“Well, I’ll be. Roxie, the goat wrangler,” Aileen said.

  “The goat whisperer,” Kate said, snickering. “You never know about someone’s hidden talents. Aileen, I thought you would have corralled it. You’ve been herding kiddos for years.” She tapped her friend lightly on the arm and retreated to the back office as a black Camaro roared into the parking lot and kicked up gravel and dust when it skidded to a stop next to the black Toyota.

  Anastasia hopped out, threw her purse over her shoulder, and slammed the door. She waved. “Is the barn open? It looks like I’m the only one here. That doesn’t surprise me,” she yelled, glancing around the parking lot. “You’re still giving the cave tour at two, right?” Before Cassidy could answer, the brassy blonde lumbered toward the porch. “People will be interested in your cave. Today’s other events are offsite. I have to spend the afternoon getting ready for the dinner. Britt wanted it to be a tribute to our homecoming where she and Mac were crowned king and queen. Not sure how many people will be in a festive mood. I’m guessing it’ll be more somber, but we’ll see how it goes. The caterers are on their way. I sent her a list of things for tonight. I can’t believe Kelly and Darcy left me to do everything. Tonight’s festivities are going to recognize anyone who ever served on a homecoming court. I have a ton of things to get ready, and those brats abandoned me.”

  Ruthanne turned her head but swallowed whatever she had planned to say.

  “Let me get my phone and keys, and I’ll be right there to help you,” Cassidy said.

  She followed behind Anastasia, who strode across the lawn with long steps. “We need to pull down all the decorations from yesterday but leave the balloons. Britt wanted crepe paper and more balloons, but I think we’ll go with what’s already there. It’s going to be an endeavor to pack up all the musical vignette stuff and cart it out of here. Hey, what did the police want this time?” Anastasia stopped suddenly and tapped her foot.

  “They came back to wrap up their investigation of the murder scene,” Cassidy replied as Anastasia looked exasperated.

  “Exactly what could they be looking for?” Anastasia gave her a glare that could have wilted a flower.

  “They said they wanted to see the scene again. They didn’t share any details,” Cassidy said, wondering where the sudden interest in the police came from.

  Then, without reply, Anastasia continued her march to the barn.

  No police in sight. Only the occasional bird or cicada could be heard over the rustle of the breeze through the trees. Cassidy flipped on the overhead lights and wandered around the first level of the empty barn.

  “I have ten signed up for the cave tour,” Anastasia yelled from somewhere in the dark interior. “I told them to meet outside the doors here at two and to wear comfortable shoes. Let’s see who shows up.”

  “Oh my gosh!” Anastasia fell silent, and Cassidy strained to listen for any clue to figure out where she was.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Just stressed. Look at all this stuff from those stupid musical scenes. I have no idea where to put this junk. I swear, the ones with the big ideas never put in the work.” She stomped her foot on the wooden planked floor.

  Cassidy made her way to the bar, where Anastasia stood with her arms wrapped tightly around her chest. Before Cassidy could reply, Anastasia pulled out her phone. “I mean, who wants all this junk? I’m telling Kelly we’re ditching it. Do you have a dumpster we can put it in? It’s a lot of crap. And who has time for this?”

  Cassidy nodded and pulled out her phone and dashed off a text to Levi. After he responded, she continued, “My maintenance guy will bring the trailer around, so it will be easier to haul it away if you don’t want any of the decorations. We can help you load it.”

  “This was Darcy and Britt’s big idea,” Anastasia said. “They thought it would be fabulous to relive high school.” She wrinkled her nose and made a “pfffft” sound. “Darcy up and vanished,” she said, “and, well, we know what happened to Britt. At this point, I don’t care. I’m making an executive decision. I’m not hauling the mess home and storing it, just to throw it away later.” She headed for the Katy Perry display, and Cassidy zipped over to the Lady Gaga one to see what was left besides smudges from gray fingerprint powder.

  In the dark corner, a square red carpet, surrounded by cardboard boxes decorated to look like colorful cameras, sat alone in the space. Many of the boxes had been knocked over or shoved against the wall. Cassidy closed her eyes for a second, trying to remember what she had seen here last evening, but her thoughts kept flashing to the gruesome scene with Britt.

  Shaking off a creepy feeling, Cassidy dashed off a quick text to the detective to let him know they were dismantling the displays and throwing out the props. When he didn’t respond, she flipped on her phone’s flashlight and stepped under the loft area. Three or four chairs had been pushed back under here. When she swept the light around the perimeter of the space, she jumped and let out a squeal.

  A bald mannequin lay on the floor up against the wall. Taking a deep breath to calm the butterflies inside her, Cassidy stepped closer and dragged it out near the carpet. The killer must have used the blonde wig and the bloody dress from this on Britt. Okay, so someone had time to kill Britt, ditch the mannequin, and dress Britt in the costume. No easy feat, especially if it were one person. Someone on the committee? Someone who had sneaked in before the event? Questions popped up in Cassidy’s head like the fuzzy critters in a Whac-A-Mole arcade game. Lots of questions and no answers.

  Dragging the three chairs and the small table to the storage closet, Cassidy cleared the area as Levi backed the ATV and a trailer into the barn.

  Shutting off the loud engine, he said, “Here you go, Cassidy. I’ll be back in an hour or so to haul it away. Do you need any help? I can stay and pitch in. I was headed over to the garden to clean up after all those goats. I had to chase a couple out of the flower beds before they got any ideas about eating the mums. It was a bit chaotic, if you ask me.” He wiped his brow with the sleeve of his work shirt.

  “I think we’re good. Thanks, Levi. The Pearly Girls will be here soon, and we should be able to dismantle the decorations quickly,” Cassidy said as she piled the colorful cardboard boxes in the back of the low trailer.

  Levi saluted with two fingers and trotted out through the giant doors.

  Thoughts of a killer on the loose wormed their way back into Cassidy’s consciousness as she walked, and the normal sounds of bird-chirping and the hum of the ice machine in the kitchen suddenly sounded spooky. She took a couple of deep breaths to ward off the dark feelings. Okay, girl. Another person has been killed on your property. This time, it’s someone from town with an enemy list as long as my arm. Maybe I should leave this to Detective Zac and concentrate on making sure this doesn’t scare away my business. But stuff that happens on my property IS my business.

  Cassidy surveyed what was left of the Lady Gaga display. She dragged the bald mannequin to the trailer and hoisted her over the low railing. All that remained of the display was the red carpet. Grabbing the corner of the remnant, she started to roll it up for transport. Somewhere in the middle, she tripped on something black. What is that? Cassidy froze when she spotted a large knife with a thick black handle, covered in red goo. She reached for it, and then recoiled when she thought it could be important to the investigation.

  How did a knife, covered in red stuff, end up under the rug? Snapping a picture of it, she texted it to Detective Turner. Did his guys not move the carpet? Or had it been put there later? Too many thoughts swirled in her head.

  Save it for me. We’ll check it out. I’ll send the deputy over, he responded. She hadn’t been stabbed, but it could have prints on it.

  Glad I didn’t touch it. Cassidy hurried to the kitchen and rummaged through the cabinets and drawers until she found a plastic bag and a piece of cardboard. She grabbed several paper towels and turned and ran smack into Austin. “Ooof. I’m so sorry,” she said. “I was thinking about something, and I didn’t hear you come in.”

  Austin put his hands on her shoulders to steady her. “Are you okay? It looks like you’re in the middle of putting out a fire. What’s up?”

  “We’re cleaning up the decorations, and I needed a bag to save something. Sorry. I was lost in thought.”

  “I told Annie I’d start the setup for the taco and burrito buffets.” He pulled his hands back and put one in the front pocket of his jeans. The other he ran nervously through his tousled blondish hair.

  “I’m helping Anastasia in there, and we’ve got the cave tour at two.” She smiled and took a quick step backward. “I get to play tour guide.”

  “You do it all around here. Cool. Sounds like fun. I’d love to see the cave if you’ve got space in your group. Annie won’t fire me for sneaking off the job. And if she does, I’ll tell Mom,” he said with a wink.

  “Sure. We’d love to have you. It’s a neat place to visit. I can’t figure out what to do with it. Right now, it’s just your everyday ordinary cave.”

  “You should turn it into some kind of venue for cool events. People would love to rent it for concerts or parties. Is it big enough to turn it into a bar or club or something?”

  “Maybe. I’m not sure how much work it would take to get it up to code. It’s pretty big inside, and there are a couple of tunnels that open up into other exits,” she said, looking up into his ice-blue eyes. “Meet us at the front at two, and we’ll hike over.” She did a finger wave over her shoulder and headed back to bag the knife before anyone else touched it.

  “Hey, Cassidy. What are you up to?” Ruthanne yelled in her singsong voice that echoed across the main room.

  “Just found something else for the lost-and-found,” she said, sliding the knife on the cardboard and picking it up. She set it under the loft so it would be out of the way.

  “What is all this stuff supposed to be?” Kate asked, pointing to the Jersey Shore display. She hefted a mannequin in both hands and tossed it over the trailer’s railing. The dark wig fell off as the plastic body bounced around on top of the other junk. Ruthanne scooped up the wig and tossed it in with the rest of the items. “Maybe we should keep these. We could be Sonny and Cher or something,” she mused. “You never know when you’ll need a disguise,” she giggled. “We could come up with some good costumes with all this stuff.”

  “It’s from the Jersey Shore. You remember—Pauly D, Snooki, and JWoww? We used to watch it at my house years ago,” Aileen said, dumping beach balls and other party props on top of the other stuff. “We should sort through this stuff before Levi dumps it. I think we could find homes for some of it. Hey, Rox, you need a couple of extra mannequins?”

  She shrugged. “You never know. Maybe we could dress ’em up and leave them around town.”

  “Shhhhh,” Ruthanne hissed like a leaky tire.

  “I remember Jersey Shore,” Aileen interrupted. “We played that drinking game when we watched it. Remember, it was Roxie’s idea.” She waved her arms around like she was swatting bees.

  Anastasia strode in, tossing another mannequin and cardboard cutouts of firecrackers onto the heap. “I don’t care what you do with it. I want it out of here for tonight’s dance and dinner. I say good riddance. Help yourselves. It was all a stupid idea. I’ll be back in a minute. I need to get something out of my car.”

  “That looks like the last of it. Time to head over to the office and get the big flashlights for the cave tour. Anyone else want to go with us?” Cassidy asked, wiping her hands on her jeans. Remembering the knife, she hustled to the loft and returned with it on its cardboard plate.

  “What’s that for?” Ruthanne asked.

  “Zac wanted to take a look at it. I found it over there where we found Britt,” Cassidy whispered.

  “Oh,” Ruthanne stared at the giant knife. Shaking off whatever she was thinking, she continued: “I had enough fun with the goat this morning. I don’t need any other critter experiences, so I’ll skip the cave tour today. Once we get this stuff out of here, we’ll make sure the tables are ready to go. Austin said it was taco night. Yummy.”

  Cassidy spun around as Anastasia stormed over and dropped two large canvas bags on the floor. “The DJ and the photo-booth guy should be here soon. And Britt hired a florist to sell mums with ribbons. It was a thing back in the day at homecoming. Let’s see how well that goes over now with adults. I’ll need a table for the flowers near the door,” Anastasia said, scrolling through her phone.

  Cassidy pulled out a long table from the storage closet, and Ruthanne hurried to get two chairs.

  “Here,” Cassidy said. “The flower person can use this. Is it okay in this spot?”

  Anastasia nodded. “It’s fine. I need to check on the menu.”

  “We’ll handle anything that pops up here,” Ruthanne said. “You enjoy your cave tour.”

  On her way to the office, Cassidy spotted Deputy Sanchez trekking across the grass. “Good timing.” She waved with her free hand.

  “The detective said you found something for us.” He stopped near her, and she took a step back to look him in the eye. The new deputy had the build that looked like either a football or a rugby player.

  She handed him the cardboard and the knife. “It was under the rug where we found Britt Mahoney.”

  “Interesting,” he said as she stared at the hunting knife. “The forensic team searched the whole area. Not sure why they didn’t spot it. Thanks. I’ll take it to the car and bag it.”

  Cassidy swung by the apartment to give Elvis a walk around the farmhouse. It took a few moments to coax the chihuahua back up the stairs. On her way back out, she plunked a Nationals ballcap on her head, just in case there were any spiders or bats in the cave today.

  Remembering her original task in the office, Cassidy hurried down the back steps and made a beeline for the storage closet for the flashlights. Could the knife be important to Zac’s investigation, or was it another prop? A little spark zipped through her. She shook off the feeling and hustled back to the barn.

  When she neared the giant doors, she found Austin leaning against the red wooden wall. His blond highlights shimmered in the sun, the longish hair giving him a casual, but hip, look, especially standing next to the weathered wood of the barn. He looked like he was ready for a photo shoot or to star in a Hallmark movie. He could be a model.

  “Well, good afternoon, folks. I’m Cassidy Jamison, owner of Celebrations at Ivy Springs. And I’ll be your cave tour guide this afternoon,” she said, as he looked up and glanced around the empty area. “I guess we’ll give the others a couple of minutes,” she added.

  He smiled and pocketed his phone. “I hope you have space on the tour to squeeze me in.”

  “I’ll try. We may have an opening or three,” she said, returning his smile.

  About fifteen minutes later, Anastasia blew out the front door like something was chasing her. “What are you all still doing here? The tour was at two.”

  “No one else has shown up,” Cassidy said.

  “Oh, well, their loss. I hope they don’t bail on the dinner. Or we’ll have way too much food to take home.” She waved her hand dismissively and retreated back inside the barn.

  Cassidy handed Austin one of the large flashlights and said, “Well, you want to see it?”

  He nodded and followed her through the garden and the grotto. “It’s nice back here. It would make a good backdrop for pictures. That rocky area is cool. What’s the plaque for?” He pointed toward the rose bushes.

  Memories of Johnny Storm’s murder flooded back. She glanced at the koi pond where she and Elvis had found the rock star. Shaking off the melancholic feeling, she replied, “We had a concert series here last summer, and Johnny Storm of the Weathermen was murdered and left back there.”

  “Annie said something about that. They’re from before my time, but Mom and Dad used to listen to them. It’s a nice memorial.” Austin followed her over the rocky terrain and around the wooden barrier that sported a no trespassing sign.

  “No bears or anything?” he asked with a half-smile.

  “Nah. We have a few sightings every once in a while in the woods, but they don’t usually come close to civilization unless they smell food. I’ve never seen anything in the cave but a bat, and the most dangerous thing in there last summer was the killer.” She scrunched up her face like she had licked a persimmon.

  Austin switched on his light. The temperature dropped several degrees once they cleared the mouth of the cave. Goose bumps covered Cassidy’s arms.

  “I used to play in here when I was a kid. This part goes back quite a ways, and it opens up into a nice-sized chamber. Then there are two tunnels that shoot off in different directions to exits on the other side,” she said.

  He shone his light around. “Kinda spooky. But really cool. It’s bigger than I imagined. You could turn this into a club or something. There’s a place in Tennessee that has concerts in a cave. They do light shows. Theirs is big enough to hold three or four hundred people. This doesn’t look that big, but it could be a small venue for a club or parties. Hey, if you ever want to open something like that, I’d be interested in managing it for you. I can bartend and bounce too. Working for Annie is great, and I appreciate the job, but that’s not what I want to do forever. It would be fun to be in on the beginning of a project, especially something as cool as this.”

  “I’ve been thinking about what to do with the cave a lot lately,” she said. “I think it might be time to develop it. My relatives used to hide their bootlegging operations in here. All of this area has so much history. I think I need to capitalize on it. My grandfather and his father had a honky-tonk on the property that was part of the music scene years ago. It would be nice to add something that pays homage to the past.”

  “This room is bigger than it appears,” he said. “You could put a bar up against the wall and a stage over there. I bet the acoustics are awesome down here.” He yelled, “Hello,” and it echoed through the empty space. “See? This would be cool. How big are the tunnels back there? I was wondering where you would put bathrooms and a kitchen prep area.” He swept the area with the beam of his light. “It goes back pretty far. You could do something here. It’d be the only one like it around here and the perfect new spot for your events business.”