Murder on Main Street: Jake and Emma Mysteries, #2

By Linda Crowder

A freak May Day blizzard strands the citizens of Casper, Wyoming under six feet of snow, but even snow can't stop a killer. Detective Matt Joyner calls on accidental detectives Jake and Emma Rand in a mystery that quickly comes a little too close to home. Emma's best friend, Kristy Castle, is hiding a secret from her past, but would she kill to keep it quiet?

Second book in the Casper Crime Boss trilogy. This is not a cliffhanger. The central mystery is completely resolved, but there may be some detective work still to be done. Formerly released as Main Street Murder.

• Language: English
• Publisher: 307 Publishing LLC
• Release date: Jul 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781536509694

Linda Crowder

Linda Crowder is best known for her mysteries. The Jake and Emma Mystery series is set in Casper, Wyoming and features two accidental detectives. The Caribou King Mysteries, published by Cozy Cat Press, is set in the mythical cruise ship town of Coho Bay, Alaska. Linda lives in the shadow of Casper Mountain with her husband and an ever-changing number of dogs, cats and wandering bunnies.

Book preview

DEDICATION

My beautiful Casper dog went to Heaven on April 2.

Lucky, his constant companion, joined him on July 13.

They were the best doggie friends a girl could have.

I will miss them.

Chapter One

Y ou have got to be kidding, groaned Emma Rand as she stood at the bedroom window, gazing dispiritedly out on a landscape that looked more like February than May. Yesterday, she had been exploring her flower beds, welcoming each tulip and daffodil that heralded the coming of spring.

Sometime during the night it had started to snow, and it had kept on snowing. There must be two feet out there, Emma said, and it’s still coming down. I can’t even see the mountain.

Her husband mumbled incoherently. Emma turned away from the window and crossed the room to sit beside him on the bed. Jake, wake up. You’re going to have to drive me to work. Jake mumbled again and pulled the quilt over his head. Emma nudged him, but there was no response. She tugged the quilt down to his shoulders and kissed his cheek. Nothing. She stroked his shoulder and blew softly in his ear. He swatted at her and snuggled more deeply into the bed.

Emma sat up and gave Jake a playful push, We have obviously been married too long. You’re immune to my womanly charms.

Emma yelped when Jake’s arm shot from beneath the quilt and wrapped around her waist. He pulled her onto the bed and gave her startled lips a hungry kiss. Emma giggled and smiled up into her husband’s no-longer-sleepy eyes. That’s more like it, she told him.

AN HOUR LATER THEY stood together in the sunroom, watching the blizzard. The snow swirled in every direction, blotting out the mountain, the lights of Casper. They couldn’t even see the lights of their nearest neighbor, just half a mile away.

Peachy, their regal elder cat, joined them in the sunroom. She went sedately through the kitty door into the back yard, as was her habit on cool spring mornings. When she discovered it was snowing, she turned back so suddenly  she ran headlong into Sparky, who was following hot on her heels.

Hisses and paw swipes were exchanged before both cats settled into a comfortable chair close by the sunroom’s heater. Sparky snuggled next to Peachy, tucking her feet under the larger cat. Peachy promptly bit her ear but the younger cat merely purred and went to sleep.

I don’t think you’re going to work today, Jake said.

I have to, Emma answered. I have clients. I’m booked solid all week.

Next week was their anniversary. Every year they took a trip to someplace they’d never been before. This time they were going to Montana to be among the first visitors of the year at Glacier National Park.

Nobody is going to drive through a blizzard to see their therapist, said Jake. Emma elbowed him in the ribs. Or their attorney, he added. I’m just saying people in Casper are smart enough to stay home when the weather gets like this. Nobody is going to expect either one of us to be in the office today.

If it’s as bad in town as it is here, I agree with you, replied Emma. But you know we always get more snow this far up the mountain. I’d better call Kristy and see what she thinks.

Kristy Castle was Emma’s receptionist and a gem. The two women were nothing alike in looks or personality. Emma was tall and slender with dark brown hair that got shorter with each year. Kristy was a platinum blonde, five feet tall in heels with a figure she described as comfortable. Kristy’s passion for detail kept the office running smoothly despite Emma’s impulsive forgetfulness.

She had come to Emma as part of a work-training program. Emma had been through a number of program trainees over the years. Some of them had been helpful, but most were less so, until Kristy was assigned to her.

Emma had never dreamed her practice could support both herself and a paid assistant, but Kristy’s efficient billing of insurance companies and gentle but firm collection of delinquent accounts had enabled Emma to hire her full-time when her placement ended. Despite their differences—Kristy joked it was because of their differences—the partnership worked.

Kristy lived in a downtown loft and would know what the roads in Casper were like. Unless she’s already at work, thought Emma, wondering why I’m not there yet.

Kristy picked up on the first ring. I already called everyone who was on the schedule today, she said, seeing Emma’s name on her caller ID. Emma laughed. You’re two steps ahead of me, as usual. How much snow have you got down there?

She could hear Kristy walking to the bank of windows that lined the south wall of her apartment, her steps echoing on the polished concrete floor. Emma loved Kristy’s loft for the view and the convenience but the style was far too modern for her tastes.

Kristy had laughed when Emma asked when she was getting her floor put in. "This IS my floor, Emma! she’d said, I had them tear up what was here and stain and polish the concrete before I moved in." Kristy had laughed again when Emma had observed it would at least be easy to clean.

Normally, the loft boasted an amazing view of Casper Mountain but today all Kristy could see were the buildings around hers. It’s pretty bad out there, she told Emma. I’d say we have at least a foot, maybe more. The plows are out, but it’s coming down too fast for them to keep up. What’s it like up there?

It’s a typical spring morning on the mountain. Jake says the weatherman is predicting three feet or more.

Then we’re sure to get five.

Or it’ll stop in an hour, Emma said with a smile. Weather was notoriously difficult to predict near the mountains. They laughed again and said goodbye.

Emma turned to Jake, who was filling the pellet stove which they used as their primary heat source. You were right. Snow day! You get the movies, I’ll get the popcorn.

Jake shut the lid to the stove’s hopper and put the empty pellet bag in the trash. I have a better idea. He wrapped his arms around her and tilted her head up to his.

Emma smiled. I suppose the movies can wait.

Chapter Two

The snow finally stopped early the next morning, having dropped more than four feet on a water-starved Casper Mountain. The May Day Storm, as the newscasts referred to it, broke records across Wyoming for snowfall and low temperatures. Some parts of the state got nearly twice as much snow in that one storm than they’d had all winter.

Wyomingites rarely complain about snow. In fact, men across the state were humming as they broke out neglected snow blowers or hooked little-used snow blades to their pick-up trucks and started to dig out. They were too happy to see the moisture to complain about getting it in one storm.

Jake whistled as he waded through the snow to the barn. Some of the drifts were over his head, and since he was more than six feet tall, that was saying something.

Casper, named for his all-white coat instead of the city, rolled over for Jake to rub his belly. Charlie, jet black yin to Casper’s yang, jumped up and down, barking excitedly at Jake until he finished petting the older dog and had time to pet the six-year-old puppy.

He fed the dogs and the barn cats, filling their heated water dish from the frost free tap the previous owner had installed for his horses. After doing a quick cat count, Jake went through to the attached equipment shed and started up his skid-steer.

Even though it was cold in the unheated cab, Jake was always happy to break out the heavy equipment. Emma thought Jake was a little crazy when he’d bought the used skid-steer at an estate auction. When are you ever going to use that thing? she’d asked him. Jake had just smiled and assured her he would find uses for it.

They’d gone to the auction to look at furniture when Emma had first moved to Casper and needed to set up her office. That she’d lost out on the desk she wanted while Jake scored the loader was something Emma still teased him about.

The snow was heavy, as spring snows often are, and the little skid-steer struggled to push through the drifts between the equipment shed and the driveway. Jake methodically scooped, backed, dumped and scooped again as he worked his way from the house to the road, clearing a path.

He looked up to see Emma waving to him from the cleared drive. He cut the engine as she made her way to him with hot chocolate. Jake smiled, watching his transplanted California wife picking her way gingerly through the cleared path.

Emma was dressed warmly enough for ten blizzards. She wore waterproof ski pants in deep blue with a matching parka. She had a red and gold scarf and matching gloves. Emma refused to relinquish her beloved 49’ers for Jake’s equally loved Broncos. A hand knitted wool hat, with snug ear flaps pulled down in what Jake called her Elmer Fudd look completed the picture.

As he’d been doing for the last eight years, Jake thanked God for the good fortune that brought Emma into his life. He’d been married once before, as had she. They had both emerged from those relationships with more than a few emotional scars.

With Emma, there wasn’t any work. Their relationship flowed easily right from the start. Before they even admitted they were in love, they started talking about making a home together. Both agreed it seemed they had always been together.

You’ve got a lot done, Emma said when she handed Jake the insulated mug of hot chocolate. Once Kenny pushes through to the county road, we’ll be connected to the world again.

Yeah, agreed Jake, Damn Kenny. Emma laughed. Kenny was their closest neighbor, and like Jake, he relished any opportunity to break out what Emma called his big boy toys. The fly in the ointment was that while Jake had a little skid-steer, Kenny had a front-end loader.

Jake plowed their drive, but Kenny plowed the ten miles of unpaved County road connecting them to the highway. Jake thought the County might eventually get around to plowing it for them, but Kenny had never waited long enough for him to find out. Jake watched Emma waved at Kenny as he passed their driveway and Kenny tipped his hat cheerfully as he chugged along. He had a heated and air conditioned cab that was the envy of the men in small community of families that lived up this stretch of road.

You should take a break and go inside to warm up, said Emma as he cupped his mug in his hands.

Jake shook his head and handed the empty mug back to her. I’m almost done, he said, putting his heavy work gloves back on. I should be able to get you into your office in time for your afternoon appointments.

Poor baby, Emma said. "That means you’ll be in your office in time for your afternoon appointments. Then it’ll be ‘Goodbye, Mountain Man; hello, Mr. Attorney.’"

Jake laughed. I do wish being a mountain man paid a little better. At least I don’t have a trial today so I don’t have to wear a monkey suit. In Wyoming, attorneys wore jeans and cowboy boots more often than three piece suits. You could always tell in a room full of lawyers which ones had to be in court that day.

Emma smiled and stepped back from the skid-steer so Jake could resume his methodical plowing. She watched him scoop up another