A Ghostly Affair: A cozy mystery series (Death by Chocolate Book 3) by Pat Amsden

at her with an intensity she found unnerving. “But more and more I realize it’s not the whole answer. I’ve come back to participate in healing circles with my mother, gone through a healing ceremony with my uncle. And for the last two summers I’ve been studying native plants, first in the Amazon and this year in North America. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what we’ve got, of what still waits to be discovered.”
    Maxine could see why he had people willing to follow him blindly. She could also picture Tanya’s tear-stained face, see the damage that had been done at the museum. Without thinking her hand moved to the bump on her head, still giving her headaches.
    “That’s all good,” she said. “But why now, why AZK Developments?”
    “If I’d realized there was even a consideration they’d be developing there I’d have been home far sooner,” he said passionately. “But I believed my brother cared as much about our people and the environment as I do.”
    “And now you’ve got reason to believe he doesn’t?”
    “The proof is there for everyone to see,” he said bitterly. “He’s sold out to the developers.”
    Maxine shook her head. “You may believe that Mr. Jones. On some level you may even be right. But the development was done legally with an environmental assessment, land use and building permits. You can’t expect them to stop it now, get rid of the houses already built.”
    He looked at her with a burning intensity she found unnerving. “I’ll leave the houses there alone. But I’ll stop any further development.”
    She shook her head. “I don’t see how. They’ve got all the legal-“
    “I’ll prove my brother took bribes from AZK developments, I’ll show why this development is wrong. For my people, for yours. It should never have happened.”
    She shook her head. “You’re delusional.”
    “And I’m right. In your heart of hearts you know that. If you want me to show you what I’m talking about call this number.” He tossed a business card on the table. “Right now I think we’ve covered as much ground as possible tonight. I’ll wait for your call. Just don’t take too long.”
    He left leaving more questions than answers.

Chapter Eleven
    In the real world figuring out who dunnit was sometimes a lot harder than the average cozy. Maxine would have sworn Jake Jones was the perfect villain. Now she wasn’t so sure. Where did the brother fit in? And what did Tanya know?
    She invited herself over to Tanya’s’ who was in a blue funk. Her tiny, and Maxine did mean tiny, apartment had clothes swirled on the floor, dirty dishes on the counter and an unmade bed. Perhaps more alarmingly, Maxine could see an empty bottle of vodka. Tanya herself was listless and down.
    “I’ll clean it up in a bit,” she’d said waving away Maxine’s efforts. “I just, I need some time,” she said blue eyes filled with tears.
    “This is nuts,” Maxine said. “You’re my friend and you need help. You can stay with me for a few days.” Rail thin, Maxine could feel her bones, sharp beneath the thin top Tanya wore, and it scared her.
    But Tanya only cried harder. “You don’t have to help me. I can look after myself.”
    “Usually that’s true,” Maxine said, her own eyes filling with tears. “But everyone needs a friend sometimes. And I’m not leaving you here alone.”
    She left the clothes on the floor and went to Tanya’s walk-in closet.
    Leave it to Tanya she thought, to find the one bachelor in the city the size of a shoe box, but with its’ own walk-in closet. If Maxine hadn’t seen it for herself she wouldn’t have known it existed.
    Now she quickly pulled jeans and an assortment of sweaters and shirts from the racks along with some flats and one pair of black heels. She couldn’t see Tanya needing anything too fancy for the next week but Tanya had been known to surprise her before.  Her hand reached out, grabbing a simple, yet elegant black dress