Dark Roasted to Death by Nikolett Strachan

Author:Nikolett Strachan [Strachan, Nikolett]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781999159405
Published: 2019-06-19T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

The next day, Bob Starsman sat squinting at the white note. He looked at it as if it held all the answers to life’s questions, if only we could unlock it with the right key.

That note freaked me out, and I had no idea what to do. Someone must be on to us about our little investigation. Dylan gave me a bewildered look when I showed him the note. He suggested calling the cops, but I didn’t want David Minetta on our tails. Bob was the next best thing, so the next morning, I showed him the note.

“And explain again why you think this was left on your car,” he finally said after a silence that felt like a hundred years.

Until now, I had kept everything vague. I told him I thought it had to do with the story about Mayor Lockwood’s building projects. Now, I blurted everything out. Everything. From Mayor Lockwood’s suspected murder to the tie-in with Esther Sawyer and Mary-Anne Cruikshank and the Epi pen fiasco. I was frazzled. No. I was scared. This note was a threat.

“I see,” he growled. He leaned back in his chair as he squinted at me now. “So, you think Esther Sawyer had Mary-Anne Cruikshank assassinate the mayor by putting something peanut into his coffee and paid off the chief of police to look the other way?”

“You think I’m stupid, don’t you?” It came out a question, but it was more of a statement. It sounded ridiculous even to me.

“No. I think you’re a smart, capable woman. A little naïve, perhaps. But not stupid.” That was as close to a compliment as he had ever gotten. I had no idea what to say to that. “I was wrong. You have a good journalist’s instinct.”

“You thought my instincts were bad?”

“Not the point,” he threw the note down on his desk. “I’ll be honest, my first instinct was to give this story to Larry like I threatened.” At this point, I wouldn’t have complained if he did. “But I won’t. I want you to chase this story but keep it on a need to know basis. If the Chief of Police is involved somehow, we need to be very careful.”

A high pitch that sounded like sirens rang in my ears. My heart quickened as I found a chair in the corner of his tiny office and plopped myself down. “Sorry, I need a minute. I thought you said I need to keep chasing this story.” My voice came out with a laugh that sounded almost maniacal.

“I did,” he said, his voice steady. Bob Starsman was not a man with a sense of humor. He didn’t tell jokes and certainly never made fun of people. He never laughed. I don’t think the man knows how to.

“So, you believe me? You think someone murdered Mayor Lockwood?”

“I don’t know. That’s up to you to find out.” He picked up the note again and shook it at me as he spoke. “I do know one thing. Someone out there knows what you’re doing, and that someone doesn’t want you to be doing it.

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