“Tennison,” I said. “Right. Is he in town for the movie?”
“He was supposed to be,” Cooper said. “But I’d prefer you pull over before we keep talking.”
I glanced in the rearview mirror and pulled off onto the nearest exit. I stopped at a gas station, catching a few odd looks as my brakes squealed with the effort.
“Stopped,” I said, feeling out of breath. “What’s up?”
“Tennison Daniels was shot this morning,” Cooper said. “And he’s in critical condition at the hospital. Your mother thought you’d want to know.”
“I—” I gasped. “That’s awful! But why would I want to know?”
Cooper cleared his throat. “Apparently Tennison isn’t the only one who you know in town. And as luck would have it, there’s a chance you know the man at the top of our suspect list.”
“Suspect list,” I said, quickly putting the piece of the puzzle together. “You mean the shooting wasn’t an accident? It was murder?”
“Attempted murder,” Cooper clarified.
“I didn’t do it,” I said bluntly. “I was in the car. And at Matt’s. I have witnesses.”
“Jenna,” Cooper said firmly. “I never thought it was you. But there’s a man by the name of Ryan Lewis saying that he wants to talk to you.”
The pit dropped further in my stomach. “No.”
“No?” Cooper asked. “No... you don’t want to speak with him?”
“Tell him to get a lawyer,” I said. “I don’t have anything to say to him.”
“All right,” Cooper said. “Will do. Sorry to bother you.”
The call disconnected. I turned to look at Allie. She looked back at me. It was clear she was trying not to appear too curious. She battled a look of intrigue from her face and turned her lips into a pout.
“Sad,” she said. “So sad. An attempted murder. A real live murder on a set. Right here in Blueberry Lake.”
I heaved a huge sigh. “How am I expected to go shopping after receiving news like that?”
“Are you saying we should turn around?” Allie played with her hands, her voice leaping up an octave. “We could go back, sort of poke our noses into what’s going on. Very quietly. Very, very quietly.”
“I just don’t think I have it in me to hunt for bargains today,” I said sadly. “Seems a little unimportant when a man’s life is in limbo. But what about Cassidy? And I was hoping to get ideas to style Cooper for the wedding.”
“Uber will take care of Miss Starlett,” Allie said. “I’m sure the film has a budget for transporting its actors to and from the set.”
I exhaled, then made the phone call to Cassidy and canceled our plans. She was very understanding.
“No problem,” she said. “I completely understand. That’s awful about Tennison. Of course I’ll grab a cab—don’t think twice about it. I’ll see you when I get to town.”
Then I turned the car around. We headed back toward Blueberry Lake.
Once we were safely back on the freeway, Allie turned to look at me. “So about this Ryan Lewis fellow—”
“Absolutely not,” I said. “I’m not getting involved.”
“Checks out,” Allie said, giving me a sideways glance. “It’s not like you to get involved in murders. You know, help solve crimes. That sort of thing.”
“That’s in the past,” I said. “Cooper’s a smart guy. He’ll figure this one out.”
“You’re really not going to ask around?” Allie asked. “Talk to this Ryan?”
“No, I’m not,” I said. “I can stay away.”
“Right,” Allie said. “But if I were a betting woman, I wouldn’t be taking that bet.”
“Thanks for the confidence.”
“Anytime,” she said. “Anytime. Now, can you step on it, Miss Lead Foot? Now is not the time to take things slowly. Your mother only has so much window front available in her store, and I’m sure the front-row seats are already taken. Pick up the pace, girlfriend!”
Chapter 4
We made it back to Blueberry Lake in record time. I parked outside my mother’s shop, and as Allie had predicted, the store was already jam-packed full of people—women and men—who were pretending to “discreetly” get a peek of the show happening a block away.
Allie elbowed her way through to the front. I followed her. Not because I was all that invested in what was happening, but because Allie was literally dragging me behind her.
Once Allie had secured us optimal seats from the viewing deck, she glanced around at the patrons of Blueberry Lake and cleared her throat.
“Well?” she asked. “What’s happening?”
“It was awful,” Angela Dewey, my neighbor started. “We all heard the gunshot. It left me deaf in two ears.”
“You were already deaf in two ears,” Simon Berwinkle said. “It left me practically blind.”
“You were already blind.” Simon’s wife elbowed him in the chest. “Don’t exaggerate.”
“Facts,” Allie pressed. “We want facts. What happened? When?”
“A little over an hour ago is when it happened,” Sandy Larson piped up. “We all heard the gunshot. Then the town just froze. Everything stopped. Someone dropped a mug of coffee over at June’s, and we all heard it.”
“That was me,” Simon said sadly. “I walked into a chair by accident when I heard the sound.”
“Told you that you were already blind,” his wife grumbled. “You always run into the same chair.”
“Focus, people.” Allie clapped her hands. “Okay, so there was a gunshot. Then what?”
“Then came the screaming,” someone else said. “Someone was in pain. Then there was a female screaming, too, and then a lot of others. Probably the people who saw it happen, the people on set. If I saw someone get shot, I’d scream, too.”
“Then we unfroze,” Angela Dewey continued. “And we all hurried to see what was happening. Hence the reason we’re all shoved in here. Maybe if Mrs. Beasley would open her knitting shop—”
“The shop is closed,” Mrs. Beasley explained, “because of lack of demand. Everyone is here.”
“Because you’re closed!” Angela argued. “You can see almost as good there. And then I wouldn’t have Simon stepping on my toes all day long.”
“Sorry,” Simon’s wife apologized. “I’m telling you. He’s been blind for twenty years.”
“Do they know who shot the victim?” Allie asked. “Or why?”
“That’s the mystery,” someone else chimed in. “Nobody knows anything.”
Allie sighed. “I figured. That’s always how these mysteries start.”
“Hence the reason they’re called mysteries,” I said. “If someone shot him and offered a confession on the spot, there wouldn’t be much mystery. Just a crime.”
Before Allie could offer another rebuttal, Chief Cooper came into view. He looked up, directly into my mother’s storefront. Then he started walking toward the shop.