Death by Coffee by Alex Erickson Read Free Book Online

holding tight to the arm of the man with her. All it took was one up close look and I knew I was looking at Brendon’s brother, Mason. While Brendon had been all severe lines, Mason leaned toward softer edges, but they were otherwise similar in features.
    Heidi waited by the door a moment, whispered something to him, and then walked to the back corner. She sat down and stared out the window, toward where her husband had worked, completely oblivious to the fact she was sitting in the same chair Brendon had sat in minutes before he’d died.
    “Excuse me,” Mason said, startling me. I’d been staring at Heidi and had completely forgotten about him—despite the fact he was standing right there.
    “Sorry,” I said, practiced smile falling into place. “Welcome to Death by Coffee. How can I help you?” God, that sounds so rehearsed.
    Mason smiled. Unlike Brendon, he apparently knew how. “Two black coffees, please.” He studied the case of cookies a moment before adding, “And two chocolate chip for here.”
    I rang up his order and then headed back to get his coffee and cookies. My mind was racing, wondering why he was with Heidi so soon after his brother’s death. He could be consoling her, sure, but it appeared there was more to it than that. He’d been the one to go into Lawyer’s Insurance, not her. What was going on between them? When they’d touched earlier, it had looked a little too familiar for what you’d expect between a widow and her dead husband’s brother, especially only a day after his demise.
    I set his order onto a tray, remembering at the last moment to smile. “Here you are,” I said.
    “Thanks.” Mason paid in exact change and then carried the tray to where Heidi sat waiting. He leaned in close to say something before sitting across from her.
    I couldn’t take my eyes off them, though I knew I should. As soon as Mason had sat down, Heidi’s red-rimmed eyes had softened. She gave him a weak smile before picking up her cookie and nibbling at it. They talked in low voices, each glancing across the street every few moments.
    There was absolutely no way I was going to be able to stand there and not know what they were talking about.
    I grabbed a washcloth and cleaner from beneath the counter, thankful there were no customers to interrupt my eavesdropping, and headed out to wipe down the tables. I started with ones farthest from the two, as not to appear as if I was trying to listen in. I hurriedly wiped the outer tables down before moving into hearing range.
    “He never forgets it,” Heidi was saying. “Do you know how it looks that it came up missing on the very day he . . . ,” Heidi trailed off, shaking her head.
    “I know,” Mason said, sighing. He glanced my way and frowned before leaning forward and lowering his voice. “Accidents happen all the time.”
    Heidi’s face hardened. “You and I both know this wasn’t an accident.”
    I dropped my bottle of cleaner.
    Both Heidi and Mason looked my way. A frown crept onto Mason’s face, while Heidi’s eyes brimmed with tears.
    “Sorry,” I said. “It slipped.”
    I scooped up the spray bottle, finished wiping down the table, and then hauled ass back behind the counter. I could feel the flush on my cheeks and knew I had to look ten shades of guilty.
    Could I really have heard what I thought I’d heard? Were they actually talking about Brendon’s death as if it hadn’t been an accident? It didn’t take a genius to figure out that they’d been talking about Brendon’s missing EpiPen.
    The realization that I might be staring at two murderers hit me so hard, I very nearly yelped when I bumped into the coffee machine. I’d met Brendon Lawyer. He wasn’t a nice man. Could his brother have offed him because he was always treating people like they were beneath him? Could he have beat his wife to the point where she’d finally had enough and poisoned him with peanuts?
    It made some sense. Brendon didn’t buy anything to eat