Mango Madness Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 15 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) (2 page)

BOOK: Mango Madness Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 15 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries)
8.35Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
Chapter 3

“Okay,
Grayson, we’re going to need your artistic input for this project,” Missy told
her assistant at the LaChance store when she reviewed the meticulously detailed
order for the mayoral debate. Tall, pale, dark-haired Grayson was an art
student at the university, and one of the most creative individuals she’d ever
met. All of the clients at the shop loved him, tattoos, piercings and all. The
quiet, shy youth had captured the hearts of even the most skeptical and refined
ladies in town, and had created some of the most beautiful and tasty cupcakes
the shop had ever offered.

“No
prob, Ms. G.,” he replied easily, as usual. “What have we got?” he peered over
her shoulder. Shaking her head at the mayor’s particulars, she smiled and
handed over the four-page order. “Wow,” he said, taking it all in. “At least he
knows what he wants, and it shouldn’t be hard at all once I make some sketches
for guidelines,” the youth nodded. Missy could practically see his creative
gears start spinning.

“Well
then, my dear, get a plan together, run it by me, and we’ll make sure we have
the necessary ingredients,” she patted him on the arm. “It’s all yours,” she
said with a relieved smile, heading to the front of the shop.

Grayson
was surprised. His boss usually allowed him a lot of creative freedom, but
oversaw each plan herself. To allow him to come up with all of the ideas, and
oversee the project himself, was a major step, particularly given the high
profile nature of this particular job. Grinning broadly, he dug into the
mayor’s specifics with gusto, images and applications building in his mind.

Missy
went up front to see how Cheryl was coping, and saw that, although there were a
handful of customers in the eating area, the young woman had things well in
hand.

“Hey,
I was just about to start restocking, want to help?” she asked brightly when
her boss came out to check on her.

“Of
course, just tell me what we need and I’ll grab the trays.”

“Okay,”
Cheryl bent to peruse the display cases, pen and pad in hand. “Okay…we
need…four Coconut Crème, six Carob Cappuccino, two Sinfully Strawberry, a dozen
Mango Madness, and four Margarita Lime,” she stood, peeling the top paper from
the pad and handing it to Missy, who disappeared into the kitchen.

When
she returned to the front, she saw Echo slouched over the counter by the cash
register, talking to Cheryl and looking decidedly glum.

“Hey
girlfriend, long time no see,” Missy greeted her, putting the tray of luscious
cupcakes on top of the display case.

“Is
that Carob Cappuccino?” her friend asked, sounding weary.

“Yes
it is,” she replied handing one over. “You okay?”

“I
will be, but it’s gonna take two of these at least before I get there,” she
sighed.

Missy
handed her another cupcake. “Go sit, I’ll be there in a minute with fresh
coffee,” she ordered, giving Cheryl an apologetic look.

“I’ve
got this,” the young woman smiled with understanding. “I think Grayson just
made a fresh pot of Costa Rican,” she gestured toward the kitchen, letting her
boss off the hook.

“Thank
you,” Missy mouthed silently, turned so that her distressed buddy couldn’t see
her.

“What’s
wrong, sugar plum?” she asked, upon returning with two piping hot mugs of java.

“I
don’t know exactly,” Echo sighed. She took a gargantuan bite of her cupcake and
chewed slowly, as though the very act of chewing was wearing her out. “I think
I might be depressed,” she shrugged her shoulders limply.

“Depressed?
But, honey, why?” Missy brushed a stray lock of slightly frizzy, naturally
fire-red hair back from her friend’s brow.

“I
don’t know. I think part of it is that I’ve been really homesick for California
lately. I miss the beach, and the sunsets…” she trailed off and took a bracing
swig of her coffee.

“Well
there are pretty sunsets here in good ole Loosyana too,” she was reminded
lightly.

“Yeah,
I know, but they’re just not quite the same. Particularly when I don’t have
anyone to share them with,” she looked down and swiped her forefinger across
the top of her second cupcake, licking it clean.

“Sweetie,
are you lonely? I’m so sorry, I’ve been a terrible friend,” Missy moved her
chair closer and hugged her. “We can spend a lot more time together, I’m going
to be hiring several more people anyway, so I won’t need to be here as much,”
she reassured her.

Echo
smiled ruefully. “No offense, dearest, but you don’t exactly have the right
equipment to cure my loneliness,” she raised her eyebrows meaningfully.

“Oh!”
Missy exclaimed, her cheeks flushing crimson. “You mean…umm…”

“No,
that’s not what I mean,” her friend sighed. “I just want a man who’ll be nice
to me – who’ll take me to the movies, eat ice cream with me, give me a hug when
I need one,” she wished dreamily. “No offense, my beloved friend, but your arms
are not nearly strong enough or hairy enough,” she teased, finally cracking a
genuine smile at having made her friend jump to a conclusion that made her blush.

“Oh,
right, of course,” Missy grinned, recovering.

“Not
everyone has a Mr. Wonderful,” Echo mused wryly.

“Well,
I’ll see if I can find you one,” Missy promised, meaning it.

“What
would I do without you?” was the fond reply.

Chapter 4

“Graysooooooon!”
Missy’s normally calm, cool, collected demeanor had temporarily taken leave as
she prepared for the mayoral debate reception.

“Yeah,
boss?” the youth came trotting over from where he had been putting finishing
touches on a display.

Closing
her eyes, taking a deep breath, and trying to remain calm, she said, “One of
the star cupcakes for the flag has lost two of its points.”

Her
voice wavered just a bit, but Grayson was perceptive and knew that she was
close to the end of her rope for some reason. Everything was going smoothly,
but the young man knew that she was also consumed with wedding plans and
finding replacements for Ben and Cheryl, so her stress level was completely
understandable, if not entirely warranted.

“Ms.
G.,” he said, taking her by the shoulders and looking her dead in the eye, a
bold move for the reclusive youth, “I’ve got this, okay? There are at least a
dozen star replacement cupcakes in the van, I’ll just grab one and bring it out
to the display,” he said, his confident manner calming her down significantly.

“Okay,”
she nodded, relieved. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me today, I’m
just feeling frazzled,” she wrapped her arms around herself.

“You’ll
get through it, you always do,” he replied, giving her a sweet smile before heading
out to the delivery van.

Grayson
had outdone himself this time, and the mayor couldn’t be more thrilled. The
debate had gone well, despite the fact that the two men had, at times, looked
like they were going to come to blows, and the reception was mere moments away
from beginning. There was an American flag cupcake display, complete with the
star-shaped cupcakes that had stressed her out, along with a cupcake replica of
the town seal, and Grayson’s piece de resistance, a life-sized cupcake cartoon
rendering of the two candidates facing off with boxing gloves on, a masterpiece
that filled several linen-covered tables, and was sure to be an instant hit.

When
the last cupcake had been placed, it was merely minutes before the guests were
scheduled to arrive.

“You
did an amazing job, Grayson,” Missy hugged him. “I’m so proud of you.”

The
young man grinned and blushed. “Thanks for letting me take charge of it, Ms.
G., that really meant a lot to me,” his head bobbed and he thrust his hands
into his pockets.

“That
doesn’t look a thing like my husband,” a young woman’s nasally voice droned
nearby. Missy and Grayson turned at the comment to see who could’ve said such a
thing.

“Excuse
me?” Missy said to the well-groomed stranger in the yellow Jackie-O suit,
trying to keep a lid on her temper. She could feel Grayson shifting from foot
to foot beside her. Having grown up in a broken home, the young man couldn’t
stand conflict.

“Are
you deaf? I said, that thing,” she enunciated, jabbing a finger at the cupcake
likeness of Mayor Felton Chadwick’s rival. “Does not look at all like my
husband, the Honorable Chester Kingsman,” she snipped haughtily.

“I…uh…got
the likeness directly from his campaign photo,” Grayson mumbled, trying, in his
non-confrontational way, to defend himself.

“Well
then it clearly needed to be retouched,” the woman sneered nastily.

“Now
wait just a minute,” Missy stepped toward the rude critic.

“Oh
look,” the candidate’s coldly attractive and wickedly spoiled young wife had a
wicked gleam in her eye. “You forgot his nostrils,” she smiled sweetly and
plunged two fingers into the cupcakes that formed Chester’s nose.

Missy
gasped as Grayson sprinted toward the staging area. “You wretched human being!”
she accused, horrified at the woman’s behavior.

“You
think I’m bad, wait ‘til you meet my husband,” she smirked, licking the
frosting delicately from her manicured fingers.

Missy
had to bite back her reply as the doors to the reception hall opened, admitting
the two candidates, followed by the press and a large crowd of supporters on
both sides of the aisle. Grayson charged back to the table, deftly slipping
Missy the two new cupcakes that he’d fetched, removing the violated cakes and
replacing them before the paparazzi reached the display.

“Thank
you for saving the day, Grayson, I owe you,” Missy said in a low voice as the
candidates approached. “And as for that nasty woman, why I’d like to…”

“Hello,
Mayor Chadwick, Judge Kingsman!” Grayson said loudly, cutting her off as
cameras began snapping photos of the brilliant display.

“Thanks,”
she mouthed, before turning to smile at the two men who stood in front of her,
admiring Grayson’s work.

“Well
now, Melissa Gladstone, you’ve outdone yourself this time,” Felton said,
pumping her hand enthusiastically.

“Actually,
all of this is the concept and artistry of this young man,” Missy said proudly,
introducing Grayson to folks that he considered to be local royalty.

“Young
man,” Chester Kingsman rasped, sounding out of breath. “You are indeed an
artist – this looks exactly like me,” he nodded with approval. Missy and
Grayson exchanged a look and both had to concentrate hard on not bursting into
laughter.

“Thank
you sir,” he replied, shaking the candidate’s hand.

The
two candidates stayed long enough to pose for some photos, publicly continue to
debate some of their favorite topics, and sample a few of Missy’s delightful
goodies before retiring for the evening. The party continued for a couple of
hours after their exit, with Missy and Grayson faithfully restocking cupcakes
as needed.

“I
am so ridiculously tired,” Missy blinked, slumping into a chair for a moment,
prior to starting cleanup, after the last guest had been ushered out.

“Me
too,” Grayson yawned and stretched. “But the sooner we clean up our stuff, the sooner
we get out of here,” he reasoned, heading to the van for boxes in which to
place the leftover cupcakes. After major events like this one, Missy took the
leftovers to the local homeless shelters for an evening snack.

Grayson
came charging back into the reception hall moments later, white as a ghost.

“Goodness
gracious, honey, what’s wrong?” Missy’s southern accent went into overdrive
when she was scared.

The
poor young man could barely get the words out. “Chester Kingsman is in the back
of our van…and it looks like he’s dead!”

 

Chapter 5

Police
swarmed the elegant reception hall and Missy and Grayson now had so much
adrenalin racing through their veins that neither of them could even think
about going to sleep, despite their earlier exhaustion. Detective Chas Beckett
was overseeing the investigation and had interviewed all of the staff members
who were still at the hall at the time before heading over to Missy and
Grayson, who were huddled together at a small table.

“Did
you look in the van?” Chas asked Missy quietly after sitting down across from
the shaken pair.

She
shook her head slowly. “I couldn’t…I didn’t want to see,” was her numb reply.

“And
you?” the detective asked Grayson.

The
youth swallowed hard, remembering the gruesome sight and the coppery smell of
blood. So much blood. “Yes sir,” he nodded, wide-eyed. “I saw.”

“Was
there anything that struck you as odd when you approached the van? Anything
that seemed out of place?” he probed.

“I
was a little bit surprised that it was unlocked, but then I just figured that I
had probably done that by accident when I ran out here to fix Judge Kingsman’s
nose,” he explained, receiving a startled look from Chas.

“His
nose?”

Missy
jumped in. “We had a strange encounter with Mrs. Kingsman right before the candidates
came in, and she ended up ruining part of the display that featured her
husband…”  She went over the incident in detail for the detective, his brow
furrowing deeper by the second. He rubbed his forehead in a telltale gesture
that let Missy know that something was bothering him.

“What
is it, Chas?” she asked, alarmed.

“The
fact that you had an altercation with the candidate’s wife shortly before his
body was found in your van, rather complicates things,” he made a face like he
needed an antacid.

“But
we didn’t do anything,” Grayson protested. “Judge Kingsman was actually really
nice to us both and complimented the display that looked like him. Maybe the
security cameras picked that up,” he added hopefully.

“I’m
sure the cameras picked up footage of the nastiness that happened with the
Judge’s wife as well,” Chas sighed. “Well, you two can head on out, but the van
is still being processed, and it’s going to be a long night for me, so I’ll
have a patrolman take you home.”

“Uh…actually,
can he just take us to the shop? Both of our cars are there, and if my mom sees
me get dropped off by a police car, there’ll be hell to pay, especially if
she’s been drinking,” Grayson requested, looking down at his shoes, his cheeks
red.

Missy
put a supportive hand on his shoulder, and the detective nodded.

“Of
course,” he said quietly. “Not a problem,” he assured the embarrassed youth,
raising a hand to beckon to a uniformed officer.

The
mood inside the police car was somber as they made their way back to
Missy’s
Muffins and More
. Missy had told Chas that the officers working the scene
could snack on the leftover cupcakes that had been boxed up, and he simply
nodded, not having the heart to tell her that they’d probably be collected and
tested as potential evidence. When they were dropped off at the shop, the
officer was kind enough to wait until they had hugged and were in their
respective cars before pulling out of the back lot.

 

BOOK: Mango Madness Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 15 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries)
8.35Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

The Pirate Prince by Foley, Gaelen
The Third Magic by Molly Cochran
You Must Be Sisters by Deborah Moggach
A Saint for Life by Nicole Heck
Espadas y magia helada by Fritz Leiber
Inked by Jenika Snow
Finite by Viola Grace
A Spicy Secret by D. Savannah George