Choc Churro Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 25 Read online

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh,” Kate said. “So, it’s just a coincidence that you’re here on the night I call a meeting with my potential business partner.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Heather replied, and mentally kicked herself. She should’ve stayed with Amy.

  Or figured out that ‘the fern’ was ‘Laverne.’

  “Right,” Kate said, then clicked her tongue at Heather. She placed her perfectly manicured fingernails on top of the white tablecloth and tapped them in time to the beat of the music. “So, you’re not here to spy on my business.”

  “Of course not,” Heather replied.

  She had to come up with an excuse, and fast. If Laverne realized this was part of her investigation, she’d run for the hills, especially if Kate had shot Kenny.

  “Oh come on,” Kate replied, and rolled her eyes. “Do you think I was born yesterday? I know who you are, Heather. I know what you are.”

  “And what’s that?” Heather asked, and scraped through her brains for excuses. Anything, anything at all.

  “A murderer.”

  Heather’s eyebrows shot up. She burst out laughing. “I’m sorry,” she said, between hiccups of mirth. “What did you just say?”

  “I said you’re a murderer. You’re evil. You killed Kenneth to discredit me. To make sure that my business would fail,” Kate replied. “You’ve always been jealous of me. Of how much better I am than you.”

  Heather floundered in the murky waters between outrage and humor. “You’ve lost it, Kate.” She rose from her seat. “And I don’t have to sit here and take this from you.”

  “Whatever,” Laverne replied, and stood up too. She brushed off her long black coat. “I know the truth.”

  “Good evening, Mrs. Laverne. Or should I call you Miss?” Heather asked.

  Kate paled and took a step back. She paused, then resurged toward Heather. “I’m onto you. Every move you make, I’ll be watching you.”

  “Did you just quote the Police? Because that’s irony at its finest,” Heather said.

  But Kate Laverne turned and walked to her table. She bent and kissed Georgia on either cheek, then sat down opposite her brother.

  Heather didn’t hang around. She hurried to Amy at the table, then snatched the menu out of her bestie’s hands. “Thanks for trying to warn me,” she said.

  “Is it over yet?” Amy asked.

  “It’s far from over,” Heather replied. “I don’t know what they’re up to or why they’re meeting here when they could’ve just as easily met in Georgia’s living room.”

  “Surveillance cameras.” Amy took a sip of her margarita.

  “Pardon?”

  “Georgia’s house is full of high-tech recording equipment. She probably has security staff. If they want to discuss something private, this would be the best place. Everyone here is way too busy eating and dancing to worry about their conversation.”

  Heather sank into the chair opposite Ames. “You’re absolutely right. That makes perfect sense.”

  “Of course, I am,” Amy said, then gestured to herself. “Not just a pretty face. I’m the whole package.” She snorted at herself.

  Heather licked her lips and stared at the trio a few tables away. She couldn’t make out a word of their conversation. “But what is the meeting about?” Heather whispered. “It has to be business, right?”

  “Or the best way to get away with murder,” Amy replied.

  Heather’s stomach churned.

  Chapter 13

  Heather brought out another donut and placed it on a white plate. She handed it to her customer and put up her winning smile. “Thank you for your patronage,” she said and rang up the order.

  She accepted the cash, handed out the change, and slammed the register shut as she’d done millions of times before.

  Donut Delights was as much as home to her as her own house.

  Heather pushed thoughts of rude Kate Laverne out of her mind and grinned at the interior of her store.

  Customers sat at the wrought iron, glass-topped tables and drank spiced lattes or warm cups of coffee. They used the dainty silver spoons she’d had imported from France and ate off the classic, white china plates.

  Chocolate ganache dripped to those surfaces but didn’t stay there long.

  “What are you smiling at?” Amy asked and tapped Angelica on the shoulder.

  Angelica hurried to the kitchen to replace Amy, and the doors swung shut behind her a second later.

  “I try to take some time each day to appreciate how far we’ve come,” Heather said. “Look at this place.”

  Amy inhaled through her nose. “Smell this place. It’s the best. I’d work here if you paid me in donuts. Have I told you that before?”

  “Multiple times,” Heather replied. “Unfortunately, donuts pay the bills.”

  “If you paid me in donuts, I’d move out of my house and build my own donut shelter. Sleep coated in caramel and choc drippings.”

  “Don’t forget the strawberry cremes,” Heather replied.

  “Never.” Amy laughed, then plonked down in a stool and scrunched her apron between her fingers. “So, I wanted to talk to you about something at the beginning of the week.”

  “I remember that, yeah. What happened? Are you okay?” Guilt beset Heather. She’d been so busy worrying about old history with Kate and the case, that she'd neglected her bestie.

  “It’s, well, this is kind of awkward. It’s, ugh, it’s Kent,” Amy said and held up her palms. “Don’t think I’m lame for wanting to talk about this, please?”

  “Of course not,” Heather replied. “Amy, I could never think you were lame.”

  “Right,” her bestie said. “Kent’s been leaving town a lot for work, and I get that. I understand what it’s like to have a career. Kent’s a good man. He helped us when we were in Paris and Angelica got in trouble.”

  “I know,” Heather said.

  “And he’s always trying to do the right thing.” Amy bit her bottom lip and looked to the front, where Eva and Lilly sat at their sunny spot, bent over Lilly’s science homework.

  “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”

  “But,” Amy said, “I feel like we’re growing apart.” Amy shook her head, and sadness radiated from her. “When we’re together it’s okay. Not great, just okay. We’ll watch a movie, or we’ll go out to eat. He’ll even watch Beaches with me if I beg him.”

  “Good man,” Heather muttered.

  “But, Heather, it’s not fireworks. It’s not fantastic.”

  “Fireworks fade after a while, though, Ames. It’s not always fun, and romance like it is at the start of a relationship,” Heather replied.

  “But that’s just it,” Amy said. “It wasn’t fun and fireworks in the beginning. It was normal. The most fun we had was in Paris, and that was cut in half by the incident. After that, it just fizzled back to normal.”

  Heather pressed her lips together. She wasn’t a huge romantic, but there had been some romance at the beginning of her relationship with Ryan. It’d never fizzled. They made time for each other. They respected each other, and they worked as a team.

  Amy’s relationship with Kent didn’t sound that way.

  “I can’t give you advice without having walked in your shoes, Ames,” Heather said. “All I want is to see you happy. Follow your heart. Follow your gut. Find the middle ground.”

  Amy chewed the corner of her lip and nodded. “Thanks,” she said and rested her head-on Heather’s shoulder for a second.

  The door to the store opened, and Ryan entered beneath the ringing bell. He took off his police hat and smoothed his hair to one side.

  A few of the ladies in the store tittered behind their hands at the handsome officer.

  Ryan strode up to the counter and gave Heather a swift kiss, then pulled back, his brow wrinkled by a deep frown.

  “What’s up?” Heather asked.

  “And hello,” Amy added in.

  �
��What she said.”

  “I got a call about you today,” Ryan said. “It was a blast from the past. Remember when I used to get calls about you and threaten you for interfering in my cases?”

  “That didn’t happen, did it?” Heather asked.

  Ryan chuckled and shook his head. “Kate Laverne called my office and asked to speak to me directly.”

  “Oh boy,” Heather said. “What did she want?”

  “My guess is retribution,” Amy whispered, then busied herself with the coffee machine. She laid out three cups and pushed the silver buttons and knobs to make the slice of heaven work.

  “She called me and accused you of breaking into the Summers’ mansion last night.”

  “Say what?” Amy asked.

  Heather’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding.”

  “No,” Ryan said, though he spared a chuckle for their reactions. “I’m not kidding.”

  “But I was with you,” Heather said.

  “I told her that, and she threw a mini-tantrum on the phone. Man, I gotta tell you, I’m glad Lilly isn’t a toddler because I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

  “What was stolen?” Heather asked.

  “Georgia Summers’ tablet. That’s all. Nothing else was touched,” Ryan said.

  Georgia Summers’ tablet. “That’s interesting. I wonder what was on it.”

  “Well, I sent out a car to take her statement. We’ve got guys out there looking for the thief, so hopefully they find it, take it into evidence, and then we’ll know.” Ryan shrugged. “That could take weeks, though.”

  Heather puffed out her cheeks and looked past him to the street outside. “We don’t have weeks.”

  Chapter 14

  “Okay, so, let me get this straight,” Amy said and gestured with Dave’s leash. “Kate’s accused you of breaking into Georgia’s home.”

  “That’s correct,” Heather said and strode down the sidewalk toward the golden gate. Fountains tinkled behind the iron and the decorative hedges.

  “Okay, and you think going to the Summers’ house and confronting her is the best choice in this?”

  “Given that I spent the night at home with my husband and child, and have a rock-solid alibi, yeah, that’s exactly what I think.” But it was more than that.

  Anger had boiled around in Heather’s belly a lot this week.

  Every case surely had its frustrations, but this was different. Kate Laverne brought out a different side of her. The kind that didn’t want to take an accusation with a pinch of salt.

  Perhaps, it was a skill the Lawless family possessed as a whole. After all, she’d charged off to Geoff’s after Jelly Polinksi had stolen her recipes months ago.

  “Earth to Heather,” Amy whispered, and clicked her fingers in front of Heather’s face.

  Dave growled at their feet but didn’t break into his signature barking tirade, yet.

  “What is it?”

  Amy pressed her index finger to her lips, then pointed to the hedge beside them.

  “Let me go,” a man grunted.

  Heather would recognize those dulcet tones anywhere. Geoff Lawless.

  “I don’t think so,” another guy replied. “I told you to stay away from her. I told you it was dangerous here, but you didn’t listen.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” Geoff yelled back. “Let me go.”

  Who on earth would be big enough to hold Geoff down?

  “You didn’t do anything. I know you did. I know all about it, Geoff.”

  More grunts and a yelp. Dave’s growls grew louder, and Amy nudged him with the toe of her boot to quiet him down.

  “I didn’t. I didn’t,” Geoff repeated. “You don’t know me. You never knew me.”

  This had gone far enough.

  Heather hurried up to the golden gate, unhooked it and stepped onto the magical stepping stone path which led up to the Summers’ mansion. She looked right, immediately.

  Geoff stood in front of his pudding bowl haircut brother. Charles had him by the lapels.

  “Hey,” Heather yelled. “Put him down.”

  Charles dropped Geoff like a particularly heavy sack of potatoes. The wannabe-baker hit the ground and backed away from his brother. A snarl twisted the left side of his lip.

  “What on earth do you think you’re doing?” Heather asked, and put on her best mom voice.

  The kind that made Dave cower and Lilly rush to do her chores. It was a gift she’d discovered of late.

  “None of your business,” Charles replied.

  Amy stepped through the open gateway and clutched Dave against her chest. “Listen, fruit cup now’s not the time to be short with anyone. Heather’s an official representative of the police force.”

  Charles didn’t move a muscle. He stared at Amy.

  “I’m working on Kenneth Kenny’s murder case,” Heather said and stepped up to the man.

  She outstripped him in age, but definitely not in height.

  His hair fluttered in the breeze and brushed his forehead, just above the line of his brows. “I don’t care.”

  “I have some questions for you, Mr. Lawless,” Heather said, then twitched her hand toward Geoff.

  A signal for him to go, to run if he could. Whatever the conversation had been about, it wouldn’t have ended well.

  Geoff scrambled to his feet and scooted out of the front gate. He kicked up clods of grass and mud in his wake.

  “Idiot,” Charles screamed after him. He cleared his throat and exhaled through his nose. He gestured to the missing clumps of grass in the lawn. “Miss Summers won’t be happy about this.”

  “What are you, the new gardener?” Amy asked. “Better than the butler. Though, I bet you two get on like a house on fire.”

  Charles growled at her, and Dave matched his attitude with a growl of his own and a few choice barks.

  The big man recoiled. “Get that mutt outta here.”

  “Sir,” Heather said.

  Charles jumped, and Dave whined and hid his snout in Amy’s coat arm.

  “I’ve come to ask you questions about the case,” Heather said, which wasn’t exactly true but so what. She hadn’t had a chance to interview the elusive Charles Lawless yet.

  “What do you need to know?” Charles asked and folded his arms across his broad chest. He wore a tailored suit, as usual.

  “Where were you on the night of Kenneth Kenny’s murder?” Heather asked.

  “Sleeping,” Charles replied.

  “Is there anyone who can back up that alibi, sir?” Heather took out a notepad and pen from her handbag and scribbled Charles’ name across the top. She made sure he could see the page.

  Added pressure to make him tell the truth.

  It was a strange fact that any person who felt they were under evaluation wanted a good result.

  Charles’ gaze darted to the page and back to Heather’s face. “Well, yeah, you can ask Georgia’s cat, if you want. Doubt she’ll be able to tell you anything, though.”

  “Oh, he’s got jokes. A sense of humor,” Amy said. “Yawn.”

  Charles sneered at her.

  “So, no one to back up your claim,” Heather replied, and scribbled ‘no alibi’ in big, bold lettering beneath Charles’ name on the page.

  “Nope,” he said, and shrugged. “We done here? I’ve got to check on Miss Summers. She’s been having trouble dealing with the affairs after Kenny’s death.”

  “What? Why would that be a problem?” Heather asked.

  Charles opened his mouth and snapped it shut again, then shrugged.

  “Why would the affairs be a problem?” Heather repeated.

  “Because Kenny managed them before his death. They were business partners.” Charles didn’t hang around for another Heather’s questions. He turned and hurried up the front stairs to the house.

  “Weird,” Heather said.

  “What is?”

  “Well, if Kenneth Kenny was Georgia’s business partner and managed the affairs, why wasn�
�t she in on the deal with Kate Laverne?” Heather tapped her pen against the side of her notepad.

  This had become convoluted.

  “Ugh, I don’t get it,” she said and stifled a yawn. She’d spent too many sleepless nights pondering this and Kate Laverne’s appearance in Hillside.

  “Let’s go home and relax. Maybe put on the Beaches DVD. It’s totally Lilly-friendly,” Amy said and stroked Dave’s furry ears.

  “You and that DVD,” Heather replied, and rolled her eyes. “But no, this isn’t over yet. We still should speak to Kate. And now Georgia.”

  “Georgia? Why?”

  “Because I can only think of one real reason why Kenny would manage Georgia’s affairs. And it has nothing to do with business,” Heather replied, and set off walking. “And everything to do with affairs.”

  They passed the magnificent bronze fountain. The water tinkled and glistened beneath the Hillside sun.

  The grass remained green, though everything else had turned brown.

  Chapter 15

  Heather didn’t bother knocking or ringing the bell this time.

  She had a mission, and it didn’t involve an uppity British butler wasting her time and lifting his nose to her.

  Heather opened the front door and slipped into the hall, then wended her way across the marble and toward the living area they’d visited before.

  Amy jogged up behind her, Dave tucked against her chest. “What if she’s not in there?”

  “Then we’ll call the butler and make him find her for us,” Heather said and set her jaw in determination.

  She’d find Georgia Summers and quiz her by hook or by crook. No more hiding behind business deal lies and crocodile tears. She had to know the truth.

  Heather charged into the magnificent living room and stopped just inside the massive white arch.

  Georgia Summers lay draped across her plum chaise lounge, outfitted in another gauzy, shift dress. Her left hand lay across her forehead; the right draped on the floor beside the chair.

  “Miss Summers,” Heather said, loudly.

  Georgia jerked upright and shrieked. “Oh my goodness!”