3 Bodies and a Biscotti (10 page)

Lexy realized Jack had been chatting away beside her. She clutched at his arm to get him to stop, and whipped her head around to face him.

“I think I know who the killer is.”
 

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Lexy pulled Jack aside into the corner of the room and watched his face as she told him her suspicions about the killer.

“That makes sense, but I need some evidence,” Jack said, running his hand through his hair.

“But if we don’t do something fast, someone else might get killed.” Lexy’s thoughts turned to Norman who lay in the nursing care center. If her suspicions were correct, he fit the killer’s profile perfectly, and she feared he may be next.

“I know, Lexy, but my hands are tied.”

Lexy chewed her bottom lip. “What if we caught the killer in the act?”

“That would be pretty hard to do considering we don’t know when they will strike next. We don’t have the man power to stake out the retirement center indefinitely.”

Lexy glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “We could make it irresistible for the killer, then we’d know exactly when they were going to strike and we could be there to catch them in the act.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “You mean a setup?”

Lexy nodded. “Would that be dangerous?”

Jack rubbed his chin with his thumb. “Not necessarily. We’ve done that sort of thing before. It’s all carefully monitored so the decoy is never really in any danger.” He narrowed his eyes at Lexy. “Did you have someone in particular in mind?”

Lexy’s stomach lurched. She
did
have someone in mind, but she didn’t want to put anyone in danger.

“Yes, but we’ll have to see if she agrees, and you’ll have to swear she won’t get hurt.”

Jack put his hand on Lexy’s arm. “Of course I would never put anyone in danger, especially the person you have in mind,” he said, with a wink. “Now, let’s get out of here so I can put the plan into action.

Nans lay in the small hospital bed, her heart pounding so hard that it seemed like everyone in the retirement center could hear it. She wiped her sweaty palms on the sheets, and tried to feign sleep.

Despite her high level of anxiety, the background noise in the critical care center lulled her senses. She’d lain there for hours and was starting to feel sleepy, despite her fears. Struggling to stay awake, she congratulated herself on being wily enough to tuck the sleeping pill the nurse’s aid had given her under her tongue so she could spit it out after she left.

She wasn’t sure if she’d drifted off, but her body was relaxed on the bed when she heard someone tip-toe softly into the room. Immediately, she went into high alert, every nerve tingling while she tried to remain perfectly still under the sheets.

“Mona?” The voice was just above a whisper.

She didn’t move or answer. She heard the sound of soft-soled shoes creeping closer to the bed.

“Are you awake?” The voice was right next to her ear and it was all Nans could do not to jump at the sound.

Nans’s heart jerked in her chest as she felt a pillow slide out from under her head, then felt it slowly pressed over her face—lightly at first, then with increasing pressure until she couldn’t suck in any more air.
 

Her mind whirled in panic. Someone was supposed to be here to help her!

She couldn’t stop her body from struggling as it tried in vain to pull in oxygen. The edges of her consciousness started to go gray. She felt her stomach drop as she started to submit to the darkness.
Something had gone terribly wrong.

“Hold it right there!”

Nans’s heart leaped with relief as she heard Jack’s voice loud and clear. The pressure on the pillow eased up and she sucked in a lungful of air.

Lexy rushed to her side, and grabbed her hand. She looked up in time to see Jack shoot her a look of concern as he took out his handcuffs.

“Nans, are you all right?” Lexy cried.

Sucking in another breath, she found her voice.
 

“Of course, I’m all right. No thanks to you people. What the
hell
took you so long.”

Lexy took her almond biscotti and dunked it in her coffee. Nibbling off a corner, she glanced around the front room of her bakery where they had pulled two of the cafe tables together in order to accommodate the large group celebrating the arrest of the retirement center killer.

To her left, Cassie and Ida were comparing their engagement rings. Lexy tried not to feel envious. She was happy for them, even if her relationship with Jack wasn’t quite working out the way she wanted.

Her eyes darted around the group and came to rest on Jack who was seated as far from her as possible. Her heart faltered when their eyes met and he looked away from her quickly. He’d been acting stranger than strange lately and she found it too stressful. She was going to have to come right out and ask him what was going on.

“I still don’t understand how the murders enabled Sam to get oxycontin to sell on the black market.” Lexy heard Ruth say to Jack.

“Anyone in the nursing care facility who was on pain killers had the prescriptions filled ahead of time. The pills were doled out as needed by the nurses but when someone died, all their pills were disposed of. Once prescribed, you can’t reuse them so the staff would flush them.” Jack said. “Instead of Sam flushing them, she pocketed them and sold them later on.”

“That explains why the people were killed shortly after they were admitted. There would be more drugs in the hopper,” Nans said.

Lexy glanced over at Cassie, whose cheeks were red enough to match her hair. “I feel so bad about this … I didn’t have any idea what she was up to.”

Nans reached over and patted her hand. “Of course you didn’t dear, it’s not your fault.”

“It wasn’t just Sam,” Jack added, “They leaders of the ring would get people in their debt and then try to place them at nursing homes and force them to get the drugs. Thanks to your information, we were able to break up the whole ring, so hopefully our senior citizens will be safe now.”

Lexy thought of the suspicious deaths at Sunny Acres and felt a cold chill, wondering how many other people had died in other nursing homes.

“Lexy, how did you put it all together?” Helen asked, helping herself to a lemon biscotti from one of the plates which were piled full of different flavors of the crunchy concoction.

“Just a lucky break. I happened to notice the necklace she had on at Cassie’s rehearsal matched the earring we found under the bed. Then I remembered she’d acted kind of strange when I saw her dispensing drugs at the retirement home, and when I asked what happened to the medication when people died, she got all nervous.” Lexy shrugged. “Then when I remembered that Cassie said she used to be into drugs, it all kind of came together.”

“Now I realize when Bertram Glumm’s roommate said he saw “Sam” in the room, he was talking about Cassie’s cousin, not Sam, the janitor!” Nans said.

Lexy took a sip of her coffee. She closed her eyes and welcomed the bitter brew, then opened them quickly when she realized everyone was laughing at her.

“What is going on?”
 

Nans looked at Helen. “Should we tell her?”

Helen nodded. “Remember when I hypnotized you?”

Lexy narrowed her eyes, looking from Helen to Ruth to Nans to Ida. “Yeeees.”

“Well, I did sort of give you something extra.” The four ladies giggled.

“But don’t worry,” Ruth said. “It will wear off as time goes on.”

Lexy remembered back to the hypnosis session at Sunny Acres and how Helen had given Alma a renewed zest and energy.

“Is it a renewed sense of energy?” Lexy asked.

“Not exactly.” Helen scrunched her face up.

“It’s got something to do with why people seem to keep laughing at me, doesn’t it?”

Nans nodded. “We had a little fun with you, dear, and Helen implanted a suggestion that you cluck like a chicken sometimes when you take a sip of coffee.”

The four older women burst out laughing and were soon joined by everyone at the table—everyone, except Lexy.

“What?” Lexy felt her face growing warm.

“Sorry, dear. We don’t get to have too much fun like that. It will happen less and less as time goes on.” Helen said in between snickers.

Lexy felt her mouth drop open. “So, you’ve all been laughing at me behind my back?”

“Oh come on now, Lexy, the ladies were just having a little fun. No harm was done, right?” Jack said, spreading his arms.

Lexy stared at him. Another time she might have laughed it off, but now, looking at Jack, she felt her anger rising.
 

“Well, that’s easy for you to say. I think you owe me some explanations too,” she said.

A hush fell on the table.
 

“Huh?”

“You’ve been acting all secretive. Doing weird things, like not letting me go in your living room, sneaking off with Nans, and whispering with everyone here,” she spread her hands to indicate the people at the table. “If there’s something going on, I think I deserve to know.”
 

She stood up, slamming her palm on the table while everyone stared at her open-mouthed.

Jack rubbed his face with his hands. He looked worn and tired making Lexy immediately regret her outburst. He stood up. “There
is
something we need to talk about, but not here.” He crossed over to her, took her by the elbow and dragged her outside.

Lexy’s heart-beat drummed in her ears as he turned her to face him.
Had she been too hasty?
His six foot frame seemed to tower over her and she bit back tears.

She glanced back into the bakery and noticed everyone looking out at them, their eyes wide, faces practically pressed to the glass. She felt the sting of humiliation flame her cheeks.
Was everyone going to watch Jack break up with her?

 
She looked back at him, her stomach sinking as she watched him take a deep breath.

“Lexy, there has been something I’ve been meaning to say. But … well ... It’s never been the right time, or I’ve chickened out.”

She felt frozen in the spot, unable to speak. Jack shuffled his feet, barely able to look her in the eye.
 

Well, if he’s going to dump me, he might as well just get on with it, she thought. She straightened her back and crossed her arms in front of her, waiting for the break-up speech.

Jack tried to take her hand, but she pulled it away.

He reached into his pocket, took something out and then bent down on one knee.

Lexy’s heart skipped wildly in her chest as she stared at the tiny, black velvet box he held in his hand.
 

He looked up at her, his face mixed with fear and hope.

“Lexy, will you marry me?”

The End.
 

Black Bean Brownies

T
his recipe comes from a book I publish under another pen name which is a compilation of my favorite recipes adapted to use healthy ingredients.
 
The book is
Healing Desserts
by Lee Anne Dobbins (you can get it for your kindle too!)
 

I first heard about the recipe at a Pampered Chef party and came up with my own version below.
 
At first I couldn’t believe that brownies made from beans could taste good, but they do!
 
They are also healthy for you - the beans add a ton of healthy antioxidants and nutrients as well as fiber.
 
I use agave nectar instead of sugar because it is healthier but if you can’t find agave, you can just use the same amount of sugar.

Ingredients:

1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup cocoa powder (with over 70% cocoa if you can find it)

3 eggs

3 tablespoons vegetable oil (or coconut oil for a healthier alternative)

3/4 cup agave nectar (or sugar if you don’t have agave)

1 pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon instant coffee

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine beans, cocoa, eggs, oil, agave (or sugar), salt, vanilla and coffee in a food processor and process until smooth.
 

Pour mixture into a greased 8 x 8 pan.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top (if desired).

Bake for 30 minutes until the edges start to pull away from the pan.

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Lemon Biscotti

I love the hard crunchy texture of biscotti.
 
This recipe could be adapted for a variety of flavors - you can use orange zest instead of lemon zest, or leave the zest out all together and use different flavored extract like almond or anise.

Ingredients: