Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1 - 12 Read online

  14

  Monica found herself leaning forward in her seat somewhat excitedly. “So, what do we do?” Monica asked Brian anxiously. They were keeping an eye on Judd, who was still standing over by the bar with his bandmates.

  “I can’t believe how calm and reserved he is,” Brian said, shaking his head.

  “Of course he’s calm,” Monica said. “The man thinks he has gotten away with murder.”

  “Killing someone for their song lyrics seems a little farfetched,” Brian said. “But, honestly, it all seems to be pointing to Judd. Plus, the fact that he outright lied to me about the music and failed to mention the fact that he and Darren played together in a band is suspicious. He tried to play it off like he and Darren hardly knew each other, but truthfully, they’re old pals.”

  “Between that and Tommy the drummer telling us that the two of them got into it at the Founder’s Day celebration, I’d say you at least have enough evidence to bring him in for some serious interrogation. You think you have enough to make an arrest?” Monica asked.

  “Definitely,” he said.

  “This is very exciting,” Monica said gleefully. “But I can’t believe someone would murder one of their friends for a song. It’s very sad, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, I agree,” Brian said. “But I should probably go ahead and nab him before they get back up on stage. It’s already going to cause a bit of a scene seeing as how the restaurant is expecting him to get up and play more music for them. I kind of hate it for the rest of his band… Do you think I should just let him finish?”

  “Good question,” Monica said, contemplating. She kept glancing over at Judd, and she noticed that he occasionally cut his eyes in their direction. “I mean, the worst-case scenario here is you arrest him before he finishes his set and then turns out he’s innocent.”

  Brian cringed. “Yeah, that would be pretty bad. It’s bound to cause a scene whether Judd agrees to go quietly or not. But what’s worse: that or Judd bouncing and the chief finding out I let a prime suspect get away because I wanted the guy to be able to finish a few songs?”

  “That’s true,” Monica said. “Go get him.”

  Brian chuckled slightly. “Wish me luck,” he said, rising from his seat.

  Monica sat upright and watched with keen observation as Brian made his way across the pub toward the bar. Judd smiled at Brian as he approached, but the slight nervousness behind that smile didn’t go unnoticed by her. She could tell that Brian was attempting to get Judd to step outside for a moment, probably telling him that he needed to ask him a few questions. Clever move there, Brian, Monica thought, knowing that the man was probably trying to get him outside before breaking the news that he was now the prime suspect for a man’s murder. Judd was likely to cause a scene if Brian arrested him in the pub, and Judd certainly had plenty of people who adored him here, between his band and his music followers. It could get ugly quick.

  “My next set is about to start,” Judd said firmly, loud enough for Monica to hear him from where she sat. There was an argumentative tone in his statement. While Monica could not hear Brian’s much calmer voice from across the crowded room, she could tell by his serious expression that he was insisting. “Okay, fine!” Judd said at last, and Monica watched Brian and Judd slowly make their way toward the exit.

  Monica alerted her server that she and her dinner date would be stepping out for a moment but that they would be back in just a second, not wanting the server to think that they were dipping on the check. Monica definitely wanted to be able to witness Brian in action as he made an arrest. She wondered if he even had his cuffs on him; she knew he had his badge as he seemed to always carry that around.

  Brian and Judd had already been outside for a moment by the time Monica made her way out the door. There were a few people hanging out in the parking lot—a server taking a smoke break along with Tommy the drummer, who was attempting to bum a cigarette off the server. There was also a group of five sitting out on the patio who seemed to have wandered outside for fresh air and to avoid the loud music within. Brian and Judd had found a spot just off the back patio under a large oak tree that was in the middle of the back-parking lot, a small bench sitting under the tree that neither Brian nor Judd were making use of.

  Monica remained back on the patio, not wanting to make it extremely obvious that she had come out there for a show. She definitely didn’t want to alarm Judd. She slowly sat at one of the empty patio tables, just close enough to where she could hear every word being said between Brian and Judd.

  “So, what, this is some sort of follow up since our last Q and A, Brian?” Judd asked, attempting and failing to appear as relaxed as possible.

  “You could say that,” Brian said. “Look, Judd. Some new evidence has come into light, and it’s not looking good for you.”

  “Excuse me?” Judd asked. “You think I had something to do with what happened to Darren?”

  Brian reached around to his back pocket, and Monica could see that he indeed had a pair of cuffs on him. “I have to take you in, Judd,” Brian said. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Darren Walker.”

  “Whoa! What?” Judd exclaimed, taking several steps back.

  Judd’s loud shout had gotten the attention of Tommy, who staggered over. “Yo, what’s going on here, Brian?” Tommy asked. “What are you coming at my boy with cuffs for?” Tommy placed himself between Brian and Judd. Judd continued to slowly inch backward.

  “Tommy, I’m going to have to ask you to move aside right now,” Brian said. “I have to take him in.”

  “Man, we’re in the middle of a show!” Tommy yelped.

  “You’re drunk, Tommy!” Brian shouted. “Move, or you can take a ride with Judd and me to the station.”

  “I didn’t do anything!” Judd shouted from behind his intoxicated bodyguard.

  “We’re going to the station where we’re going to talk this thing out,” Brian said. “Judd, I know that you didn’t buy those songs from Darren. I also know that you two were bigger buddies than you let on. I know that he used to play in your band until you guys gave him the boot because of his singing. I also know that he got upset after hearing you singing a song you stole from him at the Founder’s Day festival. And I know that after he confronted you about the stolen songs, you killed him. You’re going to jail, Judd. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

  “That ain’t how it happened!” Judd shouted. “He came at me! He came at me and kept knocking me around. I just shoved him, all right? That’s it! I just pushed him to get him away from me, and the big oaf fell and hit his head! It’s not my fault! It was an accident!”

  “And then you left him there in the creek to drown, Judd!” Brian shouted.

  “He was dead!”

  “No, Judd, he wasn’t,” Brian said. “Darren didn’t die from his head injury. He drowned! He would have been fine if you hadn’t left him there!”

  Judd’s face went pale, and Monica believed Judd when he called it an accident. But that didn’t change the fact that Judd had fled the scene. It didn’t change the fact that Judd had left the man to drown. And Judd had just shouted his confession in an attempt to defend himself and try to avoid a ride to the local station. “Tommy, last chance, move!” Brian shouted, and Tommy pushed Brian back.

  Brian fumbled, and Judd used the opportunity to take off running through the parking lot. Tommy turned toward his friend. “Judd, where you are going?!” Tommy shouted. Brian jumped up, snapped a cuff on Tommy’s wrist, and dragged him over to the patio where he handcuffed him to the railing. Then, without giving it a second thought, Brian took off running in the direction they had seen Judd bolt.

  “Oh, dear,” Monica said, watching Brian as he darted away through the dark of the night. She glared at Tommy as she rose from her seat. “You shouldn’t have pushed him! Now you get to go to jail tonight too for assaulting an officer, genius.”

  “Judd didn’t hurt anyone,” Tommy said, swaggering a bit.<
br />
  “You idiot! He just confessed!” Monica snapped. “Judd killed Darren!”

  “Whoa,” Tommy said, still swaying. “Man…you’re right… Oh, shoot, I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

  “You think?” Monica huffed, stepping off the patio. She glanced around in the dark. She kept expecting Brian to come waltzing back with Judd at any moment, but that didn’t seem to be happening. She found herself growing nervous. Finally, she couldn’t stand around anymore. Monica ran out through the parking lot, looking around with a bit of reckless abandonment.

  “Brian!” she called. “Brian!”

  Mortals were so fragile, she thought. Could Brian have gotten hurt? The thought alarmed her a bit. She kept walking in the direction she had seen Judd dart off, and soon she found herself walking around Main Street. She reached into her little purse, pulling out a water bottle with a slight orangish hue. “Bottoms up… Ugh… I really need to get something other than water bottles to put my potions in…” She took a sip, and she felt a huge burst of energy rush through her. Her eyes widened, and she began to run. She exhaled, her lips pursed, blowing orange dust from her lungs as she ran.

  As she passed by people on the street, they seemed to be moving like little inchworms. She knew her speedy potion only had a slight burst to it, so she needed to work quickly to find Brian. She zipped from block to block, and eventually, she found Judd. He was hiding behind a dumpster, and just a short distance off, she saw Brian. He had just passed the alley where Judd had been hiding. He was going to miss his perp. “Ooh, got to fix this,” she said, the orange dust escaping her lungs each time she spoke, which meant that the potion was wearing off quick. She ran to Brian and dragged him back and stood him upright in the alley. She then stood Judd up, and to ensure that he wasn’t going to get far, she tied his shoelaces together.

  Monica noticed that Brian and Judd’s movements seemed to be speeding up, and she felt a sneeze coming on, so she hurried back out into the street and hid around the corner of a building. She sneezed, a giant burst of orange dust escaping her mouth, and instantly a flock of birds seemed to regain their speed and sound overhead. “Hey!” Brian yelped, probably surprised to suddenly find himself in the alleyway rather than the street—not to mention he was now staring down Judd.

  Monica peered around the corner to see a very confused Brian and Judd, but Brian snapped out of it a lot faster. He lunged toward Judd, and when Judd jerked to the side and tried to run, he tripped over his own feet as his feet were tied together by his shoelaces. The man fell, landing hard face-first on the ground. Brian jumped on Judd’s back and began spouting out his rights. Monica nodded approvingly, then hurried back toward the pub. She laughed slightly to see that Tommy was still handcuffed to the patio’s railing, but he had now managed to bum himself a cigarette from the server, who evidently had taken pity on the drunken man who would now be spending an evening in jail.

  Monica hurried back inside and sat herself down at the booth she and Brian had been sharing. It seemed like the two of them were going to have to reschedule their date again. She paid the tab herself and had their food put in to-go boxes before heading back out on the patio and finding herself a seat. “So, you and Officer Brian, huh?” Tommy asked, and Monica shrugged.

  “Maybe,” she said. “Too early to tell.”

  Tommy nodded and took a long drag from his cigarette. Soon, she saw Brian marching Judd through the parking lot and making the man sit in the back of his car. Brian came over to Monica, laughing a bit. “You won’t believe what just happened. I don’t know how it happened, but somehow, Judd’s shoelaces got strung together, and I caught him because he tripped. Hilarious!” Brian said. He then frowned. “Looks like our date has been cut short. I have to get these two to jail.”

  “Of course,” Monica said, smiling. “I paid the tab, and here is your dinner.” She handed him one of the to-go boxes.

  “You paid?” he asked. “Aww, that’s not right. I should have…”

  “You’ll get the next one,” she said with a wink. “I’ll catch a ride home. You get these two to your chief.”

  “No way am I letting you hitchhike your way back home,” he said.

  “Not very gentlemanly,” Tommy said.

  “Shut up, Tommy,” Brian said.

  “No, really, I’m fine,” Monica insisted. “But, you owe me breakfast tomorrow. Deal?”

  He smiled. “Deal.”

  Monica watched Brian escort Tommy to his car. Brian kept looking back and asking Monica if she was sure she was okay heading home. He was a bit torn between insisting she ride with him in his car with a murderer sitting in the back and allowing her to walk home on her own. She laughed as she walked by the car, seeing that Brian had used Judd’s own shoelaces to tie his wrists up since he didn’t have anything else to detain him with.

  Monica, once she was a good distance away and certain no one else was around, stuck her fingers in her mouth and let loose a loud whistle. A few minutes went by, and soon, she spied her broom zipping through the skies toward her. She reached her hand out, snatching it out of the sky. “Thanks,” she said to her broom, throwing her leg over it. She kicked off, and soon she was zipping through the sky back toward her humble cottage home.

  15

  “And then you just top it off with a bit of whip cream, and ta-da! A mocha frape!” Monica said proudly, Holly standing nearby taking in what all she had to say.

  “I think I got it,” Holly said. “I did work as a barista back in the day. As a matter of fact, if you want to expand your coffee menu a bit, you’ve got all the equipment necessary to step up your coffee game. I can take care of coming up with some good drink options, if you want.”

  Monica clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh, you’re just full of surprises, aren’t you? I love it! Yes, absolutely!”

  “Okay, so we’ve been over book organizations, the computer, how you place book orders…” Holly rambled off the review from that day. Her first official day working at the bookshop wouldn’t be until the following day, but Monica had wanted to give Holly a rundown of everything first.

  “I think that’s everything you’ll need for your first day,” Monica said. “No sense in overwhelming you on day one. But, honestly, it’s not that difficult. It is just books, after all.”

  “What’s in that back room?” Holly asked, pointing toward the door behind the counter.

  “You won’t need to worry about anything in there,” Monica said. “It’s just a personal storage right now.”

  “Okay, gotcha,” Holly said. “You don’t keep extra books or anything back there?”

  “Nope, just a few personal belongings of mine and my aunt’s,” Monica insisted. “I do keep surplus boxes in the storage closet over that way.” Monica pointed toward a corner of the shop. “So if we don’t have it out on the floor, we might have something in there.”

  “Great! Well, I think I’m ready to start working tomorrow! You sure you don’t need me to stick around today?” Holly asked.

  “Nah, it’s almost closing time,” Monica said. “I can give you the rundown on closing duties tomorrow at the end of the day.”

  “Sounds good! I can’t wait to start working here. I’ve always loved this bookshop,” Holly said. “So, before I go, I have to ask. Did you see the paper?”

  “No?”

  “You made headlines!” Holly said, punching her in the arm. “Brian mentioned you in the interview as being a huge help for the case.”

  “Really?” Monica asked, blushing. “I’ll have to read it!”

  “I think he really likes you,” Holly said. “And that’s really saying something. Brian doesn’t really do crushes, too busy working, but he’s made time for you. And I can tell when he looks at you that you’ve got him wrapped around your little finger already. You’ll have to show me your tricks. I’ve been single way too long.”

  “No tricks,” Monica said. “I don’t know what he sees.”

  “Seriously? You’re cute, fu
nny, and you’ve got a wonderful personality. You’re fun to be around,” Holly insisted.

  “Thanks,” Monica said, blushing slightly. “Well, you’re good to go if you want, and I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”

  Holly bid Monica and Abigail farewell before heading out the door. As soon as she was gone, Abigail groaned. “This is a bad idea. A very bad idea. Wilma never hired help.”

  “Aunt Wilma used magic to multiply herself,” Monica said. “And she knew all about mortals and their readings. I’m still learning. It’s going to be fine. Why don’t you make yourself useful and help me close up shop, all right?”

  Abigail grunted, but she made her way to the counter. She hopped up and began carefully pressing buttons on the store’s computer, shutting it down for the day. Monica replaced books that had been pulled from the shelves and continued with all of the closing duties such as dusting and writing down any orders that needed to be placed the next morning. Soon, she was able to lock the front door. “Why are you locking us in?” Abigail asked.

  “Girls night out with Mona,” Monica said.

  “Thank goodness. We’re going to the other side?” Abigail said somewhat excitedly—as excited as someone as grumpy as her could get, that was.

  “Yup!” Monica said. “Come on, let’s go. I don’t want to keep her waiting.” Monica picked Abigail up, and they headed through the back door. A flash of light, and they were walking through to the other side of the shop.

  Mona had just finished closing up, and she smiled when she spied Monica and Abigail. “Well, I was wondering when you were going to get here,” she said.

  “Hey, you’re just now closing up shop, too,” Monica said.

  “True, but you don’t have to chase out gnomes before you close,” Mona said with a laugh. “Lenore, come on! Abigail and Monica are here!”