“Thank you,” she whispered. “You’re my hero.”
It took me a minute to gather my wits enough to say, “No, I’m not.”
5
EMMIE
“Back in business.” I sighed.
I’d cleaned up the café and assured the cats that everything was back to normal, and no, Moose wasn’t going to stay and eat the food, but they did need to be nice and let him use the litter box, considering his cat daddy had saved us all.
I snuck a glance at Marius.
The tall man was leaning against the counter, arms crossed like those hot lawyers in the sitcoms on cable TV Gran liked to watch. He had that self-assured carelessness well-to-do men had.
Moose leaped up to Marius’s massive shoulders while he typed on his phone with one hand, sipping a coffee held in the other.
Someone had posted that the Santa Claws Café was open for business again, and the customers were starting to stream in, though there was a lot more gawking than buying.
“Cat daddy is right.”
“Shhh!” I hissed at Zoe as I packaged up the cakes for Girl Meets Fig.
“He clearly likes you a little bit, or he’d have gone off to sign things, yell at people, or whatever it is lawyers do when they aren’t in court, not stand guard in your shop.”
The police chief stuck his head inside, Theo hot on his heels.
“This café cannot be allowed to be in business.” Theo was steaming. “It’s a site of a horrific crime against humanity.”
The police chief walked up to Marius.
Marius gave him a coldly professional smile. “As I informed the last two officers who came in here to harass my client, the City of Harrogate cannot legally keep this café closed indefinitely. There were no health department violations logged, and Ms. Dawson has paid her taxes and licensing fees. She has gone over and above to cooperate with the investigation of the death of Brooks Dawson. However, now it has become egregious. She will not be cooperating any further in what is turning into a witch hunt to cover up shoddy police work.”
The police chief just sighed loudly and shook his head while Theo sputtered.
“Don’t just let him steamroll you.”
“I did clerk with one of the current Supreme Court justices, and I am prepared to take this case all the way to the top if need be,” Marius added.
“Threats! I will get a warrant for Emmie’s arrest. Murderer!” Theo yelled at me.
“Slander! We’re suing, right, Marius?” Zoe shouted.
Marius ignored my friend.
“Fine. Fuck it.” Zoe rolled up her sleeves.
Theo took an apprehensive step backward.
“I’ll beat your ass in the middle of Main Street, boy.”
“You don’t work for the city, Theo. You’re not the DA,” Marius said in a clipped tone. The words were professional, but the tone saidfuck off. “You’re not getting a warrant. Now, I must ask you to leave. Ms. Dawson does not consent to you beingon her property, and any further trespassing will be considered unlawful, and I will formally lodge a complaint.”
I had to hold Zoe back.
Marius watched like a predator as my deceased husband’s best friend and the annoyed police chief left. Then he settled and went back to his phone, still keeping one watchful eye on the door.
“He’s like a dressed-up high-end guard dog,” Zoe marveled.
