Amelia looked her friend up and down. “Do you have a weapon on you right now?”
“See, it’s the wondering that makes them think twice. Always keep them guessing, Amelia. That goes for love and war.”
In between another delightfully busy day, the ladies ironed out the ad that Amelia would have Adam upload to whatever job sites most applied to people searching for work on a food truck. Dan called back and said he’d meet Amelia after work to discuss what she was talking about in the message she left him the previous night.
“Well, another day in the black, Amelia.” Lila smiled as she finished the receipts for the night. “I’ll take these to the bank tonight. You said Dan was meeting you here?”
“Yeah. He said he’d be here in about an hour. I’ve got some scrubbing to do, so I’ll be busy until he gets here,” Amelia replied as she scrubbed the counter and sprayed it with disinfectant. “I’d appreciate your dropping off the bag. Tomorrow, the ad will be posted, so hopefully we will have a couple decent people to pick from.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed. You want me to wait with you until Dan shows up?”
“No. Go on home. We’ll have a busy day tomorrow. I’ll need you to run the truck while I sleep in the front seat,” Amelia joked.
The last few things to be cleaned were the last batch of cupcake tins, and a slew of paper boats needed to be folded and ready for the next day. Amelia liked being in the truck at closing time. It was quiet, with just the sounds of a couple of the other vendors talking quietly and maybe a few stragglers weaving their way through the park on their way home.
It was at times like this Amelia would have liked a glass of wine and a good book. She could easily sit at the counter with the heat from the ovens all but gone and the fresh air wafting through while reading a romance set in some faraway place.
“All alone here?” The stranger’s voice made her yelp. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I scare you?”
“We’re closed. Come back tomorrow.” Amelia stared at the man and instantly recognized his greasy profile. It was Luann’s Todd. He took one step up to completely block the back doorway.
“Did I just hear your friend say that your little business here was operating in the black? That’s good, right? In the black means you’re making good money.”
“You need to leave, sir.”
“Oh, I’ll go. I just wanted to make a suggestion.” His face was sickly slick as though he had a fever or something. “My good friend told me that you screwed her when she hired you. She wants a total refund as well as damages. It’ll all be in the paperwork her lawyer will deliver. I’m just here as a courtesy. She’s willing to drop everything for five thousand dollars.”
Amelia didn’t speak.
“I’ll give you a couple days to think about it. But I’d hate it if anything happened to your business and you couldn’t make any more of these cupcakes. I hear people really like them.”
Amelia’s fists clenched. Aside from her children, whom she’d walk through fire for, the most important thing in Amelia’s life was her truck. It was hers. She spent more time in it than in her own home.
“You tell Luann Jameson the next time she wants to threaten me, she can come try and do it herself.”
“Luann who?” Todd smirked. Slowly, he backed off the truck. “You just remember what I said. I’ll be back.” He waved his fingers and disappeared.
Amelia let out her breath and put a hand to her stomach. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to scream or puke. Instead, she splashed some cold water on her face and slammed the back door shut, locking it from the inside. She sat at the service window, waiting for Dan.
“Could you identify him if you saw him again?” Dan asked with clenched teeth, smoothing Amelia’s hair away from her face.
“Yes. And I think I might know where he is. Lila said that Rusty knows the guy and doesn’t like him.”
“Of course. If he’s a real biker, he’s probably at the Twisted Spoke.” Dan scratched his chin then pulled Amelia to him and hugged her tightly. “Sometimes I really don’t like the fact you are out here by yourself.”
“I understand, Dan.” She nuzzled into his chest. “But it’s my job. Just like it’s your job to catch the bad guys. Keep us little guys safe.”
“Hmm. I didn’t do such a good job of it tonight.”
“Look, I know a shakedown when I see it. Whether Luann put him up to this or not, he’s a guy looking to make a few quick bucks, thinking he can scare a woman more than he could Gavin over at the Philly Cheese Steak truck or Matthew at the Burrito Wagon.”
“Especially Matthew at the Burrito Wagon!” Dan exclaimed, as Matthew was built like those old-fashioned refrigerators from the 1950s.
“So.” Amelia slipped her arms around Dan and squeezed. “Let’s go take a chance he’s at the Twisted Spoke. Luann thinks her guard dog is scary. Wait until she gets a load of mine.”
Dan looked down at her and winked.
“You said it, kid.”
He took Amelia by the hand to his car, and within minutes after locking up The Pink Cupcake, they were pulling up in front of the Twisted Spoke restaurant and bar.
The place was busy. Rusty, still being on his sabbatical, had left a huge guy by the name of Roy in charge. Where Rusty was pleasant and enjoyed chatting with regulars and flirting with the girls, Roy was all business. Quick to get the food and drinks served, he didn’t mind if someone wanted to kill a few hours at the bar, but they better be buying.
The same went for the fellows who hogged the pool tables. They would play until closing time as long as the waitress was bringing up an order every half hour or so.
“Otherwise, go find a Starbucks to sit in!” Roy often barked. There were still a couple of fights that would break out late on Friday and Saturday nights. But Roy had no problem using Rusty’s peacekeeper under the bar. A Louisville Slugger had an almost instant calming effect on those around.
The parking lot was full of cars, pickup trucks, and a couple dozen motorcycles. Bob Segar’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” played on the jukebox.
The smell of pulled pork, flame-broiled burgers, and beer filled Amelia’s nostrils as they approached the entrance.
“Wait.” Dan took Amelia’s hand. “Let’s scope the place out first. Do you see his bike anywhere?”
“There.” She pointed to the exact same bike she had seen at the Four Seasons. Its one distinguishing detail shone in the light of the streetlamp.
“I hate this guy already,” Dan muttered. “Would you do me a favor and wait in the car?”
“What? You want to go in there and get him without me? But I want to see his face when you tell him you want to talk to him.” She rubbed her stomach.
Dan sighed and scratched his head.
“Okay. Follow me.” Instead of going in the front door, Dan walked to the alley where the music wasn’t so loud and the back door to the kitchen was wide open to let cool air in.
Politely, Dan knocked on the back door before stepping in. A beefy man in a black T-shirt with no sleeves, and an apron covered in beef and pork blood and sauces turned as he scowled. He held a spatula in his hand while a couple of burgers sizzled on the grill.
“Dan Walishovski,” the man croaked. “What are you doing sneaking around here?” He wiped his hands on a towel that was draped over his shoulder and flashed a yellow, crooked smile.
“Hey, Pete.” Dan smiled and shook the man’s hand before he introduced Amelia.
“I know you. You’re that pretty thing that makes the cupcakes with Rusty’s gal.”
“That’s right.” Amelia beamed, almost forgetting what she and Dan were there to do.
“Pete, I’ve got a problem with one of the patrons. You think you can get Roy to help me out?”
“Absolutely. I’m on parole. I don’t need no trouble. My granddaughter is turning eight next week. Pop-Pop is going to be at that birthday party.” He winked at Amelia, who grinned.
Pete hit a bell, and within a few seconds, Roy was at the door. As soon as he saw Dan, he pushed the swinging kitchen door in and walked up to the detective.
“What can I do for you, Dan?” Roy grumbled. Amelia had to look up over a foot to see in his face. It was a scary sight.
Dan explained that they didn’t want to cause any disturbance but needed to speak to Todd.
“Please. Get that trash out my restaurant. Rusty told him more than once he wasn’t welcome, but word gets out when the cat’s away.”
“I’d be grateful, Roy. Thanks.”
“What is your granddaughter’s name?” Amelia asked quietly as Roy went to summon Todd.
“Crystal.” He tapped the photograph taped to the wall above the sink to his right. A black-haired girl with new front teeth grinned back.
“She’s beautiful,” Amelia whispered.
“Amelia, why don’t you stand outside, just in case,” Dan said.
She nodded and stepped just out of view but could still hear everything. Pete went back to his grill, and Dan stood next to a tall silver rack of various breads and buns. In just a few minutes, Todd entered the kitchen.
“Who the hell are you?” he snapped at Dan, wiping his nose on the back of his hand.
Dan flashed his badge and identified himself. Pete stayed focused on the grill as if nothing were going on behind him.
“So, Detective.” He spat the words. “You want to tell me why you pulled me away from my pool game?”
“Did you speak to a woman tonight? Good looking. Owns her own business.”
“Maybe,” Todd answered smugly. He swayed a little and peered at Dan through squinty red eyes. Obviously, happy hour had started for him already. He smelled as though someone had dumped a pitcher of beer over him.
“Well, that woman said you were trying to extort money from her. Any truth to what she said?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Todd chuckled.
“Okay. So you weren’t with a woman this afternoon?”
“I don’t remember.” Todd looked as if he was enjoying himself.
“You’d remember this woman. Blond hair. Hourglass figure. Wears those kinds of dresses that wrap around real tight.” Dan rocked back on his heels.
Amelia was peeking through the crack in the door and saw Todd’s jaw go slack. Sobriety slapped him across the face, and he swallowed hard. He thought Dan was talking about her. Not Luann.
“No. Don’t know anyone like that.”
“You sure, because she described you, your bike, your tattoos, everything about you.”
Amelia wanted to laugh but bit her tongue. Dan was a genius.
“Yeah. I’m sure. Now, are you done?” Amelia could see Todd’s fingers twitching.
“Well, I guess if you don’t know anyone like that, maybe this woman has you confused with someone else. That’s a shame.” Dan cleared his throat. “Thank you for your time.”
Todd eyed Dan but didn’t say a word as he pushed the swinging door in and stomped out of the kitchen. Dan clapped Pete on the back before exiting through the back door and into the alley where Amelia was waiting.
“That was awesome!” she whispered excitedly. “Now what?”
“Listen.” Dan pointed his right index finger in the air and looked up to the darkening sky. The sound of a motorcycle rumbling to life cut through the rock music. The tires kicking up stones and peeling across the parking lot and onto the street indicated someone on a motorcycle was leaving in a huge hurry.
“Do you think your friend Bud would mind some visitors?” Dan tilted his head to the right.
“I don’t know. But I think once he knew what it was about, he’d be glad to see us. Especially if we came bearing gifts.”
Dan looked at Amelia oddly.
“You can’t have a proper stakeout without sustenance. You taught me that on the first stakeout you invited me on.”
“I knew there was a reason I kept you around.”
Dan went back into the Twisted Spoke and picked up three cheeseburgers and a couple of Cokes for the road. Within fifteen minutes, they were pulling down Brightway with the lights off on the car and the police scanner turned down to a quiet murmur.
Amelia showed Dan where Bud had asked her to park. At night, it was almost completely concealed in shadows. Quietly, they exited the vehicle and approached the front door.
“Do you think he’s home?” Dan asked.
“Yes. I don’t think he goes out too much.” Amelia clicked her tongue. “But he did say he has a girlfriend. I hope we won’t be interrupting.”
Dan laughed outright. Amelia looked at him and shook her head.
“Sorry.”
They walked up to the front door and were nearly blinded with motion sensor porch lights. Amelia pressed the doorbell and then knocked on the door. There was no answer.
“Something doesn’t feel right,” she said, setting the bags of carryout on the stoop, then she started to walk around to the back of the house. “I’m going around back.”
“Wait. We’ll both go.”
The terrain around the side of Bud’s house was rocky and uneven. Amelia was sure he designed it this way on purpose. Why make it easy for the men in black, right? She carefully stepped over smooth, slippery stones then tripped over vine-covered dirt before traipsing over an obstacle course of cut wood and large stones.
“Jeez, one false step, and a person could crack their head open. Or fall into those bushes.” She pointed to the right, where a long row of thick shrubs ran along the parameter.
“Be careful. Those are sticker bushes,” Dan stated flatly.
“How do you know?”
“Because they just scraped up my entire right side from my neck to my hand.”
The lights from Bud’s kitchen spilled out onto the yard. Not because they were so bright but because the back door had been kicked outward and was hanging dangerously by one hinge.
“This doesn’t make any sense.” Dan put his arm in front of Amelia. “Stay behind me. That door was kicked from the inside. Why would Bud do that to his own house?”
“He didn’t.” Amelia remembered their conversation over tea. “He told me that he had the kitchen rigged like jewelry stores. If someone breaks in, they get trapped in there. Looks like whoever got trapped didn’t like Bud’s home protection system.”
Slowly, they proceeded toward the open door. Once at the top of the porch, Amelia saw Bud lying on the ground. There was blood coming from his head.
“Oh no! Bud!”
The kitchen looked as though a tornado had hit it. The heavy picnic table was pushed to the side, with its benches wedged underneath it. Bud’s bureau had been knocked over, and everything in the china cabinet was shattered into a million shards all over the floor. Even his elegant box of teas didn’t escape the rampage that took place. They were scattered everywhere. But what broke Amelia’s heart was that Bud’s Mr. Spock mug was broken beyond repair.
Before he could stop her, Amelia had dashed into the kitchen and carefully felt Bud’s wrist.
“He’s still warm.” She sighed. Dan pulled his cell from his pocket and got 9-1-1 in motion sending an ambulance immediately to Bud’s place. Within sixty seconds, the sirens could be heard in the distance.
“Bud? Bud? Can you hear me?” Amelia asked carefully. “It’s Amelia Harley.”
Bud’s eyes fluttered open, and he attempted to move.
“No. Don’t move. Your head is bleeding.”
“Those bastards,” Bud muttered.
“Was it the men in black?” Amelia asked nervously. What if Bud had been right all along and now she was on their radar because of her connection to Bud? What would happen to her or the kids? What about her business?
“No. It was Luann’s attack dog.”
“Oh, that’s better.” Amelia sighed.
“What?” Bud snapped.
“Sorry. Just lie still. An ambulance is on the way.” Amelia looked up at Dan.
“Bud, can you tell me what happened?”
“Yeah, I’ll tell you.” Bud winced while trying to talk. “I was served with papers saying that Luann was suing me for property damage because she claimed a tree fell on some shed she had just put up. The tree is on my land, and the shed is on hers.” He swallowed hard, prompting Amelia to get him a glass of water. She gently helped him take a sip before he continued.
“Well, I went to investigate said tree. The next thing I know, some guy in a black ski mask is chasing me.”
“How do you know it wasn’t someone who was, you know, trying to prevent you from finding out ‘the truth.’” Amelia air-quoted the last two words.
“Because I could smell the liquor on him.” Bud clenched his teeth.
Amelia looked at Dan, who nodded.
The ambulance was down the street. Dan ran out to the edge of the driveway to flag them down, leaving Amelia alone with Bud. She took his hand in hers.
“Help is here. So just relax, and they’ll take care of you.”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Of course, Bud.”
“Please call Fiona. Tell her what happened, and tell her I’ll need her to implement Plan Nine.”
“Plan Nine?”
“She’ll know.” Bud cringed. “That light is killing my eyes.” He squinted into the overhead kitchen light and tried to turn his head, but that hurt even more.
“You probably have a concussion,” Amelia told him. “So do what the doctors say. Would you like me to see if Dan can get an officer placed outside your hospital room?”
“No. Everything that needs to be done, Fiona will handle it.” The corner of Bud’s mouth went up slightly in what was sort of a smile. “Thanks, though. I-I appreciate it.”
Just then, the paramedics came rushing through the door into the kitchen then pushed Amelia outside while they loaded Bud on a stretcher.
A uniformed police officer began a conversation with Dan, and Amelia could hear Dan instructing him to get the plywood up over the door immediately. Whether Bud’s information that he had on secret government agencies and alien sightings was real or not, he didn’t deserve to have his home vandalized further.
“Well, what an interesting turn of events.” Dan walked back to the front of the house, where he grabbed the bags of food and handed one to Amelia as he kept one for himself and took a seat on the stoop.
“Poor Bud,” Amelia said. “He asked me to call his girlfriend. I better do that now.”
“Are you serious?”
“Let me use your phone.” She pouted.
“Let me guess. She’s long distance in Canada.”
“That’s what I said, and he nearly bit my head off. No. Her name is Fiona, and she works at the Gary veterinary office.” The recorded operator voice asked for city and state before Amelia finally got the digits for the vet’s office. A woman who was not Fiona answered the phone but promised to give her the message, including the implementation of Plan Nine.
“Plan Nine?” Dan muttered with a mouth full of burger.
Amelia shrugged as she took a seat next to him and began to eat her own meal.
“I think we should wait until his house is secured. The boys with the plywood company are usually pretty quick. They’ll secure that back door, and Bud’s place will be safe until he gets back. He must have put up a real fight. I would have never guessed he had it in him.”
“What do you think about what he said?” Amelia covered her mouth as she spoke with it full of food. “About the guy in the ski mask smelling of booze. I was downwind of Todd at the Twisted Spoke, and I’ll tell you what—it was Miller Time.”
“Yeah. But it doesn’t prove anything. You know how many guys are already drunk in this town at this very moment? Too many.”
Amelia nodded then snapped her fingers.
“What about his surveillance cameras? He’s got this place wired.”
“It’s a possibility. We’ll have to wait until he’s released from the hospital. In the meantime, I think I’m going to do a little digging on Todd Coz, and while I’m at it, I think a closer look at Luann Jameson might be in order.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Well, it seems to me that a lot of people who are in the vicinity of Luann seem to be having a string of misfortunes. First her son-in-law, then you with the cupcake order, and now Bud. Coincidence?”
“There are no coincidences,” Amelia said, wiping her mouth with a napkin.