Catch of the Dead (A Hooked & Cooked Cozy Mystery Series Book 5) Read online

  Catch of the Dead

  Lyndsey Cole

  Contents

  Catch of the Dead

  Copyright

  Connect with me:

  Book Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  A Note from Lyndsey

  About the Author

  Also by Lyndsey Cole

  Catch of the Dead

  A Hooked & Cooked Cozy Mystery

  by Lyndsey Cole

  Copyright © 2017 Lyndsey Cole

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author and/or publisher. No part of this publication may be sold or hired, without written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the writer’s imagination and/or have been used fictitiously in such a fashion it is not meant to serve the reader as actual fact and should not be considered as actual fact. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Connect with me:

  [email protected]

  www.facebook.com/LyndseyColeAuthor

  Book Description

  When a postcard arrives out of the blue, it’s only the beginning of problems for Hannah Holiday.

  The mermaid that lands at her snack bar brings the real danger; a danger that taunts her at every turn.

  A body discovered on the beach threatens to destroy all that she holds dear. Her beautiful ocean front paradise, and even her family, appear to be caught in a whirlpool of disaster. Only by uncovering the murderer can she hope to save her business and protect her niece.

  Between jealous boyfriends and too many relatives, the suspects pile up faster than Hannah’s hand-cut French fries. She needs to be clever and patient before a taste of trouble grows into a full-blown recipe for disaster. Hannah’s future is about to be served to her on a silver platter covered with rotten fish guts.

  1

  “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” Ruby asked Hannah as she waved a postcard in front of her younger sister.

  “Might as well get the bad news out of the way.” Hannah shoved her bills to the side of her big oak desk. “I can’t imagine it will be any worse than these invoices I have to pay from all the building materials for my new cottage.” She was happy to have an excuse to sort out that mess later.

  “Is Cal done? You’ll be moving in?” Ruby’s face held a glint of excitement.

  Hannah sighed and leaned back in her big swivel chair. She locked her fingers together behind her head. Ever since the day she arrived in Hooks Harbor and set her eyes on the ocean front property her Great Aunt Caroline left for her on the beautiful coast of Maine, she had her office in half of Cottage One, where she sat at the moment, with her living space in the other half. To say the least, it was cramped. But that wasn’t the biggest problem. The biggest problem was that she felt like she lived in Grand Central Station with guests, friends, employees, and, yes, even her good-looking contractor, Cal, barging in whenever anyone pleased.

  “Yes, my new abode is done. I’m christening it—”

  “Cottage Five?” Ruby blurted out and laughed. “That fits in with the other original names for your four existing cottages.”

  “No.” She smiled. “I’ve given this a lot of thought and I’ve come up with names for all the cottages, not just my new one.”

  Ruby raised her eyebrows.

  “I know, it’s shocking. My new cottage will be my little paradise—Slo N EZ.”

  Ruby laughed. “Good choice. But I bet you won’t be getting much down time to sit back and kick your heels up on the railing of your spiffy porch. After you hear the news I have, you’ll be wishing that get-a-way was far, far away instead of only a short dash up the trail behind The Fishy Dish.”

  A loud groan escaped through Hannah’s lips. “I don’t like the sound of what’s coming; what’s the bad news?”

  Ruby waved the post card. “It says,” she looked at the postcard. “Arriving for a visit on Friday, June tenth.”

  “That’s today!” Hannah almost fell out of her chair. “You’ve got to be kidding. And they’re making time for us?”

  Ruby scrunched her lips to one side. “Not exactly time for us. They want to see the sand sculpture competition which is today. You know, the first event to lead off this big weekend. The judging is tonight. And guess who one of the sculptors is?”

  Hannah stroked her cheek. “No clue. Sand sculpting hasn’t exactly been on my radar with getting ready for Taste of Hooks Harbor. It’s The Fishy Dish’s first time getting a tent for that event on Sunday. Who is this mysterious sculptor?”

  “Adele Bailey.”

  Hannah’s mouth fell open. Her head slumped forward and landed on her desk with a thud. “Adele that we grew up with in California?” She mumbled more to the desk than to her sister. “If she never came within a hundred miles of us, I could live with that, but you’re telling me that she’s coming to Hooks Harbor?”

  “Yes. As a matter of fact, she must already be here working on her sculpture.” Ruby threw the postcard on Hannah’s desk and sat on the comfy chair facing her. “Apparently, she’s one of three favorites to win, and Mom and Dad want to see her work.”

  Hannah raised her head off her desk but cradled her chin on her two upturned hands. “Of course they do. She’s the daughter they wished they had instead of the two of us. What’s the good news? I could use something really great right about now to drown this misery that’s settling right in my bones.”

  “I was kidding. There was only bad news and worse news. Mom and Dad will be here later today. That postcard was sent from London three weeks ago but it just arrived so there isn’t even any time to get prepared.”

  “Or flee,” Hannah said, knowing that was only wishful thinking. It would be impossible for her to leave with all the responsibility of running her Holiday Hideaway Cottages and The Fishy Dish snack bar.

  She hadn’t seen her parents in close to two years, and if she was completely honest with herself, just knowing they were coming reopened a painful bag of mixed emotions.

  “Did you hear me, Hannah?” Ruby stared at her sister with her eyes opened wide. “You really spaced out there but you better pull it together. I said, Mom and Dad will want to stay here in one of the cottages. I can help you get it ready before Olivia gets home from school.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Hannah replied half-heartedly. “How about you get started. Let’s put them in
Cottage Four and keep them as far away as possible. Clean linens and towels are in the closet.” Hannah stood and squeezed around the side of her desk. “I’ll meet you over there in a few minutes.”

  “Cottage Four? Do you have a new name yet?” Ruby asked.

  Hannah picked up a wooden sign and handed it to Ruby. “Cal put two hooks next to the door to hang this on.”

  “Something’s Fishy,” she read out loud. “This is eerily appropriate.” Ruby rubbed her finger over the ocean-blue lettering carved into the driftwood. “I hope it isn’t a foreshadowing for a problem arriving with them.”

  “What are you talking about? Of course something will arrive with them, and I don’t expect we’ll like it.”

  Ruby carried the sign out, leaving Hannah to finish her thoughts about this completely unexpected news. She walked through the door from the office to the living half of the cottage. Nellie, her golden retriever mix, trotted happily behind Hannah. “I think it might be time to open the letter Great Aunt Caroline left for me,” she said out loud even though Nellie was her only company at the moment. Talking to Nellie took some of the fear out of what she needed to do.

  Nellie woofed.

  “That’s easy for you to say. I’ve been dreading finding out what’s inside the letter since the day I found it..”

  Hannah opened the old trunk inside her closet. She dug under all of Great Aunt Caroline’s old clothes and other treasures that she hadn’t been able to part with after Caroline died. Her fingers felt the delicate paper envelope and she slid it out carefully. She didn’t have to read the now-familiar handwriting on the envelope. Put this somewhere safe until the day your father arrives – C.

  The envelope weighed very little, but somehow it felt like a stone resting on Hannah’s palm as she sat cross-legged on the floor staring at it.

  Nellie woofed.

  Hannah startled and jerked her head around as her elderly neighbor, Jack, walked in.

  “I heard the news. Company’s coming?” Jack asked, his voice flat.

  He had a habit of showing up at odd times. And, he had been a great friend of Great Aunt Caroline’s.

  Jack’s gaze traveled to the envelope. His brows furrowed. “I recognize that lavender color and the handwriting. I know what it’s about.” He gently placed his hand on Hannah’s shoulder. “I think Caroline would like me to help you with this problem.”

  Hannah felt her stomach twist into a knot. Problem? It had to have something to do with her father. A man she had trouble getting along with after she turned thirteen; always butting heads over the smallest issues. Having a problem with him right now was the last situation she wanted on her plate.

  Jack closed the door leading to the office half of the cottage. He rinsed her coffee pot. “I should have brought my own coffee over but this calls for extreme measures so I’ll have to compromise and use yours.”

  Hannah’s lip twitched up on one side. She could see that Jack was watching her as he measured coffee and added water into her coffee maker. In his insulting kind of manner, he was actually trying to distract her. And it worked.

  “If you only put half the water in, it might be as strong as you like it,” Hannah teased as she finally stood and walked to her small kitchen table. The truth was, Jack made about the meanest coffee around, but she had no intention of telling him. She tapped the corner of the lavender envelope on the table. “You make it sound like this envelope contains some type of doomsday news. Do I even want to read what’s inside?”

  Jack plunked two mugs, cream, and sugar on the table. “You don’t have a choice. There’s something about your father that only Caroline knew and,” he pointed to the envelope, “she hoped you would never have to read her letter.”

  No one else knew? Not even her mother? Or Ruby? “Why did she leave the letter for me?”

  “You are the only one who will be able to stop him, Hannah.”

  2

  Hannah stared at the words on the envelope and wondered what information could possibly be inside. Her dad and Great Aunt Caroline cut their ties years earlier but Hannah never knew why. It was a forbidden subject.

  The thumb on her right hand rubbed over the gold band of the ring Great Aunt Caroline left for her. The motion over the smooth, cold metal always brought her comfort and some other unexplainable sensation.

  Just as Hannah inserted her finger under the sealed flap of the letter from Great Aunt Caroline, Ruby walked into Hannah’s apartment half of Cottage One. Without knocking, of course.

  “Cottage Four is now officially named Something’s Fishy, the bed is made, and a milk chocolate is on Mom’s pillow and bitter chocolate is on Dad’s. Anything else need to be done before they arrive?”

  Unfortunately, yes, Hannah thought. She dropped the letter and pushed it to one side. She needed to read Great Aunt Caroline’s letter, but that had to be done when Ruby was gone. Until Hannah knew what this big secret entailed, the less people in the know, the better.

  “That sounds good. Bitter chocolate, though? Where did you find it?”

  Ruby rolled her eyes. “Just kidding. They both got a milk chocolate, but I think we should stock up on some bitter chocolate for the future, you know, a passive aggressive way to send a message to unwanted guests.” She dropped down on the sofa. “Any plan for when you run into Adele? You know it’s inevitable.”

  “Adele?” Jack asked. “The sand sculptor?”

  Hannah swished her hand as if batting away a bug. “Yes, she’s here for the sand sculpting event. We grew up with her in California and,” Hannah glanced quickly at Ruby, “she’s not exactly on our we’re-so-glad-you’ve-arrived-in-our-quaint-seaside-town list.”

  Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “I heard she could win the competition.”

  “She always wins, one way or another.” Hannah basically spit the words out. “She certainly won our parents’ affection. Adele Bailey is Little Miss Perfection in their eyes, and no matter what we did, Adele could always do it better.”

  “That’s right,” Ruby added. “Adele lied and cheated every chance she got but, somehow, when she flashed her bright, toothy smile and tossed her head covered with blond perfectly straight hair, no one every called her out.”

  Jack patted Nellie’s silky fur while she sat with her head resting on his knee. “Life tends to catch up with people like that eventually. It sounds like you need to stay out of her way while she’s here.”

  Ruby snorted. “That will be impossible since Dad will include her in everything without consulting us. As far as he’s concerned, she’s part of the family.”

  “And she’ll twist the knife deeper in our backs as soon as he’s not paying attention.”

  Ruby walked to the door. “I have to pick up Olivia. It’s a half day at school today. Oh, I almost forgot. She wants to know if she can sleep over in your new cottage.”

  “Of course she can. We can pretend we’re camping if she wants. I’ll hang up sheets for a makeshift tent. Cal made a fire pit for me so we can roast marshmallows, too.”

  “Great. She’ll be so excited. See you back here later?” Ruby kept one hand on the door while she waited for Hannah’s reply.

  “Definitely. Our only chance is to mount a united front when they arrive.”

  Jack slid the envelope close to Hannah as soon as the door was closed behind Ruby. “You’d better get this over with so you know what’s heading your way. And once you know, you can decide whether to share the news with Ruby. It might be easier if you work together.”

  “Right.” Hannah lifted the envelope. She slid her finger under the glue. The crease of a folded piece of paper burned her eyes.

  “Read it, Hannah. It’s better to be prepared than to be blindsided,” Jack encouraged.

  “I know you’re right, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I know my father and Great Aunt Caroline had a falling out after my grandfather, Great Aunt Caroline’s brother, died. That’s when we stopped visiting Hooks Harbor and we couldn’t even me
ntion Caroline’s name. After she died, I thought whatever happened between the two of them would be put to rest. How could I ever imagine that I would be pulled into something I know nothing about?”

  Jack sighed. “Caroline hoped that this day wouldn’t come. That you would never have to read what’s in that letter. But you have no choice now.” He touched her arm in an uncharacteristically gentle manner.

  Hannah unfolded the paper. Great Aunt Caroline’s flowing script met her eyes and she read the words written long before Hannah even knew she would be inheriting this piece of paradise she called her home and now loved more than anything.

  Dear Hannah,

  If you are reading this letter, it means that your father has decided to show up in Hooks Harbor and push his way back into your life. I hoped this day would never come, but if you are careful and clever, he won’t be able to wreak havoc on my legacy to you.

  Your father always expected that I would leave my property to him. He cajoled me and threatened me and, as a last straw, he forbade me to have any contact with you, the person I told him would be in my will.

  I know he can be manipulative.

  You need to know that he always had a goal of using my property, now yours, as the setting for a luxury hotel that only the wealthiest of the wealthy would be able to enjoy. My cottages and snack bar would be leveled under his plan. That cannot happen. They must remain simple, low impact, and available for many to enjoy.

  I don’t know how he will meddle, but I am one hundred percent positive that if he shows up on your doorstep, that will be his goal.

  You must not allow him to get control of this wonderful spot. Stay vigilant and expect danger to show up when you least expect it.

  I trusted you with this legacy because I know you have an inner strength to do what is absolutely the right thing.