Snuffed Out - Tim Myers [32]
Despite her pressed lips, Millie said, “Now there’s a description the police can use.”
“Hey, what can I say? It was dark. We’re putting in security lights the next day or two.”
“Belle had always planned to add them. She just never got around to it.” Millie put our muffins and coffees on two separate trays, and I was about to tell her to put it on my tab when Sanora slid a ten-dollar bill over the counter.
Surprised, I said, “Hey, I invited you to breakfast, remember?”
“You can pick up the next one.”
Millie made change without a word, then busied herself behind the counter as we found a table near the window. I always enjoyed watching the water, and now that I’d been out on it in one of Erin’s kayaks, the river had taken on a new meaning for me. If I could manage it, I wanted to get back out there as soon as possible. One trip out on the water and it was already getting in my blood.
After some small talk and most of our breakfast, I asked, “So is this going to slow down your opening?”
“I’m set for tomorrow, whether the glass is replaced by then or not.” She lowered her voice and added, “I can’t afford to stay closed that long, Harrison. That’s why I’ve been working like a demon over here. I’m counting on enough of Aaron’s old customers to join mine to make this work, but it’s hard to say what will happen.”
“Do you have any press coverage or ads planned?” I’d just recently started looking into promotion opportunities for At Wick’s End. It was nearly impossible to run a small business, I was discovering, without letting the world know you were out there.
“Maybe later, but I didn’t have time to do anything but the basics. This was all kind of sudden. Who would have believed Aaron would die like he did?”
That was an opening I just couldn’t resist. I took a last sip of coffee, then asked, “Have you considered the possibility that Aaron’s death wasn’t an accident?”
She dropped the muffin onto her plate. “What are you talking about?”
I’d committed myself, and was starting to regret the bluntness of what I was about to say before it was even out of my mouth. “That power cord could have been frayed on purpose, and it’s a mighty big stretch to think he kicked over a bucket of water at exactly the wrong time in exactly the wrong place.”
Sanora bolted out of her chair as if it had been electrified. “Are you insane, or just incredibly cruel? What comes next, an accusation? Aaron and I were friends, even after our marriage broke up. I didn’t want him dead.”
She stumbled toward the door and nearly ran Cragg down on her way out. He gave me a quick look of venomous displeasure, then followed her out.
Millie came over and said, “I should apologize to you. I never thought you’d bring her here to grill her.”
“Millie, I asked her something I had no right to, and Sanora was right. I was out of line.”
“Hey, where are you going?” she called out as I headed for the door.
“I’m going to apologize,” I said.
Sanora was at The Pot Shot, and Cragg was there holding her hand.
I said, “I need to talk to you.”
“She’s through talking to you,” the attorney said firmly.
“Okay, she doesn’t have to talk, but I need her to hear this. Sanora, I’m sorry. I was out of line.”
“You’ve said your piece,” Cragg said, the dismissal thick in his voice. “Now go.”
“It’s okay, Gary,” Sanora said, dabbing at her eyes with his embroidered linen handkerchief.
“Sanora, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply anything.”
“I overreacted, Harrison. You didn’t say anything everyone else here wasn’t already thinking. I loved Aaron in my own way. There was no way I’d wish him harm.”
Cragg said stiffly, “If I’m no longer needed here, I’ve got to prepare for a case today.”
He brushed past me with barely a nod.
“I didn’t mean to run him off,” I said after he was gone.
“Don’t worry, you couldn’t get rid of Gary with a blowtorch if he really wanted to stay. I’m afraid he’s got a bit of a crush on me.”
“A bit? It looked like more than that to me.”
Sanora dabbed at her eyes, then said, “You wouldn’t believe how furious he was when Aaron and I started