Free Ginny Gold - Early Bird Café 02 - Deadly Surprise by Ginny Gold Page B

off?” she asked in her best innocent voice.
    “No, I don’t think so.” Ignorance truly was bliss. Jay was still plenty relaxed.
    “Good. I just didn’t see you take anything but I must have just missed it.”
    Jay’s face suddenly blanched. “Oh my God.”
    “So you did forget something?” she asked, trying to remain calm. “Because I checked later and I didn’t see anything.” She realized that this conversation was starting to sound more and more suspicious.
    “No, I did forget something. You didn’t see it?”
    Kori shook her head, starting to reach the same level of panic as Jay.
    “I’ll stop by later and double check,” he said, regaining his composure.
    “Great. What can I get you both for breakfast?”
    Kori was busy the rest of the morning, making more batches of popovers than anything else, even the omelets which were usually the biggest seller.
    At one, Kori flipped the sign around, locked the door and took Ibis outside for another walk. She was thankful that Ibis could spend the whole morning without needing to go out. She wasn’t sure what she’d do otherwise.
    As she rounded the final corner to go home, she saw her mother standing outside the café. It wasn’t part of her routine to show up on Tuesday afternoons so she hoped everything was okay.
    “Hi Mom,” Kori said, coming up behind her.
    “Oh, there you are. And with a dog? When did you get her?”
    “Sunday. I forgot to introduce you to her yesterday. This is Ibis.”
    Gale smiled at the name and bent down to pet her. Ibis sat and let Gale shower her with attention.
    “What’s up?” Kori finally asked.
    “You won’t believe it,” Gale said, hands waving to emphasize her point. Kori refrained from rolling her eyes. “I just found out that Jay’s DNA was at Heidi’s murder! I had no idea he knew her! What was he doing there?”
    “Why are you asking me about this? Shouldn’t you be talking to Jay?” Kori asked, unlocking the door and going inside, Ibis and Gale right behind her.
    “Oh you know how he is. He just closed right up when I started asking him about it.” Kori could imagine. “So I came to you.”
    “How’d you find out about the DNA?”
    “Well, you know my friend Jan Collins?” Kori nodded. “Well, we were at yoga just now—you should start coming with me—and she went to the Auto Body this morning and over heard Jay and Spencer talking about it. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. You knew, didn’t you?”
    Kori nodded.
    “What was he doing in Scoter Circle this weekend?”
    “He wasn’t there. That’s the weirdest part. And it hasn’t been confirmed as his DNA. All they know is it’s a male relative of mine. I’m in the system because of my arrest for Tessa’s murder. But they haven’t been able to definitively pin this on Jay.”
    “And he knew Heidi?” Gale asked, sitting at a booth. Kori took the seat across from her.
    “Not well. They met on an online—” She had to cut herself off before she gave away one of Jay’s secrets.
    “Online? How do you meet someone online?”
    Kori shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe she was a friend of a friend or something. But he talked to her a couple years ago and not since. So it doesn’t make any sense.”
    Gale’s face turned serious and she was unable to look at Kori. “So they just know it’s a male relative of yours whose DNA was there?” Kori nodded and Gale continued. “What about Tyler? Weren’t you asking about him?”
    “Yeah. That’s why. We looked him up on Facebook but we couldn’t figure out if there was any connection to Heidi. And he doesn’t live around here.”
    “Well …” Gale started and paused. She looked down at her hands on top of the table. Kori waited patiently for her to continue. “I don’t know how to tell you this.” She paused again. “But there’s something you should know about your father.”
    Kori looked at her mother in shock. Was he still alive? She’d gone to the funeral. Had