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  A Tangle in the Vines

  Calla Lily Mystery #2

  Anna Celeste Burke

  A Tangle in the Vines

  Copyright © 2019 Anna Celeste Burke

  https://desertcitiesmystery.com

  Independently Published

  All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher except brief quotations for review purposes.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The use of any real company and/or product names is for literary effect only. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of the respective owners. The author derives no compensation or other benefits from the mention of any company or product.

  Books by USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling

  Author Anna Celeste Burke

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  Love A Foot Above the Ground Prequel to the Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery Series

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  Gnarly New Year! Corsario Cove Cozy Mystery #2

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  Love Notes in the Key of Sea Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #2

  All Hallows’ Eve Heist Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #3

  A Merry Christmas Wedding Mystery Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #4

  Murder at Sea of Passenger X Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #5

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  A Body on Fitzgerald’s Bluff Seaview Cottages Cozy Mystery #1

  The Murder of Shakespeare’s Ghost Seaview Cottages Cozy Mystery #2

  Grave Expectations on Dickens’ Dune Seaview Cottages Cozy Mystery #3

  A Farewell to Arms in Hemingway Hills Seaview Cottages Cozy Mystery #4 [2019]

  Lily’s Homecoming Under Fire Calla Lily Mystery #1

  A Tangle in the Vines Calla Lily Mystery #2

  Fall’s Killer Vintage Calla Lily Mystery #3 [2020]

  The Vintner’s Other Daughter Calla Lily Mystery #4 [2020]

  Dedication

  To all of us who work as hard as Lily does to unravel the tangles in our lives and get to the root of the problem.

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Cast of Characters

  1 A Tangle in the Vines

  2 Penney Lincoln’s Reappearance

  3 Slimy Chic

  4 Bag Lady

  5 The Numbers Man

  6 Loco Parentis

  7 Three Ring Circus

  8 AWOL

  9 Billie’s Bombshells

  10 Boy Crazy

  11 Dustin’s Debut

  12 Countdown to Murder

  13 A Wappo Curse

  14 Property Matters

  15 Faint or Feint?

  16 Another Lincoln

  17 Dying Declaration

  18 A Sacred Place

  19 The Shack

  20 Untangling the Vines

  Recipes

  Crispy Butterscotch Praline Cookies

  Mississippi Mud Cookies

  Molasses Spice Cookies

  Figs and Prosciutto

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to my husband who listens as I read chapters to him and always willing to give me feedback when I hit a snag along the way. He’s a constant source of love, support, and inspiration. The best man I ever met.

  Thanks as well to the amazing Peggy Hyndman. She works way too hard because so many of my author friends, and I depend on her. Peggy’s got a keen eye, a quick mind, and a great ability to tell me in the nicest way that I’ve got something out of whack!

  I’m also so grateful to have discovered Keri Knutson with Alchemy Book Covers & Design. She not only produced the beautiful cover for this book but has gone back and redone all my book covers. She’s an artist!!

  My ARC Angels are a very special group of readers—some of whom have been with me since I published my first book in 2013. I am a very fortunate author to have their feedback and support.

  Cast of Characters

  [Note to readers—skip this section if you prefer to discover the characters rather than meet them in advance. If you want to check “who’s who” among members of this ensemble cast, please do!]

  Lead Characters

  Lillian Callahan—“Calla Lily,” as she was called by her Aunt Lettie, is in her early thirties. An actress with a lead role in Not Another Day, a long-running daytime soap opera, her character was killed off in the previous season. When her great Aunt Lettie died, Lily returned to California’s wine country where she spent much of her youth. She inherited her aunt’s estate including the Calla Lily Vineyards & Winery.

  Deputy U.S. Marshal Austin Jennings saved Lily’s life when they first met. He’s an affable, handsome, lawman who’s instantly smitten with Lily. His assignments include apprehending wanted fugitives, protecting federal judges, transporting federal prisoners, protecting federal witnesses, and managing assets seized from criminal enterprises. He also gets entangled, one way or another, in Lily’s troubles.

  Judy Tucker is a hard-working, elderly rancher who was Aunt Lettie’s best friend. She’s tough, funny, and handy in the kitchen, the garden, and with tools after years of managing her large ranch.

  Letitia Morgan—Aunt Lettie—now deceased, was a strong, independent woman from Alabama who was considered the “black sheep” in family with deep roots in the Old South. She raised Lily when, at age twelve, her parents found her too much to handle. Starting with very little, Lettie built the vineyard and winery and left Lily a substantial estate.

  Jesse Hargrove is the Vineyard Foreman/Manager and has a role in maintaining security on the vineyard property where Lily’s house is located.

  Lily’s Diva Posse Members/Calla Lily Players

  Zelda Gomez a Latina woman in her late thirties who oversaw hair, makeup, and “ego-wrangling” on the set of Not Another Day. She performed in an improv group, has a background in dance, and knows a lot about what goes on backstage.

  Melody Skidmore is an actress and had a recurring role on Not Another Day. Her character was killed off at the beginning of the current season. She worked as an assistant to a costume designer and for a props master.

  Julie Hemsley is a writer on Not Another Day and worked as a production assistant before landing the job as a writer. She’s also written scripts and plays. Some have been optioned but none were ever produced.

  Carrie Cramer is a TV personality with a background in investigative journalism and has dabbled in acting. She currently works a sports journalist in LA and frequently covers the LA Angels baseball team.

  The Law

  U.S. Marshal, Rikki Havens is Austin’s boss. She’s asked to assist when local authorities discover the seriousness and complexity of the crimes committe
d in Calistoga.

  Deputy Dahlia Ahern is a member of the Napa County Sheriff’s Department.

  Officer James Brady is a member of the Calistoga Police Department.

  Ben the “Hazmat Man” is a crime scene investigator.

  Colin Brinkley is a lawyer and judge. He was a longtime suitor and close friend of Aunt Lettie.

  New to the cast in this mystery

  Billie Dundee, a twelve-year-old boy caught as an intruder.

  The Numbers Man a mysterious man Billie Dundee has met in the woods behind the

  Calla Lily Vineyards.

  The “Sitter” another mystery man, known to the Numbers Man by that name.

  Mick Daley is a set designer recently from Not Another Day.

  Diane Constantine, a social worker with the county Children’s Services.

  Rachel and Bud Lincoln are parents of one of the murder victims.

  Lydia Wainwright is Billie’s teacher who fails to report for duty when school starts.

  1 A Tangle in the Vines

  “Pull harder!” Judy Tucker shouted.

  “I’m pulling as hard as I can,” I replied, hollering to be heard above the pounding rain and rolling thunder. A freak storm for this time of year, the rain had been falling for two days almost without pause. Another peel of thunder followed as lightning spread across the night sky, shattering it into pieces.

  “Can I help?” Judy asked, moving to my side and speaking almost into my ear. “The water’s still rising down below. What’s going on?”

  “I can’t tell. Vines and branches must be tangled around something in the pipe. I’m going to try digging underneath the tangle and beneath the pipe. Maybe that will help. Then I’ll go back to yanking at the branch that’s sticking out. So far, what I’ve removed is mostly rotting wood and leaves.”

  “Rotten is right. It smells like my compost bin. There must be a huge clog in there to have caused the pipe to burst the way it did.” Judy turned to look at more of the pipe behind me. The rupture had created two openings in the three-foot pipeline, pushing them apart and leaving them set at odd angles poking up out of the mud.

  When Judy said the water was getting deeper, she was talking about a problem behind the backstage building my Aunt Lettie had built as part of an outdoor theater complex. Attached to the stage set front and center in a semicircle of seats arranged in rows, the theater building and basement include dressing rooms, meeting rooms and rehearsal space, storage, equipment, and supplies needed during a live production. It’s the fear of damage to the building and its contents that had us out in torrential rain on a dark and stormy night.

  We’d been out here for over an hour. The biggest effort underway was piling sandbags around the base of the building to stop water from seeping inside the basement. Lightning arced, closer this time, and made me shudder. I shoveled dirt away from the point where the pipe was clogged. Judy leaned in and eyed the gaping hole. The night sky crinkled with lightning that lit the entire area.

  “It’s like we’re in an old horror film, isn’t it, Lily? The storm will be right above us soon. Why don’t you leave this and let’s go inside? I remember when Lettie had this stormwater system put in. The company she used is still in business. I’ll call and get them out here tomorrow. They have a device that can figure out what’s causing the problem quickly.”

  “I want to try a little longer, and then I’ll give up. I promise.” I gave my Aunt Lettie’s best friend a hug. “What if the clog causes the pipe to burst higher up? Who knows what that will do?”

  “You’re as stubborn as Lettie. I know when I’m licked. As soon as the last sandbag is down, you’re done. I’ll have that fine, new man you can’t make up your mind about pick you up, and carry you out of here, John Wayne style.” Then she laughed hoarsely. She wasn’t gone long before that fine, new man she referred to appeared.

  “Are you okay, Lily?” Austin asked as he stood at my side in a soaked muddy t-shirt that clung to him. I tried not to let the sight distract me. Judy was right that I was still undecided about what to do about him. The worried expression on his face weakened my resolve to chew him out.

  “Judy tattled on me, didn’t she? I’d get this done quicker if you two didn’t keep checking on me!” As I said that, I leaned in closer to be heard without shouting. His arms were around me in an instant. Austin had made up his mind about me right away, or so he claims.

  In a flash of lightning, I could see a smudge of mud on his handsome face that gave him a boyish appearance. I’m a sucker for his vulnerable side and his openness about it. Not that Deputy U.S. Marshal Austin Jennings can’t take care of himself.

  He’d saved my life, which might also explain how I’d let my guard down enough for him to get this close. My heart beat wildly, betraying my will to get to know him better before succumbing to his charms. “The heart wants what it wants,” my writer friend, Julie, insisted when I explained the conflict I felt. My track record with men sucks, and what my head wants is a man I can trust.

  “Judy said you seemed tired.” As Austin spoke to me, his lips brushed against my cheek. My knees felt wobbly, and I leaned against him.

  “I am tired, but I can’t be the only one. Please tell me Judy was right that you guys are making progress.”

  “We sure are, Calla Lily!” My sweet, great aunt gave me that nickname after she took me in when my parents wanted to be rid of me. She gave my nickname to the vineyard and winery that I recently inherited.

  “I wish I could say that too.” I turned and jabbed angrily at the blockage in the drainpipe with my shovel. More smelly slime slithered out, carrying a small piece of the branch along with it.

  “Feisty! There’s nothing like a high-spirited filly!” He spoke using a phony cowboy accent that I sometimes find amusing. Under the circumstances, it was irksome.

  “I probably stink like a farm animal. Thanks for pointing that out, Cowboy.”

  “Whoa! You do need a break. Several of Jesse’s hired hands are helping with the sandbags now that they finished digging a channel to steer the water back into the drainage system. That’s already helping. This whole section of pipe is going to have to be replaced, but once we finish securing the building that’ll be the only repairs you’ll have to make. I can take over here for a while if you want to rest.”

  “No, it’s getting late. I’d rather keep at it. I’m determined to get this drainpipe unblocked, so it doesn’t split again and undo all the work you guys are doing.”

  I gave Austin a grateful hug and his smile lit up the inky darkness as he held me tighter. Lightning sizzled all around us as if mocking my reaction to his smile.

  “I keep pulling small branches, leaves, and even a few rocks from inside the pipe. Then more slides in to replace it. So far nothing appears to be big enough to explain what’s preventing water from flowing through the pipe. I guess it’s just all tangled around the vines. Judy said the grate should be keeping junk out of the drainpipe. Jesse regularly checks it and would have warned us if there was a problem.”

  “In this storm, it could have come loose or shifted out of place. Jesse’s had his hands full since he came to ask for help, so maybe he hasn’t checked it since the pipe burst.” That my vineyard foreman had his hands full is an understatement.

  When I’d arrived at the end of July, Jesse had been hiring pickers and gearing up for the harvest. The grape harvest continues from August into November, depending on the type of grape a vineyard grows. When grapes are at their peak ripeness, they’ve got to be picked quickly. The storm hit as Jesse and his hands were hustling to pick the grapes for our Chardonnay and get them to the fermenters at the winery across the street.

  Austin didn’t say another word but took off sprinting up the slope. I sped after him. The slope had always seemed like a gradual one, but not tonight. In my thirties, I’m not the kid who used to run up and down with friends and climb the fence to get into the woods bordering the property. I was huffing and puffing by the time I c
aught up with Austin at the top of the slope near the fence between our vineyard and the woods. Rainwater streamed around the opening to the drainpipe instead of flowing into it.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t ask Jesse to come up here once we located a breach in the pipeline. Judy offered to check, but I agreed with her that Jesse would have reported a problem if there was one.”

  “Judy’s a great help, but I sent her inside to dry off and see how your divas are doing cleaning up in the basement,” Austin said as he pulled a flashlight from a pocket. “If she tells us the water has stopped getting into the basement now that we’ve installed the first layer of sandbags around the foundation, I want her to stay in there. She can make sure everything stored in the basement is up on the wooden pallets Jesse’s field hands hauled down there. I want her to say enough is enough, but you know Judy, she won’t do it.”

  “Judy’s as tough as Aunt Lettie was, which is why they were such good friends. Judy has worked hard all her life, and I don’t think she understands how to slow down or take breaks. Ranching’s a rugged way to live and she’s run the entire operation on her own for years.” As I said that, Austin aimed the flashlight beam directly into the opening. There was no grate.

  “I understand all that,” he shouted over the thunder that followed a dazzling lightning display. “Still, the women that matter to me the most aren’t always the best judges of their limitations. Do you see what I see?”

  A whiff of ozone accompanied another blaze of lightning. I froze. When I didn’t answer him, Austin stood up.

  “What is it? I didn’t mean to insult you or Judy.”