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  Blackberry Frosted & Murder

  Caramel Fudge & Murder - Book 28

  Susan Gillard

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  “Eva's Delicious Mystery: A Donut Hole Spin-Off”

  Copyright 2018 by Guardian Publishing Group, LLC

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication or the information in it may be quoted from or reproduced in any form by means such as printing, scanning, photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

  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.

  Printed in the United States of America

  Contents

  1. Crowds

  2. The Airport Trip

  3. The Pier

  4. Joint Investigation

  5. Fishing for Clues

  6. Boat Rentals

  7. Blackberry Frosted Conversations

  8. The Hallway

  9. The First Suspect

  10. Compromise

  11. An Angry Tom

  12. Best Friends

  13. Roommates

  14. The Ex-Boyfriend

  15. At the Table

  16. Killer Thoughts

  17. The Nose

  18. Boating

  About the Author

  Also by Susan Gillard

  Crowds

  “Did you decide to use a fruit flavor because you thought it would sound healthier and scare off some of these crazy partiers?” Amy asked.

  “I think I was excited about spring and wanted to use a new fruit flavor in my donuts,” Heather replied to her best friend. “And nothing seems to scare off these partiers.”

  Heather had moved to Key West in the summer and had faced some crowds of tourists through the year. There were many people who visited the island for the winter holidays to get warm, and several visitors at other times who wanted to see the tropical sights. However, they seemed small in comparison to the spring break tourists descending on the island. There seemed to be crowds everywhere, and it continued late into the night when the parties on the island were even more boisterous than usual.

  Donut Delights opened early to serve breakfast donuts to people on their way to work and closed around dinner time when everyone should have grabbed their dessert for the evening. Heather didn’t always come in to prep for when the shop opened at 6 a.m. It was a perk of being the boss that she could assign her wonderful and talented assistants to begin baking. It was also sometimes necessary when she was working on solving a case and had to focus on clues instead of crullers. However, it had been so busy this week that Heather had made sure that she was there to help prepare the morning treats.

  She was surprised to see that there were still people out partying when she was on her way into work!

  Heather wasn’t one to dismiss a good time. She loved visiting the landmarks of the island with her group of friends, going to the beach, and enjoying sweet snacks such as her gourmet donuts. However, the loud music and drinking until the wee hours of the morning wasn’t her cup of tea.

  “Sorry I’m late,” her assistant Digby said as he joined them in the kitchen. He was followed another assistant, the slender redheaded Janae.

  “Did you have to fight your way through the crowds too?” Janae asked.

  “You know how you sometimes have to wait for turtles to cross the road before you can drive?” Digby asked. “It was just like that, except it was for sorority girls who were lost and wouldn’t move away from my driveway.”

  “Did you give them directions?” Heather inquired.

  “I tried,” Digby said, groaning. “But they wanted directions to a specific beach that they didn’t know the name of. We’re an island. We’re literally surrounded by beaches!”

  They laughed.

  “It’s been so busy here, and I’ve been gaining extra bike tours to lead that I feel like I haven’t had a moment to rest,” Janae said. “Fire Frank and I haven’t had a chance for a real date since the spring breaks began. He has been joining my bike tours to spend some time with me.”

  “If he’s willing to pedal to see you, it bodes well for the relationship,” Heather said.

  “Agreed,” said Amy. “I love my boyfriend, Jamie. We live together and have a dog, but I’m not sure how much biking I’d do for him. Unless his life was in danger or something.”

  “Luckily, Jamie’s business is on a different set of wheels,” Heather teased, referring to his mobile pet grooming business that had baths sets up in a large van.

  “Yeah,” Amy said. “He’s been having some trouble with the tourists though. He’s been getting a lot of crank calls about dog baths. I really can’t wait until they all pack up and go home.”

  “Careful,” Heather warned. “Keep complaining about tourists, and you’ll sound like Mr. Rankle.”

  Amy grimaced at the sound of their grouchy shop neighbor’s name. He was an older man who despised anyone who he didn’t consider to be a local. However, he considered everyone who wasn’t born in Key West not to be a local. He had caused trouble for Donut Delights on more than one occasion, and no one was a huge fan of the crotchety fellow. Amy’s dislike of him was only rivaled by her dislike of being compared to him.

  “I’m nothing like Mr. Rankle,” Amy said, affronted. “I’m pleasant and funny and still have my own hair. But he might not have been completely off the mark about these tourists.”

  “I wouldn’t want to deal with crowds like this year-round. And a few of the travelers have been obnoxious,” Heather admitted. “But there are perks to their visits too. It’s good for the island economy and Donut Delights too. Our donuts are flying off the shelves.”

  “So much so that you can only teach the new recipes to half the staff at the time,” said Digby.

  “Right,” agreed Heather. “So we should stop wasting time complaining about crowds and teasing Amy.”

  “I haven’t been teasing Amy,” Amy said.

  “And we should focus on the newest flavor,” Heather continued. “Then, after you two master it, I can show it to Luz and Nina who are currently handling the hordes of customers.”

  “What is the flavor, boss?” Digby asked.

  “Besides delicious?” Janae said with a smile.

  Heather returned the grin and then gestured to batch of dark-colored donuts that she had prepared before they joined her in the kitchen.

  “This is the Blackberry Frosted Donut,” Heather said, proudly. “The donut base is blackberry cake, and it’s been filled with a sweet blackberry jelly.”

  “And the frosting?” asked Janae.

  “Makes it a blackberry trifecta,” said Heather. “It’s a blackberry frosting. Then, to add a little color to the design, I trickled white chocolate on the top in a decorative grid pattern. And, of course, there’s a fresh blackberry in the middle.”

  “I’m berry excited to try it,” Amy said, grabbing a donut. “And you should all do the same thing. Then you’ll be saying yum instead of groaning at my puns.”

  Heather handed the donuts out to her assistants, but couldn’t suppress a slight groan at Amy’s wordplay. After they all had a bite, the compliments started rushing in.

  “It’s a perfect trifecta,” Janae said.

  “I didn’t know I liked blackberries until now,” Digby said. “Maybe I should have all my fruit in donut form.”

  “You can’t let the tourists try this,” Amy said. “Then, there will never be a break a
t the shop.”

  “I guess that’s the plan,” Heather said with a wink. “Let me show you how to whip these blackberry beauties up, and then I’ll show the others. I have a feeling we’ll be baking all day today.”

  Heather started setting up the ingredients again so she could teach the technique for this new recipe.

  “As long as we get to eat some of what we bake, I don’t mind,” Amy said.

  Heather agreed with the sentiment and began explaining how she prepared the blackberry jelly. She was prepared for a busy day that day and wanted to make sure that all her assistants were prepared for the next day.

  Heather needed to pick someone up at the airport the next morning, so her assistants would have to prepare the Blackberry Frosted Donuts by themselves for the hungry tourists and regulars. She would be fighting the crowds in another way.

  The Airport Trip

  Dave and Cupcake were dancing around excitedly. Heather suspected that the cuddly dog and curious kitten had recognized the name “Nicholas” and were happy for his upcoming arrival.

  Heather knew that her daughter Lilly was excited about her friend’s visit, but she was acting nervous instead. Lilly and Nicholas had been best friends when they lived in Hillside, Texas and had both been in foster care. Heather and her husband Ryan thought it was important for Lilly to maintain this friendship and had agreed to the one term that she had asked for when agreeing to move to Key West – that Nicholas could visit for holidays.

  Lilly was rearranging the games that they might play on their visit and was pacing. Watching her daughter pace and the pets dance was making Heather tired. It was true that her tiredness might also be due to the extra business at her shop the day before, but constant movement right now wasn’t helping. She walked up to her daughter and placed an arm on her shoulder.

  “Is everything all right, Lilly?”

  “Yes. I just want everything to be perfect.”

  “It will be,” Heather assured her. “Nicholas had a great time here during his winter break.”

  “But there are more parties going on now. I don’t think we’ll be able to do all the same things that we did during his last visit. I don’t want him to be disappointed.”

  “He won’t be,” said Heather.

  Dave barked in agreement, and Cupcake moved closer to Lilly’s leg to give support.

  “You’ll still be able to go to the beach. There will be plenty of donuts. And Nicholas really just loves seeing everyone. Eva and Leila will come over this evening and act like doting grandmas. He can meet Amy and Jamie’s dog now that they have officially adopted her. And he can have plenty of time with his best friend – you.”

  Lilly still had a slight frown on her face.

  “What are you worried about, honey?” Heather asked.

  “Last time he visited was before I met Chelsea. I really want the two of them to get along. They are both my best friends now,” Lilly said. She looked down at her toes. “What if they don’t like each other?”

  “I think you were careful about choosing your best friends,” Heather said. “They are both kind and caring like you. I’m pretty sure they’ll have a great time together. But even if they don’t become best friends with each other, they both care enough about you to play nice.”

  “Okay,” Lilly said, nodding. “But I do hope that they become best friends too.”

  Heather smiled at her daughter, knowing that she had helped ease her worries. She was sure it was going to be a fun visit for the kids, and she had made sure that the kitchen was full of Blackberry Frosted Donuts for that afternoon’s snacks.

  She told Lilly to double-check that the guest room was set for Nicholas’s visit, even though she was fairly sure that for half the week the two friends would end up camping in sleeping bags in the living room so they could talk all through the night.

  Heather spent a few minutes playing with Dave and Cupcake, while she waited for Ryan to join her. When he walked into the room, he had a serious look on her face.

  “Is something wrong?” Heather asked. She was concerned that there might be an issue with Nicholas’s flight. She hated to think of any troubles for him while he was traveling alone, even though she had been told that the flight crew would keep a special eye on the minor.

  “It was work,” Ryan said.

  “Oh,” she responded. That could also be serious too. Ryan was a detective on the Key West Police Force. She and Amy had already helped him on several murder cases as part of their P.I. work.

  “And to answer your question, I don’t know if something is wrong. There have been some misdemeanors in town recently, but nothing serious. I’m not sure which this call falls under. The details were unclear in the call. It seems like there was a boating accident. The Coastguard was called in, but Detective Peters and I should meet everyone when they come to shore.”

  “It must be serious if they want the Coastguard and detectives on the case,” said Heather. “Do you need Amy and me to come too?”

  “Why don’t we wait until I see what the tide brings in,” he said with a slight smile.

  Heather nodded. “I’ll still go and pick Nicholas up at the airport with Lilly. But if you need backup, I can get a babysitter.”

  “I hope it’s nothing serious,” he said. He gave her a kiss and headed out to work.

  Lilly reentered the room and asked what was going on. Heather told her that her father was called to work, but that there was no big case to investigate at the moment. In fact, currently, it sounded like a fender bender but with boats.

  Then, Heather suggested they grab some of the donuts for the road and head out to pick up Nicholas. Lilly enthusiastically agreed. Dave and Cupcake were also cheerful, but it was because they loved donuts even more than visitors.

  Heather and Lilly left and even with some traffic made it with plenty of time to meet Nicholas by the baggage claim. Lilly’s fears that his trip wouldn’t be fun must have evaporated. She was all smiles when she hugged her friend and led him to the car.

  The two friends were chatting about what they wanted to do during this visit and how great the new donuts were. Nicholas said that he was excited to meet Chelsea, and Lilly told him that she was planning a movie night for them all to enjoy.

  Heather drove them towards the house, feeling happy. The extra tourists in town had down nothing to slow Nicholas’s arrival, and the friends were excited to chat up in person. She was glad that this trip was off to a good start.

  Then, her phone rang. She saw it was Ryan and answered it on speaker phone so she could keep her hands on the wheel. After she told Ryan he was on speaker he paused for a moment. Heather realized that he must be figuring out what he could say in front of the children and she frowned.

  “You might want to see about getting a babysitter,” he said. “We have a case after all.”

  The Pier

  While Nicholas greeted the animals who were happy to see him and Lilly stayed by his side, Heather made some phones calls. She called Eva and Leila to see if they would mind coming over earlier than planned to watch the kids. The older women pretended to play hardball, demanding donuts in exchange for their services. Heather sighed in mock exasperation and then agreed. She always gave her friends donuts when they visited. She was also pretty sure that they would be over shortly. Because they felt they had time to tease her, she suspected that they were traveling from their home next door and not from somewhere else on the island.

  She also called Amy to tell her about their case. Amy said that she would be happy to join her to investigate. Jamie planned on coming over and bringing their dog Miss Marshmallow to see Nicolas. After multiple prank calls, he had decided to take the rest of the day off and was looking forward to visiting with friends.

  “Now, I’m disappointed I’m missing the party,” Heather said.

  “Me too,” Amy agreed. “Especially if there are more Blackberry Frosted Donuts there.”

  “There are.”

  “But if Ryan ca
lled us, then it’s probably a murder case that he needs help with.”

  Heather nodded, and the two friends hurried to the waterfront. As the approached a pier, they could see two boats resting in the water. They also saw Detective Peters hurrying away from the water and towards them with a clipboard. He was a young detective who loved his job and was always trying to prove that he deserved his position despite his youth.

  He looked surprised to see that investigators. “Oh. You’re here? Shepherd called you in?”

  “Why wouldn’t he?” Heather asked, wondering if there was a legitimate reason for the surprise.

  Amy was a little more affronted by his question. “Haven’t we helped with a ton of cases before? Didn’t we catch a famous author’s killer? And clear your name of murder charges, Peters?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “And we did solve a case on a Halloween booze cruise too,” Amy said. “That relates to boats.”

  “I didn’t mean that you weren’t helpful,” Peters protested. “I just meant that it’s a little crowded here.”

  “Is that why you’re headed out?” Amy teased.

  “I’m going to the hotel,” he said.

  “To take a nap?” asked Amy.

  “Why don’t you tell us what’s going on?” Heather suggested. Between Peters’s half-answers and Amy’s teasing, she wasn’t quite sure what was happening.

  Peters nodded, recognizing the situation. “I’m going to bring the six suspects who were on the boat with the dead body back to their hotel and keep them under surveillance.”

  Heather and Amy exchanged a look. If there was a dead body involved, then it did sound like more than a boating accident.