Welcome to Fae Cafe (High Court of the Coffee Bean Book 1)

Kate stared at the calculator blankly, not caring for the first time in a while that only negative numbers stared back after she added up every penny to her name. She sighed and dug her fingers into her hair as she leaned against the café counter. A bowl of chocolate-covered strawberries gave off the aroma of sweet fruit and cocoa beside her face. She inhaled it, trying to muster its potent powers of relaxation. She’d thought maybe stopping at the Pasty Fruit Shack and getting a dozen of her favourite treats on her walk home would soothe her racing mind, but it seemed even the whimsical store with candy apples and nutty fudge in the windows didn’t have any magic left for Kate tonight.

The only good thing about being completely alone was that you could burp, sneeze, cough, sing, or talk to yourself when you wanted, where you wanted, with no consequences. Kate began to hum an indie band song she knew at a pitch high enough to make dogs cry. After a painful minute of it, she cleared her throat and got serious.

The café was empty of life, light, and answers. Only the dirty wall sconces gave the storefront any illumination. Kate had meant to restore the fireplace in the corner before the café’s opening day, along with a handful of other tasks still waiting to be done. As it was, this place was still quieter, dirtier, and more run down than an abandoned building.

Her knuckles drummed a slow beat on the counter’s surface. “You’d better save us,” she said to the empty storefront. “Or I’ll seriously be in trouble.”

She wasn’t above begging. She would beg the unpainted walls, the rusty coffee maker in the corner, and the cabinets with crooked doors. She would beg the bugs on the walls if she thought they would listen.

Not that it mattered. Even if the café did well in its first year and paid off Kate’s debts, she wouldn’t be able to bask in the glory of being debt-free if she was in jail for murder.

What if the police found the body? What if they showed up for her tonight and dragged her off to spend the rest of her life behind bars? What would happen to Grandma Lewis if Kate was taken away after everything else the old woman had already been through?

Kate stopped doodling on the budget clipboard when she realized she’d scribbled in deep, cutting strokes: WHY DOESN’T ANYONE REMEMBER?

She stared at it for a few moments. Then she tore off the corner of the paper and crumpled it.

The café bell rattled, and Lily marched in, panting. Spirals of her hair stuck out from her blonde bun. She stopped inside the door and leaned forward with her palms on her knees to catch her breath.

“Did you run here?” Kate asked.

“Are you crazy, Kate?! You can’t trust other cops!” Lily sprang back up and yelled. She left footprints in the dust on the floor as she marched over. “Why didn’t you call me? I had to find out from Officer Westbow that some crazy girl named Kate Kole came into the station shouting that she killed someone!”

Kate grabbed the sandpaper and started scrubbing at the dried putty on the cabinets. “I forgot my phone. That’s why I didn’t call you,” she said. “And we can trust cops. Don’t let your pretentious partner make you think otherwise. He’s one of a kind.”

“You’re lucky Westbow didn’t recognize you from the annual fundraiser last year! Why didn’t you ask for me at the station?”

“I did. You weren’t there.”

Lily’s exasperated breath filled the dusty air. She untangled her arms from her police vest and ripped at the buttons of her shirt until she was in only her under-tank. She tossed her uniform on the counter and squatted beside the cupboard Kate was working on until Kate met her eyes. “Unreal, Kate,” she said.

“What was I supposed to do? It was an emergency!” As she said it, Kate stole a glance toward the windows to search for red and blue flashing lights outside.

“Why did Westbow say some medicated university student thought she killed someone today?”

“Because I did.” Kate dropped the sandpaper and stood. “I totally killed someone,” she rasped in a loud whisper. “But I’m pretty sure no one believes me.”

Lily folded her arms, showing the collage of tattoos inked up her muscled forearms. “I believe you. Which is why we need to get moving, because if there’s a body out there somewhere, Kate, we need to find it before anyone else does—”

“There’s not.” Kate drew a glass from the cupboard. She filled it up at the sink and drank, thinking of a tossed book and spilled coffee, thinking of vanished bodies and smiling cashiers. Of Lily’s whole career getting ruined over this.

Lily scratched her jaw. “I’m no detective, but if you really killed someone, there should be a body—”

“It’s gone!” Kate slammed the glass down on the counter so hard, it cracked. She bit her lips together. “Sorry, I know you’re just trying to help. It’s been a weird day and I’m super hangry.”

“No kidding.” Lily took the drill off the counter and dragged over the case of screws like she needed to find something for her hands to do. She paused and chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Are you okay?”

Kate’s eye twitched. She swept the cracked glass into the garbage. “I’m fine. Right now, I just need to eat a thousand pounds of burgers and get some sleep so I can think straight.” She glanced back out the windows at the dark street. The alley looked empty, and the lights were off at the breakfast diner across the road. It didn’t mean a SWAT team wasn’t hiding out there, preparing to storm the storefront.

“I know you’ll be mad if I bring it up, but,” Lily crouched and took a screw from the case, then pressed it against a cabinet door, “are you sure you’re not mixing up real life with one of those novels you’re writing? If you’re starting to get confused, I know a good therapi—”

Kate sighed. “Really, Lily? A therapist?”

Lily bit her lips shut. A moment later, she mumbled, “There’s nothing wrong with going to see a therapist. I saw one for years after—”

“Here’s what happened.” Kate cleared her throat loudly. “I went to the coffee shop down the street this morning to check out our competition, and some guy walked in and was a total jerk, and I accidentally kicked him into a table, and—”

“Accidentally kicked him into a table? How do you accidentally do that?” Lily rested the drill on her knee.

“—but the body was gone when I came back to the café with Officer Westbow, and everyone was acting like nothing happened and saying they didn’t remember me being there.” Kate went to the chair where her coat was flung over the backrest and pulled her Bella Stone book from her coat pocket. “But this proves that I was there and that it did happen.” She flipped the pages so Lily could see.

Lily took the book and brushed over the coffee-stained corner with her thumb.

Kate reached for the novel and tugged it back, thinking better of it. Suddenly, she wondered why in the world she’d been so quick to drag Lily into the story. No story that started with murder had a happy ending.

“I mean, maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m just getting mixed up because of the novel I’m writing. My story has major constituent vibes.” She glanced off. The chocolate on her strawberries was starting to melt.

Lily rubbed her temples. “First, I don’t think you realize what constituent means.” Her pale blue eyes settled on Kate. “And second, I already told you I believe you,” she said and folded her arms again. “Let’s go find the body.”

Kate clasped her hands around the book. “I’ve got my literature class in the morning. Maybe tomorrow afternoon.”

“Someone could find the body by then, Kate.”

Kate swallowed. “Unfortunately, Lily,” she went over and shoved the book back into her coat pocket, “I think someone already did.”

When she turned back around, Lily was massaging her eyes with her palms.

“I’ll go to the coffee shop and take a look around,” Lily said. “But I’m doing a double shift since we’re so low staffed. I have to go back to the station after or the chief is going to wonder where I am.”

“Be careful,” Kate said, moving for the rusted coffee machine on the counter and pouring a fresh cup for Lily to take. “Something weird is going on at that coffee shop. I’m sure of it.”

Lily dragged her uniform off the counter and took the coffee with her other hand. “I’ll call you in the morning,” she promised. “Just stay here until then and keep out of trouble, okay?”

Kate nodded, and Lily headed for the door while threading her arms back into her uniform with her one usable hand. The bell echoed through the empty storefront when she left. Kate watched her friend head down the sidewalk until she disappeared from the windows.

The moon turned the roads silver, and gray leaves tumbled by in the wind. The soft patter of rain filled the café as it began pelting the windows. Kate didn’t realize how long she was standing there staring out at the spot where Lily had disappeared until the café door squeaked open again. She hadn’t even seen anyone walk up.

Ben—the loan shark—walked in with his shirt untucked. The bottom of his large stomach hung out, and his shoulders were speckled with fresh raindrops. His scowl was deep and volatile enough to start an earthquake on his face.

Kate swallowed her moan. “I don’t have it,” she told him before he could ask. “I’ll make both months’ payments next month.”

Ben’s chin doubled when he tilted his head and grunted. “You’re the one who talked me into giving you and your cop friend my money. I gave you that loan three months ago and you haven’t even opened your store yet!”

“It’s a café,” Kate corrected.

“Whatever. I want my money back! Don’t make me send someone after you,” he threatened, and Kate raised a brow. She realized Lily left her vest on the counter, so she went over to pick it up and turned it so Ben could see.

“I’ll be sure to pass that message along to my cop friend,” Kate said, tapping the police logo. “Or did you forget the law doesn’t look kindly on men who act like thugs?”

Ben’s thick finger came out. “Give me my money back, Kate! You don’t want to find out what I’m capable of!”

Kate cast him a doubtful look, but she sighed and nodded. “Give us a chance to open this place. My cop friend and I will give your loan back with interest like I promised.”

Ben looked around at the unfinished cabinets, the unpainted walls, and the cold fireplace in the corner. His only answer was a snort as he spun and left, letting the door smack shut with a thud. His voice drifted in from outside as he yelled at someone, “Are you her cop friend? Tell her to pay me back!”

Kate picked up her clipboard with a sigh and walked around the counter as the café door opened again. “Did you forget your vest—”

Two hands grabbed Kate by her waist. She was pushed backward and pinned against the wall—the clatter of her clipboard filled the empty café as it hit the floor. Her gaze fired up to find a pair of menacing turquoise eyes looking back, and the air slipped from her lungs. The stranger held her against the wall, his lips pinched, his jaw set. He said nothing. He just stared with a hatred colder than Kate had ever felt before.

“Who…?” The word got stuck in her throat as her stare dropped to take in the rest of him.

He wore a police uniform. Rain drenched his clothes and hair, running down his face in streams. His lashes were glued together in sections from the water.

“I…” Her throat swelled; tears warmed her eyes. “If you’re here to arrest me, at least let me call my grandma.” His hands were cold, and she shivered as his fingers tightened on her hips.

“You should know why I’m here, Human.” The guy’s voice was low, hoarse, and dark. But it wasn’t his striking tone that brought Kate’s racing mind to a halt.

Human?

Her stomach dropped as that word burrowed holes into the memory she’d already torn apart since morning.

A predatory, turquoise-eyed monster looked at Kate. This guy before her was the same as the golden-eyed guy from the coffee shop.

Kate’s gaze flickered toward the café door that felt too far away. “What do you want?” She could hardly hear her own quiet voice.

“Kate Kole,” the guy said in an icy tone. “I want you to die.”

“W… what?” she rasped. “What did you just say?”

His penetrating stare narrowed like he was waiting for something. He didn’t blink, even when beads of rainwater rolled into his open eyes. After a few seconds, his lips thinned in an impatient way.

Kate’s hands balled into fists. “What’s the matter with you?” she whispered.

The guy’s face changed. The death-look dissolved into surprise. He looked her over, his gaze snagging on her throat. That’s where it stayed as he reached behind him for something that drove an uneasy feeling into Kate’s chest.

She swung her fist toward his face. He dodged her punch, and her knuckles struck his shoulder. It barely moved him. She shoved his arm out of her way and ran toward the café door, but the guy grabbed a fistful of her sweater and yanked her backward into his chest. His arm wrapped around her waist, sealing her against his damp police uniform, and he said into in her ear, “I’ll learn your real name, Kate Kole, and I’ll give you the painful death you deserve. If you tell any other humans about me, that human officer outside will die beside you.”

He released her, and Kate staggered forward as the bell of the café door sounded.

In marched Lily with her soaked shirt unbuttoned at her throat.

“I totally forgot my—” Lily skidded to a halt. “Officer Riley,” she said in surprise, glancing to the guy in the police uniform. “What are you doing here?” She stood a little taller and idly brushed her fingers over her messy collar.

“Following up on the murder confession.” The guy’s response came out clean and cool, nothing like the icy tone he’d just used to threaten Kate.

Kate blinked at Lily as the guy brushed by them both. An earthy, floral scent passed with him. He opened the door to leave but glanced back at Kate one last time, his turquoise eyes making extra vows his next comment didn’t:

“I’ll see you again soon,” he promised.

He stepped out into the rain, pulling on a police hat, and he let the door slam shut behind him.

Kate stared at the empty doorway. Prickles were left all over her skin.

“Unreal,” Lily said as she sighed and rolled her eyes. “I literally just told Westbow I would take this case. But it seems like he already sent out the new guy.”

“How do you know that officer?” Kate asked from a dry throat. Her back was still wet from his uniform.

“Officer Riley? He’s a transfer from Ottawa. He just started today. He actually showed up super late, if you can believe that. On his first day.”

A chill ran up Kate’s damp spine as she thought of the real Officer Riley lying in a ditch somewhere.

“If you tell any other humans about me, that human officer outside will die beside you.”

Kate turned toward the counter so Lily couldn’t see her face. On an ordinary day, Kate wouldn’t believe such a bizarre threat. But there was nothing ordinary about today.

“Hey, you okay?” Lily’s voice travelled across the café as she grabbed her vest off the counter. “Don’t worry about the investigation, Kate. I’ll take care of it. Officer Riley won’t be coming back here with any more questions.”

Kate reached for her coat and book bag, trying to suppress the tremor in her movements. “I’ll go see that therapist,” she said. She bit her lips hard enough to leave a mark. “Be careful on your walk back to the station, Lil. You have your gun, right?”

“Of course I have my gun. Why would you ask me that?”

Kate took another look out the window. “Just making sure.”

Lily brushed a hand down her rain-covered face, smearing her makeup. “Go get some sleep, Kate. We’ll figure this out tomorrow after your class,” she promised.

Kate waited in the staircase to her apartment until she heard the soft ring of the café bell. She raced back to the windows to watch Lily walk to the end of the road and turn left toward the station.

Kate’s skin tingled with a strange sensation, as though ants were crawling over her arms and legs. It was like a cool wind had slipped beneath her clothes. Like ice and heat and air and steam all breathing over her at once. It felt like…

It felt like she was being watched.

When she ascended the stairs to her second-floor apartment, she imagined turquoise eyes in the stairwell.

When she brushed her teeth, they looked back at her in the mirror.

When she climbed into bed, they were all over her sheets.

At midnight, she finally gave up on sleeping and climbed out of bed. She went to the window and peeked out at the quiet city. It wasn’t raining anymore, but the roads glistened with moisture beneath the streetlights.

Kate saw a head of orange-red hair slip into the alley across the street. She pushed her curtains aside and cracked open the window, letting in the sounds of yelling. There were two voices—one high and one low. And crying.

An anguished huff escaped Kate; her fingers tightened around the windowsill. “She’ll be fine,” she told herself. “It’s not my problem. This is totally not my problem.”

She moved to close the window and drown out the noises outside, but her hand hesitated on the lever. Her gaze slowly dragged to the shadowed alley beside the breakfast diner. It was too difficult to see what was going on from her vantage point.

“She’ll call the cops if she needs them. Probably.” Kate nodded to herself. “She has hands. Fingers to dial.” She bit her lip too hard and sealed her window shut. “She probably has a phone…”

She turned toward her bed, stealing a wary glance at her own phone glowing with a clock that told her it was too late for her to do anything about anything, and anything she could do wouldn’t do anything to help anyway, and… anything, anything, anything.

Her clock changed, telling her another minute had passed.

“Argh. Unreal,” she scolded herself as she grabbed her phone and fled her bedroom. Her apartment floor was cold, but she kicked aside her shoes as she pushed through the front door into the stairwell.

“Yeah?” Lily answered on the first ring as Kate jogged down to the café.

“Good, you’re up,” Kate said, pushing out the café door and embracing the cold night.

“I’m still on duty.”

“She’s in trouble, Lil.”

“Who’s in trouble?”

“The redhead across the street!”

Lily moaned. “Aw, Kate! Go back to bed!”

“That lowlife guy is back, and it sounds like they’re having a big fight…” The phone slipped from Kate’s shoulder and clattered to the sidewalk, but she left it and raced in bare feet across the road into the alley.