Tapped Out: Maple Syrup Mysteries, #7

By Emily James

No one is exactly what they seem…

Former lawyer Nicole Fitzhenry-Dawes should be focusing on planning her wedding and a friend's baby shower, as well as running her maple syrup farm.

Instead, her "former" profession won't let her go.

Her maid of honor, Elise Scott, is suspended from her job as a Fair Haven police officer for investigating a case she shouldn't have been anywhere near, endangering not only her career but also her relationship with a fellow officer. Nicole can't believe Elise would have risked so much without a good reason.

When Nicole finds out that the reason involves Elise's children, she ends up defending a man she isn't convinced is innocent.

And the deeper she goes into his case, the more she becomes a target of very dangerous people…

Tapped Out is the seventh book in Emily James' Maple Syrup Mysteries. The series is full of small-town settings, quirky characters, and a touch of romance!

This book is a clean mystery. While the series is best enjoyed in order, each book is a complete mystery on its own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stronghold Books
• Release date: Apr 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9781988480114

Book preview

1

The look on Erik’s face said that whatever he’d come to talk to me about wasn’t good.

So did the fact that he’d cleared his throat three times in the last minute. We’d been friends long enough that I knew what that particular tic meant. He was nervous.

I nudged the cup of coffee I’d made him across my kitchen island and waited.

He wasn’t in uniform, so at least I knew this wasn’t official police business. No one was dead, and I hadn’t somehow gotten myself into trouble without realizing it.

For a second, I considered clearing my own throat. The silence was getting uncomfortable, but Erik wasn’t the kind of man you rushed. He’d tell me when he was ready.

Do you want some maple syrup popcorn? I asked. I’ve been testing recipes for Stacey’s baby shower.

Stacey Rathmell, Sugarwood’s bookkeeper and all-around fix-it woman, was due to have her first baby in a little over a month. I was throwing her a shower, and she’d decided she wanted maple-syrup themed favors, but not something we sold in the shop because she didn’t want me expending Sugarwood resources on her. I’d have gladly spent the money on tiny bottles of maple syrup or bouquets of maple syrup candy if it got me out of my kitchen.

Erik looped a finger through the handle of his coffee mug, but didn’t bring it any closer to him. I’m not hungry. He cleared his throat again. I need advice about Elise.

Was he thinking of proposing already? Erik and Elise started dating after Mark and I did. I thought they weren’t considering marriage yet—especially since most people waited longer than Mark and I had to get engaged. But maybe I’d been wrong. If he needed help planning a proposal Elise would love, I could give him some great ideas. I had to be better at planning a proposal than planning a baby shower. Or a wedding. Without Mark’s mom, I’d have been lost.

I didn’t want to come straight out and ask if that were it, though, and embarrass Erik even more. Is something wrong?

I casually popped a couple kernels of maple syrup popcorn into my mouth. This batch was only marginally better than my first attempt—it practically glued my jaw shut, it was so sticky.

Maybe. She’s keeping something from me, and I’m not sure what to do about it.

Crap. That was the opposite of where I’d hoped this conversation was going. It fell more into the I’m not sure this relationship is going to work category.

He’d probably come to me because, as far as I knew, I was his only female friend, but asking me for relationship advice was like asking a toddler to quiz you for a spelling bee.

I’ve only had two serious relationships. One was a borderline psychopath who murdered his wife and tried to kill me. The other was Mark. Maybe Mark or Quincey would be a better choice to talk to this about.

I can’t talk to either of them. They’re both county employees.

Erik was so by-the-book sometimes that he made me want to color outside the lines just to be contrary, but he’d lost me this time. You’re going to have to be a bit less cryptic if you want my help.

He sighed and finally took his first sip of coffee. Elise has been suspended, and she won’t tell me why.

Even if he’d let me guess, that wouldn’t have crossed my mind as a possibility. Elise wasn’t quite as strict as Erik, but she was a good police officer. You’re sure this isn’t a mistake?

He shook his head. I asked her about it. She didn’t deny deserving the suspension, and she said that it’s not something I needed to worry about.

If I had to make a guess about why she was keeping this from Erik, I’d have said it was one of two things. The first was that she didn’t want him getting in trouble trying to help her. The second seemed more likely. Maybe she’s embarrassed. It was probably an innocent mistake, and Chief McTavish had to give her a slap on the wrist.

I asked the chief, Erik said. He wouldn’t tell me what was going on either, and he suggested it’d be better if I left it alone.

That explained why he felt he couldn’t go directly to Quincey or Mark, even though Mark was the county medical examiner and not a police officer like the rest of them. If Chief McTavish found out that Erik continued to dig even after he’d shut Erik down, Erik and whoever he went to could be in trouble. Besides, if Erik didn’t know the truth, it wasn’t likely Quincey or Mark would, either. Mark wasn’t a police officer, and Erik outranked Quincey.

It also sounded ominous, like this was more than a small disciplinary action.

Erik had to be thinking what I was now thinking. Fair Haven’s former chief had been involved in all kinds of cover-ups. Chief McTavish came here in part to uncover whether the corruption stopped with the former chief or went deeper. If he’d suspended Elise and warned Erik off, it could be because he suspected Elise of being dirty.

No way was Elise a dirty cop. You know she’s not⁠—

I know. He pushed his cup back away from him. It’s not that I think she’s actually involved in any of the things the chief’s investigating, but that doesn’t mean circumstantial evidence won’t point to her. That could end her career.

Or at least end her career here in Fair Haven, where the court of public opinion sometimes mattered more than the actual law. Even if she was cleared in the end, it could mean she’d have to start over somewhere else. Leaving Fair Haven meant leaving her family behind, and I knew how close the Cavanaughs were. One of the items in the con side of the list Mark and I were making as we tried to decide whether to move back to DC after we got married involved leaving his family behind.

And then there was Erik’s job. Would they even be able to get employment in the same county, or would a forced move for Elise mean the end of their relationship?

I dumped my half-finished cup of coffee in the sink. I’ll go talk to her. Maybe it’s not as bad as we think.

I decided not to call ahead and give Elise a chance to say no. The whole drive, my parents’ voices yelled in my brain about how rude it was to show up unannounced. Fair Haven had that small town drop by anytime attitude, so hopefully Elise wouldn’t be too annoyed.

Or, at least, not annoyed by me showing up on her doorstep. Based on what Erik had told me, she wasn’t going to love me poking into her private situation.

But that’s what family did. In a few months, I’d officially be a Cavanaugh, and Elise would be my cousin-in-law.

I parked behind Elise’s car in her driveway. The high-pitched squeals of happy kids playing drifted from the backyard.

Elise’s kids were young enough that she’d probably told them she was on vacation rather than that she’d been suspended. She wouldn’t tell me anything around them. If I wanted the truth, I’d have to draw her away.

I detoured from my path to the backyard and rang the doorbell instead.

Elise answered a minute later, her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail rather than the ultra-strict bun she wore for work.

She scrunched her lips together. It wasn’t quite a scowl, but it came close. He told you.

I didn’t see a point in playing dumb. As soon as I tried to come around to the topic of her suspension, she’d know I’d been lying. He did, but coming here was my idea.

She lifted her eyebrows in a way that seemed to say I wasn’t born yesterday.

I crossed my heart. I offered to come. I was worried, too, once he told me what’s going on.

An expression flickered across Elise’s face too quickly for me to figure out what it was or what caused it. You mean you came because I wouldn’t tell him what was going on.

Ouch. That made it sound like I was simply being nosy. No denying an abundance of curiosity was one of my flaws, but it hadn’t entered my motives this time.

I felt like I was back talking to the Elise I’d met when Noah, Sugarwood’s groom and mechanic, was attacked. The rumors floating around Fair Haven about me had made her more than a little confrontational. We’d moved past that once she realized rumors were all they were, but all her barriers were firmly back in place now.

This time I had the upper hand. We weren’t strangers now. We were close enough that she was standing up in my wedding in a few months. Plus, I had insider knowledge. I knew those barriers came up when she was scared or trying to protect someone she cared about.

It’s not about curiosity, I said softly. It’s about people who love you wanting to have your back. Erik’s worried this is about Chief McTavish’s investigation and that you’ll be blamed for something you had no part of.

That same expression crossed Elise’s face again. And what if I tell you that it’s none of your business, either, and close the door in your face?

It almost felt like she was testing me. August in Fair Haven is close to the perfect temperature for me, and I ate enough popcorn in the past 24 hours that a fast wouldn’t hurt me. I can probably wait you out.

One corner of her mouth twitched. She stepped out of the doorway and motioned me in. I don’t want the rest of the family to know.

I tripped on the doorstep and caught myself. The Cavanaughs were a family where privacy was practically a swear word. We’d both be in bigger trouble for keeping a secret than we would for whatever Elise had done to get herself suspended. Mark’s mom still brought up how Mark and I had fudged the number of times I’d almost been killed.

I straightened up, kicked off my sandals by the door, and scurried to catch up with Elise. It’s a small town. They’ll find out eventually.

She stopped so suddenly I almost rear-ended her. Not this time. I asked the chief if we could keep it quiet.

That put a whole new spin on things. Erik assumed the chief warned him away for his own reasons. Elise made it sound like she’d asked for discretion.

They’ll know you were suspended, though. It’s only a matter of time, and then they’ll want to know why.

Elise was shaking her head before I finished. Chief McTavish said he’d tell anyone who asked that I needed to take some personal time. The only other person who knows—knew—was Erik, and clearly I shouldn’t have even told him.

She had every right to be miffed. I would have been too if the roles were reversed and Mark went running to Erik about something I’d told him in confidence. That explained why Erik had seemed so conflicted and had sat in my house for a long time before telling me what was going on. But⁠—

Elise raised a hand. I can see what you’re thinking. I don’t need to be told he only did it because he’s worried and he cares.

At least she’d forgotten about getting an actual promise from me about not sharing this with the family. Though, given how betrayed she already felt by Erik’s breach of confidence, I might have to work on convincing her rather than telling Mark behind her back. First I needed to figure out exactly what was going on.

Is this about Chief McTavish’s investigation?

Elise leaned backward and glanced over her shoulder, as if checking that the kids were still outside. Not directly. He said he had to suspend me to keep me from coming under suspicion. Besides, if he didn’t, it’d look like favoritism and then all the work he’d done could come into question.

This was getting cloak-and-dagger enough that maybe I didn’t want to know more until I knew I wouldn’t be pressed into keeping it a secret from Mark. I know you don’t want the whole family to know, but I’m going to have to tell Mark whatever you tell me.

Elise pulled a face that made her look eerily similar to her five year old. Only Mark. And if I tell you, you have to promise to help me.

2

As soon as Elise wanted a promise from me, I knew I wasn’t going to want to agree to whatever she was about to ask. That was the only reason she’d want a promise ahead of time. If the help she needed was something I wouldn’t normally object to, she’d have had no reason to insist on a promise up front.

But I also knew Elise well enough to know she wouldn’t ask me to do anything immoral or illegal. Whatever she wanted might make me uncomfortable, but it wasn’t likely to get me arrested.

I’d promise, with one caveat. I promise I’ll help as long as it doesn’t require me to lie to Mark.

Elise’s lips narrowed to the point where they almost disappeared. She hadn’t wanted her family to know anything about what was going on, but she’d also hated me when we first met, in part because she thought I’d mistreated Mark. She couldn’t hold it against me that I wasn’t going to lie to my future husband about whatever she was bringing me in to.

Her lips relaxed. Fine. It’s not something you’d be able to hide from him anyway.

She didn’t reiterate her request that I keep this a secret from the rest of the family, so hopefully she’d given up on that idea as well. Fair Haven was too small a town to expect anything to stay top secret for long anyway.

What do you need me to do? I asked.

Mom?

Elise spun around, and I leaned sideways to see past her. Arielle bounced on her toes through the kitchen doorway, hair plastered against her face and a limp towel around her shoulders.

Hi, Aunt Nikki. She waved at me, then turned her attention back to her mom. Can we have popsicles?

Elise’s expression softened. It was almost like magic, watching her with her kids. All the hard lines in her face disappeared, and she always looked ten years younger.

Not that it surprised me. Her kids were smart, precocious, and two of the best-behaved munchkins I’d ever met. Even though I’d never met Elise’s ex-husband, they seemed to take strongly after the Cavanaughs. It still melted my heart hearing them call me Aunt Nikki. They’d begged for the privilege as soon as we announced our engagement.

Elise held up a finger. You can split one. I don’t want you full for lunch.

Arielle grinned and sprinted off. The towel flapped behind her like a cape.

Elise leaned against the wall. The fine lines were back in her face, more noticeable now than they had been before Arielle’s appearance. Chief McTavish had to suspend me because I used police resources for personal reasons.

She stated her infraction like she was reading from a police report.

Since she didn’t try to defend it, it had to be true. Using police resources for personal reasons could mean a lot of different things, though. I get the feeling you weren’t photocopying coloring book pages on the copy machine.

Elise shook her head. I was looking into a case where I think the person charged with the crime is innocent.

It could have been a lot worse. Basically, she’d gotten a slap on the wrist because she was spending work time and, potentially, other officers’ time to continue investigating a case the county believed no longer required police involvement. She’d probably also done background checks on other possible suspects. She must have spent a lot of time digging for it to result in a suspension rather than a reprimand—though, as she said, Chief McTavish also wanted to protect her from coming under suspicion of worse.

More interesting to me than what she’d done to get in trouble was why she’d done it. She’d have known she was taking a risk.

Elise liked to make things right. If she’d missed something or felt she’d been biased against the person they arrested, it made sense that she’d try to fix it now.

Were you involved in the original investigation?

I wasn’t, she said.

I waited for more, but nothing came. She’d angled her body subtly away from me. The blank expression of a trained police officer who wanted to give nothing away covered her face.

That line of questioning, clearly, was closed.

I’d leave it be for the moment. She still hadn’t told me how I played into all of this, but I had a sneaking suspicion. Since you can’t investigate anymore, you want me to.

In a manner of speaking. He needs a lawyer.

If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought it was a conspiracy, that my parents had bribed