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

collected the eggs she’d left earlier and thanked Nora for finally getting her together with Zach. Even if it was an undesirable circumstance, she’d had a really fun time and she’d laughed more than she had in the past few days.
    “Let me call Jay so he can meet us at the Auto Body. He’s probably home already,” Kori said, standing outside of her car.
    She made plans to meet him there in fifteen minutes and then they each headed down Nora’s driveway and back toward town.
    Jay gave Kori a curious look when she pulled into the Auto Body followed by Zach Gulch. He knew as well as anyone else in town that Zach had always had a crush on her. But she brushed off his unasked questions and handed the tire to Zach.
    “This is great. Thanks for holding onto it, Jay,” Zach said when he had the tire safely stowed in his trunk. “I’ll have to get it to Detective Gunn so he can scan it for fingerprints and see if he can determine what was used to cut it. This could be a clue we need.”
    By the time Kori was back inside her home above The Early Bird Café, she was totally drained. She felt only slightly guilty knowing that she would enjoy a good night’s sleep while Zach had to stay awake, watching her from his car.
    She flipped through her mail—mostly junk credit card offers or magazines she couldn’t remember subscribing to—while she got comfy on her couch with mindless TV in the background.
    Suddenly, a postcard from New York City caught her attention. On the front was an aerial shot of the city. She turned it over and nearly dropped it in surprise. She knew right away that it was a man’s handwriting but she didn’t know whose. Dylan’s? Someone else Tessa was connected to in New York? Had she been having an affair?
    You know too much.

CHAPTER 8
     
    Kori considered going straight downstairs to give the postcard to Zach. She knew she could trust him but he didn’t want her involved in this case. Well, involved as an investigator. She was already involved as a suspect.
    Instead, she checked that her doors were locked and that she could see Zach’s patrol car on the street. Then she went to bed, hoping to get at least a few hours of sleep before she had to be downstairs preparing for Thursday’s breakfast.
    Thursday’s breakfast! She hadn’t even thought for a second what she would make. That only woke her up more. She had to force herself not to go downstairs and start planning her menu. Instead, she lay in bed and tried to completely clear her mind of everything that was going on.
    S he was surprised when she woke to her alarm feeling well rested at four o’clock. But as soon as her feet touched the floor, she remembered what had kept her awake and worrying last night.
    You know too much.
    What did she even know? That Tessa was dead and someone was trying to frame her? That was only her suspicion. She didn’t know that was what was happening.
    She didn’t know why Tessa had been murdered.
    She didn’t know why Tessa had even moved to Hermit Cove.
    Then it hit her: Tessa had been running from someone or something. Before Tessa had turned über competitive, Kori had told her about Hermit Cove. Tessa had been more than a little interested. She’d asked questions that Kori hadn’t considered at the time, but now that she put everything into context it all made sense.
    Tessa had asked about career paths and the economy; normal questions if you were thinking of moving somewhere. But then she’d asked about banks and drugs and crime.
    After graduating from culinary school, Tessa’d only moved to New York to keep Kori close. Her plan had always been to move to Hermit Cove, Kori was now sure of that.
    But who had sent the postcard? Was it a warning? Would Kori be the next target? Could it be Dylan?
    Kori threw on clean jeans and a t-shirt and headed downstairs. She’d promised Zach coffee, so she got that started. She was already buzzing from the path her brain had taken since she’d woken up but she