Ginny Gold - Early Bird Café 01 - Rise and Die by Ginny Gold Read Free Book Online

know she was innocent because he knew who did it? Or had he done it? He’d always been a protective older brother but would he have taken it a step too far in driving out her competition?
    No, of course not. Kori knew she was overreacting. She just needed time and space from the murder and her arrest—arrests—to process a rational chain of events.
    Maybe Jenna had seen something. She lived next to Tessa’s café. And even if she hadn’t seen anything, maybe she’d at least heard something. She hadn’t shared any details yesterday when she’d brought it up. Was she hiding something because she was guilty?
    Stop it, Kori! She had to intentionally focus on the road in front of them instead of on her reeling thoughts.
    “Thanks for the ride, Jay. You’re not going to tell Mom, are you?” Kori asked once he had parked in front of The Early Bird Café.
    “Hah. Of course not. Your secret’s safe with me. The secret of getting arrested,” he added quickly, only after Kori gave him a look of shock and terror. “I know she’d talk about it all over town and no one needs that.”
    “Thanks.”
    “I just know you’ll repay the favor if I ever need it.”
    Kori opened to door and gave her brother a scowl. “I’ve already bailed you out multiple times and kept my mouth shut. This is your turn to return the favor. See you later.”
    Kori slammed the door and Jay drove off, turning around to head back to the Auto Body.
    Alone, Kori wasn’t sure what to do. She let herself into the café and found it just as she’d left it—a mess after being rushed out at closing time. She got to work cleaning up and then headed upstairs to shower and change. She needed to go to Nora’s and talk about what had happened. If anyone could help, it would be Nora.
    ***
    “Well, let’s make a list of possible murderers and see what we can figure out about each of them,” Nora said, pen in hand, poised over the piece of paper in front of her on the table.
    As soon as Kori had walked into the greenhouse where Nora was transplanting seedlings, she’d broken down. Nora had abandoned her task and they went into the house to have a cup of tea and figure out a solution to Kori’s problem. She was proactive about every bad situation on her farm, so this was just another challenge she had to overcome.
    “We can’t solve this on our own,” Kori protested.
    “Maybe not. But from what you’ve told me, it sounds like Zach is on your side. Like he’s always been. Why not use that to our advantage?”
    Kori was immediately thankful that she was no longer in this alone. “I can’t use Zach.”
    “Well, maybe there’s something you can give him in return,” Nora suggested , eyebrows raised.
    “I’m not pimping myself out.”
    “Come on. I can hear it in your voice when you talk about him. I’ve always been able to hear it. He’s not the only one interested in a relationship. You are too; you’re just afraid of admitting that.”
    “I’m not afraid,” Kori said, feeling her face blush and knowing Nora had hit the nail on the head.
    “No?”
    “Okay. Fine. I’ll see if I can get any information from him. But only as a last resort. We’ll find out what we can on our own first.”
    “Fine. Just remember that you were the one who said we can’t solve this on our own.”
    “Yeah. Right. Well, put my name on the top of your list.”
    “Your name?” Nora asked, looking confused.
    “I mean, I’m a suspect. We both know I’m innocent. But as far as I know, I’m the only one who’s been arrested for Tessa’s murder.”
    “Good point. Kori Cooke,” Nora wrote as she began her list with her best friend’s name. “Anyone else? Or do we have to assume the whole town is guilty until we can cross them off?”
    “That would take too long. I think I can narrow it down a little. At least to get started. They’re long shots but let’s check out Betsy Scoop and Derek Spears.”
    Nora added the names to the list. “What evidence