Murder on the 4th of July Read online

  Murder on the 4th of July

  A Ridgeway Rescue Mystery

  P. Creeden

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  About the Author

  Murder at on the 4th of July © 2019 P. Creeden

  Edited by Marcy Rachel

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  Murder on the 4th of July

  Ridgeway Rescue Mysteries can be read in 1-2 hours. Perfect for when you’re waiting for an appointment or just want a fast read. Don’t miss out on this quick, clean, cozy mystery that will keep you guessing until the end!

  Emma and Molly are in New York City for the 4th of July spending some bonding time with Emma’s new step-mother, Macy. For the holiday, both Colby and her father intend on joining them. When they meet up at a lovely restaurant near the park at Brooklyn Bridge, they are just enjoying their time together before the fireworks display that evening. But when a hostess screams inside for someone to call the police, everything turns upside down.

  Their own waitress was murdered in the break room, and the local police can’t come to the crime scene in a timely manner due to holiday traffic. The murder has all the earmarks of a crime of passion, but they can’t be sure who the culprit is, and they can’t find the weapon. Without any evidence, will they be able to solve the case before the perpetrator gets away with murder?

  Chapter 1

  Emma Wright watched Molly, the Saint Bernard, as the puppy ran ahead of her on the end of the retractable leash. Brooklyn Bridge park was a paradise for both the dog and her owner. Emma had never thought she was one to enjoy staying in the city, and maybe she wouldn’t have except the park nearby gave the feeling of not living in the city while she was living in the city. She liked the ability to walk pretty much anywhere she needed to go, and even walking with Molly had become less of a chore. As a person walking four dogs approached them, Emma reeled Molly in so that her leash would be shortened while they passed the pack of dogs on many leashes. The walker talked at regular volume to no one in particular, but as he passed, Emma saw the cordless headset in the man’s ear.

  She’d been staying a few days with Macy, her step-mother, at a house-shared brownstone in Brooklyn. A friend of hers had offered them tickets to a ballet. She blew a quick breath while she stopped to sit on a bench and watch the children play in an open field. People were flocking to the park already to get prepared for the fireworks display that would launch from the bridge that evening.

  When Emma saw them, a bit of excitement sparked in her own heart. She checked the time on her phone. She had an hour before she was to meet up with her dad and Colby for lunch. Macy had had an appointment to get her hair done. That suited Emma just fine. The two had used these days together to bond and help Emma get past the bit of jealousy she harbored for the new woman in her father’s life. He and Macy had barely been married for more than a month—her father had been back to work as Sheriff of their small-town home in Virginia, Ridgeway, after only a week of honeymoon on a cruise ship around a tropical island. They had decided to use this trip to New York to let everyone get a little closer.

  At least they’d allowed Emma to bring Molly with her, and even better still, Colby would be coming as well. He and her father were planning to drive up from Ridgeway instead of flying, the way that Emma and Macy had a few days earlier. They would share the time for the drive. Her father had never been one to abide well in a plane.

  A homeless woman rushed along, pushing a shopping cart that didn’t belong in the park. She turned hard left onto the blacktop and one of the wheels came off the cart. When the woman tried to bend over to retrieve it, she couldn’t quite reach it. Emma hopped up and took hold of the wheel and handed it back to the woman.

  The woman blinked at her. “Thank you, child. That’s kind of you. Could I ask for one more favor?”

  “Of course,” Emma said as Molly sniffed the woman, tail wagging.

  The woman stopped a moment to pat Molly with her gloved hand before offering the wheel back to Emma. “Could you put this back in the slot for me? It always tends to pop out on a left turn if I’m not careful with it.”

  Emma nodded and then knelt down to replace the wheel while the woman lifted the cart a bit higher. Once she finished, Emma looked up at the woman. A wide, gapped-toothed grin shined down upon her. “Thank you again. God bless you, child.”

  And then the woman was off again, as though in a hurry. After taking a deep breath, Emma stood and brushed off her knees, watching the woman for a minute before walking with Molly back toward the brownstone where they were staying.

  She ran into Macy on the way back who was walking from the hair salon. “Emma! Glad I ran into you. It was so much fun getting a cut and color with a New York pro. How do I look?”

  With a smile, Emma nodded, taking in the soft waves around Macy’s face. The half-Asian woman looked a bit younger now that she had no grey hairs peeking out from around her dark locks. “It looks great. Really soft and subtle, almost like he really didn’t do much.”

  “Perfect,” Macy said. “Your father hates it when I make any changes to my hair at all.”

  “I believe it.” Emma nodded again, letting the woman hook an arm into hers. Macy liked a lot of contact, which was something that Emma had been trying to get used to. She’d never been much of a hugger, since she was raised mostly by her single, divorced father. But what Macy had said was true. He’d never liked it if Emma made too big a change to the color or length of her hair. He didn’t really like change much at all, actually. He was one of those people who, if he liked a shirt or pants, he’d buy several of them in the same size and color, just so that if one wore out, he’d have another ready.

  It wasn’t that Emma was a pushover or didn’t go against her father’s wishes now and then, but the reality was that he was always a fair man, and he didn’t tend to domineer her or ask too much of her, so at her father’s request, she didn’t change her hairstyle very much. She’d kept her hair medium to long and the same shade of light brown nearly all of her life. When she was away at college, she experimented with different colors a bit, but they washed out after a few days. That way, by the time she went home, she was back to her normal self. Nowadays, she took her classes online and lived in a small Ridgeway apartment.

  They continued down the road together until they reached their rented brownstone and headed inside. The small townhome only had two bedrooms, so their father would be staying with Macy in the master that night and Colby would be c
rashing on the couch. In the morning, they would all be leaving together in the SUV. It had been a fun trip, and any animosity that Emma had held for her step-mother had slipped away. She didn’t know if it would have been so easy to say, if Emma had been younger and living with her father still. But now that she was nearly twenty-one and living on her own, their decisions didn’t affect her as much, day to day.

  Molly, the Saint Bernard, did a full body shake once her harness was removed. Nothing pleased Molly more than going for a walk, but somehow she seemed to enjoy coming out of the harness and just lounging around afterward almost as much as the excursion itself.

  “I called ahead,” Macy said from the other room where she was getting her stuff together. “The Atrium accepts dogs that are in training for work on their outdoor patio.”

  Emma smiled. “Thank you for thinking of her, but I already saw that on their website, too.”

  Macy returned to the room with a smile. “I knew you’d be on the ball, but I thought I’d double check for you, just in case.”

  After walking to the kitchen, Emma filled a water bowl and set it on the ground right near the sink. Molly lapped up the contents happily. It was nearly eighty degrees outside already, and it was only eleven in the morning. Macy sat at the kitchen table, thumbing through a magazine while Emma checked social media on her phone. She had several celebrities she followed as well as a few news outlets. At least, for her, scrolling through social media had long taken the place of newspapers, magazines, and even watching the national news on television. Right now, though, they were both just wasting time, waiting for eleven-thirty—the time when they would leave for their lunch reservation.

  At the appointed time, they left the brownstone to walk the three blocks to the Atrium restaurant. The garden patio sat nearly upon the river and had inspiring views of the water as well as the park. Crews worked on the bridge, slowing down traffic to one lane, making it a good thing that it was already a holiday and most commuters didn’t need the bridge as desperately as the did on a normal work day. The blond hostess showed Macy and Emma to their seats, and both of them sat down, allowing Molly to lay between them. The dog wore her working vest, making it obvious to others that she was a working-dog-in-training. Only two of the tables had guests seated on the patio, though it seemed busy inside as they passed the French doorway between the patio and the restaurant.

  Even though the sounds of the city were upon them, they were muted by a bit of distance and the park itself. Somehow, it seemed as though the trees absorbed portions of the sound and made it so that the sharpness of each horn honk or screeching brakes were dulled and farther away than they were.

  Then a crash sounded from just inside the restaurant, followed by shouting. Macy’s eyes went wide as they met Emmas. Emma’s heart sank, and as the shouting continued, both ladies stood and started heading toward the doorway between the restaurant and the patio.

  Chapter 2

  “If you feel like that, maybe I don’t need my two weeks’ notice. I’m fine to leave right now!” The waitress yelled at the man who held her by the wrist as she wrenched her arm free from his grasp.

  “Don’t be like that, Anna. The lunch rush is on its way and I need you. I wish you would stay here. There are so many regulars who ask to sit at your tables by name,” the man said, his face reddening to the tips of his ears.

  “And they’re likely all to leave with me when I start work at the raw bar in two weeks.” She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. Then she leaned in and whisper-shouted, “Then your wife will be happy that you’ll never see me again.”

  The man gaped at her as she walked away.

  Macy grabbed Emma lightly by the arm and motioned that they should leave as well. Her step-mother was right, and Emma followed her back to their table. It felt a bit embarrassing to witness the drama of someone else’s life, but the two hardly seemed worried about airing their dirty laundry.

  “Emma! Macy!” Emma’s father’s deep, comforting voice reached them as he came around to the gate beside the outdoor patio and waved at them.

  His fingers worked the gate latch, but he couldn’t quite get it and ran into the short metal fence with his thighs. Her father had always been just a bit on the clumsy side. As sheriff of Ridgeway, it made him more human, and made it easier for him to connect with his voters. Macy smiled, making it obvious that she found that part of his personality endearing. Emma had to admit that she loved the affection that Macy showered on her father more than anything else.

  Behind the sheriff, Colby stood in a blue polo shirt, jeans, and a navy baseball cap. Even when he was in street clothes, Colby Davidson looked every bit like a police officer. Colby stood silently, letting her father have a moment to figure out the latch before offering to do it, which he did right away, stepping to the side and smiling up at both Macy and Emma.

  Molly stood and wagged her tail when they finally approached the table.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Emma’s father offered, ducking his head and pulling out the seat closest to Macy for himself. “It was a bit harder to find a parking garage that was open in the area than I thought it would be. We had to walk several blocks. I guess it’s because of the fireworks later.”

  Sweat dotted Colby’s brow, and he pulled up his cap to swipe at it before replacing it once again. Emma’s heart fluttered. Everything that Colby did... even just his nearness... made her heart beat a little bit faster. It seemed impossible that Colby didn’t know, but he certainly acted as though he was oblivious to her feelings. He picked up a menu and then offered a smile to Emma. “Have you two ordered yet?”

  “Not yet,” Emma offered cheerfully, taking a quick sip of her water to quench her sudden thirst. Her eyes passed over toward the river, where a bird floated atop the waves. It bounced at a rhythm that could nearly make Emma seasick if she watched too long.

  “Let’s make it a light lunch,” Macy suggested. “That way we’re not too full when we take a walk, and will still have room for the snacks that the vendors sell from carts along the park walkway.”

  Emma’s father gushed. “I knew I was right in marrying you.” Then he peered over toward Emma. “She’s a genius, isn’t she?”

  Emma’s eyes went wide as she nodded. What had gotten into her father? Her gaze darted over toward Colby just in time to see him roll his eyes as he said under his breath, “Newlyweds.”

  Laughter bubbled up from Emma’s core, and she nearly spit out the water from the last sip she took.

  The waitress came by to take their order, and Emma noticed it was the same one who’d had the argument earlier with the other gentleman. She seemed cheerful, though, as if that whole conversation had never happened.

  The lunch the group spent together was pleasant, the shade from the trees nearby keeping the heat at bay as the afternoon started to wear on. They’d spent more than an hour at lunch, just hanging out and talking to one another, as if they didn’t see each other every day. It was fun though. Emma’s father was an even bigger character than normal just because of Macy’s presence. Overall, Emma had to admit that they were good together, and her father seemed happier and less lonely than she ever remembered him being. That much made her very happy, too.

  Once they finally had a lull in the conversation, a male waiter came up with the check. Emma lifted a brow, wondering where their waitress had gone, but didn’t say a word. Instead, the foursome got up together and went to the hostess station right near the exit of the patio to pay. Her father declined offers from anyone else to pay the bill and gave the woman his credit card.

  The hostess frowned. “I’m sorry, but the station out here’s credit card reader hasn’t been working right today. If you don’t mind, I’ll just step inside and use the one at the front.”

  “No problem,” the sheriff said as he leaned against the podium.

  Emma frowned, holding her leash a bit tighter in her grip. “I’m sorry that we have to stay outside because of Molly.”

  Her
father shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. We all love Molly and want her to grow up to be the best working dog around... next to Gabby, of course.” He offered a wink toward Colby.

  Colby beamed and nodded. “When Gabby was in training, she used to go everywhere with me, too. Remember?”

  A smile tugged at Emma’s lip as she remembered the German Shepherd bounding around as a puppy. Gabby was such a serious K9 officer now, that it was easy to forget that she’d been goofy when she was younger. She nodded to Colby. “I remember.”

  “Training dogs for K9 police work might be what we’re most used to,” Emma’s father said, “but we understand the importance of training all working dogs to be quiet and consistent no matter the environment.”

  A boom and a hiss sounded near the bridge, making Emma flinch away before turning and seeing the scattering of sparks from the firework that had been shot off in the daylight. She lifted a brow. “I’m guessing that was an accident.”

  “They happen from time to time, even when it’s professionals. Especially since it’s such a hot, sunny day, and the bridge is made of metal. As they are setting up the fireworks, they have to be careful of hot spots along the bridge,” Colby said, his eyes squinting as he peered in the direction of the bridge.

  Because it had been a while since the hostess had went inside, all four of them began peering into the restaurant through the glass French door, trying to find the lady. Finally, her father pulled open the door and said, “I’ll be right back.”

  But the minute the door opened, a harsh, blood-curdling scream reached them, and the hostess they’d been waiting for rushed out of the back area, yelling, “Oh my God! Somebody call the police!”