HELL'S HALF ACRE a gripping murder mystery full of twists (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 2) by JACKIE ELLIOTT (classic literature books .txt) 📗

“Just one other thing, Jim.” Andi hovered for a moment.

“What? More secrets?”

“No, I need my cheque.”

“What cheque?”

“My cheque for last week’s articles.”

“Article, singular,” Jim corrected her, “and you can have it when I get a thousand words about the Heritage Festival by 5 p.m. today.”

* * *

When Andi left the office, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She hated keeping secrets from Jim.

He’d been her saviour when she needed help and she owed him a lot. Andi had taken the job at the Coffin Cove Gazette because it was her only option. She’d left her old job at a national media company in disgrace, and her married lover — who also happened to be her boss — had dumped her.

Andi felt no heartache for the ruined relationship. She had known for a long time that Gavin would never leave his wife, and she had hated the lies and deceit and sneaking around. It had just about finished her as a journalist until she hammered that nail into the coffin of her career all by herself. Once a rising star on the investigative reporting team for a large newspaper, where Gavin was the deputy editor, her upward trajectory had come to a crashing end when she had failed to corroborate a tip-off from a source. She had gone ahead and written the article, sure that everything was fine and assuring Gavin that the source was solid. Neither would turn out to be true. The tip-off had been bogus, and a prominent businessman had threatened to sue. It had been a horrible mess. The newspaper had had to rescind the article and print a full-page apology.

Andi’s face still burned with anger as she remembered being called into the editor’s office. Gavin had stood there, stony-faced and furious, as the editor fired her and issued him a warning.

He didn’t look at her when they were out of the office, just muttered, “We’ll talk later.” They never did.

Eventually Andi stopped calling and texting and focused her attention on what to do next. Having been publicly disgraced, she knew that no media outlet would even accept a restaurant review from her.

Getting frantic, and with her bank balance dwindling, she saw an advertisement for a position at the Coffin Cove Gazette. In desperation, she applied, hoping Jim Peters, the owner, wouldn’t find out about her humiliation

He already knew.

He’d offered her the job anyway, warning her not to screw up or lie to him ever, and then he said, “You know, there are more than just bake sales in this town. Give it a chance. It might surprise you.”

His words had been prophetic.

Andi rubbed her face. She was tired of feeling sorry for herself.

This morning, Andi had felt the first spark of energy in a long time when Jim promised to help her investigate Ricky’s disappearance. Andi had been touched when Sandra approached her. She had felt so sorry for the broken woman, begging Andi to help. Andi didn’t have the heart to say no, but the pressure to find something, anything tangible was getting to her. But now, Andi smiled to herself, her old mojo was coming back.

She got out of the car and decided to walk to City Hall. Fresh air would do her good, she thought. It would give her a chance to think through all she had discovered so far and get it straight in her head, before she presented her investigation to Jim. She’d better be ready for his interrogation.

For once, the sun was shining.

As Andi took the scenic route towards City Hall via the ocean front, she thought about Mayor Jade Thompson. She was glad Jim had assigned this interview to her. She was convinced Mayor Thompson played some part in this unfolding story. Andi had interviewed the mayor when she was running for office, and she’d thought then that Jade kept her most interesting personal facts to herself. Jade Thompson was an enigma. She played everything close to her chest. Andi both admired her and was intrigued by her. Until Jade’s candidacy, Dennis Havers had been mayor of Coffin Cove for ever, it seemed. Nobody seemed to like him, but nobody ran against him either. Jade was the first female mayor that Coffin Cove had ever elected, and she had also ended Dennis Havers’ reign. Overall, Andi decided, it was a good thing. Jade had new ideas and seemed dedicated to serving the community. Andi had only just started digging around about Dennis Havers, but already she’d found out that the previous mayor had been more interested in helping himself than helping Coffin Cove.

Andi had first met Jade Thompson around the same time Ricky Havers disappeared. Andi didn’t believe in coincidences. She had been convinced right from the start that there was some sort of a connection between Jade Thompson and Ricky Havers.

As she passed Hephzibah’s café, Andi remembered that first encounter. She and Jim had been enjoying an afternoon coffee. Andi had immediately noticed the tall, serious woman at the counter. Andi had lived in Coffin Cove long enough to recognize most faces, and she was sure she hadn’t seen this lady before. Yet Hephzibah not only seemed to recognize the woman, she also knew her coffee order.

Andi and Jim had been discussing Ricky Havers and the Smoke Room, the first ever legal marijuana store in Coffin Cove. Ricky was the proprietor. He was forty-two years old, and according to everyone Andi spoke to, he had never held down a job for more than a few weeks in his entire life. Still, most people agreed that if Ricky were suited to any kind of work, it would be running a marijuana store. Apparently Ricky had perfected the art of smoking weed. Most people assumed Dennis had fronted the cash for the store.