Love Can Be Murder

Deke is—was—devoted to her."
    "I'm guessing you and Mona didn't get along."
    "We tolerated each other while Deke and I were married."
    "And since the divorce?"
    Penny sighed. "Mona is dead set against me expanding the garden next to my business—she's trying to turn Mojo into a bona fide city, and she thinks a garden in the town limits is too provincial. When I saw Deke yesterday morning at the museum, he told me she was going to get the city council to invoke a zoning restriction, and she stopped by the party to tell me as much herself."
    "Did you argue?"
    "Yeah." She winced. "I'd had a lot to drink."
    "I remember," he said with a little smile. "Does your ex-mother-in-law own a gun?"
    Penny frowned. "What?"
    "The woman doesn't like you, and she probably thinks you killed her baby boy. Maybe she was trying to exact her own revenge."
    Penny's eyes flew wide. "You think she was the person who fired those shots?"
    He shrugged. "I'm just tossing out a theory. Does she know you run in the mornings?"
    "Sure... and anyone else in town who cares to notice."
    "Is shooting at you something she would do?"
    Penny's blood ran cold. "I... I don't know."
    "But it's possible?"
    She puffed out her cheeks in an exhale. "Yesterday, I would have said no, but today... anything is possible."
    The door opened, and Penny blinked at the tall, robust man coming out. "Ziggy?"
    Ziggy seemed surprised to see her, too. "Chere, Penny." Then he looked forlorn. "I am so sorry about Deke."
    "Thank you."
    "Don't worry—I don't believe the newspapers and all the talk about voodoo. I know you couldn't have killed him." But as he talked, he eyed B.J. up and down. "Sir, have we met?"
    "I don't think so," B.J. said, extending his hand. "B.J. Beaumont."
    "Hm," Ziggy said, as if he was still trying to place him.
    "And you are?" B.J. prompted.
    Ziggy pulled himself up. "I am Ziggy Hines."
    B.J. seemed unfazed. "Nice to meet you, Zig."
    Ziggy frowned, and Penny hurried to cover the awk ward moment. "Ziggy is the chef of his own restaurant in the city."
    "Ah," B.J. said. "I'm more of a fast-food kind of guy myself."
    Ziggy scowled at B.J.'s disheveled appearance. "I wouldn't have guessed."
    "Ziggy is a customer of mine," Penny cut in. "By the way, how did the, um, you know work out?"
    Ziggy's eyebrows climbed in question, then his mouth rounded in realization that she was referring to the truffles. "Ah, the—" He cut off and glanced toward B.J. suspiciously. "They are perfection. When will you have more, chere?"
    "I'll let you know," she promised, not sure when she'd get back to the day-to-day running of the store.
    "Please do." He glared at B.J. "It was nice to meet you."
    "Likewise," B.J. said cheerfully, inclining his head.
    Ziggy turned and strode toward a black Mercedes in the parking lot.
    "Why do I get the feeling that I didn't pass muster?" B.J. asked.
    "Oh, that's just Ziggy. His ego was bruised when you didn't recognize him."
    "Do you know why he's here?"
    "He told me that he was working with Deke on a personal matter that required an out-of-town attorney. I don't know what it concerned." Then a memory slid into her brain. "Ziggy dropped by the party at Caskey's."
    "I don't remember his name on the list."
    "I'd forgotten," she murmured. "He was there for only a minute or two, just stuck his head in to say hello." She recalled the way he'd stared at Liz, then bolted.
    "So what's the secret stash that Zig's been buying from you?"
    She bit her lip. "I can't say."
    B.J. quirked one eyebrow. "Oh?"
    "It's not illegal," she rushed to explain. "It's something rare that my woodsman scavenges and Ziggy buys for his menu, and they don't want word to get out."
    "Your woodsman?"
    "A local guy—he collects roots and bark and... other things."
    One side of B.J.'s mouth curved up. "Sounds intriguing."
    "It's just business."
    "If you say so." He nodded toward the door. "Are you ready to go inside?"
    "Sure."
    B.J. opened the door and held it while Penny walked through. She immediately remembered her number one complaint from when she had worked in the office: Despite the lush upholstered furnishings, the thick floor-length drapes, and the plush berber carpet, the place was as cold as a morgue. The desk that Steve Chasen normally occupied sat empty, and to the right, the door to Deke's office stood open. Instead of the easy-listening station that usually played over the intercom, a rock station reverberated from the speakers.
    Penny walked to the doorway of