M&M Surprise Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 17 (8 page)

“What did I miss?” Amy asked. She sat
down on the seat beside Heather and offered a donut from her tray.

Heather accepted one, then handed it
to Eva, who gave it to Lilly next to her.

“He’s only got one more round of
shooting. Then we’ll know,” Heather replied.

Jung stood on the edge of the field
below, glaring at the targets at the far end of the range. Excitement rippled
through the crowd in the stands. It was almost over.

Leticia Jackson sat at the far table,
eyes trained on the scoreboard. She bent over her tablet and made a correction,
then refocused. The sole judge. The bandages on her left arm shone white
beneath the morning sun.

Heather took an M&M Surprise for
herself, then picked off the M&Ms. She inserted them between her lips, one
by one. “At least it’s over,” Heather said.

“Heather Shepherd solves another
case,” Amy replied, then patted her on the leg. “Why do you look so upset,
though?”

“I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“Is the test bothering you, dear? The
exam, I mean. Because we all know you’ll pass. You should know that too.” Eva
patted Heather on the knee.

“I still have a lot of studying to do
before I can claim that kind of confidence.” Heather smiled at her favorite
senior citizen. “But thanks for the support, Eva.”

“C’mon, hon, you know you’re gonna
kick butt. You’ve solved every murder that Hillside Homicide has handled in the
last few months. Your success rate is crazy.” Amy bit into the M&M donut
and crunched on the sweet goodness. “Look, you can only do your best and if you
fail?”

“I can’t investigate anymore if I
fail,” Heather said.

“You won’t fail,” the two women said,
in unison.

Lilly jumped up and clapped her hands.
“He’s about to go. He’s about to go!”

Jung stepped forward and stopped in
front of his mark. He raised his bow and took aim. The crowd hushed. Nothing
moved in the silence, not the leaves on the distant trees nor Amy’s ever-donut
gobbling mouth.

A buzzer went off. Jung released his
arrow.

The projectile split the air, soared
toward the target and clunked into the board, just left off the center circle.

The scores on the screen popped up
again. Jung dropped his bow to his side and stared up at them, shoulders
tensed.

“Still in second place. He was the
last to go, right?” Amy asked.

“Yeah, he was the last,” Heather
replied.

Cheers spread through the crowd.
Applause rang out, and the quartet of ladies joined in.

“Go Jung!” Amy yelled.

Lilly did a little dance on the spot.
“Ooh, ooh! Jung’s on fire.” She laughed hysterically and turned in a circle.

Jung’s turned to the stand and waved
at them. He grinned wider than he’d ever done, then raised his bow into the
air.

The crowd cheered on. Jung had been
the home favorite for the competition. The other alumni and competitors had
come from the surrounding towns to partake in the competition, after all.

And everyone loved Jung.

Another Hillside sweetheart.

Leticia Jackson rose behind the
judging table, then clicked on her microphone. “The official announcement of
the results and awards ceremony will take place in approximately twenty
minutes. Please help yourselves to refreshments in the interim.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Amy said, then
raised her donut in salute. She took a massive bite and grinned.

“You’re not the only one enjoying
Heather’s donuts,” Eva said, nodding her head toward the bottom of the stairs.

Geoff Lawless stood directly in front
of Angelica, grasping a wad of cash in his left hand and a donut in the right.
He raised it to his nose, then sniffed and frowned.

“What’s he doing?” Lilly asked.

“Hey, Geoff, you’re s’posed to eat them
not to sniff them,” Amy yelled.

Heather didn’t bother nudging her
bestie in the ribs this time. “He’s been trying to copy my donut recipes for a
few weeks now.”

Amy nodded and dusted off her palms.
“A coupled weeks ago we found him rummaging around in the Donut Delights trash
cans looking for crumbs.”

“Ewwww,” Lilly said, and her lips
turned down at the corners. “That’s weird.”

“Weird doesn’t even begin to describe
it,” Amy replied.

Geoff glanced up at them, nose stuck
into the hole of the donut, and raised his eyebrows.

Heather lifted her donut at him, glaze
clean of M&Ms, then took a bite.

Geoff jerked the confection from his
face. Glaze smeared the tip of his nose. He turned and stalked off, casting
glances over his shoulder every few seconds.

“What a strange character,” Eva said.
“I’ll never understand the man. He was a bouncer, then became a baker, created
the worst treats I’ve ever seen, then gorges himself on your donuts.”

Heather shrugged. “That’s Geoff. He’s
backed off a little, at least.”

Jung jogged up the stairs, then turned
right and hurried along the stand. “I did it,” he said, then drew in three deep
gasps. He wiped sweat from his forehead. “I actually did it.”

“Well done,” Heather said. “You were
fantastic.”

“I’m going to go home and train for
next year’s event, after this. I want to be prepared for next year,” Jung
replied. He’d left his bow in the changing room, but he held an arrow to his chest.
“I wanted you to have this, Heather.” He held it out to her.

“Why?” Heather asked. “What is it?”

“It’s one of my arrows,” he replied.
“I would never have gotten the chance to compete if you hadn’t solved the case.
I just wanted to thank you. And to remind you that, you know, anything’s
possible.” He scratched the back of his head, then scuffed his shoes on the
concrete.

“Thank you,” Heather said. She took
the arrow from him and turned it over in her lap.

Next week she’d write her final exam.
After that, she’d either be able to investigate legally or she’d never
investigate again.

Heather closed her fist around the
arrow’s shaft.

“Anything is possible,” she said.

THE END

A letter from the Author

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